Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

I blinked a few times in confusion. I thought I would get a new skill again, but it turned out that skills could evolve. To what extent, though? And what about the requirements?

"Does it still hurt?" Luke asked me with a frown.

"Oh, now that you mention it, I'm starting to feel better." I answered happily, even though my breathing was still uneven, and I still haven't stopped sweating.

"Ck. You gave me a shock there." He clicked his tongue, but I could see his shoulders eased a bit after hearing my words.

"You're easily spooked, aren't you?" I grinned and teased him by pinching his cheeks.

"I'm not. You're my host, so naturally I need to be alert, you know?" He cleared his throat, "anyway, let's really sleep this time. Don't try anything stupid or I'll tie you up."

"Okay, okay~" I hummed and released myself from his arms before patting my lap, "come here!" I beamed.

With a small 'poof', he transformed back into his cute little snake form and curled his body on my lap.

[So are you going to tell me why you did that?] He questioned while he plopped his little head down.

"You know those spiders earlier, right? So they have this poison sac--"

[I know that part. I've lived as a monster for so long, there's no way I'd miss that detail,] he sighed, [what I mean is, why would you drink that poison willingly?]

"To... Train my body against poison?" I scratched my cheek. It would be weird if I say something like, 'yeah I have this weird system that helps me get skills by torturing myself', right?

[Normal humans don't get used to poison that easily. But I guess you're not normal.] He peeked at me with one eye.

"Hush now, it's bedtime. Let's not worry about the nitty-gritty details, alright?" I patted his head softly until he slowly relaxed back and closed his eyes.

I let out a sigh of relief. If it were someone else, I would be questioned to no end. I guess it kinda felt nice to have someone who was also a 'stranger'. We both know that we weren't the original resident of this place, and therefore, we both just kinda shrugged it off if we did something out of the ordinary.

"Sleep well, big bro." I smiled genuinely at the sleeping white snake on my lap. Honestly, not having to constantly worry about being suspected didn't feel so bad. I could get used to it.

Before I also get some rest, I made sure to store the antidote back into my inventory. It might be useful someday, right? Ah, that was intense, but at least I got a useful skill today.

To be honest, I kind of didn't expect to get a skill. But I figured that if I didn't get a skill, at least I'd understand how the poison worked, how potent it was, and how long did it take to kill a person. All in all, not a bad bet. I got both the skill and the info.

"Hngg-- Now it's time to really sleep." I stretched my arms up and finally closed my eyes.

It was cold and we didn't even have proper bedding, and we might get ambushed by monsters anytime. But, for some reason, I felt more comfortable sleeping here rather than sleeping under their watch.

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'Chirp! Chirp!'

Ah, yes. The sound of clingy birds. My usual morning ever since I got that passive 'Animal's Beloved' skill. Mmm, exquisite.

'Chirp!'

"Ugh... Yeah, yeah. I'm awake..." I said as I yawned and rubbed my barely open eyes with the back of my palm.

"So... Are you a princess or something?"

"Huh?"

I blinked a few times in an attempt to adjust my vision, and saw Luke in his human form sitting beside a bonfire, surrounded by animals of all kinds. There were deers, bears, ducks, monkeys, and even butterflies flying around.

"Are YOU a princess!?" I was taken aback by the crowd of animals that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"No, they gathered here because of YOU." He pointed his long finger at me while his other hand was busy grilling something.

As if on cue, the animals started to inch closer towards me, and showered me with little boops and licks.

"Ah, hey! Haha!" Even though I was reluctant at first, I couldn't help but pet them one by one as I enjoy their affection.

"Here, have one." Suddenly, Luke squeezed through the flock of animals surrounding me and handed me a skewered roasted meat.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Bird meat. I'm pretty good at preparing food, right?" He puffed his chest out, proud of his creation.

"Thank you. But, um..." I looked around and pulled him closer to whisper in his ear, "is it okay to roast and eat a bird while they're watching?" I gestured towards the animals around us, which also consisted of fellow birds.

"Of course. Why not?" He tilted his head.

"Well, why yes?" I asked back.

"Humans sure have a weird sense of morale. Don't they eat meat on a regular basis anyway? What's the difference between eating it here and inside their home?"

"There's a difference. Some people prefer white lies. Some people can't handle the truth and would prefer to be kept in the dark. Maybe it's kind of like how we don't deliberately show some people gruesome scene to protect them from mental damage?" I answered.

"Yeah, but that's different for animals. They've witnessed hunting almost every day. While some might think it's cruel, I'm sure most of them won't get mentally hurt by the sight of its own kind being eaten," he explained, "they will probably just go 'oh it's dangerous here' and leave, since they were so used to be hunted."

He shoved the meat into my mouth, preventing me to speak further. And surprisingly, it tasted pretty okay. At least it was way better than those cardboard cafeteria foods...

"Humans were so used to not be hunted by other species, that's why they had this weird sense of morale. Well, I guess that was in the past. Now they got monsters as their predator." He said casually as he kept shoving food into my mouth.

"Wait-- The past? How'd you know about the world before the monsters appeared?"

"Eat first." He said as he stuffed my face with another piece of meat.

"Hrngg??" I grumbled in confusion with my full mouth.