BXBX NOVEL Chapter 173 - Arsinoe
Back in the cave, a certain snake with spade-like speckles was not in a good mood.
Stuck in a hole in the ground, she paced around in annoyance, thinking about her current circumstance. Although her cell was deep and shaped like a cube with unnaturally smooth sides, such a depth did nothing to faze her.
If she tried hard enough, she was confident she could climb out after a few attempts – this was after all one of the shallow cells. They had passed several others on the way here, some so deep she could barely see their bottom. Compared to those, this cell was nothing.
Still, she hesitated because Morgana had forbidden her from climbing out until her punishment time was up. If she tried to get out, the strict captain promised to throw her into one of the cells containing monster eggs.
That threat, she took very seriously because she believed Morgana would absolutely do it.
The spaded snake valued her life and did not want to be the first meal of whatever horrible monster hatched from them.
However, the threat did not stop her from improving her defensive skills by repeatedly throwing herself against the wall of her cell. Her body throbbed with pain, but it was better than being idle.
As she slipped down the umpteenth time, Artemis\'s voice was heard.
[How long will you keep this up? I need a quiet space to think.]
He occupied the cell next to hers and although she couldn\'t see him, his voice was loud and clear. He hadn\'t stopped complaining since she started training and so she ignored him like she had done before.
However, his next question struck a nerve, reminding her why she was so annoyed.
[So, what did she name you?]
At his words, she lost her grip and fell, startling Artemis.
[What are you doing in there?] he complained.
[Training…] she hissed in reply.
It hurt where she landed, but the pain quickly grew numb and she couldn\'t help bringing up her stats menu because it was just so addictive.
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Arsinoe [LV7 Neonate Cerastes]
HP: 74/74 Defence: 70
MP: 59/59 Intellect: 52
SP: 76/76 Magic: 58
Attack: 71 Agility: 77
Skills:
[Buoyancy:LV7] [Scent: LV4] [Grip: LV6]
[Evasion: LV3] [Opalescent Scales: LV3]
[Spherical Form: LV4] [Camouflage: LV4]
[Strength: LV4] [Rugged Scales: LV7]
[Cooperation: LV4] [Steel Skin: LV4]
[Silence: LV6] [Determination: LV5]
[Rapid Strike: LV5] [Fortune: LV4]
[Poison Fang: LV8] [Solidity: LV3]
[Concentration: LV5] [Glide: LV6]
[Floating Ribs: LV5] [Leap: LV6]
[Stealth: LV8] [Persistent: LV4]
[Heat Sense: LV6] [Bite: LV5]
[Impact Enhancement: LV2]
[Danger Perception: LV1]
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Titles:
[Pit Member] [Hero]
Attribute:
[Status Inspection]
Resistances:
[Pain Resistance: LV7]
[Impact Resistance: LV7]
[Shock Resistance: LV5]
[Wind Resistance: LV4]
[Mental Warfare: LV4]
[Dark Resistance: LV2]
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Her [Pain Resistance] had gone up again.
That made her pleased, but then she remembered the start menu was merely \'her\' tool. So she quickly closed it, but couldn\'t resist calling it up once more to take another peek.
Her [Rugged Scales], along with many other skills had gone up so quickly, and in a short time too.
So this was what it meant to be named?
She would have refused to use [Status Inspection], if it didn\'t contain so many interesting things, and seeing the effect of her training so clearly made her more motivated, and partly annoyed because she wasn\'t named sooner.
Now she knew how Galahad and Cygnus had surpassed her so quickly.
She let out a sigh and shook her head, determined to surpass those two soon. She glanced at the wall Artemis was behind and looked away before giving him a reply. [Arsinoe.]
The words of her name sounded strange to her and she wasn\'t quite used to it yet.
She would have felt better if Typhon was there to explain things to her, but not once did he look her way during the time she was named. He was also in support of her punishment and only briefly listened to her explanation before she was brought up to \'her\'.
Aside from Artemis, Galahad was the only one who truly supported her by asking Typhon for leniency, but instead he\'d tossed her into the fire himself, his reasoning being that since \'she\' was their leader, and that her fate was up to her to decide.
She\'d always had mixed feelings about \'her\'. First, she rescued her team making her feel a bit grateful, but Galahad told her she was very likely to be killed as punishment. And this made her feel wronged and afraid.
On the platform she looked at the creature she had sworn to kill so many times in her head, since the very day she\'d swooped in and stolen all of her friends, only for her bravery to leave her when she was rewarded with a name.
She wasn\'t expecting it at all, one second she was just waiting to die and the next moment she saw this strange wall of text.
A strange voice briefly called out her name and she remembered thinking it sounded beautiful, right before the voice vanished. And without any explanation she and Apollo were rushed off to the side, as the captains began discussing other matters.
She didn\'t overhear any of their conversations, but they all looked so cheerful, making her extremely jealous.
The last time she saw Typhon was when Morgana was bringing her and Artemis away, and even then he didn\'t pay any attention to her, and instead focused instead on the tiny, winged creature sitting on \'her\' head.
It was then she realised she was never taken seriously by anyone there.
It wasn\'t so long ago that they all used to hunt together, but now Typhon and Ophelia whom she admired, and the Cygnus and Galahad who used to be her companions, no longer cared for her as much anymore.
Was it because she was weak?
Afterwards she was thrown in her cell, and she hadn\'t seen any of them since. Aside from Artemis who was stuck in the next cell, it was so quiet. It was only much later that she was informed by one of her team members that Typhon had left the cave with \'her\'.
Galahad and Cygnus were always training, Ophelia was too busy to visit the cells since she was placed in charge and Morgana was busy with…something.
To Arsinoe, her time in the cell was equivalent to torture.
She\'d never felt so ignored before!
She hated to admit it, but she was no match for \'her\', neither could she match Typhon anymore. But this didn\'t stop her from feeling hurt, as they had gone through so much in the beginning.
When she was just a hatchling, she had succeeded in climbing the wall.
Then, there was no one in charge and they were all very hungry. So she left the cave to find something to eat, only to be attacked by a crawling creature with many legs.
At the time, she had no idea what to do, and she would have died if not for Typhon who attacked the creature and saved her. And since then, she saw him as the only leader she would follow.
Where was \'she\' when their cave was attacked by a fearsome winged monster? Or when one of the many legged creatures crawled in?
They had almost died so many times and it was only through the combined efforts of Typhon and Ophelia that they were still alive. And yet, for them to give up their rightful place seemed completely insane to her.
As her continuous effort gained her another level in [Rugged Scales], the status menu she stared at so gleefully, gradually became offensive to her.
Suppressing her curiosity to see what else had improved, she closed it and began to pace around her cell.
Now that she thought about it, when she was being named, it felt so casual. \'Her\' dark eyes only met hers briefly, giving Arsinoe the impression she was named as an afterthought.
There was no gesture of approval, or even a nod from her, rather \'she\' looked utterly bored and seemed very keen to move on.
After all the excitement created by the others when they got their names, her naming felt rather lacklustre.
Did she even care?
The captains were too busy with their own agendas to celebrate, aside from Typhon who gave her a nod of approval, no one else cared. And this realisation made her angry - [Everything was so much simpler before \'she\' arrived.]
[In order words, you want everything to be about you?] Artemis sarcastically added, and she nearly leapt in fright, realising she had spoken out loud.
[It\'s none of your concern.] She shot back.
[It is my concern, if you\'re going to speak like that.] Artemis replied.
[You\'re not a captain right now, I don\'t have to listen to you.]
[My punishment is only temporary.] Artemis casually replied. [Once this is over, I can put you right back in here, so you should be careful what you say to me.]
[You-!] Arsinoe had reached her limit. Who did he think he was?
She couldn\'t stand his annoying voice any longer!
And she couldn\'t wait to get out!
Once she did, her singular aim was to challenge him to a spar and beat him until he could no longer speak.