Any thoughts that I had of escape were quietly erased, eased into their helpless passing by the combination of blood loss and the slow-venom. Now that I had escaped, I could see a familiar cavern. I could see clusters of glow-caps, each casting shadows upon the empty walls. I could see the Great Core’s glow again, suffusing me with its light; it spilled from my shed scale-flesh with a soothing glow, easing over my terror and loss. I waited by the shore, salivating at the thought of what was to come. It took a great many hours, but proved more than worth the wait. The sound, too, was unmistakable. Falling water beat rapidly against the ground and the mana-water that fell before it, repeating again and again like the pulse of a drumming heart. i like the characters, certainly the mc. he is written with depth and I personally like how he rolls. some of the stuff he thinks is just downright funny, I really felt a connection with our awesome mc. I also like some of the side characters, I don't feel a connection with them like I do with the Mc, but there pretty good, and I think that there written really well.

That was who I was. That was whatI was. A tiny snake with great potential. The sole creation of the Great Core. In other news, there are a lot of parts of the story that either repeat something that just happened or that are so strongly reminiscent of something that happened long ago that the story itself is slower and repetitive because of it. Some parts of the story are a real slog to get through, especially some of the battles (which I found myself skimming over). I just binged through all 142 chapters and while the updates are frequent, I'm not sure if anything is happening fast enough for it to matter. the plot is good, certainly one of the better things about this book, I really liked it. it follows without much guidance from the author, it has alot of depth to it, and it's honestly just entertaining.

This book really reminded me of chrysalis, for those who read my chrysalis review you'd know i loved chrysalis. This book was so good!!!. Certainly one of my favorites, zandran brought alot to the table, and I don't know which one I like more. I'll certainly be getting the sequel, I can't wait to see how this story progresss!!!. The cavern’s edges were split in places; numerous small-tunnels dotted the walls. The sight was comforting, though I knew that each was an area from which a bad-thing could emerge. Still, each was a place that the mother Aridae could not follow. A thought-hiss kept my spore-puppets from staring; I didn’t know how long their eyes could suffer through the radiance. Already, I had been forced to remove the effects of [Ambusher’s Vision] on myself, flexing the tiny muscles around my eyes that controlled it. The light was bright, vibrant, and unforgiving.

A portion of the numbness left my mind and length. I wriggled with greater force, fighting against the slow-venom’s effects. Still, the shimmering threads of white held on tightly. Once pulled to the surface, however, finally freed from the bundle of threads that kept them trapped and away from the other bad-things, they flopped around helplessly. When my coils wrapped around the first, there was nothing it could do. The same was true for those that came after. I had seen enough of death to know that. I had seen the way that injured bad-things fell limp and quiet as blood burst from their skin-flesh. I had seen the way that they had struggled at first, desperately fighting to survive. I had seen the way that they had given up.The Aridae had made a mistake in challenging me. More importantly, it had made a mistake in challenging the Great Core’s wisdom. The Great Core had selected me as its sole defender, and had given me great potential to go alongside that position. Whatever it took, I would ensure that it would learn of its mistake. However long it took. Thought-hiss after thought-hiss sent spore-puppets across and beside the water. The former bad-things’ legs stepped across the surface without sinking, making the current slightly easier to fight. Less prone to digging in and sweeping them away. Even still, a few of the more damaged puppets were lost, crippled limbs forcing them to slip into the rushing water. I let them go, leaving them with the command to infest any bad-things they saw - though between their difficulty with the light and the loss of my direct supervision, I wasn’t clear on their chances.

Not to mention that the snake cannot get any information on the monsters he is going to fight with a skill like identification before the fight begins. It feels like most common trope skills in lit RPG stories are not there. Which makes the story less about leveling and interacting with the system, but more on how the snake interacts with his new human buddies.I especially like Valera's development. I feel like she is the most fleshed-out of the bunch. The female lead, so to speak. I let my venom course through me again, releasing it from my fangs. It did little, that time. Hopefully, that meant that my resistance had increased enough. Still, I wasn’t entirely sure. The Aridae’s slow-venom was more powerful than my own, in a way, even the infant’s. While it did not kill as mine did, it achieved much the same purpose. Even before it had taken effect entirely, it had prevented me from moving easily. Under its effect, the infant had managed to feel as threatening as a bad-thing more than twice its size. If our fight had gone on longer, it might have even won; I had been helpless once the slow-venom finished setting in, unable to move or defend myself at all. They spread from the alcove where the Aridae mother made her home, sweeping across the cavern’s ceiling. Were it not for the light of the glow-caps and the mana-water, the threads would have been nearly invisible. With the light, however, they were clear to see. The Great Core had saved me when all was lost. I would never doubt again. I could never doubt again.

And that is where I lost interest in the story because the start of the story was about discovery, survival and Battle. Where areas the later part of the story is more about relationship building, city building, and interpreting languages through facial features. The focus of the story changed too dramatically and not gradually. Sting] sparked in my mouth, just a little more powerful than before. I found myself idly chomping at the air, enjoying the pleasant spark, while my puppets freed the next bad-thing. With no more Tanglestings to consume, I had been forced to move on to the next-largest grouping of bad-things. They were sleek and thin, with a design that I almost admired. While underwater, they flitted about at high speeds, ambushing their prey and fleeing from the larger bad-things that preyed on them . Their scales, eyes, and teeth all held the blue of mana-water. Perfect predators of the deep were it not for their small size, almost invisible in the mana-water’s currents.Before I could manage to break free, we reached the cavern’s ceiling. It was a different world, viewed from this high. I would not have imagined that the glow-caps would look so small, that the giant pool of mana-water would appear so...limited. The giant Aridae touched the stone floor of the alcove. Her many, many legs flexed, cushioning the impact. Before I knew it, she was waiting next to me. Character: Valera is my favorite character. Female leads are usually done poorly because they are written as if they are not human. But rather some weak things that need their hands held. But from the compassion of the characters to their willingness to get the job done, one can see the strength of their character. There are some hints that it's a time loop story, but it really isn't if only because the resets are difficult and have big consequences. What it does mean is that the author gets a do-over if a plot line goes sideways and while not really abused, it's kind of always there. There's a bit of a meta-realization much later by the protagonist regarding this, but it's not clear how that'll shake out for now. The end result is that the story has a fly by seat of pants quality to it and really there are no limitations on where the story could go.