Chapter 14: Nagini

As soon as Tom finished speaking, Levi felt the ground beneath them become unsteady...

Clearly, the floor was about to collapse!

At the very moment the ground gave way, Levi quickly traced a simple gesture with both hands and silently muttered a spell.

“Shock absorption, halt the fall!”

With a loud crash, the entire living room floor cracked in half like a piece of chocolate being violently snapped!

Tom and Levi fell directly through the fissure!

Fortunately, Levi’s timely shock absorption spell prevented them from breaking their legs upon impact.

“Ah! What the hell is going on? It stinks!” Tom roared angrily.

But then Tom was rendered speechless, as the overwhelming stench made it hard to even breathe, let alone curse.

Levi covered his nose and looked around. Dust from the collapsing floor slowly settled.

A faint light filtering down from above illuminated the surroundings just enough to see a little, though the farther reaches remained pitch black.

Levi soon realized where they had fallen—they were in the sewers!

“Gather Qi!” Levi muttered another spell, casting a protective bubble over both their heads. Two transparent spheres formed, successfully sealing out the foul sewer smell.

Tom, surprised, reached up and touched the clear bubble above his head, then looked at Levi with a complicated expression.

“Another one of your made-up spells?” Tom’s muffled voice came from inside the bubble.

“Now’s not the time for that, Tom...” Levi said cautiously, scanning their surroundings.

Tom shut his mouth, no longer speaking.

Partly, Levi’s ability to invent spells frustrated Tom, making him reluctant to talk.

But more pressing was the danger they were in.

Whoever or whatever could so easily collapse the floor was definitely not something to be taken lightly!

Rustling sounds echoed through the dusty air.

Uneasy, Tom couldn’t help but say, “Maybe we should just run…”

Before he could finish, a huge snake head suddenly burst from the darkness ahead!

The monstrous serpent opened its blood-red maw, revealing sharp fangs, and lunged straight at Tom’s head!

Startled, Tom froze in place as if his legs had been cast in iron, unable to move.

He could only watch helplessly as the snake’s jaws snapped toward him.

“Barrier!” Levi shouted.

With a sharp *thunk*, his barrier spell struck the snake’s head, pushing it back half a meter!

“Tom! Stop standing there like an idiot! Say something!” Levi yelled.

“Say… say what?” Tom, still dazed from the attack and near death, couldn’t think clearly and didn’t respond.

The snake shook its head and charged again.

*Thunk!* Another barrier spell hit its head, repelling it once more.

“Tom! Talk to it!”

Levi shouted while casting a petrification spell.

But the spell, which had never failed before, bounced off the snake’s dark green scales.

Still, the brief pause gave Tom time to recover.

“Hisssss…” Tom summoned his serpent speech again.

The serpent tongue skill allowed control over snakes, and this time it worked.

The great snake halted its attack upon hearing Tom’s voice.

Yet, it kept its head tilted, watching the two young humans warily.

“What is it saying to you?” Levi asked cautiously while keeping an eye on the snake.

“It...” Tom frowned, “It’s not saying anything!”

“What did you say to it?”

“I... I ordered it to leave!”

The massive serpent flicked its giant forked tongue, staring silently.

“I think… we should get out of here first,” Levi said decisively.

“I agree.” For the first time, Tom wholeheartedly agreed with Levi’s suggestion. “But... why won’t it obey?”

“Maybe you’re still too weak. Would you obey someone weaker than you?”

Levi’s blunt words stung Tom’s young pride, but there was no time to dwell on it.

Just as they were deciding how to escape—

*Hiss!*

The great snake launched another attack!

Levi fired a barrier spell again, but it was less effective this time.

The snake’s jaws grazed Levi’s shoulder, biting the ground beneath.

Tom’s face turned pale as he hissed another command, “Hisssss! (I order you to retreat!)”

A flicker of mockery flashed in the snake’s eyes as it raised its head, ready to strike again.

Levi’s heart sank. In the narrow confines of the sewer, there was no way to outrun such a beast.

It seemed their only option was to fight to the death…

Yet the snake’s resistance to magic was absurdly high!

Levi braced himself to give it his all.

He had only just begun learning magic; with another week of practice, he might not have been forced into such desperation.

Then suddenly, the serpent stopped moving and began trembling violently!

“Hiss…”

Tom looked at Levi in confusion as the snake seemed possessed, screaming loudly.

“You did this again?”

“If I had that power, would I be running away? Enough! Let’s move now. Once we reach the surface, we’re safe!”

“Wait!” Tom grabbed Levi’s arm, turning to the snake with shock.

“What is it?”

“It… it spoke!”

“What did it say?”

Levi frowned. Whatever the snake said must have deeply shocked Tom; otherwise, he wouldn’t have stopped in his tracks.

“It said… we should run quickly! It’s temporarily in control of itself…” Tom looked at Levi, puzzled.

Levi glanced at the snake. Its trembling had ceased, and its body steadied. Its eyes were now clear, devoid of the viciousness from before.

“Tom... ask it its name,” Levi said thoughtfully.

Tom gave Levi a strange look but complied.

After a moment, Tom said, “It says its name is Nagini…”