That time I was reincarnated as a snake (Tensura)

"It's time for the du-du-duel!" I shouted into the wind.

"..."

'But I think I'll leave that for tomorrow,' I curl deep into the rabbit hole to rest.

'A lot has happened today, from spending hours working on a project for the company only to die by Camion-Kun, to being reincarnated in the slime anime, although I would have preferred other worlds, although it's not all bad.'

'Being scared to death by seeing Veldora, as well as facing my first life-or-death battle and suffering at the hands of a rabbit, the kind you find in the newbie village in RPGs.'

'I have a hiding place for now, but I can't rely on this alone. "A clever rabbit has several burrows," I must find more hiding places,' I thought as I slowly fell unconscious from fatigue.

Several hours later...

In the middle of the night

* Roarrrr *

I woke up hastily due to a roar near my hiding place.

I slowly poked my head outside, only to see a couple of bears fighting, which puzzled me.

'A pair of horned bears,' I thought, as I noticed a horn on their foreheads.

'Why would they be fighting in the middle of the night? Territory, food or...?' I see far away from them what appears to be another horned bear watching the fight.

I look back and forth between the fighting bears and the odd bear on the sidelines several times until I come to a conclusion.

'A fight for the lady,' I nod at my deduction.

'But seriously! They couldn't wait to fight in the morning, some of them are trying to sleep,' I complained.

I continue watching the fight between the two beasts, as I wake up completely.

Bear A lunged at Bear B with his entire body. At the last moment, Bear B dodged and counterattacked with a bite on Bear B's left hind leg.

A, angry at the injury, turned around quickly and with his right paw tore at B's face, making him furious with pain.

They exchanged increasingly stronger blows, without technique, without planning, just a battle of physical strength, flesh hitting flesh, a battle of men.

With each passing moment, the fight becomes more violent. They went from just charging at each other at first, to a fight on two feet, using their sharp claws and horn to tear and stab each other.

Their constant blows destroy the forest around them, each of their blows giving me the feeling of a direct death if I were their target.

More and more wounds can be seen on the two horned bears.

Seeing his condition, an idea crossed my mind.

'If I wait until one of them loses, then follow it until it takes a break and attack it by surprise, I could reap a lot of magiculas,' I smiled at the magiculas of a bear that size.

Little by little my smile disappears at the sight in front of me.

The big guys went wild, not caring about anything, they attacked each other more fiercely, they didn't even care about dodging anymore, they were playing a game of one wins and the other dies.

I feel a little sad that the ambush plan failed before it even started, but oblivious to that, as I watched their fight something inside me ignited.

An admiration for these powerful warriors, the determination to risk their lives to achieve their goals, using only their strength to surpass their limits and defeat their rival.

Losing track of time, I continued to watch and wait for the outcome of this epic battle.

Until the long-awaited thing happened, bear A hit bear B's shoulders with his claws from above, but that left his head exposed, and with all his strength bear B stuck his horn into his temple.

Game over for Bear A.

Bear B, as the winner, stood on two feet and let out a mighty roar at the starry sky, proclaiming his victory.

'That's a real man,' I nodded at his well-earned victory.

And when I thought the show was over and I was getting ready to go back to sleep, I saw something that left me speechless.

Bear B approached the bear that had remained out of the fight, knocked him to the ground on his back and proceeded to sit on him and then...

I looked at the scene in amazement, apparently it was not a fight between men for the lady, but a fight between ladies for the man.

'The females are indeed fierce in this world,' I thought as I watched the poor male bear suffer the female's offensive, only to feel sorry for him.

'This will be a story to laugh about in the future,' I turned around and went back to rest.

As I listen to the pitiful cries of the male bear, I proceed to sleep.

A ray of light coming in and hitting my face was the first thing I saw when I woke up.

'Another day alive,' I stretched my body to fully wake up.

'I have to look for some prey today, I'm feeling quite hungry,' I slipped out of my hiding place, careful not to be seen by any predator.

After climbing up into the branches of the tree, I looked around.

'Looks like after having their fun, the horned bears took the loser as their ration,' I shrugged.

'That's the law of the jungle, you kill or you get killed,' I slipped between the branches of the trees to stay hidden and look for a possible breakfast.

Two hours later...

'From what I was able to learn in these hours, the strong monsters tend to be alone, but they are strong enough that I cannot deal with them, while the weak ones group together, managing to defeat the strong ones by means of human waves,' I remember how I saw a group of thirty goblins with stone spears manage to defeat a boar with blood red fur. Obviously they suffered casualties, many casualties, almost all of them died except two.

If you're wondering why I didn't attack and eat them, the answer is that their reinforcements arrived after the battle was over.

'As for small and weak prey like the rabbit I ate, they seem to be good at hiding or there is no hiding place near my hiding place, I don't want to go too far away in case of emergency.'

I ponder who I should attack, a weak but accompanied prey or a solitary but strong prey.

Ten minutes later...

'Let's give goblins a chance, I want to see if they're worthy of their place as cliché monsters in fantasy worlds,' I slide between the branches in the direction where the group of goblins went.

I continued for what seemed like dozens of kilometers, until I saw a rudimentary village, with small skin houses scattered without any order on a small plain inside the forest.

I crept towards the trees closest to the village, poking my head out from between the leaves. With my thermal vision I could see at least 80 heat signatures, who knows if there are more individuals hunting at the moment.

'The best idea would be to wait for some lone individual to leave the village,' I relaxed on the branches of the tree to wait.

Ten minutes later...

'Almost'

30 minutes later...

'They should be out any minute.'

An hour later...

'Is it too much to ask for someone to move away?' I watched with fury in my eyes as the little goblins went about their daily duties.

When I thought I would go crazy waiting, a small group of six individuals with baskets in their hands left the village.

Excited, I quickly followed them. After a while, I saw their target: they seemed to be bushes of some kind of berry. They came closer to pick them and put them in the baskets.

'I'll wait for them to finish and on the way back I'll attack them. At that point they'll let their guard down and have their hands full with the baskets to react to my attack.' He smiled at the next plan.

The goblins continued to pick berries unaware that an insidious guy is planning their death just a few meters away from them.

When everyone had finished their work, they proceeded to walk back to their village, alert for possible danger. Although they were not wearing armor, each had stone knives to defend themselves.

As they walked, they did not notice that between the treetops a snake was sliding in the same direction as them.

'I think with a ten minute head start I can prepare before they pass by here.' I slipped into a bush I saw them pass by earlier.

After ten minutes, I could see the group approaching me with my thermal vision.

'Wait... wait... now!' When all but the last one had passed me, I jumped on his head.

In one swift movement, I wrapped my body around his head, taking away his sight and ability to call for help. I quickly sank my fangs into his neck, and with the last of my energy from the jump, I pulled the goblin into the bush I was hiding behind.

'Perfect!' I rejoiced as I continued to hold the goblin down so it wouldn't make any noise, until...

The goblin died.

'Now the hard part, dealing with the rest.' I hear the panicked screams of the rest.

The goblins, noticing the disappearance of one of their companions, panicked, dropped their baskets and drew the knives from their waists, ready for battle.

I silently climbed up a tree until I was right above their heads, hidden in the shadows.

As the goblins continued to look around, searching for the aggressor, I continued to watch their actions, until I noticed that one of them seemed to be giving orders to the rest.

'That looks like the leader, he should be the next target.' I looked at him, as the group stood with their backs to each other to avoid blind spots.

Ironically, this left them blind to the true direction of the next attack.

Being careful not to make any noise, I adjusted my body to jump over the leader and...

* Swoosh *

I jumped towards his neck, this time with no intention of catching him, that would make me easy for the rest. I opened my mouth and activated poison bite.

Only the goblin's scream could be heard after I sank my fangs into him, but I didn't celebrate my success; the rest rushed towards me. I quickly broke free and slipped between their feet to dodge and confuse them.

One less, four to go.

With his knives trying to stab me, I slid behind the furthest one and repeating my actions, I bit his neck.

There are three left.

However, this time I was not so lucky. At the risk of harming his companion, another stabbed me. Luckily for me, it was not in the head.

Mad with the adrenaline of the moment, using my tail, I tied the arm he used to stab me to prevent me from pushing him away and bit him.

There are two left.

Leaving aside the goblins suffering from my poison on the ground, I see my last opponents.

They both look at me with angry faces, probably for killing their companions. Heh, as if I care.

We looked straight into each other's eyes for a few seconds, until...

The three of us rushed forward, me against two.

I know in my mind that I should retreat; I would just need to hide and wait for them to leave or ambush them again before they reach the village and I would win without too many injuries.

But...

I can't do it. While it's important to plan ahead and be cautious, you can't always run away; there are times when you have to overcome difficulties with courage.

A coward cannot become truly strong!

Especially in this world where only by having incredible willpower can one grow.

Like the fight between the horned bears that I saw.

Fight with all your spirit and all your strength, and if after reaching your limits you still don't succeed, at least you can say that you gave it your all!

The three of us crashed. One of them dropped his knife to try and catch me, only to fail, while the other aimed his at my head. I quickly moved my head to the side. Although I dodged it, it managed to leave a large cut on my left eye. With half of my vision disabled, things got complicated.

After seeing the fate of their companions at my hands, they were wary of my fangs and tail. I tried to bite them several times, without any success. I began to feel very tired; my magiculas were running out.

I have to find a solution quickly or I'll be breakfast today.

With a quick thought, I turned around and walked away from them. Seeing me trying to escape, they rushed after me.

I smile at the plan coming together. I slow down a bit and when it looked like one of them was going to stab me with his knife, I turn around, slide up his outstretched arm and bite his throat.

There is one left.

As I look at the last one, I give him a mocking smile. Unexpectedly, this one, instead of getting angry, quickly ran in the direction of the village, probably to alert the rest. I panicked at that possibility.

I chased him with all my might, but he was counting on that, so he took a path full of obstacles.

In the forest a small goblin could be seen running away from a snake at full speed.

Just a few minutes away from the village, the goblin was happy that he was almost there, imagining how his village would unite and kill this horrible snake.

But fate seemed not to favor this little fellow.

In his happiness he didn't notice a small stone in his path, and like in a 90s cartoon, he tripped and fell face first to the ground.

He quickly tried to get up with his hands, only for a shadow to envelop him.

'And so ends our favorite racer, defeated for believing he won too soon,' I laugh as I watch the last goblin lying on the ground.

'Before anyone notices, I must hide the bodies.' Without wasting any time, opening my jaws as wide as possible, I swallow the goblin and proceed to hide from sight while I digest it.

A few minutes later...

'One less to eat, I need to hurry or someone else might eat the rest.'

I quickly head to the previous battlefield.

Luckily for me, everything was as I left it, so I proceeded to drag them into the bushes with difficulty.

'Hehehehe, I'll be having a feast today,' I said as I looked at the bodies of five goblins in front of me.

'That was a really exciting experience.'

'My blood was boiling as I killed those guys. I wonder if I'm getting used to this world too quickly? I wasn't that bloodthirsty,' I muse.

'In all the excitement I didn't even notice when my eye was healed.'

'It seems my regeneration can indeed heal missing organs, that makes it ultra-fast regeneration at least.'

'Whatever, now the question is: Should I eat them all together to boost my evolution or slowly and use their magiculas as fuel to improve my resistances?' As I contemplate my options, the memory of how my low magicula capacity forced me to quickly end the battle again hits me.

'Yes, my biggest weakness right now is my low magicula capacity. If I end up with an empty tank every time I fight, sooner or later some opponent will take advantage of that, such as one with high defense and resistance. That will be my game over.' I nod and, without wasting any time, I swallow the goblins' bodies one by one.

After more than half an hour of digestion, I proceeded to notice my current state.

After several tests, I came to a conclusion.

'I'm at least twice as strong physically. As for my magicula capacity, if I test it again I'd be left empty, so I'd better test it in the next battle.'

In the distance I hear many footsteps running in this direction. I quickly climb up into the tree branches to hide and look down.

Like a small green tide, more than 40 goblins could be seen rushing to the place where the berry bushes were. They must have been worried that the group took a long time to return, so they came to look for them.

They searched everywhere, but only found the baskets with the berries, because I didn't have time to take care of them.

After more than an hour of searching, they seemed to give up and returned to their village, which I followed from a distance so as not to alert them.

From the top of a tree I saw them return, only for them to approach what seemed to be the largest house, from which emerged a goblin almost two meters tall, with a muscular build and carrying a wooden club, a clear anomaly compared to the rest of the village.

'A hobgoblin. This village has an evolved individual. While you may be able to deal with it alone, it has plenty of goblins who will protect it.' I stood watching the goblins inform their leader of their findings and hand him the baskets of berries, only for him to get angry and yell at the sky, in what I believe to be a threat.

'I may become their target for revenge, but after seeing how much I improved with just a few goblins and that there is a higher quality evolved individual, wiping out this village will be my next goal.' I smirk with a predatory look at the group of goblins milling around the hobgoblin.

After all...

"Goblins are like rats. No matter how many you kill, there are always more."

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Author's notes:

I hope you understood the reference in the chapter title ;).

I appreciate everyone who comments, both in paragraphs and in chapter comments. It tells me that people read what I write. Even though I started writing this on a whim, after not finding anything interesting to read and complaining to a friend about how fanfics are almost always the same, only to be told "then write your own," it's nice to have someone give you feedback and not just write for yourself. That would be the same as writing a boring essay.

In fact, that's why I'm writing it here, because I knew that if I wrote my fanfic in a file on my computer, I would get bored too quickly and leave it 😊 .

For those who leave questions in the paragraph comments, I may not read them. When the chapter is posted I am working and will only read it the next day or for many two days after, to review both paragraph and chapter comments. So, if you comment in the paragraphs three days after the chapter is posted, I will not see it because I do not reread all the chapters, I only review the chapter comments every day.

So if you have any questions, leave them in the comments of the chapter.

If you have any interesting ideas for subplots , so as to not just see a protagonist become stronger, I'm open to suggestions.

Without further ado, see you.