In a moment of desperation, Claude held the torch in his left hand in front of him and pulled out the musket at his waist with his right hand. He only heard a few clicks before he remembered that the musket wasn't lit and the musket was completely useless. He immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
The gaping maw was nowhere to be seen. It had probably been repelled by the torch.
Amidst the sparks, Claude noticed that a black python had appeared out of nowhere. Its body was covered in mud and its head was raised, its red forked tongue flicking in and out of its mouth. Its two green eyes stared coldly at Claude.
Damn … I knew treasure hunting would never go smoothly … That was the first thought that came to Claude's mind.
At this moment, he could only feel his legs trembling uncontrollably. I-I hate snakes the most. Although the snake stew that Boss brought me to pick up girls was very delicious, and Boss even said that it had an aphrodisiac effect … but, but this is a python, not those little snakes that were put into the pot …
Calm down, calm down … I can't let my imagination run wild. He forced himself to calm down. He still had a chance. The gun in his hand was his biggest trump card.
Even though he only had one shot, it was less than three meters away. It should be enough to deal enough damage. As long as he hit the python's head, he would be able to kill it in one shot. Not to mention, the python didn't seem all that big. He couldn't afford to be afraid.
Claude panted heavily as cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
However, he couldn't care less about that. He stared at the python in front of him and slowly moved the gun in his right hand closer to the torch in his left hand, ready to light the match.
Claude could now clearly see the appearance of the black python. It had a body as thick as a bowl and was about three meters long. It had two sharp fangs. Even though he didn't know if it was poisonous, he breathed a sigh of relief. It shouldn't be a python, right? If it was a seven-meter-long python from the videos he watched in his previous life, Claude might feel despair. This one, on the other hand, didn't look like he had the courage to fight for his life. It was still too early to tell who would emerge victorious.
The match of the short gun slowly moved closer to the torch. Finally, with a "chi la" sound, the match started to sparkle.
At the same time, he couldn't help but shift his attention from the python to the fire ropes.
In that short instant, the black shadow attacked.
The black python suddenly sprang out of the mud and shot over like a sharp arrow.
Claude knew that things weren't looking good for him. That brief moment of distraction had allowed him to be caught by the black python. He used the same trick again and hurriedly used his torch to block.
However, he did not expect that the black shadow that attacked him would not retreat or dodge. Instead, it rammed straight into the torch …
Claude felt his left hand take a huge blow. The torch disappeared and a putrid stench assailed his nostrils.
Immediately after, he felt as if a cold and disgusting rope was wrapped around his waist and moved upwards along his shoulders. The force of the rope tightened around his waist and shoulders. Claude could no longer stand and his entire body was dragged backwards before he fell into the mud.
From the moment the black python sprang up to the moment Claude fell to the ground, it had only been a few blinks of an eye. The only thing Claude could be thankful for was that his hands weren't bound. He was still holding the gun in his right hand. Even though the torch in his left hand was gone, he could still move his hand. However, his left hand couldn't grab the python's body at all. The python's body was covered in mud and he couldn't even grab it.
With his hunting knife on his back, Claude tried to pull it out with his left hand, only to find that his shoulder and waist were bound tightly by the python. He couldn't pull it out at all. The black python raised its head again and opened its mouth to bite at Claude's face.
Claude hurriedly used the gun in his right hand to block his face. The python bit down on the barrel of the gun. Fortunately, the gun was quite long at around 60 centimeters and the snake's mouth almost swallowed half of the gun. Due to the force of the bite, the two long fangs sank into the wooden stock of the gun and he couldn't pull it out.
Claude was overjoyed. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he realized that the match he lit during the fight had already been extinguished.
Damn, it really is a case of when it rains, it pours!
Claude cursed his bad luck. At that moment, the black python could only shake its head wildly due to its fangs being stuck in the gun. Claude held on tightly to the gun to prevent it from escaping, but the python's long body was coiled tighter and tighter, making Claude feel more and more suffocated.
In his daze, he saw two burning torches on a nearby shrub. Claude's eyes lit up and he kicked wildly in the mud. He didn't know what he stepped on, but he managed to use the momentum to roll towards the torches with the python.
He reached out with his left hand and a torch appeared in his hand. The black python was still struggling with the gun. When it saw the torch in Claude's left hand, it shook its head even more vigorously. Claude almost couldn't hold on to the gun anymore.
Claude didn't even think about using the torch to chase the black python away. He only tried his best to press the torch against the shaking gun. With a sizzling sound, the match was lit once more. This time, it was very close to the medicine box. Claude gritted his teeth. Life or death depended on this moment. He pulled the trigger with all his might.
The sparking match was stuffed into the medicine box. Bang! The violent vibrations almost caused the gun to fall out of his hand.
The python head that was swaying in front of him suddenly stiffened the moment the gunshot rang out.
It was only a short instant, but Claude felt like a long time had passed.
The black python abruptly raised its head and Claude could no longer hold on to the gun in his hand and let it fall.
The black python's body trembled violently. Its long body tightened around Claude for a moment before gradually relaxing. Finally, the snake's head fell straight down and rolled in the mud for a while until it stopped moving.
Claude lay in the mud, panting heavily. He only managed to sit up after a long while. He pushed the snake's body away and struggled to stand up with the help of the bushes.
His entire body hurt. He didn't know whether it was because of the python's grip or because he was exhausted from the fight.
Fortunately, he wasn't bitten by the python and all his body parts were still intact. He didn't lose any limbs or any other heavy injuries either.
There was also a torch stuck in the bushes. Claude didn't care whether the ground was covered in mud or not. He had already rolled on it a few times, so there was no need for him to use the bushes as a foothold.
He took the torch and placed it on the bushes. Not long after, the bushes were set ablaze and turned into a huge fire.
Using the light from the fire, Claude found the extinguished torches on the mud and lit them up again. He tossed the torches on the other three bushes and three more fires were started.
The light from the four fires was enough for Claude to see his surroundings clearly. He could even vaguely make out the outline of the basement.
The basement was huge and spanned about three to four hundred square meters. Apart from the messy ground around him, there was only black mud in the distance.
Claude only had two reasons for lighting the four fires. First, he wanted to be able to see his surroundings clearly and prevent himself from being ambushed by the python again.
Second, the fire was a threat to beasts that lived in the dark like pythons. At the very least, it gave him a greater sense of security than a few torches.
Not to mention, it wasn't easy for him to deal with a python. He didn't want to meet another one when he was finishing up. His gun was still in the python's mouth. If it had any other companions, he wouldn't be able to find them even if he cried. He wouldn't be able to make it out alive.
He drew the hunting knife from his back and carefully approached the motionless python on the ground.
Even though he had fired a shot in the python's mouth, he couldn't guarantee that he had killed it.
In his previous life, he had read about a man who saw a snake's head cut off by a chef and kicked it. He didn't think that the snake's head would actually move and bite the man's toe. By the time he was sent to the hospital, the poison had already taken effect and he died.
That was a lesson to be learned from.
When dealing with snakes, patience and caution were a matter of course.
Claude slowly approached the snake's head and paid attention to its movements at all times.
The python lay motionlessly in the mud.
The tip of the hunting knife was aimed at the black python's eye. Claude grit his teeth and pressed down with all his might. The tip of the knife penetrated the snake's eye and went straight through its brain. The black python's body twitched violently as if it had been struck by lightning before it stopped moving.
Claude was still worried that the python wasn't completely dead yet, so he used the knife to poke at its brain a few more times to make sure that it was truly dead before he pulled the knife out.
Then, he used a hunting knife to pry open the black python's mouth and pulled out the short gun from its sharp fangs …
It was only then that Claude noticed that the python's fang had pierced a hole through the poplar wood butt of the gun. It was no wonder that it couldn't remove its mouth from the gun no matter how hard it tried, giving Claude the chance to kill it in one shot.
He switched to a spare match, cleaned the barrel and loaded it again. Only after that did he calm down with the gun in hand.
After stabbing the hunting knife in place, he picked up a torch and trudged through the mud to the back of the stone stairs. He didn't care about the filth on the ground and crouched down. He placed the gun beside him and slowly pulled out the jade box from the hole.
After shining the torch into the cave and making sure that there was nothing inside, he stuck the torch into the ground and picked up the gun. He carried the jade box to the rope ladder and stuck the gun on his waist before climbing up.
After exiting the entrance, Claude knelt on the ground. Only then did he feel a sense of security.
He placed the jade box gently in front of him and wiped the mud off his hands on his clothes before opening the lid of the box.
The box wasn't the kind with a top lid and bottom lid. Instead, it looked more like the red wine boxes in his previous world. The lid was pushed open and there were slots on both sides of the box.
The lid was made of the same material, but it was thin and light, yet sturdy. He couldn't understand why such a thin piece of jade wouldn't crack or break. But when he thought about how it was a magus' box, he didn't find it strange at all.
There were indeed two diaries, a notebook, and a deerskin pouch with a bulging pouch of gold coins inside, just as Landes had said.
Apart from that, there was nothing else.
Landes wasn't lying. He was indeed a pauper among magi.
Claude closed the lid of the box and breathed a sigh of relief.
He had achieved his goal in coming to Egret. Even though he did face some danger, the outcome was good and his life wasn't in danger.
But what should he do next?
Claude didn't want his three companions to know about Landes, but he couldn't hide the fact that he fought the black python in the basement, especially when he was covered in mud.
So, he had to think carefully about how he should phrase it. Even though Borkal, Eriksson, and Welikro were the same age as him, they were much more sophisticated and sharp compared to the other students in the class. Perhaps it was due to the teachings of their fathers.
Even though they didn't do well in school, that was because they weren't interested in studying. It didn't mean that they weren't smart.
That was also why the three of them were able to hang out with Claude and become good friends.
They looked down on the rest of the students in the class, thinking that they were hypocritical and unreal …