I Know the Secret to Surpass Level 100

Chapter 172: A Giant Snake

A victorious smirk was plastered on Elliot's face. He watched the three help the villagers clean the pheasants for them to cook as their supper. It had been a few hours after Viper finished his task and Elliot was still ecstatic about how Viper put it into words.

Because honestly, he could have answered just "by leveling up". Their system allows them to level up, but the system does not provide the means to level up. It just counts your efforts.

And Viper's words of "growth" was not something that Elliot expected.

"So, there's this thing we're we do in the village to extend the preservation of food," Emelda said to the three. "You're going to need a lot of salt for this. You want to wrap your meat with cloth, like so."

As she just said, Emelda wrapped the meat of the pheasant with a cloth. She took a jar, that made Elliot wonder how she managed to carry, and then Emelda placed the clothed meat inside the jar. She then took a lid and placed it on the jar, sealing it.

"So, this jar is filled with salt. And with this technique, your meat would be preserved for days," Emelda said. "That is if you don't have ice."

"Woah," Christina and Florencia chrosued. Viper knew all about this considering that he came from a generous background.

The two meanwhile, are born with gold spoons in their mouths. They're daughters of nobles. When a noble has a son, they treat him like a sword. Sharp, strong, and powerful. But when a noble conceives a daughter, they treat her like a flower, gentle, delicate, and sophisticated.

Thus, why Florencia and Christina has never had the luxury of doing chores.

"So, you're learning about these stuff," Elliot said from behind them. "You're learning to become a true Adventurer. That's very nice, girls."

The girls jolted at the sound of his voice but immediately recovered, blushing at the compliment.

"We're going to be traveling a lot together," Florencia said. "I want to help out with you somehow."

Elliot raised his hands and ruffled their hair, smiling at them. "Thank you. You're both going to be great allies someday."

"So, I smell a competition," Dan whispered to Viper. "Those two girls have the look Emelda gave me when we were younger. She was the most beautiful woman in the whole village."

Viper gulped nervously, looking at Florencia and realizing that Dan was right. "Are you sure about that?"

"A hundred percent," Dan said. "They're girls. They look up to men who are strong that could protect them. They're weak for that type of men and Elliot fits the bill just fine."

"So, girls like strong men?" Viper asked. "If I get stronger, do I become worthy of being a girl's crush?"

Dan's eyes widened. He turned to Viper and then back at the three. "So, you like one of the girls?"

Viper's face instantly lit up with a red color. He almost choked on air as he coughed it out, clutching his stomach as he did.

"What are you even talking about?" Viper gasped. "I do not."

"And the look on your face is the same one I had when I told my friends I don't like Emelda," Dan deadpanned. "You can fool a blind man, but never a man with plenty of experience."

"Okay, fine, maybe I kind of like her," Viper pouted. "But if she likes someone else, what can I do?"

"Listen," Dan slung his arm over Viper's neck. "What girls and women want is a strong man, right? Aside from that, they want a man who would make them feel like they're loved. A man who would fight for them."

"A-A man who would fight for them," Viper repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me on this," Dan grinned. "Emelda was actually an orphan back then and my parents are the village leaders. They didn't want Emelda, for obvious reasons, but then I fought for her. Now nineteen years in our marriage, and she's still crazy over me."

"Woah," Viper exhaled in awe. "That's very nice. I wish I was as brave as you."

"You can be," Dan said. 

Viper was about to say something when the ground shook. The villagers were whispering to themselves about what could've caused it.

"Everyone, calm down," Elliot said, raising his hands to put the villagers at ease. "It may just be an earthquake"

A large snake erupted from the ground behind him. Elliot froze when he heard the strong impact of the snake.

"Oh, sh*t," Dan gasped. "That's a giant snake!"

"Where are we?" Florencia cried. "Why are there so many beasts in here?"

"We're at a region where Adventurers are not as common," Elliot yelled. "And these beasts would procreate like crazy, that should answer your question."

"What do we do now?" Florencia asked. "Do we kill it?"

"I'll distract it first, you three need to evacuate the villagers," Elliot said. "And don't you worry about me. I can handle this."

Elliot blasted himself to the side, calling the attention of the snake by firing Lotus Blast into the air. The bright light from the attack took the attention of the snake, slithering to where its coming from.

"Okay, Elliot is distracting the snake, everyone, let's go!" Florencia said and let Christina lead the villagers out of the snake's way. She knew that Elliot could handle the snake well but it still didn't stop her from worrying about his safety.

"Florencia, let's go," Christina yelled, sapping Florencia out of her thoughts.

They ran away with the villagers, the snake was still following Elliot, but when his attack had ended, it felt the mass number of people.

It stopped in its tracks and glanced at the single boy in front of it. It hissed before slithering to where it felt the villagers are.

"Guys! It's coming your way!" Elliot yelled and ran as fast as he can to catch up.

Viper, who was the first one to hear this, brandished his sword and ran to another direction.

"Viper!" Christina yelled. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Girls like brave men, girls like brave men, girls like brave men," Viper repeated like a mantra. He kept running and when he felt the snake nearby, he yelled as loud as he could. "Hey, ugly snake!"

Feeling the energy flow in his body, Viper raised his sword and felt it glow with a purplish black color.

"Hey, snake come get some of this!" Viper yelled raising his sword against the snake who was slithering towards him now. "Poison Rogue!"

He blasted his aura with a purplish black beam, hitting the snake in the face which made a smirk etch in his lips. When his attack died down, the smirk was instantly wiped off when the snake didn't even got hurt.

"Oh," Viper lowered his sword. "I'm a loser."