The velvet cushions inside the merchant’s wagon were a massive upgrade from the cold forest dirt. For the first hour of the ride, I just lay there completely invisible, enjoying the smooth rocking of the carriage as it rolled down the cobblestone road.
[System: Enjoying the luxury ride, are we? Don’t fall asleep on the job, potato. You’re resting your tail right on top of a secret compartment.]
I shifted my invisible body. The System was right. Beneath the thick layer of velvet blankets, the wooden floor of the crate felt uneven. I nudged a few pillows aside with my nose and looked down. Hidden under the cloth was a small, brass-rimmed trapdoor built directly into the bottom of the wagon.
It didn’t have a giant lock. Instead, a small, silver plate was set into the wood, glowing with faint red runes.
’Is it a trap?’
[System: It’s an alarm rune. If a human touches it without the proper key ring, it yells like a stuck pig. But you aren’t a human. You’re a Tier 3 Phantom Viper. Slide your tail under the brass hinge where the magic wire doesn’t connect.]
I followed the instructions perfectly. Using my thin, slippery tail, I jimmied the latch from the side, bypassing the glowing silver plate completely. With a quiet click, the small wooden door open.
Inside the dark little hole sat a single, velvet-lined box. I pushed the lid open with my chin. Resting on the black cloth was a gold pocket watch that didn’t have any hands. Instead of numbers, the face of the watch had tiny, rotating crystals that glowed with a strange, warm orange light.
[Target Acquired: Chrono-Registry (Tier 3 Magical Artifact)]
[Effect: Distorts local space-time perception for the user, granting a passive 20% increase to reaction speed and movement prediction.]
[Biomass Potential: Extreme (If consumed)]
’A pocket watch that makes me faster?’ My snake eyes widened out of thin air. ’Can I just eat it?’
[System: You can swallow anything if you unhinge your jaw wide enough, Barry. But if you crunch this down right now, the magic burst will blow your invisibility sky-high. Tuck it under your scales next to Suzy’s token. We’ve got bigger problems right in front of us.]
I quickly wrapped my tail around the gold watch, yanked it out of the hidden box, and shoved it deep under a thick fold of my translucent scales alongside the silver guild note. I kicked the trapdoor shut and rearranged the velvet pillows just as the wagon suddenly ground to a heavy halt.
Outside, the loud, booming voices of city guards cut through the air.
"Halt! State your business and present your merchant license!" a guard barked.
The fat merchant on the driver’s seat cleared his throat, his silk robes rustling. "Ah, good morning, officer! Delivering a fresh batch of mana crystals to the Silver Crest Guild under Lady Bae Suzy’s personal order. Here is the manifest."
I peeked through a small gap in the wooden crates. We were sitting right in front of the grand gates of the capital city. The walls were massive, built from solid white stone that stretched high into the sky. But right in the middle of the entrance archway hung a huge, glowing blue crystal eyeball suspended by heavy iron chains.
The crystal eye was slowly scanning every single person and cart passing through the gate, casting a bright blue cone of light over the trail.
"Hold on," the guard muttered, looking up at the glowing crystal. "The Detection Eye is flashing yellow. There is an active monster signature inside the rear cargo box."
[System: Code Red, potato! The invisible scales fool human eyes, but that magic eyeball reads the soul signature. If that blue light hits this crate, you’re going to turn into a target practice dummy for twenty guards with heavy crossbows.]
’How do I fool a giant magic eyeball?!’ I panicked, my coils tightening up. ’Can I use ’Heavy Sludge Bomb’ to blind it?’
[System: If you fire mud at a government gate, they will turn this wagon into a pile of toothpicks. Use the watch, Barry! The gold watch you just stole! It distorts local space. Activate it right now!]
I didn’t ask questions. I squeezed the gold pocket watch hidden under my scales with my core muscles. The orange crystals inside the watch flared with a sudden, silent heat.
Instantly, the world around me slowed to a crawl. The guard’s hand moving toward the wagon latch looked like it was frozen in ice. The blue cone of light from the magic eyeball drifted across the cart at a snail’s pace.
[Chronos Distortion Active: 5 Seconds Remaining.]
I didn’t waste a millisecond. I slipped out from between the velvet cushions like a streak of invisible mist. Thanks to the time distortion and my Active Camouflage, I slid down the side of the wooden wheel, dropped onto the cobblestone floor, and slithered right between the guard’s legs before the blue light could even touch the crate I had been hiding in.
I scrambled into the dark shadow of the main wall, pressing my invisible scales against the cold white stone just as the watch’s energy ran out.
The world snapped back to normal speed with a loud pop.
The guard blinked, looking at his empty hand, then rubbed his eyes. The magic eyeball above the gate turned back to a peaceful, solid blue color, its yellow warning light turning off completely.
"False alarm," the guard grumbled, shaking his head. "Probably just a stray mana rat chewing on the axles earlier. Move it along, merchant."
The fat merchant let out a sigh of relief, snapped the reins, and the heavy wagon rumbled through the grand archway and into the bustling, noisy streets of the capital city.
I lay perfectly still in the shadows of the main wall, my invisible body shaking slightly as I let out a long, hot hiss of pure relief. I had made it into the capital without spending a single copper coin, I had a magical pocket watch tucked under my belt, and Bae Suzy’s merchant guild was somewhere just down the main street.
’System,’I thought, a cold, greedy smile forming inside my snake head. ’We are officially in the big leagues. Let’s go find the boss lady and get my money.’
[System: Not so fast, hero. Look at the main street. The Silver Crest Guild hall is easy to find, but the front doors are currently surrounded by a dozen high-level bodyguards wearing matching silver armor. And guess who is standing right next to them?]
I peeked around the corner of the wall. Standing right on the steps of the grand guild hall was Barnaby and the Captain. They were covered in bandages, their faces pale, and they were talking frantically to a tall man with a long scar across his eye.
"I swear it was a demon, Commander!" the Captain wailed, pointing his bandaged nose toward the sky. "It was an invisible, talking black snake that casts stone spells and robs people! It’s coming to the capital to kill us all!"