Swallowing the Founder’s Soul Stone didn’t come with an instant ding or a clean stat upgrade. The moment the white pebble slid down my throat, it felt like I had just swallowed a solid block of dry ice.
A freezing numbness exploded right in the center of my core, spreading outward through my spine like cold ink. My matte-black scales didn’t just tingle—they felt like they were being clamped down by metal pliers, one by one. I tumbled off the central stone pedestal, landing flat in the ancient dust of the floor. My three-foot body twisted into a tight, frantic knot as I tried to fight the sudden drop in my body temperature.
’System,’ I gasped mentally, my vision turning into a blur of spinning white lines. ’The math... the math is completely broken here. My stomach feels like it’s full of frozen lead.’
[System: Stay with me, Barry! Don’t let your consciousness slip! The Founder’s stone is trying to rewrite your biological code to fit your original human soul signature. Your snake biology is actively resisting the template. It’s a complete system format!]
Then one more text appears.
[CRITICAL ALERT: Human Soul Signature Integration Active.]
[Analyzing Core Compatibility... 81%... 84%... 87%...]
[Current Status: 90% Compatible.]
[Warning: Integration Stalled. Humanoid Catalyst is missing. Your current reptilian vessel cannot physically support a 100% human framework. Forced halt initiated to prevent body collapse.]
The pain slowly stopped rising, leaving my entire body feeling incredibly numb and stiff. I lay there in the dust, breathing slowly inside my own mind. I couldn’t see my tail. I couldn’t see my head. My permanent invisibility was still running, but right now, it felt more like a curse because I couldn’t even check if my own body was falling apart.
’Ninety percent,’ I thought, my snake tongue flicking out weakly against the dirt. ’ I’m only ten percent away from getting my hands back. System, what is the missing catalyst? What do I need to chew on to finish the job?’
[System: I’m scanning the ancient database now. It looks like you need a high-tier royal ingredient. Something tied directly to the bloodline of the people who built this kingdom. But don’t worry about that right now. We have a much bigger, more immediate compliance issue.]
"What?"
[System: Look at the ceiling.]
A sound from the top of tunnel.
I forced my stiff, frozen muscles to move, uncoiling my body with great effort and sliding back into the deep shadows near the corner of the round wall. I flattened myself against the masonry, keeping perfectly still.
High above, the square section of the floor didn’t just slide open smoothly—it was violently smashed apart. Splinters of wood and chunks of stone came tumbling down the dark chute, crashing onto the central stone pedestal where the soul stone used to sit.
"Down here! The hatch is open!" a arrogant voice yelled from the top of the tunnel. "The magic signature leads straight down into the basement! Move, you lazy dogs!"
A second later, a rope was tossed down the chute. The sound of metal armor scraping against the stone walls of the tunnel echoed through the small room as three men began sliding down the rope, one after the other. They hit the dirt floor , their iron boots kicking up clouds of old white dust.
They weren’t regular guild guards. They wore polished silver chest plates with the royal crest of Prince Raymond stamped across the front, and they carried long, broad swords that gleamed in the dim light coming from the tunnel mouth above.
Leading them was a slim man with sharp features, wearing an expensive purple cloak and a gold monocle over his left eye. He looked like a senior tax investigator from the royal court, and his face was twisted into a look of heavy suspicion.
"Search the room!" the man with the monocle ordered, waving his hand toward the corners. "The tracking crystal upstairs pointed directly to this exact coordinate. The stolen royal mana potions must be hidden down here."
The two royal guards drew their weapons, their eyes scanning the small, round room. One of them stepped right toward the central pedestal, looking down at the empty stone block.
"Inspector!" the guard called out, pointing his sword at the empty space. "The pedestal is empty, but the dust has been disturbed. Someone was here just a minute ago. And look... there are strange markings in the ground. They look like the trail of a large worm or a serpent."
The Inspector walked over, squinting through his monocle at the floorboards right near my hiding spot. "A serpent? Don’t be ridiculous. Director Suzy is stalling our main audit team upstairs with trade charters and legal junk. If anyone came down here, it was her. Find the boxes! If she hid the royal stock in this basement, we have enough evidence to put her on the chopping block by noon!"
I sat perfectly still in the corner, just three inches away from the guard’s left boot. The ten boxes of royal potions were still sitting safely inside my pocket-dimension stomach, making me feel incredibly bloated and stiff, while the white soul stone was still pulsing with frozen energy in my core.
’Hey, System,’ I whispered in my mind, my yellow slitted eyes locking onto the back of the Inspector’s neck. ’These guys are looking for a fight, and they’re standing right inside my office. What’s the protocol for an unauthorized internal audit?’
[System: The protocol is simple, Barry. You’ve got ’The Karen Protocol’ venom sitting in your fangs, and you’ve got two guards who are already highly stressed about finding missing government inventory. Let’s trigger a massive workplace dispute.]
A greedy smile formed inside my invisible snake head. The royal guards thought they were the apex predators in this kingdom, but they had no idea they were standing in a room with a former grocery store manager who was completely done with corporate interference.