That time I was reincarnated as a snake (Tensura)

'Where should I start?'

At this moment I have three resistors, which are:

*Pain resistance

*Resistance to poison

*Resistance to physical attacks

It should be obvious that bashing damage is included in physical attacks, so it can't really be considered another separate resistance.

I think I should consider spiritual beings as my role models, you know, they are the pinnacle in this world, there must be a reason for that.

If I recall correctly, when Rimuru ascended to Demon Lord he acquired several nullifications, including:

*Nullification of spiritual attacks 

*Nullification of natural effects 

*Nullification of status conditions 

*Nullification Sacro-Demoniac

Spiritual attacks are attacks directed at the mind or the spiritual body.

Natural effects obviously refer to the eight elements, in addition to other physical phenomena such as heat, electricity, pressure, gravity, among others.

Status conditions are not foreign to those who know their way around video games: petrification, poison, paralysis, confusion, fear, sleep, silence, curses, etc.

What could be confusing, but it really isn't, the Holy-Demoniac can be summed up in an attack that uses holy power or magicules, so this nullification allows not to be damaged either by holy power or magicules, or a combination of both.

Did you notice? You can't really hurt a spirit being without an ultimate ability or the use of spiritrons. No matter what you throw at them, they don't even flinch.

Well, forgetting how exaggerated they are.

As you can see, I'm actually on track for two of those overrides: the override to natural effects due to my resistance to physical damage that falls within the laws of nature, and the override to status conditions due to my resistance to poison.

If I want to achieve the four cancellations mentioned, I must acquire at least the resistors that are part of them.

The easiest one to get currently is magic resistance, since I have a magic type attack, it's only a matter of time before I get it.

Why don't you get the elemental resistances first?

Because to do that I'd have to get an elemental of each attribute to attack me. Where can I get elementals in this forest? The best plan for that would be to find Ramiris and her spirit abode, and ask for her help. For that I need to find her first.

Before I started the torture, I decided to stop being a homeless vagabond.

I looked around for a cave I could use as a cache.

I would stop consuming my prey at the scene of the kill, instead I would take it to my cave where I could use it for resistance practice. It would be a safe place for me if I ran out of magicules.

Now that I was much bigger I could no longer hide in the trees like before.

Wandering around, I could see some good spots.

Unfortunately, they were occupied by very strong monsters like a pack of sword tigers, tempest snakes, I even came across a three-headed snake. That guy was huge, it was like three tempest snakes stuck together in one body.

Not wanting to come into conflict with them, I simply continued my searches.

That led me to encounter a small group of several blood boars, these lived in a ten-meter-high cave, hidden among many trees, so it took me a while to notice them. Without much effort, I ended their lives.

I didn't eat them right away, but kept them as a reserve.

Using the Water Gun, I expanded the cave, creating a simple chamber at the back. This would be my storage room. I carried the boar carcasses inside it.

It was currently nighttime, so I decided to hunt a few monsters to fill my storage. Once full, I would begin my resistance practice.

So I spent my next few hours hunting some common prey in this forest: some horned bears, wild boars, rabbits. As long as they weren't too strong, it was only a matter of seconds to kill them. Afterwards, I would carry their bodies back to my cave and continue the hunt.

The Mc had overlooked one point: his continuous hunting was very conspicuous. It didn't take long for something to discover him. Something was stalking him and he wasn't aware of it.

...

I continued my hunt without rest. To maintain my condition, I occasionally took some snacks.

When I finally saw my warehouse was full, I stopped to rest. Before I could relax, something attacked me from behind.

To my surprise, it didn't happen like the previous times.

My scales couldn't withstand the attack, I could feel that whatever attacked me managed to give me a large wound. By the time I turned around to see the attacker, I couldn't see anything, I could only feel that I was attacked from behind again.

Trying to sense the attacker's location, I used thermal vision around me, only to see no trace.

The attacker continued to hurt me without me being able to counterattack. Although the opponent could cause significant injuries, with my self-regeneration it would only be a matter of a few seconds and a few magicules for them to heal.

I could afford short-term consumption, but if it went on for too long, I would be at a disadvantage.

It had been a while since I had felt the lack of magicules.

In a closed place like the cave, the opponent had the advantage if he couldn't find it. Looking for a better location, I decided to leave the cave and use stealth to counterattack him.

To my surprise, as I was about to leave the cave, my opponent made the decision to show himself in front of me.

Similar to a gigantic black panther over five meters tall, with a night-black coat and piercing blue eyes, it exuded the aura of a strong monster. He could judge that it was not inferior to the Tempest Snake. With its ability to hide, it would not be difficult for it to defeat the latter.

But, it wasn't his appearance or strength that surprised me, but how he appeared in front of me so quickly. I watched as he stepped out from the shadows on the ground.

That reminded me of Ranga, Rimuru's wolf, and his signature ability.

"Movement of the shadows"

That was the reason I couldn't see him. He was essentially not present, but in the shadow space, watching me and attacking me when I wasn't paying attention.

To my further surprise, I heard a communication.

[You won't be able to escape me. I've seen what you're capable of. You're just a little big. You may have some ability to hide, but it's useless if you can't hide your presence from me. As for your pesky regeneration, it's only a matter of time before it stops working.]

It was clearly a taunt on his part, to show his superiority over me.

What was striking was that her voice sounded like that of a young woman, excited about getting a new toy.

It was clearly in his cat's nature to play with his prey before finishing it off.

But that mocking comment showed me flaws I must correct: my inability to detect her, that my concealment must include hiding my presence, and lastly what she was going to attempt when she attacked me.

Acquire magic resistance

That's why my scales are vulnerable to it. I could see that her claws were covered in a dark energy, it should be shadow or darkness magic.

But I wasn't going to be intimidated, so I answered him.

[Harsh words for someone who didn't dare attack me while I was hunting, but instead waited to confine me in a space that favored his ability], I said sarcastically.

[It's called strategy, something necessary to survive here], he said smugly.

[So, may I ask how long you've been watching me?], I said with a hint of caution, to arouse his playful side.

[Not long ago, I was passing by when I noticed a lot of monsters disappearing. I thought it would be interesting to see the reason. Who knew? I was right. I ran into a not-very-strong, but interesting sapient monster. Not only was it incredibly resistant to physical attacks, it also had incredibly good stealth ability. You could almost escape my perception, but I have experience with sneaky guys like you.]

A smile could be seen after saying this.

While I can't fully trust what you just told me, there's a chance you've never seen Water Gun, which may be my biggest advantage.

[Are you ready? Because here I come.] I could see her returning within the shadows.

Shortly after, I felt his attack, but I was prepared. With a quick movement, I used my tail as a whip towards my back.

Shadow Panther, using his incredible agility, dodged it with a simple jump, after which he returned to the shadows.

Our battle continued the same, she continuing to attack me from my blind spots and me trying to fight back.

To avoid being an easy target, I continued to move, which was difficult in a confined space. Every time I tried to take the fight outside, Shadow Panther would get in the way. In reality, it was a feint on my part. Although I could move better outside the cave, that would only give her a greater advantage. As for escaping, that wasn't an option. Unless I managed to dissuade her from messing with me, she would always try to look for opportunities to kill me.

I kept trying to get out of the cave, to make him believe that I was desperate. That would allow me to find opportunities.

Thanks to our fight, the cave looked like a ruin, with stones everywhere.

Feeling my magic running out and seeing my opponent remain relaxed after so much time fighting, I knew it was now or never.

With a charge I rushed to the entrance, trying to get out. Like the previous times, Shadow Panther appeared to get in the way, something I was counting on. I quickly used my tail to attack her and, like before, she dodged it with a simple jump, but that was what I wanted her to do.

While in the air from the jump, I opened my mouth and revealed the real attack: a small ball of water that I had been accumulating inside my mouth during the fight, just waiting for the best moment.

Shadow Panther, sensing danger, attempted to dodge in the air.

With as much pressure as I could muster while concentrating on the fight, I fired the Water Gun, managing to pierce his torso.

Without giving her any time to escape, I rushed towards her with my fangs glistening with poison. Although my venom might not pose a mortal threat, it would slow her down enough to finish her off.

Seeing my approach, with crazy eyes he gathered the dark energy from his claws and fired it in my direction.

Sensing danger, I turned my head to the side.

I could see a dark blade over five meters long fly towards me and almost cut my body in two. Only a bit of flesh could be seen preventing them from separating completely.

When my attention returned to Shadow Panther, she was gone.

Expecting an attack, I didn't let my guard down for a second.

After several minutes without being attacked, I thought it was finally gone and relaxed.

'Even though I managed to chase her away this time, she's sure to come back. Cats are spiteful.' Wanting to replenish my magiculas, I went to my storage and had a feast.

These holds that were originally going to be used to train my stamina could now barely help me heal my current injuries and replenish my magiculas.

'This was a night of wasted work.' I hung my head in resignation.

'At least I showed Shadow Panther that I'm not a pushover. Hopefully, he'll take his time before the next encounter. That'll give me room to grow.'

Somewhere else, away from our MC.

-Shadow Panther POV-

'Bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard.'

'How could I get caught by such a simple trick?' Letting out a roar that scared the nearby monsters.

In the midst of my roar, I could feel a sharp pain run through my abdomen. Lowering my head, I could see the piercing wound that that damn snake had caused me, just a few inches from my heart. It had pierced everything in its path, from side to side.

'I, the worthy ruler of this area of the forest, was injured by a damned low-ranking monster. I may be special, but that doesn't take away the humiliation I feel.' Frustrated, I returned to my lair to rest.

'I don't even see those arrogant storm snakes. After all, what's the point of being so big if a cut on the head is the end. The most lethal thing would be your breath, but what's the point if you don't even know who hit you?'

I laughed as I remembered the last time I killed one. I simply appeared next to its head, a slash from my claws, and just like that, it had plenty of meat to eat.

'I should have done the same with the bastard! But I wanted to play with a unique monster. After all, it's been a long time since anything interesting happened around here. It's said that unique monsters have incredible potential for growth.' Thinking about my situation, I became depressed.

For a monster of my strength, it is almost impossible to become stronger. I have not increased my strength for years. Although I acquired skills after countless efforts, I know that there are beings stronger than me.

I remember one time when I saw a gigantic being flying in the sky. After investigating with some weak humans who entered the forest, I found out that they were called dragons, beings that could kill thousands of humans with each of their attacks. Although I could do it too, it would take me quite a while to kill so many. That showed the destructive capacity of those beings.

That's not even counting the ruler of this forest. It was said that he did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted and no one could stop him. Various tribes of monsters in the forest said that it was his existence that kept the forest from being attacked from outside and it was the magiculas he naturally released that gave birth to most of the monsters in this forest.

He doesn't seem to care about what happens inside the forest, such as conflicts between tribes. As long as they don't bother him. But when intruders enter his domain, like several times when humans invaded the forest on a large scale, that's when he gets furious and destroys everything in his path.

That sight left a deep impression on me. I, who believed myself to be an unrivalled being, was able to realise my insignificance.

It was at that moment that I resolved to gain more strength, but this world has never been fair. Everyone has a limit and I had apparently reached mine.

I thought I would never have any hope of overcoming my limit.

Until I saw it.

A snake monster I've never seen before, and that's saying a lot coming from me, who has experienced what this forest has to offer, from east to west.

It was his unique appearance, his skills, and his high intelligence for a weak monster like him that caught my attention. With his strength, it wouldn't take me more than a few seconds to kill him, but even if I did, he wouldn't even be a full meal for me.

His features reminded me of stories of unique monsters, mutant individuals among their races, beings with great potential to grow and who left their mark on the world. So I continued to observe him for a while.

Maybe he would find in it the answer he was looking for.

Wanting to test it, I decided to attack him when he wasn't expecting it.

As I had seen, his regenerative abilities were very strong. Even though I didn't do my best to hurt him, the wounds were closing too quickly.

During our battle I could see him looking for opportunities to hurt me, even at the cost of getting more injuries. I have to give him that, he has a strong will to not let pain interfere in battle.

Wanting to test his limits, I prevented him from escaping while continuing to harass him from all sides. I hoped he would come up with a way out of this situation.

But it gave me a surprise that almost killed me. I thought it was just trying to make a feint as it escaped and would use its tail to attack me, a prediction that I was right about. It was only when it opened its mouth that I realized it had caught me.

I was only able to prevent the attack from damaging my head.

He even attacked immediately without giving me time to recover.

It was only at the cost of most magiculas that I released my shadow blade fast enough to hurt him and distract him, so I could escape.

'Although I suffered a loss this time, it is not without gains. That guy is strong and smart, he is clearly a unique monster, who, if given time to grow, may not be stopped by anyone.'

"Let's leave it for a while, I need to recover or some idiots will think they have a chance against me," I smiled sarcastically.

_______________________

Author's notes:

This time, our MC had the element of surprise, plus his opponent simply played along.

Next time she meets a superior opponent, will she be able to do as well as this time?

We have a new character, the MC sees her as a threat, she sees him as an opportunity.

It remains to be seen how their next encounter will play out.

PS: Shadow Panther is not her name, it is the name of her race.

PS2: Don't be mean, leave some reviews, it looks a bit ugly that the fanfic doesn't have any stars.