A/N: Lite NSFW in this chapter. Nothing major just Orstelia examing herself. Major NSFW/R-18 stuff will be in the title when it is present. Otherwise, it will just be a little post like this. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and have a wonderful day.

I awoke early in the morning, the slowly rising rosy sun of dawn was barely visible through the tent flaps. I languidly stretched my upper half, causing the dried blood that had covered me to crack and break a little. I groggily rubbed my eyes and assessed my current checklist of things to do. I first needed to find some water to bathe, check out my appearance, and maybe some to drink since I'm a bit thirsty. Then see if I can evolve, and maybe check if anything changed physically changed afterwards. Then see if I can try to circulate mana through my body, as one of my augments works only with it and another is enhanced with mana. Plus if I learn to circulate I might pick up on some way to cast spells. That would be helpful.

Peeking out of the tent I saw some of the remains of the carnage from last night. Mostly the weapons I left strewn about but some things were tipped over or knocked out of place from where it was. Closing my eyes I tried to smell if anything was nearby with my nose and taste the same with my serpentine tongue. I thought I briefly caught the scent of sweat a little ways away from me but it swiftly went away. But I did catch the scent of a nearby river so I prepared to slither over in that direction. I first strapped Arthur's, now my, steel sword around my bare waist and grabbed a spare fur cloak to at least partially cover me. Ever since I learned that gods may be watching me I seemed to grow a sense of modesty. Another thing to add to the list of stuff to do today. Maybe do that after evolving.

As I moved towards the river I was finally able to take in the surroundings that were shrouded in the dark last night. We were on a hill overlooking vast yellowed grassland. To the north were more grassland and a small mountain range, which fed into the river that ran southwards and right past the base of the hill, the source seemingly more north. To the west was even more grassland for a few miles before they met a treeline of dense rainforest. East was more grassland and at the very edge of the horizon, the permanent autumnal colors of the Everfall Forest could be seen. To the south was even more grassland and if my limited knowledge from my time as a snake could be trusted, eventually the ocean. A quick look at the sky showed little cloud cover and several large birds in the sky and a few things that were bigger and definitely not birds.

The river was almost completely clear, the smooth gravel riverbed was easily visible from the bank but also not clear enough for a reflection to be easily seen. A few small fish could be seen around and further down the river were some water plants, it just seemed that his particular section was sparse which was good for my needs. No sneaky water drakes to grab me and pull me under. Although I might be able to hold my breath longer than an average person so drowning wouldn't be as much of a concern but I've seen them be able to crunch the amphibious turtles back in the Everfall Forest in half so I don't want to take my chances.

I tested the water's temperature with a hand before blindly jumping in. Ice cold. This will suck but I don't have much of a choice. I took off the cloak and neatly folded it, then unfastened the sword and sheath and set it on top of the cloak near the river's bank. Taking a deep breath I slowly slithered into the river. It wasn't that deep, only around a meter (about 3 feet). I scrubbed off all the blood I could with my fingernails and it seemed to work decently. Sadly I didn't have claw-like nails that could be used as a weapon in a pinch. I wouldn't be as nervous then since being in the water severely limits my possible ways of defending myself. I should get out of the water soon. The cold and nervousness are getting to me.

After washing all the blood off I looked at myself in the river's reflection and was honestly a little shocked. I was very beautiful in a kind of ethereal, queenly beauty way. I had pale pink skin,  long tapered elf-like ears, and long luscious black hair that finally felt like actual hair now that went all the way down to my lovely round lower cheeks. My breasts were decently large at what I think is an F-cup, with cute pink nipples that were rigid due to the cold. My ruby eyes were like that of a human but in the center of the iris was a very faint pink circle. A reexamination of my scales showed that the colors were slightly different from what I vaguely remember before the memory implantation. The scales were a dark autumnal red color with it gradually going into a greyish red on the underside of the tail. On the top, there is a black stripe that around every fifteen and a quarter centimeters (about 6 inches) turns into a horizontal oval shape that gets slightly smaller the further down it goes. The underside of the tail was made of broader, less hard but more flexible scales that got larger the closer they were to the humanoid half and got smaller the further down they got until they stopped entirely near the tip of the tail. All except for a collection of the softer scales in a rounded triangle pattern where her reproductive organs were.

What was it called again? Ah right, a vagina! Could also be called a pussy but either way, it's not something usually talked about in public. Wonder why there's this thing in front of it? Looks to be some sort of crease in the middle. Can I move it? Not with fingers it seems. What about using some of my muscles in the area? I know I have some control over them as that's how I leap forward so fast. Let's try over on the edge of the river bank I'm getting cold.

Oh, that worked! It took a few minutes but I finally did it! That looks a feels weird though. The two flaps move to the side and my vagina moves towards where the flaps were covering. I have to concentrate on moving the muscles the entire time though which puts a bit of strain on them and since the muscle isn't being damaged [Regenerative Flesh] doesn't do anything. Curious I grabbed the edges of my vagina and spread it open to look at it. It looked how I vaguely thought it should except that the inside of it is a lilac color that becomes a dark version of lilac the deeper it goes. What the fuck? Is the rest of my insides this color or is it just my vagina? I'll think about that later I need to go do some other stuff today.

As I stopped spreading my vagina my finger brushed against a small nub. That entire region of my body felt some sort of rapturous shock run through it. What was that? It felt good. Real good. Should I continue? Well, it's just me here, and there is plenty of daylight to burn.

A lewd smile crept onto Orstelia's face as her face started to turn crimson and her breath started creating small puffs of water vapor in the chilly morning and the little water still clinging to her started to rapidly evaporate. Sadly this moment of temptation was cut short by a small change in the breeze which carried a scent across the wind instantly snapping her out of her moment of lust.

What's that smell? Sweat? And it seems to be coming from behind me. I quickly turned around only to see the part oni girl from yesterday at the top of the hill slowly coming down. I completely forgot about the slaves that were here. She seems to be holding a bucket, probably to get some water from the river. I'm lucky the wind changed directions or she might have caught me pleasuring myself. Not only would that be embarrassing. Plus I'm pretty sure she's too young to know about that sort of stuff. Gods, I hope she doesn't. Let's get dressed and see if she needs any help.

As I approached the girl she seemed to panic a bit as she didn't immediately recognize me but a short conversation cleared that up. She told me that she was getting water for breakfast and for the three ex-slaves to wash up as they were a bit more sensitive to the cold than me. I offered to help but she refused me, stating that she couldn't possibly ask their savior for help doing something menial like this. She told me that I could just wait in Arthur's tent until the food was ready and that it should take half a bell's chime to make. I thanked her for making breakfast and went towards the privacy of the tent. Let's see what I can evolve into.

As I entered the tent I was hit with a wave of contained heat. It seems that this tent is very good at retaining heat. Might have to bring it with me. Anyway system is it safe to evolve now?

Yes!

Okay, so that's quite a lot. The first three are decent but they seem to be guiding me into a specific role. So I think it's between Gilded Cobra and Masquerade Viper. Gilded Cobra seems like it's trying to make me into some sort of queen, and would probably not be as effective since I have and don't plan to have any subordinates. I'm not really a people person. The boosts to stats per level up are handy but it seems like it's trying to push me into a specific role. So all that leaves is Masquerade Viper. The shapeshifting would be useful and if I can assume a human shape then blending in with humanoid society will be easier, plus I don't think there are a lot of places built to fit my full lamia size. Moving through a crowded town with my tail slithering behind me would suck. Plus it would draw unwanted attention and there's no guarantee that they would be weaker than Arthur. Plus the HEP reduction is great as all those rewards I've gotten have been really good. So let's go with Masquerade Viper.

As soon as I confirmed my intention to evolve into the Masquerade Viper I felt extremely sleepy and wanted to curl up into a nice snug, warm corner of the tent and fall asleep. So that's what I did. I went asleep knowing I would not be the same when I woke up.