The snake woman went very, very still. It reminded me of a prey animal freezing in fright before a predator, and I kind of felt like a dick again as I imagined what this must look like from her perspective. For all she knew, her death was moments away.
Remember she attacked you first with no warning, Dan. Remember that.
Given how ineffectual her attack had ultimately been, it was hard to feel too mad about it. Just had to remind myself that the intent was there, and that was, arguably, the important part.
Still, I could see from up close that she'd had a bad time of it after my little stunt back there. Given that most of the trees for a few-hundred metres had been torn from the ground and pulverised, it wasn't particularly surprising to find that Snaky Lady was covered in bruises and minor lacerations.
Honestly, I found myself more impressed than anything. Getting caught in the kind of destruction I'd wrought would have been fatal for even the toughest Earth creature, by my estimation. Snake Lady was just a bit beaten up. Tough gal.
Seconds ticked by, and the snake woman didn't seem likely to emerge from her frozen-in-fear response, and I wondered how I should play this. There were probably abilities in my repertoire that could get her to calm down, see me as an ally, and spill all the info she knew about the Eternal Tower, the 1,792nd floor, and this oasis specifically, but I wasn't keen to start down the road of brainwashing people. Maybe I could illusion myself into a snake person and get her to trust me that way?
A bit of searching found me a few dozen Spells that could make me look like a snake dude, but I figured my first priority should be making sure I could communicate before I tried anything like that. A Skill called [Omnitongue] seemed perfect for the job—the ability to understand and be understood by any being capable of complex thought.
It seemed like the kind of thing that should have been passively working anyway, but I supposed the System didn't want to choose what Skills and Spells should be running for me without my input, when apparently I had millions of the bloody things. Couldn't blame it, I guess. Who could say what weird effects would've come from that?
Activating [Omnitongue] brought no obvious effect that I could see or feel. I decided to repeat myself just in case I hadn't been understood the first time, speaking a little louder, "Ready to talk?"
That was when I felt the effects of the newly activated Skill. There was a resonance to my voice now. Not an echo, exactly. More like there was a backing track to my words, and there was a subtle hint of autotune added to my voice to make it sound more… more. It was a tough thing to explain.
And it obviously worked. The snake woman's eyes widened, marking the first time any part of her body had moved in the slightest since I'd appeared in front of her.
[Achievement Unlocked: First Contact
You have managed to communicate with another race for the first time.
Reward: Gift of Tongues
Skill Already Unlocked]
A few seconds passed before her throat bobbed as she swallowed, then her head twitched downwards a fraction. It was entirely possible the body language of her people was completely different to human beings and she was actually trying to express a firm rejection, but I decided to Occam's Razor the shit out of this situation and interpret her action as a nod of agreement.
"Jolly good," I said, briefly wondering how the Skill would translate that line in Snakeese. "First up: why, exactly, did you attack me? Did I do something wrong, or are you some sort of 'rah rah we hate outsiders' kind of race?"
Silence stretched on once more. A hint of wind ruffled the jungle, stirring up leaves and detritus. I crossed my arms and stared the snake woman down, content to wait.
Eventually, her forked tongue darted out, wetting her lips. When she spoke, her voice was soft, sibilant, and oddly musical, like she was solemnly singing the words rather than speaking them, "No Climbers outside of the Najavi are permitted in the Great Green Sea."
"Najavi," I repeated. "That's you guys? You're Climbers, too?"
Snake Lady blinked in that reptilian sideways way. She spoke slowly, "We of the Najavi are Climbers, yes. The Great Green Sea has been our home for a thousand generations."
"So you guys have been in the tower for a long time?"
The silence stretched even longer this time, and there was a hint of disbelief in the snake's expression. Again, it could have been an entirely different emotion on her face, and I was just misinterpreting it based on human preconceptions, but I didn't think so. The bafflement in her voice when she replied confirmed it for me, "The Najavi are among the most populous races in the tower. We have representatives in the Council of 100. Our people are proud of this."
Ah. In other words, it was unlikely one could make it up this high in the Tower without ever encountering a Najavi who loved to boast about how prestigious and cool they were, so I looked like a bit of a weirdo right now. Got it. That kind of thing was probably going to happen a lot, but I saw no reason to go around pretending I was knowledgeable about this place. What would I gain from acting like some experienced Climber? Bugger all. It'd just make everything more confusing as everyone would just assume I needed nothing explained to me.
"To be blunt with you," I began, "I've never met a Najavi in my life. I've never met any other race aside from the ones that existed on my home planet before coming here. So just assume I'm absolutely clueless about everything up to this floor and the ones around it, because I am. History, races, politics. I know nothing."
If Snake Lady's eyes went any wider, they'd be in danger of popping out of her head. It was kind of freaky. Generally speaking, I didn't think of reptiles as particularly expressive with their eyes, so this lady was giving a strong uncanny valley effect.
"But… how… with such power…" Her words came out in a quiet, distressed hiss, making me feel like a dick again, but this time I didn't really get what about my actions had disturbed her, so… Go fuck yourself, Snake Lady?
It turned out to not really matter, because her eyes did indeed widen further—without popping out of her skull, mercifully—but only to start glowing the colour of molten gold. At the same time, her slitted iris seemed to darken, to deepen, gaining an ethereal quality like it was genuinely sucking in the light. The two contrasted quite prettily, in an appreciating the beauty of nature sort of way.
Then her mouth fell open, flapping uselessly for a moment as she reared back like I'd struck her. Her hands flew to the sides of her face, and she trembled in place for a moment, her gaze raking over me from head to toe.
Whatever conclusion she'd come to, I couldn't begin to guess why it compelled her to throw herself to the ground in prostration and cry, "Forgive me for my impertinence, Great One! I did not know I was in the presence of a forerunner!"
Uh. Not where I thought this was going to go. "What?"
"Forgive me!" she cried again. That musical quality to her voice made it sound like she was an opera singer trying to belt out the high note of a tune and whisper at the same time. It was super weird. "I should have assessed the Great One's level from the very beginning, but I was foolish and arrogant. Please! Forgive me!"
I opened my mouth, then closed it. I had been about to say something along the lines of, "I don't even know what I'm meant to be forgiving here," but then I remembered she'd attacked me, and decided to say instead, "It's fine, I'm over it." When the snake lady stayed as she was, trembling on the ground like a monk before God, I let out a sigh. "Come on, get up. You don't need to bow to me."
She didn't get up. "I am not worthy to lay eyes on you, Great One."
I sighed again. "Okay, what the fuck are you talking about now?"
"Forgive me, Great One. It is only natural that a higher being such as yourself would not concern yourself with the ways of us lower levels. How long must it have been since one such as you graced this unworthy low floor with your presence? A million years? A hundred million?"
"... this is my first time on this floor."
The snake woman went still at that, then started trembling. "Oh! To be in the presence of a forerunner so ancient and powerful that this floor did not even exist at the time of his ascension! I am not worthy! Truly, I am not worthy!"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Look, just tell me, in plain terms, why you're suddenly kowtowing like this."
"Forgive me!"
"Enough of that crap, too. I already said I forgive you. Consider this a blanket pardon for whatever offence you think you're giving me. I promise I don't care."
"I— I understand, Great One. I can only humbly thank you for your magnanimity. Truly, the Great Ones are divine, and any who believe otherwise are heretics of the lowest order."
"Lady. Lift your damn head."
The snake woman snapped herself standing so fast that her movement displaced the air around her and sent leaves spiralling upwards. "At once, Great one." Keeping her eyes lowered, she swallowed, then continued. "On behalf of the Great Green Sea Tribe of the Najavi people, I welcome you to the 1,792nd floor, and express my gratitude that you deemed it worthy of your presence."
"You're welcome, I guess," I said when it became clear she was waiting for a response.
Snake Lady took a deep breath. "Now, there are many things that may require explaining, as the Eternal Tower may have changed considerably since you first ascended, and I would be glad to assist you in any way you require."
I let out another sigh, resisting the urge to roll my eyes even though she wouldn't see it. Right, I think I get what's going on here. She clearly thinks I'm way older than I am. Someone who's already been through the tower, and is here on his way back down?
But… "What's with the attitude change? What made you figure I'm a Great One?"
"Your level, Great One."
I blinked. "You saw my level?"
The snake woman shook her head so violently I was halfway worried she'd break her neck. "No! The meagre [Observe] ability of one such as I could never hope to analyse the level of a higher being such as yourself!"
This time, my eyes rolled before I could stop it. So she'd used some kind of ability that was supposed to show her my level, but it had failed because mine was higher than her ability could parse. Honestly, that was probably a better outcome than her seeing my actual level. I got the vibe she probably wouldn't have believed it if she saw it. This way, she could make up whatever level seemed more 'reasonable' for one of these so-called higher beings in my mind.
I hummed, intrigued. "Observe, huh?"
Delving into my menus, I sought out the ability in question. It didn't take long to find.
[Level 1000 SSS-Rank Observe.
Provides information on the object of Climber's focus.]
"Sounds useful," I said with a shrug. Then, because I couldn't resist, I focused on the snake woman and said, "[Observe]."