That king Cobra didn't stand in front of Ḥamād. Instead, it looked like so timid, like the cute non-venomous snakes that people usually keep as pets.
After he was done with this seemingly unending vomit, Ḥamād found that this snake's action was a bit strange. Its eyes seemed like admired him in comfort.
I never pet a king cobra before. Is this their usual behavior?
The king cobra pushed the corpse of the rattlesnake closer to Ḥamād with its head, as if to convince him to eat its prey.
"Do you want me to consume this rattlesnake?"
It made a soft hissing voice, that strangely sounds like a cat purr In Ḥamād's ears. It moved its head happily.
Ḥamād activated his imaginary eyes again, and he realized that this rattlesnake carcass emitted a large amount of black astral energies.
He smiled, then pet its head hastily. "Thank you for your consideration."
Right that time, he realized something he should have some times ago, when he "produced" this snake.
"Wait. Why you had a physical body like a real snake, good boy? If I'm not mistaken, the snake that came out from Gāber's mouth was different."
As he expected, the king cobra didn't answer. It just remained silent and looked at Ḥamād with a strange look, looking like it was confused as well.
"Whatever." He shook his head, and began to absorb the black astral energies from rattlesnake's carcasses.
As Ḥamād finished the absorbing process, something flew inside his mind.
What if this rattlesnake got something in its body, too? Like those anubises. But, how could I crack this rattlesnake's head? There was nothing like a stone here.
Wait. If the king cobra I made from astral energy could be physical, should be anything I create with astral energy also became physical?
But, the process might tore my guts out. I "produced" that king cobra in my stomach after all. And that was another death right there. A very painful one. Is there any other method I could use?
And surely, after he done with sukūn, he then began a series of small experiments to prove the hypothesis in his head.
The first thing he did was making a simple knife with his astral energy. It was very different from the imaginary knife he created every time before sukūn.
He circulated his astral energies inside his imaginary body, then let it out through the imaginary wound in his imaginary palms.
Then he became to shape it like a knife.
Shit! It was so tough. I thought that this type of experiment would be a piece of cake.
As he shaped the knife, sweats beaded on his forehead. His imaginary eyes staring at his creation so intensely, not allowing the slightest flaw.
The pointed tip, the sharp sides, even the decorative ornaments that he deliberately made on the handle, he focused all his imagination on all of those things.
Sigh... That was very tiring, but really worth it. It came out really great.
He opened his physical eyes, and there he found the knife, lying on the ground in front of him.
As I thought. I could made everything from my astral energies. Compared to the king cobra one, the knife took a really small amount of energies. Maybe, I could make some rifle in the future.
That would be very reliable.
He opened the carcass's skull with that knife, and found a tiny reddish glass bead.
Well, it seemed like every races had their own type of crystal-situation. It seems like it would be fun if I collected more types of crystals from other creatures.
After that, he realized something. The king cobra stared at that bead intensely, felt like it would have it for itself.
The snake flicked its tongue, tracking it's eyes to the bead's movement in Ḥamād's hand. Its eyes glowed like embers, yet its tail wagged like a loyal puppy's.
"Okay, okay. You can have it, good boy. You saved my life after all." As he put that glass bead in front of the snake, he petted its head.
The snake then put the glass bead into its mouth, devoured it completely. Not long after, its body began to glitch. From physical to non-physical; it continued like that for some time, until the reaction finally stops.
Its body swelled, muscles coiling beneath its scales as it doubled in size. And there was a tiny reddish cristal in its head.
"Wow, you terrified me for some time."
Suddenly, the king cobra stiffened, scales rising like shields, its hood wide open, ready to defend Ḥamād from unseen threats. It let out a terrifying hiss into an empty spot, as if threatening something that was hiding.
"What was happening?"
Ḥamād activated his imaginary eyes, and found that on that side, no, on all sides around him, there was a terrifying amount of black astral energy, as if the owner of those energies was surrounding him.
"Shit! We couldn't escape this one, good boy."
In a swift movement, Ḥamād created three more king cobras using his imaginary palms. If he could, he would probably create more. However, the amount of astral energy in his body didn't allow it.
The king cobras protected Hamad from the four cardinal directions. Meanwhile, he himself held the knife in his hand so tightly.
Suddenly, dozens, maybe hundreds of rattlesnakes emerged from the darkness, slithering towards Ḥamād with their scary looks, surrounded him, not allowing him to go in any direction.
"As for my thousands of years living as hinn and interacted with every kind of shei', I never saw a shayṫān wasting its limited astral energies like you."
One of them crawled closer to Ḥamād, the one that got a bigger body. In one seamless movement, it transformed into a woman wore revealing attire that accentuated her very thick curves. Brown scales glinting like armor across her skin, excluding her neck and face.
Wow, she got a body builder's body for sure!
Her voice hissed, every word accompanied by the sound of slithering scales that raised the hairs on one's neck.
Hamad looked directly into the woman's eyes, so as not to stare at the sexy parts of her body. He swallowed his saliva hardly.
This case, it wasn't like Gāber and his family. This filthy creatures surrounded me seemed like they would devour me in no time. They had bad intentions from the beginning!
"Answer me, you shayṫān. According to my satisfaction rate towards your answer, maybe I could spare your life."
He swallowed, "was it something incorrect to do it this way?"
She smirked. "Despite being in mustawa el-ūlā, you dare to be so arrogant in front of me—The Matriarch of El-Jaljala tribe, the strongest hinn snake tribe in the land of Melḥā. You got the guts! Or just being stupid, maybe." She said that arrogantly.
Shit! That was the spoilers of lore right there. How to get her spitting the fact about all of that, without she realizing that I didn't have any informations about it?
According to the context, "hinn" maybe were their race. Like djinn and shayṫān. But I never heard about them in my original world. So i need to be careful.
Since mustawā mean level, it could be something related to the power system in this world. And that was the most important information for me.
But how?
An idea came to his mind. "Huh? Strongest?" He snort, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, "joking, are you?" Ḥamād smirked. "I fought an ancient djinn who could crumble hills with a snap. You're just a mere snake queen—he'd bury you in sand before you could hiss."
Of course, that was just some made-up bullshit he spitted to her face. Combining the truth about his death in the hand of Gāber and some insults to confront her.
"Don't act tough, you insolent shayṫān! You think you can deceive me? I smell your fear. If you so, prove me if you were that strong."
He swallowed his saliva. She knew that he was terrified. "In any kind of way? In the way you ganged up on me with that many people? Oh come on. Don't you have any integrity at all?"
She sighted deeply, trying to calm herself down.
"If the duel that you desire, I shall grant it. If I win," she gritted her teeth, "tell me the name of strongest being you defeated."
"And what If I win?"
"You decide yourself."
Ḥamād smirked wildly.
Gotcha, bitch.
"If I win, you need to answer all of my question truthfully."
Strangely, the tension on the woman's face eased slightly. "You bet your life just for information? Really, shayṫān? If you slipped your tongue just now, you could ask for another thing. I'm being generous right here."
Ḥamād shrugged his shoulders. "Well, you did the same exact thing, did you? So," suddenly, some silly thought flew to his head, "hold up. what do you think I'm gonna ask for?"
She gestured suggestively toward her hips, the part that poorly covered by a tiny bit of clothing shaped like a pantie. Even though those part was covered in her scales, Ḥamād knew exactly what she meant. And that made him uncomfortable a little. "I didn't know, maybe leave your seeds around here?" She smirked.
Ḥamād let out a disgusted expression. "Yuck! Who do you think I am? A horny crackhead or some shit?"
"Well, that was your kind's trait, after all. My prejudice is justified."
WHAT THE FUCK?!
"Since I am stronger then you, then I will only use my physical body. And you, you are allowed to use everything in your arsenal." She said pridefully.
"Are you sure about that?" In Ḥamād's mind, he got some idea. It doesn't fit to the environment, nor this type of fantasy-stories, but that would be very effective. One move and all done.
Shit! Those Isekaied MCs would mock me in the afterlife. But whatever. A win is a win.
"Very sure."
"Don't regret it." He smirked, getting ready to manifest something physical that come from his world, with his very limited astral energies.
"Nah, whatever. Let's just begin, you cocky shayṫān. You hurt my ears already."
The rattlesnakes that surrounded Hamad moved away, creating a wide arena.
"I, Ejrām El-Samūm, The First of My Name, The Matriarch of El-Jaljala Tribe, The Mother of The Strongest Children, The container of strong seeds, challenge you to the duel!"
I hate this type of formality when it came to myself. Let's just copy the format to adapt. And what kind of tittles was that? Was she admitted that she is a wh*re of her tribe or something? Oh wait. She was a snake. Well, that's make sense now.
"I, Ezlām El-Ḥawāry, The First of This Name, The Immortal Virgin of Farafra, The Honorable Soldier of Egypt, The Descendant of The Great Nile, The One Who Beloved by His parents, Accepted your challenge!"
He thought about this matter for sometimes, especially after deciding not to meet with Gāber and his family any time soon. Identity was something very crucial and must be kept confidential. Instead of using his sure name, it was likely more convenient to use some made-up name.
Ḥamād is the name his mother gave him. Ḥamād El-Ḥawāry. That was his identity back in his original world. But this body he currently in, named Ezlām.
Ḥamād El-Ḥawāry that reside in Ezlām's body. Ezlām El-Ḥawāry. A cool made-up name that could save his ass in the future.
***