While the System was busy ironing out the finer details for the new monster, the snake in question was attempting to recover from its rather traumatizing ordeal.

  Lying on the ground belly up in the void between realities was a snake like no other. Its yellow scales had been bleached to a vibrant white. Its black scales instead appeared polished to a near mirror finish. It shone even in an empty void.

  Even in a disheveled state it was in, most would agree it's a beautiful snake. As it blinks its eyes, a clear scale moving across its vision, everyone would call the snake enchanting. Its pupils shine with stars like the night sky. Its iris was a striking blue, like a summer sky.

  The agony it felt leaving its body, it groggily observed its surroundings. The empty void around it provided no visual stimulus; it looked up. Once again, it looked at the System. A rainbow of colors and shapes that left the fledgling vampire mesmerized.

  Exhaustion overtook the radiant enhanced monster. While there were no spiritual or physical scars left, the mental toll on the snake had drained the vampire of energy. Whatever light the System's natural form was comforting. Curling upon itself, the snake went to sleep.

  The System itself was grumbling to itself in the manner an omnipresent entity was prone to. By sending harmless but tedious Quests to every sapient creature it was attached to. Something that made its strongest of apostles groan in indignation.

  Not caring for their plies, the System managed to correct the current situation partaking to the little paradox ot had made. While no other would glitch out and break the balance for the natives, it still had to find a good place to put it.

  While all monsters were spawned into reality during the Ascension Tournament as just window dressing, the System liked it that they made some sort of sense.

  Kobolds in caves, skeletons in graveyards, wolves in a forest. Sensible spawn points. But a vampire was something smarter and it's spawn point needed to reflect that. An abandoned mansion, the underground catacombs of a civilization or even just a cabin in the woods.

  All reasonable places for an intelligent undead. Only the snake couldn't manipulate a door without limbs. Another issue was the fact that it was a radiant variant. Not a day walker vampire, that would be far more manageable, but an elementallary enhanced monster.

  Elemental monsters only ever showed up in areas permiating with their selected elements. A fire wolf near an ever burning pit. A water kobold in the ocean. A poison skeleton in a rotting swamp.

  Where the hell was the System going to find a civilized location for a vampire with an overabundance of sunlight? And one that could accommodate a snake no less!? It was impossible!

  Oh.

  Checking the area, the System found a plot of land in the middle of nowhere. A farming area that had been modernized to have solar panels above the crops. As a bonus, the farmers owned an appropriately large mansion off to the side.

  Well. Good enough for now. Enough wildlife to sustain the snake's eating habits and become an arguably acceptable location for its element. Now, the System just needs to give the little monster a backstory.

  A vampire that actually likes the sunlight? And is a snake no less? Quality quest material right there. And so the System spent some significant time expanding the lore for the unique snake. All the while the momentarily forgotten about vampire basked in the Systems radiance.

  Alright! Got a little story for the little snake.

  Not much to go on yet but it's a good hook for any wandering natives. The snake’s likely to be a rare encounter considering how far the farm is from anything. It was either a rare encounter or make it a dungeon boss.

  The latter would require making more radiant vampire snakes or mixing light elementals, vampires, and animals into one dungeon. Neither option was cheap or viable. So, a unique monster it is. Who knows, if it's friendly enough, it may be upgraded to NPC status.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  With the final piece in place, the System returned its gaze to the snake. Fully absorbing its appearance, it had to admit the little bloodsucker was quite authentically pleasing. Hopefully enough for a potential tamer would collect it before a pelt hunter.

  Assuming anyone managed to kill the unnatural undead. Something that its character sheet implied would be quite hard to do. Much less if there was anything left to collect.

  But that was future System stuff to worry about.

  Off you go, little danger noodle!

  With a soundless pop, the snake was ushered into its new life as a unique monster. One full of danger, adventure, and some very terrified natives.

  That is assuming, of course the local leadership headed the System warning. God forbid they allowed the local populace to sink or swim on their own. It would reduce their global survival rate astronomically.

  No one was that dumb, right?

  In the middle of farmland, modernized by the owners of the fertile soil, a black and white snake appeared. Disturbed by the change in light potency, the snake rose from its nap.

  Its reptilian eyes observed the area, hissed, and went back to sleep.

  The change to the natives' reality was quite subdued in the area. One singular beast who preferred to rest rather than hunt new prey. Of course, as a radiant vampire, maybe the sun itself was feeding the little undead.

  Regardless, the scaled creature enjoyed its sleep. And while the snake languished in its new home, the rest of the world experienced similar changes across its surface. Some more lethal than others.

  A forest razing into the sky as they grew to colossal size. An ocean trench digging deeper into the earth. A volcano erupting and planketing its immediate area in ash. Many environments changed and soon creatures began to spawn in mass from these areas.

  Even the places lacking such extreme environmental shifts, monsters crawled from the darkness. From rabid beasts to creatures of myth. Relatively weak creatures yet deadly all the same. Life became far more challenging.

  But for the little snake? That didn't matter right now.

  So it dreamed. Of the System's perfect radiance. Of the enticing warmth it provided. Of being able to sleep once again under its light.

  Alive for a short time, the snake may have already felt an all-encompassing emotion.

  Adoration.

  Tilly was used to the hard life. Daughter to a paranoid military veteran father, he had drilled into her self sufficiency and grit. It's why she had eventually settled into buying a plot of land with an abandoned mansion in her later years.

  Her domicile was away from the prying eyes of the government and greedy neighbors. Of course, it was no vacation trying to renovate her home, but she managed.

  It took decades off effort, with some sacrifices willingly and unwillingly made on the way, but she managed to thrive. The modern era and her father's pension let her make a habitable plot of farmland. It had even been enough to catch her husband and bear a child. Named Clyde and Hazel, respectively.

  He was a bit spineless and soft, but had enough muscle to help around the house. As much as she yelled at him sometimes for his flaws, he managed to pull his weight. He had a knack for squeezing a few more cents out of the farm.

  It was why they had installed the solar panels. They sold mostly herbs and other greenery instead of heavier produce, so they did little to disturb her crops.

  Overall she had quite a bit of control of her life at the moment. The only thing she had to worry about was Hazel. Her daughter was showing signs of whimsy. Seeing the farm as a prison instead of the safety net Tilly had built it as.

  Always surfing the internet and sinking into whatever short-lived fad the latest popular actor indulged in. Other than the weather forecast, it was all white noise to Tilly, something she cared little for. A divide in their relationship.

  So it was with great worry that she turned to her daughter, who had rushed into the kitchen.

  “Snake ma! There's a snake in the grass!”

  Tillys concerns melted away into a small smile. It was nice her daughter still went to her ma for a small pest. Also a good idea, since Clyde tried to scare away a rat once.

  It ended with a tetanus shot and a visit to the hospital.

  “I'm sure you still know how to use the house rifle for these sorts of situations, honey.”

  “But ma, it's not like normal snakes! It's black and white! Got swirls for a pattern. Never seen it before! What if it shoots blood like those lizards I hear about?”

  Tilly sighed, already regretting that trip to the museum her husband had begged her to go to. Hazel was now scared of the local wildlife and jumped at every critter she saw on the farm. Even a simple snake was some terrifying monster to her.

  “I'll get the gun myself then.”

  In a few minutes, Tilly and Hazel were out in the field, the daughter hiding behind her mother while she also tried to lead her to the small animal. It was hard to miss, seeing as it was curled up in the middle of the field for the whole world to see.

  “Watch and learn, Hazel. Need to know how to protect yourself, especially if you want to go to the big city like you've been talking about.”

  Raising the rifle to her shoulder, Tilly couldn't help but agree with her daughter in her mind. She'd never seen a snake like this on her farm. She'd read up on all the rodents or similar creatures in her part of the world and this one wasn't one of them.

  Oh well. Maybe she could make it into a nice purse or sell it to someone in town. Might make a pretty penny.

  Before she could shoot, her eyes met the snakes, as the film across its eyes retracted. The human and the snake stared at each other for a second. Tilly had never seen such beautiful eyes. Almost enchanting.

  She pulled the trigger.