In Black Clover With Strange Grimoire

Name: Zero

Age: 17 

Strength: 3 [Even a dog has more strength than you.]

Agility: 5

Endurance: 4

Intelligence: 7

Wisdom: 15

Luck: 6

Charisma: 2 [Are you actively repelling people?]

________________________________

Zero released a breath as the glowing [Status] was still hovering before him. The stats displayed weren't exactly promising.

"Charisma? Ahh, 2" he clenched his jaw as the line was read again. "Kaldor is the most uninspiring person. Insane, I know."

[Are you actively repelling people?]

When he read the question, he groaned while trying to hide his face. "You know about my napping. Obviously no, ahem. Deter? That's a wonderful word timing. I'm practically invisible. Am I a walking anti-charm?" Hanging his head in shame, he continued. "Okay, so I winded up in a jungle and they're accusing me of being introverted?"

Zero sent a death stare to Kaldor's book because it seemed Kaldor had arrived to make another sarcastic comment about Zero's struggle in life. He kept persisting.

"Strength: 3."

[You possess less strength than a dog. Literally. A sit puppy is able to harp the odds on you for winning a contest ten times over.]

"Do you really need to emphasize everything!" Zero shouted with anger only to throw his arms downward. "Someone, please explain to me how I enjoy making a joke out of myself when I could be quite useful." He made a fist and then remembered that he would struggle to punch with even that.

As Zero continued reading. Someone placed a very light pressure on his stressful regions. He thought to himself, perhaps it is the wind, or maybe just his imagination.

He could see the numbers though. "Wisdom 15, at least there's one number that's worth something. Luck 6… And I assume life is not easy for you as you are bedridden with noodle arms."

He nodded and smirked as if accepting the circumstances he was in through exaggeration.

A moment later, he recognized that something around his neck experienced a similar nod.

Mid-argument, he paused when he felt mild constriction on his neck. Gradually, he began to lower his head in the fashion of a man who was about to deactivate a bomb, and his head was met by smooth-scaled coils of skin, while the eyes darted to meet his own.

The tree snake was now sported around his neck acting as his accessory.

Shock. That was the look that Zero's face bore as he stared at the reptile. The snake did not blink.

"Well, this is awkward," he muttered.

Not quite believing what had just happened, he resumed shaking his head, a bewildered look in his eyes. Strangely, the snake returned the action.

Zero was hit on the head with the realization that took him so long when he saw the dual movements of their heads continued for some time.

"Screaming is for sissies! Throw me a can of soda!" he yelled out.

The snake, apparently just as startled, let out a screeching hiss that sounded oddly human. Both of them froze mid-panic, staring at each other in disbelief before Zero resumed his screaming.

Zero used the hand clasp as a motion of getting ready for combat, however, this action made the other reptile flare its nostrils in outrage, mimicking a human giving exposition.

"Stay away! I don't want anything to do with you!" he shrieked. Letting appendages loose, Zero flipped the snake longitudinally. The snake made a panicked hiss and flailed around for a moment before curling itself around his wrist.

"Oh come on! Can you please not?!" he screamed.

The snake paused for a moment, tilting its head like a confused puppy before bringing its head up and casting a glance as if to say 'What do you expect me to do,' while slithering back around his neck as though it was reclaiming its long lost throne.

"Don't you even think of biting me!" Zero yelled at the top of his voice, making all kinds of motions but keeping his torso rigid as if that would do anything.

But the snake didn't strike. Rather, it repositioned itself on his shoulders once more, this time, like a tired and irresponsible scarf.

"So you are not going to kill me?" he inquired, almost shuddering at the thought. The snake twitched its tongue and did not move anymore, maintaining a fully relaxed posture

"Well, wonderful. Fantastic," he snorted in a mock fashion, "Out of all the jungle beasts how am I the one who ends up with a snaky loafer!"He pinched his temples in frustration " Why couldn't it be a loyal dog or a talking bird? No, I get jungle jewelry."

In voluntary surrender, Zero shook his head. "Alright. There you may remain but don't bite. I have enough troubles without being bitten by venomous snakes ' the thought of which had irritated him to the point where he rubbed his chin, 'I assume that makes us survival buddies now, correct?'

The snake twitched its tongue as if to say that it agreed to the condition.

----

Gradually, Zero made his way deeper into the bushes, the snake he so reluctantly kept around his neck still kept there. Looking down, he noticed the snake's tongue move.

"I'm guessing you're not going to bite me after all," Zero said quietly. The snake blinked slowly and looked as if to say, What would be the point of doing it? or Why would I waste my energy?

"Well, good," Zero continued, brushing off a low-hanging branch. "Because if you did, I'd—uh—probably die. Not exactly an inspiring comeback, huh?" Gasps for air escaped him as he trudged through the bushes.

As night began to fall, the duo faced the ultimate lesson which was to say, the hard politics of survival. Zero focused on gathering the plants that were edible, however, the outcome was a bit cataclysmic. The snake remained stoic and decisive as it watched Zero making an effort to pick plants flicked its tongue each time Zero picked only to toss them away like a child tossing away refuse after finishing mother's dinner.

"If I may ask, do you even consider this thing edible Mr. Expert?" Zero rudely said, showing the painful-looking juicy berries while waving them around.

The snake flicked its tongue twice, recoiling slightly.

"Guess its a no," Zero stated, throwing them back. "You would expect a bigger catch in a jungle or have more food just lying around."

A slight constriction of the snake around his neck caused Zero to stop. Up, a clearing in the thick bushes showed an astonishing detail, a dead wild pig lay on the earth. Its flank was ripped open, with swarms of flies hovering about the lesion.

Zero stopped and scanned the area surrounding them. "Well, it seems that we have found the mother lode," he said, looking at the giant beast. Then he clenched his jaw. "But if something killed it, that something might still be around…"

He crouched, for his muscles were tight with anticipation, seeking any form of disturbance. Normal sounds of the jungle enveloped him as a curtain, without a hint of another beast. He looked his snake in the eye. "Five minutes, Snake. Five minutes maximum. Anything and we are out of here and If nothing shows up, we grab it and run."

The snake put out its tongue and nodded, seemingly in agreement.

Both of them had been patient through this long struggle, waiting for minutes that always felt like long hours. Every rustle of leaves or distant growl set Zero's nerves on edge. When it occurred to him that no one else came to intercept them it was now or never. "Alright, time to move!" he muttered, propelling himself toward the boar.

He grabbed the beast's hind legs and heaved, straining against its massive weight. "Okay, this thing is…heavier than it looks!" he grunted, dragging it inch by inch toward the river hhis safe haven.

The snake, instead of doing anything to assist the effort, the snake just went back onto his shoulder and mocked him with its tongue.

"You know," Zero said breathing heavily"if you were a real survival buddy, you would have been listening and helping. Maybe you could wrap around a tree branch and utilize it as a roller system?"

Lazily, the snake hissed a response.

Finally, after exerting all his non-existent strength one last time, Zero finally succeeded in hauling the boar to the edge of the river. In a puff of frustration, he thudded to the ground groaning and sore all over due to the effort. The snake slithered down his shoulders and coiled up at a distance from him.

"Alright," Zero said as he pushed pressure from his eyes and forehead with his fingers, "we've got something to eat. Now, we need something that will help us cook one. And flavor. And the ability to cook. Or better yet, some of you." He turned to the snake who was watching him with a hungry look through its slits. "At least, you don't have to eat food that is cooked."

The snake remained still for a mysterious absorption of what was happening until its tongue flicked out once more across the room blinking at the time.

"Fine, laugh it up," Zero grumbled. "Anyway straighten your back you mush, you are on my funny pathetic team now."