《Razag [A Dragon LitRPG]》 Chapter 1 I¡¯m surrounded by an inky darkness. I can feel that I¡¯m curled up, and that my back and shoulders are touching a rounded wall. Where am I? What¡¯s happening? I wonder, while trying to move around. It only takes a second for me to find out that I can¡¯t move anything except my head. It also brings up the question of What even am I? I don¡¯t have arms, like I normally do. Wait, do I normally have arms? Why would it be abnormal for me to lack them? My train of thought ends up circling back to the original question. What am I? I¡¯m not getting any answers, and I see no reason why that would change, so I attempt to leave. I move myself more forcefully, and end up pretty much just flailing my body randomly. Just a second later, I¡¯m met with a resounding *Crack!* I stop moving. A sliver of light peeks through a fracture in the wall in front of me. After hitting the wall several more times, it splits open, and I tumble out, dropping onto a stone cold floor. I¡¯m assaulted by a musty smell that permeates the entirety of the room. That smells disgusting! Bleh. It takes me a second to realize that I¡¯ve closed my eyes, subconsciously trying to escape from the intense smell. I reopen them, and quickly stand up. At first I''m met with darkness, but my eyes quickly adjust, and I see large, cavernous walls surrounding me. Details are hard to discern because of the shadows shrouding the room. However, there is one part in the very middle of the cavern where a spot of sunlight that is roughly the size of a car peeks through. I also notice that there is a moderate amount of gold coins lining the edges of the room. Glancing behind me, I make out the egg that I likely hatched from, among a pile of similar looking eggs. Mine is about the size of an ostrich¡¯s egg, and is split down the middle. The egg looks like it¡¯s made of a dull aluminum, with a green liquid oozing from where it cracked. There are no signs of any other living creatures. Where are my parents? I turn around a little bit, stumbling, as I¡¯m still not used to walking. Moving closer to the walls, I inspect them more closely, and realize that they''re actually made of a red substance. As if something is triggered by my investigation, two large creatures descend into the cave. They smell of the wind, of plants, of more than this musty cavern. They also have appearances that are far more grand than whatever this cavern is made for. The first of them is a female that is covered in crimson scales. Her snout is long, filled with rows of small, dagger-like teeth. Majestic wings unfurl behind her, membrane looking as smooth as silk. Her tail curls at her feet, as long as an adult is tall. The claws on her feet and wings are black, like onyx, and don¡¯t even gain the tiniest scratch from digging into the stone, however slightly it¡¯s happening. Her black horns are twisted spires, about as long as an adult¡¯s arm. The male looks similar to the female. His scales shine a similar sheen. His snout is only slightly less elongated, teeth only slightly less wide. His wings are identical, and the tail is the same length. His claws and horns are indistinguishable from hers. While they were descending, all I had was a single thought. Are those dragons? The two creatures land right in the middle of the sunny spot, folding up their wings as they do so. They look around the cavern, their gazes landing on me. Their imposing forms and curious stares make me shy away. ¡°Well, this is unexpected.¡± The male rumbles, shifting his scrutiny to the small pile of eggs. ¡°I didn¡¯t think any of them would hatch so soon.¡± ¡°Something seems off about this one. There¡¯s no way any of them should have been able to hatch in such a short period of time.¡± As the two adult creatures (dragons?) discuss my hatching, I back away. The female then turns her scrutinizing gaze back to me, stopping me dead in my tracks. Her eyes turn a shimmering ocean blue as she appraises me. When she speaks again, she sounds disappointed, ¡°It seems this one has far less mana than would normally be expected for a young dragon.¡± What? What does that mean? Wait, are they going to do something to me? She sounded disappointed. That¡¯s bad. I hope I¡¯m not punished, or something. Well, at least I know what I am now. The male booms, ¡°That¡¯s truly a disappointment, should we kill it, or just banish it?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I believe that we should just banish it, as it is possible that it will grow stronger in the wild.¡± The female replies, her eyes changing back to crimson. I don¡¯t want to be banished or killed! ¡°Squeak!¡± Both of their gazes shift back to me as I try to deny a banishing. ¡°Can it understand us? Most baby dragons can¡¯t understand language until they are at least six months old.¡± Are they interested now? Will they not banish me? ¡°Still, I think that we have to get rid of it. It would likely be too much effort to raise, and probably not worth it,¡± the male said, voice still thundering at a truly impressive volume. No! I am worth it! Don¡¯t banish me! ¡°Well. You take it out. I shall tend to the eggs,¡± the female dragon says, shuffling over to the eggs, and leaving the male more room in the sun spot. ¡°Come, little one.¡± The male says, gesturing to the sunspot. No! I don¡¯t want to go! ¡°Squeak.¡± I try to move away, but the female dragon (my mother?) grabs me with her jaws, and tosses me to the male, and then continues doing whatever she was doing to the eggs. Ahhhhhhhhhh! After a couple of seconds in the air, I finally reach the male dragon. He quickly grabs me out of the air, stopping my forward momentum. However, he lets his claw drop a bit, and I still feel like I''m falling. Just as I¡¯m about to touch the ground, he stops the falling motion of his arm, unfurls his massive wings, and beats mightily to get a boost into the sky. My breath is taken away by the sudden increase of warmth from the sun. This is the first time I¡¯ve basked in the sunlight, and it feels great! As we rise from the hole that I was born in, I start to smell, see, hear, even taste things - things that I¡¯ve never experienced before. I see dirt. I smell the earthy scent of a healthy forest, so intense that I can practically taste it. Then grass. The smell grows stronger. I start to hear leaves and grass rustling. Then the bases of trees appear, sprouting from the carpet of green blades. I follow one of them up, and it just keeps rising. And rising. And rising! I can only see the blurry canopy after looking almost completely straight up. Right next to the trees are flowers. Roses, Tulips, Lily of the Valleys, even some Sunflowers. Except, unlike normal flowers, these ones are huge. Most of them are about a quarter the size of the trees, but some, like the Sunflowers, are twice the size of that! And that¡¯s not even half of what¡¯s in my field of vision right now! My breath is taken away once again by the sheer amount of life that¡¯s surrounding me. I¡¯m so distracted that I don¡¯t notice that we¡¯re still rising. Before long, we¡¯ve risen to the height of the tallest trees. The male dragon suddenly stops, then speedily turns completely around, facing the opposite direction from where we were facing before, and starts flying forward. The trees zoom by below us, and any birds I see immediately turn and start flying away. I wonder why, before realizing it¡¯s likely because we¡¯re big and moving fast. After what feels like an eternity of flying, the dragon that¡¯s carrying me begins to angle his flight downwards. The lower to the ground we go, the more details I notice. Things like the forest growing less dense, and the scents of wildlife growing farther apart. Are we getting close? I mean, I can¡¯t really think of any other reasons for us to start going lower. Unless maybe there is something more powerful than this dragon, and he¡¯s going lower to avoid its attention. After another five or so minutes of descending, the dragon stops at about ten feet above a clearing. He then drops me to the ground. I try to spread my wings to catch myself, but they just don¡¯t have enough surface area to do so, and I end up flipping. When I reach the ground, I get some bruises, but don¡¯t take any more serious damage. I quickly stand up as I try to understand why he let me fall. Why did he do that? Is it because he knew that I would survive? ¡°Well hatchling, I shall leave now. One last piece of advice to help you survive. Think [Status].¡± He spoke something akin to a word of power. It carried a meaning to it more than just its basic definition, yet it somehow perfectly embodied just that. It resonated with the world in a way that just cannot be described. Well, it can¡¯t hurt to try. [Status] Razag Level: 1 Species: Dragon Hatchling General Skills: [Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 1 Skills: Unused Skill Slot x 5 Stats: STR: 10 END: 10 VIT: 14 WIS: 15 INT: 15 When I thought the word of power, I felt a part of my mind that I didn¡¯t even know existed opening up. I instinctively knew that this status screen was not fully unlocked, and that more could be unlocked by speaking more of these words of power. I also knew that if I killed other creatures, I could level up, which would make me stronger. This all happened in an instant. My knees buckled, and I collapsed as all the information was shoved into my mind. I was slowly sorting through the new information when I felt the wind pick up. I looked up to see the adult dragon gone, leaving me alone in the clearing. Chapter 2 It only takes me a bit longer to finish sorting through the information that [Status] gave me about myself. Once I finish, I stand up. As I rise, I hear a Grumble. I look around, wary of a threat, but quickly realize that it was a sound that my stomach made. After hearing that, I recognize that I need to eat. I should hunt something. I¡¯m starving, and I need to eat. But first, I should check if I can eat the grass, because if so, then I will have a really easily accessible source of food. Chomp! After taking a bite of the grass to see if it''s edible, I immediately spit it out, because it is disgusting. It feels rough and coarse, scratching my tongue and the roof of my mouth, and It tastes bitter. I can¡¯t eat this. I¡¯m disappointed. I thought that I had maybe found an easy source of food. At least, I was disappointed, until I realize that something¡¯s changed about me. Not anything that¡¯s a fundamental part of my being, but something relatively superficial. Wait ¡­ Some of my injuries from the fall aren¡¯t hurting anymore. Glancing at my back, I notice that a couple of the scratches in my scales have healed up. Maybe it does have some use. This wasn¡¯t a total disappointment. It also seems really potent. I mean, It was only in my mouth for a split second, and some of my injuries have already healed. Well, now that I know that, I think I should hunt for some food. But wait, how should I do this? I don¡¯t really know how to hunt. Maybe I should look for animal tracks or something? I begin my hunt by strolling to the edge of the clearing, and starting to examine the ground for tracks. After looking around and seeing nothing, I determine that there is nothing on this edge of the clearing. I check two more sides, and continue to find nothing. Maybe there isn¡¯t anything nearby? That would be bad. I turn to the last direction that I haven¡¯t checked, and immediately notice hoofprints crossing the clearing from one of the corners to the direction I¡¯m checking. However, the hoofprints are so old that I can¡¯t smell anything coming from them. Or it was raining while the creature was moving through here. Either way, it will take me a while to find the creature that made these tracks. There we go. Now I just have to find whatever made these tracks. I start at about halfway to the trail, following the way the tracks are pointed. I walk slowly, trying to always keep the trail in the corner of my vision. . . . After a few uneventful hours, it happens. I finally start to smell something sweet, and a bit salty, and it stands out from the other rather intense smells of the forest. It¡¯s much sharper and less ¡­ distant. What is that scent? I haven¡¯t smelled anything like it yet. Does that mean that it¡¯s the deer. It must be! Just a minute later, I hear the sharp sound of leaves crunching and sticks snapping. The scent only grows stronger as I approach the creature making the sound. The other forest creatures are much quieter, subtler, so I know that this must be something bigger. And since I don¡¯t smell even a hint of anything else, it must be the deer. I slow down, as I want to get a look at my prey before I go in and try to kill it. After a little bit more travel, I finally catch a glimpse of the deer. It¡¯s about as long as the trees are thick. Its fur is dull green, and it has two large antlers sprouting from the sides of its head. My head, fully extended upward, only reaches its knee. I¡¯m honestly a bit surprised at how big it is. It might be difficult to kill. Actually, do I have any extra advantages? How would I even know? Maybe my [Status] can tell me? I mean, it is a sum of everything quantifiable about my being. [Status]. My only skill is my [Passive - Dragon Scales], and all my stats are low in the double digits, just barely above 10. It seems I don¡¯t really have any inbuilt advantages. I¡¯ll have to do a sneak attack, maybe from above the deer? After all, the neck is a place that, if attacked, will end most creatures in one hit. And an attack from above would give me a very easy way to get to the neck. Yeah, attacking from above is the way to go. Now I just need to get to a place where I can ambush it. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. It¡¯s when I start looking for an ambush spot, that I learn that the deer is actually following a path through the woods. Well, a vague path. It looks like it has been well traveled by animals. I don¡¯t know how I didn¡¯t realize it earlier, but now that I know, it¡¯s easy to find a good ambush spot. There is an area where the lowest branches of the nearby trees dip down and form a mini canopy. All I need to do is get above that net of branches, and I¡¯ll be able to fall right onto the back of the deer when it comes along. I scale one of the trees, digging my claws into the bark to keep myself from falling. Once I¡¯m a little bit above the net of branches, I release my grip and fall onto one of the thicker branches. It barely moves when I land on it. I stand up, my muscles tensed and ready for action at any moment. After what feels like an eternity, I start to hear the crunching of leaves. I crouch down, adrenaline starting to pump through my blood. Only a minute later, I see the deer traveling along the path. My muscles, somehow, tense even more. Once the deer is directly below me, I strike. I slip through the net of branches, and fall right onto the back of the deer. When I land, I dig my front claws into its back to injure it. When it feels my sharp claws digging through its back, it bucks its hind legs. The bucking only makes my claws tear through its back, which puts it into even more pain. A vicious cycle that tires out the deer quickly. It stops for a second to catch its breath, and that is when I strike, with the speed of a serpent ambushing its prey. I quickly pull my talons out of the deer¡¯s back, and claw at its neck. I can feel my claws tearing through the deer¡¯s spine, and I know that I¡¯ve won. After its spine breaks, the deer collapses. I jump off of its back, dislodging my claws from the back of its neck while doing so. That wasn¡¯t as hard as I thought it would be. I wonder why? I¡¯m jolted out of my thoughts by a feeling. It¡¯s almost like something¡¯s prodding my mind. What the heck is that?! Defeated [Green Stag - lvl. 7]. Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy. Learned skill [Slash]. Experience is awarded for the learning of a skill. 3 levels gained. Level advanced from 1 ¡ú 3. Obtained skill [Spark]. What? What¡¯s this? When I finish reading the message, I feel a massive surge of strength. I¡¯m suddenly much lighter, my ease of movement increased, and I can feel my muscles hardening and my scales toughening. Why did that happen? Does it have something to do with that message I got? And something must¡¯ve changed in my status as well. Such a large change to my being couldn¡¯t go unaddressed. [Status]. Razag Level: 3 Species: Dragon Hatchling General Skills: [Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 1 Skills: Unused Skill Slot x 5 Skill Bank: [Spark] lvl 1 [Slash] lvl 1 Stats: STR: 16 END: 16 VIT: 22 WIS: 21 INT: 21 Uh, What? What¡¯s a skill bank? Oh, maybe it¡¯s somewhere that skills are stored. That would make sense. After all, I just got two skills, and they aren¡¯t in my skill list. But now the question is: how do I assign them to my list. Maybe, assign [Spark] and [Slash]? Let me check again. Skills: [Spark] [Slash] You cannot swap a skill out of the active skill list until an hour has passed. What does that mean? It doesn¡¯t seem very important, as if it was, something probably would¡¯ve happened. I¡¯ll just test out my new skills; to see how useful they are. I start with [Spark], as it sounds more interesting. I think about activating the skill when it happens. Instructions on how to use the skill flow into my head. After about thirty seconds, they disappear. The instructions teach me the feeling of [Spark], so I replicate it. I use the skill, and I feel an itching in my throat. I open my mouth, and a couple of small but hot sparks shoot out. They only make it a couple of feet away before they lose their fuel and wink out of existence. They don¡¯t seem all that dangerous yet, but I can already imagine shooting out dozens of these sparks, and incinerating my foes. Next, I use [Slash]. When I activate this skill, I undergo a similar process, except this time I¡¯m learning how to shoot blades out of my claws. The instructions recede quickly, but now I know what to do. I copy the feeling that the instructions were showing me, and swing my claws while activating the skill. Three small waves of light launch from the tips of my talons at the end of my swing. They tear through the air in the direction I swung at for about three feet. That¡¯s when they reach a tree. When they make contact with the tree, they leave small gashes in it. They look like the kind of damage I could do if I swing with all of my strength into the trunk. I swing again, and three more blades of light blast out of my claw tips. The moment they disappear, I¡¯m assaulted by a wave of fatigue so intense that it staggers me. I stop using the skill and stand back up. I¡¯m worried that I might pass out if I use the skill again. Thankfully, it only takes me a minute for the fatigue to pass. If I can only use it twice before having to recover, that makes the skill a lot less powerful. Then again, it only took me one strike to end that deer. Chapter 3 I didn¡¯t realize it earlier, but I was famished. I hadn¡¯t actually eaten anything since I was born, besides that grass I spit out, and I¡¯ve done a lot since then. From being taken away by my parents, to killing the deer. I chomp down on the deer, my mind a bit foggy by just how hungry I am. The deer tastes really good compared to the grass. It''s also meat, and my body seems to be more suited to eating that. My observation is confirmed when, during the next bite, a stray bone gets in the way. I shatter it while barely even taking note of it. I finish my meal around what I assume to be 10 minutes later. After I eat my fill, leaving a bit of meat, shattered bones, and the head, I look up. Huh, maybe that wasn¡¯t a good idea. I look around much more warily, now that my hunger is sated and I¡¯m out of that trance. Yet, even though I was figuratively wide open, nothing took the chance to attack me. There probably just wasn¡¯t anything in the area. I¡¯m glad that I checked for that while I was hunting the deer. It might¡¯ve just saved my life. Now, what should I do next? The moment I think that, I¡¯m hit with a wave of exhaustion so intense that I almost pass out on the spot. What the heck was that?! Oh, wait. I¡¯ve done a lot of things today, and I¡¯m exhausted. And now that I¡¯ve taken care of my hunger, my other need, sleep, is calling for me. Also, why is it dark? I look up, and see a sea of stars. There is a large line, which almost looks like reality has been sliced, and the webs of dark sky and color look like reality is trying to stitch itself back together, with an otherworldly white light peeking through the still-wounded area. Although, I can¡¯t see much of it through the web of branches and leaves above me. Woah. I¡¯m struck speechless by the beauty above me. I need to find somewhere to sleep. I can think about the stars when I¡¯m not tired. I look around the path once again, except this time I¡¯m searching for a place to rest safely, rather than any dangers. After a quick scan of the clearing, I find somewhere that looks safe. It¡¯s a hole in one of the large trees, and it looks like I could just barely squeeze through it. I stumble my way towards it, quickly climb up the short stretch of log, and collapse into it. The moment I¡¯m entirely in and have landed on the floor of the hole, I let myself pass out. Everything goes black as I lose awareness. . . . I wake up to the sound of birds chirping, and the smell of rotting wood. I open my eyes blearily, and blink until everything comes into focus. I¡¯m staring at the back of the tree, and I¡¯m curled in on myself. I slowly stand up, still keeping my tail curled against my body. I turn towards where I entered, and dig my claws into the trunk to hoist myself up. I raise myself to the lip of the hole, and carefully extract myself from it, slowly and carefully changing the position of my claws, so as not to fall. I slowly climb down, my claws digging deep into the wood as I do so. When I finally reach the ground, I notice something odd. Why is the ground so torn up? It looks as if something large flailed about, and put lots of scratches into the ground. And I certainly didn¡¯t do it. I start looking around. It takes me a moment to notice just how torn up the ground is. There are large gouges that couldn¡¯t possibly have been made by something smaller than a bear. Why did something this massive even come here? That¡¯s when I see the remains of the deer, or at least, where they should be. The area surrounding it is covered in gore. It almost looks like it was just splattered around, instead of being eaten. What could have possibly done this? I start walking towards the gorey remains of the deer when I hear a roar coming from behind me. I turn around and see a massive bear that¡¯s just barely shorter than the canopy that I ambushed the deer from. It¡¯s emerging from the underbrush, and charging towards me. Or, more accurately, towards the remains of the deer. I¡¯m not even sure it notices me It has thick brown fur, and has a V-shaped crest in white across its chest. This massive bear is also charging towards me. I turn to run, and even get to start, but the bear roars again. However, this time its roar does something different. It paralyzes me, stopping me in my tracks. The paralyzing effect doesn¡¯t last long, only a couple of seconds, but that¡¯s enough time for the bear to close in on me. Okay, it definitely notices me! I have to stop this thing from just charging at me. How can I do that? A thought occurs to me. Is the bear¡¯s fur flammable? Because if it is, I might have a chance to escape. I quickly remember how to use Spark. Just a couple of seconds before it¡¯s right on top of me, I turn around and open my mouth. A dozen superhot sparks shoot out, and the bear has no time to evade. The parts of its fur the sparks touch burst into flame. The bear roars again, except this time it has notes of pain and rage in it. However, the more important thing is that the bear stops chasing me, and starts rolling around on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames. I use this chance to run into the underbrush, escaping the bear¡¯s sight. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Why was there a bear there? It wouldn¡¯t have splattered the meat around like that, so there must be some other reason. Maybe it was lured in because of the smell of blood? It was rather intense, and bears are carnivores. But that doesn¡¯t explain why the remains were splattered around like that. It¡¯s not like I have anything that will let me find out why that happened to the deer. I should probably pay attention to the more important thing. The fact that I only escaped that bear because its fur was flammable. If it was resistant to heat, it would¡¯ve torn me apart. I need to get stronger so that if something strong finds me again, I can kill it, instead of needing to run away. But to do that, I think I need to level up more. I got a huge strength boost when I leveled up. I¡¯ll probably get even stronger If I have more levels. But I also need somewhere to stay. The bear already made it clear that just sleeping anywhere isn¡¯t safe. Maybe I can find a cave? A feeling wells up in me, something I¡¯ve never felt before. It¡¯s impossible to describe, however, I would call it some kind of approval of the idea. What is this? What is this feeling? Nothing happens. The feeling doesn¡¯t make itself known again. Well, whatever. It hasn¡¯t done anything, so it probably isn¡¯t bad. Anyways, back to what I was thinking about before. A cave would probably work really well, especially if I find a small one. Nothing big could come inside, which would be much safer than me staying in a tree, where anything with claws can just open a hole inside it. Ok, so I¡¯ll look for a cave, but where though? I look around, seeing nothing. Then I send a cursory glance up. I catch a glimpse of something in the far, far distance. I look up again, and see the distant, blurry shape of a mountain. Ah ha! A mountain will probably have tons of caves. I¡¯ll easily be able to find a spot to work out of. Well, it looks pretty far away, so I should get moving. I fully turn to the direction of the mountain, and start walking. Maybe I¡¯ll get there before nightfall. . . . The sun is setting again. The shadows keep growing longer. And even after a full day of travel, the mountain doesn¡¯t look any closer. Well, I should find a place to sleep. I don''t wanna know what comes out at night. I examine the small clearing I stopped in. It is completely covered in tall grass, and surrounded in the same trees that permeate the forest. I look around for somewhere safe to sleep, like a hole in a tree, or a small burrow. Something catches my eye. One of the trees has a large cavity that¡¯s pretty high off the ground. I give the rest of the trees a cursory glance, just to check if there¡¯s someplace better. There isn¡¯t. I run to the tree, my claws digging into the bark as I climb it. I reach the hole and carefully inch in. However, unlike what I was expecting, I don¡¯t find any platform. I flail my arms for a second, before I fall in. I land on a pile of small chips of wood. It¡¯s surprisingly comfortable. The comfortable pile of wood, and my position in it, finally makes me realize just how exhausted I am. I¡¯ll probably be fine. If there¡¯s something in here, it definitely would¡¯ve attacked me already, anyway. I let myself sleep, and promptly black out. . . . I wake up to the sound of screeching. I bolt upwards, but whatever ground I¡¯m on sinks the moment I put weight on any of my legs. What¡¯s happening?! It takes me a moment to calm down enough to remember where I am. Well, that at least explains my feet sinking into the pile of wood chips. But, more importantly, what¡¯s that shrieking? I look to the direction the sound is coming from, which is upwards, and see the source of the incredibly loud sound. A squirrel, covered in black fur, is staring down at me with its mouth open. I can practically see the waves of sound disturbing the air. It¡¯s that loud. Is this its den? Is that why it''s shriekin- The squirrel falls onto me, curling into a ball with its tail sticking out. It starts spinning, moving faster and faster, until it hits me. It smashes into my back, breaking one of my scales, and sending a blast of pain through me. Owwwwww! The squirrel jumps back up, while I collapse. The pain dulls for a moment, and I try to stand up. However, the moment I do, My back gets smashed again. Another scale shatters. Stop it! I try to stop the squirrel by batting at it, but it¡¯s already out of reach. The only other thing that comes to mind is using my [Spark] skill to burn it, which will give me a chance to recombobulate. The squirrel smashes me one more time, before I decide it¡¯s time to use the skill. I turn my head to face the squirrel, open my mouth, and use Spark. A few really hot sparks shoot out, and burn the inside of the trunk. One of them lands on the squirrel, and it starts to hiss. It backs up, clearly trying to put out the spark. By the time the squirrel manages to put the fire out, I¡¯m fully aware of my surroundings, and the fog of pain has mostly dissipated. Agh! I¡¯m gonna kill this thing! I open my maw again, preparing to shoot out some more sparks. The squirrel notices, and drops downward to try and stop me, but it¡¯s already too late. The sparks shoot upward, right into the squirrel''s back, and begin to burn it alive. It tries to back away, but this time, I don¡¯t let it. I jump up, slashing my claws at its face and killing it. I hear the ding of a system notification as the squirrel falls on top of me. It doesn¡¯t feel like anything more than a heavy weight, even though it¡¯s on fire. If I let the squirrel just fall onto the pile of woodchips, then it will burst into flames. It¡¯s not even impossible that the whole tree will be set on fire, eventually. I should put it out before I do anything else. I drop the squirrel onto some of the exposed wood, next to the pile of woodchips. I make sure that none of the wood chips are even close to the burning remains of the squirrel. Once I¡¯m sure nothing else will catch on fire, I scale the inside of the trunk, and peek out. The small clearing is completely empty, except for the tall grass, and the birds are still chirping, which implies that there is nothing big in the area. Good, there¡¯s nothing here. I drop back down, to the burning squirrel. I quickly put it out, so that there is something left for me to eat. It might not be much, but at least it¡¯s something. something. Chapter 4 A few hours pass. As I move through the woods, I can tell that I¡¯m in a different part of them. The trees have a darker bark, and the leaves look like needles. I pause. Something is off, but I can''t tell what. I look around me, but everything seems fine. The grass is swaying in the wind, and the needles of the trees are slightly moving. I can smell the intense scent of nature, even if it is slightly different due to the syrupy scent of pine trees. Even the birds were still chirping. Wait. No they aren''t. Is that what''s wrong? I look around again, except this time, I focus on my hearing, rather than my sight. The area around me is nearly silent. Where are the birds? That¡¯s suspicious. Should I keep moving through this part of the forest? The birds being silent probably means that something strong is nearby. I stand still, considering my options while keeping an eye on the area surrounding me. I think I should still go through this stretch of the woods. I have no idea how long a detour might take and, who knows, if I try to look for another area, I might only find one that is more dangerous. I gather my resolve, keep a wary eye on my surroundings, and then continue onwards. . . . After another hour, I start hearing the echoes of chirping birds. I stop, and then begin to look around, trying to pinpoint the direction of the sound. Not left, not behind me, and not in front of me. Is it to the right? I turn my head to look right, and I see it. There is a large boulder sitting in the middle of a clearing, and a small hole that looks like I could access it pretty easily. What is that? I start moving a bit closer, when the echoes abruptly stop. I immediately stop moving, freezing because of the sudden lack of sound. Some kind of danger sense tells me to jump into a bush and that if I don''t, I''m dead. I start to jump into it, and almost make it before something happens. I feel a sharp cutting sensation in my tail, and I let out a squeak of pain. Luckily, whatever did that seems to have only grazed me, so I¡¯m able to make it into the bush. Inside the bush, I slowly turn around to see what attacked me, and to see what damage was done to my tail. I look at the tip, and am shocked. There¡¯s a gash that goes right through my scales and skin. It doesn¡¯t hurt much, and there¡¯s almost no bleeding, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll kill me. However, something else has my attention. What comes out of the wound is a viscous, black substance. It quickly becomes congealed, sealing the wound. What was that? Was that¡­ my blood? I shake my head a little. I need to pay attention to what attacked me. I look up from my tail. A massive vulture has its claws dug into the ground, exactly where I was standing previously. It has raven black feathers, and a bald neck and head. Its head and neck are colored an ugly pink. Its claws are massive, each much larger than even my horns. It looks like it could swallow me whole. The creature reeks of death and decay. Its piercing gaze fixed on the ground where it''s standing, and where I was just a couple of seconds earlier. It looks up abruptly, and starts examining the area around it, seemingly looking for me. I shiver. If that vulture finds me, I don''t think I''ll survive. I start to turn around, and crawl away from it, when my foot lands on a stick. *Snap!* The vulture turns its head near instantaneously, and sees me. I feel its piercing gaze land on me, and then a rush of wind. I have to run. It¡¯s my only chance at survival. I only make it a dozen or so feet, before whatever warned me before does it again, making me feel like I need to jump forward. I do, and then keep running. Behind me, I hear a loud thump, and then a shriek. I cast a quick glance behind me, and see the vulture''s claws stuck in the ground, and it shrieking furiously about me escaping its grasp again. I hear another whoosh of air. It¡¯s in the sky again! I have to be ready to dodge at any moment. I look forward, only to see a tree just a few feet in front of me. I swerve around it, putting the tree between me and the vulture. I feel another blast of warning, and I know that the vulture is going to dive again. I start weaving, moving in more of a zig-zag pattern than in a straight line. This time, whatever kind of danger sense that I have gives me significantly less of a warning, and I only barely move out of the way of the vulture''s dive. What? Why did it give me less warning? Maybe my weaving made it so that the damage wouldn¡¯t be lethal? Still, this most certainly won¡¯t work for much longer. I have to find someplace to hide. I scan the areas I''m running past, looking for somewhere that I can hide from the malicious vulture. It only takes me a minute before I see a fallen tree with a hole in its side. It looks like I could only barely squeeze past the hole. This is it! It¡¯s exactly what I need! I turn around, and dash through some dense undergrowth, before diving into the tree trunk. I push myself in as quickly as I can, before coiling myself as far from the entrance as I can get. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I didn¡¯t notice an important fact while I was running. My heart was, and still is, beating quickly and loudly. It was irrelevant when running, since the vulture already had eyes on me. But now that I¡¯m trying to hide, I can only hope that the bird doesn¡¯t hear my heartbeat, and use it to find me. After what feels like an eternity, I hear loud whooshes of air, and then a loud thump. It¡¯s probably the vulture. I go completely still and hold my breath. If I don''t, then I might be found. And if I am found, then I¡¯m dead. Only a second later, I start hearing a series of quieter thumps. Is that the vulture looking for me? Sometimes it''s closer, and sometimes it''s farther away. At this point, my heartbeat feels like it is almost as loud as the massive bird. Can¡¯t it hear my heart? If feels like it¡¯s so loud that there¡¯s no way that the bird can¡¯t hear it. After what feels like an eternity, the thumps stop. A couple of seconds later, I hear a loud whoosh of air, which, I assume, means the vulture took off. I wait a minute more, just to make sure it isn''t returning, and then I let out the breath I was holding. My heartbeat starts quieting down, and only then do I hear the notifications. Learned General skill [Danger Sense]. Experience is awarded for the learning of a General skill. 1 level gained. Level advanced from 4 --> 5 The moment I open my notifications, something changes. I don''t know what, but I can tell it''s something big. I try to figure out what happened, but nothing I do, from flexing, to focusing on all my senses, reveals anything abnormal. I start moving, and I notice it is slightly easier, but that is likely due to the level rather than this new ''General skill.'' It¡¯s also probably the endurance and vitality boost. Wait, why did I even gain more of those stats? I got a separate notification for them¡­ I try to think about why, before a lightbulb goes off. Maybe it¡¯s because I was wounded. Vitality is recovery, and Endurance is resistance, after all. Surviving and having the wound heal naturally are probably the reasons both of those stats increased. But that still doesn¡¯t address the ¡®General skill.¡¯ Maybe my status will explain? [Status] Razag Level: 5 Species: Dragon Hatchling General Skills: [Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 1 [Passive - Danger Sense] lvl 1 Skills: [Spark] lvl 1 [Slash] lvl 1 Unused skill slots x 3 Stats: STR: 18 END: 18 VIT: 26 WIS: 25 INT: 25 Wait. I didn''t assign danger sense. Why is it already assigned? How is it already assigned? Also, how is it not taking up a skill slot? How do I even use it? I¡¯m not being shown what to do. Does it have something to do with that strange feeling? I try again to figure out what that strange feeling is. Except, unlike last time, I actually feel something.The feeling I get is like being in a dark room, or in complete silence. I know that it is there, but there are no stimuli for it. I try one last thing. It¡¯s called danger sense, maybe it tells me when something is about to harm me? Well, there¡¯s only one way to test that. I bring my claw to my scale, and try to pierce it. That''s when I get something from this new sense. It¡¯s a soft ping, not a sound, but a feeling. So that''s what it is. It probably feels louder and more eye-catching, so to speak, when I''m in more danger. This could be useful. Hold on, is this the skill version of what I was feeling while running from that vulture? If so, that makes this skill really useful. It would probably alert me right before I get ambushed, or maybe tell me when to dodge an attack. I pull my claw away from my front paw and start crawling forward, leaving the hollowed out log. Right before I do, I check the clearing to make sure that there isn''t anything that will attack me. There isn''t, probably because that vulture scared everything away. I finish crawling out of the fallen tree trunk, and then look up. The sun is still pretty high in the sky, so I think that I can still make some progress to the mountain. I orient myself towards it once more. I start splitting my attention by focusing on my surroundings, and paying attention to danger sense. It¡¯s hard, but not impossible. I have to practice for a minute until I can reliably do both. That¡¯s when I start walking. Walking breaks my focus again, so I have to practice some more until I can do all three at once. Then I start walking again. Chapter 5 Weeks pass after that encounter. I continue my journey towards the mountain, looking for a new home. I also keep an eye out in the areas I pass through, just in case I find someplace suitable that will take less effort to get to. I don¡¯t end up finding anything. During that time, I hunt to feed myself, and increase my level. I never ended up fighting something stronger than me, even though I did kill a great variety of creatures. I fought more of those deer, a couple more squirrels, and a plant monster. The plant monster was pretty easy, as all I had to do was burn it with [Spark] while dodging its attacks. After that battle, I also leveled up to level 9. Defeated [Lily of the Valley - Level 9] Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy. 1 skill level gained. advanced Spark to level 4 1 level gained. advanced from 8 --> 9 Finally! I''m so close to level 10. I feel like something special will happen when I get there. I feel the typical boost in power from leveling up, and stand still for a second. It only takes me a minute to grow accustomed to the increase in speed, strength, control, and clarity of mind. I look up to the mountain, to gauge the approximate distance I still have to travel. It doesn''t look like it will be much longer before I get there. I wonder if I will reach level 10 before I do? Probably not. It''s been taking more and more time and battles to get to the next level. I wonder how my status has changed after this new level? [Status] Razag Level: 9 Species: Dragon Hatchling General Skills: [Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 2 [Passive - Danger Sense] lvl 1 Skills: [Spark] lvl 4 [Slash] lvl 2 Unused skill slots x 3 Stats: STR: 26 END: 26 VIT: 38 WIS: 33 INT: 33 Wow! My status has changed a lot since the last time I checked. Even though it''s only been a couple of days, all the levels have increased my stats by a large amount. Although... something seems a bit off with my stats. Why is vitality so high? It used to just barely be above wisdom and intelligence, but now it is significantly higher. ... Well, I guess it doesn''t matter too much. Anyways, I should start traveling again. Maybe I can even make it there today! Probably not, but I can still dream, damnit! I stop focusing on my status, and it disappears, like when a thought or memory is put out of mind. I look back up to the mountain, and then orient myself to face it. I only pay attention to danger sense for a second, hear nothing, and then continue my journey. It''s not long after that I notice something. I hear a faint beeping sound in my ear, interrupting the silence of the forest. I pay attention to the sound, and quickly realize that it is my danger sense. Why is my danger sense warning me? It hasn''t done that once since I''ve gotten the skill. I shrug, and then continue walking, albeit while paying more attention to my surroundings. I also pay more attention to danger sense, in case it saves me like it did last time. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. It only takes me a few minutes to realize something important. The more I move forward, the more danger sense warns me. I think there might be something hostile and malicious in the direction I''m going. But I can''t just stop, or I won''t make any more progress. Still, it''s better to be cautious, and maybe wait until whatever''s in front of me leaves. I abruptly stop moving, and narrow my eyes, focusing on the stretch of ground in front of me. But it looks exactly the same as everything else does. I then glance above, and see the leaves rustling in the wind. After that, I look at the area around me, and the ground in front of me. I''d rather be prepared if something suddenly decides to attack me. It¡¯s only then that I see bushes rustling, more than the wind would allow. I narrow my eyes at the disturbance, and tense up my muscles, ready to jump to the side. I start moving slowly to my right, away from the rustling bush. My danger sense suddenly beeps loudly. I fling myself to the right, and land right next to some especially dense underbrush. Based on what I''ve seen so far, the underbrush is especially dense when it''s surrounding a clearing. A clearing would allow me the freedom of movement to do whatever I need to. I charge through the dense underbrush, and, like I predicted, I enter a clearing. I''m quickly followed by a white blur shooting through the heavy underbrush behind me. I have to jump to the side to dodge it. The creature quickly halts its momentum, and turns around to face me, looking ready to leap and attack once again. However, the brief pause in its movement allows me to get a good view of the creature. It is a small fox. It has sleek white fur, and is very thin. Its muscles seem to be small, yet the speed it was moving at earlier dissuades me from the idea that it is weak. That more likely means that it just has a small frame, which is an advantage to it. Less area for me to hit. Why is it white, though? There isn''t anywhere nearby that I know of that would make that be an advantageous trait. After I finish my quick analysis, I feel my danger sense go off again. I jump to the left, and narrowly avoid being hit by the fox. I quickly turn around, and then jump to the right, only narrowly dodging the fox again. How is it so fast?! I turn a bit to the right again, and this time leap forward. I feel a slight whoosh of air as the fox shoots toward where I was a moment before. However, it pivots this time, jumping off of the ground, and straight onto my back. I feel my scales crack, and I tumble forward. What? I feel a sharp pain as my cracked scales dig into my back. I''m momentarily paralyzed by the pain, and the fox uses that delay to attack again. I feel another, stronger bash crack some more scales that are on my back. The force also knocks me forward. This time, I use my claws to stop myself from sliding, and hastily stand up. I turn back around to the fox, and hear my danger sense blast once again. I try to run to the right, but I stumble. Somehow, my stumble turned what would''ve been another crushing blow into a mere nick. I feel another small bit of pain, but I''m able to quickly activate [Slash]. Three small blades shoot out from my claws and dig into the fox''s shoulders, It stumbles, likely not expecting to be hit by something as slow as me. I use the chance to shoot out [Spark], and set the fox aflame. It shrieks in pain, and I stumble towards it, and then slash it again, with my claws this time. Luckily it isn''t able to avoid my hit, probably since it is on fire. When my claw connects with its head, it drops down. It struggles, trying to get back on its feet. However, one last claw strike puts an end to it, and I get the notification a few seconds later. Defeated [Albino Fox - Level 11] More experience awarded for defeating an enemy of a higher evolution 3 skill levels gained. advanced [Slash] to level 3. advanced [Dragon Scales] to level 3. advanced [Danger Sense] to level 2. 1 level gained. advanced from 9 --> 10 {EVOLUTION AVAILABLE} What''s that? What''s evolution? Wait, I''m still injured. I should go somewhere to heal. Maybe I should bring the corpse with me? I mean, the fox will probably make good food. I pick the fox up by its neck, and then look around the clearing for a place that''s large enough for me to sleep in, and have the fox nearby. It only takes me a couple of seconds to find a suitable hollow relatively close to me, and that has an entrance that is on the ground. It''s a fallen tree that is quite large, which makes it an easy place to move around in. I start dragging the fox''s corpse to the log when the adrenaline from the fight starts fading. I stagger, the full weight of my injuries starting to catch up to me. I have to get to the log, then I can pass out. I start dragging the corpse again, making slower progress because I''m beginning to feel my injuries. After a minute of dragging the corpse, I stand right in front of the log. I quickly stumble in, dragging the corpse in as well. I go a bit deeper into the log, making sure that no part of me or the fox is visible from the outside. After finally letting go of the fox, the last of my adrenaline fades away, and I promptly collapse. Chapter 6 I wake up with a slight headache. It takes a minute for the pounding to slow down enough that I can open my eyes. Once I do, I look around. What happened? Where am I? A second later, the memories of the fight flood in. Oh. I¡¯m in the fallen tree trunk. Wait, where¡¯s the fox? I¡¯m feeling pretty hungry. I frantically look around, before my roaming eyes abruptly stop on the remains of the fox. There it is. I was worried for a second there. I stand up, feeling the tip of one of my horns scrape against the ceiling. Huh. I don¡¯t think they did that when I came in here. Maybe I was just crawling? Yeah, yeah that must be it. Anyways, it¡¯s time to eat. I start devouring the fox, breaking apart and swallowing everything, including the bones. After about five minutes of eating, I finish the fox. I walk a couple of feet away from the pools of blood, so I can stay clean and harder to detect. Only after sitting down do I remember that I have a couple of system notifications to go through. I open up my status, and start reading through it. Razag Level: 10 (Max Level) Species: Dragon Hatchling General Skills: [Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 3 [Passive - Danger Sense] lvl 2 Skills: [Spark] lvl 4 [Slash] lvl 3 Unused skill slots x 3 Stats: STR: 31 END: 31 VIT: 45 WIS: 38 INT: 38 {EVOLUTION AVAILABLE} Woah. There are a bunch of different things that have changed. I wonder if the system will tell me what those things mean? Here, I¡¯m going to try it. What is max level? Why did my stats increase by three points instead of two? And, what I feel is most important, what is evolution? After asking the questions that feel like the ones most likely to get a response, I wait. It only takes a couple of seconds before I receive a notification. Evolution is a process where monsters evolve their race, increase their level caps, and fundamentally change their body. This process takes between ten minutes and two hours, depending on the rarity of the evolution, and the amount of physical body changes associated with the new species. Huh. I guess I wasn¡¯t really expecting it to work. Well, I should take advantage of this opportunity. I read the system notification quickly, and then reread it to make sure that I fully understand what it¡¯s saying. I begin to think after my third read. So, will this make me stronger? And it says that I have an evolution available. Maybe it¡¯s because I reached the max level? Or is it because I killed that fox? I mean, those are the only things that happened at the same time as they notification came. But why would killing a random fox make me evolve? That doesn¡¯t make any sense, so that must mean that it is the max level. Also, the definition mentioned increasing level caps. Does that mean there are higher levels? And that evolving will allow me to reach them? Maybe there are even more evolutions. It¡¯s not like the definition said there aren¡¯t, but it also didn¡¯t say that there are. I should probably find someplace safe to evolve. I look around the fallen log. This place is probably safe enough. Nothing found me while I was asleep, and I won¡¯t be responsive for a much shorter period of time this time around. Also, something seems off here. I reread the description once again, and what I find, or rather, don¡¯t find, confirms my suspicions. It seems like most monsters don¡¯t get a choice in their evolution. I mean, it doesn¡¯t actually say that, but it also doesn¡¯t mention monsters having a choice in the first place. Maybe I shouldn''t evolve. I don''t want to change into something I don¡¯t want to be. Then again, I am at the level cap. It''s not like I can get stronger without evolving. I weigh the risks and benefits, and end up deciding that I should evolve. Being able to get stronger is ultimately more important than the risks. Is there anything I need before I evolve? Maybe food? But it says it only takes an hour, and I just ate, so I should be fine. Wait, how do I evolve in the first place? Maybe I should think "evolve"? No? What else can I do? I think about it for a minute, and then it comes to me. Can I think it the way I do status? Ok, I''m going to try it. [Evolve]. Right after thinking the word, I black out. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I wake up in a pitch black space. The first thing that comes to mind is a question. Isn''t it awfully concerning how much I''ve been blacking out recently? Only after that do I think, where am I? I get the answer when I hear the system message. You are in an evolutionary space. This is where all of your achievements culminate into three evolutions. You must pick one before you leave this space. Ok, so where are the evolution options? Just a moment after I think that, three pillars of light emerge in front of me. I recoil away from them, blinded by their brilliance for a brief moment. In that time, they dim down, and the white spots in my vision fade away. I blink a couple of times, expediting the process. When I can finally see clearly again, I start to notice the different colors of the pillars. The one on my left is green, the one in the middle is red, and the one on my right is a dark purple. What are these? Are they the options? How am I supposed to know which one is which? I step closer to the leftmost one to examine it, and nearly jump back in surprise when information on the evolution inside enters my brain. Young Nature Dragon - a dragon that, even though it possesses fire, takes care so as not to destroy nature. This has given it nature¡¯s favor, and thus allowed it to change its element to one that is not so damaging, but is equally destructive. When I read the description, I notice one thing that seems a bit off. Something that seems to qualify me for this evolution, but also something that I haven¡¯t really done. I haven¡¯t made sure to avoid damaging nature, have I? I think back to all of my fights. I mean, I guess I didn¡¯t aim at the plants, because I didn¡¯t want to start a fire. But would that really count as ¡®taking care so as not to destroy nature¡¯? It doesn¡¯t really matter anyway. After I finish thinking about that, a couple more questions come to mind, such as, what does the evolution mean about changing my element? and what powers would I gain? The system only answers my question about the powers. The Young Nature Dragon can control the roots and vines of nearby plants. The amount of willpower necessary to control the plants increases exponentially for each new plant being actively controlled. The [Spark] skill will be replaced by [Plant Control - minor], and the stat growth speed of intelligence and wisdom will have a minor increase. Well, I guess that answers my question about the evolution¡¯s powers. I can see how this would be really beneficial in the forest. There are vines and plants everywhere. It would be like having ropes that I can control, and they are constantly surrounding the enemy. The only real disadvantage is that I won¡¯t be able to control more than one at once, at least not yet. I step away from the Young Nature Dragon evolution, and move toward the next one, the red pillar. Once I get close to it, I receive another message, this time describing the next evolution. Young Fire Dragon - a dragon that has embraced its native element of fire. It hunkers down on its instincts, and grows stronger for it. It brings down rage and flame on its enemies, and has no allies. Well, this one is much simpler. Though, I do wonder what it means about rage and flame. The Young Nature Dragon didn¡¯t talk about anything like emotions. Maybe this one is special? Well, I think I should know its abilities before I make any decisions. A Young Fire Dragon will have its [Spark] evolved into [Flaming Breath]. It will also gain the skill [A Berserker¡¯s Rage]. This skill doubles all stats, but takes away all of the user¡¯s intelligence for the length of its use. The Young Fire Dragon will also have slightly increased stat growth for all its stats. Oh. That¡¯s actually better than the Young Nature Dragon, isn¡¯t it? Instead of only boosting stat growth for two attributes, it will boost all of them! And already, Spark is an amazing skill. It¡¯s been one of my primary methods of attack, and any boost to it will inevitably be good. Then again, compared to a skill like plant control, does it really compare? Plant control seems much more versatile than spark is, whether it is in or outside of combat. I think I might not take this one. I look towards the last pillar, and see shimmering purple. I walk towards it, and feel the information appear in my head, like all the others. Young Darkness Dragon - a dragon of the all-consuming void. It fights its enemies brutally, using all of the tools at its disposal to end them. After defeating its foes, it consumes them, empowering itself. Dragons that choose to evolve into this forsake their previous elements, and turn to the path of darkness. Wow. This seems to describe my fighting style pretty well. And, that last part about getting stronger by eating what I kill is really appealing. But, I don¡¯t know, something about this evolution seems off. It almost seems tailored to me. Well, maybe I¡¯ll decide once I hear the rest of its powers. A Young Darkness Dragon can consume the flesh of its foes to temporarily gain access to the dead creature¡¯s skills. It also gains additional stat points in the stat that that specific creature was highest in. These stat points are permanent, and correlate to the tier of the creature. The other skill that is gained replaces [Spark]. It is called [Darkness Breath], and it sends out a wave of void sparks that devour whatever they touch, even if it¡¯s the user. The evolution also gives a minor increase in all stats¡¯ growth speed. The description was two paragraphs? It also seems to have more benefits than the other evolutions. There has to be a catch, right? There''s no way something this powerful would be here if there wasn''t a catch. Maybe I should ask? System, is there a catch? Young Darkness Dragons have a vicious hunger that never lets them stop eating, for if they do, they are consumed by it. Their personality will be destroyed, and they will become mindless monsters. Oh, there¡¯s the catch. Yeah, that kind of makes this not worth it anymore. Ok, now that I¡¯ve checked out all of the evolutions, I should choose one. Which one should I choose, though? Chapter 7 Ok, so, all of the evolutions have benefits. The Young Fire Dragon compounds on what I have now, and gives me the skill A Berserker¡¯s Rage, which doubles my power, but makes me lose my mind. At least for the duration of the skill. This evolution also increases the growth of all of my stats ''slightly¡¯. The Young Nature Dragon changes my element, allowing me to attack my enemies from all directions by controlling the plants around them. However, I can only control one or two at a time, at least until I get stronger. On top of that, it only increases my intelligence and wisdom in ¡®minor¡¯ increments. The Young Void Dragon has the most benefits and the most drawbacks. It gives me the power to permanently take the stats of my enemies, and temporarily gain access to the skills of creatures that I eat. This evolution replaces Spark with Darkness Breath, which is just Spark, but stronger, and with a different element. It also increases the growth rate of all my stats to ¡®minor¡¯. However, if I¡¯m not constantly eating, then I will lose my mind. In this case, it¡¯s practically equivalent to dying. So, it¡¯s time for me to make a choice. I think that I can safely get rid of the Young Void Dragon. It just has too many drawbacks for an inequivalent amount of benefits. That leaves me with the Young Fire Dragon and the Young Nature Dragon. The Young Fire Dragon is more of a boost to my current powers, while the Young Nature Dragon completely changes them. The Young Nature Dragon¡¯s powers are really well suited to fighting in the forest, while with the Young Fire Dragon, I have to be much more careful. However, new powers would mean that I have to change my style of fighting, even though I don¡¯t really have one. The Young Fire Dragon has an advantage here, as it doesn¡¯t really change what I already have, only adding a new power. The Young Nature Dragon, however, completely changes my powers. I lose my breath attack, and maybe my claw attack, and replace it with a manipulation ability. It seems really powerful, but I will have to learn how to use it, and I don¡¯t know if I will have time to train with it. I could be attacked right after I leave the evolutionary space. But wait, wouldn¡¯t that also be a really good chance to practice? And I kind of need to change my fighting style anyway. I only barely won against that fox, and even that was mainly because of danger sense and my stats. Well, I guess that decides it. I¡¯m going to evolve into a Young Nature Dragon. I turn away from the purple pillar of light, just now realizing that I¡¯d been standing in front of it the entire time. I quickly lope towards the green pillar of light, and stop just a couple of meters away from touching it. Now, how do I do this? Maybe I should walk inside it? It doesn¡¯t hurt to try. I walk a bit closer, and the explanation about the evolution appears again. I dismiss it, and slowly move my claw into the green light. Another notification rings out. Would you like to evolve into a Young Nature Dragon? Yes/No Well, I¡¯ve already decided that I want to. Yes. The moment that I confirm my choice, I black out. I wake up to a blindingly bright light and a bunch of loud dings in my ear. I blink a few times, trying to adjust to the bright light. After a couple of minutes of blinking, the light finally dims down to a manageable level. The first thing I notice is that I¡¯m surrounded by the forest. Wasn¡¯t I inside the log? Why am I outside it now? It¡¯s only a couple of seconds after that that I realize that I should be on watch for any danger. I look around and start checking my surroundings for danger. All I hear are normal forest sounds. The chirping of birds, the rustling of the leaves in the wind, and the rustling of grass. I start to stand up, and then abruptly stop. Why is the ground getting so much farther away? I continue standing up. When my legs are fully extended, I¡¯m at a dizzying height. Did I grow taller? Why? It only takes me a second to recall the message that I received earlier when I quarried about evolution. Is this what the message meant when it said ¡®physical changes¡¯? Did anything else change? Getting taller doesn¡¯t seem like a fundamental change to my body. I look down at my claws. They are still an ebony black, but the skin behind them is now a splotchy, leafy green interspersed with a darker green that I would associate with moss. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Wow, my scale color has completely changed! I wonder what else is different? I crane my neck to check my back, and am surprised by what I see. Woah! My wings are so much bigger now. I wonder if I can fly now? Wait, has anything changed in my status? [Status]. Razag Level: 10 Species: Young Nature Dragon General Skills: [Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 3 [Passive - Danger Sense] lvl 2 Skills: [Plant Control - Minor] lvl 4 [Slash] lvl 3 Unused skill slot x 3 Skill Bank: [Flora Camouflage] lvl 1 Stats: STR: 31 END: 31 VIT: 45 WIS: 40 INT: 40 Flora Camouflage? What¡¯s that? Well, I still have some empty skill slots, so maybe I should equip it so I can see what it can do. Assign [Flora Camouflage]. Ok, now that it¡¯s assigned, I¡¯m gonna test it out. [Flora Camouflage]. Just like what happened the last time I activated a skill, a rush of knowledge flows into my head. However, unlike with Spark or Slash, this rush of knowledge only lasts a couple of seconds. But that¡¯s because the skill is relatively simple. It just changes my scales to the color of the plants around me, using a very small amount of my energy to do so. That¡¯s a really good ambush skill. It would let me attack creatures from a bunch of different directions, and still be hidden from their view. I look down at my claws to check if the skill works, and am momentarily surprised when I don¡¯t see them. Oh, that¡¯s what it meant when it said camouflage. It¡¯s so good that I can¡¯t even see my own claws! What happens if I move? I take a step forward, and then look down at my claws again. They are much more visible now. They look like distortions over the grass. It seems that it only changes my color to match the exact area where the skill was activated. That means if I move, I will probably be seen by whatever I¡¯m hunting. I guess that¡¯s why the requirements are so low. The skill probably needs to constantly be refreshed if I¡¯m moving. Anyway, I should probably test Plant Control now. And maybe I should move out of the clearing so that I¡¯m less conspicuous. I stroll through the clearing, and into the forest. I only stop once my entire length is hidden in the trees. That¡¯s where I start to practice my other new skill, Plant Control. I activate it, ready for the rush of information. However, I never could''ve predicted just how much would be rushing into my mind. AHHHHHHHHH, there¡¯s so much! My mind is temporarily overwhelmed by the amount of information I¡¯m receiving. It takes me a full two minutes to process the information. I didn¡¯t think controlling a plant would be so complicated! And I didn¡¯t know that the knowledge to use a skill could be painful. Maybe I should be more careful about which skills I choose? But how am I supposed to know what¡¯s dangerous or not? Well, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it now. Anyways, back to Plant Control. It was definitely a good choice. It¡¯s way more versatile than Spark, and It can do more damage, via stabbing or crushing. Although, depending on how much energy I need to use to get it going, or whether energy is actively consumed when it¡¯s being used, it might become something of a finisher move, or a last-ditch attack. I should probably test it before theorizing more. I follow what the instructions said, and activate the skill, focusing on a vine that¡¯s intertwined with a tree trunk right next to me. I can tell when the spell activates, as I suddenly feel like I have a new limb. However, instead of being uncomfortable and difficult to control, it goes where I want it to effortlessly. I make it disentangle itself from the tree. As it¡¯s disentangling itself, I notice that some of the bark on the vine falls off, in an area around the tip. That area is where I have the most control, like how I can do more dexterous movements with my claws, than something like my bicep. How fast can it go? I make it shoot forward as if I was lunging. It only goes a little bit faster than I do. Well, it is really sharp, unlike me. One last test, then I¡¯ll turn off the skill. I make the bottom part of the vine surround the tree it was previously curled around, and then make it crush what it¡¯s surrounding as hard as it can. The vine goes right through the tree¡¯s trunk, and quickly meets itself. Uh oh. I quickly move out of the way of where the tree is falling, and watch it go right into the clearing. CRASH! It crashes at a truly impressive volume, probably alerting everything for miles. That was dangerous. Well, at least I know just how powerful it is now. This was definitely the right choice. And it seems that I only need to activate the skill, and then no more energy is consumed. I should get out of here. The sound of the tree falling will probably alert something really dangerous. I turn back to the direction where the mountain is, satisfied by the results of my testing. I start running towards it, quickly leaving the area where the tree fell behind. Chapter 8 It only takes me a single day of running, with some short breaks, to reach the base of the mountain. I stare up at the imposing figure it cuts. It¡¯s huge! There¡¯s no way I¡¯m getting anywhere even close to the top without flying, and I still don¡¯t know how to do that. Then again, it¡¯s not like I need to get to the top. I just need to find a cave that¡¯s decently high up. I could probably look around and find something eventually, but it¡¯s probably a better idea to use this opportunity to learn to fly. It seems like a really useful skill to know. I should probably start learning and practicing as soon as possible. Then I can get to a good home sooner. Actually, why not start now? I look around. I¡¯m surrounded by the tall trees and flowers that I¡¯ve grown accustomed to. There isn¡¯t much space, but there should be just enough to be able to fully unfurl my wings. This seems like a decent enough area. I slowly extend my wings to their full length. There''s a decently large gap between my wings, and the trees surrounding me. Now, how do I do this? ¡­ Maybe I can use something I¡¯ve seen before as an example, like my father? I try to remember how my father rose into the air, but all I can remember is the exhilaration of flying and seeing the world for the first time. Maybe I can try flapping my wings the way that birds do it? I know they beat their wings really fast, but how do they start? I try to remember how birds take off, and actually succeed this time. I think they lift their wings up, and then beat them down and up again really quickly. Yeah, that¡¯s what they do. I lift my wings up a decent amount, and then beat them down and up again as fast as I can. I move upwards a little with each beat of my wings. I did it! I¡¯m flying! I internally cheer, but that distracts me, and I stop beating my wings for a second. However, that¡¯s all it takes to send me tumbling to the ground. Although, since I barely rose, I take next to no damage. Barely even a scratch on my scales. If I fell from that height at my previous evolution, I probably would have gotten a proper scratch at least. Now, it barely does anything. Well, at least I was able to get off the ground, which means that I was right to follow the way birds do it. All I need is more practice, and then I should be able to actually fly! And then I can search the mountain for a cave. Welp, no better time to start than now. . . . I spread my wings as wide as they can go, and then start beating them up and down as fast as I can. I quickly rise up into the air. However, I¡¯m already getting tired. This isn¡¯t working. I may be rising, but I get tired too quickly. My wings are just too heavy for me to beat them this fast. I slow my beating, and gradually start to lower. It takes a few more seconds, but I¡¯m back on the ground. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Beating my wings this fast tires me far too quickly to actually work. But what other options are there? Could I glide? As in, beat my wings, glide, and then beat them each time I need more lift? But to do that, I would need some amount of wind to push me forward, right? Well, I should at least try and see if the gliding idea would work at all. I beat my wings a couple of times, until I¡¯m a few feet in the air. And then I stop. I keep my wings extended at their full length, and stop beating them. I begin to fall, except it¡¯s much slower than a normal fall. It takes me a few more seconds to land on the ground, where I retract my wings. I don¡¯t think I have the space to properly test this out, but it seems promising. I wonder; if I start flying from part way up the mountain, will I have enough space to properly test this out? I think I should, because If I go high enough, then I will be above the trees, and won¡¯t have any of the interference I do now. I turn around to face the mountain, then jog until I reach the edge of a large clearing. The side opposite to me borders the steep cliffs. However, these cliffs seem to be made of a different kind of rock than what I¡¯ve seen elsewhere in the forest. The rocks are a sand red, kind of like the color of the walls in the cave I was born in. Although, unlike the cave walls, these steep cliffs give off something akin to an aura. It feels ancient, and alive. As if the stone could peel off at any moment and do something. What¡¯s happening? What¡¯s this aura? Why do some random rocks even have an aura? I step closer, into the range of the aura. The moment I enter, the aura changes. It goes from what feels like a calm gaze, to a distressed, frantic feeling. Why is whatever¡¯s making this aura so disturbed by me? I¡¯m distracted from my thoughts when I hear the sound of stone cracking. I refocus on the cliffs, and am shocked by what I see. Small parts of the cliff are breaking off and falling. When they reach the ground, and should stop moving, they don¡¯t. They array themselves in the barebones shape of a spider. When the entire shape is complete, all the dust in the area starts moving. The dust from the broken rocks, and the dust in the surroundings, swirl towards the spider made of rocks. In the wave of dust, I spot a flash of glowing green. Before I can even begin to wonder what it is, it¡¯s gone. The dust builds itself under and around the rocks, until there is no more. The spider now looks much more alive. The rocks look like armor plating covering the exoskeleton of the spider. The dust seems to resemble that exoskeleton, and even though it¡¯s constantly moving, it gives the impression of something solid, which surprises me even more. How can dust be solid? Wait, that¡¯s not important. This thing is obviously what was giving off that aura, and it must be coming out here to fight me, and it¡¯s probably too late for me to back off. But how do I fight it? Oh! I can use a vine to tear the rocks off! It¡¯s even possible that I can crush them. Maybe that will hurt it more? I can even use my camouflage ability to make myself invisible while I do that! I¡¯m broken out of my thoughts when a sudden bright green light flashes over the clearing. I refocus on the spider, and only notice one thing different. Inside of the empty sockets of its eyes, there are small green flames. They look around, scanning the clearing, before one of them lands on me. The eye stops moving entirely, and all the others focus on me, stopping their seemingly aimless roaming. Chapter 9 The spider charges towards me, heedless of its surroundings. Luckily for it, and not so luckily for me, the surroundings are a large clearing and a mountain wall. I throw out a [Slash], to make the spider think twice about its reckless charge, but the spider easily dodges. My [Danger Sense] flares, and I jump to the left, the spider¡¯s now outstretched leg just a hair¡¯s breadth away from touching my scales. I throw out another [Slash]. It hits, probably because the spider is so close. However, to my dismay, the Slash barely even puts a notch onto the spider¡¯s earthen carapace. I quickly start putting distance between me and the spider. To give myself room to breathe. The spider doesn¡¯t follow me with anything except its eyes. I wonder if it can only run in short bursts? No, I shouldn¡¯t make such an assumption. I run for a couple more seconds, before stopping and instantly using [Flora Camouflage]. I have to know if it can see me like this. If it can¡¯t, then I have an advantage. The spider¡¯s eyes start looking around frantically. Maybe I can actually win. It doesn¡¯t seem to be able to see me. However, just a few seconds later, something changes. The green flames in the spider¡¯s eyes change into an ocean blue. Wait, that ocean blue reminds me of something. But what? My thoughts are interrupted by the spider¡¯s now-blue eyes locking onto my position. Oh shit, it knows where I am. I dash to the right, my [Danger Sense] suddenly telling me to move. I also cancel the Flora Camouflage, feeling that now that it can see me, it¡¯s useless. I jump to the side, but not fast enough. The spider nicks me with the edge of its leg. I can feel a couple of my scales crack and break as I¡¯m thrown back. OW! That hurts! I don¡¯t think I should let myself get hit again. If it hits a more important part of me, like my brain or chest, I may die. But to ensure that I don¡¯t get hit, I need to kill the spider. And I don¡¯t have anything to hit the spider with, do I? I don¡¯t think my [Plant Control] is strong enough to make the grass crush the legs of the spider, or anything, is it? Maybe I should try before discounting it as an option. I stand back up. The spider is standing still, watching me. It¡¯ll probably need a couple more seconds to reorient itself. Twice it has moved, and twice, it stops right after. I should have the time to try my idea, and to test my theory. I move to the side slightly, and then use [Plant Control], just to see if there is any larger greenery for me to control. My skill locks onto a large root that¡¯s right beneath the spider. Perfect! I can use this root to pierce and destroy the spider¡¯s body! I maneuver the root through the soil. Once it feels like it¡¯s just a couple of claw lengths until it reaches the surface, I stop, and start winding up the root. The spider begins shifting its weight, when I feel like I¡¯ve finally built up enough strength to punch right through its carapace. I launch the root through the soil. However, something unexpected happens. The root goes right through the spider¡¯s thorax, carapace and all. It screeches in pain, stumbling and unable to perform the jump it was gearing up for. Its thorax is leaking sand and dust. Wow, that was much easier than I thought it¡¯d be. It felt like there was barely any resistance! I think I still have enough energy to do that one more time. Maybe it¡¯ll die if it¡¯s hit in the head? By the time I¡¯ve finished my internal monologue, the spider has recovered. It¡¯s still stumbling around, but it¡¯s quickly regaining its balance. I use my [Plant Control] again, searching for sufficiently thick roots under the spider. There aren¡¯t any. I quickly check under myself. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. There is one that barely looks thick enough. It should be good enough. I check on the spider again, and see it almost fully tensed and ready to jump. I dash to the right, just as the spider launches from its position. It¡¯s at where I was standing in an instant, but I¡¯m already gone. The moment I feel the brush of wind from the spider¡¯s movement, I stop running and turn around. Sure enough, I see the spider standing still, with its leg outstretched. I quickly take control of the root beneath the spider, build up some force, and launch it towards the spider¡¯s head. The root blasts out of the ground, and straight towards the spider¡¯s head. The spider doesn¡¯t do anything in response, only standing there and seemingly waiting for its death. The root goes clean through the spider¡¯s head, and blasts it to pieces. The body of the spider collapses, while the head turns to dust and flies in a bunch of different directions. Wow, that was a really difficult figh- My thoughts are interrupted by the spider¡¯s corpse moving slightly. Why is it still moving?! I blasted its head off! If it can survive without a head, how am I supposed to kill it? Well, it does look a lot weaker. Maybe a couple of [Slash]es will kill it? Well, it can¡¯t hurt to try. I quickly calm down and come up with another idea to kill the spider. I ready my [Slash] skill, and use it twice, sending one from each of my claws. I feel significantly more exhausted than a second ago, but my adrenaline is keeping me on my feet and ready to fight. I¡¯m momentarily surprised when, a second later, the slashes cut right through the spider¡¯s abdomen and thorax, and the carapace that seemed so difficult to break before shatters like glass. The spider starts bleeding more sand, and stops twitching. This time, unlike before, I can tell that it has really died. The ancient aura that had been weighing down on me the entire battle disappeared. The spider¡¯s corpse dissipates, the sand being blown away by a light breeze. All that¡¯s left is a small, glowing green crystal right in front of me. Well, I guess I can test flying now. Although, what should I do about this crystal? As I think that, I feel an instinct to jam it underneath one of my scales. Wait, I recognize this feeling. Is this the thing that told me to run in the beginning of my chase with the vulture? The thing that inspired my Danger Sense? Also, I think I felt it in the beginning of the battle. Was this what it was reacting to? Well, it hasn¡¯t led me wrong so far. I pick up the small crystal, and jam it underneath a scale on my abdomen. I immediately get some system messages. Defeated [Younger Minor Earth Elemental - lvl. 12]. Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy. Equipped [Younger Minor Earth Elemental Core]. Stats increased: STR: + 4 END: +4 VIT: +4 [Younger Minor Earth Elemental Core] has fundamentally changed your being. Stat growth increased! Congratulations! You have received your first Stat boost! Congratulations! You have received your first body-altering item! 2 skill levels gained. Advanced [Passive - Danger Sense] to level 4. 1 skill level gained. Advanced [Plant Control - Minor] to level 5. 1 skill level gained. Advanced [Flora Camouflage] to level 2. 2 levels gained. Level advanced from 10 ¡ª> 12. Endurance raised by 1. Woah! I just got a ton of notifications. So that creature was an Earth Elemental? It was pretty strong for being a younger and minor creature. Also, I didn¡¯t know that there were ways to increase stats besides levels and skills. Although, I guess it makes sense that there are multiple ways to increase stats. Well, besides increasing them naturally, I guess. I wonder, though, what would happen if the stat-boosting item got taken away? Then again, the core isn¡¯t just a stat boosting item. It¡¯s also a ¡®body-altering item¡¯. Maybe that means it can¡¯t be taken away? I should probably check. It would be bad if it just fell out, and then all my stat boosts suddenly disappeared. I crane my neck around to check the scale I tucked the crystal under, and am surprised by its new color. It softly glows the same hue as the crystal. The glow on the scale is uniform, so it¡¯s not like the crystal is just glowing underneath it. I guess that¡¯s what the notifications meant when they said body-altering. That it would merge with me in some way, shape or form. Chapter 10 Well, now that I¡¯ve killed the spider, and gotten the benefits from the battle, I guess I should start moving high- wait. All I was looking for was an open area. Doesn¡¯t this area fit the bill? I look around. I¡¯m standing in the large clearing where I fought the spider. There looks to be plenty of space for me to experiment. Well, I guess that fight with the spider was more important than I thought. I walk to the center of the clearing, and spread my wings to their limit. I lift them up, and flap them as hard as I can. I move up a little bit, but not too far. I quickly lift them up again, and flap them down as powerfully as I can. I keep flapping my wings, until I¡¯m quite far off the ground. I¡¯m not that far up., compared to the massive trees. However, I¡¯m certain that even if I were to stand up to my full height, and then add another of myself on top of me, I couldn¡¯t reach the height I¡¯m at now. Now that I¡¯m high up, I stop beating my wings. Instead, I extend them to their full length, and glide around the clearing for a couple dozen seconds. I slowly sink to the ground, because I¡¯m not beating my wings to keep myself in the air. I allow myself to glide to the ground, because this is just an experiment. I need to know if this is a legitimate way to fly, and I¡¯m too exhausted to keep going higher. After all, I haven¡¯t rested once from trying to fly earlier, to the short fight with the Earth Elemental. My knees almost buckle when they go from doing nothing, to supporting my entire body weight. I¡¯m just barely able to keep myself from collapsing. Wow, I¡¯m way more tired than I thought I was. Well, I guess that means that it is a good thing I stopped myself from trying to fly higher. The flight was also a resounding success! It didn¡¯t take too much effort, and I definitely could¡¯ve stayed in the air longer if I was less tired. When I¡¯m fully rested, I¡¯ll have to try that again. But to do so, I¡¯ve got to find a place to rest and recover. I walk over to the edge of the clearing, and examine all of the large trees closely. One of them has a hole in it, but I can easily tell that I won¡¯t fit. When I was smaller, maybe I could¡¯ve fit, but I¡¯m way too big now. I walk past the first line of trees, and almost immediately see a hole large enough for me to squeeze through. It¡¯s close enough to the ground so as to not require me to climb to reach it. Once I¡¯m standing right by it, I poke my head through. There is a space large enough for me to lay on the ground, curled up. Great! The space behind the hole is big enough for me, and there aren¡¯t any animals living there! But, I do have to keep my wings tight to my body the entire time I¡¯m sleeping. Oh well. That¡¯s a small price to pay for a safe place to sleep. I slowly crawl into the hole, wings tight to my body. I curl myself up as I crawl in, until the entire length of my body is inside of the space. I let myself fall asleep, succumbing to fatigue. . . . I wake up to the chirping of birds. I try to unfurl my wings and stretch out, but I¡¯m stopped by a wall that¡¯s surrounding me. I panic for a second, before I remember what happened yesterday. Oh yeah, I¡¯m in a tree. I keep panicking when I wake up inside of these things. I guess that¡¯s another reason why I need a real home. It should be much more comfortable to wake up in. Well, I guess it¡¯s time to get out of here. I shift my body until I¡¯m facing the entrance. I slowly crawl forward, pulling myself out of the hole, mostly with my front legs. I stand up, extending my wings and stretching out now that I¡¯m outside of that cramped space. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Well, that was a nice stretch. What should I do now? My stomach answers my unspoken question with a growl. Well, I guess I¡¯m going hunting then. I walk back to the clearing, and then scan the edges. Nothing. I hope I can find some tracks, or an animal, soon. I want to practice flying. I walk past the edges of the clearing, and start searching for tracks through the woods. Not even a minute later, I find a strange series of hoofprints. What are these? They don¡¯t look like anything I¡¯ve seen before. Well, I hope it¡¯s something tasty. I start following the tracks, crouching and sneaking. I¡¯m only acting cautiously because I can still smell the scent of the creature that made these tracks, which means that they are likely pretty new. It doesn¡¯t take me long to start smelling a more intense version of what I¡¯m following. That must be the real creature. And it smells so sweet! Almost as sweet as the deer. Although, It must be moving slower than I am, even when I¡¯m crawling. Just a couple minutes after I think that, I catch a glimpse of the creature that I¡¯m pursuing. It¡¯s a squat thing, with a brown pelt. It has a short tail, and looks to be a bit more than half of my length. However, the feature that captures my attention the most is its luxurious tusks. They are long, and have a couple of jagged protrusions. Woah. Those are some dangerous looking tusks. It probably won¡¯t be much of a problem, because I¡¯ll be ambushing it, but still. I wonder if I can do anything with them? Probably not, this beast doesn¡¯t radiate that aura like the Earth Elemental did. Well, I should get into position. I move to the side of the trail, and start walking faster through the bushes. It doesn¡¯t take long for me to move past the creature. Now, the real question is if there are any good ambush spots in the area. The first thing I do is look up, checking to see if there is anything resembling the net of branches I used in my first ambush. The lower parts of the trees have almost no branches in this area, so the lower canopy is pretty clear. Well, I guess I¡¯ll just have to jump from the side then. I then take another glance around, looking for any higher areas to jump off of. I still don¡¯t find anything. I start to hear the slow, plodding steps of the creature I¡¯m hunting. I¡¯ll have to find somewhere to ambush from quickly. I look around once more, trying to spot an especially dense area of foliage. My eyes land on an especially thick bush that looks like it¡¯ll end up being right next to the beast when it passes by. I quickly rush into it, crouch, and tense my muscles. I move just in time. A second after I¡¯m in position, the creature comes into view. It slowly tramps right by me, and puts its back to me. That was a mistake, and the last one this creature will ever make. I leap out of the bush, activating [Slash], and swinging my claws. The three blades of something shoot out from my claws, and dig into the beast''s back. It screams, and starts swinging its head furiously, but it¡¯s already too late. I join the ethereal waves of light in mauling the beast, its hide being destroyed by my incredibly sharp claws. The creature dies a moment after I begin my assault. Defeated [Wild Boar - lvl. 5]. Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy one evolution below you. What? I¡¯ve never gotten less experience before. Then again, I haven¡¯t killed anything below level ten after my evolution. Which also means I haven¡¯t killed anything one evolution below me yet. Well, the only other things that I¡¯ve seen at this second evolution are that fox, and the Earth Elemental. My stomach grumbles, interrupting my internal monologue. Oh yeah, I guess I should eat. That¡¯s the reason I went on this hunt in the first place. Although, this is good information to know. It stands to reason that it will take longer for me to get to the next level if I get less experience from creatures I kill, since I mostly kill these first evolution creatures. I shake my head slightly. Okay, I should seriously eat now. I take a large bite of the beast¡¯s, I guess it¡¯s a boar, flesh. It tastes amazing. The flesh is sweet, with hints of salt. It¡¯s one of the best things I¡¯ve ever eaten. This almost tastes as good as the deer! It seems the scent wasn¡¯t deceiving me at all! I dig into the boar with gusto, stuffing my mouth, and stomach, as quickly as I can. Chapter 11 I finish chewing the last bits of meat from the boar. Wow. That boar filled me up. It should have given me enough energy to continue practicing flight. I turn away from the shattered bits of bone and the bloody ground, and begin to walk back towards the clearing. It doesn¡¯t take me long to arrive, since I¡¯m moving significantly faster than when I was stalking the boar. I look around the clearing from the edge of the woods, checking to see if anything has decided to move in while I was gone. The clearing is as empty as I left it. I guess it wouldn¡¯t really make sense for something to move in within the couple of hours I was gone. That means that I can probably practice my flight without being interrupted. I walk into the center of the clearing, spread my wings, and start flapping powerfully. I rise quickly, and instead of stopping at the height I reached last time, I keep flapping my wings. I rise higher and higher, until I finally reach the edge of the cliff where parts of the Earth Elemental dropped from. However, instead of stopping to investigate the area, I continue to vigorously flap. I can feel my surplus of energy draining away, but I feel that I can keep flying for a while yet. Once I reach the height of the next cliff, I stop moving my wings. I¡¯m finally above the canopy of the forest, and I can see trees extending far, far into the distance. I start gliding at an angle, circling the area I rose from. I fail. I almost fall because of my attempt to glide. I try again, and manage to do it properly, albeit shakily. Woah. I almost fell there. I glance down. I certainly wouldn¡¯t survive the fall. Well, I shouldn¡¯t worry about that. I should just enjoy the moment while I can. I continue to glide while I think. I occasionally flap my wings to stop myself from sinking. Woah. This forest is massive. And. I look up and see the mountain towering over me. It looks like I could go up 100 times where I am now, and still not make it to the peak. This mountain is massive. It definitely has somewhere for me to live. My ruminations are interrupted by a system message. Learned General skill [Passive - Dragon¡¯s Flight]. Experience is awarded for the learning of a General skill. What?! I learned a skill for flight? And it¡¯s a general skill? That¡¯s awesome! The effects of the new skill are noticeable immediately. I can feel the slight shakiness of my flight even out, and I can feel the drain on my energy lessening. Still, I think I should go down now. Although, I do want to check the cliff where the Earth Elemental fell from. I stop flapping my wings, and I slowly start descending. It doesn¡¯t take me long to sink to the level of the low cliff, and I angle myself so that I will drop right behind the edge. I pull my wings tight to my body, and drop the last couple of feet. I land on the ground with my knees bent, and then spring up. Woah. The flight skill even affects how I land? This skill is super useful. I look around, and start examining the area around me. It just looks like a small, rocky area, bordering another cliff on one side, and the clearing on the other. Actually ¡­ I look a bit closer at the cliff face, and start walking towards it. After taking a single step, I stop. Is that a cave? No, it¡¯s too small to be a cave. It¡¯s more of an alcove. It¡¯s strange that it is the only alcove here. What could it have been used for? I ponder for a moment. Is it the Earth Elemental¡¯s previous home? No, it¡¯s too small. But how about its core? It is the Earth Elemental, after all, and it would make sense that it would surround itself with earth. It also makes sense because when the Earth Elemental assembled itself in front of me, some of the rocks fell from this cliff. It¡¯s not impossible that the core fell with them. But why would the Earth Elemental choose here, of all places, to stash its core? Is there something special about this alcove? I reach my claws inside, trying to see if there¡¯s something special about it. My claws roam the walls, floor, and ceiling of the tiny room. Everything is impeccably smooth. Well, there¡¯s definitely something interesting about this alcove. Although, I suppose that earth elemental might have been able to carve it out with magic. The creature was made up of rocks, after all. I continue running my hands along the walls of the alcove, and finding nothing. After a couple more seconds of the futile search, I retract my arm. Well, that was pointless. At least I know that there is nothing there. Although, this small valley is a pretty sheltered place. The small area is surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides but the one I arrived from. Well, this¡¯ll make a good base of operations for now. I¡¯m not strong enough to make it very high up the mountain. Practicing the skill, and leveling up will make me strong enough to fly higher. Once my wings are strong enough to take me that high, I¡¯ll be able to find a much safer place to call home. I crawl up to the edge of the cliff face, and look down. The field is empty. That¡¯s good. I didn¡¯t expect anything to move in after a few minutes of me flying, but it never hurts to check. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I spread my wings, and jump off of the cliff. The air catches in them, and their parachute-like properties allow me to slow my fall. About half a minute after I jump off, I land on the ground with my legs crouched to lessen the impact even more. I stand up, and look around the clearing. Even though I didn¡¯t do much, I¡¯m still hungry. I¡¯m probably going to have to eat more food than usual while I practice flying. Well, I might as well start hunting now. I walk to the edge of the clearing, and begin looking for tracks. I quickly find the same tracks I found the other day, the ones that lead to the boar. I ignore them. The boar is already dead, so there¡¯s no point in following them. I continue looking, at least until I find a new set of tracks. They are deep, uneven, and have large gaps in between sets. Either the creature that made these is large, heavy, and staggering, or they¡¯re constantly jumping around. Even if it is a larger creature, it won¡¯t be bigger than me, and will almost certainly be injured. If it is a small jumping creature, then I can just restrain it with plant control. I begin to follow the tracks in the same way I followed the boar¡¯s; slowly and quietly. I crawl along the ground, while thinking about how long this might take. The tracks didn¡¯t seem too dry, so it was probably made today. And it¡¯s not even midday, so it can¡¯t be particularly far ahead. It shouldn¡¯t be more than a couple of hours. ¡­ Finally! I finally see the creature making the tracks. It¡¯s a small, fluffy white creature. It stands bipedally, hops, and isn¡¯t taller than my shoulders. Considering its small size, that means that it probably doesn¡¯t weigh much. If I tackled it, it would definitely collapse. The only worry is staying away from its antlers. While they are small, they look sharp. Actually, why am I even thinking of such a complex strategy? I could just use plant control to bind and crush it. I only didn¡¯t do it to the spider because of its size and durability, but this creature is lacking in one, and almost certainly the other. I use the understanding my skill gave me to take control of a root beneath the creature. It pauses right before it jumps again, slowly turning its head around to scan the area. I go completely still. Perfect! This¡¯ll make my job even easier! The root I took control of launches out of the ground, and wraps around the creature. It almost leaps away before the root moves, probably because it has its own danger sense skill. Luckily for me, it reacted a split second too late. The root successfully binds the creature in place. The moment I confirm that the creature is trapped, I make the root squeeze as hard as it can. The creature immediately begins to show signs of damage. Everywhere the roots are touching, the creature bleeds. It lets out a pained yell. I spring from the bushes, and use slash. It tears the creature apart. Defeated [White Rabbit - lvl 6]. Less experience is awarded for defeating a creature one evolution below yourself. The creature, the rabbit, falls limp. I release control over the root, and both of them flop lifelessly to the ground. I let out a grin. That was easy. I begin to dig into the rabbit. Half way through, I pause. Danger Sense is telling me something. I immediately prepare for combat. Chapter 12 I swallow what I¡¯m currently chewing, before crouching down, and observing my surroundings. Danger Sense only gives me a low hum, no matter where I look. I continue looking around my immediate surroundings, my senses sharpened by the feeling of danger. I can not spot anything unusual. Everything, from the grass to the animals, are moving how they¡¯re supposed to. The birds continue their merry chirping, and the grass continues to sway in the wind. I can¡¯t smell anything unusual, and everything seems to be perfectly in place. I start to inch away from the corpse of the rabbit, keeping a wary eye on my surroundings. What¡¯s going on? Nothing is out of place, yet my Danger Sense is still going off. I continue to slowly back away from the rabbit. Danger Sense suddenly blares. I leap as far as I can to the right, and almost jump straight into some nearby bushes. I quickly dig my talons into the ground, to stop that from happening. I swiftly turn around to see what attacked me. What meets my eyes is nothing but a strange object, sticking out of the ground. It is a small thing, some wood wrapped around a sharp piece of metal. Not a dagger, but something resembling it. Despite the new landmark, everything continues on as it was before. However, now I know that something is attacking me. I jump back into the bush that I stayed away from before, and used my Flora Camouflage to hide myself. I slowly move deeper into the bush, pausing and reapplying the skill every couple of seconds. It doesn¡¯t take more than half a minute for me to reach the deepest parts of the bush, but it feels like an eternity has passed. My heart thumps loudly, but otherwise, I am silent. If I did not have Danger Sense, I would¡¯ve died there. That metal thing would have gone straight through my head. I quickly realize. Although, I probably would¡¯ve died three times already, if I didn¡¯t have that skill. First from the vulture, then the fox, and now this. I really am fortunate that I have it, huh? I hastily clear my mind. No time for distractions. I will die if I allow myself to stop focusing. I refocus my gaze on the metal object impaled in the ground. Every couple of seconds, I look over the clearing, to see if whatever attacked me will reveal itself. Suddenly, a loud shout comes from the way I entered the clearing. My eyes shoot towards the source of the sound. A tall, muscular, humanoid creature walks in, covered in leather and metal plates. In its right hand is a large blade. On its left, a shield. My eyes drift to examine the creature itself. It is massive. It would tower over me, even if I stood at my full height. Underneath the dense armor, it is possible to catch brief glimpses of green amid the dense patchwork of armor. I can not see any more from my current position. The creature stomps into the middle of the clearing, before shouting something again. I can¡¯t understand what it¡¯s saying, but a response comes from atop one of the lower branches of a nearby tree. I look up, and see another humanoid crouching atop the limb. They are dressed in far less armor, and instead wear a black cloak that covers the entirety of their body, only leaving their face bare. In their hands is a stringed stave, a bow, and another of those strangely shaped pieces of metal. I realize that it is an arrow, albeit a strangely shaped one. I watch the two creatures shout at each other. The one crouching on the tree has a completely different tone of voice from the one on the ground. I listen to their conversation, or shouting match, I can¡¯t tell, and stay crouched in the depths of the bushes. Suddenly, the two quiet down. They put their backs to me, and face a completely new direction. I hear loud stomps coming from that direction. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I slowly turn to look at the new creature. A large bear, taller than even the large humanoid, emerges from the bushes. Emblazoned on its chest is a large, white V made of fur. The rest of its body is covered in a thick brown pelt. I instantly recognize it as the same species of beast that chased me away from my first meal. I watch as it erupts from the bushes with a roar. The creature on the ground hefts his shield, and holds it in front of him. The other one, pulls up their bow, and draws an arrow. The arrow flies through the air aiming for one of the bear¡¯s eyes. The bear turns slightly to face the bipedal creature on the ground. This makes the arrow miss, hitting just a little bit to the right of its eye. To my surprise, the arrow doesn¡¯t even draw blood, just hitting the pelt and falling down. The bear lets out another roar, and turns toward the direction the arrow came from with hate filled eyes. It quickly looks at the canopy, obviously scanning for whatever dared to shoot it. I¡¯m surprised when its eyes move right over where the archer was before. I turn my head slightly to look. My eyes widen in surprise, when I see no trace of the archer. No indication that they were ever there. Where did that bipedal creature with the bow go? Did they just move really quickly? Maybe they used something like Flora Camouflage? My gaze snaps back to the bear when it starts moving again. It turns away from the trees, and back to the other humanoid. However, the distraction the archer provided allowed the other creature to sneak close to the bear. It brandishes its sword, holding the blade¡¯s hilt with both hands, and brings it down on the bear¡¯s lower back. I watch as, instead of rebounding like the arrow, the blade digs deep into the bear¡¯s durable flesh. It moves far past where I¡¯d expect the bear¡¯s spine to me, and deep into its internal organs. The bear roars in pain, and tries to turn around to strike the creature. However, since its back legs have been paralyzed, it instead collapses, while wildly swinging its paws around. The creature uses the bear¡¯s immobility to approach its neck from behind, and slice down. The blade cuts through the bear¡¯s skin, and there is seemingly no resistance. One moment the bear is struggling and flailing its limbs around; the next, it is lying on the ground motionless, its head and neck unaligned. The creature that beheaded the bear shouts again, and the response comes from the same lower branch the archer was standing on before. I turn to look at the branch again. The archer is standing the same way they were before, in the same spot. So I guess they¡¯re either really fast and have a great memory, or they used a skill like Flora Camouflage to hide themselves in plain sight. That second one makes more sense. The creature on the ground pulls at a large blade. The blade is undecorated, and the hilt seems to be made of a simple wood. The creature on the ground, the warrior, starts carving off the bear¡¯s pelt with the simple knife. Meanwhile, the archer remains crouched on the tree, scanning the area around the warrior, presumably to detect anything sneaking up on the small group. What just happened? I quickly go over the events of the last five minutes. One moment I was eating a rabbit. The next, I¡¯m dodging a bladed projectile. I quickly jump into the bushes and hide, activating my Flora Camouflage to help. I watch the creature who ambushed me, and the other creature fight a bear that I¡¯m certain I couldn¡¯t kill. They slaughter it with ease. It doesn¡¯t even take them a minute. Then, the warrior who slew it starts carving it up. So much happened in just five minutes. What should I even do now? I can¡¯t escape yet, because the archer is scanning the area, and will certainly see me if I start running. I guess I should just sit here either until they leave, or the archer stops paying so much attention to their surroundings. I stay still in the bushes, Flora Camouflage staying activated the whole time. Interlude 1/Chapter 13 I crouch on the lowest branch from one of the signature giant trees of The Indrian Forest. Why did I get stuck babysitting a kid again? Oh, right. It¡¯s because his parents are rich, and offering a Word to protect him. I think sarcastically, while keeping a close eye on our surroundings. Below me, the young ogre, Clive, is skinning the Ursine Minor that he had just slain. He looks so proud, too. As if a C rank killing a D rank is impressive. I snort a little out loud. The kid hears me, and looks up from his carving. ¡°Did you see something?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t sense any monsters nearby.¡± The guild master told me to be nice, and since he can just fire me if I disobey, I have to comply. It¡¯s always irritating when these kinds of missions come up, but they pay well enough that they¡¯re worth the effort. I shake my head a little. Even if it¡¯s highly unlikely, something stronger may be in this area. I have to keep alert, otherwise, someone may die. And that would be bad. I begin a more careful scan of the surrounding area. ¡°I¡¯m done!¡± Clive calls up. I look down, and see the bloody meat and bones of the Ursine Minor laying on the ground, and the bulging backpack slung around his shoulders. ¡°I think we¡¯ve gathered and fought enough today. Let¡¯s go back?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I respond, trying to keep any sarcasm from bleeding into my voice. ¡°Do you want me to lead, or do you want to?¡± He responds cheerfully. ¡°You can do it.¡± I sigh a little, before jumping off of the branch. I land lithely on the ground, before quickly standing up. I start to walk towards the capital of Zucia. We shouldn¡¯t be more than a dozen miles away. This should only take an hour or two. I take a quick glance at the sky, and see the sun hanging at its highest point. It¡¯s around noon. At this rate, we might even be able to make it back in time for a late lunch. Clive falls in step beside me. ¡°So, how are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing well.¡± I say neutrally. ¡°That¡¯s good, that¡¯s good.¡± He stays silent for a few more minutes, before asking another, much less generic, question. ¡°So, what happened earlier? I heard you shoot something, so I immediately came rushing. But all I saw when I arrived was an empty clearing, and one of those strange bolts of yours buried in the ground.¡± ¡°I saw a weak monster, an E rank, lounging about while scouting. It was blocking our path, but it wasn¡¯t strong enough to warrant a proper battle. So, I shot at it, aiming to kill. However, by some miracle, it dodged the arrow. It was spooked by the sudden attack, and ran away. Then you came charging in, the Ursine Minor attacked, and as they say, the rest is history.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s strange. Don¡¯t E rank monsters stay away from here? I know it¡¯s a pretty popular spot to hunt in nowadays.¡± Clive asks. ¡°Yeah, E rank monsters tend to stay away from the route we¡¯re taking. I found it a bit strange, but it isn¡¯t a particularly uncommon occurrence. It happens from time to time when a younger monster doesn¡¯t know better than to rest in this area. How would they know to stay away, if they didn¡¯t know that this area was dangerous?¡± ¡°I guess they wouldn¡¯t.¡± Clive responds. He goes silent once again, and I allow myself to enjoy the following silence. I, of course, still keep an eye out for anything dangerous. But now that we¡¯re moving away from the central parts of the dungeon, there will be less danger. After all, we¡¯re now moving away from the core, instead of towards it. ¡­ This is taking forever! I tap my foot on the ground, as Clive and I stand in the line to enter the capital. I didn¡¯t anticipate the line being this long. Most people don¡¯t return or arrive until some time around sundown, and right now it¡¯s only halfway through the afternoon. So why is it so packed?! There shouldn¡¯t be any celebrations today, and it¡¯s not like there¡¯s any exclusive event going on. I continue to tap my foot on the ground as I think. It can¡¯t be heard over the sounds of people chatting. The line is barely moving forward! We¡¯ve been standing here for what feels like an eternity, and we¡¯ve not moved more than a couple dozen yards forward! I sigh a little, then think about the advantages. At least I¡¯m almost done with this job. Altogether, Clive wasn¡¯t too bad. I¡¯ve certainly worked with worse people. I start to think about some of my past experiences. He certainly wasn¡¯t worse than my first party¡­ No bad thoughts, Chloe, no bad thoughts! I quickly change the topic of my thoughts to something else, to avoid thinking about those dark times. Anyways, I¡¯m almost done with this. I just have to bring Clive back to the guild, and then I can get my money and the Word. I continue to think about other things, like how I could¡¯ve improved my performance during the hunt, to distract myself from the seemingly endless wait. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡­ I notice the area around Clive and I start to get noticeably darker. What¡¯s happening? I look up, and realize that the sun is starting to dip beneath the massive walls in front of us. Wait, massive walls? I look up, and see massive 20 meter tall walls towering above us, and the rest of the line around us. Finally, we¡¯re almost at the end! I bend around the backs of some people, and look to see how many groups are in front of us. Only five! It¡¯ll only be a few more minutes till we can finally enter the city! Then I can complete this stupid job. And I¡¯ll finally get one more word! I wonder what it¡¯ll be this time? I already have [Status] and [Identify], the common ones, so it¡¯ll have to be something rarer. Maybe [Inspect]? That would be pretty useful. I shake my head. Stop getting distracted! I still have to bring Clive back to the guild. Oh, and I have to show the gate guards my guild card. Right. I fish around in my pockets, and pull out the gleaming silver card. On its face is a picture of me, my name, and my guild rank. I hold the card in my hand and wait patiently. The line moves forward a few feet. Wait, was that actually one group instead of two up front? That means there are only three more parties in front of us. Or maybe more accurately, two more parties and one person. At the very front one person is entering the city. Wow, that was fast. They must be part of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Well, I guess that there¡¯s only two more parties in front of us now. I turn back to Clive. ¡°Clive, get out your guild card.¡± He lifts up his hand, where the bronze card is held. ¡°Already done.¡± That¡¯s good. This¡¯ll go even faster. I turn to look at the people in front of me again. The party in front of us is paying the toll to get in. They¡¯re all wearing large backpacks, and all of them are holding some kind of small weapon. Are they moving here? To the capital of Zucia? Actually, I guess that makes sense. While it is a bit more dangerous because of how close it is to The Indrian Forest, it¡¯s also the most luxurious place in this kingdom. But it takes a lot of money to live here. And people with that kind of money tend to take carriages. Oh well, there¡¯s no use in thinking about it. Anyway, it¡¯s our turn. I step up to the gate guards. ¡°We¡¯re adventurers returning from a hunt.¡± Clive and I both show our guild cards. ¡°You two can go on in.¡± We walk by them, and put our cards back into our pockets. We step into the city, and immediately make for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. I barely pay attention to the shops that I pass on the way. None of this low quality stuff will help me in any way, and it probably won¡¯t help Clive either. It doesn¡¯t take very long for us to find the guildhall. The building is three stories tall, just one more than the average building in this area. The outside is decorated with golden carvings, and the paths are paved with stone. I walk up to the large entrance, and push open the massive doors. I¡¯m hit with a wall of noise. Luckily, since I was expecting this, I had already braced myself. I barely even flinch, and neither does Clive. I hold one of the doors open for him, while letting the other fall back into its resting position. He enters the main hall, and then I let the door fall shut. I lead us to the most empty receptionist. There¡¯s only one other person talking to him. I pull out the paper asking for someone to help Clive gain five levels, and wait behind the person currently chatting with the receptionist. The young man chatting with the guild receptionist notices us, and quickly leaves. ¡°How may I help you today?¡± The receptionist asks, a professional smile on his face. ¡°I completed this request, and I¡¯m here for my reward.¡± I slide the paper across the table, and the receptionist picks it up. He takes a glance over at Clive, and his eyes glow a light blue for a second. ¡°I see you¡¯ve successfully completed the request.¡± He ducks under the desk and pulls out a small leather bag of coins. ¡°Here you go. I¡¯ll also take you to the back when you¡¯re ready for the second part of the reward.¡± I take the bag he hands to me, and open it. Inside are 49 silver, and 8 copper. I put the small leather pouch into my backpack. I turn around to Clive. ¡°Bye Clive. I wish you many successful hunts.¡± ¡°The same for you.¡± He responds, putting his hand out for a handshake. I give it one firm shake, before letting go and turning around. ¡°I¡¯m ready for the second part of my reward.¡± ¡°Okay, follow me.¡± He disappears from sight for a second, before reappearing around the corner of the booth. I follow him as he leads me to one of the back rooms. He opens the door to one of the rooms where words of power are spoken. Inside is a fancily dressed man who looks like a butler. I enter the room, and the receptionist closes the door, and stands outside the room. ¡°What word do I get?¡± I ask the fancily dressed butler. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a word that allows you to learn the details of items, like how [Identify] allows one to learn about a living creature. [Inspect].¡± I immediately flinch, and lean against the wall. My head feels like it¡¯s throbbing, and wants to explode. Luckily, I was prepared since this had happened twice already, first with [Status], and then with [Identify]. The feeling quickly fades, and it feels like I¡¯ve gained a whole new muscle. Yet, even though it is new, I feel like I have enough familiarity with it to have had it my entire life. ¡°[Inspect]¡± I say out loud. I focus my attention on the chair the butler is sitting on. Information flows into my mind, as if I¡¯m calling upon a particularly clear memory. Item: Wooden Chair Condition: Pristine ¡°Thank you for the word.¡± I turn to leave the room. ¡°And thank you for completing the quest.¡± I¡¯m exhausted after the day¡¯s exertions, and acclimating to the new word, so I immediately leave the room, and the guild soon after. I go straight to my inn, which is only a couple buildings down from the guild. I walk the path I¡¯ve walked dozens of times before, and am at my inn, The Three Crows. I enter the building, and make my way to the manager. ¡°Hi Clara.¡± ¡°Oh, Cloe, how are you doing?¡± She asks, smiling at me. ¡°I¡¯m doing well. Anyways, I¡¯ve had a really exhausting day, so I¡¯m going to go right to sleep.¡± I say, rubbing my eyes a bit. ¡°Okay! Just make sure to eat a big breakfast tomorrow!¡± She says, still smiling. ¡°I will.¡± I smile back tiredly, before immediately going to my room. I fish out the key from my left pocket, before unlocking the door. I drop my pack to the floor, close and lock the door, and fall onto the bed. I¡¯m asleep before my head even hits the pillow. Chapter 14 I sigh in relief when the two bipedal creatures leave. What just happened? What were those creatures? I¡¯ve never seen anything like them before. And they were so strong! The one on the ground killed that bear in a single blow! I¡¯m pretty sure that the bear is the same one that I ran away from not too long ago! I slowly crawl out of the bushes, aiming for the corpse of the large four-legged creature. They were even nice enough to leave me a meal! Although, they probably thought that I ran away, and that¡¯s why they were so careless after killing the bear. I guess it was warranted, since there¡¯s no way I¡¯d be able to kill them, even if I got the drop on them. I stand up, and move towards the bear, barely even acknowledging the existence of the rabbit¡¯s corpse. I take a bite of the meat the moment I reach the bear¡¯s corpse. Oh my gosh! This is the best thing I¡¯ve ever tasted! I¡¯m overwhelmed by the rich and mouth watering flavor of the meat. From the fox, all the way back to that deer, nothing can compare. This tastes better than all of those combined! I quickly chew and swallow the tender, and absolutely delectable, chunk of meat, and bend down for another bite. I can feel any slight traces of soreness in my muscles fade away. I barely even notice, as I eat more and more of it. All traces of exhaustion slowly disappear. My body feels lighter, more limber, and my mind feels sharper. I continue eating the bear as fast as I can, the euphoria of eating such a delicious meal not allowing me to savor it. After eating almost half of the bear, I finally can¡¯t eat any more. Wow. That was amazing. I crawl over to the bushes I was hiding in before, and finally address the notification that had come in earlier. 2 skill level gained. Advanced [Passive - Danger Sense] to level 5. Advanced [Flora Camouflage] to level 3. I guess that makes sense. I did use it to dodge an attack from something more powerful than me, after all. And it had been sitting at level 4 for a while now. And I just used Flora Camouflage to keep myself hidden among the bushes, or flora. So I basically used it exactly as intended. Actually, that brings up something I¡¯ve been wondering about for a while now. How does Status even calculate my level, and skill levels? I think about all the times I¡¯ve leveled skills and myself. So, every time I kill something, I get a notification telling me about gaining experience. And whenever I kill something a tier below me, whatever that means, I get less experience. And it seems that when I repeat the same actions against the same creatures, I don¡¯t level my skills. For Danger Sense, every first time I dodged an attack from something at least as powerful as I, it leveled up. And basically every time I use Plant Control in a new way, it gets a level. But what about a skill like Flying? Or Dragon Scales? I haven¡¯t flown again since I got the skill, but I imagine just flying would level it up. I mean, nothing else really makes sense, right? And Dragon Scales seems to level up every time my scales are damaged by something powerful. Slash seems to level every time I use it against something strong. Flora Camouflage seems to level when I use it to keep myself hidden from something strong. All my skills seem to level against something strong, actually. If I had decided to attack the two bipedal creatures, every skill I used probably would¡¯ve leveled up. But I most certainly would¡¯ve died, so it¡¯s good that I didn¡¯t do that. Anyways, I should probably get out of here. Who knows if more of those bipedal creatures will come by? I¡¯m not even close to strong enough to beat them yet, I think. I turn back to the massive mountain. I also need to practice flying more, so that I can go higher up the mountain. Getting as far away from these creatures as possible is a necessity for my continued survival. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. I start moving out of the bushes, and towards the tall mountain. Going straight towards it should lead to me entering the clearing. Then I can fly up to that higher canyon, which will hopefully be safe from those bipedal creatures. I continue to move through the undergrowth, dodging the bushes, tall plants, and massive trees. After a few minutes of travel, I arrive at the edge of the clearing. I give the clearing a cursory glance, to see if anything moved in while I was away. I almost step in, but freeze when I see something lying in the center of the clearing. It can only be described as one thing; an abomination. A monstrosity. It¡¯s a fox, like the kind I killed right before my evolution. It''s orange, but that¡¯s not what makes it so terrifying. No, what does it is the bones sprouting from all of its joints, and that its claws are larger and more jagged than the ones on the fox I fought before. It also has large, root-like antlers sprouting from its head. I can also see how the skin hangs loose around its frame. What is that thing? It¡¯s¡­ horrifying. It doesn¡¯t even look like it¡¯s breathing! Is it even still alive? Well, even if it isn¡¯t, I should be cautious. I try to take control of a root beneath the fox, but there¡¯s nothing large enough to do any damage. I look a bit farther away, and find a sufficiently sized root just a foot away from the fox. I begin coiling it up, like drawing back my arm to punch. The¡­ creature¡¯s¡­ eyes snap open. There are no eyeballs. Instead, just the bone sockets. The creature looks straight at where I¡¯m winding up the root. Can it see the root? I panic, and launch the root preemptively. It sails through the air, and towards the fox¡¯s head. However, the fox dodges it. It dodged it?! Wait, I need to calm down. It still hasn¡¯t seen me yet; I might be able to get another ambush on it. As if to dissuade me from such a notion, the fox turns its head to look straight at me. Never mind! I quickly remember how to use Slash, and wait for the fox to approach. It slowly pads towards me, but that is the only movement it showcases. It¡¯s still not breathing. Does it not need to breathe? No, that¡¯s unimportant right now! I have to kill this thing! I toss the Slash towards the fox, before quickly charging another one in my other paw. The fox dodges to the left, and I release the second Slash. It lands, and tears through the loose flesh of the fox. I can hear bones cracking, even as far away as I am. However, despite the fact that it has massive cuts, and at least one broken bone, the fox doesn¡¯t flinch. It also doesn¡¯t bleed. What?! What is this thing?! I charge up two more Slashes, one in each paw. I can feel the skills starting to take their toll, but I have to kill this thing before resting. I send out another Slash towards the fox, and it dodges to the right. I send out a slash right when it lands again, but this time, it knows to dodge. The fox contorts in an unnatural way, and all three waves of light pass within centimeters of its body. What?! What is it doing?! Ok, there¡¯s no way that this thing is alive. No living creature contorts like that without even a single indicator of being in pain. I don¡¯t believe that that is possible. I have to refocus on the fight quickly. I charge up one more Slash, but don¡¯t use it. I start to move closer to the monster. The only way I¡¯m going to hit this thing is if I¡¯m way closer. The fox advances towards me as I move towards it, probably seeing that I¡¯m not attacking it at range anymore. We get closer and closer to one another. Suddenly, it leaps at me! I jump to the side, but it still catches my tail. The thing¡¯s claws carve deep gouges into my scales, but thankfully don¡¯t get past them. I turn around, and retaliate with a Slash. It flies right towards the fox¡¯s head. This time, since the fox is so close, it can¡¯t dodge or contort its way out of this. The Slash lands right on its head, and goes right through into the creature¡¯s skull, and into its brain. The creature falls limp on the ground, and I wait for the notification. It never comes. Isn¡¯t the thing dead? I carefully watch the creature, looking for any signs that it¡¯s not dead. Only after careful examination do I notice the twitching. The creature¡¯s limbs are twitching. It¡¯s not dead! Ok, I don¡¯t think I can kill this thing. It doesn¡¯t bleed, barely seems hampered by wounds, and even after its skull is cracked, and its brain is gouged out, it¡¯s still alive! I definitely need to get away from here, and from this thing. Well, I guess it¡¯s time to fly up the mountain. I should at least be able to find a place to rest. I move away from the creature quickly, open my wings, and start flapping them powerfully. I start to rise into the sky. Announcement of Rewrite Hello! I just want to start this off by saying that everything posted here so far is a first draft, with only a few edits. Recently, I had a revelation (with help from a couple people), that made me think that I needed to do some editing. I started going through my first chapter, and ended up rewriting the entire thing. The chapter ended up tripling in length, and had to be separated into three chapters. That made me realize that I wouldn¡¯t be able to do what I had been earlier with edits to chapters, and I came upon a dilemma. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. How do I put this rewrite back into Royal Road? I¡¯m not sure what to do. Should I put it as a volume on this fiction? Make a new one and label this as the old one? I still haven¡¯t found a solution. So, I¡¯m asking everyone who reads this story: what would you prefer? There will be a poll beneath this, for everyone who doesn¡¯t want to comment. Though I implore you to explain your choice, to help me make my decision. Chapter 1 (Rewritten) Darkness. My eyes open, yet nothing changes. Complete, abyssal darkness. Where am I? What¡¯s happening? My limbs extend, shoulders broadening as they move outwards. Yet, they¡¯re stopped by something. A wall. A rounded one, but a wall nonetheless. What? My limbs push against the wall, but nothing changes. Strange sensations meet my attempts at stretching. Limbs bending awkwardly, and a whole new something behind my hips. Or¡­ what I think are my hips. My knees¡­ my elbows¡­ why are they bending so strangely? Pushing against the wall, the strangeness becomes more and more noticeable. The new sensations on my lower body feel natural, yet alien at the same time. What is this? What could it possibly be? Trying to control whatever it is should be a futile effort, but somehow, it works. What? How is this even possible? After controlling the thing, making it do simple motions, an explanation comes to mind. Do I¡­ have a fifth limb? What? Focusing on the strange sensations only makes the truth clearer and clearer. Why do I have a fifth limb? I shouldn¡¯t have a fifth limb¡­ right? My mind instinctively goes for something I can¡¯t consciously access to explain this strangeness. My memories. Except, the only response is emptiness. A fog of nothingness. Where are my memories?! Shouldn¡¯t they be there? How am I even thinking without them? Panic wells up within me, and my limbs mirror my emotions. All five of them splay out, pushing desperately against the wall. My distressed flailing is met with a resounding *Crack*. The seemingly unbreakable wall that¡¯s surrounding me develops a crack where some small amount of light peeks through, dispelling the all-encompassing darkness. The wall¡­ broke? Does that mean¡­ it¡¯s possible for me to escape from this place? Shaking my head a little, or what I think is my head, I try to focus myself. Focus! Ok, ok. I need to figure out what¡¯s happening. Something must¡¯ve happened that took my memories away from me. The panic tries to rise once more, but this time, it is forced back down. What could even do that kind of thing, though? Maybe something outside of this space will be able to help me remember? Or maybe it could explain what happened to me. But that would mean that I have to leave this thing. How? Thinking back to how the crack of light appeared, I realize what I have to do. I have to hit the wall even more, don¡¯t I? Or at least I have to push on it. I begin to push my limbs against the wall. The crack grows bigger quickly. The wall goes from being seemingly impenetrable, to breaking and cracking the moment even the slightest amount of pressure is applied. No more than a couple of seconds after I begin pushing, the whole wall splits in two. I tumbles out of the space. Not braced for the thing to split in two, the motion of my body is left to the whims of gravity. Luckily, the rolling barely has a chance to begin before I collide with the ground. My only response is to open my eyes. The blinding light of the space around me makes me close them instantly, a split second after I open them. The cold floor beneath me is uncomfortable, with small, jagged mounds poking into my soft skin. Or¡­ is that on my skin? It doesn¡¯t feel like my skin is actually touching the floor¡­ The chamber, or whatever I¡¯m in, smells of dust, and feels stifling. It¡¯s a bit difficult to breathe. Is¡­ there anyone there? Opening up my mouth to ask the question out loud allows dust to enter. My immediate and instinctive response is to cough. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. My eyes open again, and I¡¯m blinded by the light once more, but I force them to stay open regardless. I adjust to the bright light remarkably quickly, and a whole new world is revealed to me. The first thing that meets my gaze is the red stone covering the floor. Forcing my body to move, I lift up my head a little to get a look at the ground I¡¯m lying on and am met with more red¡ªbut also a light coating of green liquid. Why is there green liquid? Is it¡­ coming from me? As I push myself up, I realize that the feeling of all four of my limbs touching the ground feels both alien and natural. What is happening? It feels like there should be another thing I¡¯m meant to do, but this feels so¡­ comfortable. Looking towards the ground on instinct, I¡¯m shocked by what I see. Are those¡­ my hands? No, they can¡¯t be mine! What meets my eyes are what look like the feet of a lizard. Feet that have four toes and end in ebony black claws. The rest of the parts of my feet that I can see are covered in crimson scales. Those definitely can¡¯t be my hands, right? My hands look like something else! Yeah, they have to! Unconsciously, my mind reaches for the memory of what my hands look like. Yet all it is met with is a blank. My mind goes back to that empty space, looking for the rest of my appearance. Again, it is met with nothing at all. I don¡¯t even know what I used to look like! Panic wells up within me once more. Calm down! I need to focus! Focus! ¡­Ok, so now my hands look like this. What does the rest of me look like? My head doesn¡¯t turn. I¡¯m kind of afraid to find out¡­ but it has to be done. With an unsteady breath, I turn my head to take in the rest of my body. A reptile. A lizard. Those are the first thoughts that cross my mind upon seeing it. My body is reptilian and covered in crimson scales. The only thing that dissuades me from thinking that I¡¯m a lizard are the small wings sprouting from my back. Wait, reptiles don¡¯t have wings, right? My mind pulls something from that blank space, unlike before. Not a picture, but words. Crocodile, Alligator, Thorny Devil. A list of reptile names, and their descriptions. What? I actually have some memories? Wait, no. These are just words, and they don¡¯t have any pictures associated with them. But, regardless, none of those reptiles have wings¡­ Wait¡­ could I be¡­ a dragon? That¡¯s the only kind of reptile I can think of that has wings. But that makes no sense. Dragons definitely don¡¯t exist¡­ Right? My eyes begin to roam the chamber that surrounds me. The walls are the same color as the floor, and look to be of at least a somewhat similar texture, rough and rocky. Lining the edges of the chamber are small piles of gold. My eyes roam higher and towards the ceiling. It looks as if it is made of the same material as the floor and the walls. A roughly hewn, red something. In the center of the ceiling, there is a hole¡ªa large one that allows the light from above through, like how a hole in the clouds lets the light of the heavens through. Then, I turn around. A pile of large spheres with a silver sheen lies against the wall. What are those things? Are they¡­ eggs? My body begins to move, to allow me a closer look at what must be eggs. I collapse to the ground, but I quickly pick myself up. Standing still, I look more closely at the pile of silver spheres. It doesn¡¯t take long for one that¡¯s close to the top to catch my eye. It¡¯s split in two, and leaks a green liquid that is suspiciously similar to the one that was coating my skin, or scales, earlier. Is that¡­ my egg? Does that mean that these are all dragon eggs? A dragon laid all of these? I look at the pile in a whole new light. As if something is triggered by my investigation, the wind begins to pick up behind me. I carefully turn around, so as to not trip and fall. What meets my eyes is two massive creatures descending into the chamber. They¡¯re bathed in the light, and they would look like angels descending from heaven, if not for the fact that they look like me. Re-write Released! I just released the re-write! I''m going to be scheduling the first five chapters to be posting throughout the day, and then I will be posting once every two weeks on Saturday until I run out of backlog or until the first arc/part is over, we''ll see which happens first.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Here''s the link! https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/101701/razag-a-dragon-litrpg-rewrite Feel free to unfollow from this page, since I won''t be updating this anymore. I hope you have a good day!