Table of Contents

Color Inserts

Title Page

Characters

Table of Contents Page

The Story So Far

Copyrights and Credits

Chapter 1: The Swordswoman Meltia

Chapter 2: A Gang of Orangurangs

Chapter 3: Life with the Red Monkeys

Chapter 4: The Three-Eyed Mahawolf

Chapter 5: Little Rock Dragon

Chapter 6: Forte Slime

Interlude: The Half-Elf’s Doubts

Interlude: Home Alone with the Orangurangs

Interlude: The Swordswoman’s Mistake

Bonus Story 1: The Girl’s Story

Afterword

Newsletter

Chapter 1:
The Swordswoman Meltia

 

Part 1

 

THE BLACK LIZARD AND I returned to my cave. We ate some of my hoarded jerky before falling asleep. Well, to be more precise, I pretended to fall asleep, patiently waiting until I was sure the black lizard had passed out.

Unexpectedly, it rolled from its corner all the way over to me. I wanted to get up but not at the cost of waking my friend. I stayed put.

The lizard nuzzled against me, and I took care to keep my claws sheathed as I gently patted its head. It twitched slightly and made a noise of contentment.

“Kssh, kssh.”

I kept it up for about five minutes, until the black lizard’s breathing grew deep and even. Perfect. I doubted it would wake for a while. I stood up slowly, making as little noise as possible.

I wasn’t doing anything bad; I just wanted to try out my new Human Transformation skill and didn’t want to startle the black lizard by suddenly turning into a human. It might’ve freaked out and attacked me. I was just acting out of an abundance of caution. That’s all.

“Kssh…”

The black lizard stretched out one of its front legs in my direction. It was sleeping deeply, so the action was probably involuntary, but it still gave me pause. Even made my heart ache a little. I wondered if the black lizard could get used to village life.

Probably not. Even if the humans left the lizard alone, they’d still probably be too afraid of it.

Well, as long as I had the black lizard, I wouldn’t be going to the village anyway. So it wasn’t worth worrying about.

Human Transformation was just a silly skill, after all. There might come a time when I needed to use it quickly, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to perform some quick research to make sure I was comfortable using it. I was being smart, that’s all. I needed to go into situations with as many tactics at my disposal as possible. This world was survival of the fittest, and it was absolutely essential to understand everything I was capable of.

Not to say that thoughts of visiting the village, or raising my language skill, or seeing Myria again didn’t factor in, but right now my number one motivation was to check out my new ability.

I still felt a bit guilty as I left the cave and made my way to the lake, the only place I could check my reflection.

But seriously, though…what should I do?

Why did I have to get the Human Transformation skill now, of all times? When I was finally starting to not even care? Was this always the plan? Some kind of monkey’s paw scenario?!

Hey, Divine Voice. You really have an incredibly nasty personality.

Well, I still wanted it. I just wished…I just wished I could have gotten it a little bit sooner. Although, did Divine Voice actually have any control over what skills I get? Ugh, what if I didn’t have it at all? What if it was just wishful thinking on my part? Nothing more than a mirage? I figured I’d better check again, just in case.

 

Species: Young Plague Dragon

Status: Normal

Lv: 37/40

HP: 161/161

MP: 157/157

Attack: 141

Defense: 120

Magic: 140

Agility: 129

Rank: D+

Special Skills:

Dragon Scale: Lv 2

Divine Voice: Lv 3

Grecian Language: Lv 1

Fly: Lv 2

Dragon Scale Powder: Lv 1

Dark Type: Lv —

Resistance Skills:

Physical Resistance: Lv 3

Falling Resistance: Lv 4

Hunger Resistance: Lv 3

Poison Resistance: Lv 5

Loneliness Resistance: Lv 4

Magic Resistance: Lv 2

Dark Resistance: Lv 2

Light Resistance: Lv 1

Fear Resistance: Lv 1

Asphyxiation Resistance: Lv 2

Paralysis Resistance: Lv1

Normal Skills:

Roll: Lv 6

View Status: Lv 5

Baby’s Breath: Lv 5

Whistle: Lv 1

Dragon Punch: Lv 2

Disease Breath: Lv 1

Venom Fangs: Lv 1

Paralyzing Venom Claws: Lv 1

Dragon Tail: Lv 1

Bellow: Lv 1

Meteorite: Lv 1

Nutcracker: Lv 2

Human Transformation: Lv 1

Title Skills:

Dragon King’s Son: Lv —

Walking Egg: Lv —

Klutz: Lv 4

Just an Idiot: Lv 1

Infighter: Lv 4

Pest Killer: Lv 3

Safety First: Lv 1

Liar: Lv 2

King of Evasion: Lv 1

Protective Spirit: Lv 5

Itty-bitty Hero: Lv 2

Wrongdoer: Lv 3

Calamity: Lv1

Chicken Runner: Lv 2

Mr. Chef: Lv 3

Dastardly King: Lv 1

Stalwart: Lv 1

Giant Killer: Lv 1

Ceramic Artisan: Lv 4

 

There it was. I really did have it.

I had to face the question. Let’s say I did become a human. Then what?

I didn’t want to say goodbye to the black lizard, but I couldn’t honestly claim that, if I became human, I’d still be happy living in a cave. Maybe I could take the black lizard with me to the village. But things would probably end badly if I brought a monster into town! Maybe I could alternate? Live in the village for three days, then come back and live in the cave?

I-I’ll just check the details of the skill before I get ahead of myself.

Normal Skill “Human Transformation.” Allows the user to transform into a human. While the skill is in use, HP, attack, and defense are reduced by half. Continuously drains MP during use.

Wh-whoa, that’s rough. If it drains MP the entire time, I probably can’t even stay in the village for long. I’ll only be able to drop by for a little while.

But even that would make a huge difference. I could defeat monsters in human form and rescue people. Then once I gained their trust, I’d confess that I was actually a dragon. Oh, that would be awesome! Imagine not being attacked on sight! Honestly, just being able to talk normally would be enough to make me cry with happiness.

If I chose an evolution with incredibly high MP, it was possible that I could spend half my life as a human. Wow, I’m actually starting to get excited about this.

I hope I’m good-looking. Wait. What if I transform into a girl? My previous life was still so vague, I couldn’t even be sure I used to be a guy. What if I was actually an incredibly beautiful woman? I’d just end up stealing looks at my reflection in the river every time I passed by.

Chapter 2:
A Gang of Orangurangs

 

Part 1

 

I SLEPT LATER than usual the next morning. The previous day was rough, and I wanted to recover as much HP as I could.

“Kssh… Kssh…”

I figured the black lizard would get up before me, but when I opened my eyes it was still sleeping by my side, its deep, contented breaths in my ear. Well, its nap was interrupted yesterday when the humans came. Maybe it was tired.

I caressed the lizard’s head, and it nuzzled my hand. It had a happy look on its face. I wondered if it was having a good dream. Lately, I woke up next to the black lizard almost every morning.

I checked View Status to see if my wounds from yesterday were healed yet.

 

Species: Young Plague Dragon

Status: Normal

Lv: 37/40

HP: 148/161

MP: 157/157

 

Still a little short of fully recovered, but it would do. I’d be able to get through the day just fine. Though I had a feeling it was past noon, so the day was already half over. Well, sleeping in for a change wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t like I’d made plans with anyone, and I didn’t have a schedule. I could sleep the entire day away and no one would complain.

I figured I’d check the black lizard’s status while I was at it.

 

Species: Venom Princess Lacerta

Status: Sleeping

Lv: 23/35

HP: 120/120

MP: 143/143

 

Hmm, hmm. Looking good. Strange; we defeated the twinheads but the black lizard only went up three levels. I guess I was expecting it to grow faster than that. Maybe I just had a skewed perspective since I always got so many wild skills when I level up.

I wondered when it would evolve. Honestly, if the lizard got stronger, there’d really be no reason for my presence. Even during our battle with the twinheads, I was little more than bait.

After the black lizard woke up, we both ate some jerky. Once we were finished, I set an empty pot in front of it.

“Kssh?”

“Raar.”

It tilted its head and gave me a puzzled look. “Kssh?”

“Raar!”

“Kssh!”

We exchanged cries and gestures; I was attempting to ask the black lizard to produce some more poison for the jerky. Eventually, I somehow got the message across. It made a happy noise of agreement.

I was sure those orangurangs were going to come back for my jerky soon, and I wanted a trap ready to assure them they’d made an enemy. They always came in a group of four. If I could poison one of them, the black lizard and I could take care of the other three.

Right now, I was level 37 of 40. Only three more and I could evolve. Those monkeys would probably put me over the top. If I could just evolve, I’d be freed from this terrible form, and my chances of getting whacked in the stomach with a hammer upon first sight would go way down. The black lizard was smart, so I was sure it would recognize me if I evolved in front of it.

Obligingly, it went to the back of the cave and poked its head into an empty pot, filling it with poison. Last time it did this, it scratched me a bit when I tried to watch, so this time I respectfully turned my back. I figured it didn’t want me to witness it yakking up all that poison from its body. In battle, it seemed to spray the poison so easily that I hadn’t realized there was a whole process to it.

The poison it made was perfect. First of all, the color was faint. The kind I made before had changed the jerky’s hue, but this would be invisible. Not only that, but it hardly had an odor at all. I’d used a ton of piperis when I made mine to try to cover up the smell, but the orangurangs probably had a much better sense of smell than I did.

Poison masters were just in a different class. I dipped the jerky into the pot, mixing in the dried meat one piece at a time. I made an X shape with the branches outside to mark it, to make extra sure I wouldn’t eat it by mistake.

Afterward, my hands burned from the poison, but the black lizard licked my fingers and cured me easily. The two of us hid near the cave entrance, keeping an eye on the tree where we’d strung up the jerky. Now that the orangurangs had gotten a taste for salty meat with a spicy aroma, I was sure they’d be back. But as time passed and they didn’t show up, my irritation grew. Should I put more meat out, or add more piperis to entice them?

“Kssh!” I wasn’t the only impatient one because the black lizard hissed and started fidgeting. I idly entertained it for a while, but then the stakeout began to get really annoying. Before long, the two of us were wrestling each other on the ground.

“Ahh-ahh, ooh!”

I’d practically forgotten what we were doing in the first place, when suddenly I heard a pained cry. The orangurangs were here. I quickly slipped out from underneath the black lizard and sat up.

“Ahh! Ahh!”

“Ah-ohh!”

“Ahhh!”

One of the orangurangs was foaming at the mouth, and the other three surrounding it were hopping from one foot to the other. It almost looked like dancing, but they were clearly in distress. Watching it all go down was kind of funny, even if I knew they were suffering. Time to check and see if the poison was taking effect.

 

Species: Orangurang

Status: Poison α (Major)

Lv: 16/30

HP: 68/96

MP: 83/83

 

Yes, it’s working! It’s working! The monkeys’ attack power wasn’t actually that high. They had a diverse set of skills, but their overall stats were weaker than the claybear’s. I could take care of two of them single-handedly. One was too poisoned to fight, so that just left three. The black lizard and I could handle them, easy. Now was my chance to get rid of those filthy jerky-stealers. I would turn them into my dinner and a boatload of experience points.

 

Part 2

 

WE LEFT THE CAVE and showed ourselves to the orangurangs. The instant they saw me, they looked at their poisoned comrade and appeared to put two and two together. They knew I was responsible.

“Ah-ooh!”

“Ahh!”

“Ah!”

The three monkeys howled with anger and leapt towards us, their long red fur blowing in the wind. I figured I should check their stats.

 

Species: Orangurang

Status: Normal

Lv: 17/30

HP: 98/98

MP: 45/45

Attack: 82

Defense: 51

Magic: 60

Agility: 92

Rank: D

Special Skills:

Earth Type: Lv —

Group Attack: Lv —

Nimble: Lv 2

Resistance Skills:

Falling Resistance: Lv 3

Normal Skills:

Bite: Lv 2

Scratch: Lv 3

Stone Throw: Lv 4

Monkey See, Monkey Do: Lv 2

Clay Wall: Lv 1

Monkey Whistle: Lv 3

MP Transfer: Lv 2

Title Skills:

Forest Acrobat: Lv 2

Co-op: Lv 2

Loyalist: Lv 4

 

Their levels varied a bit, but their stats were mostly the same. Their skills and stats were well balanced, but nothing jumped out at me. Their best skills were the co-op ones. The twinheads we fought before had average stats of over 140 and a ton of skills; it was an all-around fierce opponent. Maybe that was influencing my opinion of these monkeys, but this just didn’t seem like a tough fight.

“Raar!”

The black lizard jumped into action at my signal. Time to use its Clay Gun as backup again.

“Ahh!”

“Aah!”

I easily evaded the two that tried to come at me with a Scratch attack and then tripped them with my tail. They hit the ground with a loud thud. I turned my attention to the third one.

“Aaah!” It folded its arms and barreled towards me with a forceful punch. I used its momentum to my advantage and countered with a Dragon Punch to the gut.

“Ooggh!” It flew backward and grabbed a tree branch with both hands, swinging all the way around it like a high bar, before landing gracefully on the ground. A bold move, though it definitely took some damage from my punch, clutching its stomach in pain. So far, there hadn’t been any need for the black lizard to intervene.

I wasn’t expecting it to be so easy! I had leveled up a lot recently. I was much faster, and thus able to deal with any unexpected movements. The orangurangs didn’t pack the punch that claybears did, so I wasn’t worried about them knocking me out with a single counterattack. They didn’t have any wacky special skills or extreme strength like the twinheads did. I couldn’t think of a single reason why this battle would be tough.

Chances were I could handle it all on my own. Knocking one of them out with poison put me at a huge advantage. Their strategy as a trio seemed off, too. They were probably more used to working as a group of four. As the three of them regrouped, they moved to surround me. Normally they’d have all four sides covered. Well, one of them could still move around to my blind spot, so I’d have to be careful.

If things went south, the black lizard could use Clay Gun to back me up. Plus, clearly the monkey who took me on from the front was hurting from my punch.

I’d have this wrapped up in no time.

I could tell they were being cautious of the black lizard as they closed in on me, even though the lizard wasn’t making a move yet.

“Raaaaaaar!”

I mustered up my most intimidating roar, using Bellow directed at the ground in front of the orangurangs. Apparently that punch had finally made them realize the difference in our abilities. They froze up, giving me a big in. Their incomplete battle formation crumbled. I turned around and threw them a menacing glare.

“Ahh!”

“Aah!”

One of the monkeys lunged at me in desperation, but I caught it easily while nailing the other one with a swing of my tail. The first one threw off my grip and tried to scamper behind me, but I matched its movements and closed in, nailing it with a fist in its face.

The orangurang fell to the ground behind me but quickly curled up into a ball and sprang to its feet. These guys definitely knew the right way to recover from a fall. But that didn’t mean they weren’t taking any damage. This battle was already decided.

I’d knocked about half their HP off—one more hit to each and it was game over. As a final gambit, the three of them put their backs to each other in one solid unit.

Oh, were they planning to run? But I really had my heart set on monkey stew tonight. Sorry, but graywolves just aren’t gonna cut it. I’m going to eat the three of you and enjoy every bite.

Simultaneously, the orangurangs put their fingers in their mouths and whistled. The three whistles overlapped, joined by a fourth, as the poisoned monkey lifted its head despite its agony.

The sound grew louder all at once, reverberating inside my brain. This had to be their Monkey Whistle skill. Was it gonna give me a weird status effect? I wasn’t sure what they were trying to accomplish, but I needed to make them stop ASAP. I doubted they were going to show off their skills and then run away.

I threw myself into Roll, spinning towards the nearest monkey. It evaded my telegraphed move easily, but my goal was to get them to stop whistling, which I did.

The noise stopped, its echoes following a few seconds later. My relief, however, was short-lived. An incredible commotion of footsteps and screams kicked up, coming ever closer. I turned to see an orangurang about twice the size of the others running straight for me.

Uh-oh. That whistle was a Call Allies skill?! And now the boss is coming?

The huge monkey had a scar across one eye, adding to its intimidation factor. It was clearly on a whole different level from the other four. The black lizard, who had up until now been hiding in the shadows, quickly came to my side. Taking advantage of our distraction, the other three monkeys picked up their poisoned comrade and carried it off to safety.

The orangurang boss glared at me with cold, vacant eyes. A chill ran down my spine, and I instinctively took a step backwards.

Dang it! Every single time someone realizes they can’t beat me, they just call in a friend!

 

Part 3

 

THE ADDITION of the boss made this a two-versus-five situation. Well, one of them was extremely poisoned, so I supposed that was two versus four. Before, I could make up for the numbers disadvantage with my superior stats, but there was no telling what would happen now that the boss had entered the fray. Might as well check its stats.

 

Species: Giant Orangurang

Status: Normal

Lv: 27/40

HP: 198/198

MP: 140/140

Attack: 123

Defense: 82

Magic: 110

Agility: 122

Rank: D+

Special Skills:

Earth Type: Lv —

Group Attack: Lv —

Nimble: Lv 4

Resistance Skills:

Falling Resistance: Lv 3

Physical Resistance: Lv 2

Normal Skills:

Bite: Lv 4

Mega Claws: Lv 4

Stone Throw: Lv 4

Monkey See, Monkey Do: Lv 3

Clay Wall: Lv 2

Monkey Whistle: Lv 3

Rest Wide: Lv 4

Quick: Lv 2

Power: Lv 1

Telepathy: Lv 4

Title Skills:

Forest Acrobat: Lv 2

Co-op: Lv 2

Clan Boss: Lv 5

Loyalist: Lv 3

Supporter: Lv 3

 

It had a lot of HP, but overall its combat abilities weren’t that great. I mean, they were good compared to an ordinary orangurang, but I had it beat in attack and defense.

I was most concerned about that special skill “Supporter.” Quick and Power seemed like pretty straightforward boost magic. And I was guessing Rest Wide was a recovery spell that could affect several party members at once. So not only could he heal the monkeys after I went to all that trouble of knocking down their HP, now it was going to boost all their stats, too? How was that fair?

Fortunately, the Giant Orangurang didn’t seem to have any specialized attack skills. I’d just have to hit before it tried anything stupid.

“Raaaaaar!” I jumped right at it and used Baby’s Breath. I’m gonna trap you and burn you up, you big monkey!

“Ksssh!” The black lizard backed me up with Clay Gun, shooting clay bullets at the Giant Orangurang.

“Ah-aah-ooh,” it uttered softly. The three other monkeys came out of hiding and quickly stepped in front of it.

“Ahh!”

“Ahh!”

“Aaah!”

They lifted their arms and stomped the ground, and a large earthen wall rose out of it, blocking my hot breath and the black lizard’s clay bullets.

Well, that must be Clay Wall. The three of them were combining their powers to make a barrier around their boss.

“Ah-oh.” The Giant Orangurang made a noise, and light appeared from behind the clay wall. It had to be healing its allies.

I needed to take out the boss or there would be no end to this. But I still had to deal with its minions and their wall.

Crap, and it would probably boost them and make them stronger, too. I’ve gotta do something. Circle around behind? No, it’ll be faster if I just knock it down!

I curled up into a ball and used Roll, heading straight for the wall. It deflected me, but I did feel it give. As I hurtled through the air, I stretched out my body and landed on my claws. And just as my legs hit the ground, the wall began to crumble.

“Ahh!”

“Ahh!”

“Aaah!”

On the other side, the monkey minions appeared to have completely regained their morale. They’d obviously received magical boosts in addition to recovery. They quickly surrounded me and the black lizard, moving much faster than before.

“Ahh!”

“Ahh!”

Two monkeys came at me from either side. I evaded the one on the right and guarded against the other with my arm. Its claws swung at me with incredible force, ripping off scales and piercing into my flesh.

“Raar!” I flinched and bent backwards, kicking off the ground from my blind spot. The three monkeys were closing in on me. Oh hell.

They’re gonna bulldoze through me just with sheer numbers!

“Aagh!” A rock whizzed past, and the third orangurang collapsed. Nice going, black lizard. That was a close one.

“Ahh-ooh!” The orangurang who scratched me took hold of my arm again. I didn’t resist; I waited until its grip on me was firm and then bit down on its shoulder as hard as I could.

“Aghh!” But it didn’t let go, and it was so entangled with me that I couldn’t move. And that was when the Giant Orangurang took the opportunity to aim a punch at me. The black lizard charged into it with Roll. The Giant Orangurang took the impact in the chest and staggered.

I took my chance and used Roll in midair, my orangurang luggage still hanging on. The centrifugal force flung the monkey off me, and it hit the ground hard.

“Ahh-ooh!” it screamed, rolling around and clutching its head.

Heh heh. I bet that one hurt.

From my vantage point, I could only keep track of the Giant Orangurang and the black lizard. I turned just in time to see the other two orangurangs hurling rocks.

“Urgh!” One struck my cheek, and the other got me straight in my left eye. I grabbed at my face as the Giant Orangurang pushed the black lizard off and started running at me. Crap, I was completely on the defensive now; it was all I could do just to figure out the position of my enemies. Desperately, I unfolded my wings just as the Giant Orangurang punched me, using the force of the attack to propel myself backwards and away from it.

The black lizard used Roll to escape from the boss monkey and join me as soon as I landed. It must have taken some hits, too; it was covered in cuts. I checked its HP. Down to half.

Apart from agility, the black lizard had exceptionally low stats. It was best suited to performing long-ranged attacks and then finding an opportunity to charge in. But since we were way outnumbered, that tactic put the brunt of the responsibility on me and my favored physical attacks. We were still losing, even with the lizard’s backup.

Okay, so, starting with the boss was the wrong move. I needed to go against the usual rules of combat and ignore the biggest threat in favor of picking off the minions one by one.

Speaking of the minions, they were gathering around their boss. Don’t tell me it’s going to heal them again? I ran to try to stop them, but the three monkeys all started throwing rocks. I dodged as many as I could without sacrificing speed, which meant I ended up taking some hits.

“Raaar!”

I inhaled to let out a blast of Baby’s Breath, but the three orangurangs converged back into a familiar formation.

“Ahh!”

“Ahh-ooh!”

“Ahh!”

Another clay wall appeared between us. I curled up without losing momentum, using Roll to charge into the wall. I bounced off it just like last time, then landed. The wall collapsed, revealing the three monkeys—once again all healed up.

I-Is this just impossible? Back to square one, and we were the only ones hurting. I glanced towards the black lizard. I couldn’t let it get in close range again. Should I try to face all four of them alone? No, there was just no way I could do it. But there had to be some way out of this. I had to think of something.

 

Part 4

 

THREE ORANGURANGS with one Giant Orangurang leading and healing them. The orangurang who ate the poisoned jerky…I could probably put out of my mind. The giant one was periodically healing it, but I still doubted it could even get up.

 

Species: Giant Orangurang

Condition: Quick Power

Lv: 27/40

HP: 198/198

MP: 54/140

 

The Giant Orangurang had more than a third of its MP left. Beyond unfair, really, that it still had so much left after using Boost and Recovery so many times. I could wait it out until its MP was completely drained, but I didn’t know if I could last that long.

I needed to use a strong skill like Nutcracker to take out all the minions at once, but I didn’t know when I’d get the opportunity. I’d managed to knock one unconscious, but the other three were still prepared to gang up on me. The chances of grabbing a squirming monster and flying up in the air for a one-on-one fight were basically zero. The monster would have to be already immobilized with no other threats around.

And even if all those conditions aligned, the best I could do was take out one of the monkeys. Sure, it would make the battle easier, but it just wasn’t worth risking the damage I’d take in the process.

If only I had some way to recover health myself. I checked the three orangurang minions’ stats—of course they still had plenty of HP and MP left. One of them showed Poison α (Major) as a status condition, but as far as I could tell, it was still moving normally. The black lizard’s Venom attack must have only been a scratch, so the effects would take time to show up. The black lizard’s battle strategy had been the same since we first met—a sudden attack with a direct hit followed by a retreat and waiting out the poison.

If this battle was like the one against the twinheads, where the lizard could draw the enemy’s attention so I could attack, it would be a different story. But we were outnumbered. The black lizard was forced to abandon its surprise attack and join me on the front lines. Double Poison was an option, but it would affect me, too, and there was no guarantee the black lizard would have a chance to cure me in time.

My friend’s HP and defense wasn’t very high, so we had to default to a long-distance attack with Clay Gun. This wasn’t good.

At that point, I was considering abandoning the cave. I was attached to it, of course, but I wouldn’t risk my life for it.

I checked on the enemies again.

The Giant Orangurang had a third of its MP left. Of the four monkey minions, two still had plenty of HP and MP, one had a light case of the special poison, and the fourth had been downed by the poisoned jerky. Was there some way for me to take that one hostage? Make it my monkey prisoner?

The Giant Orangurang was using up its recovery magic on the downed one to keep it alive, even in the midst of battle. Clearly its loyalty to its comrades ran deep—my hostage plan should work. And the black lizard could heal my poison.

I studied the Giant Orangurang to check its particulars. It was the boss and highly intelligent, so it should be open to negotiating.

Giant Orangurang: D+ Rank Monster. Evolved orangurang who has won a duel against the previous leader. That is the only method for evolving into a Giant Orangurang. Since they are so closely linked to evolution, orangurangs regard duels as sacred. Learns many Recovery Magic skills to support the group.

Wait, so do they just instinctively know the requirements for evolution? That sounded a little suspicious, to be honest, but I could worry about it later. If they regard duels as sacred, they must be smart enough to bargain.

Hmm…that Telepathy skill of the Giant Orangurang’s…I wonder.

“Raaar!”

I roared once, conveying with my voice and expression that I needed backup. The black lizard ran into the brush. The orangurangs split up, two heading towards me, the third going after the lizard. I was anxious for my friend but also grateful that we could share the responsibilities of battle. No way just one orangurang could catch the lizard.

The monkey coming at me on the right was the one with Minor Poison α, its movements slightly sluggish and awkward. I faked to the left then raced past the orangurang on my right. I dodged the Giant Orangurang with Roll, then quickly jumped out of it. I circled round behind the incapacitated, jerky-poisoned monkey and stabbed my claws into its throat.

“Ahh…ahh…ahh…”

The orangurangs’ faces twisted with rage, all three of them rushing me at once. I knew from the beginning that I couldn’t negotiate with them, but how about the Giant Orangurang? The one with Telepathy?

I ignored the three minions and focused on the boss. This had been a losing battle from the very beginning, and if I missed my shot here my only choice would be to run away. Now that my enemies’ attention was focused on me, the black lizard could easily retreat.

“Looks like you understand my skill. Yes?”

The Giant Orangurang’s thoughts reverberated in my head. I wasn’t hearing words…it felt deeper than that, more basic. I felt its emotions and personality lapping at my mind.

So this was Telepathy.

My bet had paid off. Once the other orangurangs saw me and the boss communicating, they all froze. But now I knew I had my work cut out for me. I now fully understood the Giant Orangurang’s anger, its wild pride, and its intelligent, primal personality.

 

Part 5

 

I TRIED TO GET my thoughts in order to respond to the Giant Orangurang’s message. I was sure I couldn’t use logic to negotiate with it. If it wanted a logical resolution, it could have used Telepathy from the very start. But if I just charged in, a fight would be unavoidable. I’d have no choice but to run away and abandon my cave.

My claws remained lodged in the poisoned monkey’s throat as I sorted through my thoughts and visualized sending them to the Giant Orangurang.

“This monkey will die from the poison if left untreated. But the black lizard can cure it. In exchange, please let us go.”

I watched the Giant Orangurang as I answered it. It barely reacted. Did the telepathy not work? Maybe you had to have the skill to send messages, and everyone else could only receive them? If that was true, I was screwed.

“Impossible. Once I have engaged in battle with an enemy, I never let them escape. Sacrifices may be necessary to gain myself the advantage.”

Well, at least I could be sure it heard me now. A conversation was possible.

“If the black lizard and I fight with all our strength, I’m fully confident it’ll end in a draw.”

I wasn’t bluffing. I could draw the attention of the other monkeys and let the black lizard unleash the poison cloud on all of us. That would leave us at a complete standoff.

“The weak get picked off and die in obscurity. That is our principle. We ascend to the rank of chief after killing our own forefathers.”

It was no use. I was able to communicate with it, but its mindset was still 100 percent monster. And to be perfectly blunt, I didn’t get it.

“Wait! In that case…”

“Enough. This is nothing but a waste of magic.”

If I didn’t do something, it would shut down the telepathic link. And then I’d be forced to outrun the others, who he’d already given a huge speed boost. If I used Roll, I could probably beat them at top speed, but the Giant Orangurang had the skill Nimble and the title skill Forest Acrobat, so if I factored in the time I’d lose from having to dodge it and other obstacles, it would end in a complete wash.

Wasn’t there anything else I could do? Some magic words that could flip the situation in my favor? What about the jerky? Nah, I doubted it could be bribed like that. I considered all the information I had—the thoughts we’d exchanged with Telepathy, the Giant Orangurang’s temperament, and the knowledge of the orangurangs’ customs that I’d learned from the Divine Voice’s description.

I sent one more thought to the Giant Orangurang, on the verge of throwing in the towel.

“Th-then I challenge you to a duel.”

I had only a vague idea of what a duel might consist of in the orangurang world—a ceremonial fight used to decide who would be their boss and how they would evolve. Under normal circumstances, I doubted they would ever even consider accepting a duel from another species of monster. But somehow I got the vibe that the Giant Orangurang might give me a chance.

And if it said yes, I’d knock this down to a one-on-one fight; no more worrying about being outnumbered. I’d bash its head in so it couldn’t use Recovery Magic anymore, and then taking care of the four minions would be a piece of cake.

The boss still didn’t answer.

“If it turns into a melee, I’m sure the black lizard will take you down with it. If you accept the duel and defeat me easily, then there’s nothing for you to worry about. Isn’t that the best option for you? If you accept, the black lizard can cure your two poisoned minions. It’s a win-win situation for you.”

“Duels are traditionally reserved for choosing new leaders or resolving conflicts with other clans. There is no precedent for this…but there are no rules against dueling another species. As long as you and the black lizard are a clan, that is.”

Wait…did it really agree? Or was it pretending? Maybe it was planning to make the black lizard heal its minions, and then they’d all attack us at once.

No, I didn’t think so. From everything I’d gathered about the Giant Orangurang’s personality, it wasn’t the type to lie about things like this.

“Fine. I accept. They will not touch you until the duel is over. These duels are a sacred ceremony for us—a clashing of souls. I do not intend to dishonor our tradition.”

After sending me that thought, the Giant Orangurang glanced over at its three minions, who still stood there motionless.

I politely let go of the poisoned monkey’s arm and stepped back a little. The other monkeys crept in to retrieve their exhausted comrade. Then all four of them backed away.

I looked at the black lizard, trying to urge it to cure the monkeys’ poison. It hesitated for a moment, as if unsure if that was what I really wanted, before slowly approaching the orangurangs and curing the two poisoned monkeys.

“Ah?”

“Aa.”

The orangurangs exchanged glances, speaking softly to one another. The black lizard sensed something, because it tried to back away.

The two orangurangs grabbed hold of the black lizard.

“Kssh! Kssh!”

“Raaar!”

I roared with anger at the Giant Orangurang.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. That black lizard has no stake in this duel. If you win, I will free it.”

I’d considered telling the black lizard to poison them all in case things went downhill for me, but apparently that was no longer an option. The Giant Orangurang and I had a firm grip on each other; doubtless it guessed what I was planning.

I had to focus. On pure stats, I had it beat, but I couldn’t overlook all the Giant Orangurang’s stat-boosting and recovery magic. My HP was already down. Though I was the one who had suggested it in the first place, this would be a tough fight. But unlike our previous situation, this was a fight I had a chance at winning.

 

Part 6

 

I FACED THE Giant Orangurang.

“Ah!”

“Ah-ahh!”

“Ah-ooh, ah!”

“Aa!”

The minions made noises as they held the black lizard down, excited to see some bloodshed. A duel really was serious business to their species.

“Ah-oh…”

The Giant Orangurang let out a soft noise and lumbered toward me. I went ahead and checked its status again.

 

Species: Giant Orangurang

Status: Quick Power

Lv: 27/40

HP: 198/198

MP: 49/140

 

Damn, its status boost was still there. I thought for sure it would’ve worn off by now. And all that Telepathy only burned off 5 MP. I should’ve dragged it out longer. Whatever. No sense in dwelling on the past. If I kept pushing, it probably would have rejected the duel.

I didn’t have any time for regrets—I had to figure out my next move. Most pressing was getting its MP down. That was what made monsters with recovery magic so dangerous.

 

Normal Skills:

Bite: Lv 4

Giant Claws: Lv 4

Stone Throw: Lv 4

Monkey See, Monkey Do: Lv 3

Clay Wall: Lv 2

Monkey Whistle: Lv 3

Rest Wide: Lv 4

Quick: Lv 2

Power: Lv 1

Telepathy: Lv 4

 

Its skills were basically the same as the normal orangurangs’. I desperately wanted to believe it wouldn’t use the Monkey Whistle to call in more reinforcements. If I beat this guy only for an even bigger orangurang to show up, it’d all be over.

Despite its aggressive temperament, the Giant Orangurang seemed to predominantly use backup magic. I hoped when it came down to a one-on-one fight, I’d have the advantage. Of course, I was already weakened myself.

If my assumptions were right, Rest Wide used up around 10 MP, and HP Recovery cost about 80.

So in a normal fight, the Giant Orangurang could use Rest Wide about five more times. But I was hoping to force it to use some other skills instead. First order of business was getting Quick and Power off it, though. Back when I fought the Giant Potortoise and it used status effect magic on me, it didn’t last long at all. It might be best to buy some time at the beginning of the battle.

The Giant Orangurang moved toward me, hunching down on all fours instead of walking upright. Its arms pushed off the ground, boosting its speed and closing the distance between us even quicker.

There was just no way to do this as long as it had Quick. If it came down to a punch-out, I’d be at a disadvantage without recovery magic.

I took a step backwards and used Baby’s Breath. The Giant Orangurang dodged it easily, then charged past me.

I didn’t understand what it was trying to do; I just looked up in time to watch it sailing over me. Then I saw the tree.

I spun and readied myself for its next move. It kicked off the tree, angling itself right towards me.

Breath wouldn’t be a fast enough counter, and at this point I couldn’t risk taking damage in exchange for a single hit, since it could just heal itself. The Giant Orangurang had to know that, too.

I wrapped my wings around myself in defense, feeling the Giant Orangurang’s weight hit me as it landed, sending me sprawling from the impact. The boss didn’t relent, intent on hitting me as hard as it could.

This guy was just ridiculously strong and moving completely differently from when it fought with the group. I imagined its hesitation was due to the black lizard.

I kicked off the ground hard and spread my wings, alighting on a high branch.

“Ahhh!”

The Giant Orangurang punched the tree, shaking it violently and knocking me off. I grabbed wildly for the branch, clinging to it. My opponent climbed the tree with incredible speed.

Damn it! The magic still hasn’t worn off yet!

I let go of the branch, letting myself fall. The boss immediately changed direction and came after me. I used Roll to keep out of its gasp.

The Giant Orangurang hit the ground with a tremendous thud.

“What’s the matter, Tiny Dragon? Fleeing in terror doesn’t make for much of a duel. It’s sacrilege against the ceremony, not to mention rude.”

Its Telepathy message sounded irritated, but I didn’t really give a crap about its feelings right now. If I stopped, it would crush me. At the very least, just stop using recovery magic!

That’s what I wanted to say, but the other monkeys looked at me and tightened their grip on the black lizard. I kept quiet.

“Ahh!”

“Ahhh!”

They pointed at me and jumped up and down with obvious laughter. Wow, uncalled for.

Since I’d agreed to their rules, I was worried that they’d do something bad to the black lizard if I disrespected the duel.

Fine, then. If you’re really dying for some punishment, you got it.

I slowed down Roll, letting the Giant Orangurang draw closer. When it was in range I was forced to dodge its hands as they came at me from the left and right.

Gotta find a suitable tree… Oh, that one’s good!

It was the perfect height and looked pretty sturdy. The branches were ideally positioned, and the trunk was just the right shape.

I made a beeline straight for the tree. Behind me, the Giant Orangurang sped up. I rammed myself against the trunk, using my scales like spikes to help me climb.

“Ahhh…?”

The Giant Orangurang paused as it tried to figure out what I was doing. And in that moment, it let down its defenses.

I took my chance and swung off a branch above me, propelling myself at the Giant Orangurang’s face.

I remained in my Roll in midair but stretched out my tail and whacked the monkey across the face. At the speed I was going, it was like getting hit with a whip.

“Aghhhh!”

The Giant Orangurang curled up to protect its face.

I pulled my tail back in, tackling the back of its head with Roll, and then sprang out of range of retaliation.

“A-ahhh…” The Giant Orangurang slowly shook its head as if trying to make sure it could still move its neck. Lacerations from my tail covered its face. It ran its finger along the deepest cut, smearing blood and narrowing its eyes at me.

“Ahh-oh.”

Yep. Looks like it worked. Now let’s see what’s left.

 

Species: Giant Orangurang

Status: Confusion (Temporary, Minor)

Lv: 27/40

HP: 43/198

MP: 48/140

 

Oh, that whittled down more than I expected! Turned out direct hits work. Now that its HP was low, I expected it to use Rest Wide. My goal was in view. And hey! The boost magic was worn off, too! Hurling myself right at its face was worth it, then.

 

Part 7

 

NOW THAT the Giant Orangurang’s status effects had worn off, I had my chance. I needed to end this fast. I curled up and jumped into a Roll to bring myself closer. It meant I had to take a path straight towards the boss, but now that it no longer had Quick, it wouldn’t be a problem. I’d circle around and tackle it from its blind spot, and it’d be all over.

“Ah…oh.”

The ground rumbled as I approached, a huge mound forming and knocking me backwards into a tree.

Ow. But fine. Pushing the Giant Orangurang into using Clay Wall was good, actually. The wall it made was huge, even bigger than the one all three of the minions made. Surely it must’ve taken up a ton of MP. Now if I could just get it to use recovery and boost one more time, its MP would be gone.

This was my chance. The two of us squared off across the earthen wall, the huge monkey staring right back at me.

 

Species: Giant Orangurang

Status: Quick (Major)

Lv: 27/40

HP: 43/198

MP: 8/140

 

What…? It didn’t use recovery magic. Crap, it just used its MP to raise its speed! It must’ve figured there was no sense in drawing this out; it wanted a fast duel. I was fully confident that no matter how many times it used recovery magic, as long as its status boosts were gone, I’d be fine. The other way around, though…

“Ahh!”

The Giant Orangurang kicked off a nearby tree and threw itself toward me. There was nowhere for me to go and no way to dodge. Quickly, I stretched out my tail and felt it touch a branch. I grabbed on, swung myself around that branch, and curled into Roll, building myself up to an incredible speed.

“Waah!”

I used all my body weight to counter the Giant Orangurang’s attack. It hit the ground and landed hard, splayed out in the dirt. I climbed back onto the branch and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead.

That was a close one—it almost had me. But now I understood that when the Giant Orangurang was moving this fast, it lost most of its control. Its movements became simple and easy to read, and it appeared exhausted. My barrage of attacks was working.

I figured that boost magic was a net positive, but it seemed to put a huge strain on the creature’s body. Still, I didn’t want to keep doing risky evasive maneuvers while it was this fast. Luckily, its drained MP meant it wouldn’t be raising its attack power. My best bet would be a head-on attack. Countering with small hits on the run would tire me out. Plus, only countering meant I had to give up the chance for the first strike.

My best option was: it punches me, I stand my ground, I punch back. A meathead strategy, but its HP was already pretty low.

I landed and squared up. Bring it on. I know this is what you want—a head-on fight, even though sneaking and dodging and waiting for an opening is really more my style.

“Raaar!” I opened up with a good Bellow.

The boss monkey bared its teeth in a chilling smile.

“Ahhhhh!” It howled and charged me, kicking off the ground at the absolute last second and stretching out its arms. Starting with claws, huh?

I pulled my tail back in and let it dig in its claws. Some of my scales tore off, but it was better than losing flesh.

I continued guarding with my tail and punched the big monkey right in the face.

“Ooghh!”

I did it!

Normal Skill “Dragon Punch” Lv 2 has become Lv 3.

This should be it! A win for me!

Its eyes opened wide, and it fell backwards.

“Oh-ahh!” At the last second, it regained its balance with one swift movement.

H-hey, you’ve gotta be kidding me! That punch should have taken care of the rest of its HP! As my mind raced, the Giant Orangurang swung its fist. I guarded too late, and it got me right in the face.

“Raaar!” My consciousness flickered. This jerk literally hit me while it was passing out?! “Graaaaar!” Another backhand blow caught me in the chin. Losing the battle of speed hurt. A lot. Damn it. Winning made me let my guard down.

The monkey boss slowed, winding up for another punch. If it hit, I’d be in trouble. It telegraphed its strikes, but there was still no way to completely avoid it. I had to strike now.

It had to be close to death. Had to be. I just needed to get one more punch in. I didn’t even aim, just let a Dragon Punch loose straight ahead. The monkey’s face crashed right down on top of my fist.

My hand stung. I stared into its face. That was it, right? But then I felt something hard driving into my forehead and an incredible impact as I hit the ground.

Chapter 3:
Life with the Red Monkeys

 

Part 1

 

WHERE AM I? What’s this soft thing? My fur carpet?

I sniffed. I could smell the stink of animals…the faint scent of piperis.

“Kssh! Kssh! Kssh!” I opened my eyes to find the black lizard right in front of me.

I was in our cave. I rubbed at my forehead. My memories felt vague, although I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d used up all my stamina or because I’d totally passed the heck out.

Let’s see, I proposed a duel to the Giant Orangurang… We got into a punch-out and it knocked me out…but then I got experience points…

If I’m alive, that must mean I won? Guess I should check my status…

 

Species: Young Plague Dragon

Status: Normal

Lv: 39/40

HP: 55/167

MP: 144/163

 

I wasn’t fully healed, but I had recovered quite a lot, and evolution was right within my grasp. So I did win.

The orangurangs seemed to have kept their promise, because they’d left. No more stealing my jerky. The experience of watching their boss die in front of them would probably be enough to keep them away from my cave from now on.

“Kssh!” The black lizard jumped happily on my chest.

I pet its back as it curled up. The site of the battle was close to the cave, but I was still surprised it managed to get me back here. As soon as I’d had that thought, the black lizard let out an uncomfortable “Kshh…”

Hm? What is it?

It got up and looked across the cave. I rolled over to follow its gaze. Four orangurangs stood all lined up in a row.

“Ahh!”

“Ah! Ah!”

“Ah-oh, ah-oh!”

“Ahh!”

The monkeys swung their arms up and down emphatically, whooping with excitement.

Huh? What do these guys think they’re doing in my home? Hang on a second, something’s not right here.

The black lizard glanced at the monkeys and then back at me. Not in confusion but more like, “What the heck are we gonna do with these clowns?”

I had the same question. Why were they even here?

“Raar!” I jumped up with a roar, but instead of running away, the orangurangs drew closer. They formed a line and went to their knees, bowing their heads to me.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Knock that off. What kind of weird prank is this? What should I do, knock them all out at once for the experience? That should give me plenty to hit my evolution conditions.

Seriously, though. Why are they acting so weird? Almost like…I’m their boss or something.

W-wait a second.

I appeared to have overlooked a crucial detail.

“Duels are traditionally reserved for choosing new leaders or resolving conflicts with other clans.”

I thought back on my telepathic conversation with the Giant Orangurang. If the clan boss lost during a duel, did the winner become the boss of that clan?

Giant Orangurang: D+ Rank Monster. Evolved orangurang who has won a duel against the previous leader. That is the only method for evolving into a Giant Orangurang. Since they are so closely linked to evolution, orangurangs regard duels as sacred. Learns many Recovery Magic skills to support the group.

So its evolution pattern changed after a duel? It seemed unlikely to me, but I had a feeling that was right. Evolutions depended on a monster’s skills—especially their title skills. The Giant Orangurang had the skill Clan Boss: Lv 5. And if it earned that title skill because it won a duel, then… I hastily checked my own skills.

 

Title Skills:

Dragon King’s Son: Lv —

Walking Egg: Lv —

Klutz: Lv 4

Just an Idiot: Lv 1

Infighter: Lv 4

Pest Killer: Lv 3

Safety First: Lv 1

Liar: Lv 2

King of Evasion: Lv 1

Protective Spirit: Lv 5

Itty-Bitty Hero: Lv 2

Wrongdoer: Lv 3

Calamity: Lv1

Chicken Runner: Lv 2

Mr. Chef: Lv 3

Dastardly King: Lv 1

Stalwart: Lv 1

Giant Killer: Lv 1

Ceramic Artisan: Lv 4

Clan Boss: Lv 1

 

Welp, there it was. Right on the bottom. I didn’t even notice it before.

“Ahh!”

“Ahh-ooh! Ahh-ooh!”

The orangurangs whooped noisily. They must’ve been celebrating their new boss. I doubted turning down the position was an option. After all, they regarded the duel as a sacred ceremony.

“Kssh…” The black lizard watched me sadly. Did it think the orangurangs would take its place in my life? Apparently…and it didn’t like that one bit. Well, we had fought a life-or-death battle before teaming up.

The weirdest thing about this was that the orangurangs just…accepted me. All over some silly duel.

“Shh! Ksshh!” The black lizard opened its mouth and showed me its fangs. Then it tipped its head to the side and narrowed its eyes at the orangurangs. It was trying to ask me if it should get ready to fight. True, the minions would be super easy to pick off now that their boss was gone.

But they didn’t seem to want to fight us. And as long as I had this new title skill in my back pocket, I doubted they ever would. They were a lot physically closer to humans than I was; they could be pretty handy for doing chores and keeping this cave tidy, not to mention their hands were probably better for ceramics.

I’d ply them with a bunch of jerky and work them like dogs. Wow. This might actually be the best thing that could have happened.

“Raar.” I told the black lizard that I’d decided not to fight. It shot the monkeys a threatening look but reluctantly hid its fangs.

 

Part 2

 

THE ORANGURANGS were surprisingly useful. All four of them went outside and hunted monsters for me. Apparently, boss orangurangs didn’t do much of their own work.

“Ahh!”

The orangurang bowed its head and lay today’s spoils in front of me. A bunch of graywolves, giant rabbits, and fruit. Hey, not bad!

“Ahh, ooh.”

I looked up the details of the fruits, interrupted by one of the orangurangs happily reaching out toward me. I thought it was trying to shake my hand or something, but instead it let its gaze linger outside the cave. Ohh, the jerky. They really liked that stuff.

“Raar.” I gave them my permission and the four of them scrambled outside.

Immediately I felt uneasy. They wouldn’t take all of it, right? If they started eating more than they brought in, I’d have to kick them out.

I tore my claws into the fresh meat, tossing the innards and bones into a pot to discard later. I was an old hand at this by now; I put the meat into the jerky pot, added salt and piperis, then mixed it around.

“Ahh?” One of the orangurangs approached, holding out some jerky. It had two pieces in its left hand and one piece in its right. Well, I guess three pieces is okay. It bit into the one in its right hand and chewed noisily.

The monkey appeared highly interested in what I was doing. Maybe I should teach it how to make jerky for me. I explained the process with gestures and demonstrated how to salt and dry the meat. I showed it the pots containing the salt and the piperis, going through all the steps.

“Raar.”

“Ahh?”

“Gaa!”

“Ah-ah!”

“Raar?”

“Ah-oh!”

After I was sure it understood, I cut up more meat in front of it, added salt and piperis to the pot, and mixed it around. Then I stepped back and pointed to the pot.

“Ah-oh.”

The orangurang jumped to it. It got a little haphazard with the pots, so I pretended to use Breath as a threat. Perfect. This is how you train a monkey.

Once the pots were full of salt and piperis, I lined them up in the corner of the cave. The jerky had to sit for a while before I could string it up. Once I taught them how to do that, the monkeys would know the entire process.

Now that they were hunting and cooking for me, what would I do? I guess I just have to use Monkey Whistle and they’ll come running. Well, nothing wrong with an easy life. It was good to be the boss.

Didn’t have to lift a finger to get my dinner. Once I had all my HP back, the black lizard and I could go out and focus on leveling. All that had changed was that our lives were getting a little more stable.

My HP wasn’t going to replenish completely today, so I figured I’d use the claybear’s magic clay and work on some pots or something. Now that I had four more roommates, I needed more containers to store the extra food.

I took the magic clay outside and began to knead. And once again, a monkey came up to me. This one had little bits of jerky stuck all over its fur. Well, whatever. Making jerky was way easier now, so I didn’t mind if it ate a bunch. More pressing was its sudden interest in ceramics. The orangurangs had the Nimble skill, their fingers long and narrow. They were way better equipped for ceramic artistry than I was with my scaly, lumpy hands.

It was frustrating that these hands would hold me back from becoming a true artist. I hated to give up on the dream, but it made sense to let the monkeys do it instead.

I combined some regular clay with the claybear’s magic variety, showing the orangurang how to make a pot shape. After it was molded, I brought out some charcoal from the cave, buried the pot, and fired it with Baby’s Breath. Once the coals glowed white, I smothered the fire with sand and pulled out the finished pot.

Now that I’d shown the orangurang the process, I urged it to give it a whirl. But the monkey just couldn’t seem to get the pot shape right. I gave it a step-by-step tutorial, but it still didn’t turn out great. At least it could handle the basics, and I could overlook the aesthetics for now. We could still store stuff in it even if it looked like garbage.

“Ah-ooh…” A tear ran down the orangurang’s face as it looked back and forth between my pot and its misshapen one.

Chapter 4:
The Three-Eyed Mahawolf

 

Part 1

 

THE NEXT DAY, I resolved to go out hunting with the black lizard. Honestly, I just wanted to make pots and statues with the potter orangurang, but the black lizard had attached itself to me ever since I woke up this morning, refusing to leave my side.

It must’ve been feeling neglected with me spending so much time with the orangurangs. Hopefully, a good hunt would relieve some of its boredom.

For myself, I was hoping for the experience to evolve, of course, but more than that I wanted additional materials for home improvement.

“Kssh…” The black lizard didn’t seem too thrilled, honestly. It seemed kind of annoyed. Did I screw something up? The orangurangs seemed pretty happy.

“Ah-ah, ah-ooh!”

“Ahh-ooh!”

“Ahhhhh-oh!”

“Ah, oh!”

They carried the shovels and hammer, walking enthusiastically behind us. They were very excited to be using tools, swinging them around wildly as they scanned the forest for monsters.

I checked View Status—the shovel’s Attack power was +18 and the hammer’s was +28. A 28-point attack boost was a lot, almost three times more than the orangurangs’ base stats.

I attempted to swing the shovel myself, but it only got in the way of my attack. I’d stick to fighting with my bare hands and leave the tools to the primates.

I couldn’t wait to see them go wild with those things.

“Kssh…” The black lizard let out an angry cry and looked up at the sky. Was something wrong? I wished we could communicate with words.

We plodded along the path, picking off monsters and introducing the orangurangs to valuable plants. I was glad to have the monkeys around—there really was power in numbers. They could whack off a graywolf’s head with one swing of the shovel. It was barbaric. The spoils were great, of course, but since I didn’t have to lift a finger I wasn’t getting any experience points.

Wow, I need to make a basket out of branches or something. My hands get full so quickly.

I continued gathering plants, and by the time we started heading back I didn’t have a scratch on me. All this hunting and no experience to show for it.

The black lizard wasn’t going to the trouble of hiding its annoyance and kept glaring at me. It clearly hated this situation. Next time I’d make the monkeys stay home so we could go out on our own.

I had just turned toward the cave when I heard faint screams in the distance. Like someone calling for help.

I’d heard that voice somewhere before… Was it Myria? Had she come back to the forest? But why? She hadn’t seemed too thrilled about it last time she was here. I wanted to go help her, but if I showed up with a bunch of heavily armed wild orangurangs and the black lizard, I had a feeling things would devolve into an all-out war.

They were smart enough to do what I asked them to, but if we were attacked I doubted they’d be able to hold themselves back. I needed to go alone.

If it was only Myria, I wouldn’t need to worry about an attack, but there was no way to confirm she was alone. Besides, I looked different from when she saw me last. My baby dragon form probably stirred some sort of maternal instinct in her or something. But now I was a legit monster. I doubted she’d even recognize me as the small, cute dragon she knew.

“Raar!”

I let out a roar and ran towards the screams. The orangurangs jumped to follow behind me.

“Raaaar!!”

They stopped in their tracks. I turned and pointed towards the cave.

“A-ahh!” They definitely didn’t understand my reasoning, but they still followed my instructions.

“Kssh!” On the other hand, the black lizard didn’t stop. It was far more intelligent than the orangurangs, and I figured it would suss out what I wanted immediately. But I didn’t have time to convince it to leave. Myria could be killed and eaten by a monster by then.

I used Roll to pick up speed, attempting to leave the black lizard behind. But it used Roll and chased after me.

Ugh, come on! I don’t have time to race with you right now!

Chances were it couldn’t keep up with me over this terrain.

“Kssh! Ksssshh!”

It wasn’t as fast as me, but I also wasn’t pulling very far ahead, no matter how well I knew the terrain, how fast I could change speed, or our differences in technique. Man, if it kept going at this rate, it was going to crash right into a tree.

I swung wildly to the left and right, trying to fake it out. I chose the most difficult route and launched myself into the air.

The black lizard was not expecting that and crashed into a rock. It fell out of Roll and hit the ground hard.

“Kssh… Kssh…”

I stopped Roll and ran over to the lizard. “Raar!”

“Kssh…”

The black lizard let out a weak cry, but it had plenty of HP left.

Myria screamed again. I couldn’t stay here any longer. Myria’s voice was the only one I heard. She was either alone or her companions were unconscious. With her stats she couldn’t even take on a graywolf by herself. She was a healer, and she wasn’t that fast, either.

I rubbed the black lizard’s back, trying to impart my apology, then blasted off in the direction of the screams.

Guilt racked me as I ran. I’m doing the right thing, aren’t I? If I brought another monster to save a human, it would complicate things.

The black lizard was mildly injured, while Myria might be dying. This wasn’t even a contest—the latter needed me way more than the former.

Going alone was the only foolproof way to avoid misunderstandings. If Myria got spooked and attacked me, I could deal with it. Hey, if I were a human and a dragon came up to me, I’m sure I would react badly, too.

But the orangurangs and the black lizard…if someone threatened them, they would fight back the same way they’d fight any other monster. I couldn’t realistically ask them to go against their natures and take damage. And I knew from experience what happened when a monster tried to peacefully approach humans—it could end extremely badly. I had to go alone.

As decisions went, it was pretty small-scale. But it alluded to a whole other issue—I couldn’t keep sitting on the fence between humans and monsters forever.

What did I want to do? Did I still want to become human? Or was I satisfied with the way my life was now?

Title Skill “Itty-Bitty Hero” Lv 2 has become Lv 3.

Title Skill “Wrongdoer” Lv 3 has become Lv 4.

A message from the Divine Voice filled my head, interrupting my thoughts…almost like it was taunting me. Really classy, as usual.

Should I cast away all human ties and live my life as a monster? Or could I really keep living halfway between? Well, I wasn’t going to come up with an answer right now, so I cleared my head and ran towards Myria’s voice.

 

Part 2

 

MYRIA’S SCREAMS came from across the chasm. I sped up Roll and used Fly to get enough air, and then used a blast of Baby’s Breath to launch myself to the other side.

I found her as soon as I landed. The chestnut-haired girl was surrounded by four wolves. Her clothes were torn, but luckily none of her injuries looked fatal.

I doubted she went looking for a fight; these wolves must have ambushed her. They were covered in tough, blue fur and boasted a third eye on their foreheads. They were much bigger than graywolves, although their stance and bearing made me wonder if they were an evolved form.

Mahawolf: Rank D. These wolves are able to share information gathered from their third eye with members of the same species nearby. They use this power to hunt prey more efficiently.

Since it was a weaker D rank monster, I figured I could manage on my own. But the Divine Voice’s explanation made it sound like they could call allies in very easily. I went ahead and did a status check.

Normal Skill “View Status” Lv 5 is unable to provide complete information.

Huh?

 

Species: Mahawolf

Condition: ****

Lv: 9/28

HP: 58/58

MP: 35/35

Attack: 52

Defense: 31

Magic: 63

Agility: 62

Rank: D-

Special Skills:

Group Attack: Lv —

Third Eye: Lv —

Magic Energy Transmission: Lv 2

Magic Energy Reception: Lv 2

Resistance Skills:

Earth Resistance: Lv 2

Paralysis Resistance: Lv 2

Normal Skills:

Bite: Lv 2

Piercing Gaze: Lv 2

Fire Nails: Lv 1

Title Skills:

Savage: Lv 2

 

Wh-what was that status condition?! Did the third eye have something to do with it? Their stats were lower than the orangurangs’, but that hidden status condition made me nervous. It filled me with a sense of déjà vu. Had I seen a status like this before?

I didn’t have time to hesitate.

“Raaaaaaaar!” I roared loudly, drawing the mahawolves’ attention. Myria’s face crumpled with hopelessness when she saw me, all the color draining out of her right down to her lips. Her big eyes grew even bigger with alarm.

“Ιατί συνέβη αυτό.”

Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. I was prepared for her fear, but it still hurt. She trembled as I approached, taking a clumsy step backwards.

Aw, come on. You don’t have to be afraid!

“Awoooo!” The four mahawolves turned on me.

I let loose a burst of Baby’s Breath, and the two lead wolves couldn’t evade it in time. They ate the gust of fiery wind right in their faces.

“Oooh!”

“Grooowoo!”

They howled and writhed in pain, struggling to escape the fire. Both of their status conditions showed Burned. The other two wolves split up and ran to either side to avoid the attack. Now they closed in on me, attacking from two directions.

“Awoo!” The mahawolves each tried a bite attack, but I blocked with my wings, unfurling them swiftly to send them flying with the back draft. They hit the ground, then scrambled back up and scampered away. I wanted to chase them down, but there was really no point. I’d been afraid they would call in allies, but if they were going to, they would have done it already.

Instead, I focused on the two weakened by Baby’s Breath. I tore into their necks with my claws, delivering the final blows.

Gained 36 Experience Points.

Title Skill “Walking Egg” Lv — activated: gained 36 Experience Points.

Young Plague Dragon Lv 39 has become Lv 40.

Young Plague Dragon has achieved MAX Lv.

Evolution Requirements have been fulfilled.

Ahh, finally. If only I’d leveled a little sooner, Myria wouldn’t have to see me like this. She’s out of danger now, though, so maybe I should just leave? On second thought, there are way more monsters out here that would love a bite. I’m not even sure what she’s doing in the woods. Maybe I should escort her back to the village. If I just evolved, I could be less intimidating.

As I racked my brain, Myria stared at me. “Προηγούμενο…?” She was frightened, but after I took care of the wolves and made no move to attack, she seemed to realize I had saved her. She stood, legs trembling, and reached out to me with both arms.

Huh? What’s going on?

That gesture…I remembered it from somewhere. Was she imitating what I did the first time we met? Back when I was a baby dragon, I was so happy when I saw humans again for the first time that I stretched my arms out and waved at them.

Does she recognize me?

She looked uncertain, though. I’d changed a lot since then. But maybe, just maybe, she was starting to remember.

“R-raar…” Myria imitated my cry.

I raised my hands and waved at her.

Her face sparkled, and she threw her arms around my stomach. “Ευχαριστώ για τη βοήθεια!”

H-hey!

I was so startled by her hug that I just stood there and took it. I wondered if she only saw me as an animal. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but a girl hugging me suddenly made me feel a bit shy.

Still, what was she doing out here in the forest all alone? I thought about taking her back to the village…no, I didn’t want to cause a commotion and make trouble for Myria. I would just take her as close as I could safely manage.

I turned towards the cliff, remembering the injured black lizard. Its wounds weren’t serious, but it hurt my heart to think that I’d just left it there.

I needed to check on it and apologize…and soon. I considered doing it before I even took Myria back to her village, but I just couldn’t leave her in the forest alone. There was no way to take her back across the chasm with me and also no guarantee the black lizard and the orangurangs wouldn’t attack her. I didn’t know if she’d come alone or gotten separated from some other humans. I should start by asking her what happened.

Even though its level was at rock bottom, I did have the skill Grecian Language. Maybe if I tried really hard, I’d be able to make her understand.

“Ra—”

“Awoooo!”

The mahawolves’ howl drowned out my voice.

Five of them appeared out of the trees, their average level collectively higher than the last group. I could beat them, but it would put Myria at risk. I needed to run from this battle.

“Raar!”

I hunkered down and gestured for Myria to climb on my back.

 

Part 3

 

I RAN THROUGH the forest, hunched over slightly so that Myria wouldn’t slide off. I was afraid to go too fast, but if I didn’t speed up we’d never outrun the mahawolves.

“Awoo!”

“Graaaooo!”

Dang it! Now there’s six of them!

The new ones must have joined up with the group already chasing us. At this rate, their numbers would just keep growing. I had to shake them as soon as possible. Why were they so intent on chasing me in the first place?

I’d already showed them what I was capable of. Still, they didn’t bring any bigger, stronger wolves; they were all around the same strength. It didn’t make sense. Even graywolves weren’t this dense. They’d keep attacking, I was sure, but as soon as I killed one, the rest would scatter. Did it have something to do with that weird status condition?

Are they excited? Confused?

If I couldn’t even access the information with Lv 5 Divine Voice, it had to be an incredibly strong skill. Maybe something to do with that special skill “Magic Energy Reception.” I didn’t like the sound of that. I was worried they’d use it to call in a really terrible boss or something.

Maybe I should stash Myria somewhere safe and go hunt down this boss? But if it was watching me with their Shared Sight ability, it wouldn’t matter how much I searched. I wouldn’t be able to find it if it didn’t want me to.

“Πίσω!” Myria shouted something. The mahawolves were running faster, closing in on us.

Uh-oh, I got distracted. I needed to put aside all the questions for now and figure out how to handle these guys.

“Raar!” Hang on!

I roared and felt Myria tighten her grip around my shoulders. I pulled away from the mahawolves in a burst of speed, Myria clinging on. I couldn’t keep going this fast—she’d fall off, and I needed to conserve my stamina in case of an attack. If I couldn’t shake them, I’d have to fight them.

I spotted a small cave up ahead. Perfect—this would stop them from surrounding us.

“Είναι ένα αδιέξοδο…?” Myria whispered something into my ear, anxious.

“Raaar!” I tried to roar reassuringly as I sped into the cave. Once inside, I slowed and set her gently down in the corner. Then I turned to prepare my counterattack.

The cave was a little dim, though not deep enough to be completely dark, and my eyes adjusted quickly. This was an ideal arena. As long as I prevented the mahawolves from sneaking past me, Myria would be safe.

“Gaaaar!”

The mahawolves howled. They were here.

“Raaaar!” I ran back and forth in the cave’s opening, flapping my wings, hovering just a little off the ground. My wingtips almost touched the cave walls. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but it would be hard for them to get past me.

I curled up my wings and charged, plowing into three of the mahawolves at once.

“Grooo!” They screamed as they were flung into the ceiling and walls. I made a sharp turn, whipping my tail into the remaining three. One of them tried to stand, so I slashed its neck with my claws, raised its body above my head, and slammed it to the ground.

In no time at all, six mahawolves lay dead on the cave floor.

Cannot gain experience points at MAX Lv.

Well, that was a waste. I wished I’d evolved first, although I knew I shouldn’t decide rashly or I’d regret it for the rest of my life. In the heat of the battle, I might’ve gotten frustrated and gone with whatever instead of thinking strategically. No experience is worth that kind of mistake.

I crept toward the entrance of the cave. I didn’t sense any other monsters out there, but I wanted to be sure.

The forest was deserted. The danger had passed.

Still, something felt weird. Why did they track me down like that? And what was that blurred-out status condition they all had? I was probably overanalyzing the whole thing, honestly. Most likely they just wanted vengeance for their fallen comrades.

Should I search for a potential mahawolf boss or take Myria back to the village? If she was being targeted, she would be safest at home. I had no idea what was going on with her, but I needed to find out. She might know something about the mahawolves.

I’d ask her to explain it to me simply enough that I could understand it with Grecian Language Lv 1. I checked outside one more time to make sure we were safe before returning to the cave.

Before I did anything, though, I wanted to check my evolution paths. I needed to know if there were any potentially life-saving special skills among the options. I didn’t want to make a hasty decision, but this was a bizarre situation.

 

Part 4

 

THROUGH THE GLOOM of the cave I could faintly see Myria fidgeting. She took a step and promptly ran into the wall, hitting her head and falling down. Could she not see in here at all?

I could see all right… Maybe dragon eyes worked different from human ones? Well, that wasn’t important right now—I could ponder the difference between humans and dragons later. I hoped the place wasn’t so dim that we’d missed any threats, but that probably wasn’t worth worrying about.

All right, Divine Voice. Hit me. Show me my evolution options.

Text filled my head.

Display Evolution Options?

Yeah, go ahead.

 

Future:

Jormungand Rank C+

Little Arc Dragon Rank C

Artificial Dragon Rank C-

Rolling Dragon Rank C-

Dark Drago-human Rank —

 

Present:

Young Plague Dragon Rank D+

 

Past:

Baby Dragon Rank D-

Dragon Egg Rank F

 

So I had five evolution options this time? And no Plague Dragon? Not that that was a bad thing.

All right then, let’s check them out in reverse order.

Dark Drago-human: Rank —. Low-ranking dragon-human. Not a monster but a demi-human. Its body is covered in black scales.

What? A demi-human? I wasn’t even sure what that meant, but it is a human, right? If I were a dragon/human hybrid, I wouldn’t have to use Human Transformation to speak to people or get shot with arrows when I go to town!

Hang on a second. This is the Divine Voice that we’re talking about. It must be some sort of trap. I really shouldn’t be cynical, though, or I’ll never get anywhere. But still…Well, I had a lot of thoughts on the matter, but I might as well check the rest.

Rolling Dragon: Rank C-. A dragon whose strength lies in its speed. So fast it can’t be seen by the average person. The speedster of the dragon world.

Speed, huh? That must have to do with Roll. Hah, right, it says right there in the name.

I did like using Roll, but not that much. Although now that I thought about it, my speed always was my greatest asset in battle. Even the Giant Orangurang abandoned all its other skills in favor of boosting its speed. So I guessed it was pretty valuable.

So yeah, I’d used Roll an awful lot to get to this point, but I wasn’t sure I wanted it to be the skill I centered my whole life around.

Artificial Dragon: Rank C-. A dragon that possesses six dexterous arms. Has a mask-like shell on its face that offers protection from attacks to its head. Its true stats are low, but unlike most dragons, it can wield weapons.

Dexterous hands…hmm. That would come in real handy when I was crafting. I knew how much weapons could help in a fight thanks to the orangurangs, and the thought of wielding a different weapon in each of my six hands sounded epic.

But I wasn’t going to lie, the thought of gaining two entire new sets of limbs was a bit unsettling. That was a bit of a deal breaker. Though I’d take it over growing a whole new head like the twinheads.

Little Arc Dragon: Rank C. A Light-type Dragon. Possesses extremely high intelligence and can skillfully use both white and light magic. Legend has it that long ago, heroes rode on Little Arc Dragons to travel.

If I remembered right, Little types were strong but didn’t have much room for growth.

But if there were legends about heroes riding them, did that mean people revered them?

That might not be too bad. And I’d love to have white magic—I’m guessing that means recovery magic, right? I’m surprised something good like a light dragon would show up as an option for a Young Plague Dragon, though. It sounds like the complete opposite.

Was it because I leveled up Itty-Bitty Hero?

Jormungand: Rank C+. Also known as the Poison Serpentine Dragon. Resembles a thick snake with scales covered in deadly poison. Its combat ability is low, but it is said that any foe it faces will die of poison. The poison it excretes can form an independent monster that the Jormungand can control. Any patch of ground touched by this monster turns barren.

Wow, that sucked. Another bad draw. A chaser to the Young Plague Dragon, obviously. The Jormungand sounded way worse, the very epitome of evil.

So Artificial Dragon is out, and Jormungand isn’t even in the running. I don’t wanna be some poison-bomb dragon, or a snake for that matter. What’s so C+ about it, anyway? Who the heck would choose this?

So I’m considering the Rolling Dragon or the Little Arc Dragon. That last one sounds best, except for the fact that its growth stops there. And then there’s the temptation of human form and the Dark Drago-human… It was difficult to imagine evolving as a human, but maybe once I did it, the Dark Drago-human would be the final form?

Would the black lizard still like me if I became a human? If I lived in the human village, visiting the lizard would be complicated. It might just leave me altogether.

I was so deep in thought I almost walked right into the cave wall. Whoa, that was close. Hang on, I can’t see Myria. Where is she?

“είναι υπό…”

Her voice came from just below me. Myria lay on her side by my feet. She hadn’t moved after crashing into the wall.

Whoa! Good thing I didn’t step on her. I picked her up and took her out into the light. I needed to figure her stuff out before I thought about anything else.

Evolution options required some very careful thought, after all. Besides, I wanted to evolve in front of the black lizard to make sure it recognized me after I changed. Though, I figured anything could happen between then and now. I knew I might have to make a snap decision if there was risk of another villager spotting me.

 

Part 5

 

I SET MYRIA DOWN outside the cave. I wanted her to teach me more Grecian.

I remembered hearing somewhere that non-verbal communication was surprisingly important, so I’d try my best to use body language, gestures, facial expressions, and tone. I already had Grecian Language Lv 1. If Myria could teach me simple terms, I could learn more. If raised my Grecian Language skill, I might be able to talk to other humans more easily in the future. I wanted to use this opportunity to learn as much as I could.

“Αυτό είναι το δέντρο…” Myria pointed to a tree and spoke. I hung on her every word. This continued for about thirty minutes, and with every object she pointed to, I felt like I was grasping more and more. This definitely wasn’t a waste of time.

I was grateful to Myria for not getting sick of teaching me.

“Αυτή είναι η πέτρα…” She pointed to a rock. Hm, I feel like I’m really getting the hang of this.

Special Skill “Grecian Language” Lv 1 has become Lv 2.

There it is! Finally!

If she spoke very slowly, I was able to piece things together.

“Um…and then **** so I ****…” I was still missing some of the words, but I got the gist. And I’d start understanding more and more the longer we talked.

“Raar!” Problem was, I still couldn’t talk.

“**** understand what I’m saying?” Myria looked at me with surprise. I felt a rush of triumph. That’s why you shouldn’t underestimate a dragon!

Well, now that I understood the basics of what she was saying, I could ask her what was wrong.

She didn’t seem to be in a rush or particularly upset, making it seem less likely that she got separated from someone when the monsters chased her. She must have come into the forest on her own, and I couldn’t imagine her doing that without a very good reason.

“Raaar?” I looked at Myria and tilted my head to the side.

She blinked. “Umm…” She paused briefly. “You want to **** why I **** the forest?”

I nodded.

“…I’m looking for someone. I made sure **** wasn’t watching and **** out alone to come here. Um, you haven’t seen any other people out here, by any chance?” Reluctance clung to her words.

She’s looking for someone? Maybe those two girls who showed up to my cave the other day? I thought about the swordswoman and the dog-girl and mimicked dog ears on top of my head.

“Those people came to the village ****! They’re back there now. They said they had to come home because **** and ****. But I’m not looking for them… I’m looking for the **** named Doz, the man I was with last time.”

Doz? I swear I saw that name somewhere… Oh, that’s right! That was the kinda mean-looking dude I saw with Myria when I first met her. I saw his name on his status. I thought the Little Rock Dragon killed him, though?

I didn’t see him die, but his leg was trapped under a tree and he couldn’t move. He couldn’t have gotten out of that situation easily. Even if the Little Rock Dragon had left him alive, with that injury he would have been easy pickings for other monsters.

“Raar.” At least this meant that Myria wasn’t in a real crunch for time. I could bring her back to the village. I only knew a little bit about the situation, but the chances of her finding Doz were incredibly slim. The fact that none of the other villagers were out looking for him just supported my theory.

To be blunt, there was nothing Myria could even do for him with her stats. She just wasn’t safe alone in the forest.

After I took her home, I could search for Doz. Maybe I’d find his body by the site of the Little Rock Dragon fight. It might upset her, but at least then she wouldn’t have to come back into the forest.

Maybe if the black lizard, the orangurangs, and I all worked together, we could defeat the Little Rock Dragon. I didn’t have the recovery magic to go up against a huge attack like Tremor, though.

I couldn’t take Myria with me as my White Mage, so I considered just evolving into a Little Arc Dragon after all.

Oh crap, the black lizard! I abandoned it, injured, in the forest!

I’d been sitting around leveling up my Grecian Language skill this whole time. I needed to take Myria home and go help the black lizard. How could I have forgotten about it? Did I feel guilty, or was I just so excited for the chance to connect to a human again?

Agonizing over it wouldn’t help, though. Right now Myria needed to get home so I could hurry back to my friend. Then I could take the time to solve the problems in front of me and really consider things. I leaned over to let Myria climb on my back.

“U-um, Mr. Dragon? Do you have a name?”

“Raar?” I made a silly noise in response. I couldn’t tell her my name even if I had one I remembered. I shook my head to indicate no.

“O-oh. Well, what should I call you?”

I’d never even thought about it.

Chapter 5:
Little Rock Dragon

 

“HAAH, HAAH…” Myria’s breath was ragged, and she clutched her shoulder. The bloody flesh I glimpsed from between her fingers looked bad. I checked her status. Not only did it say Bleeding, she didn’t have much HP left. But she should have the MP to cast her recovery magic.

“White Magic, Rest.” A warm ball of light floated up and wrapped around my neck. The pain from Nutcracker immediately abated.

“R-raar?!”

Myria was clearly much worse off than I was. “Your neck…looked like it hurt a lot,” she choked out through teeth gritted in pain, smiling slightly. “Let’s go back to the village. I’m fine.”

Clearly, she wasn’t. Blood flowed from between her fingers. The forest contained all sorts of plants that could stop the bleeding—I could find them quickly, but I doubted I had any time at all.

I glanced behind me and saw the Little Rock Dragon.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!”

I checked its status and realized something terrible. Its status condition was Fury, which I had been expecting—that wasn’t the surprise. But its level was much higher than the last time I faced it. Even if it wasn’t the same one, it was much stronger than the Little Rock Dragon I had seen before.

With a good battle strategy, I’d thought I could put the odds in my favor despite our difference in status, but that was before I saw those stats. It didn’t matter what kind of clever tactics I came up with; this dragon could trample me with pure power alone.

“Illusia!” I heard Myria calling my name and snapped back to reality. I leaned over so she could climb onto my back, and we took off for the town.

On the outskirts, we found five villagers on the ground. Two of them held broken bows, and the other two had farming tools. The fifth’s spear was planted in the ground and he was leaning on it, struggling to pull himself to his feet.

One of the five were already dead—the youngest of them, a child clutching a spade. I checked his status and confirmed it: his HP was 0/12. I regretted it immediately and looked away.

“Why?! How did this happen…” The villager finally managed to stand. A mahawolf was watching him with its third eye, licking its chops hungrily. It must have been the one Doz was riding. He’d just left it here on the way into town.

“Raaaaaar!”

I let out a Bellow from behind the mahawolf to draw its attention to me instead of the villagers. They noticed me, too. The man with the spear’s eyes widened, and he dropped his weapon from nerveless fingers. He crumpled to his knees beside his weapon.

“Y-you’ve g-gotta be kidding me! Wh-why is there a dragon here now?!” He grabbed at his head, letting out a howl that turned into sobs.

Myria was still on my back, but it seemed he hadn’t spotted her yet. I wasn’t entirely surprised by the reaction, but it did hurt.

I lunged at the mahawolf, knocking it upside the head with my tail, and mercilessly finished it off. I got that same message about how I couldn’t receive any more experience because I was at MAX level.

“Everyone, please calm down! This dragon has come to save our town!” Myria hopped off my back and gently rested a hand on the crying man’s shoulder. She then ran over to the child with the awful injuries.

“Annis! Are you all right? Hey!” Annis was the child with 0/12 HP. I’d learned his name when I checked his status. I bit my lip, feeling awful.

“Annis! Annis!”

“Raar!” I gave a little roar, indicating that we should move on. We needed to stop Doz. If the Little Rock Dragon got to the village and wreaked havoc, who knew how many people he would kill?

“Wait! Illusia, if I don’t go with you, it’ll cause even more panic.”

The thickly bearded villager with the spear had stopped crying. “I’ll go with the dragon, Myria. You take Annis and run! The village is too dangerous right now!”

“But—!”

“Hurry up and go! I’m trained for these kinds of situations!” The villager turned towards me. I could sense his suspicion—I doubted he could ever completely trust a dragon. “Your name is Illusia? We’re counting on you, Illusia.” Very hesitantly, he reached his hand out towards me. I raised my arm to show him my claws, then shook my head. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to shake his hand.

He pulled back, looking slightly embarrassed. But that did seem to break the tension a bit.

“Raar.” I roared gently and bowed my head, leaning over.

“You mean I can get on your back?”

“Raar!”

The man climbed on and I took off toward the middle of town. I checked his status and saw his name was Gregory. His leg was injured and he was Bleeding, but he had enough HP to be up and walking around. Under his thick beard he looked to be in his early- to mid-twenties.

“I never expected to see a Dark Dragon side with humans,” he muttered softly. I guessed he meant I was a Dark-type Dragon. I did have Dark Resistance as a special skill.

“Raar.” I answered with a short roar.

I thought I heard Gregory laugh.

“Eek! A dragon!”

“Is that Gregory riding it?!”

Some villagers tending crops cried out as we cut across the field.

“Sorry, Illusia, but can you stop for a moment?” Gregory asked, and I obliged. “Hey! Did you see any monsters or Doz coming through here?”

“Monsters?! This village is under the gods’ protection, so only stupid, lost monsters would show up here, and even that doesn’t happen very often.”

“Did you see Doz? He might be leading them in here!”

“Yeah, I saw him!” the villager responded. “Just a little while ago. I called out to him, but he ran past me! He went towards the watchtower! Wh-what’s going on?”

“You guys should get out of here,” said Gregory. “Go seek shelter on the west side of town. It should still be safe there. Illusia, let’s go!”

“Raar!”

We didn’t have time to explain. Doz might be rampaging through town with his sword for all we knew. I looked for the tall watchtower and ran for it as fast as I could.

 

Part 2

 

THE WATCHTOWER STOOD in the center of the village. Buildings lined the road leading up to it, and I could see a public well. Unlike in the fields, here there were signs of trouble—screams and shouts, complete pandemonium. Several villagers lay bleeding in front of the watchtower. Doz stood in the midst of all this, that weird ball of earth at his feet—the Little Rock Dragon’s egg.

Doz’s sword was unsheathed. He’d apparently worked out how to remove it from the rusty scabbard. He must’ve cut down the humans who’d fallen.

Well, more likely he stabbed them. The blade was so dull I doubted it could cut much of anything.

“Put down your weapon! What in the blazes has gotten into you?!” Three villagers armed with bows gathered around Doz. He languidly shifted his grip on his sword, paused for a moment, and then suddenly sprang forward.

“Hee hee hee hee hee!”

“Don’t hesitate! Shoot him!” Three arrows were loosed. Doz batted them away with his blade and closed in on the villagers.

One arrow managed to pierce Doz’s shoulder, but that didn’t stop him. He didn’t even slow down. Maybe he couldn’t feel pain anymore.

He ran them down and walloped them with his sword. The action was so violent that this was the only way I could think to describe it. He knocked all three of them down before stabbing one in the back. The man let out a scream of agony as he died.

Doz had no skills, but his stats were far higher than any of the villagers’. They were powerless to stop him, even with weapons.

“Hya, hee hee hee!” He let out another crazed peal of laughter when he saw me, almost as if he’d been waiting for me.

“Raar!” I hunkered down to let Gregory climb off.

He started to say “I can take care of—” but stopped short. His leg was injured and he wasn’t at full power—he had to have known how outmatched he was. Doz’s stats were way beyond Gregory’s.

Doz must have leveled up during his time missing, and he was probably stronger than Gregory even before that. Gregory couldn’t take Doz one-on-one.

The village was in shambles. Some people were running, some watching from afar, others injured and trapped, still more carrying those injured to safety. Gregory pointed at me, explaining my presence to the people around us. That didn’t eradicate their fear, but it did lessen it a bit.

Doz had left the Little Rock Dragon’s egg at the foot of the watchtower. I thought I could get it without fighting him, but if I didn’t do something fast, the bodies would keep piling up. I had to stop Doz’s rampage.

“Hee hee, hya ha ha!” He brandished his sword high as I came closer, and I took the blow to my head. “Hee hee hee…haa?” His warped grin faded as his sword bounced off my scales. That rusty thing had no chance.

The recoil only surprised Doz for a moment before he came charging at me again.

“Gaa gah haa!” I hit him, hearing his joints creak as he fell backwards, head striking the watchtower.

 

HP: 9/68

 

Crap. I’d nearly knocked him unconscious, but he still hadn’t let go of his sword. His body was hanging on by a thread. He stood up jerkily, like a broken marionette forced up by the puppeteer pulling on its strings.

Doz’s mouth flapped, but no words came out. He staggered, his legs not working right. He lifted his sword a bit, but his upper body crumpled. The blade sank into the ground. He grabbed at an injured child and clung on to him, rolling across the ground.

“N-no! H-help me! Help!”

“Hya hya, hya ha hah!” How could he move like that when he was nearly dead? Were his pain receptors just broken? Doz pressed his blade to the child’s stomach, slowly sinking it into his flesh. The child’s screams echoed.

I started forward, but he tightened his grip on the bleeding boy’s side. His screams grew hoarse and thin.

“Hee hee, hee hee hee!”

Doz had a hostage now. And if this stalemate continued, the Little Rock Dragon would descend. I looked toward the egg, and Doz’s eyes flashed. He knew what I was trying to do, and he was forcing me to choose between going for Doz or stealing the egg. Either this child would die or the Little Rock Dragon would run roughshod through the village.

Doz abandoned his sword and yanked the child up to his feet, then grabbed the egg. He was now unarmed, but it still wasn’t safe to act—it would only take him a few seconds to strangle the boy with his arm hooked around his neck like that. He began climbing up the watchtower’s ladder one-handed. The child couldn’t scream anymore with the pressure on his neck, but his face was draining of color, tongue lolling horrifically.

The other villagers screamed at the sight.

“Raaaaaar!” I roared and ran for the tower, grabbing the bottom of the ladder and yanking it sharply. It was a simple ladder, made of rope with wooden planks as footholds. Easy to fall from.

A dangerous bet, but better than doing nothing.

Suddenly the child tumbled down. I let go of the ladder and caught him, and Doz took that opportunity to scramble to the top. That jerk had honestly planned to throw this kid off the tower!

The child was seriously wounded but still alive, with enough HP to make it through this. Doz didn’t have a hostage or an escape route. I was ending this now.

“Hee hee hee…hya hah hah hah!” His shrill laughter filled the air. He was looking towards the fields, and a moment later I knew why.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaar!”

I was out of time. The Little Rock Dragon was here. Doz must have climbed the tower to show the dragon that he had its egg. Doz wasn’t in a clear state of mind, but his actions weren’t random, either. They had a very clear purpose.

But all wasn’t lost yet. I could still lead the Little Rock Dragon far away from the village as long as I could get my hands on that egg.

“Hya ha ha hah!” Doz lifted the egg up high with both hands, taunting the dragon. He staggered back a few steps. I thought he was resting his back on the fence of the watchtower, but then he turned and just dove right off.

Doz’s body plunged to the ground. He threw himself off on purpose! I quickly put the child down and started running, making eye contact with him as he fell. That deranged smile was still on his face, and not a single drop of fear. But now that I finally got a look at him from up close, it confirmed my suspicions. That smile wasn’t human.

I frantically reached out, but it was no use. Doz’s head and the Little Rock Dragon’s egg slammed into the ground right in front of me with a tremendous crash. Doz’s brains mixed with the contents of the egg, an embryo that hadn’t even been fully formed.

Once again, the dragon’s roars shook the surroundings. It was furious, all control gone.

 

Part 3

 

THE VILLAGERS, realizing what the Little Rock Dragon’s arrival meant, began to flee, but there were still so many left behind. Some had remained to fight off the dragon, and others stayed to care for the wounded or try to get their families to safety. If the Little Rock Dragon attacked here, there would be carnage. It had the Tremor skill, an attack with a huge range that split the earth and destabilized everything around it. A normal villager wouldn’t be able to withstand that.

I checked the Little Rock Dragon’s status again while I tried to figure out what to do.

 

Species: Little Rock Dragon

Status: Fury (Major)

Lv: 24/55

HP: 262/262

MP: 93/117

Attack: 183

Defense: 248

Magic: 107

Agility: 54

Rank: C

Special Skills:

Dragon Scale: Lv 4

Breath Boost: Lv 2

Automatic HP Recovery: Lv 2

Earth Type: Lv —

Resistance Skills:

Fire Resistance: Lv 5

Physical Resistance: Lv 3

Magic Resistance: Lv 4

Normal Skills:

Sand Breath: Lv 4

Bite: Lv 4

Stone Claws: Lv 4

Regenerate: Lv 3

Tremor: Lv 4

Stone Breath: Lv 6

Clay: Lv1

Dragon Tail: Lv 2

Title Skills:

Final Evolution: Lv —

 

Just as I thought—way more powerful than last time. Its stats were so outrageous it made the twinheads look cute in comparison. Its defense had increased, and its attack power was scary.

Its lowest stat was agility, but that wouldn’t help us much. It was slower than a mahawolf but much faster than the average villager could run.

Besides, it had that long-range attack to make up for the low agility. It wasn’t like I could just scamper up, punch it, and then run away. I had the villagers here to think about. Any extended fight would put them in unnecessary danger.

This was the worst situation possible. I should’ve killed Doz when I first saw him. I had another chance a few minutes ago, too. With a little more force, I could’ve knocked him off that ladder and stolen the egg back. Did I let my desire to be accepted by the villagers get in the way? Was that why I saved the child and let Doz go?

“Raaaaar!” I screamed, venting my frustration and confusion. The Little Rock Dragon glared at me. Then it spotted the remains of its egg.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaar!”

It lifted its leg high and stomped on the ground, not just once, but again and again and again. This was the skill I feared the most, the one I least wanted him to use in the village…Tremor. The earth split and sucked several unwitting villagers into the chasm, accompanied by shrieks and screams. Screams from people whose legs had gotten crushed and couldn’t move, begging for help. From people paralyzed with shock when they saw their friends die in front of them.

A child attempting to treat his grandfather’s injuries fled in tears. The elderly man reached out towards his grandchild and died with his arm outstretched.

I pushed off the ground, spread my wings, and flew towards the Little Rock Dragon, who was at least twice my size. It swung its tail towards me, and I beat my wings and dropped, evading the attack. I felt a draft from the tail as it passed by my right side. I sped up, slashing a huge line across its body with Paralyzing Venom Claws…or at least that was what I tried to do.

Instead, my claws bounced off the surface of its body. I was shocked but kept gliding to maneuver behind the dragon. I checked its HP. I barely did any damage at all, and Automatic HP Recovery would heal it easily.

My mind raced. What skills did I have? Roll and Dragon Punch weren’t strong enough.

Venom Fangs?

Nah, I doubted my teeth would penetrate its scales, and even if I managed to poison it, my venom was too weak to make a dent in its HP recovery skill.

I could use its size against it with Nutcracker, but the problem was picking it up and getting it into the air in the first place.

I had nothing. I had absolutely nothing to attack the Little Rock Dragon with.

I hovered behind it. I need to test my skills to see what might work, but what should I start with?

I froze up, and in that moment, the Little Rock Dragon lifted its foot and stomped on the ground. Once again, the earth split open. I felt the shockwave despite not touching the ground—it shoved me higher into the air. I quickly curled into a ball and managed to avoid careening into a building. Thank God I was so good at using Roll.

By the time I stretched myself back out, I saw a huge, rocky mass coming straight at me.

The Little Rock Dragon’s tail.

The stony whip hit me hard.

“Raaargh!”

My mind went completely blank the second I felt the impact. Blood spurted from my mouth. I watched it splatter.

That 183 attack score wasn’t just for show. Between that and its defense, it was the toughest thing I’d ever faced. I’d crossed many dangerous bridges before, but this was the first time I’d ever really had my feet held to the flames.

I bit my tongue with the tip of my fangs to stop myself from losing consciousness. I looked up and saw the dragon; it looked even bigger from this angle.

I was stuck, struggling to get to my feet, with an intense, sharp pain in my stomach. Wow, I’d taken a lot of damage. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and now I felt my injuries all at once, all through my body. It lifted its tail again and swung it down, taking advantage of my incapacitation.

The pain distracted me, and I was too late to evade its tail.

But just as I thought I was done for, the Little Rock Dragon stopped. It tipped its head to the side and then looked away.

“Don’t run away! Help the Dark Dragon!”

“This is our village!”

“It might be useless, but shoot! Shoot as much as you can! He must have a vulnerable spot somewhere!”

Armed villagers charged towards the Little Rock Dragon, with Gregory in the lead.

 

Part 4

 

THE VILLAGERS LINED UP in a row with their bows at the ready, firing a volley that the Little Rock Dragon easily batted away. It turned towards the villagers and lifted its tail. Gregory sprang into action.

“Take this!” He swung his spear up with great force and stabbed at the dragon. It batted that attack away, too. Its eyes flashed with annoyance, attention now fully off me. I was sure that from its point of view, I was just another minor annoyance it could easily crush.

And that didn’t bother me at all. In fact, I liked it.

“Raaar!” I pushed through the pain and let out the most intimidating roar I could. I kicked the Little Rock Dragon and pushed off it with one foot. It took a beat to look up at me, so I used that split second to kick it in the head as hard as I could.

“Uraaaaaaah!”

Wow, that actually did something! The dragon thrashed its head violently from side to side. Compared to its giant, rocky body, its neck was surprisingly slender. Hm. Was its neck its weak spot? Maybe if I punched that heavy head hard enough I could snap it?

Title Skill “Klutz” Lv 1 has become Lv 2.

Title Skill “Itty-Bitty Hero” Lv 3 has become Lv 4.

Not bad, but this really wasn’t the time. Don’t interrupt me in the middle of a battle, Divine Voice. I spun in midair and got into position, then made a clean landing onto the Little Rock Dragon’s face, making eye contact as I did.

“Graah… Aaaaaaah!” The dragon groaned and then let out a loud scream as an arrow pierced its eye.

“Its eyes! Aim for its eyes! Illusia—the small dragon—and I will distract it while you shoot its eyes!”

“All right!”

“Got it!”

Chapter 6:
Forte Slime

 

Part 1

 

I PUT THE BLACK LIZARD on my back, and we made our way toward the cave. I was still worried about the Dragon Scale Powder. If I saw any sign of it harming my friends, I’d leave and go live by myself. Or would it already be too late?

Maybe I’d use Divine Voice Lv 4’s simulation power once I saw the orangurangs, just to be sure… The thought of using the Scale Powder made me feel sick, but I needed more information.

We reached the edge of the cliff, and I was just about to spread my wings when I suddenly sensed something terrible. It must’ve been from that new skill, Psychic Sense Lv 2. I looked behind me and saw a puddle-like thing crawling across the ground. I remembered it; I’d seen it near my cave a while back. It was some kind of slime that my View Status skill wouldn’t work on.

It had some skill that blocked other monsters from checking up on it. I mean, I hadn’t even noticed it until Psychic Sense picked it up. I could have crossed its path a bunch of times before without even realizing it. This couldn’t be a coincidence.

The only times I hadn’t been able to view someone’s status was when I couldn’t see Doz’s and the mahawolves’ conditions, and with this slime.

And the slime was headed straight for the village.

Was this the monster controlling Doz and the mahawolves? The only evidence I had to support my theory was the shared hidden statuses and the fact that it was headed towards town.

That, and the incredibly terrible aura I felt emanating from it.

“Kssh?” The black lizard made a questioning noise, wondering why I’d suddenly stopped.

All right, let’s try to check the status again. My View Status skill is at Lv 5 now, so I might be able to see more details than before. And even if that doesn’t work, I still might figure something out.

Let’s see what you are.

Normal Skill “View Status” Lv 5 is unable to provide that information.

 

ϔ#Ǣ: Forte Slime

&MΔЀ(: N*

Ƹ^: 27/35

zӘ: 148/148

ӤᾸ: 67/67

Á£j°Ĉ: 88

ʘf$\Ǝ: 77

Ξp)Ϟ%: 75

@£iĈΔu: 68

ΦG˂ꓭ6¢: D

*****:

**Mage: Lv —

*****:

Slime B**: Lv —

St***th: Lv —

Poison Belt: Lv —

**** Sense: Lv —

Gr***an Lang****: Lv —

Au***atic MP Recovery: Lv —

Su*******: Lv —

Mag** ***rgy ******ission: Lv —

***ic Energy Reception: Lv —

Sn***: Lv —

Swords***: Lv —

Impact Suppression: Lv —

Super Regeneration: Lv —

Recovery+: Lv —

Dark Vision: Lv —

*****:

Phys*****tance: Lv —

Da*****stance: Lv —

Con*****sistance: Lv —

*****Resistance: Lv —

Water R*****nce: Lv —

Lonel*****sistance: Lv —

*****ling Resistance: Lv —

Hung*****stance: Lv —

So*****tion Resistance: Lv —

Fir*****stance: Lv —

Ear*****tance: Lv —

D*****sistance: Lv —

***** Resistance: Lv —

***** Resistance: Lv —

***** Resistance: Lv —

Poison Resistance: Lv —

*****

Trans****: Lv —

Skill *****]: Lv —

Bi**: Lv —

Sho**wave: Lv —

***me Slash: Lv —

Intimidation: Lv —

Spider****k: Lv —

***** Tongue: Lv —

Double Poison: Lv —

Petrify: Lv —

*****: Lv —

Hellscissors: Lv —

Vi** Sta***: Lv —

Shell Re****: Lv —

I*** Tackle: Lv —

Slow: Lv —

Rest: Lv —

Life Dra*n: Lv —

Swell: Lv —

Au** Regen: Lv —

Ma** Dr***: Lv —

R*ll: Lv —

Black Fog: Lv —

Jeweled Cage: Lv —

Death Needles: Lv —

*****: Lv —

Armor Break: Lv —

*****

*****: Lv —

Calamity: Lv —

Da***** King: Lv —

****Thief: Lv —

*****Scale: Lv —

*****: Lv —

*****: Lv —

Puppet M*****: Lv —

*****: Lv —

Corpse Ea***: Lv —

 

Pain seared through my brain. It felt like I’d trespassed into some top-secret information, and this was punishment.

Its rank had changed, but I was sure it was the same thing I’d seen before. I had a hard time believing there was more than one of these things.

It had a truly outrageous number of skills, but “Mag** ***rgy ******ission” and “***ic Energy Reception” made me sure of it. This was the thing controlling the mahawolves. With Magic Energy Transmission and Magic Energy Reception, it could send instructions remotely to the mahawolves.

How in the world did a monster of a completely different species have that skill?

Not being able to check the levels of its skills was pretty unsettling. I didn’t want to confront it, but I didn’t have a choice. It was clearly headed for the village. If I hadn’t run away when I saw it that last time, maybe the whole incident with Doz wouldn’t have happened. And if I ignored it again, who knew what kind of terrible monstrosity it could become.

Gr***an Lang****: Lv

Swords***: Lv

Sho**wave: Lv

***me Slash: Lv

Intimidation: Lv

Some of those were definitely Doz’s skills when I’d seen him before. I recognized some normal mahawolf skills on that list, too. There was only one explanation—this slime could steal skills from other monsters.

A skill that stole other monsters’ skills made sense, but I had to imagine there were limits or conditions on it. That must be why the slime used mahawolves as minions, even though they weren’t very strong, and why it chose Doz to carry the egg. But why did it go to all that trouble to control the Little Rock Dragon?

Whatever the reason, the dragon was its target. That damn slime was nothing but trouble.

I lowered my head and let the black lizard clamber down. I felt bad about sending the black lizard away so soon after we’d reunited, but I had no choice.

“Kssh?”

I turned my face towards the cliff, trying to communicate that it should go home without me. It could go the long way around to get back across. This enemy was clearly strange, unlike anything I’d faced before. And I still didn’t know what it could do.

Maybe it wasn’t so strong after all, if it had to use magic to control other monsters. I had a feeling it was either incredibly strong or incredibly weak—there was no middle ground. Possibly no one had ever survived to tell of their encounter.

The black lizard didn’t seem to care about humans like I did; I couldn’t get it involved in such a dangerous fight.

“Kssh?”

It tipped its head, looking puzzled. I didn’t think it understood what was going on.

“Raar.” I made a little noise and gestured towards the slime. The black lizard turned and followed my gaze, finally spotting it. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it either if not for my Psychic Sense skill. Even now, I felt like I’d lose it if I took my eye off it for too long.

“Kssh!” The black lizard let out a cry and then hopped onto my back. It climbed all the way up to my head and opened its mouth wide, sticking out its tongue. I practically heard it saying it was ready for a fight.

“Raar…” I made a soft noise, asking if it was sure. It bared its teeth and snapped at the air, glaring at the slime.

 

Part 2

 

I LET THE BLACK LIZARD down for a moment so I could circle around and cut the slime off. I was hoping to get the first strike, then let the black lizard attack with venom from its hiding spot. And if that didn’t work, it could provide backup with Clay Gun. Typically, I would have the orangurangs take up the vanguard, but they weren’t here right now. If I couldn’t take it head-on in my new form, there was absolutely no way I’d put the black lizard in harm’s way.

I didn’t have much MP left but…I wondered if I should I go ahead and run the Divine Voice simulation.

Nah, I didn’t want to waste my remaining MP. And who knew if it would work against an enemy with hidden stats, anyway. Besides, even if I only had a slim chance of victory, I couldn’t just walk away now.

If it told me the odds were good it might change my tactics, but then I’d have less MP to attack with. I needed to go into this battle in the best possible condition. This was my second battle in a row; I didn’t have a lot to work with, and my MP was tragically low. But thanks to Automatic HP Recovery, I was about 80 percent healed.

I could still work with it. My resistance skills were beefed up even if my overall stats went down when I evolved.

The slime had a lot of worrying special skills, but if things went well, I could kill it in one hit. Its agility was low, and in a worst-case scenario I could always retreat and try a different approach. And if it was just impossibly strong, then I’d go rampaging through the village and force the villagers to flee.

The slime stopped. It appeared to have a Sense ability; it might’ve figured out I was here.

I leapt down from the tree and attacked.

“Raaaaaaaaaaar!”

Why was it headed to the village? I really wanted to know, but it wasn’t like the slime was going to tell me.

I slashed through the air, talons intent.

Its wide, humanlike mouth opened, emitting a black fog.

Was it poison? It didn’t matter. The black lizard could just cure me later. This first, experimental attack was more important.

I cut through the black fog with my talons and whacked the slime, feeling it respond to the hit. My claws stuck and punctured the soft flesh into the bodily fluids beyond.

I aimed a second punch, but my fist met the ground instead.

Huh? The fog was too thick to see where it went, but I didn’t get an experience point message, so I must not have defeated it. I took a few steps backwards out of the fog, nervous about my visibility.

The fog didn’t seem to be poison, and no condensation gathered on my scales, so it must not have actually been fog, either. It was pitch-black inside the cloud. Maybe that was all it was—magic meant to lower visibility?

Not having access to my opponent’s skills unsettled me. It had never happened before. I almost wished the cloud would poison me, at least then I’d know what I was up against. But I didn’t want to tempt fate. I retreated out of the black fog and waited for the slime to make a move.

From this distance, I could counter any trick it had up its sleeve. The fog began to clear, slowly revealing what was inside.

Two human silhouettes stood at the edge of the cloud. A moment later they were revealed as two small children, a boy and a girl, hugging each other and trembling. Their faces were similar enough that I figured they were twins.

“How… Where are we?”

“H-huh? What happened?”

I was certain they hadn’t been there a few moments ago. Absolutely suspicious, but I didn’t have time to worry. I needed to find the slime and get them away from it. It might be trying to catch me off guard and attack while I was saving the children. While I scanned the black cloud as thoroughly as I could, the boy looked at me and raised his hands up. His fingertips turned blue, stretching out. His fingers fused together, their tips sharpening.

I reacted too slowly to dodge, taking the hit on my shoulder. The limb scraped against my scales and then bounced back like a yo-yo.

I kicked off the ground, retreating. What the heck was this thing? The girl watched the boy with concern as he stared at me with listless eyes.

Their bodies continued to turn blue, and they held on to each other so tightly I couldn’t see where one ended and the other began. Finally, one of them opened their mouth wide and swallowed up the other. They briefly became a puddle, then took human form again. This time they had a single androgynous body, with hair down to their shoulders. They were naked, but even though their body was the size of an adult’s, it was like a mannequin. No sex characteristics at all.

Their lower body sank into the puddle even as their upper body tried to crawl out. This time the skin was a semitransparent blue. So not only could this creature transform, it could also change colors, take human form, and become a pair of twins that could converse.

That reminded me…it had the Grecian Language skill, probably stolen from Doz. So it could even mimic voices? That would be useful. All I could do was roar.

It opened its new mouth and spoke. “Your skills have changed so much since you evolved. Annoying.”

All right, this thing is much smarter than I thought it was. It remembers me. Or did the mahawolves send it info using the Magic Energy Transmission?

So…was it saying it had been using its skills to hide and keep an eye on me? I caught a glimpse of what might have been eyeballs inside its semitransparent body, floating through the gelatinous flesh.

“I see a black lizard in the trees, too.” Well, it had a Psychic Sense ability; the black lizard hiding was pretty pointless. Apparently realizing it had been found out, it shot Clay Gun from its hiding place in the trees, sending a steady stream of clay bullets at the slime.

The slime’s body writhed a bit but didn’t make any real move to dodge. Instead, it flowed like water, coolly avoiding most of them. A few hit, though, and passed right through.

Its HP didn’t change at all. Still at max, 148/148. That made sense, since the bullets slid through, but it also meant my claws had no effect, either. But I’d felt a response when I touched it. Did it already heal?

It had a bunch of recovery skills: Automatic HP Recovery, Super Regeneration, Recovery+, Auto-Regen, and Life Drain.

So here I was in my old pattern again. One hit wouldn’t be enough.

“This is quite…inconvenient for me,” the slime said. “I only like fights when I know I can win.” Its googly eyes bulged as it glared daggers at me and the black lizard in turn.

 

Part 3

 

“YOU CAN UNDERSTAND ME, can’t you? If you just let me pass peacefully, I do not intend to do you harm.” The slime sounded annoyed, like I was making it late for something. “You can see inside me, so I’m sure you understand what I want. All I wish is to go and safely collect the skills from the Rock Dragon and the dead villagers.”

That lent more weight to my theory that the slime had been what drew the Little Rock Dragon into town. I wouldn’t even be surprised if it had sicced the mahawolves on Myria to lure me as well.

I hadn’t found Myria quickly after I’d first heard her screams. It was a miracle that she was still safe when I finally reached her. The slime must have been holding the wolves back.

Attacking a village with so many skills would be simple, but the slime seemed hesitant to let humans see it.

“It won’t benefit either of us if you attack me unprepared. Just let me go.”

It had a point. I had no advantages. But come on, “Hey, I’m gonna head over to the village so I can mess with a bunch of dead bodies,” really wasn’t gonna fly with me.

There was no guarantee it wouldn’t harm the townsfolk. And besides, I owed it payback for sending a Little Rock Dragon to a populous village in the first place. I’d promised Gregory I would protect the town. I wasn’t breaking that promise.

“Raaaaaaaar!” I roared loudly to indicate my rejection of the slime’s truce. It started to open its mouth, but I let out a stream of my upgraded Baby’s Breath attack, Scorching Breath.

Flames surrounded the slime’s body. It could shape-shift to avoid taking damage, but it seemed unable to effectively deal with attacks with a wide area of effect.

Since the slime had Resistance Skills and Recovery Skills, this wouldn’t be enough to deliver a finishing blow, but it would make it pause. I chased after the trail of my flames, jumping at it and digging my claws deep into its body, carrying it with me as I flew. I used Paralyzing Venom Claws, my talons buried so deep that it should be immobile for a bit even with resistance. I flew towards the cliff, still holding on to the slime.

Surely it couldn’t survive being thrown into the chasm from this height, could it? And even if it did, the swift current of the river would wash it far away.

I flew to the top of the cliff and quickly spun into Roll. This wouldn’t work if I couldn’t get the darn thing unstuck from my hands to throw it. I was used to the momentum, but anything else would be disconcerted, to say the least. As I spun, I held the slime high above my head, waiting for the right moment to hurl it down into the chasm.

The force of it threw me off balance, but I spread my wings and braced myself.

Normal Skill “Meteorite” Lv 1 has become Lv 2.

The slime plummeted straight down like it was being sucked into the chasm. I glided sideways, changing directions to land on the edge of the cliff.

“Kssh!” The black lizard ran over, letting out a sigh of relief as it saw me. It continued to look warily around the cliff edge. I wanted to tell it not to worry—I took care of the slime—but for some reason I hadn’t gotten the experience notification. And I doubted it was just the Divine Voice holding out on me.

Could the slime really survive a fall from that distance? Maybe I’d have to rely on the black lizard’s special venom after all. Even if it was still alive, it couldn’t get back up here. I’d thrown it into the river, taking care not to let it get caught on the edge of the cliff or anything. That was far enough away from the rock wall that I shouldn’t have to worry. There was no way it could slither back up here…

A noise coming from the side of the cliff had me and the black lizard both reacting at the same time, our bodies jolting with alarm. I took a step backwards, then froze. Something sprang up and landed in front of me—a Giant Taranturouge. And unlike the one I faced before, this one was pure black.

“Kssh…” The black lizard let out a little noise of relief that it wasn’t the slime. I felt better, too, but it only lasted a second.

 

ϔ#Ǣ: Forte Slime

&MΔЀ(: N*

Ƹ^: 27/35

zӘ: 148/148

ӤᾸ: 67/67

 

It wasn’t a taranturouge at all! It was the slime! I smashed it down to the bottom of a cliff and it got back up here literally right away! The black lizard looked at me, sensed something was off, and quickly began shooting clay bullets at the camouflaged slime.

It made a weird noise with its mouth, and I realized it was shooting spiderweb nets to parry the clay bullets.

One of them passed through the web and struck the slime’s front leg, knocking it clean off. But instead of bleeding, the leg hit the ground and turned into a blue, sticky liquid. A new front leg appeared in its place.

I remembered then that it had some skills that involved webs and silk. It probably shot a thread of spider silk towards the cliff as it fell and launched itself back up here. At this point, anything was possible.

Abruptly, the color of the spider’s body began to fade from black, to blue, to semitransparent. Its upper body slowly took human form—that androgynous form from before, stuck onto a spider’s body. It reminded me of the myth about Arachne.

“How irritating. I can’t stand it when someone interferes with my carefully laid plans.” The slime stretched out one of its arms, fingers fusing together, its arm growing wider and thicker.

Its arms now resembled pointy blades, like a praying mantis. Its lower body was a spider, its upper body was human, and it had two praying mantis arms, and yet the whole of it was a slime. Stop mixing up body parts, you freak!

Interlude:
The Half-Elf’s Doubts

 

Marielle

 

“REST!” I screamed. A ball of light shot out from my staff and enveloped the blood-stained villager. The gaping wound in her stomach closed, and color returned to her face. Her breathing would be normal soon.

That was the last villager with life-threatening injuries. My vision warped, and my hands trembled. The bottle I held slipped and shattered on the ground, the last drops of green liquid that remained splashing out.

Mana potion. It instantly recovered your magic power, but the side effects were dire. Drink two bottles in a day and you’d suffer the worst death imaginable.

“Marielle, please let me use that medicine! There’s some more back at the house, isn’t there?”

I rose to my feet as my apprentice, Myria, ran over. She was the only person in the whole village besides me who could use white magic.

Mana potions were extremely useful since we didn’t have any other practitioners, but I couldn’t let a regular human, much less barely-out-of-childhood Myria, drink such a thing.

Not only would it stunt her growth, it might even shorten her life span.

“No one else has life-threatening injuries. It’ll stunt your growth if you drink it.”

“But you’re also—” She realized what she was saying and her eyes widened.

This was one of the things I loved about her, but if I allowed it too often she would forget who was the master and who was the apprentice. I would lose face as the town elder, too. I didn’t mind being teased, but I needed to be serious in my leadership role for the village. Now more than ever.

They needed a strong leader to rebuild the ravaged town, and there were plenty of better-suited candidates than me. I had one in particular in mind, but rumor had it they were planning to take their children and leave town. Under normal circumstances I would try to stop them, but with things the way they were, I truly didn’t have the right. I couldn’t push the responsibility on someone else at this point.

“Don’t treat me like a child,” I snapped. “That medicine is expensive. If you still insist on sating your curiosity after I’m done saving villagers’ lives, then you can pay me 200,000G!” To tell the truth, though the potions from town were fairly expensive, I made my own out of cheap ingredients I bought myself and rare herbs from the forest. This potion probably wasn’t worth more than 1000G altogether.

“I-I promise I’ll pay you back…f-from my future salary. Pomera seems like she’s in so much pain…”

I covered my mouth with my hand to hide a smile. She was such a sweet girl.

“I can still use it at least one more time,” I said. “I’ll see to Pomera. Why don’t you distribute medicine and bandages to all the houses?”

“Okay! Thank you so much!” Myria bowed her head and ran off.

All right. I promised her, so I figured I should go get my potions. Two bottles in one day would kill me, but another half a bottle shouldn’t pose a problem. My life span was already ridiculously long, so what was shaving a few years off? I wouldn’t regret it. I’d buried so many people precious to me, and the numbers just kept growing. Even Myria would die before me.

Something nagged at me, but it could wait. The Mana Potion had me feeling terrible, so any work I did was a race against time.

I couldn’t leave my biggest task to anyone else, though. I had to go after that Dark Dragon. I had a hunch—a potentially dangerous one.

My true reasons for wanting to go after the dragon were selfish ones. I’d only seen a Plague Dragon long ago, and even then only in a drawing.

I returned home to gulp down some more Mana Potion and then cast white magic on Pomera. After making sure she was recovering properly, I caught up with Myria, who was panicking as she tried to care for several people at once. I relayed some simple instructions, told her I was planning to rest back at home for a while and asked her to take care of things in my absence. Then I slipped out of town.

I cast stealth magic on myself and ran through the forest.

Myria was holding herself together well, despite being nearly killed by that dragon. Clearly she knew to be strong and keep it together for the townsfolk. But I was sure, deep down, she was very upset.

If I looked at the big picture, the truth was that the Plague Dragon showing up was a blessing. It defeated the Little Rock Dragon and left the town intact. If it hadn’t shown up, we would’ve had ten times the casualties.

But that didn’t change the fact that the dragon had killed one of the villagers. Which meant, unavoidably, that Myria would be held liable for bringing the dragon to the village in the first place. I hated to push this off on the dead, but the only way I could see out of this was to swear a few people to secrecy and then tell everyone else that it was Gregory who brought the dragon in.

I suspected it would prove difficult to get Myria to agree, but it was the absolute best course, all things considered. There was just something I had to make sure of first.

Considering the scope of the situation, the number of casualties was incredibly low. One villager was mauled by the mahawolves, one murdered by Doz, and three crushed by the Rock Dragon. And then there was Gregory, who’d been decapitated by the Dark Dragon.

Of course, it was still nothing to celebrate, but the death toll only reaching half a dozen was nothing short of a miracle. I checked Gregory’s body afterwards to be sure. It had signs of crush damage from being pulled into the chasm caused by the Little Rock Dragon’s Tremor attack. Honestly, I had my doubts that he was even still alive by the time the Dark Dragon beheaded him. I went around and questioned survivors, and not one person could tell me they’d seen the Dark Dragon attack Gregory.

Plague Dragons were known for leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake, and yet it had left almost no casualties. I could say the same for when it attacked Myria. It was close enough to kill her with one swipe. It didn’t.

It was also strange that it withdrew from a battle against someone with my level of magic. I did attack with the type of magic it was weakest to, but I only hit the back of its hand.

Maybe it was all nothing more than a coincidence. I’d lived a long time, and I’d seen unrelated events line up to point to a pattern that wasn’t actually there.

But it still nagged at me. I was worried that perhaps we had abused and thrown rocks at the hero who had protected our town.

“Ughh!” Suddenly, a wave of nausea came over me. I paused and pressed my hands to a tree trunk. I must’ve drunk too much Mana Potion after all. I leaned against the tree, deciding to rest until the pain in my head retreated.

The Dark Dragon would be deep into the forest by now. And the farther one went into that forest, the more dangerous it became. My stealth magic wouldn’t be much use after a while.

Maybe I should just come back later. I talked myself into accepting my own excuses and was just about to head back when I heard a loud racket from nearby. It sounded like two giant monsters fighting.

If I got caught up in that, there was no way I’d make it out alive. I took a few steps back towards the village, then paused. There weren’t that many giant monsters in the forest. I turned back around, wondering if one of them could be the Dark Dragon. Then I looked up.

The Dark Dragon flew high into the air. It was holding a shapeshifting monster, a slime.

The dragon looked at me and then quickly averted its gaze. Its expression seemed sad. At least, that was what it looked like to me.

Then it dove straight down into the chasm.

I stood frozen for a few seconds. Then I snapped back to reality and ran to the edge of the cliff, looking down into the abyss.

The Dark Dragon was gone. It must have been caught by the river’s current.

I turned to see a large lizard gazing down at the bottom of the chasm. We made eye contact briefly, but it didn’t seem interested in me. It just continued to stare down at the river.

Interlude:
Home Alone with the Orangurangs

 

Orangurang

 

THE SUN HAD RISEN and set five times since Boss left. I’d gotten better at making pottery, just like he taught me. It was hard to make a fire without Boss, though. I caught a fire-breathing frog and made it do it for me. But I wasn’t used to making fires, so I burned my fur a lot.

I tried making weapons and armor like I’d seen humans holding a long time ago. They were heavy, so the others didn’t like them even though they were hard and strong.

I decided I’d be the only one to use them for hunting, then. But the armor made it hard to move well, and one of the others kicked me. It didn’t hurt since I had armor on. He grabbed his leg and cried. Armor is great. Everyone should wear it.

When I wasn’t hunting or sculpting, I went searching for Boss. The four of us searched near the cave, but we didn’t find any clues.

Even the girl who was so fond of our boss wouldn’t help with the search. I was sure she must know something, but she didn’t tell us and just lay in the corner of the cave all day long. Sometimes she would put her head in the poison pot and then her legs would flail. I laughed at her once, and she almost bit me.

I looked up at the sky. The red sun was sinking, and I might as well go back home. I had come up empty again today. My shoulders drooped as I walked back to the front of the cave.

The other three were already there. They all looked sad.

“Ah-ooh?”

“Ah-ooh.”

“Ahh.”

“Ah-oh, ah-oh.”

I asked the three of them how the day went, and they all shook their heads. None of them had found a clue about Boss.

I let out a sigh and looked towards the cave. Then I noticed something. The girl had been cooped up inside the cave ever since Boss left, but now she was gone. The others sensed something was up and glanced into the cave, looking puzzled.

“Kssh! Kssh!” There she was. She came running towards us from the direction of the cliff. I hadn’t seen the girl this upset since Boss went missing. Something bad must have happened, or she found Boss.

No, if she found Boss she would be happier.

I stared at her in confusion, and she looked at the statues near the entrance of the cave. At the human one.

Was a human coming?

The lizard ran over to the tree where we hung the jerky and started pulling on the branches. At first, I didn’t understand what she was doing. Then she looked at us and hissed, “Kssh!”

Did she want us to help her? I took the meat off the tree and went into the cave. I put the meat in a pot and took four shovels, then went back outside. I handed out the shovels to the others, and we cut down the tree.

The girl looked satisfied and then moved to another tree. Did she want us to cut that one down, too?

I hesitated but then she bared her fangs at me. There was venom in those things. Boss always stopped her from biting us, but he wasn’t here now. She’d really do it if she wanted to.

I took the meat off the second tree and brought it inside. By the time I got back, the other three had already chopped the tree down. Two of them carried the wood inside the cave. The other took his shovel and began to tear up the branches. I stood there staring into space, and the girl whipped me in the back with her tail.

I took my shovel and started tearing up branches, too. I threw them into the cave. I raked dirt back over where we had dug and then stepped on it to smooth it out, all under the girl’s instructions.

We carried the sculptures inside. They were heavier than I thought, and I accidentally dropped one, but it didn’t break. Still, I bet Boss would be mad if he found out.

We picked up the fur carpet on the floor and tossed dirt on it. She told us to do that, too. I was certain Boss would fly into a rage if he saw it.

Halfway through I began to worry if I should even be doing this. Boss didn’t bite, but he roared. The girl didn’t roar, but she bit.

She told us to take the muddy fur pelt and hang it over the entrance of the cave. After I crawled underneath it to go back outside, I finally understood. From out here, the mud-caked pelt just looked like an earthen wall. You couldn’t tell it was the entrance to a cave at all.

Now we didn’t have to worry about outsiders coming in, but we were still able to come and go freely. I was certain the girl was doing this to throw off a human. That was why she hid the jerky and the tree and the statues inside. She was very clever. I was frightened of her, but I trusted her.

I went back inside and ate some meat out of a pot. Then I heard some footsteps that sounded human. There were about four of them. First, I heard a confused voice and then another that sounded fed up.

There was a human who came here to find something. Now their friends were making fun of them. The humans’ voices continued.

First one, then another began walking away from the cave. Finally the last one ran after their three friends.

I don’t think they noticed us.

Curious, I ran towards the mouth of the cave so I could flip open the pelt to peek outside. But the girl stopped me, so I decided to go to sleep instead.

I put a pelt over the shiny mushroom we used for light and the cave instantly went dark. The rule was once someone did that, no one could make any noise again until morning.

In the morning, I didn’t even realize the sun had risen because of the pelt. I woke up later than usual. The girl was gone.

I quickly woke the others, and we went outside the cave. There she was, standing there. She looked at us and cried, “Kssh.”

And I don’t know how, but I just understood. She was going to travel far away to look for Boss. That must be it. I walked over to join her, but she shook her head.

She was our boss in Boss’s place, so if she left, we would be in trouble. I wasn’t sure what to do now. But she turned her face towards the cave and cried, “Kssh!”

She would bring Boss back someday, and she wanted us to protect the cave until then. That’s what it sounded like to me, anyway.

“Ahh!”

“Ah-ooh!”

“Ahh!”

The other three stepped forward to try to convince the girl to stay, but I just bowed my head to her. Once the other three saw me do it, they stopped howling and bowed their heads, too. The girl looked relieved and nodded, then left quietly. Once she was gone, I turned back towards the cave.

I would protect the cave until Boss and the girl returned. I’d make it bigger and stronger. I’d make a ton of weapons. I’d fight other orangurangs and make them our subordinates to get even stronger.

By the time Boss and the girl got back, they would be so happy. If I made weapons, no other orangurang would ever be able to best me.

Interlude:
The Swordswoman’s Mistake

 

Meltia

 

WHEN YUNO AND I returned to the village with the others, we were stunned. The tall watchtower was gone, along with several other buildings. Craters and huge cracks in the earth had appeared all across town, too.

Apparently, something major had gone down in the village center.

“Hey, are we too late?” Daz, the archer, turned to us and whispered.

My hunch had clearly been wrong. The discovery of that bandit cave in the forest had prompted me to gather up my friends; I wanted to neutralize the bandits before they became a threat to the village. But this was very obviously not the work of humans.

I had made a severe miscalculation, and a surge of powerlessness accompanied that realization. Yuno and I should have been here. We could have managed the situation. We could have prevented deaths and injuries.

According to a passing villager, two dragons had appeared and used the center of town as their battleground. Everything we saw now was collateral damage.

The dragon who lost the fight had perished. The victor was gravely injured and fell into the chasm nearby.

Even more alarming was a supposedly dead man suddenly showing up and going berserk. Rumors about the cause spanned all the way from zombies to poisonous mushrooms.

I thought again about my nixed theory of necromancy. None of the town’s graves were disturbed, but if that guy really was a zombie, I couldn’t dismiss the theory.

Was that bandit group dabbling in necromancy? That was dangerous magic. But if they were already a bunch of lawless bandits, why would they care?

I took my three companions and headed to Marielle’s house. She’d be able to tell me what happened in town without floating some ridiculous theory. Despite her unassuming presence, she hadn’t stayed in this village so long just for show.

She wasn’t at home, so we went back into town to find her. We quickly located her in the town’s community center, which had been converted into a makeshift shelter for the people who lost their houses in the incident and a hospital to treat the wounded. Marielle walked around casting white magic on the injured villagers. We made eye contact, and she stopped.

“I’m Meltia. I’ve visited the village before.” I didn’t mention she was the one who’d hired me; she’d asked me to keep that bit of information a secret so as not to alarm the residents.

She took me back to her house, and I relayed my questions. Nothing she had to say differed greatly from the rumors around town. I could tell she was hiding something from me, but I doubted any persuasion could entice her to give up that information.

I told her about finding something I thought was a bandit hideout. Initially, I’d gotten her permission to explore the forest, but if anyone asked, we could tell them we’d entered on our own. Then she could explain the dragon incident as divine comeuppance for too many people tramping through the forest.

It would serve to put the villagers at ease and stop them from searching for a cause, and at the same time discourage others from entering the dangerous forest. Marielle could kill two birds with one stone.

Doz himself had ignored entreaties to stay out of the forest, setting off this strange chain of events in the first place. Marielle couldn’t let the villagers discover she had given us adventurers permission to enter.

We were standing up to leave when she stopped me. “Ah, there’s one more thing. Can I ask you a question?”

I hung back as she stood up from her seat.

“Do you remember Myria? The girl who was here with me last time we spoke.” I thought back on my last visit, conjuring up the image of a small woman with bobbed hair and skin as beautiful and clear as a porcelain doll’s.

“She says she wants to go on an adventure. I want you to look after her for a while. Just teach her the ways of the world outside this village, that’s all. I’ll pay you. If you need to consider my offer, you can give me your answer after your current job is done. Or you can talk to her first and then decide.”

I’d heard Myria was the only other person in town besides Marielle who could use white magic. Under normal circumstances I was sure she’d want to avoid losing her, so there must be a very good reason.

Myria was rumored to have let one of the dragons into town; I wondered if she was being chased out. But then I saw the look on Marielle’s face and knew that wasn’t it.

I didn’t mind taking care of some fledgling white mage, but I needed a better grasp on the situation. I wanted to speak to her first.

“Well, we’ll think about it while we’re searching the forest.” That was a safe and perfectly acceptable answer. We said goodbye and left Marielle’s house.

And now, with her blessing, we made our way towards Noah’s Forest.

We were set upon by wolves, spiders, some weird bear made of clay, and all kinds of other strange creatures, but four was much safer than two.

Daz acted as our vanguard. After his poisoned arrows stunned the monsters, Yuno charged in with her hammer. Then I attacked from close range with my sword or Light Magic. And when the battle was over, Romeena, our white mage, would heal us.

With those numbers, we could easily defeat that Young Plague Dragon we’d seen before.

“Hey, Meltia, you sure there was a bandit hideout all the way out here?” Daz asked skeptically after we trooped the long way around the chasm.

“Yes, I’ve seen it. We’re almost there. I have an exceptional sense of direction. Don’t worry.”

“I checked into it after you told me the story. I talked to the biggest merchant on this continent, and he didn’t know anything about it. If enough piperis to fill a huge pot disappeared, it would be a huge deal. You sure it was even piperis?”

“You never told me you were looking into it.”

“You sure the people in the cave didn’t flee from another continent? It’s possible they smuggled the piperis in—there’s a huge underground trade. Maybe that’s why nobody wanted to talk about it. But I don’t know, after looking around the forest, I’m finding it hard to believe.”

Daz was raised in an orphanage in a city filled with strife and did a stint working for organized crime. He certainly had far more experience in this area than I did. If he said something was off, that this area didn’t make sense for a hideout, I believed him.

He spoke lightheartedly, but he wasn’t the type of man to say things he didn’t mean. The world had taught him life was too short for idle chatter.

Still. I knew piperis when I saw it.

“It smelled exactly like piperis. Yuno saw it, too. Didn’t you?”

“Oh, Yuno couldn’t possibly comment on such expensive things. That was my first time seeing it. We were so poor growing up that I ran away from home so my mother couldn’t sell me. We once had to roast my father’s shoes and eat them. Although, they would have tasted better if we had piperis…” Yuno sounded oddly proud of the story, her ears twitching cheerfully. Still, it was a pretty effective mood-killer, and the rest of us were silent for a few moments.

I knew she took pride in how far she’d come from nothing, but that didn’t mean I liked hearing about it.

“Ah, oh…sorry. It’s not like Yuno’s never used anything expensive, or…anyway, we’re almost there! The cave should be right here…oh…”

I broke into a run and found…nothing. The mysterious statues were gone, along with the jerky-strung trees.

Was this the wrong place? No, I’m sure this is right…“What’s wrong, Meltia?”

“Yuno, there was a cave here before, right? Right?!”

“Hm, Yuno’s not super confident about her memory. Are you sure it wasn’t a bit farther?”

I didn’t think so, but if it really wasn’t here, then there was no other explanation.

“Are you sure you saw it? This story’s fishy all the way through. You sure you weren’t just dreamin’?” Daz seemed exasperated.

“No, I wasn’t dreaming! There were trees with meat strung up in them and statues…”

“Oh yeah? Well, why don’t we look somewhere else. No point in staying here.”

“Yuno will go first!” Yuno shouted. “It was farther into the forest anyway. Honestly, Lady Meltia, for someone so brave you can be so forgetful sometimes!”

Wow, was that really what Yuno thought of me? I guess this wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

“Hang on! It was around here! I swear it was here!”

“Hurry up and come along,” Yuno said gently. “Let’s keep going.”

Yuno started walking, and Daz followed her. Romeena glanced between us, conflicted, then quietly said “I’m sorry” and ran off after Yuno.

I wasn’t sure why she apologized, but there was no point staying here. Feeling a sudden sense of abandonment, I hurried after the rest of the group.

Bonus Story 1:
The Girl’s Story

 

Part 1
Myria

 

TODAY MARIELLE AND I took a trip to the city of Hyritet. She had an errand to run, and I’d figured she’d turn down my offer of company, so I was pleasantly surprised when she allowed it.

She hadn’t let me come to town with her since that time I’d gotten lost. It looked like she’d finally gotten over it. She wasn’t really the type to hold grudges, anyway. The only small part of her was her stature.

“Listen. I know you already learned this lesson the hard way, but don’t go off on your own,” Marielle warned me.

“Yes, of course! I know!”

“Why does it always sound like you don’t actually know when you say it like that?” Marielle narrowed her eyes and studied my face. She was trying to glare at me, but the effect was slightly undermined by the fact that she had to look up at me. And that she was incredibly adorable. I reached out automatically to pat her on the head but caught myself just in time and pulled away. Wow, that was a close one! I need more self-control.

“Ah ha ha…that’s not true!” The last incident had taken more of a toll on her that I realized. She must’ve really hated the guards treating her like a child.

I’d heard that elves were very proud and arrogant, but Marielle wasn’t like that at all. Of course, I’d never met a pure-blooded elf. Maybe they were stuck up, or maybe that was just a stereotype, along with the rumors that they looked down on humans and avoided even conversing with them. I really wanted to meet one. I wondered if they were all small like Marielle.

“Thank you so much for bringing me along with you, Marielle. I know you’re still bothered by what happened, so I thought for sure you’d make me stay home this time, too.”

“I am not still bothered by what happened! I told you several times I left you behind on my last visit because I needed you to stay and tend to the Mirei flowers! They’re difficult to take care of!”

“Oh, I’m sorry! That’s right, you did say that.” I had a feeling it was just an excuse, but I wasn’t about to rub it in and make her angry on purpose. Maybe if everything went smoothly, she would bring me back again next time.

We stopped in a town on our way to the city, where we hired a small carriage to take us the rest of the way.

We generally didn’t hire carriages, but this one belonged to a personal friend of Marielle’s. Considering the price, there was no way I would ever be able to afford such a trip myself. And I didn’t have anyone else to accompany me either, so I absolutely couldn’t afford to get on Marielle’s bad side. I needed to be extra polite and cautious. Whenever she went on her own, Marielle never got me exactly what I asked for. She would get something similar but miss the spirit of my request. Sometimes I thought she might be doing it on purpose.

Times like those were when I felt the age gap between us most acutely.

“Actually, there is something I’d like you to do for me, Myria. That’s part of the reason why I asked you to come along.”

She wanted my help? What task could I possibly do that Marielle couldn’t? Whatever it was, I’d accept it without hesitation. I couldn’t turn down a favor for Marielle. It would be the perfect opportunity to prove myself indispensable.

Even if I screwed it up, I’d prove my loyalty. She was the type of person who appreciated effort no matter the results.

“I’ll do anything you want me to do!”

“Well, there’s no need to get so excited about it. Do you remember that wine I bought last time I was here? I’m quite fond of it. Supposedly it’s a special brew only sold in this city. I’d like you to go buy some for me.”

Huh? She just wanted to send me on an errand? I was grateful it was such a simple task, but it put me on guard. That was why she wanted me to come along?

“Um…why do you need me to do it, though?” I wasn’t refusing, but I was genuinely curious. We didn’t need to split up to go shopping, especially after how annoyed she got with me last time when I got lost.

“H-hmm…” She frowned. She appeared to really want to keep her reasons a secret, and I was beginning to grow suspicious. Perhaps I shouldn’t have agreed so readily.

I knew she wasn’t the kind of person who would send me off into danger just because she wanted some wine, but I couldn’t think of any other good reason she wouldn’t just tell me. I considered whether to press her on it.

“M-Marielle?”

“…I just had a bit of a misunderstanding with that shopkeeper, you see. He doesn’t have the best opinion of me.”

Okay, so she’d made a bad impression. That made sense. But would she really feel so bad about it that she wouldn’t even want to step foot inside the shop? Marielle had lived a long life, and she was an incredibly practical person. She knew all kinds of things I didn’t, and her open-mindedness always impressed me.

She could be a bit scattered at times, but usually only around me. She always held it together when it really counted. This shopkeeper had to be awful if they’d upset her so much. I was biased as her apprentice, but still.

“Don’t worry about it. Just go buy the wine and get out quickly. That’s all you have to do.”

If it was as simple as that, why did her eyes keep darting away from me? I hesitated, absolutely certain there was more to this story. Marielle glanced at me, quiet and sad. She must really want that wine.

There was something about Marielle’s face when she was sad, though. She looked so young, like a poor, unfortunate little girl who had lost all hope. The contrast between how old she looked and how old she actually was could be intense. And yet every time I was overwhelmed with a desire to protect her…to do something for her.

“Leave it to me! I’ll go get you that wine!”

“I’m glad I convinced you, but you really don’t need to shout.”

 

Part 2
Myria

 

THE WINE was a brand called Baphomet. She said it had a label with a sheep that looked like a child had drawn it.

“There, there it is…” Marielle jerked her head in the direction of the shop as we rounded the corner.

“So that’s where I have to go? All right. You stay right here and wait for me, Marielle. I’ll prove to you what a reliable apprentice I am.”

“That’s a good girl, Myria. Don’t dawdle. Just buy the wine and get back out here. If they say anything to you, just smile.”

“Thank you so much for the advice, Mistress. I promise to make you proud.” I was feeling fairly enthusiastic. But just then, we were interrupted by a loud thump.

“Eek!” Marielle and I both jumped at the same time.

“Meow.”

A black cat padded past us, turning to look back and sticking out its tongue like it was teasing us. Then it continued on its way.

I let out the breath I’d been holding. Marielle seemed equally relieved. Thinking about it, there was no real reason for us to get freaked out like that. I collected myself and headed over to the shop.

It was a simple place without many frills, and at the moment I appeared to be the only customer. Darn. If the shop were busy, the shopkeeper would be less likely to try and make unnecessary conversation with me, but I guess luck wasn’t on my side. I waited a bit, but no one else came in.

I didn’t see the shopkeeper, either, but I began to search for the wine. I’d wait until I found it before calling for assistance.

I walked the perimeter of the small room, searching for the label with the sheep, but I couldn’t find it. Frowning, I made another trip around the store. This time I spotted a bottle on the back shelf with an odd label. I put my bag down and picked up the wine. It was some sort of horned animal. Was it a sheep? No…the horns were growing from its chin. I’d never seen a sheep like that. I’d never seen anything like that.

“Welcome. You’re my first customer today, young lady.” A voice startled me. I turned to find an elderly man with beautiful white hair and a neat appearance standing there. His voice was kind and friendly.

This was the man Marielle had gotten into an argument with? He seemed so nice. But I guessed you never really knew what might set someone off. If Marielle said that was what happened, then it must be true. I needed to be cautious.

“Hello. Do you carry a wine here called Baphomet?”

His eyes widened slightly. “Another customer requesting that wine? It’s always been my dream to sell locally made wines, but no other shops would carry it, so I had to open my own. This was some thirty years ago now, though. The Baphomet never sold well, I’m afraid. I asked for input and stocked up on the more popular vintages, and managed to eke out a living that way. Occasionally someone would come and buy the Baphomet, but without fail they’d complain that the flavor was too strong and they couldn’t drink it. I can’t explain it!”

Wow, that sounded rough.

“Um, anyway…where do you keep the Baphomet? I couldn’t find it anywhere.”

“Well, so many customers complained about it that I put it in the back so no one else would be unlucky enough to buy it by accident.”

Wow, it was that unpopular? But Marielle said she’d bought it before, so…“Did a small girl ever come to buy a bottle of it?”

“A small girl…ah, now that you mention it, yes. About three months back, I think.”

That was definitely Marielle. That matched when she and I had last come to the city together. Doubtless he’d remember something as unusual as a young girl buying alcohol, especially a kind that wasn’t very popular.

“She said her mother liked unusual wines. She hasn’t been back since, so I guess her mother didn’t care for it after all.”

The shopkeeper dropped his gaze and shook his head slightly. He looked a bit hurt. He must really love those local wines, going so far as to open up a shop. It must have been devastating when they weren’t as warmly received as he’d hoped.

Still, the girl he described couldn’t have been Marielle after all. First of all, I didn’t even know her mother. She didn’t really like talking about her, and she didn’t visit her often, if ever. There was no way she’d tell a stranger about her.

I wanted to know what happened between Marielle and the shopkeeper, but if I kept prying, he’d just get suspicious. I might have already gone too far.

The shopkeeper asked, “Where did you hear about Baphomet, anyway?”

“Um, a friend of mine asked me to get a bottle for her.”

The shopkeeper looked as if he found that hard to believe, but he didn’t ask anything further, just smiled.

“Well, whatever the reason, I’m glad to know someone wants to buy it. I just wish one customer would tell me they enjoy it before I close up shop.”

“Oh? Are you going out of business?”

“Someone built a large shop nearby that sells spirits. The owner is young but very well known. Their motto is ‘buy cheap, sell cheap.’ An old fogy like me could never hope to compete. The past few years I’ve only kept the shop open out of love. But it’s time.”

“O-oh…” I answered vaguely, not sure what else to say.

“Yes, I’m planning to go back home to the country. Although…I left abruptly and have rarely been back, so I’m not even sure anyone will remember me. Maybe I should have done this a long time ago.”

He was closing up shop and going home. I wondered how many times he’d put it off over the years. Part of it must be stubbornness—it couldn’t be easy to leave your hometown and then come back because you’d failed. A rival shop opening nearby was as good of an excuse as any.

It was sad, but what other choice did he have? If he’d finally made up his mind, I had no right to try to get him to stay. I doubted he was making much of a profit. But maybe I could grant his wish. I knew someone who loved that wine. Marielle was right outside, anxiously awaiting my return.

She said they didn’t get along, but it had to be a misunderstanding. I just couldn’t believe this nice old man would start a terrible argument with Marielle. If they just talked things out, I was sure things could be resolved.

“Ah, pardon me. There I go again, just talking and talking. I’ll go get the Baphomet from the back for you.”

“Sorry, can you wait just a moment? I’ll be right back!”

“Hm?” He looked confused, but I smiled reassuringly and ran out of the shop.

I’d bring Marielle back. I knew she wouldn’t be thrilled about it, but I’d drag her here if I had to. I dashed down the street and turned the corner. Marielle was leaning against a building waiting for me.

“There you are. Did you find it? You sure you didn’t stay and talk too long?”

“Please come with me!”

“Hm?”

I grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her away from the wall.

“Myria! What in the world are you doing? Let go of me!” She resisted, leaving me no choice but to grab her with both hands and pull.

“Just please come with me! You have to help that old man!”

Afterword

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH for buying Volume 2 of Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling. It pains me to admit it, but I didn’t realize I had to write an afterword for every book until just now. For some reason I thought I just had to do it for the first one, but apparently that’s not the case!

I have a hard time figuring out what I should write here. It makes me feel a bit shy to say things like, “You should interpret this part this way!” or “I want you to feel this way when you read it!” or something like that, so I never know what to write. And it’s not like I can talk about how my friend wanted to see a particular picture so I cut it out of our junior high yearbook, or how I tripped one rainy morning on the way to high school and showed up covered in blood.

I have a feeling I’ll be thinking the same kinds of things in my afterword for the third volume, so please just keep in mind that I’m trying my best to fill up space and keep your expectations low.

I picked up several books to get an idea of how other authors write their afterwords, but they’re all pretty unique. Sometimes they’ll slap a big drawing in there for no reason to take up about ten lines of space. I thought that was a good idea, but I didn’t have the guts to try it myself. But if I really can’t think of anything to write next time, I might draw a big triangle or something and put the afterword in there. So if I go ahead and do it, you’ll know I finally took the plunge and went for it. Stay tuned!

…All right, I suppose I’ll let you in on some secrets from the author. It has to do with the biggest status screen that appeared in the second volume. I can’t let every volume get longer and longer each time, so I’ve been trying to organize the status screens a bit better…but if I don’t pay enough attention to them I don’t realize how big they’re getting. I find myself saying, “Is it just me, or are you getting bigger?”

I think it’s just difficult to write out all the skills horizontally instead of vertically, even if it means cutting down on space. It’s kind of like playing Tetris. But now I feel like I can’t go back to having everything in one narrow column. I’ll probably have to keep making a big block raining down like bullets for every status screen.

Well, if I keep adding skills, nobody’s statuses are going to get shorter. Except for Doz’s, of course. Honestly, if I keep adding at the rate I’m going, it’ll fill up an entire page. I thought about restraining myself, but I don’t want to have to change the content of the book just because of formatting restrictions, so I’m just going to keep adding more and more skills. I’ll make my goal a status screen that spans two pages next time. Bring it on, Status Screen! Common sense be damned!

Also, I’m sure you all have noticed this by now, but I added little character silhouettes at the beginning of chapters and POV shifts. Since our narrators change a few times in this volume, I wanted to make it easy for you to see who was speaking and make the reading experience as smooth as possible.

I think the silhouettes are really cool, so if you didn’t notice them before, please go back and take a look at them. Yeah, they’re really cool.

Finally, I’d like to thank my editor for always listening to my selfish requests. And I can’t thank my illustrator NAJI Yanagida enough for the absolutely beautiful illustrations.

Nervously watching the avocado tree that’s on the verge of death from my window,

—NECOCO