“The strongest.” I had to admit, I did like the sound of that. All right, let’s go. I choose Baby Dragon. And don’t start thinking this decision had anything to do with you, Divine Voice. I’m making it on my own.
No sooner had I thought this that my egg prison began to shatter. God, my body felt so much lighter now that I wasn’t carrying around that heavy shell!
Lost Special Skill “Eggshell” Lv 1.
Gained Special Skill “Dragon Scale” Lv 1.
Due to Title Skill “Dragon King’s Son” Lv —, all Resistance Skills less than Lv 5 have increased.
For real? Isn’t enhancing Resistance Skills kind of cheating?
Gained Normal Skill “Baby’s Breath” Lv 1.
Gained Normal Skill “Whistle” Lv 1.
Gained Normal Skill “Lovebite” Lv 1.
Wow, okay… That’s a lot of Normal Skills. Is it just me, or do they sound kinda…adorable? Were they actually going to help me? I really didn’t think I had time to go around giving lovebites and whistling.
Species: Baby Dragon
Status: Normal
Lv: 1/25
HP: 5/15
MP: 5/5
Attack: 6
Defense: 5
Magic: 6
Agility: 10
Rank: D-
Special Skills:
Dragon Scale: Lv 1
Divine Voice: Lv 2
Resistance Skills:
Physical Resistance: Lv 2
Fall Resistance: Lv 3
Hunger Resistance: Lv 2
Poison Resistance: Lv 2
Loneliness Resistance: Lv 2
Normal Skills:
Roll: Lv 2
View Status: Lv 1
Baby’s Breath: Lv 1
Whistle: Lv 1
Lovebite: Lv 1
Title Skills:
Dragon King’s Son: Lv —
Walking Egg: Lv —
Klutz: Lv 2
Just an Idiot: Lv 1
Wow, that was a huge stat increase all the way across the board. I wouldn’t have thought just one level would make such a difference. Maybe I’d hit dragon puberty, or something.
I walked over to a nearby spring to check out my reflection. My body was yellow and I had big, round eyes. I had wings sprouting out of my back, though they were almost embarrassingly small.
Aw, I guess I’m pretty cute.
But cute or not, I didn’t seem to have gained many useful skills. I definitely couldn’t fly yet. When I tried to flap my wings, all they did was twitch a little bit. I was absolutely dying to soar through the sky, but I guessed that would have to wait. The Divine Voice wanted me to grow stronger. I had no idea what it was up to, but I knew I didn’t want to let it down.
PART 5
AHHH, refreshing!
Drinking was so difficult when I was inside the egg. It was a constant struggle to get water past the cracks. Now, it was like I’d been reborn. Well, I guess “re-hatched” since, ya know. Egg.
As I was drinking from the lake, I heard a sudden terrible noise behind me. I turned very slowly and faced down a mass of shadows lurking in the forest.
“Shhkkk!”
“Shhkkk!”
“Kshhhk!”
“Shkshkshk!”
“Shhkkk!”
I knew that sound. Darkwyrms. Plural. There were a lot of them. They showed themselves all at once, appearing along the same path I’d taken to get to the lake.
There must have been twenty at least, and the sight of them was awe-inspiring. Did they often run in packs like this? What were they doing here, anyway? Oh god, I hoped it wasn’t because…
I thought of that horrible cry the darkwyrm let out just before it died, and I remembered that skill I’d seen on its Status Screen: Call Allies. Great. So it managed to get one last dig in before it kicked the bucket.
It took everything I had just to defeat one of them, so how was I supposed to get rid of this many at once? But those doubts burned off as quickly as they’d come, and I felt a strange burst of excitement.
I just don’t think I’m gonna lose. Sorry, darkwyrms. But I’m not a little egg anymore.
The wyrms slithered around me until I was completely surrounded. Then they attacked. I released a gout of fire, the Baby’s Breath skill I gained when I evolved. Just like the others, all I had to do was focus on the skill and I knew how to use it.
The darkwyrm directly in front of me rolled onto its back and began to writhe in pain. This was going to work. I charged the wyrm and stomped on its midsection as hard as I could.
“Kshhhk!”
I stomped again, digging my claws into its stomach. A second darkwyrm came at me from behind.
Yeah, try it!
Maybe it was because my HP had increased, but getting bitten didn’t hurt at all. I was no longer a defenseless egg.
The darkwyrms closed in on me from all sides. I tore into them and sent them flying. When one of them recoiled and left its midsection vulnerable to attack, I seized the opportunity and hit it as hard as I could.
Time for one more Baby’s Breath!
The weakened darkwyrms gradually began to run out of steam, four of them collapsing completely. That left sixteen to deal with. What? That’s all ya got, caterpillars?
Gained 48 Experience Points.
Title Skill “Walking Egg” Lv — activated: gained 48 Experience Points.
Wait, I still had the Walking Egg skill? Thinking about it, the only skill I lost was the Eggshell Special Skill. Was I really going to keep getting double EXP? It felt a little like cheating, but I just put it down to good karma from a previous life.
“Baby Dragon” Lv 1 has become Lv 7.
Gained Title Skill “Infighter” Lv 1.
Gained Normal Skill “Dragon Punch” Lv 1.
Whoa, look at all the power I just got! I’m not gonna let even one of these wyrms get away. They’re a total EXP buffet.
I leapt back into the fray, barreling into them from the side. They tried to bite my fists, but their teeth didn’t even puncture my skin.
I’ll punch their lights out. Eat my Dragon Punch! Fire blazed from my fists as I knocked the wyrm’s teeth out of its mouth and sent it hurtling through the air in a flaming arc. It landed on its allies just behind it. And that’s two more! Just gotta keep up the momentum.
I beat them to shreds. Tore them apart and knocked them out, over and over again. My once worthy opponents, reduced to nothing more than a way to farm EXP.
“Kshhhk!”
I landed a Dragon Punch on the last remaining wyrm. It all took less than five minutes. I had a constant stream of messages from the Divine Voice informing me of EXP increases and level-ups. Every time the number climbed higher, I felt more powerful.
Turns out Baby Dragons are pretty strong.
It was a totally different experience from being an egg. I mean, what kind of weird caterpillar could beat a dragon?
Gained 12 Experience Points.
Title Skill “Walking Egg” Lv — activated: gained 12 Experience Points.
I still feel like this egg thing is some kind of glitch. It must be why I keep leveling up so fast. My next evolution is at level 25, and I’m gonna get there in no time.
“Baby Dragon” Lv 7 has become Lv 15.
Title Skill “Infighter” Lv 1 has become Lv 2.
Species: Baby Dragon
Status: Normal
Lv: 15/25
HP: 3/57
MP: 1/55
Attack: 51
Defense: 35
Magic: 48
Agility: 35
Rank: D-
Special Skills:
Dragon Scale: Lv 1
Divine Voice: Lv 2
Resistance Skills:
Physical Resistance: Lv 2
Fall Resistance: Lv 3
Hunger Resistance: Lv 2
Poison Resistance: Lv 2
Loneliness Resistance: Lv 2
Normal Skills:
Roll: Lv 2
View Status: Lv 1
Baby’s Breath: Lv 1
Whistle: Lv 1
Lovebite: Lv 1
Dragon Punch: Lv 1
Title Skills:
Dragon King’s Son: Lv —
Walking Egg: Lv —
Klutz: Lv 2
Just an Idiot: Lv 1
Infighter: Lv 2
Pest Killer: Lv 1
Not bad, not bad. Unfortunately, my health didn’t appear to recover when I evolved or leveled up. My dwindling HP and MP were definitely a concern. I should probably rest up and give myself time to recover.
My agility didn’t seem to be leveling up as quickly as my other stats, but it stood to reason that this body type wasn’t made for speed. But one thing was clear: becoming the strongest wasn’t out of reach after all.