My body twists as I dodge a vine shooting past me. I open my mouth and hack out a Spark, setting the plant monster aflame, then I run backwards, making sure to stay away from its flailing limbs. The creature dies from the quickly spreading fire. Its death is followed with the expected notification.

  Defeated [Lily of the Valley - Level 9] Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy.

  1 skill level gained. Advanced [Spark] to level 4.

  1 level gained. Advanced from 8 → 9.

  Finally! Only one more level until I reach 10! And then something special will happen… I think. Right? The instinct confirms my thought. It’s shown itself to be trustworthy, guiding me through all kinds of dangerous situations, so I can definitely trust it to tell me the truth.

  My body swells with power from the level up. I make sure to keep still so that I don’t lose my balance.

  I think it’s about time to get moving again. Though… I do wonder how much longer it will take for me to get to the mountain. It’s been forever, and only now am I finally drawing close. It would be nice if I reached level 10 before I got there.

  One more thought comes to mind as I begin walking. It’s been a while since I’ve checked my Status. I wonder what it looks like? [Status].

  Razag:

  Level: 9

  Species: Crimson Dragon Hatchling

  General Skills:

  [Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 2

  [Passive - Danger Sense] lvl 1

  Skills:

  [Spark] lvl 4

  [Slash] lvl 3

  Unused Skill Slots x 3

  Stats:

  STR: 28

  END: 37

  VIT: 28

  WIS: 35

  INT: 33

  Wow… the numbers are so much higher than when I first got the Status… I remember that back then they were all almost in the single digits… And now they’re all, or almost all, above 30! That must be why I feel so much stronger. I don’t even feel tired right now. I increase my speed until I’m moving at a comfortable lope. Even running barely affects me!

  The minutes slip by before my senses suddenly sharpen and I realize that something is wrong. What’s happening? I abruptly stop moving. My instinctual response at this point is to consult the strange feeling inside of me. It responds with a faint sense of what could only be described as danger. Danger Sense? This is a result of Danger Sense?

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  So this is what happens when it detects something? … Guess I have to be careful then. I turn my head, allowing my eyes unfettered access to my surroundings. Now… where is the thing that’s triggering my Danger Sense? Despite my increased awareness, I don’t notice anything suspicious. The ground is as solid and unyielding as ever, the leaves rustling in the wind naturally, and the bushes moving… No, wait. Bushes wouldn’t move that much from a mere breeze.

  The moment I start backing up, the movement stops. I leap to the side right as a white blur flies past me. Turning my head a little, I catch a glimpse of the creature. It has sleek white fur and is very thin. However, it’s clearly not weak. Its speed definitively proves that.

  The creature takes advantage of my moment of disconcertion and charges me. I try to dodge, but this time, I’m too slow. It smashes straight into my side. The wind is knocked out of me and my scales crack painfully. OWW! I shake my head and run to the side. My head throbs and the pain nearly distracts me, but I force myself to focus. I need to get to an area where this creature can’t use its speed against me. I scan my surroundings.

  Where can I go…? A clearing? No, that would just give it more of an advanta— One of my feet gets caught in a root, causing me to tumble to the ground. The creature shoots towards me again, aiming for the spot it attacked before. I push myself up and try to dodge. I fail. The creature slams into my side again, missing the spot it hit before. I finally get a good look at it. It’s… a fox?

  The attack ends up cracking new scales, rather than pushing the broken shards further into my skin. My legs lock, keeping me standing. OWW! How does it keep hitting me? I can’t let it make contact again or it will absolutely destroy my scales. And then it’ll be game over. I begin to move again. I need to get into an enclosed space where I’ll have the advantage. Otherwise, this thing will tear me apart.

  I stumble forward, frantically searching for what I need. There! One of those tree hollows! That’s the perfect place to go. I run to the closest one as quickly as I can.

  My sharpened senses allow me to notice the creature charging towards me. I’m definitely not going to make it! I leap to the right, the creature whizzing right by me. It slams straight into the trunk of the tree and is momentarily dazed.

  This is even better! I can just Slash it now! I divert some of that strange energy to my arm, letting it pool there before sending it out in three deadly waves of light. The Slash tears three bloody furrows into the creature’s body. It shrieks in pain. Again! I let out another Slash, this one aimed for the creature’s head. The Slash tears through the creature’s neck.

  Defeated [Albino Fox - Level 11]. More experience awarded for defeating an enemy of a higher evolution.

  Advanced [Slash] to level 4.

  Advanced [Dragon Scales] to level 3.

  Advanced [Danger Sense] to level 2.

  1 level gained. Advanced from 9 --> 10

  {EVOLUTION AVAILABLE}

  The creature falls to the ground, dead. The adrenaline coursing through my body begins to fade away. Guess I didn’t have to go into the tree after all… It left itself wide open. My muscles begin to ache as the intense physical activity begins to catch up to me. And wow… my back barely hurts. I would think that my scales breaking would hurt more. Although…

  I turn my head, examining my back. Woah! That’s crazy. The two parts of my back that were hit are covered in a hardened, black substance. I can see shards of my scales poking out from the hardened liquid, which I assume is blood. It looks really bad but… it barely even hurts. The adrenaline continues to fade away, and exhaustion quickly sets in.

  I’m… really tired all of a sudden. I should probably find somewhere to sleep. Like, right now. My eyelids try to close, but I force them to stay open. I should also bring the corpse of the fox with me. I can eat it when I wake up. I do a quick scan of the area around me, my eyes landing on a fallen log not too far from me.

  That might’ve helped earlier… but whatever. It should be a good enough place to sleep. I lean down and pick up the body of the fox in my jaws, leaving the head behind. Wow… this is heavy… I should be able to drag it into the log though.

  After what feels like an eternity of pushing through my exhaustion, I finally pull the fox into the decrepit log. The moment the last of its tail is inside, I collapse to the ground. That was… so tiring. My will to stay awake disappears, and I pass out almost instantly.