Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling Vol. 1

by Necoco

  I wasn’t paralyzed; I could move my limbs, but it felt like something invisible was pinning me down. I checked, but there was nothing listed on my status conditions to explain it.

  Suddenly a rustling sound came from above me, and a gigantic spider descended from a tree. It was the same size as me, its entire body a bright, vivid red. Baring its sharp crimson fangs, it stuck out a long, purplish-red tongue at me. This was unlike any spider I’d ever seen before. I realized the reason I couldn’t move—I was stuck in its web. If I squinted hard I could just barely see thin white threads. I quickly checked the spider’s status.

  Species: Taranturouge

  Status: Normal

  Lv: 17/30

  HP: 78/78

  MP: 59/65

  Attack: 88

  Defense: 54

  Magic: 74

  Agility: 75

  Rank: D

  Special Skills:

  Stealth: Lv 4

  Poison Belt: Lv 2

  Automatic HP Recovery: Lv 1

  Conceal: Lv 2

  Resistance Skills:

  Poison Resistance: Lv 3

  Normal Skills:

  Bite: Lv 3

  Spidersilk: Lv 4

  Paralyzing Tongue: Lv 2

  Double Poison: Lv 2

  Title Skills:

  Forest Assassin: Lv 4

  Tenacious: Lv 3

  Crap. It’s way stronger than I am.

  It was fine that my level reset after I evolved, I guess, but all my stats got weaker along with it. I’d planned to hunt a bunch of weak monsters and raise everything higher than it was before. Getting cornered by a D Rank monster was the last thing I wanted.

  I may have underestimated this forest. I wasn’t even close to strong enough to take on a huge spider like this. Its attack power alone put mine to shame. It was much faster than me, too. I’d made a huge tactical error. I’d figured I could always run away if a monster’s stats were too good, but that didn’t work if I was ambushed and stuck.

  Next time I evolved I’d crucify the first darkwyrm I saw to make it call its allies right away. Surely that was the best way to level up when all my stats were low. I’d feel a little guilty about it, but my life was at stake. Even if wholesale slaughter would gain me another sketchy title.

  The taranturouge licked its chops. It was so confident it was going to eat me. It was pretty irritating, actually. Sticky, dark purple liquid dripped out of its mouth.

  If something this strong pounces on me, I’m done. I gotta do something about this web, or else I won’t even be able to fight back and it’ll eat me up. Don’t I have any skills at all to get me outta this mess?!

  But how was I supposed to use any of my skills since I couldn’t move my arms or legs?

  Oh, wait. What about…Baby’s Breath.

  If I could blow a gust of hot wind, I might be able to set the web on fire. If I got a little burnt, I’d just have to deal with it. Yeah, I could burn the web, but then what? Should I run or fight? I needed to be realistic. With the huge difference in our stats, it would be a super tough fight.

  So maybe I should use something else. Baby’s Breath would just be a temporary measure. If I couldn’t beat the spider, I probably couldn’t run away from it, either—its agility was much higher than mine. I needed to stop and actually make a plan. If I made a rash decision, it would eat me in seconds. But the taranturouge was taking its time, seeming confident that it had already beaten me. There was no reason for me to rush.

  I gave the taranturouge an arrogant, assessing glance. I wanted to make it clear that I still had some fight left in me.

  “Raaaaaaaar!”

  I roared and flapped my arms. I kicked up my legs, slicing through the air with my claws. If my strategy failed, the spider would kill me. I’d maybe be able to land one good punch and then bam! taranturouge chow.

  But I figured if the spider saw me flailing and decided to take a safer approach, I might be able to escape. I couldn’t read its expression at all, but I could’ve sworn that for a split second I saw it smiling, like it was enjoying watching me struggle for my life.

  It’s not working? Maybe I should just bust out Baby’s Breath right now. But just as I started to draw air into my lungs, the taranturouge turned its back to me. I’d never been so relieved to see a spider butt in my life. My plan had worked.

  Then the taranturouge shot out its thread. A regular-sized bug I could have handled, but a giant spider spraying web at me was, well…something else. And realizing that stuff was now stuck to my body… Oh my god, this is disgusting!

  But my plan worked—all that struggling just made it want to immobilize me, not attack. Perfect. Not only was this joker mooning a guy fighting for his life, it was also spraying out highly flammable material? It was practically begging to be burned alive.

  I opened my mouth wide and blew a gust of air onto the thread. There, take my Baby’s Breath! It was so hot the air shimmered, the white spider thread turning red as it caught fire.

  The flames traveled up the web, right up to the taranturouge’s vulnerable behind. A beat later, my fiery breath engulfed its crimson body.

  “Eegghh!”

  The taranturouge let out an indescribable shriek, reduced to a ball of flames with its rear still facing me before it collapsed on the spot.

  Wow, hot! I mean, of course fire breath was hot, and it was necessary to destroy the spider web, but man! I needed to be careful or I’d die, too! The thread was still wrapped around me, and I was starting to burn up—flames licked me all over. Stupid! I should’ve tried something else—oww!

  Gained Resistance Skill: “Fire Resistance” Lv 1.

  Okay, I think it’s a little better now.

  The fire worked better against the spider than I was expecting. Its entire body was covered in flames, after all.

  Species: Taranturouge

  Status: Burned

  Lv: 17/30

  HP: 62/78

  MP: 56/65

  Are you kidding? 16 measly HP? I’d caught it off guard and landed a direct hit—I was expecting way more damage than that! I guess my stats were just too low to make more of a dent.

  Well, no use whining. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t have a chance of actually beating it. I figured I’d land one punch while it was down and then get the heck out of here. I pounced onto the taranturouge’s back. It was still curled up stiff. I used my new Paralyzing Venom Claws skill, digging them into its flesh.

  Don’t you dare underestimate a dragon!!

  Slice! Slash!

  “Eeugh!”

  Fluid spilled from the taranturouge’s charred body. I dove in headfirst, tearing into the worst of the burns with my fangs.

  “Hssst!”

  All right, time for another status check.

  Species: Taranturouge

  Status: Burned / Paralyzed (Slight) / Fury

  Lv: 17/30

  HP: 42/78

  MP: 56/65

  Jeez, how many status conditions could one spider have? I was glad it was slightly paralyzed, but Fury worried me. So did the fact that I’d given it all I had, but hadn’t even whittled away half of its HP. This wasn’t good. So much for thinking I had a chance at killing this thing.

  It had Automatic HP Recovery, so I needed to run. There was no sense dragging this out any longer than I had to. The difference in our stats meant I had no hope of victory. Once it recovered its health, the situation would be even worse. That Automatic HP Recovery skill was way too handy. I really wanted it, especially now that I was covered in terrible self-inflicted burns.

  The spider could recover just by lying there for a little while, but if I took a big hit, my only recourse was to sleep away the entire day. How was that fair, huh?

  I prayed for the paralysis to hold out just a bit longer as I stepped over the taranturouge and ran away.

  Don’t you dare come after me! Just lie there in pain for a while, okay?

  PART 5

  I RAN AND I RAN,
spurred by the terrible sound of eight scuttling feet echoing behind me.

  Dang it, the paralysis didn’t last long at all! At least give me a head start!

  I should’ve torn off one of its legs or something instead of just biting it on the back. I had the Fly skill from when I evolved into the Young Plague Dragon, but it was so low level that I could barely even float. I kept trying over and over again, wasting time and letting the spider get closer and closer. Agh! No skills at all would be better than these worthless ones!

  I was always running away. But what else could I do against enemies this strong? The taranturouge was coming closer. I was running all out, but it was going to catch up to me at any moment. This was really, really bad—I had to think of something. If only some other monster would show up to take care of the spider instead.

  I flipped into the air, curling into a ball to use my Roll skill. This was faster than running, if less controlled. I couldn’t make any small, precise movements. The taranturouge’s footsteps kept coming, but they didn’t seem to be closing the distance for now. I could still shake it, maybe. Roll was a handy skill! The spider was already pretty worn down stamina-wise; it was probably running on fumes, and it would have to run out of gas soon. I had a feeling that if it used Automatic HP Recovery, all its status effects would disappear, including Fury. The pain from the burns had caused it in the first place, after all. So once it healed, its anger would disappear with the wounds.

  But once I’d been rolling through the forest for about ten minutes, the taranturouge still showed no signs of slowing down. Actually, it seemed to be moving even faster than before. Or was I the one getting slower? What was this monster’s deal, anyway? Where’d it get all that energy?

  Normal Skill “Roll” Lv 2 has become Lv 3.

  There we go!

  Roll got a little faster, although not by much. I’d been rolling so much, no wonder it leveled up. Okay, good timing! I’ve still got a chance of escaping this thing!

  Gained Title Skill “Chicken Runner’” Lv 1.

  Hey, I never said I was scared! If I had more of a chance of winning, I would’ve stayed and fought! This was strategic!

  Still…that was an escape skill of some kind, right? Maybe it made me faster when I tried to run away. I could deal with the insulting name if it helped me now. After all, my life was on the line here. Even with an advantage, this was going to be tricky. I couldn’t use Roll forever, after all. It was already getting rough. Just give up on me already, Spider!

  Oh, no. That’s a cliff!

  I had Fall Resistance, but that was just for short distances. This was a legit drop. I bet there was a river with a super-fast current at the bottom of this cliff, like the kind that showed up in the final scene of an action movie. If I fell from here, I’d die for sure.

  My only choice was to stop myself before I got to the edge. But even if I made it away from the cliff, I still had a giant spider on my case, and I was getting sick of this death race with the tarantula. It would get me eventually. Maybe I should just try to clear the cliff? It had to be ten meters to the other side, though. How could I make that work? If I had something to launch myself off, that would be different, but there wasn’t anything around here that I could use. There obviously weren’t any ramps just sitting around in nature—it’d be kinda scary in and of itself if there were.

  I had Fly, but the sad hover I’d managed at my current level wouldn’t get me far. And as soon as I stopped using my Roll skill, the spider would catch up to me. Huh…maybe I didn’t have to turn it off, though?

  I didn’t stop. Instead, I kept racing right towards the cliff head-on. As I approached the edge, I leapt as high as I could and spread my wings, my body still curled into a little ball as I shot into the air.

  Heck yeah, I caught the wind without losing any momentum! Man, that breeze feels great. So great I should try this again sometime soon. Heh, ten meters is nothing! Now I finally get to say goodbye to that stupid spider. Maybe once I level up more I’ll come back and pay it a visit.

  As I reached the other side, I glided down and folded up my wings. Once I hit the ground, I slowed and stopped the Roll skill.

  All right, I escaped! But I got your name and your stats, Spider! Once I level up enough to kick your butt, I’ll be back! Don’t you dare forget me!

  I was exhausted. I’d planned to spend the day leveling up, but I gave up on that idea. It could wait until tomorrow.

  Today I’d just hunt, eat a nice meal, and find a safe place to sleep. I must have pulled every muscle in my body, and all that rolling made me dizzy.

  I turned back around towards the cliff for no particular reason. Maybe I heard a weird noise, or sensed something was off, but there wasn’t anything there. Just the heat as the sunlight shone through the trees and onto my head.

  I looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky, then slowly lowered my gaze.

  And there it was. A giant spider spinning its web into a thin, makeshift bridge and coming straight towards me.

  PART 6

  IT WAS COMPLETELY unexpected. I mean, ten meters was so far. No one would think a spider’s thread could reach that far, right? Guess this was what I got for underestimating spiders. I should have laid in wait and used Baby’s Breath to burn the spidersilk bridge. But I totally thought I’d gotten away, so I’d let down my guard. Now it was too close. I was an idiot. A colossal idiot!

  The taranturouge stuck out its long, slithery tongue, its eight legs deftly undulating as it crawled across the earth straight towards me. It was still chasing me? How was I even worth all this? What in the world did I do to make it hate me so much?! All I did was set its butt on fire a little! Talk about stubborn!

  I turned, curling up to use Roll to escape again. What else was I supposed to do, if I couldn’t run away from it? I jumped across a cliff and it was still coming after me. I wasn’t exactly hopeful.

  Wasn’t there some way I could use Fly to, you know…actually fly? If fleeing wasn’t realistic, I would need to figure out a way to kill it, or make it lose interest somehow. But no matter what my plan was, I needed to put some distance between us first. I picked up speed and rolled between the trees as fast as I could.

  Okay, well. For some reason it felt like the spider was even faster than before. Had it just been going easy on me? Maybe when it saw me flying over the cliff it knew I was serious. If I let my guard down for even one instant, it would catch up.

  Normal Skill “Roll” Lv 3 has become Lv 4.

  Well, seemed like Roll had kept gaining experience. I completely understood why, but it was also kind of frustrating. I was going to smash into something if I kept rolling around at breakneck speed like this. All the precise control needed for Roll was starting to test my concentration.

  Tree, tree, rocks, tree, tree, rocks…

  Right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left…

  I kept spinning along at a furious speed, just managing to glance behind me. The taranturouge was swinging its long tongue back and forth like a pendulum, spattering its spit in all directions. Its legs moved so swiftly that I could hear them rustling. How was it still chasing me? Maybe it was starting to like me or something.

  Sorry, Mr. Spider, but you’re just not my type! It’s not you, it’s me. This is so awkward, so please just go away now, seriously!

  I turned my gaze forward—only to see a graywolf right up ahead. Oh, great. Now I’d really done it. It was so close I was afraid it would start chasing me, too.

  Listen, I’m right at the limit of what I can handle right now.

  Instead of slowing down to avoid it, maybe I should just accelerate and barrel right through? I was veering right, but I corrected back toward it. I hit it straight on and plowed it right into a tree.

  Gained 20 Experience Points.

  Title Skill “Walking Egg” Lv — activated: gained 20 Experience points.

  “Young Plague Dragon” Lv 1 has become Lv 3.

  Hitting the graywolf knocked m
e off course, and I compensated by veering back and decelerating as much as I could.

  Phew, that was a close one! I’d only taken my eye off the path for a moment, but this area seemed like it was full of monsters. It was all I could do to avoid the trees and rocks; I really didn’t want anything else blocking the road.

  I mean, when you saw a dragon barreling towards you at full speed, wouldn’t you let them have the right of way? Well, maybe dragons didn’t usually roll around at full speed. It was just a skill left over from my days as an egg. But still!

  As I continued my roll, I ran into a huge praying mantis (forestcutter), a big reddish monkey with vacant, beady little eyes (orangurang), a walking mushroom (wargmush), and a huge black-and-white-striped butterfly (zebrutterfly).

  I was exhausted to the point of near collapse, but they just kept coming, one after the other. Besides the reddish monkey, most of them were pretty low level, so I kept knocking them out. Status updates popped up one after another and showed my experience points rising. It was a legit hit and run situation.

  “Young Plague Dragon” Lv 3 has become Lv 8.

  Huh? Is it just me or was that a huge level-jump all of a sudden? I guess it is normal to level up faster at lower levels, but I got all the way to level 8 just by running around.

  Species: Young Plague Dragon

  Status: Normal

  Lv: 8/40

  HP: 28/71

  MP: 12/75

  Attack: 68

  Defense: 57

  Magic: 65

  Agility: 62

  Rank: D+

  Special Skills:

  Dragon Scale: Lv 2

  Divine Voice: Lv 3

  Grecian Language: Lv 1

  Fly: Lv 1

  Dragon Scale Powder: Lv 1

  Dark Type: Lv —

  Resistance Skills:

  Physical Resistance: Lv 3

  Fall Resistance: Lv 4

  Hunger Resistance: Lv 3

  Poison Resistance: Lv 3

  Loneliness Resistance: Lv 4

  Magic Resistance: Lv 2