by Necoco
HP: 122/178
MP: 19/100
Not only did I barely do any damage, but it still had enough MP to use one last Regenerate. I considered giving up on the clay and using Baby’s Breath—but then all of this would have been for nothing.
I’ve just gotta prepare myself. It’s a battle to the death between equal ranks and equal levels. I need to take some risks.
“Beee-yaah!”
The claybear howled as it ran for me, swinging its thick arms to attempt a grab. But for whatever reason, it didn’t seem to want to finish me off with its arms. It seemed it was trying to hold me still to use Bite again. If that was it, I could anticipate its next move.
I’d dodge, parry with my tail, then dodge again.
I knew I was right; its arm attacks were only meant to hold onto me. It only actually attacked with Bite—all the rest of its moves were pure defense.
I whipped the claybear’s left arm with my tail and flew wide to the right. It pursued me, stretching its right arm out. I kicked off the ground and spun backwards into the air, grabbing at its arm. Then, I spread my wings and shot a blast of Baby’s Breath straight down for a burst of altitude.
I could use Meteorite to knock it down… Wait, no, that wouldn’t be enough to finish its HP. If it was still alive, it would just use Regenerate. I had to end this fight right now.
I folded my wings and dropped toward the claybear like a stone. The impact would be rough, but I knew I could withstand it.
“Raaaaaaaaar!”
“Beeee-yaaah!”
The claybear looked up at me and screamed.
Shut up with “beeyah, beeyah” already. You’re not a real bear, and that’s not even close to the sound a bear makes in the first place! Why do you keep lying to yourself?!
I slammed into its fake bear’s head and arm, pulverizing them, clouds of dust swirling out in all directions. The impact roared through my body, throwing me backwards. I rolled across the forest floor, landing on my back, limbs spread like a starfish.
Gained Normal Skill “Nutcracker” Lv 1.
Nutcracker, huh? Couldn’t you think up a cooler name than that? Although I guess that was kind of what I did.
Gained 150 Experience Points.
Title Skill “Walking Egg” Lv — activated: gained 150 Experience Points.
“Young Plague Dragon” Lv 31 has become Lv 33.
Phew, thank goodness. I hated to admit it, but for once I was happy to hear the Divine Voice. I had no idea what I would’ve done if that fake bear was still alive.
I sat up and noted the pieces of the claybear scattered around. There was even a crack in the ground. Wow.
The recoil was too intense for me to use that maneuver very often, but it would be a good trump card to keep in my pocket. Seriously though, my body was aching. I couldn’t do any more hunting today, but I could at least collect the clay from the claybear. I would gather it all up, go home to my cave, and start making my pots.
PART 5
IT TOOK SEVERAL TRIPS to get all the clay from the claybear back to my cave. I didn’t really need so much, but I decided to take it all just in case. Having too much wouldn’t hurt, and if I ended up with a ton left over maybe I’d try my hand at sculpting a statue. Not like I had anything better to do.
I piled all the clay below the tree where my jerky was hanging. Time to start sculpting. I began kneading the clay and made something that resembled a large cauldron. Then I heaped water, dirt, and some more clay inside of it and mixed it all together.
Since there was so much of it, it was hard work. I couldn’t have done it with my human body, and it was even rough on my current form.
I might even be able to paint the walls inside the cave with the clay. It was way stickier than normal clay, but I could thin it out with dirt.
After I was done mixing it, I sculpted the slurry into a pot shape. I made lots and lots and lots of mistakes. My stiff dragon arms and long claws made it impossible to achieve a neat shape. Argh, If I was going to go to the trouble of making these pots, I wanted them to look at least slightly pot-like.
The sun set as I worked, but I stubbornly kept on. My battle with the claybear had exhausted me, but strangely, I didn’t want to sleep. I ignored my heavy eyelids, just kneaded and crushed, crushed and kneaded.
Halfway through, I bit down my bothersome claws to stop them from getting in the way. My fingertips bled, but I kept kneading the clay.
By the time the sun rose, and after a lot of trial and error, I’d made a beautiful pot. The trick was crafting the bottom and sides separately, then attaching them.
It was perfect. Seriously perfect. All right, I’m going to mass produce pots just like this one.
Gained Title Skill “Ceramic Artisan” Lv 1.
Aw, Divine Voice. Lay off the compliments, you’re gonna make me blush.
Looking up, I spotted a group of those scoundrel red monkeys—the orangurangs. They were watching me, and I had a feeling it was the same gang as before. I glared back at them and they immediately disappeared into the forest. They were probably after the jerky. I couldn’t let my guard down.
How many pots did I need? One for the spices, one for the meat, and one for the salt. And I might need more later on, so I might as well make ten of them.
I ignored the sound of my belly rumbling and continued sculpting. My technique improved with every pot I made.
Hey, I might be a master artisan here. This is super fun.
I made ten pots, and my title skill Ceramic Artisan went up to Lv 2. I’d hit my first goal, so I had a break and took some jerky off the tree to try. It was actually really good. I’m so glad I found that salt. I bow down to you, o great carnivorous flower!
While I was eating, I sensed someone watching me. I turned, only to see those monkeys again. They’d totally gotten a taste for my jerky. Shoo, shoo! Get out of here!
I shot them a look, and once again they disappeared into the forest.
I don’t have time to deal with you right now. But when I do, I’ll let you eat as much as you want. Poison, that is.
After my meal, I decided to try sculpting a cooking pot. Or maybe two—one for eating and one for brewing up poison. And I’d surely need spares, so I might as well make an even five. A couple might break at the firing stage, after all.
The cooking pots brought my Ceramic Artisan skill up to Lv 3. I wondered idly if I was an artist in my past life. My genius was simply frightening.
I gathered up dried wood and set my large cauldron on it. I opened the top and shot in a puff of Baby’s Breath. I repeated the skill until I had a mountain of ash. I put the storage jars and cooking pots inside, shooting in another Baby’s Breath on top. I wasn’t exactly sure how hot to make it, so I was prepared to end up with a couple cracked pots, but shockingly, none of them broke. Maybe the claybear’s clay was especially durable.
When the pots began to glow white, I stopped Baby’s Breath and piled dirt on top to extinguish the fire. When it cooled, I pulled the pots from the ash and washed the soot and dirt off them in the river.
These look pretty good! Honestly, this went way better than I was expecting.
Back in the cave, I transferred the salt, spices, and meat to their new containers. I lined up the jars and cooking pots and looked around—my cave was beginning to look pretty cheerful. I felt good.
I still had some clay, so maybe I really would try a sculpture next. Once I painted the interior walls and made it all look homey, maybe I could make some bricks and arrange them inside the cave. I could sculpt them from the leftover clay and fire it all with Baby’s Breath. Seemed like tough work, but rewarding.
I had a feeling I’d be holed up in my cave for a while. As for food… Well, I can make do with the jerky for now.
Chapter 6:
Venom Princess Lacerta
PART 1
MY HOME RENOVATIONS were finally almost complete. I spent three days tidying up, preparing the walls and floor, and sweeping out al
l the dust. I piled claybear bricks against the wall and lay graywolf fur carpeting on the floor. I put my handcrafted cooking pots and containers in the corner.
I set stone sculptures on either side of the cave entrance. The clumsiness of my first attempts was long gone; during those three days of crafting, my Ceramic Artisan skill jumped to Lv 4.
Now I was totally prepared for a human caller. Won’t someone show up soon? Once they see such a perfect abode, there’s no way they’ll think I’m some violent dragon.
But in the meantime, I had to get more food. I’d eaten all the jerky I had stored up, and even all the meat that hadn’t dried all the way yet.
If I spent another day working, I’d be left with just the poisoned jerky I made for the orangurangs. They showed up again briefly, but once they saw nothing was left on the trees, they left disappointed. Sorry, losers, I ate it all myself.
It was a good thing I hadn’t left the poisoned jerky out yet. It was hard to tell apart from the good stuff, and I could have easily eaten it accidentally if it had gotten mixed in. Luckily, the color was slightly different, so I could tell if I looked closely.
So after three days inside my cave, I set out on a hunt again. I was really letting my battle practice slide, in favor of renovating. I guess I tend to hyperfixate.
I had no reason to push myself this time. I’d just take it easy and hunt some graywolves. I was craving more jerky.
I was Lv 33 and evolution was drawing nearer, but I still hadn’t racked up any good deeds. I needed to get on that before my next transformation. Laying waste to that narcotic mushroom didn’t really count. For now, though, there was no need to do anything but hunt easy monsters.
And who knew? Maybe the Mr. Chef and Ceramic Artisan skills would be enough to get me off the Evil Dragon path. I could turn myself into a human and live out the rest of my days as an artist. Ha! I bet that would annoy the Divine Voice. It always came off as pretty chill; part of me wanted to see it completely lose its cool and start flooding me with bright red warning text or something. The rest of me was still kind of scared of it.
I was glad I’d gathered so much salt and piperis. I had one pot full of each, which would probably last me at least a year. I was set for seasonings, at least!
My plan was to try to raise my title skills a little each day, and also look for chances to do good, until I gained enough levels to evolve. I’d hunt just as many monsters as I needed to eat. If I got the next evolution wrong, there would be no going back, so I had to be very careful. The Divine Voice had proved itself a manipulator and a liar. I wasn’t going to be deceived by its sweet words again.
As I walked, I used View Status on the forest vegetation. I found nothing but F Value plants, none of them particularly interesting. It was kind of disappointing, really. I’d wanted to try making a potion or something.
Then I spotted some beautiful bright red flowers. I could pull them up by the roots and plant them around the entrance of my cave. Yeah, my next goal could be gardening!
I reached out my hand to use View Status, but some kind of black lump jumped out at me from the brush, sharp fangs aimed right for my undefended arm.
I knocked it aside reflexively, putting some distance between us and dropping into a fighting stance. The thing was a black lizard about two feet long. It must have been hiding in the grass watching me, waiting for a chance to strike.
Species: Venom Princess Lacerta
Status: Normal
Lv: 19/35
HP: 86/108
MP: 117/127
Attack: 52
Defense: 58
Magic: 75
Agility: 128
Rank: D-
Special Skills:
Special Venom: Lv —
Poison Belt: Lv 6
Scale: Lv 1
Undercover: Lv 2
Dark Type: Lv —
Resistance Skills:
Poison Immunity: Lv —
Paralysis Immunity: Lv —
Normal Skills:
Venom Fangs: Lv 3
Venom Claws: Lv 2
Paralyzing Venom Tongue: Lv 3
Double Poison: Lv 2
Roll: Lv 3
Clay Gun: Lv 4
Cure Poison: Lv 1
Surprise Attack: Lv 2
Title Skills:
Bizarre Gastronomist: Lv 5
Poison Master: Lv 4
Cunning: Lv 3
Chicken Runner: Lv 4
What the heck? It’s so fast, and those poison skills seem like bad news! This thing’s beyond my level!
Nah, hang on, maybe it’s closer to an equal match up. It might just look stronger than it is. Its other stats are low, and even though it has a ton of skills, almost all of them are poison-based. There are probably lots of circumstances where it doesn’t have the right skills for the job.
Having dodged my counterattack, the black lizard darted back into the grass and vanished.
Did it run away? No, it’s too soon for that.
I strained my ears. It was probably hiding—it did have the title skill Cunning, after all.
A suspicious rustle in the grass came from my blind spot. I turned toward the sound, braced for it to come jumping out at me. Something did, hitting me with a little tap.
What was that? A pellet of dirt?
Suddenly I remembered the skill Clay Gun. It got me. That was definitely a trap to lure my attention.
I felt an intense heat from my shoulder; it had circled around behind me and latched on. I’m an idiot. Standing around here following the sound of pellets was exactly what it wanted!
I didn’t have time to think. I slammed my shoulder into the tree.
“Giiii!”
The black lizard let out a scream as it was shaken loose and hit the ground. I tried to follow it, but I was distracted by the heat in my shoulder.
“Gssh, gshh, giiiiiiiiish!”
It laughed at me and fled at a frightening speed.
What, it’s just running away? Or is it gonna hide somewhere? And why does my shoulder hurt so much? I have Poison Resistance Lv 3! The wound felt horrible, and it was radiating through my body like something was spreading.
Resistance Skill “Poison Resistance” Lv 3 has become Lv 4.
Oh, it went up! That’s good, at least.
Still, I might be in trouble. The Venom Princess Lacerta had that odd skill—what was it? Special Venom? My shoulder had gone completely numb.
PART 2
THE WAY THE BLACK LIZARD fled our battle prematurely was making me anxious. I glanced at my swollen shoulder with a sinking feeling—I had a feeling that this wound was much worse than any natural regeneration could take care of.
What should I do? Maybe I could make a tourniquet to prevent the poison from circulating further into my body, and then suck out as much poison from the wound as I could? There was no way I could do that with my fangs, though.
Guess I’ll check my stats, then.
Species: Young Plague Dragon
Status: Poison α (Major)
Lv: 33/40
HP: 140/149
MP: 143/143
My status is “Poison α?” What is that? I’ve never seen a condition like that before. Is it different from a regular poison somehow?
Special Skill “Divine Voice” Lv 3 is unable to provide that explanation.
Ugh! Useless!
I need to do something! Should I look for an antidote? I couldn’t remember seeing any plants like that, but what other choice did I have?
I had to think. I’d definitely never seen anything about specific types of poisons in the View Status descriptions, and the Divine Voice was avoiding giving me any information on Poison α. But there had to be some way to get information out of it.
I could check for details about the black lizard’s species on View Status. Maybe the explanation would include something about its venom.
I’d have to find it, but…wait, maybe just seeing the monster up close once was enough
to pull up the information?
All right, give me the details on Venom Princess Lacerta! Come on!
Venom Princess Lacerta: D Rank monster
A monster which emits venom then flees, waiting until its prey is exhausted, then returns to collect the meat. It consumes highly poisonous objects and synthesizes them into strong venom inside of its body.
The creature also secretes body fluid able to neutralize the effects of its own poison. If caught, it will offer the antidote as a trade for its freedom.
Oh, there it is. Well, it’s there, but it sucks. I really ran into something dangerous here. I have to negotiate with a lizard or I’m gonna die? Well, at least now I know what to do. I’ll find it, catch it, show it I mean business, and make it cure me.
It was really fast, though, and a fellow practitioner of Roll. This would be difficult. Still, since becoming a dragon I’d fought and run away over and over again. I was confident that I understood the psychology of a creature running from battle.
Luckily, there was a plant nearby that had regenerative properties—Rest Grass: Value E. I pulled up a handful and wrapped it around my shoulder. At the very least, it would delay the poison from traveling to the rest of my body.
Searching for the black lizard would be difficult in my current state. I wasn’t particularly confident in my sense of smell or hearing. I had no idea where it had gone, plus it was incredibly quick and totally silent.
I thought back to when it poisoned me. First, it sent out that clay pellet as a distraction. That was probably its Clay Gun skill. I wasn’t able to resist following the arc of it with my eyes, and that was when the lizard circled behind to attack.
It probably realized a normal attack wouldn’t work on me, so it purposely missed with Clay Gun. If it had aimed right at me, I could have easily evaded and turned my attention to the source of the shots.
This wasn’t some ordinary lizard I had to negotiate with. My life was on the line here, and I could be dealing with something much smarter than me.
I needed to stop dwelling on my failure and figure out a way to find the lizard. Then I’d force it into a race using our Roll skills. I could corner it at the cliff, the same one I crossed to escape the huge spider and defeat the Giant Potortoise. I was starting to feel a growing kinship with that cliff…although using the local geography to your advantage wasn’t exactly an uncommon battle tactic.
