Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling Vol. 1

by Necoco

  I put the four-leaf clover down on the pile. Then I saw one with five leaves. I wondered if, true to their name, they went all the way up to seven leaves for the seven colors of the rainbow. But my excitement from finding a four-leaf clover was starting to fade, so I decided to come back to them later.

  “Gssh?”

  The black lizard looked up at me as if to say, “Are you finished?”

  I nodded and we kept walking.

  Smelling a sweet and tempting fragrance, I picked a nearby flower, only to check its status and realize it was poisonous. I passed it to the black lizard. I found a pretty red flower and checked its status: A flower that blooms on top of human corpses. Often grows around battlefields and cemeteries. I immediately jumped away. The rest of the walk was a bust.

  “Gssh, gssh!”

  The lizard came to an abrupt stop and turned towards me, making an angry noise. I sensed caution in its voice, which put me on edge.

  Hm? What’s going on? Did I accidentally step on your tail?

  “Gssh, gshh!”

  I didn’t know what it was trying to tell me so I just stood there as its cries grew higher and higher pitched.

  Is it mad because I tossed that poisonous flower over to it or something? Nah, it looked like it really enjoyed it. Maybe assuming it would eat it was insulting somehow?

  “Gssh!”

  Suddenly a light enveloped the black lizard and several yellow clay lumps shot out. It was using its Clay Gun skill.

  That was when I finally realized that something was very wrong. I jumped aside and hit the ground, rolling and leaping to my feet to get out of the way of the gun’s path. Several clay bullets blasted through the spot where I had just been standing.

  A bizarre creature leapt out from the brush where the lizard had aimed the Clay Gun bullets.

  “Ga-woof, ga-woof!”

  It was a huge two-headed dog.

  The faces had creepy, squashed-in noses. Not only were the two heads totally freaky, I could feel an intense mental pressure as it squared off against me. But the scariest part by far was the contrasting expressions on the two faces.

  The left one had an intimidatingly angry face, and the other one had such a sad crying face that it almost made me feel sorry for it. Both were so expressive that it was hard to believe it was a monster. The dichotomy threw me off balance and, frankly, scared the crap out of me.

  I didn’t even have to check its status to know that this guy was bad news.

  PART 2

  “GRRR…grrr…”

  “Bow-wah! Bow-wah!”

  The right head, the crying one, looked like it wanted to run away, but the angry one was ready to fight.

  Is this a bit, you weird monster?

  At any rate, I backed up and checked its status.

  Species: Twinheads

  Status: Fury + Fear

  Lv: 39/45

  HP: 155/155

  MP: 210/221

  Attack: 135

  Defense: 94

  Magic: 135

  Agility: 138

  Rank: D+

  Special Skills:

  Smell: Lv 4

  Acid Drool: Lv 5

  Stealth: Lv 4

  Twinheads: Lv —

  Split Personality: Lv —

  Resistance Skills:

  Confusion Resistance: Lv 3

  Hunger Resistance: Lv 5

  Normal Skills:

  Rest: Lv 4

  Gravity: Lv 2

  Gravidon: Lv 3

  Bite: Lv 3

  Beast Tackle: Lv 4

  Scorching Breath: Lv 3

  Marking: Lv 3

  Sacrifice: Lv —

  Title Skills:

  Delegator: Lv 5

  Gravity Master: Lv 3

  Tenacious: Lv 5

  Infighter: Lv 3

  Ravenous: Lv 4

  Chaser: Lv 2

  It looked almost funny with its mad and sad faces next to each other, but its stats were super rough. It was definitely not something I wanted to take on unprepared. Looked like the Little Rock Dragon wasn’t the only dangerous monster out here.

  Lately I’d only come across super easy monsters; I’d let my guard down. I even let some really low level guys get away. I kept checking monsters’ statuses from afar, and if their stats were too high, I ran. But that tactic only worked if I spotted them first.

  The dog had skills to detect its prey, stealth to hide itself and guarantee first strike, and enough agility to ensure its prey wouldn’t escape. My usual battle tactics weren’t going to work here. It had all the skills a hunter needed to survive in the wild.

  Its skill Tenacious sounded familiar. I was pretty sure the giant taranturouge spider had it. So just how long was this thing going to chase me around?

  Even if I ran, escaping wouldn’t be easy. I bet Marking was some kind of tracking skill. If it were just me, I might be able to escape with Roll, but the black lizard’s Roll would lose too much speed navigating through this maze of trees. Besides, the dog’s Scent skill might mean it could follow me all the way back to my cave. I’d just have to break my usual rule and fight it here, then try to avoid this area going forward. Not even interesting plants could tempt me back to an obviously dangerous environment.

  I was happy that it was a monster I could theoretically beat, at least. If it had been another C Rank dragon, it would all be over. Still, if I wanted to get out of here alive, I needed to come up with a plan.

  All of the twinheads’s stats were ridiculously high, and all of its skills looked stupidly dangerous. There were a lot of skills I’d never even seen before, but their names were pretty self-explanatory. It had a formidable balance of mid-range attacks, close-range attacks, and recovery skills.

  I looked over at the black lizard just as it glanced up at me.

  “Raaar.”

  “Gssh.”

  I could tell by its voice that it had come to the same conclusion I had. If we both wanted to make it out of this one alive, we would have to work together.

  The black lizard used Roll, racing in a straight line right past the twinheads and jumping into the brush, moving at its highest speed. It wouldn’t be able to maintain that momentum through this terrain, but over a short, straight distance it was fine.

  Its speed was such that the twinheads temporarily lost sight of the lizard and had to take a moment to reorient itself to its trail. But the black lizard hadn’t run away. It was hidden, waiting for an opportunity to strike. If it used its venom, we’d just have to draw the battle out until it took effect. That was where I came in.

  The head on the left focused on the brush where the lizard lay in wait. The sad face was the one looking at me, and since the monster’s attention was split, I figured this was the best chance I’d get. I’d much rather deal with the sad one anyway. It looks way more vulnerable.

  My plan was a simple punch, pummeling the twinheads with close-range attacks and trying to find a weakness.

  “Ba-wow…”

  The right head opened its mouth and howled, and a black light spread out from between the two heads. It spread wider and streaked toward me, too fast to dodge. The light hit me, and immediately my body felt extremely heavy.

  That must be its Gravity attack.

  With a strange deflating noise, the earth beneath the expanse of light began to sink, giving way under the pressure. The immense weight pressed down on me until I fell to my knees in front of the twinheads.

  “Grrr…grrr…”

  “Bow-wah! Bow-wah!”

  The two-headed dog glared at me as I lay vulnerable in front of it. Then it pounced.

  Uh-oh…

  The force from Gravity lifted. I managed to stand, but when I tried to settle into a fighting stance, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my movements were still slowed.

  “Gssh!”

  Bullets from the black lizard’s Clay Gun shot out from the brush, hurtling at the twinheads. The sad face turned to look back and quickly evaded the bull
ets. The other head, the angry one, opened its mouth wide and stretched out toward me.

  Going up against a monster with 138 agility was pretty rough. My own speed wasn’t at a hundred percent, so I couldn’t fend it off. A direct hit from this thing could come way too close to killing me outright. I decided taking a glancing blow to my shoulder would be better than a failed attempt to escape.

  Sharp pain tore through me as the angry head’s fangs sunk in. I braced myself against its superior attack power, but it still hurt much more than I was expecting. It seemed intent on ripping off my left arm completely. I needed to shake it off before it had the chance.

  “Boww?”

  “Raaaar!”

  One of the heads swiveled toward the black lizard, and I pummeled it with my right fist. Dragon Punch landed cleanly, bones crunching.

  “Arooo!”

  It clearly didn’t expect it to hurt that much. Since the left head was the one facing me, the right head was completely unprepared. Everything in its body telegraphed that it had been planning to defend the left head.

  I ignored the searing pain in my shoulder and dug my claws into the right head, taking hold of it. That was two for two. Then, suddenly, the black lizard appeared from behind, its cheeks puffed up.

  “Raaaar!”

  Go, black lizard, go! Poison me too if you have to! You can just cure me later!

  Poisonous gas shot from the lizard’s mouth. The sinister-looking smoke spread, enveloping me and the twinheads all at once.

  PART 3

  THE POISONOUS SMOKE the black lizard shot out obscured my vision. A burning heat spread through my body and I heaved with nausea. On the bright side, the twinheads must be feeling the same.

  Now that the left head’s attention was elsewhere, I punched it hard and yanked my shoulder out of its mouth. Its fangs scraped against my flesh, breaking the skin further, but I didn’t have time to worry about further damage. I kicked the twinheads right on the nose and sprang backwards, escaping from the lizard’s noxious cloud.

  I pitched to the side as soon as I landed, falling to my knees. I must’ve inhaled a whole lot of that poison. Man, I felt sick. But the twinheads could pounce on me at any moment, so I didn’t have any time to waste. I forced myself to my feet, gritting my fangs against the pain of the bite. I had to check and see how much damage had been done.

  Species: Young Plague Dragon

  Status: Poison α (Slight)

  Lv: 33/40

  HP: 69/149

  MP: 135/143

  My status condition was Poison α (Slight), huh? I guess black lizard’s fangs were worse than the cloud, then. I’d have to wait for an opportunity for it to cure me. I’d stick close by until the twinheads was vanquished.

  The fight was definitely leaning in our favor, but it was too early to call a victory just yet. My left arm was useless—when I tried to raise it, it just trembled slightly. The bite wound was deep, and even worse, some of the poison had seeped into it.

  Finally, the cloud cleared and the twinheads came back into view. I checked to make sure the poison had affected it as well.

  Species: Twinheads

  Status: Fury + Fear + Poison α

  Lv: 39/45

  HP: 113/155

  MP: 190/221

  Hm? It doesn’t say (Slight) after it. Mine must be a light case since I have Poison Resistance. Yet another advantage in my column. I did some damage, but it had Rest and plenty of MP. It still had me beat in stats, and its abilities made it difficult to attack.

  “Arooo!”

  The right head let out a howl. The other head—the one I’d punched and kicked—began recovering HP. I would’ve liked to use this opportunity to punch it again, but the left head was keeping a close eye on me. Yeah, you’d better recognize my power. If I went by their expressions, I’d guess that the left head was the attacker and the right head was the magic user. The right had been the one to use Gravity.

  Regardless, one of them was distracted, and it would be a waste to let the opportunity slip by. I wanted to do some real damage, so I aimed Baby’s Breath and fired.

  The left head drew in a deep breath and shot a gout of flames from its mouth, the force of it extinguishing my Baby’s Breath and rushing towards my unprotected body. So not only did it have recovery magic, gravity magic, and close-range attacks, but also had a breath attack?! What can’t this guy do?

  I spread my wings and retreated, putting some distance between us.

  “Ba-wow!”

  Before I could get away, the twinheads charged me. Clay Gun shot off in its direction again. It sped up but couldn’t evade the attack, so it took the rock bullets in the back of the leg, knocking it off balance. I expected it to collapse right on the spot, but it just froze.

  Nice, black lizard! Great job!

  The twinheads used its special skill Scent to sniff out the general direction of my friend, but the lizard was pretty quick. The twinheads was struggling. It knew vaguely where Clay Gun was coming from, but it couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, and so couldn’t predict its trajectory.

  It moved so quickly that for a moment I wondered whether the poison was really working.

  “Ba-wooow.”

  The crying head howled, opening its mouth wide. A black light spilled forth, swirling and growling bigger and bigger, forming a sphere.

  What the heck was that?

  I double-checked its skills.

  Normal Skills:

  Rest: Lv 4

  Gravity: Lv 2

  Gravidon: Lv 3

  Bite: Lv 3

  Beast Tackle: Lv 4

  Scorching Breath: Lv 3

  Marking: Lv 3

  Sacrifice: Lv —

  By process of elimination, I figured it was Gravidon. The longer charging time probably meant it was even more dangerous than Gravity. I was surprised it would use such a slow-acting attack right in the middle of a battle, but maybe it was used to using its other head to defend while the magic head gathered power. Still, I couldn’t just throw away an advantage against an enemy with such incredible sensory skills.

  My best chance was to strike now, while the right head was frozen and its field of vision was narrow. Now was the time to use an attack that would do guaranteed damage. I was in a pinch, but this was still a great opportunity.

  “Raaaar!”

  I blasted it with Baby’s Breath. If it used Scorching Breath again to counterattack, that would tie up both heads, and the black lizard could take care of the rest.

  The twinheads’s left mouth twitched slightly, and it casually stepped aside, ignoring my attack. Heh. So you’re not gonna fall for it, huh?

  I circled around to the monster’s right side, trying to get closer. The left head strained toward me. I was blessed with poison resistance, but this monster wasn’t. A direct hit from the black lizard’s Venom Fangs would probably take it down.

  “Gsssh!”

  Even as I thought this, the black lizard appeared from the brush and blew a spray of mist towards the twinheads. That was its second use of Poison Belt today.

  “Grrr…grrr…”

  “!!!”

  The right head stayed silent. I had a feeling that if it lost concentration, its half-charged Gravidon would fail. The twinheads scrambled to get out of the cloud of poisonous smoke as quickly as possible. I jumped right through it, aiming a Dragon Punch right at its torso.

  The black lizard followed me into the cloud and leapt at the twinheads.

  “Awwooo!”

  The right head cried out. The black light inside of its mouth burst with a sound like an explosion. Gravidon must’ve failed. The smoke dissipated, revealing the twinheads with both tongues hanging out, struggling for breath. They stared me and the black lizard down, eyes glimmering dangerously.

  Both the angry face and sad face had the look of wounded beasts. The creature’s eyes were red and bloodshot from the poison. The failed Gravidon skill had busted the right head’s fangs right out of its mouth. Its
fur was torn off in patches, and it sluggishly dripped blood. A huge scratch painted one of its eyelids, swelling the eye firmly shut. The black lizard must have gotten a hit in while we were in the poison cloud.

  Now I was sure it had gotten a mega dose of poison. If I hadn’t wrapped up my shoulder in a torniquet when I fought the lizard, preventing the venom from circulating, I most certainly would have died.

  If the twinheads wanted to use my strategy, it would have to choke itself. I say go right ahead.

  PART 4

  THE TWINHEADS glared at me, its tongues dangling out of its mouths.

  Frightening, but I was comforted by the fact that it didn’t have much time left. The poison was clearly circulating through the right head. In moments, it would travel from its neck to its torso, then infect its entire body.

  “B-Ba-wooww…”

  It was using its recovery magic, Rest.

  The right head howled, and a few of the twinheads’s wounds healed, but the restorative magic did nothing against the poison raging in its veins. Its breathing was still ragged, its eye still swollen shut.

  Species: Twinheads

  Status: Poison α (Major)

  Lv: 39/45

  HP: 141/155

  MP: 112/221

  The twinhead’s desire to fight was gone. The black lizard’s venom was just that scary. No matter how many times it tried to cast Rest, the poison would just start chipping away at its stamina again an instant later. The fur around the right head’s eye was already starting to fall out.

  Honestly, at that point the black lizard and I could probably Roll out of there to wait until the twinheads collapsed. I was poisoned too and could really use the lizard’s cure. But…

  “Boww.”

  “Grr…”

  The twinheads’s two faces looked at each other, nodded, and let out a mournful howl. Then it raised a clawed hand and knocked its own head clean off.

  “What the heck?!”

  It decapitated the right head—the one poisoned by Venom Claws. I understood it needed to stop the spread of the poison, but that was a little extreme!