Day 210

  He plunged down into his cave, tired from the flight around the mountain, which was again starting to get too small for him... again, ‘I should get around to making it bigger’. But before that, he had to take a nap after the flight… it was seriously a workout flying, who would have thought.

  Dragon nourishment: 25

  Luckily, he still had some reserves. ‘Twenty-five seemed like so much before,‘ but now he went through it in a day if he was busy. He sighed. That was the point, though.

  The lair was now a lot more comfortable. He had the entrance reinforced to the point that it could take an attack from even him. Not that it could take more than one attack … but it was the thought that counted.

  He also continued building the stone wall, where he could write about what his plan was and what type of monster he had met. And killed… and what were his favorite food stops?

  The valley was now a hive of activity, and sometimes, a stupid monster that hadn't met anything that could kill it, would walk into his lair… it was like food delivery he didn't order… sometimes it was irritating, but most times... it was free food, with no effort needed.

  He also had made a sleeping spot next to his Mana stones. He now had 12 of the things. He wasn’t sure what to do with them. But one thing they made a lot of was ambient mana. Could he make Enchantments?

  Maybe in the future, when he wasn't so hungry and could use more magic than just harden wall and Mana blast… He had named them… naming them did help with the mental prep of doing the mana control bit, so it was a start to become the first wizard… lizard.

  Focusing back on what he had discovered, however, was more important than magic. He had flown around the mountain and discovered that, yes, there were horrors and monsters bigger than him down in the lowlands he had dubbed it. The land below the valley and the mountain top.

  'If I am not wrong, one of the huge fuckers was a Tyrannosaurus.’ or something close to it. He wasn't against going down there, the opposite, actually. He just needs a way to conceal the lair… he didn't want another mosquito incident— it had already happened three times.

  What filled him with questions was... is there any Intelligent life out there? For almost a year now, he hadn't seen much. The only candidate was an ape-like creature using a stick to scratch its back. It was kind of bad... because he ate the monkey.

  He did make sure not to eat entire species like the goats. And he had started to… hmmm control the population of bigger predators in the valley… It was almost like a zoo for him now.

  But first, he needed a nap.

  Day 211

  After a good nap, and a snack, the flying bugs that were still pissing him off.

  Isaac had started descending the mountain, a mix of gliding down as his wings had grown even more out now. Flying was still difficult, but he could manage it for a bit; however, it was exciting, but required a lot of energy.

  Gliding it was.

  As Isaac neared the bottom of the mountain, he realized that this was very much different from the valley on the mountain top. It was cold, very cold.

  He shuddered.

  Isaac was not a fan of the cold, and his dragon brain was in agreement there.’ I wonder if the spawned monsters are different here.’ He thought as his eyes landed on his target.

  It was a bipedal lizard, kind of like a Tyrannosaurus, but with only scales and a bit bigger then him. Luckily, he had magic on his side.

  Focusing the magic in him, he started to draw it out, concentrating it into a ball. It started to glow, but he didn't worry too much. He just needed the power. The dino monster, however, stared looking around it, looking like it had sensed him.

  Just as Isaac released the metaphorical trigger, they locked eyes.

  The monster somehow knew that the ball of light was bad and narrowly dodged the ball of death. It was still within the blast radius and knocked to the ground, shaken. Isaac didn’t let the opportunity slip by and jumped out of his hiding spot. Going for a claw strike.

  The monster did something Isaac wasn't expecting in response, and its tail swerved around, making a cracking sound… slapping the shit out of him, almost blasting a tooth out of him. He went crashing to the ground, dizzy but still focused on the Dino monster.

  In a bit of a drunken stumble, he started to circle the monster. It hissed and growled at him, but a pool of something red formed on the ground below it. It’s wounded, he now realized.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  It was still bigger and a bit faster than him; Isaac now knew.

  He needed an attack, and mana was the best way so far. He had used a bit under one hundred on the last attack. But that would take too much time. He needed something fast.

  In a split-second decision, Isaac feigned an attack. The Dino, in response, whipped its tail around. But Isaac was prepared, dodging backwards, getting the space he needed. The second he could, he started gathering as much mana as he could, but in two different nodes.

  For its part, the monster realized Isaac was doing something bad and went for the attack.

  Gotcha

  Isaac let go of the magic, and both of the Mana blasts shot out. One missed, the other hit it dead on. It wasn't as powerful, but it pierced its scales and drew blood. And Isaac, right behind the attack, his claws striking its face.

  It howled in pain, and it tried to retaliate with a bite, but Isaac clawed its mouth shut, his strength greater than the bigger monster. They fell over, and Isaac seized the advantage. Claws and bites were exchanged. Isaac quickly figured out that it wouldn’t get through his scales easily. But its tail was the monster's strength.

  It tried to surprise him with another tail attack. But this time, Isaac was prepared.

  He opened his mouth, and Arcane Dragonfire came out.

  It shrieked in response, the pain too much for the monster... and the fight was over. It sagged over, blood loss and the pain tipping it over the edge.

  The kill notifications came seconds after the last flame dissipated.

  You have defeated a level 15 Whip tail.

  ‘No skill level ups, but damn, fifteen.’ That level seemed a bit much. However, he had evolved and acquired new skills. He was quite drained after the fight, too. How much mana did he have anyway?

  Manna Pool:108/231

  It was, however, good to know that his more powerful Mana Blast would drain that much. The question was, though,’ How much will you satisfy my hunger?’ He asked himself, looking at the dead Whip tail.

  And he still hadn't found out what his Arcane Dragonfire did. It was hot as hell. But more than that, he didn't know.

  After eating the fucker Isaac was quite stocked up on food for now. But it wasn’t quite full.

  Dragon nourishment: 50

  And fifty wasn’t much anymore. ‘ damn numbers grinding do go up after some levels,’ but he was still progressing somewhat.

  That reminded him, how were his stats doing?

  Arcane Dragon: youngling

  Level: 3

  Dragon nourishment: 50

  Mana nourishment 2nd stage: Low medium~

  Mana pool: 180/ 231

  Skills:

  Mana Bite level 12

  Arcane Claws level 14

  Mana control 5

  ?

  Arcane sight level 4

  ?

  Arcane focus level 4

  Evasion level 4

  Arcane Dragonfire level 2

  He had leveled everything a bit over the last few days, and each skill had leveled. But his level had stalled, and he could feel that his next level up was.. close?

  He hadn't felt that before. Had he?

  The power of leveling was a great question, and now that he was an Arcane Dragon, everything that was a part of him, he could feel a lot more. That included his mana and the mana of others. As he could now feel, for lack of a better word, the “leveling” on a new level clearer than before.

  He looked closer to the monster he had killed, and then himself.... He could see the mana motes leaving what was left of the monster. But… Something was missing from it, his arcane sight told him, but what?

  He couldn’t put his claws on it, for now at least. But something was missing that he was sure of.

  You have leveled Arcane Sight to level 5

  For a split second, he could feel the power flow into a part of him, a part that he could turn the skill off and on from.

  Hmm interesting. He needed to test this more. And he had the perfect test subject in the area.

  ?