I spent most of the next day exploring more of the jungle. Regrettably, I didn’t find anything remarkable throughout my wanderings.

At some point I had crafted a small pouch with vines and leaves to carry my stuff which I latched around my neck. It reminded me a bit of a Saint Bernard dog with its small barrel.

I looked inside at my findings. I had a few shiny rocks which would do nicely for my hoard, I got another golden carrot on the way out for emergencies and I also plucked a couple different fruits I found along the way.

A measly bounty but at least it’s not empty…

As the day wore on, the dense canopy overhead filtered the sunlight into a mosaic of light and shadow. Just as I was about to call it a day, a distant noise caught my attention. It sounded like a chaotic mess of growls and screeches.

Intrigued and cautious, I decided to investigate. I moved stealthily, my Explorer instincts guiding me through the underbrush with silent grace. As I neared the source of the commotion it was clear that a battle was taking place. I slowed down, my senses heightened. Peering through a dense thicket, I witnessed the scene.

Two horncrests were embroiled in a fierce battle with a gemtail.

I looked around the battle arena some more, and off to the side I noticed one of the baboons laid wounded, its breaths coming in labored gasps, yet it was still alive. The fourth, a mother, hung back, a tiny baby horncrest wrapped tightly around her chest. I also noticed a deep gash on one of her legs which made it impossible for her to walk.

Nearby I also noticed small piles of berries and other fruits.

Were the horncrests caught off guard while foraging?

I turned my attention back to the battle. The two fighting baboons were relentless, darting in and out, trying to find an opening in the gemtail's defense. But the large lizard clearly had the upper hand, swinging its tail and claws with precision and power. The horncrests had the agility to keep dodging, but their movements quickly started to look sluggish from the prolonged fight.

The two could easily just dart away into the safety of the canopy, but from my previous encounter with one of their kind, I knew they would never do that. They were going to die protecting the mother with the baby.

Just as I finished my thought one of the horncrests lost its footing and the gemtail seized the opportunity to land a clean tail swipe to its side, sending it tumbling against a large tree. The last horncrest charged at the lizard to avenge his friend, but the fatigued movement allowed the gemtail to quickly regain its stance and dodge the attack. As the ram-like charge left the horncrest exposed, the gemtail ended the confrontation by slashing with its claws at its back and the baboon slumped to the ground, unmoving.

The victorious lizard turned to the last remaining horncrest who hadn't passed out and slowly made its way towards it. The mother couldn’t run with her wounded leg, so she set the baby behind her and put herself in the middle to act as a shield.

This is not my fight… It was already hard enough to fight one of those things last time.

I looked at the lizard stop right before the mother baboon, almost like toying with its prey.

Damn it all, I am not a monster. I might regret this but I can’t just stand here and do nothing.

Suddenly, the gemtail lifted its claw to strike. The horncrest closed its eyes and enveloped the baby in a last hope to protect it, but the attack never came. Slowly opening its eyes the baboon looked astonished as the entire arm of the gemtail was wrapped up in vines and stuck to the ground.

After stopping its attack, I willed the vines and small roots nearby the gemtail into motion as I stepped out of the bushes to the side and charged at my enemy. The lizard didn’t have time to react as it struggled against the multitude of plants trying to envelop it. Just as I got close I lowered my head, pointing my horns forward and hitting its flank.

The impact of my charge was more forceful than I anticipated, sending the gemtail reeling to the side, its scales scraping against the dirt and leaves. The lizard let out a roar, a mixture of surprise and fury, as it attempted to shake off the vines binding its limbs.

I didn't give it a moment's respite as I seized the opportunity to launch another assault.

Darting around to its front, I avoided its snapping jaws and slashed at its chest, landing a glancing blow before retreating out of its range.

The gemtail fought against the bindings with all its might, I could see the confusion and panic in its eyes as it realized that it was not only fighting me but the very forest itself.

I circled around my prey looking for an opening to strike. With a roar of my own, I lunged forward, aiming for the gemtail's underbelly, where its scales were softer. My attack found its mark as I tore through its lower flank. The gemtail let out a painful cry and thrashed wildly in an attempt to land a hit, breaking many of the vines in the process.

In a moment of chaos as I avoided a tail swipe, the lizard caught me off guard with another claw strike. I couldn’t avoid the incoming hit so I braced and intercepted the sharp claw with my own. As we collided, the force of the impact reverberated through my body, yet, to my astonishment, I held my ground. The gemtail's claw met with the hard scales of my forearm, and for a moment, we were locked in a stalemate.

Guess I am getting stronger huh…

I let a grin spread through my snout and with a fierce growl, I pushed back against the gemtail's attack. The lizard stumbled, taken aback by the force of my counter, its claw sliding off my scales without inflicting the damage it had intended.

I didn’t relent and started striking again and again. The lizard was now on the backfoot and clearly panicking. As a final attempt, it lunged forward in an attempt to retaliate, but that was exactly what I was waiting for.

I easily avoided the attack and delivered a final, powerful swipe to its neck. The lizard let out a final cry as blood gushed out from its wounds. It stumbled a few more steps before collapsing on the ground.

Phytomancer - Experience +100

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Explorer - Experience +50

The silence that followed was deafening, interrupted only by my heavy panting. After a few moments I heard rustling behind me and remembered about the horncrests.

I turned and found one of the male baboons looking at me from a distance, clearly on guard towards my movements. I noticed the mother and its baby behind it still on the ground and scoured the surroundings for the other two horncrests. I was quick to locate their bodies, wounded and bruised. They didn’t make it.

Maybe if I had acted more quickly, they could have saved themselves…

My heart clenched a bit for these creatures.

No, this was not my fight to begin with, it is merely nature taking its course.

I went back to my vine pouch which I had safely tucked under some bushes before jumping in the fight. Opening it, I took out the healroot that I had with me in case of emergency.

I turned around and made my way towards the baboons. The male looked at me approaching and squared up to face me, but I wasn’t looking for a fight.

I stopped halfway and gave the horncrests one final look, before dropping the healroot on the ground and walking back to the lizard’s corpse. I wasn’t afraid of them attacking me as I turned my back towards them. Even if they were fully healed I could probably easily take them on without too much issue.

I walked up to the gemtail looking for its prized possession, and part of the reason why I joined in the fight as well. With a few swift motions I separated the gem from its tail and wrapped it up in a vine harness just like last time.

As I started moving away from the battleground I took one last look back and noticed the male horncrest had picked up the healroot and was feeding it to the wounded mother and baby.

I smiled and returned on my path, my thoughts returning to my lair. My smile shifted into a grin as I realized I was carrying with me another great bounty to add to my hoard.

I traversed the jungle floor at a much slower speed, after all I didn’t want to damage the large gem. While on the way back, I came face to face with a crab that was probably scouting for food.

Mysteriously, after I squared off and tried to look as big as possible the creature quickly retreated into the underbrush.

Wow, am I that scary now? Just a few days ago it would have attacked me without a second thought.

I didn’t give chase, I just wanted to bring back my bounty safely and get some rest.

It took a while longer to get back to my lair but the rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful. I dragged the gem and other small shiny trinkets into the cave and excitedly opened my hoard status.

Dragon’s lair

Current hoard value: Sparse (82%)

Body

+1

Reflexes

+0

Mind

+0

Cool

+0

Mysticism (racial)

+0

“What? Last time it was much more valuable!”

I took a moment to thoroughly examine the gem and compare it to the one I already had. Nothing stood out as they looked pretty identical to me.

I sat down, my head leaning between my paws.

“Have I been scammed? Was that a fake gemtail?”

Clarification. The User defeated a regular sized adult gemtail.

I jumped at the sudden message.

“System! Then was the gem of lower quality?”

Answer. The gem was of equal quality to the one previously retrieved.

“Then why did this one add less value to my hoard?”

I looked at the hoard and one more thing dawned on me. I also brought back a number of small shiny rocks. Their value was bound to be small but not just to give me a 2% increase.

Answer. An object’s value progressively decreases as more of the same kind are added to the hoard.

“Well that is just an unfair rule.”

Clarification. This limitation was put in place to limit the power growth of certain dragons and - -

I looked at the message waiting for it to complete, but it seemed to cut off abruptly and showed no sign of continuing.

“System? Is everything alright? You were finally about to tell me something interesting right there…”

No answer.

Why do I get the feeling I was about to learn something I should not have.

I shrugged and sat back onto my purple bed.

Not much to do about it right now I guess.

I grabbed one of the new fruits that I had plucked on the way out in the morning. It just looked like a normal orange.

Name

Citronburst

Description

A radiant fruit bursting with a citrus aroma

Safety

Safe to consume

Special properties

Nutritious

Citronburst? Why does it have a suspicious name…

I hesitated for a moment, then looked back at the fruit’s info panel.

I guess if the system says it’s safe to consume, then it’s alright.

I took a bite out of it and immediately, the fruit exploded with unexpected force right into my face, drenching it in tangy juice.

Startled and slightly annoyed, I sputtered and wiped the sticky liquid from my eyes, grumbling under my breath.

“Never underestimate exploding oranges.”

I muttered, looking at the remains of the citronburst. I scoffed and settled back into my bed while munching on the rest of the fruit.

Clarification. Fully ripe citronbursts have developed a curious way of spreading their seeds over far distances and -

I closed the panel.

“Shut up system! You could have told me that earlier!”