So Richard spent the next few days in what could be considered quite the repetitive schedule. He hunted slimes, sharpened claws, and arranged his home some more, which came off more comfortable than before. The slime hunting had improved as well. Richard had started hunting the higher-level slimes, even hunting two levels above him. That wasn’t that impressive as even the higher-level slimes could really only splash him, charge at him, or even shoot a jelly spray at him, it didn’t take long for him to adapt. On the bright side, it allowed him to get better at maneuvering his new body, and although he was getting better at handling it, it was a very chubby body. He did occasionally stumble and fall over once in a while. His appraisal also benefitted during this time, as he received this notification:

[Appraisal has leveled up to level 2]

Although it didn’t do too much more, he could now see the health of a foe. Not a perfect indicator, true, but it would allow micromanagement, which would be very beneficial.

At some point during his time hunting slimes, he found out there were fish in the river. Nothing huge mind you, no tuna or any particularly dangerous sea monsters, though the occasional koi or snapping turtle bit him or spat at him using a form of magic. Sadly, appraisal wasn’t high enough for him to identify the type of magic Speaking of magic…

[status]

Name: Richard

Species: Dragon (Hatchling)

Level 8

Health: 180/180

Spd: 18

ATK: 28

Mana: 58

Skills: Scratch, Glide, Screech, Appraisal(lvl 2), sharpening

Mana circles: 0

Points: 200

Skill Points: 7

[Inventory]

[Gacha]

[Shop]

Richard decided to finally put the skill points he had to use. Although he had a good deal of points, the gacha cost 100 per pull for eggs, with a 50 percent refund if he chose to return the egg. Although there was also plenty of other things, he had decided to save his points until he reached a point where he could get a alright egg at the very least. Nothing amazing was necessary, but if it was a first level bird than it wouldn’t be worth the time to train it alongside his own training. He needed a partner who could fight alongside himself as equals if this mountain was as dangerous as he suspected. So skills would come first. Although some skills like [hellstorm] or [atomic breath] were expensive, costing hundreds of points, the descriptions described them like forces of nature, capable of sending a kingdom to ruin. What really appealed to him right now was the basic skills, which only cost 1 point each. Currently those were appealing, especially at a time where his only skills were a sharpening skill and a scrying skill. So he purchased [fire ball] [shock] [splash][vine whip] [icicle] [rock smash] [wind slash] and spent all 7 points this way. He also saw heal, but decided that would come later. He would have more levels to get more points to spend.

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Upon purchasing the skills from the shop that showed up on the blue screen, he felt a shock going through his mind. He just seemed to know how to use these skills all of a sudden, as the concepts came to his mind. Of course, knowing and using are 2 very different things. The fireball unlike mages didn’t manifest in front of him, but rather built up in his chest before traveling through his throat and bursting from his mouth. When it hit a tree it caused a small burn mark. Although it didn’t seem impressive at first glance, Richard had long discovered the trees here were harder than rocks. So this could be seen as an achievement. Shock and icicle both came out from his mouth, while icicle caused a numbing cold feeling to spread through his chest, and shock felt fuzzy before it came out. Rock smash caused his hand to harden to a rock like substance which allowed him to straight up bash a slime. Wind slash erupted from his rarely used wings, with a single flick from his wings erupting in a blue flash of wind flying at the opponent, leaving a very clean cut, managing to even graze the same tree the fireball hit. Splash and vine whip reacted differently in contrast from the other spells, being reliant on outside forces. Vine whip sprang out from the ground and slapped the tree hard, though it lacked the impact wind slash did, feeling more like a brute weapon, though he found he could also use it to grab things. Could be convenient if not for the fact that as a dragon he had opposable thumbs. Maybe that could be useful later on. Splash allowed him to control water near him for one, well, splash. It didn’t seem to hurt much, though it could be used to blind someone mid combat. That could be useful. He wondered if he had chosen hydroblast if that would’ve acted similar to icicle and the other projectile spells. Or for that matter, why do they come from his body, rather than manifesting similar to how mages usually do. After all, mages rarely breathe fire, though depending on skill and species that could still happen. It was certainly something to play with. And he would. After all, according to the system, he still needed two more levels before he could evolve, as the system had told him the level limit of [hatchling] was 10. Not only that, but two more skill points were waiting for him. Richards trotted off, excited to experience his first evolution.

…

The forest surrounding the area where Richard currently resides is a dense are with not a single mana-based lifeform, due to not only the slime’s lack of interest in those areas, but also due to the naturally formed wall that surrounded the area, preventing other creatures from getting in. However, there are still gaps. Just the tiniest gaps. However even these tiniest gaps…

The monster climbed out from the hole it had found, and took a deep sniff. It was completely absent of any familiarly dangerous scents, and while there was something that felt dangerous, it also smelled young. They die best when they’re young. The creature’s eyes glowed with anticipation.

… can let something unwanted in.