As soon as I am closer the thing attacks me with its claws, but when I dodge back I fall into its trap. Quick as a flash the thing darts forwards after me and wraps me up with its body. It starts trying to crush me but I barely feel any pressure, it isn't strong enough to crush me.

With my strength I can easily push the snake body back and give myself some room to move. I could just cut the body apart but doing so would do a lot of damage to the skin. If at all possible I want to just cut the head off so that the entire skin stays intact.

As soon as I force the drake's coils away from me it withdraws and spits acid at me again. As I dodge the acid I can't help but compare this drake to the drake I fought in the trials. It is intelligent and changes tactics based on the situation unlike common monsters.

This makes it a much harder opponent and I find myself getting excited as we circle each other looking for an opening. As I move around I sheath my new swords and draw the sword I got from the ettin chief. The bigger sword is better in this situation where I am trying to keep damage to the skin to the minimum.

Once ready I charge at the drake, but it is a feint, I just want to see how the drake will react. The drake slams its body down, if it had been a real charge it would have crushed me. Instead I end up next to the drake's body, so I take the chance to jump up onto it and run towards its head.

Almost as if it was expecting this tactic the drake responds by snapping its body like a whip. I suddenly find myself flung straight up into the air above the drake. As gravity takes over and I start falling back down I look down to see the drake with its mouth open waiting to catch me.

Using the wind resistance by angling my body I manage to just barely avoid falling into the open mouth. Not wanting to miss the chance I swing my sword as I pass by the head. Unfortunately, since I am falling I don't have enough power in my swing and fail to cut the head off.

My cut does do some damage, but nothing like it would have done if I had stable footing. It is still enough to make the drake roar and leave a bleeding gash on its neck. Now that I have injured it the drake is a lot more cautious of me, it keeps its distance and keeps spitting acid at me.

As I am dodging I keep moving slowly closer to the drake, when I get within twenty feet I make my move. The next time the head snaps forward to spit acid I use Wind Slash and aim at the wound on its neck. This not only interrupts its spit attack but increases the bleeding of the wound on its neck.

As it is drawing back in pain from the wind slash I close the distance and get in under the drake's head. Then I jump up and swing my sword, aiming for the same wound. However, I end up missing because the drake senses me and raises its head out of my reach before I can strike.

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As I am landing the drake's tail whips around and slams into me sending me flying through a tree. The falling tree comes down on top of me but I am able to avoid most of it. The tree hides me from the drake's sight so I hunker down using the fallen tree as cover.

The drake, thinking it has won, approaches the tree probably looking to eat me. As the head appears over the tree I pop up and strike before the drake has a chance to realize I am there. This time I have my footing and am able to execute a proper swing and the drake is unable to dodge.

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Beast Slayer has progressed to level 4!

Beast Slayer

Level 4

All Stats +4

You do 20% additional damage against beasts.

'That seemed a lot easier than when I fought the fire drake! Then again I am a lot stronger than I was back then.'

Worried about it being acidic I do my best to dodge the drake's blood that goes everywhere when I remove its head. Luckily, it isn't acidic because I am unable to dodge all of it. Once the body is still I immediately get to work skinning it, being very careful not to damage the skin.

After all, the skin is what I went through all of this for, to ruin now out of haste would be horrible. Only after the skin is removed do I worry about other things like the fangs and claws. Then I cut deep into the body searching for the heart, to my surprise I also find a core.

Devour Activated! Agility +50, Acid Resist +20!

'Yes! Acid resist! Worth it!'

When I find the core I am a little disturbed, until now every core I have found has been a smooth crystal orb. The drake's core is spikey and jagged, it looks nothing like a normal core. I am somewhat reluctant to eat it, but eventually I decide to just do it anyway.

Core Upgrade Progress: 92%

'Wow! Twenty percent! If only I had another one!'

Once I am done butchering the drake I leave the swamp as quickly as I can. As soon as I am out I take off running, heading for the location where I met Raindrop last time. By the time I get there the sun is rising, not sure if she will be awake yet I find a nice spot to sit and wait.

Raindrop says "Welcome back, and good morning."

"Hello and good morning. I have everything you asked for, I think."

Raindrop says "You think?"

"Well, instead of a giant snake skin I got a swamp drake skin. I hope that is okay."

Raindrop says "You killed the swamp drake?!"

"Yeah, here is its skin. I hope it will work."

Raindrop says "Yes, it will work even better!"

While she is examining the drake's skin I start taking out and piling up all the other materials. When she finally looks away from the drake's skin and notices her eyes go wide.

Raindrop says "This is way more than I asked for!"

"You can consider the extra as part of your payment."

Raindrop says "Does that include the rest of the drake's skin?"

"Yes, of course."

Raindrop says "Then you can consider me paid in full. I will begin work immediately!"

"How long do you think it will take?"

Raindrop says "A few days at least."

"Alright, I will check back in a few days then."

She seems really happy as she gathers up the piles of materials, glad I put in the extra effort. After that I return to town and turn in the quest, earning another 250 gold. Then I head back to the castle to rest for a few hours until the captain's meeting.