Rue looked over her status, her recent levels had quickly repaired her stats and they were no longer nearly halved like before. With a few more kills she would hit her current level cap. Her new size had increased her speed and power, no longer having such a short stature made fighting easier and her flames were larger. It was time to stop sleeping and take the power she desired.

Grinning with feral delight Rue sniffed the air, she found many scents but decided to follow her nose to the largest group. Anything would do, she just needed a large concentration of prey. It was as if her nose responded to her desired and a specific scent pulled itself out from the group. A herd of beasts, quite large but not predatory. They had passed this area not long ago, maybe a day. She sniffed the bushes and saw evidence that they had consumed some of the shrubs.

She leapt towards the treeline of the clearing, leaving the charred bear corpse behind in search of her next opponent. This time not looking for a fair fight but easy prey.

She bounded with an easy loping stride through the forest as she followed the scent, her speed had increased dramatically with her body growth. With every mile it got stronger, with every sniff she became more excited. It was a large herd, with large individuals, this would mean higher rewards for her.

When she came upon a trail of marks in the ground and clear signs of eaten foliage she knew she was close. She slowed her pace and slinked in between the bushes and trees until she spotted the animals further ahead. They had short sleek brown fur, occasionally spotted with green and white. They had large cream coloured antlers on their heads, some of them huge and intricate. There were large beasts and small, some had only the merest stubs of antlers, clearly the young members. Other were large and proud, bearing huge antlers.

[Forest Deer Lv2]

….

[Forest Deer Lv12]

Most of them were level 8 with only a few outliers higher and plenty lower.

The group was large and Rue counted over 15 individuals, many of then munching on the vegetation and others keeping guard. If she wanted to get as many of them as possible she would need to be swift and deadly.

Rue silently stalked away from the group, stalking further west where they were heading at a rather sedate pace. She would lie in wait for the group and spring from where they least expected it. Stalking ahead by a few hundred meters to where she estimated they would appear Rue used her sharp claws and a few powerful flaps of her wings to climb up a large tree. Pure flight was still impossible for her, the density of her bones and flesh making her too heavy, but her wings could assist her with mobility.

Once she was high in the tree she lay down on one of the leafy branches and made sure she was as hidden in foliage and behind the large branch as much as possible. Then she lay in wait, for twenty minutes she stayed perfectly still, only her eyes moving, scanning the forest for signs of the creatures.

They appeared, slowly travelling as they ate the greenery and watched the surroundings. Clearly, they didn’t have any predators in the trees or sky. They never looked up.

This meant that when Rue descended from the sky directly into the middle of the group roaring and throwing flame and death around the group was dumbstruck. There was a strange braying sound as members of the group panicked and ran. Many of the deer were on fire, as well as a decent number of shrubs and the floor. Flames and smoke billowed, springing up like a sudden storm, many animals fell over from fright. Deer ran and slammed into each other as they tried to run away and avoid the flames. With each second more animals dropped dead from fear, burned lungs or bloody wounds. For Rue was among them and laying about with fangs and claws, targeting anything that was not on fire. Every few seconds she would release another blast of flame towards some untouched deer as they tried to navigate the flames. It had become a hellscape of fire and blood, the peaceful animals that were used to high endurance pursuits and running from a predator didn't know what to do when they became trapped by flame.

Each swipe of her claws rent flesh and cracked bone her powerful jaws crushed and ripped through flesh. She was at the centre of a tornado of flame and death. Her lips pulled back in a joyous snarl revealing teeth covered in blood. She felt powerful, each bite was imagined to be against that wretched human, each swipe rent its shiny armour. Rue roared in fury and kept ripping apart the animals even if they were already dead.

She roared into the flames as the cries of her prey died down, replaced with the cracking and whooshing of fire. her declaration of victory broadcast to the forest for miles.

As the fight died down she saw that some animals had escaped into the forest, but she had gotten the vast majority of them. They lay burning on the forest floor atop the now blackened ground. Rue walked around and stomped out the few small fires that had spread to the surroundings. A few of the more dry bushes were on fire but most of the trees were fine. The forest was generally too moist for forest fires.

Rue decided that she would go home to review her gains, if she passed out like before then she wanted to be safe at her den rather than in the middle of the forest.

She took a few quick bites from the kills before she followed [Den Sense] back to her cave. It didn't take long for her to reach home, not having to stop to sniff or find her direction, simply following her skill's direction. It was only half an hour before she reached her cave and entered through the ripped vines covering the entrance. Finding it untouched she inspected the blackened ground, it was cold. She wished she could warm it with fire but she was empty.

She curled up, her scales brushing with a soft hiss on the stone floor. She couldn’t warm the stone but it was not too unpleasant.

Feeling ready for whatever was about to come she relaxed and the messages rolled in.

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Ding! For Slaying [Forest Deer Lv2] x2 In Combat +18xp

…….

Ding! Total Xp +0xp

Ding! For Slaying [Forest Deer Lv5] x7 In Combat +167xp

…….

Ding! Total Xp +118xp

Ding! For Slaying [Forest Deer Lv11] x2 In Combat +182xp

Ding! For Slaying a Foe [3] Levels Below Your Own [-3%] xp -5xp

Ding! Total Xp +177xp

Ding! For Slaying [Forest Deer Lv12] In Combat +107xp

Ding! For Slaying a Foe [2] Levels Below Your Own [-2%] xp -2xp

Ding! Total Xp +105xp

Ding! Total Xp Earned From Combat Encounters +400xp

Ding! Level Up….

Ding! Core Level Up…+1 [Core Point]

Ding! [2/2] Conditions Met For Species [Maturation] : Requires [2+ Meters] & [Lv 15]

Ding! Species Maturation [Dragon - Wyrmling] => [Dragon - Youngling]

Ding! Species Maturation [Red Dragon - Wyrmling] => [Red Dragon - Youngling]

Ding! Stat Points Allocated For Species [Dragon - Youngling] +7 {S2 V2 D2 I1}

Ding! Stat Points Allocated For Species [Red Dragon - Youngling] +7 {S4 V3 D0 I0}

Ding! Level Cap Increased [Lv20]

Ding! [0/2] Conditions Met For Species [Maturation] : Requires [4+ Meters] & [Lv 20]

With the messages, Rue felt an accompanying rush of energy, like some limit had been increased. She hadn’t realised it but when she hit her level cap it felt like being full, not painful but sometimes unpleasant. Only now that the pressure was gone did she ever realise it was there. Now it was like stretching in bed in the morning, instead of finding a head and footboard that stepped you it was queen size and nothing but the soft quilt was awaiting.

She also had a new goal, to reach level 20 and grow large enough to advance her species stage. She still didn’t know what the core points were used for and no matter how much she inquired into it, the system refused to answer. Oh well, she would find out eventually, there was probably a hidden condition. If she killed, grew and levelled up enough then it would reveal itself. Hopeful a way to become stronger, eventually she would see that human again. His flesh would be sweet.

----------------------------------------

In the past few weeks, Noe had been biding his time and using his new abilities. Hiding in the dark corners of his cell, he was trying to hide his recent growth. If his jailer saw his recent growth they might be alarmed and do something rash, perhaps kill him or move him to a more secure location.

How had he been able to grow to the near four meters that he was now, well he had been getting extra food. And although his level had not increased as rapidly as his size, he was making progress. With his constant manipulation of the guard outside his cage eventually, he had been given a skill. It was a skill worthy of the fear and suffering he had made the human go through and synergised well with his ability and race. It fit like a glove and appealed to his nature.

Race

Level

XP/Growth

Stat Points

Dragon [Black Dragon]

7

39/73 [+5 /pd]

0

Strength

Vitality

Dexterity

Intelligence

20

16

23

73

Ability

Effects

Wisdom[1]

You have watched and learned from the shadows for all your life, [Analysing] and [Explaining] the [Unknown], [Guessing] and [Reasoning] the minds of other [Sentient] species. Increase the effect of [intelligence] on other [Abilities] and [Resistances] to intelligence-based abilities.

…..

……

Mental Manipulation

With time and close proximity, you can flow your [Mana] into the [Mind] of another creature. The longer you do this the more you can control their [Emotions] and [Actions]. Effect based on and scales with [Intelligence].

He had stacked all his free points into intelligence and with his considerable intelligence growth from black dragon had amassed a massive intelligence score. This in combination with [Wisdom] and [Mental manipulation] meant he had in a week turned the scared and estranged guard into his servant. The man's mind was putty before his magic and every time he came close to the dragon the effect would strengthen.

The guard ‘Greg’ would now bring him food, high nutrition food, that he smuggled in. This had boosted his growth and given him more XP per day. His growth rate had increased by leaps and bounds in general, and this created a snowball effect with his control over the human. It went from small snacks to the human bringing in slabs of meat and prostrating himself before the dragon.

The other humans didn’t realise what was happening, they had estranged the man and he was purposely ignored. Many of the guards whispered that he was crazy. The fear had turned into a sick kind of fascination and Greg would sit by the bars of the cell and whisper unintelligible words into the darkness. pressing his face up against the bars he would look longingly into the darkness.

It was a shame the guards stayed in the hut most of the time, they were too far away and no line of sight meant his ability was reduced to zero effectiveness. Only the occasional times when they entered the tunnels of the complex and walked past his cell would a sliver of his will be imprinted on them. This often faded before they next passed through.

That would set his plans back by a ways, but he still had time. They had kept the other dragons in the complex as well, the plans to move them had been put on hold, the guards whispering told of an alchemist being called in to use of the dragons. The ones that were left had not been trained enough to be sold, and so would be made into products. From his still limited but growing understanding, they would be made into potions, whatever they were.

Noe did not like the sound of this, but it had been delayed. Perhaps this would give him enough time to get some more guards under his service. He needed his abilities to be more powerful, and he needed more control.