"Ohhhgh..." Max groaned as he lurched in a corner. Hunger had gotten the best of him as he went over the rest of the tool tips. While normally he would get himself something quick and easy like chicken tendies or a bag of chips, his options here were limited. Limited in that he only had one option: moss. He couldn't tell if it was poisonous or just had a god awful taste. It was probably the latter considering it was just moss, but his stomach would say otherwise. Minutes of intestinal distress later, he was able to go back over what he'd learned.

Mettle (MET) was non-physical defense. The way it was worded implied that nasty effects like confusion and charm were going to be a thing, and that was a scary thought. Endurance (END) took the general toughness role, decreasing damage taken and determining how fast injuries healed. Strength (STR) and dexterity (DEX) were unsurprisingly the physical prowess type stats. Their secondary effects weren't something he would have expected though. Strength gave extra health points, and dexterity improved movement and dodging.

Aptitude (APT) and power (POW) were the stats he was most curious about. They turned out to be thing you would invest in if you were thinking of becoming a spell caster or if you used a lot of skills. They weren't just based around magic however. Power gave extra mana points similar to strength, but also translated into how well you interacted with others, something like charisma. Of all the stats, aptitude was the juiciest. It directly affected the speed someone could learn new things and expand what they already know. That sort of thing was busted in just about every game that it was an option in. Definitely something to keep tabs on.

All he got from race was that dragon hatchlings had terrific stat growth in all areas. Great to have that confirmed, but it didn't really tell him more than that.

He wasn't able to get any tool tips to pop up for jobs. Max took a wild guess that it was because he didn't have any at the moment. Though he might have an idea of what it could be, knowing for certain would always be better. It certainly didn't help him figure out what his 'build' should be. Hopefully he didn't make a bad choice before knowing what to do with it.

His solitary perk, 'Tiamat's Chosen', wasn't actually too shabby. It allowed him to speak with any race of monster and read their stat screens like he would his own. That last bit made it sound like these things could be seen only by their personal users. This was definitely something worth figuring out now. And, should he end up interacting with others, something to keep secret, just in case

Inspecting that perk also reminded him to try that sub-system as it had been called. He had a far easier time getting it to appear than the other one, only needing to think about its name.

Sub-system: Monarch Of Monsters Evolutions Abilities Subjects Challenges Affinity Support

Spoiled with choice, Max tried to pick abilities, of course. The moment he pressed the option, however, the letters greyed out and a shrill beep sounded. Another window appeared after this.

Primary functions require affinity level of 1 or greater.

Not in the mood for this, the hatchling said to himself in his squeaky voice, "Yeah, well how do I get it then?" Not expecting it to actually pick up on what he had said, he was surprised to see the support section expand itself. It scrolled rapidly until stopping on a specific section.

7. AFFINITY

To prevent misuse of this sub-system, benefits are not made available to individuals with values in opposition to its creator. Engaging in actions the creator encourages will give the individual AFFINITY, which permanently allows the individual use of this sub-system and may confer extra benefits not listed here.

Actions include but are not limited to: devouring the heart and/or body of your foes, ignoring the rules of others in favor of your own, devouring the heart and/or body of your foes in front of their allies, opposing lawful institutions, devouring the heart and/or body of your foes while they are still alive, defacing objects dedicated or made with the likeness of the god Bahamut, devouring the heart...

Max's eyes nearly glazed over when he was reading. It sounded less like support and more like legalese, which made those actions stick out even more. So, so many different variants on devouring foes. The constant use of the word did actually manage to remind of his own hunger.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

One moss clump later and he found himself back in the present. He now knew what those stats meant for him, and he had a pretty good idea of how he could get affinity later. All this knowledge would surely be useful to know in the future; it wouldn't help him here and now. The hole in the center of the ceiling was just as unreachable now as it was before; nothing had changed. Maybe something from the abilities section could have helped, but affinity went and ruined any hope for that.

He considered using his new claws to climb for a single second. Dragon or not, he was still technically a newborn. He could barely use monkey bars, and this would be several steps above that. Even if he somehow managed to reach the ceiling, his body was more frail now. One slip up and he could count on breaking his bones in the fall.

In an attempt to get his mind off of the subject, Max went over to drink from the water in the corner. Kneeling down, he lapped up a mouthful. He nearly spat it out. It was the most stale, flat water he had ever tasted, and was unpleasantly lukewarm. He nearly shed a tear as he forced himself to swallow. If all he had to look forward to was crummy moss and this sorry excuse for water, he'd rather just fall over dead right now.

There had to be some other way out. That goddess didn't seem the type to screw him over directly like this. She wouldn't have given him some grand mission just to leave him in some hole, right?

Before he could follow that thought further than he might like, he noticed something in the water. He waited for the ripple he had made to die down, peering closer. His eyes went wide as he saw it. A tunnel! He could just barely make it out, but it was unmistakable.

It could be rather dangerous. Random tunnels never had the guarantee of having an exit, or enough space to move through. This one was completely submerged on top of that. He was an okay swimmer at best in the body he had used all his life. How well he'd do now would be a total toss up. Despite these issues, it was still his best shot at getting out of here alive.

He gingerly entered the water one limb at a time. The average temperature actually made this easier on him as he situated himself. Once he was all the way in, he practiced keeping himself afloat just to make sure. Doggy paddle seemed to do just fine. Before he could talk himself out of it, Max took a huge breath and dove under the surface.

The dark beneath the water was oppressive, but it paled when compared to that egg. All that mattered was that he could see the path forward. He swam on and on through the tunnel, not daring to stop for a moment. If there were any air pockets along the way, he wouldn't be able to find them like this. He had to make it in one go. It seemed to stretch on and on to his lungs. They screamed for him to get some air, but he had to ignore it. Stopping or turning back meant death. His strokes were getting weaker as his chest started to ache. Just as it was looking like he would drown, he saw light streaming in front of him. He was close! Rallying the last of his strength, he made the final push upwards and towards the light.

Not a moment too soon, he gasped as he emerged from the water. He spat out any of the water that had somehow gotten in his mouth as he heaved himself over the edge. Once he had finished taking in a couple more breathes, he shook the water off like a cat or a dog might. He owed that to whatever instincts his new body had given him. With nobody that knew him around to laugh, he didn't mind as much.

With the water away from his eyes, he looked around to see where he had ended up. It was another cave, similar to the previous one. This had one feature the other didn't: an exit.

Unintentionally yipping in delight, he walked over with a spring in his step. As eager as he was to be free of this cave, he knew better than to just strut out without a care in the world. Call it paranoia or the like, but life always had a way of throwing curve balls when people let their guard down. Especially those who think it won't. He poked his head out slowly.

From the looks of it, this cave was surrounded by a dense forest. The trees had an assortment of reds, greens, and yellows, with leaves fluttering about. Birds were singing while other critters scurried along the ground. It was a scene ripped straight out of a fairy tale.

Max had a hard time appreciating the beauty in front of him. This wasn't because he didn't find the outdoors interesting, though that was also true. His immense stomach growled as he looked at the animals, and he found himself salivating. That moss had barely satiated him. He needed to eat some real food. He needed some meat.

He clumsily stalked over towards a squirrel. He knew it was clumsy because it ran off before he could approach. This happened again and again, and he didn't manage to get closer on any of his attempts. Though he blamed it on his gut weighing him down too much, he took a moment to reflect on what he was doing. Why was he trying to do this like he was an animal? His body made the decision without consulting him. This offended him greatly. Just because he had new instincts didn't mean he had to follow them.

As he was ruminating on this, he smelled something in the air: roasted chicken. To his surprise, he could pinpoint exactly where it was coming from, direction and all. Must be one of the benefits of having a snout.

While this was a new world, he doubted that such a smell was natural. Cooked meat meant people, and people could be bad news. He had no idea how others might react to him. Dragons might very well be hunted down for the threat they could pose; or for their parts, or for money, or even for sport alone. On second thought, he could scarcely imagine a situation where dragons were anything but targets. Dragons were apex enemies in the majority of media, and he was sure that reputation would bring him nothing but trouble.

His stomach once again rumbled as the smell continued dancing in front of his nostrils. There was no way he'd be catching anything himself right now. Danger meant much less when the possibility of easy to grab food was on the table. Far too hungry to ignore it, he followed the scent trail through the trees and foliage.

After getting nicked here and there by some grabby branches, he found the source of the enticing smell. A large hunk of roast chicken... sitting under a box held up with a twig. So it was a trap. Still, he'd have to be an idiot to get caught in that. He just needed to grab the chicken without getting under the box and leave, simple as.

He crept closer to the box, making sure it wasn't one of the types with string tied to the stick first. It didn't look like it. He stared at the chicken. It may have been sitting on the ground, but that didn't make it any less tantalizing. He reached a hand out towards it carefully, imagining how it would taste every second along the way. His fingers gripped the food tightly, slowly lifting up.

Click

Before he could tell what had happened, he had been lifted by his hand and flung up and over the tree. A clanging bell sounded off as he ensnared. He was dangling from a large branch, still holding the chicken. Max scrambled up to try and grab hold of it, even dropping his food to do so. This only made him sadder once he realized it was still out of his reach. He was trapped now, and he didn't even get to eat the bait.

He could hear a rustling noise making its way towards him. And now he was going to die with an empty stomach.