It only takes me a bit longer to finish sorting through the information that [Status] gave me about myself. Once I finish, I stand up. As I rise, I hear a Grumble. I look around, wary of a threat, but quickly realize that it was a sound that my stomach made. After hearing that, I recognize that I need to eat.

I should hunt something. I’m starving, and I need to eat. But first, I should check if I can eat the grass, because if so, then I will have a really easily accessible source of food.

Chomp! After taking a bite of the grass to see if it's edible, I immediately spit it out, because it is disgusting. It feels rough and coarse, scratching my tongue and the roof of my mouth, and It tastes bitter. I can’t eat this. I’m disappointed. I thought that I had maybe found an easy source of food.

At least, I was disappointed, until I realize that something’s changed about me. Not anything that’s a fundamental part of my being, but something relatively superficial. Wait … Some of my injuries from the fall aren’t hurting anymore. Glancing at my back, I notice that a couple of the scratches in my scales have healed up. Maybe it does have some use. This wasn’t a total disappointment. It also seems really potent. I mean, It was only in my mouth for a split second, and some of my injuries have already healed.

Well, now that I know that, I think I should hunt for some food. But wait, how should I do this? I don’t really know how to hunt. Maybe I should look for animal tracks or something? I begin my hunt by strolling to the edge of the clearing, and starting to examine the ground for tracks. After looking around and seeing nothing, I determine that there is nothing on this edge of the clearing.

I check two more sides, and continue to find nothing. Maybe there isn’t anything nearby? That would be bad. I turn to the last direction that I haven’t checked, and immediately notice hoofprints crossing the clearing from one of the corners to the direction I’m checking. However, the hoofprints are so old that I can’t smell anything coming from them. Or it was raining while the creature was moving through here. Either way, it will take me a while to find the creature that made these tracks.

There we go. Now I just have to find whatever made these tracks. I start at about halfway to the trail, following the way the tracks are pointed. I walk slowly, trying to always keep the trail in the corner of my vision.

. . .

After a few uneventful hours, it happens. I finally start to smell something sweet, and a bit salty, and it stands out from the other rather intense smells of the forest. It’s much sharper and less … distant. What is that scent? I haven’t smelled anything like it yet. Does that mean that it’s the deer. It must be! Just a minute later, I hear the sharp sound of leaves crunching and sticks snapping. The scent only grows stronger as I approach the creature making the sound. The other forest creatures are much quieter, subtler, so I know that this must be something bigger. And since I don’t smell even a hint of anything else, it must be the deer. I slow down, as I want to get a look at my prey before I go in and try to kill it.

After a little bit more travel, I finally catch a glimpse of the deer. It’s about as long as the trees are thick. Its fur is dull green, and it has two large antlers sprouting from the sides of its head. My head, fully extended upward, only reaches its knee.

I’m honestly a bit surprised at how big it is. It might be difficult to kill. Actually, do I have any extra advantages? How would I even know? Maybe my [Status] can tell me? I mean, it is a sum of everything quantifiable about my being. [Status]. My only skill is my [Passive - Dragon Scales], and all my stats are low in the double digits, just barely above 10. It seems I don’t really have any inbuilt advantages. I’ll have to do a sneak attack, maybe from above the deer? After all, the neck is a place that, if attacked, will end most creatures in one hit. And an attack from above would give me a very easy way to get to the neck. Yeah, attacking from above is the way to go. Now I just need to get to a place where I can ambush it.

Stolen novel; please report.

It’s when I start looking for an ambush spot, that I learn that the deer is actually following a path through the woods. Well, a vague path. It looks like it has been well traveled by animals. I don’t know how I didn’t realize it earlier, but now that I know, it’s easy to find a good ambush spot. There is an area where the lowest branches of the nearby trees dip down and form a mini canopy. All I need to do is get above that net of branches, and I’ll be able to fall right onto the back of the deer when it comes along.

I scale one of the trees, digging my claws into the bark to keep myself from falling. Once I’m a little bit above the net of branches, I release my grip and fall onto one of the thicker branches. It barely moves when I land on it. I stand up, my muscles tensed and ready for action at any moment.

After what feels like an eternity, I start to hear the crunching of leaves. I crouch down, adrenaline starting to pump through my blood. Only a minute later, I see the deer traveling along the path. My muscles, somehow, tense even more. Once the deer is directly below me, I strike.

I slip through the net of branches, and fall right onto the back of the deer. When I land, I dig my front claws into its back to injure it. When it feels my sharp claws digging through its back, it bucks its hind legs. The bucking only makes my claws tear through its back, which puts it into even more pain. A vicious cycle that tires out the deer quickly. It stops for a second to catch its breath, and that is when I strike, with the speed of a serpent ambushing its prey. I quickly pull my talons out of the deer’s back, and claw at its neck. I can feel my claws tearing through the deer’s spine, and I know that I’ve won. After its spine breaks, the deer collapses.

I jump off of its back, dislodging my claws from the back of its neck while doing so. That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I wonder why? I’m jolted out of my thoughts by a feeling. It’s almost like something’s prodding my mind. What the heck is that?!

Defeated [Green Stag - lvl. 7]. Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy.

Learned skill [Slash]. Experience is awarded for the learning of a skill.

3 levels gained. Level advanced from 1 → 3.

Obtained skill [Spark].

What? What’s this? When I finish reading the message, I feel a massive surge of strength. I’m suddenly much lighter, my ease of movement increased, and I can feel my muscles hardening and my scales toughening. Why did that happen? Does it have something to do with that message I got? And something must’ve changed in my status as well. Such a large change to my being couldn’t go unaddressed. [Status].

Razag

Level: 3

Species: Dragon Hatchling

General Skills:

[Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 1

Skills:

Unused Skill Slot x 5

Skill Bank:

[Spark] lvl 1

[Slash] lvl 1

Stats:

STR: 16

END: 16

VIT: 22

WIS: 21

INT: 21

Uh, What? What’s a skill bank? Oh, maybe it’s somewhere that skills are stored. That would make sense. After all, I just got two skills, and they aren’t in my skill list. But now the question is: how do I assign them to my list. Maybe, assign [Spark] and [Slash]? Let me check again.

Skills:

[Spark]

[Slash]

You cannot swap a skill out of the active skill list until an hour has passed.

What does that mean? It doesn’t seem very important, as if it was, something probably would’ve happened. I’ll just test out my new skills; to see how useful they are. I start with [Spark], as it sounds more interesting. I think about activating the skill when it happens. Instructions on how to use the skill flow into my head. After about thirty seconds, they disappear. The instructions teach me the feeling of [Spark], so I replicate it. I use the skill, and I feel an itching in my throat. I open my mouth, and a couple of small but hot sparks shoot out. They only make it a couple of feet away before they lose their fuel and wink out of existence. They don’t seem all that dangerous yet, but I can already imagine shooting out dozens of these sparks, and incinerating my foes.

Next, I use [Slash]. When I activate this skill, I undergo a similar process, except this time I’m learning how to shoot blades out of my claws. The instructions recede quickly, but now I know what to do. I copy the feeling that the instructions were showing me, and swing my claws while activating the skill. Three small waves of light launch from the tips of my talons at the end of my swing. They tear through the air in the direction I swung at for about three feet. That’s when they reach a tree. When they make contact with the tree, they leave small gashes in it. They look like the kind of damage I could do if I swing with all of my strength into the trunk.

I swing again, and three more blades of light blast out of my claw tips. The moment they disappear, I’m assaulted by a wave of fatigue so intense that it staggers me. I stop using the skill and stand back up. I’m worried that I might pass out if I use the skill again. Thankfully, it only takes me a minute for the fatigue to pass. If I can only use it twice before having to recover, that makes the skill a lot less powerful. Then again, it only took me one strike to end that deer.