I blink the lingering sleepiness from my eyes and begin stretching my limbs. Being the first time I've awoken with no pain, I can't help but enjoy the feeling of my body as it stretches out. I crawl forwards from my sleeping nook and take stock of my cave, noting the large debris pile from my excavation efforts the previous day and what's left of my shell. Feeling a bit of hunger pains I move over to the shell and stick my head in, preparing to slurp up the remainder but I find nothing at the bottom of my shell.
*I definitely had more left, did something come in and finish it without me waking? That's not good, they easily could've attacked me while I was asleep.*
I flick my Aura sight trying to determine where in the sky the sun is being able to see the bright orb through the walls I note that it is well into the sky. The cave makes the bright pink ball much more bearable in my Aura sight but it still feels like looking into a search light. From the top of my cave I can see the wolf's scratches marring the floor, making the gouges look even more impressive.
*The strength of the original creator must be immense, that wolf is no joke but even its power is paltry compared to those. The claw that created those gouges must have been absolutely massive.*
Cautiously moving down the slope towards the front of my cave I flick my Aura sight on a few times. Looking to see if any Auras are lingering around the entrance I try to keep the Sun out of my line of vision as to not blind myself. I immediately spot the lizards that live close by but no other Auras seem to be close enough to see over the power Sun's Aura permeating the world. Peeking my head out I note the one wolf corpse and the drag marks that must be from the smaller wolf being dragged away. The drag marks lead off to the left of my cave entrance at a slight angle away from the cliff. This path into the woods creates a tunnel through the underbrush making it very easy to follow the path of the dragged body.
The front of my cave is in ruins, the slope leading up has divets in it and the top looks like it was dug out partially, leaving a small bowl at the top and a lip up into the cave. The lip is no taller than my arm but shows a certain level of ferocity in last nights attack. It has the appearance of an attempt at digging into my cave but the rock face of the cliff must have proven too durable.
*Those wolves are definitely going to be back, I'm going to have to find a way to either deal with them or make it not worth it to continue coming after me. The real question is, are all of my decisions going to continue seeming, even to me, terrible in hindsight or is that bump in WIS enough for me to have foresight instead of just hindsight. I could follow that path to at least find out where their home is but that could put me in a very precarious position with their speed advantage. It would allow me to pre-emptively strike back at them or do I wait for them from this clearly defensible position? That assumes that they even come back and give me the opportunity to bait them again like I did last night. I highly doubt that any of the eight wolves that witnessed what happened last night will be so foolish again.*
With those thoughts bouncing around I move over to the wolf carcass from two nights prior, most of the meat is gone and what's left must have already started to go bad but I don't notice any bad smells coming from it. With my snout almost pressed against the meat I start taking deep inhales trying to see if there is any sour or bad scent. Smelling none of that I decide to try a small bite to see if my stomach disagrees with my choice, the meat is sweet instead of the sour I expect from potentially spoiled meat.
*Either dragons don't care about spoiled meat or it doesn't go bad as quickly as I would expect.*
I decide to take a few more bites before forcefully stopping myself to wait see if it has any negative effects on me. As I finish my small snack I turn back towards the forest and start debating what I should do for the day.
*I could go fishing again, but traveling there during the day makes one of my best abilities unusable. Without my full Aura sight I would be limited to my reaction time and ability to notice threats before they are on top of me.*
The memory of the owl swooping down in front of my face immediately snaps into my mind.
*Ya... maybe relying on my luck to keep me alive isn't the best idea. I guess I could go back and continue digging out my home, hopefully making it more defensible and take that time to figure out where I should put those trait points.*
Making my mind up I start moving back up the slope towards my cave. The new bowl at the entrance to my cave acts as a small barrier that I have to climb over to get into the cave proper, but it doesn't hinder me entering in any meaningful way.
*I could use the debris to fill that pretty easily.*
My mind wandering as I begin pushing a pile of dirt and stone down the slope of my cave out into the bowl the wolf dug in its rage. After pushing this pile into the hole I notice one of the lizards watching me from the brush line. I stare at it for a moment before it does a small nod in my direction, I nod back while chuckling to myself.
*I've managed to bring culture from my previous life into this world without even intending to. I wonder if they even understand it as acknowledgement.*
The lizard, maintaining a frightening level of eye contact, slowly walks across the open ground and up the slope towards my cave. When it's well within striking distance for me it stops and turns its head to the side, staring at me with a large eye. It pauses for a long moment before nodding again, intrigued by its lack of fear I nod back. As if that nod was all it was waiting for it shoots by me into my cave.
*Umm, okay?* I think as I follow it up the slope into my cave.
It skitters around the cave zig zagging up the slope and then partially up onto one of the walls. When we reach the top it darts straight for the egg shell and crawls in. I can hear the wet slaps of its tongue on the inside of the shell as it licks up the remainder of the fluids, when I peer over the lip I can see it meticulously cleaning all of the left over fluid off the shell. Within a few minutes the egg is completely clear of any fluid and the lizard climbs back out, moving its head back and forth it takes in the rest of the cave. It seems to notice my small bedroom tunnel and darts straight to it, climbing up the short wall and then into the hole disappearing quickly.
*Well I guess they are friendly, but I wonder how long that will last.*
Moving back to the pile of debris I continue pushing dirt and stone down the slope out into the bowl. I spend easily an hour repeating this process, only stopping when the top is relatively flat. I take a peak up at the canopy of trees and can see that the sun is just reaching its zenith.
*I could've sworn I spent longer filling that hole, are the days longer here or am I just much more industrious than I remember?*
Looking around for my new friend I try to recall if I ever saw it leave my bedroom. Not recalling it ever passing me I decide to go check out what it's up to and find it fast asleep.
*Well I guess it doesn't view me as a threat either, interesting.*
Realizing there is a significant amount of time before I can go out hunting at night I pull up my character sheet.
Race: Celestial Dragon Health: 40/40 Stamina: 100% Stage: Baby Level: 3 Attributes: Traits: (3) Skills: STR: 5 Breath: 1 Aura Sight: 2 CON: 4 Claws: 1 Digging: 1 DEX: 2 (2.75) Jaws: 1 AGI: 3 (3.3) Scales: 2 PER: 4 Wings: 2 WIS: 3 INT: 10 CHA: 1
*I really should've taken a peak at this when I woke up instead of dismissing it, I enjoyed waking up feeling refreshed far too much. I NEED to start paying better attention, it seems like a motif of my existence at this point. Fishing first day, almost die, NOT PAYING ATTENTION. Second day, enjoying my rabbit snack, almost owl food, NOT PAYING ATTENTION. Third day... what's it going to be this time.*
I audibly sigh out my nostrils, causing the lizard to perk its head up and look at me. I give it a small head nod and it reciprocates before laying back down and closing its eyes.
*So I gained back twelve health during my rest? I'm pretty sure that's correct, which means I gained back nearly thirty percent of my overall health from sleeping, that seems pretty consistent with what I gained the night before. I know that was three when I only had ten health because it seemed like such a small number when I was constantly taking one damage just for falling. Three trait points though, that brings me back all over again to yesterdays long process of choosing. I really want to fly, I think that could be worth its weight in gold if that one rank allows me to fly even only for a limited time. I could bring breath, claws, AND jaws to two, or I could do wings or scales to three and one of the other three rank ones to rank two. I still can't outrun the wolves but flight might allow me to or at least allow me to get up into the trees to get some form of safety. Putting the points into scales could potentially allow me to stop their claws but I still have no way of knowing how effective those ranks are. Based on how traits have been given so far I expect to get four more at the next level as well, so I could do wings now and one of my rank one traits. Then rank up scales to three and both of the remaining rank one traits when I level up next. UGH this is so frustrating! Video games at least give me DESCRIPTIONS. I need to clear my mind this is getting far to frustrating and I feel like I'm just stuck in analysis paralysis.*
"Lots of flat squirrels" flits across my mind, coming up from deep memories that I can't seem to actively access. I picture a squirrel running back and forth in the middle of the road being unable to decide what way to run as a pair of lights come barreling towards it. Before it can make a decision the decision is made for it and there is a squirrel pancake left. Not wanting to be a flat baby dragon, followed by a baby goblin stew based on her threats, I decide to just go with my first instinct and put two of my three trait points into wings.
System Message Trait Rank Up: Wings Rank 2 -> Rank 3 (Maximum Rank for current stage)
*Well that's unexpected, so I need to grow out of being a 'baby' before I can progress them any further?*
I instinctively stretch my wings out to either side as they begin to thicken and grow. The same feeling of gathering density courses through them, on a whim I turn my Aura sight on and can see as the Aura of my wings visibly thickens. They continue to grow in size and density until they are easily thirty percent longer than their Rank 2 size and fifty percent more Auricly dense. This increase in size presses them against the walls of my small bedroom causing them to arc forwards in front of my vision even more. They've grown to being four times larger than their original diminutive size making each one of them area wise the same as my whole body, if it was flattened like a squirrel pancake. The muscles attached to them in my torso begin to grow as well, a strange feeling as the scales around their base bulge outwards. I can tell intuitively that they aren't just growing physically but the Aura is becoming denser just like with the wings themselves.
*I NEED to try these out*
Ecstatic about the change in not just size but the feeling of power in my new wings I pull them into my sides and rush out of my cave. I quickly look left and right for any potential threats and then coil my legs under me snapping my wings up. Releasing the built up pressure in my legs and snapping my wings down as hard as I can I feel myself leave the ground. Allowing my instincts to take over instead of trying to force minute changes I can feel as I'm lifted at least double my height off the ground and begin to move forwards.
*Holy shit, I'm going to fly* I think as my wings move back up and drag down,.
This movement causing the debris I had filled the hole with to be partially scattered down the slope up to my cave. The second beat of my wings causing me to rise even further into the sky as well as increasing my forward momentum. I can feel my tail behind me acting as a rudder flicking back and forth in response to my bodies movements. I pull my arms into my body thinking that will add to my aerodynamics and then pull my legs up and tuck them in as well. The third beat of my wings brings me up above the bushes that ring the open ground around my caves entrance. The euphoria of flying under my own power combined with it feeling so natural and right makes me giddy. The fourth beat is at more of a backward angle instead of just downwards making a 'J' motion as my wings catch the air and push it down and then back behind me. This causes me to gain even more forward momentum as I move out over the bushes and deeper into the forest. During this fourth beating of my wings I feel my second set of eye lids instinctively close over my eyes, my vision doesn't cloud nearly as much as it did when I was underwater but is hindered.
*So that instense clouding must have been the effects of both the lids and being underwater, that's good. I was a little afraid that flying would make it so I couldn't see very well at all.*
Looking down at the forest floor a turn my Aura sight on, noting that the second lids don't affect this form of sight as far as I can tell. The overpowering pink of the Suns Aura still permeates the world but I can clearly make out the remaining lizards down to my right as they rush back into their hole as I fly over them. My wings beat for a fifth time gaining me a small amount of altitude more and continuing my forward momentum. It also brings a feeling of being tired between my wings, the new muscle mass being worked for the first time I can feel the strain building. The sixth beat of my wings brings me in between the towering trees, but more importantly it compounds the feeling of my new muscles becoming tired.
*Well then I wonder how far I can go, I should probably turn back though before I get to far and then become a small meteor again.*
Bringing my wings back up to level I dip my left wing tip, causing my body to start circling slowly to the left, during this turn I drop easily ten percent of my overall altitude. When I'm aimed back at the my cave I bring my left wing back up to level and begin gliding back. The strain continues to grow in my muscles as they hold my wings out preventing me from plummeting into the bushes below.
*I wonder if this strain I'm feeling is shown in my stamina or if it's just something I'll need to get a feel for.* With that thought a widow appears in front of my eyes showing my current stamina.
Stamina: 36%
Mentally trying to move the window out of my direct line of sight I find that I can shift its position at will. I choose to move it down and slightly right so I have a clear line of sight. I turn my head slightly left and right to see if it stays in place relative to my sight and it does.
*Interesting so I can move my windows around at will, that's good to know. I'm pretty sure that I was at full stamina when I started this though I wish I had confirmed that. I beat my wings six times and have been gliding for a little bit plus that turn back there. So each wing beat takes what ten percent of my stamina? I wish I had a way of measuring how far I have travelled gliding.*
As I'm mulling over the potential costs for flight I cover roughly a quarter of the distance back to my cave
Stamina: 30%
*Well if that's any indication it looks like I will be able to easily glide back to the cave and still have enough stamina to beat my wings twice to slow my forward momentum. I wonder if I can slow down without burning the full amount for flapping my wings.*
I dip my nose down causing my body weight to shift forwards and begin a shallow dive. After holding this for a moment I pull back up, trying to use the surface of my wings to slow my forward momentum. Keeping an eye on my stamina bar I notice that during the shallow dive my stamina seems to drop more slowly but then the stamina draw cranks up as I pull back.
*I guess that makes sense, but it's hard to tell if that was more or less efficient than just flapping my wings.*
During my little trial I cover half of the remaining distance to my cave, I clear the tops of the bushes that ring the ground in front of my cave and start approaching the cave itself. Feeling that I'm a little too high I dip my nose once again and then shortly after pull back to level. This causes me to gain more forward momentum but makes me much more comfortable with my altitude.
Stamina: 12%
*Shit.*
Realizing this is probably going to be another crash landing I pull my body into a more upright position as I clear the slope leading up to my cave. Flapping my wings down and forwards as hard as I can and bracing myself for impact I watch my stamina.
Stamina: 2%
Extending my legs out towards the ground as it comes rushing at me I feel my right wing clip something hard. My body immediately tilts to my right and the cave wall comes rushing at my face. The impact of my face hitting is immediate pain that is only overshadowed by the feeling of my neck compressing and then the weight of my body crashing in behind it.
System Message [-3] HP {Blunt}
The message flashes in my vision, making it the only thing I can see around the stars and darkness dancing. I slowly pull myself back off the cave wall from where I crashed, having to gingerly pull my left wing out from underneath my body. My right wing is still splayed out on the ground next to me the front edge touching the cave wall in front of me. I wince as I pull it back in, the joint where it connects to my body feeling tender from being a pivot point for all of my weight.
*So close, SO CLOSE! I will definitely have to practice that more though, being able to fly directly into my cave could be the difference between life and death, it would also allow me to get rid of the slope up into the cave protecting me even more from those wolves and anything else that might want to hurt me.*
Nursing my ego and my body I decide to go eat some more of the wolf, having felt no negative effects at this point I feel that it must be safe for me. After filling up on day old wolf I trudge back up into my cave and lay down for a minute to relax and regain stamina while I wait for night. As I enter my cave I notice movement at the top of the slope, my Aura sight flicks on immediately, giving me a clear view of the not one but seven lizards that have now taken up residence in my cave. The anxiety spike I felt realizing I might be in danger and on the low ground quickly subsides.
*Let one of them in and they take it as an invitation to bring their whole family!?*
Four of the lizards are at the top of the slope as I arrive, all of them nodding at me as I crest the top. Internally chuckling I nod back, moving my attention to the other three that appear to be asleep on the floor in the small bedroom I have dug out.
*I guess it's true that no good deed goes unpunished.*
Crawling up the small tunnel I try to find a spot to lay without crushing them, but am unable to find a spot. They all react to me coming in but don't seem interested in vacating a spot for me to lay in, becoming frustrated with the whole situation and not wanting to hurt them I scream in my own head.
*MOVE DAMN YOU!*
The lizards immediately shoot past and scurry out of the way.
*Umm, what? Could they just sense that I was frustrated or could they actually hear my thoughts.*
Hedging my bets and not wanting to make even more enemies than I already I have I just think:
*Sorry*
Internally it feels like I'm thanking a refrigerator for getting me a beverage, a meaningless gesture. They both nod at me...
*No way, am I fucking telepathic?*
I nod back and then lay down in my comfortable spot, putting my head towards the tunnel leading into the main cave. After I get comfortable and stop moving for a few moments they all crawl back up into the room with me and lay down around me leaving a small amount of space between themselves and me, quickly falling back to sleep.
The thought of being potentially telepathic rolling around in my head prevents me from getting sleep, causing me to go down rabbit hole after rabbit hole of implications. I try repeatedly to try and get some rest but the thought just keeps tumbling around. Having left my stamina window open I can see that I was back up to twenty percent in the time since I had crashed into the wall until now. I decide to try and focus on that, hoping to figure out how my stamina regeneration works. As I stare at the numbers ticking up one at a time every few seconds I feel my eye lids start to get heavy.
I wake to the feeling of pressure on my body and neck, I twist my head to the right slightly to look over my shoulder and see one of the lizards asleep on top of me. Finding the whole situation comical I start to slowly rise, causing the lizard to snap awake and shoot off of me down into the main cave. I survey the sleeping area and notice one other lizard laying in the room to my left. One of its eyes is open but slowly closes as it seems to determine it is still safe.
I crawl forwards out of my bedroom cave and notice that the egg shell is gone, as well as the debris pile. I had moved easily half of the overall pile to fill in the hole the wolf had dug, seeing none left I do a quick scan of the cave. Two other lizards seem to be waiting at the top of the slope facing down towards the entrance, the lizard that was sleeping on me moves towards them and plops down next to them as I watch. The other three were nowhere to be seen.
I flick my Aura sight to get an idea of where the sun is and see that it's approaching the horizon but still has a bit before it will be fully down. Deciding to post up next to my new friends I start thinking about which of my three traits I should put my point into.
*Breath seems like a very obvious choice, however a single rank change in it will certainly be huge. The first rank of my wings tripled their size and then the second rank increased that to quadruple their initial size as well as the density change. I wish I had used Aura sight when my scales changed to get a real scale of the change in Aura density but I will just have to wait until I get another rank. I can only assume that my jaws and claws will under got the same density gain. I wonder how that works as a whole though. The denser it is in Aura the stronger it seems to be but it doesn't affect the actual weight and density of the object, if anything it inversely affects it. My scales after the rank up felt lighter even though the scales were thicker. I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure that they are much more durable after that change. It must be some form of magic that I just don't fully understand. Going to have to file that away under the 'figure this out at some point' list.*
I move away from the lizards a small distance and mentally try to push my thoughts to them.
*Stay back*
All three of them turn to me at the same time heads tilting to their left as if questioning me.
*They can definitely 'hear' me... I wonder what the limit of this skill is.*
Filing that away as well on my list of things to figure out I turn to my right so I am facing away from them and look through my Aura sight. I slowly inhale and then exhale what I feel is around ten percent of my breath's total capacity. The dark purple smoke billowing out in a now familiar way, clinging to the ground.
System Message Trait Rank up: Breath Rank 1 -> Rank 2
I can feel the change just like with the other traits, the breath that is still in my breath organ compresses down. Where it was at roughly ninety percent full before its now just under half full. The feeling of it refilling doesn't seem to change but over the short period I have been paying attention it's hard to tell. Previously it took what felt like half of an hour to fill from empty. Not wasting anytime I turn slightly to the left and release another breath of what feels like ten percent of the full organ. The cloud is noticeably more dense, which I expected due to the compression, what I didn't expect were the small strands of other colors within the smoke.
Small veins of deep dark red and an almost black green roil within the deep almost black purple of the cloud. Instantly reminding me of my scales I can't help but feel as though there is a pattern. The coloration mesmerizes me, the different colors rolling around in what looks like a turbulent flow with different colors showing the different movements within the cloud. As I'm enthralled by the cloud one of the lizards almost touches it without me noticing.
*NO!*
I scream mentally, immediately it jumps back and hides behind one of its fellow lizards. The other two had also moved closer to inspect the breath cloud. I realize my mistake in that they have not seen this before, from their perspective I have done nothing to harm them and now I'm just literally blowing smoke around. I dip my head in remorse and try to find a way to let them know how dangerous it is. I can't think of an easy way to show them so I try to tell them.
*This is dangerous, it will kill you!*
All three of them tilt their heads in much the same way as before.
*There must be limitations on this telepathy, or maybe it's just a limit in their ability to comprehend.*
Staying guard over the breath until it dissipates I decide to do further testing away from my new friends. With the sun still in the sky I weigh my options of how to spend my time.
*I guess I could try and excavate more to allow them to sleep without having to sleep on me... I could also make some murder holes towards the entrance of the cave.*
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The term 'Murder Hole' seems to fly across my mind, unsure where it came from I try to remember more about them. I can't seem to remember anything else about them though, the only thing I can see in my minds eye is the image that came to mind as the original thought flew through. The still frame of a man standing above a hole in the floor with a rock poised over head to drop on a soon to be victim below. Thinking on the last nights wolf attack my gut tells me that could be a worth while endeavor. The ability to strike back at the wolves while still being safely behind a wall piques my interest.
*How would I even go about doing that though? I would have to excavate a tunnel next to my main cave and then excavate a small hole back to the cave itself for me to use my breath attack into. I don't think I have the tools or expertise to go about doing that right now. I could end up digging too far in one direction and wasting all of the time or I could end up breaking into the side of the cave causing a weakness instead of a strength.*
Feeling that it's not within my skill set I decide to try and excavate more sleeping area. Crawling back up my bedroom tunnel I take stock of the area. The room I had original dug feeling much smaller with my larger wings and one of my new friends curled up against the wall.
*I should probably either increase the size of this room or create small shelves in the walls for them to sleep in.*
Feeling that the shelf idea is a lot smaller energy and time investment than expanding the whole room I rock back onto my legs. I begin to dig at my shoulder height from this position, quickly making progress on a shelf I think could hold one of the lizards. Taking a look over at the sleeping lizard I notice it is now awake and staring at me as I dig, head tilted to the left in the now familiar gesture.
*Hmm I think it needs to be a little bigger* I think as begin digging again.
After a few minutes I do another visual check of the lizard and jump a little when I realize it's perched on the wall a short distance from where I am digging.
*Wow either they are very stealthy or I REALLY need to work on staying aware of my surroundings.*
I step back from the shelf and wait to see how the lizard reacts. It darts straight in and starts moving in circular motions seeming to size up the shelf. After a moment of deliberation it turns to me and nods. I audibly chuckle at this which comes out as a rapid short series of croaks. The lizard quickly pulls back, pressing itself against the back of the shelf as though it's trying to phase through the wall and get away.
*Sorry, my friend. I didn't realize how scary that chuckle would be* , I project mentally
Hoping it catches some of the meaning as I also nod my head, pausing at the bottom for a moment to attempt a show of remorse for scaring it. It seems to accept either my mental message or my physical show of remorse and uncompresses its body laying back down onto the shelf. I move to the left of the first shelf and begin digging another, when it is only half finish I notice my digging has produced a noticeable level of debris, some being larger chunks of rocks but most being the dust and small pebbles. I push most of it in a pile towards the tunnel resolving to finish this second shelf before moving all the debris out at once. I finish the shelf, noticing the lizard's head poking out of the first staring at me. As I step back to admire my work it shoots out of the first shelf and into the second mimicking the movements from when it entered the first shelf. It then plops down and closes its eyes once again, moving into the center of the room I start piling up the new debris on the floor and begin pushing it all out into the main cave.
The debris falls out of the end of my tunnel into the main cave like a rock and dust waterfall. It spreads on the floor creating an even layer of debris reaching out the length of one of my wings from the tunnel. Once again there are lizards seeming to keep watch at the top of the slope leading down to the caves entrance. This time there are four of them, two turn towards me as the sound of my rock waterfall crashes through the cave. Both moving over to the rocks and beginning to move them into small piles before scooping them up in their mouths and scampering off to the entrance of the cave.
*Huh, so that's what happened to the rest of that pile. Well no point in complaining about 'free' labor.*
Letting the lizards continue their cleaning I walk down to the cave entrance. The sun has fully set with just the barest sliver of light still left, painting the sky a dark orange through the canopy above. Looking through Aura sight I survey the forest seeing no large Auras I start determining my best course of action.
*I need to find where those wolves call home, if there are even more of them I will need to do something before they make my life even harder. I also need to get some more food than the small amount left on that wolf carcass. I could probably try and crack the bones for marrow but I don't think I will have the strength to crack most of the bones.*
Starting to move towards the path made from the wolves dragging their runt I stretch my wings out. Coiling my legs under me and then leaping I flap my wings once, aiming to gain only a little altitude pushing more back than down I gain a good deal of forward momentum. I spread my wings out as far as they will go, gliding towards the bushes that the path goes through. Pulling up my stamina window I keep an eye on it to get a feeling for my flight cost.
Stamina: 89%
*Well that basically confirms that, Each full flap of my wings takes ten percent of my overall stamina and gliding seems to drain a small amount over time.*
I'm over half way to the bushes before I see my stamina tick down another percent. My altitude dropping to about half the height of the nearest bushes. Passing over the start of the drag marks I notice that there is only one set of tracks that seem to have pulled the body. Continuing my glide I pass through the bush line, entering what feels like a tunnel with how dense the bushes are on either side. The ground below me is littered with broken branches and leaves that match the dark green coloration of the bushes I'm gliding through. The top of the pseudo tunnel only about a wing length above me as I enter it makes me feel like I'm moving at tremendous speed even though I know it's not really that fast. By the time my altitude has dropped to roughly half the overall height of the bush tunnel my stamina ticks down another percent.
*I have enough stamina left it will probably be worth the cost to allow me to continue at this speed.*
Snapping my wings up and then down and back I gain enough altitude to be at three quarters of the tunnel height, my forward speed increased by at least another twenty percent.
Stamina: 77%
*How fast is this, four times my walking speed? Five?*
Having no good way to measure that I continue gliding forwards feeling like I'm traversing very fast compared to what I've been used to up to this point. The feeling of joy at just flying is beginning to overwhelm me, I feel a smile crack my lips as I just bask in the feeling of air flowing around my body at high speeds. My Aura sight still hasn't picked up any other Auras and the trail continues straight for as far as I can see. Turning my head slightly to the right to try and see how far I have travelled since entering the tunnel I feel my body start to roll that way. Panicking I snap my head back forwards causing my body to then start leaning left, attempting to use my wings and tail in tandem to steady myself I instead find myself wobbling slow back and forth in greater and greater amounts.
Trying to stay calm as I feel my control start to slip I check my altitude. Finding myself only three or four wing lengths up I decide to try to aim for a landing instead of making this death wobble worse. Flaring the front of my wings up to try and act as a wind brake and allowing my instincts to take over controlling my tail I begin to prepare myself for a potential crash landing. Rolling my hips forwards and extending my legs out when I'm only a wings length up I start repeating:
*You've got this! You've got this!*
I catch the ground with my legs, allowing my knees to bend absorbing the impact. As my knees compress I push down and forwards with my wings trying to reduce my forward momentum. Rolling my body forwards as my knees have absorbed all the weight they can my arms snap out and catch the ground as well. I do a hop forwards, like trying to play off a trip as a quick step, a few follow up hops and I find myself standing upright.
Stamina: 68%
*I did it. I actually did it!*
System Message Skill Rank up: Flight Rank 0 -> Rank 1
*Hahaha, of course there is a skill for it, I wonder if there is a skill for everything you do and you just have to do the actions successfully for them to show up. That must mean I'm not actually telepathic, I should have already gained a skill level for it if I was.*
Looking back towards my cave I can still see some of the lizards Auras, appearing and disappearing at the edge of my Aura sight's range as they move around the cave.
*Interesting so that puts me at roughly double the distance from the cave to the pond. So thirty percent of my stamina flying equates to around double my total stamina sprinting.*
Realizing how much my travel capabilities just increased I smile and start walking down the path through the underbrush. My Aura sight shows me the location of multiple rabbit burrows on both sides as well as multiple other creatures that I can't fully identify. Most of the Auras I can see on the ground appear to be either asleep or being very still. The air above is a different story, I can see Auras flying through large clouds of much smaller Auras again. The clouds seem to be pure chaos from what I can tell, but as the larger Auras path through them they leave an empty path behind them, the emptiness is brief as the small auras chaotically refill the holes. I don't notice any wolf auras as I sweep the forest, having seen them each of the previous nights my anxiety begins to build the longer I go without seeing any.
*Where could they be, is their den just incredibly far away or am I going about this all wrong.*
As if on cue I hear a single howl in the distance ahead of me, still not seeing anything in Aura sight I realize it must still be a significant distnace from me. Two howls respond to the first, one of them seeming to be further away than the first and the second sound close to the same distance as the first but further into the forest away from the cliff. After a few more minutes of walking I check my stamina to see if it has recovered, it surprises me when I see it full.
*So I don't seem start feeling tired until around fifty percent stamina. If thats true it means I can use it as an automatic warning that I could be getting low. I should be able to traverse further with leaps of flight and then regain stamina while walking in between. I doubt it can allow me to out run those wolves it will certainly get me closer than just running.*
Realizing I was falling into analysis mode a little to deeply I decide to just go for it. I start jogging and then leap up as far as I can with just my leg strength. Reaching my wings up into the air above me as I jump I snap them both down as hard as I can, I gain far more height in that single movement than I expect.
*Huh, is the flight skill affecting that as well? It would make sense that a higher skill allows me to use it more effectively.*
My stamina window reinforces that assumption.
Stamina: 92%
*Huh, so if I assume I drained one stamina in the short sprint and jump that means it only took me seven stamina for a full strength wing beat. Thirty percent reduction in stamina cost for a single skill rank is huge and that is worst case scenario. If the sprint and jump cost more the reduction was even larger. Certainly needs more testing what better time than now?*
As I complete my thought I push down and back with my wings again, causing another gain in altitude but a much larger gain in speed.
Stamina: 85%
*Well that confirms my suspicions on that, I started at roughly sprinting speed as well and I'm clearly moving double if not more with only two wing beats.*
It starts to dawn on me just how much my movement capabilities have improved.
*So wings was the right choice then... finally good choices! No baby goblins for me!*
While I celebrate my instincts take over and beat my wings again, bringing me up about halfway to the top of the bushes and increasing my speed by another factor of my sprint speed. Choosing to reserve stamina I maneuver my wings into a gliding position, the movement feeling natural. I think to bring my legs and arms up into my body to hopefully help with keeping my speed up and realize I had already done it instinctively. The third smile cracks my face even wider than the previous two.
*I may have not made any progress towards attributes so far today but this feels like I've made more progress than any of those attribute gains. I'm probably a little biased based on how enjoyable this has been.*
Basking in the glorious feeling of flying I notice an Aura unlike any I have seen so far. It is much deeper into the forest in the same direction as the second howl. It looks like a humanoid from what I can tell with three dense spots of aura one of them is in the head and another is in the chest area, the third surprises me though it looks like its below the stomach. Even with that oddity though it's the size that terrifies me, the wolves tower over me but this being makes the wolves look small. Knowing it is at the limit of my Aura sight, as it just came into view, and mentally picturing the wolves Auras I put it at anywhere from fifty percent taller to double the size of the wolves. It seems to be moving from right to left from my perspective.
*Great, giant wolves, giant rabbits, giant owls, and now... actual fucking giants.*
Gliding forwards I see three more of the massive Auras come into sight, as the fourth comes into view a wolf's Aura comes into view as well. It seems to be only a small distance away from the giants and moving rapidly to the left and away from the giants. Three of the giants seem to be chasing after the wolf but the fourth stopped and is standing with its legs in a wide stance, one arm raised in front of it like it's point at the wolf.
*What is going on over there?*
As the thought passes through my mind the wolves aura changes, the dense portion in it's chest shatters. Like a massive star burst small pieces of dense Aura shoot out through the rest of its Aura before the small pieces can reach the edge of the Aura the entire Aura starts to dissipate. The wolf's Aura falls to the ground as this is all happening, dissipating fully before it hits the ground.
*Did that giant just finger gun the wolf to death!? Nope nope nope!*
I roll to the right hoping to give myself enough space within the bush tunnel to do a full 180 degree turn. My right wing tip almost brushes the bushes as I roll back to the left pulling hard to make the turn in time, my wing tip slaps a few protruding leaves as I pull out of the turn. I beat my wings hard gaining altitude as well as speed. Pushing my wings down and back three times in rapid succession I am going far faster than I have before, easily ten times my sprinting speed.
Stamina: 60%
The stamina window showing me that I can keep pushing but deciding that gliding back at my current speed would probably be a better idea than exhausting myself trying to go faster. The exhilaration of my current speed is overshadowed by watching a wolf get finger gunned to death. My brain is a jumbled mess of fear and anxiety. The Auras of the lizards in the cave rapidly pop back into sight one at a time their rapidly growing size showing me just how fast I am traveling. My altitude has dropped to only a few wing lengths off the ground so I snap my wings up and then drag them down, giving myself more altitude than speed. I move them back into a gliding position as I rise back up to roughly five wing lengths.
Stamina: 52%
It doesn't take long for me to find myself feeling a little too low so I flap my wings again, bringing my altitude back up but also causing me to start feeling the initial stages of exhaustion. The exhaustion doesn't extend to my whole body though, I primarily feel it in the expanded muscles attached to my wings and my tail. With my cave rapidly approaching I feel comfortable knowing I'll have enough stamina to reach it. That small comfort is vastly outweighed by an image of me being finger gunned out of the sky by a giant.
'You can't just tell your brain to stop thinking about something, you need to occupy it by thinking of something else' flashes across my mind. Trying to find something to think about other than giants and finger guns I remember the night sky above the pond and the multi colored band across the night sky. I can feel as my heart rate finally starts to drop, only now realizing that it has been beating out of my chest this entire time. Feeling my heart rate drop and my mind start to clear I being assessing my current situation.
*Well if the wolves are currently occupied I could use this time to do some hunting and maybe get some attribute increases tonight.*
Rapidly approaching my cave I realize I need to start slowing down or I'll be a small streak on the side of the cliff. My body reacts automatically, my tail and legs dropping down causing my air resistance to massively increase as that happens my wings angle slightly back the bulk of the wing expanding backwards like a small parachute.
*Wow, so the rank in flight seems to have added instincts, removing my need to constantly think about how to fly. I wonder what the higher ranks bring with it, could I rival that owl in a few ranks?*
Rapidly slowing I start to descend into the open area surrounding my cave. Making a few tight circles before I extend my legs preparing to land. My legs contact the ground and I once again roll forwards onto my front legs, taking a few quick jog steps as I bring myself to a stop my wings pulling into my sides into their protective retracted state.
Two of the lizards that had been posted up inside the cave come scampering out to check on the commotion, seeing me they both nod at the same time. As I nod back they both turn around and run back up to their watch posts. I can see the other lizard Auras back further in the cave appearing to be asleep. Making up my mind to use the night to hunt for more food as well as power gains I start walking towards the pond. As I reach the other end of the open ground I notice my exhaustion has almost completely gone away peaking at my stamina I see that I am above half again.
*Well I guess that confirms my suspicion that the feeling of exhaustion represents the half way point of my stamina.*
I decide to sprint for a short distance to see to get my stamina below fifty percent to confirm the hypothesis. After a short time I feel the exhaustion again this time it is in my chest and legs though
Stamina: 49%
*Well that feels good. I finally fully fleshed out one of the systems at play. It would be nice to know how the attributes and levels work at a deeper level.*
Mulling over what I have noticed up to this point I continue my nighttime adventure to the pond. I periodically sweep the forest floor as well as canopy with my Aura sight searching for not just threats but also potential targets. I don't see any close targets but there are more small Auras underground in the distance that I note for potential targets.
After reaching the pond I dip my tail into the water trying to attract the fish up from the deep sections of the pond. I decide to try out a few different movement patterns to see if one is more effective than the others. I first try random jerky movements thinking it would be closer to a fly on the surface but they don't seem to respond at all to that. I then try a slow circular motion like stirring a drink, no interest in that either. Expanding on that movement I try a slow figure eight movement, on a whim I periodically change the speed of my tail. I notice a few fish immediately turn towards this movement. Realizing this might be a winner I continue adding more variation to the speed. Four fish dart towards my tail, stopping a short distance back.
*I wonder if my breath will penetrate the water* Crosses my mind as I exhale a tenth of my breath capacity at the surface of the water, aiming for the fish. My breath spreads thinly over the surface, seeming to be a lot less than what I would have expected. The density of the dark purple cloud makes it hard to tell what's is going on under the water so I stick my head into the pond. The underside of my cloud shows me exactly why it looks so small from above, tendrils of dark purple with dark red and almost black-green veins hang down into the water undulating slowly like jellyfish tentacles. Two of the fish investigate the tendrils, black veins shooting through their aura pulsing twice before their Auras dissipate. Two system messages pop up in rapid succession and I mentally move them off to the side of my vision.
System Message Level 0 Fish Defeated Choose Attribute Distribution
The bodies of the two fish float to the surface breaking through the thin cloud of my breath. The other fish either not realizing what happened or being compelled by their curiosity slowly approach the tendrils. The larger of the two tries to take a bite of a tendril and suffers the same fate causing a third system message to pop up creating the start of a stack of System Messages to the right of my vision. The fourth fish seems to realize what has happened and shoots back into the depths. Pulling my head back from the pond I ponder what to do next.
*I wonder if those tendrils would be enough by themselves to bait some fish in. I don't want to wipe out the fish population of this pond though. I'll have to be careful not to over do it.*
Taking another inhale I exhale slowly releasing another third of my breath capacity onto the surface of the lake. It creeps out like a slow moving fog, attempting to disperse it further out onto the surface of the pond I pull my wings up and then slowly flap them down and forwards. My breath expands much quicker with the the air displaced by my wings.
*I definitely need to be cautious with how I apply my breath since wind can affect it so easily.*
I dip my head back under the water to check on the tendrils underneath. The tendrils hanging much further down than the previous attempt. The tendrils look like an inverted dark purple forest hanging from the top of the pond. The 'trees' accented by dark green and red veins, closer to the shore the tendrils touch the bottom of the pond expanding out like a dark canopy on over the bed of the pond. It is hard from my vantage point to see how far out into the pond this continues but the influx of messages tell me that it has been incredibly effective.
My stack of system messages rapidly growing counting as the flood begins feels futile so I just watch, in slight horror as I decimate the ponds fish population. Pulling my head back from the water I can see the bodies begin to bob to the surface. I pull the windows back into the center of my vision and begin to count.
*Nineteen fish total and a crab, seventeen kills in a single breath. Wow, I'll need to be careful with that in the future.*
I begin to work my way through the log of messages, once again running into the strange "no primary advancement available message" with the first fish advancement point being forced into CHA.
Attribute Distribution
No Primary advancement found
Distributing Secondary Points to:
CHA
Attributes earned for slaying: Level 0 Fish CHA Increased by 1 New CHA Score: 2
*Interesting that's the first time I've ever seen CHA as an option for advancement. I'm assuming that stands for charisma but I can't think of how that could be useful for me. Maybe it's a dump stat for me?*
The next distribution message muddles the mixture even further for me.
Attribute Distribution No Primary advancement found No Secondary advancement found Distribtue Tertiary points to:
STR, CON, DEX, AGI, PER, WIS, INT or CHA?
*Um what? So when it becomes tertiary I can apply it to any stats? That seems strange, that would seem to incentivize committing genocide on weaker beings. Let's go with INT since I haven't seen that one yet either*
Attributes earned for slaying: Level 0 Fish INT Increased by 0.1 New INT Score: 10 (10.1)
*Well that doesn't seem worth it, if that continues I would burn through half the fish gains for that a single point. I should try another one at least to figure out the system further with my control being the fish appear to be uniform in their power.*
Attributes earned for slaying: Level 0 Fish INT Increased by 0.09 New INT Score: 10 (10.19)
*That is very interesting, I wish I remembered more of my past life. I know I understood math to a much better degree but I can't seem to remember how to go about figuring this out! I wonder if goblins understand math...*
Continuing with the following messages I decide to pump points into my lower stats. Even with feeling that CHA is useless to me now get the sense that won't always be true.
Attributes earned for slaying: Level 0 Fish (x16) CHA Increased by 0.5 New CHA Score: 2 (2.5) CHA Increased by 0.4 New CHA Score: 2 (2.9) CHA Increased by 0.34 New CHA Score: 3 (3.24) DEX Increased by 0.36 New DEX Score: 3 (3.09) DEX Increased by 0.32 New DEX Score: 3 (3.41) DEX Increased by 0.29 New DEX Score: 3 (3.7) DEX Increased by 0.27 New DEX Score: 3 (3.97) DEX Increased by 0.25 New DEX Score: 4 (4.22) WIS Increased by 0.33 New WIS Score: 3 (3.33) WIS Increased by 0.30 New WIS Score: 3 (3.63) WIS Increased by 0.27 New WIS Score: 3 (3.9) WIS Increased by 0.25 New WIS Score: 4 (4.15) AGI Increased by 0.6 New AGI Score: 3 (3.9) AGI Increased by 0.51 New AGI Score: 4 (4.41) CON Increased by 0.25 New CON Score: 4 (4.25) PER Increase by 0.25 New PER Score: 4 (4.25)
*Huh, AGI seems to give quite a bit more, wasn't AGI and STR the original choices for fish?* With that thought I allocate the last fish into AGI as well.
AGI Increase by 0.45 New AGI Score: 4 (4.86)
System Message New Level achieved: Level 4 4 Trait points unlocked
*No way, a small genocide for a level gain!?! And I still have that crab left... Hmm, what stat from a crab would give the most? Rabbit was DEX AGI, Fish was STR AGI, and wolf was basically everything. I wonder if that's what they are considered strong in. *
Attributes earned for slaying: Level 0 Crab INT Increased by 0.09 New INT Score: 10 (10.28)
*Well I guess it's not INT... I should've gone with CON.*
Looking to the pond I can't tell how long I have been lost in my own world of attribute gains and level ups. Most of the fish bodies have found their way to the shore but nothing else gives me any metric for the timeframe of my introspection. I immediately do a sweep of the ground and canopy looking for any dangerous looking Auras. The Aura of an owl immediately pops out to me in the canopy. It looks as though its using its beak on its own feet pecking and then pulling back.
*Is it eating something?*
Looking back to the pond I realize there are only ten visible fish seven of them on the shore and three still floating a little ways out.
*IT STOLE MY FOOD AGAIN!?*
I immediately grab the nearest fish and eat it, biting it in half in the first bite and then finishing the rest with the second bite. I look up noting the owl still pre-occupied I quickly devour another two of the fish on the shore. My stomach feeling full I decide to grab another three fish in my mouth and start moving back towards the cave hoping the owl stays distracted with the remaining fish. I start running realizing that I am moving quite a bit faster than I was on the first day.
*That must be the AGI score, I haven't done much running without the fear of death plaguing me but I still should've noticed this earlier.*
Checking my stamina I see that it is almost back to full after my stroll to the pond and then decimation of the fish population. I snap my wings out mid stride and push myself up into the sky, still feeling euphoria at the sense of freedom that comes with flight. My confidence in my capabilities allowing me to feel even more free than that initial flight. I can't help but feel as though I will make it the week, even in this land of giant animals and actual giants. I quickly arrive back at the cave noting the lizard guards inside the cave. I land outside of the cave entrance not wanting to have another run in with the cave wall.
I enter the cave and walk up towards the lizards, they seem to be crouched down ready to attack before they notice me. I can tell the moment they recognize me because they both nod. Still finding the entire thing comical I let out a little croak chuckle. The fish muffling the sound and making me remember that they are still in my mouth. I drop the fish in front of the two lizards and step back making sure that they understand they can eat. Both of them tilt their heads seeming to question my actions. I nod my head and the both immediately move forwards to devour the fish.
I move past the guard lizards and crawl up the tunnel towards the bedroom, I find three of the lizards asleep on the floor and two more asleep on the shelves I had made.
*I'm going to need to finish those shelves tomorrow.*
I try to vocalize a non-threatening sound and the meow-croak comes out again. The five lizards all snap awake, the two on the shelves shrinking back into the shelves as far as they can and the three on the ground shooting back as far as they can.
*Crap, Sorry!*
I try to mentally project to them, while nodding slightly. All five nod back at me as they move away from the walls, the two on the shelves immediately lay back down but the three on the ground seem to wait for me to move. I curl up on the ground with my head towards the main cave. I can feel as two of the lizards crawl up onto my body and lay down with the other crawling up onto my neck before falling asleep.
*They remind me a lot of cats with their mannerisms. I wonder if it's my body heat that keeps them close, I certainly don't seem to be cold blooded like I would have expected.*
Finally feeling safe again with the familiar walls of my cave around me I start thinking about where to put my trait points.
*I know I was thinking scales next, but the increase in breath from one to two was massive. It essentially doubled my potency with it, I'm assuming that the density will increase by another fifty percent with another rank. There is also those slight swirling colors I can see it in it, hinting at a potential further increase that I either can't see yet or just don't understand. Scales makes a lot of sense as well, I could easily just put all of my points into both of those and probably be happy with my choice. Having not touched jaws or claws though I can only guess as to what those with change into. I think my best choice will be either scales or breath and then getting jaws and claws to rank two. I'm definitely going to need to sleep on this though, I'm not going to make another hasty choice that I might regret later on.*
I can feel the rhythmic breathing of the lizards laying on me fast asleep, focusing on that I feel as my body grows heavy and my eyelids slowly close. My dreams are filled with finger gun giants and nebulous skies.