Redeem was face to face with the culprit of a murder, the murder of his entire family. The bloodied face of the black and red dragon wrinkled with anger and then shuddered with the force of a roar.

[Bypassing Update: Off]

[Immediate death imminent]

"Yeah," Redeem said, turning to run. "I know!" He yelped, gushing hot breath chasing his tail.

With a beat, the small blue dragon was racing across the cave, bolting for the exit. Attracted by the movement and apparently by the idea of another kill, the black and red dragon gave chase, gurgling.

The exit wasn't too far, and covered in blinding sunlight, Redeem could only hope that once outside he could find someplace safe.

Behind Redeem, the enemy dragon towered like a mountain despite the small space of the cave. The black dragon had red streaks in either of his sides running from snout to tail, he also had a wide set build covered in thick armored scales.

As dark faded to light, Redeem felt something on his back move, and then before he could understand what was happening, he was leaping out of the cave and plummeting toward the ground.

The cave's mouth let out to the steep side of a rocky mountain. Falling through clouds and losing altitude fast, Redeem had no time to gather his thoughts.

In fact, his body seemed to do most of the work for him. Small leathery wings on his back got caught by the air and expanded, flaring out on either side.

Redeem's logic was, of course, to flap them. But each flap seemed to only make him fall faster, and did nothing to assist with an uplift.

[Death approaching]

Redeem flapped frantically, coming up with no other solution. The black dragon was still hot on his tail, its throat churning with the makings of fire.

"Any advice?" Redeem asked over the wind.

[Stop flapping]

Redeem didn't, instead he made a face of disbelief and then flapped harder.

[Stop flapping, or you will die]

Redeem didn't have time to protest or ask questions, and so with a look of terror as he faced the ground below, he stopped flapping his wings.

Something hot raced down toward him, something that upon contact would obliterate him.

Instead of dying to the jet of fire, Redeem was abruptly gliding. Soaring up at such an impromptu moment caused the dragon behind him to miss his initial attack.

Redeem felt in awe, sailing on air like he was light as a feather. But there was still danger, no time to feel shocked, and in fact the danger had changed course to head straight for him.

There was nothing ahead but trees, a river to the far east, and the clouds far above. The small dragon had only one option, to use his size to his advantage.

[Idiot]

Redeem dove downward, falling fast enough to be in the cover of trees when the next stream of flame was released.

As expected, the trees caught, and suddenly the world was burning around him. Panting against smoke, and heavy with his baby dragon wings struggling to do their job, Redeem clunked into a tree and landed with a huff against the grassy forest floor.

When Redeem had landed he had immediately tried to jump to fly again. But his wings wouldn't work, as before the flapping was useless.

Sputtering around like a young sparrow wouldn't serve him. So, gathering himself, Redeem stopped and took in his situation.

The top half of the forest was burning like mad, but luckily the trees were so tall that he could make his way under the flames and the smoke without dying.

Driven on by the sensation of electric adrenaline, Redeem padded under the trees, trying to escape the echo of an angry black dragon.

In the shadow of the forest, only some smoke lingered. Most traveled up towards fresh air, allowing for Redeem to trekk on, only coughing a few times a step.

Redeem felt it was unlikely the cannibal dragon would follow a tiny morsel all the way to the other end of the forest, so that was his destination.

But that destination felt farther and farther with each step. He had just been hatched today! His tiny baby muscles were droopy and weak after less than an hour of scrambling and escaping.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

When the forest went into near silence, and the burning of flames were paces behind him, Redeem came across a stream. Wobbling and feeling parched, he dove his snout in and guzzled the stuff.

After slobbering and gulping, Redeem had purged the grit of smoke from his lungs and could now slow his racing heart.

The forest had become quiet around him, giving him a moment to pant and take stock. Doing so, he tried to feel more like himself, but it was hard to feel optimistic when if he didn't survive long enough, his death would just be that, death. There was every reason to treat this life as real life.

Nearly calmed, and determined to survive, it was then that Redeem felt more like his old self and was curious, if only minorly, about the system and his stats.

"Hey…" He whispered. "You there?"

The bubble of stream and the roar of flames a ways behind filled Redeems ears like white noise, leaving him thinking the system had gone, but abruptly it came online.

[Would you like to view your notifications?]

"Sure," He said, leaning down to take another sip of water and then raising his head to face the floating text.

[Interface Update Menu]

┝[Growth Updates]

│

┝[Skill Updates]

The growth updates were irrelevant, but this did bring up a question of his growth stage.

"How long will I be a hatchling?" Redeem asked, thoughtfully twitching his tiny tail.

[Two weeks]

He noted to himself that he'd look into that later, and opened [skill updates].

[Skill Updates]

[Skill Acquired: Gliding - Rank: Novice] [?]: Gliding

Redeem thoughtfully spread out his wings and looked at either of them.

They were narrow, the color of blue water and glittering with leathery texture and some scales.

"Why can't I fly?" He asked, frowning.

[Hatchlings cannot fly]

Redeem folded his wings.

"When can dragons fly?"

[Fledgling is the third stage of life, and upon growing into that stage dragons gain the ability to learn the [Fly] skill]

Third stage?

"What stage am I?"

[Second, hatchling]

So the egg must be a stage, Redeem thought.

It felt like not too long ago Redeem had been a normal dead guy, and before that he had been a normal alive guy. Now he was a dragon, but instead of hoarding gold or fighting other monsters, he was trying to figure out how to survive long enough to have some fun. He also was starting from zero and growing up all over again. Which wouldn't be so bad if he at least had parents.

As a hatchling without parents, Redeem could only dream of surviving to adulthood.

What was the best way to get stronger? Levels obviously! So his first goal was to level up!

His stomach grumbled in protest.

With a wince, Redeem realized he hadn't eaten all day. And alone in the forest, he was more likely to be the meal.

But he had no choice, it was either eat or be eaten.

"So where's the nearest food?"

[Unknown]

"What? Can't you scan the forest?"

[System's can provide knowledge and an overview of known things, like the interface]

"Dumb it down a little,"

[I do not know this forest, I only know common facts about this world and most of its inhabitants and customs. If you want to have a map, you'll have to explore]

Redeem had never shied away from doing some work (he guessed since he didn't remember), but perspectives change when you become a baby dragon. In his mind when he had asked to become one, he had imagined waking up in a cave and blowing fire at anyone who came near.

Shaking off the daydreams, Redeem puffed up his chest and walked past the stream.

Birds sung in weird tunes up in the canopy, and with each stride the forest only felt more like a maze of roots and undergrowth. It appeared dragon babies, or at least Wind Dragon babies, were surprisingly small.

Redeem had started out walking confidently, but after only ten minutes his walk had become a creeping stalk. His eyes darted at every noise, and his wings twitched at the slightest breeze.

How was he going to find food?

"Hey? Where ya at?" He hissed.

[My updates have been turned off]

"Ok well, can you turn back on and give me some help?"

[Dragons have a very good sense of smell, predators typically hunt with their nose]

It was obvious, so obvious that Redeem felt a bit hot in the ears after hearing it. Lifting his neck, the long-bodied blue dragon took a sniff of the air.

Dragon smell was incredibly detailed. The scent of dirt and bark were just as tangible as the scent of fruit or pollen.

But it was hard to differentiate.

Redeem followed a smell that was a bit funky in his nose, like hot water and dirt. The small dragon looked strange while sniffing the air aggressively and then moving a few paces one way and then the other.

When he finally stumbled upon what he thought was the source, it turned out he was smelling a pond.

The pond was filled with algae, and in the air fluttered dragonflies. In the water, frogs and fish swam.

It was perfect for a hatchling.

[Skill acquired: Scent Tracking - Rank: Novice]

With a cat-like crouch, Redeem took in the sights of a fat bullfrog and lunged.