Yaaaaaaaawn. I feel like I could drive an archdemon up a wall. How long did I sleep? It matters little in the end. I tried to stretch my arms, but they met a hard surface. Surprised and curious at what that may be, I opened my eyes. Yeah, I opened them and stretched my arms! I was in complete control of my body again. I felt like a dragon with two tails. Distracted, I raised my arms in a cry of joy, totally forgetting about the hard wall that awaited their impact. Then, I heard a crack. My hands didn't hurt from the bump. Instead, the surface gave in. Leaving small tears on the smooth wall. A handful of rays of light illuminated my dark prison. I didn't want to believe it at first, but is this an eggshell?!

I held my hand out into the dim light entering my cage. And to my regret, it was tiny, covered by purple scales. Shiny golden claws stood out from my fingertips. They were not looking threatening at all. Instead, they made me look more adorable. Nobody will take me seriously with those. Even female humans look more threatening with their coloured wannabe claws. Pull yourself together, I told myself. Then, turning my attention elsewhere, I used my claw to smash the surface of my prison. My nails proved more useful than I first thought as they sliced through it with one clean move. My suspicion was confirmed. My prison must be an egg. A shimmering light dazzled my vision through the hole I smashed into the egg. Irritated, I tried to escape the light, turning away from it. But I couldn't move at all. Then, suddenly, the balance shifted, and the ground began to move. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH, what now?!

The shell began to roll. I couldn't help but get dizzy. All of a sudden, I felt no more resistance under me. I was falling! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. After a few seconds of terrified screaming, the egg hit the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces. I prepared myself for the impact, but I landed on my tail before I could react. I felt incredibly embarrassed for screaming about something so ridiculous. I have fallen from a small hill, barely as tall as myself. My gaze shifted around, searching for anyone who could have witnessed this spectacle, but I was interrupted.

⮘ Requirements reached. Skill ⟪ Lesser Dragon Scales ⟫ advanced to level 2. ⮚

What? How can that be so easy? I just levelled a skill by falling from a tiny hill. It still embarrasses me, thinking about it. However, with the skill advancing to the next level, my scales felt sturdier, while my agility stayed the same. I was worried if mobility would suffer for a second, but it didn't seem like that, so I was surprised positively. I can only imagine levelling will get more challenging the higher the skill level.

Wait... what about all my other skills? It completely slipped my mind. I felt like some parts of my memory had been ripped out. The last thing I remember was fighting for my life before activating ⟪ Soul Frenzy ⟫. My mood dropped as I recalled what happened. How could I even forget about it? I barely escaped death, but at what cost? All my memories from before the attack on my soul were gone. I feel a lot weaker than when I was fighting that 'thing'. However, I can still feel their presence engraved on my soul when I close my eyes.

Nevertheless, I hope my mind is playing a trick on me. It must be. I don't want to encounter that 'thing' again, at least for now. Not before I have grown stronger.

Now that I am weak like ever before, I wondered if it was ⟪ Soul Frenzy ⟫ that took all my experience and skills and turned them into energy. As I thought of the skill, it appeared in my mind, and to my surprise, it changed.

⟪ Soul Frenzy ⟫ LVL 2 ≫ Overdrives all mental and magical capabilities for a short amount of time. A state of frenzy is sustained by converting life essence and experience into energy. As a result, soul frenzy will corrupt body and soul. The corruption occurs when too much life essence and expertise is converted into energy, overwhelming the magic circuits of the body and rendering them unable to recover.

WILL CORRUPT SOUL AND BODY! I could have sworn last time I checked, it said there was some chance it corrupts my soul... but not with certainty. I have been cheated. What is done is done. Leastways I survived, and that's all that matters. Even so, being positive right now is pretty hard. I lost all my memories—nearly everything... about my friends, family, even myself. Perhaps I was always alone? But now is not the time to worry about that.

Think! ⟪ Soul Frenzy ⟫ didn't take my memories. The skill only ever touched my life essence and experience. That only leaves the 'thing'... By devouring my body and soul, it must have taken my memories as well. So maybe if I devoured them back... that sounds like a terrible idea. I don't even know how he read my mind, so how should I eat his? Sigh.

So for now, the plan is to work my way up, get stronger until nobody would dare to glance at me ever again and then I'll get my memories back somehow! Easier said than done - I know. Let's begin with small steps, like getting my old strength back. That shouldn't be that hard. I do know that wouldn't be enough to beat that 'thing' that attacked me, but it's a start, and perhaps I'll find a way to get my memories back along the way. Sounds like a plan - at least an objective!

BRRAAAAAAAAWWR!

Startled, I turned my gaze towards the scream. A giant flame-red salamander entered the cavern. His fiery gaze turned to me, followed by another growl. His eyes shone like candles while his snake-like body steamed with heat. Come on! Give me a break... I just escaped death, and now it is knocking at my door once more. This cavern must be its nest. My luck... As I looked around more closely for a way to escape, human bones, weapons and clothes caught my eye. How did I overlook all this?! In my defence, it's only been a few minutes since I hatched.

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While the salamander made some dragon-sized room in his stomach, I planned my escape. The cavern had two exits. The red lizard entered the cavern from the opposite side to me. Which only left me with one other option. The only problem was that the only other exit was on his left side. As I was on his opposite side, the entry was on my right side. If I ran straight for it, he would be easily able to cut me off. He was also closer to the exit, which didn't make it easier for me.

But I had a plan, and it involved my wings. I counted on the fact that I could still fly. I didn't have the chance to test it, and it wasn't very likely for a hatchling to fly right after hatching. At least I didn't hear about any. Well, I don't remember much, so it doesn't count. Sigh. The only sure thing is that I could fly in my past. I could not recall flying, but I feel it in my guts. Moreover, there is still the chance that this exit leads to a dead-end. That would be a miserable situation.

The salamander charged at me, sure of victory. There was no time to think about a better plan. Casting all worries aside, I ran towards him. Never underestimate a cornered animal! Or a dragon, in my case. A more adorable than terrifying roar accompanied my onslaught. The salamander closed the distance between us with two giant leaps. He was way faster than I first thought! Or perhaps I was just too slow? Whatever the case, he was going to attack! But I would not give in so easily. When he opened his big mouth to snatch me, I jumped with all the strength my legs could offer, spreading my wings, barely escaping death once again. Then, as it was the most natural thing in this world, I took off, making my way towards the nearest exit.

I didn't want to lose another moment and hurried without looking back. I could hear the salamander turning around to hurry after me. He wouldn't let go of his prey. After all, he was so close to getting his hands on a fresh meal. But I am not tasty at all, so find someone more suitable!

I left the cavern behind me and entered the cave. Meanwhile, the red lizard was hot on my trail. Flying deeper into the cave, it became darker and darker. I flew as fast as I could, but my young wings were only capable of that much. He was right on my tail - Literally! He leapt at me again, trying to bite one of my wings. I couldn't avoid it. I had already overdone it. Flying cost me a lot of stamina, and I didn't have much, to begin with as a hatchling. In an attempt to avoid his attack, I flew upwards, but he managed to bite the lower end of my right-wing.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! I felt his sharp teeth piercing through my muscles. Not again - Why is everything trying to kill me! This world is unforgiving, but that won't break me! I survived a direct attack on my very soul. A mere salamander won't bring me down. At least not that easily! The salamander tugged me down by my wing. CRACK - I let out another scream in agony. With a cracking sound, my bone broke. Exactly at the elbow joint. Rendering half of my wing useless. The only thing that kept my wing from detaching was the thin wing net connecting it to the rest of my body.

⮘ Requirements reached. Skill ⟪ Lesser Dragon Scales ⟫ advanced to level 3. ⮚

A mix of purple and golden liquid shot out of my wound. However, as soon as it touched the salamander's skin, it evaporated in an instant. This isn't good. I am in a really tight spot. For magical creatures like myself, the liquid spilling out of my wound was something like blood for humans. It is liquid mana that supplies my cells with energy. Whereas all non-magical species draw their mana from the environment, monsters like myself have a core that can generate mana for them. We are not dependent on the mana of our surroundings, but as soon as we run out of our own, we feel haggard or... a rather unpleasant ending, we may even die. May is the wrong term. We will pass away when we deplete our mana. It doesn't matter if we bleed out or drain it by using skills and abilities. We need it to survive...

⮘ Requirements reached. Skill ⟪ Lesser Agony Ward ⟫ attained. ⮚

A new skill? The pain lessened as I analysed my new skill. However, the pain didn't disappear completely. Instead, it turned into a rather unpleasant feeling. I could feel what happened to me, but without the resulting soreness - A more than strange feeling.

A few seconds have passed, and we were still falling?! We should have hit the ground by now! There is no end to it. I looked down, but that was of little help as I couldn't see my claw in front of my face. Let alone my tail. The salamander would not rest and now tore off part of my wing. I contorted my face expecting pain but was disappointed - in a good way. More of the purplish golden liquid spilt out. I felt weaker by the second, but I was free now! The salamander no longer held me hostage. But that only gave me little joy. The feeling of despair, due to the approaching death, was stronger.

I fell faster and faster - there was still no ground in sight. But it began to get brighter, which made me think this flight would soon be over. Whatever the case, I have to slow down somehow, or my guts will decorate the inside of this cave. A most disturbing thought. I escaped my thoughts and went into action. I struggled to open my wings. My right-wing was reduced to half its original length, but as if that wasn't enough already, I was weakened from all the blood loss.

The ground was near! Stunning crystals adorned the cave. They glittered in the most diverse colours and illuminated the otherwise dark cave. Thanks to them, I was able to see. Even though they only gave a little light, they illuminated a large part of the cave by their number alone. Wait! I shouldn't worry about the vibrant colours now. I got more pressing matters. Concentrating on my wings, I managed to slow down quite a bit, but the impact will still hurt a bunch as of now. My shattered wing didn't help much. It made it hard to control myself and not end up spinning.

THUUUUD! With a loud sound, the salamander smashed into the ground below me. After it ripped half my wing off, I lost track of him in the darkness, but now I could see him, lying on the ground - motionless and covered in blood. Aiming for his bare stomach to cushion my impact. SPLAT! I landed on his stomach, using my momentum to dig my claws into his flesh. Steam rose from its body, and I felt the heat hit my less armoured parts. Again no pain, but I knew it hurt me. The salamander cried out one last time before leaving this world behind.

⮘ Defeated「Salamander」LVL 11. ⮚

My claws returned from the salamander's guts with a ruby coloured crystal. It pulsed with ruby-red light. His core! Every monster had one. That's how I knew it would be there. It held all his power, and without it, I was sure he wouldn't raise from the dead. But that wasn't the only reason I grabbed it.

My body and mind were exhausted. My wounds ached for rest, and my limbs refused to move. Right after devouring the salamander's core, I fell into a deep slumber.

⮘ Requirements reached.「Hatchling」has advanced to LVL 2. ⮚

⮘ Requirements reached.「Hatchling」has advanced to LVL 3. ⮚