Kai entered the battle with the slug-like beast full of grim, almost fanatical determination. The last few weeks, the constant defeats and skulking around the cave had left a deep shadow over his heart, questioning everything he thought he knew about his species.

He was a dragon, a being that was as ancient as they were powerful yet, here he was, at the bottom of the food chain, his survival balanced on a knife-edge.

The blood-red hue in his eyes continually grew, rapidly replacing their natural golden colour, something that occurred every time he fought.

In his mind, he had already decided that this battle, even though many would laugh at a death match with a giant slug, would determine his fate.

Either Kai would emerge victoriously, or not at all. In his mind, warped by isolation and his experiences, it was better for him to die early than to suffer for eternity.

The slug, its kind focusing on high defence to the cost of all else, including its speed and intelligence, reacted predictably. It slowly yet relentlessly attacked the dragonling without care or concern for its well-being. This behaviour was why, even though it was at the bottom of the food chain, the slug's species was also the most numerous to be found inside the cave system.

Most predators found it too much hassle to kill when there were easier, more nutritious, prey to hunt.

The fight was brutal, the two evenly matched against each other, effectively cancelling out each other's strengths and turning the battle into that of endurance and multiple weak, but continuously growing injuries.

Kai's ability to purify its body from the slim's poison, as long as it didn't get in his eyes nullified the slug's most potent attack while the slug's high resistance to piercing damage made it almost impossible for Kai's teeth and claws to inflict anything more than a bloody scratch.

The battle continued for hours, the floor becoming stained in bright green and red blood as the small wounds they inflicted on each other steadily grew.

During this time, Kai knew that if he used his Dragon's breath, the slug would fall almost instantly but it would also set him back weeks and so, pushed forward utilising everything he had learned to try and overcome his fortress-like opponent.

If one were to consider him the sword, his opponent would be the shield.

It was during the seventh hour, both the slug and Kai were extremely exhausted yet unwilling to give up, that a black, mist-like sheen appeared on Kai's claws, precisely as it had done during the last moments of his fight with the rabbit. Without thinking, Kai's back foot flew outwards and sliced a grievous wound into the slug's flank changing the flow of the battle in a single instant.

Without even contemplating about what had just happened, Kai plunged his claws deep into the slugs chest, his incredibly keen eyesight, enhanced by powers he hadn't discovered yet, already having found the most significant weakness of all spirit beasts, its core.

Grasping the core, shredding the arteries that fed blood to it, Kai used his back legs to push off the slug, almost slipping and needing to use his single wing to stabilise himself as he flew backwards.

While all organs were a weakness, especially a beasts brain and heart, nothing would kill a beast faster than having its core destroyed or removed.

In an instant, the slug had frozen, before slumping forward dead and Kai had won his first victory.

Kai, thoroughly exhausted to the point of collapse instinctively threw the core, something that was difficult due to his bodies shape, in the air before snatching it with his teeth, shattering the gem-like object, and swallowing.

A warm, revitalising energy seeped through his being as the minuscule amount of spirit and world energy the slug had painstaking gathered flowed from the core's remains and into the dragon's body.

Bones popped and realigned, blood vessels tore and repaired themselves and, for the first time, Kai felt an itch on the flesh where he had lost the scales in his battle against the rabbit. Even the dragon's wing stub itched slightly indicating that it was trying to heal itself.

The feeling was akin to both heaven and hell as Kai experienced blissful pleasure and agonising pain at the same time as his body healed and changed at an alarming rate.

A concept from his ancestral bloodline fluttered to the surface, and he instantly knew that this is what was referred to as 'levelling up.'

After a being had gained enough experience and passed through tribulations of the mind, body and soul while having acquired enough spirit essence, their body would change. This change would permanently strengthen them and enable them to perform much better than their previous self.

This strengthening commonly occurred in the areas they had strained the most, seemingly aiding them in their chosen path. That was to say, for Kai, his speed, reflexes, stamina and strength had increased dramatically while his core, intelligence, spirit and hardiness had only somewhat improved.

A level was an individuals marker in how much they had grown since birth. While it could never be directly compared to another's, the situation and changes making it impossible to distinguish between individuals, it had been used, the information Kai had access to being over a millennia old, as a social and merit-based casting system across most of the sentient species.

Though the system was somewhat unfair in the early levels, this casting was especially true the higher the level as each subsequent level up took at least double the amount of effort as the previous.

High levelled beings often had a wealth of experience and strength, making them powers that most could not afford to offend.

Being semi-immortal, unable to fall to the ravages of time, gave the dragon race a considerable advantage in this area as, as long as they were careful, they had all the time in the world to increase their strength.

It was because of this trait, especially for elder and ancient dragons, entire armies of high levelled warriors were needed put up any semblance of a fight.

Kai's lips twitched into a feral smile, his exhaustion, though much diminished due to levelling up, evident on his features as he stalked forward, unwilling to rest now a tangible metric of his growth had been discovered, and he started hunting his next target.

In the months that followed, Kai nearly lost his life more times than he could count yet, he continued to grow and develop at an outstanding rate.

He mastered the strange, mist-like ability that empowered his claws and could help conceal his body in the shadows, discovered that, as long as it was only a tiny amount, could use his Dragon's fire ability if his life was in danger, and eventually worked out a way that he could silently glide, would was closer to controlled falling on his unsuspecting prey.

While it couldn't even be compared to flying, the power Kai felt as he watched from the tall rocks that littered the cave's sides, overseeing everything below him before sweeping down and smashing into his prey was bliss for the young dragon that had suffered so much in his early weeks.

It rapidly became his prefered method of hunting, enabling to avoid most of the ambushes he had previously been subjected too.

Eventually, even the large snake-like creatures, the top of this cave's ecosystem were targeted by the continually growing dragon.

While more often than not Kai got his kill, if the fight was interrupted by a third and sometimes even fourth party, looking to take advantage, then he could only retreat as the cave's insect-like creatures seem to identify him as the most significant threat and would attempt to swarm him before they attacked each other.

This behaviour angered Kai to no end, just like the ambush from the rabbit, the young dragon considered these tactics unfair yet, it also gave him a new goal.

His technique and strategies slowly adapted. From the one on one style he had developed when combating slugs, slimes, spiders and the occasional locust-like creatures, the young dragon's technique changed into a one versus many.

He was forced to split his attention and attacks, using hit and run tactics and various, seemingly underhanded means to achieve victory but to the immature dragon, the end justified the means.

As long as they were not employed against him.

A year had passed, something that would seem like a lifetime for any sentient creature stuck inside a cave on their own, and Kia had finally climbed his way to the top. The number of animals inside the cave had diminished significantly, his presence and appetite for gaining strength shattering the delicate balance that had existed for aeons.

Sitting atop a boulder and looking into the pool, his wing no longer flat against his back but in a proud, upright, semi-extended position, its opposite having grown significantly but still a far cry from the undamaged counterpart, Kai stared into the pool.

He was almost double the size of when he first entered the cave and, while he had been eating well recently, not an ounce of fat could be seen on his lean, muscular frame.

Silvery-black scales had replaced his damaged ones, almost appearing as scars, giving his face a hardened feel while black mist danced around his body, sometimes breaking up his outline in the moss' dull light.

He had fought hard for this day yet now it was here, he found himself not wanting to leave. He had become the king of this tiny area, the apex ruler and, at least for now, nothing could challenge him.

However, even if his food supply wasn't rapidly dwindling, he knew that if he did stay, his growth would stagnate and it wouldn't be too long until he would fall victim to the cycle of life, just as the cave's previous rulers had.

Kai also knew, since the moment of his encounter with the rabbit, that there were stronger, more dangerous forces out there. If he wanted to dictate his destiny, he still needed to gain strength. To become like his ancestors, beings that stood above all others.

Over his stay in the cave, Kai had not only recovered and grown as nature intended but had levelled up four times. He didn't know if a creature started at level one or level zero but decided that he was level five as it sounded better to him and, for some unknown reason, Kai desired things to be in specific groupings.

Taking a deep breath, Kai lept from the boulder, half gliding, half falling in the direction of the tunnel that had been both his goal, and his fear for such a long time.

A wicked smile crossed his scaly lips as his tongue darted out and tasted the air, black mist swirling around his body as if agitated by his excitement.

He only hoped that the rabbit that had visited him so many times in his dreams was still alive and he could finally put to rest his oldest fear, grudge and figurative scar.

If he could, he was confident he could transcend to the next level, maybe not in the traditional sense but at least spiritually.