Y’know, being part of a group is cool and all, but it’s goddamn boring, too. Especially since we’re more or less the apex predator around this area. I know there are bigger, badder creatures lurking about this savanna, but I haven’t seen a single lupusgriff in all the time I’ve been in this lounge ever since I saw them on the first day. Then again I’m only like what, around two weeks old? I doubt I’ve seen much of anything in this savanna.

Every day in the lounge was pretty much the same. I’d wake up, walk around to stretch, find a nice rock to sunbathe on, sunbathe, drink some water if I’m thirsty, catch a dragonfly or two if I happen to be hungry that day, and just…sunbathe. Seriously. Most of the time spent in the lounge was just relaxing and sunbathing. I guess this is the reason most of the lesser gyarian lizards weren’t leveling up as fast as I was. Although I did spend a lot of time sunbathing (it does feels friggin amazing though, so I don’t blame the others for not doing anything else), I did every so often go out and fight dragonflies.

Today though, is different. Something is happening, I can just feel it. The normally relaxed and laid back atmosphere of the lounge is instead tense and agitated. The other lizards are restlessly pacing about and the tylapera is especially vigilant today. I think the atmosphere is getting to me, as I too am feeling restless. I’m also feeling something I haven’t felt since the day I joined the lounge: fear.

- - - - -

I jolt awake. I feel my skin prickle as adrenaline rush through my body. The others had awoken as well. It was the middle of the night, but with the help of my night vision I didn’t have much problem seeing. The tylapera had risen onto its hind legs kinda like a bear as all the gyarian lizards rushed towards it and away from whatever it was baring its fangs at. And then I saw it. A blur of dark brown feathers swoops down from the sky towards the tylapera. A series of flame bursts sends said blur flying back up into the moonless night.

Lupusgriffs.

Fucking hell.

A midnight lupusgriff raid.

I sprint as fast as my little lizard legs could take me towards the tylapera like everyone else had, praying to whatever gods existed that I wouldn’t get picked off on the way.

I reach the rest of the group and anxiously look up. It seems like the lupusgriffs have some sort of camouflage ability, as even with my night vision they’re quite hard to spot.

One, two, three, four… seven…… ten………

There are a dozen lupusgriffs in total, and one extremely big and scary looking alpha as well. If that big guy came down here… I doubt the tylapera would fare any better than the rest of us. Another blur swoops down from the sky, this time targeting one of the more exposed lizards. The tylapera turns around and unleashes a large fire breaths, forcing the lupusgriff to change courses to avoid the flames.

I gaze at the alpha curiously. What’s confusing me right now is why the alpha and the menacing lupusgriffs hanging around it aren’t attacking at all. The ones attacking seem to all be quite a bit smaller than the ones hanging in the sky. Are they training their pups or something?

I’m quite thankful, in all honesty, although a small part of me is annoyed. Bad memories from my previous life. Alright, let’s not get sidetracked in a life or death situation. There seem to be only 3 lupusgriffs attacking us, with the rest a fair distance away. I poke my head up and look around. Bingo! A cave!

The cave is approximately 100 meters away from us, and from the looks of it the entrance is too tight of a fit for the bigger lupusgriffs, and the smaller lupusgriffs will have to enter in a single file line. Also, from the way the lupusgriff pups are fighting, it seems like they don’t want to be directly hit by the tylapera. Thus, if we manage to get into the cave and have the tylapera stand as doorguard, we’ll survive this encounter.

I quickly make my way to the tylapera and try to shift its attention to the cave. A few seconds later, and a lot of poking and prodding later, the tylapera finally notices the cave. It starts to slowly move towards it, without making it obvious it’s running away.

Slowly but surely, we make our way closer to the cave. It seems like the lupusgriffs haven’t noticed anything yet, and are still swooping down every couple dozens of seconds or so. The only concerning thing is that the tylapera’s getting tired. REALLY tired. I believe he’s almost out of mana, and is physically exhausted defending against the attacks. The lupusgriffs, on the other hand, look barely winded. From the looks of it, I think our lounge has at most lost two or three lizards, but if we don’t hurry up we’re all gonna die!

50 meters… 25 meters… 15 meters… 10 meters…

Shit! The lupusgriffs finally noticed, and all three are charging towards us. I bolt towards the entrance of the cave. Seeing the lupusgriffs charging and me sprinting towards the cave, the rest of the lounge follow suite.

Yes! We did it! We made it out of this godforsaken situation with minimum losses! Lets go!

Woo… wait a minute. Where’s the tylapera? Don’t tell me…

I jump past the other lizards crawling deeper into the cave and reach the mouth of the cave. Fuck. FUCK.

The tylapera’s lying on the ground exhausted and surrounded by the three lupusgriffs. Oh, no you fucking dogs won’t. That big guy saved us all batting y’all away for the past, I don’t know, half a fucking hour. I won’t stand for this!

I sprint out and jump on the closest lupusgriff’s back and violently sink my teeth in. The yelp of pain and surprise rings beautifully through the cold night air. I inject my venom. After a good few seconds I was thrown off finally thrown off and I start power crawling towards the fallen tylapera as I hear a soft thud behind me. The two remaining lupusgriffs drop down into aggressive stances and slowly back away all the while shooting fearful glances at the fallen lupusgriff. The sound of wingbeats make me look up and I spot the other lupusgriffs fast approaching, having sensed that something went awry.

I hurriedly start nudging the tylapera. Come on! Get up you fat bastard!

Yes! After a few good nudges the tylapera opens its eyes. It shakely gets up and starts to slowly make its way towards the cave. The two lupusgriffs seem to protest, but when I hiss at them they immediately back away. The seconds painstakingly crawl by as we approach the entrance.

Just as I enter the cave, I feel a huge gust of wind as the rest of the pack arrive and land in a semi-circle around us. A couple of lupusgriff approach their fallen comrade, nudging and sniffing the now still lupusgriff. The alpha approaches me slowly, staring down at me with its powerful golden eyes. I unconsciously back a little further into the cave’s entrance as I stare right back into the giant lupusgriff’s eyes. The alpha finally broke the stare with a slight snarl and turns to the rest of its pack. It barked an order and the rest of the pack takes flight. Two of the adult lupusgriffs picks up the lupusgriff I had bitten and flew off into the night. The alpha takes one last look at me before it, too, spread its wings and took flight. This little exchange of ours lasted for just a few seconds, but for me, it felt like and eternity.

Haaaaah… I’m never doing that again.

Your team has slain Lupusgriff LVL 11

Venom has leveled up to level 4.

Venom has leveled up to level 5.

Venom has leveled up to level 6.

Night Vision has leveled up to level 2.

Identify has leveled up to level 2.

You have gained enough experience points to level up. You are now level 7. You have received 5 skill points.

You have gained enough experience points to level up. You are now level 8. You have received 5 skill points.

You have gained enough experience points to level up. You are now level 9. You have received 5 skill points.

You have gained enough experience points to level up. You are now level 10. You have received 5 skill points.

Requirements for skill “Fear Resistance” have been met. You have gained skill Fear Resistance.

You have gained the title “Reverse Slayer".

You have gained the title “Upholder of Morals".

You have gained the trait “Small but Mighty".

Holy shit that’s a lot of pop-ups. Seems like I killed that lupusgriff…quite lucky, if I do say so myself. I leveled up four times, and a lot of my skills also leveled up! I even earned a new skill! Fear resistance… hah, might come in handy at some point.

Alright, first give me a few seconds to let me catch my breath and confirm this is real and that I didn’t just daydream the whole thing up.

…

……

………

…Whew…

Alright, I think I’ve gathered my bearings, or at least enough of it to keep me functioning. Time to check out what I can get with all those points.

Nameless Lesser Gyarian Lizard; Level 10

Status Effects : Frightened (Mild) [Decreased stats]

Unspent Skill Points : 35

Skills :

Identify: LVL 2

Night Vision: LVL 2

Venom: LVL 6

Regeneration: LVL 1

Body Enhancement: LVL 3

Resistances :

Heat Resistance: LVL 2

Fear Resistance: LVL 1

Traits :

Bi-blooded

Small but Mighty

Titles :

Reincarnated One

Reverse Slayer

Upholder of Morals

What’s this? Titles? Extra descriptions? Nani!?

Oh, Identify leveled up, I see. Huh, I wonder what I’ll see once Identify reaches level 10 or something.

Oh well, time to check out my titles and trait!

Reincarnated One:

A being that has gone through a reincarnation cycle whilst retaining its memories of its previous life.

Reverse Slayer:

A being that has killed a creature that was hunting it in a fight that the hunter had initiated.

Upholder of Morals:

A being that had upheld its morals even in the face of potential death.

Small but Mighty:

Trait holder’s body will always remain smaller than normal but will be more powerful overall.

I wonder if I get anything from the titles, like a small buff or something similar like the ones I see in games or litrpg stories. I hope the do and aren’t just for decoration. That’d just be a big waste of potential and I’d like to survive better. My new trait though, it is pretty interesting. I will always be smaller in size, but I’m guaranteed to be stronger. Smaller isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and I will be stronger, so this trait is pretty cool. I wonder what sort of creature I’ll evolve into in the future…Maybe a crocodile? Or maybe something like a lizardman? Becoming a reptilian might be pretty fun. Roar! Evil reptilian out to take over your government!

I look around at the inside of the cave we were in. Now that my night vision had leveled up I’m able to see everything without too much difficulty even though the cave should be nearly pitch black save the small amount of light coming from the cave’s entrance. It’s a small cave, I’d say around 12 meters long by 8 meters wide by 2 meters tall. The entrance itself was barely a meter across, but given our sizes we didn’t feel that cramped. The cave itself is undescriptive and typical. It’s got a few stalagmites and stalactites here and there and a bit of moss scattered throughout, you know, like what a normal cave would look like.

I crawl towards one corner of the cave, ready to go bad and catch some more of my beauty sleep now that we’re safe. The rest of the gyrian lizards have calmed down mostly, and the tylapera seems to have also decided to sleep in this cave for tonight. Welp, I’m glad we got out of that situation pretty damn clean-

“SQUYAAAAAAA!”

A loud and high-pitched scream came from the cave opening. I snap my head towards the sound. One of the gyarian lizards had attempted to leave the cave after the lupusgriffs had left…but they didn’t truly leave.

A large wolf head struck down on the fleeing lizard, snatching it by the torso. A loud snap rang through the cave as the lupusgriff broke the gyarian lizard’s back.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Why the fuck are they still here.

Weren’t they leaving? Why the hell would they-

Oh shit.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit.

We have to find a way out. Now.

- - - - -

Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

There is no other way out other than the cave entrance. Most I can do is dig five feet before I reach bedrock and can’t dig anymore. In the meantime, the lupusgriff pack camped right outside of our cave, and it didn’t seem like they’re gonna leave any time soon. Luckily, I found a small source of water dripping down a rock wall while digging deeper into the cave.

I…seriously don’t have any idea of what to do anymore. We can’t fight them, and I highly doubt we can sneak out given the fact that they’re literally right outside the cave…

Our only hope is that these stupid mutts lose interest before we starve to death…

- - - - -

Dig

Dig dig dig dig.

Dig dig. Dig dig dig dig.

Dig dig dig.

I must dig.

I feel the bedrock beneath my weary claws crack and shatter as a soft beeping noise sounded in the back of my mind. I ignore it and continue digging.

I must dig.

I don’t know how long it’s been since we got stuck here, but I’m starting to get hungry. The other lizards aren’t fairing well either. Two more lizards were killed attempting to escape, both weren’t able to make it more than five feet from the cave’s entrance. The rest of the lizards, tylapera included, have decided to play the waiting game and have gone into some sort of pseudo-hibernation state. I’d like to do that as well. In fact, I’d LOVE to do that. But no. I can’t. I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t. I can’t sit around and do jack all while hoping these flying fucks leave us alone.

I MUST dig.

I must dig around this giant boulder, down and around it. Then we can all safely get out and sneak off before any of those dogs find us. Yes yes yes yes. Yes.

And to do that I must dig.

I must dig.

Dig.

- - - - -

Dig.

Dig. Dig.

Dig dig. Dig.

Dig. Dig. Dig. Dig. Food. Dig dig.

Dig food. Blood?

Dig dig food dig. Blood. Food. Dig. Dig.

Food. Dig blood. Food food dig.

Food. Blood food.

Food blood. Food.

Blood.

Food. Blood.

Food.

- - - - -

Dig.

Dig.

Dig.

Dig.

Dig.

Di-

*SPLASH*

AHH WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK I CAN’T BREATH WHAT TH- oh wait it’s just water.

Wait a minute, where am I?

I whip my head around frantically. What the hell just happened? Why am I in water? Wasn’t I digging in a cave? Did I make it out?

I’m currently surrounded by fast flowing water. Looking around I can see that I’m inside of some sort of cave system, an underground waterway perhaps?

A tiny glimmer of light reflecting off the water surface catches my eye. I look up and spot sunlight seeping through a hole a few meters directly above me. Did I fall from there or something? I must have managed to dig into an underground river or something. Either way, it seem like I won’t be able to get back up there anytime soon.

“Gyaaaaa!”

I cry out. Hopefully I can wake up one of the lizards who can henceforth inform the other lizards of my literal breakthrough.

…

……

………

No response…

Guess my cry couldn’t wake them up. Well damn. They’ll find the hole soon enough though, it’s not like I purposely hid the hole.

Now, I’ll have to choose a direction to go… On one hand, I can go up towards the source of the water and . On the other hand, I can follow the water and hopefully find where all this water is exiting. I think the choice here is obvious. I shall go-

*slip*

*SPLASH*

“Gyaaaa-!”

My claw spilled on the wet stone and I crash face-first into the icy water sending my body into shock. Pain shoots throughout my body as I ragdoll my way down the rocky underground river.

I have -ow- NO IDEA -ouch- whAT’S HAPPENING- arGH- FUCK I THINK A ROCK GOT IN MY EYE ARGH- *SPLASH* OOAARRRGH!

…

……

………

I’ve… I’ve reached… the bottom…*cough* it seems… Head first… to the bottom…

I… I think I’ve had enough water slides for the rest of my life…s? Come to think of it I really haven’t put much thought into my current existence.

Bah, I’ll think about all this philosophical shit later; right now I need to focus on the now part of this life!

I take a quick glance around. I’m in a large cave system that curved to the left and contained a large lake, which is faintly glowing green light. The spot I’m currently lying down on reached up to my shoulders, but I couldn’t tell even with night vision how deep the water was further out into the lake. The underground river(slide) that I unwillingly took to get here was around three feet off of the ground on the cave wall and was, as expected, spewing water into the lake. I cast Identify on the glowing substance.

Common Bioluminescent Water Moss

I awkwardly waddle my way towards shore. Thank god there isn’t some stupid monstrosity here like some sort of cave crocodile or bigger versions of those insect larvae that eat fish. Eck!

Hah…I’ve gotta stay positive. As I waddled, I swish my tail in the water. I’m glad nothing too terrible happened. Most of the lounge survived, and once they awaken they’ll most likely one way or another find the tunnel that I dug and escape those pesky wolves! And we’ll all be able to get away from danger and go on to live happily ever after in somewhere nice and safe with plenty of food!

…

……

I really do hope things turn out that way…

…and also something’s biting at my tail.

…

Sigh…

Fuck my life.

Why couldn’t I have just isekai’d into some super wealthy and powerful king or noble’s family.

Or even into a civilized species’s family.

God, why hast thou forsaken me!

…

…couldn’t I have at least gotten some opposable thumbs?