…

……

All’s silent, save for the faint sound of running water..

I slowly open my eyes and was greeted by darkness. Looks like I’ve been buried under a layer of dirt and rocks. I groan. My entire body (especially my tail) felt sore and on the verge of collapse.

I-I’m alive…? I’m alive! How the hell did that plan work? Am I no longer cursed with bad luck? I can’t help but chuckle, too exhausted to cry out a victory screech.

Okay, okay, save the celebrating for later, first I gotta get out of this place.

After a few more moments of serenity, I begin to get up. I feel the dirt and rocks give way and fall off of me as I cry out weakly and lift my head up out of the debris. I’m momentarily blinded by the sunlight, forcing me to quickly shut my eyes and eliciting a groan of pain and annoyance out of me. Goddamnit, night vision plus sunlight equals burnt eyes, arrgh!

I deactivate night vision and after a few more seconds I slowly and carefully open my eyes once again. A world of white greets me. Wh-Wha? As the seconds ticked by the white slowly receded, presenting me to the scene of a collapsed ceiling, a giant pile of rubble, and of OH YES THE OUTSIDE YESYESYES!

The golem broke through the cave! An escape! Fresh air! SUNBATHING! I scramble up the pile of rocks and dirt towards the sweet, sweet exit. Yes! SUNBATHING-

I stop dead in my tracks. What happened to the golem…? I didn’t get a message saying it died, but then again I hadn’t exactly hit it directly-

*crumble*

Shit. I groan as a large three-fingered hand emerges from the rubble between me and . Followed by a second arm, this one pretty badly damaged. Followed by its body.

Whyyyyyyy… I take a couple of steps back. Why couldn’t it have just stayed down? Fucking why! Can I not have anything good happen to me?

I slump down, exasperated, as the stone titan began to rise out of the pile of debris.

*clunk*

*clunk*

*clunk*

*clunk*

What the hell’s this clunking sound? I look up, my eyes widening at how much my luck is seesawing.

The damn thing’s stuck.

And its chest had been cracked open, revealing its crystal.

It must have damaged its crystal when it crashed into the wall, otherwise I doubt it’d be stuck under such little rubble as this.

Not leaving anything else to luck, I scamper up towards the golem as fast as I could, wincing every step of the way. I can do it. I can kill this thing and get outta here!

The arms try and fail to hit me as I weave through the rocks, easily dodging the inaccurate attacks and reaching the crystal. Time to smash this thing to dust!

I channel my mana into my claws, enhancing them and using Earth Manipulation to hopefully make the crystal less hard and more brittle.

*smash*

*scrape*

Damnit, it’s not working. The crystal on the stone titan’s much, much harder than the ones on the earth golem. I won’t be able to break it anytime soon… unless…?

I turn towards one of the golem’s flailing arms, giving it a quick scratch. It responds with a smash in my general direction. Yes, this could work!

I begin removing some of the rubble around the said arm away that had been preventing it from hitting me.

And now-WOAH!

“Gyaaa!” I cry out as the arm came millimeters from turning my head into mush. I gotta pay attention!

I slowly move back towards the crystal, at the ready for more blows from the now free arm. Three misses later, I reach the crystal.

Heh. Heheheheh. Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, yes. Well well well, how the turntables!

A wide grin slowly crept up my face as I casually swiped the golem’s crystal.

*SMASH*

*crumble*

You have slain Stone Titan LVL 20.

You have gained enough experience points to level up. You are now level 21. You have received 5 skill points.

…

You have gained enough experience points to level up. You are now level 30. You have received 5 skill points.

Body Enhancement has leveled up to level 9.

Earth Manipulation has leveled up to level 8.

Regeneration has leveled up to level 6.

Fear Resistance has leveled up to level 2.

Earth Resistance has leveled up to level 5.

Physical Resistance has leveled up to level 3.

You have gained the trait “Heightened Stamina".

…

……heh I can’t believe that actually worked…

I-I mean HA HA! I WIN! I’ve defeated this monster of a golem single handedly! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I stand there atop the pile of rubble in victory, basking in the glory and the sunlight (especially the sunlight). I proudly begin walking out of the cave.

Ah. Fuuuauuaaaaaaaaack. Just as I took my first step, the entire world began spinning, and I feel my legs shaking uncontrollably. I collapse next to the dead golem’s arm as I start hyperventilating. I pushed myself too fucking far, oh goddamn it…

U-Urgh…I can barely concentrate…

My eyes gradually close as darkness took me. Ahhhh, such nice darkness…

…zzzzzzzzz…

* * *

You have met the requirements to rank up. Would you like to begin the process now?

Yes

No

...Mmm…? Yeah…yeah, whatever… Just let me slee…p……

Beginning rank up process…

* * *

I slowly open my eyes and smack my lips. Thirsty. I activate my enhanced senses and located the buried spring.

I groggily stand up, stretching a bit, before beginning to carefully (or as carefully as I could, being half asleep still) making my way down the rubble pile and towards the water source.

Argh…my whole body feels sore…I really overexerted myself back there, heh…

Approaching the spring, I use my front legs to move some of the rubble out of the way, revealing the flowing water. Dipping my head in, I took several large mouthfuls of the sweet nectar before letting out a sigh of satisfaction.

I look up to the sky and spot the morning sun peeking its head over the pile of rubble. I sit back, closing my eyes and I enjoyed the sunlight gradually envelop my body.

Mmmmmmm…how nice.

Opening my eyes I stoop down to take another drink of water. Haaaaah… now that all the life threatening stuff’s passed I can- eh?

Staring down at the water, I’m met with the reflection of some other lizard. Wait, wait, wait, what. It’s back at me staring at me It had a long and thin snout lines with small sharp teeth peeking out of its slightly ajar jaws. Small feathers also lined the top of this creatures head, which came down onto its neck and beyond. In a daze, I tentatively reach out a clawed arm-oh shit’s this thing’s me.

- - - - -

“So you’re saying a tiny lizard killed one of our lupusgriff pups?” The large man grumbled. His gruff looking face dropped a little,

“Yeah, Siggy, the alpha told me himself.” Another man, a tall, lean man wearing a set of green dyed leather armor, said.

‘Siggy’ pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I thought I told you to stop calling me that, Robert.”

“Alright, alright, Siggard.” Robert rolled his eyes. “And to have thought you used to be such a crybaby…“ he whispered under his breath.

“What was that- Oh forget it, damn bastard.” Siggard sighed again. “Didn’t you tell me this area was safe?”

“Ahh, well it should be. The only real threat are the tylaperas, but those guys are way too slow for them to be considered threats.” Robert leaned back against a wall in his childhood friend turned superior’s sparsely decorated office. “The only possibility that a creature like this turned up is that it’s a recently hatched.”

Siggard clasped his hands in front of his face. “You don’t suppose it’s an…” he trailed off.

Robert’s face darkened. “An Enchanted Beast?” he finished the sentence. “There’s a good chance it is one. If we’re lucky we may be able to capture it and tame it, if it’s young enough.”

“Mm? I thought you’d want it ki-”

Robert cut the man off. “Usually, yes, I’d love to kill it. But this time it’s different. The alpha wants it alive. Apparently he’s interested in it.”

“Hmph, how unusual for the alpha to want another creature.” Siggard scratched his head. That prideful dog always looks down on other animals. For him to be interested in this lizard…

“Alright, gather up your troops and the lupusgriffs. We’ll set out at noon.” Siggard stood up and walked out of his office.

Robert nodded and followed suit. As much as he hated Enchanted Beasts, he couldn’t help but be interested in this little lizard as well, being the only creature to have piqued the alpha’s curiosity.

- - - - -

I-I’m a FUCKING DINOSAUR HOLY SHIT FUCK YEAAAAAAH!

Geico no longer! I’m a motherfucking DINOSAUR!

I wave my feathered arms around joyously. I looked like your typical raptor: bipedal, a long and straight tail, claws, feathers covering a good part of my body…no hooked toe claws though, sadly. My plumage was a light greyish brown color, a slight contrast to my skin’s color but both blended in well with my current environment.

I’m still around the same length, approximately three meters long, though I’m much taller now, obviously, sitting at around a meter fifty.

After walking and jumping around a bit, I opened up my status.

Nameless Lesser Gyaroraptor; Level 1

Status Effects : Well-rested [Increased stats]

Unspent Skill Points : 75

Skills :

Identify: LVL 2

Night Vision: LVL 5

Heat Vision: LVL 2

Venom: LVL 6

Regeneration: LVL 6

Camouflage: LVL 3

Body Enhancement: LVL 9

Enhanced Hearing: LVL 2

Enhanced Olfactory: LVL 2

Earth Manipulation: LVL 8

Magic Manipulation: LVL 3

Resistances :

Heat Resistance: LVL 2

Fear Resistance: LVL 2

Earth Resistance: LVL 5

Physical Resistance: LVL 3

Traits :

Bi-blooded

Small but Mighty

Heightened Stamina

Titles :

Reincarnated One

Reverse Slayer

Upholder of Morals

Ŵ̸̨͙͂̈́̇̀̽̑ư̶̩͇̼̩̹͚̰͜z̸̧̮͖̅͆̽͑ͅe̵̪̝͔̽ͅx̶̡̪̼̰̲̦̫̓̉͝ͅm̶̧̭͆̒̽͂͊̈̋̋k̴̗͘q̵͙̻͓̗̊̕d̵̢̧͖̬̀̐̓

A “gyaroraptor”. I think I just jump evolution trees from a lizard to a bird, heh. Not that I’m complaining. I mean, seriously, I’m a goddamn DINOSAUR!

Either way, I’ve got eighty skill points to spend, so it’s time for a shopping spree! That is if there’re skills for me to buy I fucking swear to god if there are any.

Available Skills :

Bloodsense - 20 skill points

Hemophilia(passive) - 30 skill points

Sense Vulnerability - 35 skill points

Farsight - 15 skill points

Intimidation - 15 skill points

Fire Manipulation - 10 skill points

Water Manipulation - 10 skill points

Bloodsense:

Skill holder can passively perceive blood much more acutely. Skill holder may spend mana to sense life energy in a specific radius.

Hemophilia(passive):

Skill holder’s attacks that cause external bleeding will passively make the blood harder to clot and the wound harder to be healed.

Sense Vulnerability:

Skill holder may spend mana in order to sense target creature’s weak points.

Farsight:

Skill holder may spend mana to zoom in their vision towards a specific direction.

Intimidation:

Skill holder will exude an aura of intimidation. Skill holder may spend mana in order to apply or magnify the ‘fear’ status upon creatures weaker that it in a radius.

Fire Manipulation:

Gives skill holder the ability to manipulate fire. Effectiveness increases as level increases.

Water Manipulation:

Gives skill holder the ability to manipulate water. Effectiveness increases as level increases.

Yessss! I can splurge!

Hmm… I’m actually pretty on the fence on what I should take. On one hand, Bloodsense and Hemophilia will help me hunt and fight living creatures, but against inanimate objects like the golems they really won’t do anything. Farsight and Intimidation don’t seem to have that big of an impact on my survival, I don’t think, so those skills I’m not gonna get right now. Well, at the very least I’m gonna pick up the two element manipulations.

Error: You cannot purchase Fire Manipulation and Water Manipulation as they are mutually exclusive.

...I see.

Darn it, haaahhh, I guess there are limitations. Fire cancels out water, and vice versa. I wonder what earth cancels out.

Now the question is, water or fire? Fire, I assume, is pure combat focused while water is more utility and healing. I’m leaning towards fire, since I don’t have any ranged attacks, and I believe I have enough utility with earth that water really isn’t necessary. Either way earth is probably defensive enough for me to forgo the extra protection for more offensive prowess.

Please confirm your purchase :

~ ~ ~

Fire Manipulation --- 10 Skill Points

Yes

No

Yes.

*ding*

You have purchased Fire Manipulation for 10 skill points.

Next I’m gonna pick up sense vulnerability, since it’s an ability that will help me in any fight. I’m also gonna buy Hemophilia since it’ll help me against creatures of flesh.

Please confirm your purchase :

~ ~ ~

Sense Vulnerability --- 35 Skill Points

Hemophilia(passive) --- 30 Skill Points

Yes

No

Yep!

*ding*

You have purchased Sense Vulnerability for 35 skill points.

You have purchased Hemophilia(passive) for 30 skill points.

Alright, I’ve spent all the points that I can. Let me check my status one more time.

Nameless Lesser Gyaroraptor; Level 1

Status Effects : Well-rested [Increased stats]

Unspent Skill Points : 0

Skills :

Identify: LVL 2

Night Vision: LVL 5

Heat Vision: LVL 2

Venom: LVL 6

Regeneration: LVL 6

Camouflage: LVL 3

Hemophilia(passive): LVL 1

Sense Vulnerability: LVL 1

Body Enhancement: LVL 9

Enhanced Hearing: LVL 2

Enhanced Olfactory: LVL 2

Earth Manipulation: LVL 8

Fire Manipulation: LVL 1

Magic Manipulation: LVL 3

Resistances :

Heat Resistance: LVL 2

Fear Resistance: LVL 2

Earth Resistance: LVL 5

Physical Resistance: LVL 3

Traits :

Bi-blooded

Small but Mighty

Heightened Stamina

Titles :

Reincarnated One

Reverse Slayer

Upholder of Morals

Ŵ̸̨͙͂̈́̇̀̽̑ư̶̩͇̼̩̹͚̰͜z̸̧̮͖̅͆̽͑ͅe̵̪̝͔̽ͅx̶̡̪̼̰̲̦̫̓̉͝ͅm̶̧̭͆̒̽͂͊̈̋̋k̴̗͘q̵͙̻͓̗̊̕d̵̢̧͖̬̀̐̓

Hmm, I’m curious. Am I able to generate fire with Fire Manipulation? I can’t generate any earth with Earth Manipulation, but generating fire isn’t really like creating earth, right?

I try channeling some mana out of my body and used Fire Manipulation, willing it to create fire, but nothing happened. Damn, guess not.

Next, I’ll have to find something to use Sense Vulnerability with. I look towards the tunnel, then turn towards the outside. I’m torn. I’m tempted to go back into the cavern and see just was on the end, but at the same time I doubt I’ll be as lucky as I was if another stone titan shows up.

Another minute of debating in my mind later, I turn towards the cave. My curiosity is getting the better of me. I’m getting to the bottom of this! Back into the ‘golem dungeon’!

* * *

Heat Vision has leveled up to level 3.

The jog back to the room full of earth golems was a lot shorter than before. My longer legs allowed me to cover the distance much quicker than my stubby lizard legs ever could, and Body Enhancement leveling up helped as well. Passing the broken bodies of the earth golems I had previously defeated, I marched onwards, activating Heat Vision, Night Vision, and Camouflage, this time a lot more careful of my surroundings.

Approximately ten minutes of walking later the walls’ cave-esque look abruptly changed into that of what you’d expect of a well decorated underground passageway. The tunnel became a rectangular shaped hallway, with strange squiggly patterns adorning the walls and ceiling. After another couple minutes I came upon a room with a large, elevated platform in the middle. Two circular imprints in the middle of it made my guess that this was where the stone titan had stood before I somehow activated it.

Circling around to the back, I found that the room goes downwards via a flight of stone stairs. Descending it carefully, I reach the bottom before long and was greeted by an even smaller room, this one not all that decorated save for a faintly glowing floating sphere on an ornate pedestal.

I activate Body Enhancement, dropping into a low stance before I carefully approach the thing. A few nerve wracking steps later, nothing happens. Whew.

Now, right before the sphere, I reach one clawed hand out towards it. Immediately upon contact, I knew something was off about this sphere. Some part of my mind told me that this thing was inactive, and that it was safe to approach.

I heed the advice. I mean, why shouldn’t I? So far my instincts haven’t been trying to kill me, meaning I can trust it not to lead me to my doom.

I gently prod it once more. It moved back a little, before returning back to its original location. I try and grab it with my claws and take it, but when I removed it from the pedestal, it became harder and harder to stop the ball from flying back to its original spot on the pedestal, kind of like how it’s extremely hard to make two same charge sides of magnets touch, except the force’s inverted.

Standing up, I sigh in disappointment. All I found at the end of this long ass tunnel was a fancy hallway and two rooms, one with nothing and the other with a floating ball that isn’t lootable. I turn around to leave.

A sudden surge of mana behind me made me jump forward. Turning around, I spot a black, smoldering circle at the spot I had just been standing. What the hell is this? I look around, confused. Nothing out of the ordinary. Another surge of mana made me jump again, but this time it was a lot less intense. I look around the room again, and just as I was about to run out of this place, a stone wall suddenly dropped down, blocking the stairway.

Oh what the fucking shit is this bullshi-

*crumble*

*crack*

Two large figures began rising from the ground as I feel a mana surge of the first variant gather around the floating sphere. A single word suddenly came to my mind.

Dungeon.

I’m in a fucking dungeon.

I’m in the dungeon core’s room.

And this dungeon core appears to be pretty fucking mad.

- - - - -

Analyzing creature…

Manaheart density: Very High

Threat: Medium

Probability of victory: 65%

Destroying this creature will provide enough mana to reactivate mana circulation.

…

Engaging Core combat mode…