By the time I lost the [Starving] Condition, I had perfected my Sneezer attack. Tap the stem, wait for it to spray, and then pounce. Once I had it down, it only took me a cotton pickin’ minute to get my grub.

I took another gander at my status and was happily surprised to see a change other than my Condition and Hoard level.

Name: N/A (Daphne)

Age: 1 hour, 20 Minutes

Sex: F

Job: Unemployed

Condition: Hungry

Species: Hill Dragon (Juvenile)

Class: None

Faction: None

Mana Generation: None

Magic Use: None

Health: 80% (2% regen every minute)

Stamina: 60% (1% regen every minute)

Mana: 0%

Strength: Low (1)

Speed: Low (2)

Constitution: Low (1)

Defense: Low (2)

Endurance: Low (2)

Effects: Stamina regen slowed by 1% when Hungry Condition in effect

Hoard: Sneezer Petals (30)

Spells: None

I now had a Low (2) defense! It made sense; the grass was scratching my body as I roamed the valley. My skin was covered with red, blotchy spots and everything was itchy. I was gonna have to find somewhere to rest soon, but I was still hungry. Did I need to eat more Sneezers?

Hi there! You managed to avoid starving yourself from a lack of proper nutrition! ( ᐛ )و Good job!

Now, remember, a juvenile Hill Dragon needs to eat 30 lbs (13.6 kg) of plants and 10lbs (4.5 kg) of meat every day to grow happy and healthy! (*⌒▽⌒*)θ～♪

You sure are lucky Sneezers weigh a lot for flowers! Can you believe each flower weighs 1 pound? (ノ0 ∀0)ノ

See you later! ヾ(＾∇＾)

Well, that settles it. I needed to find meat. But how? I hadn’t seen any animals on my Sneezer hunt.

Critters are everywhere, though. No matter where you go, you’re sure to see something small and furry scuttling along the ground.

I stretched in my resting spot, my eyes scanning the grassy area around me. It was the same-

Hold on. What was that buzzing sound? Alarmed, I glanced up to see a noose flying toward my head. I ducked and the rope went flying over my head.

I winced as a high-pitched roar assaulted my delicate ears. When my ears stopped ringing from that horrible sound, I looked up to see a squadron of winged warriors clad in leather armor. They would have been intimidating, had they not been the size of newborn babies.

I was too puzzled to see the second noose coming in from the left. Snarling, I jerked my head to the side, trying to get free.

The baby warrior who’d caught me sneered and tightened its grip on the rope. It tried to pull me in closer as I resisted its surprisingly strong tug. «ん𝖔ℓ𝛛, 𝕗𝖔𝓤ℓ 𝕓ᕦ𝛂ﮐ𝕥!»

“Now, you quit bein’ ugly before I pinch a plug outta you, you hear me?” I yelled, straining harder against the noose.

«𝖔𝖔ෆꝓんႾ-𝛛𝖔𝖔ෆꝓんႾ, Ցᕦ𝕥 ﮐ𝕥٢𝖔𝞟Ϗ!» The baby warrior cried as a golden light flashed, covering its entire body. This time, when it pulled, I was yanked off my feet. My body went flying toward the baby warrior who cried out, «८𝛂𝕥८ん ⅈ𝕥, 𝕗𝖔𝖔ℓﮐ!»

A nearby winged baby warrior chanted «𝕶𝛂٢𝛂Ցⅈﮐⅈﮐ, 𝕸𝛂ﮐ𝕥ᕦ٢ 𝖔𝕗 𝕮ん٢𝖔𝞟ᕦﮐⅈﮐ ﮐ𝛂Ⴞﮐ 𝕗٢ᕦᕦ乙ᕦ!»

Then everything went cold and black.

*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*

I woke up chained to a wall, dripping wet and freezing my dragon booty off. The collar around my neck was tight and forced me to sit in an uncomfortable position against the wall. I was so tired and hungry...How long had I been out?

Status.

Name: N/A (Daphne)

Age: 3 hours, 42 minutes

Sex: F

Job: Unemployed

Condition: Exhausted, Famished, Freezing

Species: Hill Dragon (Juvenile)

Class: None

Faction: None

Mana Generation: None

Magic Use: None

Health: 9% (-1% every 2 minutes)

Stamina: -11% (-1% every 2 minutes)

Mana: 0%

Strength: Low (1)

Speed: Low (2)

Constitution: Low (1)

Defense: Low (2)

Endurance: Low (2)

Effects: Fatigue Debuff-Stamina regen halted until the debuff is removed

Life Debuff-Health regen halted until the debuff is removed

Hoard: Sneezer Petals (30)

Spells: None

That doesn't look so good. No wonder I felt so bad. My stats looked terrible.

An involuntary yawn forced its way out of me, making the collar around my neck dig painfully into my skin. I winced when my Health dropped another 2%.

I needed to eat something before the debuffs hurt me even harder. Could I take the petals out of my hoard and eat them?

How many Sneezer petals would you like to withdraw?

Gimme two, I thought, put 'em in my mouth.

The magic system granted me my wishes and I felt the familiar weight of the petals in my mouth. I chewed slowly and carefully, exerting as little energy as possible. Another glance at my status told me that I brought up my Stamina by 1%.

This...was going to take a while.

*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*――*☆*

I had managed to get my Stamina to 2% when the space next to me bent and a baby warrior popped into existence. Although, this one was more like a baby monk with its bulging bald head and velvet pink robe over its leather armor.

It stared at me, aghast, then pointed a finger and yelled «𝕓𝖔𝖔-𝕓𝖔𝖔 Ց𝖔 𝕓Ⴞᕦ-𝕓Ⴞᕦ! ん𝖔𝖔ℓႾ んᕦᕦℓႾ Ⴞ𝓤ෆෆႾ 𝕗ᕦᕦ𝛛Ⴞ»

A red and green light shot out of its finger and hit me. I flinched, expecting something bad but almost immediately, I felt a little warmer and fuller.

While the baby monk went on muttering to itself, shaking its bald head, I took the chance to look at my Status. Everything was completely topped off and the only condition I had was [Slightly Cold].

"What in tarnation did you just hit me with?" I blurted.

The baby warrior snarled at my interruption and waved its fist. «𝔮𝓤ⅈᕦ𝕥 Ⴞ𝖔𝓤!»

I closed my mouth, afraid to upset him lest he did some less than good magic do-hickey on me. It stamped over to me and pulled a scroll out of its robe.

«Ⴞ𝖔𝓤 🝃ⅈℓℓ 𝓤ﮐᕦ 𝕥んⅈﮐ 𝛂𝞟𝛛 𝕓٢ⅈ𝞟Ց ෆᕦ Ց٢ᕦ𝛂𝕥 𝕗ᕦᕦ𝛛ﮐ!»

It cackled loudly at those words, spraying spit everywhere. I grimaced and inched away from the mad thing. "You're fit to be tied, what with you sprayin' everywhere," I muttered. "I don't remember askin' to be bathed in your mouth fluids."

A scowl replaced its manic grin and slapped me on the nose with its scroll. «𝔮𝓤ⅈᕦ𝕥! 𝕥んᕦ 𝕗𝖔𝖔𝛛 𝛛𝖔ᕦﮐ 𝞟𝖔𝕥 𝕥𝛂ℓϏ 𝕓𝛂८Ϗ, Ⴞ𝖔𝓤 𝓤𝞟𝛛ᕦ٢ﮐ𝕥𝛂𝞟𝛛?»

"You're not makin' a lick a sense! Don't you know English?"

It bared its teeth and kicked my leg. «𝖂ᕦ 𝕓ᕦՑⅈ𝞟 𝕥んᕦ 𝛂🝃𝛂Ϗᕦ𝞟ⅈ𝞟Ց. 𝖄𝖔𝓤 🝃ⅈℓℓ Ϗᕦᕦꝓ 𝔮𝓤ⅈᕦ𝕥 𝖔٢ ﮐᕦ𝞟𝛛 Ⴞ𝖔𝓤 𝕥𝖔 𝕥んᕦ 𝕓٢ᕦᕦ𝛛ⅈ𝞟Ց Ց٢𝖔𝓤𝞟𝛛ﮐ!»

I got the message even if I didn't understand the words. I kept my trap shut as it muttered under its breath.

The scroll glowed as the baby monk chanted. I watched, entranced, as strange red symbols formed on the material until the entire thing was covered with them.

Then the baby monk smacked the scroll against my forehead.

I screamed in pain as four red tendrils slid out of the scroll and stabbed me again and again. I heard the baby monk cackled with malicious glee as my body thrashed on the ground.

Unfortunately, unconsciousness didn't come fast enough.