Jinxing yourself while you’ve got scarily low stats and little to no mana is not the best idea. In my defense, I wasn’t expecting to be attacked by some giant, green cow monsters.

I’d been walking through the valley, occasionally doing some squats to build-up mana and eating Sneezers so my stamina didn’t get too low when I found a hill.

Now, there’d been hills all around me. I’d spent the past three days trekking around some; I’d tried to climb one, once, but my stamina wasn’t up for it. But I had never felt a pull when I glanced at a hill. I knew right then that it was mine. I would have it and nobody could stop me.

I went racing through the grass, ignoring the sprays of pollen the Sneezers sent my way―it hadn’t yet occurred to me that Sneezers should not be the only plant that grew here. I was almost there, almost ready to take what was most certainly mine when I saw it.

It was a green cow as tall as a bus and wider than one, too! I was so surprised I tripped over myself and went tumbling over a little divet in the ground. Stunned as I was, it took me a little while to pick myself back. Some idle thought of mine said it hadn’t been this dark before and I looked up to see the green cow staring down at me.

Startled as I was, I flexed a bit of my mana and there Shotty was, not two inches away from the green cows face.

It didn’t have that face a second later.

You have killed one Juvenile Acid Cow! (•́⌄•́๑)૭✧

You have gained 2x Acid Cow Eyes in your hoard! o(≧∇≦o)

Now, you better run! The Acid Cattle never forgot the death of one of their own. ☆⌒（＊＾∇゜）v

I heard the mooing before I even finished reading. I turned and saw a wall of towering green thundering towards me.

My legs were moving as soon as my brain caught up with what the system was trying to tell me. I hadn’t run this fast since my time in the ritual room, ducking and dodging the switch.

Stubby baby dragon legs were not made for galloping across grassy fields. The best I could do was a speedy trot as I pushed my short, little limbs to the limit. They were gaining on me, though. If they got any closer, I was afraid the mass would split the ground with their stampeding.

Thin the herd, Daphne! Get Shotty to thin the herd!

I heard the tell-tale ba-boom of Shotty blowing out rounds. The pained squeals told me some got hit, but not enough. I needed more guns and now was the perfect time to practice using mana while doing something else.

I couldn’t go into my dark space while I was speed-trotting, so I had to feel for it. The last time I checked my status, I was at 25% mana. I let my inner conscious sweep around inside of me, searching for that itty bit of mana.

The Acid Cows came thundering down the valley, closing the distance with frightening speed. But nothing was coming back to me! I couldn’t feel anything inside of me. I knew I could take out mana without going in my dark space, I’d done it before! Why wasn’t it working now?

C’mon, Daphne! It’s in there somewhere! Just gotta get in there and-aha!

They were almost on me when I found the scarcely filled cube. Desperation my only source of hope, I pulled. All twenty-five green orbs leaped out of the cube and into the light.

“Shotty!” I crowed. “Blast ‘em, baby!”

Twenty-five identical Shottys sprang into existence at my words and went to town on the Acid Cattle! All I heard for the next thirty seconds was panicked squealing and chaotic stomping goin’ every which way.

When it was finally quiet, I stopped running. I stumbled over a patch of grass free of any Sneezers and collapsed.

The twenty-six, no, twenty-four―two must’ve gotten got in the fray―guns floated in a circle around me.

I raised my head an inch and gave them a weak salute. “You all did mighty fine work there. I was proud of y’all. I tell ya, it was goin’ to hell in a handbasket if it hadn’t been for you. Now, I’m rightly plumb tuckered out so if you don’t mind keepin’ watch while I get some rest, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

And with that, I was out before my head even hit the ground.

Woah! You just killed thirty Juveniles, fifty Adult, and twenty-three Elderly Acid Cattle! And somehow, you’re not dead? (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

There goes that bet….(一。一;;）

Anyway! You have gained 30x Cow Eyes, 25x Cow Hoofs, and 6x Cow Bones!

What an interesting hoard you’ve got there, Mupin… (*´︶｀*)

The system was betting on me surviving?

I scoffed and pulled up my status. There was no way I was losing to that herd.

Mind your p’s and q’s, Daphne.

That’s right. No need to get cocky. I’d need more spells for that.

Name: Mupin (Daphne)

Age: 3 days

Sex: F

Job: Unemployed

Condition: Hungry

Species: Hill Dragon (Juvenile)

Class: None

Mana Generation: Squats

Magic Use: Runes

Faction: None

Health: 100%

Stamina: 60%

Mana: 0%

Strength: Low (1)

Speed: Low (1)

Constitution: Low (1)

Defense: Low (1)

Endurance: Low (1)

Effects:

None

Hoard:

Cow Eyes (31), Cow Hoofs (25), Cow Bones (6)

Spells:

[Rune-Shotty]

I thought I deserved an upgrade to Endurance or at least Speed with that sprinting I’ve been doing! How hard was it gonna be to level up these stats?

Whatever. It didn’t matter right now. I needed some grub before my stamina got low. I needed to eat meat, too, didn’t I?

I got up and did my squats while I headed back the way I came. I reckoned I hadn’t been asleep too long; the cow corpses still outta be there, right?

After all, there wasn’t anybody else in this darned valley who’d wanna eat ‘em.

Just me and that gigantic dragon with a crown of Sneezers on its head, tromping through the valley with at least four of the Acid Cattle in its maw.