Congratulations! You have reached Level 4!

Strength +1, Agility +2, Resilience +1, Spirit +1

Skill Unlocked: Dragon Form

Skill Unlocked: Dragon Head

Mastery Level of Unarmed Combat increased from Beginner to Adept

Hell yeah! Dragon Form! Alex tried to suppress the elation within him, but he just couldn’t do it. After all, what’s cooler than a dragon?

He quickly glossed over the Unarmed Combat talent and saw that the increase in mastery level resulted in a 5% increase in bonus damage from non-weapon attacks. He closed the talent screen and opened the description for the new skill that he was itching to try.

Dragon Head

Channel Dragon Energy to create two energized constructs in the shape of a dragon’s head around your arms.

With great excitement, Alex activated Dragon Form and he felt a rush of energy burst out from within his body. The energy then dispersed itself evenly around him, coating him in a purple aura. Deep inside himself, he felt a great sense of pressure that hadn’t been there before. It was as if a dormant force was lurking within and biding its time. This calm sense of power contrasted greatly with the raw explosive energy he felt when he was in Tiger Form. One was like a sea with infinite depth while the other was like a raging river of fire.

Next, he activated Dragon Head and the purple energy that surrounded him swept through his body and concentrated around his arms. It started at his elbows where it was weakest, then went up through his forearm and hand until it protruded a foot or two past his hands. The energy was most concentrated at the tip, where it took the form of a dragon’s head.

Alex opened his palm wide and closed it again, and the dragon’s head followed his motion, opening and closing its mouth to match the motion of his hand. His curiosity spiked, and he searched until he found a few twigs sticking out from a nearby tree. He moved his arm upward and guided the dragon’s mouth around a dangling twig. With a closing of his fist, the dragon’s mouth slammed shut, and the twigs snapped in half.

So much control. Let’s see what else it can do.

With the dragon head still active, Alex swung his arm toward the tree trunk in a chopping motion. The dragon-shaped energy followed, its neck snapping forward like a whip and crashing into the trunk. A blunt thud rang out as the impact sent tree bark flying in every direction.

Huh. That’s interesting. It seems that I can retract and expand the dragon head. He tested the limits and found that two meters was about as far as he could stretch it out before it would disperse entirely.

With this level of control, he could chomp with the dragon’s mouth or slam it into the enemy. It also seemed like he could use it to grip things.

Hmmmm. I wonder…

Alex found a thick branch that looked like it could support his weight. He extended the dragon head upward and closed his fist to clamp the dragon’s teeth on to the branch. He then jumped up to see if he could hang off it. To his surprise it worked as he dangled from the branch.

Another thick branch hung vacantly nearby, and Alex used the dragon head from his other arm to grab onto it. He let go of the first branch and swung to the next. Before long he was swinging from branch to branch, using the dragon heads as extensions of his arm. He couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous he must’ve looked to others, but he was having a blast.

This is great! I’m like a monkey!

His fun was cut short when he noticed that the purple bar at the side of his vision was already half empty. This form appeared to have a small energy pool. Before he deactivated Dragon Form, an idea sprang to his mind.

Damn, I’m an idiot. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?

He used his new monkey arms to climb up a tree, careful to maneuver around the spiderwing webs. He found the largest tree within the cluster and used the dragon’s head to stabilize himself as he took in the view from every direction. From this vantage point, he could see far and wide, but the compact grouping of webbed trees covered almost everything in a layer of green and white.

To the north he managed to spot a few people walking in a group. They looked battle-worn but somehow still in good spirits. What are they so happy about? He followed the path they were walking and saw the faint image of a purple structure just ahead of them.

Alex let out a sigh of relief. Finally. There’s a portal.

He crept slowly back down the tree and headed north. Images of the comfort of the first haven entered his mind. A sweet, sweet, spiderwing-less existence. His fantasy was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a loud explosion just west of his location.

He knew what that sound meant, and he fought between taking the bait or not. The portal was right up ahead, but there was something almost as tempting to the left. With a groan, he took off in a sprint to the west.

Last one. I’m just gonna get the rare loot then I’ll hightail it out of here.

Less than a hundred paces later and Alex found the source of the explosions. It was exactly what he expected it to be, a large yellow spiderwing with a green, pulsating sack of corrosive acid on its back. Surrounding the yellow monster were three black Baby Spiderwings, all circling around it to find an opening. This didn’t surprise Alex. Spiderwings were among the most territorial of all the creatures within the tower, and it wasn’t rare to see them fight among themselves.

Of the enemies present, Alex was only interested in one of them. He checked the status screen of the yellow monster.

Corrosive Scarab

HP: 20

Perfect. It still hasn’t taken any damage.

Alex cautiously pressed up against a nearby tree and watched as the monsters fought among themselves. He had no need to get involved now. If he jumped in, there was a possibility that all of the enemies would turn their attention to him, and that wouldn’t be good.

Up ahead, the Corrosive Spiderwing opened its mouth and three small creatures spewed out. Status screens appeared above each of them.

Corrosive Spiderwing HP: 95

Although these creatures were much smaller, they shared the same shape as the yellow spiderwing, and they carried a similar sack of acid on their backs.

The scarabs took flight and hurled themselves at one of the Baby Spiderwings. Upon making contact the scarabs exploded in a pool of green, and the black spider’s HP dropped to zero.

Scarabs were individually weak, but they dealt splash damage upon contact or death. They were the key to getting the rare item that he desired.

With only 2 enemies remaining, the Corrosive Spiderwing set its sights on one of the black spiderwings. Alex watched as the other Baby Spiderwing moved around to the yellow spider’s blind side and prepared to attack.

That’s not good. I can’t let the Corrosive one take damage.

Alex used Pulse Dash to get close to the black spider. He entered Tiger Mode and drove two Tiger Fist-empowered blows into the monster, killing it instantly. The bonus damage from the increased mastery of Unarmed Combat and Tiger Fist had clearly kicked in.

Three more explosions brought Alex’s attention back to the Corrosive Spiderwing, who had killed the remaining Baby Spiderwing. The yellow spider turned around to face him.

Now I just have to make sure it doesn’t try and run.

Alex deactivated Tiger Form and used Pulse Dash once again. As he approached the creature, he entered Dragon Form and jumped over it. While in mid air he activated Dragon Head and with a swipe of each arm, clipped the monster’s wings off, before falling gently to the ground. He checked the status screen and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it still had full HP.

The yellow spider let out a cry and expelled two more scarabs from its mouth.

Before scarabs could charge at him, Alex extended a dragon head to its full length and flung it at both of them. The scarabs exploded on contact, dealing splash damage to the Corrosive Spiderwing beside them.

Corrosive Spiderwing HP: 5

The yellow spider stood in place hopelessly as it tried to spawn another scarab. Alex kept his distance and waited patiently. He could deal the killing blow now, but that would ruin all the work he’d done.

A few seconds later,the Corrosive Spiderwing belched out another scarab, and Alex’s dragon head was there to swat it. The scarab exploded, dealing the killing blow to the giant yellow spider. A gold egg the size of Alex’s leg dropped in its location.

Golden Spiderwing Egg

Rarity: Unknown

Quality: Unknown

Alex analyzed the item. This was the only rare drop available on the third floor, and he was one of a select few people in the world to own one at this time. It’s not that it was difficult to obtain, rather, its rarity largely came from the obscure way in which it spawned; requiring the Corrosive Spiderwing to die by only taking damage from its own scarabs. Because these conditions were so unlikely to happen naturally, there were only a handful of these eggs in the world.

In the previous timeline, this level of scarcity had disappeared when someone discovered the secret to farming the egg. Luckily, that hadn’t happened until two years after he’d entered the tower, meaning that it was still considered rare at this time.

With a sigh of relief, Alex placed the egg inside his inventory ring and turned his attention back northward to the portal he’d spotted previously. That was it for the spiderwing dominion. He was finally done with the first three floors, and he looked forward to a much-needed rest.

When he spotted the portal a few minutes later, images of the first haven and the outside world sprang to his mind. He could finally start building the dream team that would help him clear the Dominion Tower.