Jasper and Quint stood at the front of the company, now reduced to 18 men. They had found some dragon tracks the day before, after two days of looking in the area. They had widened their search and looked further north. Five miles from the last known location of the red dragon they had found tracks. Quint said they could be from the dragon they were looking for but were a bit small.

“Form a line, five-meter spacing. We're looking for this dragons den. Hollows near trees or more likely caves. Forward”

Jasper gave the search orders, he would comb this environment for the beast's lair. This was probably its hunting grounds, and if they failed to find its den here then they would look along the river cliffs near here. The river was sunk down in its own valley in these parts and small caves were relatively common in the rocky environment. Soft limestone and fast-moving water had eroded them over time.

They searched the forested area, looking under huge trees and pushing aside ferns and bushes to try and find any dens. They discovered many rabbit dens, as well as badgers and foxes. Most avoided the humans but a few more bold creatures tried their luck. Meagre XP for the men, most of the critters being under level 10.

Jasper was using his sword to hack away at a low hanging forest vine when one of the men shouted in alarm. A roar and a scream sounded from the left end of the line.

“All men left, circle the beast, spears at the ready”

Jasper took off and saw Quint string his bow and follow. There was crashing and shouting as the surrounding men all rushed through the thick undergrowth. The incident was taking place about 20 meters away, near the far left of the line. Jasper arrived in a mere few seconds and took stock of the situation.

It was a dragon, and the man that had screamed was injured on the floor, his sword had been knocked aside and his arm was bent at a wrong angle. There was a dent on his chest plate, but he was alive. Some of the other men were poking at the dragon with spears to keep it at bay while others snuck in to strike with swords.

It was not a red dragon. Its scales were a deep earthy brown and it moved with far less grace and purpose. Jasper seeing no immediate danger to his men, used [Beast Knowledge] and [Identify].

Beast Knowledge - Intelligence Check [100%]

[Brown Dragon Lv8]

BK - Maturity : Hatchling

BK - Race : Dragon {S1 V2 D1 I1}

BK - SubRace : Brown Dragon {S1 V3 D0 I0}

Beast Knowledge

Strength

Vitality

Dexterity

Intelligence

28

59

24

12

Beast Knowledge - Condition

This beast is young and small, it hunts easy prey and sleeps often. Low intelligence has made it overconfident. Lack of difficult battles shows with no scars, this beast has focused on defence. The prey it hunts simply cannot bypass its defence and so, get slowly hunted down, tired out and consumed.

Compared to the beast they were truly hunting this was a joke. Dragons like this would be a natural part of the ecosystem in this area, rarely seen but existing in small numbers. This beast's arrogance and low intelligence would get it eaten by something larger before it could grow and mature. very rarely would they get the time and food to grow dangerous, at least not often.

Despite his disappointment, Jasper knew this would be a good training opportunity for his men. Even the injured man would recover quickly, he had already been extracted from the danger zone and brought to one of the mages. They would set the bone and apply basic healing, to seal the wounds and reduce swelling as well as boost the recovery process. With regular healing, he would be fully recovered by tomorrow, but a dedicated healer could have done it in minutes.

Jasper had been trying to get a dedicated healer from command for months, ever since they had lost Clarice in the battle of Bloodthorn. A nasty affair that one, and the reason so many of his company were new.

Jasper, despite thinking of faraway places and times, had not lost focus on the fight, he watched carefully as the dragon was hounded with spears. Keeping it focused on the heavily armoured soldiers while others hacked and slashed at the beast. Despite its low level in comparison to most of the men and its lack of offensive power, very little harm was coming to the beast.

Most spears slid off its scales, not even bruising its tough hide, and swords simple failed to cut it. Arrows bounced off in a slow rhythm. Even its wings were tough, like cured leather, they flapped around making line of sight difficult and distracting the attackers. Too light and leathery to get a solid blow on. The dragon, however, was slow and predictable. The few attacks it made easily defected by heavy armour, lacking enough strength to dent or scratch it. It probably had the element of surprise on the lightly armoured soldier it had injured before.

“Aiiiim low, for the belly and gut, and chop at the neck. Careful.....Careful you dimwits, keep tiring it out...”

With these commands and encouragement, some swords made contact with the softer part of the dragon. The scales were smaller and more flexible in these areas making it easier to penetrate.

One precise spear thrust managed to slip past the scales and ploughed into the tough hide. It cut past the leather-like hide and into the flesh of dragons belly, just above its pelvis. This elicited a yowling growl from the beast followed by a threatening hiss.

The dragon, now realising they could harm it. It flapped and flared its wings, rearing up to slash its claws. This gained it some distance and jasper felt it drawing on mana, activating a skill.

“Back, let me face the beasts skill”

His men obediently retreated to form a larger circle and let Jasper advance. He could not risk the beast injuring his men with a dangerous skill. Jasper felt the mana coalesce and flow through the dragon. It was absorbed in part by its muscles, but most of it was coating and filling its scales. They lost there smooth lustre, taking on a more rough rock-like appearance and glowing with faint brown mana.

That was body enhancement skill, providing increased strength or agility and major defence increase by the look of it. He felt it gather more mana, and this time it surged into its mouth. The dragon took a breath and blasted…air at Jasper. Or so it would seem to any without mana sight or sense. The air contained concentrated earth mana, and where it rolled like fog before the dragon in a cone, spikes of earth ripped from the ground in a ripple. This created a wave of sharp stones and spikes that extended before the dragon, reaching nearly 6 meters from the beast.

For a beast that was just over a meter that was some impressive distance. Perhaps even dangerous as well, with the foot-long razor-sharp spikes jutting up. None of this was an issue for Jasper though as he simply stepped away from the affected area before the effect triggered and ran at the Dragon.

He activated [Strong Blow] and struck it in the ribs with his fist. His metal gauntlet smashed into the slow creature and it was lifted off its feet. Flying for a few meters in the air before it tumbled to the ground, rolling some more before getting back to its feet. It growled, low and threateningly, a few scales had fallen off in the struck area, but it had no broken bones. A huge bruise perhaps, but it was in remarkably good condition.

Jasper grinned and advanced, the dragon sensing it could not beat him but reluctant to turn its back faced him while hissing.

What followed next was a beatdown, where the dragon, too slow to respond was struck time and time again. Slowly scales tore free, hide bruised and finally, bones broke. Jasper was grinning in a dark grimace. The few blows it struck against Jasper were blocked by metal and didn’t even slow him down. When the beast was properly broken, bleeding from its mouth and staggering around he took mercy on it. Unsheathing his sword he activated [Strong Blow] and [Dash] increasing his speed and power he slashed down so fast the poor creature barely even saw what was coming.

The dragon's head fell to the forest floor, its body slumping down as well. A rhythmic spout of blood flowed from the long neck. Mixing with the soil, turning it red.

Quint walked slowly up to Jasper. Standing a few feet away he offered a rag and softy spoke.

“We'll find it”

Jasper said nothing, wiping his sword on the offered cloth and sheathing it.

Ding! For Slaying [Brown Dragon Lv8] In Combat +51xp

Ding! For Slaying a Foe [25] Levels Below Your Own [-25%] xp -13xp

Ding! For Slaying a Foe 2x Below Your Level [-20%] xp -10xp

Ding! For Slaying a Foe 3x Below Your Level [-30%] xp -15xp

Ding! For Slaying a Foe 4x Below Your Level [-40%] xp -20xp

Ding! Total Xp Earned From Combat Encounter +0xp

Not even a single point, he turned away from the bloody corpse and walked away.