Rue growled from the comfort of her cave. Over the past four days, she had been hunting her surrounding territory dry, everything that moved she had consumed. The surroundings were now quiet, no bird song pervaded the trees or livened the mornings, she hadn't eaten the birds, but they had been scared off by the smoke and fire that she had released. The screams of smaller terrestrial creatures probably scared them as well.

Despite this, all of her gains had been practically zero since she had hit level 16. The rabbits and squirrels that she had gained a few points each from now gave her 0, no matter how many she burned, slashed or crushed. They were still welcome to feed her, she had been stuffing herself every waking moment to gain the most growth, trying to reach the next milestone for her species. Long rests in her cave every few hours had meant substantial growth.

The large prey in the forest had been scared off or already hunted by her. The herd of deer that she killed before had not been spotted again and she doubted that the few surviving individuals would have stuck around and waited for her. She had chased off the other dragon that settled in the area as well as the huge bear. This meant the area miles in any direction lacked substantial prey or challenger.

Rue backed into her blackened cave, warming the stone with fire she lay down to consider her options. Moving was currently at the top of her list, the second was trying to find the humans. They were quite easy to kill individually and provided good rewards. Plus she had a personal dislike for them that bordered on hatred. Especially for the big one, the image of him in her mind made her exhale a puff of smoke.

The only problem with humans was their tendency to travel in large groups and their teamwork was very troublesome. The way they came at her from all sides made her hiss in displeasure, the many wounds caused by their creatures seemed to itch and protest despite being fully healed.

No, her only real option was to move locations, to hopefully a higher concentration of stronger beasts. She suspected that the humans lived somewhere around here, perhaps in a warren or something and they kept hunting all of the stronger wildlife. Just like they tried to get her. Like she would be lured in by sheep. She was far too clever for that to work… twice.

A small puff of flame exited her snout.

So now that she knew she would move locations all that was left was to choose a direction. Maybe upstream, in the opposite direction to the humans. She would not forget them, Rue would come back, find their nest and feast upon that large one. Rue stretched out in excitement, new places to explore and hopefully large, tasty and exciting creatures.

Travelling upriver would bring her to more wild terrain. It was in the direction of the high mountains and large cloud formations. They had always looked mystical and far away, perhaps they would hold better prey.

Rue heaved herself off the pleasantly warm floor and walked to the entrance of her cave. She would leave now, it was late morning and she was eager to get going. She had to travel even further to find prey this morning, leaving her hungry still. Her brief rest in her cave to decide on what to do had excited her. New areas to explore and new prey to hunt. It would be easier to find prey along the way to fill her belly than try to find them in her current area.

Focusing on her senses and memory she determined the direction of the river and set off at a slow lope in the direction of the water. The greens and browns of the dense forest passed her by, lush bushes and shrubs that would have stopped many animals or at least slowed them down simply brushed over her smooth scales. Rue flowed through the undergrowth, focused on her new goals and her belly grumbling.

The forest was still very quiet when she found the river, but as it was miles away from her den some of the wildlife remained. Much of it was probably the creatures that had been driven out by the distressed cries of their hunted brethren.

Rue stopped by the banks of the river and spotted some fish swimming around in the river. They would make a good snack, she may have never hunted them before but it seemed like a simple matter of waiting for them to swim past.

She waited by the bank until one ventured close to her and lunged her maw into the river. Her jaws contacted the water and she snapped them shut, expecting a fountain of blood and sweet meat. Instead, she got nothing but water and a sharp snap as her jaws clicked together.

A failure, but she would not be deterred. She positioned herself again, waiting for a fish to venture close. This one was big, and it would fill her up nicely if she could catch it. She waited, letting it get well within her range, then let it get closer. It was only when it was less than a foot away that she released all the tension in her muscles and launched herself forward explosively.

This time when she snapped her jaws shut they contacted flesh, sticking into the fish’s body, feeling that she hit it, she quickly hauled it onto the back and set about finishing her kill.

[Salmon Lv1]

Not an impressive kill in terms of fighting, but she had used her cunning to capture this meal, and it tasted all the better for it. The fish’s meat was tender and fatty and she relished every bite of the huge fish. It filled her to bursting and she went on her way leaving not even a skeleton. The only sign of a kill was a small patch of blood on the gravelly banks of the river.

Now she was heading up the river, towards the mountains. The scenery changed little over the first 10 miles of the journey. Lots of trees, thick undergrowth and pebbly beaches. The river meandered with a sedate pace. Every so often she would see another salmon flit through the water. Heading in the same direction that she was.

She only had to navigate around the occasional waterfall. They were not very high, but the deep waters at their base meant she had no hope of climbing the slippery surfaces. It took some time to find a way up the obstacles but it was part of the adventure and she often stopped to take a snack. One of the many salmon that occasionally tried to jump up the waterfall. It was easy when they leapt into your mouth.

As it became evening and she had navigated about 20 miles upriver, the mountains still loomed in the distance seemingly no closer. It would take days to reach them yet and Rue was tired. She would spend the last few hours of the day trying to find a temporary resting place. Perhaps scout the area for any interesting and strong residents.

Rue walked in the direction of a hill, the rocky protrusions looked like they would create some sheltered spots for her to rest. The other lure to that place was the smell of a large group of animals. They smelled filthy, of sweat and feces. Yet despite the awful smell Rue decided to go and check it out.

The surrounding forest was getting thicker, more rocks and less green save for the moss on rocks. The change was still quite subtle but less ground foliage was present and frequent rocky outcrops could be seen protruding from the soil. The trees here were getting larger as well, the tall straight trunks stretching up into the canopy far above.

The wide low branched trees she was used too were now far rarer. The closest branches to the floor were now far above her head, making it very difficult to climb. She would certainly not be doing it anytime soon.

The reduction in ground foliage had made it harder for her to hide in bushes and undergrowth, causing her red body to flicker in the forest. She could be seen as a red flash darting from tree to tree, covering ground rapidly. It was becoming easier as the light faded.

Rue gained ground on the huge rocky outcrops quickly. As she approached she could see the fire burning and creatures sitting around it. The now dark forest hid her body quite well as she stood at the edge of the clearing and observed.

[Hob Goblin Lv13]

…

[Hob Goblin Lv18]

They were medium levelled and all gathered around a fire. They had sickly green skin that flickered in the firelight, revealing pointy green ears coming from their heads. Their shiny heads reflected the light of the fire. Unlike the humans which had the same shape, they didn't have shiny silver shells that would protect them. She looked for more of them, there were 10 sitting around the fire, with another 2 hard to spot individuals standing outside the entrance to a cave. Rue sniffed the smells coming from the cave and the group. There were more smells than just the 12 creatures she could see.

Most likely there were some more of them sleeping in the cave. There was also a different smell, it was unlike the creatures that she was seeing now. More musky and damp, very unpleasant.

Rye worked her way around the treeline and rocks, looking at the nest from different directions. She guessed that less than half were currently out in the open and that if she attacked, a swarm of the small creatures would come from the cave's opening.

They were only just over a meter in height but packed some muscle. They had to be somewhat capable otherwise they would not have survived in the dangerous forest. They had the long weapons with sharp ends lying close by. Rue now realised that they could pick up these tools to make themselves stronger.

Rue tried to do the same with some tree branches on the floor but her scaly claws didn't have the ability to grip it properly, and she lost most of her mobility if she succeeded. Rue had decided that although the weapon would give her superior reach, she didn't need it.

Her claws were deadly at close range and her fire could outrange all of the spears. The only weapon she would find troublesome was the stick throwing weapons. They were too fast to dodge and could come from so far away. Her eyes were drawn to two such weapons leant against the logs by the fire.

They looked smaller than the ones the humans had used but were probably still dangerous. The arrows were an absolute pain to remove, and sometimes they stuck in the wound painfully, gripped by her strong flesh.

Rue looked at the camp, they were practically little XP packages that she could almost taste. When would this opportunity present itself again? Even the herd of deer she had eaten had been lower levelled and fewer in number. This was a rich target indeed.

Rue decided that this was too good of a target to be ignored. She would have to take them down. But observing for a while might be prudent. Charging into an unexpected amount of pack animals did not go well most of the time.

Even if they looked much weaker than humans she would be careful.