Noe had spent the last day in the dungeons, they were far more extensive than he thought. The brick-lined passageways and cells soon gave way to narrower tunnels that winded between larger tunnels. The walls gleamed with moisture and a rock that was tinged green. It ran in thin veins across the walls of the tunnels. Occasionally he would find a larger cave with thicker veins of the green rock. Noe slithered through the passageway barely making a sound, the lack of wings made his body small and agile, perfect for navigating the cramped caves.

After he had navigated through miles of tunnels, making sure to head in a constant direction he decided to rest. The humans could not see in the dark, well most of them. The would take time to find him if they even tried. He had to find a source of food, water was aplenty and he could lick the walls for it. He would have to find a tunnel to the surface to gather food, or perhaps something living in these dank and dark caves.

Ending up in a dead-end with wooden support beams holding up the sealing he felt safe enough that he sunk into the shadows and curled up. He was at home in the dark, not fearing it like other creatures. The deep pitch black of the lightless cave created an inky darkness that pooled around the black dragon. His scales seemed to take on an ephemeral form as the shadow dripped like water from him.

Ding! Ability Unlocked +[Master Of Darkness]

Noe was surprised, he had not killed anything yet the system deemed him to have gained a new skill. He focused on it and pulled up the skill description, curious.

Master Of Darkness [1]

Living most of your life in the dark you have not feared the absence of light like most creatures. When faced with the coldest of dark you feel the warmest of embraces. True darkness can be bent to your will, with the total blackness for your use. +[100%] mana regeneration when in pitch-black darkness. At will force all light sources within [10] Meters to go dark. When in true darkness you may gain [Nourishment] and [Xp] from the [Fear] of creatures within [10] meters.

Noe grinned in the pure darkness of his new home. Had there been light to see his teeth they would have glinted white, the pure golden brown of his reptilian eyes taking on a darker hue. The light that would have shone upon his scales now would vanish. No reflection would be present from his scales, the pure darkness swallowing all of it.

To look upon his form, was akin to waking and trying to open your eyes in the dead of night, only to realise they were already open.

As Rue closed her maw, she could still hear her own mighty roar reverberating off the rocks in the cave and the valley outside. The deep rumble making her chest vibrate, the feeling pleasant to her but possibly horrific to her enemies. With her challenge declared to the world she had decided to hunt, the feeling of fresh flesh and levels making her salivate. A few fat drops falling to the floor like the patter of heavy rain. She licked her chops with a smack and clenched her jaws, swallowing the built-up juices, she would need them later.

At currently over three and a half meters long from head to tail, with about half that being her powerful body she shone a deep crimson In the evening light. Her yellow eyes glinted with hungry intelligence even as her full distended belly showed she was full. What she hungered for was not food, this primal hunger what gave men nightmares, the predatory gaze would cause even the most steadfast of natural predators pause. It was a hunger to devour, not one's flesh but their very life, killing for the sole purpose of death and relishing the power that came with it. She blinked her eyes, pupils darting around the entrance to the cave, her adrenaline causing a hyper-awareness that left her tail twitching in anticipation.

Her wingspan was near the length of her sleek form as well, but she kept them folded on her back most of the time. She was proud of her dark red leathery wings but the lack of flight made them more of a balancing limb. Their true purpose perhaps achievable with the aid of magic, but her bulky dense muscles and bone left her grounded. When she was in combat they could flare up to provide balance and a distraction, making her appear far larger and sinister.

Rue's mind turned from her majestic wings and ruby tinted scales to her immediate future. She would not have long, her growth was fast with the abundant food, she would soon grow too much to level her core anymore. As soon as she grew to 4 meters she would meet the conditions for advancing her species and her level cap would be raised. In order to become as strong as possible, she needed to hunt lots of prey now while she was still empowering her core. A small dribble of thick saliva dropped like a pebble onto the cave floor. Her momentary lapse of concentration causing a loud plop, she darted her tongue out to clean the residue on her lips. Her front paw twitched and scratched the hard stone, peeling back the blackened layer to reveal the grey stone beneath, small chips of baked rock pinged off under her iron-hard claws.

Well, before she could do any hunting she needed to find her prey, large groups of level 15 beasts would be ideal. The goblin camp had given her so many levels they had capped her out and overflowed into her core. Large groups of weaker individuals played to her strong suits. Red hot magical fire, glowing with the promise of a swift return to the earth.

She sniffed the air, trying to focus on any large concentration of animals, their smell would be stronger and more mixed. It was a few minutes of sniffing and snuffling the surrounding the area before she discovered a tree that was especially promising. It smelled of urine, belonging to a musky animal. Smells of fur and blood, much like the dire wolf she had faced earlier. It was quite old, but the wood had taken in a lot of the scent and it still remained. She inhaled deeply and clawed at the earth with her anticipation, let the hunt begin.

Breathing in the scent she tried to determine the direction the animal would have come from, it took her some time but she found several trees in one direction that had the same smell. Each was an old tree and had been marked with scratches and urine to signal ownership. She continued in the direction that the smells were emanating from until they started getting fresher as well. These marks had been refreshed recently, the area she had come from now gave way to shorter shrubbery and more rocky outcrops. The scent marks became more common, growing with strength as she drew further towards her mark. Growls and grunts were now coming from her as the scent became even stronger, not appetising in and of itself, the smell signified a fulfilment of her desires.

Rue had now spent nearly half an hour tracking the scent before she found a new mark, not even an hour old. With it came the scent of the prey she was hunting, not their markings but the beasts themselves. Rue was excited but also cautious, these predators had a large territory, they must have adequate means of defence. By this last tree rue swished her tail with agitation, the approach would have to be stealthy, none could she allow to escape. The coming darkness would help hide her crimson form, the numerous rock outcropings sufficient to hide her growing bulk. The bushes and trees were now in clumps and patches with more grass appearing in between. She had left much of the denser taller trees behind and was approaching what could be called the steppes of the mountains. The rocky terrain made it more difficult for deep-rooted plant life to find an adequate growing room, leading the foliage more towards big trees but many smaller bushes and saplings.

It was a mere ten minutes before she found the pack proper, from her slightly elevated position atop some rocky shelves. A few hundred meters away she could see movement, the small grey shaped meandering around sniffing and communicating. Her keen eyesight noticed them sniffing the air coming from her direction. That was strange, she was far away, peeking now subtly over the protective rocks.

[Grey Wolf Lv12]

…

[Grey Wolf Lv20]

At Rue’s quick count there were 8 members of the pack. That was smaller than her initial hopes but she still kneaded the stone beneath her in anticipation. They appeared to operate in a similar manner to the humans, each individual was week but they communicated and would probably work together. A growl reverberated from her as she thought of the vile concept of teamwork, the weak preying on the strong, ridiculous. Her pupils dilated as she thought of her plan.

This would be a difficult group to face, their levels suggested a life of combat and pack hunting. Like the humans perhaps they would encircle her, making it difficult to focus on any one animal at a time. Of course, her fire would even things up a bit, but in order to get the most kills without them running from the fire, she would need them to be grouped up. This would require some thinking, her days of blindly rushing in and being outnumbered were over.

Rue retreated down the rocks, making sure not to scatter any of the loose pebbles down the rocky mound, they would make a harsh clattering sound and perhaps give her position away. Taking up a new position downwind but closer to the pack she decided to set her trap, taking inspiration from the humans she had fought before, she would lure in her prey. In order to enact her plan of mass wolf slaughter she would need bait, they would not seek her out, the smell of smoke and burned flesh too much of a giveaway. Rue sniffed and searched for a few minutes to find her prime target. A rabbit, she didn’t eat any of it but made sure to rip it up and release all of the tasty juices next to a pile of rocks. Her maw was now covered in blood so she decided to do some cleaning while she waited. She agile tongue lapped the blood of her claws and snout, taking the time to make sure she would smell as neutral as possible. She rolled around in the dirt to give her a more earth scent and disguise the death emanating from her.

Rue then positioned herself on the other side of the rocks, the pack would come from the bait side and hopefully not investigate her hiding place. The grey rocks made her dulled red scales stand out, like covering a red door with mud it dulled her bright colour but didn’t remove it. Using her supreme patience she stood stock still relying on hearing and smell to determine the optimal time to strike.

It was not long before the pack came flowing into the kill zone. They sniffed excitedly and went to investigate the bait Rue had prepared. She heard the sniffing and a few growls and yelps from the other side of the rocks, they were excited and didn’t seem to suspect anything. She would wait for the crunching of bone from the meal to be heard, signalling the wolfs distraction. The wolfs were not large enough to swallow such large prey, they would need to rip and tear it apart. With each one barely over meter long, the huge rabbit was a good meal for the pack. Rue listened to the barking and yapping if the wolves, imagining them quarrelling about who got fist picks. Her bet would be on the largest beast, it was probably the leader of the pack. She had seen him earlier, large shaggy grey fur, areas matted and torn from past battles. White fur creeping in around the edges of his eyes and scars. He was a veteran, the founder of the pack. The others had looked young, their fur a dark grey with few scars and blemishes.

She was just getting ready to launch herself out from behind the rock and vaporise the closely packed wolves when there was a set of screeches from above and three green blurs sped down past the rock and hit where Rue assumed the pack to be. The speed of the creatures stunned her, they were so large and yet so fast. She held back a growl at the thought of her hard work going to waste, how dare something steal her meal.

Rue quickly bounded out from behind the rock to see the action. Nothing could blatantly fly in and eat her lured prey. She came round the rock snarling baring her fangs and puffing up her wings. The rage blinded her, but not enough to prevent her from pausing. The scene before her startling but no less enraging.

Dragons.