14. Dragon's Nest

"AAARGHH!" I screamed with despairing cries that resonated with a terrible echo. My intestines felt like a micro-hell, scorching my guts from within, nearly bursting my head with pain. I could feel the living flesh crawling toward the lizard's immortal body when I racked open a slit in my stomach. It had practically grown a mouth and began to eat its way out. I wanted to pull it out as fast as possible, but my mind flinched and instead flexed my belly, hoping to lessen the pain. Then, as my blood came coughing out, my mind shifted away from the pain and to the fear of death.

So, the moment the flesh finally wiggled its way out, I immediately drove my claws into the lizard and began dissecting it like a maniac. My arms swung around berserk, controlled purely by my frenzied mind and instinct for survival. Soon an equally sharp pain rose in my wound as my belly and organs molded together with the stolen vitality from the lizard. I bit down on the clothes Icta'zhish made to distract my brain from the pain signals until they faded.

Calming down, I sat exhausted, pushed up against the wall, and exhaled deeply. My eyes shot wide open upon realizing it would regenerate, and I immediately hacked my claws into the lizard's brain and kept it there. That should prevent it from regaining consciousness. Sliding my hand over my stomach, I felt something uncanny, almost afraid of my capabilities. My claws perfectly healed my injury, and not a single scratch was left behind. People might never recognize me as one of them, but I'm not monster enough either to mindlessly hunt for eternity.

"Sigh, whatever," I murmured while spitting the last blood splat. I'll leave my future problems for the future me. There was no point in worrying about the unchangeable; I was born a monster, and I had to embrace it.

Now, what should I do about this creature? I can't let it regenerate and find me later, and I absolutely cannot let my agonizing experience go to waste. As much as I would love to, taking its immortality ability was impossible. If it's going to keep resurrecting and regenerating, I can't digest it.

I gazed at the ceiling, one hand keeping the lizard dead while the other rested on my chin, mumbling and pondering ways to utilize an undying corpse. "Can't steal its ability... I'm starving, and it can't even feed me... Forever resurrecting and regenerating... regen—!"

An ambitious smirk grew on my face. What if I took a clump of meat and had it on me wherever I went? Whenever I got injured, I could regenerate by impaling it with my [Revitalizing Claws] over and over. Its elastic skin should also work wonders as a sack for the flesh. With that, I started to carve a portion of its stomach and separate the skin. It took surprisingly little strength to peel it off, possibly due to the lizard's strange body capabilities. The skin also came off clean with no fat or blood and, fortunately, didn't appear alive.

To begin with, I cut out a square in the lizard's belly about the size of my head, big enough to heal but small enough to carry. Sticking my hands into its belly, I shrouded them in a veil of acid to melt through the last bit of muscle my claws couldn't reach.

I quickly moved away before the pool of blood could soak me. By holding the skin at its four corners, I could carry the flesh without getting my hands filthy. Then, I folded the corner over each other, tying a knot as a handle that held it together.

I didn't feel particularly hungry for someone who had just cut open their stomach, probably less hungry than before. Looking at my claws in awe, I wondered if they had replenished my hunger. Did my body consider my empty stomach as an injury? Then, they must've sucked out the lizard's life essence and somehow converted it to nutrition. By no means was I full, but at least there was something in there, so my body had a bit more energy to burn.

Swinging the skin sack over my shoulder, I continued my adventure. Since I had no idea which out of countless paths would lead me outside, wouldn't going up be the wisest choice? And once I was close enough, I should be able to smell the vegetation near the entrances. Besides, I'd eventually see freedom if I always took the path leading upward and returned to the second most promising path upon each dead end. Worst case possible, there is no way out, and I had to burden Icta'zhish again. But how little is the chance of that happening anyway? This place is vaster than any imaginable grotto.

The direction that the lizard came from was coincidentally the steepest path up. I felt somewhat uneasy walking in total darkness, where pitch-black creatures might reside, but at least I couldn't fall down the ravine since this area was enclosed. Eventually, my eyes dilated, and along with my night vision, I could see the tunnel's formation. Unlike what I was used to, bumps and cracks scattered on the walls. The curved track was challenging to traverse, especially with the rough surface, likely due to creatures brawling; This place was the real deal.

Further in, the walls opened, letting light rays kindle the passage. The sudden shift in shades was perplexing, almost frightening. Just ten minutes ago, my surroundings reflected an opal-like purple; now, they screamed with glacial blue and were far more vibrant. It was as if I had entered a different biome as the layout differed from the first Rift. Laying eyes on the unparalleled atmosphere was incredibly fresh, and I couldn't help but be astonished.

When the path diverged, I again took the steepest one that fortunately appeared to be the safest to cross. There were no dangerous drops, the ground wasn't rough, and the only thing that concerned me was the colorful limestone dripping from the roof. Turning around the corner, I saw triangular tips mysteriously sticking out of the ground. They were nothing like the limestone and looked like peaks of whipped cream. Besides, the stone near them seemed off, but I couldn't tell why.

Out of curiosity, I grabbed the tip of one of them and wiggled my arm. My hand crumbled the stone without much force, startling me a little.

"Wha—! Huh?"

I continued to dig through the clay-like consistency until a gargantuan azure egg was unveiled. Yet, even with its incredible size, I was taken aback by the egg's weight when I picked it up. Moreover, the egg had intricate patterns running perfectly symmetrical on the surface, almost as if a professional had crafted it by hand.

Looking at the other pointy formations let my curiosity take over, and I started to uncover the others. The second egg had a similar color, but its patterns were different, still being equally complex, though. The third was slightly larger, but its weight remained the same. And naturally, its design was unique and notable too.

However, on my way to dig up another, alarming thoughts smacked me. What in the world was I doing? A monster must've laid these, and it was no small fry, judging by the eggs' size.

I immediately buried them again and formed the stone to its previous shape to the best of my abilities. Of course, it wasn't flawless, but I doubt a Rift creature could tell the difference.

Crack, snap!

The oddly terrifying sound caused perspiration to bead on my forehead. My eyes shot wide open in fear, knowing precisely what the crackling sound meant. In a panic, I dashed toward the egg and tried to bury it in the soft stone, but it was too late. From within the egg came a tiny dragon-like creature. It had charcoal grey scales on its back and wings, reflecting the surrounding's glacial rays.

The infant dragon's eyes lit up in animosity, crying a sound similar to a rift puppy as it charged against me. I backed, not wanting to hurt it, in case its guardian was alerted. But, unluckily, I retreated into a dead end, causing a shiver of panic. That one second allowed the infant dragon to lunge at me by flipping its wings. It dug its teeth into my left leg with absurd bite force and wiggled around, causing more damage. I tried to pull the dragon out, but it had already sunken its teeth deep into my flesh.

Then, a deafening thud resounded in the distance. And again... And again…