I awoke to a sharp pain gnawing in my innards. Vision blurring at the edges, twisting, the world shifting between shades of red and black. My chest… heavy. Breathing… shallow.
What… just happened? I… was preparing a Quick Dash when… I lost my vision. Sothing else hit . Other than fireball.
Another breathing a searing gasp. Pain, all around my body. Couldn’t… think clearly. No… No… Get a goddamned grip. But vision was slipping once again.
Flashes—feathers. Heat. Sll of blood. So much blood.
Sothing sharp dug into my side. No… not just sharp. Tearing. Pain imdiately bought the focus back. Eyes groggily opened once again, trying to focus, the sensation repeating once again. Sharp. Jagged. Like sothing was… sawing through .
The thought was enough. Danger. I was in danger. Fragmanted thoughts started to pull together as a surge of panic and anger awoke the adrenaline inside. Vision sharpened once again, the hues blinking in existence.
Another tear. I felt before I saw. A shadow… claws. Talons? Yes. A beak.
I twisted, claws sunk in, digging into my abdon. Another searing sensation of pain.
My eyes snapped wide open, the haze lifting in a storm of burning fury.
My once gleaming scales were now blackened, my skin scorched. One eye wouldn’t even open, vision lost. Every bone felt shattered, every breath a tornt.
Then it hit —I wasn’t even on the ground. The filthy creature had pinned, its mangy claws gripping my broken form, dangling like a ragged carcass over a thick branch as it feasted—on .
Another scorching wave of agony as that wretched beak stabbed deeper into my insides. It was eating . Not just attacking—eating alive.
That was it.
A searing, blinding rage ignited within . This filthy, feathered vermin DARED to lay its rancid claws on ? Dared to treat as prey?
On instinct, my fire gland flared to life, mana coursing through my exhausted body, stamina flooding into my claws, crackling with untad, furious power.
The heat of anger exploded within , igniting every nerve, every muscle.
My claws twitched, flexing as fury consud every inch of my battered body. The vulture—oblivious, filthy—thought I was dead. Its greedy beak tore through my flesh, savoring each bite like I was just another al.
Ahh, it was enjoying itself.
I waited. It chewed.
I waited. It savored.
And I waited… until the mont ca.
My flesh, too tempting to resist, lured the beast into one final mistake. Its beak edged closer, closer still, until it dug into once again. This ti, it would regret every second.
SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!
The flare sparked, and the air around us hissed—scorched by the fire building within my gland. The vulture’s screech echoed across the battlefield as I unleashed it. Molten flas erupted, consuming its disgusting head in a torrent of heat, blistering and violent. Feathers blackened, curled, and burned away in an instant. Its eyes—charred, molten orbs—popped as its skin sizzled and flesh lted.
Delicious.
Its shrieks were music to my ears. Pure, agonized, visceral screams.
Ahhh!
KRRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Now was my chance. I twisted, claws slashing upward in a flurry of movent. Stamina surged violently through them. Echo Claw.Flesh tore. Feathers scattered. The echo followed. Tearing through its innards once again.
The vulture screeched again, its voice raw and ragged—but I wasn’t done. Not yet. Not by a bloody long shot.
SCREAM, YOU WRETCH! SCREECH LIKE THE WORTHLESS FILTH YOU ARE! LET DRINK IN EVERY LAST DROP OF YOUR MISERABLE PAIN!
Another breath—another burst of fla—searing through its fresh wounds. The vulture's claws slackened, losing their grip on my broken body. It was my turn now. My jaws snapped forward, fangs finding their mark.
Spectral Crunch.
Teeth sank into its scorched wing, the crack of bone beneath my bite sending another wave of satisfying agony through the vulture. Its scream filled the air again, and my heart raced with exhilaration.
YES! More screams. More suffering.
I held tight, claws dug deep into its hide as I yanked—ripped its wing clean off with a sickening tear. The creature’s body slackened entirely, the pull of gravity taking us both as we plumted to the ground.
Falling.
We hit the ground with a thud, pain shooting through my own body—it hurt—but the thrill, the manic glee kept going. My body felt broken, but I crawled toward the vulture, tongue lolling in sadistic glee as its desperate filthy claws flailed weakly at .
PATHETIC. WEAK.
It was nothing. Less than nothing. I hovered over it, eyes wide, breath ragged. And then—another burst of fla.
MORE SCREAMS!
The fire surged again, swallowing the wretched form whole. The stench of burnt flesh, blood—thick in the air. Fire gland? Drained. Mana? Still plenty.
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MORE FIRE!
I pushed the flas harder, my fire gland protesting, heat searing my own skin.
MORE SCREAMS!
It kept howling. Good. More mana into the flas. The inferno raged on.
But the vulture’s cries began to weaken, its twitching slowing down.
No.
NO!
Where were the screams? Where was the agony I craved? I needed more—more fire, more pain. But…
The fire gland was empty.
MORE FIRE!
I bellowed, furious. No more flas? Really?
Snarling, I searched inside for more! But I was tapped out, mana gone, drained dry. And yet the hunger, the rage, still demanded. I glared at the charred husk of the vulture as it lay there, limp, lifeless.
SCREAM! I snarled, crushing the pitiful remains with my claws. I DEMAND IT!
Nothing. Just smouldering, silent ashes. How dare they not scream.
SCREAM YOU WORTHLESS SACK OF FILTH!
I wanted to burn the earth itself. But my body, battered beyond recognition, refused to comply. No more fire. No mana.
My breaths ca in jagged bursts, but the fury refused to fade.
Hah…
I collapsed, barely breathing. And for a mont, I simply stayed there.
Ashes.
Empty. Hollow.
No more fire. Just… stillness.
Why… didn’t they scream?
I rolled my head through the ashes, the warmth soothing in a strange, comforting way. Ahh… my rage fed on resistance, on the thrill of defiance. But now? Now that there was none, now that the vulture lay as a heap of smoldering ruin beneath ? It all …slipped away. Slowly.
Mmm… these warm ashes.
As the fury ebbed, my mind slunk back into sothing resembling normality. I lay there, dazed, doing nothing, the adrenaline fading along with the fire.
Sothing was beneath my head. I blinked, lifting my jaw sluggishly. Ahh… a swirling marble of darkness, faintly glowing beneath the soot. Monster core. I picked it up lazily and tossed it into my mouth, the jolt of energy settling in my chest. With it, the system notifications blinked on.
There were many of them—kill notification, maximum mana increase. Flathrower had levelled up. But one ssage caught my eye, standing out against the rest.
Not a notification—a mission.
Mission Alert!
Ahh, you've been wounded, ambushed by low-life thieves wielding stolen power! Surely, you’re not going to let them slither away unscathed?
Objective: ELF ERADICATION!
Task: Exterminate every thieving wretch you detected earlier. RIP THEM TO SHREDS!
Reward: 1 Skill Point per elf killed. Bonus: 1 Technique recipe after all four are dealt with. The more creative the carnage, the higher the chance for extra rewards!
Progress: 0/4
Penalty: None.
Accept: Y/N?
I stared at the words, waiting for that familiar spark—the rage, the hunger for revenge—but instead, there was only hollowness. Just... nothing. No spark, no fury. The empty feeling lingered as I dismissed the ssage.
For now, it could wait.
My attention shifted to the scene around as I activated Air Sense. The subtle shift in the air painted a picture of the battlefield, revealing the hidden monsters skulking about. None seed particularly interested in —for the mont, at least.
Through the trees, I could still see the aftermath of the chaos. The battlefield stretched out ahead, a massive scorch mark—shallow, but impressively wide—etched the spot where I’d once stood. Two colossal craters lay nearby, still faintly smoking from the fireballs that had rained down from above.
Fire magic. Not exactly imaginative, but undeniably effective. Low yellow core, judging by the raw power. Fire mana—great for destruction, rubbish for finesse.
Several unfortunate monsters had been caught in the blast, burnt to a crisp and crushed beneath the raw force. I must’ve tried to trigger Quick Dash before the second fireball hit. Maybe I did. Not fast enough, evidently.
I glanced down at my battered body. My throat felt raw, the inside of my mouth dry, though not charred—an innate immunity to my own heat, perhaps. Still, the rest of was a wreck. One side burned, several ribs broken, and my hind leg... it refused to move properly. Each attempt sent a sharp pain shooting through my nerves.
I was bleeding. The gaping wound where that vulture had been feasting on my flesh throbbed with every movent. Disgusting vermin. I glanced around, half-delirious, searching for sothing—anything—to help. I would've healed by now if I hadn't given in to that blind fury, and left the vulture's body intact. It had been large enough to heal after feeding on it.
But now?
Just ashes. Nothing but scorched earth and the stench of death.
And my mana… drained to the dregs.
FUCK.
I growled, my frustration bubbling again. I needed to replenish, needed to recenter. So, I did what I had to. Dragging myself toward a nearby bush, each pull of my limbs sending waves of pain through my broken body, I activated Core Stabilization.
Little by little, I felt the mana trickle back into , a faint glow of strength returning to my core. It wasn’t fast, but it was sothing. And it gave a mont to breathe, to think.
What the hell had I just done?
Images of the vulture’s pain played through my mind like a vivid nightmare, each scene replaying over and over. The thrill I had felt, the satisfaction at its suffering, gnawed at now. It had been its bite—its claws digging into —that sparked the rage. But sothing about my reaction felt… off.
I wasn’t like that. Was I?
I had never enjoyed anyone’s suffering before. The hunt was the hunt, it should end clean. Swift.
Or… was I like that?
The question lingered, unanswered. Now, the mory of it felt wrong, unsettling, but in that mont… it had felt oh so right. Where had that sheer malevolence co from? The hunger to inflict pain? I didn’t know. Like so many things about this place, about , I didn’t have the answer.
I curled over my battered form, focusing on my mana recovery. Ti passed in a blur, my Air Sense scanning the area constantly. Every creature in my vicinity—every shape, every breath—mapped itself out, though none moved toward .
Until one did.
A new breath signature entered my range. Slow, deliberate. Moving cautiously. My focus narrowed. Close now, I could pick out more details from its breathing pattern, its gait, the way the air shifted around it. A quadruped, light-footed.
A wolf.
Maybe not the sa one that had eyed when I ventured out before. Maybe. But the sa species, certainly. My senses flared.
Yet, a wave of hesitation washed over . Lingering. Pah. Really? Was I going to stop hunting because sothing primal and ugly had awoken within ? Because it dragged out so… malevolent part? Was I seriously going to let that stop now?
HELL NO.
I recentered myself, claws flexing. I had a goal—get stronger, evolve, build enough mana to regain my Drakarri form. I had no ti for useless musings.
That was dungeon’s first rule after all. Everything here is out to kill and devour.
And I would be a fool to question that.
The wolf inched closer, and I couldn't ignore the feeling bubbling up once again—exhilaration. Glee.
I sprawled on the floor, letting my body relax into the dirt, playing the part. Steadying my breath, I activated Stealth. My chest rose and fell in a slow, practiced rhythm. Even the thunderous pounding of my heart dulled, masking my presence.
The wolf erged, eyes sharp with hunger. A predator. Oh, yes. I knew that look well. I was its next al.
Ahh, what a pitiful sight it must’ve been. A broken dragon, too small for its level. Even this wolf, with its hulking fra, was bulkier than . So much bigger. Stronger. I dragged myself across the ground, my claws digging weakly into the dirt. Each movent sluggish, deliberate. I wanted it to believe I was weak. I wanted it to think I was easy prey.
And the fool did.
What a graceful fella. No hesitation. No brain cells either.
The mont it leapt into the air, its body soaring toward with all the grace of a seasoned killer, my stance shifted in a blink.
Quick Dash
My one good hind leg thrust forward, positioning beneath it. Claws out, I tore through its underbelly using the montum from Quick Dash. Flesh ripped apart with a delicious crunch. Echo followed, magnifying the carnage. It didn’t even manage a whimper before my tail whipped out, coiling around its snout and yanking it down. With a bone-shattering thud, it hit the ground, dazed and confused.
The hunter had beco the hunted.
Spectral Crunch—I bit down on its throat, tearing through flesh and sinew in one swift, brutal motion. Its life ended before it could even register what had happened.
[You have slain a Level 2 Lupinor Canivorax Adolescentus (III).]
[Experience Points acquired.]
Ahh, the charm of being an ambush predator. Quick, efficient, and blood-soaked. But no ti to gloat—I needed to heal. So, with all dignity out the window, I ripped into its carcass like a starving beast.
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