Chapter 3: The Carriage and the Dragon
Chapter 3:
The Carriage and the Dragon
Part 1
THE NEXT MORNING, I woke up in the sand. It was only my third day here, but I was already beginning to get used to sleeping out in the open. I checked the ballrabbit’s sand dune, relieved that I hadn’t smothered it again. I could use more rest, but I felt a strong presence drawing nearer, pinging my Psychic Sense. No sleeping in today.
Out in the open, it was easy for the enemy to spot me, but the reverse was also true. I sat up and scanned the area, immediately spotting the source of my Psychic Sense’s alert. It was one of those giant sand-colored centipedes, kicking up a cloud of dust as it barreled toward me.
Crap, this was the exact thing I didn’t want! We needed to get out of here.
My best option was just to put the ballrabbit in my mouth, though what a way to wake up in the morning. If I wasted time, the centipede would catch up easily. Although, now that I was looking at it, it didn’t seem to be headed directly for us… But there was nothing else out here. What was it doing?
Wait—there is something there!
A carriage raced just ahead of the centipede, pulled by two huge horses, no match for the monster’s speed. At this rate, that carriage was going to get demolished. What the heck were they thinking, driving a carriage in a place like this?
I glanced swiftly at the ballrabbit’s dune before springing after the giant centipede. I couldn’t win in a fair fight, but I could distract the monster long enough for the carriage to escape. Worst case scenario, I could always escape via the air. I’d just threaten it, then bounce. Once the commotion died down, I could come back for the rabbit. It survived out here alone before it met me—it would be all right on its own for a few minutes.
Leaving it still made me anxious, and I briefly wished I’d put it in my mouth and Rolled. But that had its own dangers. This enemy wasn’t like the panther or the camel; it wouldn’t be an easy fight. I’d need to use my Breath and Bite attacks, and I didn’t want to accidentally swallow the rabbit in the process.
I Rolled at the giant centipede, ruefully thinking that this was one enemy I never thought I would be dashing toward.
The beast ignored me and continued its pursuit of the carriage, even though I was purposefully making as much noise as possible. Come on, you’re not even gonna look my way? I guess you desert monsters would rather eat horses and humans than a dragon. I was considered a delicacy when I was a baby, you know!
The horses pulling the carriage looked my way. I couldn’t read equine expressions, but I had a feeling they were freaked out. Listen, I’m here to help!
I understood, of course. You’re racing through the desert chased by a giant centipede and all of a sudden a big scaly ball comes rolling in—talk about going from bad to worse. I’m an unlikely savior, I know.
I expended more energy to roll faster, using my speed to launch myself into the air. The plan was to use my body weight to crush the giant centipede’s tail, but it was way tougher than I imagined. I couldn’t even make a dent in it.
I dashed to the right, but the centipede still didn’t change its trajectory. It was the sort of monster that didn’t give up once it had a target in its sights. If I did manage to successfully draw its attention, escaping might not be so easy after all.
The centipede had slowed down when I dove at its tail, but it had nearly regained its original speed and was swiftly making up the distance it had lost on the carriage.
I’d figured attacking once with Roll would be enough, but I’d just have to keep trying.
By now I was close enough to use View Status. I needed to get a feel for its stats before I made any more decisions.
Species: Giant Sand Centipede
Status: Normal
Lv: 62/80
HP: 448/448
MP: 236/236
Attack: 324
Defense: 297
Magic: 194
Agility: 234
Rank: B
Special Skills:
Myriapod: Lv —
Bug King’s Chitin: Lv 6
Earth Type: Lv —
Automatic HP Recovery: Lv 5
Psychic Sense: Lv 4
Resistance Skills:
Physical Resistance: Lv 5
Magic Resistance: Lv 2
Falling Resistance: Lv 4
Poison Resistance: Lv 6
Paralysis Resistance: Lv 2
Confusion Resistance: Lv 2
Sleep Resistance: Lv 3
Normal Skills:
Double Poison: Lv 5
Burrow: Lv 6
Sand Breath: Lv 4
Clay Wall: Lv 3
Paralyzing Bite: Lv 2
Acid Drool: Lv 4
Heat Beam: Lv 3
Title Skills:
Hundred-Legged King: Lv —
Desert Master: Lv 6
Unyielding: Lv 4
Tenacious: Lv 6
Chaser: Lv 5
Final Evolution: Lv —
Ugh. As expected, pretty gnarly. A level 62 B-rank monster absolutely freaked me out. With an attack level of 324, one direct hit would be enough to kill me. And I thought I was sitting pretty at 200 a little while ago!
Also, what the heck is Heat Beam? Is that a ranged attack?
Part 2
THE CARRIAGE WAS AT ITS LIMIT, the horses panting. They couldn’t maintain their speed for much longer, and the carriage wheels were beginning to protest, despite the fact that it was clearly built for sturdiness over aesthetics. The wheels were oversized and unsightly. I didn’t know what it was meant to transport, but it was well built. Still, if it kept going at this speed, craftsmanship wouldn’t matter. It was going to break down.
I drew closer to the giant centipede’s tail, slowing down Roll and reaching out my claws. I pounced. I know it has Paralysis Resistance, but please let this work, even a tiny bit.
I rode the speed of my revolutions and hit it with Paralyzing Venom Claws as hard as I could. My claw bounced off its sand-colored body, snapping at the root. Argh!
Its body was impenetrably hard. In addition to its defense, it had that Special Skill, Bug King’s Chitin. I’d need to break through to deal any damage.
I forced my quickly tiring body back into a spin and sank my fangs into the exact same spot I attacked with my claws. Did I break the skin? Yes, slightly. The surface of its carapace caved a little beneath my fangs.
Why is this thing so tough? I feel like my teeth are gonna break off!
But it was way too late to give up. I chomped with my lower jaw, biting hard and just managing to cling on. The damn thing was dragging me behind it on my stomach.
A dragon might have thick scales on its back, but its belly was sparsely protected. This sort of abuse hurt. Well, it didn’t hurt, so much as it felt…hot. Like I might burst into flames from the friction. I couldn’t attack again from this position, but if I let go, the centipede’s momentum would throw me backward. And that carriage couldn’t hold out much longer.
“Ngggguuu!”
I growled around my mouthful. The centipede ignored me and kept running. It had to be five times my weight, so how was it so much faster than I was? This was just unfair! How did it get so huge? Maybe it bulked up from eating carriages all the time. It looked large enough to swallow an entire tree.
Luckily, it seemed to be slowing it down, even if only slightly. The drag of my weight let the carriage gradually pull ahead. But I wasn’t going to hold out much longer—my stomach couldn’t take this. When the horses’ exhaustion made the carriage lose speed, the centipede would catch up immediately.
What could I do? This position left me helpless, but if I let go, the centipede would catch the carriage right away. I was stuck in horrible, suspended animation.
“Gggtchhhh!” The giant centipede let out a hideous noise. It freaked out the horses—they recovered quickly, but it was close.
A red light began to coalesce around the centipede’s head. It had to be that long-ranged attack skill, Heat Beam. I had a feeling this wasn’t a supplementary attack; this was its one-shot finishing move. If it hit the carriage, it was all over.
All I’d managed to do was force it to change tactics. Why couldn’t it just focus on me instead? If I couldn’t budge it with a full speed Roll, this was a dead end.
But maybe I didn’t need to find a way to stop it. I just had to make sure the Heat Beam missed.
Luckily, the giant centipede’s focus on its attack meant it dropped its speed even further. That gave me the chance to prepare.
I managed to get my feet underneath me, digging my claws into the sand. Now stop, damn you! A huge cloud of dust flew up into the air as I skidded forward. It slowed further but didn’t stop. And it was still focusing Heat Beam. It could let it loose at any second. I didn’t have time to stop it; I had to knock it off its trajectory.
How’s this?!
I spread my wings and kicked off the ground, lifting the centipede’s lower body with me into the air. I flapped behind it like a kite, dragged through the air as it continued its dash. I couldn’t get all of it up off the ground.
A red beam of light shot from its head, seeming to waver with the heat. It was trying to reposition its head after I knocked it askew, the beam swerving wildly back and forth, burning through the sand. It moved erratically from right behind the carriage, to one side, to the other. The heat of it sizzled off the sand, leaving behind black trails of ash.
It was only a matter of time before it hit the carriage. I had to act now. I flailed through the air, forcing the beam to swerve. It just narrowly caught the carriage roof, which burst into flames. That…wasn’t good. But maybe the fire was small enough—and the carriage moving fast enough—that it’d go out on its own?
The Heat Beam hit a cactus in the complete opposite direction, then stopped. Good, I managed to throw it off course. But damn, that thing was super powerful. A direct hit would even take me out. I took a moment to catch my breath, but the centipede began to pick up speed again. It no longer had to split its concentration and could focus on the chase.
I threw my weight against its lower half, letting it pull me back to the ground. I flapped my wings and flew backward, testing resistance. It didn’t budge, and a stunningly intense pain burst in the roots of my fangs, the impact snapping them off. The tough shell and the giant centipede’s strength meant my claws suffered the same fate.
I lost my grip then, obviously, and it shook me off. I hit the sand hard and began to roll. Free of my weight, the giant centipede picked up speed again, still intent on the carriage. Its sudden freedom must have felt good because it was going even faster than before. I tried to force myself up, but I could barely move, much less jump immediately back into the fray.
As the centipede accelerated, the carriage slowed, the horses reaching their limit. Everything would be over before I even had the chance to catch back up to them. The outcome seemed inevitable.
I threw those thoughts aside, ignored my pain, and stood up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of my teeth still attached to a hunk of flesh. No time to think of that now. I had to catch that centipede.
Part 3
I WENT AS FAST as I could, streaking after the monster like a bat out of hell. Its speed stats were higher than mine, and I had to use Roll to catch up to it. It was hard to handle on complex terrain, but the featureless desert landscape put me at an advantage.
Despite that, I wasn’t going to make it. The centipede was going to destroy the carriage.
Run, just run!
What good would strategizing do at this point? Rolling was my only choice. The centipede was still gaining, and just when I thought it was all over, the flames on top of the carriage burned off the curtains hanging in the interior, sending them flapping into the air.
The scorched cloth landed right on the giant centipede’s head. Miraculous timing! I figured that would buy the carriage a little time, but they barely got a second. The cloth immediately blew off, not slowing the centipede down a bit.
Inside the exposed carriage, people were packed in tight. All kinds of people, from an old man to a little girl probably not even ten years old. They all had animal ears, which reminded me of that dog girl I’d seen with the swordswoman in my cave.
Apart from the ears, they looked like totally normal demi-humans. That part wasn’t troubling, but the state they were in was. They all wore tattered clothes and had their hands tied in front of them. Behind the demi-humans was a big, round man. He had a strip of white cloth wrapped around his head and wore fine clothes and golden jewelry. He clearly stood out among them.
The fat guy screamed something and kicked one of the demi-humans out of the carriage. At first, I couldn’t internalize what I was seeing. The demi-human landed hard on the ground, their body spasming. The giant centipede sped up, opened its mouth wide, and gulped them down.
When the other demi-humans tried to resist, the man hit them. Next, he threw a small child out to the centipede. Then another demi-human, and another. By the time he’d tossed out the eighth person, the centipede had stopped, concentrating on eating the fallen. The carriage used that opportunity to pull further ahead.
The fat man wiped sweat from his forehead and gave a satisfied grin, then made his way to the front of the carriage.
Intellectually, I knew that if he hadn’t done that, the centipede would’ve caught up with the carriage and eaten every single person inside it. But I still found this impossibly cruel. How could that man sacrifice people like that—and then smile? Absolutely disgusting.
By the time I caught up to the centipede, about half the abandoned demi-humans were dead. They were gaunt, half-starved, too weak to put up any sort of fight. The fall killed some, I was pretty sure. That was probably better than being eaten alive.
“Ah…”
The voice belonged to a person who was already half-eaten. In just a few moments, the monster gobbled up the rest of it.
“Gggtchhhh!” Its cry was creepy, almost like laughter. I spread my wings and zoomed up into the air, anger driving my body to move before I even realized what I was doing.
From up high, I set my sights on the centipede’s head, then dropped into a nosedive. A normal attack wouldn’t be enough, but I was hoping that gravity would help. The kickback would be severe, but that didn’t stop me. If this didn’t work, nothing would.
The centipede swung its giant body around, swiping its tail at me and connecting violently. The impact passed through my scales, vibrating down to my bones. It hit me so hard it was honestly impressive. I smacked the ground headfirst.
Everything was hazy, my body heavy. I brushed the sand off myself with trembling arms. The centipede was still basically unscathed. We were the same rank, but I clearly stood no chance against a monster with forty levels on me. I couldn’t beat it. I’d gotten in its way so many times, but it just ignored me. It saw me as simple prey, not an enemy. I was nowhere near the top of its priority list.
I felt something warm and sticky on my side. It was blood, but not my blood.
I glanced behind me at the lower half of a human body with its intestines spilling out.
“Raaaaaaaar!” I let out a blast of Scorching Breath, hoping to at least obscure the monster’s vision while I flew through the flames to the side of the demi-human who looked least injured. I picked them up with my mouth, sand and all, careful of my fangs.
“Gggtchhhh!” The centipede made a furious noise, enraged at me for stealing away its lunch. It swung its giant body around again, attempting to thwap me with its tail. I should have been prepared for this move—it had used it before—but it was just too fast. The last hit wiped out almost half my HP. One more like that and I’d lose consciousness. But I couldn’t dodge.
I knocked my tail against its body, trying to use the recoil to fly backward. But the centipede just kept coming. I wrapped my wings around my body, hoping to lessen the impact.
The hit knocked me into the air, but I did manage to minimize the damage. I used the momentum to escape into the sky. I flapped my wings, pushing higher and higher.
As I flew, I cast a regretful eye backward.
“Gggtchhhh, gtchh!” A red light was gathering in the centipede’s mouth. Another Heat Beam.
Beside the monster was a dead demi-human, killed by the flames I released. It was the last one kicked from the carriage. Helplessness consumed me at the sight of the body, but I didn’t have time to wallow. I checked the centipede’s stats; I’d barely done any damage to it at all. Its MP was partially drained, though. It could only use Heat Beam about three times a day. That must have been why it didn’t use it on the carriage immediately. But even if I dodged this one, it still had one more use.
I kept the centipede in my sights and flew higher. When it let the beam loose, red light aimed straight at me, I dove headfirst through the air. Despite my speed, I still felt the heat as the beam grazed me. This attack had impossible range.
A message popped up in my head.
Title Skill “King of Evasion” Lv 1 has become Lv 2.
Luckily, the giant centipede gave up after that. I didn’t have the stamina to fly for much longer, and since I’d already taken a nosedive to evade the Heat Beam, I landed as fast as I could. If the monster had chased me, it could have hit me without any problem. But it apparently decided to protect the rest of its meal rather than chase after the thief.
Title Skill “Protective Spirit” Lv 5 has become Lv 6.
Requirements for White Mage types have been greatly reduced.
I took another look behind me. The giant centipede’s head was swaying back and forth. I didn’t even wanna know what it was doing. I curled up my body and used Roll to return to the ballrabbit.
Part 4
I STILL CARRIED the rescued demi-human in my mouth as I used Roll. I remembered the general area where I’d left the rabbit. There was a cactus about twice its size to use as a landmark.
If it had moved, I might not be able to locate it at all. Or another monster might have found it and eaten it for breakfast while I was gone.
The demi-human I carried hadn’t taken a direct hit from the giant centipede, but they still bore injuries from the fall from the carriage. Someone else might have cushioned their fall, because they were still mostly whole. They’d lost a lot of HP, though. Probably didn’t have a whole lot to begin with.
I checked their stats. They had “Unconscious, Bleeding,” and their HP was constantly draining away.
Nina Nefah
Species: Felis-human
Status: Unconscious, Bleeding
Lv: 7/60
HP: 8/25
MP: 22/22
Attack: 21
Defense: 18
Magic: 17
Agility: 25
Special Skills:
Psychic Sense: Lv 1
Kinetic Vision: Lv 2
Grecian Language: Lv 3
Resistance Skills:
Hunger Resistance: Lv 3
Poison Resistance: Lv 1
Physical Resistance: Lv 2
Normal Skills:
Bite: Lv 1
Scratch: Lv 1
Mimic Call: Lv 2
Bind: Lv 1
Title Skills:
Demi-human: Lv —
Hunter: Lv 2
Acrobat: Lv 2
Slave: Lv —
Her name was Nina, and she was a Felis-human. She looked similar to the demi-human I’d seen with the swordswoman but a different species. The girl with the hammer had been a Canis-human. She had ears that looked more like a dog’s, and Nina’s ears looked like a cat’s.
And according to her Title Skills…she was a slave. Her tattered clothes made me suspect she’d had a rough life, but seeing it in writing was still a shock. Were all the demi-humans stuffed into that carriage slaves?
I spotted a familiar hill and canceled Roll. The remnants of the cactus sat a short distance away. Yep, this was where I’d left the ballrabbit.
I was hoping it would still be asleep, but of course nothing could ever go smoothly for me. I spotted the empty hole. There were no tracks. Maybe a sandstorm erased them? This wasn’t good. How could I track it? I prayed it was somewhere nearby and activated Psychic Sense to search the area around me. I got a ping for a small animal near the remnants of the cactus.
I was glad to find it nearby, but what the heck was it doing over there? I searched for its presence as I rummaged through the discarded cactuses. I found the ballrabbit, covered in spine scratches, enthusiastically gorging itself on the cactus flesh.
Oh, for the love of God.
Its ears pricked up as I approached.
“Pfeff? Pfeff!” It spit out the skin of the cactus it had been nibbling on and rushed right over to me, whapping me with its ears. I guess it thought I’d left it behind.
I backed a safe distance from the cactuses and spit out the demi-human, along with a bunch of sand. I coughed, expelling more of it from my throat.
“Pfeff?” The ballrabbit looked at Nina and then back at me again. It crept toward over and began to lick her all over. I poked it lightly with my finger. “Pfeff!”
Don’t tell me you’re gonna eat a human? No reason why it wouldn’t, I figured. It already ate a panther and a camel. Please don’t eat a human. I won’t ever let you back onto my head if you eat a human.
I tried to explain the situation to the rabbit with gestures. I pointed to Nina’s injuries, then waved my hands back and forth with a frown on my face. I knew the rabbit learned Rest from the experience points it got from the camel. It could use it to stop the bleeding, and she would survive.
The ballrabbit stared at Nina for a while, then lifted up a piece of cactus skin with its ears and began drawing something in the sand. When it was done, it tossed the cactus away and let its ears droop back down.
Ballrabbit! I had no idea you could do that.
It was kind of crude, but I figured out what the drawing was right away. It was meat. I nodded to show I understood.
Yeah, yeah, you want me to get you more meat. I’ll salt some up and roast it for you, okay?
Satisfied, the rabbit pranced over to Nina and made a “Pfeff!” noise. A tiny ball of light drifted from its head, entering Nina’s body.
I watched as her wounds closed and the color returned to her skin. Her status no longer said bleeding. She wasn’t back up to full HP, but she was close.
I breathed in a sigh of relief as Unconscious changed to Unconscious (Slight). My relief transmuted into panic. What would I do when she woke up? She’d scream and run when she saw me, and a human alone in this desert wouldn’t last long. Should I take her to that walled city before she woke up? No, I didn’t have time.
Besides, I wasn’t sure that city was a good place for her to go. The carriage was headed in that direction. Nina’s master was that fatass jerk who kicked the slaves out into the desert for centipede chow. She wouldn’t have a good life there, that’s for sure.
Part 5
“UGHH…NYAAH!” Nina groaned softly. Her body tensed. She curled up on the sand in a little ball, as if to protect herself.
She wasn’t awake yet, but it was only a matter of time. Crap! What should I do? What should I do?! I had no ideas. She was absolutely going to pass out from fright if she saw me. Should I hide? Leave the ballrabbit to take care of her? Still, at some point we’d have to do something with her, and she’d see me then.
No, I couldn’t just hide. That would only leave her vulnerable to other monsters. I just had to make it clear I wasn’t an enemy. Maybe I should act like a total clown, a silly dragon who would never attack a human. How, though? Have the ballrabbit dig a hole and bury my head in it? Was that zany enough?
“Mm, ahh…nyaah…” Nina mumbled, brushing her hair out of her face. Yep. She was waking up.
Come on, come on, I have to do something! Oh, that’s right! I had Human Transformation! And thanks to my evolution, it was up to level 3! Human Transformation had tortured me for so long; about time it actually helped me out.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Human Transformation always sucked. The pressure on my body was impossibly intense, and it burned off 1 MP per second. And looking at my stats…
Illusia
Species: Plague Dragon
Status: Normal
Lv: 22/75
HP: 260/260
MP: 199/199
I only had 199 seconds. Three minutes and nineteen seconds. Wow, that was barely any time.
No, I could do it. You could make instant ramen in 90 seconds, after all. 199 seconds was plenty of time to convince her I was harmless and ask her about herself.
Her eyes were opening. No more time for worrying.
I activated the skill and instantly felt an intense heat spread through my body, like I was being burned from the inside out. The first time it scared the heck out of me, but this time, although it hurt, I wasn’t frightened.
My body grew smaller, shrinking from five meters to a little less than two. I opened my eyes and looked down at my arms. They were strong, covered in black scales with sharp claws blooming from my fingertips. Okay, cool that I’m still powerful, but now I’m just a human-shaped monster. And I bet my face is super ugly.
Not being able to see myself made me extremely anxious. Although, if I did turn into a human completely, I realized I wouldn’t have any clothes. That would be a horrible sight in and of itself. Still, I’d rather look like a naked weirdo than whatever kind of demon I looked like now.
“Pfeff?!” The ballrabbit made a noise of alarm, its ears pricking up. It seemed afraid of me and scampered away. Knock it off, don’t look at me like that! It’s gonna make me lose confidence! Then how can I win Nina’s trust?
Chances were good I was even freakier now than I was as a dragon. I was human shaped, but my mouth was huge, complete with sharp fangs.
I couldn’t chicken out. This was only for three minutes, and I had to make the most of it. I glanced over at Nina, where she was still lying on the sand. Hm? Why are her eyes still closed?
I wondered if she’d lost consciousness again. She was pretty weak; perhaps she’d just fallen asleep.
Hey, come on! Wake up! I didn’t want to have use Human Transformation again; I couldn’t risk having low MP. What if I really needed it?
I felt bad, but I had to wake her up. I put an arm around her shoulder, helping her to sit up, careful not to stab her with my claws. I shook her gently.
Hey, could I speak now? I let out a little breath and tried pronouncing some words, trying to wrangle my tongue.
“Gaa, aah, gaa… Aa, ii, va, iiii, vooh, vooh, ooh!”
I can do this. I didn’t sound perfectly human, but my vocal cords were much closer than a dragon’s. I could have a conversation, just barely.
But what should I say? Where to start? Should I just act like I was in an RPG and be like “Raar! I am a not a bad dragon!” or something?
“Puh. Puh, puh. Ree, ree. Zoo…eway…cup…”
Even just saying, “Please wake up,” with this anatomy was difficult. Maybe when I leveled up Human Transformation more, I’d be able to speak better. Or perhaps I just needed practice.
“U-ugh…nyaah…” Nina’s eyes popped open, and all the blood drained out of her face. “A-aah…!” She was so frightened she could barely speak. Her round eyes were wide, her mouth opened and closing helplessly.
Yeah, I was pretty much still a dragon. But I couldn’t give up!
“P-please don’t eat me! I’m not tasty!”
Yep. Definitely a dragon.
Nina flailed weakly, trying to escape my grip. I let go of her and took a step backward. How many seconds did I have left?
Illusia
Species: Plague Dragon
Status: Human Form Lv 3
Lv: 22/75
HP: 130/260
MP: 97/199
I’d burned through half of my MP already! I only had 97 seconds left! One minute and thirty-seven seconds. I gave up on asking her about herself. I should just focus on gaining her trust. Ahhh…maybe I should have found her some food first. She was so thin, she was probably starving. Judging by how she was treated by the man in the carriage, I bet she was dehydrated too.
I should’ve at least prepared a cactus for her to eat. We just had the pathetic bits the ballrabbit had already nibbled through. I bet the rabbit’s meat was tender and delicious, but there was no way I was gonna cook it up…though it probably tasted incredible…
This was not the time to dwell on eating my friends. Regardless, I needed to convince her that I was not an enemy. I could get her some food after my Human Transformation wore off; I only had a minute left to show her I was trustworthy. If I turned back into a dragon before I could make her understand, this would all be a waste of time. Should I dance? Try to make her laugh? That would make the minute go too quickly. And she’d probably think I was doing a spell or something.
“Waay…”
“Nyaah!”
I spoke in my hoarse voice, and she trembled. Agh, this is no use! I just can’t talk properly. My nerves and helplessness were rising. I poked my throat. Come on and work, vocal cords! Please, you’re my only hope right now!
I was running out of time. Turns out three minutes isn’t that long at all. You can’t do anything in three minutes! I was about to turn back into a dragon. She might not be more afraid of my dragon form, but my speaking ability would be even worse. Okay, I had to say something.
I could tell her I saved her, but with this demonic appearance she wouldn’t believe me. I didn’t look like the kind of monster who rescued people—more like the kind that devoured them while laughing.
Maybe I should explain my appearance? Tell her that deep down inside, I was a human? A human trapped in a dragon’s body? That sounded like nonsense. She’d probably still run away if I said that.
My MP was burning away as I sat there thinking. No time. I just had to tell the truth.
“I…I…w-was turned…into a…m-monster. I. Used to be…human.”
I said it! Regardless of whether she would believe me, it wasn’t a lie. I did used to be human, just not in this particular world. But no time to sweat the details.
Hesitantly, Nina looked into my eyes. She blinked. “U-um…you used to be…a human?”
“Y-yes.”
It worked, it’s working! I’m so close. She was going to trust me, I just knew it!
“Danger…here. I take you…safe place. Where you want…” I made it that far before I felt my body start to grow, my heartbeat getting louder and louder. An intense fatigue spread through me. Ugh, at least let me finish my sentence!
St-status! Status check!
Illusia
Species: Plague Dragon
Status: Human Form Lv 3
Lv: 22/75
HP: 130/260
MP: 4/199
Wow, I’d almost hit my time limit! Please just wait ten more seconds! Let her tell me where she wants to go! I concentrated on flooding my veins with more MP.
Come on, Automatic MP Recover! If I had that, I’d be able to stay human for longer…
Normal Skill “Human Transformation” Lv 3 has become Lv 4.
No, not that! Leveling that skill does nothing for me right now! Though it is pretty cool! Thanks!
Hopefully at level 4 I’d finally start looking more normal. But that didn’t help me right now—it didn’t stop me from growing larger. My MP kept ticking away, sluggishness filling me, my consciousness going hazy, like I was spacing out. I could feel my skin getting tougher and my claws and fangs growing longer. In just a few moments I’d be back to my regular form.
“Nyaah?!” Nina’s eyes widened as she watched me transform into a dragon. She backed away, collapsing weakly onto the ground. Hey, you don’t have to be that scared! But this wasn’t unsalvageable, right? I already told her that I got turned into a monster! Though I did forget to mention that monster was a huge dragon.
I pressed my stomach to the ground and lowered my head, trying to convey that I wasn’t a threat. The ballrabbit had been watching our whole exchange, and as soon as I got low enough, it came happily over to climb on top of my head. It let out a relieved “Pfeff!” It wasn’t afraid of me anymore.
Without Human Transformation, I had to explain my situation with only gestures. The desert was too dangerous for Nina to be wandering alone. With her stats, she couldn’t even defeat a panther.
“R-raar.” Nina didn’t respond. Puzzled, I leaned forward.
Did she pass out in fear? I guess watching someone turn into a dragon was pretty shocking. I felt so overwhelmed with fatigue that I was close to unconsciousness myself with my MP so low. I had to be more careful with this skill going forward.
With the ballrabbit’s fluffy body on my head, I slowly fell asleep.