Chapter 5: Master of the Oasis

Chapter 5:
Master of the Oasis

 

Part 1

 

A MYSTERIOUS LITTLE LAKE right in the middle of the desert, big enough for two dragons to bathe in. Not that I would—I didn’t want my Dragon Scale Powder to contaminate it.

Can’t let my filthy body dirty that perfect, beautiful water. You know. Since I’m so unclean.

Vibrantly colored plants and flowers grew around the edges of the water, and just looking at them made me feel more cheerful. A true oasis. A spring must feed it from underground. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if the source was some magical water crystal embedded deep in the lake, or something. I knew next to nothing about how this world worked.

As I grew closer, my Psychic Sense went off. Someone had arrived ahead of us; I hoped it wasn’t anyone dangerous. Something appeared to be sitting in the center of the field of flowers. What the heck was that? I hadn’t noticed it at first, since it was the exact color of a mossy rock. Was it a giant slug? Its body looked all slimy, a green so dark it was almost black. Whatever it was, it was creepy. It didn’t look like it belonged in a tranquil oasis.

It was chomping its way through the flowers, eating stems and weeds and roots. Did it just get a mouthful of dirt? Even my little ballrabbit here wouldn’t stoop that low.

Nothing pinged on my Psychic Sense besides the nasty slug, so if there was anything else here it was so small and weak I didn’t have to worry about it. A giant slug didn’t rouse my appetite, but I had to get rid of it anyway if I wanted to make this place my base.

I was still too far away to use View Status, so I couldn’t gauge its strength, but it was just as large as the giant cactus. If it had the power to match, fighting would be difficult with Nina and Ballrabbit in tow. I should deal with it alone.

I crouched down and let them off my back. I need you to be Nina’s bodyguard for a little while, Ballrabbit.

The giant slug must have heard me, because its two feelers were suddenly twitching in my direction. I took my place between the flowers and the desert, facing the monster. Now I was close enough for that status check.

 

Species: Amagarashi

Status: Normal

Lv: 26/50

HP: 207/207

MP: 94/94

Attack: 190

Defense: 188

Magic: 138

Agility: 163

Rank: C

Special Skills:

Mollusk: Lv —

Slimy Body: Lv —

Water Absorption: Lv 3

Automatic MP Recovery: Lv 5

Resistance Skills:

Paralysis Resistance: Lv 2

Poison Resistance: Lv 4

Magic Resistance: Lv 4

Confusion Resistance: Lv 5

Normal Skills:

Mirage: Lv 5

Rain Dance: Lv 3

Burrow: Lv 3

Water Gun: Lv 5

Lay Egg: Lv 4

Bloodsuck: Lv 2

Sandstorm: Lv 2

Elasticity: Lv 3

Regenerate: Lv 3

Title Skills:

Master of the Oasis: Lv —

Conjuror: Lv 3

 

Huh?! This thing is a rank C monster? It was way faster than it looked and had frickin’ Mirage all the way up to level 5. Its stats were on par with the Little Rock Dragon, but I’d defeated one of those, not to mention leveled up since then. I could drop this slug in a couple hits.

Once I beat this thing, the oasis was mine. I had to do it for Ballrabbit and Nina. I’d made the right decision leaving them behind—Ballrabbit wasn’t ready for a monster of this caliber.

Time to focus. My Psychic Sense was on high alert. The worst-case scenario would be falling for Mirage and dragging out the battle too long. Our stats were lopsided, but this would likely come down to a battle of speed.

I stepped into the flowers, moving closer to the giant slug. The front of its body rose, trying to intimidate me.

“Shaaaaa!”

It split into two. Buddy, I know you don’t have a duplication skill. The slug on the right was fake, and the one on the left was a little off from its true position. A trick.

Psychic Sense was working—I wasn’t gonna fall for it. Tough luck, giant slug. I moved my attention from the illusion and focused on the place my Psychic Sense was telling me to look. My vision wavered, and the giant slug on the right disappeared.

Gained Resistance Skill “Illusion Resistance” Lv 1.

Hell yeah, a new Resistance Skill!

I’m gonna punch its lights out and get rid of it in one blow. I focused my energy into my legs and kicked off the ground, staying low in the sky. I whapped the giant slug across the head with my claws. I put all my momentum into the blow, tearing through skin. I dug deep, scooping out its flesh.

“Gssshaaa!” Bodily fluids splattered as the slug screamed. I kept going, flying past, pieces of its flesh stuck in my claws. I shook my hands vigorously, sending bits of slug flying. I spun and landed, turning back to the monster. Blood oozed from its side.

Damn, I missed. I thought I got a direct hit on him, but Mirage knocked me off target. Even though I could sense where it was, I couldn’t help using my eyes to aim.

Should I close my eyes and fight? No, that would cause more problems than it solved. The slug had high Defense but not a ton of HP—one good hit should take it out. Its wound was already starting to repair itself. That was Regenerate. Its Automatic MP Recovery skill was high as well. If I let it, this fight would never end.

It pointed its feelers straight at me. Honestly, I would have been fine never seeing a giant slug in my life. Or a small one either.

Now that it knew my attack power was high, it was being a little more careful. It didn’t have any super dangerous skills, but it was fast. I had to stay vigilant and use Psychic Sense to see through Mirage.

I wasn’t sure whether my Breath skills could break through its defense, but at the very least it could keep it busy. The fight with the camel had depleted my MP, though. A distraction might not be viable.

I had to defeat it with my next hit. I took flight just as the slug began shooting liquid from its mouth, sticky and translucent. It didn’t hit me but rather wrapped all around the slug itself. Wh-what the heck was it doing?!

In no time at all, the giant slug was surrounded by the sticky liquid. If it was an attack, shouldn’t it have directed it at me? Maybe it was a trap. I flew right at it before; it could be trying to catch me and attack once I was stuck. I could probably break free using Scorching Breath, frying it all in an instant.

I stuck with my original plan and dove in, just as it pointed itself at the ground and began to dig. Ah, that’s right. I forgot it had Burrow. It’s fine if you’re gonna run away, but I doubt a slimy thing like you can survive in this desert.

The likelihood of surrender was low. It was just trying to give itself some space. I could just use my Breath attack and make that burrow its grave. I drew nearer to the hole but saw no sign of the monster. Psychic Sense began to go crazy. And it didn’t just ping once or twice. It kept going. That had never happened to me before.

Special Skill “Psychic Sense” Lv 2 has become Lv 3.

I was suddenly able to feel things with a lot more detail. I focused on the sticky liquid. My vision wavered and revealed a bunch of round objects scattered inside. They looked like little spheres, about the size of a softball. Like Ballrabbit when I first met it.

It must have used Mirage to camouflage these round things. It knew I was using Psychic Sense, so it had taken great pains.

Still, what were those things? There were at least thirty of them in there, the same dirty green color as the slug. Hmm…I feel like I’ve seen something like this before.

Oh! They look like frog eggs!

I wasted no time shooting out Scorching Breath, burning up the sticky substance with the slug eggs inside.

Gained 12 Experience Points.

Title Skill “Walking Egg” Lv — activated: gained 12 Experience Points.

Wow, such a small amount of experience points meant our ranks were vastly different. When I was born, I was rank F. But they weren’t born yet. They were eggs.

Upon looking closer, I realized I’d only burned about a third of the eggs. The ones outside of Scorching Breath’s range started trembling. The shells broke and out popped one baby slug after the other.

 

Species: Baby Amagarashi

Status: Normal

Lv: 1/25

HP: 12/12

MP: 8/8

 

They were rank D-. At such a low rank, one rake of my claws would end them. But there were so many…

“Jhh…”

“Jhaa…”

“Jaa…”

“Jshh…”

“Jii, jii…”

“Jiii!”

The herd of baby slugs groaned, crawling toward me. They were fast. Really fast. They didn’t hesitate for a second. The grass and flowers made them hard to see, but Psychic Sense told me their locations. Perhaps it was a blessing I couldn’t see them well. I might have turned tail and run.

Salt. Salt. Somebody bring me some salt! I need something to shrivel them all up at once! I swung my tail, connecting with a couple that got too close. They splattered on the ground, sticking to my tail. Uggh, this is disgusting.

Apparently each one of these baby slugs was worth 1 experience point. An efficient but gross way to level.

The next baby slug must have known I was going to crush its friend, because it darted out of range of my tail and spat a muddy liquid. Ow! It probably didn’t do much damage, but it stung. Knock it off! I don’t need to be any dirtier, thank you very much!

I wanted to get rid of all of them with my Breath, but I’d already used it on full blast. I didn’t have much MP left. There were so many eggs.

I could use Roll to crush them, but they barely had any Attack or Defense. Using a skill would be a waste. And I didn’t want those things sticking to my back.

They were fast for slugs, but very slow compared to me. I backed up a little, mindful of the weird liquid, going to town with my tail and claws.

Ahh! Slug skin is getting caught in between my claws! This is gross! This is so freaking gross! I can’t take it! I wanna run away! I glanced behind me. Nina watched me anxiously as she held Ballrabbit tight in her arms. The rabbit wore its usual expression, swinging its ears around in a baseless holler of encouragement.

Is Ballrabbit…drooling? Wait, does it wanna eat the slugs? I guess they were technically mollusks, but I definitely didn’t want to try them. Come on, switch out with me. I’ll protect Nina, you scarf down all the babies!

All joking aside, I turned my sights back on the little slugs. Our stats were so unbalanced that this was just a slaughter. I made my way through them amidst a stream of the green liquid.

Plague Dragon Lv 29 has become Lv 30.

Recently, leveling didn’t make me happy at all. I was in such an emotionless state over it that I had to be reaching enlightenment.

Finally, I crushed the last baby slug with my tail. Walking over to the giant slug’s hole, I looked down. Damn you and your sneaky tactics! Come on out! Let’s finish this!

“Jshhhh!”

“Jssshh!”

“Jsssh!”

Several separate voices came from inside the hole. I backed away just in time to avoid a stream of babies pouring out.

You’ve gotta be kidding me. More Baby Slug leveling?!

This was useless… There was no end to them! I’d just have to ignore the small fry and blow Scorching Breath directly into the burrow.

The babies didn’t do much damage, so I wouldn’t have to worry about that. The only problem was that I didn’t know how deep the giant slug had gone.

I hoped the flames would reach it; it would be incredibly annoying if I had to go in after it. The sand was too thick for Psychic Sense to pick anything up. Should I pour ocean water down there? Salt it out?

So many babies—that thing sure was fertile. But why was there only one adult? If they pumped out eggs at this rate, shouldn’t the whole desert be filled with giant slugs? Maybe they curbed their own numbers to prevent food shortages.

I approached the burrow again, sweeping away the babies with my tail as I went. My Psychic Sense pinged directly beneath me. It was trying to use the little ones to throw me off its trail. No luck, buddy. Not only do I have Psychic Sense, but I’m ready for you!

I flapped my wings, taking myself high before spinning quickly and heading back down. And just as I expected, the giant slug popped its head out from its burrow. Target acquired!

I know you were trying to catch me off guard. Sorry your brilliant plan didn’t work! This time I sliced directly through its neck, using the momentum from my nosedive to decapitate it. It sailed through the air, splitting off into four parts. Its body cracked open, flesh sloughing off.

Huh? This isn’t ordinary flesh…

It was all baby slugs!

Damn it! I fell for it! That wasn’t the giant slug at all! It used Mirage to make a fake giant slug out of a bunch of baby slugs! It was so big it even fooled Psychic Sense. The real giant slug was still burrowed deep in the earth.

The baby slugs crawled all over my body.

Eww! They’re so slimy! Stop, please just stop! I’m sorry, please stop! You aren’t causing physical damage, but I’m going to need years of therapy!

W-wait, are they trying to suck my blood? C’mon, scales! Do your job! Bloodsucking slugs are hell on earth!

I smashed them with my claws, but there was just no end to it. Should I just use Roll and fling them all off?

No, not yet. This sucked, but it was just annoying. I wasn’t in real danger. The giant slug must know these babies were only buying it time. The question was—buying time to escape or time to plan an attack?

I just had to stand my ground and lure the damn thing out. No matter how slimy or bloodsucking these things were, I could put up with it.

I crouched down a little, gasping, feigning weakness. Yeah, get a good taste, slugs. It’s not every day that a slug gets to suck a dragon’s blood. Psychic Sense pinged below my tail. This time it really was the giant slug.

Come at me. I’ll kill you the moment I see you!

“Shhhhaaaaa!”

I heard the giant slug’s cry and felt something sucking on my tail. Now’s my chance! I scooped the giant slug into the air, using my tail to toss it into the sky. I curled up my arms and legs and activated Roll, tackling it.

“Shaaaaaaaaa!!”

As I hit the giant slug, the baby slugs sticking to me scattered.

That didn’t kill it? Whatever, I can’t stop now.

I closed my eyes, relying only on Psychic Sense and tackling it with Roll again and again. I had to catch it and land a direct hit before it struck the ground, or it would just burrow back into the sand.

My third attempt at a tackle finally connected.

Gained 416 Experience Points.

Title Skill “Walking Egg” Lv — activated: gained 416 Experience Points.

C-rank monsters give so much experience!

Plague Dragon Lv 30 has become Lv 36.

Whoa, I went up a lot! Still, I’d love to never fight another slug again.

My max level was 75; I was finally at the halfway point. I just had to keep going. Oh, and get the ballrabbit to teach me some recovery magic.

Special Skill “Psychic Sense” Lv 3 has become Lv 4.

Hey, it went up again! I guess I relied on it a ton in this battle. It was crucial for both attack and retreating.

Hmm…there are a ton of baby slugs left. Maybe I’ll have the ballrabbit help me clean these guys up. We could get through them fast together, but I don’t want to leave Nina on her own.

I looked back toward the oasis. It began to warp and waver right before my eyes.

Huh? What’s happening?

The colorful flowers faded, the clear water turned muddy, the lake grew shallow. In no time at all, a desert paradise became nothing but a murky pool, surrounded by plain, dirty weeds. A fitting place for the remaining baby slugs still crawling about.

Wh-what’s going on? This is some kinda scam! Um, excuse me? This isn’t what I signed up for! Give it back! Give me back my oasis! I got soaked in slug slime fighting for this place. Give me back my oasis!

Resistance Skill “Illusion Resistance” Lv 1 has become Lv 2.

You’re too late! Why did you wait until I got tricked to do that?! For real, what just happened? That oasis was just an illusion? That’s so cruel! This is just a muddy puddle!

If I’d known, I never would’ve fought for it in the first place! What the heck did that giant slug have against me to put me through all this?!

Part 2

 

I STOOD IN FRONT of the giant slug’s body to check its detailed information.

Amagarashi: Rank C. Uses its powers to attract rain clouds and create pools of water to use as a nest. Due to this, areas inhabited by many Amagarashi tend to dry up. They often use illusions to make their babies look like other animals and draw in prey.

Uh-huh. I was totally fooled and got lured into the giant slug’s nest. I felt pathetic and sick to my stomach.

Wait, this place wasn’t a desert because there were a ton of giant slugs around, was it? I hadn’t seen any pools of water like this one, and from what I could tell, this had been a desert for a long time. What if eons ago it was a giant slug paradise?

Well, who even cared at this point? I needed to figure something else out.

Nina can’t possibly drink this water. It’s the same color as the slug—she’ll get sick. It probably wouldn’t do anything to me, but I didn’t want to drink it either. That slug really put me through hell. My heart was broken.

As I stood there hanging my head, the herd of baby slugs gathered around me. I whacked them away with my wings. Nina’s face tensed when she saw the place was crawling with them, but Ballrabbit’s eyes began to sparkle.

You really will eat anything, won’t you?

“Pfeff!” As if in response, it jumped out of Nina’s arms and came over to me. The baby slugs were rank D-. Ballrabbit could take care of monsters like that by itself, no problem. Being surrounded might be a danger, but in that case, I’d just step in.

Not only was there no water to wash the slugs off, but the battle had taken so long that our beach trip would have to wait until tomorrow. Whatever. Cover my whole body with slug slime for all I cared.

I backed up to see how much Ballrabbit could do on its own. It didn’t have any MP left, so it wouldn’t be capable of anything too elaborate, but its stats were overwhelmingly higher than the baby slugs. It should be fine. I honestly didn’t want to touch them anymore.

The ballrabbit looked hungry. It could go at it. I watched as it used its ears like whips to knock the slugs on the head, rendering them unconscious. Then it wrapped them up and shoved them right into its mouth. You really wanna eat them alive like that? Hope no parasites get into your brain.

The rabbit crunched away happily like the slugs were a delicacy, but I wasn’t gonna try any.

The baby slugs sucked its blood and shot their weird fluid, but the rabbit made up for lost HP with its Food Regeneration. That skill was pretty effective in situations with multiple enemies.

Looked like the ballrabbit could handle this by itself. Eat as much as you want, kid. Go ahead and eat them all. Clean them up for me!

I never wanted to see another slug again. If some of them got away and grew up and I ran into them, I’d be the one to run away. Not dealing with this again.

A group was slowly surrounding Ballrabbit. The rabbit glanced over at me; maybe there were too many for it to take care of after all. Just as I started over, I remembered the icky feeling on my wings and balked.

Don’t worry, Ballrabbit. You can do it. You know how they talk about birds pushing their babies out of their nests so they can learn how to fly? This is just like that!

The rabbit glared at me, but I directed my gaze toward the sky instead. I desperately tried to think of something else.

Hm, a little cloudy. Maybe because of the giant slug’s “Rain Dance” power? The haze broke up the heat of the desert sun, rendering this spot more comfortable than most.

…Next time I saw this many clouds in the desert, I’d steer clear.

“Pfeff! Pfeff!”

Sorry. Anything but slugs. But if you really think you’re in danger, I’ll help.

About ten minutes later, the huge herd of forty slugs was down to three.

Great job. Now take care of those guys too.

 

Species: Peach Ballrabbit

Status: Normal

Lv: 8/30

HP: 39/51

MP: 2/40

 

Hey, it leveled up! That’s my Ballrabbit. Thanks to Ravenous, it barely took any damage. It did look exhausted, though.

“Jsshhh!”

The fattest slug of the remaining trio let out a strange cry, then attacked one of the other baby slugs. It pinned it down and began to eat. Its victim spasmed and went still. The baby slug ate its friend’s head, then attacked the other one, which seemed too shocked at the sudden betrayal to fight back. It let the first slug eat it alive.

What was with the sudden cannibalism? Did it realize it didn’t have a shot at beating us, so it decided to level up by eating its friends? It swelled larger, then made its way toward Ballrabbit.

“Jsssshhh!”

“P-pfeff?!”

This wasn’t good. The ballrabbit had plenty of HP, but it was too tired to fight a stronger enemy right now. Its reflexes were sluggish; it wasn’t tracking the slug as fast as it usually could.

“Jssshhh!”

The baby slug pounced. The ballrabbit covered its face with its ears.

That’s a bullshit tactic, come on! You can’t just hide! All that’s gonna do is put you at a disadvantage in battle!

I reached out and skewered the baby slug on my claws.

Gained 2 Experience Points.

Title Skill “Walking Egg” Lv — activated: gained 2 Experience Points.

Ugh, I got that sticky slime on my claws again. Ew, and slug guts in between them!

“Pfeff?” Ballrabbit took its ears away from its face and looked up at me.

I shook my arms. The skewered baby slug flew off, landing in the muddy pool of water and sinking in.

Part 3

 

I GAVE UP ON TRAVELING anymore today. The beautiful lake was just a muddy pool with an illusion layered over it, but at least it was slightly cooler here. Though thin, the clouds shielded us from the sun, lessening its intensity.

The ballrabbit was completely exhausted after its battle with the babies, and Nina seemed tired out from the long journey here. I’d tried to be careful, but they got jostled around a lot while riding on my back. I doubted a Plague Dragon was ever meant to transport people in the first place. We could all do with some rest.

Tomorrow I could use the ballrabbit’s Telepathy or my Human Transformation again. Then I could have a proper conversation with Nina.

I gathered up a bunch of long grasses growing around the mud pit to make a place for Nina to sleep. I doubted it would be comfortable, but I was sure it was better than nothing. Nina lay down on the grass mat, and soon afterward, the ballrabbit crawled over and nestled against her. Nina looked startled, but once she realized who it was, she giggled softly and hugged it tight.

Those two sure were close. Maybe the animal ears were a shared kinship. I waited until they both fell asleep, then lay on my belly facing them. I closed my eyes and let myself drift, careful to leave Psychic Sense monitoring the situation around us.

If necessary, I could leap into action. If the trespasser was a giant centipede, I’d run as fast as I could. I relaxed and focused on resting.

Eventually, I felt light on my face and opened my eyes. Morning had come, the sun rising while I slept. I poked myself lightly in the head with the tip of my tail, then shook myself. There. Now I was awake. But with Psychic Sense running the whole time, my night hadn’t been restful. I was a dragon—I’d manage—but I really would like a full night’s sleep for once. I’d love one day a week where all I had to do was chill.

Life had been so much easier in the forest. There weren’t high-ranked monsters around, so there was no chance of me being attacked overnight. I always slept soundly. We had a pleasant lake within walking distance to provide us with water, and, thanks to the graywolves, we never wanted for food either.

What was the point of complaining, though? Once I leveled up high enough to take down a giant centipede, everything would be fine. Searching for food and water would be much easier, and I’d finally be able to get a good night’s sleep. I needed to think positive!

The ballrabbit’s MP should be restored by now; time to experiment with its Telepathy. Hm? Where’d it go? It fell asleep cuddled up to Nina last night, but now she was alone on the grass mat. She was smiling in her sleep and murmuring softly, “Zzz, nyah!” She must be having a good dream.

She was pretty cute when she was asleep. I wondered if she was dreaming about her hometown, before I remembered her predicament. She probably had nothing but bad memories of that place.

“Thank you, nyah…Mr. Dragon…thank you for every…thing… Zzz…”

H-hey, you’re gonna give me a heart attack! Why do you have such a silly, happy look on your face?

She did thank me a lot when she was awake, but always very nervously. I had next to no experience being treated kindly by humans in this life. My defenses against gratitude were extremely low. Ah, wait—I don’t have time to think about this.

Where are you, Ballrabbit? Where’d you disappear to?

Maybe Nina’s sleeping mat was uncomfortable, and it dug a burrow after all? I turned my Psychic Sense up higher and scanned my surroundings. I picked up the ballrabbit making its way toward the mud pit, ears dragging on the ground.

What’s it doing? Don’t tell me it’s going to drink that muddy water? That was gross even for the ballrabbit. I chased after it.

“Pfeff!” The rabbit drew up close to the edge, its ears standing up. It made a soft noise and blue light shot from its body into the muddy pond. Ripples spread along the surface, and suddenly I was looking at clear, fresh water.

H-huh? It decontaminated it?

It was just one tiny section of the pool, but the water in front of the ballrabbit was now transparent and pure. It turned toward me and let out a proud “Pfeff!” Then it started to drink.

Hey, since when could you do that, Ballrabbit? First I’ve heard of it! Oh, hold on. Maybe it’s that new skill it got when it evolved, Clean.

I never would have guessed it was for decontaminating water. It must not have been able to do it yesterday when it was out of MP. What a windfall! This was super lucky.

I should go and wake Nina up. She never complained, but I could tell yesterday that she was thirsty. She’d be thrilled once she saw this place. I rushed back to the grass mat and woke her up with a “Graah!”

“Nnnyaah!” My roar startled her awake, and she sat up in a panic, flailing on her mat.

After hearing her talk in her sleep, I’d figured we were okay, but I guess anyone would get freaked out if a dragon roared directly into their ear. If I were a human, I’d probably pass out.

She must be so tired. Maybe I should have just let her wake up naturally? I was just so excited. Now I felt bad.

“U-um, nyah… Good morning, Mr. Dragon… Wh-why are you crouched down like that?”

“Graah.” I was trying to apologize.

Part 4

 

I TOOK NINA OVER to the ballrabbit. “Nyaah! The water is so clear here!” Her eyes widened when she saw it.

“Pfeff!” Ballrabbit puffed its chest out proudly. Well, it was already so round I couldn’t tell if it was puffing it out or not, but that was the vibe.

After drinking, Nina’s color looked much better. I was thirsty too, so I crouched down beside Nina and stretched my neck out, dipping my mouth into the lake to slurp it up. It was good, almost sweet. I know it’s just normal, but real water is so much better than the stuff you get from cactuses.

My drink was interrupted by something sticking to my teeth. Puzzled, I stopped, but not in time to prevent getting a lump of mud. That’s right—Ballrabbit only purified a small portion of the water. Of course I’d drain it with my big slurping snout. Sure enough, the clean water was gone and only the muddy part remained.

I coughed and spat. Geh! The inside of my mouth feels disgusting! My throat is all itchy and sticky. Oh my God, what if I swallowed a slug corpse? I’m pretty sure I tossed some into the water!

I never wanted to think about a single slug in my life ever again.

After I’d spit out as much as I could, I started to feel better. But now I needed something to cleanse my palate. I didn’t even care if it was seawater at this point, though the salt might be unhealthy. Eh, I’m sure it’s fine. I’m a dragon. Maybe I’d even get Sodium Resistance? Was there a Fat Resistance too? Ahh, now I’m even thirstier.

I glanced over at the ballrabbit. Its ears were reaching toward me. Uh-oh. It was pissed.

“Pfeff, pfeff!”

I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to drink it all! I was just so thirsty I couldn’t stop myself! I’d really appreciate it if you purified some more, though.

“Pfeff!” It whacked me with its ears, as usual.

How much did it plan on leveling up Whip Dance? The whaps were actually starting to hurt. It still didn’t do any damage, but I could feel the impact through my scales.

The ballrabbit was a D-rank monster now. It only needed to evolve one more time and it would be the same class as the Little Rock Dragon. If it whipped me with C-Rank strength, it might kill me!

Oh, wait! We’ve got more important things to do than look for water! Time for a Telepathy experiment!

I roared softly. C’mon, Ballrabbit. Stop being mad at me. Let’s do mind reading!

The ballrabbit puffed out its cheeks, turning away in a huff.

I said I’m sorry! I promise I’ll get you some good food!

(“Slugs. Not yummy.”) The ballrabbit’s thoughts made their way into my head.

I mean, you looked like you were enjoying them. Or maybe you were just that hungry. All right, all right. I promise I’ll give you something actually tasty. Just use Telepathy for me! And clean the water!

The ballrabbit’s eyes swiveled my way. I had its attention; time to sweeten the deal.

How about salted, roasted camel meat? The humps taste like intestines. They’ll probably be amazing with seasoning.

It didn’t react at all. Telepathy worked via thoughts—maybe I should picture it rather than just think in words? I imagined butchering up a camel and sprinkling salt all over it. I let the sense memory of tearing into roasted camel meat flow through me.

“Pfeff! Pfeff!” The rabbit hopped my way.

Hook, line, and sinker!

All right, Ballrabbit. Ask Nina where she wants to go. We can’t make any moves until we figure that out.

“Pfeff…” The rabbit’s ears drooped weakly, and it puffed out its cheeks. It looked at Nina and then looked back at me. “Pfeff! Pfeff!” It clearly didn’t want her to go.

Well, I can’t help it! My Dragon Scale Powder is going to poison her. She can’t stay here. If she starts showing symptoms before we have a plan, we’d have to abandon her in the middle of the desert!

The ballrabbit looked at Nina. She picked it up and brought it in close. “Nyaah? Bally?”

That was all she said out loud; after that they just stared at each other. They must be talking through Telepathy. After a few moments, Nina looked over at me.

“I don’t know where to go, nyaah.” She spoke so quietly I barely heard her over the desert wind.

Well, that didn’t surprise me. The giant centipede incident made it clear nothing good would happen to her in that walled city. And she couldn’t go back to the place that sold her as a slave.

I was expecting that answer, but it still made things difficult. I wasn’t at all familiar with the area. I wished we could find her a truly good place to live, but time was a luxury we didn’t possess. Taking her to the walled city would be much better than leaving her alone in the desert. Still, it was my last resort.

“U-um, Mr. Dragon? C-can’t I…stay…with you?” she stammered in a halting voice, glancing up at me anxiously.

I would love that, but the effects of Dragon Scale Powder could start showing up at any moment. I couldn’t meet her gaze any longer, and I quickly looked away.

“S-sorry, nyaah! I-I know it would be a lot of trouble… All I do is eat up your food. I can’t contribute at all…” She curled up into a little ball. The rabbit reached out its ears and wiped her eyes. It looked at me pleadingly.

H-hey! Stop it! I can’t do anything about it! You have Telepathy, so you know what I’m thinking!

I had nothing else to say. I shook my head, flustered.

I’ll just have to find another village for her…hm?

An unsettled feeling swept over me. I activated Psychic Sense and felt several pings coming from off in the distance. I couldn’t see anything yet, but they were headed right toward us. They were large, moving at roughly the same speed as the giant centipede. The slug’s rain clouds were still above us. Maybe they were coming in search of water.