Just The Beginning

It had been two days since he came to this world. Within those two days, he's had to do several unsavory things in order to keep himself alive. He had to feed himself at least once a day, after all.

He had found a rather large swamp, mostly consisting of strange-looking fish, bugs, and frogs. It was a commonly traversed area as well, having noticed several large beasts traveling through from one end of the swampy land to the other.

Apparently, elephant-sized beasts in this world were common from what he'd seen. That or he ended up in the dangerous area of the forest. Some even looked like bigger versions of him aside from different colors and patterns. Large and reptilian. He wondered if he'd end up that big one day.

He had also named himself. Ultimately, he had considered keeping his old name but it only brought back some bad memories. Starting new with a new name seemed nicer to him.

And so, he was now, Emre. There wasn't a reason behind the name, he just thought it sounded nice.

To feed himself, he had only been able to catch the slow and unsuspecting frog-like creatures. Frog-like because they looked mostly frog other than the fact that they had two long back fins that seemed to help them with maneuvering in the water. Killing them granted him quite a bit of experience, easily getting him up to level 2. Probably because he was considered a hatchling.

He figured that if he wanted to gain large amounts of experience at once, he would have to take on something the same strength or stronger than him. What would he be able to take on as a hatchling? It was easy to catch the frogs because they were slow and never noticed him hiding in the water until too late.

He was soaking in the water as he thought, content even despite the murkiness of it. Now that he was an animal, he cared less about his cleanliness. Not to mention, his scales were easy to get dirt off of if he just rubbed against a tree or something. Emre felt he was getting too comfortable like this already.

Opening his eyes, his head barely peeked over the surface of the water like a crocodile. He noticed movement in the corner of his eye. Slowly turning his head to see a small rabbit-looking creature cautiously approaching the water's edge.

Instead of having just one set of ears, this rabbit had two sets and a long tail trailing behind it as it hopped up. He could even see one nasty large claw on each of its hind legs, almost like a Raptor from Earth.

He bet if he could catch it, it would give him quite a bit of experience. Slowly, he lowered under the surface and cautiously made his way toward where he had seen the rabbit. Emre was careful not to cause ripples on the surface from going too fast.

Luckily, he was able to see due to the protective film that he had for his eyes. He was glad he was transported into a body that was near its natural habitat at least. He could just barely see through the muck if he was close enough to the surface.

It didn't take too long for him to see the small chin that was dipped into the water, drinking its fill as fast as it could. He braced himself, finding a solid root with his claws, and readied to use it as a solid object to push off of.

He waited but a moment before kicking off, opening his jaws to clasp around the head that was dipped toward him. He instinctually let out a rumble from his throat as his teeth sunk into the rabbit's skull. He immediately released the venom from his long fangs and reached his claws up to latch onto the rabbit's shoulders.

It squeaked in surprise, jerking back and taking Emre with it. Kicking out with its hind legs, the claw scraped across the scales on his shoulder. Luckily, due to the venom being directly injected from the head, its aimless kicking quickly lessened after a few minutes as Emre refused to release his grip.

His shoulder hurt, but he didn't let go until it stopped moving. His jaw ached from the force he had been using and he had to open and close it a few times to get rid of the feeling.

[ Mara Rabbit slain, 200 experience gained ]

[ You leveled up ]

[ Venom Bite leveled up ]

[ Gained 1 stat point ]

200?! And he leveled up?! Wow! What was so special about this rabbit? It barely even got a hit on him before the venom took over. Why did they have so much experience? And he got another stat point. Hunting this rabbit was truly worth it.

Time to check out his new status.

[ Name, Emre ] [ Spiny Lizard Hatchling ]

[ Lvl, 3/10 ] [ Exp, 50/200 ]

[ Stats ] [ Stat Points, 3 ]

[ Str, 6 ] [ Dex, 8 ] [ Int, 10 ]

[ Con, 6 ] [ Wis, 7 ]

[ Skills, Swimming [Lvl 1], Climbing [Lvl 1], Venom Bite [Lvl 2], Venom Spit [Lvl 1], Claw [Lvl 1] ]

[ Titles, Other-Worlder, Tirian's Angel ]

He was level 3 now, just seven more levels until he was able to get to max level. His experience only maxed at 200 for 3rd level which was probably due to the fact that he was a hatchling. And the frogs he had killed before only gave him 50 exp each. Lower-level things in video games usually leveled up faster until they got to higher levels. Then it would start to slow down.

Twisting his neck, he struggled to get a look at the cut that the rabbit had caused with its giant claw. It didn't seem to be deep, and the blood that trickled out wasn't red, but a deep navy color. It was a bit unnerving since he was so used to seeing red as blood, but he figured it was just a thing in this world. Or maybe it was specific to certain types of creatures.

Regardless, it still hurt. He kept craning his neck back and stuck out his tongue. He was thankful that it was longer than a human's tongue and gave the wound a few licks. He didn't know what it was about licking cuts, but it always seemed to help a little bit even as a human.

Content with this meager treatment, he looked down to his freshly caught prey. Even with his small teeth, he was able to tear into the flesh. After eating two frogs before, he welcomed the warm red meat into his belly. It was far more refreshing than the gamey meat of the frogs. Even if it was raw. There was no point in being picky if he had no way to cook, after all.

Hopefully, he would be able to level up quickly to see what happened at level 10. Even if he had stat points to get stronger, which he still didn't know what he was going to do with, he doubted that level 10 was going to be the last of it. Emre was convinced that there was going to be some sort of evolution or something to change from being a mere hatchling.

Emre finished his meal rather quickly. Luckily, just in time.

He had just barely retreated back into the water as a thudding shook the ground. It stopped in the spot he had just been. Looking through the water, he watched as a massive hairy beast leaned down toward the remains of his meal.

The water was too murky to see any details, besides, Emre wasn't going to stick around. Slowly, he pulled himself along the mucky water floor and away from the creature. His fast-beating heart betrayed his nerves.

He could feel as the feet picked up again and he stopped moving until he could no longer feel the tremors. He'd let out a sigh if he wasn't submerged.

Tirian, you crazy Goddess! How dare you make such scary monsters! At least she was giving him a second chance… He just wished he could speed run it like he was in a game. Killing just to gain experience didn't seem right. Maybe there were other ways to gain it? Well, he'd have to figure it out over time.

For now, he just had to focus on surviving. He was a small fish in a big pond. Sticking to only a certain section of the swamp seemed to be the safest. He was on the outskirts of it, and the water didn't get very deep here. He only got nervous at the deeper parts of the waters that were farther in, wondering what type of creature might live down there.

The worst part was that he had no company. Although his parents never really approved of him despite being their only child, they weren't horrible by any means. He only had to deal with the occasional pestering of why he was doing this and that. They still provided him a home, food, and company.

And he had friends… He would miss them. Everyone but her. Lily, the woman who had been his best friend since he started going to college. They spent a lot of time together with their friend group. It was always fun.

Why she decided to kill him was the question. He had no clue why. She was surely arrested and charged with murder. There were cameras and a whole crowd of people saw it. Why did she decide to do it then and there? And with such a cruel look on her face?

Emre could only shake his head at the thought. Now he was alone, stuck in a world he knew nothing about. He swam up toward the surface and poked his head out of the water. The sound of bugs chirping entered his ears as he scanned the surroundings.

It was mid-day but the swamp looked dark, the thick canopy of swamp trees blocked out the sun. He could see a frog on another part of the swamp hopping into the water with a splash. He decided against going to try and get it since he was full. As much as he wanted to level up, he didn't want to kill indiscriminately.

He let out a small sigh, before sinking back down into the water. As he stepped onto the murky dirt below, he felt something slimy touch his hand. He jerked his clawed hand back and looked down to see dark plant leaves popping through the dirt. It was just a plant…

'What kind?' He questioned internally as he brought his face down closer.

[ Answer, Black Hydani, a rare herb only found in the Black Swamp ]

Whoa! Rare?! Emre began to gently move the muck that surrounded the plant only to find that it was a large cluster. So much! He was astonished.

'What does it do?'

[ Answer, Black Hydani is the only cure for Spardic Dragon venom ]

Dragon… Of course, why wouldn't there be dragons in a world full of monsters and beasts? So this was the only cure, huh? He would definitely have to remember this. He silently wished he had a backpack of some sort. Or a home to bring this back to… He had just been sleeping on the banks of the swamp with just his nose poking out to breathe.

It wasn't very safe, but he didn't know what else to do. He didn't know if he'd be able to dig a den in the nearby forest. If he dug too close to the swamp's edge, he was sure it would flood or not be able to hold. But, if he went too far from the swamp, he was worried he wouldn't be able to make it to the water if he ended up being chased by something.

He couldn't help but mentally sigh once more as he settled his belly over top of the large cluster of plants. They were kind of slimy from the muck but weren't uncomfortable. He hated being a small weak monster.

Mind-wandering, he wondered if he could somehow turn into a human again one day. What if the voice knew…? It was a long shot.

A really long shot, but he decided to ask anyway.

'Is it possible to become a human again, one day?'

[ Answer, yes ]

His heart thumped in his chest and he jerked in shock. A frog nearby got startled by the movement and fled his proximity. What?! If he could, he would have yelled out loud at the answer.

'How?! How can I turn into a human?' He hurriedly asked.

[ Answer, by following the dragon evolutionary path. ]

Confusion clouded his mind and his eyes narrowed. By becoming a dragon? At least now he knew that there was an evolutionary path. Time to ask a series of questions...

'Can dragons transform into humans? If so, why and how? Also, what is the dragon evolutionary path?'

[ Answer, yes, Lesser Dragons and True Dragons can transform into humans. These dragons are highly intelligent and magical creatures that are able to transform into humans through innate shapeshifting abilities. The dragon evolutionary path is different for each species but is a path that allows one to become a dragon ]

'What do I need to evolve into next to start on the dragon evolutionary path?'

[ Answer, a Greater Spiny Lizard ]

Emre immediately made up his mind. He would go on the path to become a dragon. Not only would he become a cool dragon, but he would also be able to shapeshift into a human if he did.

He was finally excited about this new life. He had a goal and something to look forward to. Onto the path of a dragon!