CH 006: Slathilia VS E-Class Horned Wolf

[Slathilia: SS-Class Dragon (Sealed), Lv 7, 560 Stats]

[Horned Wolf: E-Class Horned Wolf, Lv 45, 900 Stats]

As the two monsters growled at each other, they started to slowly walk in circles. Seeing that the human wasn't participating in the fight, the Horned Wolf with a scar on his eyes focused more on the baby dragon. Although it wasn't an intelligent monster, his instincts told him that a dragon was more dangerous. Even if it was a baby.

"Grr..." It growled, baring his fangs before launching at Slathilia. The baby dragon quickly reacted, doing his best to dodge, but barely managing. He cursed as the long claws of the wolf nearly slashed him, but quickly dodged once again, again and again when the attack came rapidly, one after another.

"Gauw... (Shit...)" He cursed when an attack landed, causing his side to bleed as he dodged. As he continued dodging, several more attacks landed on him. But fortunately, they were light enough to not be dangerous. However, they were still injuries, causing Slathilia to grow more serious, more thoughtful, more careful.

'Nearly twice the Stats does make a big difference, huh? Then why should I just fist fight it?' He growled, before quickly stepping back and, when the Horned Wolf moved to attack, used his Skill again.

[Majestic Fire Breath Lv 1 (SS)]

The baby dragon let out a roar as his flames moved towards the charging wolf like a wave. The Horned Wolf's eyes went wide, quickly alarmed as he immediately tried his best to dodge. But even when he did manage to not take everything from the fire, he was still somewhat burnt. However, the damage delivered was nowhere near enough to be considered deadly.

"Grr..." He growled angrily, staring daggers as Slathilia stopped spewing fire. He didn't want to waste his Mana. Although Natasha said she'd help, he still wanted to finish this fight by himself. He was facing a challenge, and wanted to see if he could overcome it himself. If he couldn't, he wouldn't feel embarrassed about asking for help.

'Alright, how am I gonna do this? I'm at a major disadvantage here. I could work around the difference between Stats somehow, but the difference between our body sizes, a fully grown wolf and a baby dragon, makes it a lot harder than it could've been. Even if he's twice as strong as me in Stats, the difference between sizes makes the gap a lot bigger. Then instead of frontal combat, I should make use of my Skills instead.'

Analyzing the situation quickly, he immediately put his plan into action when the angry wolf charged again. But this time, he could see it in his eyes that he was more cautious than before. Pulling his head back, his Mana gathered in his mouth before he shot fire again.

[Majestic Fire Breath Lv 1 (SS)]

The Horned Wolf moved quickly, trying to dodge as much as possible without stopping his attack. When he dodged successfully, taking just a bit of damage, he was ready to attack immediately. But a small claw, set ablaze on dark purple fire, emerged from the fire and struck his left eye.

[Majestic Fire Claw Lv 1 (SS)]

As he let out a pained roar, trying to move away, face bleeding and one eye destroyed, he barely dodged when another strike came. This time, in the form of a blade extended from the baby dragon's tail. Even though he saved his other eye, his face was still cut. The pain of the fire hurting even more than a normal cut.

[Majestic Fire Tail-Blade Lv 1 (SS)]

In anger, he swiped his own claws, managing to hit Slathilia just as he flapped his wings to get away. Both of them growled and howled in pain, but the Hybrid Dragon wasn't going to give up the disadvantage. The Horned Wolf was in pain, and had lost most of his sight because of his eye being destroyed and blood nearly blinding the other.

Gritting his fangs and ignoring the pain, he flapped his wings and flew towards the retreating wolf. This time, using his flight as an advantage. His strikes and slashes came in quick succession, cutting the Horned Wolf all over the place as it fought to strike back. Be it with his claws, fangs, or horn.

"AWOOO!!" It howled, voice filled with anger and pain as it tried to bite Slathilia whole. But the baby dragon reacted quickly, activating his Majestic Fire Tail-Blade Skill and stabbing the Horned Wolf right in the roof of his mouth, killing it by stabbing his brain.

[Majestic Fire Tail-Blade Lv 1 (SS)]

As the Horned Wolf fell down, dead and bleeding with burnt marks, the panting Slathilia slowly descended to the ground. But now, smiling in excitement :'Fuck, that was hella fun!' Although he was very careful to not die, he still had to admit that he enjoyed every second of the fight. The adrenaline rush felt pretty good. Sighing in relief, he gave his Stats a quick check.

HP: 600/720

Mana: 420/720

Stamina: 530/720

(A/N: Level and Stats risen will be recorded at the end of the chapter only from now on. Unless they need to be shown.)

'Hmm, alright, I guess. But I should definitely be more careful. Don't wanna die suddenly. Mana and Stamina have also lowered a lot, but because of fighting a few times already. But I guess that's good too.'

"Good job." Natasha called out with a smile :"That was a pretty good fight for your first serious fight. You didn't need me to step in either, despite having a few disadvantages." As she walked towards him, he smirked smugly :"Gauw. (Of course, this is nothing. But I should definitely train more. I'm not skilled enough for it to be satisfactory.)"

Natasha :"Hm, good to see you're a careful one. Definitely better than being arrogant and losing your head. Alright, let's go then. The sun will go down after a few hours. It would be better to stay in a city rather than outside. So we should start moving."

Slathilia :"Gauw. (Right, the safety of a city is better than staying outside in the open. Let's go then.)"

And so, they began to move again. But the smell and sounds of the battle seemed to have gained the attention of some monsters, because they met a few of them on the way. Of course, Slathilia took care of them as well.

When they finally exited the forest, he was quite tired. His Stats had risen a lot, and so had his Regeneration Stats. Which helped to recover his Auxiliary Stats. But he was still just a newborn, and he had fought a lot already for his first day. He was mentally exhausted as well.

"Alright, we're finally out of the forest." Natasha stretched, giving Slathilia an eyeful of her large breasts bouncing. As she walked out of the lush forest for a bit, they came across a large road and a large grassland in the distance.

"Now, let's see." She hummed before taking out a map from her Storage Ring :"According to the map, the nearest city is Wadence. A city popular for Adventurers because of the several Monster Forests close to it. Guess that's where we're going then." And then looked at the two sides of the road :"But... which way leads to Wadence?"

Slathilia, confused :"(... You don't know...? Then what use is the map?)"

Natasha, slightly embarrassed :"Hey, I haven't exactly lived a life of traveling around, alright? In fact, it's my first time traveling so far away from home. It's only natural I won't know some things."

Slathilia :"(Yeah, fair enough, but it's a map... shouldn't that be the first thing to learn how to work with when traveling?)"

Natasha :"Well, why don't you give the directions then, smartass?"

Slathilia :"(... I'm a newborn. How do you expect me to know how to use a map?)"

Natasha :"Yeah, that's what I thought. Shit, guess we're in a bit of a trouble..."

As she looked at the map cluelessly, trying to figure out something, they both saw a carriage in the distance :"Oh, we can just ask them!" She smiled, waiting for the carriage to arrive. "Excuse me! Please hold on for a second!" When it was close enough, she waved at the driver who stopped the horses :"Whoa, stop, stop."

As the two horses pulling the ordinary carriage came to a stop, the old man driving it smiled :"Hello, lass. How can I help you?"

Natasha :"Hello, old man. I wanted to ask for directions. Which way leads to Wadence? I'm kinda lost here."

"Oh, you just need to continue this road the same way I'm going. On foot, you should reach the city some time before sunset."

Natasha :"Oh, thanks a lot, mister. That helps a lot."

"You're welcome, lass. By the way, if you'd want, I could give you and your little companion a ride to the city for a few coins. It's my job, and I'm already taking a few people to Wadence already. One more person wouldn't be a problem."

Natasha :"Oh, is that alright? Well... what do you think, Thilia?"

Slathilia :"Gauw. (I think that makes things easier.)"

Natasha :"Then we'll do that. How much?"

"Nothing expensive. Just 10 copper coins."

"Here you go." Natasha said as she took out a few coins from her pouch and handed them to the coachman, who smiled and nodded :"Then welcome abroad. Please get on. Just don't bother the other passengers."

As she walked around the carriage, she got in from behind to see a few people already sitting inside. Just minding their own business. Seeing her did pull their attention a bit though. After all, with her beauty and figure, combined with having a baby dragon on her head, was something that would definitely attract attention.

But they all took their eyes off of her. It seemed like none of them wanted to cause any trouble for the others. And neither did Natasha. She took a seat beside a hooded woman with black hair dropping out of her hood. Beside her, she had a huge black blade.

Natasha didn't bother her though. She simply left her alone while she relaxed. Deciding to help Slathilia, she let him down and laid him on her lap, giving him more space to relax on. Something he felt grateful for.

"Hm? That's... a dragon?" The hooded woman asked, surprised. Glancing towards her, they saw her looking at Slathilia with curiosity. Having raised her head, her features were more visible. Surprisingly, despite carrying a giant two-handed sword, she was a pretty girl who looked the same age as Natasha. Not as beautiful as Natasha, but definitely one who was more beautiful than most. Slathilia honestly wondered if there was anyone more beautiful than Natasha.

Her red eyes sparkled with curiosity as they looked at the baby dragon. But she didn't do anything else. Instead of touching or petting him, she simply looked at him with wonder. Not sensing any hostility from her, Natasha nodded :"Yeah, as you can see."

"From the looks of it, he doesn't seem to be very old."

Natasha :"Yeah, he hatched out of his egg just recently."

"Huh? Oh, were you there when he was born?"

Natasha :"Yup. Was lucky enough to meet him."

"Oh, you're seriously lucky then. You're not from around here, are you?"

Natasha :"What makes you say that?"

"Hahaha well, aside from your looks, I don't think a dragon would pop out randomly from around here. Dragons are pretty rare anywhere beside Drakkenheim, the continent of Dragons. Seeing a baby dragon is even more weird around here."

Natasha :"Well, things can get complicated sometimes, I guess. Also, with your logic, you don't seem to be from around here either."

"Heh, guess that's true. I won't butt into your privacy too much. Sorry about that."

Natasha :"Nah, it's alright. Curiosity is normal if you see a dragon, I guess."

------------------------

(Devoured)

-

G-Class Angry Rabbits x6

F-Class Goblins x3

E-Class Horned Wolves x5

-

(Dragon Physiology Stats)

Lv: 7 -> 12 {+5}

Stats: 560 -> 960 {+400}

-

(Devoured & Absorbed Stats)

G-Class Lv: 8 -> 88 {+80}

Stats: 24 -> 264 {+240}

-

F-Class Lv: 314 -> 518 {+204}

Stats: 1,884 -> 3,108 {+1,224}

-

E-Class Lv: 32 -> 648 {+616}

Stats: 640 -> 12,960 {+12,320}