Chapter 12: Chapter 12: When Did This Become A Horror Game?!

The usual prompt appears in my vision as I start the process of upgrading my skill.

[Would you like to evolve the skill [Blood Magic (Mid Rank)?]

Hell yeah! High Rank here we come baby!

The Ether quickly drains from my body into the skill and I feel a thick warmth run through my veins. Uhhh, wait. Hold on! That is basically all of my Ether!!! I thought it would take less than that. I got scammed! The Ether in my body continues to drain until I am left with barely anything at all. If I had a numerical value applied to my Ether, it would be a 1 right now.

[Skill [Blood Magic (Mid Rank)] has now evolved into [Blood Magic (High Rank)!]

Damn… I mean, I am happy to have a High Rank skill, but I could have probably upgraded [Lightning Magic] instead. I thought I had enough for both. The big snake got me a boat load of Ether, and then that nearly tripled after the evolution. If it took all that just to make it to High Rank for a single skill, I can understand why most people focus on only one of their magic skills. Getting to Knight Rank is going to be absurd.

Well, whatever. I just need to hunt down some chickens to get my Ether back up. The rain is still coming down in sheets so visibility is kind of low. I also can’t use [Detection] right now with my pitiful Ether stores. Got a whole new powerful skill, and I can’t even touch it! I want to see what High Rank [Blood Magic] can do sooooo badly!

Trotting off into the woods I seek out my mortal enemies. The chickens!

1, 2, I’m coming for you! 3, 4, Gonna paint the floor! 5, 6, Even the chicks! Singing a cute and not at all ominous song in my head, I spend about an hour looking about only to find absolutely nothing. Where are the chickens?! They are fucking all over the place normally, but the pile I found / made over by the cliff has been the only sighting since the rain started. There aren’t even any snakes either! Grrrr, I need Ether soon or I am going to be fucked when I get ambushed by something.

I didn’t kill all the chickens on the mountain right? Nah, that would be impossible. Those things are far too numerous to be killed off by a single dragon like me. The ocean of rain continues to push down even harder on my body, the tree cover not doing a damn thing to slow it down. The windy chill and water feels like it is seeping into my bones. I knew lizards were not good with cold, but holy hell this sucks.

Another fruitless hour of chicken hunting later, I come across a clearing I had not seen before. About a soccer field’s width and perfectly circular. Wonder what this is about? Scooching into the clearing, I make it to the center to get a good look around. Sadly, no chickens here either. Grumbling to myself about the lack of Ether batteries, I feel a deep shiver run up my spine.

Every instinct in my body is telling me to turn around. Digging my claws into the dirt, I whip my whole body around to find something standing at the edge of the tree line.

What. The. Fuck.

Seven feet tall, the head of a deer, long lanky humanoid arms. Cold black eyes stare back at me.

NOPE! Not dealing with that shit. What kind of slenderman furry hybrid nightmare is that?! I push all my strength into my claws and leap to the side and dart into the woods as fast as possible.

Full sprint without [Physical Enhancement] is not fantastic, but with my new larger body I can just barely keep pace with my old speed. I turn my head a bit to get a view behind me only to deeply regret doing so. The thing is running along behind me and keeping pace. No! No! No! Just fuck no!

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I push ahead with every drop of my energy darting from tree to tree trying to throw it off. I even feed my tiny amount of Ether into [Physical Enhancement] for the few seconds that will last to get a burst of speed around a thick patch of bushes. Anything I can do to lose the abomination. I don’t even know where I am anymore. Only running down hill to keep up my momentum.

I take another peek back only to find the monster missing, I don’t stop running though. If I do I am scared it will catch up. Two more hours later I find the ground leveling out and the forest becoming thinner. My lungs burn and I can’t even feel the cold anymore. I want to collapse on the ground, but something up head makes that impossible.

A humanoid figure being buffeted by the rain stands there staring at me wide eyed. Is that a kid? What the hell is a child doing out in this rain? She seems frozen in shock. I would be too if a giant monstrous looking [Blood Drake] just appeared in front of me at her age. She looks maybe fifteen? Long brown hair dripping along the back of her coat, completely soaked through. I would suggest an umbrella, but this level of rain would break any normal umbrella.

Hmmm, I should talk to her. But… I don’t have enough Ether for my blood letters. Maybe I can connect a thread of Ether and talk through that? Ether moves according to my thoughts, so why wouldn’t I be able to transmit them the same way? I thought this up a while ago, but the only test subjects would have been the adventurers, and sending a thread of Ether to them like that would have likely been seen as an attack. I doubt this kid will even notice the thread though.

Stretching out my pitiful Ether reserves, I connect my mind with the girl’s.

[You have learned the skill [Telepathy]!]

Oh nice.

“Hey, kid. Are you sure you should be out in the forest in this weather? You are absolutely soaked.” I run my thoughts through the tiny strand of Ether, like using a string phone with two cans on the end as a kid, but ya know, magically.

The girl jolts as she evidently hears my voice. She starts to look everywhere around her for the source in a panic before I stop her. “Right in front of you kiddo, the big lizard thing. I am talking in your head with [Telepathy].”

“What?! Monsters can talk?” Her hazel eyes widen further as she stares at me in shock. “I can.” My lazy response seems to drain all the tension from her as she collapses to the ground. “I-I see…”

“Anyway, why are you out here in a monster infested forest during a torrential rain storm?” I could be using my haughty dragon attitude right now, but the kid just seems a mess so I can’t help but get worried for her. I really want to summon an umbrella of blood, but I only have enough Ether to sustain the [Telepathy] and even that is a strain.

She looks down with a fearful face, but I can tell that it is not directed at me. “What happened? Is someone after you?” The dread is clear, but what would a girl like her be so afraid of that a monster as frightening as me is somehow worthy of a conversation at all? She stutters for a moment before answering so quietly I can only barely make it out through the hellish rain. “Sort of, my uh parents… I heard them planning to sell me.” Holy shit that got dark real fast. The last part of her statement was said so sadly that I can assume she never expected such an outcome. Maybe her parents seemed to love her? Suddenly finding out they plan to sell you after that would break anybody.

“This forest is dangerous, and with the storm you could get attacked without any chance to react. You shouldn’t be out here unprotected.” Not that she should have stayed in her home. Running away was absolutely the right choice. She probably didn’t think things through and just ended up running the moment she heard. She starts muttering, much too quietly for me to hear over the rain. “I know, I just- just- I-” Rain and tears run down her face in equal measures as she digs her hands into the mud.

Is there anything I can do to help?

[Quest: Save the girl from being sold.]

[Reward Type: Reputation]

[Do you accept?]

[Y/N]

Well that was unexpected. Monsters should not really get these kinds of quests from the game. But hey, I wanted to help and the game is saying I can. I let out a breath and send another thought into the girl’s mind. “Look, come with me. I have a place you can stay and get out of the rain for a while. A place where you can calm down. I’ll keep you safe.” Her tearful eyes look up at me with hope, and I decide then and there that I will kill her parents if I ever meet them.