A Dragon’s Evolution

It wasn't long until he found himself back in the forest. Though he only walked a good five minutes in before hearing the roars and growls of monsters. He was currently seated on a branch, using his eyes which could see in the dark to watch a particular monster. 

A red snake with a white underbelly. Over five meters long and half a meter wide. It had its head poking out of a bush and had the unique shape that could only be from a cobra. It was flicking its forked tongue out and waiting patiently. Soon enough, it sprung into action when a large rabbit with two horns on its head bolted out of another bush. Its mouth opening up as it lunged, only to get kicked in the head by the rabbit and violently smacked to the ground.

The snake got back up and opened its mouth again, this time an orange glow could be seen from within before a fireball the size of a baseball flew out of it and at the rabbit. The rabbit continued to run though and quickly outpaced the projectile, leaving the hungry cobra's attack range and successfully escaping.

All while Jack watched their exchange from above.

~Good thing I didn't run dick first into the forest. The edges should have the weakest monsters. The ones who can't beat the stronger ones and try their luck attacking humans. I can keep up with their speed with my eyes pretty easily but I have to wonder if my body can. Toughness is up in the air too but I don't feel like testing that by hurting myself here.~ Jack mused to himself while slowly moving across the branch.

~Far as I can tell I'm about as strong as a Komodo Dragon. Maybe stronger. I'm starting here though. No point in being too overcautious. So let's get started~ Jack finished his thought before letting go and landing on the red cobra.

Before it could manage to thrash around too much, Jack grabbed its mouth and kept it closed before digging his claws into its throat. Panicking, the cobra tried to buck him off and slam him into a tree. The hit made him grunt but besides that, he never let go of it. Jack's claws failed to completely rip open the cobra's flesh so he decided to bite down on its wounded neck and pull his neck back, tearing off a significant piece of flesh that made the cobra's blood violently spray out before it went limp and died.

~Fuck that hurt! Nothing broken though, thankfully. Hm.. I don't feel anything in particular from killing it. Not that I expected some pop up for XP anyway. I wonder...~ He looked down at the snake's corpse and swallowed the warm blood in his mouth.

It tasted a lot better than it likely was. It felt nourishing. Then it hit him. He picked up the cobra by the head and looked at its bloody body before biting down on its head, expecting the worst taste to ever assail his tongue. Except, as the blood, brains, eyes, tongue and bone fragments exploded in his mouth, he felt..

~Finally! Some good FUCKING FOOD!

~ A haze of mad delight swirled in his eyes as she chewed the snake's crushed head, cracking the bones like candy.

Stirred into a feeding frenzy, he started to stuff the rest of the snake into his mouth and began to feed fast. Soon enough, the body was gone. Jack was left with a blood soaked mouth, breathing heavily as he savored the taste. Having devoured what should have disgusted him, yet tasted better than any food he had in his previous life. He sniffed the air and smelled more food nearby.

Standing back up, his stomach growled for more food. He was about to mindlessly run to hunt more before his rationality returned to him and he stopped in place.

~Woah.. That was like a shark when it smells blood. I need to be careful. These instincts are strong and useful but I can't go only using them. At least now I get what I'm supposed to do. Let's continue~ Jack sniffed again, this time with a clear head, and followed the scent of the rabbit that got away earlier.

It hadn't gone far either. There was a small dugout in a bush where he smelled it. It, and about a dozen more of it. A litter of horned rabbits likely waited for him down there. With their ears, they likely knew he was there.

~Probably babies. Maybe another adult too. Shit.. if only I can smoke 'em out~ Jack's stomach growled.

~Wait... maybe I can..~ An eerie grin made its way onto his draconic face as he focused on his throat.

It had taken a few minutes until he felt something. A warmth spreading from his chest, going to his upper neck. Jack opened his mouth before spewing orange flames at the ground. It wasn't a lot but it would still be enough to give anyone a third degree burn if focused on them. 

Seeing the fire come out, Jack was filled with a child like glee before shaking his head and focusing on the task. He quickly grabbed a large leaf and started to fan the smoke into the dugout. A minute later he felt movement, so he opened his jaw and waited until the first small white rabbit appeared. He quickly breathed a line of flames straight down at it and spread it into the dugout.

The baby horned rabbit was met with searing pain as it was lit on fire. Starting to squeal and panic, it ran straight back into his siblings and parents, who were now seeing the flames approach them. What followed was a cacophony of shrill rabbit screams as they burned and suffocated to death.

Hearing nothing after a few minutes, Jack internally chuckled and crawled into the dugout. His guess happened to be correct. There were around ten babies and two adult horned rabbits, all now extra crispy.

~Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub!~ Jack clasped his scaly hands together before beginning to feast on the rabbits.

There seemed to be no end to his appetite as he scarfed more and more burnt rabbit meat into his mouth. By the time he got to the adults, he was overcome with a sense of sleepiness. His scales felt tight as he sluggishly picked himself up and looked around the dugout.

~What's...? Why so.... tired..?~ Jack wobbled, placing his hand against the dirt wall before sleep overwhelmed him and he fell unconscious.

The next thing he saw was strange. Images of different small dragons. The main difference being the color of their scales but some had lava flowing off their bodies, ice crags coming off their horns and claws, lightning sparking around them. One was even made of diamond scales. Though none felt right.

Until he saw the last one. A black scaled dragon. Amber reptilian eyes piercing his soul. It felt right, somehow. Despite no physically alluring traits, it felt like the right choice.

No. It was the only choice.

Jack mentally picked it, seeing a swirl of strange transparent energy around the image before a small child's face flashed in front of him. Then, he woke up. It was tight, though not like before. The dirt around him was squeezing him. The dugout was too small. Jack groaned before crawling out of the now small hole. His height changed, now being roughly the size of a Dire Wolf.

Needless to say, he was quite big now. Stumbling out of the dirt, he looked at his sleek black scales and moved his longer tail. Then he grinned as he remembered the strange transparent energy he saw. Though he wouldn't use it just yet.

Instead, he picked up the two rabbit corpses and returned to the pond where he met Ruby. Of course, she wasn't there but that wasn't why he came back.

~Instinct.. I have a feeling I know how to use that energy. In fact, I can feel it in the air. Like particles that make up the atmosphere. The last thing I saw.. Right. Transformation. Feels.. forbidden. Like dating your friend's sister~ Jack mused in his mind before looking at his reflection in the pond.

Amber eyes glowed in the darkness as they took in the sight of a small Black Dragon. Small spikes adorned his back and his black wings became a bit bigger. But it didn't yet seem like he was able to fly. Jack focused as the transparent energy was released from his body, giving him a more dangerous aura.

~Is this magic? I wonder why the other Dragon choices didn't have this. Maybe they're limited to their elements?~ Jack hummed before deciding to try the last thing he saw in his dream.

The energy shrunk inward, to where his heart was. Slowly, it spiraled and became more condensed until a brief light glow emanated from within his chest. His body shrank and his head, legs, chest and arms transformed. Despite transforming though, it was painless. Soon enough, what looked back from the pond's reflection, was a little girl.

Long black hair that ran to her feet, tanned skin, long ears and piercing amber eyes. On top of which were her prominent dragon features such as her horns, tail and wings. Though black scales covered most of her body too. Her legs were scaly and her feet hadn't changed. On top of that, she still kept her claws. She looked to be some dragon/elf hybrid.

"Sheeeeit.. Ruby didn't misgender me after all. Oh well. I'm going to look hot as fuck when I grow up though.." Jack muttered, admiring her cute face.

"Wait is that creepy? It's myself so.." Jack hummed and rubbed her jaw before shaking her head and disregarding that thought.

"Hm.. If I wear a thick cloak maybe I could enter the town. On second thought.. No. It's way too obvious I'm not human. Maybe evolving will help me improve though?" Jack thought aloud, rubbing her chin with her claws.

"More killin' then it is. Gotta acquire some monster drip too. Feels wrong walking around as a naked little girl." Deciding to head back to the forest, Jack looked at the town lights briefly before returning back to the monsters.