Nihility [ Isekai • Dragon Evolution ]

[Oakling Tree]

[Oakling Tree]

[Redberry-Bush]

[Thistlethorn Weed]

[Amberroot Herb]

[Oakling Tree]

[Thistlethorn Weed]

[Redberry-Bush]

It's been five minutes and I haven't seen anything but plant life. Really, where are the animals? I did see some berry bushes, but without access to [Knowledge Library] I don't know if they are edible or not, so I chose not to risk it. I know it's night time and there is currently a forest fire happening a few hundred meters away from me, more or less, but I still haven't seen any wild life but some small insects. Are the wolves such an apex predator that they got scared away from the one I had killed?

Waiting to prove me wrong, I saw a small furred creature poke its head from a hole in the ground. It looked around but didn't spot me, at least not yet, and then looked straight in the direction of the fire, probably hearing the flames roaring in the distance. I think this would be the start of a stampede and I needed to capitalize on it before things got out of control.

I pulled [Spell Planner] and made an electric bullet, shooting it at the animal just as I appraised it.

[Earthclaw Weasel Lv. 2]

The moment I appraised it, it turned its head towards me, but my electric bullet's speed was above what the little creature could respond to and it hit it on its chest, even though I aimed it at the head, I still hit it, though. I immediately jumped at him, trying to bite off his face, but he recovered before I reached him and burrowed inside his hole, making me hit the dirt right beside the hole. I turned and was about to look into the hole when the earth beneath me suddenly shot up and hit me on my stomach, distracting me enough so that I didn't notice the dirt moving right behind my face and hitting me in my lower jaw.

I stumbled to the left as another part of the ground shot up, missing me by a couple centimeters and giving me time to jump backwards and pull [Spell Planner] and allowing me to create a simple spell that would press the dirt downwards and I was hoping that it was enough to trap the weasel in the dirt.

I waited a second and when I felt that the weasel would attack me again, I casted the spell right beneath me. I felt as my magicules wrapped themselves on the dirt around me and pressed them downwards like a hydraulic press, but then I felt part of my spell breaking and from there the weasel shot out of the dirt and clawed at my face. I tried to move out of the way, but wasn't fast enough and the claws hit the side of my face, scraping against the fur I had at the moment and drawing a little blood. I had forgotten to change back to my true form after merging with my past self and now was not the time.

I jumped to the left again, turning my body towards the weasel, but he clawed his way into the dirt, I guess that's why it's named "Earthclaw Weasel". But it didn't matter at the moment, all that mattered was that I needed to recover my SP and that I needed to deal with it fast because the fire was approaching, and I could hear it. I needed to find a way to locate the weasel inside the dirt, but I couldn't think about any spell that would help me and I wasn't proficient enough to create one even if I could think, [Appraisal] was only returning dirt as result, because I couldn't target the weasel inside the dirt without targeting the dirt first.

I was hit in my stomach again, but this time I knew what to expect and when the next pillar going for my chin came out, I used it as a launch pad, jumping into the air. While I was in the air, I made a few more electric bullets and shot them at the ground, but they were ineffective. Honestly, what was I expecting? Electricity vs dirt? Has Pokémon not taught me anything? Electric has disadvantage against ground types, but I knew this wasn't Pokémon and that a water bullet wasn't going to help me in this situation.

I landed next to his hole again, and when the pillar coming for my stomach came, I was prepared and jumped to the right, making it miss by another couple of centimeters. As I was in the air, it came to me a way to both finish with this weasel and escape the fire that was now starting to get too close for comfort.

As I landed, I used the same method as before, compressing the dirt below me and, just as before, the weasel shot out of the dirt, coming straight at me with its claws extended, ready to strike, but I was prepared. The moment he left the dirt, I had finished constructing my spell, it was easier than I thought and was surprised as to why I hadn't thought about it before. And, as it was about to hit me, I dived to the ground and casted, flipping everything upside down.

I had created an inverted gravity field, making the weasel start to fall towards the sky, followed by myself. It took a large chunk of my MP and was a constant drain. I would run dry in a few seconds, but those seconds were the best moment to strike as the weasel was struggling midair as it fell upwards.

I changed back to my true form and cancelled the gravity spell, and at the same time I spread my wings and casted a wind spell, making wind blow on them, making me raise in elevation and getting at the same altitude of the weasel. It was still struggling and I took the opportunity to bite on its neck…except I didn't, the moment I was closing my jaws and felt its neck on my mouth I froze for a second, and that second was enough for the weasel to swipe his claws on my chest, making me close my jaws on instinct as I flinched from the pain and killing it by accident.

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That was it, It was done, and I needed to make it through the end. I clamped my jaws shut as the weasel struggled for its life. Eventually the struggle got weaker and weaker and then finally stopped, making me breath in relief as it was over.

The wind in my ear made me remember the situation I was currently in. I looked down and the ground was fast approaching. I extended my wings and casted another wind spell, slowing my fall and changing my trajectory from straight down to a more 15º descending. I was still going down, but it was more manageable than crashing directly into the ground. It took me about five minutes of gliding for me to reach a small clearing in the forest next to a river and by then my wings were sore and it hurt for me to move them.

I was still with the weasel on my jaws. The hunger from [Genetic Dysphoria] kicked in and before I knew the part of the neck on my mouth was gone and a new entry was on the DNA list of my skill, being the Earthclaw Weasel. I still felt bad that I killed, even though I knew that this is mostly a kill or be killed world, but it's not easy to ignore your feelings and kill something, I was not a psychopath, at least I think I wasn't… Where were my therapists when I needed them the most?

With a sigh, I looked at the rest of the weasel body in front of me. If I wanted to eat it, I needed to prepare it. I wasn't going to eat it raw. I might be a dragon, a creature that eats cattle by the dozens in tales, but I wasn't going to abandon my eighteen years of humanity and thousands of years of culture to just eat it raw, no. I taught the kobolds how to cook with fire, so I would teach myself how to prepare food with the things I had access to, my claws and magic.

Suddenly I heard a sound coming from my left and when I turned to look all I saw was white and pain in my neck.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the room with the God of Time. There was a slight vibration all around me, I couldn't quite put it into words, but it was like the world was vibrating with my existence in the room. My thoughts were interrupted by the lion's voice.

"It dropped, this time. I know why, but this will increase the requirements by a few dozen more times" He said, before turning to me and speaking once more. "So, you died. Try to not do that, okay? There's only so much energy to extract your soul from Yggdrasil without it being inside the unreality"

"I...What?" I asked, clearly confused. I understood the general idea, but the logic behind it was nonsense for me.

"Death already knows not to interfere, so all you need to do now is to not die" He said and the magic circle that shone below me each time I would be transported back in time shone again, but the God of Time wasn't done speaking yet. "Consider this a small gift from me. I know you'll keep exhausting your magicules and forcing the rules of time to break your body through time to resynchronize with your past self, so before you erode your soul forever, I'll just synchronize you to your past self. And this time, do not get yourself killed by a monster" As he said it, the magic circle below me changed in various ways and then everything around me was white.

The next thing I knew I was running from where I heard footsteps, probably looking for the Lunaspectra wolf I killed. I stopped. I looked around as my mind settled as to what happened. I was seamless, different from the headache inducing I was experiencing before

I heard a voice in my head, saying I had gained a title, whatever was it, but looking around revealed no one around. There was a feeling that I had already heard it before, but couldn't exactly put it in my memories…Wait. I remember. Just when I killed the Lunaspectra wolf I heard this voice saying I had leveled up, but I wasn't in my right mind to pay any attention to it at the moment. What is it? Is it an announcer? This world wasn't gamefied enough, it seems.

But what was this title thing? Is it on my status?

There it was, in my status. Even though I don't know what it does, but it's there, and is probably something that the God of Time made when he merged me with my past self.

"Enough of this thinking for now. I need to take care of something first" I said as my skin melted and I dropped to the ground, getting a little smaller and longer.

As my body transformed into one of Earthclaw Weasel I turned around, looking at the direction I came from.

"I need food" I said as I began running back to where I heard footsteps