Chapter 10: Carelessness
After encountering humans for the first time in this world and suffering a mental breakdown from which I couldn’t recover, I couldn’t afford to stay depressed. I decided to monitor the group of four within the range of my Life Detection and figure out which direction the human settlement was.
The group I had helped stayed put for a while, but after one of them regained consciousness, they rested for a bit and then started walking further south.
I followed them for two days, keeping them just within the edge of my detection range, and finally, we reached a highway. They had camped once during that time, and when they were about to be attacked by a Forest Wolf again during the day, I kicked it away. I inflicted a potent poison and confusion, so it’s probably dying somewhere.
After confirming which way they went on the highway, I turned back and started walking towards the place where I had been reincarnated.
It took me about ten days to return to my original location after meeting humans for the first time in this world. Now, all I need to know is that there are humans, and if I go about ten days south from here, there’s a highway. I wouldn’t have a good time going there in this form.
More importantly, it’s better to investigate other areas. When I went south, the monsters I encountered kept getting weaker. Right now, my level is 34. It’s getting harder to level up with the monsters around here.
If the monsters get weaker when going south, then wouldn’t they get stronger if I go north?
With that thought, I started walking north without rest.
As expected, there were many high-level monsters in the North Forest. I managed to defeat opponents that were difficult even in one-on-one fights, and after five days, the view suddenly opened up, and a large mountain with rocks scattered around appeared before me.
(This mountain… it feels dangerous.)
A dangerous aura was emanating from this eerie mountain. I hesitated to step foot in it for a while, and then it suddenly came from the sky.
Species: Wyvern
Name: None
Rank: B
Level: 46
HP: 254/254
MP: 159/165
Attack Power: 201
Defense Power: 171
Magic Attack Power: 166
Magic Defense Power: 151
Agility: 159
Skills:
Flight Lv14
Roar Lv11
Breath (Fire) Lv8
(This is bad. If it breathes fire from the sky, I won’t be able to do anything.)
Of course, I don’t mean that I physically don’t have hands or feet, but simply that I don’t have any means of attacking a Wyvern circling in the sky right now. Even if I aimed with Poison Edge or Poison Bullet, it would easily dodge them at this distance.
It’s too late now, but I deeply regretted not running away the moment I saw it. However, the Wyvern, which had already recognized me as an enemy, opened its mouth wide as it turned towards me while circling.
(Crap! Water Bullet, Water Bullet!!)
The two Water Bullets I released on reflex collided with the basketball-sized fireball that the Wyvern spat out, causing an explosion in mid-air.
(That was close! If I had been a little slower, I would have been charred to a crisp.)
I managed to see the opponent’s breath preparation and neutralized it with Water Magic, but in the end, I missed the chance to escape. I was barely managing to cancel out the occasional breaths with Water Bullets. The opponent’s breaths had some intervals, and thanks to my Mana Auto-Recovery level being high, I didn’t seem to be running out of mana, but it was clear that this wouldn’t end like this.
As I was wondering what to do, I felt something with an incredibly strong life force, incomparable to the Wyvern, approaching from the mountain at an incredible speed.
The Wyvern also seemed to sense it immediately, and it abandoned its rival, with whom it had been fighting a death match, and quickly fled in the opposite direction of the mountain. What a heartless creature.
I wanted to run away immediately, but my sluggish body betrayed me, and I was late to escape again.
Zuuuuuun!
The incredibly large red mass that flew from the mountain landed right in front of me with tremendous force. The impact even created a large crater at my feet.
Species: Red Dragon
Name: Vora
Rank: A
Level: 83
HP: 512/512
MP: 327/327
Attack Power: 413
Defense Power: 398
Magic Attack Power: 299
Magic Defense Power: 287
Agility: 387
Skills:
Telepathy
Flight Lv18
Roar Lv15
Breath (Fire) Lv12
Fire Magic Lv12
Fire Resistance Lv12
Poison Resistance Lv10
Paralysis Resistance Lv10
Sleep Resistance Lv10
Confusion Resistance Lv10
(This is bad, bad, bad! Why did such a monster come here!?)
What appeared was a bright red dragon that was probably 10 meters long. Its round black eyes were staring intently at me.
(Could it be that it doesn’t intend to fight?)
There was a time when I thought so naively, yes. However, the Red Dragon betrayed my expectations and opened its large mouth.
(Water Bullet x10!!)
The ten Water Bullets I reflexively released collided with the flamethrower-like breath that came from the dragon’s mouth, causing a massive explosion. Even so, some of the flames that I couldn’t completely neutralize burned me, and parts of my vines and roots were smoldering.
Just defending against one attack took half of my mana. And that was without completely blocking it.
(No, no, no! This is absolutely impossible! I’ll die if I fight it head-on!)
I realized that with just this one exchange, and I started to slowly back away while keeping my eyes on the Red Dragon.
The symbol of terror silently watched my movements. But, strangely, it didn’t attack me as I backed away.
(D-Did I survive?)
In the end, the dragon didn’t attack me as I fled, and it seemed to have let me escape.
It seems I had become complacent after repeated evolutions and level-ups. This experience was a reminder that a moment of carelessness can be fatal in this world. Grateful that my life was still intact, I vowed to make more careful efforts to become stronger.