Home. A place one can call a haven for a weary mind. No matter who you are or what you are, if you are a being of flesh and blood, then you will always need a place you can call home.

Even if that place is a cold, claustrophobic cave with little to nothing to eat. Even then, it is typically better to stay in this closed cavern than in the area outside of it. At the very least, attacks will only come from the entrance of the cave, the only possible entryway for threats worthy of a being like an orc.

In the face of this truth, the 5 orcs calling this cave in the Belzac forest their home were relishing their moment of respite, before they must return to the hunt when the time comes.

Still, resting is a dull activity when there is nothing to do in this desolated cave besides sleeping. Even orcs require mental stimulation of some kind, so what to do to satisfy this need? Why, eating of course. For an orc; stuffing their stomach full of delicious meat is a joy they crave every day; fueling their endless desire to hunt and kill, while growing their already well-developed muscles. These green skins are natural connoisseurs of good food.

This group of orcs was, unfortunately, fresh out of rations but that is nothing to worry about. It may not have been long since they settled in this cave, but they knew it well enough to know the existence of an underwater lake filled with savory fish. They just needed one of them to go fetch enough for everyone.

And this very orc is the one we are following right now.

Fish. Can’t wait for fish. But why me? Work too hard. Hunting more fun.

It is true. Fishes are small and slippery, and lived in the water. No matter how strong and capable a hunter this orc might have been; in the water without the correct tool, this orc’s fishing duty will be arduous. Regardless, despite his dislike for it, his enthusiasm is commendable, although the source for this was just his endless appetite.

Cave always so dark. Eyes not good. But nose good. Smell takes me to fish.

An exaggeration. The orc, being a monster, knows instinctively of the existence of the skill system created by this world’s gods, ever since he was born into it. Depending on circumstances, they might also be able to use Profile to review their status and skills.

Coincidently, our little dragon girl was the same. As a dragon, classified as a monster, the existence of the skill system and the profile was already imprinted into her but by a pure coincidence of retaining her memory after rebirth, she was able to unravel the intricacy of the System a bit earlier than others of her age.

Path safe. Smell goes this way.

This orc has, due to his living environment, learned the night vision skill and, naturally, leveled it enough to be able to identify and navigate throughout the cave. The issue, however, comes from his lackluster drive to remember anything outside his interests. The path to the lake with fish? Why should I remember it, if I know the smell that leads me towards it? A lazy way of thinking. Nonetheless, an orc’s nose can be trusted, as it has just led the orc to the underground lake without any issues.

Fish smells good. My brothers and sister hunt. I get the fish before they come back. Must hurry or no meat for me!

A division of labor. It has been decided by the whole group that four would hunt, while one goes fishing. For an orc, the idea of acquiring more food will always be captivating. If one idea can net them more food, then it will be accepted 10 out of 10 times.

As a hunt will last awhile, with no way to know when it ends, the orcs always station one orc to protect their home, while the rest are away. During this guard duty, the guard will take the time to gather fish for the returning hunters. A feast of meat and fish shall await all of them, with any extra fish as snacks for their well-earned slumber.

Water so good. So good. Haha. Fish will be good too. Catch many for brothers and sister.

A good attitude. Lamentably, a correct attitude will not aid him with fishing. Due to his body size, the water, fortunately, only reaches up to his stomach, giving him enough mobility to catch fish with his spear. A good enough advantage for any fledgling fisher but for a fisher without a plan nor technique, this advantage will only be squandered.

Having no patience, the orc trashes around the water, sinking his spear into any fish shadow that dares to approach him. Though, none will reach their mark.

Surely, this should dissuade the orc from continuing his futile attempts, right? Evidently, no. Using his skills and weapon ability to augment his spear attacks, the orc will try again and again until, eventually, an unlucky fish was pierced.

Ha ha ha!

Laughing haughtily, he dined on the first bounty of many to come. After enjoying a nice rest, he went back to continue his work.

A cycle of hunt and rest was to become his life until his companions return. In this cave without a sun nor clock, one can only fancy a guess how many days have gone by since he began. Tirelessly, the orc focused on his task, ignoring anything not related to it, stacking fish after fish until he couldn’t carry everything in his arms anymore.

Perhaps, neglecting the influence of a correct attitude was a bit too rash. His persistence and hard work did after all result in a job well done.

“Gruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuohhhhhhhh!”

Hunters back! Home! Smell so good!

Simple, joyful thoughts for his returning companions. Now the feast may start.

Carrying how many fish he could, while eating any leftovers, he marches onwards with his nose as his guide back.

This way is correct. Smell so good. So good. So good.

“What a smell!” he thought.

Although the smell was foreign to him, the tenderizing aroma of fat juices was overwhelming him to the point that he forgot to scrutinize the smells around him.

To reiterate, if what he does doesn’t serve his nose, mouth or stomach, he would rather drop it and do something else, as an orc would. That also includes training skills. If only he had gained and trained his skills properly, he might have recognized his impending doom a little sooner, or at all.

What he found at the end of the path wasn’t his brethren but fishes and a big lizard. The fish seem to be burnt, but it was undoubtedly the source of the delectable smell.

Smell so good! Want to eat. But what is that other thing? It has no smell.

Correct. That lack of smell coming from the medium dog-sized lizard, her details hard to identify in this dark cavern due to her black scales, was caused by the level 3 wind magic spell [Air Shield]. Surrounding its user with wind, that can act both as a shield against attacks and a way to hide someone’s smell. However, this is something our orc would never learn.

Smell-less thing is pointing arm. Attacking? Hmmm. Offering food? Making same movements as sister tracker when showing food to eat.

Apparently, one of the other orcs was familiar with a hand gesture of offering something. The orc understood it and greedily reached out towards the fish.

Ahhhh. Taste good. Fish the best fish. Sound when eating makes me want more. The best food ever.

The orc continued to devour the rest of the grilled fish that was offered. After licking the last bit of juices left on his mouth, the orc eyed the mysterious lizard, filled with awe and respect for this display of kindness. If he were to introduce his leading brother to this creature, it could give them more of this exquisite food. The orcs would obtain another companion in their lives. It would be a smart choice.

Want more! Smell-less has more. Want to eat too. Eaaaaaat!

…A shame it was ruined by greed.

“Gruuuuarrrr…! Grk!”

*fwoosh*

“Gruuargh! Grorck!”

Controlled by feeding frenzy, the shimmering, magical rune circles, evidence of magic, went unnoticed to him. [Haste], [Sturdy Earth], [Strengthening Flames], [Swift Winds] and [Holy Protection]. All activated in succession. Readying for the fight.

He also neglected the existence of an [Earth Strike] trap placed right behind the fish. The trap activated and skewered his feet, causing multiple sharp pains to appear. It did little health damage, but it still made him want to shout, however, he swallowed a [Fireball] with his gaping mouth before he could.

Hurts! Pain! Why can I not shout? Throat hurts so much. Fire. Lizard, what you do?!

Glaring at the source of all his pain, he finally recognizes the lizard for it what it truly was. The shadows disappearing at the appearance of [Light], the details finally unveiled.

No! Horns. Wings. Fire. Dra-Dragon!

“Kish kish. Krah Kraah krash kraaaa!“

********************

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Wind Magic Lv. 3] evolved into [Wind Magic Lv. 4]. 550 SP remaining Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Acrobatic Lv. 3] evolved into [Acrobatic Lv. 4]. 400 SP remaining Multiple acquisition requirements fulfilled. [Silent Casting Lv. 1] [Trap Creation Lv. 1] acquired Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Spark Fire Dragon Lv. 5] [Mana Control Lv. 7] [Fire Magic Lv. 5] [Earth Magic Lv. 7] [Wind Magic Lv. 5] [Trap Creation Lv. 3] [Stealth Lv. 7] [Silent Casting Lv. 2] [Identify Lv. 9] [Prediction Lv. 4] [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 9] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 3] [Night Vision Lv. 6] [Presence Killer Lv. 5] [Acrobatic Lv. 5] [Cooking Lv. 6] [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 3] [Pain Resistance Lv. 5] [Fire Resistance Lv. 5] gained Ability gained: [Spark Fire Breath] Magic gained: [Strengthening Flames] [Sturdy Earth] [Earth Spears] [Air Shield] [Wind Slash] [Swift Winds] Skill requirement fulfilled. [Earth Magic Efficiency] gained [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Spark Fire Dragon *]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha. You finally came out!

Ahhhh, what the hell! That took too long. Do you know how long I had to wait for you to stop fishing! How were you able to keep fishing without doing anything else? All you did was fish, eat and sleep. I at least did some cooking and magic practice.

Urgh, I never could have imagined this to take ages, when I decided to kill you all.

It wasn’t too bad for the first few meals, it did give me a few laughs, but watching you flailing around with your spear like an idiot trying to catch a single fish, eventually gets dull. Waiting for you boosted all my stealth abilities like crazy, I even got [Silent Casting] while trying to cook unnoticed.

It was enough to drive me insane had I not dropped the 24/7 stakeout.

To pass the time I did a lot of magic and skill practice. I mean there was just nothing to do. I couldn’t wander around the cave, my control over [Enhanced Enemy Sense] isn’t good enough to detect something out of my sight yet, and fishing is obviously out of the question.

Singing was too risky, plus no matter how much I tried, all my words come out as “kraaah” or “kish”. It’s impossible to teach a dragon to speak words, ahhhhh!

Oh, and don’t get me started with dancing. …Ok, I forgot to try that.

Uhm, I admit flinging around all that magic semi-seriously has led to a major improvement to my skills and stats. Using magic like that was incredibly fun. Experimenting and learning how much my magic can do without care, felt awesome.

This is magic! This is the sorta thing people dream of when they wish for magic

Mhmm, *giggle*.

…B-But never under these circumstances again, ok! It made me question how I was able to do all that sneaking around and ambush hunting until now.

The worst part was [Battle Frenzy] that randomly appeared during all this wait. After getting it, I just had this uncontrollable urge to just fight something, but I…just…groan. I-I just couldn’t, ‘cause there was nothing to fight.

Even my parallel minds started to become agitated from my increased aggression when they are supposed to be the ones to act sensibly!

It started with minor, then it turned into moderate. I want to know how I got it, but [Identify] was not high enough for some reason. Do I need [Identify Lv.10]?

Everything made me feel terrible. [Battle Frenzy] is still there, but now that I’m fighting, I feel more excited than bad.

“Kraaaaaaaahh!”

This mix of excitement, anger, and impatience made me roar in an extremely loud provocative way.

But I guess all that waiting did cool my initial excitement down. It reminded me of that kobold fight, so this time I made sure to try out a peaceful method first. Keeping my conscience clean is important to me. Of course, I did it with a ton of insurance in case it failed, like what just happened.

“Urgh…gug…ghhh…hhh!”

Back to reality. My spells shaved a good chunk away from him, but they weren’t enough for a decisive blow. Well, it would be pretty anti-climactic if you died right away. I deserve some action for all that time you made me wait!

The orc rushes head-on, with spikes still sticking out of his feet. He seems to be berserk, so this should be easy enough.

I simultaneously created 3 walls of earth with my 3 parallel minds, now that [Parallel Thoughts] is level 3, and began walking to the side to evade his charge.

Figures, standard walls are nothing against a rank D monster. His advances went unstopped and all my hard work crumbled done into dust. Well, those walls are supposed to act as a smokescreen anyway.

Earth Spear.

You can't avoid them if you can't see them coming for you!

“Gur…!”

*crash*

Wha?! An ability, huh? Tch, that brute strength outright destroyed my spell without leaving a scratch on him.

Damn brute.

“Grrruuu…!”

His next spear ability is aiming for me. Too bad, that kinda speed is not enough to hit me…woah!

A sudden flurry of spear stabs erupted.

Ahh, right! That time when he flailed around to catch a fish. So, that was a weapon ability, too?

Hmph, not like it can hit me though.

All of them were easily dodged with [Evasion], it's not even a challenge for me with my Agility. Precisely ‘cause I'm this fast, should be reason enough to not let yourself be open to a counterattack like this one!

Imbue Fire!

“Graaaaaaaaagh…!!!”

My front legs are once again cloaked in searing flames, with my claws having the appearance of flaming scythes.

Taking advantage of [Prediction], I learned the trajectory of every single strike, moved around them, and swung my right front leg, twisting my slender body to help momentum, at the orc’s dominant arm. My dragon body’s sickle-like claws sliced through it, as if cutting butter with a hot knife and reaped the orc of an arm.

Now bleeding profusely with plenty of burns, the orc agonized over the loss of his limb and attempt to stanch the flow of blood however he could. Before he could realise that he should run, I shot three [Fire Ball]s and ended his misery.

Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Spark Fire Dragon *] has risen from [Level 4] to [Level 9] Attributes have increased due to level up Acquired 750 skill points Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Space-Time Magic Lv. 3] [Fire Magic Lv. 6] [Mana Control Lv. 8] [Evasion Lv. 4] [Enhanced Claws Lv. 5] gained Magic gained: [Flame Spear] Skill requirement fulfilled. [Space-Time Magic Efficiency] gained

Phew. Guess even a rank D can't survive this many point-blank fireballs to his face. Looking at my claws, I let out a sigh of relief to know that they still are as sharp as ever, even after cutting flesh, muscles, nerves and bones.

Ehehe. I did it! Yes! Yes! I can’t believe it went that smoothly. The firepower you get from being a Fire Spark Dragon is just incredible. It’s all thanks to [Spark Fire’s Fire Boost] and its effect to boost every single attack that involves using the fire element.

I didn’t even have to use [Mana Strike] on that claw attack. [Imbue Fire] flat out makes my attacks stronger, while having a lower mana cost. Hell, I didn’t even have to use a single [Fire Spark Dragon] skill yet, and my fire spells are already destroying an orc’s health pool.

Woah, what a rush. The excitement I had during the kobold fight was nothing compared to this.

…I’m turning into a real battle junkie. If you had told my past life that I would turn into this, then I would have called you crazy. Well, at least [Battle Frenzy] is completely gone, and with that, the calmness in my head is back. The tension and stress of over, how many weeks, just washed away when I killed the orc.

Anyways, enough with the celebration. There are still 4 orcs left.

********************

Hey, it’s me again~

What am I doing?

Preparing to ambush~

Huh? You're asking why I'm still sneaking around when I just complained a few minutes ago about how ambush hunting sucks?

W-Well, I can’t help it. How could a young maiden like me, ever think of fighting something as scary as an orc? At least not fairly, mind you.

I did level a bunch after killing the first orc, but that doesn’t mean I am ready to fight 4 orcs on equal terms. As a spark fire dragon, my stats favor an offensive hit-and-run style of combat. A style I have preferred since birth. I have incredible firepower, physical and magical, but my defenses are fragile without my defensive spells and skills.

A single clean hit from an orc is no joke for me. Even my own attacks are too dangerous to use on myself; the reason why my resistance skills haven't leveled up that much. I once used a single fire spell on myself, resulting in me squirming on the ground, begging my parallel minds to heal me, but it did instantly level up pain and fire resistance.

I can’t afford that in a real fight. Pain sucks. Plain and simple; and I don't want to feel it if it isn’t necessary. That’s why I need to compromise with myself and wait until I evolve a few more times. Haste makes waste, and I don’t plan to rush becoming the most intimidating dragon there is.

So, I'm following an orc who separated himself from the group, probably looking for his now-deceased companion.

The orc made it to the crossway. This should be enough.

I conjured multiple magical circles, evidence for spells, all at once. Apply all buff spells.

With my defensive and offensive buffing spells active, I began my attack.

Earth Strike! Fire Ball!

The [Earth Strike] pierced the orc’s feet and locked him in place for my [Fire Ball] to hit him right in his face, sizzling away the skin.

“Gruaarrrrrrghhhh!”

Call for your friends! They won't make it in time anyway.

Hmm, I should rephrase that. It makes me sound like a villain.

Earth Spear. Earth Spear.

“Gruk!”

I used my spears to skewer his legs, piercing from the feet to the thighs, into the ground to completely disable his movements. Three more fire balls should end him just like the other one.

Fire…!

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Prediction Lv. 4] evolved into [Prediction Lv. 5]

Ow! An arrow! I barely dodged it, but the arrow still grazed my cheeks. Where did it come from? I made sure that no orc was close to me when I did this. Is my enemy sensor not working properly?

…

…Scheiße! How the hell did they figure out that I’m even here?! It seems the one orc with the “tracker” job used [Sneak] and [Presence Killer] to stay hidden. Checking now; her stealth skill isn't much higher than mine, but I guess my proficiency with [Enhanced Enemy Sense] leaves a lot to be desired, considering her arrow nearly turned my head into a kebab.

‘You shouldn’t have screeched so loud, you idiot.’

Out of nowhere, one of my parallel minds talked. During my whole training period, my parallel minds increased from one to three. This one, parallel mind #2, reminded me that it would have been weirder if nobody heard my roar during the previous fight.

I guess I forgot that I was pretty noisy after I defeated the first orc.

“Gruuuuuargh!”

“Gruaaaaaaghhhh!”

I can hear the other two. Not good. With the tracker aiming her bow at me, I can’t attack the trapped orc. It seems like taking them all out with a surprise attack is impossible now. Time for plan B.

…RUN AWAY!

Determined to hunt me down, the tracker chose to pursue me, probably intending to push the role of helping the trapped orc to one of her companions.

She won’t be able to catch me, but I won’t be able to lose her either. That tracker’s [Tracking] skill is decently trained.

In an endurance run, I would probably lose against those orcs. But, fortunately, plan B doesn’t need me to do that. I just need to be fast, even at the cost of my stamina.

With my stamina only having 30% left, I arrived in a large room filled with earth constructions similar to an obstacle or parkour course. Of course, this was all man-made…or dragon-made?

Oh, it seems the orcs have arrived too. The two others seem to be out of breath, well, considering they somehow caught up to the tracker, it isn’t a surprise. They seem to be confused about the room but were quick to focus back on me.

You could have admired it a bit more, you know. It might look weird, but I worked hard to construct all of this with my magic. Ahh, whatever, that isn't really important, I guess. All that is important is that the stage for the battle has been decided. A stage ready for a concert I have readied, in case of plan A failing.

Welcome, to my (boss) stage!