Despite the brief respite from the hunger, it was inevitable that he would need to eat again. Whenever he had the chance, he tried to drain the warmth from creatures instead of killing them. It did not always work out as the warmth from most meat was not the equal to that of the moaning meats he had encountered.

The dragon spent quite some time in the attempt to fill his belly and draw in enough of the warmth to satisfy his stomach. Hours later, serpentine eyes gazed intensely at a small gathering of the special meat. This two-legged meat was similar to the moaning meat, yet it did not moan.

The dragon had intended to feast on the warmth that alleviated his hunger, but something had happened which caused him to change his mind. One of the sparsely furred meats had held up a shiny object and gazed upon it.

He recognized it immediately. The shiny thing was the result of one of his many meals. He had seen them many times and cared nothing for them. The useless shiny things were having an odd effect on the meats. They sifted through his end results and grabbed every shiny thing that they found.

After they sifted through a pile piles, the largest meat barked out something incomprehensible and the smaller meats rushed over and piled the shiny things in front of it.

The large meat bared his fangs then reached down and took a little shiny thing. The dragon was not sure what to think of it. Anyone else watching might have called it some sort of crystal. The shiny things ranged from gold coins and bits of metal to little crystalline essences.

“Hell yeah, another one!” called out the biggest meat. He popped the crystal into his mouth and swallowed it whole.

“Woo!” he shouted not long after. His entire body tensed and became flush. “That did it!”

“Show us, man! Come on,” said one of the lesser meats.

The big meat looked at the speaking meat then bared his fangs. The dragon sensed a change in the air even as a slight red glow came to the big meat’s eyes.

Suddenly, the big meat released an impressive shout that became a roar. The target of that shout, the inquisitive meat, gasped then staggered back. Trembling, he threw his hands up as though he wanted to protect himself from an unseen threat. The inquisitive meat fell to the ground and curled into a fetal ball.

“That’s what it does?” asked one of the other meats.

“Yes. With this, no one’s gonna fuck with us anymore,” said the big meat. “Dragon’s roar! The system was telling the truth.”

“I can’t believe we can really get skills from monsters now,” said another meat.

Meanwhile, the inquisitive meat began to slowly recover. The power of the shout was immediate and potent, as such things went, but its effects were not long lived.

“Yeah, this is great. Now all we need to do is find that dragon,” said the big meat.

“You really think eating his heart will let you race shift?” asked one of the meats.

“That’s what I’ve heard. Eat the heart of someone who threw away their humanity, and you can become whatever they were,” said the big meat.

In shadows, the dragon tilted his head to the side. He could not understand what the meats were saying, as that part of his mind was still disturbed. However, there was a general sense of disquiet that settled over him. Something about this meat annoyed him now.

“Won’t you have to give up that skill, though?” asked a lesser meat. “The system messages did say that anyone who race shifts can’t gain other monster skills.”

“I guess,” replied the big meat. “I doubt I would miss it if I could become a dragon, though.”

“Yeah. Why have one or two skills, when you can have all of them,” said the lesser meat.

The odd noises that the meats were making began to irritate the dragon more, and more. Soon, he could not stand it any longer. He began to steal their warmth.

It was not long before the meats began to realize that something was wrong. By then, however, it was too late. They dropped unconscious to the ground in quick succession.

Hunger sated for a time; the dragon left to retire to his cave. For some reason he did not want to be outside at the moment.

On the way back to his cave, he ran across several monsters that he turned into meals. Even more notably, he also came upon another gathering of the strange noisy meats.

“You really think there’s a dragon out here?” asked one of the noisy meats. “That thing would have to be pretty high level.”

“That’s the rumor spreading around on the local forums,” said another convenient exposition meat. “Can’t be too strong, or it wouldn’t be here on Earth.”

“I dunno man. I’ve seen some strong monsters,” replied a third meat.

“If there was really a dragon here, the woods would be crawling with people. We’ve only crossed paths with a couple of people,” said the exposition meat. “It’s probably some fake low-level dragon-like monster instead of the real thing.”

The dragon grew bored. He drained the warmth from the group and moved on. The meats were more numerous than before, but they were also noisy. He could not stand their monkey chatter. So, filled with their stolen life force he began his trip back to his cavern once more.

Once he arrived, he immediately shifted into a mass of shadow and dived into the earth below. He shifted into dragon form and curled up near his birthplace. Eyes heavy, he managed to fall asleep readily. A lot had been discovered that day, but he knew he would be hungry again in the morning.