I walked up the slope on my three and a half legs in quiet contemplation. That back-to-back fight was the most demanding I ever won. And this time, won without tricks. No sacrificial siblings to saturate my attacker with sludge. No dueling dragons to double-kill. Just me and every skill in rotation. I slashed, bit, tackled, headbutted, spat poison, frenzied, and above all healed myself with my supply of mana. My claws were the real winners, as in the last double-fight they both replenished my reserves and saved me from anything overly powerful. The last part, however, was an angry blur. In one moment, I was trying to bite the stone away from my limb. In the next, I bit off her limb, and would have likely finished her off, but the human look of pain on her face moved me. Not having a way to intentionally heal, I did the next best thing, and embraced as best as I could to bring her closer to my [Silver heart]. As soon as my mind was clear enough to use its magic, I did. And in doing so, gained an ally- far more important than a level or two.

  Now free from combat and able to walk like mostly-normal, I checked the summary of combat.

  [Corrosive Poison synthesis 6 -> 8. Greater frenzy Level 1 -> 3. Slash Level 4 -> 5. Upgrade available. Bite (I) Level 2 -> 5. Upgrade available. Headbutt 2 -> 3. Tackle 2 -> 3]

  [Mana healing 1->3. Dodge 3 -> 4. Roar 3->4]

  [Mana gathering 4-> 5. Mana saving 4->5]

  I counted under my breath, distracted once by the sensitivity of my still-healing leg. Sixteen Skill levels in one fight was a large development. Partly because I spread myself somewhat thin in search of combo fodder, but I suspected that stronger foes gave quicker Skill levels.

  [Skill: Mana healing has risen to level 4]

  Make that seventeen, I thought as the system dinged. I still had a ways to go, especially as I was moving slower, so I checked what my skills could become.

  Slash and Bite had very similar options. One for armor, one for bleed, one for limbs, one for speed.

  Mana gathering branched slightly. It could widen to increase the area from which my kanastone gathered mana from the air, hasten to increase processing speed, or strengthen to do some of each. Standard fare, really.

  Mana saving, like stamina cap, only had one option; to further increase the discount in spells. Choosing just one of these options would take up both my leftover skill points, and I knew the next two were locked behind that grueling tenth level.

  Not letting that stop me, I looked at how they combined. Stamina cap plus either physical skill gave that new skill a resource pool of its own, independent from my stamina. Both slash and bite made [Claw crush], an overspecialized skill governing using my claws like a set of jaws. Mana gathering however, drew my eye. Combining it with [Slash] replicated what my claws were already doing, and given how the skill leveled up when I struck with my mana claws, I knew there was already some level of synergy going on. Bite had the same idea, and would serve as an alternative to my lacerating one. The weirdest fusion however, was stamina cap + mana gathering

  [Mana furnace. Focus to begin converting stamina into mana]

  If I wasn’t already digging a mana pool, I wouldn’t turn that off. Due to my size and metabolism, stamina was not in short supply; especially for short, decisive, bite-the-neck fights I had grown so accustomed to. However as I was moving away from the realm of realism and into fighting like a fantasy monster, my priorities would need to evolve even more than my species would.

  When I poked my head past the threshold into the kobold cave, the small lizard people cheered. I happily roared, but reached my mind out to Topaz; and found her quickly through the beast lore connection

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  [Where were you?] I accused.

  “I... panicked. And fled” Topaz admitted, looking downwards. I gestured forward with my claw, both prompting her to elaborate and showing off the damage. “Your eyes started glowing red, and this black smoke came out of your mouth. And when I tried to reach out with our mind bridge, all I heard in response was roaring. I thought you were possessed, and that quest I received...”

  She trailed off, but I knew what she meant. And pressed my snout to her shoulder affectionately.

  [Not yet I’m not. At least, not anymore. There’s a hole in my memory from my fight against this one]- I gestured to my rider, who waved her good arm sarcastically -[but regained enough presence of mind to save her]

  After a quick introduction of contestants, I left Excella to recover, and left myself to think. Last evolution was the threshold of a much larger world, where I couldn’t rely on outside help.

  “Unless I made it myself.” I stated, ambition rising faster than I could as I climbed atop the mining scaffolds. Knowing one way to get the attention of the kobolds who lived here, I [Roared].

  A good fifty heads turned themselves towards me, in equal parts awe and fear. My pride surged as I looked over them all, my named handful of kobolds kneeling in respect.

  “Kobolds of gaham cave” I called out in the language of dragons, realizing I’d have to follow this up with something meaningful.

  “The larger races have stepped on us for too long.” I started, feeling interest rise. “And in a world that doles out size and strength for fighting and winning, we can barely afford to be small”

  A murmur of agreement seemed to blow through the crowd. I was on to something.

  “And we’re going to gather our scaled brothers, sisters, and anything in between. Demons will fall before us, and the world will love us for cleaning them out!”

  Kobolds cheered and roared. I let myself scamper down the scaffolds, landing near the leaderly Khirc. She looked up and bowed respectfully, compliment escaping her snout “Well-spoken. I can see our people care little for who was a red kobold of Zyradon and who was a blue kobold of Marazel.”

  “Especially with Miss Purple." I added, gesturing towards Cilgris. She had sprung fifteen feet into the air, just in time for me to watch her perform a backflip at the height of her jump, land in an awkward position, and get up as if it was nothing; likely due to how strong and light she was.

  My leadership skill had risen to fourth level during that whole ordeal, which let me wonder how it would combine with other skills once I had the game-changing fifth. And likely would, once I headed out...

  “Qriak” I called out to my kobolds, trusting in his knowledge. “In what locations do kobold tribes hide?”

  “Caves, tunnels, anywhere they can dig.” The kobold closed his eyes, as if to look into his memory rather than out at the world.

  “But I’ve heard of kobold society establishing itself into the great Ilya forest, far to the west. They’re large, but diplomatic, and if a dragon like you could break the mold, it’s there.” Qriak informed with a hint of brown-nosing. I turned my focus and method of communication towards Topaz, seeming every bit as enthralled as the kobolds around her.

  [Topaz, please search for a large, developed forest to the west. And use your mind magic to inform Excella of where to open a portal of hers.]

  A minute of searching later, and Excella tapped my shoulder.

  “Tell me why I should open up a portal for you, Dragon.”

  I should have expected her defiance. Wanting to open up with a move about how I saved her life from me, I changed my angle at the last minute

  [Because I’m bringing back kobolds. And one of them might be able to restore you faster. I might get strong enough to share my healing and restore your arm even easier. In fact, where I’m going might have a contestant to slay]

  “I accept.” Excella answered with a dark smile, gesturing downwards. She staggered slightly from the mana draw, but opened a swirling portal to a brighter, greener, more lively landscape. Not wanting to deprive my kobold cave of any more manpower, only two beings stepped through- Excella and I.

  The move from a dark, warm, loud cave to a bright, temperate, quiet forest was alarming. The portal’s location was imprecise, but Excella looked too depleted to open another. I took mercy, and let her onto my back. She grasped with her good arm at my ridges, finding a position again, and I moved forward, slowing my walk to allow her to stay on in moderate comfort. I was confident enough in my Heart to let my arm heal, letting my pool fill as I walked towards the developed-looking woods.