The exchange between Aurum and me left a bad taste in my mouth only because since I just healed I didn't want to start another fight and end up hurt again even with my new skills I learned my lesson and I will just bide my time until I can overpower him with ease, which ended up with a surprising ding going off in my head but as I was on a mission I pushed it away.
I decided that after a short rest to refresh my mind I will head out and fulfill my 1st task of hunting. I wanted to bring Gaia but when I went to get him and ask him to join me I saw that he was a in the middle of training in the form of meditation. I knew the benefits of doing this so I just left him and went on my first hunt by myself.
I started by heading into the small clearing where I had learned my breath attack and its variants, I figured that enough time has passed and I might catch a glimpse of some small prey to start of slow. Since I didn't finish training with dad my knowledge of hunting as a dragon was a little flawed but I just supplemented with how humans hunt and just picked a tree and scaled it up to a semi large branch that could hold my weight. I knew that if I was going to be playing the waiting game I should try and train a bit and I figured aslong as I didn't disturb the peace and quiet I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak, I closed my eyes and imagined the mana that was inside my body leaving and slowly spreading out and essentially mapping out the surrounding areas, it was hard to keep my MP at max as with absorption while at the same time sending it out into a radius around me, found out that to do this required a good chunk of my MP not only to send it out but also to keep it in a radius like position and not just dissipate. After an hour of constant absorption and manipulation I finally got the skill I was hoping to get as a pop-up for a new skill appears.
[Conditions have been met. The skill (Detection) has been granted.]
And with that I sit back and relax to train the 2 skills that I see great potential in. About 30 minutes later I feel like a tugging sensation in my head that is pulling me mentally towards a direction, so curious I look around and I see a couple of rabbits hopping towards the clearing just barely inside of my detection zone. I decide its time to hunt and I slowly climb down the tree which was nerve racking because I climbed down snout first which was a whole new experience for me, but I got down and slowly hunkered and moved as quietly as I could I sneak up on them and..... I had to jump out of the way of a stone spike that was flying towards me as I see one of the hares turn around and with a move straight out of a cartoon jump up and kick a rock that turned into a spike towards me. I dodged and sent a stream of smoke towards them hoping to blind them and settle back down for a sneak attack but even with the smoke I could see clumps of dirt being thrown at my location from within the smoke.
As confused as I was I had no choice but to figure out how to either escape or to kill these creatures, it was only a matter of time till they succumb to the smoke but I was being forced to dodge stones and hardened dirt like it was a shooting gallery and I was a moving target. I decided to just go ahead and start using my spatial bullets I shot 5 into the smoke and shortly after you could see the smoke start to get sucked into a small void as I was lucky enough to hit one of the rabbits. It was a bit gruesome as the point of impact sucked in the rabbits foot as it was descending from a kick and it started to get sucked in with dirt and smoke and other debris. I was shocked at the scene but once I realized that I couldn't eat it if it got sucked in I stopped using the bullet I labeled that skill as a condition only use, with that condition being life or death. For the other It started burrow into the ground and I could feel the ground shake and get more violent as the rabbit got closer. I got a little frightened when everything stopped and it all became eerily quiet I could not sense anything around me but I had not gotten to the point where I could sense things underground it was to dense to send my mana into the earth for now.
A few minutes go by and still nothing No sounds nothing so I figure it had ran away from what happened to its friend, and since the noise obviously scared away and potential prey I had to leave and look for a new spot, I walked for atleast a good hour just enjoying the hike and taking in the nature around me, I come upon a good sized stream and decided to rest here and get some water. As I look into the stream I notice some fish laying down at the bottom of the stream. I can tell it is atleast a good Foot and a half in length while also being a good deal wider. A image of me reeling in a big fat one and roasting it over a fire played through my head which caused my mouth to start drooling at the thought of roasted fish, maybe I could find some herbs or go back to the home garden and pick some things for the fish.
But as I was daydreaming I get blasted in the face by a jet of water coming from the stream and a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth snap shut inches away from my nose. In shock I look down to see that the fish I had thought was small on the bottom was actually very large and the bottom of the stream was actually much much deeper than I thought with very clear water which lead to a very misleading almost disastrous outcome. After jumping back I realize how totally clueless I was to how this worlds environment works, the ecosystem is very violent at best to the point where normally docile creatures that I thought was a cute little bunny could end up pelting me with rocks like some crazed Earth mover.
I just say screw it and I wait for the fish to jump up and strike again but this time I swipe at it with my claws and was able to knock it out of the water where it flopped and jumped for a few seconds until finally I could see the life fade from its otherwise Predatory gaze. Being thankful that I could get a meal out of this with as little surprises as possible I bring together some wood and other small things together into a fire area which I had cleared out before hand and thinking a bit outside the box I exhaled smoke onto the fire pit until I could see small embers attach to the kindling and using a method I saw on a survival show way back when I slowly breath on the ember until finally a small flame appears which I put underneath some small twigs and branches until it can support itself. Then I skewer the fish and lay it over top of the fire, as I didn't want to build a whole campfire just something for a quick cook-up. But let me say that after having meat for so long the freshness and smell of that fish after it was done cooking was out of this world, the taste was definitely a pallet cleanser from all of the red meat and veggies from the garden, it was a welcome change that fortunately gained me a notification.
[Stream Piranha consumed, Assimilate Y/N]
After hitting yes I get the usual message of sequencing and coding and the like, and with excitement I look over the new list of skills.
[Skills obtainable from current material]
[Swimming] - able to swim faster
[Power bite] - increase biting strength
[Jet stream] - Shoot a small stream of water at high velocity towards a target.
[Hardened scales] - Increase in natural thickness in scales leading to a rise in defense.
I was a bit let down by the number of skills obtainable especially swimming since I could learn that on my own but I was a bit intrigued by the Hardened scales perk it was a passive like what ive been picking and this one actually increased my defense directly aswell as it did it permanently. So with the decision made I chose the skill and waited for the rush of energy.
[The skill (Hardened scales) has been selected now assimilating with body]
I feel a slight tingling on my skin as the scales started to expand and after a bit started to overlap and on my legs the scales turned into a few large scales that was extra thick and took on more of a green shield like scale while on my head and eyes they turned into a hardened cap sort of like how an ancient dinosaur known for headbutting looked. my underbelly gained some small scales it seemed that even with the new passive my underbelly would still be a big weakness to look out for.
After the surge dies down I notice that the sun is starting to get a little low and the forest around me is starting to get active. Not wanting to encounter something out here especially at night without my dad to help protect against something extremely dangerous like the Shadow Eaters I race home using every bit of stamina I have an before long I was heaving and trying to catch my breath But I could now see the stone wall outlying the garden just a few hundred meters in front of me. About that time I could hear a low growl emanate from a short distance behind me as the forest around me starts to darken and I feel a pressure pushing down on me.
[Mana absorption] 15% -> 50%
[Mana Manipulation] lvl 1 -> lvl 2 0/30
"New" [Detection] 0% - By manipulation of the ambient mana the user is able to create a circle of awareness using the caster as the center.
[Spatial bullet] 0/10 -> 5/10
[Smoke breath] 0/20 -> 1/20
[Smoke stream] 0/10 -> 2/10
"New" [Hardened scales] lvl 1 0/10 - Increase in natural thickness in scales leading to a rise in defense.
[Devour] 3/10 -> 4/10
[Assimilate] 2/10 -> 3/10
Spd - 2 -> 4.5