28

I considered it for some time before storing the blood away, and staring at what remained. Bone, skin, and a pile of rubbery thread sat before me. I realized once I felt the thread that it was the same material you might use in a bowstring. It was probably made from the beast's intestines, and stomach. Worthless to most, but to an archer like me this strong material could prove incredibly useful. 

Especially since I would hopefully be riding on dragon back sooner rather then later. Now that I'd decided what I wanted to take it was time to mull over staying here to drink the monster blood. This beast was a great deal more powerful then the others. Any idiot could see that. Even with my body healed, and myself rested. 

I frowned to myself as I thought about the stack of jars before me. These jars were much bigger then the vails, and flasks of blood from the others. I knew how much damage the blood would do to me. Going back to the real world would be a nice respite, but drinking this beast blood had to be treated as if it were deadly. I sat down in the sand, and made a jar appear before me. 

The jar was made from glass, and I didn't know where this glass had appeared from. The slight haze of mana from the jar made it difficult to tell if it was made from magic or not. The other vails had vanished once they were empty. I would say they turned to dust but after only a few seconds there was nothing that remained of them. Not even dust. 

I leaned forward picking up the jar. I picked up the jar, and drank a swig. Resolving myself to drink one jar before leaving. Knowing there were twenty more for me to suffer through. I resolved myself to drink one after each time I rested. 

Starting with the bigger ones, and working down through the smaller ones. I knew I would have to save more blood when I could get it, and the edible meat was something I couldn't compromise on. I could cook it, and eat it once I was recovered, and free of this dungeon. I knew this dungeon would reset once I left. I would have to fight all the beasts I'd already fought to get this far again. 

It felt wasteful, but I needed the experience more then I needed to push through. With any luck the blood would continue to help in advancing the hatchling within me. The large jar brought me a great deal of pain with each swing. It burned, and scorched my insides, but the dragon egg within me drank up the magic in the blood. Taking the pain of the scorching blood away with it. 

My health started to climb once the dragon egg had absorbed the mana. The blood itself helped both with my thirst, and hunger. If it didn't tax my heath to drink the nasty substance I might drink more simply to survive this hot unforgiving environment. I knew I was pushing myself. I knew I had to. 

I would need this strength. I needed that egg to hatch. I knew I couldn't trust the people around me. That bastard had taught me well that I couldn't trust men in particular. I'd never been that trusting to begin with. 

Often choosing to observe as people metaphorically hung themselves. His attempt to rape me was stamped into my being. Sometimes I could still feel that hot flesh hardening against my leg. The amount of mental damage done just by him attempting to rape me had been terrible. I couldn't imagine how bad it could have been if he'd succeeded. 

I slapped my knee hard. The pain chased off the feeling, and I was able to focus on the pain of the next swing. Pain was helping me forget the nasty encounter. I couldn't even recall his name right now in the sizzling sun. The sand biting into my skin. 

I focused on those feelings. Hoping that my mind wouldn't drift back to the uncomfortable feeling. Finishing the large jar was a respite I so desperately wanted. Flopping back in the sand. Just laying there as my body slowly healed from the damage I'd taken when drinking the blood. 

At least the jar had done it's job. Fifty kills had been knocked off what I needed to hatch the dragon egg. Fifty was a good number. It wasn't as much as I expected considering the large amount of blood I'd had to drink for the benefit. Maybe the mana in the blood wasn't as concentrated as I thought despite the beast's large size, and power. 

Maybe the beast was more focused on physical power then I originally thought. It sucked, but the blood was something I needed to accelerate the hatching process. I moved back to the real world then. Now that my health had recovered I felt so much better. The cool air of the real world struck me. 

I would have shivered if it wasn't for the chill of the dragon within me. I felt a brief whisper of displeasure. It seemed the drakeling was in just as much a hurry to hatch as I was to grow stronger. I grabbed bits of cardboard. Setting them on fire as I looked around the decrepit store. 

I hadn't seen such civilization in some time. It pleased me for some reason. I broke shelves, and placed them in the blaze. Creating a good sized campfire. Grabbing a pan from the disheveled section that used to hold cookware. 

I grabbed one of those cheap painted metal shelves from one of the coolers. Deciding to drag the whole fridge with me. Tipping it over next to the fire, and setting the metal rack on top before going to grab another cooler. Yanking along the cooler, and setting it on the other side of the flames. Pushing both coolers closer to the flames so that the metal rack would hang above the fire.