CHAPTER 13

Sapphire reached the base of the mountain just as the sun was about to rise. As she was tired after the battle, she saw it fit to find a good spot to rest. As she climbed the mountain she found a crack in the mountain that led into a very small chamber. The crack was barely visible and thin enough for most monsters and creatures to not be able to enter.

Sapphire inspected the crack and wondered if she could fit through. She poked her head in and made sure it was completely empty and safe before trying to drop down into the little chamber. She felt like she scraped her hands and face slightly on the ridged rocks of the crack, while they hurt a lot there was luckily no bleeding, having already bled as much blood as she could afford to lose without any after effects.

She got as comfortable as was possible by wrapping her cloak around her body and using the hood and her hat as sort of a pillow. She lied on her side and pulled her hands and legs close to her body to keep herself warm through the night. It didn't take long before she fell asleep due to how exhausted and injured she was.

When she woke up it was completely dark and she wondered if she really slept through the entire day. She tossed her hat out of the crack before climbing out herself, surprised to find It was still not nighttime, the darkness having been mostly because she was on the eastern side of the mountain. Barely any light reached the crack, making it seem like nighttime from inside of it. The sun being far to the west, hidden behind the mountain, only aided this.

Still, there wasn't much time before dusk and so she decided to start moving, after eating that is. She took out a sandwich from her coat pocket, wrapped in some kind of shiny and thin sheet. After peeling the sheet as Kurai taught her to, she tucked into the sandwich. The taste was delightful, the flavor was nice, and it was much more filling than wild berries. After savoring her sandwich she moved on, circling towards the left of the mountain to head south.

The mountain was much wider than she expected it was, even this high up it seemed like it would take her a couple days just to reach the southern side of it. This did give her more time to hunt for monsters so she could level up, however, she didn't see any monsters on the lower part of the mountain, and heading into the forest would lengthen her journey by a great deal. The only option was to climb higher up the mountain. Since there was no forest cover she would have no trouble spotting any enemies either, though that works both ways.

While climbing up, Sapphire stumbled upon a large cave, which seemed more like a giant hole in the side of the mountain. The entrance was big enough for some of the rainforest's biggest trees to walk right in, not like would be able to. There were giant boulders on the sides of the entrance, similar to a blockade. She found a gap between two boulders, large enough for her. The sun was also setting by now and the sky was getting steadily darker, meaning the chances of her being spotted were close to zero.

Poking her head outside of her hiding spot she spied in the cave. It was filled with gold, gemstones, silver, and many others shiny things. Most were just piles of coins and chunks, while some were broken pieces of well-crafted armor and weapons. There were armors and weapons which were completely intact too, though they were also simply thrown in the pile. Inside, along with the piles of precious metals and stones, were humans. Sapphire counted five of them, each one filling bags with all they can.

Appraise, Sapphire commanded in her mind.

"Human (male): level 8, Human (male): level 12, Human (male): level 11, Human (male): level 14, Human (male): level 29." Appraisal answered.

Why is the last one so high level? A head on battle will prove to be difficult to win, I need a stealthy approach.

Just as Sapphire was weighing her options, the sound of loud wingbeats got steadily closer. Sapphire noticed it due to her sharp ears and retreated back into the gap, but the humans failed to hear it and do the same in time. A loud thud, closer to a crash, happened right at the entrance of the cave. Sapphire sneaked a glance at what was standing before her, retreating back in hiding the moment she saw it.

A giant dragon, bigger than the monster bull, or whatever they are called. It was covered in bright reddish-orange scales from the head to tail. Four strong legs and two massive wings, each more than enough to kill hundreds. Two grey horns at the top of its head, seemingly tougher than the bull's, though the dragon wasn't made quite as much for ramming its head into something. Sword like teeth lined its massive jaw and hooked claws adorned its talons, it's tail ended in a thin whip capable of dealing large amounts of pain.

Spotting the humans the dragon roared, loud enough to cause Sapphire to cover her ears in pain. The humans let out scared screams and the strongest one of them walked forward, a sword in his hand, prepared to face the dragon.

Appraise, Sapphire said in her mind looking to the dragon.

"Sky dragon (female), name: Amber, level 9."

Sky dragon? And I can see her name, then why not those of humans? Regardless, she is still level 9, and that guy was level 29, the result is quite obvious.

The human charged towards the dragon with his sword. Just as he did, taking in a deep breath, the dragon unleashed her dragon breath. Sapphire retreated back into the gap to avoid getting burnt from the plumes of flame which scattered to the sides, slightly off the target. Flames filled the cave in seconds, though they died out just as quickly, finding nothing suitable to catch onto.

Sapphire poked her head back out to see what happened. The human that was charging at the dragon was nothing more than a burnt piece of charcoal in a humanoid form now, the other four having suffered a similar fate.

A level 9 is capable of this? Sapphire exclaimed in her mind, Making myself scarce right about now would be a good idea.

As Sapphire retreated further back into the gap to wait for a suitable time to run away, one of the boulders was flung away. She watched it roll down the mountain, staring in horror at where the boulder used to be. Slowly she turned her head around and up to face the dragon. It glared at her, certainly thinking of her as an accomplice of the humans. Sapphire got up and slowly backed away, trying to look as harmless as possible. The dragon slowly opened its mouth, smoke curling up from the edges of it.

Oh no. Sapphire jumped behind the other boulder as the dragon unleashed its breath attack, charring the boulder and the ground around it. No good, she won't let me run away.

The dragon roared in fury and walked towards the boulder Sapphire was hidden behind.

Well, not like I am going down without leaving a mark.

The dragon knocked the boulder out of the way with a swing of its arm. Just as she did Sapphire jumped into the air and landed on its neck. The dragon roared in fury and tried to turn its head around to bite her. Finding suitable footing Sapphire used her katana to slash continuously with all her strength. The dragon violently shook its body, almost knocking Sapphire off, but she was able to hold on by stabbing her katana into its neck. The dragon roared in fury and flapped its wings wildly and lashed its tail trying to reach her.

Sapphire continued her attack, intent on making the wound deep enough for it to die. As she continued her attacks, blood started to trickle out from the wound, at first slowly then picking up speed as she went deeper. The dragon tilted its body to the side and staggered towards a wall to smash Sapphire into it. Noticing this she jumped onto the other side of the dragon and stabbed her katana in, so not to fall. The dragon roared as it slammed into the wall and only hurt itself further.

As Sapphire struggled to climb back up, the dragon snapped its neck to the side and bit onto her cloak. It ripped her off itself and tossed her into the air. She flailed wildly in the air, a weightless sensation setting in as she reached the highest point she will. The dragon opened its mouth and prepared its dragon breath, looking pleased to be able to end her.

This won't do, I can't dodge here. If that hits me I am not surviving.

As flames formed in the dragon's mouth, Sapphire put one hand inside her coat and pulled out a throwing knife. She threw it towards the wound she inflicted with all her strength, unsure if it will hit or not, and in time at that.

As the dragon raised its head upwards to unleash its breath attack, it roared in pain and shook its head, the flames being dispersed. Seeing this, Sapphire spun her body wildly in the air, her katana in her hands, prepared to deliver the finishing blow.

Just as she neared the dragon, aiming the tip of her katana towards the dragon's neck while spinning, she stabbed it in with all her force. The force of the spin and her falling together caused the katana to slice through the dragon's neck completely, decapitating the great beast.

As the katana came free Sapphire fell down to the ground. She was nauseous from the weightless feeling and all the spinning, and her arms ached from how hard she required to grip her katana to not lose it, her palms bleeding again, the injuries from the last fight not having healed yet.

The dragon's body crashed on the ground, blowing dust and gravel around. A pool of blood quickly formed around the nearly detached head of the dragon, Sapphire's throwing knife was washed to her by it. She retrieved it and stabbed it into the ground to clean the blood off it.

"Experience threshold reached, Midnight Wolf has advanced from level 17 to level 25. All core stats have been increased. Proficiency-based skills level up bonus. <Sword Mastery> has risen from level 7 to 8, <Arithmetic Processing> has risen from level 3 to level 4, <Bite > has risen from level 6 to level 7, <Endurance > has risen from level 6 to level 7, <Claw Slash> has risen from level 4 to level 5, <Appraisal > has risen from level 2 to level 3, <Night Vision> has risen from level 9 to level 10. Proficiency threshold has been reached: <Night Vision> level 10 has evolved into <Vision Enhancement> level 1."

"That is too much for me to wrap my head around it all," Sapphire sighed.

"Acquired the title <Dragon Slayer>. Due to the effects of the title <Dragon Slayer> acquired skills: <Elemental resistance> level 1, <Draconic Power> level 1, <Pain resistance> level 1, <Thermal resistance> level 2, <Dragon Slayer> level 1."

"Okay that is really a lot," Sapphire mumbled as she was startled.

"Requirements have been reached, Midnight Wolf (female) can now evolve."

"Evolve?" Sapphire echoed.

"Confirmation received, commencing evolution."

"W-wait, that's not what I meant," Sapphire argued.

Her surroundings slowly faded into darkness as a warmth enveloped her body and she passed out.