My body feels very heavy and hot.
Actually this feeling feels kinda familiar.
I struggled to wake up to find a group of black scales covering my view.
Once again I wake up with my siblings laying on top of me.
Judging from the fact my siblings are here I can only assume one thing.
I'm back.
This wasn't how I expected my escape to go, but I have no complaints.
Okay I have one.
I struggle to squirm out from under my siblings before shaking my fur.
'Now' I have no complaints.
I stretch out my limbs before scratching my neck where my collar once was.
Man it feels good to be off the leash.
Ah speaking of, there's something I'm curious about.
Status
HP: 108
MP: 62
SP: 135
ST: 100%
ATK: 62
DEF: 33
SPD: 36
Skill:
「Scratch Lv10」「Slash Lv1」「Kick Lv1」「Tail Sweep Lv6」「Tail Whip Lv3」「Small Bite Lv9」「Killing Bite Lv4」「Sneak Attack Lv1」「Wind Control Lv1」「Wind Magic」「Fire Cowl Lv1」「Dragon Breath Lv 5」「Mana Breath」「Fire Dragon Breath」「Water Dragon Breath」「Wind Dragon Breath」「Earth Dragon Breath」
「Fire Resistance Lv10」「Fire Nullification」「Wind Resistance Lv2」「Electricity Resistance Lv3」「Plasma Resistance Lv1」「Fear Resistance Lv2」「Pain Resistance Lv16」「Concentration Lv2」「Perseverance Lv2」「Accelerated Thinking Lv2」「Danger Detection Lv3」「Weak Point Search Lv2」「Dismantling Lv3」「Cooking Lv1」「Tracking Lv3」「Stealth Lv2」「Teacher Lv5」「Climbing Lv3」「Dig Lv7」「Dragon Language」「Observation Lv10」「Appraisal Lv1」「Comforting Lv3」「Dragonize Lv1」「Skill Unlock Lv1」「Wind Blessing」「Hidden Lv???」「Fortune Trader」「Hyper Growth」
Alright!
All my stats are no longer restrained.
most importantly.
I can finally test out that 「Appraisal」 skill.
This skill is the most important one in any magic related series.
If it works even half as how I expect it to.
Okay let's try it on this rock over here.
「Appraisal」
[Rock]
[a rock found in a cave]
...
...
Eh? That's it?
Talk about underwhelming.
「Observation」
[A Dark Gray Stone]
Seems like 「Observation」 is about the same as 「Appraisal」in this regard.
Okay next test.
Male Magma Dragon Wyrmling (Variant) dropped [Pumfu Fruit] x2
Firsts 「Observation」
[Pumfu Fruit] [Pumfu Fruit]
Next 「Appraisal」
[Pumfu Fruit]
[An orange and green fruit that has a refreshing smell and a sour taste]
[Pumfu Fruit]
[An orange and green fruit that has a refreshing smell and a sour taste. This one has a leaf connected to its stem]
So it can tell the differences between two objects.
「Observation」tells me what the target is, while 「Appraisal」 gives me details on the target.
Next
I turn to my siblings still sleeping in a pile.
I already checked that there's no negative effect for using 「Appraisal」so this should be fine for living beings.
...
Sorry Big Bro.
I turn to Big Bro #3 whose sleep off the side of the group.
He looks a bit larger than normal.
Did he grow larger?
Anyways.
Let's try Observation first.
「Observation」
Male Magma Dragon Wyrmling (Big Bro #3)
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
SP: 100%
ST: 100%
ATK: Equal?
DEF: High
SPD: Average
INT: High
Oh? His speed increased.
Guess he's been working hard.
Also, it's no surprise that Big Bro #3 is smart.
He's pretty good at what he does.
His ATK has a question mark now.
Guess I'm not too sure on his overall attack now.
Next Appraisal.
「Appraisal」
(No name) - Magma Dragon Wyrmling
HP: 120 - 200
MP: 60 - 100
SP: 100 - 160
ST: 100%
ATK: 60 - 70
DEF: 70 -100
SPD: 30 - 80
INT: 50 - 120
Skill:
「Scratch」「Tail Sweep」「Tail Whip」「Small Bite」「Killing Bite」「Sneak Attack」「Dragon Breath」「Fire Dragon Breath」「Fire Resistance」「Fire Nullification」「Danger Detection」「Tracking」「Stealth」「Dig」「Dragon Language」
[Appraisal Incomplete - Insufficient Data]
Whoa.
I can see his status.
Well mostly.
It says that the data's incomplete, but I can still see his status...kind of.
Okay, so it's a bit broken in some places, but I can still see where his status stands.
Anyways, 「Appraisal」 seem to give me info on someone's skills along with their stat numbers.
Although the numbers aren't correct I can roughly guess what these numbers are.
So.
Appraisal feels useless in a fight.
I can't get anything accurate from it as far as info is concerned.
But it can give me information when comparing two things.
Although theres a limit to what I can learn from it since its level is so low.
...
Wait.
I can't use this for battle, but maybe I can use this for some answers.
First off.
「Appraisal」
(No name) - Magma Dragon Wyrmling (Variant)
HP: 100 - 120
MP: 50 - 80
SP: 100 - 140
ST: 100%
ATK: 50 - 90
DEF: 30 - 50
SPD: 20 - 60
INT: 30 - 70
Skill:
「Scratch」「Slash」「Kick」「Tail Sweep」「Tail Whip」「Small Bite」「Killing Bite」「Sneak Attack」「Wind Control」「Wind Magic」「Fire Cowl」「Dragon Breath」「Mana Breath」「Fire Dragon Breath」「Water Dragon Breath」「Wind Dragon Breath」「Earth Dragon Breath」「Fire Resistance」「Fire Nullification」「Wind Resistance」「Electricity Resistance 」「Plasma Resistance」「Fear Resistance」「Pain Resistance」「Concentration」「Perseverance」「Accelerated Thinking」「Danger Detection」「Weak Point Search」「Dismantling」「Cooking」「Tracking」「Stealth」「Teacher」「Climbing」「Dig」「Dragon Language」「Observation」「Appraisal」「Comforting」「Dragonize」「Skill Unlock」「Wind Blessing」「#̷̣͝ͅ!̷̙̔̄͂&̵̬̜̿͂&̶̪͈̊€̸͈̞̼̒=̵̪̼͒̽͠」「Fortune Trader」「Hyper Growth」
Now I wonder.
Status
HP: 108
MP: 62
SP: 135
ST: 100%
ATK: 62
DEF: 33
SPD: 36
INT : 52
Skill:
「Scratch Lv10」「Slash Lv1」「Kick Lv1」「Tail Sweep Lv6」「Tail Whip Lv3」「Small Bite Lv9」「Killing Bite Lv4」「Sneak Attack Lv1」「Wind Control Lv1」「Wind Magic」「Fire Cowl Lv1」「Dragon Breath Lv 5」「Mana Breath」「Fire Dragon Breath」「Water Dragon Breath」「Wind Dragon Breath」「Earth Dragon Breath」
「Fire Resistance Lv10」「Fire Nullification」「Wind Resistance Lv2」「Electricity Resistance Lv3」「Plasma Resistance Lv1」「Fear Resistance Lv2」「Pain Resistance Lv16」「Concentration Lv2」「Perseverance Lv2」「Accelerated Thinking Lv2」「Danger Detection Lv3」「Weak Point Search Lv2」「Dismantling Lv3」「Cooking Lv1」「Tracking Lv3」「Stealth Lv2」「Teacher Lv5」「Climbing Lv3」「Dig Lv7」「Dragon Language」「Observation Lv10」「Appraisal Lv1」「Comforting Lv3」「Dragonize Lv1」「Skill Unlock Lv1」「Wind Blessing」「Hidden Lv???」「Fortune Trader」「Hyper Growth」
Two screens appeared.
They look similar but I can tell the difference between the two.
Since its level is low, it's only giving approximations.
I know my own status so it's giving me everything about my skills and such, but since I don't know what Big Bro #3 has I can't figure out every skill he has with 「Appraisal」alone.
Or that's what I currently think.
Skill Up!
「Observation」has reached Level 11
Oh! Nice.
But you're not our focus right now.
Okay.
If my thinking is right.
Then if I target a skill with 「Appraisal」.
Let's try it on Appraisal itself first.
[Appraisal]
[A skill that allows one to appraise targets and compare information with other targets of the same type.]
Wooooooh!
Look at that!
Appraisal on Appraisal works and it gave me some fairly decent information.
I have no idea what "the same type" refers to or what information it compares it with.
So, only one thing to do.
Appraise everything and go from there.
[HP]
[Heart Power. This represents how healthy your body is. If this drops to zero your heart will give out.]
[MP]
[Magic Power. This represents how much mana your body can hold. If you use more magic power than you have, strain will start being put onto your body.]
[SP]
[Spiritual Power. This represents how much spiritual energy you can exert at a time. If you use more spiritual power than you have, strain will start being put onto your body.]
[ST]
[Stamina. How much energy your body has at any given time. If you run out of stamina your body has a higher chance of collapsing, or shutting down.]
[ATK]
[Attack. A representation of one's total offensive power throughout their body.]
[DEF]
[Defense. A representation of one's total defensive power throughout their body.]
[SPD]
[Speed. A representation of one's total speed throughout their body]
[INT]
[Intellect. A representation of one's ability to retain and use Information.]
Oh. So these are what my stats are.
I already had an idea before, but its still good to know beforehand.
Also, If I use up MP or SP it puts a strain on my body!?
I guess I have to be careful when using it from now on.
...
Actually, have I ever used SP before?
I know my breath is magic based.
My claws and scratches are physical.
What's SP used for?
Hmmm...
Meh whatever.
It'll come up when it's important, no use stressing about it.
Well, I guess now we appra-
"Little Brother!"
Oh god--
"Oof!"
I rolled at least 3 times before ending up on my back with a familiar black Wyrmling on me.
"Hi...Big Sis." I groan out.
She nuzzled my cheek several times before getting off me to let me stand up.
"Brother!"
"Big Brother!"
"...Brother."
"Little Brother"
"Hey! your back!"
I turn to see-- "Wait wait! not all at once - Urk!"
This time I'm practically mobbed by a swarm of little dragons.
In any other instance this would be heaven.
Actually, they're trying to send me there with all this crowding.
"Okay. Heh heh Okay! I missed you guys too." I growl out putting my front claws around two of their necks for a hug. "Really I did."
Let's see. Big Bro #3 and #4,Big Sis #5 Little Sis #6 and Little Bro #8.
Counting me that makes 6 of us.
I look around the cave before asking.
"Where are the others?"
"Our eldest brother is with the other two to see the human."
Human?
The princess?
What the heck is she doing here?
"Worried?" Little Brother #8 asks.
"Yeah." I reply.
Having her here in the cave after everything that happened with the others, who knows how much it will put everyone on edge.
Heck, having her here alone means were going to get attacked again sooner or later.
I just got free and I already have to worry about being caught again?
No, even worse. What if they aim for my siblings?
If they have to go through the same kind of things I did.
That thought alone causes me to growl under my breath.
"Grrrrnnnmmm...Okay." I speak up. "I'm going to check up on her."
"I thought so." Big Bro #4 says with a smirk "leave it to little bro to have something interesting happen."
"Trouble does seem to follow you a lot." Little Bro #8 adds. "I'm also curious about what kind of food she's knows."
"Food?"
Little Sis #6's tail wags sweeping the floor.
"Oh yeah. She's also able to use magic as well." I tell them.
"Magic?"
Little Sis #6's tail wags faster.
"Yeah. Seems she's good at it too." I warn.
"I wanna see. I wanna see!" Little Sis #6 says eagerly heading towards one of the cave passages.
I turn to the others before we all start off towards the passageway.
As we got close we spotted Big Bro #1 and the others; Big Sis #2, Little Sis #7 and Little Bro #9.
"Big Bro." I call out to him.
He turned to look at me before lighting up. "Brother. Your awake." He says softly.
The others turn surprised as well.
I doubt this group will mob me like the others.
Still I brace myself as they approach.
"Glad you're okay." He say placing a paw on my head and rubbing it.
I guess he's sneaking around so as not to get caught by Ennith or Farrid.
Heh heh heh.
His petting feels funny.
It's both rough and soft, like a brother who playfully ruffles your hair.
Well I guess we're like brothers, so this shouldn't be too surprising.
"So. Are you watching the human girl?"
"That's right." Big Bro #1 says moving his claw back. "Moms talking to her right now."
Ennith has her?
Oh why does that give me a horrible chill?
I move to the corner to peak around it.
Several of my siblings followed suit doing the same.
Mom was speaking in a weird language along with the girl.
Although I couldn't quite hear well with all my siblings clambering over top me.
I look in her direction as her gaze locks with my own.
Uh oh, busted.
Um...she's smiling at us.
"All right she's all yours."
Ah.
I guess we can head --DOWN!
Dammit! How many times am I gonna get run over today!?
"Oh! Is this the human brother talked about?" Little Sis #7 wonders aloud
"It looks funny." Big Bro #4 chuckles out.
"Is it safe to be around?" Big Sis #2 asks.
"Human! I want tasty food too!" Little bro #9 starts.
"Magic! Magic! Show me magic!" Little Sis #6 chants out eagerly.
"Make sure you don't hurt her too much." Ennith says with a small smile.
Poor girl.
She's getting mobbed by my siblings.
Well, good luck with that.
They like to climb on top of each other so they'll probably scratch you sooner or later.
"Aaah!"
That scream startled me.
It was loud and unexpected.
"Back up!" Little Bro #8 says motioning for the others to follow.
"What's that noise?" Little Sis # 6 asks.
"Human hurt?" Little Bro #9 asks watching the girls back.
"Brother hurt human." Big Sis #2 says.
"I didn't try too." Big Bro #4 whines in a panic.
Mom gave a small growl telling us to step away from her, although I wasn't even near her to begin with.
Hmm?
A claw presses up against my head and ruffles my fur.
I glance to see Big Sis #5 petting my head, or attempting to?
"Sis?"
"You okay Little Brother?" she asked.
Strange question to ask.
"Yeah I'm fine."
"Really?" She asked before jumping onto my back.
She pushed me down looking over my body with her claws.
"Wha! Hey careful - Graaa!~"
Oh okay that was weird.
She's clawing and pressing at my body in very sensitive locations.
It's very ticklish.
I couldn't help but let out several chirps and huffs from her looking me over.
"You look okay..." she says calming down and finally letting me go.
I shudder on my legs trying to catch my bearings.
"Are you sure you feel okay?"
"I...feel ticklish now..." I huff out to her "But... I'm okay."
huh?
That's a strange look.
Almost like a mix of confusion and anxiety more than worry.
Before I could even ask though she lets out a sigh of relief and nuzzles my cheek.
"That's good. I'm glad."
Well, that's strange.
Sis is acting all protective now.
Well at least she's going back to normal.
Speaking of which, why are there so many lights over...there?
I watch as Ennith's claw glows on the princess' forehead.
Its only for a couple seconds but it looked like some kind of magic she just used.
I gotta get a closer look.
"There we go." Ennith says. "Now I only have to deal with that turbil fruit, Farris. That should be solved with an hour or two of yelling."
Ugh, she's wearing that smile of hers again.
Even as she's leaving she has that self serving, amused face.
"Hey!"
A new voice.
"Wait a-- eh?"
No, this voice is familiar.
"H-Hello?"
The princess?
She's actually speaking now.
Or maybe I should say she's speaking a language I know?
"Be good and stay inside." Ennith says as she finally walks down a larger cavern that seems to go deeper down.
Always quick to leave us in the dark.
"Sis." I tell her "Stay close."
"Hmm. Okay." She hums with a nod. "I'll keep you safe this time."
Um...no need to go that far.
"Hey, I can hear her!" Little Sis #6 says excitedly.
"It can talk!" Little Sis #7 tacks on surprised.
"Hey I'm hungry!" Big Bro #4 says trailing away as if to not draw attention to himself.
"Are you okay?" Little Bro #8 asks her.
"She's a she." I chime in to let them all know.
"She's all dark now." Big Bro #1 say looking her over curiously.
"I thought she was human." Big Sis #5 asks me.
"She is." I reply back to her softly "but she's a human female."
This seems to click with sis and she gives a nod understanding.
"Ah, It's you."
I look up at the princess.
She's all dressed up in black and purple surrounded by my siblings.
I give her a small smirk.
"Oh your speaking our language now? Good. At least now we can talk like normal."
I peek over at my sis before taking a seat in front of the princess.
"I have a lot of questions to ask, and judging from the situation you do as well."
I turn my nose up and off to the side.
"Best thing to do for now is get along and share information."
The princess falls silent most likely to think for herself.
She can think all she wants, but she knows that I'm right.
She won't have a choice in the matter.
She opens her mouth to talk.
"If it's the info you want. I can do that much."
Gotcha.
I hold out a claw to her.
"Give and take as they say."
At least she's got a good head on her shoulders.
As long as we get along like this, both of us will get what we want.
Ah. Sis?
She took the princess' hands first--and she dragged her hand to the ground, body along with it.
"No touching." She growls out sharply.
Whoa, um...
This might just backfire on us.
I give my sister a small nudge to tell her to get off but she doesn't respond.
Even the princess couldn't pull her hand free.
"Okay okay, you win." She surrendered quickly. "I won't touch."
Sis released her hand and the princess pulled her hand back to nurse it.
On that note sis huffed with her chest puffed out.
Well sis, aren't you proud of yourself.
She looked at me proudly with wagging tail.
I sigh before petting her head.
"Good job Big Sis."
She smiles happily from my petting.
I glance at the princess and giver the best I could at an apologetic smile.
She shrugs as well before turning her attention to one of my siblings.
"Food!" Little Bro #9 says jumping up to her. "I heard you have food!"
Ah! That reminds me.
Won't be needing these anymore.
"Hey everyone!" I call out.
I get a good look at them with a smile.
Male Magma Dragon Wyrmling (Variant) dropped [Four-eyed Tuna (Corpse)] x1 [Meat Slabs] x 28
I drop the food in front of everyone.
Since I got back home let's have a little party.
I was saving all this for the escape, so I guess I won't need it now.
"Whoa!" "So much."
A good chunk of them were surprised about it.
I kept my paw on the pile just in case before looking at the Princess.
"Can you cook?"
"Huh?" She looked surprised.
"This food here. Can you cook it?" I ask her again.
She looks at the pile and then at me.
"Maybe if I have the right tools."
"I can help with that."
Little Bro #8 chimes in with a glent in his eyes. "I thought a day like this would come. That's why I thought ahead and made these."
He held out his hand as several metal bowls and tools came out.
A frying pan, a spatula, cooking pots, several bowls full of what I can assume are spices.
What was this food brained dragon doing while I was gone?
No, scratch that.
How did he even make all this stuff.
All of this looks crudely made and warped in some places, but where did he get all thisl met--?
This bowl looks like a knight's helmet.
If I flip it upside down...
yeah, this is a knight's helmet.
The spatula he has looks like part of their face guard.
I think that pot is part of a dented chest plate.
That massive pot looks normal though.
I can only imagine where, or more likely 'who', he got the metal from.
Should I say something?
...
...nah.
If the roles were reversed they'd be skinning us for materials from head to tail.
I think losing only their armor is nothing by comparison.
This isn't even worth the comparison.
I turn back to the others finding The Princess and Little Bro #8 talking with each other.
Most likely going over what to make by Little Bro #8's direction.
"Okay. You get to work on cooking the fish again. I'll work with the boar meat. Big Brother your on skinning duty."
"I guess I have no choice." I reply before looking at my siblings who were staring hard at the large fish with a few who where rubbing their tongue with a paw.
Looking at the new bite marks I can only guess what happened.
I move over to fish and raise a claw.
Let's use slash to cut this fish.
「Dismantling」,「Slash」, I'm counting on you two.
I focus on my claws, then the fish's scales.
Let's cut away the scales first.
I'm no chief so the most I can do is just take everything apart in as many visible pieces I can.
Scales, fins, guts, bones, eyes.
Huh?
What's this blue stone.
「Observation」
[A Blue Crystal-like stone]
Obviously.
「Appraisal」
[Medium Water Gem]
[A medium sized blue crystal. It glows with a strange energy. It was found where one's heart would normally be.]
A water crystal?
Is this thing the fish's heart?
Strange...
...
Yoink.
Male Magma Dragon Wyrmling (Variant) stored [Medium Water Crystal] x1
I'll ask about this later.
It seems too important just to leave anyways.
Male Magma Dragon Wyrmling (Variant) stored [Four-Eyed Tuna Meat (large)] x4
[Four-Eyed Tuna Meat (Medium)] x20
[Four-Eyed Tuna Skin] x 30 [Four-Eyed Tuna Bones] x 10 [Four-Eyed Tuna Fins] x6 [Four-Eyed Tuna Eyes] x4
There.
That should be it for the fish.
I bring the fish over to the two chefs of the cave.
The princess is currently being huddled around by a few of my siblings as she was cooking the steaks I had brought out.
As for Little Bro #8 himself...
Seems like he's having fun looking into that massive pot of his.
"I'm done with the fish." I told him.
"Great." He says. "Just set some down beside me."
Male Magma Dragon Wyrmling (Variant) dropped [Four-Eyed Tuna Meat (Medium)] x10
Let's keep some for myself.
Besides, I have a feeling he'll ask for more later.
I doubt I'll find this thing in that lake again.
"How do you plan to cook this fish anyways?"
Little Bro #8 looked at me and smiled.
I'm thinking of frying it after i make a sauce."
He's going all in again.
That means this might take a while.
Speaking off, now might be a good time to organize information.
I think I'll do that while figuring out what some of my skills actually do.
Who knows, Appraisal might level up randomly.
...
...
Shoot, guess I was hoping too much.