DRAGON DYNAMICS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

{common sword}

{Atk: 22 Def: 12}

Damon looked at the sword in his hand, it had and old worn out hilt and looked like it couldn't do the right amount of damage it needed to do, it probably couldn't parry and attack without using a skill. It all felt so hopeless.

"To get a better weapon you need to provide better material and money. No material, no weapon."

The one words of the blacksmith had drowned Damon in a lake of hopelessness, how was he supposed to increase his level by at least three if he couldn't keep up and couldn't do the right amount of damage, it felt depressing.

"Would you a shield to go with that or prefer to go with the sword alone?"

"I'll like a shield to go with it, I think that would be better."

Damon couldn't let them know he would like a shield because it would increase his chances of surviving. When he had started Dragon Dynamics originally and without the system, he had died a couple of times trying to raise his level one to two. He wasn't as strong everyone thought he was or s everyone wanted him to be, he had greedily taken credit for something that he hadn't done alone and it now felt like he was feeling a little remorseful.

"You heard him, a shield to go with the sword."

Lena said as she glared at the blacksmith, he was as short as a dwarf and barely had any hair on his head, he looked so grumpy it took Damon no time in knowing the dwarf like dragon wanted nothing to do with a human and wouldn't offer his services to one of he could avoid it.

The blacksmith disappeared into the depths of his shop and came back with what looked like a folded rectangular shield from the Roman era, it looked quite impressive and sturdy but with the system giving him insights on it's stats, Damon knew it wasn't worth much of anything.

"I believe all has been settled here, now we can proceed and there must be no more distractiona. I repeat, no more distractions."

The team nodded their hands and they all walked out of the blacksmith's shop, each one of them armed with weapons of their choosing.

While they walked Damon kept on replaying how his first day of training was going to go, swinging his sword to see that he could use it well and moving his shield to see that he could use it to defend himself. The team had looked at him but didn't say anything, they were probably wondering why he was acting like he was weak when he had clearly claimed he slayed an elder dragon all by himself but they wouldn't understand that at that moment he had just been acting greedy and selfish.

"We're here."

Lena said as they claim to an halt within foreign territory, it was a forest with trees so tall they blocked out the rays of the blue orb they called the sun. The trees were likewise larger than the regular ones from the outside world, they were more like the fictional world trees from the animes he had watched. He wondered why they were so large and what sort of creatures lived within them.

Lena sighed and turned to face the rest of the team to brief them and make sure they understood what they were about to get into.

"Like I said, nothing beneath 3 more leavels is acceptable. We shall split up for greater effiency and to get more points faster, I shall go with the human and the rest of you can split up as you see fit. We shall regroup back at this point later on."

'Alright. I can do this.'

Damon assured himself as soon as Lena addressed the team, since it was Lena he was to group with he was sure she would take it easy on him and help him when he asked. She wouldn't want him to die anyways.

They did as Lena had ordered and split up in different directions, Fabien continued forward and Mirana followed him but they didn't walk side-by-side. Leonard took a swift turn and proceeded to continue through the left while Damon and Lena proceeded through the right.

"Um..so I just wanted to ask, what sort of creatures are we going to encounter, I mean it would be safe to know beforehand right?"

"If you play it safe then it means you are a coward, this training isn't supposed to kill you but instead make you stronger. If you play it safe you'll never find the result you've been working for and so you have to walk in the fog blindfolded."

"That was metaphorical right, I mean the part about the fog?"

"Not funny."

Damon sighed, when he began playing Dragon Dynamics originally he had fought a lot of beasts while training. The likes of orcs and goblins, spiders, slimes and a whole other bunch of beasts he could get into but it felt and seemed like things had changed within the game. Dragons couldn't turn into humans originally, they never built an empire talkless of engaging in a war against the humans while the humans fought blindly, it was all just complicated he couldn't think about it at the moment.

Soon enough they arrived at a large clearing surrounded by trees, it was like a gathering circle where meetings were held. The rays of the sun were blocked out by a large and thick blanket of webs that told Damon a spider or spiders lived there, there were also large holes at the far end of the circle that Damon identified as burrows for rabbits except he really couldn't tell what lived in the holes.

Lena nuged him to walk into the clearing and when he did she began to speak while moving among the trees and in circles.

"For the first set of beasts you'll be slaying I have chosen slime bunnies, they are fast and cunning. You are not allowed to use tricks and neither are you to fight blindly, I'd like to see what you can do."

With that said, Lena took out a bone whistle and blew on it instantly releasing an high pitched note that Damon closed his ears to keep out. What followed was the rustling of leaves and movement within the gathering circle, Damon noticed ther movements and readied himself as he took a random stance.

He was still waiting for an attack with his knees bent and his shield in front of him when he felt something hit the shield and push him back, he grunted as he moved his shield to the side to see the creature that had pushed him a few meters back.

There was a trail of purple jelly like substance on the shield that emitted steam, it also had a foul smell like rotten flesh mixed with chemicals. Upon moving his shield Damon saw the creature clearly, it was a purple bunny made of what lookedike molten jelly. It's beady black eyes looked like they were made of pebbles and it had a black rock in it's chest that Damon guessed was it's core.

{Slime bunny: level 3}

{HP: 12/12}

{Skills: None}

Damon looked at the system notification and looked back at the slime bunny, to think it was level 3 and he was only level one. If he managed to kill it then he could raise his level by at least four or five and that was if the system was generous with it's exp points.

The bunny tilted it's head a bit before bouncing off the floor and into the shield Damon was holding while kicking it with both of it's foot. Damon staggered as he lost balance and fell, he looked up and saw the bunny falling from above him. Damon had noticed that the slime bunny was made up of chemicals or jelly like substance suitable for melting flesh making it easy for consumption, he had to avoid it at all cost.

He let go of his shield and dived out of the way as the bunny landed on a patch of grass melting it in the process, Damon got on his feet and held his sword waiting for the slime bunny to attack him. The bunny bounced if the floor again but this time it bounced from one tree to another as it gathered speed and force for it's next attack, Damon frowned as it finally settled on a tree branch and shot itself at him.

"Alright, here it comes. I can do this, I'll do this."

Damon said as the slime bunny came in, he raised his sword and swinged it with all the strength he could muster.

The slime bunny crashed into the back of Damon's sword and fell to the floor and a system notification came popping up.

{HP: -4}

Damon smirked as he looked at the notification, even though he had just managed to hit the bunny with the flat side of his sword he had still inflicted damage. If he could just land a good strike.

The slime bunny wobbled unto it's jelly legs and bounced off the floor and towards Damon, Damon saw the bunny's attack and defended himself with his shield before swinging his sword at the bunny.

The bunny bounced off the shield to dodge Damon's attack but it couldn't dodge in time and one of it's hind legs was neatly sliced off. Damon didn't waste anytime as soon as he saw that the creature was down and hurried towards it, he raised his sword and attacked the bunny finishing it off with one strike.

{Congratulations. You have leveled up.}

{Congratulations. You have leveled up.}

{You have been rewarded seven stat points.}

{You have been rewarded one basic skill.}

"Yeeesss!!"

Damon cheered at his first victory, although he had been expecting better rewards he still felt the current rewards he had earned were generous enough. He was now at level three, though some would call it slow progress he understood why it was like that. It was because the slime bunny was too weak for it's level and even a level one adventurer could slay it if they knew what they were doing.

"You should take it's core, it sells well in the market."

Lena said looking away for a second. Damon noded his head and bent down to pick up the black round stone that laid on the floor, it was covered in the slime bunny's slime like body but it didn't burn due to the fact that it was dead.

Just after picking it up and storing it away, Damon and Lena heard rustling sounds. They could see movements around the gathering circle and before Damon knew what was happening he was surrounded by slime bunnies all of different colours and various levels.

Damon gulped as he looked at the creatures, what would he do?