Hunger, Bond, and Whispers in the Dark
Consciousness returned to Leo like a cold, painful tide. Gone was the scent of dry earth or laptop dust, replaced by the sharp smell of wet stone, mildew, and... rotting meat? He opened his eyes to near-perfect darkness. Only a faint, sickly greenish glow, likely from phosphorescent moss on the walls, revealed his surroundings.
He lay on the cold, rough floor of a cave. The ceiling hung low and jagged overhead, like the maw of a giant. In the distance, the constant drip of water echoed, amplifying the oppressive silence. Memories flooded back: the explosion of light, the purple forest, the iron-fanged wolf, the blue system screen, and... him.
Leo tilted his head, a throbbing pain pulsing at his temples. In the darkest corner of the cave, about five meters away, a pair of dull golden-yellow eyes glowed faintly. Like two ancient coins embedded in the gloom. Stormfang Drake. His once-majestic, wounded body was just a large, almost motionless silhouette, rising and falling slowly with each labored, hissing breath. On his forehead, the faintly pulsing crown-and-chain symbol reminded Leo of the matching tattoo on his own wrist.
*Still alive. And still here. A small wave of relief mingled with a much larger surge of fear. He had tamed a dragon. An S-Rank. But seeing it now, slumped weakly in the damp cave corner, its once-terrifying aura of power reduced to a guttering candle flame, felt... unreal. And deeply wrong.
Then, his stomach growled. Loudly. The sound shattered the cave's silence, startling even Leo. Hunger. The burning thirst in his throat also returned with full force. He hadn't eaten or drunk since... since his old world. His physical weakness felt worse than ever, making him tremble.
He slowly sat up, leaning against the cold cave wall. His eyes remained fixed on the drake's silhouette. "H-hey," his voice rasped, barely audible. "Do you... know where there's water? Or... food?"
The golden eyes blinked slowly. No other reaction. Just an empty stare, or perhaps one filled with smoldering resentment. Leo felt a tremor of alien emotion through their bond deep exhaustion, a dull ache, and... emptiness. As if the drake had surrendered.
Water first, Leo tried to think clearly. Where there's dripping water, there might be a source deeper in the cave. Shaking, he pushed himself to stand, gripping the rough cave wall for support. His legs wobbled, but he held. Slowly, he began feeling his way along the wall, following the sound of dripping water, moving away from the drake and its enigmatic gaze.
After a few minutes of stumbling progress, he found the source, a small crack in the cave wall where water seeped slowly, forming a tiny, murky pool on the stone floor beneath. Leo didn't care anymore. He immediately knelt, lapping water directly from the rock, then scooping up handfuls of the dirty pool and gulping it down greedily. It was cold and tasted strongly of minerals, but to Leo, it was like heavenly nectar. He drank until his stomach felt full and cold.
Hunger still gnawed at him. He looked around the cave. Very little was visible in the dim light. Rock, moss, and... maybe insects? He saw nothing edible.
The drake could hunt, he thought suddenly. It's a dragon! Leo turned towards the dark corner. "Hey," he tried again, his voice slightly stronger. "Can you... hunt? Find food? For us?"
The golden eyes shifted, locking directly onto him. This time, Leo felt something much clearer through the bond, suppressed rage and simmering frustration. The drake moved its head very slowly, a motion that looked intensely painful. A short, contemptuous snort escaped its nostrils, puffing out a wisp of smoke. Then, as if to demonstrate, the drake tried to lift its massive foreclaw. The claw trembled violently before finally falling back to the stone floor with a weak clack. It couldn't even stand properly.
[Status Monster: Stormfang Drake (Rank S - Power Locked: F)]
[Physical Condition: Critically Wounded (Recovery Hampered by Rank Lock)]
[Accessible Abilities: Basic Breath (Sparks of Fire/Lightning), Low-Level Animal Intimidation, Limited Night Vision]
The blue system window popped up abruptly before Leo, displaying the drake's information. Leo gasped. Power Locked... F? So, despite being a mighty S-Rank creature, because Leo, his Tamer, was still Rank F, the drake's power was forced down to a pitiful level? That explained why it was so weak, barely able to move. Its remaining abilities sounded... useless. Sparks of fire? Low-level animal intimidation? That wouldn't help hunt anything substantial.
"So... you're trapped like me," Leo muttered, despair creeping in. He felt another wave of emotion from the drake, contempt. As if the very idea that it, a Stormfang Drake, was equivalent to a Rank F beast was the ultimate insult.
Leo forced himself to focus on the system. He concentrated, Monarch's Taming Codex. Show... my status.
A new window appeared:
[Tamer: Leo]
[Rank: F]
[Bound Monsters: 1/???]
[Main Skill: Monarch's Taming Codex (Level 1)]
[Sub-Skills: Status Scan (Passive), Forced Taming Protocol (Cooldown: ???)]
[Taming Energy: 10% (Slow Regeneration)]
So, that was what he had. A monster-taming codex with two basic abilities, viewing status and... forced taming. The latter clearly had a long cooldown and drained significant energy. Nothing that would help him find food now.
His stomach growled again, louder. He had to do something. His eyes scanned the damp cave floor. Near the water pool, he saw something move. A... lizard? Small, plump, with slimy skin and tiny, stupid eyes. Faint text appeared above it. [Rank F - Cave Slug]. It looked disgusting, but in his desperation, Leo considered it an option.
He tried to grab it, but the slug darted into a rock crevice with surprising speed. Leo grumbled. He looked at the drake. "Hey, can you... intimidate it? Make it come out? Or... burn it?"
The drake's golden eyes narrowed. Leo sensed strong reluctance. But perhaps spurred by its own gnawing hunger, or maybe responding to the vague command through the bond, the drake opened its mouth slightly. In the darkness of its throat, a tiny red-orange spark flickered for less than a second, accompanied by a small fzzt like a wet matchstick, before snuffing out. Only a thin wisp of smoke drifted up. No heat was felt.
That was it. Nothing more.
But the small action seemed to disturb the slug in the crevice. The little creature crawled out, looking confused. Leo didn't think twice. With a speed that surprised even himself likely fueled by hunger adrenaline, he snatched the plump slug before it could escape. Cold, slimy, and wriggling in his hand. It felt revolting.
He looked at it with disgust, then at the drake. The great beast merely stared back, its eyes hinting at something akin to... disgust? Or perhaps judgment?
"Better than starving," Leo muttered, trying to convince himself. Closing his eyes and holding his breath, he tossed the slug into his mouth and chewed. It tasted like a lump of salty mucus and dirt. He nearly vomited but forced himself to swallow. His stomach churned and roiled in protest as it accepted the unwelcome offering.
He glanced at the drake again. The mighty creature turned its head away, as if unwilling to witness such an undignified spectacle. Leo sensed the contempt again, mixed with a faint echo of hunger from the drake's side. It's hungry too, Leo realized. But it clearly wouldn't touch a Cave Slug.
Leo slumped back against the wall, feeling the slug's sticky mucus coating his throat, staring at the wounded and power-locked drake. He began sifting through the system information. The Rank Lock. That was the key. For the drake to heal, for either of them to be strong, he needed to become stronger. He needed to rank up. But how? Hunting more slugs? That wasn't a solution.
He checked his Status Scan skill again, focusing on the drake.
[Stormfang Drake - Rank S (Locked: F)]
[Major Injuries: Severe Right Wing Tear, Broken Hind Leg Bone, Minor Internal Organ Damage, Core Energy Depletion.]
[Estimated Natural Recovery Time with Rank F Lock: 6-8 Months.]
[Estimated Natural Recovery Time with Rank E Lock: 1-2 Months.]
Leo sighed heavily. Six to eight months? In this condition? In this cave? It was suicide. They needed Rank E. He needed Rank E. But how?
As he sank into despair and the lingering nausea from the slug, his ears caught something. Not the dripping water.
The sound came from outside the cave. From the direction of the dark cave entrance. At first, it was faint, like a large stone being dragged over earth. Then louder. Closer.
SCRAPE... SCRAPE... GRRAAKK...
It was a heavy, rhythmic sound, like the dragging footsteps of something massive over gravel. Interspersed with heavy, snorting breaths, like blasts of steam from a colossal engine. The sound carried small tremors that vibrated through the cave floor, up Leo's spine.
He froze. His blood seemed to turn to ice. The golden eyes of the drake in the corner snapped wide open, glowing brighter in the gloom. Its gaze was now fully alert, fixed on the cave entrance. Through the bond, Leo felt a wave of sudden, very real fear—not for itself, but for both of them. Coupled with that came a powerful sense of imminent danger from the system.
[Passive Warning: High-Threat Creature Detected in Proximity!]
[Estimated Threat Level: B+ to A-]
[Distance: 50 Meters and Closing!]
The system window flashed a faint red. Leo didn't need to read it to know. The sound, the vibrations, and especially the fear emanating from a wounded S-Rank dragon were proof enough.
Something huge. Something powerful. Something terrifying was approaching their cave.
Leo pressed himself flat against the wall, trying to make himself as small as possible, his heart pounding like a war drum. His eyes were glued to the dark cave entrance, waiting for whatever monster made that sound to appear. In the corner, the Stormfang Drake hissed softly, its cracked scales slightly raised, its weakened body tensing in a futile attempt to prepare. Its watchful golden eyes also stared towards the entrance, glowing like lanterns in the deepening, suffocating darkness.
The cave, which had felt like a temporary shelter moments before, had transformed into a cold stone trap.