There was a crunching-crackling sound as its fangs punctured through my scales and dug into my arm, followed by a wet squish as I felt the fangs pierce deeply into my muscles.
It was white-hot, awful pain, but it wasn't something that I hadn't experienced before.
Then, I felt my blood being sucked out, as the monster's veins began to glow again.
"I have to get free right now!" I thought, raising my other arm.
I latched my free claws onto the monster's lower jaw and pulled down hard with all my weight, making a gap big enough to quickly pull my arm out of before it snapped closed again.
Then I dashed back, pain throbbing where the teeth had been, I knew the monster had gotten a lot of my blood.
But it wasn't enough for me to feel weak or dizzy. Instead, it was the monster's appearance that told me how much blood it had stolen.
The monster's veins continued to flare and glow brighter than before. Now they pulsed wildly, like they were about to burst almost like they were being overloaded.
Next, something began to form on the monster.
Slowly a crimson coating began to cover and extend from the monster's claws, before hardening into a hard, glassy crystal or ruby like material.
The sharp edges of its newly formed claws reflected like polished blades in the sunlight. Small blood-red spikes also began to form which coated the monster's arms and shoulders.
Its appearance was already the most menacing I had ever seen, and now it managed to become even worse.
The hints of fear or hesitation that I had caught before were now nowhere to be seen; its head tilted back, and its smile stretched wider, as if in a state of pure ecstasy from the taste of my blood.
I looked down at the bite on my arm, ragged and leaking, it was bad, but I could still fight with it.
"I really made it addicted to my blood didn't I," I thought as I watched it waiting for its move, "It looks like it's on a blood high or something..." A cold feeling of unease crawled under my scales.
The monster looked at me with one final excited glare, before it dashed towards me again. It had its claws out in front ready to attack.
It was even faster now; the distance between us disappeared in a blur.
Out of reflex I activated presence suppression.
A searing line of pain erupted from my arm, I still wasn't able to dodge in time, and a long cut now ran down my right arm.
But it would have been even worse if I hadn't used presence suppression.
I gritted my teeth, and retreated, putting as much distance between us as possible.
"It doesn't seem like just defending and looking for a chance to counterattack is going to work anymore." I thought, while it thundered after me, dirt spraying from its feet. glancing back as it chased me.
The monster closed the distance fast with ease, "I'll face it head on then; there's no reason not to now."
Crackling filled the air as static began to cover every part of me before erupting into raw arcs of violet electricity. A surge of power rushed through me.
I stopped in my tracks and spun to face the monster; determination built inside me. I stared into its dead white eyes before letting out an angry roar at it.
Raising both of my arms, I poured concentrated extra energy into my claws and stood firm.
The monster came at me with such crazy speed that it seemed like it was trying to run me over, but I could read its movements now as both sets of its claws came at me.
Our claws collided with a loud grating shriek of sound. We pushed back against each other, crimson and violet sparks leaping sparks from our claws were flying in the air.
The monster pressed harder, forcing me back a few inches, and it seemed like it thought it had the edge.
But I dug in and drove forward unleashing my full strength, shoving it back and away, causing it to stumble slightly.
Even though it had been overpowered, the monster's expression didn't change as it regained its footing quickly.
Almost instantly it came at me again with that same sadistic smile, a down-cutting, crimson red slash came down towards my head.
Raising my left arm, our claws clashed again.
Sparks flew, but I kept it at bay, then channeling energy into my right claws I slashed at the monster's neck.
My claws just barely grazed it, hardly leaving any mark at all.
"I guess I'm going to have to get closer if I want to land a finishing blow." I thought, as I ended the momentary clash of our claws and took a few steps back.
The monster didn't let up and tried to slash me across the chest, but I blocked again.
It was followed by a brutal side kick which forced me to take a jump back, then another slash came aimed at my head this time.
The attack speed increased; I could see the plan in the monster's eyes now. It was trying to force me into a position where it could bite me again.
But I had already found my opening. A sweeping kick aimed at my legs came at me.
Just before it hit, I sprang, jumping over the attack completely as I twisted midair.
Electricity rushed down my spine and into my tail, condensing into a crackling edge. The bladed tip lashed whipped through and sliced cleanly through the monster's chest.
The new, wide wound opened, and blood started pouring out before it stopped like before.
But the monster didn't pay much attention and tried to slice at my neck, mindless hunger in its stare, but I dashed back in time.
And I could tell that the monster's veins were already glowing less brightly again.
"I still have a long way to go," I thought, as I dropped my weight forward and ran to attack again.
I watched the monster's claws carefully as it raised them to attack me.
Two more steps, now in arm's arms reach, the monster attacked with two successive slashes.
A vertical one aimed at my head, followed by a horizontal one at my chest which crossed to make an X shaped attack forming a cross-pattern attack together.
But instead of clashing claws to claws again, I dashed to the left and ducked low; just dodging its strikes by inches.
Then I ran past it, with my right claws bared. They dug into the monster's side and left multiple large cuts which of course healed again almost instantly.
Looking back, I saw the monster's veins glowing less again...
Yet they were still brighter than when I first saw the monster.
I sighed, "dragon blood must really be something special," I might have felt thankful if I wasn't fighting a monster that was getting an extra power boost from it.
But I couldn't dwell on it for long as the monster ran towards me again, I prepared to dodge and counter.
It neared and I raised my claws, however suddenly, the monster gained another burst of speed.
My eyes widened, as I panicked slightly, raising my arms to block at the last second.
I blocked one of its claws, but the other got past and slammed into my chest.
"Gah" the air was knocked out of me and as I got pushed backwards.
The monster's hand didn't leave my chest, and I began to fall. I tried to regain my footing, but it was no good. The monster had too much force behind its arm, and I saw the reason as I fell.
My viewpoint lowered as I fell, and I saw that the monster's feet were both in the air. It had completely leaped straight at me right as it got close to get a boost of speed and power in order to take me down.
My back hit the ground with a bone penetrating thud. The monster was almost completely on top of me.
Its open jaws came crashing down towards me; its desire for blood spread across its face. I raised both arms and pushed back against its head, tendons burning as wet drool landed on my claws... "GROSS!"
The monster grabbed my arms and tried to pin them to the ground before trying to bite me again.
Just moments before the monster's fangs were about to bite me, I raised my legs, channeling electric energy to them, and kicked with all my might against the monster's stomach.
The monster's frame folded as it was thrown back. I quickly got to my feet, relieved I wasn't bitten again.
The monster straightened and leapt at me again. This time I was ready and dashed to the side, managing to dodge. But as the monster passed by, my eyes widened in surprise as its neck outstretched in my direction, and it nearly caught me off guard, only missing me by a few inches.
"Ugh, well if it wants to bite me that much... then I should use its hunger to my advantage."
The monster turned back towards me and took a few steps before lunging again. This time it was even faster, clearly putting all of its force behind this attack. Some of the blood even drained from its veins to fuel the boost.
Both of its claws flew at me. I met one set with my left arm, blocking it; I didn't bother with the other and received a painful slash across my chest.
As the monster's head drew closer, I focused energy into my right claw while keeping it by my side.
The monster opened its mouth wide; excitement plastered across its face, longing for more blood.
I clenched my teeth. At the last instant, before the monster was about to bite, my right claws flew straight upwards.
The lightning-charged strike sliced deeply into the monster's neck and through part of its jaw until it hit bone. The impact shuddered up my arm, and the momentum continued, sending it stumbling backwards.
I jumped forwards and spun again, hitting its chest with the backside of my tail and knocking it to the ground.
The wound on its neck began to close. I needed to take my chance right now before it got up again.
I took a deep breath and leapt upwards about fifteen feet. Opening my wings slightly to guide my descent.
Then I dove downward headfirst. The monster reached up to block me, but this time I took hold of its arms as I slammed into it and pinned them wide to the ground.
Then I stared into the monster's eyes as I began to open my mouth.
I saw a streak of fear pass over its face; the sadistic grin gone now.
It started to struggle to get free, but I didn't give it a chance to.
The very next second I unleashed a concentrated blast of flames point blank on its face.
This was my most powerful flame breath yet; the heat was far hotter than anything I had released before, and it singed my scales.
Through the flames I saw the monster continually regenerating, but the blood was slowly draining from it. All throughout, the monster was thrashing, trying to get free, but its strength was being drained.
I began to feel lightheaded, but I didn't let up.
I thought about all the dead villagers as I breathed, only motivating me to continue as I poured all my anger on it.
My claws dug tighter into its arms.
The blood was now fully drained from it; the monster gave one final weak attempt to break free before going limp.
Just to be sure this monster was really dead, I continued breathing for another few seconds.
Finally, I stopped and gasped for air. I looked down at the monster's face and flinched slightly.
"Did I really do that?" I thought as I looked at its head. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised with how I was breathing..."
The face of the monster was almost completely burnt away; the monster's skull was charred and partially exposed.
I slowly got to my feet; the skull was almost as unnerving as its face had been.
But right now, I was just relieved that it was finally dead.
After the last of the electricity faded off my scales, I began to grow a few inches, my wings tightening with new strength as my wounds closed and mostly healed. I was stronger again.
But then an unpleasant thought came to mind as I looked at the corpse. I had nearly gone through my entire food supply, and there was fresh "meat" in front of me...
I frowned, turning away from the body. Ugh, "I don't want to think about that right now."
Looking back at the camp, I decided it would be smart to take a closer look to see if there was anything of use there.
Once back in the circle of the tents, I did my best to look past the carnage around me as I navigated the immediate area, careful to avoid stepping on any corpses or stray limbs.
As I looked around, one sword stood out. It wasn't bright from polish. Instead, it shone like a fresh sheet of snow, hundreds of reflective points catching the light.
It had a light blue stone where the blood-streaked blade met the hilt. I hesitantly picked it up, unsure if the blood belonged to an innocent person or the monster. The handle was cold to the touch; the shine was from a light layer of frost that covered the blade.
"This must have been the captain," I thought. "It's definitely a Transcendent weapon." I imagined what type of ice ability the captain might have had.
Maybe its slashes left blocks of ice, or perhaps it threw a wave of frost to blind enemies.
I set the weapon back down. "Well, I guess I will never know now," I paused in my thought, "and no other innocent person will ever be killed by its ability again."
After having no luck in the main area, I started looking inside the tents. The first few were plain sleeping quarters with more dead soldiers.
The next had various weapons and supplies. It would have been useful for an army, but to a dragon? Swords were worthless when my claws were just as sharp.
Then I went into the tallest tent. It had a larger sleeping area and a table with maps.
This was no doubt the captain's tent. I leaned down, examining the maps. There were locations of what appeared to be three villages; two had been crossed out with red ink.
The last was close to the camp's current location on the map and had not been crossed off.
My claws dug into the ground. "So, they already destroyed two villages," I thought, peering out of the tent. "I guess in some way justice was served," but it felt hollow. Nothing would bring back those they killed.
I turned my attention to the left side of the tent; there were three crates stacked. This was my last chance to find something useful.
But my hopes dwindled when I opened the first crate and found more swords.
There were still two more crates. "They can't all only have weapons, right?"
I picked up the next crate and was surprised by how light it was-so light I thought it might be empty.
I pried off the lid and my eyes widened. Inside, nestled in straw, were dozens of light golden buns. My mouth began to water at the sight of real food, and a wave of relief washed over me. I wouldn't have to eat that monster.
"These must be the soldiers' rations," I realized, carefully setting the crate down before moving to the last one.
It was heavier, but not by much. I pulled off the lid and a smile spread across my face. It was filled with strips of dried, salted meat.
I was going to eat well tonight.
After hauling the two crates away from the grim camp to a quiet, shaded spot, I sat down with my spoils.
I picked up one of the buns first. It was ridiculously light and soft in my claws, which were designed for crushing bone and tearing flesh. I brought it to my mouth, my fangs felt clumsy and oversized for eating delicately like this.
But it didn't stop me from taking a healthy bite.
The world seemed to stop for a second. It was soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet. It wasn't tough or dry, and best of all, it didn't fight back.
I took another, bigger bite, then another, barely chewing. For Lamia, which seemed like a heartless invading country, I hadn't been expecting this type of food to be in their rations.
Then I tried the dried meat. It was tough, chewy, and intensely salty; it held a familiar and satisfying taste. I ate a few strips, then looked back at the bun in my other claw.
An idea sparked in my mind. "These two would be even better together!"
Carefully, I tore one of the buns in half with my claws and placed a few strips of the dried meat inside.
I took a bite of the combination. The softness of the bun and the salty, chewy meat were perfect. I closed my eyes, enjoying it and feeling satisfied.
I sat there, continuing to eat and relax until I was completely full. By then, the sun had begun to set.
Things had turned out decently. I knew I was on the right track now. I'd found a Mana Transcendence monster and soldiers, though I wasn't expecting it to go quite like this.
I wondered if Aurora had reached the capital by now. It was possible, but I had no way of knowing.
I lay down, imagining what it might look like.
She hadn't given me much of a description besides that it had amazing architecture-the best in this world, apparently-and that the royal family lived there.
The sun was now fully set, and the moon, along with the stars, began to fill the skies. Surrounded by the pleasant scent of bread and salt, I lay down, ready to sleep and continue on tomorrow.