Chapter 7: Learning Magic

[Day 6]

My wounds have not completely healed, but I think I am getting slightly better.

I managed to find three more Rabbit corpses of the fools that fell to their deaths with me, and I carried them slowly into a small cave I found, where I am resting while slowly eating them to regain energy and make Immortal Body's effect kick in.

As I eat and rest, I begin to wonder where I am.

When I was born and escaped from the little cave I originally was in, I only found an endless sea of snow with perpetual snowstorms.

But when I fell off the cliff for god-knows how much height, I got into this place.

The snow has not disappeared or anything, but the snowstorm is over, it seems.

Or maybe it is not in this place?

Well, anyway, as I said this place is a bit different.

I can clearly see what is ahead of me a bit when I investigated.

I am I some kind of plain, which is all covered in snow and blue-colored plants.

Alongside that, there is an enormous pine tree forest that blocks me from advancing further.

If I want to keep going, I have to cross this place.

However...

Well, I am scared of doing so.

Although I did not found any monsters yet, I am sure that there will be something bad there.

I am pretty sure I heard the howls of wolves all over this place, and as I am eating here, I kept hearing them through the entire night...

I am weakened and a little dragon, so of course I was scared.

If a pack of wolves comes here... I will surely die.

Maybe I could fight a single one but against a whole pack, I am as good as dead.

I have not even seen how strong they are, but it is not hard to be stronger than me, who sucks so much at everything.

Okay, enough self-loathing, time to improve me.

Well, interestingly enough, after enduring all of that pain, some of my Skills leveled up.

Also, I gained a Camouflage Skill... I do not know when I got it, but maybe when I stealthily attacked the rabbit? Though it found me out, so it is weird.

Well, there is no point in questioning things too much.

But based on this, I probably can learn even more Skills if I do certain things repeatedly, right?

But what else can a dragon-like me do to get Skills?

I already did camouflage stuff... what else?

I have been biting things for a while, so I do not think I can get a "Bite" Skill.

I have also been slashing the meat of the rabbits with my claws, and I have not gotten a "Slash" Skill either.

So what else?!

I begin to rack my brains thinking about what I could do, but everything that comes to mind is always regarding having a human body.

If I had a human body I could be able to learn how to fight using techniques or weapons, even crafting, alchemy, and other stuff, maybe...

But as a dragon? Nope.

Ugh... What else could I...

Ding!

<You learned the [High-speed Thought Processing: Level 1]>

Oh?!

After racking my brains for so much, I got a Skill that makes it even easier and faster to think things through.

I feel like I can think many things through a single second now.

Damn.

I wish my body could be fast enough to respond to my very thoughts, but I do not think that is the case...

Well, when I eat the rabbits I always earn one point of Dexterity per rabbit.

I wish I could eat a whole ton of them!

But why can I get Attribute Points from eating rabbits though?

I think it was because I was able to absorb their energy through Immortal Body, right?

And then, my Mana Core does some cultivation stuff I don't know automatically, giving me some attribute points.

This probably means that I can cultivate just by eating monster Mana Cores, nice.

Wait, isn't this an enormous cheat?

Maybe I should be more grateful.

But what can I do now?

I am slowly eating the three rabbits, so food does not run out, in this time, I have to prepare.

I got a new skill that helps me think a lot, so let us keep thinking a lot while... using Mana I guess.

Yes, let us go back to it.

Maybe I can learn faster through this Skill.

I put my mind into the task, concentrating my intent within the Mana Core inside of my chest.

I slowly begin to glow faintly, as I use the System Skill Analyze function to analyze the mana and at the same time learn how to move it with more swiftness.

I had figured out something...

If I have the highest level of magic, wouldn't that mean that I can also use the lowest levels of ice magic?

It is not like a grand mage will lose the ability to conjure tiny fireballs because he can now summon an enormous sphere of flames, right?

So instead of focusing on conjuring some giant ice attack, I need to concentrate and try to do something tiny.

Small.

Pocket-sized.

I have to practice and start from the very beginning.

Even though I got the strongest ice-type magic, I have to go back to the very basics to finally be able to wield it in the future.

So I begin to concentrate my intent on my mana.

I have discovered that Mana is a special substance filled with strange particles through Analyze.

These particles react to the intent of their wielder and shape mana to take the form of the elements of the world.

Those who have an elemental affinity will have an easier time shaping their mana to that very element compared to the rest.

And due to this, I should be able to at least conjure a cube of ice or something...

I begin to pour my intent into the flowing, blue-colored essence of mana, as I imagine a little knife made of ice.

Come on...

Come on...

Ugh...

Oof...

Come... on!

Flash!

Suddenly, before my eyes, a strange piece of ice appears out of thin air, draining around 5 points of mana, which falls right over the ground and shatters into pieces.

Oh?!

I did it!

It sucked, but I did it!