The corpse was still warm.
Steam curled off the Ember-Fur Ape's body, mixing with the swamp's mist. The tang of blood and burnt fur filled the air, sharp and metallic, but oddly… energizing.
He sat in silence for a long moment — still crouched over the kill, heart racing, mind catching up.
Not with fear.
With excitement.
He'd won.
Against magic. Against something smarter, stronger, faster. And it wasn't dumb luck.
It was him.
The fire hadn't killed him. [Adaptation] had kicked in, cool and perfect, rewriting his body in real time. And [Wisdom] — even in its silent, passive state — kept feeding him exactly what he needed when he needed it.
It felt right. Like he'd done this before. Like this was what he was made to do.
'So this is what a real second chance feels like…'
A ripple of thrill ran down his spine. He was still just a lizard — a small one, by the feel of it — but already he could take down magic beasts. What would happen when he evolved?
When he grew wings?
When he breathed fire?
Or more.
[Skill fragment: Ember Sac (0.3%). Stored.]
The message repeated in the back of his mind, flat and robotic, but to him it sounded like a promise. A path. He could feel it — someday he'd absorb that power completely.
He stepped back from the corpse and flicked his tongue again.
Movement.
Small shapes — no heat, barely any mana signature — clustered in the water. Scavengers. Round-shelled things with too many legs. Already drawn by the smell of blood.
He turned away. Let them have the scraps. He'd already taken what mattered.
Time passed.
How long, exactly, he couldn't say. There was no sun in the sky, just an eternal gray overcast and thick canopies above the swamp. But his body kept growing — stronger, faster, smarter.
His scales had darkened. Hardened. His tail moved with whip-crack precision. His claws had grown curved and strong, and his eyes adjusted to near-perfect darkness. He no longer slipped or struggled when stalking through muddy roots or diving into water so black it could've been ink.
And through it all:
[Adaptation complete. Skill acquired: Pressure Resistance (Minor).]
[Skill acquired: Enhanced Scent Discrimination.]
[Skill acquired: Amphibious Locomotion.]
It wasn't just stats. He felt it.
Every step, every breath, every creature he hunted, changed him. It was fast — far faster than evolution should be — but it never felt forced. It was earned.
He became a predator.
And then came the first real whisper.
Not a voice. Not exactly. But a thought — too sharp to be instinct, too structured to be his own.
He had found a fallen log, hollow and dry inside, perfect shelter for the night. He curled into it, tucking his tail around himself, eyes heavy.
But then — a flicker.
A surge of faint symbols in the dark behind his eyelids.
[Processing cognitive framework. Initiating memory sort.]
[Combat behavior modeling enabled.]
[Compatible style detected: Ambush Predator – Reactive Type.]
[Suggested optimization: Expand striking reach. Reduce exposure frame. Increase bite precision.]
He blinked awake, muscles twitching.
'...It's learning from my fights?'
[Confirmed.]
A chill ran down his spine — not from fear, but awe. The skill wasn't just passively guiding him.
It was watching. Refining him.
Like a combat AI running simulations in the background. Always adjusting. Always improving.
He tested the advice the next day — tail strikes from low cover, lunges with tighter angles, coiling ambushes from submerged roots. They all worked. Smoother, faster, more lethal.
He grinned in his head.
'Thanks, [Wisdom]. Keep it coming.'
No response.
That was fine. It was still listening.
He'd moved beyond frogs and bugs. His diet now consisted of scaled swamp runners — long-bodied reptiles with rows of jagged teeth — and glider-bats that screeched at night and attacked in packs.
One left him with a shredded forelimb and a broken rib.
He killed it anyway.
[Critical damage sustained.]
[Emergency adaptation triggered.]
[Skill acquired: Pain Suppression (Passive).]
[Skill acquired: Limb Stabilization (Instinctive Regeneration – Basic).]
The injury healed in hours.
It wasn't perfect — he still walked with a limp for the rest of that day — but it was enough. Enough to fight again. Enough to kill again.
And through the blood and bites, something new began to stir inside him.
A tension in the chest. A burning core — not painful, but tight, like pressure building under his ribs.
[Biomass threshold approaching.]
[Race evolution available: Drake (Proto).]
He froze mid-step.
'Evolution? Already?'
He knew from anime and light novels — especially Tensura — what that meant. You got strong enough, lived long enough, ate enough powerful enemies, and bam. New form. New power. New future.
He took a deep breath. His heart thudded faster.
This was it. He was on the path.
He couldn't wait.
But instinct held him back.
He wasn't ready. Not yet. Not without a safe place to change — evolution always came with risk. He might lose consciousness. He might draw predators. He needed shelter. Time.
So he waited. Prepared.
And scouted.
He didn't expect to find ruins.
It started with stone — unnatural angles, buried under vines and moss. He uncovered more: cracked pillars, scattered bricks, a half-buried arch with strange glyphs etched into it. Faded symbols, claw-marked and weathered, almost erased by time.
But definitely not nature-made.
Not animal. Not swamp-grown.
Built.
His tongue flicked again. No scent of humans. No warmth. No life.
It was old. Ancient. Forgotten.
But not empty.
Mana clung to the stones like mist. Not the kind beasts used — this was structured. Precise. Residual spell formations.
He paced the ruins slowly, carefully, examining everything he could. He didn't understand the writing, but [Wisdom] flickered.
[Unknown script detected. Cross-referencing…]
[Partial match: Ancient Lingua – Root System. Compatibility 12%. Analysis in progress.]
'So there was a civilization here...'
A sudden thought struck him: what if he wasn't alone? What if there were other people out there? Heroes? Mages? Towns?
He hadn't seen any. No villages, no campfires, no trails. Just wilderness and ruins. But he knew how these stories went. Tensura had humans, kingdoms, powerful allies and enemies.
And if they existed here too… he'd find them.
Eventually.
For now, though… he had to keep growing.
He looked up at a broken statue — only half its head remained. Once it had horns. Wings. Something draconic.
He touched the base of it with one claw, then turned and crawled deeper into the jungle.
That night, he curled up beneath a broken slab of roof near the ruins. The heat in his chest returned — stronger than before. His scales pulsed, his blood boiled. He twitched in his sleep.
Then came the dream.
He stood tall — taller than trees, taller than castles. Wings spread from his back, scales like black metal, eyes burning with power.
People knelt below. Worshiping. Fearing. Tiny in his presence.
He roared, and the sky turned to fire.
The dream faded.
He awoke still breathing hard.
But smiling.
[Biomass threshold surpassed. Evolution ready.]
[Race Upgrade: Forest Lizard → Proto-Drake.]
[Warning: Full transformation requires hibernation. Estimated duration: 12 hours.]
[Nearby threats: Low.]
[Commence evolution? Y/N]
He didn't hesitate.
'Yes.'