On an open patch of ground stood a strange shark-like earth dragon—
In terms of elemental composition, it was an earth dragon; it even smelled like one, but it certainly didn't look like one.
This small shark had a deep blue base color, with red from its lower jaw to its belly. There was a large fin on top of its head and two protrusions on the sides of its head. It also possessed a massive dragon's kiss and sharp teeth.
It was indeed the earth dragon Caesar.
As its Rank increased, its body continued to grow in the direction of a 'Gible'.
If it hadn't passed by a puddle, it might not have realized its appearance... was quite goofy.
Goofy as it was, Caesar was preparing to take a great step forward. The surrounding gravel and sand served as its carefully selected testing ground.
It took a deep breath and concentrated, trying to mobilize the new power that had come with its level-up.
"Sand Tomb!"
It roared low in its heart.
The ground showed no change at all.
"Awoo? Is it not voice-activated...?"
Caesar felt a bit embarrassed and tried a different way, mimicking the mages in novels by focusing its will on the patch of land in front of it.
This time, there was a reaction.
The ground beneath its feet began to vibrate slightly, and an invisible force was drawn from its body and poured into the land ahead. The sand began to swirl, and a vortex about half a meter in diameter appeared out of nowhere, sucking in the surrounding gravel and dust.
It worked!
Caesar looked at its masterpiece with excitement.
This was much cooler than the physical sand-kicking of the [Sand Attack] Move.
This was magic! Although the System panel labeled it as a physical Move, in this world, this was genuine magic!
Before the excitement could fade, a strong sense of emptiness surged from deep within its body.
The feeling was hard to describe, like pulling three consecutive all-nighters; the body felt hollowed out, even the bone marrow felt empty.
Caesar's legs went weak, and it nearly sat on the ground.
"Hmm? Such a big recoil?"
It quickly checked the panel, but besides HP, there was no display for MP or mana values at all.
This trash System doesn't even provide a mana bar, one-star review, awoo!
With no data for reference, Caesar could only use the most primitive method—physical sensation—to estimate the consumption.
It rested for a long while until the weakness receded slightly, then tried again.
This time, it deliberately controlled the power output.
A mini quicksand trap only the size of a washbasin appeared.
The physical weakness was also much less severe.
Caesar tinkered back and forth for half the day and finally reached a rough conclusion.
With its current 'mana pool,' it could use [Sand Tomb] at full power about four times.
After four times, it would be completely exhausted. It probably wouldn't even be able to use [Tackle], and any random Rock Worm could finish it off.
A Sand Tomb with only 4 PP?
That's quite the struggle.
"Could it be related to proficiency? Or does it require a Rank increase?"
"In any case, I have to use it sparingly."
While thinking, Caesar prepared for one last test before heading back to replenish its energy.
Just as it was mobilizing the little power remaining in its body, an indescribable pressure suddenly crushed down from the sky above!
"...!"
It wasn't physical weight, but an absolute suppression originating from the level of life itself.
The little Gible's scales all stood on end, its body froze uncontrollably on the spot, and even its breathing stopped.
Its mind went blank, with only one thought remaining.
Run!
It practically scrambled and crawled into a nearby low bush, shrinking its entire body into the shadows, not daring to Move a muscle.
A massive shadow projected down, enveloping the entire area.
Through the gaps in the bushes, Caesar carefully looked up.
It was a dragon.
A True Dragon.
Its size was so immense that it blocked the faint light filtering from the top of the cave. Its body was covered in scales as brilliant as sapphires. With every movement, the air vibrated slightly, emitting terrifying fluctuations of magic power.
That Blue Dragon merely flew swiftly past high above, not even casting a glance toward the ground, but that horrifying pressure was branded into the depths of Caesar's Soul.
Only when the shadow had completely vanished and the pressure dissipated did Caesar dare to take deep breaths, its heart pounding so hard it felt like it might jump out of its throat.
"Is this... like a Gym Leader passing through Pallet Town?"
Caesar felt lingering fear.
The feeling that Blue Dragon gave it was a hundred times more terrifying than all the monsters it had encountered before combined.
In front of it, Caesar probably didn't even count as a starting-area bug pokémon.
It suddenly realized a problem it had ignored for a long time.
In this world called 'Azeria,' the Dragons Nest Mountain Range was, to put it nicely, a settlement for dragon-blooded creatures, but to put it bluntly... it was the hunting ground and backyard of those True Dragons!
The bottom floor of the Dragons Nest where it resided, a place of survival of the fittest and utter chaos, wasn't it just a standard newbie town?
Why would a 'final version boss' like a Blue Dragon pass through a newbie town?
Wait... a flash of inspiration struck Caesar's mind.
It remembered its first day of hatching, seeing that round head among the pile of dragon eggs.
Silver, and also a True Dragon!
How could a True Dragon's egg appear in an earth dragon's nesting site?
Could it be that it was abandoned?
Caesar's dragons kiss split open uncontrollably as an extremely bold thought emerged—
If I encounter that Little Silver Dragon again... hehe.
Hehehe.
I wonder what True Dragon blood tastes like... eating it should grant a lot of experience, right?
However, this wicked thought only lasted for a second before being extinguished by the fear brought by the Blue Dragon.
With its current meager skills, thinking about slaying a True Dragon? It was probably dreaming.
More importantly, the appearance of the Blue Dragon sounded an alarm for Caesar.
"The tall tree catches the wind."
The fact that it could use magic was absolutely shocking among the earth dragon community.
Once exposed and discovered by those high-and-mighty True Dragons, its fate might be worse than being killed by a monster.
Being treated as a freak and taken away to be sliced up for research would be a merciful ending.
The worst-case scenario was Dragon-Body Alchemy.
After all... according to its memory fragments, 'earth dragons' were the products of a legendary dragon's Dragon-Body Alchemy tens of thousands of years ago in an attempt to Breakthrough Rank limits.
"No, I have to change my way of living."
Caesar instantly changed its development strategy.
I have to keep laying low!
—From that day on, it began to consciously control the scale of [Sand Tomb] releases.
When hunting, Caesar never aimed for large-scale control effects. Instead, it finely compressed its power to create a small patch of soft sand right under the prey's feet the moment it stepped down.
This change was extremely subtle, enough to make the prey stumble and lose balance, yet it left no obvious magical traces.
As for its 'Pokémon Center,' Caesar also performed a comprehensive upgrade and renovation.
It spent several days using its claws and head to forcefully Dig that stone room another dozen meters deeper into the rock wall, expanding the space several times over.
As for the entrance, it was camouflaged perfectly with vines, gravel, and mud. Even if someone walked right up to it, they would only think it was an ordinary rock wall.
After every successful hunt, no matter how heavy the prey, it would risk its life to drag it back to the nest, never eating outside.
As for in front of other earth dragons or monsters... there was only one word.
"Act"!
It would deliberately act malnourished, walking with a stumble and a blank stare, and would hide while trembling whenever it saw a slightly larger creature.
It looked like a deformed, cowardly, ordinary Young Dragon barely surviving at the bottom of the Dragons Nest, liable to starve to death at any moment.
What bad intentions could a goofy-headed Gible have?
This set of disguises was very successful.
Soon, those of its kind who were originally wary of it lost interest.
After all, who would pay attention to a loser who couldn't even get enough to eat?
As for some predators who thought they were clever and treated it as a delivered dinner... they would be met with 'entrapment'.
For example, a [Venomous Bird-Catching Spider] lurking in a rock crevice; its panel showed [Experience: 80].
When this spider saw Caesar, this 'weak' Young Dragon, passing in front of its territory, it immediately couldn't hold back. It lunged from the shadows, its eight hairy long legs moving as fast as a bolt of black lightning—
In its eyes, this Young Dragon that couldn't even walk straight was nothing more than a delicious snack.
However, the instant its front legs were about to touch the prey, the ground beneath it suddenly softened.
[Sand Tomb]!
The Venomous Bird-Catching Spider's momentum suddenly halted, and its body lost balance.
This was the moment!
The little shark, which had been acting 'panicked,' saw its dull eyes instantly become sharp.
With a side-step, it dodged the spider's pounce. Its entire body's muscles tensed instantly, turning into a deep blue afterimage!
[Tackle]!
"Bam!"
Caesar's hard skull slammed heavily into the spider's fragile abdominal connection.
The spider let out a sharp hiss. Its two-meter-long body was sent flying by the massive force, crashing heavily onto the ground. It twitched twice, and dark green fluid spilled everywhere.
Caesar didn't pause; it lunged forward and bit through the connection between the thorax and abdomen.
[Experience: 80]
Done, job finished.
It skillfully dragged the spider's corpse, which was a size larger than itself, scanned the surroundings alertly, and after confirming there were no witnesses, quickly disappeared into the shadows of the rock wall.
Such 'fishing' operations were carried out every day.
A self-righteous [Cave Lurker] (Experience: 75).
A pack of [Carrion Hyenas] attempting to hunt it (Experience: 45 each).
All the predators that targeted this'soft persimmon' eventually turned into ever-rising experience points on the panel.
In the eyes of other creatures, the bottom of the Dragons Nest remained that chaotic bottom floor where unlucky Young Dragons died every day.
But no dragon knew that a 'little cutie' was growing silently at a terrifying speed.
Caesar's Rank was steadily increasing.
LV7... LV8... LV9... Every bit of growth in its body was accompanied by the jumping numbers on the attribute panel.
The Gible's body did not grow wildly like other earth dragons. Instead, due to the extreme compression and utilization of energy, it appeared more lean and powerful. Every muscle and every scale was filled with explosive strength.
Finally, after another successful 'fishing' attempt, it swallowed the experience points from a [Hard-shelled Earth Lizard], and that familiar and pleasant voice rang in its mind.
"Ding!"
[Level Up! Current Rank LV10!]
A warm current surged through its entire body, sweeping away the fatigue and hidden injuries accumulated from months of hunting.
Caesar opened the panel.
[Template: Garchomp]
[Current Form: Gible]
[Rank: 10]
[Experience: 55/2400]
[HP: 38/38]
[Attack: 35]
[Defense: 31]
[Special Attack: 24]
[Special Defense: 26]
[Speed: 29]
[Ability: Sand Veil (Activated) / Rough Skin (Not Activated)]
[Moves: Tackle, Sand Attack, Sand Tomb]
Its attributes had welcomed another surge.
Speaking of which, I run around every day training Effort Values, so why isn't this Speed going up, awoo... While complaining internally, Caesar suddenly noticed the change in the Ability column.
[Sand Veil (Activated)]!
—[Evasion increases in Sandstorm weather (Current Proficiency: 20%), including sand-raising environments.]
Huh?
...It actually activated?
Caesar was a bit surprised.
One should know that in the early days of permanent weather, a 'Sand Veil' Garchomp was just as disgusting as a'Snow Cloak' Mamoswine.
The latter (※ Focus Sash Mamoswine with Endeavor) could at least be countered with Stealth Rock, but the former was different.
With Leftovers equipped, Garchomp only needed to use 'Substitute,' and the opposing player would have a lot to worry about.
Not to mention having to struggle against an 80% accuracy rate (equivalent to Stone Edge), the chip damage from the Sandstorm alone was very annoying.
Finally managed to break the Substitute... Sorry, hehe, I set it up again!
Meanwhile, the Leftovers had already restored its health.
Want to switch out? A counter Swords Dance to sweep the team.
In short, it was shameless.
Thinking about its behavior during this time—frantically hiding, sneaking, digging holes, and disguising itself just to stay alive—an absurd guess popped into Caesar's head.
"This trash System... it couldn't have activated this because it saw how well I can lay low, right?"
In the games, Ability activation is innate, or otherwise switched through special items.
But now, its [Sand Veil] Ability clearly appeared after it had practiced the 'Way of Laying Low' to the extreme.
This activation condition is too ridiculous...!
"Could it be that this System isn't just about killing monsters to level up, but rather unlocks corresponding abilities based on my behavior patterns...?"
If [Sand Veil] was activated because of its constant hiding and utilization of the sandy environment... then what about the other Hidden Ability, [Rough Skin]?
"Rough Skin... the effect is dealing damage to the attacker when hit by a contact Move..."
Caesar touched its smooth and hard scales.
"To activate this Ability, do I have to go looking for trouble every day and deliberately let people hit me?"
This playstyle... why does it sound so much like a tank MT? The kind that wears a Thornmail.
A whole new line of thought unfolded in Caesar's mind.
It looked at those two Abilities on the panel, its dragons kiss splitting into a very wicked curve.
"This is getting interesting, awoo..."