Bloodshed was flying towards the human village when it decided to change plans. Despite feeding off the human yesterday the dragon's instincts were acting up. It could have been the amount of blood taken from the human was not enough as usually Bloodshed would take the blood from many monsters before being satisfied. The blood from Kira was enough to last a day but now the dragon needed more.

 

The dragon decided to hunt from prey instead of bothering the human. While drinking from Kira was a good way to quell its instincts around humans, that was only so Bloodshed would not attack strong humans for blood. Despite having any easy way to grow It would never give up the fastest method of growth available. Also while the human’s blood tasted surprisingly good the dragon did not think it would match up to stronger monsters. 

 

‘That is something to think about, maybe if Kira grows more her blood would taste better.’

 

It was a good thing to test, but right now the dragon had a different problem to solve. It usually hunted around the forest, but it was now the strongest monster here. It didn't want to kill monsters weaker than it, so Bloodshed would have to find a new place to hunt. Lucky with its wings the dragon could now travel very fast to anywhere it wanted. 

 

…

 

After an hour of flying Bloodshed was deeper into the forest and surrounded by strong undiscovered monsters.

 

[Blood Sense has grown from Lv11->Lv12]

 

The dragon had gained insights into its new form while flying. First its current body was so big that it would be hard to ambush monsters now. Second, its current size attracted a Lot of attention from other flying monsters. Bloodshed is currently being attacked by a pack of flying monsters.

[Seagull Lv 14]

[Seagull Lv13]

….

…

 

There were a lot. The Seagulls used water to attack the dragon in mid air. Despite using the same element as the Karp these monsters had very little control of their attacks. The dragon was easily able to retaliate with its own, one blood pillar would instantly kill a Seagull. Bloodshed would then attack with the blood from the fallen monster or absorb it to gain more mana. 

 

While it was currently winning the dragon was constantly being hit by the Seagulls' attacks. Bloodshed could dodge most of them but its large body meant that some would inevitably hit. Its high Endurance and the monster's weak magical skill had Bloodshed taking little damage from the bombardment of water. 

 

However an issue was forming. These monsters had little skill in magic, instead they focused on flight speed. Bloodshed could not shake off the persistent pack of monsters and whenever it got close to fully cleansing them it would run into another pack that would join the fight. 

 

The dragon was at an impasse. It could try to shake off the flying monsters by changing its form and using blood phantoms. But it really didn't not want to flee from weaker foes. 

 

Suddenly the dragon realized a perfect solution to its problem that had been ignored.

 

‘Dame, why don't I just use Blood Fire to kill them all?’

 

Bloodshed had unconsciously ignored its new ability Dragon Breath because of the limitation of growth the skill caused. Blood Fire could easily kill most foes but cut off the dragon's growth and it still did not dare to test Life Fire. The weakness from losing lifeforce felt dangerous to the dragon even if it could make more.

The dragon used its skill to fan the flock of monsters surrounding it. The wide spray of fire meant that it could not be avoided. And the innate effects of Blood Fire meant that the forest would not burn to the ground when the flaming bodies finally hit the floor.

 

[You have consumed potent blood, XP Gained!]

 

[You have consumed potent blood, XP Gained!]

 

[Blood Conversion has grown from Lv11->Lv12]

 

[Blood Manipulation has grown from Lv13->Lv14]

 

The dragon flew for a bit to get away from the bodies and then landed in an open area of forest. The few monsters around it would be cleared away by Dragon Fear.

 

‘Unlike those freaky Seagulls.’ Bloodshed thought with a frown.

 

Finally getting rid of that group of annoying monsters, Bloodshed searched for a stroke foe it could hunt. After finding one the dragon walked close enough so it could closely watch the monster through Blood Sense but not close enough to be noticed by it.

…

 

After learning about how the monster hunts prey, the dragon decided to fight it. Not able to hide its approach the dragon settled for having a blood phantom of its last evolution attack from the other side. This way the monster would have two threats to worry about and Bloodshed could save some mana by not making a clone of its currency form. 

 

‘In fact, I don't know if I can make a clone of my currently huge body.’ The dragon thought.

 

As it went past the last trees the dragon could finally learn the name of the monster it was attacking.

 

[Tiger Lv18]

 

The Tiger was a monster that focused on speed and power. For this fight Bloodshed wanted to test its power against the monster. With its mana mostly full the dragon knew it could heal any wound gained during the fight.  

 

The dragon ran into the clearing and attacked the monster first. Bloodshed swiped its claw at the Tiger but it was easily doged. The Tiger was faster than the dragon but that was not all. The monster responded to the threat by head butting the dragon. Bloodshed was pushed back and slightly confused by the damage to its skull.

 

The Tiger had more strength than the dragon. But strength and speed were not the only factors in a fight. Bloodshed had the phantom attack from behind the Tiger to gather its attention while the dragon bit into the monster's shoulder.

 

The Tiger smartly ignored the threat and retaliated by biting into the dragon's neck. Bloodshed's Endurance was high so it evened out the damage done despite the difference in strength. But the dragon was bitten on the neck normally this would be fatal because of blood loss. For the dragon this was just one more task that needed its attention. With Blood Manipulation it held in the blood while controlling the clone to attack the monster. 

 

The blood phantom was still too weak. It could use the form's strength to attack, but the force would quickly dissipate as the blood spread apart. 

 

‘I should find a way to improve my attacks with blood. I haven't needed to make a new way to fight since my creation of the Blood Phantom skill.’ Bloodshed thought before turning back to the fight.

 

The phantom was able to worsen the Tigers' wound before being smacked out of existence. The dragon wanted to immediately pounce back on the Tiger but with the monster being weary it gave the dragon time for something else. 

 

It started to heal its wound with Lifeforce Conversion. The dragon had been going through stages of being careful of fighting to being reckless back and forth it went. It was a dilemma, every time it got dangerous the dragon would regret it and fight safe, but eventually Bloodshed would crave a challenge and return to the extreme. Just now it found a solution to its problem.

‘I don’t have to be stupid while enjoying a challenge. I can be safe and careful while fighting others to their advantage.’ The dragon thought

 

This was a dilemma that had less to do with the dragon's instinct and more with its personality. Its instincts created the want and need to fight, but it's boredom and intelligence created the emotion that fueled its recklessness. Hopeful this solution would be permanently and the dragon would not head back towards that extreme.

 

Seemingly done with waiting for its opponent to heal, the Tiger jumped at the dragon. Attacking from an angle the monster slashed at the dragon sides. Bloodshed allowed this hit and traded blows with the Tiger. The dragon started to make the blood of its prey bled out faster while simultaneously healing its own injuries gained and keeping its own blood from spilling.

Attack for attack the monsters battled. The grass and trees were dyed red from their vicious  fight. While Bloodshed felt pain from the blows this was muted by its excitement. The dragon had not had a fight like this in a long time. 

 

Before the Tiger succumbed to its blood loss, Bloodshed was able to bite the monster's neck and after pining it with the help from a clone the dragon snapped the Tigers neck. The Tiger excelled at speed and strength but it had no magical abilities to speak of and its endurance was terrible compared to the dragon. 

 

[Blood Conversion has grown from Lv12->Lv13]

The dragon was very satisfied with the fight and after feeding on the blood of its prey Bloodshed started its journey back to familiar lands. 

 

[You have consumed potent blood, XP Gained!]

 

[Level Up!]

 

[Strength+1,Agility+2,Endurance+1,Magic+3]

 

…

Its enthusiasm was immediately killed by having to deal with seagulls again.

[Level: 16]

[Race: Blood Dragon ]

[Skills: [Blood Sense Lv12],[Blood Manipulation Lv14],[Blood Conversion Lv13] ]

[ [Polymorph Lv15, Dragon Breath Lv15], [Will Infusion Lv5]

[Sub-Skills: [Blood Phantom Lv14],[Lifeforce Conversion Lv13] ]

[ [Information BefuddlementLv15], [Language Mastery Lv15], [Half-Dragon Lv15] ]

[ [[Blood Fire Lv15], [Life Fire Lv15] ]

[Passive Skills: [Dragon Scales], [Dragon Strength], [Dragon Fear] ]

[Strength:15(48)]

[Agility:32]

[Endurance:16(32)]

[Magic:48]

[Titles: [One Who Chooses],[Slayer of the Forest Stalker] ]