Paul was flung backwards by the explosion that engulfed the Wyvern and rolled on the ground until he came to a standstill.
"Ghwaa"
A strange sound came out of his beak.
His body had not yet fully healed and being thrown around with these injuries did him no favors.
A few seconds later pebbles rained down like hail and the dust cloud followed, falling like a blanket from the sky.
He turned cautiously towards the hole in anticipation of potential disaster, unable to discern anything through the dust cloud.
(Not yet)
Considering how many levels he gained from the Salamander Queen, Paul was confident he would get at least one level this time around, since the Wyvern is a stronger monster.
If the notification didn't arrive that meant it wasn't over.
(I can't believe it survived an explosion like that)
The Wyvern turned out to be as much of a monster as he feared.
Paul made a desperate gamble using everything he had. The knowledge of his former life, the skills he gained in this life and yet it wasn't enough.
Despite the magic-like skills that exist in this new world, he had confirmed that the laws of physics worked the same. Something like gravity or oxygen still functioned as usual and those rules applied to the active volcano inside the mountain range as well.
Paul had always been an average student, thus his knowledge was surface level at best, but there were a few subjects that drew his attention due to how cool they were.
With the little knowledge that he had, he was able to understand and make use of his surroundings.
He knew that volcanoes had pockets called pressurized chambers, where molten rock, gas and crystals pool together. The heat then causes the gas to expand until it eventually erupts with enough force to fracture the surrounding rock, pushing magma and minerals among other things to the surface during the process.
Normally such chambers would be would be several kilometers deep underground, but as Paul had witnessed himself, there were plenty of Emberants digging tunnels inside the mountain.
He surmised there was such a chamber nearby, because of the Iglemites.
It was thanks to their shells that he even realized the possibility.
At first he considered them to simply be the product of skill, however the more he saw them the less natural they seemed.
The strange way they shimmered under the moonlight was entirely non-organic and he had even witnessed one of them lose its' shell when he first encountered them.
The Iglemites didn't grow their shells, they gathered the material and clumped it together to form the shells they wear out of minerals, that were grounded to dust.
Once the realization hit, he wasted no time and started searching for signs of a nearby chamber.
Luckily for Paul, he managed to distract the Wyvern long enough to locate the chamber and send the transformed summon to dig tunnels just below the surface, so they would collapse.
Afterwards he only needed to bait the monster to step into his trap.
Everything went according to plan. The Wyvern fell into the ground, the chamber exploded in a massive eruption and as Paul laid motionless on the ground, a million thoughts raced through his mind.
How did it survive? Was there something else he could do? Should he have gone about it in a different way?
Crack! Clank!
A sudden sound from the hole dragged Paul back to the reality unfolding before him.
As the dust slowly settled, a shadow crawled out of the hole, until a small mountain of muscles and scales emerged.
Paul gazed at the result of everything he had done.
The webbing of the left wing had been blown away and the broken right wing was now missing entirely. Most of the scales on the right side of the body were nowhere to be seen, the flesh underneath was now exposed and bloodied.
Although the body slouched to one side, its' head was still held high in defiance.
There it stood tall, towering over him, despite the damage it suffered and Paul could only marvel at the sight of it.
His eyes widened and met the one remained eye the Wyvern had left.
Its' gaze unrelenting and fierce, shook Paul to his core.
He saw a disturbing intelligence, as it no longer looked at him as something akin to a bug.
Such strength, such resilience, such pride.
The scene in front of him left a deep impression in him and he felt a sense of utmost respect for this magnificent beast swell inside him.
(Get up … get up … get up)
His body shivered from the effort, as Paul mustered every ounce of willpower he had left and forced himself to stand up.
(I refuse to die on the ground like some dog. If I die I'll do so on my feet)
Upon standing up he transformed to his human form and wobbled a bit, struggling to retain his balance for a moment before steadying himself.
A low and threatening growl escaped the Wyverns maw, as both glared at each other, understanding that this will be the end.
Hiiisss! Bam!
A blast of wind aimed at the Wyverns' right side, struck it in the face and caused it to fall over.
The massive body hit the ground with a loud thud and kicked up the dust once more.
Paul who stood a small distance away watched as a figure cut through the air, quickly approaching the Wyvern.
The figure wound up its' tail and struck the Wyverns' head, causing it to tense up before it went completely limp.
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
Multiple notifications rang inside his head, but Paul promptly ignored them and focused on the new monster that had appeared.
Perched atop the Wyverns' corpse was a familiar looking monkey. Its' leathery skin in full display, as the tail was lodged deep in the skull of its' victim.
This was the same monster he had witnessed fighting the Wyvern in the afternoon.
(Don't tell all the commotion attracted this one as well?)
Suddenly it lifted both arms in the air and wiggled around, something that Paul could only interpret as a strange victory dance.
The greater Heatglider continued the dance until it noticed Paul and froze mid-dance.
Neither of them moved in the silence that followed.
The monkey stared for a while, before it screeched at Paul and dragged the dead Wyvern with much effort.
Once the monkey was a fair distance away, Paul fell to his knees.
"Both of them must have been at least a higher grade than me"
He gasped and let out the breath that he didn't even notice he was holding in.
"I survived because neither of them took me serious"
Paul looked at his hands trembling hands before punching the ground in frustration.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"
He punched the ground over and over again, even as the skin of his fist peeled off and his blood smeared the rocky surface.
"Why am I so weak?"
As soon as he voiced his frustrations tears rolled down his face.
He continued sobbing for a while under the moonlight illuminating the area.
After a while he calmed down and slowly stood up.
"I swear, I'm gonna become stronger. Strong enough to live the way I want, strong enough that I never have to run away anymore"
He wiped away the tears, as he voiced his determination. His eyes were staring straight ahead, in the direction of the forest.
"In order to become stronger I'll need to level up, but first things first. Status window"
Status window
Race: Fledgling Phoenix (Iron grade)
Name: Unnamed
Class: Summoner (Iron grade)
Level: 9
HP: 8 / 53
Fey: 2 / (+++)
SP: 2 / 44
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 17
Defense: 17
Intelligence: 30
Resistance: 19
Speed: 20
Kindered skills: [Budding immortality] [Polymorph lvl.4] [Fire attack lvl.3] [Perseverance]
Class skills: [Lesser summon lvl.2]
"Huh? A new skill? When did I get this?"
Full of curiosity he immediately checked the details his new skill.
[Perseverance]
[When activated allows the user to survive a fatal attack once. After activation the skill will be unusable for the next 24 hours]
"That sounds like an incredibly useful skill"
Although he was glad to have a skill that would keep him alive, he also didn't like the idea of continuing his streak of near death experiences.
"Wait, other monsters better not have skills like that. My survival depends on it! Should I start with muscle training instead of killing monsters in the forest?"
Grrr!
His stomach growled in protest, as his sense of hunger suddenly hit him now that the tension was gone.
Paul looked at the nearly forgotten Mimifowl corpse and pondered.
"If I cook it, will it taste like chicken?"