That massive Iron-armored Centipede became Caesar's first "long-term meal ticket" after arriving in this world.
He first stuffed himself until he was full, then used every ounce of strength he had to drag the centipede's corpse into a more hidden rock crevice, sealing the entrance with a large amount of rubble and mud.
A natural "refrigerator" was thus completed.
In the days that followed, Caesar's life became incredibly regular.
When hungry, he would go to the "refrigerator" and take a piece of fresh centipede meat.
When full, he would digest in the Pokémon Center, feeling his experience bar rise slowly but steadily.
[EXP: 88/200]
[EXP: 95/200]
[EXP: 103/200]
Every feeding session brought anywhere from a few points to over a dozen points of experience.
This made Caesar realize completely that high-quality food was also an important source of experience.
By consuming the flesh and blood of this energy-rich Demonic Beast, his body was also undergoing changes.
The luster of his scales grew higher, and his muscle lines became more pronounced, no longer looking like the skin-and-bones figure from before.
When he finished gnawing on the last piece of centipede meat and let out a satisfied burp, that familiar sound rang out once more.
"Ding!"
A warm current, stronger than any before, instantly surged through his entire body.
[Template: Garchomp]
[Current Form: Gible]
[Rank: 3]
[EXP: 25/400]
[HP: 28/28]
[Attack: 18]
[Defense: 15]
[Sp. Atk: 12]
[Sp. Def: 13]
[Speed: 13]
[Move: Tackle, Sand Attack]
Leveled up again!
Caesar felt the power surging within him; this time the increase was far greater than the last.
He casually swiped a claw at the nearby rock wall, and the hard rock surface was actually struck with a spiderweb-like pattern of cracks.
"Rawr! This growth curve is pretty good, rawr!"
Caesar waved his claws excitedly.
From Rank 2 to Rank 3, every attribute had increased by 2 to 3 points, which translated to a solid increase in combat power in reality.
The only thing that dissatisfied him was that there were still only those two lonely moves in the moves pool.
"Leveling up once is so slow, who knows how long it'll take to get the next move..."
He remembered that in the games, a Gible could only learn "Sand Attack" at level 6 and "Dragon Breath" at level 12.
But now, he had already learned Sand Attack... so what would he learn at Rank 6?
Learn how to breathe air?
"Damn it, System, hurry up and give me back my Sand Tomb...!"
The Gible threw a tantrum and rolled around, but there was still no movement before his eyes.
Fine.
Complaining aside, the journey had to continue.
The experience bar cap had jumped from 200 to 400.
Farming small mobs like Rock Worms could no longer keep up with his growth speed.
It was time to challenge those "tough characters" he hadn't dared to provoke before.
Caesar left his Pokémon Center and once again set out on a journey to "uncover the map."
He avoided the territory of that Mantis-shaped Demonic Beast; that thing's experience value was as high as 280, but its attack power was also terrifyingly high, capable of one-shotting kids. Caesar admitted his current body couldn't withstand it yet.
His target was that group of "shadows" he had scouted earlier.
Those creatures that looked like canine Demonic Beasts.
He quietly sneaked into that area, hiding behind a giant stalactite and observing carefully.
It was a pack of pitch-black, agile creatures that looked like a cross between a hound and a lizard. Caesar decided to call them "Shadow Hounds."
They moved in groups of three to five, traversing the darkness silently, with only the occasional low growl from their throats proving their existence.
The panel showed that a single one had an [EXP: 65].
This value made Caesar's Dragon heart pound.
High risk, high reward!
One of these was worth more than twenty Rock Worms he had killed before.
If he could "farm" this entire pack, the experience... Caesar's mouth was almost watering.
But he didn't let greed cloud his mind.
The coordination of these Shadow Hounds was too seamless; their movements were filled with a certain discipline.
Charging straight in would definitely result in being torn to shreds instantly.
"Ever played World of Warcraft? If you pull extra mobs, you die. You have to pull them out one by one for a solo kill!"
A clear "dungeon-crawling" strategy emerged in Caesar's mind.
He needed bait.
The little Gible turned and left, spending a bit of time nearby to hunt down a blind Cave Bat.
He didn't eat the prey, but instead carried the still-warm corpse in his mouth and returned to the Shadow Hounds' territory.
He threw the bat's corpse into an open area about dozens of meters away from the edge of the pack's territory, then hid himself in the shadows further away, leaving only a pair of eyes to stare intently.
This was the ultimate test of patience.
Time passed minute by minute.
Finally, two Shadow Hounds on guard duty seemed to catch the scent of blood and walked toward the bait.
They walked very cautiously, stopping every few steps to warily scan their surroundings.
Caesar's heart rose to his throat.
Here they come!
The two hounds approached the bat's corpse and lowered their heads to sniff; one of them opened its mouth to Bite down.
Now's the time!
Caesar suddenly lunged from the shadows, his target not the two hounds, but the ground behind them!
"Sand Attack!"
He concentrated all his strength into this one strike.
A massive amount of grit mixed with rubble formed a huge fan-shaped impact surface, instantly cutting off those two hounds from the pack behind them!
The grayish-yellow sand curtain temporarily obstructed the pack's vision and support path.
And the two hounds, whose faces were covered in sand, let out angry roars.
Their vision was severely affected, and they could only vaguely see a short figure.
This was exactly the effect Caesar wanted!
Without a moment's pause, he turned and ran!
The two enraged hounds didn't even think before immediately giving chase.
In their eyes, this little ground dragon was provoking their authority!
The Gible ran for his life in front, with the two Shadow Hounds hot on his heels.
He didn't dare run in a straight line, instead utilizing the complex cave terrain to constantly circle around and weave through various narrow rock crevices.
The Shadow Hounds were extremely fast; several times, their sharp claws brushed past Caesar's tail, kicking up sparks.
So thrilling!
As Caesar ran, he frantically calculated the distance and route in his mind.
He was going to lead these two hounds to his chosen "execution ground"!
It was an area filled with sharp stalagmites.
Finally, after pulling ahead of one hound by a single body length, Caesar slammed on the brakes and turned to face the closest Shadow Hound.
The hound hadn't expected him to stop suddenly and charged straight forward.
"Now's the time!"
Elbow strike!
Caesar's body suddenly flashed to the side, while his hind legs exerted force for a fierce [Tackle], slamming into the hound's flank!
"Awoo!?"
The Shadow Hound let out a miserable cry, instantly losing its balance and crashing violently toward the rock wall covered in stalagmites!
*Puchi!*
The terrifying sound of a Sharp Weapon entering flesh rang out.
A sharp stalagmite, nearly half a meter long, pierced through the hound's soft underbelly, pinning it firmly to the wall!
Blood instantly gushed out.
The Shadow Hound let out an agonizing wail, its limbs struggling frantically, but to no avail.
Instakill!
Terrain kill!
Caesar looked at his masterpiece, his heart racing.
"Beautiful!"
He couldn't help but cheer for himself in his heart.
As expected of the results from practicing for two and a half days, rawr?
But now was not the time to Celebrate.
The other Shadow Hound had already circled around; seeing its companion pinned to the wall and clearly about to die, its eyes instantly turned blood-red!
It let out a roar filled with rage and killing intent, lunging fiercely at Caesar!
Caesar was well-prepared, launching another [Sand Attack] the moment the opponent pounced.
This time, it was a zero-distance face-stuffer!
"Hiss!"
The Shadow Hound's vision was taken, and its movements stiffened for a split second.
Caesar seized this opportunity and used his head to launch a [Tackle]!
His target was the opponent's front leg joint!
*Crack!*
The crisp sound of bone fracturing rang out.
The Shadow Hound's front leg was forcefully smashed into a bizarre angle!
The intense pain drove it completely mad; it opened its bloody maw and bit wildly in Caesar's direction.
Caesar nimbly rolled away to dodge, then lunged forward without hesitation, his sharp teeth sinking deep into the opponent's neck!
"Die for me!"
He used all his strength, shaking his head frantically.
Muscles tore, bones dislocated.
The Shadow Hound's struggles grew weaker and weaker until finally, its body went limp and it stopped moving entirely.
"Ding!"
[EXP: 90/400]
One down!
Caesar let go of his mouth, panting heavily.
The battle just now seemed short, but it had consumed a great deal of his mental and physical energy.
He glanced at the dying hound still pinned to the wall, stepped forward without hesitation, and bit through its throat to send it on its way.
"Ding!"
[EXP: 155/400]
Sweet!
One successful "pull" had yielded 130 experience points!
This efficiency was simply unrivaled!
Caesar dragged the two hound corpses back to his Pokémon Center.
He was in no hurry to go on the next hunt.
He needed to replenish his strength and summarize his experience first.
"Shadow Hounds are fast, their defense is average, and their intelligence isn't high—they're easily provoked..."
Caesar analyzed the battle in his mind while tearing into the hounds' flesh.
This body's combat instincts combined with his gamer brain were a match made in heaven.
After devouring both corpses completely, his experience bar finally stopped at [EXP: 295/400].
Just a little bit more and he could level up again!
Caesar licked the blood from the corner of his mouth and dove back into the tedious yet efficient business of "farming mobs."
The rest was simple.
The Gible used the same method over and over to pull lone hounds from the pack, then used terrain and tactics to kill them one by one.
The process was fraught with danger.
This included, but was not limited to... ① Pulling errors, once accidentally attracting three hounds and nearly getting surrounded.
He only barely escaped at the cost of having a piece of meat bitten off by one of them.
② Running into an "Head Hound" that was clearly a size larger than the others. The panel showed its energy reaction far exceeded ordinary individuals, with an [EXP] as high as 180 points! This was definitely an elite mob!
Good heavens, everyone, that was truly a perilous battle... Caesar's [Sand Attack] was far less effective against it, and the opponent's combat experience was extremely rich, nearly pushing Caesar into a desperate situation several times.
Ultimately, Caesar relied on his superior endurance to slowly wear the opponent down to death.
When the little Gible, covered in wounds, bit through the Head Hound's neck, that long-awaited voice finally rang out in his mind like heavenly music.
"Ding! Ding! Ding!"
Three consecutive notification sounds made Caesar almost think he was hallucinating.
"Wait... this is too much experience! Is it because I challenged something so many levels higher that the System gave a massive bonus?!"
A soft white light enveloped him like a tide.
Not one, but three consecutive lights of leveling up!
From Rank 3's 295/400, after killing the first wave of hounds, the experience bar exploded, breaking through 400 to reach Rank 4!
After killing the second wave, the experience bar filled the 800 cap again, rising to Rank 5!
Finally, after killing that elite Head Hound, the 180 points of experience plus the gains from devouring it directly broke through the 1200 experience cap!
[Rank Up! Current Rank: 6!]
The light faded.
Caesar stood dazed on the spot.
He could feel that his body was filled with unprecedented power.
It wasn't just a small increase, but a qualitative leap!
He looked down at his claws; the scales had become thicker and harder, shimmering with a metallic luster.
Trying a jump, his body felt incredibly light; with a gentle push, he leaped over two meters high!
He walked over to a boulder that had previously required a lot of effort to push, took a deep breath, grabbed the edges of the rock with both claws, and exerted force!
*Rumble!*
That boulder, weighing hundreds of pounds, was actually lifted over his head!
"Holy crap...?"
Caesar was startled by his own strength.
Is this the power brought by leveling up?
Strong!
So damn strong!
He opened the panel.
[Template: Garchomp]
[Current Form: Gible]
[Rank: 6]
[EXP: 105/1600]
[HP: 35/35]
[Attack: 29]
[Defense: 23]
[Sp. Atk: 19]
[Sp. Def: 20]
[Speed: 21]
[Ability: Sand Veil (Not Activated) / Rough Skin (Not Activated)]
[Move: Tackle, Sand Attack, Sand Tomb (New)]
A new move!
It's finally here!
[Sand Tomb]: Consumes MP to create a vortex of quicksand, dealing continuous damage to enemies over several turns and preventing them from escaping. (※ At high proficiency, can trap opponents in an overwhelming Sandstorm.)
Caesar's breathing became shallow.
After all that, this was what was waiting for him...?
Looking at this move description, this physical Move was actually categorized as "magic"?
But this was normal; after all, when he first saw it in the game, he also thought it was a special Move... back then, this Move was still called "Sand Hell" before it was censored.
This wasn't just a damage move; this was a crowd-control move!
And... quite possibly a Domain move!
In this real world, what did it mean to trap an enemy in quicksand so they couldn't Move?
It meant they were at his mercy!
Furthermore, at high proficiency, it could whip up a Sandstorm, which might trigger the [Sand Veil] ability!
Increasing evasion in a Sandstorm... "...!"
Caesar felt as if a brand-new, utterly shameless tactical System was waving at him.
First, use [Sand Tomb] for field control, trigger the [Sand Veil] ability, and then he'd be like he was using a cheat code, dodging and weaving in the Sandstorm while the enemy couldn't even touch his hem, only to be worn down to death!
"...Is this magic?"
Caesar murmured to himself.
Sand Attack was just kicking up sand on a physical level.
But Sand Tomb was creating a vortex of quicksand out of thin air! This had already transcended the physical realm; it was true transcendent power!
He guessed that perhaps after using [Sand Attack] a certain number of times, he had unlocked this advanced move.
"Proficiency, huh... seems like a test is necessary."
The substantial growth in power, combined with this god-tier new move, caused Caesar's confidence to swell like never before.
He, a ground dragon, finally knew magic, rawr!