I entered the forest without much problems.
I’ll follow the river a little longer.
It won’t be easy to hunt prey if I don’t stay close to the river often. Prey is easier to find near water after all, since there will definitely be some monsters who wants a drink or too.

Instead of walking around aimlessly, I should check out my new skills.
I didn’t want to rely too much on you, but…… God’s Voice, check please.

First up is this fishy-looking skill……〖Fake Life〗.

【Regular Skill〖Fake Life〗.】
【A skill that inserts a fake soul inside an inanimate object.】

…… So, it’s a magic skill that revives life?
But that “fake” part is kinda giving me the chills……
It’ll probably just go back to normal afterwards.
It’s one of those zombie tricks, right?

If I level up the skill, I may be able to use it differently…… okay……
For now, I’ll test it with a monster, or anything I can find usable.
If the skill ends up useful, then I can see the importance of its value. Even so, I can’t think of anything practical to use it for.

Then again, the next one also sounds fishy.
A completely incomprehensible skill.
But still, I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be able to test it here…….

【Sacred Skill〖Human Path〗.】
【The power to govern the human world as you please. Its original powers have been lost over time, but it has a big impact on future evolutions.】

…… That’s what it said, but… it’s more powerful than I expected.
Since this is a skill that affects my leveling…… I guess I should just treat it as one of my title skills.

Although it’s good that my skills can affect my future evolutions, I just can’t seem to make myself be too happy about it.
Since it’s〖Human Path〗, nothing too bad’s probably gonna happen, though I can’t help but still feel uneasy about it……
When I first used〖Human Transformation Art〗as a Calamity Dragon, I got blown away. Literally.
What if my neck grows long and only my head becomes human, I won’t suddenly evolve into something like that now, won’t I?

While I’m at it, why don’t I check out my other skills too.
Some might become surprisingly useful or something.
I already know most of my regular skills…… and, my resistances are just left alone like that.
I also shouldn’t really worry much about my special skills…… so, title skills it is.

【Title Skill〖King Ant〗.】
【A title given directly by the Queen Ant to someone who has earned their recognition as a〖Captain Ant〗.】
【Someone holding superior genes and has the power to make offsprings with the Queen Ant.】
【It is a title earned inside a Red Ant’s nest.】

………… Oh, I-I see.
That’s enough checking out of my title skills for now.
Now that I think about, since I often thought that title skills were separate, I didn’t think I could even do those things.
〖The Walking Egg〗skill is the one giving me the most benefit though.

“Gra~a! Gra~a!”

Partner stretches her neck towards the river.
I didn’t realize it until now that we were actually thirsty.

I followed Partner, stretched my neck, and drank water alongside her.
While drinking water, I glance at my left.
Partner is drinking water while making a gurgling sound.
Plaque-like bacteria is flowing out of her mouth.

…… I’m glad I was upstream.

When I raised my head, I saw a simple-designed stone building on the other side of the river.
The entrance seems to be in the other side as well.

Its height is about 4 meters.
The width looks like it’s also 4 meters, and the length is 10 meters at most. That seems big enough.
I think even if I don’t curl myself up, I can still fit perfectly inside. And, since it’s near the river, it’s a nice place to live.
It may not be a bad idea to make that my temporary base for the moment.

I spread my wings and fly over the river.
The ground shook from the impact when I landed.
I need to be careful now. Nearby monsters could’ve been alerted by my sound.

I haven’t really found any dangerous monsters so far, though Adofu did mention that this place houses monsters that are even stronger than the Giant Centipede.

What was it again…… oh right, the Lithuvar Tribe.
I remember someone used to call them a demonic tribe, or something.
For now, I’ll have to be careful not to encounter them.

I approach the stone building while being careful with my footsteps.
While walking around, I spot a dragon statue lined up near the entrance.

And, it’s not just any dragon.
It has two heads. It’s a two-headed dragon just like me.

Ho-ho, it seems well-made.
Let me have a closer look.

As I get closer, the presence of a monster inside the building started leaking out.
This presence is coming from a relatively big monster. This building must’ve belonged to primordial folks.

It might be a bad idea if I approach carelessly.
I definitely don’t want something like the Giant Centipede to come out of there, it’s probably better if I turn back right now.

But, there’s a stone dragon statue lined up near it, so it may be a dragon’s den.
I feel like peeking inside, but…… no, I should just leave this alone.
If a snake bites its own tail, there’ll be no end.

When I was about to turn back, Partner cried out.

“Gra~a?”

She seems to be asking me if it’s really okay to retreat like this.
I can sort of guess what Partner is saying from her face and tone of her voice.
I wonder if this has something to do with my〖Communication〗skill.

“A…… no… don’t…… kya~aaaaa!”

Something seems to have happened when I heard someone scream near the stone building.
Don’t tell me… there was a human near the monster’s dwelling?!
I was too preoccupied with the monster’s presence that I didn’t notice the human.
Since Adofu often warned me of this place, I never thought there would actually be humans here.
Concentrating hard enough, I count two presence there, with the human included.

I rush around the entrance of the stone building.

“Gru~o~o~ooo!”

I let out a roar in an attempt to distract the monster’s attention.
Letting the enemy know your location is going to lose the chance of a surprise attack, but it can’t be helped.
It’ll cost me time to avoid the trees that are in the way, so I break past through them.

There was a sound from inside the building as if someone just stood up.
In the next instant, a yellow monster jumps out of the entrance.

“Gebagebageba~a!”

It turned around me while giving off a ridiculously loud noise.
It’s nearly about 7 meters long in length?
It has almost the same physique as me.

It looks like… a big lion.
It has yellow fur and brown manes covering its face.
The long tip of its tail is like a needle ball, and its face was creepy, like a combination of a human woman and a leopard.

The side of its mouth was dripping blood, and the torso of a human child is seen crawling from its mouth.
The child’s stomach is pierced by its fangs. What a horrible thing to do.