Reincarnated As A Dragon With Cheats-Chapter 11: Ugly

Chapter 11: Ugly

"Nightstone. Water. Where is the water?!"

Before Pebbles could even finish asking, Nightstone had already pointed toward a water source with three of her legs.

Pebbles turned in the indicated direction and spotted a small damp area at the edge of the cave.

Ding!

[You have used the skill Run Lv.1]

Ding!

[Congratulations. The skill Run has leveled up.]

[Run Lv.1 → Run Lv.2]

Pebbles barely had time to glance at the system. His throat was burning in a strange, unbearable way.

This burning sensation was not caused by fire.

It was poison.

This particular poison caused an intense itching sensation, followed by extreme dryness in the areas it contacted. It inhibited secretions entirely, turning flesh painfully dry, while also irritating nearby nerves and producing a constant burning feeling.

Naturally, any victim would believe their mouth was on fire and instinctively rush toward water.

Pebbles was no exception.

The system had advised him to wash away the poison powder before it caused further damage. Once swallowed, the powder would dissolve quickly due to strong stomach acids.

Pebbles arrived at a small swamp at the far end of the cave, close to the entrance of the second floor.

The water was dirty, filled with mud, grass, small frogs, and strange insects.

He did not care.

The moment he saw water, he slammed his head straight into it.

Splash!

Mud splattered everywhere while Pebbles kept his head submerged.

He gulped down a large amount of murky water before pulling his head up for air.

Then he plunged back in again.

And again.

He repeated the process until the burning in his mouth finally eased.

"Huff... that was close..."

His long, broad tongue hung out as he collapsed onto his butt beside the water.

The ripples slowly faded, and displaced mud drifted away, revealing a small patch of relatively clearer water.

"Master, are you fine?!" Nightstone appeared beside him.

"Yeah. Phew. That was..."

Pebbles was about to call himself foolish, but Nightstone interrupted him excitedly.

"You were so brave, Master!"

"...fooli-"

"Huh? What?"

"Those are pwoisonous plants that even we Stone Spiders do not dware to eat. Even other mwonsters would twhink twice. But you... you plucked them out and stuffed them into your mouth! I am pretty sure those spiders now know who the boss is!"

Pebbles coughed and looked away.

Explaining anything to her would take too much effort.

Instead, he focused on the system notifications.

Ding!

[You have completed all tasks.]

[Rewards: Your gut and teeth have been strengthened and are now sturdier.]

Ding!

[For completing the first mission, you have unlocked the bonus reward: Evolution Pathway.]

[Congratulations.]

[You have unlocked the Evolution Pathway.]

"Evolution...?"

Pebbles’ interest was immediately piqued.

Nightstone perked up as well.

"Eh? Evolution? Master, are you going to evolve?"

He glanced between her and the system.

Ding!

[The Evolution Pathway is a sequence of evolutions. You will be given multiple options and may choose your future evolutionary direction.]

[Note: You must complete various tasks to qualify for each evolution.]

So I am getting an upgrade?

[Affirmative.]

Pebbles twisted his neck, trying to look at his tail but instead staring at his shoulders.

I will get wings? I will be able to fly!?

[Affirmative. With the correct evolution choices, flight is possible.]

Pebbles clenched his claws into fists and nearly jumped in excitement.

Nightstone flinched at his sudden movement.

"Eh?"

"Master, what are you so happy about? Are you evolving?"

[Notice: Evolution options will be available once the host reaches the maximum level.]

[Lv.2 / Lv.5]

So I need three more levels...

Pebbles rubbed his claws together eagerly.

"Yes. I will evolve. But not yet. I need to level up first..."

The moment he said that, Nightstone smirked.

"Fu fu fu fu."

"...?"

"Fu fu fu fu!"

Pebbles stared at her in confusion.

"Leave it to me, Master. I will prepare a perfect leveling guide so you can grow as fast as possible!"

Before he could even reply, Nightstone bounced away and vanished into a tunnel.

"...Right. I will count on you..."

He trailed off, left alone with his thoughts and dreams.

The lingering poison still made his throat dry, so he leaned toward the water to drink again.

Then he noticed something.

What the hell!?

He froze and pulled his head back.

There was someone in the water.

That almost gave me a heart attack. Huff!

He cautiously peeked again.

And what he saw nearly made him recoil.

The monster in the water was weird...

It was horrifying.

A weird lizard like monster stared back at him.

Its jaw was misaligned, hanging slightly open as if it had never fully formed, giving its mouth a twisted, unnatural gape.

His tongue was longer than it should have been, slipping out between jagged teeth like something that did not belong. It looked almost like a whip.

One of its eyes was blood red. Blood vessels could be seen clearly.

The other eye looked wrong.

It bulged outward, almost dangling as if it could fall out at any moment, connected by thin, trembling flesh.

Patches of its black scales had not fully grown, leaving behind exposed, mangled skin that looked raw, warped, and unsettling, as though worms could crawl out at any second.

Its body looked stitched together by thread or something similar.

Fuck! Disgusting! Analyse! What is this abomination!?

And then, the profile appeared.

[Name: Pebbles]

[Lv.2/Lv.5...]

He realized, what he was staring at was no random ugly bitch.

It was his ugly ass.

"Huff. He looks handsome."

"..."

Pebbles almost felt a revolting feeling take over the moment he tried to make that statement.

He quietly stood up and walked away from the reservoir.

Yea... let’s forget it.

"Nightstone! Nightstone! Are you done?"

And he decided to focus on his goals, and not weird stuff like his premature ugly body.

His words reached Nightstone and soon enough, she jumped down of a hole.

"Master, sorry for the wait! I’m ready to guide you!"

"Cool, so what’s the first thing I do?"

To this, Nightstone lifted one of her legs and pointed towards the swamp.

"Please kill all the fishes in the swamp."

"..."

And as Pebbles turned his head towards the swamp, five of weird fishes sat on small leaves of plants as if the leaves were chairs.

They had dark circles under their eyes which almost looked like shades.

One of them even pointed its fine, almost saying, "Bring it on, motherfucker."

"..."