After waking up, the first thing Maya saw was the red beeping dot at the corner of her eyes, she remembered that she had ignored a lot of the system's notifications. Looking around, she seemed to be in an enclosed hut made of...stone? Thinking of the man that had taken her away from the dreadful forest she sighed in relief and clicked on the notifications.
[You have unlocked your inner dragon energy]
[Quest: survive the night complete]
[5 stat point have been awarded]
[Hidden quest: win your first fight complete]
[+10 Exp]
[You have been rewarded with the water dragon's ability: water whip- Rank F]
Seeing the rewards, Maya was very happy even though her second reward was for killing someone, thinking of the boy from last night she felt like going back to check on him. But after her experience last night, she really didn't want to go back there, she just wanted to go back to her safe home.
Chasing the thoughts from her head, she allocated all 5 of her starts to speed. The previous night had made her realise that she just needed to outrun her opponents in order to be safe and avoid hurting anyone.
[5 stats have been allocated to speed]
After she was done she wanted to test out her new dragon ability but at that moment someone walked in.
"You are awake" he said calmly.
"It's you" Maya recognised him right away.
He nodded "you can call me Smith, what's your name?"
"Maya" she responded.
"How do you feel? The healer of our clan treated your wounds" he said pointing at her arm.
She removed the green paste from her arm and checked, she had almost forgotten that she had a severe wound since she wasn't feeling any pain.
"Wow, he must be really gifted, my wound is almost healed now" she said in surprise.
"What? Can l see?" He asked with doubt laced in his voice.
"Sure" she extended her arm to him.
Smith didn't dare touch her hand and only stared at it in amazement "did you use your beast energy?" He asked while looking at the scabs that were forming over the teeth marks already, he had only seen this kind of healing speed on himself and the previous clan leader.
"What's beast energy?" She asked curiously.
Smith was stunned 'she doesn't know what beast energy is?'
"It's what you used to get rid of that wolf last night" he said gently.
"Oh, can you help me get rid of it? It seems very dangerous, l don't want to accidentally hurt anyone else" she said looking nervous.
Smith was stunned again "beast energy is all around us, we breath it in and it settles down in our bodies, you can't get rid of it"
"Oh" she said in disappointment.
Seeing this, Smith coughed before continuing "although you can't get rid of it, you can still learn how to control it"
"Really? Do you know how to? Can you teach me?" Her eyes shone with hope.
"Sure, but l only teach novices since you are a fledgling I will take you to someone who will teach you survival skills and basic combat. When you are done there l can teach you how to control your beast energy, in the mean time....try not to use it" he explained.
"Can't you teach me all that yourself? I don't know anyone here" she said.
"Don't worry, they are all my clansmen, no one will dare hurt a female. Besides, you will be learning with fledglings who can barely transform. It's very safe" he assure her.
"Okay, thank you" she said.
"But, why did you save me yesterday and not that kid?" She asked again.
Smith looked at her as if she was asking the obvious "because he was a feral and you are a female"
She tilted her head in confusion "What's a feral?"
This time around Smith couldn't help but blurt out "you seem to know nothing, you are not from around here are you?"
Maya had already thought of what to say when asked "my home is very far away, I came here by accident"
"I see. Feral beast shifters were once one of us, they left a long time ago to go live in the wild just like non-shifting beasts do. They believe that only by living with danger can you be horned into a truly powerful beast shifter. Others occasionally join them, but there is no way out of you join them. They like to hunt us without mercy just to showcase their power and prove that our decision of forming a beast civilization was wrong. They kill us when they see us and we kill them when we see them, it's the norm around here" he explained patiently before turning around to leave, giving her no room for more questions.
"Get dressed, there is a female wear beast hide on your side. I will be waiting outside." He said as he exited.
Maya wanted to complain about how 'that feral' was only just a kid but Smith had already left.
Looking at her tattered clothes, she was really thankful for Smith's consideration of giving her something else to wear. But the moment she took a look at what she had to wear, her face turned scrunched up, she was very unwilling to wear the so called female hide.
Upon seeing Maya come out, Smith coughed in embarrassment "I...will make it bigger next time"
"Let's go" Maya was already annoyed she had to wear something so uncomfortable, but when she looked around she realised that all the females she saw either had a small front or were completely flat chested. She couldn't blame him anymore.
The female wear was like an armless dress but with no design and taste, the dress itself was fine but Maya's bust was too big to fit comfortably. Because of this, the tight chest area deformed the shape of her melons suggestively making all the males who gazed at her blush or look away.
When they arrived at the village centre, an old man welcomed them,
"You are late today and it's for a good reason l see" he said as he looked at Maya with a wide smile that nearly reached his eyes.
"It's not what you think, this is a female l rescued earlier this morning when l was looking for...something" He said sternly but the old man ignored him as he examined Maya.
"She's so fair skinned and she has a big...ahem...she is very lovely l mean" he coughed to mask his awkwardness and quickly changed the topic "so...uh..why did you bring her here?"
"She's a fledgling, l want you to teach her" Smith said.
"A late bloomer? What is your inner beast child?" He asked calmly.
Knowing what they were asking for, she wanted to lie in case being a dragon shifter was a hot news there, but changed her mind and decided to be truthful since Smith had been nice to her.
"A dragon" she said nervously.
"Oh a dragon, not bad my little nephew is also a...a what? You are a dragon shifter?" He exclaimed in surprise.
Thinking that being a dragon was really as she thought she became even more nervous.
Even Smith who had personally witnessed her display of power didn't know that she was a dragon shifter, he had assumed that she was just some other powerful reptile shifter.
"Am sorry Smith, i can't help her even if l wanted to" the old man shook his head.
"She doesn't need you to teach her how to transform, she just wants to learn some survival skills and basic combat skills" he explained.
"I see, that is feasible" he nodded in understanding
Looking at Maya he said "well then, go join the others under the big tree over there, I will be with you shortly"
'i hope l made the right choice' Maya nodded and left.
"How pitiful" the old man sighed.
"Luckily she's only a female her life won't be much difficult if she finds a strong male" the old man winked at Smith.
Smith's expression darkened "don't even think about it, am not interested"
"Oh come on brother, you are already so old when will you get to have your own offsprings?" He complained.
"I don't have much time left, do you want me to die without seeing who will continue our bloodline?" He asked pitifully.
Smith looked at Maya's back thoughtfully "her background is unknown, if l make her my female who knows what we will be inviting in our clan"
The old man was about to give up on the thought when he heard Smith say "but her bloodline seems powerful, although she's just a fledgling she can already use her beast energy externally and it seems that it's already mixed in with her innate ability which should be fire. she's strong... If she chooses me as her partner, l wouldn't mind."
The old man was extremely surprised and he suddenly became very agitated "Smith, be good to her from now on, if she can be your partner your offsprings will be very powerful and our clan will rise again in the future"
"Am not sure if we can keep her, her talent seems extraordinary. When l found her she was fighting against a novice shifter and won without transforming. Oh...and she knows how to do partial transformation" Smith said calmly.
This time the old man could no longer keep his composure, he staggered nearly falling on his butt "a fledgling fighting against a novice shifter...this female...if what you said is true then sooner or later, the beast emperor will notice her and make her one of his many females. She might even give birth to our future emperor, how bold of me to think of making her stay in our small clan!"
Facing the direction Maya had disappeared off to, the old man got on his knees and kowtowed heavily "future empress, forgive this lowly servant's audacious thoughts"
Smith's lips twitched, his little brother was simply too dramatic!