Reincarnator RB Dragons, ch 52

On the second day of travel, Branch and Lydia somehow located a very old, unique monster. It definitely stood out from the others in the area. Lydia fussed at him when Kevin unsheathed his sword and told him to just stay put. He wanted the fighting practice, but reluctantly admitted that as long as he participated in the subjugation, he believed he’d benefit.  And letting Lydia help out so he would be less likely to die was probably a good thing.

As a tiger would subdue a dog, Lydia easily took down the monster and brought it near death. She studied it with cold, reptilian eyes as it was helpless before swiftly taking its life.  The monster looked sort of like a goat with spider legs. Its extra legs were growing out of the thing's back and didn't even touch the ground, but it definitely made the creature conspicuous.

Kevin was actually somewhat curious about what kind of weird power he might get from eating it.

Butchering the monster was much easier with Lyda’s help, too.  In her dragon form, she could bit off or just rip off limbs with ease.  Then Kevin made his more precise cuts with a knife.  Lydia could grab handfuls of food and dump them between a ring of rocks for a fire, too.  In very little time, he had meat cooking on a hot rock.  Lydia didn’t want for his food to be done before she started eating. 

After the meat was safe to eat, Kevin tried it out.  After the first few bites, no screen came up, though. Lydia noticed his disappointment and sagely nodded her huge head as she chomped on another mouthful of monster flesh. "This one isn't very good, is it?" she asked. "You don’t seem like you’re enjoying it.  Maybe you and I have similar tastes." 

Never in a million years would I have predicted I would bond with Lydia over eating monsters.  Kevin took a deep breath, holding in all the many things he could say, and merely nodded. 

"Oh well," said Lydia with her mouth full.  “There will always be others."

On the third day, after Kevin had plenty of time to think about it, he realized what might have gone wrong. He had killed all of the other monsters he had eaten by himself. The day before, Lydia had done all the work. So on day three, when his cousin and Branch somehow located another unique monster, Kevin ignored her complaints about him being in danger. 

After they found the new creature, he drew his sword and rushed in. Kevin was a bit more reckless than he otherwise would be, but with Lydia behind him, he knew if he didn't act quickly, he wouldn't get a chance to fight at all. 

He might have actually overdone it a bit. 

Kevin sometimes forgot how much faster, stronger, and more nimble he was now. Without even using any of his active powers, just his passive ones, he was able to score a very clean strike with his longsword on the side of the monster, which looked sort of like a giant hairless mouse with rough, thick skin and antlers. He got one more cut in on the creature before Lydia's tail came whipping past him and almost cut the monster in half, despite the fact it was larger than a cow.

"I don't know what your problem is," she growled, "but if I stand around and watch you get hurt, your mother is going to turn me into a newt for a century. And if you die–" she shuddered. "I don't even want to think about it." 

Watching a dragon in natural form, even a young dragon, go through such fearful theatrics almost made Kevin want to laugh. Luckily, he held it in and sagely nodded. "I understand. How about next time we have a battle plan? I don't want to just sit on the side and watch you fight. That's not a good way for me to grow."

"I suppose that's true," said Lydia, reluctantly. Then, without further ado, the two of them began butchering the monster. This time Kevin was even more weirded out by eating the thing since it had looked like a mouse. But eventually, he got over his discomfort, took a few bites, and was glad to see a window come up like before. 

"I guess I solved that mystery," he muttered to himself. Over to one side, Lydia nodded enthusiastically.  She swallowed and said, "That's right, this one's much better. Who would have thought, eh?  The other one looked like it would taste good, but this one is much better."

Kevin grinned at her and looked back at his screen. 

New: [Unwavering Focus]

[Unwavering Focus] and [Beastly Stamina] resonate with each other. Would you like to combine these traits? 

Kevin was shocked but didn't hesitate too long before pressing yes. Suddenly a new screen appeared that said, 

Combination successful. New trait: [Past Limits Focus] 

Generated Rank: One

His eyes lit up when he saw the new skill.  This was the first new ability he’d gotten from eating monsters in a long time and he felt the familiar thrill of discovery and satisfaction of growing in power. 

After Lydia had her fill and shrunk back to her human form, they walked back to the road. As usual, Branch had disappeared earlier.  But suddenly, he buzzed into view from one side, heading straight for Kevin, panicked.  The fairy looked different than Kevin had ever seen him. Instead of being well put together and otherwise glowing, Branch was practically gray and shaking in absolute terror.

"Something is coming," Branch gasped out.  At almost the same time, Lydia's head snapped up, staring back in the direction behind Branch. A second later, Kevin’s did, too.  He had a feeling that they had detected different things, though, because Lydia was a dragon of this world, a being of magic, and like all her kin, had extremely strong, sensitive magic power. Kevin was new to his magic, and as a spirit mage, he didn't feel anything at all. But as a Champion, his senses had just lit up like a Christmas tree.

Only moments later, the air seemed to grow heavy.  Light dimmed.  A feeling like phlegm rose in Kevin’s throat and his tongue felt thick as something strode out of the forest. A massive creature, five meters tall. It wasn't a monster of this world. In fact, Kevin knew exactly what and who he was looking at. "Historia," he growled.  Every one of his hairs was standing on end.  A feel of deep, primal fear and hate had spread throughout his entire body, a feeling he hadn’t experienced for a lifetime until now. 

The demon's rigid, skull-like head split into a savage grin. "Surprising.  So you know me, eh? Somehow this pleases me. It will be far sweeter to kill you and enjoy the meal afterward if you know who I am. Lucky indeed."

Kevin was suddenly reminded of his meal minutes earlier. He hadn't thought much of it when he had been eating the monster, but now he knew that if this champion, this incredibly evil bastard, killed Kevin, Historia would likely make good on his promise. Historia would play with him, maybe eat him alive.  Slowly.  It was a habit he was known for.  Past this, Kevin was having difficulty thinking. He was shocked down to his very toes.

"You said its name," said Lydia. Even as she spoke, she polymorphed back into her original form. Now that she was facing down the demon that had suddenly appeared, she seemed far less impressive.  Lydia was probably longer in length, but Historia outweighed her. Beyond that, he was much older, and Kevin didn't think this was an opponent appropriate for his naive hatchling cousin to face. Feeling suddenly protective, Kevin took a half step forward and put his hand out to the side as if to hold his enormous cousin back. He gritted his teeth, staring at the unholy abomination before him.

"It's a demon," he said, "and he shouldn't be in this world."

"Shouldn’t be here? Isn't that the absolute truth," said Historia, and picked his teeth. "But what I want to know is, I already knew I was supposed to kill you, a weak goblin, but why are you also a Champion? I didn't know I was going to get a two-for-one today."

"Champion?" asked Lydia.  She darted a glance at him.

"We'll talk about it later," Kevin growled, "if we live."