Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

Henry came to realise a certain thing far too late. He was in an enclosed space and this place was to be his home. These two factors meant that he could not go wild with his abilities and strength, lest he collapses the entire cavern or made it inhospitable. Cursing his oversight, Henry reined in the impulse to just cleanse the place with his Inferno Breath.

With a single swipe of his tail, he turned half a dozen of these monsters into pulps. When they saw the extent of Henry’s strength, they became cautious in their approach. The wave behind the one Henry crushed, they halted in their direct approach and began scaling the walls and flanking his sides.

Fucking prowlers!

Henry gnashed his fangs and snarled at the Prowlers. They faltered in their steps with just that one snarl, afraid of whatever Henry had in store for them.

Okay, they’re clever but this is unwelcomed.

Henry groaned. The Prowlers weren’t just simple monsters that acted on flight or fight responses. As further evidence, the Prowlers began throwing their waste at Henry. It barely tickled him but it was annoying and annoyance could amass into frustration.

The Prowlers on the walls and ceiling pounced at Henry while he was showered with pieces of rotten flesh and bones. Henry spun around and sent out a wide arc of an Aura Blade. Despite being a blade-esque ability, Aura Blade could not cut into Prowlers’ flesh due to its exoskeleton. They were simply pushed back with heavy bruises on their torsos.

A Prowler crept up on Henry and bit down on his right leg.

Henry tutted and was about to kick that Prowler away when another one came from above. It dropped onto his shoulders and it sank its fangs into his head. But of course, neither of those two succeeded in digging their sharp teeth into Henry’s flesh. Question marks appeared on their expressions as they tried again and again to bite Henry.

“Fuck off!” Henry roared. He pulled the Prowler on his shoulders off and smashed it into the one that was biting his leg. The two Prowlers exploded into bits of flesh and pieces of bones.

Before Henry could regain his bearings on the flow of the carnage, a group of the Prowlers rammed into him and they all went tumbling to the ground. He warded off the opportunistic ones with his tail and quickly yanked off the ones that were already on him. However, the Prowlers were relentless. They kept piling on top of him without any dithering. They clawed and bit at him despite the futility.

Henry’s wings were also assaulted. The Prowlers tugged and pulled with their frenzied might. Though they didn’t draw any blood, Henry still felt a slight pain from getting his wings yanked incessantly.

Mustering his strength, Henry pushed himself upright and brandished his second pair of wings, which were ethereal in essence. Much of the Prowlers were shaken off with the appearance of the ethereal wings. They tried climbing back onto Henry but he lashed out his claws wildly, cutting the Prowlers up like a shredder.

My claws cut better than Aura Blade. Huh.

Henry ploughed his way through the horde of Prowlers with just his claws. Now that he knew their tactics, the Prowlers could not swarm and immobilise him with their weight and numbers again. The Prowlers began to retreat but Henry didn’t let them. He unleashed Fire Breath at the stragglers. He then grabbed those that were on fire and threw them into the ones that were simply watching from a distance.

The Prowlers’ cries reverberated across the cavern, mildly shaking the entire interior. Due to a momentary loss of control over his patience, Henry used Jetstream Breath to cut down the Prowlers. As a result, the walls crumbled and fragments of the ceiling came off.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Please don’t collapse.

Henry prayed in his heart. The cavern shook for a minute before coming to a stop. And he heaved a sigh of relief.

Thank fucking god. Okay, Henry. Calm down. These gremlins are just insufferable, they are not impossible to deal with.

Once Henry had recomposed himself, he found the Prowlers huddling in corners and eyeing him with wary and quivering gazes. They had also come to the same conclusion as Henry. They were no match for him.

Just then, the biggest pile of bones and half-eaten flesh began to tremble. The Prowlers gathered their gazes on that pile and hope seemed to return to their fearful expressions.

Okay… this isn’t good.

A larger and bulkier Prowler emerged from that mountain-pile of wastage and it had an additional pair of arms. Upon straightening itself, the Prowler stood a little bit taller than Henry in his current form.

The Prowlers in the corner began to jump and waved their arms up and down. They were cheering for the giant Prowler that had just made itself known.

So, this must be the Alpha or something like that.

The Alpha Prowler instantly directed a growl at the Prowlers huddling in the corners, as if admonishing them for their cowardice and incompetence.

Henry threw an Aura Blade at the Alpha Prowler to get its attention and also as a measurement of its prowess. The Alpha Prowler barely budged when the Aura Blade struck its head.

Oh, it’s tough.

The Alpha Prowler snorted. Due to its large nostril, Henry could clearly see the air being expelled from its nose. It then charged at Henry with a snarl.

Henry threw a lightning bolt at the Alpha Prowler but it zig-zagged in its charge, avoiding the lightning bolt. It curled its hands into fists and swung them at Henry.

This is gonna hurt.

Henry decided to take the punch instead of dodging it. He was sent flying off his feet and he bounced across the ground before crashing into a wall.

Whoa, jesus… That was stronger than I anticipated.

As Henry was staggering to his feet, the Alpha Prowler charged at him again without giving him a moment to breathe. Henry spun out of the way at the last second and the Prowler’s fists exploded into the wall.

Oi oi oi! Careful with my new home! Do you not care about the condition of your own home?

Henry shouted in his mind.

No, that’s a stupid question. You shit where you eat and sleep. Of course, you don’t.

The Alpha Prowler grabbed a large chunk of boulder from the wall it destroyed. It raised the boulder overhead before tossing it towards Henry.

This fucking skull-face bastard!

Henry easily smashed the boulder apart.

Oh?

The Alpha Prowler was right in front of him the moment the boulder exploded into pieces. It grabbed Henry by the head and tossed him to the centre of the room. Before he could get up, or even try to, the Alpha Prowler jumped on him and rained down punches after punches on him. The Alpha Prowler’s roar got louder and louder with every punch and the lesser Prowlers followed with their cheers.

I suppose this is the limit of my partial transformation. Alright, then. Fun’s over.

Henry shot a close-range Firebolt that pushed the Alpha Prowler off him. As it bounced back on its feet and charged at Henry again, it stopped in its track. Its hollow eyes widened at the incredulous sight before it. The Alpha Prowler gradually raised its gaze until it could see the ceiling of the cavern. It stared bewilderedly at Henry who had returned to his original form and size.

Gosh, you look so puny from up here.

A whimper escaped the Alpha Prowler’s mouth when Henry lightly merely growled at it.

You fucking did it. You forced my hand. And now, you are going to pay for this.

Henry trapped the Alpha Prowler under his claws with ease before it could even run away. The Alpha Prowler struggled with all its might. It scratched, pounded, and bit on Henry’s claws but Henry barely felt a tingle. He continued to apply more and more strength in pressing the Alpha Prowler down until it exploded and scattered its parts and matter everywhere.

He didn’t know what effect this would bring to the ecosystem but he had no other choice if he wished to live in this cavern.

Now, what to do with the rest— Hmm?

Henry had yet to finish contemplating in his mind when the remaining Prowler started fleeing. They ran for the exit without looking back. They didn’t mourn for their leader or promise revenge. It was literally every man for himself. They trampled over others in their haste.

Wow, really?

The Prowlers were no longer a threat but there’s no telling what the future holds. Henry decided to nip the problem in the bud. As the Prowlers were heading towards the exit tunnel, he could freely use his Fire Breath from behind the fleeing Prowlers without worrying about the residue flames being barred in.

The shrills of the Prowlers shook the cavern as the flames engulfed them. Their dying throes permeated the tunnels for a few good minutes before everything eventually fell silent.

After giving the cavern another once over and making sure there were no more of those Prowlers prowling in the shadows, Henry plopped himself down on a flat piece of boulder and made himself comfortable. It wasn’t a difficult battle where his life was on the line but it was strenuous. The opponents weren’t the problem. It was an issue with the terrain.

Thankfully, the destruction wasn’t too great. The cavern was still hospitable. It didn’t look like it would collapse at any moment. Given the impact the cavern had endured, Henry was assured of its integrity. It would hold for a long time unless someone or something went out of their way to destroy this cavern.

The only problem now was the cleaning that needed to be done. It was only now he realised how impressive of a job the Augrus and the Kivus had done to his current home. It was filled with remnants of other creatures’ excretions but they somehow cleared everything up. He thought about asking the two for help but he decided against it since he didn’t want to reveal his new home yet.

As Henry was thinking hard about a solution, a gust of wind blew into the cavern. The ashes of the charred Prowlers were scattered into the air. It was then, Henry arrived at an idea. He didn’t think the idea was clever but it was the best one he had. He promised Yula he would be back before supper and he intended to do as much as he could before that.

First, he gathered the remains of the Prowlers and their mess into one giant pile. Afterwards, he turned the giant pile into a pyre with his Fire Breath, completely reducing everything into ashes. Once everything was mere dust remains of a blaze, he expelled the dust from the cavern using an altered version of Jetstream Breath with the aid of Magic Mastery.

It took Henry around an hour for him to clear the cavern of the ashes. Once that was done, it was the stain and grimes he needed to take care of. Instead of cleaning them with water, he figured it would be significantly faster to just remove the filthy parts of the cavern. Better yet, he ended up levelling the entire ground of the cavern and carving the walls with engravings.

From then on, it was just a matter of patience as he carried out the debris a handful at a time. Since his claws were huge, it took him a shorter time than one would when using a wheelbarrow. Finally, around two hours before dusk, he was finally done renovating the interior of the cavern.

There were only two things left to do for now. One was to make sure nothing would wander into the cavern and thrash all of his hard work. Second, the state of the cavern’s exterior. As he had simply pushed all of the ashes out of the cavern, the mess was now gathered right outside the entrance. For the first problem, he carved his claw marks onto the side and ground of the entrance.

As for the second problem, Henry decided to just sweep the ashes to the tree grove beside the cavern. The ashes would do fine as fertilisers for the plants. After that was finished, it was finally time for him to head home.