The Dragon Heir (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

The tunnel was just as it always was—same old rubble scattered about, same spider beasties scuttling around, sniffing like a pack of overly enthusiastic hounds. But the roof? Yeahhhh, that was a different tale altogether.

It was unnervingly still, so much so that one could easily overlook it, as did the spider creatures, utterly oblivious to its presence. It was camouflaged to perfection, blending seamlessly with its surroundings. If not for those bright, shifting hues, I reckon I might not have noticed it at all.

And the size of the thing—massive, it was, sprawled across the tunnel roof with limbs stretching out a good metre each, ending in razor-sharp claws that dug into the ceiling, anchoring it in place. Its body was elongated, segmented like an insect's carapace, coloured a dull, mottled grey that seemed to shimmer when those hues caught the light just so. Each segment of its body undulated in slow, deliberate waves, moving with an eerie grace as it inched forward, creeping ever closer to a group of spider monsters below.

But what truly sent a shiver down my spine was its head. No eyes, just a massive, gaping maw, with a serrated tongue lolling out. And those deep lines running down its mouth? Clear as day, that maw could stretch even wider—a rather unsettling thought, that.

As it slinked along the roof, its limbs moved in perfect harmony, each claw lifting and placing itself down with an almost inaudible click. I doubted it was making any sound at all. Just watching it, I could tell it had some sort of stealth ability, not too dissimilar to my own.

Finally, it was right above the group of spiders. So, when its serrated tongue lashed out and skewered a spider monster right through its head, I nearly didn't believe my own eyes. It was so fast, so silent that the two spiders sniffing mere inches ahead didn't even flinch. Its tongue kept rolling out endlessly, slowly wrapping around the spider like a gift, lifting it up as if it weighed nothing.

As expected, its maw stretched even wider as it swallowed the spider whole, then began inching towards the remaining two.

"What's the matter?"

OH, BLOODY HELL!

Its head turned towards us!

I ducked my serpentine neck back into the hole and clamped Stephan's mouth shut with my claws.

I widened my eyes and furiously shook my head, gritting my teeth. Please, for the love of all things sensible, take the hint!

He didn't struggle, just looked confused for a moment. But when he saw me shaking my head like a maniac, something must have clicked because his eyes widened too. So there we were, frozen in place, not daring to move an inch. I wanted to at least sneak a peek outside, but the way that thing had turned its head towards us had me metaphorically wetting myself.

So much for keeping the big bad from noticing us.

Half the blame was mine for not ducking sooner, and the other half for not finding a way to get Stephan to keep his gob shut.

GAAAAAHHHH! This was bad—really, really bad. If it decided to have a sniff around here, we were done for. I didn't even see how fast its lightning-quick tongue lashed out! We were completely outmatched!

So, I waited. A minute? Two? Maybe even three? I had no idea, but keeping my head down and staying frozen in that position was anything but easy. I could see the fear in Stephan's expression, and his legs were trembling from holding me like that for what felt like an eternity. Uncomfortable wasn't the half of it.

[Stealth has reached Level 2.]

A LEVEL UP?!? Already? Sweeet!

Oh, but there was no time to be chuffed about it! Focus, Jade! I needed to see where that thing was!

Right then, I braced myself and cautiously stretched my serpentine neck, just enough to sneak one eye through the very bottom of the hole. The blasted thing was still up on the ceiling, but the population of spider monsters was dwindling faster than one could say 'Bob's your uncle!' Oh, bugger, it was gobbling them up, one after the other!

And the worst part was—none of those poor buggers had a single clue they were being slowly devoured by an active predator. I wouldn't have noticed it either, to be honest, if it weren't for those irritating hues lighting up the gloom.

They were a right nuisance—downright painful, even—but, grudgingly, I found myself grateful for them. With each mutation, my eyesight was getting sharper, and in the long run, that would undoubtedly prove to be my greatest asset.

I watched, uncomfortably, as it munched its way through the spider buffet. Relentless, quick, stealthy—oh, how I was hoping it might leave just one behind for me. Just one! A nibble would be enough for that extra boost—sweet, sweet triple experience and those precious Morphogens.

Oh, for the love of tea and biscuits, just one!

But no, I had the misfortune of witnessing the entire colony of spider monsters in the tunnel being devoured, one by one, by the beast on the roof. Then, just like that, it slithered out of sight, perhaps off to hunt more, because I swear, that thing looked anything but satisfied!

Where in the name of all that's holy was it storing all that? Even though it was larger than a spider monster, it wasn't that large to wolf down an entire colony!

There had been over fifteen spider monsters in the tunnel, all within my view. Now, it was completely deserted. Not a single eight-legged critter left.

I was suddenly having second thoughts about venturing out there. A shiver ran down my spine, and I glanced at poor Stephan, trying to keep myself steady. I pushed my neck out a bit further and took another look down the tunnel. We were at a bend, so my field of vision was rather limited, but I could confirm—no sign of that thing, nor a single spider monster in sight.

Damn.

I took a deep breath and hauled myself into the hole. Stephan let out a sigh of relief and shot me a look, his hands curving into a 'what on earth just happened?' gesture. I could speak now, I reckon. But my paranoia had other ideas, so I kept my lips clamped shut until I took another cautious peek outside. Phew, still nothing.

"Bigger, nastier monster," I finally muttered.

That did the trick—his face went whiter than a sheet. I motioned for him to have a gander outside, but all I got in return was pure, unadulterated confusion.

"What happened here? Where've all those spider monstrosities gone?"

"As I expected, you didn't hear a thing. That bloody beast was having them for breakfast, one by one."

"That thing—you mean the nastier monster you mentioned?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"So, what do we do now?" He was starting to panic, poor sod.

"Well, we could either sit on our arses, or head out there and find out what the bloody hell's going on! Also, we need to figure out where in the world we are." Oh, that reminded me—"Wait, you were dragged here through that portal too?"

Stephan shook his head. "I… don't know. I was blindfolded and handcuffed the entire time. No clue, honestly."

Blast. "It feels weird when you go through the portal—this strange nausea, like someone's taken your insides and given them a good twist. Do you remember anything like that?" I asked, grasping at straws to make some sense of it all.

Stephan narrowed his eyes, "Nothing like that… at least not that I can recall."

"Seems like you didn't pop out of the portal, then. In that case, your—" I cut myself off mid-sentence, the words sticking in my throat. I almost said, "your home might be closer," but the memory of his screams as those cultists dragged him in, after they had slaughtered his entire family, stopped me dead.

"—village might be closer," I finally managed, though I wasn't sure if that was much better. He didn't seem to take offense, though, just drifted off into his thoughts.

Perhaps I could steer him in the right direction. "Focus on something specific. What's the nearest place to your village that's crawling with monsters? Somewhere that the cultists could've easily dragged you to in the time it took. Preferably underground."

That seemed to strike a chord. His eyes widened in sudden realization.

"The Labyrinth! Oh, god, of course! We're in a bloody labyrinth!"

Wait, what? "What the devil is a Labyrinth?"

He shot me a look like I'd just asked whether water was wet. Surely it just meant a maze? What did that have to do with all these monsters?

"The place where monsters spawn?"

"You mean a Dungeon?"

"Yeah, it's called that too, but most of us in the sect refer to it as a Labyrinth."

Well, blow me down. I'd never heard anyone call it a labyrinth in all my days. Just how far from home was I, exactly? I didn't want to dwell on it, but I held onto the hope that I wasn't too far since Stephan spoke the same language, albeit with a bit of an accent—a kind of clipped edge to his words, almost like he was rolling them around in his mouth before spitting them out. But I chalked that up to him being Beastkin.

But this wasn't the time for a good old-fashioned brood, now was it? I knew full well I was stuck in some infernal dungeon, and to be honest, I didn't have the foggiest clue about how these blasted places worked. The only bit of knowledge I had came from Jord, who'd generously provided me with the barest scraps of information.

Every monster we encounter aboveground? They're all spawned from deep within the earth's very bowels, in these vile, cancerous pits known as Dungeons. The deeper you venture, the nastier the creatures get. I never gave it much thought because, umm, dungeon delving always struck me as absolute codswallop.

Besides, there wasn't a dungeon anywhere near Randall, so the monster population was always somewhat manageable.

Now, my brain was frantically trying to cobble together the scant knowledge I had about Dungeons, and I would just say it, there wasn't much to work with. I sighed, glancing over at Stephan.

"Well, it doesn't change a thing. We still need to check our surroundings—unless you're secretly a dungeon delver and know your way around this mess?"

He shook his head. Well, that settled that.

I craned my neck for a quick peek. Still no sign of any monsters. Couldn't decide if that was a stroke of luck or just the ominous calm before the storm.

"Wish me luck, then. Before something nasty finds us and turns us into sitting ducks, let me see if there's even the slightest chance we can make a run for it."

He looked like he was about to say something, raising his hand, but then he bit his lip and lowered it.

"Be safe." That was all he managed, and frankly, I wasn't in the mood to ponder whatever else might have been on his mind.

Taking a deep breath, I leapt into the dreaded tunnel.