They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 44: The Ancient Dragon
Evan waited inside the spore-filled cavern for his unwelcome guest.
Elsewhere on the Fifth Stratum, another change occurred.
The rift that had released the Dragonkin and Frostbone Dire Rat had not produced a monster for some time.
Now it was becoming unstable.
Space around it warped slightly, and the opening appeared to be expanding.
The sight filled Evan with alarm.
He knew nothing about spatial phenomena, but this could not possibly be safe.
He did not want the Fifth Stratum to become a wasteland of shattered space.
Nor did he want several permanent rifts through which anyone could drop in for a visit.
Whatever Evan wanted, he had no way to influence the change.
Besides, dealing with the Dragonkin remained the immediate priority.
It was here!
Through Mana Sense, Evan saw that the Dragonkin had almost reached the cavern.
Crack. Crack.
Fractures spread across one section of rock.
In the next instant, a pair of Sharpness-enhanced claws punched through the wall.
The Dragonkin’s head followed, and its blazing golden eyes swept across the cavern.
Waiting directly before it stood Knight, along with six fully charged Spore Cannons mounted at the ends of mycelial tendrils.
Surprise!
All six Spore Cannon blasts struck the Dragonkin’s stunned face at three times their normal power.
Every one was a direct hit to the head!
An enormous explosion shook the cavern and pulverized the entire wall.
The ceiling collapsed under the impact. Great slabs of stone fell one after another and buried the Dragonkin.
Only after a third of the cavern had caved in did the structure finally stabilize.
Evan had no choice. Against the Dragonkin, preserving the cavern was no longer a concern.
The fight was not over.
The mound of rubble suddenly burst apart. The Dragonkin shot out, but did not charge Knight.
Instead, it circled the cavern at extraordinary speed and finally stopped in one corner.
It looked incomparably wretched.
Blood covered its head. Most of the scales on its face had shattered, and one horn had broken away entirely.
Perhaps the heavy blow had dazed it. The Dragonkin huddled in the corner, growling and unwilling to approach.
Its current appearance surprised Evan.
Before, heavy scales had concealed its features. Together with the horns, they made it resemble a dragon.
With most of those scales gone, the exposed face looked far more human.
None of that mattered.
The standoff suited Evan perfectly.
The six Spore Cannons mounted on the mycelial tendrils had been disposable. Their recoil shattered the tendrils after the first volley.
Even if they remained usable, they would probably never hit a Dragonkin free to move.
The Hallucinogenic Spores in the air had always been Evan’s true weapon.
Creatures with draconic blood possessed high resistance to almost everything, but resistance was not immunity. Given enough time...
Unfortunately, the Dragonkin began moving.
Its body became a blur as it circled Evan and gradually drew closer.
The opening ambush had clearly hurt. The creature showed none of the straightforward recklessness it displayed against the Frostbone Dire Rat.
Evan preferred it this way. A direct charge might move too quickly for him to react.
Once the Dragonkin came close enough, Knight began to vibrate.
[Infrasonic Attack LV6] The attack struck the Dragonkin’s organs. Its movement abruptly faltered, and before it could turn, its own momentum drove its head into the cavern wall.
Evan immediately followed with a Spore Cannon blast. Another large section of the cave collapsed and buried the creature.
Infrasonic Attack inflicted far less damage than a Spore Cannon of the same level.
Its advantage was that it ignored external defenses and attacked the interior of the body directly!
Evan’s Infrasonic Attack was only LV6. Within the enclosed cavern and amplified by the symbiotic crystals, however, it could still injure the Dragonkin and disrupt its rhythm.
The rubble shifted aside. When the Dragonkin crawled out this time, it looked considerably weaker.
It did not delay. It charged directly at Evan.
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