Reincarnated: A Dragon's Tale

03. Rematch Preparations

 Day 24:

 When I opened my eyes, the morning sun was hitting my face. My mind was a bit blurry for a moment, but then everything came back.

 Yesterday, after eating and recovering a bit, I took a nap. That nap turned out to be the longest I ever had since I woke up to a new day. I am lucky Greeny didn't attack me.

 When I checked my wounds, they were no longer there. My paw was complete again, I could flap my wings without a problem, and my tail was as strong as two days ago. Yes, still surprising.

 Anyway, I have to address something. I made a careless mistake. I fell asleep in the middle of the forest, in the same clearing I met the little girl. I was surprised I wasn't attacked. Not only Greeny but the humans from the town could have. Does that mean the little girl didn't tell them about me?

 As I dwelled in such thoughts, I noticed something. My tail perked and then I intently listened to my surroundings. Wow. Every sound around me was clearer than ever, the chirps of birds, the rustling of leaves, the annoying sounds of some insects, I could even hear some human voices far in the distance. The most surprising part was that this myriad of sounds didn't feel like a cacophony, but like a harmonious flow of waves.

 So, my hearing was enhanced. Was this normal in a dragon's development or was my body adapting to avoid danger easily?

 At any rate, since I woke up I started reflecting on what happened and came to some conclusions.

 First, Greeny can't fly. I didn't give it too much thought yesterday, since I was running for my life. But that green lizard doesn't have wings, and it didn't fly when chasing me. So, I guess he is some kind of land dragon.

 Second, he can throw some fireballs and use some kind of large-distance wind magic. That weird magic was the problem, it tore off my leg, wing, and tail. It was invisible to the eye, but it was probably hard to control too since he failed a lot, destroying trees instead of me.

 Third, I doubt he is more intelligent than I am, but he is intelligent to some degree. After all, he aimed for one of my wings when we first saw each other to make it harder for me to escape.

 Finally, he was bruised, meaning that he may have lost a territorial dispute and that's why he came to this forest.

 Whatever, after reaching such conclusions I decided on what to do. I am going to defeat that bastard and reclaim my forest! 

 The plan was simple, train my body, eat some good meat, grow stronger, and learn how to use magic and breathe fire. After that, I would devise some plans to take him down.

 As a start, I tried using some cutting or slashing magic like the one he did, and to my surprise, it worked. Well, kind of. I aimed at a nearby tree mentally and then imagined slashing it with the wind. The result? I scratched the tree... to its side. Yes, my aim was terrible.

 Well, using magic is easier than I expected, but my firepower is puny and my aim is a mess. Nothing that can't be improved with training, I hope.

 After that, I kept practicing and practicing for hours and saw small improvements here and there. I was so focused on training that I almost didn't notice the steps approaching me. I stopped once I realized, faced the direction of the steps, and waited here in the clearing we met yesterday.

 There she was again, the girl who ran with her tail between her legs. She was all alone again and brought me food once more. "#&/(74$='¿+!8/-%!" she spouted. I didn't get one word, but I could bet she was trying to make me her pet again.