The Dabba staggered, its roar cutting off abruptly into a wet, choking sound. Its legs buckled beneath its massive weight, and the creature crashed to the ground with a heavy impact that sent up a cloud of dust and debris. For a brief moment it tried to rise, its powerful muscles twitching and spasming as it fought against death itself.

Then it went completely still. Motionless. Dead.

Jelo exhaled shakily, the sound somewhere between a gasp of relief and a sob of exhaustion. He was victorious but utterly spent, barely able to remain upright. The fight was finally over.

His body swayed dangerously, and he had to consciously lock his knees to keep from collapsing where he stood.

Blood dripped steadily from multiple wounds, creating small dark pools on the cracked earth beneath him. His vision was still narrowing at the edges, darkness pressing in from all sides, but he'd won. Somehow, impossibly, against a creature that should have killed him, he'd won.

And now it was time to eat. The thought left an ironic smile on Jelo's face and he looked around for a sharp stone, his movements sluggish and poorly coordinated. His eyes scanned the debris-strewn battlefield until he finally found one, a jagged piece of rock with a reasonably sharp edge, probably broken off from some ancient structure.

He picked it up with trembling, blood-slick hands and staggered heavily toward the Dabba's corpse.

His headache was splitting his mind apart now that the adrenaline of combat was fading. Every step felt like wading through thick mud, his body violently protesting any continued movement. But he had to do this. He needed to.

Jelo dropped heavily to his knees beside the fallen creature and began the work of cutting it open. The process was clumsy, imprecise, nothing like the clean efficient movements he might have managed when healthy.

He fumbled with the stone constantly, his blood-covered hands struggling to maintain any kind of grip on the makeshift tool. The sharp edge cut into his own fingers multiple times as it slipped, adding fresh thin lines of pain to the overwhelming symphony of agony his body was already experiencing. He dropped the stone twice, had to retrieve it with shaking hands, had to start the whole process over.

But eventually, through sheer persistence, he managed to open the Dabba's massive chest cavity wide enough, exposing the creature's heart.

It was significantly larger than a normal Dabba's heart, grotesquely oversized, pulsing with residual power even in death. The organ was dark and twisted, mutated by the same radiation that had transformed the creature's entire body into something monstrous.

Jelo didn't allow himself to hesitate. He reached in with both hands, his fingers closing around the still-warm organ, and tore the heart free from its surrounding connective tissue. Then he bit into it without ceremony.

Instantly, profound relief flooded through him like a tidal wave washing away pain. The terrible, gnawing weakness that had been steadily eating away at his strength began to fade rapidly.

Much of his splitting headache disappeared entirely, the crushing pressure in his skull receding to barely noticeable levels. It was like finding water after days lost in the desert, like gasping air after nearly drowning beneath dark water.

"Ah.. Feels good". He sighed absentmindedly as he reveled in the relief.

He continued eating, tearing into the heart with his teeth, swallowing chunks of the tough organ without really tasting any of it. All that mattered was consuming it completely, taking every bit of its power into himself.

By the time he finished the entire heart, his strength was fully restored. The wounds covering his body were healing at visible speed, flesh knitting itself back together with supernatural efficiency.

His mind was completely clear for the first time since stepping through that portal, the fog of pain and exhaustion lifted as though it had never existed. His senses were dramatically enhanced, sharpened far beyond their normal human capacity.

He could hear the faint scrape of small debris shifting in the wind kilometers away. He could see individual cracks in the distant cliff face with perfect clarity despite the distance. He became acutely aware of everything around him, every sound, every tiny movement, every subtle shift in the air currents.

Then the system notification materialized in his vision, the familiar glowing text overlaying his perception of reality.

[Opponet Defeated: Mutated Dabba, +40 Ess]

Jelo was still processing the notification when another one came in.

Name: Jelo Milton

Rank: level 2

Species: Hatchling

Speed: 21

Strength: 21

Stamina: 21

Draconic Essence( Ess) : 250/250

Health 80/100

Flaw: Draconic Hoard

[Youre eligible for Level Up]

[Do you agree]

Jelo realized with some glee that he was due for a level-up, he immediately mentally agreed to proceed without hesitation.

He barely had time to brace himself before the transformation process began in earnest.

The level-up was painfully intense, far more so than previous ones. Power surged through his body like concentrated lightning through a living conductor, fundamentally rewriting him on a cellular level.

His muscles spasmed involuntarily, his bones ached with deep pressure, his nerves felt like they were burning from the inside out. Jelo gritted his teeth hard and endured, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists as the transformation ran its course through his entire system.

When it finally ended after what felt like an eternity, Jelo noticed immediate physical changes. He ran his tongue experimentally across his teeth and felt them, serrated sharp edges, deadly points, designed like dragon fangs. They were made for tearing flesh, for rending and consuming prey efficiently.

Another notification appeared in his vision.

[New Skill Acquired: Assess]

[Assess: Allows user to view power levels and basic information about humans and beasts]

Jelo processed that information quickly. A new skill. One that could provide critical tactical information in future encounters, let him gauge threats before committing to combat.

The system notifications continued scrolling.

[Strength +10]

[Speed +10]

[Stamina +10]

Jelo checked his status and it was now looking a little impressive, at least more impressive than when he had first gotten the system.

Name: Jelo Milton

Rank: level 3

Species: Hatchling

Speed: 32

Strength: 32

Stamina: 32

Draconic Essence( Ess) : 10/250

Health 20/100

Flaw: Draconic Hoard

Skills:

Dragon Claw

Scaled Guard

Wingburst

Assess

Due to the extra stat points consuming a dabba heart gave him, he now had 32 stat points each. If Jelo was faster and stronger than the average human before, now he was faster and stronger than the average super.

He layed on the ground catching his breath, this particular dabba hunt had been perilous and action filled, but it had been quite rewarding.

As he was about to relax, a thought popped into his head suddenly and he sat up.

Mira.

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