A dragon. That wasn't a giant bird, but a DRAGON!

  Vaan quickly sprinted through the forest, praying his enhanced physique would be enough to get him clear.

  Thundering sounds of felled trees and the sharp crack of shattering branches echoed.

  But Vaan didn't look back. The moment he did, he would be wasting precious time to escape. Even so, he couldn't help but curse in his mind.

  Dragons were supposed to be creatures that guarded dungeons! Mythical beings that were in farflung corners of the world! Not just in a random forest!

  Vaan pushed his legs as hard as he could to try and muster up even a bit more speed to escape the dragon. 'How far am I now...?' He decided to chance a quick look backwards.

  "KWEH!" The dragon let out its cry and then opened its mouth. At the same time, orange sparks started to gather in its maw.

  Vaan's eyes widened.

  It was still far away. Far enough that, surely, the fmes couldn't reach, right...?

  But even as Vaan had that thought, more thoughts came to mind. A cold rationale, cutting through his hopes.

  'Dragon breath. It's a high level attack by dragons using their inherent capabilities to breathe fire. Yet, instead of using air, they use their boundless mana as fuel. When young, this breath is simply heat and fire. But elder dragons utilize a purely magical attack of raw elements.'

  Vaan nodded in response to the information. But even so, while it was useful...

  'Isn't this... bad?'

  There was a direct line between him and the dragon. If it let loose a breath attack, there was no dodging.

  Vaan would be cooked- No, turned to ash.

  Thankfully, the dragon seemed young.

  Vaan didn't know how he could tell, but he had the sense that the dragon wasn't an 'elder dragon' that could use elemental breaths. So it would just be fire. Really, really, REALLY hot fire.

  But that didn't help much considering that a stream of fire was still very much a deadly problem to resolve.

  'Okay, think.'

  There were a few seconds left.

  In that brief time, Vaan needed something to save himself. And if there was nothing around, he had to make it. 'So find a way!'

  Climb? Didn't matter since trees would burn too.

  Hide? Pft, that's death waiting to happen.

  Fight? Absolutely not. Maybe with prep, but not enough of it to work with here. So...

  'Block it.'

  Yes. Vaan had to block it. Not entirely, but enough to buy time to escape. And since it was just fire... there was a chance.

  Vaan swept his hand at a tree as he passed, imagining it bursting into a thick wooden barrier angled into the sky.

  > Gathering materials from selected target.

  > Desired process: Wooden Barricade.

  > Confirmed sufficient resources.

  > Creating...

  Although it took a bit of time for Vaan to hear all the messages, the result appeared in an instant.

  A loud 'thud' echoed as the tree vanished. And then a thunderous roar resounded as the dark forest was lit by fire shooting out into the sky. The scent of burnt wood drifted past and the air felt completely dry and hot, like an arid desert.

  But Vaan realized. It had *worked.* And he was alive. For a little longer. But...

  > Warning. Insufficient crity in the process carries a backsh.

  > User will experience slight pain. Be warned.

  A sharp headache.

  Vaan winced and clutched at his head as he kept running. "Of course. There's always a cost..." He clicked his tongue but kept running. As he did, he kept swiping his hand at trees to make more barriers.

  The dragon squawked from behind, sending out more bsts of fire. But they seemed less than the first one.

  Of course, Vaan wasn't about to run around to fight it right now. Nope. That was just asking to die, and he would very much like to live. Maybe he'd go for a rematch if he could get some time to prepare. But for now, priority was to get out of this mess. Still...

  The dragon squawked again, and the sound of wingbeats echoed.

  Vaan froze for a bit and then looked up just as a shadow crossed over the surroundings. Then he swallowed. "Oh no..."

  'Just what the heck did I even do?!'

  Sure, a dragon was territorial. And yes, Vaan may have been intruding on its territory right now.

  'Even so, isn't this a bit much?! I'm surely not a threat to a creature like that, right?!'

  If he had to compare, the difference between him and the dragon was like a tiger and an ant. Why the heck would it rampage so much just for-

  'Oh.'

  Actually, that made sense.

  Even Vaan would probably be a bit annoyed if an ant suddenly appeared in his room. And he would also try to do everything to get rid of it...

  'Dang it.'

  That didn't solve the issue at all, but it at least expined a little...

  Vaan swallowed and chanced another look back.

  The dragon had taken flight, its emerald scales glittering in the sky as it reared its head for another breath attack.

  Vaan panicked for a moment. He quickly swept his hand to create another wooden barrier, bracing for the inevitable headache. But then he paused when he saw it.

  Emerald fshing in the dragon's mouth. Not orange.

  A miscalcution. Either the dragon was older than Vaan thought... or he had severely underestimated how irritated the dragon was.

  The next attack would definitely not just be fire. And judging from the dragon's scales and that color...

  'Wind? Hopefully...! And if so...!'

  A wooden barricade wouldn't help. That would just get bsted to bits or shredded. Instead...

  Vaan swept his hand at the ground this time and dove.

  > Gathering materials from selected target.

  > Desired process: Ravine and bunker.

  > Confirmed sufficient resources.

  > Creating...

  Again, the usual cold and mechanical female voice. But before Vaan could parse it, he was suddenly falling into a deep ravine, the light suddenly extinguished with the sound of something heavy falling down to cover it.

  A loud thud.

  Both from Vaan colpsing against the bottom of the ravine and the cover sealing it.

  Vaan felt dirt fly as he nded. But thankfully, the impact didn't hurt. Probably due to his enhanced body.

  Foresight and preparations were a wonderful thing in hindsight. But before Vaan could praise himself a bit more, he heard and felt it.

  A howling wind ripping through everything and shaking even the ravine.

  Vaan's eyes widened and he pressed himself down against the bottom as hard as he could.

  Light illuminated the dark ravine as the scouring wind shredded the makeshift stone bunker and the surroundings trees to reveal Vaan's location.

  A sharp headache nearly took away Vaan's consciousness. But he persevered.

  The dragon had failed to kill him.

  But Vaan didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.

  Evading dragon breath was already an incredible feat. But considering that it took so much effort... and that Vaan was now trapped in the bottom of a ravine like this...

  'Do I have to desperately fight?'

  Running clearly wasn't an option anymore. That dragon seemed hellbent on seeing him dead.

  So, if it was kill or be killed, then-

  A stern female voice called out. "There it is!"

  Vaan froze and quickly pressed himself back down in the ravine.

  "Just like the scouts said, the Emerald Dragon is rampaging!"

  'Emerald Dragon? Scouts?' Vaan had tons of questions, but he stayed quiet and silently pressed his hand against the ravine, focusing.