I Am the Weakest Cat, but If I Keep Evolving, Can I Become the Strongest? - Episode 42: Dragon Test Drive

Episode 42: Dragon Test Drive 

▽ Episode 42: Dragon Test Drive

My body is slashed by the Assassin Rabbit’s horn dagger. 

It has no effect at all. 

My body, which is simultaneously using both [Battle Fur] and [Reverse Scale], is far too tough for the Assassin Rabbit to do anything about. 

Well, it *is* an assassin. 

It wouldn’t be strange if it had a species skill like “kill if the neck is cut”. 

Avoiding only the neck, I rely on my body’s toughness and clumsily wipe out the Assassin Rabbit. 

Next target: the Explosive Owl attacking from above. 

I block the explosion magic using [Dimension Wall]. 

With an overwhelming difference in magical power, I nullify the enemy’s magic head-on. 

Realizing it stands no chance of winning, the Explosive Owl tries to flee into the sky. 

I turn my face upwards and open my mouth. 

Dragon Breath. 

The high-density heat shot from my mouth pierces the sky before I know it. The Explosive Owl is completely gone without a trace. 

I’m not even that tired. 

The cooldown is long, but it seems incredibly useful as a high-powered long-range attack. 

And the fact that the charge is instantaneous is also handy. 

The downside is that it leaves a stinging pain in my mouth after firing. 

“Nya.” 

I’m conflicted. 

I’m already wondering which skill I should inherit next. 

All of the species skills are absurdly powerful. 

I spread my huge wings. 

Unlike the ragged Undead Dragon, a pair of magnificent wings now sprouts from my back. 

I flap lightly. 

And with that alone, I find myself soaring in the sky. What incredible acceleration. 

I’m now overlooking the vast forest from above. 

I don’t even need to use the spatial magic skill [Map]. 

With my current eyesight, I could see it even with one eye. 

Ahead—there’s a human city. 

Apparently, this forest tops out at around Rank VI. 

The truly frightening part is… 

The fact that humanity has held off invasions from Rank VI monsters with a single massive wall. 

If I’m unlucky, there could be Rank VII or VIII—or even stronger monsters—waiting in that city. 

Yeah. 

Let’s not go there. 

I could fly out of the forest right now. 

But if I do that, the humans might try to kill me. 

These wings are far too majestic to pass off as “I’m just a harmless kitty.” 

I’m fully a “Dragon with only its wings coming out.” 

Also, there seem to be flying monsters even at Rank VI. 

If I get noticed by one of them, I might struggle, even as a Dragon. 

It would probably be an unfamiliar aerial battle. 

Well, I do have [Dragon Orb]. So a one-Rank difference might not matter that much though. 

I let out a “nyan”. 

The ones I’m addressing are the Armor Ogres who’ve been watching over my hunting. 

They all look at me like I’m a boss monster. 

They’ve helped me a lot. 

Now that I’ve reached a completely broken level for Rank V… 

I probably wouldn’t lose to anything except other monsters with boss-level specs (like Dragons). 

No—maybe I’m exaggerating. 

Enemies with status effect abilities could still kill me. 

That said, in my opinion, skills like [Poison Resistance] are weak. 

The reason is simple: you can’t level them up. 

To raise a skill level, you have to get hit with poison. 

But if you take poison that’s too strong for your resistance, you’ll die. 

Yet, if you don’t gradually take stronger poisons, [Poison Resistance] won’t level up. 

One small mistake and you’re dead. 

Weak poison stops helping at some point. 

And if you don’t have a way to fine-tune the poison’s potency, it’s too risky. 

Even with my [Instinct Detection], managing that is dangerous. 

Eventually, I’ll probably get [Poison Immunity] or [Poison Absorption]. 

But, I think the smarter move is just avoiding poison in the first place. 

The road to becoming an invincible monster is long. 

▽ 

I parted ways with the Armor Ogres. 

They can no longer keep up with my hunting level. 

Now they’re just leeching experience points from me. 

That’s not good—for them or for me. 

Though from my side, it’s safer, which is nice. 

But in leeching play, they gain neither skill levels nor combat experience. 

I don’t want to expose them to that kind of risk. 

Even if it was only temporary, they were comrades in arms. 

I hope they live long and well. 

I now hunt solo. 

But in the Rank V range, there are no longer any worthy opponents. 

No matter what enemy I defeat, I don’t feel like I’m gaining much experience. 

That’s probably because of [Dragon Orb]. 

While it gives me boss-level specs, it also means that when a “boss” defeats small fry, they don’t yield much experience. 

You might think that makes [Dragon Orb] a worthless species skill. But its benefits outweigh that drawback.

For example, let’s say a regular monster gains +3 to its specialty stats when leveling up. 

With this [Dragon Orb], all of my stats go up by 3. And my specialty stats increase by around 5 or 6… or at least, that’s how it feels. 

That was the decisive difference between me and the Undead Dragon. 

Also, the sense of control over magical power is different. 

The large-scale black pikes the Undead Dragon used—that was a boss-level attack. 

I can do something similar now. But without [Dragon Orb], it would be impossible. 

It’s a skill of a whole different magnitude. 

Even though I’m still technically Rank V, I probably already have power near Rank VI. 

“Nyan.” 

I’ve decided. 

It seems difficult to evolve any further within the Rank V range. 

So, I’ll take the plunge and start earning experience in the Rank VI zone. 

There’s risk involved. 

But unless I accept a certain level of risk, I won’t be able to secure safety through strength. 

It’s the same as how Switzerland gained peace through military power. 

Strength is essential for peace. 

Any other form of peace and safety is just asking for it with a “pretty please.”