Translator: AnubisTL
After his hunt, Garos found another desolate mountain and threw himself against it, slamming into the rock and ground again and again until he was thoroughly satisfied.
In the beginning, Garos trained to become stronger, to ensure his survival. He forced himself to endure pain, but now he had grown accustomed to the suffering. If he missed a day of training, he always felt something was missing; it had become an integral part of his routine.
As twilight deepened into night, Garos returned to Needleleaf Valley.
Upon arrival, he sensed an atmosphere of tense anticipation.
He circled overhead, avoiding immediate landing, and gazed down at the giant dragon and ant legion locked in a fierce, indecisive battle.
The fairy dragon and the red dragon, their expressions grave and solemn, remained completely unaware of Garos's presence, still immersed in their own fantasy world.
Samantha crouched majestically, overseeing the battlefield from above an anthill, a ball of raging fire clamped in her jaws.
Above her, Fairy Dragon Vera hovered.
She scattered shimmering fairy scale powder, transforming the common black ants into warriors clad in gleaming armor.
"Insolent ants!"
Samantha's roar was filled with fury, her voice deep and guttural like an adult dragon's. "How dare you build a fortress on the territory of the Red Dragon Queen!"
She exhaled wisps of scorching fire, creating a smoking pit three centimeters from the ant nest entrance as a deterrent strike.
"Duel me, giant ant king!"
Samantha carefully picked up the ant king and placed it beneath her.
This was a soldier ant with particularly long antennae and a larger body.
It panicked and tried to flee, but was trapped within the trench she had dug, spinning in circles in desperation.
Fairy Dragon Vera used illusions to make the ant king's body shimmer with light that pulsed and contracted, making it appear more fearsome. Samantha repeatedly prodded the ant king with her claws. After a "fierce battle," she stabbed it to death with a single claw.
"It is done! The great Red Dragon Queen has once again claimed victory!"
Samantha lifted her chin, gazing down with haughty disdain.
Just as she declared victory, the fairy dragon herded a cricket into the battlefield:
"Watch out! The true mastermind is the Dark High Priest of the Insect Clan!"
"The giant ant prince who secretly relayed the fortress's secrets to you was actually a puppet controlled by the high priest! It was all the high priest's conspiracy!"
Samantha froze for two seconds, then quickly jumped into the act, snorting sparks from her nostrils.
"What? This was all a conspiracy?! High priest! What do you want?!"
The fairy dragon cackled, giving voice to the mastermind behind the scenes. "Heh heh heh, of course—to incite war between you and the king of the destroyer giant ants. Now that you're exhausted, it's time for me to claim the fruits of victory."
The Red Dragon Queen roared in fury.
"Very well! You've succeeded in provoking my wrath. Now, prepare to face death?!"
She let out a thunderous roar.
Meanwhile, Garos watched the scene below in silence.
Samantha's queenly fantasies seemed to have grown even more severe, and Fairy Dragon Vera was even joining in the game, playing along with the elaborate plot that included twists and turns.
"What are you two doing?"
He landed, interrupting their role-playing game.
"My dear brother, I'm... uh... training Vera's tactical command skills," Samantha stammered.
"Yes, yes, that's right."
Fairy Dragon Vera nodded in agreement.
Well, well, these two dragons have hit it off. Maybe I should join their game too?
Garos shook his head, finding the game too childish and unbecoming of his dragon persona. It would diminish his dignity, so he decided against it.
Still, I could play by myself when I have free time—as long as they don't find out.
He thought to himself.
Garos didn't press for details, feigning agreement with the two dragons' claims before flying toward the cave where the cliff serpent dragon's corpse lay.
The large red dragon and the small fairy dragon exchanged glances, then turned their attention back to the ant nest.
The threat of the dark cricket high priest was imminent; the battle wasn't over yet! The Red Dragon Queen was determined to crush the sinister plot against her!
After Garos left, the two dragons resumed their playful antics.
Inside the cave, where moonlight couldn't reach, Garos's dragon vision pierced the darkness.
He approached the cliff serpent dragon's corpse.
In the sweltering heat of the Sierre Wilderness, ordinary corpses would have rotted away within a week without special preservation.
Yet the cliff serpent dragon's body remained remarkably unchanged, looking just as it had at the moment of its death.
It was a fire dragon, and dragon corpses naturally resisted decay for extended periods.
Garos stepped forward, extended a claw, and pried open the cliff serpent dragon's scales. He peered closely, carefully examining the structure beneath.
He noticed a network of honeycomb-like pores.
These pores reflected in his vision.
As expected, the cliff serpent dragon had used these pores to expel superheated steam, achieving explosive bursts of speed.
This wasn't magic.
This cliff serpent dragon was merely a juvenile, having not yet mastered magic.
Magic was relatively weak in the early stages, requiring significant time and effort to learn. It was far less effective than a dragon's natural claws and fangs. Dragons typically began studying magic only after reaching adolescence (around 50 years old), when their physical growth slowed and their elemental affinity deepened.
Moreover, since dragons were natural sorcerers, not all of them chose to learn magic.
The dragon heritage offered multiple paths of inheritance, not just the spellcaster path.
Garos had seriously considered his own path. For now, he planned to become a martial dragon with a secondary focus on sorcery.
Sorcery was a natural talent.
This would allow Garos to quickly master spell-like abilities without extensive study, enriching his repertoire of skills.
The martial dragon is actually a branch of dragonkind monks.
Martial dragons aren't bound by the strict discipline of traditional monks. Instead, they forge their strength through brutal training and combat, growing through countless wounds and hardships.
This is perfect for Garos—it's practically a custom-made profession for him.
Normal monks can harness an alternative energy called qi.
At its core, qi is a special energy formed by the fusion of life energy and magical energy flowing within living beings.
Through years of practice and control over qi, monks can enhance their speed, strikes, reflexes, and overall physical capabilities, while also creating effects similar to magic.
The qi of martial dragons is called dragon qi.
While dragon qi functions similarly to normal qi, its effects are more potent and overwhelming due to the dragonkind racial bonus. Martial dragons who master dragon qi may not have flashy skills, but they possess extraordinary combat prowess.
However...
At his current age, Garos's life energy and magical energy aren't strong enough to awaken dragon qi. He hasn't met the requirements to become a martial dragon.
His daily training can shorten this time.
Garos couldn't determine exactly when he would be able to take on the martial dragon class.
Regardless, whether he pursued the path of a martial dragon or a long-term career as a sorcerer, Garos relied most on his innate talent for adaptive evolution.
This ability could fundamentally alter him, enhancing his potential.
Garos extended his claws and ran them over the fine pores beneath his serpent dragon scales.
If I could evolve some jet vents on my dragon wings and fuel them with magical energy, or even better, dragon qi, my speed would increase explosively, compensating for my lack of burst power.
He thought to himself.
But how could he ensure that this unpredictable process of adaptive evolution would align with his desires?
That was the problem.
Without hesitation, Garos licked a pinch of fairy scale powder.
This sharpened his mind, making it highly active and rapidly whirring.
Ideas flooded his mind, only to be dismissed and discarded one after another due to lack of resources or feasibility.
As time passed and the effects of the fairy scale powder began to wane, after a frenzied brainstorming session, Garos finally conceived of the simplest and most plausible solution.
(End of the Chapter)
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