Trial Begins
Tom nodded and stepped out of the cabin. It was still dark outside. The moon hung in the treetops, illuminating the snow-covered ground. He took a deep breath and Apparition.
After several leaps, we crossed the Rhine River and entered Germany. The trees in the Black Forest were denser and darker than those in the Vosges Mountains, their canopies almost blocking out the sky.
Tom used Apparition repeatedly, the continuous teleportation almost making him nauseous. His head was buzzing, as if he had been stepped on by a fire dragon.
Apparition has two uses: either identify your destination, memorize its shape, and force your way through spatial barriers;
Or it's just guessing, like "instantly teleporting twenty kilometers east," which takes more magic and has a smaller range, but the advantage is that you don't need to remember the route.
Tom was just guessing; he'd never been here before and was wandering around aimlessly based on the general directions Polana had given him.
The reason for the rush was that Polana said the Goblin found the fire dragon on her way to trade with the wizard. The trading location was in a small town on the Germany border, and if they were any slower, someone else might intercept it.
But Tom wasn't stupid enough to just charge straight at the dragon and get himself killed. After finding the two mountain peaks Polana had mentioned, he...
He first pulled out the roast chicken and bacon hidden in his pocket, wolfed them down, and then circled the mountain peak three times to make sure no other wizards were lurking there before strolling into the valley between the two mountains.
The lousy spells Gellert Grindelwald taught him finally came in handy today. He cast Disillusionment Charm on himself, making his body transparent, like a film of water adhering to his skin.
Then he walked along the valley, his footsteps light, making no sound as he stepped on the fallen leaves. The valley became narrower and narrower, and the fir trees on both sides became denser and denser.
The fishy smell grew stronger, mixed with the stench of sulfur, making one's throat dry. Tom stopped, turned off the light of his wand, and crouched behind the bushes.
He spotted the guy he'd been longing for at a glance: the Hungarian Horntail.
The fire dragon lay at the end of the valley, its body a deep green, its scales gleaming darkly in the shadows.
A row of brown spines stands upright on its back, extending from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. Its wings are folded to the sides of its body, and its membranous wings are covered with fine patterns.
It has a large head, a slightly open mouth revealing two rows of yellowish teeth. In terms of size, it is not the largest fire dragon, but in terms of ferocity, it is absolutely top-tier. It is incredibly strong, and its entire body is a weapon.
Tom took a deep breath and dispelled the Disillusionment Charm when he was a hundred meters away from the fire dragon.
If they got any closer, with a fire dragon's nose, it would definitely be able to smell the presence of a living person on him.
He originally wanted to launch a sneak attack, but he was afraid that it wouldn't count as part of his Twelve Trials score, so he reluctantly chose the most conservative approach: a direct confrontation.
The dozing Hungarian Horntail suddenly opened its eyes, its brownish-red vertical pupils staring intently at Tom. A roar rolled down its throat, causing the surrounding leaves to rustle and fall.
The dragon's roar nearly deafened Tom, but he smiled broadly, his eyes narrowing into slits.
In the sea of consciousness, a Winky, dragon-shaped linear character emerged, carrying a wild energy—the Dragon Trial has finally begun!
[First Trial: Dragon, officially begins. Slay the Hungarian Horntail head-on, without using any external force. Current progress: 0%]
Tom raised his wand, the tip pointing at the dragon's face, and flicked out a spell. It had no other use than to annoy people; it did zero damage but was extremely insulting.
The Hungarian Horntail was utterly enraged. That roar was a warning, yet this human not only wasn't afraid, but dared to provoke it?
The fire dragon was so angry that its scales stood on end, and it opened its mouth to spew out a ball of scorching dragon breath. The flames were orange-red and extremely hot; the heat wave could be felt even from more than ten meters away.
Tom dodged to the side, the flames grazing his robes and landing on the tree behind him, instantly igniting the canopy and sending flames soaring into the sky.
He didn't turn around, his wand drew a circle in the air, casting "Protego" while simultaneously casting another spell, followed by the disgusting fire dragon.
Enraged, the fire dragon suddenly spread its wings and took off, but it didn't fly very high, only about ten meters above the ground.
Then it swooped down toward Tom, spewing out tongues of fire that were ten meters long, sizzling and emitting white smoke from the ground.
Tom raised his hand and waved it, instantly creating a transparent magic shield in front of him. He retreated while keeping a wary eye on the fire dragon.
The closer they got, the higher the temperature became, and ripples appeared on the shield as it desperately withstood the scorching heat.
Fifty meters, forty meters, thirty meters, twenty meters, now!
Tom's eyes suddenly lit up, and he flicked his wand upwards sharply, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Hand of Hell!"
The ground cracked open, and two giant energy hands enveloped in blue flames emerged from the fissure. Instead of grabbing the fire dragon's body, they seized its wings.
The giant fiery hand ripped fiercely, and the fire dragon's left wing made a teeth-grinding tearing sound. It let out a scream, which was sharper and more piercing than its previous roar.
After casting the spell, Tom immediately released the control of the Fiendfyre and Apparition to flash behind it.
Everything went according to the script Tom and Gellert Grindelwald had agreed upon. The dragon usually kept its wings folded, and the scales in the folds of its wings provided excellent defense.
To disable its flight ability in one strike, you must first trick it into taking flight, spreading its wings before making your move, thus disabling its flight ability.
No matter how strong a fire dragon is on land, it can only run on two legs. Two-legged beasts are easier to deal with than four-legged ones.
The dragon struggled, its tail lashing out with a whooshing sound. Tom leaped up, the tail sweeping past his feet and shattering a boulder. Shards flew everywhere, and he shielded his head and face, taking two steps back.
"Reducto! Reducto!" Tom frantically cast a spell, blasting all the Accio stones into powder.
Acid Rain Downpour!
Dark green liquid spurted from the tip of the staff, landing on the dragon's back, its scales hissing and emitting a puff of white smoke.
The dragon's skin was corroded, exposing the tender flesh beneath. It writhed on the ground in pain, breaking several fir trees in the process.
Tom gave it no chance to catch its breath, waving his wand repeatedly, and three beams of red light shot out simultaneously, striking the dragon's belly.
The scales shattered, and blood seeped from the wound, dripping onto the ground and emitting a pungent odor; dragon blood is poisonous.
The dragon's eyes turned red, and it opened its mouth, unleashing another ball of flame. This time, Tom didn't dodge; instead, he conjured a wall of water to block it.
The flames crashed against the water wall, steam exploded, filling the entire valley, obscuring everything.
Tom closed his eyes and listened to the dragon's voice. Its breathing was heavy and coming from the left front. He stepped to the left and pointed his wand in the direction of the sound.
"To rip out one's intestines!"
An invisible blade shot out from the tip of the staff, striking the fire dragon's abdomen. The wound was torn open, and blood and internal organs gushed out.