Dragon Wing Blade

Ser Wilderness was as scorching and sweltering as ever, as if it were forever summer.

The land was dry, dust filled the air, and bright, vicious sunlight poured down from the sky, illuminating Garos as he circled overhead and revealing his current form.

Compared to a year ago.

Garos had grown by nearly half a meter. It was not much growth, and he was now roughly 6.6 meters long.

However, his body had become noticeably thicker. His limbs were stout and powerful, his back and chest broad and strong, and even his neck looked thicker and tougher.

His entire body was incomparably muscular. Even through his scales, one could sense the powerful, steel-hard muscles beneath.

Dragons with formidable physiques, such as Red Dragons and Gold Dragons.

Had few Hatchling Dragons as strong as Garos.

The current Garos was practically the "Tyson" among Hatchling Dragons of the same age.

And that was not all.

His greatest change was undoubtedly his pair of dragon wings.

First was their wingspan, which had reached a full fifteen meters, more than twice Garos's body length. Moreover, the wing membranes were covered in fine, densely layered dragon scales that resembled feathers at first glance. When they sliced through the air, they guided the airflow perfectly, preventing resistance and instead creating thrust.

The fleshy membranes connecting the roots of his wings to his body, which had once caused him the most pain when he flapped, had thickened threefold.

Their folds overlapped like steel repeatedly forged beneath a hammer.

A layer of exceptionally sharp material with a metallic sheen had also grown along the wing edges. It could easily tear through the air and would have no trouble cutting apart living creatures, making each dragon wing resemble a massive guillotine blade brimming with deadly sharpness.

Over the past year.

Strength training had been secondary. Garos had spent nearly every waking hour tempering these dragon wings whenever he had free time, and his efforts had been rewarded.

After an evolution not long ago.

Garos could now soar through the skies using only his wings, and his aerial speed far surpassed that of dragons at the same level.

His Life Level had not changed. It was still Level 7.

But Garos felt that he could now defeat two of his former selves.

"I need to test the results of this evolution."

"You'll do, Earth Violent Bear."

His gaze pierced through the clouds as Garos looked down at the ground below. He spotted a colossal bear dwelling among the hills, eight meters tall and covered in yellowish-brown fur like steel needles, resembling an enlarged and enhanced ordinary brown bear.

The Earth Violent Bear before Garos was Level 8, but it was not something the previous Level 8 Petrified Lizard could compare to.

Earth Violent Bears were a relatively powerful type of magical beast, with a certain chance of reaching the Legendary Realm.

They possessed not only powerful bodies but also many earth-element Spell-like Abilities.

Though inferior to dragons, they were more than capable of crushing the vast majority of magical beasts at the same level.

Within the fir forest below the hills.

The Earth Violent Bear was scratching its back against a century-old Iron Fir, sending bark fragments flying like a torrential downpour.

His purpose this time was to test his current strength, not to hunt.

Garos did not choose to launch a sneak attack. He directly raised his Dragon Might and announced his arrival to the Earth Violent Bear.

With a beat of his wings, airflow mixed with Dragon Might and nearly formed visible ripples as it swept over the Earth Violent Bear.

The Earth Violent Bear, which had been happily rubbing its back and scratching its itch, suddenly stiffened. Its fur stood on end as if its tail had been stepped on, and it looked up at the sky.

In its vision, a black dot was rapidly enlarging as it dove toward it.

Scales, horns, claws, tail, wings. It was unmistakably a dragon! Judging by its size, however, it could not yet be called gigantic. It was only a Hatchling Dragon.

The Earth Violent Bear was highly intelligent. Facing a Hatchling Dragon, it did not feel fear. Instead, it rose upright on its hind legs and roared fiercely at Garos.

The earth and rocks before it suddenly bulged upward and condensed into chunks of stone.

It lifted a paw and stomped down. Five or six massive rocks shot into the air and smashed toward Garos.

Facing the first one, Garos neither dodged nor evaded. He lowered his head and rammed it.

Boom!

The rock shattered like tofu beneath the impact of Garos's dragon horns. The flying fragments scraped across his scales afterward, leaving only faint dusty marks.

The remaining four rocks.

Though he could have smashed them directly as well, Garos did not continue to charge head-on.

His enormous, powerful dragon wings beat, kicking up gust after gust of wind. His whole body danced through the air, weaving between the gaps in the four rocks with agile movements, graceful as a swimming dragon.

Strength, speed, defense. Garos did not want to have any weaknesses, so he developed himself in every aspect as much as possible.

After dealing with the Earth Violent Bear's first wave of attacks, Garos approached the upper side of the densely wooded hill, while the Earth Violent Bear stood at its base.

He folded his wings and dived down the slope, cutting through the canopy.

Oak branches scraped against his scales with harsh screeches. Wherever his blade-like wing edges swept past, rows of ancient trees were severed at their roots like stalks of wheat.

The Earth Violent Bear roared and slammed its massive paws against the ground, causing ten earth spikes to burst from the soil.

But the Hatchling Dragon suddenly folded his wings and curled his body. His tail, wrapped in broken wood and fallen leaves, swept out and smashed the cluster of earth spikes in half. The exploding chunks of rock shot into tree trunks like bullets.

The Earth Violent Bear plunged both paws into the ground and lifted a three-meter-thick slab of rock, hurling it at Garos once again.

Rather than retreat, Garos advanced. His wing edge sliced into a crack in the rock slab, and with a violent flap, he sent the entire slab soaring a hundred meters into the air.

Sunlight passed through the suspended boulder and cast mottled shadows. Taking advantage of the boundary between Light and Dark, the Hatchling Dragon launched a sudden attack. In an instant, he closed in on the Earth Violent Bear, thrusting out both claws to tear through fur and flesh and sink deeply into the Dire Bear's shoulders. Then he flipped through the air, brutally hurling the nearly twenty-ton beast away like a torn sack.

The tumbling Dire Bear snapped seven oak trees before it finally stopped.

Roar!

It roared in pain, then suddenly grabbed a section of broken tree trunk and hurled it into the sky.

Earth-yellow magical energy wrapped around the broken wood. As it neared Garos, it exploded into a rain of spikes that ripped through the air and swept toward him with sharp whistles.

Garos remained calm. His enormous wings abruptly spread wide and swept aside the countless wooden spikes.

The occasional spike that landed on him could not penetrate his hard dragon scales.

Only places such as his eyes required a little caution.

"My turn!"

The Earth Violent Bear had used many Spell-like Abilities in rapid succession and was now panting heavily, while the Hatchling Dragon's stamina seemed not to have declined at all as he accelerated and beat his wings toward it.

Heavy Rock Armor!

Watching the dragon approach, the Earth Violent Bear stomped both feet into the ground and threw back its head in an enraged roar. The earth and rocks around it suddenly seemed to come alive, surging like water and extending upward from its feet to cover its body almost instantly, layer upon layer solidifying into hard armor with granite-like patterns.

At the same time, Garos spread his right dragon wing flat. Like a guillotine blade, it tore through the air with a piercing shriek and slashed toward the Earth Violent Bear.

The Earth Violent Bear simultaneously raised its armored bear arm, the thickest part of its armor, and smashed it toward the dragon wing.

Clang—slash!

First came a sound like metal striking metal, scattering blinding sparks, followed by the sound of a sharp weapon cutting through flesh.

The Earth Violent Bear let out a miserable howl. The armor on its bear arm was almost instantly shredded by the dragon wing, and the tough hide, fur, and flesh beneath were torn apart as well. Even the bone was severed.

As Garos and the Earth Violent Bear crossed paths, half of the bear's arm flew into the air, spraying blood.