Primary Defense Rune

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"What can you do, then?"

Faced with Garos's final soul-searching question, Samantha puffed out her chest and raised her head like a proud swan. "I can inscribe Alchemy Runes now! Primary Defense Runes!"

Mentioning the runes she had mastered,

Samantha grew excited and said to Garos, "Want me to inscribe one for you? I've already practiced on myself, and my technique is quite skilled now. I guarantee I won't mess up."

Samantha curled her tail around in front of herself and waved it before Garos's eyes.

On the fiery red, gemstone-like dragon scales on her tail were many crooked marks, like crawling earthworms, scattered in every direction and utterly misshapen. However, mixed among them were some increasingly proper patterns. Though still crude, they were passable.

Her improvement was plain to see.

"Go ahead."

Garos considered it, then slowly nodded.

He stood before Samantha, thrust out his chest, and flexed his muscles to raise the gray Buffer Scales, exposing the black-red scales beneath, as though forged from steel and iron.

"Try inscribing one here first."

Samantha took a deep breath.

Her vertical dragon pupils narrowed as she focused intently, slowly carving onto one of Garos's chest scales with her claws.

Magical energy gathered at the tips of her claws. They were like red-hot branding irons, throwing off sparks when they touched Garos's dragon scales and producing a teeth-grating sound like metal scraping against metal.

As time passed,

the scratches gradually formed a shield-like pattern. When Samantha made the final stroke, a complete rune circuit took shape.

It was passable, but not very pretty. Still, it had barely taken form and could be considered a crude finished product.

Garos narrowed his eyes.

When the Alchemy Rune was completed, he could clearly sense that something seemed to have been added to that dragon scale.

The magical energy flowing through dragon blood gathered there.

The rune immediately lit up, covering the entire dragon scale.

Garos gently rubbed the scale.

The sensation was strange. It did not feel like he was directly touching his own scale. It was more like an invisible yet resilient film had been plated over it.

"Let's test its strength."

Garos extended a sharp claw, pressed it against the dragon scale, and slowly applied force.

The rune first flickered, then gradually dimmed and cracked. Finally, with a crack, its light went out completely, and the film-like sensation vanished as well.

So far, Garos had not used much strength.

"The defensive effect is average. Nothing remarkable."

He made his assessment.

However, Samantha had only mastered the most basic, most elementary Alchemy Runes, and this inscription had not been perfect. It was somewhat crude.

Yet it still provided a certain degree of defense.

Once Samantha's alchemy skills improved further,

it would be worth looking forward to strengthening and enhancing dragon scales, claws, fangs, and other body parts through Alchemy.

"Not bad. Keep it up."

Garos casually praised her, then told Samantha to go do her own thing.

"Don't you need me to inscribe a few more?"

She asked, still wanting more.

Inscribing runes on herself felt different from inscribing them on other objects. Samantha wanted to increase her proficiency by inscribing Primary Defense Runes on Garos.

Garos saw through her thoughts.

And he had no interest in being a test subject.

Glancing at Mobel, the Earth Violent Bear, who was leaning against an Iron Fir and rubbing his back against it, Garos said, "Practice on Mobel. You can use Alchemy Rune inscriptions to strengthen him in exchange for him hunting food for you."

Samantha did not refuse and walked toward the Earth Violent Bear.

After learning why Samantha had come, the Earth Violent Bear widened his eyes, thumped his chest, and agreed at once.

Alchemy Rune enhancements were something his damn old father had never enjoyed, and they would even be personally applied by a True Dragon. Mobel had no reason to refuse, and he was delighted inside.

Hiss!

When the Red Dragon's claws tore open his skin, Mobel let out a low growl and gritted his teeth against the pain.

He had no dragon scales, so the Primary Defense Rune could only be inscribed directly onto his skin. The process was unpleasant, but bearable.

Garos withdrew his gaze from the two of them.

After a brief thought, he flew to the massive stone slab where he often stayed, half-closed his eyes, and curled up to lie down.

He was not sleeping. He was instead excavating the spells hidden within his bloodline.

Dragons were all natural sorcerers. Upon reaching a certain age, they could awaken some Spell-like Abilities.

But if they explored on their own, they could master them early.

Generally speaking, Hatchling Dragons did not possess Spell-like Abilities. They primarily fought with their claws, fangs, and bodies, while Dragon Breath was their ultimate trump card.

Lesser Fireball.

Life Level Detection Technique.

Garos had mastered both of these skills ahead of time through his own exploration.

When he immersed his mind and focused inward,

Garos could clearly sense the surging, abundant magical energy within him, flowing through his veins with his blood and reaching every limb, bone, and corner of his body like a tide.

As naturally born apex magical creatures,

dragons possessed magical energy from the moment they were born.

When they breathed, they could draw magical energy from the air, store it in their blood vessels, and gradually transform it into magical energy they could use.

Feeling the rhythmic rise and fall of magical energy and blood circulating through his body,

Garos gradually emptied his mind and followed his instincts to sense the Spell-like Abilities hidden in his bloodline.

The Adaptive Evolution talent was also somewhat effective in this regard, but it was not as direct or noticeable as its improvements to his physical body.

Still, Garos was in no hurry.

Time passed slowly as he calmed his mind and explored bit by bit.

In the blink of an eye,

a month had passed.

In an abandoned mine filled with jagged rocks,

a red Hatchling Dragon lay on the ground not far from the mine, seemingly dozing in rest. Her tail lightly tapped the ground now and then, but her eyes were not closed. They blinked occasionally, betraying her nervousness.

Not long afterward,

the predator lurking underground sensed the faint vibrations and silently approached.

When it was close enough, the ground began to tremble. The red Hatchling Dragon seemed to notice something was wrong and flapped her wings into the air.

Boom!

The earth and rocks bulged and split apart, sending dirt and gravel flying.

The massive body of a Rock-Crushing Worm shot vertically from the ground. Its meat-grinder-like maw opened and snapped at the red Hatchling Dragon, but because she had risen into the air first, it bit only empty air before beginning to fall back down.

At that moment,

a black shadow even faster than it suddenly dove down.

Squelch!

Sharp claws tore through its shell and clamped tightly onto the Rock-Crushing Worm's flesh.

Garos beat his wings, and the muscles beneath his scales erupted with tremendous force, directly pulling the level-seven Rock-Crushing Worm out of the ground.

The Rock-Crushing Worm struggled endlessly, but to no avail.

"Caught it! I hope it can be controlled as I wish."

Holding the Rock-Crushing Worm, Garos's mind stirred slightly as he returned toward the Iron Fir Hills, with the red Hatchling Dragon Samantha close behind.