In the Ring-Shaped Sinkhole, on an open patch before a mountain wall, the ground was littered with craters of varying sizes and depths, as though heavy objects had fallen from the sky and smashed into it.
It was just unknown where so many things had come from.
Boom!
Amid a spray of shattered stones, the Hatchling Dragon, roughly six meters long, folded his wings and dropped freely from the sky, slamming viciously into the ground and kicking up a spreading ring of dust.
"Pah!"
Garos spat out the gravel in his mouth and shook his head as he crawled out of the crater.
The black iron scales covering his body, once silver-matte and seemingly forged from steel, had now been replaced in many places by a layer of dark gray dragon scales. Their texture no longer resembled metal, and the lava-like dark red patterns on their surface had vanished as well.
Some fallen dark gray dragon scales lay within the crater from his recent fall.
Compared to before, Garos's scales seemed to have become somewhat more brittle.
And at a glance from afar—
Garos was neither properly black nor gray now, and his looks had suffered a slight decline.
However—
Garos showed no dissatisfaction. After turning to inspect the crater he had made, his gaze fell upon the shed dragon scales, and he even nodded in pleasure.
He turned and examined his own scales.
Beneath the places where the dark gray scales had fallen away was not skin, but another layer of black scales with dark red patterns and a silver matte sheen.
That was right. The dark gray dragon scales on Garos's body were an additional new layer, concentrated mainly on his back, chest, and limb joints.
—They were all detachable Buffer Scales!
When subjected to a violent impact, this layer of dragon scales could actively shed itself to absorb the force, producing a rebound shock at the instant it detached.
From the height Garos had just fallen, his former self would have been dazed for a while and injured by the fall. This time, however, aside from a slight jolt, he felt no discomfort or pain within his body.
The changes went beyond this layer of Buffer Scales.
The pair of backward-swept dragon horns atop Garos's head had become thicker and larger. The metallic exoskeleton covering their bases had also expanded considerably, making them more stable.
The blade-like scales along his dragon tail had grown denser.
The muscles, bones, organs, and other parts concealed beneath his scales had become stronger and more capable of withstanding impacts.
"I didn't expect this evolution to give me a layer of Buffer Scales instead of continuing to increase the strength of my dragon scales like before."
Garos was actually somewhat surprised by the layer of Buffer Scales that had grown over his body.
The sturdiness of the scales beneath had improved as well, but not by much. This evolution of his scales was mainly reflected in the new layer of Buffer Scales.
"Gordon, Samantha, come over here and hit me."
Garos called to them in the distance.
The two Dragonlings flew out of the mine in an eager rush and arrived before Garos.
Garos finally knocked himself stupid! Even his scales have lost their shine.
The two of them thought the same thing, both looking ready to give it a try.
"Come on, charge at me with all your strength."
Garos planted all four limbs firmly on the ground and signaled for the two Dragonlings to ram him.
"I'll go first!"
The more hot-tempered Red Dragon Sister could not wait any longer. Beating her wings to accelerate, she stomped out a series of heavy footprints and charged toward Garos.
Ramming—this was a common method among Dragonlings. It allowed them to unleash the strength of their entire bodies and carried considerable power.
Based on past experience, although Garos was stronger and larger, he would still be unable to hold his ground when struck head-on and would be knocked back.
In the blink of an eye—
The excited Red Dragon Sister rushed before Garos and slammed directly into him.
At the instant she collided with Garos's powerful chest—
As dark gray dragon scales shattered and fell away one after another, a tremendous rebound force struck the unprepared Red Dragon Sister, sending her flying onto the ground. Garos did not even take a step back; his body merely swayed slightly.
"The kinetic energy of the impact was almost completely absorbed by the Buffer Scales. What passed through them and reached me was negligible."
Garos pondered.
On the other side, Iron Dragon Brother had been eager to try as well. But after seeing the Red Dragon Sister knock out one of her own teeth while Garos remained completely unmoved, it was like having a basin of ice water dumped over him on a scorching day. The heat in his heart instantly cooled.
"Damn you, Garos!"
The Red Dragon Sister shook her head and charged at him again in frustration. Red Dragons were far more violent than Iron Dragons, and her failure only made her more frenzied.
She did not use any other moves, merely charging at Garos again and again.
Dragon scales flew everywhere from Garos's body, making him appear terribly fragile, yet every time, it was the Red Dragon Sister who was blasted away. He stood as steady as a reef in the sea enduring crashing waves.
Only when the Buffer Scales on Garos's chest had almost completely fallen away, revealing the steel-forged dragon scales beneath—
The Red Dragon Sister was already exhausted and sprawled limply on the ground, covered in injuries caused by the rebound from her own impacts.
"Before the Buffer Scales fall off, I can basically ignore this kind of damage."
Garos weighed it in his mind.
He preferred evolution that directly increased the hardness of his scales. Unfortunately, the results of Adaptive Evolution were not something he could perfectly control at present. Every evolution was essentially like opening a blind box, bringing unknown changes. Although his evolution would certainly develop in a positive direction, the changes to his physique and appearance often exceeded Garos's expectations.
"Though it doesn't look like much, the effect is excellent."
Garos had inherited the pragmatic nature of Iron Dragons.
The dark gray Buffer Scales were plain and unremarkable, but their effect was indeed excellent. Garos was quite satisfied with them.
Besides, he would continue evolving and changing. Perhaps one day, he would evolve a form considered especially mighty and handsome by Dragonkin standards.
At the same time, Garos was reflecting on this Adaptive Evolution.
"This evolution directly produced Buffer Scales. Most likely, it's because my recent training methods have been too repetitive—I've been smashing into mountains and the ground too often, and too intensely."
"Next, I'll try reducing the frequency of this kind of training and experiment with other methods."
That was what he thought.
Garos was still in the exploratory stage regarding his evolutionary talent and did not hesitate to conduct all kinds of experiments and comparisons. He planned to reduce how often he slammed into mountains and the ground, shifting his focus toward strength and speed training.
Suddenly—
He heard a bang.
When he turned to look, he found that it was Iron Dragon Brother. He had flown into the air and dropped back down, landing flat on his back before shaking his head and getting up.
"What are you doing?"
Garos asked in confusion.
"Garos, I've already discovered the secret behind your strength. If you throw yourself to the ground, you'll definitely become stronger."
Iron Dragon Brother looked wise as he spoke to Garos in a self-satisfied, proud tone.
Upon hearing him, the Red Dragon Sister fell into thought, feeling as if her intelligence had reached new heights.
"Yes, that must be it."
She nodded in agreement and said to Garos, "Just wait, Garos. Sooner or later, I'll surpass you!"
Over the following days, the two Dragonlings believed they had discovered the secret of Garos's strength. During breaks from mining, they began imitating him, trying to learn from him in order to surpass him.
The surface of that clearing was battered until it had collapsed and sunk by an entire layer.
Another week passed.
After fully adapting to the Buffer Scales on his body, Garos flew to the top of the cliff. He felt the wind sweep over his scales as he narrowed his eyes and gazed into the distant Wilderness.
"Sooner or later, I'll leave Iron Dragon Mother's territory and survive on my own."
"Seeking shelter blindly will never be a long-term solution."
"While I still have a way back, I'd better sharpen my combat techniques and survival skills. If possible, I should choose a suitable territory in advance for myself to inhabit in the future."
The Hatchling Dragon silently planned for the future.
A few seconds later, Garos spread his wings and soared into the sky, leaving the bounds of Iron Dragon Mother's Sinkhole Territory. He did not fly too far, merely remaining active in the surrounding area.
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