Sting-Tail Lion

After hunting in the abandoned mine and discovering the Rock-Crushing Worm swarm.

Garos did not immediately return to the Sinkhole Territory under Iron Dragon Mother's protection. Instead, he continued circling above the clouds, gazing down at the boundless Wilderness below as he searched for magical creatures and ferocious beasts to hone his combat skills against, while also scouting territory suitable for claiming as his future habitat.

It was worth mentioning that.

Magical creatures were simply another name for magic beasts. As a dragon, Garos himself counted as one of the highest-tier magical creatures. Ferocious beasts, meanwhile, were brutal wild animals that had evolved and mutated.

Most magical creatures possessed innate abilities resembling spells and were generally quite intelligent. Ferocious beasts mainly relied on their formidable physical attributes, and their intelligence was low.

Over the better part of a day.

Aside from the Rock-Crushing Worms at the beginning, Garos had hunted a total of five targets.

Petrified Lizard, Fire-Breath Crocodile, Red-Eyed Giant Rhino, Dread-Claw Owlbear, and Giant Pincer Rock Crab.

Two magical creatures and three ferocious beasts.

Due to the environment of the Ser Wilderness, most creatures here were aligned with earth and fire.

Including the Rock-Crushing Worms, six battles and hunts had given Garos a clearer understanding of his own capabilities.

He was currently a Level 7 lifeform.

When facing the Level 6 Dread-Claw Owlbear, Garos relied on his naturally powerful draconic physique, further strengthened through his day-and-night training, and killed it with a single charge.

When fighting the Level 7 magical creature Fire-Breath Crocodile, Garos's fire resistance, inherited from his Red Dragon and Iron Dragon Bloodlines, allowed him to withstand a direct hit from the creature's blazing flames with nothing more than a few scorched marks on his scales. In contrast, the Flame Dragon Breath he exhaled turned the Fire-Breath Crocodile directly into charcoal.

Other magical creatures or ferocious beasts of the same level were no match for Garos either.

Even the thick-skinned Red-Eyed Giant Rhino was left barely alive after Garos accelerated into a diving collision from high above.

For now, Great Wilderness Dragon Fall was Garos's strongest offensive method aside from Dragon Breath.

For other Hatchling Dragons, this kind of self-sacrificing attack was extremely dangerous. A poor grasp of it could leave them severely injured. But Garos trained against mountains and earth every day, and he had even evolved a set of Buffer Scales, so he had long mastered it.

Lower-level and same-level opponents were all weak.

Only the Level 8 magical creature, the Petrified Lizard, which was higher level than Garos, had caused him some minor injuries.

Its Petrification Ray struck Garos, turning a small patch of scales on his forearm armor, along with a layer of flesh beneath them, to stone. But that was the full extent of the injuries the Petrified Lizard had left him with.

He estimated that.

Though he was only Level 7, he should not need to fear even Level 9 magical creatures or ferocious beasts.

Ordinary dragons could fight above their level as well, and the physique Garos had evolved through Adaptive Evolution was outstanding even among dragons.

However, Garos did not possess the excessive arrogance and overconfidence common to other dragons.

Unless it was necessary and there was sufficient profit to drive him, he would not rashly deal with creatures much higher level than himself.

With a dragon's innate gifts and Adaptive Evolution, he only needed to develop steadily to grow ever stronger.

There was no need to let a moment of arrogance and overconfidence place him in danger instead.

The arrogance and overconfidence left over from the ancient era when dragons ruled all things had caused countless dragons to die young before they could fully mature.

Back to the point.

Aside from the magical creatures and ferocious beasts he hunted.

Garos had also found several suitable habitats.

The good news was that these habitats either had fertile soil and lush vegetation, clear lakes and flocks of birds and beasts, or dangerous terrain that was easy to defend and hard to attack.

The bad news was that, like the abandoned mine occupied by the Rock-Crushing Worm swarm, they all had owners.

There were countless creatures living throughout this Wilderness, while suitable habitats were scarce and highly sought after. Nearly all of them had already been claimed by powerful creatures.

The territory Garos coveted most lay against mountains and beside water, with beautiful scenery and abundant food resources.

Unfortunately, it was occupied by a pride of Sting-Tail Lions.

The average Life Level of an adult Sting-Tail Lion was Level 5.

In a one-on-one, knightly duel, Garos could have let them use both claws and still won.

But there were quite a few Sting-Tail Lions in that pride. From his count while overlooking them from the sky, there were around thirty. Not only did they have both a male and female leader, but they were also enormous, and their appearance differed from ordinary Sting-Tail Lions, as though they had undergone some mutation.

After noting the locations of the territories he favored.

Garos thought that perhaps, by the time he left Iron Dragon Mother's protection, he would be strong enough to replace their current lords.

As the sun was about to sink into the embrace of the distant mountains, and the layered, flame-cloud sunset stained the sky.

The Hatchling Dragon ended this expedition, streaking through the sky beneath the setting sun as he returned to the Sinkhole Territory.

Since he had theoretically reached the age to be driven out, although Garos still lived in the Sinkhole Territory, he no longer shared a dragon nest with Iron Dragon Mother.

He simply settled beside the cliff where he trained every day.

The moment he returned.

He saw Red Dragon Sister and Iron Dragon Brother lazily basking in the last rays of sunset. They lay belly-up outside the mine tunnel, half-lidded eyes relaxed, their tails swaying and flicking behind them in pure contentment.

The two dragons were lazy and undisciplined by nature, and neither possessed Garos's self-discipline.

At first, they thought they had discovered the secret to Garos's strength. So, in their spare time, they imitated him by smashing themselves into mountains and the earth, looking enthusiastic and full of fighting spirit.

And for the first few days, that was indeed the case.

The two dragons were brimming with enthusiasm. Whenever they had time, they trained against mountains and earth, no longer wandering around aimlessly or lying down to sleep whenever they had nothing else to do.

But as time passed, their nature remained unchanged, and their enthusiasm began to fade.

Not long ago.

When Red Dragon Sister was supposed to ram a mountain for training as she had done before, she hesitated. She thought that work and rest should be balanced, that she ought to sleep and recover first, then begin again once her energy was fully restored. So she went to sleep.

After waking, the sky had grown somewhat late. The slightly chilly night wind made Red Dragon Sister feel a little uncomfortable.

She figured that training in poor condition would surely be ineffective, so she decided to start again during the day.

When day came, and Dawn rose as the air was at its freshest, Red Dragon Sister thought again that with such wonderful air, she should soar through the heavens and enjoy the thrill of flying high above the earth. Once more, she cast training aside.

After repeating this several times.

She stopped thinking about training entirely.

As for Iron Dragon Brother, he was different from Red Dragon Sister. He had not gone through Red Dragon Sister's internal struggle.

—Once, he flew too high and failed to adjust his angle when slamming into the earth. His dragon face came into intimate contact with the ground, and the impact was so fierce that his mouth was still crooked and his eyes still askew, leaving him looking utterly dazed.

After that, Iron Dragon Brother gave up as well.

In truth, although they could not achieve results as striking as Garos's visible evolutionary adaptations, if they persisted in tempering their bodies through impacts against mountains, rocks, and earth, their scales would become harder to some degree, and their bodies more resilient.

Even while being forced by Garos to mine.

After a month, their claws and teeth had become noticeably sharper than before, and their muscles had grown somewhat stronger as well.

Ordinary dragons actually possessed evolutionary abilities far surpassing those of other creatures; they simply were not as obvious or efficient as Garos's.