Seven Years

Time flew, and seven years passed. After enduring countless dry and rainy seasons, the hatchlings' nest had been repeatedly expanded beneath the water, until it covered nearly half the pond.

Animals at the top of the food chain had low birth rates and long reproductive cycles. So although the young dragons were already seven years old, they had only just entered the juvenile stage.

As time passed, the juvenile dragons' bodies grew increasingly robust, and memories from their inherited bloodlines gradually became clearer. Around Garon and Blakeshia, a black radiance that constantly contracted and rotated appeared.

Upon reaching the juvenile stage, they awakened their second spell-like ability: Corrosive Aura.

Under its influence, the marsh where the juvenile dragons lived gradually became foul, corrupted water. Fish that carelessly slipped through cracks in the cave entrance could not escape the terrifying fate of becoming canned herring.

Anyone with even a little knowledge would know at a glance that black dragons lived in such an environment. It was extremely dangerous, so Caesar decisively moved away from them.

Of course, whether it was because of the potential danger or because he could not stand the unbearable stench, outsiders had no way of knowing.

Garon and Blakeshia had initially been quite happy to discover they had awakened spell-like abilities. But after seeing their elder brother, the two juvenile dragons quickly lost that good mood.

Compared to their brother Caesar, the young dragons could only be said to have grown somewhat. Only "somewhat."

Well, it was a little awkward... Caesar's changes had completely overturned everything they knew.

First, there was his size. Blakeshia had no idea how this guy had grown. Caesar's body was now seven meters long without even counting his wingspan. That might sound vague, so to put it more vividly: his younger brother and sister, the two juvenile dragons combined, were still not as large as him.

And that was not all. Caesar had clearly not inherited the slender build of a black dragon. He was incredibly muscular, the muscles filling his limbs making him appear even taller and more imposing. He looked like a red dragon clad in black scales.

"By Tiamat."

Seven meters. Blakeshia seriously suspected that her brother was some kind of red dragon hybrid. Yet in her memories, even purebred red dragons of the same age had never grown this large.

There were more differences in the horns on Caesar's head. Black dragons generally had two curved horns extending backward from their heads, used to better channel magic. But Caesar had a full four horns: two forked backward, and two branching diagonally upward to either side.

Unlike the hollow horns dragons used to channel magic, Caesar's horns were solid bone, exceptionally hard and sharp. Their structure turned even his skull into a lethal weapon.

What truly delighted Caesar was that, as a dragon, he could finally fly. He had mastered flight.

Relying purely on the lift created by flapping his wings meant that his wings were far, far larger than Garon's and the others'. They were nearly three times the size of an ordinary black dragon's, with a terrifying wingspan of almost fifteen meters. At first, he had worried that such enormous fleshy wings would hinder his movement on land. But after studying his body more closely, Caesar discovered two ingenious cartilage structures in his wings that differed completely from those of other dragons. They actually allowed his wings to fold up like a folding bed.

After two full years of familiarization, Caesar could already skillfully control the extension and retraction of his fleshy wings. When he did not need to fly while moving on land, his folded wings did not impede him at all, and outwardly he looked no different from other dragons.

At present, this seven-meter-long black dragon was already quite a formidable fighter. At the very least, Garon and Blakeshia together were no match for him. Even an adolescent red dragon, a stage above juvenile dragons, would probably have to think twice before challenging him.

This freak among dragonkind—Caesar Ortorenso—had also accomplished another feat. Whether chromatic dragons, metallic dragons, or any other legendary dragon species, aside from mercury dragons becoming more agile at different stages of growth, true dragons found it difficult to become faster or more nimble throughout their lives. As their bodies continued to grow, they only became more sluggish.

But Caesar Ortorenso had made history. This guy had displayed unparalleled swiftness when he hunted the Terror Wolf leader years ago, and even now, he could feel his speed continuing to increase.

A black dragon that grew ever swifter?

Anyone, dragon or otherwise, who learned of this would probably find it inconceivable. A chromatic black dragon could actually possess such an ability. Even Tiamat, Mother of Evil Dragons, would likely find it hard to believe.

Then again, perhaps not. It was possible that their great mother Tiamat had long grown used to it. Every few years, some extraordinary chromatic dragon appeared, and none of them believed in her. It kept her busy all day berating red dragons and screwing white dragons, while only the blue dragon clan could still make Mother proud.

A body powerful enough to defy common sense brought enormous consumption with it. Caesar ate more than twice as much as his younger brother Garon, requiring abundant energy to sustain his body. Having just eaten an adult Spiketail Lion, he lay bored beneath the mud near the shore, the spines on his back swaying gently with the current.

The sun warmed the lakeshore waters. On the bank, a pack of Terror Wolves yawned as they leisurely enjoyed the sunlight.

Yes, it was the same pack whose leader Caesar had killed back then. By the fourth dry season after Caesar and the others occupied this lake, the wolves had returned to this watering hole, hoping to try their luck—

Unfortunately for them, they encountered Caesar, who had happened to awaken and leave the nest in search of food.

What followed was only natural. After losing six male wolves, the Terror Wolf pack submitted. Trembling with fear, they became Caesar's first group of retainers.

Caesar had realized even then that his appetite was rapidly increasing. If he continued hunting aimlessly and inefficiently, he might very well starve himself to collapse. So he needed some lackeys to serve as his eyes, searching for the tracks of large animals and allowing him to hunt with purpose.

The fairly intelligent Terror Wolves seemed like the best choice. At his age, he could barely feed himself, much less enslave a pack of goblins or kobolds.

The facts proved Caesar's decision was unquestionably correct. From then on, he spent less and less time hungry. As he grew day by day, his range of activity rapidly expanded, and his control over the surrounding environment steadily increased.

In seven years, the entire hill country had learned that a savage black dragon lived near the pond. There were no high-level monsters nearby, so this powerful seven-meter black dragon had become the undisputed overlord of the region. Greed was synonymous with his name, and brutality was the only title he bore in these hills.

Yet Caesar was already planning to leave this place.