The Black Dragon Lady Refuses to Be a Mount

Likaro did not seem like the kind of child who would lie, but even if she had truly seen a magical beast, it was not necessarily a dragon.

Wilfen was more inclined to believe that Likaro had mistaken it for something else. Perhaps it was a large magical beast that had migrated from another region. If so, they could simply send people to eliminate it.

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That Winter — A Young Dragon's First Hunt

There were hardly any dangerous magical beasts in the Edafalon Region. Otherwise, it would never have become one of the Empire's prosperous provinces. Its high level of safety was also one of the reasons it had become such a developed region, so magical beasts were extremely rare even in uninhabited forests.

Now, however, the forest's wild animals were about to face a tremendous threat—a newborn Black Dragon hatchling.

Though magical beasts and wild beasts differed by only one word, the gap between them was enormous. No matter how ferocious a large carnivorous beast was, it could not defeat a magical beast of the same size, much less Dragonkind.

Nature was simply this cruel. Not all living things could be born with equal strength. Some creatures were destined to stand at the top of the food chain from birth, while others were destined to become prey the moment they were born. It was ruthless, but reasonable.

Even as a newborn Black Dragon hatchling, Ailolin was like a wolf entering a sheep pen within the forest. Whether in physical strength or reaction speed, no wild beast could rival her.

At that moment, Ailolin hid within thick grass, secretly watching a wild boar drinking from a nearby stream.

If she had a choice, she would not want to crawl along the ground. Unfortunately, the forest trees were too dense for flight, so if she wanted to hunt, she could only act as a ground-bound dragon.

The hunger in her belly constantly pressed against Ailolin's nerves. She had been hungry for quite some time, and the wild boar before her was her first hunting target.

It had taken Ailolin great effort to make up her mind to hunt wild animals. After all, she had once been human—and a modern human at that. In her mind, food should have been carefully processed and cooked over a fire, not eaten raw like a beast, with blood all over her mouth.

But the pressure of survival forced her to abandon her human restraint. If she did not eat, she would starve to death. She had no choice but to cast aside those "civilized" notions.

Hunting was a creature's instinct. Ailolin understood her current methods of attack very well—claw strikes, ramming, and biting.

The wild boar before her was not large. It was probably not fully grown, though even an adult boar would not have been a match for Ailolin.

Her body, over two meters long, contained tremendous explosive power. Her sharp eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell allowed her to easily locate and track prey. And if her prey tried to run away, well, she could fly—and she was fast.

The wild boar drank contentedly, completely unaware of the danger about to descend upon it.

Ailolin stared fixedly at her prey. Hunger stimulated her instincts even further. The moment she found an opening, she emerged from hiding without hesitation, kicked off with her limbs, and beat her wings, skimming almost along the ground as she flew toward the boar.

Naturally, the wild boar heard the sound. Unfortunately, Ailolin was flying at it, and she was simply too fast. She slammed directly into it, knocking it into the stream. Thankfully, the water was not deep. Ailolin immediately pinned the boar with both claws and bit down toward its throat.

The throat was one of the fatal points, and dragon teeth easily pierced the boar's flesh.

The boar was not about to meekly wait for death after having its throat bitten. It struggled desperately, but its strength was far inferior to Ailolin's. Ailolin, meanwhile, clamped down on its throat with all her might and refused to let go. She had already tasted the boar's blood, and that only further stimulated the hungry hatchling.

Only after the boar had completely stopped moving did Ailolin release it. She then carried it in her mouth and flew from the stream to the bank.

Looking at the wild boar on the ground, Ailolin froze for a moment. Was she really going to just bite into it and eat it?

In this situation, she could hardly expect some kindhearted person to appear and build a fire to roast the meat for her.

"I hope it won't taste too bad..."

Survival was what mattered most. Ailolin should have died in a hospital bed, but now that she had received a new life, she could not waste it so carelessly.

Still...

Looking at the dirty bloodstains and mud on the boar's body, Ailolin could not help carrying it back into the stream to rinse it off. Even if she was eating raw meat, she wanted it to be clean.

Once everything was ready, the hunger became truly unbearable. Ailolin bit into the boar, easily tearing through its hide and tasting the bloody flesh within.

That surprised Ailolin somewhat, because she discovered that raw meat did not seem as unpalatable as she had imagined... She did not know whether hunger was playing tricks on her or whether her sense of taste had changed now that she was no longer human.

Ailolin ate a great deal. Perhaps because she had only recently been born and needed to replenish a huge amount of energy, she devoured every part of the boar except its skeleton.

It was not that she could not eat the bones. They were simply a little hard, and Ailolin did not need that small amount of extra energy.

After eating her fill, Ailolin lowered her head by the stream and drank some water. Finally, she lay on the ground to rest in satisfaction.

That meal had filled her up nicely. At last, she was no longer hungry.

After eating and drinking her fill, Ailolin finally had time to think about her own situation.

She had not paid much attention to it before because survival had taken priority, but now she still could not let go of the fact that she had become female.

Why did her gender have to change for no reason... She could only say that she was unlucky. Having lived so many years as a human man, Ailolin had no interest in experiencing what it felt like to be a woman.

Still, looking at her own body, Ailolin felt there was no need to dwell on it. She was not even human anymore. From a human perspective, there was not much difference between male and female dragons.

After all, she still retained human standards of beauty.

As for whether she could transform into a human form, Dragonkind's inheritance had not told Ailolin. She did not hold out much hope, either. Dragons were fantasy creatures, yes, but that did not mean everything from fantasy stories was real.

How could such a huge dragon suddenly shrink into a human? Where would all that mass go? That was not scientific.

Of course, this world might not be scientific at all, but transforming into human form was something she could study later. For now, Ailolin's first priority was to survive and grow, while gathering enough information.

Ailolin had more or less digested the contents of Dragonkind's inheritance. Aside from her own name, it contained some basic knowledge related to dragons, such as Dragon language, how to identify her own kind, how long Dragonkind's growth period lasted, and so on...

But it contained none of the most useful information. Ailolin did not even know this world's name or background. On a smaller scale, she did not even know where she was.

That was incredibly depressing. Thinking of the blonde little girl she had seen before, it meant humans must be living nearby.

What Ailolin currently knew was Dragon language. Even if she encountered humans, they would not share a language, making communication completely impossible.

The reason Ailolin had failed to speak before was that she had just been born and her vocal organs had not fully adapted, so all she could produce had been low growls.

The Dragon language Ailolin knew and the languages of Earth were both useless. Dragonkind was sparse in number, and unless she was in a region where dragons gathered, meeting another of her kind was like winning the lottery. As for Earth's languages, the humans here would not understand them at all.

Ailolin realized that she might go through a very long period of loneliness, because there was no one she could talk to...

That Winter — Everything Was Fate

The entire forest became the young dragon's hunting ground, and that black figure had become the nightmare of countless animals.

Ailolin's current experience was like a max-level expert returning to a beginner village. No animal could stand against her at all. Over time, she began to relax. Every day, she did nothing but hunt and sleep, while her body continued to grow.

In order to sleep more peacefully, Ailolin found a natural cave in the forest. She then expanded the inside a little and made it her residence.

Ailolin had never expected that she would one day live in a cave, but it was more comfortable than she had imagined.

Recently, Ailolin had been hunting at night. Whenever she encountered a dark night with only a sliver of moonlight, she would fly above the forest to observe the area beyond it.

A Black Dragon's appearance was better suited to hiding in the darkness, so Ailolin had not exposed her tracks so far.

But Ailolin's anxiety had never gone away. She could not live in the forest forever. She needed to learn about the outside world, and she understood that if one often walked by the river, eventually one's shoes would get wet.

When Ailolin had circled above the forest before, she had seen several human villages and towns. What worried her even more was that she could vaguely make out the outline of city walls on the horizon. There might very well be a human city there.

Ailolin clearly understood that she was no longer human. If she truly flew into a human city, she would most likely be in grave danger.

An ideal place to settle down should be a wilderness far from humans. Only there could she live freely. Of course, such places might also contain many dangerous magical beasts.

In truth, Ailolin's race was destined never to avoid battle. Besides, dragons grew stronger than most races, so the chances of her falling into danger were not high—as long as she did not act recklessly.

One sunny afternoon, after filling her belly, Ailolin lay in the cave resting and remembered the human little girl she had seen when she was first born.

Her parents were really willing to let her come into the forest alone. There were many wild beasts here, and Ailolin did not think that little girl could defeat tigers, wolves, bears, or anything like that.

But it was only something she thought about when bored, because Ailolin did not believe she would encounter that little girl again.

Still, it really was worrying. Such a young child could encounter danger at any moment in the forest.

Ailolin was somewhat lonely now. She had no friends, not even anyone she could talk to. She did not even have things like a phone or computer to pass the time.

Then again, even if she did, her claws could not use them.

"So boring, so boring!"

Compared to her current loneliness and helplessness, things like changing gender or no longer being human were secondary. Ailolin suspected that if this continued, she would go crazy.

Could someone come talk to her...

The Black Dragon rolled over, lay on her back, and fell asleep.

This sleeping position might have been unique to Ailolin among Dragonkind. Right now, sleeping was truly the only thing she had to do.

If she could grow a little bigger, she could fly directly out of the forest and keep flying until she found a truly safe place—or found other dragons...

Right, other dragons!

Ailolin suddenly opened her eyes. Her heart raced with excitement, because Dragonkind's inheritance included a method for finding the places where her kind lived.

Speaking of Dragonkind's inheritance, Ailolin found it quite miraculous. Some knowledge had been directly implanted into her mind, and she had possessed it from the moment she was born. It was truly wondrous.

The only flaw was that there was too little information, making it not very useful.

Normally, it took dragons at least a dozen years to grow from childhood to adulthood. Their bodies grew continuously during that time, so even young dragons were divided into many stages. Ailolin was now about to leave behind the newborn stage.

Ailolin used her claws to record the passing days on the cave wall. It was now the fifteenth day since her birth.

Nothing special had happened during those fifteen days. She ate, drank, and slept, absorbing nutrients from food to support her body's growth.

Ailolin's body was now nearly three meters long. She appeared to have grown a full size larger, her scales were harder and more textured than before, and as her wings grew longer, she could feel that flying had become easier. Her tail had also grown longer.

Just as Ailolin was about to fall asleep, her keen hearing caught the sound of footsteps outside, immediately putting her on alert.

The footsteps sounded human? But they were very light...

Then, a small head poked in through the cave entrance and met Ailolin's eyes.

"..."

Both sides froze for a moment. Ailolin had not expected to encounter that little girl from before again. After recovering from her surprise, the girl pulled a crystal from the small pouch at her waist and pointed it at Ailolin. The crystal flashed, and the little girl smiled in satisfaction before turning and running away.

??????

Ailolin was still stunned, but she had no time to think. She chose to chase after her.

"Hehehe, after searching for so many days, I finally found it. Now I have proof of the dragon." As she ran, Likaro kissed the Recording Crystal in her hand. This crystal could freeze and record images. Once she showed it to her father, he would have no choice but to believe her.

Bang!

A massive black object landed in front of Likaro, directly cutting off her path. Likaro's heart skipped a beat at the sight.

Compared to eight-year-old Likaro, Ailolin was like a small mountain, and the pressure she gave off was terrifying.

Likaro did not change direction and run. Instead, she stood where she was, because a bold idea had formed in her heart.

Could she possibly become friends with this Black Dragon? After all, she could get along with every other animal.

Ailolin's mind was full of question marks. There were too many things she could not understand. First, why did this blonde little girl like running into the forest? There were so many wild beasts here. Who had given her the courage?

There was also one more thing: Ailolin felt a sense of affinity from the little girl, though it was not especially strong.

"Are you a human who lives nearby?" Ailolin asked in Dragon language. Though she knew humans could not understand Dragon language, she was still willing to try. What if she could understand it?

Likaro's puzzled expression immediately showed that she had understood nothing.

"So you can talk! But I can't understand you." Likaro said in Human language.

"..."

From Ailolin's side, she likewise could not understand what Likaro was saying.

It would have been nice if Dragonkind's inheritance included the languages of other races, but that was impossible no matter how she thought about it...

Thus, Ailolin and Likaro stared at each other with wide eyes, both remaining silent.

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That Winter — Language Barriers Were a Major Problem

Although Likaro liked coming to play in the forest, it was not as though she did not understand that wild beasts lived there. In fact, even fierce wild beasts showed Likaro a certain degree of fondness. That was the real reason she was not afraid of the forest.

Only Likaro's mother knew about this ability, and she had told Likaro not to tell anyone, including her father.

At this moment, Ailolin was indeed somewhat puzzled. Why did she feel a trace of goodwill toward the blonde little girl before her? Was it because she was too cute? Perhaps.

Ailolin would not take the initiative to harm humans, much less a little girl. But this girl was far too bold. Even adults would probably be frightened upon seeing her.

If she knew Human language, Ailolin would definitely have asked the girl about the situation outside the forest. But unfortunately...

"You can talk, right? But you don't speak our language?" Likaro said to Ailolin. Though she knew Ailolin could not understand, she continued, "Wait here. I'll go home and find books related to Dragon language!"

With that, Likaro waved goodbye to Ailolin and ran toward Edafalon City. Ailolin recognized the gesture, but she could not quite understand what Likaro was thinking.

Shouldn't children be more timid? Besides, she should look rather fierce...

Ailolin had wanted to raise a claw and say goodbye to Likaro as well, but after thinking about it, she decided against it. It somehow felt improper.

They had merely met before. It was not as though friends were parting.

After Likaro left, Ailolin went to the stream and used its clear water as a mirror. Looking at her reflection in the water, she wondered whether she truly did not look that fierce.