Little Dragon Life

After the day of challenge, spring gradually drew near.

The Goddess of the Four Seasons scattered burgeoning life across the land, and Ochre Valley cast off its usual gray, hazy visage.

Streams reflecting amber light grew ever clearer, Ironleaf Wood sprouted new buds one after another, and pale yellow broom flowers suddenly bloomed from cracks in the rocks all the way to the horizon.

The wind shook the woods until they chimed and clattered. The stream wound around Ironwood Forest, carrying clusters of tender green leaves amid swarms of shrimp, crabs, and fish as it gurgled toward the valley's Bay Lake.

Bay Lake had not formed naturally. It was a vast depression left behind when ancient veins of ore had been hollowed out and collapsed. Underground rivers had poured into it year after year through cracked rock strata, eventually drowning abandoned mine tunnels, hematite faults, and blackened slag alike, nurturing this cold lake embedded in the heart of Ochre Valley.

Because it had once been a mineral vein, the hatchlings regarded it as a treasure ground.

Little dragons often swam and dived here, exploring for treasure. Others hunted fish and shrimp along the shore, tracking mushroom people and little stone spirits.

By afternoon, quite a number of hatchlings had already gathered beside Bay Lake.

From above, one could see a group of Tungsten Dragons and Nickel Dragons beside the rocks, chattering around a Chrome Dragon.

Names such as "Leijieduolei," "Xilong," and "Hidorivi" drifted intermittently from the dragon crowd, sometimes accompanied by an astonished roar or a claw striking the ground.

Whenever the little dragons gathered together lately, their chatter and roughhousing would always end up circling back to the duel outside the abandoned mine.

Ochre Valley raised countless hatchlings, and fights between them were never rare. If one hatchling had merely defeated another, a few comments would probably have been the end of it.

But that battle had been anything but ordinary. It had been a duel between an Iron Dragon and a Chrome Dragon, yet the loser had unexpectedly been the Iron Dragon.

And that Iron Dragon had not been Leijieduolei, the disgrace of the dragon flock, but Hidorivi Jinheng, the second-ranked Iron Dragon among them.

Every hatchling in the valley knew Hidorivi's name. He was a powerful dragon who had earned the flock's respect through true strength, not through the surname "Jinheng."

So even after the battle ended, Hidorivi's public admission of defeat had been seen as proof of an Iron Dragon's proud candor, becoming a topic the hatchlings spread again and again.

At this moment, the Chrome Dragon on Bay Lake's western shore was positively beaming, his tail nearly swinging into the sky as he vividly reenacted the scene for the onlookers. Several little dragons beside him embellished the tale, speaking as though they had personally witnessed it and recounting it in greater detail than anyone else.

Growing more and more excited, they immediately began acting it out.

A Tungsten Dragon imitated Hidorivi, roaring, "Wedge Form!" The Chrome Dragon dodged and weaved, retreating backward, then suddenly spun around and pressed the Tungsten Dragon to the ground with a backhand motion.

The Tungsten Dragon drooped his head and conceded in dejection, while the Chrome Dragon bared his fangs and claws, lifting his head with imposing majesty.

The clamor drifted faintly to the other side of the lake.

Inside a sheltered cave on Bay Lake's eastern shore, several Lesser Dragons sat upright with their backs straight. There were Mountain Dragons, Thorn Dragons, and Glow Dragons among them, all staring wide-eyed as they haltingly identified the Ancient Dragon Script carved into the stone wall.

In the mortal world, titles such as "dragon knight" and "dragon caller" were often spoken of. These titles were not fabricated from thin air, but the dragons tamed by mortals were mostly wyverns, dragon-blooded Magic Beasts.

The highest bloodline among them was no more than that of a Lesser Dragon.

Lesser Dragons were called Lesser Dragons because, although they possessed the bodies and forms of true dragons, they lacked the blessing and support of the Bloodline Dragon God. Their god might have fallen a million years ago, or perhaps had never existed at all.

Thus, Lesser Dragons had no ability to pass down inheritances to their descendants. A newborn Lesser Dragon had to begin from scratch even with the most basic language and writing.

Such dragons, even if they possessed strength, could not understand the nobility of dragon bloodlines, much less feel the glory of dragonkind's illustrious history in their bones.

They were widespread and came in countless varieties. Born ignorant, they often mixed with the short-lived races whom True Dragons regarded as slaves and servants. Some were even tamed, becoming the battle beasts and mounts of those short-lived races.

This was something True Dragons could absolutely not tolerate. To distinguish themselves from such dragons, all dragons lacking Dragon Legacy were uniformly called Lesser Dragons in the dragon world.

Even Bahamut, the god of good dragons, acknowledged this definition.

"We should not dwell on the definition of True Dragons and Lesser Dragons. We should act with all our strength, educate the Lesser Dragons, help them become independent, and regain their dignity."

This was what the god of good dragons had once said about Lesser Dragons.

Within the Jinheng Lineage, the Lesser Dragons actually lived fairly well. Though they were always bullied, the treatment the upper ranks of the Lineage gave them was no different from that given to Heavy-Metal Dragon hatchlings.

Because these fellows had been born ignorant, the feeder had always continued teaching them, doing her best to patiently explain language, writing, and an understanding of the world.

However, Jiazhuosa was not a professional teacher in the end. As a True Dragon, she could not empathize with being "born ignorant," so whenever she taught knowledge or writing, she only explained it once.

If the Lesser Dragons understood and remembered it, that was naturally for the best. If they did not understand or could not remember, they did not dare ask again afterward.

Fortunately, some among them were exceptionally gifted and could barely manage to help one another.

At this moment, their instructor leaned against the cave entrance, resting her chin on her foreclaws. With her eyes half-closed, she waited for her companions' questions while listening to the commotion on Bay Lake's western shore, a thoughtful look on her face.

This Lesser Dragon was brilliantly colored, her entire body covered in crimson scale-feathers. She had four claws and four wings, each outer feather standing upright, its tip marked by the scorched color of burning.

Seen facing the wind, she looked as though her whole body was glowing with fire.

Afterglow. That was the name the feeder had given her.

Her companions all thought Afterglow was a very strange dragon. She was the smartest, able to remember anything at a glance, and the only hatchling who knew how to fly. She outshone even the Heavy-Metal Dragons, yet never flaunted it.

She was the best judge at Racing Competition. No foul could escape her eyes, yet she never argued with those who disputed her rulings. She simply finished speaking and left on her own, coming and going without a sound.

When Afterglow stood there, her scale-feathers hung low and her eyes were slightly lowered. She looked quiet and easy to get along with.

But as soon as another dragon began approaching, her feathers would silently rise, like a bird of prey instinctively tensing its entire body. Her eyes would secretly lift to scrutinize them, and she would softly grind her teeth.

Only after confirming that it was safe would the Feather Dragon slowly relax, her feathers falling back into place one by one as she returned to silence.

Afterglow almost never quarreled or fought with other hatchlings. She seemed like the cautious sort of dragon.

Yet whenever she encountered something that interested her, she would suddenly become bold, casting all her usual caution behind her and voicing startling opinions that left her companions astonished, unable to understand what was going on with the Feather Dragon.

But after saying them, she would regret it herself, swiftly turning her head away and refusing to explain another word. The feathers all over her body would burn an even deeper red.

In short, she was extremely strange.

Feather Dragons possessed keen senses. Not only was their eyesight astonishing, their hearing was superb as well. Even while leaning inside the cave, Afterglow could hear the commotion on Bay Lake's western shore and even distinguish exactly who was speaking from the sounds.

She found the surrounded Chrome Dragon, Mochi Sorax, very interesting. He was dragging the Tungsten Dragons and Nickel Dragons along as he vividly described the battle, looking proud and smug, yet somehow not irritating.

More importantly, he could imitate mushroom calls. He was truly a living treasure.

She had learned that Mochi could imitate mushroom calls half a year ago. At the time, Afterglow had been practicing her flying skills amid the clouds. With a casual glance downward, she saw two Chrome Dragons circling around the valley before finally stopping in front of a rock wall.

Recognizing one of them, Afterglow lowered her altitude slightly and watched curiously. What she saw was two Chrome Dragons sneaking about, lying beside the rock wall as they began to imitate mushroom calls. Bujii, bujii, bujii...

It had nearly made the Feather Dragon laugh herself right out of the clouds.

Later, she saw Xilong bring ore back to his nest. Though she did not know what he intended to do with it, anything that could make a Chrome Dragon imitate mushroom calls had to be rather important.

So after thinking it over the next day, she took a piece of ore from her nest and gave it to that Chrome Dragon.

Feather Dragons were not particularly fond of ore. She had no special reason for doing it; Xilong merely looked familiar, and she wanted to find an opportunity to get acquainted.

Every time Xilong entered a Racing Competition, he took first place without any suspense whatsoever, so he was always suspected of cheating. As the judge chosen by the little dragons, Afterglow had to pay special attention to him.

Only then did she discover that Xilong's techniques and ideas were truly excellent. The way he raced was completely different from that of the other hatchlings.

A little special, and quite pleasing to watch.

That was Afterglow's first impression of Xilong.

Later, under the feeder's education and guidance, the hatchlings' sense of crisis and competitiveness gradually increased. Many dragons began voluntarily cutting down their playtime. Afterglow stopped serving as the judge of the Racing Competitions, and Xilong seemed to stop attending them as well.

Yet she could still often see Xilong. Whenever she practiced aerial hunting amid the clouds and grew tired, she only had to look down to find that Chrome Dragon hanging from a cliff.

Then a few more traces of strength would rise within her, and she would secretly compete with him, wanting to see who could endure longer.

The Lesser Dragons studied writing in the cave. After working hard for a while, they were affected by the noise from the lakeshore. Every little dragon grew restless, shifting their bodies unconsciously, unable to concentrate.

After quite some time, a Thorn Dragon could no longer hold back. He raised his head and asked, "Afterglow, could you tell us the story of how Xilong defeated Hidorivi one more time?"

The Feather Dragon thought for a moment, then smiled. "All right."

[

The protagonist of this story was named Xilong Sorax. He was a Chrome Dragon.

Chrome Dragons were very formidable dragons. Their claws and fangs were sharp, and their bodies nimble. Most dragons could not defeat them.

But there was an even more formidable kind of dragon in the valley, called Iron Dragons.

Iron Dragons were fierce and strong. Their bodies were as hard as steel, and they possessed enough strength to push down mountains. Whenever Chrome Dragons fought Iron Dragons, they would be knocked to the ground.

Among them was an Iron Dragon named Hidorivi, who was extremely powerful. He defeated Xilong many, many times, and every time Xilong lost, he felt both miserable and unwilling to accept it.

In order to defeat Hidorivi, Xilong made many plans for himself. Every day, he went to the steepest and tallest cliff, hanging himself from it with a single claw to train his strength. He also went to the lake and flapped his wings until they were sore and aching, until he could not even splash water anymore. He trained with tremendous diligence.

The most unusual training was that before sleeping each day, Xilong stuffed hard rocks into his mouth and used those difficult-to-chew stones to grind his teeth, not stopping until his mouth bled and the pain became unbearable.

His brother did not understand what he was doing and asked Xilong why he did it.

Xilong answered, "Rocks are hard and sharp, just like an Iron Dragon's scales, claws, and fangs. I use them as a warning, telling myself not to be lazy and not to give up. As long as I work hard enough, sooner or later I will defeat Hidorivi."

And so, while using rocks to remind himself, Xilong trained himself until he became stronger and stronger, his claws and fangs sharper and sharper, his body more and more agile.

After many, many days, he stood before the hatchlings once again and challenged the strongest Iron Dragon among the Heavy-Metal Dragons.

After a bitter battle, Xilong finally defeated the proud Hidorivi and realized his dream.

No one knew who had made up this story, but it had spread through the valley nonetheless. Compared to the battle details that the Heavy-Metal Dragons relished, the Lesser Dragons cared more about the story's beginning and ending.

Behind the story lay a small metaphor. To an Iron Dragon, a Chrome Dragon was like a Lesser Dragon compared to a True Dragon. Yet even a lower-ranked Chrome Dragon, after long and arduous effort, could challenge the Iron Throne that had been noble from birth.

The Heavy-Metal Dragons scoffed at this story. In their view, the ranks of True Dragons were strictly ordered, and the superiority or inferiority of bloodlines was fixed. The notion of gradually surpassing a Higher Species through acquired effort sounded not only boring, but utterly unrealistic.

They preferred to believe that Xilong had been born exceptionally gifted, a rare variant among Chrome Dragons, which was why he could defeat an Iron Dragon.

As for the Lesser Dragons, they naturally were not naive enough to believe it all completely. But Xilong existed right beside them. Eaglebeak Cliff, Bay Lake, and Ironwood Forest all bore traces of him.

They had personally seen his training. Some had even gone up to imitate him, and Lesser Dragons still imitated him to this day.

No matter how much his deeds had been embellished in the telling, they carried several degrees more credibility than those ancient myths and legends, and were far more inspiring.

Afterglow watched the little dragons settle down one by one, sitting properly as they resumed chanting Ancient Dragon Script and laid the foundation for learning draconic magic.

She blinked, feeling that the story the feeder had taught her...

Was truly wonderful.