Bamokangla

His Dragon Jaws opened, and he took another bite.

Chew, chew (￣~￣), chew!

It really did taste of chili. His sense of taste hadn't been wrong.

An idea immediately popped into his head.

He glanced toward the riverbank, where stones of all sizes lay scattered.

After scanning the area, Chaos found the stone he wanted.

He pushed his draconic body up with his claws.

Although he didn't know why this fish tasted of chili, he was going to have some spicy fish hot pot first.

Raw meat was delicious, but its flavor was still a little too monotonous.

He walked over to his chosen stone and stopped.

The stone was about a meter wide and square, which was why it had caught Chaos's eye at once.

He reached out a claw and gave it a push.

The stone immediately shifted forward a little.

You're the one.

Standing upright, Chaos plopped down in front of the stone and got to work.

His sharp dragon claws were the perfect tools. Digging them into the stone felt just like digging into soft mud, and each scoop removed a large chunk.

He hollowed out the middle of the stone like that.

A stone pot slowly took shape.

He used two stones as supports for the Stone Pot, then set the Stone Pot on top. Now he had a stove.

He stood in front of the stone pot.

He had a pot and water. All he needed now was fire.

He hadn't mastered fire-element power yet, so...

His gaze swept over the Dragon Group sprawled all along the riverbank before settling on the two red hatchlings, one large and one small.

After a moment's hesitation, he fixed his gaze on the big girl.

Mostly because he wasn't familiar with the other one. They had even fought not long ago.

He walked up to the big girl and nudged her dragon head, which rested on the ground.

Her heavy eyelids, covered in fine, round crimson scales, slowly lifted. As soon as Agatha opened her eyes, she saw Chaos standing upright before her.

The large nostrils on her Red Dragon head twitched as she carefully sniffed the surrounding air.

There was no scent of danger, only the scent of their group of hatchlings.

She looked at Chaos, who had woken her.

"What is it?"

Seeing that the big girl was awake, Chaos pointed a claw at the stove he had built nearby.

"Lend me some fire."

Agatha glanced at the makeshift stove.

She knew what it was: a cooking station used by creatures with weak stomachs.

So Chaos had woken her up just for this?

The big girl isn't saying anything. Is she angry?

Whatever. I'll flash her my teeth~ (Act cute.)

His Dragon Jaws parted, revealing a full set of big white teeth clenched together.

A hint of resignation flashed through her crimson slit pupils. He woke me up over something this trivial? Her Dragon Jaws opened.

Whoosh~

Crimson dragonfire poured from her open jaws, forming a thin stream that landed precisely in the opening he had left beneath the stove.

The flames gathered beneath the stove and kept burning instead of instantly dispersing.

After breathing out the flames, Agatha lowered her raised head to the ground again, and her heavy eyelids slowly closed.

Seeing that Agatha had gone back to sleep, Chaos left her alone.

He walked over to the Kashi, dug his claws into its head, and dragged it over to the stone pot.

Bubble, bubble~

The big girl's dragon breath was powerful. Small bubbles were already rising in the water inside the stone pot.

Time to add the meat.

He reached out, tore off a piece of fish, and plunged it straight into the water.

The fish began turning white the instant it entered the water.

One, two, three...

Time to eat.

Chomp~!

His Dragon Jaws opened, and he swallowed the piece of fish in one bite.

The fresh, tender fish mingled with the fiery flavor.

That's the taste! Spicy sliced-fish hot pot!

Half an hour later, he had finished an entire Kashi, bones and all.

"Ah~ I'm full and satisfied."

He lay belly-up on the riverbank, satisfaction shining in his emerald slit pupils.

I don't want to move. I'm feeling lazy all over. Might as well sleep.

His eyelids slowly closed.

The enormous golden hourglass stood right before him.

Sitting on his haunches in front of it, Chaos tilted his head up to look at the gigantic hourglass of pure gold.

Only a tiny amount of golden sand remained in its upper half.

Soon, the last of the golden sand trickled away.

Click, click, click.

The enormous golden hourglass began to turn over.

Everything around him began to change.

Splash.

Water. Water flooded everything.

He was right at the cavern entrance, but now it was all submerged.

Bang!

The entire cavern trembled slightly under the impact.

A dark, fathomless black slit pupil completely blocked the cavern's exit.

Its gaze was fixed on the group of hatchlings hiding inside.

White Chubby bared her teeth and tried to lunge forward. Her four claws paddled through the water for ages without moving her an inch, because Agatha was holding her plump, cone-shaped tail.

Chaos watched it all calmly.

The second time was easier than the first.

This was a Revelatory Dream granted by the hourglass. There was nothing to worry about.

Perhaps realizing it couldn't enter the cavern, the enormous beast blocking the entrance swam away.

That let Chaos see the creature in full.

Dense masses of tentacles covered its pitch-black body, and six pairs of eyes grew on its enormous frame. It looked like a deep-sea octopus, only far too large.

Its waving tentacles didn't look limp or soft either. They were extremely stiff, covered in rough, tough skin.

It seemed capable of precisely controlling every tentacle at once, its flailing limbs constantly snatching up prey all around it.

Every tentacle worked in perfect coordination, never colliding with another.

With such precise coordination, its hunting was remarkably efficient.

Tentacles kept delivering fish, shrimp, and aquatic magical beasts into the mouth hidden beneath its mass of tiny tentacles.

[Bamokangla: High-level magical beast. These high-level magical beasts are enormous even when young. Their brains are their bodies, giving them gigantic heads. These enormous heads allow them to control every tentacle on their bodies precisely. This species of magical beast is poor at using magic, but physically extremely powerful. Their coordinated tentacles can easily form a deadly cage, though their sheer number of tentacles also makes their growth extremely slow.

Stage: Juvenile

Rank: Fourth ring

Weakness: They cannot leave the water, as doing so weakens them.]

Gurgle~!

The sound of the Underground River's rushing current reached his ears.

He opened his eyes.

The familiar underground riverbank greeted him.

"Hmph-da~" (Green Chubby's awake~)

Pushing away White Chubby as she leaned closer, Chaos rose and walked toward the river.

The water covered half his claws.

He compared it with the waterline he remembered.

It had risen. The water level was noticeably higher.

That meant everything would happen just as the vision had foretold.

The waterline would keep rising until everything was submerged.

That Bamokangla would no longer be restricted by the terrain and would begin hunting and feeding, trapping their group of hatchlings inside the dragon cavern.

That won't do!

This was their territory. He was still planning to spend his vulnerable hatchling years here.

If that Bamokangla ate all the prey, what would he eat?

In that case, I'll kill that Bamokangla!

The thought instantly formed in his mind and swelled without end.