Under this encouragement, the little White Dragon trembled all over, his eyes moist as he gazed tearfully at Xiluo.
"Xiluo... s-so... you value me this much... really, thank you so much... I'll accept the Magic Crystal! I won't let you down!
"In Ambrose's name, I swear to the Mother of Evil Dragons! I will become a powerful Legendary White Dragon! And then I'll repay you!"
By the time the little White Dragon finished, he had dried his tears and wore a solemn expression.
"Yes! Excellent! That's how a young dragon should be! Full of spirit! Full of drive! I believe in you, Allen! You won't fall behind any other dragon!"
Xiluo nodded in affirmation.
The little White Dragon's breathing quickened considerably. Brimming with motivation, he wished he could return to the Green Forest immediately and start studying his spells.
The Red Dragon Whelp beside them curled his lip.
"Pfft... expecting anything from trash like a White Dragon. What a naive fool!"
"All right! It's time for us to feast! Come on, Gordon! Give us some fire!"
Xiluo growled and tossed the Ground Luo Beast that the Frost Giant Eagle had smashed to death earlier beside the Red Dragon Whelp, who immediately inhaled and breathed fire.
Blazing flames poured down.
Before long.
The two dragons enjoyed a fine meal.
Afterward, Xiluo and the other two dragons drove every last one of the warthog-like creatures out of the burrow.
There were six piglets in total.
Xiluo used Nature's Vine to bind all six piglets together.
He examined them carefully for a moment and found that they really did resemble warthogs, though their tusks were thicker and larger, their skin rougher, and they had two tails behind their rumps.
On Domirank Star, these creatures were generally called Ground Luo Beasts.
As a Blue Dragon, one of the few dragon breeds with a sense of communal living, Xiluo possessed an extremely varied array of inherited memories.
His memories concerning prey were also exceptionally extensive.
Naturally, they included information about Ground Luo Beasts.
Ground Luo Beasts were exceptionally hardy creatures that could thrive on nothing more than grass, plant roots and stems, or even carrion.
This meant they could be found in many places.
Whether grasslands, wooded mountains, or even dry, sandy terrain, traces of them could be found.
They also reproduced exceptionally well.
Piglets reached sexual maturity in just eighteen months and could then begin mating.
They could produce roughly two to three litters a year, with one to three offspring per litter.
In the inherited memories of Blue Dragons, they were excellent livestock to raise for food.
Xiluo stared closely at the little Ground Luo Beasts and could roughly confirm that these little creatures weighed around a hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty pounds on average, still a fair way off their adult weight of three to four hundred pounds.
They were probably between nine and ten months old.
"Xiluo! How long are you going to stare at this food? Hurry up and take them back!"
The Red Dragon Whelp gave them only a glance before growing impatient.
His first hunt had been a success.
He wanted to take his prey back and show off properly in front of the other dragons.
He would give those weaklings a good look at what a strong dragon was!
"Mm... we really should head back."
Xiluo came back to his senses and nodded lightly.
He then began the return journey, leading the six Ground Luo Beasts. Naturally, Gordon and Allen dragged the four Frost Giant Eagles back together.
The six Ground Luo Beasts in Xiluo's grasp struggled nonstop out of sheer terror, forcing him to expend considerable effort dragging them along.
Because of this, it took the three dragons nearly two hours to return to the Green Forest and reach the Wyrmlings' living area.
"Guuuuh!"
The Ground Luo Beasts' frightened cries carried far, drawing the attention of the Wyrmlings who had been training and playing. One after another, they eagerly followed the sounds and ran up to the three dragons.
The sight of the six Ground Luo Beasts did not particularly surprise them, but when they saw the four Frost Giant Eagle carcasses, they could not help looking astonished.
"Are these... Frost Giant Eagles?
"I have memories of these magical beasts. Once they reach adulthood, they generally have the strength of level five or even level six!
"How... did you get their carcasses?"
One Wyrmling growled in astonishment, and the others crowded around upon hearing this.
"Hmph! How did we get their carcasses? Idiot! Isn't it obvious? We killed them and brought them back, of course!
"These lowly beasts didn't know their place. They tried to steal my prey! They challenged my authority!
"So naturally, I slaughtered them all while I was at it!"
The Red Dragon Whelp stretched his neck perfectly straight and spoke proudly, gazing scornfully at the Wyrmlings gathered around him.
Proud as he was, even he could not resist showing off in front of the other Wyrmlings.
"Is Gordon really that strong? Did he take down a whole flock of Frost Giant Eagles by himself?"
"He must have done it with Xiluo! There's no way he could do it alone!"
"But even for two dragons, isn't that still far too impressive?"
"The most unbelievable part is that Xiluo doesn't seem to be injured at all, and Gordon only has that one little wound on his chest.
"That means the two of them apparently defeated a Frost Giant Eagle family without much trouble..."
"Heavens! Just how much stronger than us are Gordon and Xiluo?"
The Wyrmlings exclaimed in amazement.
They completely ignored the little White Dragon Allen's presence, discussing only the two strongest Wyrmlings.
Alicia and Koraman stood behind the Wyrmlings, their expressions utterly gloomy as they watched the dragons talking among themselves.
Damn Gordon! Damn Xiluo! Have they actually become this terrifyingly strong already... How am I supposed to get revenge and surpass those two bastards now?!
Alicia looked thoroughly dejected.
Gordon, who had been listening to the dragons' discussion all along, had initially felt rather pleased, but the longer he listened, the sourer his expression became.
That's right! Xiluo fought four Frost Giant Eagles without getting hurt, while I only fought one and actually got injured?
Even if the one I fought was their leader.
Isn't that still far too embarrassing for a dragon?
That bastard Xiluo! Has he already become that much stronger than me?
Impossible! It must be an elemental advantage! That's right! It has to be an elemental advantage!
I, Gordon, am one of the strongest breed, the Red Dragons. How could I possibly lose to a Blue Dragon?
Even if this Blue Dragon is a little bigger than ordinary Blue Dragons, has a slightly stronger Breath Weapon than ordinary Blue Dragons, is a little smarter than ordinary Blue Dragons, and is a little stronger than ordinary Blue Dragons...
Hiss... why does this feel more and more wrong the more I think about it?
The Red Dragon Whelp's face darkened, a hint of panic appearing on it.
"Wait! These Monsters are Frost Giant Eagles! There should be Magic Crystals inside all of them, right?"
A Wyrmling suddenly spoke up, drawing all the dragons' attention again. Greed appeared on every face.
"Of course. What, do you want them?" Xiluo glanced at the Wyrmling who had just spoken.
"Of course not... we just want to take a look and broaden our horizons. After all, we've grown this old and have only seen them in our inherited memories. Please! Xiluo, let us have a look!" the Wyrmling pleaded pitifully.
The other Wyrmlings nodded repeatedly along with the speaker.
(End of chapter)
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