And precisely because of this.
A hatchling, or even a wyrmling, was extraordinarily valuable, generally fetching at least several thousand or even tens of thousands of gold coins. Those with exceptional potential would only command higher prices!
Compared with adult dragons, hatchlings and wyrmlings were weak and easy to capture.
Of course, the most important factor was that, although hatchlings and wyrmlings were constantly influenced by their dragon inheritance and their own genetic bloodlines, they could still potentially be subdued and changed.
Some used contracts; others cultivated emotional bonds.
Contracts, needless to say, were binding.
Generally, dragons struggled to escape those restraints before reaching legendary status, but once they did, they had a very high chance of breaking free of their contracts.
Throughout history, quite a few families had been wiped out in tragedies resulting from this.
Binding a dragon through emotion was naturally extraordinarily difficult, and only a few had ever succeeded.
In the memories of Xiluo's dragon inheritance.
The most famous among them had to be a variant Black Dragon named Gait.
This Black Dragon had been captured by an adventuring party in his youth, then sold to a great noble household named Lihual. In the end, he had shamefully been moved by a human woman, even mating with her and producing offspring.
Even after the woman died, he had never abandoned her family, not even after finally achieving legendary status.
Stories like this were extremely famous in the human world, celebrated as heartwarming tales that encouraged other nobles to compete in following their example.
But in the world of Chromatic Dragons, it was a tremendous disgrace inscribed into their dragon inheritance.
Before this variant Black Dragon named Gait had achieved legendary status, other dragons had even come looking to kill him. The outcome went without saying: they had all failed...
This disgrace to the Chromatic Dragons remained alive to this day.
The Metal Dragons Clan fared much better than the Chromatic Dragons. Their social structure resembled ordinary human families, and they were quite united.
This effectively spared them the fate of being bought and sold or forced into contracts. One could only encounter them by chance and maintain a relationship through emotional bonds.
For this reason, talk of buying and selling dragons generally brought Chromatic Dragons to mind first, followed by the neutral gem dragons.
Hearing it would make Chromatic Dragons lose their composure outright.
It was practically tearing open their old wounds!
Xiluo narrowed his eyes and began casting.
The other wyrmlings were even more furious, roaring as they lunged at the humans! They wanted to tear every last one of these people apart and swallow them!
Some wyrmlings rapidly cast spells of their own elements as well.
For a moment, lightning, balls of ice, and vines all hurtled toward the humans.
But just then.
The level 8 spellcaster finally made his move. He gently raised his Blackwood Staff, and a Blue Gemstone Ring on his hand shone.
In an instant, several arcane missiles flew out, colliding with the lightning, ice balls, and vines and bursting into clusters of elemental fireworks.
The vines were shattered at their roots as well!
This spellcaster seemed particularly proficient with Arcane Missile.
His missiles were more powerful than usual as well, intercepting almost every spell the wyrmlings cast. The occasional one that slipped through was shattered by a beam of holy light from the cleric.
In group combat, a level 8 spellcaster and a cleric undoubtedly played tremendous roles, provided they were properly protected.
The other wyrmlings understood this and immediately shifted their attention to these two spellcasting professionals.
Just as they were about to close in, the two remaining armored warriors met them head-on, holding four of them back, while at the same time.
Space twisted, and three assassins dressed entirely in black revealed themselves, raising their daggers and plunging them viciously into the backs of three wyrmlings!
The three wyrmlings cried out in pain and grew even more enraged, counterattacking the three assassins. But the assassins were nimble, running circles around two wyrmlings as though playing with them, stabbing down with their daggers from time to time.
At that moment, Xiluo finished his spell as well.
The soil on the ground slowly covered his body as though alive, and in mere moments.
His entire body had turned grayish-brown!
[Rock and Earth Armor] was complete!
He then stared at the three assassins who had suddenly appeared.
[Human assassin] Level: 7 [Human assassin] Level: 7 [Human assassin] Level: 7
Another three level 7 assassins?
That made the enemy lineup rather impressive.
Two level 8s and seven level 7s!
Among the wyrmlings, only he and Gordon had just reached level 7.
Not a single one of the others was level 6! They were all level 5 or level 4!
Even though they were dragons with every kind of physical advantage, these humans' equipment was no slouch either. With the Soul-Loss Incense restricting their breath weapons, the gap simply could not be closed.
They did not have much of a numerical advantage either.
Then there was the matter of coordination.
The wyrmlings had no outstanding coordination to speak of. They were proud creatures who each fought their own battles.
These attackers, on the other hand, were clearly a band of adventurers...
In this comparison, the wyrmlings were bound to be at a disadvantage.
Xiluo's heart grew heavier.
He even found himself entertaining the thought of turning around and running.
After toying with two wyrmlings for a while, one of the human assassins noticed Xiluo's stare and hesitation and flashed him a toothy grin.
Then his figure flashed as he charged toward Xiluo, moving barely slower than an ordinary wyrmling!
The hunter and spellcaster in the distance also cast seemingly casual glances his way!
Worse still, footsteps sounded behind him at the same time.
He turned his head slightly and glanced out of the corner of his eye.
[Human assassin] Level: 9
Another human assassin!
And a goddamn level 9 at that! A full two levels above him and Gordon!
Just how many enemies were hiding here?
Xiluo wailed inwardly, but he also knew that he now had nowhere left to run. Since you won't let me escape, then let's fight!
Xiluo's gaze turned vicious.
Azure lightning erupted all over his body. His four limbs drove hard against the ground, and he charged toward the level 7 assassin like a speeding car!
Those watching him closely seemed not to have expected the surrounded wyrmling to strike first, much less with such ferocity and speed. They all froze for a moment.
Slightly startled, the assassin turned sideways to dodge.
But Xiluo had anticipated this. Almost at the same instant his opponent dodged, he let out a piercing draconic roar.
An invisible draconic presence spread.
Though far less formidable than an adult dragon's, it still slowed the level 7 assassin for an instant, costing him his chance to evade completely.
This left the assassin somewhat flustered.
But as a trained professional, he would not simply await his death. While dodging as far as he could, he thrust his dagger toward Xiluo's head!
Naturally, his aim was to make Xiluo dodge of his own accord.
Xiluo's gaze remained resolute.
In the next breath, the distance between them shrank to a mere six or seven meters. They would collide in less than half a second!
Seeing this, the cleric in the distance waved his staff again.
[Shield of Faith]
A second-tier spell that provided its recipient with a wondrous defensive force field, effectively reducing the damage they took, was complete!
Unlike his earlier muttered chanting, this time the cleric cast almost instantaneously.
A shimmering radiance completely enveloped the level 7 assassin!
It was as though a transparent wall had risen before him.
Feeling its protection, the assassin could not help sighing inwardly in relief, even showing a peculiar smile.
Just as he and the others thought the young Blue Dragon Xiluo would take the initiative to dodge.
Xiluo merely tilted his head slightly, avoiding a head-on collision with the dagger.
He wasn't dodging?
The assassin's eyes suddenly widened, but he was no longer panicked. The mockery at the corners of his mouth only deepened.
He drove his dagger viciously into the wyrmling's neck.
The sharp dagger pierced the Earth and Stone Armor and even reached the dragon scales.
But the force remaining behind it was no longer enough to drive it any deeper.
The wyrmling's body had already slammed heavily into the [Shield of Faith]!
CLANG!!!
A thunderous crash rang out.
Under the tremendous impact, the [Shield of Faith] shattered like glass and dissolved into glowing motes.
Clearly, a second-tier divine spell could not withstand the brutal charge of a wyrmling moving at no less than a hundred and fifty or sixty kilometers per hour.
The power was already comparable to a car crashing at high speed.
Even so, the wyrmling's speed was instantly reduced by nearly half.
But that enormous draconic head was still closing in! Under the assassin's wide-eyed stare, its sharp single horn pierced his leather armor!
"Urgh!!! Aah!!!"
With a wretched scream.
The assassin was helplessly impaled in front of the wyrmling's head and slammed hard into a large tree!
(End of chapter)
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