A Red Dragon Like Me, Chased by a Wild Boar?

(Note: The protagonist was human in his previous life and is a dragon in this one. From now on, he will mainly appear in dragon or exotic beast form.)

Eight Seals Mountain.

A famous mountain in the Southern Xiang Mountain Range, with steep slopes, dense jungle, and a multitude of living creatures.

"A red dragon like me can't beat a wild boar? How does that make sense?"

Wentesi lay sprawled on a giant tree because a tusked wild boar was hunting him from below.

Wentesi felt utterly helpless. He couldn't understand why he, a red dragon, couldn't even beat a wild boar.

"Lord Boar, I surrender. I'll never steal your spirit ginseng again. It's getting late, so please hurry home."

Wentesi lay on the tree, begging Lord Boar below for mercy.

"Snort! Snort!!"

The tusked wild boar heard Wentesi's voice and flew into a rage!

"You stinking lizard, you stole my spirit ginseng, and now you dare provoke me!"

It charged angrily at the giant tree.

Boar charge! Boar charge!!

The tusked wild boar slammed into the trunk, shaking the leaves loose in a rustling shower.

Wentesi clung to the branch with all four claws, not daring to let go. The grievance in his heart was impossible to put into words.

Wentesi was a true dragon, a genuine five-year-old red dragon.

His body was about six chi long (a little over two meters), covered from head to tail in scarlet, cinnabar-colored scales, with an extraordinarily large head.

His two horns were short and curved. His body was neither quite tiger nor crocodile, with four feet, five claws on each foot, two wings, and a pair of amber, vertical-slit eyes shimmering with gold.

With an appearance like this!

Back in the original world, he would have been among the very top races, a genuine long-lived species that looked down upon all mortal creatures.

But after coming to this world, he couldn't even beat a wild boar. It had chased him all over the place, leaving him in a sorry state.

Going back to when Wentesi first arrived in the other world, he had been curious about this new world on his first transmigration and had explored everywhere.

When he flew to a cave, an instinct unique to dragons told him there was something good inside.

He poked his head in for a look, and sure enough, there was.

Quite a few wild mountain ginseng plants grew deep in the cave, giving off a fresh, enticing fragrance.

Dragon inheritance appraisal: five stars!

But these wild mountain ginseng plants already had an owner.

A tusked wild boar the size of an elephant lay beside the wild mountain ginseng, fast asleep and snoring. Its two tusks gleamed coldly, and one look was enough to tell it was no beast to trifle with.

But how could an evil dragon let go of something he had set his sights on?

Wentesi decided to kill the beast and seize the wild ginseng.

The plan was simple: he would sneak into the cave and breathe a blast of dragon breath at the boar's head to finish it off.

The plan was perfect, but reality was a bag of bones.

Wentesi had underestimated the boar. His dragon breath had only scorched its bristles black and heated up its skin.

As a result, the boar chased him all over the mountain. If he hadn't had a pair of dragon wings to fly to safety, he might have been in a bit of danger.

It was late, and the only sounds left in the mountain forest were the boar's grunts and the howling wind.

Seeing no sign that the boar was leaving, the red dragon Wentesi sighed and said:

"Alas, I can only go back. Luckily, I can travel between the two worlds. Once I'm back, I'll think of something! I'll be back!"

Wentesi possessed a mutated Prismatic Dragon bloodline, a [Legendary Dragon Species]. Unfortunately, his bloodline was thin, and he could only travel between these two worlds.

Today had been his first attempt, and he hadn't expected it to leave him in such a sorry state.

The next second, the multicolored scales on Wentesi's chest lit up, and with a whoosh, he left this world.

The boar was still violently ramming the tree below, completely unaware that the red dragon above had vanished.

His vision twisted. The treetop, the night, and the boar all disappeared, and a rich surge of magical power washed over him.

"Master's back! Master's back!"

A chorus of shrill voices speaking Draconic erupted in his ears. They sounded very much like puppies pretending to be dragons.

Like a pack of puppies barking to welcome their master home.

Before Wentesi even opened his eyes, he smelled roast meat, rich fat, and spices.

He opened his eyes and saw more than a dozen short kobolds.

They surrounded him, some holding up crudely made spears, others carrying berries wrapped in leaves. The one at the front, with a string of beast teeth around his neck, was the minor chief, Gru.

Gru was stronger than the other kobolds and very clever, and he also had a pair of dragon wings. That was why Wentesi had chosen him as chief.

"Great red dragon master, you've finally returned!"

Gru grinned, baring a mouthful of sharp teeth:

"Master, we hunted three Pig wild boars this morning and made them all into honey-roasted pigs. We were just waiting for you to come back and taste them!"

Wentesi's expression froze at the words "wild boar," but he soon returned to normal. He raised his dragon head and casually praised them a few times.

In that world, Wentesi might have been a lizard chased around by a wild boar, but here he was the undisputed red dragon lord, a future dragon king!

Hearing the great red dragon's praise, the kobolds all cheered, their little tails wagging furiously behind them.

Wentesi rolled over and stood up, casting a glance around the camp.

Under the setting sun, this river valley camp was flourishing.

Wentesi had put in a great deal of effort to go from a young red dragon with no father or mother to what he had now.

His territory was divided into five areas.

The fishing area: several rows of fishing nets stood in the shallows by the river, and a few kobolds were hauling a string of fish out of the water. The fishing area was also one of the camp's important sources of meat.

The hillside planting area: the distant slope had been cultivated into neat terraces, planted with several varieties of root vegetables transplanted from the jungle, providing the camp with its daily food.

The kobold residential area: farther in, against the rock wall, stood little huts built of stone and wood. This was where the kobolds lived.

The honeycomb area: near the hundred-flower trees deep in the jungle stood an entire colony of beehives, which produced plenty of high-quality honey each month. It was also an important trade good for Wentesi.

And the stone cave behind him was his dragon's nest.

The cave was carpeted with dry red rock soil and fire sand. It was spacious and comfortable, lacking only some jewels and treasure for decoration, which Wentesi regretted.

After more than a year of hard work, with over two hundred kobolds under him, he had built an operation of some size.

At that moment, Gru came up and reported excitedly in Draconic, his voice like a puppy's:

"Master, the fishing area had a good catch today. We hauled in more than a hundred fish, enough to feed the whole tribe for two days.

The crops in the planting area will be ready to harvest in another half month, but badger beasts have dug up a few rows. Tomorrow I'll take some kobolds to mend the fence."

Wentesi nodded. "Make the fence higher. Also, use sharpened wooden stakes to make a few traps and see if you can kill those badger beasts."

Those badger beasts were especially troublesome. They lay low by day, came out at night, and liked to dig. Wentesi had set ambushes for them several times but had never caught them. After all, he wasn't good at digging.

Gru repeatedly agreed, then continued his report:

"Oh, right, the three-flower beehives in the honeycomb area were full, and we collected three jars. We used one to make the honey-roasted pigs and saved the other two for you."

"Mm."

The tip of Wentesi's tail curled up slightly. Honey was good stuff, and he liked it very much. He raised his head and said, "Let's eat first."

Gru led Wentesi to the stone platform with the honey-roasted pigs.

A simple roasting rack stood in the center of the platform. Three honey-roasted pigs had been cooked golden brown and glistened with fat, their skins slightly charred and crisp, sizzling away. They looked very tempting.

A few kobolds squatted beside them, turning them from time to time and brushing them with spicy tree sap and golden honey.

As Wentesi walked over, the kobolds moved aside of their own accord.

He grabbed the honey-roasted pig in the middle and took a bite. Fat burst in his mouth, the skin was crisp, and the meat was soft and tender.

Wentesi swallowed it with barely a chew, then tore off a foreleg and gulped it down in three bites.

As he ate, however, the image of the boar beneath the tree flashed through his mind.

Wentesi bit down hard, crushing the pig bone.

In that world, a pig had chased him up a tree, and in the end he had fled back with his tail between his legs. If word got out, how could he show his dragon face?

"That boar has to die."

He stared at the bone in his claw, having already passed a death sentence on the boar in his heart.

Wentesi tossed aside the bone he had gnawed clean, then viciously devoured the rest of the honey-roasted pig.

"Keep an eye on the camp."

He said this to Gru, spread his wings, and plunged into the jungle.

This place was called Emerald Valley. He had seized it from a pack of gnolls a year ago.

The valley was thick with vegetation and crisscrossed by streams, making it well suited for living. In its deepest reaches stood an old tree that had lived for over a thousand years-the Great Tree Sage.

The Great Tree Sage possessed long memories and wisdom, welcomed conversation with all intelligent beings, and often pointed those who were lost in the right direction.

After flying for a while, Wentesi landed at the end of a stream valley.

Wentesi looked up and saw the Great Tree Sage.

The tree was enormous, blotting out the sky and sun. Its grayish-brown trunk was exceedingly rough and uneven.

Countless vines hung from the tree like the beard of a sage.

Its roots arched out of the ground and wound around rocks. They were covered in damp moss and gave off the fresh scent of earth.

"Little red dragon, you're here again."

A deep, faraway voice came from the tree. It sounded like wind blowing through hollow wood, yet also like a sage living in seclusion in the forest.

A gap slowly opened in the middle of the trunk, forming an old human face.

The face was made of bark, and its most striking feature was a pair of deep green eyes.

"Don't call me little red dragon."

Wentesi corrected him. "Call me Wentesi."

"Wentesi."

The Great Tree Sage repeated it, his voice casual and touched with a faint smile.

Wentesi cleared his throat and said with a measure of respect:

"Respected Great Tree Sage, I need your help."

"Oh? What difficulty have you run into?"

"Out there... there's a huge Devil Beast. Its hide is thick, and it's very strong. How can I kill it?"

The Great Tree Sage fell silent for a few breaths, and the hanging vines swayed with him, as though he were thinking.

"You are a true dragon."

The Great Tree Sage spoke slowly:

"When faced with these low-level Devil Beasts, you need only take your time and grow. Your fangs will sharpen, and your body will grow strong. When that time comes, you will naturally be able to defeat it."

"I don't want to wait."

The Great Tree Sage was silent for a while, then said:

"Then you can learn some magic. For example, the Entanglement Technique, the Slow Technique, and the Sleep Technique are all very effective at restraining the Devil Beast you just described. Then you can slowly kill it..."

"Magic?"

Wentesi frowned. Dragons were natural-born sorcerers. Generally, they only needed to grow older to learn various spells, and few dragons studied magic.

Of course, that excluded dragons with a magic-devouring obsession. Dragons with that obsession were already monsters, stopping at nothing to learn magic.

Smiling lines appeared on the Great Tree Sage's face:

"That's right. You can learn some magic."

Wentesi frowned. "It's that simple?"

He thought it was too simple. In the past, whenever he asked the Great Tree Sage about managing his territory, the sage always had some lengthy, wise words that benefited him greatly.

"Simple?"

The Great Tree Sage laughed, his trunk trembling slightly and his vines swaying gently:

"This is not simple. To defeat that thick-skinned beast, you need a red dragon's body, fearless courage, and most importantly, a dragon brain that knows how to listen to advice."

With that, the Great Tree Sage winked at Wentesi, then swayed a vine toward a bluestone slab to one side.

"Go look at that stone."

Wentesi did as he was told and saw a stone tablet covered in incantations. More than a dozen low-level spells were inscribed all over it, including the Entanglement Technique, the Slow Technique, and the Mire Technique that the Great Tree Sage had mentioned.

Most were first-level spells, and Wentesi could learn them even while still a hatchling.

The Great Tree Sage's voice sounded again, seemingly offhand:

"You once said you didn't believe in the Five-Headed Dragon Queen?"

Wentesi turned around and stared at the bark face. "Why should I believe in her?" he asked in a strange tone.

In his previous life, he had been an atheist. Though he was amazed that his soul had reincarnated into this red dragon's body, he still maintained his lack of faith.

Of course, if a god could bring him tangible benefits, he wouldn't mind believing in and worshiping them.

Wentesi also believed in pragmatism: whatever could bring him tangible benefits was good.

The Great Tree Sage was silent for a long time. His vines stopped swaying, and even the sound of the wind in Emerald Valley seemed to slow.

"I have seen many dragons," he said slowly.

"Some were devout, and some only pretended to believe, but all of them worshiped their dragon gods to some extent."

"So?"

"So... if you ever make up your mind, this wilderness is vast."

The Great Tree Sage's voice was soft, like the wind, yet also as weighty as roots sunk deep in the earth:

"There will always be a place here for you."

Wentesi did not reply. He knew that the Great Tree Sage worshiped a neutral deity called the God of the Wild, so he didn't dare speak carelessly about this.

Wentesi then thanked the Great Tree Sage and spread his dragon wings to fly back to camp. With this magic book in hand, he would no longer disturb the Great Tree Sage, who liked his peace and quiet.

The Great Tree Sage watched Wentesi depart. Suddenly, his tree face grew serious, and he murmured:

"Mother Goddess... how should I guide this young red dragon into your broad embrace..."

Emerald Valley Forest.

Wentesi kept practicing various spells, casting the Swamp Technique, Slow Technique, and Web Technique in succession, but the results were poor.

The Swamp Technique turned only a small patch of ground into a swamp.

The Slow Technique hit a little bug, but it had no effect at all. The bug scurried away.

The Web Technique was even more ridiculous. When he fired it, it failed to form a web and turned into a thread instead.

But Wentesi was satisfied.

"A red dragon's talent for magic really is good. I managed to cast them on my first try. Not bad, not bad.

"Of course, even if I didn't learn these spells, I'd still gain some powerful spell-like abilities as my body grew."

The spells Wentesi had cast were all first-level magic. As a red dragon with a life level of four, he could learn and master them.

Generally speaking, true dragons didn't learn magic when they were young. To them, it was a waste of time.

For true dragons, spending that time eating and exercising was more worthwhile.

As true dragons grew older, they naturally gained some powerful and simple magical abilities. For most true dragons, those abilities were enough.

Only when they reached the ancient dragon or primordial dragon stage and stopped growing and developing would true dragons study magic.

That was why ancient dragons and primordial dragons were usually masters of magic.

"Hmm, if another dragon saw me, they might think I'd caught a spell-eating addiction."

Wentesi continued to draw on the magic power within his body to cast spells and practice. He was destined to spend the night without sleep.