Crisis Approaches

Heading north from the wilderness, the dense tall grass, thick shrubs, and scattered trees gradually gave way, while the open wilds slowly transitioned into a vast desert and stony wasteland.

Yet in this sparsely traveled land, fortress after fortress stood along the mountainside. Massive blocks of stone had been roughly cut and piled together, forming an imposing complex.

Korg and Bulaka pulled their cowhide cloaks tight and walked, step by step, toward the enormous stone archway ahead.

The archway soon swallowed the sunlight overhead, and their vision darkened in an instant. Thin shafts of light slipped through the fortress's few small windows, barely illuminating the front half of the hall but failing to reach the enormous creature coiled atop a stone platform in its depths.

The air smelled of ozone mixed with sand and dust, and the crackle of passing static electricity was clearly audible.

The two half-orcs dropped to their knees in terror, silently awaiting their master's judgment.

After a long while, an enormous head emerged from the shadows.

Indigo scales like a clear sky after rain, lightning-like pupils, large, wrinkled, fan-shaped ears, and the distinctive horn on the tip of its snout all testified to its identity-a blue dragon.

Judging by the size of its head alone, this blue dragon was definitely over ninety feet long and undoubtedly a mature adult. Its Challenge Rating was probably above seventeen, and some more powerful individuals could even enter the legendary realm.

The blue dragon silently watched the two half-orcs with vertical pupils that shone like the heart of a thunderbolt. The fierce aura it unconsciously gave off was enough to make them tremble all over.

"I heard you found signs of other young dragons. Where?"

The half-orcs hurriedly bowed their heads low to the ground, not daring to look the blue dragon in the eyes. Trembling, they answered.

"On the Kaqino Grassland, where we graze our giant-horned cattle."

The blue dragon paused for a moment after hearing this, who knew what thoughts turning in its mind, then asked:

"What kind of young dragons, and how many?"

The two half-orcs exchanged a quick glance out of the corners of their eyes, an inexplicable sense of foreboding welling up in their hearts.

The younger half-orc was so nervous that he began to stammer, stumbling over his answer.

"S-sorry, we only found traces of young dragons. We don't know how many there are or what kind they are."

"Useless!"

A deep roar suddenly rang out. Silver lightning burst forth and slammed into the young half-orc, killing him instantly.

The blue dragon turned its gaze on the middle-aged half-orc, who had gone rigid with fear. Its deep roar echoed through the hall once more.

"Gather your people and bring that young dragon back to me. Remember! I want it alive!"

Sol shook his head and climbed to his feet, discovering that the sun had already set and the cave was pitch-dark.

The liquor, potent enough to give an elephant alcohol poisoning, had only knocked him out for half a day, and he did not even feel the slightest discomfort from a hangover.

He glanced at the empty bottle discarded beside him, flicked his long tail, and crawled out of the cave.

The starry sky of this world was far brighter than any he had seen in his previous life. Stars twinkled overhead, and each one was said to be a deity's divine kingdom.

He wondered whether he would have a chance to raise his own divine kingdom into the Astral Plane someday.

The path to godhood was fraught with hardship. Not only did he have to increase his own strength, he also had to contend with suppression by established deities. Even with a cheat to help him, he was not one hundred percent confident.

I wonder whether those forbidden templates are actually any good. Is their strength based on their lore, or on how they performed in the game?

If it's based on how they were in the game, where Sapphire Star and Hinoa could solo them, that would really suck.

Sol shook his head, casting aside those pointless thoughts. He lay down, curled up his tail, and wrapped his wings around himself, forming a red ball.

There were many ways for a true dragon to grow stronger. The simplest and most direct was the growth that came naturally to its body as time passed and it aged.

As long as it lived long enough to become a great wyrm, it could become a demigod-like existence without doing anything at all.

But though this method was simple and easy, it was ultimately too slow. In pursuit of greater power, some true dragons actively trained and meditated.

Only recently had Sol finally dug a method of meditation out of his draconic inheritance.

As he emptied his mind, his whole body entered a trancelike state between waking and sleep, and the mana within him began to resonate with the magical elements outside.

In his perception, tiny red and brown points of light slowly approached his body like iron filings drawn to a magnet.

Meditating like this could not teach him new spells, but it could increase the amount of mana in his body, while also strengthening his physical power and breath attack to a certain degree.

Whenever he immersed himself in it, time seemed to pass exceptionally quickly.

Several hours flew by, and the sound of flapping wings suddenly startled him out of his meditation.

Xisitana and Kalpu had returned from hunting.

Over the course of three months, the two wyrmlings had grown considerably, reaching about eight feet in length. Among red dragons of the same age, they were already considered robust.

Xisitana, whose body was covered in tiny red scales, looked at Sol, who was nearly twice her length. A flash of deep envy crossed her eyes.

She could not quite understand why, when they had been born to the same mother, the gap between brother and sister was so great.

For an ordinary red dragon to reach fifteen feet, it would probably have to be over five years old and have reached the young stage.

This fellow's growth was a whole age category ahead of an ordinary red dragon's.

She then glanced at Kalpu beside her and discreetly compared their lengths from snout to tail tip. Finding that she was longer, she immediately grew smug.

She held her head high as if showing off, a live hare dangling from her fang-filled mouth. A faint smell of blood spread through the air, drifting toward Sol's nostrils, whether deliberately or not.

Sol, who had not hunted yet today, soon felt a faint pang of hunger.

With one glance, he knew what his foolish sister was up to. She had benefited from trading food for Dragonvein Crystals before and simply wanted to make another trade.

The next moment, he shot out a claw, grabbed the hare Xisitana was holding, and snatched it away without ceremony.

"Is this prey your tribute to your elder brother? Well done. The great Sol acknowledges your loyalty."

When Xisitana realized what had happened, she flew into a rage and sprang at him, trying to take back what belonged to her.

But the difference in size made all her resistance futile. Within a few breaths, Sol had pinned her beneath his foot, leaving her able only to watch as he devoured the prey she had worked so hard to catch.

"Let me go! You damned robber, you stupid villain! That's my rabbit, stop eating!"

Xisitana's ringing roars continued unabated. To Sol's ears, combined with the notification at the bottom of his vision that his Mental Power Essence had increased, they sounded exceptionally pleasing.

A robber? A thug? Those are just compliments to a red dragon.