Food
Chilier landed heavily on the platform jutting out in front of the cave. Two streams of white vapor rushed from her nostrils and ignited in the intense heat of her body, writhing like two tongues of flame and leaving fleeting trails of scorching heat in the air.
Her enormous claws still held a massive wild boar. Judging by its thick, protruding tusks and the bristles standing erect along its back like steel needles, it was clearly a ferocious male, weighing around a ton.
It was undoubtedly the kind of beast that would dare charge a tiger head-on, but its spine had now been crushed underfoot. Blood still warm from its body flowed from the corner of its mouth, winding across the platform in thin rivulets.
The thick, lingering stench of blood drifted into the cave on the forest breeze, instantly stirring Sol's appetite. He jerked his head up, an unmistakable hunger flashing in his eyes.
Kalpu and Xisitana, who were already somewhat malnourished, could not help having their eyes glow green. With hardly a thought, they hurried out toward the platform.
What awaited them, however, was not their dragon mother's affection, but a merciless lashing.
The pair of broad wings on Chilier's back swept forward like a solid city wall, sending the two hatchlings flying. They fell heavily to the ground.
She followed with a warning roar, showing no intention of sharing her prey. She lowered her head and began tearing into the boar in great mouthfuls.
Looking at the two hatchlings sprawled on the ground, Sol could not help showing a faint trace of mockery in his eyes.
But then he thought of his own situation, which did not seem much better. His mockery instantly turned to dejection, and he lowered his gaze listlessly.
The three hatchlings watched their dragon mother feast with longing eyes. Only after she had eaten and drunk her fill, licked the blood from the corners of her mouth, and crawled leisurely into the cave to lie down did they dare rush cautiously toward the remains of the prey on the ground.
The comparatively strong and sturdy Sol took the lead, snatching up the piece with the most meat left on it.
When he saw Xisitana trying to come forward and fight him for it, he turned without hesitation and knocked her to the ground with a lash of his tail.
Apart from those eggshell fragments, this was the first time Sol had eaten proper food since he was born.
His stomach had long been churning with hunger. At this point, he could not care less whether raw meat was disgusting; all he wanted was to fill his belly.
He quickly wolfed down the scant scraps of meat. Even the hard bones were crushed by his sharp, sturdy dragon teeth and swallowed in great mouthfuls.
But such meager leftovers were obviously nowhere near enough to satisfy Sol's vigorous appetite.
Hatchlings might not be large, but their digestive systems, like high-temperature furnaces, allowed them to digest as they ate, rapidly converting food into the energy their bodies needed.
Their stomachs were also highly elastic, able to hold large amounts of food at once, rather like extradimensional stomachs.
Without a second thought, Sol turned his gaze on his younger brother and sister. Unfortunately, the two hatchlings had suffered over the eggshells before and had now learned their lesson.
Like starving ghosts reborn, they had both stuffed the food in their claws into their mouths, eating even faster than Sol. By now, nothing remained.
Unwilling to give up, Sol continued rummaging through the boar's hide, bristles, and scraps on the ground, hoping to find something else he could eat.
The next moment, a long wooden shaft caught his attention.
He picked it up with a claw and saw a gleaming black arrowhead set into one end.
It was an arrow, only somewhat larger than the heavy arrows Sol had seen as a human in his previous life.
He could not help wondering what sort of creature had shot the arrow, and why it had ended up in the boar his dragon mother had brought back.
As he pondered, an irritable growl suddenly came from the cave.
"You three idiots! Clean up the trash when you're done eating. I don't want to see a single scrap left when I wake up!"
Sol, who had been rummaging through the remains, abruptly froze. He turned to Xisitana and Kalpu and roared sternly.
"Did you hear that? You two idiots! Clean the ground, now!"
This immediately stirred the other two hatchlings' resentment, and they roared in protest.
"Damn you, Sol! You have no right to order me around!"
"Mother clearly told all three of us to clean up together. Why should we be left to do it all?"
Sol curled his lips, baring his sharp fangs. He gave a cold laugh, raised a foreclaw, clenched it into a fist, and shook it forcefully as he spoke.
"You even dare disobey your elder brother's orders. Looks like you need another lesson."
Just as the three hatchlings were at odds and about to come to blows, Chilier, lying in the cave, impatiently raised her head and growled.
"If I hear you yelling and disturbing my sleep again, I'll twist your heads off."
At those words, all three hatchlings immediately lowered their heads in dismay. Not daring to make another sound, they obediently began cleaning the ground.
Those words were by no means an empty threat. Given a red dragon's fiery temperament, nothing they did would be surprising.
The scraps of meat scattered all over the ground were not easy to clean up, and they did not know where to put them, either.
However, red dragons naturally had a method of their own.
They soon gathered some dry branches from around the cave and piled them over the scraps. Then the three hatchlings raised their heads, prepared briefly, and opened their mouths to breathe forward.
Although their breath organs were not yet fully developed, they were more than sufficient to set wood alight.
Three streams of fire, one large and two small, spewed from the hatchlings' mouths amid curling black smoke, igniting the dry branches piled on the ground.
As the flames rose, the remaining scraps, fragments, and bloodstains on the ground steadily blackened and carbonized in the heat. Eventually, they would mingle with the ashes, leaving no trace.
"Damn it! Breathing that fire made me even hungrier."
"I really want to eat a whole boar! A whole one!"
Their innate resistance to fire meant Xisitana and Kalpu did not need to stay away from the flames. Instead, they lay down beside the fire, letting the leaping tongues of flame lick their scales while they grumbled nonstop.
Sol ignored them and found a secluded corner to lie down in by himself. He closed his eyes, appearing to rest, but was actually manipulating the enormous wheel in his mind.
Thanks to Xisitana and Kalpu's "selfless contributions" during this time, his Mental Power Essence balance had finally risen to 1.52, enough for one draw at the lowest level.
When one point of Mental Power Essence turned into specks of starlight and entered the enormous wheel, its outermost ring immediately began turning with a rumble, finally coming to a stop on a simple diamond-shaped symbol.
Sol focused his attention on it, and more information appeared: a small piece of Dragonvein Crystal. Extract it? Yes/No.
Can I choose not to extract it immediately?
The thought occurred to Sol, and considering that his surroundings were not yet safe, he naturally chose "No."
He began recalling what he knew about Dragonvein Crystals.
They were formed from highly concentrated leyline energy. In the world of Monster Hunter, they were widespread in the Land of Dragon Crystal and counted as a fairly valuable ore.
But just how valuable they were was another matter. Dragonvein Crystals were piled almost into mountains throughout the Land of Dragon Crystal and could be found everywhere, practically as numerous as stones by the roadside.
Even so, Sol narrowed his eyes happily at the result of the draw.
A true dragon's digestive system allowed it to digest almost any ordinary material in this world. Although flesh was high-quality food for red dragons, it was far from the best.
Only gems and metals brimming with magic were the ideal food for true dragons.
And energy-rich Dragonvein Crystals undoubtedly belonged in that category.