Crisis
"Lowly mongrels, hoofed maggots, I'll burn every last one of you to ashes!!"
The furious roar echoed through the cave, waking Sol from his sleep.
His eyes snapped open, and he rolled over and sprang to his feet. All four limbs gripped the ground, his spine arched like a cat's, and he raised his flexible neck to look cautiously around.
The same familiar cave met his gaze, but fierce flames flickered at the entrance. Violent slapping sounds accompanied the dragon mother's relentless roars.
What happened? Why is the dragon mother so angry?
Intense curiosity welled up in Sol's heart, but reason kept him from acting rashly. Rather than investigate, he shrank as far into the corner as he could, afraid of attracting the enraged red dragon mother's attention.
In another corner nearby, Xisitana and Kalpu were curled up as well. Like two red stones, they didn't dare move a muscle.
How did that saying go? For evil dragons, half the dangers they faced while growing up actually came from their own parents.
An older evil dragon might have been able to control her emotions, but with a red dragon mother who had only just entered her young adult stage, Sol didn't dare gamble on what she might do.
After quite a while, Chilier finally vented her anger. She dragged herself into an open area of the cave with heavy steps, lay down on the ground, and fell into a deep sleep.
Only then did Sol dare creep out of his corner. His pale golden vertical pupils flickered as he turned to look at the dragon mother.
The seventeen-meter-long beast's brilliant scarlet scales, which had a metallic sheen, were damaged in many places. Round holes dotted her broad wings, and a fist-sized gash ran deep into the left side of her belly.
Even with a true dragon's formidable physique, she had yet to heal completely. Heavy blood, seemingly like magma, seeped out from time to time and burst into flames before it could hit the ground.
The dragon mother really was injured, and it looked like her wounds were serious.
What kind of creature could have injured her?
A young adult red dragon generally had a challenge rating above level thirteen. That meant a full party of adventurers, every one of them above level thirteen, would be needed just to have a chance of defeating her.
And what did it mean to be a level thirteen adventurer? Weapon masters, great knights, master deceivers, high-ranking mages... They were all already high-level professionals.
Even a full party like that would only have a chance of winning; victory was by no means guaranteed.
Sol quietly withdrew his gaze and crawled toward the cave entrance, bit by bit. The springy pads on his feet let him land as silently as a cat.
When he reached the platform jutting out from the cave entrance again, the first things he saw were shallow craters blasted into the ground and shattered rocks.
Broad patches of scorched black covered the ground, and some places even showed signs of having melted. Several wooden shafts of varying lengths lay scattered about.
Sol reached out a claw and pawed through the ashes, picking out some half-melted arrowheads and holding them up for a closer look.
Bows and arrows, maybe javelins too, and hoofed maggots...
Thoughts flashed through Sol's mind like sparks, and he felt he might have guessed the truth.
What race in the wilderness was the best with a bow and used longbows and heavy arrows? The answer was centaurs.
There might be a centaur settlement near these hills, and their territory clearly overlapped with the dragon mother's hunting grounds.
After all, Sol had also found a heavy arrow in the wild boar she had brought back earlier. It was very likely prey she had stolen from the centaurs.
Centaurs: creatures with human upper bodies and equine bodies from the waist down.
They generally stood seven feet tall, measured over eight feet long, and could weigh a staggering 2,000 pounds, nearly a ton.
This gave their human torsos, already more powerfully built than those of ordinary people, even greater strength and explosive power. They could easily draw longbows with draw weights of over a hundred pounds and shoot heavy arrows comparable to small spears.
Their equine lower bodies, meanwhile, gave them great speed and charging power. They were practically born heavy cavalry.
Even without any training, adult centaurs had a challenge rating as high as three, comparable to that of an ordinary veteran adventurer.
Large centaur settlements had no shortage of high-level advanced individuals, and even adult true dragons would not provoke them lightly.
Damn it! My mother by circumstance couldn't have led the centaurs back here, could she?
When the time comes, she can just flap her wings and fly away, but what am I supposed to do?
The possibility filled Sol with an urgent sense of danger.
He had thought the dragon mother was merely irresponsible, and that at worst, life would be harder, but he could always get through it. He hadn't expected her to be a complete death trap.
No! I have to prepare early. I can't wait until danger is at my doorstep to figure something out.
Thoughts raced through his mind, making Sol's expression shift for a moment.
It wasn't as if he hadn't considered leaving these rocky hills.
But he was a wyrmling who had hatched less than a month ago. Not only was he weak, but his wings had yet to fully develop, leaving him unable to fly long distances.
Almost every scrap of a true dragon's flesh and blood could be used as a precious magical material. Running around the wilderness on four legs would be no different from a child carrying gold through a crowded marketplace-and in free America, at that.
If he stayed near these rocky hills, however, he wouldn't receive the dragon mother's care, but the fierce aura she gave off could at least deter some ferocious predators, giving him a measure of safety.
Don't panic! Don't panic yet! The dragon mother won't necessarily lead the centaurs here. Maybe those arrows weren't even left by centaurs.
Until I know for certain, I can't lose my head. I have to stay calm!
Sol shook his head, casting the jumbled thoughts from his mind.
He sat in the shadow of the cave entrance, his pale golden eyes gazing out at the endless plains as he began to calmly consider what to do next.
First of all, no matter the circumstances, improving his strength had to come first.
Even if a true dragon did nothing, its strength would continue to grow with the passage of time, but actively training would certainly speed things up.
The only reason Sol had stayed still in the cave before was that he was hungry.
The little food he ate each day was barely enough to support his body's growth and development, much less leave him with energy for intense exercise.
The appearance of dragon crystals, however, had made up for that shortfall. The piece in his belly was still releasing a steady stream of active life energy, continually replenishing what he had lacked before.
Looks like I can't keep making random draws from now on. I need to exchange all my spiritual power essence for dragon crystals to speed up my body's growth.
If I have any left over, I'll save it for a creature template draw.
As long as I draw a suitable creature, never mind combat power, my ability to survive will definitely improve greatly.