Departure

One year after the awakening of magical abilities.

By the riverside, Jose stood at the edge of a pool gazing at his reflection in the water.

It was a juvenile red dragon as long as a truck, its head crowned with a pair of symmetrical swept-back spiral horns, with three rows of smaller horns between them extending to the top of its skull, like a king's crown.

The base of the horn crown connected to a swept-back frill resembling a fish fin, a translucent deep red frill starting from the head and running along the spine to the tail. Paired with the sharply defined, powerful muscles of his body, he looked majestic and imposing.

"Oh~, I've gotten handsome again."

He snorted, sparks flickering from his nostrils. This was because he had just entered the juvenile stage and couldn't yet fully control the sudden surge in power, causing energy to leak out.

"Three years, body length increased by 3.3 meters. According to normal red dragon development patterns, Jin Ke La's growth boost is around 10%. Not bad," Jose muttered to himself.

Looking back on the past three years, he had many thoughts.

Everything had gone as he planned. The residual deterrence of the Red Nest Matriarch kept powerful Extraordinary Beasts from daring to enter the Karakoram Mountains, buying the two young dragons two years of peace.

However, starting from the third year, Extraordinary Beasts were attracted by the relatively safe hunting grounds of the Karakoram Mountains and gradually migrated in.

Fortunately, none of the migrants were particularly strong species, and Jose had awakened his spellcasting abilities early, so the two young dragons could handle them.

Jose had thought that growing to the juvenile stage would allow him and Kashi to better defend their territory, even expand it, but an accident disrupted his plans.

Thinking of this, he looked gloomily at the river, where broken wooden planks floated on the surface—the wreckage of a small wooden boat.

Human adventurers had rowed into their territory.

However, the adventurers hadn't come to slay dragons, nor had they ever expected to encounter one.

Unprepared adventurers meeting a Juvenile White Dragon lurking underwater—the outcome was predictable. Kashi overturned the boat from beneath, tearing it to pieces. The adventurers who fell into the water were no match for the white dragon.

Splash splash splash!

The five-meter-long Juvenile White Dragon emerged from the river, its Dragon Claws clutching two soaked human adventurers. After three years of growth, Kashi had also made progress and no longer stuttered when speaking.

"Boss, as you said, I kept two alive," Kashi said, tossing the two in front of Jose.

As soon as they hit the ground, the two lay on the riverbank vomiting river water.

Since fleeing the Red Nest, this was Jose's first encounter with humans. He observed them—one with blond hair, one with red hair, dressed much like medieval Westerners from his past life.

He felt no sense of belonging toward the humans of this world, even harboring caution and mild hostility, because he was a dragon, and a Five-Colored Evil Dragon at that. Most of the teams that specialized in hunting juvenile Five-Colored Dragons were formed by humans.

He patiently waited for them to stop retching: "You two, done vomiting? If so, we need to talk business."

Their legs trembling, faces ashen, the two stared at the seemingly amiable (but in reality, terrifyingly ferocious) red dragon.

"Don't be afraid. I'm different from ordinary dragons—I'm reasonable. I just want to ask you a few questions."

The blond youth swallowed a gulp of saliva, gathered his courage, and asked in the Common Tongue: "If we answer your questions, will you let us go?"

"Of course... not."

If Jose were an Adult Dragon, letting them go or not wouldn't matter. But now, he had no intention of letting them return alive to spread information about him.

"Survival isn't possible, but if you cooperate, you'll go peacefully. All in all, cooperation benefits you more," he stated in a calm tone, laying out a brutally cruel reality for the two.

The red-haired youth's face flushed red. Thinking death was certain either way, he shouted in accusation: "Didn't you say you were reasonable?! What kind of reason is this?!"

"Might makes right! I'm strong, so I'm right!" Jose spread his dragon wings, casting a shadow over the two, and unleashed his draconic pressure.

The soaked pair felt as if their hearts were being squeezed, collapsing limply to the ground.

Jose caught a whiff of a foul odor and saw the pale yellow liquid spreading beneath them, raising an eyebrow.

For scum like this, direct intimidation was more effective.

"Now, I ask, you answer. First question: why did you come here?"

"..." Adventurers who wet themselves from a Juvenile Dragon's pressure weren't exactly tough nuts. Under intense interrogation, they spilled everything.

It turned out they weren't adventurers but private soldiers of the House Tagule Viscount. Their master was trying to carve a smuggling route through the Karakoram Mountains, connecting the Northern Great Plains to the human kingdom, and they had been sent to survey the canyon waterways.

"I see," Jose said, understanding.

With the Karakoram Mountains and the Gloomy Forest as two natural barriers, only two routes existed between the human kingdom and the Northern Great Plains: one at the western edge of the Karakoram Mountains, a narrow mountain pass, and the other a sea route, sailing around the Gloomy Forest to the east of the plains.

Horses, gold, and specialties from the Northern Great Plains flowed continuously to the human world through these two trade routes, while humans shipped grain, cloth, and more to the plains. This back-and-forth brought enormous profits to all involved.

But one route was in the west, the other in the east, leaving the kingdom in the middle in an awkward position. Having such a fat piece of meat right in front of them but unable to eat it—the frustration was palpable.

Greedy noblemen of the kingdom turned desire into action, attempting for centuries to break through the Karakoram Mountains. But with high mountains, dense forests, and numerous Extraordinary Beasts, they never succeeded.

In the era when the Red Nest Matriarch dominated the north, the Karakoram Mountains were a dragon's den. Now, greedy human nobles saw hope...

With Extraordinary Beasts migrating back and human nobles meddling, staying in the Karakoram Mountains was pointless.

Thinking this, Jose asked his second question: "In recent years, have you heard any news about the Red Nest Matriarch?"

"No, nothing. We only know that after the great battle three years ago, Savannah never appeared again."

Jose lowered his head in thought. Savannah had a ninety percent chance of escaping. If the dragon had been slain, human nations would have long hung her head on city walls to boast.

"Third question: what major events have happened recently? No rush, take your time thinking..."

From the two captives' accounts, the dragons learned of recent major events on the continent.

Living in the world means you can't escape it; blindly retreating only makes you narrower, out of step with the world, and causes you to miss the opportunities that come with the times.

Of course, Jose, still in his youth, didn't yet have the ability to seize those opportunities, but knowing more about current events couldn't hurt.

After asking a few more questions, Jose felt he had enough. Without warning, he spewed dragonflame, reducing the two to charred skeletons, then tossed the bones into the water.

"Kashi, we need to move."

Kashi was silent. He too was a true dragon with a complete inheritance, familiar with the history of his ancestors.

Every Five-Colored Evil Dragon that lived long enough to reproduce shared one trait: they stayed far away from intelligent beings during their youth, the farther the better.

"Boss, where are we going next?"

Jose had already planned out his dragon life. He pulled out the Northern map the black dragon had given him and pointed to the border region where the Karakoram Mountains, the Gloomy Forest, and the Northern Great Plains met. "Here."

Two trade routes ran along the east and west, so the central part of the plains was sparsely populated, overrun with monsters and native tribes.

Calculating their age, the two dragons were at the stage where they should start gathering followers and building a force. Those weaker native monsters made excellent targets.