Strength and Ambition

Jose closed his eyes and consciously gathered the surrounding Fire Elementals, guiding them into his heart.

Half an hour later, he suddenly opened his eyes, delight filling his pupils. His heart seemed like a bottomless pit, absorbing an enormous amount of Fire Elementals without changing in the slightest.

No change was the greatest change. His intuition told him he had found the right direction, and he continued guiding Fire Elementals into his heart.

A day passed, and his heart grew slightly warm.

Three days passed, and his heart was like a hand warmer in winter, though it was still far from its limit.

A week passed, and Jose felt scorching heat all over his body, as if he were burning.

By then, he had more or less reached his limit. He stopped absorbing Fire Elementals, opened his eyes, and saw flames dancing over his body.

"It really is burning!"

Mirror Image!

Mirror Image could create a duplicate identical to the original. Though the duplicate had no physical form, it could perform all manner of movements, making it difficult to distinguish the real one from the fake with the naked eye alone.

This spell was generally used to confuse an enemy's judgment, though under special circumstances, it could also be used as a mirror.

Just like now, Jose stared at his reflection in wonder.

Like a Phoenix, the duplicate was draped in a coat of flames. The air around the crimson fire was scorched into a hazy distortion. Compared to the distortion above lava, the temperature around his body was likely even higher.

There was also a small sun-like golden patch over his heart. Taking the sun as its center, irregular golden cracks spread outward, covering his entire left pectoral muscle. It looked mysterious and dangerous.

"Looks pretty cool. I wonder what the actual effects are."

After a series of experiments, Jose was ecstatic.

"Excellent!"

Jose left the underground lava cave and returned to his lair. The flames on his body, the golden sun on his chest, and all other strange phenomena vanished. The violent Fire Elemental energy was sealed within the Phoenix Heart, without leaking even a trace.

He lay on the ground, lost in thought. In the dim cavern, his two eyes resembled burning fireballs, fueled by something called ambition.

All intelligent beings with self-awareness had ambition. The only difference was whether it was great or small.

A kindergarten child performed well in hopes that the teacher would reward them with an extra piece of candy. That was ambition. An office worker labored diligently for a promotion and a raise. That was ambition. A leader carefully calculated ways to accumulate more wealth. That too was ambition.

Jose had always possessed ambition, and not a small amount of it. If his strength allowed it, he would not mind holding the entire world in his grasp.

Yet when his familiars had suggested attacking the Graytail Centaur Tribe and seizing the wealth their opponents had accumulated over many years, he had refused.

Because he understood one truth: ambition required strength to support it. Otherwise, it would only bring disaster upon oneself.

Back then, he had not possessed the strength to swallow a medium-sized Centaur tribe.

But now, he did.

After careful consideration, Jose abandoned the idea of annexing the Graytail Centaur Tribe.

The powers of the Great Prairie were intricately entangled. There was no telling whether the Graytail Centaur had powerful backers. Even though he was no longer what he used to be, his identity was sensitive. Before understanding his opponent's overall strength, including their network of connections, it would be best not to act rashly.

"Keep a low profile and grow. Don't get cocky!"

Besides, there was plenty of delicious, weak, easily obtainable prey nearby—the native tribes in the forest.

Annexing prey did not necessarily require force. Recruitment, temptation, and intimidation could all achieve the goal. Knowing how to use his brain was perhaps Jose's greatest difference from other Red Dragons.

He recalled the distribution of forces his familiars had described. Kobolds, Gnolls, and Goblins were the main inhabitants of this region.

Many of the nearby Kobolds had split off from the Bloodtooth Tribe. Under pressure from foreign races such as the Gnolls, they still maintained some contact with one another. He could try to win them over. Goblins were weak and had no sizable tribes. The only troublesome ones were the Gnolls.

There was a medium-sized Gnoll tribe nearby called Moss Hide. Back when the Bloodtooth Tribe had not yet split apart, the Moss Hide Gnolls had been formidable enemies of the Bloodtooth Kobolds. Having stood strong for decades, they were likely on the same level as the Graytail Centaur Tribe, perhaps even stronger.

However, several buffer zones lay between the Moss Hide Gnoll Tribe and the Bloodtooth Tribe, so there was no need to concern himself with them for now.

With a thought, Jose used the mental connection established through the Familiar Contract to see what his familiars were doing.

Through shared vision, he saw Ergou directing Kobolds to climb trees and pick pinecones. Kobolds had claws on both their fingers and toes, and being light in weight, they climbed trees swiftly.

Pinecones rained down one after another, landing on the soft earth. Young Kobolds darted beneath the trees, gathering the pinecones and placing them into baskets woven from vines. Three Kobold warriors holding spears stood guard around the gathering team.

"Looks fairly efficient."

His vision shifted to Sorda. The Muscle-Bound Kobold leader was drilling warriors inside a cave.

In a spacious field, Kobold warriors selected through layer upon layer of screening sparred in pairs with cloth-wrapped spears. Every strike was merciless, making their opponents grimace in pain.

At the edge of the field, Kobold recruits practiced thrusting at wooden stakes.

All of this was progress brought about by abundant food. In the past, Kobolds struggling to survive had no spare time for training.

Jose nodded repeatedly as he watched. His two familiars had carried out his will well, stockpiling grain and training troops.

"Come to my residence."

Upon receiving the message, Sorda hurriedly set aside what he was doing. Before long, he arrived at the cavern where the Red Dragon resided.

"Master."

"Sorda, I heard that many Kobolds split off from the Bloodtooth Tribe decades ago. Do you have the confidence to gather them all back under our banner?"

Sorda lowered his head and pondered for a moment before raising it. "Yes. Thanks to you, Master, the Bloodtooth Tribe has found a new mineral deposit and acquired a large stockpile of food. Most importantly, we have your greatness watching over us. I am confident I can persuade them. It's just..."

"Just what? Speak plainly."

Sorda nervously glanced up at Jose. "Master, the leaders of those tribes are no weaker than I am. I am worried I will not be able to keep them in line."

Jose smiled faintly. After more than ten days of observation, though it was not enough to see through an intelligent being completely, he had gained a better understanding of them.

Of his pair of familiar brothers, Ergou was clever but easily satisfied. Sorda, as the leader, was competitive and possessed a strong desire for power.

Any creature with an independent will had selfish desires. Jose was not so narrow-minded that he could not tolerate that. On the contrary, he believed desire created motivation. It was a good thing for familiars to have competitive spirits.

"If you can persuade them to join us, you will be the greatest contributor. I support you becoming the Great Chieftain."

Joy appeared on Sorda's face. "Thank you, Master."

"By the way, how is my brother doing?"

"Lord Kashi dug a pond in Living Area Number Five, then entered a sleeping state. He only came out once to eat a meal."

"Is the meat supply under pressure?"

Each time two true dragons ate, they consumed half their body weight in food—roughly four to five thousand pounds of meat. Even if they only ate once every ten days, they still needed to hunt an average of four to five hundred pounds of meat each day. For the Bloodtooth Tribe, with a population of only several hundred, this was no light burden.

"Please rest assured, Master. There are many muntjac, deer, and wild boars in the mountains, and Bloodtooth warriors are brave and fearless."

After a pause, Sorda frowned slightly. "It is only that, Master, winter will arrive in two months. I am worried that heavy snow will seal off the mountains, and our warriors will not be able to find enough prey then."

After speaking, Sorda looked ashamed. As a familiar, his master had helped resolve the tribe's food crisis, yet he himself could not secure enough fresh meat for his master.

Jose rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "Perhaps we can stockpile a large amount of fodder, then capture some young herbivores and develop animal husbandry."