Beneath the Red Dragon

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Riven’s Gift

”Phew, Karon, can’t you two speed up a bit? We’re almost at my pasture’s bee swarm territory.”

Little Elf Riven cheerfully danced in the air ahead, boasting as she introduced.

”This is a method I learned from a Giant Tree Druid passing through the forest. My pasture’s bee swarm harvests the sweetest nectar daily, and their honey is praised as the world’s finest dessert by merchants from far-off Human Empire.”

Karon, listening to the Little Elf’s boasting, huffed along behind with the White Dragon. Although the dragons weren’t yet so large as to struggle moving through the towering trees of the forest.

But Riven’s leading flight path was hardly straightforward; she liked to swoop up and down, turn left and right, leaving Karon a bit confused.

Yet, he astutely picked up on the Little Elf’s emphasis: merchants from the distant Human Empire.

In a place without networks or newspapers, encountering merchants was the best way for him to learn about the world; each merchant was a walking encyclopedia of sorts.

Moreover, merchants meant trade, and they didn’t care if you were a Giant Dragon or a Demon.

As long as there was profit, they would trade with you. In theory, merchants were the ones who viewed all creatures equally.

So Karon curiously asked, ”How do merchants get here? The road to this place isn’t easy.”

His ancestral bloodline hadn’t lived in this place, so his inheritance didn’t carry knowledge about it.

In conversations with Akzhi, he learned that this area was far from various centers of civilization, virtually a wilderness of civilization.

To the south lay vast forest wastelands, to the north endless grassland steppes.

These areas invariably housed many monsters, and fierce Beasts were everywhere, along with numerous enchanting Magical Creatures. These were tremendous dangers to humans.

Both Akzhi and Carlette were considered outsiders, having nested in this mountain area for a short time.

The scope of their surroundings explored was likely less than that of the native Pik Elf Riven, which was one reason Karon aimed to befriend Pik Fairy Riven.

”Those merchants arrive by ship, not only humans but also some petite and non-smelly Goblin Merchants.”

Riven, seeing Karon’s interest, flew back and stood on the Red Dragon’s outstretched claw, guiding while explaining.

”From here, walk far eastward, it’s roughly a two-day flight for me. There’s a Gulf there where merchants dock their ships. Many daring humans accompany them into the forest seeking trade with Pik Elves!”

”However, it always takes a long time for the merchants to arrive, maybe it’s because it’s too far away!”

Hmm, Karon nodded thoughtfully; that was the merchant’s way. As long as profits awaited, a bit of danger counted for little.

He even recalled from his inherited memories that many allied caravans would cross the world, entering the Abyss to trade with Demons, saying they were greedier than dragons.

”Hey,” the Pik Elf became anxious seeing the Red Dragon’s intrigued expression, waving her plump little hands furiously in front of Karon’s big eyes, reminding,

”Karon, you can’t sneak over there; that Gulf belongs to the terrifying Ogre Tribe. That powerful Ogre Tribe not only has a dreadful Ogre King capable of easily slaying young Giant Dragons but also formidable Ogre Mages and mysterious Ogre Giant Demons. They love enslaving other creatures, and I don’t want to lose a friend I’ve just met.”

”Alright, a friend’s advice is worth considering.” Karon nodded, sincerely agreeing with the little one before him.

Initially hearing of a trade Gulf did tempt him; such a place was a money-making goldmine. But he was still too young for now—Dragon Group’s will wasn’t in his hands to change, this would be planned for later.

”Is this your pastured bee swarm? It looks quite bustling.” Karon stopped walking, tilting his head to look ahead.

Under a palm tree thick enough for several people to wrap their arms around, the dense bee swarm buzzed about.

These bees, resembling honeybees, were each thumb-sized, dispersing like a cloud, buzzing throughout the forest.

A three-meter-tall black bear padded its way towards a tree hole atop the tree.

It thrust its massive head into the tree hole, pawing honey to shove into its mouth with one hand, occasionally swatting away stinging bees with the other.

When stung sharply, it would bellow but refused to withdraw its head, occasionally grunting and smacking its lips—clearly relying on its thick skin, bearing the bee swarm’s pain to eat its fill.

Though this black bear hadn’t quite entered the ranks of fierce Beasts, standing on tiptoe made it akin to a single-story building.

Their size, similar to the standing Karon, wasn’t a synonym for weakness in the eyes of the two young dragons.

And seeing this, Riven angrily shouted and flew over, the elf dust trailing behind her creating shadows. ”That darn big black bear is stealing my honey again, how infuriating.”

The small body of the Pik Fairy halted abruptly above the bear, shrieking as she muttered a spell, scattering the stardust-like elf dust behind her.

The magic power enveloped the black bear, and with a snap, the black bear turned into a little lamb and fell to the ground, its two dazed cross-shaped pupils staring at the sky as if it hadn’t realized what had happened yet.

”Quick, help me hold down this big bear,” Little Elf Riven called out while busy calming the agitated bee swarm, leading them into the tree hole to inspect the damage, while also summoning two dragons.

She was still young, with magical power that couldn’t last long, and it wouldn’t be much longer before this bewildered goat turned back.

Karon and the White Dragon stepped forward, each pinning down half of its body. Sure enough, after a few breaths, the magic wore off, and the goat reverted to the black bear, its nose swollen and bruised by the bee stings.

Though this black bear was similar in size to Karon, in the grip of the two young dragons, it dared not move and trembled under the suppression of dragon power, its small eyes full of terror.

”Luckily, this big bear didn’t scare my little darlings,” Riven said as she emerged from the tree hole after a while, the anger on her little face completely gone, struggling to carry a large flower basket in her hand.

This basket was clearly woven using magic power, the flower vines used in the weaving were fresh, the tender green leaves still carried the aura of magic.

The carefully woven bottom of the basket was lined with some large, broad leaves, filled to the brim with honey.

Riven hung the basket on the Red Dragon’s claw, embarrassedly raising her little face, ”Karon, I have to check on the other beehives, I’ll come to play with you again when I have the time.”

The Pik Fairy, after getting Karon’s consent, hurriedly left without paying attention to the bear turned captive. Karon and Camid exchanged a glance, and decisively bit the black bear to death.

But Karon didn’t plan to eat in the forest, he wanted to bring the free prey back with the White Dragon.

This was a small idea he wanted to teach the young dragons, that some things could be shared, like foods grilled with a honey glaze.

”Hey, Camid, do you know the way back?”

”Karon, I think you’re much smarter than me.”

Alright, Karon had no choice but to hang the small flower basket on his tail and lower his head to sniff around. Luckily, the sense of smell of a giant dragon was sharp enough, not worse than that of a hound.

Like mountain-guarding hounds, the two dragons sniffed around the forest for a long time before dragging the prey, which was quite large even for young dragons, back along the original path to the valley.

Karon ignored the White Dragon Gomot who came up beside him, and Camid, feeling superior, also ignored his own brother.

Karon skillfully gutted the organs from the black bear’s body, then instructed Camid to skin the prey and roll the gutted body in the pond water a few times until it was clean.

Finally, he dragged several dry logs from the mountaintop, skewered the prey, placed it over the fire, and started his first small barbecue since coming to this world.

Though he was a giant dragon and could adapt to any flavor of food, eating raw food was just because of the dragons’ formidable adaptability and laziness, not that the dragons particularly liked it.

Dragons were not witless beasts; savoring delicious food was also one of the dragons’ trademarks.

So when the food on the fire began to emit the unique aroma of barbecue, a circle of young dragons had already gathered eagerly around the fire, all the dragon cubs watching intently as the food sizzled, releasing fat juices from the roasting.

Watching Camid, who was proudly and diligently turning the wooden spit with a mysterious sense of pride, the White Dragon Gomot inexplicably regretted. ”Maybe I should’ve joined Karon out there; that way, I could’ve gotten a big piece of food.”

This thought intensified as Karon drizzled honey over the grilled food, particularly when he noticed the young Blue Dragon Akzhi, who normally disdained sitting with the young dragons, had somehow quietly mingled among the waiting dragon group, with a shimmer at the corner of his mouth.

Karon did not yield his leading position due to Akzhi’s arrival; he still took charge of distributing the food. This time, he kept the delicious ribs for himself before dividing the food piece by piece.

Akhzi received a tasty and chewy piece from the chest and belly, much to the Blue Dragon’s satisfaction. Camid, who followed him outside, was rewarded with the previously retained organs and the fatty belly, which was a deserved reward for Camid’s hard work.

There was no need to pay much attention to the remaining young dragons; Karon just roughly divided the grilled food into several portions and started enjoying the simple delicacy in front of him.

”Seems I need to pay attention to those merchants the Pik Fairy mentioned; you can buy many useful things from them, hmm, spices as a flavor enhancer are indispensable.”

Karon smacked his lips, thinking it tasted even better this way, although it didn’t quite fit his previous habits. After all, smacking your lips while eating looked bad, but now he was just a dragon and didn’t need to care about others’ opinions.