Beneath the Red Dragon

Chapter 14: Chapter 13: Juvenile Dragon

Compared to the plains, which have now become the focus of the Dragon Group Territory’s expansion, the forest is now a leisure resting point for the juvenile dragons.

Only when night falls does the dragon group return to their nests in the canyon to sleep, spending most of the time in the nearby forest.

Upon discovering that fishing could easily bring inner peace and help suppress the relentless rebellion of the Evil Dragon Blood within him,

Karon became Icaria World’s fisherman, sitting resolutely at the fishing spot every day. Even though he ends up getting frustrated due to catching nothing, he considers it a test of willpower.

Today’s sunshine was just right, making him drowsy.

Perhaps the sleeping phase was nearing, as he felt lazy every day and a bit irritable, preferring to eliminate prey with a single Dragon Breath during hunts.

Blue Dragon Doss came out from behind a tall tree and walked toward Karon lying by the shore.

More stable in character than other juvenile dragons, Blue Dragon, much like the former model Warlock Akzhi, bore the responsibility of patrolling the resting place among the juvenile dragon group.

”Karon, I caught this damn guy again. While I wasn’t paying attention, it emptied the honey from three nearby beehive nests and then hid the honey back in its lair. If I hadn’t discovered it soon enough, the remaining hives would have been in danger too.”

Blue Dragon Doss was quite angry, a dangerous small electric light flickering in his light-blue eyes.

The Red Dragon opened his eyes and noticed a terrified, trembling black bear lying on the ground behind Blue Dragon Doss.

Its two-meter-long body seemed like a helpless lamb beside the massive dragon.

The Great Dragons are particularly possessive, and the juvenile dragons now regard everything in the forest as the private property of the dragon group.

Even though these bee nests were left for Karon by Pik Fairy Riven before leaving with her parents to visit elders far away. Technically, the true owner is the Pik Elf, not the dragon group.

Riven entrusted the bee group to Karon to prevent her fellow elves from sneaking honey while she was away, not realizing that once things fell into the dragon group’s hands, there was no chance of reclaiming them.

Learning from Karon how to coat roasted food with thick honey, the juvenile dragons’ greed for sweets and delicacies made them pay attention to the bee groups in the forest.

Following their cultivated habit, the juvenile dragons restrained their greed by only taking a set amount of honey from the hives, accumulating to meet the consumption of the dragon group.

The damn black bear was greedier than the dragon, sweeping the honey accumulated in the hives clean, infuriating Blue Dragon Doss.

However, the black bear’s talent for seeking honeycombs is akin to the Red Dragon’s talent for controlling flames. Hidden in any corner of the forest, hive nests cannot escape the black bear’s grasp. Even dragons with excellent sense of smell are not as talented in this area as the black bear.

If not for the need for the black bear’s talent in finding wild beehives, Doss would have torn it apart a long time ago.

Karon was also troubled. This black bear was not a fierce beast and lacked the wisdom for communication.

Dragons are born capable of learning various languages, including beast language. However, the proud dragons would not learn the meaningless howls of less intelligent creatures.

The Red Dragon sighed, ”Forget it, as usual, give it a beating, then confiscate the honey from its lair, but leave some for it.”

Karon was also quite helpless; this black bear would be caught and severely beaten every time it raided a beehive, yet it never learned its lesson.

”By the way, Doss, have Antajena quickly clear a suitable open space in the forest and transplant the fruit trees we’ve found into categories there. Let Antajena use her talent in cultivating plants to take good care of them. This will be the orchard for the dragon group’s future leisure and can attract bee groups to roost.” The ever-absent-minded Karon instructed Doss.

”After this sleep phase, as the dragon group’s strength grows, perhaps we can start attempting to subdue useful beloveds, allowing them to manage the orchard and graze the bee group for us, providing an endless supply of honey and sweets.”

Blue Dragon Doss lowered his head, responding, ”As you wish, wise Karon.”

·····

The Red Dragon’s period of sleep arrived as expected. The remaining juvenile dragons would soon all enter their sleep phase as well, undergoing the critical transition from juvenile dragon to young dragon, which was extremely vital.

In this stage, the juvenile dragons would awaken their own magic, experiencing tremendous growth, but it was also perilous, as the history of the Dragon Race recorded many examples of dragons gradually perishing during the sleep metamorphosis.

The usually lively canyon became desolate, making Akzhi, accustomed to the bustle, feel a bit out of place, pacing at the canyon’s peak daily.

After confirming the safety of the juvenile dragons nestled in the dragon nest, he would spread his wings, circling the mountain range again and again, returning to his nest for rest only after nightfall.

After night completely fell, the true lazy leader of the dragon group, Carlette, would fly out of her cave, standing on the mountain’s highest peak, silently overlooking the sleeping place of the juvenile dragons in the canyon.

Until the sun rises. It is the habit of Great Dragons to protect the fledglings by forming clans, and also the duty of the leader of the Dragon Group.

As the sun rises and the moon sets, the seasons cycle. The sleep of the fledglings will last from one to three years, which is just a dream for the Giant Dragons, but a lifetime for many other races.

The Red Dragon sleeps motionless in its ever-expanding cave, breathing slowly.

Each breath is accompanied by a massive fluctuation of breath and a surge of magic power, as the magic power begins to be absorbed by the Giant Dragon to promote its body’s evolution.

Even the air, which had become stiflingly hot due to the Red Dragon’s long residence, lost its heat, and the cave’s temperature seemed to drop in sync with the seasonal changes outside.

In the corners of the cave, the lush Dragon-blood Grass, which was born from the blood stains left by the Red Dragon’s gnawing and the influence of its aura over time, is also slowly withering, as the pure fire elemental energy is absorbed by the Giant Dragon.

If a Goblin Merchant saw this scene, they might pound the ground in tears. The Evil Dragon’s blood is highly toxic to other races, but the Dragon-blood Grass born from the Dragon Blood contains the purest of such essence.

Such a pure Dragon-blood Grass can be used by a Mage to create the finest Fire Attribute Magic Potion and by a Warlock to help purify the Dragon Blood within their body.

In a Warrior’s hands, it can be used to craft potions that strengthen the body, while a Merchant could exchange it for a small pouch of Gold Coins.

This is why Giant Dragons are considered treasures from head to toe in the outside world, as even the poorest Giant Dragon’s lair will yield some precious materials.

Such things are like shining Gold Coins, but now all has turned into a handful of ashes.

One month, two months, three months, time passes, and the consciousness of the Red Dragon also falls into a deep sleep, passively receiving inheritance information.

With the loss of conscious suppression, the Evil Dragon Blood within the Red Dragon begins to boil, absorbing a vast amount of fire attribute magic power, which then transforms into surging flames that blaze within its bloodline.

The unyielding Evil Dragon Blood burns and withers in the flames, only to absorb the Giant Dragon’s energy and magic power to revive again, day after day.

The Red Dragon’s bright scales lost their luster as time passed, and the flame-like patterns entwined around its body dried up and blackened, like dried riverbeds.

The Giant Dragon’s strong body began to wither away, with longer intervals between heartbeats, and its overwhelming aura slowly diminished, almost to nothing, like a lifeless dragon-shaped rock.

Dust began to cover the Red Dragon’s body, and the once-abandoned cave welcomed new occupants, with cobwebs in corners and fist-sized venomous spiders settling in.

Stubborn life broke out from the consolidated ground, wild grass sprouting. Some insects found this seemingly safe haven, and occasionally, a burrowing lizard would hang on the webs.

After more than a year, two White Dragons were the first to wake from their slumber.

After a brief period of hunting and feeding, the two White Dragons, whose bodies had grown, found themselves bored and decided not to dominate the water hole, instead digging a hole in the mountain wall to pass the time.

In the following months, the Green Dragon and the Black Dragon also completed their slumber, becoming Juvenile Dragons and awakening their dragon life magic.

However, perhaps due to sleeping for too long becoming a habit, these Juvenile Dragons preferred to stay in their nests. Even Black Dragon Rosani no longer coveted the gorge’s waterhole, and the daily episodes played in the past vanished.

Then, Blue Dragon Doss also awoke, losing his former enthusiasm for patrolling the forest, except when joining other Juvenile Dragons for hunting.

The last to wake was the hot-tempered, stubborn young female dragon Kleyna, who had now entered a new developmental phase and had become the strongest among the awakened Juvenile Dragons.

She aimed to lead the hunting party of the Dragon Group while Karon was in slumber, but Blue Dragon Doss disagreed, even saying Kleyna was a fool with her head wedged between her buttocks.

Although Kleyna was slightly larger in size than Doss, the pureblood Blue Dragon did not fear her.

Blue Dragons are firmly ranked second among the Five-Color Dragons, always vying with Red Dragons for the title of the strongest Dragon Species among the Five-Color Dragons, thus showcasing the powerful Blue Dragon bloodline.

Meanwhile, Black Dragon Rosani and White Dragon Gomot neither opposed nor supported, but stayed a bit closer to Blue Dragon, as Kleyna was usually quite arrogant, displaying the kind of arrogance of a Red Dragon looking down on other Colorful Dragons.

Green Jade Dragon Antajena, despite having a good relationship with Kleyna, didn’t openly express any support for the Red Dragon. When differences arose within the Dragon Group, she would use beguiling language to diverge the topic.

As for the other rather clumsy White Dragon Camid, although he hadn’t learned foul language like his brother by Karon’s side, he had learned something else: when facing a dragon he didn’t want to deal with, he would look at them earnestly and go ”Ah ba ah ba.”

Thus, the Juvenile Dragons were in dispute, losing cohesion, starting to hunt individually, and like other Giant Dragons, spent their days lazily and dispersed in their caves sleeping.

Though Akzhi would occasionally fly over this cliff during territorial patrols, never again did he pause. This place was no different from any other groups of Giant Dragons; naturally, he became just like the others.