The Iron Dragon Lady glanced at the two dumb little hatchlings staring blankly at each other.
From Galos's words and expression, she understood what Galos was thinking.
But the Iron Dragon Lady had no intention of stopping it.
When it came to struggles between offspring, unless it involved life and death, she wouldn't intervene in ordinary bullying or oppression.
Besides.
The two hatchlings were eating and drinking her food every day, and after being full they'd just wander around the territory doing nothing useful. It was time for them to do something productive.
As for making hatchlings or young dragons mine for her—
The Iron Dragon Lady couldn't bring herself to do that. As wicked and cold as she was, she still held to her own code of conduct.
But having Galos do it was perfectly reasonable.
"The problem is, your 'mine slaves' also live under my protection."
The Iron Dragon Lady's eyes gleamed as she gently swayed her tail.
Under her gaze, the Red Iron Young Dragon immediately said, "Every month, I'll give you an extra raw ore of precious metal weighing ten pounds."
"Fine."
After thinking for a few seconds, the Iron Dragon Lady nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Mother. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."
"Go on, go do what you need to do."
Galos turned and walked toward the two hatchlings, stopping right in front of them.
"Samantha, Gordon."
Calling out Red Dragon Sister and Iron Dragon Brother's names, Galos narrowed his eyes and said, "You two, come with me."
Both dragons looked wary, not moving an inch.
"What are you trying to do?"
They asked.
"I'm going to have you dig mines for me, of course."
Galos grinned.
"Says who!"
The two hatchlings refused fiercely, now finally realizing that when Galos mentioned 'mine slaves' earlier, he had actually meant them.
"Because I'm stronger than you both, that's why."
Before the words were fully out, Galos lunged at Brother Long and Red Dragon Sister.
Boom!
With a giant dragon tackle, he smashed into Iron Dragon Brother head-on.
As their Dragon Scales collided, sparks flew everywhere. Galos's Scale Armor was solid, not losing a single plate, but Iron Dragon Brother's scales cracked and flew off in chunks, the whole dragon crashing against the metallic cave wall with a heavy thud.
Red Dragon Sister had just reacted—
Galos twisted his waist and spun, his thick, blade-scaled tail slicing through the air with a piercing shriek.
Boom!
The Dragon Tail, packed with power, whipped across Red Dragon Sister's shoulder, instantly tearing through a layer of her scales and sending her flying like a broken sack.
"If you won't listen, I'll just beat you until you do."
Galos lifted his chin, looking down at the two hatchlings he had just knocked down.
"Damn you, Galos! We'll show you what we're made of!"
The two hatchlings' ferocity was sparked, and their tough bodies meant that—despite Galos's beating—they acted like nothing had happened.
With a roar,
The two hatchlings, a year younger than Galos, split left and right to pounce at him.
With a year's age gap, it was usually hard to take on two at once.
But—
Red Dragon Sister and Iron Dragon Brother weren't like Galos. They never bothered to train; like most hatchlings, they figured slow and steady growth would eventually make them overlords, so they lazed about and neglected exercise.
But Galos—
Ever since he realized the Dragon Race wasn't the absolute ruler, and that this world was actually full of dangers, he started training himself in earnest.
"Hey, let's teach you two a lesson you'll remember."
Galos rolled his neck and charged toward the two hatchlings.
Bang bang bang!
The sounds of heavy, flesh-on-flesh collisions echoed nonstop.
After only three minutes,
The two hatchlings were sprawled on the ground belly-up, looking knocked out, bodies covered in the marks of Galos's assault. Their faces were missing swatches of dragon scales, they'd lost a few teeth, and even their Dragon Horns were bent.
As for Galos, he hadn't lost a single scale.
Apart from collecting some dust, the worst he got was a bite on the forearm from Red Dragon Sister, but since Galos's Scale Armor was especially thick and hard, Red Dragon Sister's teeth just ached from the effort. She barely managed to bite through his armor, left a row of small teeth marks, but not a drop of blood seeped out.
Under the scales was a layer of dragon hide.
Red Dragon Sister hadn't even reached the hide before Galos yanked her away by the Dragon Horn and landed another beating.
"My dear Galos, looking forward to seeing how you do next."
The Iron Dragon Lady snapped her tail with a crisp sound, signaling her satisfaction with Galos's performance.
In truth,
she had always admired Galos. This Mixed-blood Dragon was naturally more gifted than normal dragons, and was especially committed and relentless in seeking power, showing real potential to become a great Evil Dragon.
Admire him all she wanted—
the Iron Dragon Lady still didn't want to feed Galos for nothing.
But now that Galos was trading treasures for food and shelter, the Iron Dragon Lady was quite happy to watch his steady growth.
As for the two beat-up hatchlings—
The Iron Dragon Lady felt no pity; she thought they ought to reflect on their own shortcomings.
"Thank you for your concern, Mother."
Galos replied, then grabbed the tails of Red Dragon Sister and Iron Dragon Brother, dragging them both out of the Iron Dragon Lady's lair.
The two hatchlings were knocked out cold by Galos, heavy as lead.
Hauling their tails, he flew to the lake at the center of the sinkhole and tossed them in.
Splash! Splash!
Sparks of water splattered everywhere, glittering in the moonlight.
Galos circled in midair, flapping his wings, watching the lake below.
After barely a dozen seconds, two figures shot out of the water as if their tails were on fire, heading in different directions, both trying to escape Galos.
Galos flapped his Dragon Wings.
In the cool moonlight, his Dragon Wings were long and wide, a wingspan of twelve meters, twice his body length. The wing membrane was tough as nails, slicing through the air with a wild roar, edges sharp as blades and glinting with a chilly, metallic sheen.
Whoosh!
The sound of Dragon Wings ripping through the air was like a shriek, harsh and piercing.
In the blink of an eye, Galos caught up with Red Dragon Sister, grabbed her tail, swung her around, and hurled her at Iron Dragon Brother, who was trying to escape the other way.
Boom!
Both hatchlings fell with a crash, smashing the ground into fragments and raising clouds of dust, fissures snaking out around them.
"Still running? I'll give you a head start of three seconds."
Galos folded up his wings and landed in front of the two hatchlings.
Red Dragon Sister and Iron Dragon Brother looked utterly dead inside, not daring to challenge Galos anymore.
Soon after, Galos took them to his usual spot for daily mountain training.
He had a sharp sense for metals and minerals, and since he visited this place often, he'd detected some metal ores here, though they were deep underground.
Pointing out the direction, Galos ordered them to start digging.
The two hatchlings dragged their feet, but under Galos's tyranny, they had no choice but to obey and began digging for real.
Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of Dragon Claws digging into rock rang out one after another.
Meanwhile, Galos repeatedly flew into the sky, then folded his wings and let his heavy body free-fall to smash into the ground, punching yet another deep pit into the earth each time.
This was an even more intense way of training than daily mountain work.
— Ground-pounding.
If you misjudged the height, it was easy to injure yourself, so Galos didn't do it often.
But after this 'expulsion' by the Iron Dragon Lady, Galos realized he'd have to face danger alone sooner or later, so he hungered more than ever to grow strong.
The two hatchlings couldn't understand Galos's weird behavior. While bitterly digging away, they comforted themselves.
Red Dragon Sister spat out a mouthful of pebbles and muttered, "Galos's brain isn't right. Sooner or later he'll cripple himself with these crashes, and then we'll be free."
Iron Dragon Brother had just shattered a hard boulder with his Dragon Horn.
He shook dust and gravel off his face, then snarled, agreeing viciously, "Not just free—when that happens, we'll force him to find ores for us, get him to dig for us!"
Thinking about the wonderful future of bullying Galos and making him mine treasures for them—
The two mining hatchlings didn't even feel tired anymore. They grinned happily, their claws digging even faster without thinking.