Translator: AnubisTL
Lead-gray clouds hung low over the Quenching Highlands like shredded cotton, as the first torrential rains of the season had been pouring down for three days and nights. Dense sheets of rain cascaded endlessly from the sky, as if the heavens themselves were emptying their watery depths.
The juvenile dragon soared through the downpour.
Raindrops struck his steel-forged body, shattering instantly against his dense dragon scales and razor-sharp spines, dissolving into fine mist that trickled through the gaps in his armor before sliding off his sharper claws and powerful, thick tail.
In terms of length, Garos measured thirteen meters from head to tail.
This was already the size of some adolescent dragons. For species like white dragons, it would take a fifty-year-old adult to reach the same length as Garos.
But length was secondary.
His massive, imposing frame far exceeded conventional notions of dragonkind's bulk and ferocity. He resembled a ferocious beast forged from steel and flame. Beside him, other thirteen-meter dragons would appear as slender as reeds, even the notoriously robust red dragons would be dwarfed into mere "thin dragons."
The thorns on Garos's body hadn't grown denser.
Some had thickened, while others had shrunk and sharpened, making him even more distinctive than in his juvenile stage.
His life grade had risen to 10, roughly equivalent to a gold dragon in its late teens or early twenties.
As long-lived, colossal beings, dragons possessed many innate advantages, but they also had a significant drawback:
—a prolonged growth period.
This seemed to be a common trait among all long-lived species, not just dragons.
Gaining one life grade through natural growth in just three years, without undergoing a long period of hibernation, was already a remarkable achievement.
If Garos could maintain this rate of progress, he would reach legendary status before adulthood.
However, such a scenario was unlikely. The higher the life grade, the more substantial its value, and the slower the advancement. Some ancient, high-level dragons took over a century to gain a single grade.
The Heavenly Comet Wings didn't surge with qi; they simply flapped, effortlessly tearing through the curtain of wind and rain.
Garos shot straight upward in a perfect line, piercing deep into the dense cloud layers.
Silver-white lightning crackled within the leaden storm clouds, the bolts like caged beasts thrashing wildly against their cloudy prison.
As the red-iron dragon entered the storm, he raised his head and roared, wings sweeping and tail lashing.
The bestial lightning seemed to sense an opening, lunging at him from all directions, eager to devour him.
Garos neither dodged nor flinched. He stood tall, chest puffed out, wings spread wide, welcoming the lightning's baptism.
The first bolt struck his dragon horn, and the entire sky seemed to shudder.
The juvenile dragon's silhouette became translucent in the electric light. For a fleeting moment, one could see the currents coursing through his veins—racing from his spine to the tip of his tail, then erupting into countless tiny sparks across his wing membranes.
He deliberately clawed at the brightest lightning serpents, letting the electricity explode between his claws.
A searing numbness surged through his body.
But then came exhilaration. The muscles beneath his scales contracted and bulged, their fibers coiling and relaxing like steel wires, unleashing power far beyond his normal limits.
Golden lightning began to seep through the gaps in Garos's scales, illuminating him from within.
First, the lightning coiled around his dragon horns, transforming their dark crimson hue into a dazzling gold. Then, it gradually spread down his spine, neck, and chest, forming a dense, shimmering mane of golden energy. Arcs of electricity danced and flowed across his limbs and tail.
Zzzzt! Zzzzt!
Violent, blinding golden lightning enveloped his entire body.
Garos's physique seemed to swell, his golden, ferocious form dwarfing his previously imposing figure.
He stretched his body amidst the storm clouds, writhing through the tempest.
With each lightning strike that pierced his dragon form, the golden electricity on Garos's body intensified, as if he had become a colossal magnet, drawing the lightning down upon himself again and again.
It was as if the lightning wasn't striking the dragon, but rather begging for the dragon's favor.
Then, with a sharp crack, fissures appeared on the juvenile dragon's scales, which began to shatter, as if he had reached some critical limit.
"Just a little more," Garos thought, carefully sensing the electric current coursing through his muscles. "I'm almost fully evolved."
The intense electrical sensation coursing through Garos's body felt like a tightly woven net, just a few more strands away from complete formation.
Once fully formed, he would no longer need to rely on thunderstorms.
Garos resisted the urge to rush the process. He withdrew from the dark clouds, still crackling with lightning, and swooped down with his wings retracted. As he descended, he gradually slowed his momentum, landing with a steady thud.
"This evolution isn't outwardly dramatic," he mused, "but it's primarily focused on the deeper muscle tissues. I can now unleash golden lightning from within my body to further stimulate my physique, enhancing all my attributes."
"For now, let's call this state the Supercharged Frenzy State."
"The only drawback is that the Frenzy State's lightning rapidly overloads my explosive scales, making it difficult to maintain both simultaneously. Still, this isn't a major issue. The Supercharged Frenzy State can be activated during critical moments."
He spread his wings in the rain, silently contemplating.
Based on his current physical condition, Garos estimated that another session of this refinement, after his body had fully recovered, would complete his evolution.
At that time, he would have another trump card.
If adventurers came to challenge Garos, they would struggle to break through his explosive scale buffer, believing victory was near. But then, with a piercing roar of electricity, his body would erupt in dense, dazzling lightning, making him even stronger than before as he entered his formidable second phase.
And if they miraculously survived Garos's second phase, when his engine-like heart thundered across the sky, he still had the Bloodburst Secret Art's third phase.
Without thorough preparation, even powerful warriors would find it nearly impossible to kill Garos. He possessed a combination of innate talents that, if found on any other dragon, would each be a massive advantage on their own.
The only drawback was that the Bloodburst Technique relied on alchemy items.
As Garos grew stronger, the Bloodburst Technique's enhancement became limited, but the side effects also diminished, reducing the strain on his body.
Garos estimated that with continued training using the Bloodburst Technique, he might eventually achieve complete adaptation and evolution, just as his initial use of the lightning tail ring had acted like a key, unlocking his Supercharged Frenzy State.
"Praise the Dragon Lord!"
"Loyalty! Devotion!"
The battle group stationed at Quenching Highlands knelt in unison, chanting praises of Garos's greatness.
Garos gestured for them to rise and resume their duties.
His gaze swept over the monster bosses, noting that their equipment shimmered with a diamond-like brilliance, clearly of extraordinary quality.
A year ago, Garos had a sudden inspiration: he placed the diamond crystal core of the diamond giant into the symbiotic pool.
This exceptionally high-quality core absorbed the essence of other minerals within the pool, continuously producing high-grade diamonds. Weapons and armor forged from these diamonds were of unparalleled quality and were used as rewards.
Garos tilted his head slightly, surveying his surroundings.
He could clearly see that the number of battle group units stationed at the Quenching Highlands had nearly doubled.
And it wasn't just the Quenching Highlands.
The guard numbers had increased at all Ironforged Clan territories—pastures, mines, outposts, and more.
Over the past three years, the Ironforged Clan had grown rapidly. Through various means of assimilation and conquest, they had united nearly all the monster clans scattered around the Scaly Earth Rift Road.
And this was just the beginning.
While ogres had a slightly longer maturation period, creatures like Hyena-Men, kobolds, and lizardfolk typically reached adulthood by age nine or ten. Moreover, they often produced litters of five or six, sometimes even more than ten offspring at a time.
Thanks to established trade routes with merchant caravans, the demand for minerals and biological resources far outstripped supply.
The Ironforged Clan lacked nothing in terms of food.
Over the past three years, the population of newborn citizens had exploded. Influenced by various factors, these new citizens held Garos in profound reverence and admiration.
Barring unforeseen circumstances,
in a few more years, once this generation of citizens matured, the Ironforged Clan's scale would expand even further.
(End of the Chapter)
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