Translator: AnubisTL
After seven days of torrential rain, the downpour gradually subsided, condensing into fine silver threads. The coniferous forest, saturated with misty moisture, glistened with diamond-like raindrops clinging to each dark green pine needle.
Samantha lay sprawled in her cave, her body resting on a bed of stacked crystal coins. The coins were sorted into five colors: white, black, green, blue, and red.
"Oh, I don't hate the rainy season so much anymore," she murmured, rolling over to savor the exquisite sensation of her scales rubbing against the crystal coins. The gentle patter of rain filled her ears, filling her with contentment.
In the past, whenever the rainy season arrived, Samantha would huddle in her impoverished lair, cursing the damp, gloomy weather.
Now, everything was different.
The crystal coins beneath her were her wealth.
Following the chromatic dragon hierarchy, white crystal coins were the lowest tier, followed by black, green, and blue. Red crystal coins, matching Samantha's own color, were the most precious.
As the sole great dragon alchemist of the Ironforged Clan, and entrusted with the crucial task of minting crystal coins, Samantha earned a substantial income, making her wealthy.
Samantha gradually began to enjoy lying on her hoard of treasure, watching and listening to the rain, and drifting off to sleep to its rhythm.
After a while, she grew drowsy and was about to fall asleep.
Boom! A sound like a roaring engine startled her awake.
"That annoying Garos," she muttered.
The sound wasn't the engine of an alchemy golem, but Garos's heartbeat—more precisely, the thumping of his heart after using the Bloodburst Technique.
As time passed, the booming gradually subsided.
Samantha blinked, yawned, burrowed deeper into the treasure pile, and settled into a comfortable position, ready to doze off again.
Zzzt!
A thunderous crackle, like ten thousand lightning bolts striking simultaneously, jolted her awake once more, banishing all sleepiness.
"Ah, that blasted Garos!"
She crawled out of her cave and flew toward Garos, intending to voice her displeasure at being disturbed.
However, when she saw his figure wreathed in golden lightning—wild, ferocious, and powerfully built—her anger instantly vanished.
This form was simply too overwhelming, even for a metallic dragon to resist.
Without disturbing Garos, Samantha flew back to the cave and fell sound asleep, lulled by the sounds of wind, rain, and thunder.
Some time later, Garos finished his training and removed the heavy armor he had been wearing.
Yes, he possessed a suit of armor.
Crude, primitive, and somewhat shoddily made, its only redeeming quality was its sheer weight.
This armor had been specially crafted for Garos by a red dragon sorcerer after carefully considering his physique. Forged from high-density, heavy metallic ore, a single suit of this armor weighed nearly enough to crush a white dragon of Garos's size.
He didn't wear it for defense, but primarily to enhance the effectiveness of his training through added weight.
In recent days, Garos had frequently used the Bloodburst Technique and frenzy state. By pushing himself to these extreme states while wearing the heavy armor, he suppressed his body, forcing it to adapt and grow stronger.
The evolution of his frenzy state had been a gradual, natural process.
During training, he hadn't noticed any particular sensations.
But now, with his increasingly frequent use of the Bloodburst Technique, he felt his heart beating with ever-greater force. It seemed his heart was undergoing some kind of evolution, and it had only just begun.
Garos placed a clawed hand over his chest.
Even through the thick scales and muscle, he could faintly feel the powerful, rhythmic thumping of his heart within.
I wonder if I can complete my evolution before I turn twenty-five, he mused.
If he could evolve a bloodburst state perfectly suited to his body, its effects would undoubtedly surpass the Bloodburst Technique he currently relied on alchemy items to perform, granting him a third stage beyond the frenzy state.
The frenzy state was anaerobic, but the bloodburst state would be a desperate gamble, pushing him to the brink of death. Yet the resulting power boost would be immense.
Still, Garos wasn't obsessively pursuing the bloodburst state evolution. He was simply training in that direction, letting nature take its course.
There was no doubt that activating the bloodburst state would consume far more energy.
Before awakening his dragon qi, evolving the bloodburst state would likely render it unusable under normal circumstances, reserved only for final, desperate gambles in life-or-death situations.
Another noteworthy development:
Garos's thorns, subjected to constant cycles of breakage and regeneration through prolonged combat and daily training, were now undergoing a form of adaptive evolution.
Garos noticed that the growth rate of his thorns had recently accelerated dramatically.
During his battle with the frost behemoth, many of Garos's thorns had shattered. Yet within a single day, they had regrown completely.
Moreover, the regrowth wasn't limited to the original locations.
Sharp thorns were now sprouting in areas where they had never existed before—his neck, back, chest, elbows, shoulders, and tail. In places where thorns already grew, they had become denser, sharper, and tougher, with regeneration capabilities far surpassing those of ordinary red dragon thorns.
Garos tested their effectiveness on ferocious beasts. A mere graze left the creatures mangled and bleeding.
As the thorns grew denser and sharper, his appearance became even more distinctive and menacing, driving him further down the path of an evil dragon.
"These thorns will likely complete their evolution faster than my dragon heart."
"I hope they'll demonstrate formidable power when the time comes."
Garos felt both joy and anticipation at this prospect.
He no longer cared about becoming more conspicuous.
His years of living in the wilderness had subtly altered his perspective.
As long as he could grow stronger, looking like an evil dragon didn't matter. If immense benefits were at stake, Garos wouldn't hesitate to play the part.
Gathering his focus, Garos began sharpening his dragon wings.
Screech! He pressed his wings downward, dragging them across a massive metal block resembling both an anvil and a whetstone, sending red-hot sparks flying.
A good blade requires regular sharpening.
The same held true for Garos's dragon wings. The razor-sharp wing bones grew even sharper with each honing, their cold light gleaming with a chilling intensity.
A few minutes later, Garos abruptly stopped.
He retrieved a message stone from beneath his scales. The report from werewolf sorcerer Frostfang crackled through:
"Nick's Caravan has arrived at Scaly Earth Rift Road, braving the drizzle with a shipment of goods."
These days, not even torrential rain could halt the merchants' progress.
The Ironforged Clan regularly cleared the trade routes of ferocious beasts and demonic creatures, making Scaly Earth Rift Road exceptionally safe.
While the Lothurn Federation's trade route guards also performed similar duties, the vastness of the trade routes and the sheer number of branch roads made it difficult for them to maintain security across all routes simultaneously.
In most cases, the garrison troops would only intervene swiftly and conduct a thorough sweep after a major incident, such as a severe attack or sabotage, occurred on a particular road.
Furthermore, the intelligent creatures of the Ironforged Clan had ceased their raiding and slaughter.
Merchant caravans traveling the Scaly Earth Rift Road no longer needed to fear for their safety and could even trade with the Ironforged Clan, obtaining high-quality ores and biological materials.
Some merchants speculated that a lord had likely unified and disciplined the monsters in the area, leading to the current state of affairs.
This lord remained hidden behind the scenes, never revealing themselves publicly.
However, few merchants bothered to investigate further.
As long as they could profit, they cared little about the underlying circumstances.
As for the few merchants who attempted to pry into the situation, they vanished without a trace into the vast wilderness.
Overall, the number of merchant caravans traveling the Scaly Earth Rift Road had doubled.
Among these, only a small fraction were completely controlled caravans; the vast majority were independent caravans engaging in normal trade with the Ironforged Clan.
Among the merchant caravans deeply tied to the Ironforged Clan, Nick's Caravan had grown the fastest and was now the largest.
Each time it arrived, it brought Garos exactly what he needed and desired.
"Inquire about the Permafrost Tundra from the caravan."
"Nick might not know the details himself, but with a merchant's network, he can gather information more quickly."
"Besides, I have enough black oil for now. Samantha's armor is cumbersome and still not heavy enough. I need an alchemy item that can enhance my own gravity."
Something like the gravity-enhancing spell the stone giant used.
Adapted for different environments, it would greatly aid Garos' daily training.
(End of the Chapter)
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