Translator: AnubisTL
As the darkness retreated like a receding tide, Garos's first sensation was the oppressive proximity of the cave walls.
The cavern, once spacious enough for him to turn around in, now felt cramped and claustrophobic, barely allowing him to unfurl his wings.
This final dragon sleep of his adolescence had triggered a dramatic surge in his size.
"How long did I sleep this time? My body seems to have grown significantly."
The red-iron dragon braced himself on his claws and slowly rose, feeling his dorsal spines nearly brush against the cave ceiling.
Long-lived races typically have a dulled sense of time, so he couldn't pinpoint the duration of his slumber.
However, the changes in his physique suggested it had far exceeded the normal limits of adolescent dragon sleep, likely stretching into his early twenties.
"I'm starving."
A burning hunger gnawed at Garos's stomach.
During his deep sleep, he had consumed a massive quantity of food, stretching his belly to its limits.
But that wasn't enough to sustain him through such an extended slumber, especially considering the energy required for his adaptive evolution.
Garos ran a hand over his body.
His thick bones jutted out sharply, the muscles clinging tightly to his frame, appearing somewhat withered.
"My current appearance probably resembles a black dragon—a sight to behold in its wretchedness."
Hum— The space ring embedded in his teeth emitted a hazy glow. With a ripple like water, a barrel of 95 Black Oil materialized in the red-iron dragon's mouth.
This had been prepared in advance for his battle with Chieftain Bloodhoof, but it had never been used.
Now, it would serve perfectly as an energy supplement upon awakening.
Crunch! He chewed through the iron barrel and swallowed it whole.
The entire barrel of 95 Black Oil surged through his gut like raging flames, yet this time, instead of discomfort, Garos felt himself gradually filling up.
It wasn't just a sensation.
As his withered body absorbed the energy, it visibly swelled, returning to its proper form.
Still, his stomach remained hollow.
He needed real food—nutritious sustenance—not just a single-source 'energy supplement' like black oil.
He took a heavy step forward.
Garos crawled out of the narrow slumbering cave, each step causing the cavern to tremble as if on the verge of collapse.
Meanwhile, Deborah, the Red-Silver Dragon guarding Dragon Valley, suddenly raised her neck scales.
She had been perched on a cliff face, sharpening her claws, when she felt a tremor from the slumbering grounds that made her dragon blood boil.
Spreading her wings, she soared toward the source of the disturbance.
Boom!
The camouflaged rock layer shattered like an eggshell, and the twin moons' light cascaded down.
A dark silhouette surged skyward against the silver radiance, the thunderous crack of its wings tearing through the air like a storm's first roar.
The Red-Silver Dragon froze momentarily, her irises reflecting the colossal figure of an unfamiliar dragon.
The red-iron dragon had swelled to sixteen meters in height, its length now rivaling that of a nearly mature white dragon.
Its knotted muscles made its body appear as massive as two red dragons standing side by side, its savage presence overwhelming the observer's senses with an indescribable sense of oppression.
Those limbs, forged from steel and iron, possessed a strange, brutal beauty. Its neck was thicker than the waist of a mature white dragon, and its arms seemed capable of shattering mountains.
Each thorn spike on its body resembled a drawn longsword.
Under the moonlight, the dragon's scales shimmered with a cold, menacing radiance, radiating an aura of extreme danger and awe.
His wingspan was extraordinarily vast, stretching nearly forty meters when fully extended—far exceeding the proportions of typical dragonkind. They blotted out the sky, casting dense shadows across the ground.
A pair of dragon horns curved skyward, their bases thick and rugged, their tips sharp enough to pierce the heavens, their arcs perfectly symmetrical. These were both magnificent features and lethal weapons. Nestled close to the primary horns, several pairs of newly formed secondary horns bulged forth, clustering around them like a crown.
The most striking transformation, however, lay in his scales.
Originally dull, grayish-black with faint, scorched-red edges on his explosive scales, they had undergone a dramatic metamorphosis. The scales now resembled the night sky—a deep, abyssal black, the scorched-red edges completely vanished.
In their place, shimmering silver borders now traced each scale, moonlight flowing across them like a layer of mithril plating.
Majestic and ferocious.
Sacred and resplendent.
These contradictory yet harmonious traits converged upon him, lending him an extraordinary presence even in his natural state.
Whether to evil dragons or benevolent ones, he possessed a fatal allure.
"Garos?"
The red-silver dragon gazed at the massive dragon bathed in moonlight, her dragon language carrying a faint tremor.
She sensed danger emanating from the red-iron dragon, yet she found herself drawn closer, like a moth to a flame, or a dancer pirouetting on a tightrope, testing the edge of peril.
"It's me," Garos replied, unaware of the red-silver dragon's inner turmoil.
He noticed that the red-silver dragon had grown larger in the past decade, though her appearance remained largely unchanged. Her Dragon's Ridge now curved more gracefully, and the luster of her silver scales had become finer and more crystalline.
"How long have I been asleep?" Garos asked.
"A full ten years."
Ten years? That was indeed beyond the maximum duration of a juvenile dragon's sleep.
While such a span was relatively short for dragonkind, it was long enough for significant changes to occur.
Have there been any major developments in the outside world? Garos wondered.
The red-silver dragon blinked and murmured, "You... you look much more magnificent than before."
The mithril-like edges of Garos's scales added a regal splendor to his appearance, softening his fierce, imposing aura. To the metallic dragon, his current form was now even more distinctive and alluring than before.
"Really? I haven't had a good look at myself yet."
After a brief reply, Garos didn't wait for the red-silver dragon to approach.
He spread his wings and soared into the night sky, observing his current form while quietly sensing the changes within him.
Life Grade: 14.
This was the expected level for a gold dragon over fifty years old.
Garos was exactly thirty years old.
For humans, this age marked the prime of life.
But for dragons, it was merely the adolescent stage between youth and adulthood, still a long way from full maturity.
However.
Though his age was adolescent, his life grade and physical size already surpassed his age group, completely reaching the level of a young adult dragon.
And this was even when compared to High-Tier Dragonkind like red dragons and gold dragons.
Compared to white dragons, he had even surpassed the mature dragon level.
He had also awakened several quasi-spell skills.
One was scorching metal, derived from his iron dragon bloodline.
—This skill could make a specified metal object scorching hot, burning anyone who touched or wore it.
Another was blazing curse, derived from his red dragon bloodline.
—This curse doubled the fire-type damage inflicted on the target for the duration of the curse.
These two skills were undoubtedly synergistic.
Additionally, Garos's martial combat level had risen to Level 3.
During his slumber, Garos had already reached Level 2. Yet, a decade of hibernation only advanced him by one level.
This modest improvement was perfectly normal, as martial combat level advancement primarily relies on rigorous training and combat experience, not sleep.
His internal dragon qi content had increased to thirty percent.
Beyond claw strike mastery, Garos had also mastered tail strike mastery and acquired two new martial dragon skills: reflexive evasion and reflex dodge.
Tail strike mastery, like claw strike mastery, was a passive ability that elevated Garos's mastery of his dragon tail to unprecedented heights. Reflexive evasion, however, required dragon qi and temporarily enhanced his reaction speed.
Martial dragons also possess ranged elemental attack skills, but these require advanced levels to master.
For now, Garos was increasingly focused on close-quarters combat, lacking effective ranged options beyond his dragon breath. His most potent ranged attack remained the Spherical Flame Lightning Dragon Breath.
However, this wasn't a significant drawback.
His exceptional speed and agility allowed him to effortlessly close the distance to his targets, crushing enemies in his favored close-combat domain.
(End of the Chapter)
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