Today was a beautiful sunny day, and the temperature on the grasslands remained in a warm range under the soft afternoon sun, causing many animals living there to become active.
Irrigated by ample rainfall, the grasslands were crisscrossed with numerous rivers, and a depression had formed in the low-lying areas.
At this time, many fat hippos emerged from the riverbed, walking into this water park to frolic.
Many animals coming to drink were not afraid of these seemingly massive hippos, standing peacefully to one side to drink their fill.
They had to hurry and replenish their water, because hippos were essentially poop-making machines; this rare, safe, and clean water source would soon be made murky and foul by the numerous hippos, and drinking it then would lead to illness.
The silhouettes of the Young Dragons were cast upon the earth by the sunlight, the shadow of the gathered Dragon covering a large area of the grasslands.
The shadow quickly swept over the animals drinking with their heads bowed, for the Dragon would not hunt near water sources.
The Young Dragons pursued their prey, soon diving down alongside Kalon.
White Dragon Gemot trailed at the very back of the Dragon; he was the most timid among the Young Dragons, always preferring to hide at the rear, even when facing prey that could not resist.
It had become very easy for the Young Dragons to hunt for food now; a group of Young Dragons was the unquestionable overlord of the grasslands, especially under the leadership of the strong Red Dragon, these Young Dragons easily became more aggressive.
Soon, several White-headed Bison were captured by the young Dragons, but the Young Dragons did not stop to eat on the spot; they carried their prey and flew to a place not far from the Dragon Nest Mountains before landing again.
This place was where the Dragon fed; it wasn't that these Young Dragons before them had some strange sense of ritual, but rather that this place was special for the Dragon—or more accurately, special for Kalon.
They fed here only to leave more of the Great Dragon's scent in this place.
White Dragon Germott, who suddenly wanted a change of flavor, took the initiative to help de-fur and gut Kalon's prey in exchange for the Red Dragon's Dragonfire.
The Red Dragon controlled his violent Dragonfire, making it gentle; this undoubtedly served to train the Red Dragon's ability to control flames.
The softened flames wrapped around and licked the bison's body, slowly roasting it until it was charred and fragrant, leaving only one hind leg with a large chunk of meat untouched by the fire, still raw flesh and blood.
But Germott was not surprised, because all the Young Dragons knew that Kalon was going to take the 'processing fee' he had collected to feed his little pet.
Kalon held the bison leg, which still had traces of blood, in his mouth and walked toward a spot not far from where the Young Dragons were feeding.
There stood a green banyan tree growing alone on the grasslands; its dense canopy provided excellent shade from the sometimes overly fierce grassland sun.
Normally, such a place would belong to powerful beast groups or a specific ferocious animal. On the contrary, the one occupying this place was merely a female leopard that wasn't particularly strong even among ordinary beasts.
This female leopard was clearly advanced in years and now appeared somewhat aged.
As she lay under the tree, her drooping jowls made her look like a toothless old cat, and her once bright eyes had begun to grow cloudy.
Yet, seeing Kalon approach, this female leopard did not run away; instead, she moved her no-longer-agile body and slowly walked up to Kalon, rubbed aginst the Red Dragon's forelimb, and then lay down to expose her pale belly in a sign of submission and obedience.
Kalon gently placed the bison leg he was carrying on the ground, signaling that the female leopard could eat at will. The female leopard scrambled up and, with a purring sound, began to enjoy her delicious meal.
Anna was the name Kalon had given to this female leopard, and Anna had grown up under Kalon's gaze.
The Red Dragon had always had a great fondness for these big cats with beautiful fur; he had been watching this creature ever since he discovered it had entered his territory.
Anna's family seemed to be outliers among wild beasts, starting from Anna's mother. This family of leopards seemed to possess abundant emotions far exceeding those of ordinary beasts.
Generally, a mother leopard will drive her offspring out of her territory after they have grown up, and the same is true for those solitary Great Dragons.
But Anna's mother left alone after raising Anna, leaving this safe territory to her offspring.
Perhaps it was because Anna was too lazy; her mother was no longer willing to endure Anna's dependence, yet was unwilling to drive her away.
Because of her laziness, Anna, who spent all day doing nothing but sleeping soundly, hadn't even learned hunting techniques; forced to live as a solitary leopard, Anna could only begin to learn hunting skills on her own.
But many times she still went hungry and could only scavenge what other animals had left behind.
Kalon watched as if viewing a life documentary belonging to Anna, seeing the leopard Anna go from her initial clumsiness when hunting alone to later mastering superb hunting techniques.
Later, even later, Anna started being a dependent again—specifically, depending on a husband. Anna met a male leopard, and so she reverted to her lazy ways, knowing only to sleep all day.
But perhaps influenced by Anna, which stimulated its inner beast, this male leopard was also extraordinary.
It would attack and punish those beasts that offended the female leopard for Anna's sake, and it also allowed Anna to eat with it, sharing food and fathering offspring with her.
Because this male leopard was very reliable, Kalon also gave him a name: Kaopu. Unfortunately, Kaopu died.
It was only after Kaopu's death that Anna took on the responsibility of raising the cubs, but when she had raised the two cubs to adulthood, she began to depend on her young.
Her two leopard descendants also grew tired of this lazy mother leopard after reaching their peak, but they did not drive out Anna, whose strength had begun to decline; instead, like their grandmother, they left this land, and thus Anna had lived here until now.
The female leopard had never been afraid of Kalon, because in its daily life, it could always see this big fellow who was quite friendly toward it.
Kalon watched Anna as she ate slowly; this female leopard was already old. For Kalon, it was merely the transition period from Young Dragon to Young Dragon, but for this leopard, it was most of a lifetime.
The leopard, no longer strong, also found that its claws and teeth were no longer sharp, making it difficult to catch prey, so Kalon now brought a portion of his prey over every day.
At that moment, the two young leopards sleeping under the tree woke up; they ran over happily, frolicking around Kalon's feet without any inhibition.
These were the cubs Anna had fathered with another male leopard; she had once carried them in her mouth, wanting to give them to Kalon.
Perhaps Anna had also sensed Kalon's companionship and loneliness; the female leopard, about to step into death, chose to give birth to one last litter of cubs to give to Kalon.
Kalon refused; the Red Dragon gazed at the sun gradually sinking toward the horizon, thinking that he and the Dragon would rule this land for a long time, and he would also watch over and protect Anna's family for a very, very long time.
Black Dragon Rosani looked at the Red Dragon draped in the colors of dusk and asked with some confusion, "Why does Kalon love this kind of beast so much? They are weak and short-lived."
"It might be because these beasts also possess complex and abundant emotions toward family and kin, much like humans." Blue Dragon Dos wore the expression of a wise man; although using the words 'family' and 'kin' for beasts always felt a bit too anthropomorphic, the Blue Dragon felt they were very appropriate when applied to Anna.
These Young Dragons also frequently followed Kalon to watch the 'documentaries,' and several of the male Dragons had even been called over by Kalon to urinate under that big tree.
"Why does Kalon like these beasts that possess emotions?" Rosani seemed prone to getting stuck on a point; the psychology of many Great Dragons was always closer to that of beasts.
"That's obviously because Kalon also possesses complex and abundant emotions, you idiot," Red Dragon Klenaya snapped impatiently. She raised her Dragon claw high, intending that if Rosaniasked one more question, she would drop her claw onto the Black Dragon's stupid head to knock some sense into him.
Rosani shrunk his head back and muttered with some confusion, "Emotions?"