Chapter 34: with translation of chapter title

The success of the magic fusion experiment made Lai Ang quite pleased.

The zero-ring trick "Water Ball Technique," which was about to be eliminated, has now regained brilliance in a completely new form.

Lai Ang personally tested the power of the Water Magic Cannon.

After chanting for over ten seconds, a blue water sphere slightly larger than a head condensed before it.

Appearance-wise, it seemed merely an enlarged version of the Water Ball Technique.

But Lai Ang clearly felt the magical power contained in that blue sphere, far surpassing a max-level Water Ball Technique.

With a thought from Lai Ang, the azure sphere hovering in midair suddenly burst forth with an inexplicable thrust, as if a meteor slammed into the wall of the dragon nest chamber.

Boom—Bang! The water sphere did not explode; instead, like a heavy meteorite, it crushed and blasted the wall, creating a ten‑centimeter‑deep dent, then slowly dissipated as elemental energy into the air.

The dragon nest chamber is engraved with an alchemical array, so both physical destruction and magic damage are greatly reduced inside; this also prevents a careless dragon from inflicting excessive damage on the dragon fort.

"Leaving a ten‑centimeter‑deep dent in this chamber's wall—if it struck ordinary marble, it would likely pierce at least one meter deep." Lai Ang felt a shock at the Water Magic Cannon's power.

Even if a dragon's scales have magic resistance, a single hit would likely severely wound a juvenile dragon of Second Rank dragonkind.

Without magic resistance, an ordinary Second‑Rank creature would probably be killed instantly by one shot.

"A first‑rank magic damage increase trait boosts power roughly equivalent to raising the level by one." Combining the Water Magic Cannon's performance just seen, Lai Ang made a rough estimate.

In other words, the current level‑zero Water Magic Cannon, thanks to the trait bonus, already matches the power of a level‑one version.

Once the Water Magic Cannon is raised to max level ten, adding this first‑rank magic damage increase trait makes it effectively level eleven.

Moreover, a first‑rank casting speed increase trait reduces the Water Magic Cannon's original near‑twenty‑second cast time to just over ten seconds.

"If we level the Water Magic Cannon to ten via idle training, it could fire in less than a second." Thinking this, Lai Ang felt his heart flutter.

The power of a max‑level second‑ring Water Magic Cannon might not fall short of an ordinary third‑ring attack spell.

It could greatly boost Lai Ang's current strength.

Idle training to raise the Water Magic Cannon by one level takes fifty days; reaching level ten requires five hundred days.

Raising the Black Water Battle Qi by one level now needs one hundred fifty days.

"The Black Water Battle Qi has already reached Third Rank; further enhancements will only improve control and quantity, not the quality of the qi, so the accompanying bodily nourishment will not increase much either."

After weighing the options, Lai Ang made a decision.

First, let the Water Magic Cannon idle‑train to max level, then we'll see.

Without the emergence of the magic fusion feature, Lai Ang would not have had this idea.

But now that the magic fusion feature exists, Lai Ang need not worry that the Water Magic Cannon will be eliminated as his strength grows.

As long as he finds a higher‑level magic that synergizes with the Water Magic Cannon, fusing them will let the cannon shine anew in another way.

Just like the trick Water Ball Technique.

Two months later.

The third dragon fort ranking battle arrived.

Lai Ang noticed that the hybrid juvenile dragon Kremer was absent this time; upon inquiry, he learned Kremer had graduated and left the academy several days prior.

This also indicates that Kremer has entered the juvenile dragon stage.

According to Emerald Academy's rules, juvenile dragons cannot continue to mooch food and drink at the academy; they face two choices.

First, remain in the Emerald Dream, regularly completing some tasks to enjoy various decent benefits.

Second, be assigned a plot of land, then bring along any giant dragons and retinue willing to follow you to that land.

Some lands have already been reclaimed and built into cities with monster inhabitants, requiring only garrisoning; others are still wilderness, needing development from scratch.

The two options essentially distinguish solitary dragons from lord dragons; each has its own advantages.

The hybrid juvenile dragon "Kremer" chose the latter, becoming a lord dragon.

Lai Ang was not surprised either; after all, dragons with greater ambitions tend to become lord dragons.

The Emerald Dream's cultivation policy also clearly favors lord dragons.

In the third ranking battle, the remaining dragon forts competed fiercely.

The dragon fort leaders fought as if on stimulants, sending scales and blood flying.

They all vied for the position left vacant after Kremer's departure.

The strongest dragon will receive the academy's top‑tier resource allocation.

Amid the brutal competition among many dragon forts, the Black Dragon Fort appeared unremarkable, as if deliberately yielding.

However, since the juvenile dragons were fighting fiercely, no one noticed the Black Dragon Fort's behavior—or if they did, they didn't care.

Strength is respected. Even with Lai Ang's addition, the Black Dragon Fort's strength still seemed ordinary in the eyes of the Red Dragon Fort, Blue Dragon Fort, and several powerful hybrid dragon forts.

For example, the strongest Red Dragon Fort now has more than seven juvenile dragons; red dragons at the juvenile stage can reach Third Rank dragonkind, meaning the Red Dragon Fort alone possesses seven Third‑Rank dragons.

The Red Dragon Fort's leader is over six meters long, nearing seven meters, and is about to enter Fourth Rank.

Lai Ang currently lacks confidence to defeat those several near‑Fourth‑Rank powerful juveniles, including the Red Dragon Fort's leader; after all, their dragon ages are at least nine years, with the larger ones nearing graduation.

Meanwhile, Lai Ang's dragon age is only two and a half years.

It is waiting—for an opportunity, namely when the Water Magic Cannon reaches max level, then to sweep all dragon fort leaders in one fell swoop.

To ascend the throne of the dragon king.

"Your Highness, Diuges has arrived."

The gnoll head maid chief "Pestoya" knocked on the dragon nest's door, reporting the news.

"Let it in." The black dragon, lying on monster fur, pushed up its body with its forepaws and gazed toward the door.

A sturdy 2.2‑meter figure strode in from outside, gray dragon scales, a draconic head, and smooth musculature.

This was precisely the monster student Lai Ang had subdued a year ago—the Gray‑Scale Dragon‑Person "Diuges."

"Master, Diuges has followed orders and today, one year later, comes to the dragon fort to pay respects to you." The tall dragon‑person halted a few meters above the dragon nest floor, half‑kneeling and speaking in a deep voice.

Lai Ang sized up this dragon‑person retainer he hadn't seen in a year.

In appearance, whether the scales on its body or the shape of its skull, compared to a year ago, it has become much more like a dragon.

Or rather, it has become closer to Lai Ang.

After all, the dragon blood it obtained came from Lai Ang.

"It seems you haven't slackened over this past year." The black dragon nodded in satisfaction.

As the master, at such close range, Lai Ang felt the restrained yet powerful strength emanating from Diwugesi's body.

Although still at the peak of Third Rank, its aura is at least several times stronger than a year ago! The dragon clan covenant granted the other party pure dragon vein power, thereby broadening its own fundamental limit.

If we say the original Diwugesi was merely a "medium-sized iron barrel," having reached the limit of the gray-scaled dragonfolk race within Third Rank, any further increase in strength could only come from breaking through to a higher rank.

So now, it is at least a "large-sized refined iron barrel" that has been hammered many times over; although its rank hasn't risen, the upper limit of that rank itself has been broken, increasing it by a large margin.

(End of chapter)