Chapter 8: The Hunt

The red moon hung high in the night sky.

Pale red moonlight shone upon the forest.

Lai Ang hid in a patch of shrubbery, looking ahead at the wild ox drinking water by the swamp's edge.

A flicker of excitement passed through its yellowish vertical pupils.

This was the first time leaving the Dragon Nest to hunt, and Lai Ang naturally felt excited.

Lai Ang glanced toward the Dragon Nest; it knew that the Dragon Mother Xi Er Wa Na Si was watching their actions from afar.

Yes, them.

All three brothers had come out; Ai Di and Sai Jia, the two young dragons, lay in ambush ahead to prevent the wild ox from escaping.

'Small Water Ball Technique!'

A dainty blue water ball no larger than a fist condensed in an instant, and under Lai Ang's mental control, it shot forth to strike the wild ox at the swamp's edge.

The max-level tenth-rank attack trick exploded with a boom on the wild ox's hind leg, flesh and blood flying apart to reveal stark white bone.

The wild ox, about four meters long, only then felt excruciating pain in its hind thigh; its body went limp, and it raised its head to let out a huge mournful cry.

'Not bad power.' Lai Ang looked at the damage caused by the max-level Small Water Ball Technique, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his dragon eyes.

The level-ten Small Water Ball Technique had only been tested for power on the Dragon Nest's rock wall; its actual effect on living beings had not yet been tried.

Now it seems this spell's power can indeed inflict considerable damage on a second-rank beast.

Lai Ang stepped out from his hiding place in the thicket, no longer hiding.

The wild ox had been crippled in one hind leg, obviously unable to run.

In that case, it was natural to properly test one's close-combat ability.

With a mental command, in less than a second, the max-level tenth-rank Zero Ring Trick 'Weak Force Amplification' was already bolstered upon the dragon's body.

Lai Ang felt the potent strength coursing through his muscles beneath the dragon scales, and he revealed a cruel smile toward the panicked wild ox before him.

With a swish, the black hatchling dragon turned into a blur, swiftly crossing eight or nine meters; its slightly sharp dragon claw came down hard upon the wild ox's large eye.

Yet this wild ox, whose flesh had been nourished by the elements, remained extremely sensitive to danger; even with its hind leg severely wounded and its agility greatly impaired, it still lowered its head in panic, pointing its skyward horns at the incoming dragon claw.

Clang! Like the clash of metal blades, sparks seemed to fly faintly, emitting an earsplitting sound.

Lai Ang recoiled several meters, slightly distancing himself from the wild ox.

It glanced at its somewhat worn sharp dragon claw, then at the deep gouges on the wild ox's thick horns; its dragon eyes grew calm.

'After all, it's still a hatchling dragon—whether scales or claws, they haven't fully developed; toughness, hardness, and various resistances are still too poor.'

Nevertheless, although aware of this, Lai Ang's next move still chose to meet force with force.

However, the refined but meager Black Water Fighting Qi within his body had been entirely channeled onto his right claw.

The dragon claw traced a black afterimage, its speed and power both increased by a third compared to before.

Even though the wounded wild ox sensed the approaching danger, it could do nothing more than strain to point its horns at the incoming dragon claw.

But the wild ox didn't know that Lai Ang had never intended to go around those horns; he simply wanted to test his own strength right then.

'Die!' A fierce gleam flashed in Lai Ang's dragon eyes as his dragon claw came down hard upon the thick horns.

This time there was no metallic clang, only a dull puff sound as the dragon claw sliced through the impossibly hard horn, also splitting open a small half of the wild ox's skull.

The dying wild ox, heedless of everything, tried to gore the black monster before it with its other intact horn, but the latter merely withdrew its dragon claw from the opponent's skull, shifted slightly left, and evaded this death‑thrust counter.

Pfft.

At some point, the dragon claw pierced deep into the wild ox's large eye, entering the brain matter.

Stirring.

The black giant ox, about four meters long, finally lost all life and crashed down at the swamp's edge. Lai Ang stood beside the huge wild ox's carcass, breathing slightly; though killing this ox had seemed easy, he had expended his utmost effort, and in such battle his stamina was greatly depleted.

But after all, he was a giant dragon of extraordinary constitution; after a brief catch of breath, his strength returned a little.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Two black shadows, like leopards, shot out from the thicket ahead.

In the pale red moonlight, the figures of the two young dragons, Ai Di and Sai Jia, became visible.

Ai Di looked at the wild ox lying dead on the ground, and said admiringly,

'As expected of big brother Lai Ang, you easily slew that second‑rank wild ox.'

Had Lai Ang not been mentally strong, noticing the flash of jealousy in Ai Di's dragon eyes through Observation, he would truly have thought this younger brother was offering sincere praise.

'This guy.' Lai Ang sighed in his heart.

However, Lai Ang never intended to change the two young dragons' nature.

'He himself is so weak now—what could he possibly manage elsewhere?' 'Lai Ang, you've grown stronger again.'

Beside them, Sai Jia, who stood half a head taller than Ai Di, gazed at the wild ox's corpse, his expression turning solemn.

In his dragon eyes flickered a blazing battle lust and a chasing urge.

Lai Ang glanced at the youngest dragon brother, said nothing, merely pointed at the wild ox's corpse, then slowly walked back to the Dragon Nest.

Behind him, the two young dragons exchanged a glance, could only helplessly lift the wild ox's corpse, and followed with some difficulty behind the elder brother.

Several kilometers away, deep within a swamp covering only tens of thousands of square meters, inside the Dragon Nest, the gigantic black dragon silently ended its Observation Technique and continued to slumber.

And such small swamps are commonplace in this Gloomy Swamp Forest, utterly unremarkable.

After the three young dragons had carried out a successful hunt once, the Dragon Mother stopped bringing back prey from outside.

Each time she awoke from slumber and went out to hunt, she concerned herself only with eating her fill.

After eating her fill, she would sleep.

It seemed as if she had completely disregarded the three young dragons.

At least in the eyes of Ai Di and Sai Jia, that was the case.

But in Lai Ang's eyes, he knew this was because the Dragon Mother trusted in his strength as the eldest son.

Furthermore, this is also a form of training.

Young dragons are destined to spread their wings and soar; learning to hone their claws and fangs in hunting to make them sharper is merely the first step.

Lai Ang accepted this choice, and it was actually happy to do so.

After all, life in the dragon's nest is truly too dull; one must find some fun to relieve stress.

Usually, Lai Ang relieved stress through its two younger brothers, but now it has switched to hunting.

In hunting, Lai Ang did not choose to go it alone; it also lets Ai Di and Sai Jia participate in the process of fighting the prey.

At first, the two young dragons were quite clumsy; the most dangerous moment was when Ai Di almost had its body pierced through by a wild ox's horns, but fortunately, Lai Ang, who had prepared in advance, launched a max-level Small Water Ball Technique at the ox's foreleg, injuring it and knocking it down.

Otherwise, Ai Di would likely be in danger.

After that battle ended, Ai Di, feeling a little shy, thanked Lai Ang, its elder brother who had saved its life.

Lai Ang felt that Ai Di finally showed a bit of sincerity this time.

It was not for nothing that it rescued it from under the ox's horns.

(End of chapter)