Chapter 10: Strength and Speed (Please Follow, Please Monthly Tickets)

"Slacking off and sleeping again? Get up and start mining!"

Garos descended before the two dragonets, tapping their heads with his tail to wake them.

He yawned.

The two dragonets felt they hadn't slept enough.

"My dear brother Garos, may I rest a little longer?"

They asked in weak voices.

When violent methods failed, the evil dragon remembered to play the family card.

"No."

Garos refused coldly and ruthlessly; he had given them a chance to be a good dragon brother, but these two refused to appreciate it and turned hostile to provoke him.

They chose their own path.

They wanted a cold dragon brother, so be it; Garos would grant their wish.

Hmph!

The red dragon sister snorted, reluctantly turning to walk toward the mine tunnel.

As for the Iron Dragon brother.

After hearing Garos's refusal, his mouth still curled slightly at the corner, his expression arrogant and disdainful.

He looked like he deserved a beating.

If Garos hadn't known he wasn't deliberately curling his mouth but rather that his crooked mouth and eyes from the collision hadn't healed yet, he would have struck him already.

Under Garos's gaze, the Iron Dragon brother shrank his head, then maintained the crooked-mouth dragon posture, drool dripping from his lips, stepping heavily and lightly, and followed the red dragon sister into the mine tunnel.

He looked up at the sunset clouds burning like fire.

Garos withdrew his gaze and looked down at his right arm.

On the forearm armor, there was a small patch of rock-like gray-white, the injury left by the petrification ray, where dragon scales and flesh had turned to stone.

Crack, crack!

Garos picked off the petrified dragon scales and flesh, revealing a small pit on his forearm.

Although the sensation was very slight, Garos could still feel that the flesh there was abnormal, undergoing a strange change.

Once new flesh and dragon scales grow back.

If struck by a petrification ray again, the impact would surely be weakened.

As for complete immunity, it requires massive and repeated constant adaptation; Garos does not have the conditions for that now.

The wound was small and trivial, having no effect on Garos's movements; under the blazing sunset, he began to try a new training method.

Hoo!

He slowly exhaled a breath.

The young dragon flapped its wings, flipping its body in mid-air, finally supporting its heavy body entirely on one foreclaw, then maintaining a one-armed handstand posture, rising and falling up and down.

Before long.

The young dragon bent its tail to prop against the ground, supporting its body purely with the strength of its powerful tail to train the tail muscles.

Or tilting its head back to press its head against the ground, rotating its body with its neck as the center.

Specialized training movements not even found in the Dragon Inheritance were displayed on Garos's body.

He was conducting strength training.

Besides strength training, there was also speed.

After some time, Garos soared into the air, rushing straight toward the clouds, flying into the starry night sky where two moons hung, then took a deep breath, extending his pair of dragon wings to their limit and beginning to flap them fiercely.

However.

The young dragon flapping its wings violently did not rise; instead, it strangely descended slowly.

—Dragon flight is actually a magical effect.

With a giant dragon's body weight and proportions, relying solely on wings makes it difficult to support the body and fly like birds.

In reality, when dragons fly, the mana in their blood flows to their wings, forming an effect similar to levitation, and only by combining spell-like skills with wing power can they soar in the sky.

When other intelligent races deal with dragons, they must possess sky-sealing spells.

Their principle is to cancel the levitation-like effect.

Garos did not want to face an expedition later where, upon one sky-sealing spell, he would be forced to land on the ground to be beaten up by a crowd.

He hoped to fly solely by physical strength, soaring through the sky.

In this way, he would have one less weakness and a greater hope of achieving the goal of living a thousand years.

Because he had suppressed the mana, losing the levitation effect.

The heavy dragon body continued to fall.

Garos's wings tensed, flapping and creating gusts of wind currents, but still could not make the body float, only slowing the descent speed, allowing him to barely glide.

This method placed an enormous burden on Garos's dragon wings.

Overwhelmed, a tearing pain constantly came from the wings.

Especially the fleshy membrane at the root of the wing membrane connecting to the body; every flap felt like a steel spike stabbing.

The difficult wing-flapping under the night had no audience or encouragement, yet the young dragon gritted its teeth to endure the pain, silent, only flapping and raising its dragon wings again and again, pursuing adaptation and evolution amidst the tearing agony.

Time passed slowly.

Until the two moons sank below the horizon and the first ray of sunlight pierced the clouds.

Only then did Garos complete the series of training plans, exhausted to the point where even with the dragon's tough body, he had reached the limit of exhaustion.

Aches and pains came in waves all over his body, especially at the wing positions, where he could barely feel anything, as if they had been torn off.

The young dragon's heavy breathing was like a bellows.

Yet amidst the fatigue and soreness, his gaze remained remarkably clear.

For along with the aches in his body came waves of faint tingling.

This was the sign of adapting to evolution; each time he reached exhaustion, Garos's body grew more resilient and strong, allowing him to endure longer and fly faster next time.

One day, he would truly soar through the sky on his wings alone, and even the No-Magic Domain could not trap him.

Just as Garos prepared to rest,

the red dragon sister and iron dragon brother, emerging from the mine tunnel covered in gray dust, saw Garos in poor condition.

Exchanging a glance, the two young dragons approached Garos step by step with ill intent.

"My dear brother Garos, you seem very tired now."

the red dragon sister asked.

Her words sounded concerned, yet they were full of malice.

"Hee hee, we will definitely win this time."

the iron dragon brother grinned, letting out two snickers like a villain, and slowly stepped closer.

"Feeling itchy again?"

Garos stood expressionless, his much taller and stronger body planted on the ground, his calm gaze sweeping over the two.

At that single glance, both young dragons froze in alarm and uncertainty, halting their steps.

Garos's accumulated authority was deep; although he looked in poor condition, it still made them dare not act rashly.

"Let me think carefully; it seems it has been a while since I taught you a lesson."

Taking one step forward, Garos's eyes revealed pure ferocity.

At that single step, the two young dragons involuntarily retreated, their earlier arrogance instantly turning to whimpering cowardice.

"Just a joke, just a joke."

"Dear brother, do not misunderstand."

The two young dragons immediately surrendered, retreating continuously to put distance between themselves and Garos.

Garos snorted lightly; this time, he magnanimously chose not to pursue the matter.

In truth, even if he wanted to pursue it, he could hardly do so.

For the exploration outside the Sky-Pit Domain had made Garos aware of the many dangers on the wilderness; under the turmoil of his emotions, he had trained too hard, nearly squeezing out the last drop of his stamina, leaving his body extremely weak now. If a fight actually broke out, he feared he would be beaten in return.

Yet he showed no sign of weakness, and his past pressure of authority had stunned the two young dragons.

They had lost their only chance to get revenge and beat up Garos.

"Next time you train, pay attention and keep some stamina for emergencies."

He thought this, then casually found a large pit he had smashed out himself, showed no disgust, and lay down openly inside it, using his own tail as a pillow, folding his wings to cover his body, and curling up to rest.

In the days that followed, Garos's life was regular and rich.

Besides daily training and urging the young dragons to mine, he would occasionally leave the Sky-Pit Domain to fight fierce beasts and demons around the area, honing his combat skills, while also searching for a suitable dwelling place to prepare for his future independent survival.

Thus it went.

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

(End of this chapter)