Chapter 11: Dragon-Wing Blade

The Sai Wilderness was as scorching hot as ever, seemingly trapped in eternal summer.

The earth was dry, dust hung thick in the air, and bright, venomous sunlight poured from the high sky, falling upon Garos circling above, illuminating his current form and posture.

Compared to a year ago.

Garos's body length had increased by nearly half a meter; not much growth, now standing at roughly six point six meters.

Yet the thickness of his frame had clearly surged; his limbs were thick and powerful, his spine and chest solid and strong, even his neck appearing thick and hard.

The entire dragon was incredibly strong; even through a layer of scales, one could feel the mighty, hard muscles beneath, block upon block, as if cast from steel and iron.

Red Dragons and Gold Dragons, such physically powerful dragonkind.

Had few hatchlings whose strength could rival Garos.

Garos now, in body and posture, was practically the 'Tyson' among hatchlings of the same age.

And that was not all.

The greatest change was none other than Garos's pair of dragon wings.

First, the wingspan reached a full fifteen meters, exceeding Garos's body length by more than double; moreover, the wing membranes were covered in fine, densely layered dragon scales that looked at first glance like feathers, perfectly guiding airflow when slicing through the sky, preventing resistance and instead generating thrust.

The fleshy membrane at the wing roots connecting to the body, originally the most painful part during wingbeats, had thickened threefold.

Fold upon fold, like forged steel hammered a hundred times.

At the wing edges, a layer of metallic-hued, exceptionally sharp material had grown, capable of easily tearing through air and slicing through living flesh without issue, making the entire wing resemble a massive guillotine, radiating a dangerous, chilling edge.

Over this past year.

Strength training was secondary; Garos had almost day and night, whenever he had spare time, tempered this pair of wings, and his efforts had borne fruit.

After a recent evolution.

Garos could now soar through the sky relying solely on his wings, and his gliding speed far surpassed that of dragonkind of the same level.

His Life Rank had not changed, remaining at Level 7.

However, Garos felt he could now fight two versions of his former self.

"I need to verify the results of this evolution."

"Then it's decided, Earth-Rage Bear."

Gazing through the clouds, Garos lowered his eyes to survey the ground below, spotting a super-giant bear dwelling among the hills, eight meters tall, its body covered in yellow-brown, steel-needle-like fur, looking like an ordinary brown bear amplified and enhanced.

The Earth-Rage Bear before Garos was Level 8, yet not comparable to the previous Level 8 Stone-Shell Lizard.

The Earth-Rage Bear was a relatively powerful monster, with a certain probability of reaching Legendary status.

Not only did it possess a strong body, but it also mastered many earth-type spell-like skills.

Though not comparable to dragonkind, it was enough to utterly crush the vast majority of monsters of the same level.

Among the fir forests in the hills below.

The Earth-Rage Bear was rubbing its back against a century-old hemlock to scratch an itch, bark fragments flying like a rainstorm.

This time, the goal was to verify his current strength, not to hunt.

Garos chose not to ambush; instead, he directly unleashed his Dragon Might, announcing his arrival to the Earth-Rage Bear.

He flapped his wings, mixing airflow with Dragon Might, almost forming visible ripples that swept over the Earth-Rage Bear.

The Earth-Rage Bear, previously rubbing and scratching with a face full of pleasure, suddenly froze in motion; immediately, its entire coat bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and it raised its head to look at the sky.

In its vision, a black dot was rapidly enlarging, diving down.

Scales, horns, claws, tail, wings—clearly a giant dragon! Yet judging by size, it was not yet a giant, merely a hatchling.

The Earth-Rage Bear possessed high intelligence; facing a hatchling, it felt no fear, but instead rose upright on its hind legs, roaring fiercely at Garos.

The earth and stones before it suddenly rose, condensing into blocks of rock.

Lifting its foot and stomping, five or six huge rocks burst upward into the sky, smashing toward Garos.

Facing the first block, Garos neither dodged nor avoided, but lowered his head and rammed.

Crash!

The rock shattered like tofu under the impact of Garos's dragon horns; subsequent fragments grazing his scales left only faint dust marks.

The remaining four blocks.

Though he could have smashed them directly, Garos did not recklessly charge head-on again.

He swung his massive, powerful wings, stirring up gusts of wind; the entire dragon danced in the air, weaving through the gaps between the four rocks with agile movements, graceful as a swimming dragon.

Strength, speed, defense—Garos did not wish to have weaknesses, striving to develop all aspects simultaneously.

Having resolved the Earth-Rage Bear's first wave of attack, Garos approached the upper side of the lush, leafy hills, while the Earth-Rage Bear remained at the hill's base.

He folded his wings and dove, rushing down the slope through the tree canopy.

Oak branches scraped against his scales with a screeching sound; where the blade-like wing edges swept, rows of ancient trees snapped at the roots like wheat stalks.

Roaring, the Earth-Rage Bear swung its massive paws to strike the ground, and ten earth spikes burst from the soil.

Yet the hatchling suddenly folded its wings and curled its body; its tail, wrapped in broken wood and leaves, swept horizontally, smashing the cluster of earth spikes in half, sending flying rock fragments embedding into tree trunks like bullets.

The Earth-Rage Bear plunged both palms into the ground, tearing up a three-meter-thick slab of rock, and hurled it again at Garos.

Garos advanced instead of retreating; the wing edges sliced into the rock slab's cracks, and with a sudden flap, he heaved the entire slab flying to a hundred meters high.

Sunlight cast dappled shadows through the suspended boulder; the hatchling seized the opportunity to ambush from the boundary of light and dark, instantly closing in on the Earth-Rage Bear, extending both claws to tear through fur and flesh, digging deep into the bear's shoulders, then flipping through the air to hurl the nearly twenty-ton giant beast away like a broken sack.

The tumbling bear broke seven oak trees before its momentum ceased.

Roar!

It bellowed, suddenly grabbing a broken log and hurling it into the air.

Yellowish earth magic wrapped the log, causing it to explode into a storm of spikes as it neared Garos; whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, they pierced the air and swept toward Garos.

Garos's dragon face remained calm; his massive wings suddenly unfurled, sweeping and scattering the sky-full of wooden spikes.

Occasionally, some landed on his body, yet they struggled to break through his hard dragon scales.

Only places like the eyes needed slight attention.

"My turn!"

The Earth-Shattering Bear had used many spell-like skills in one breath and was now panting heavily, while the young dragon's stamina seemed to have dropped not at all as it accelerated its wingbeats to draw near.

Heavy Rock Armor!

Watching the dragon-type creature coming at it, the Earth-Shattering Bear planted its feet, raised its head, and roared; earth and stone centered on it suddenly seemed to come alive, surging like flowing water, extending and covering its body almost instantly along its feet, layer upon layer solidifying into a hard armor with a granite texture.

The right dragon wing simultaneously spread flat, tearing through the air like a guillotine and emitting a piercing shriek as it slashed toward the Earth-Shattering Bear.

The Earth-Shattering Bear simultaneously raised its most heavily armored bear arm and smashed it down onto the dragon wing.

Clang—Shhh!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out first, spewing blinding sparks, followed by the sound of a sharp blade severing flesh.

The Earth-Shattering Bear let out a wail as the armor on its bear arm was almost instantly shredded by the dragon wing; the tough fur and flesh beneath were torn open, and the bones were severed as well.

In the instant Garos and the Earth-Shattering Bear crossed paths, half a bear arm, drenched in blood, flew into the air.

(End of this chapter)