Chapter 14: Bear Herd (Seeking Follows, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Countless stars dotted the night sky, which hung like a black velvet curtain.

The red iron young dragon stood atop a towering, rugged cliff, turning back to gaze, its eyes sweeping inch by inch over the entire crater territory below.

Especially in the area beneath this cliff, where the ground was pockmarked with pits of varying depths, lay almost all of Garos's memories from his hatchling days.

"From now on, there is no retreat; I must rely entirely on myself."

Garos glanced at the two moons in the sky, and the magical satellites mixed among the real stars, indistinguishable from them, and felt a slight heaviness in his heart.

The magical level on the planet Bernardo, especially the alchemy level for creating magical artifacts, was extraordinarily high.

The many monsters and fierce beasts on the wilderness were secondary; the kingdoms composed of intelligent beings were the truly dangerous foes.

"Arrogance, conceit, greed."

"These are the draconic natures most likely to cause a young dragon's premature death; I must remain vigilant at all times and not be careless."

A hatchling leaving the nest has only two fates—becoming a new calamity, or turning into fodder for the wilderness.

Garos naturally did not want to become fodder, nor did he have any interest in becoming a calamity; his goal was simple.

—Survive, and for as long as possible.

Only by having died once could one truly appreciate the preciousness of life; Garos cherished this dragon life greatly, so after realizing the dangers of this world, he persisted tirelessly in training and strengthening himself.

"Hahaha, I will establish a dynasty of my own! Let countless creatures submit beneath my wings, bowing and scraping before me!"

Samantha's loud shouting against the night wind interrupted Garos's thoughts.

This six-year-old young dragon, with scales of fiery red, burned like flames in the night, vivid and brimming with vibrant vitality.

But such a scale color was actually unsuitable for survival.

It was too conspicuous.

Garos, draped in a layer of black-gray buffer scales that could almost blend into the darkness at night, was better at ambushing and hiding.

As for the iron dragon brother, Goldon.

His black dragon scales were somewhat better, but because they shimmered with a slight silver glow, they were equally conspicuous.

Moreover, the iron dragon brother's tone was even more arrogant than the red dragon sister's.

"I will establish a realm ruled by dragons, and then I will rule over all dragons."

Its claws stepped onto a protruding rock, head held high, issuing a declaration to the world.

Garos, with a calm temperament, made no loud fuss.

Looking at the two young dragons, the red iron young dragon pondered briefly before saying, "Samantha, Goldon, you two shall survive alongside me."

Having two young dragons to command, huddling together for warmth, would be more beneficial for survival.

Furthermore, Garos held a deep reverence for the perilous wilderness; a year of exploration had also given him a better understanding of the specific conditions around him.

With him leading the way, the two young dragons had a greater chance of survival.

Their following Garos was, in fact, a win-win.

Unfortunately, the two young dragons did not think so.

"No!"

Sparks flew from the red dragon sister's nostrils; she scoffed and said, "I am a red dragon destined to stand at the peak of the world, the head of the five-colored evil dragons; I can become the master of the wilderness on my own, without needing to follow you."

The iron dragon brother also shook his head.

"I will go to the wealthy south; I have heard that the teeth of humans in the south are all inlaid with gems."

When speaking of gem-inlaid teeth, he concealed none of his greedy longing.

Hearing this, Garos said no more, simply shaking his head lightly.

Just as when the two little dragons first hatched, he offered them a choice again, and they gave their own answers.

Fate and a dragon's life are composed of a series of different choices.

Garos did not force the two young dragons to follow him; if they were unwilling, forcing them to stay would, given their personalities, only bring him trouble.

But he still gave the two young dragons one more chance.

Looking at the two young dragons, Garos said slowly, "If you change your current foolish ideas and wish to seek my protection, go northwest, to the hills about ninety kilometers from here."

"Dense hemlock forests grow there, making them easy to identify."

"If I am still in the hill forests, I might take you in, of course, provided you are prepared to become slaves and servants, obeying me unconditionally."

Having spoken, Garos lingered no longer; his gaze withdrew from the crater territory, and he flew toward the hills where he had originally subdued the Earth-Raging Bear.

"Damn Garos, you are too arrogant, looking down on us completely."

"Just wait; sooner or later, we will make you look at us with new eyes!"

"Even if we die, eaten by fierce beasts and monsters, we will not beg you!"

Under the moonlight, the dark-gold tail ring was coated with a layer of pure radiance; behind Garos came the shouts of the dragon brother and sister, but this clamor was soon swallowed by the wind of the wilderness.

Two weeks later, the Hemlock Hills.

This area was not large, with limited resources of various kinds; it was not a good habitat, but Garos currently had no better place, so he temporarily settled there.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Earth-Raging Bear's palms, wrapped in thick, hard rocks, struck the body of the dragon before it, again and again.

Garos endured the Earth-Raging Bear's heavy slaps; his body trembled slightly, buffer scales flew everywhere, finally revealing the black-based, red-patterned scale armor beneath, which then gradually cracked and dented.

But just as the black-red scale armor began to develop cracks and slightly collapse.

The Earth-Raging Bear stopped.

"Get up and continue."

Garos lifted his eyelids slightly and said discontentedly.

The Earth-Raging Bear had just knocked off a layer of his buffer scales; what came next was the true tempering of his body and physique.

"Awooo, your scale armor is harder than steel; I really cannot strike anymore."

The raging bear let out a roar, plopped its rear onto the ground, and panted heavily, heaving for breath.

Its thick bear arms could barely be lifted, and the rocks attached to its Xiong Zhang had been shattered by the shock-absorbing scales, revealing a palm full of cracks, constantly oozing blood.

Garos was still not satisfied.

Although fundamentally both were impacts, unlike the fierce training of crashing into mountains and the ground, having experienced this over this period, Garos felt this method of resisting blows was more refined, and the tempering effect was also good.

Besides having the Earth Rage Bear slap him with its Xiong Zhang.

He also had it attack him with spell-like skills, thereby honing the corresponding resistances.

This process naturally would not be pleasant; pain was unavoidable.

The Earth Rage Bear was a level 8 monster; enduring its attacks, Garos could not possibly remain unscathed.

But perhaps because there were too many similar training methods, Garos had developed an extremely strong tolerance for pain; not only that, while feeling the pain, because he clearly understood this also meant he was gradually adapting and evolving, he even felt somewhat excited.

"Quickly absorb the power of the earth to rest; in a moment we will continue."

Garos permitted the raging bear to rest for a while.

The Earth Rage Bear wore a look of utter misery.

When it submitted to Garos, it had thought that perhaps Garos was capricious, liking to beat his minions to vent his anger, but since its skin was thick and its flesh tough, as long as it wasn't beaten to death, it could recover slowly.

But what it did not expect was.

Garos was exactly the opposite; having a peculiar hobby, he instead made it beat him.

At first, the Earth Rage Bear was still enthusiastic.

But it quickly discovered this was not a good job.

Every time it was half-dead from exhaustion, the result was that Garos was still not satisfied; fortunately, the Earth Rage Bear's recovery was strong, allowing it to barely hold on.

No, if this continues, my life level will drop from exhaustion.

While resting, the Earth Rage Bear pondered deeply.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck, and it called out to Garos on the other side, who was rubbing against the iron fir with his dragon tail.

"Dragon Lord!"

Dragon Lord—this was one of the common honorifics minions used for dragon-kind, similar to addressing a master.

Merely during the friction process, the hard iron fir was sliced by the sharp dragon scales on the dragon tail, leaving countless deep marks, as if hacked by knives and axes.

Garos let go of the pitiful iron fir and turned his head to look at the Earth Rage Bear.

The Earth Rage Bear scratched its head, a shrewd smile appearing on its simple, honest face.

"Hehe, you definitely want more Earth Rage Bears as minions."

Under Garos's gaze, it explained in detail.

It turned out.

The Earth Rage Bear, Mo Bei'er, had once come from a small tribe of raging bears.

Its father was also the tribe leader; besides the raging bear leader, there were several female bears, and some cubs that had not yet grown up.

The Earth Rage Bear's habits in certain aspects were similar to a lion pride.

Males were supreme, stronger than females, and could not tolerate other adult males being in the same territory as themselves; they would drive away male offspring nearing adulthood.

"You mean, take me to conquer your tribe?"

Garos asked.

"That's right! As long as I kill my father, I guarantee the other female bears and cubs will submit to you."

Mo Bei'er nodded heavily, patting his chest to give his promise.

This is truly "father speaks, son laughs," Garos thought to himself.

(End of this chapter)