Chapter 17: Pursuit

Gulp!

His stomach issued another protest.

Hunger made Samantha's stomach cramp and spasm, causing extreme discomfort.

She whimpered, lowered her head to gnaw on the unpleasant damp soil, and missed even more the days under the Iron Dragon Mother's protection; even though she was oppressed and bullied by Garos every day, it was still better than the current life of living from hand to mouth and eating dirt to fill her stomach.

"Should I go beg Garos to take me in?"

Samantha suddenly remembered the words Garos had said when he left.

Although unwilling to admit it, she knew very clearly that Garos was smarter than her, stronger than her, and should live a better life.

"Even if I have to follow Garos's commands completely, that would be fine too; after all, I never liked using my brain anyway."

Samantha did not want to wander and drift anymore.

But she could not let go of the self-esteem and pride in her heart.

"No, I can't. I am a Red Dragon, destined to stand at the peak of the world; how can I be defeated so easily by the wilderness? I cannot let Garos look down on me!"

Samantha gritted her teeth, stood up from the mud and water, and cast His thoughts of following Garos aside.

"I'm too hungry; I need food, real food, not dirt or tree bark."

Samantha took a deep breath and walked through the rain curtain with heavy steps.

Hemlock Hills.

The rain had passed and the sky cleared; the air was once again filled with scorching heat, humid vapor rose from the coniferous forest, gathering in low-lying areas to form shallow pools shimmering with iridescence; broken fir branches lay scattered in the mud, with amber resin seeping from their broken ends.

Garos lay on a huge rock on the slope of the hill.

Golden sunlight fell upon him, plating his scales with a dazzling sheen.

He spread his wings, enjoying the comfort of the sun on his body, lazily squinting his eyes and unwilling to move.

Given Garos's diligence and self-discipline, such rest time was relatively rare, but he also understood the principle of balancing work and rest, that excess is as bad as deficiency; while pursuing evolution and strength, he would give himself opportunities to relax during his free time.

The previous rainstorm had lasted for a week.

During this time.

Because the wilderness is usually dry and rain is not common, Garos cherished the hard-won rainy days; bathing in the wind and rain, he used the Dark Gold Tail Ring repeatedly to train himself, and as soon as the energy was exhausted, he immediately drew lightning to recharge, then continued training; this cycle repeated, yet he also kept in mind the dangers of the wilderness, interspersing rest in between to preserve stamina and not let himself fall into a state of excessive fatigue.

And after being washed by the torrential rain and tempered by lightning.

Over these few days, all of Garos's buffer scales had been whipped away by himself; new ones had not yet grown, revealing a layer of black-red scales covered in cracks and dents, pitted and uneven, mottled and disordered, looking as if they had experienced fierce battles.

As for the results.

Besides an unknown increase in lightning resistance, Garos also felt a slight, tingling sensation like an electric shock within the muscles beneath his dragon scales and skin.

And this was also a sign of gradually adapting to evolution.

Basking in the sun, Garos's tail, hanging off the edge of the rock slab, swayed gently; he turned slightly to let the sun shine on his belly.

It was not until noon, when the sunlight became the most intense and scorching.

Garos did not move to hunt.

He decided to give himself a day off and let Mober go hunt for food.

"Let me take a short nap a bit longer."

Garos yawned, closed his eyes, and continued basking in the sun, feeling drowsy.

Suddenly.

His nose twitched, as if smelling something, and then he opened a pair of black dragon pupils.

—A familiar scent to Garos drifted through the air.

The Red Iron Young Dragon propped himself up and raised his head to gaze into the distance.

At the same time.

Samantha ran across the wet, muddy ground of the wilderness, taking deep and shallow steps; her already half-crippled right dragon wing had even more wounds, with several poisoned feather arrows still hanging from it.

While running, she waved her dragon wings, trying to take flight.

But after several attempts, her tattered dragon wings and weak body could not support her in flying into the sky; she could only run on the ground.

Behind her, dozens of Goblin Wolf Riders pursued relentlessly.

The claws of the gray giant wolves trod through the muddy water, moving with the speed of a gallop; the distance between the two sides was gradually closing.

Samantha gritted her dragon teeth, looked ahead at the hills covered in dense hemlocks, and a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes.

"Almost there, almost there."

"I hope Garos is still here; I hope he can forgive my past ignorance and savagery."

Even if it meant becoming Garos's follower, lowering her proud head, and obeying this older brother completely, Samantha was willing to accept it.

Having endured countless hardships, she had deeply realized.

Dignity could not help her survive in the wilderness; she had been too naive before.

In fact, both the Iron Dragon Mother and the Dragon Legacy mentioned that it is not easy for young dragons to survive alone; they need to be extremely cautious and careful, but arrogance and conceit are born along with the dragon bloodline; young dragons who have not experienced storms always think they can easily conquer the world.

However.

The Iron Dragon Mother and the legacy knowledge cannot teach.

But cruel reality can.

On the very first day the rainstorm began, Samantha had conceived His thoughts of following Garos, but at that time, there was still pride in her heart, and she was unwilling to admit defeat to the wilderness.

Bathing in the fierce wind and rain.

Samantha attempted to hunt, using food to replenish her stamina and let her injuries heal.

But things did not go as wished.

Creatures that can survive in the wilderness, whether intelligent beings or wild beasts, all have their own survival principles; with Samantha's clumsy hunting skills and weak body, all hunts ended in failure.

If not for the fact that dragon-kind life is truly tenacious.

If any other creature had endured such torment, it would already be half-dead.

After gnawing on tree bark and soil for several more meals, Samantha finally recognized her situation and decided to follow her powerful and wise elder brother.

Unfortunately.

The goblin tribe Samantha first encountered had been tracking and pursuing her, intending to turn the red young dragon into alchemical material; after a period of tracking, a group of goblin wolf riders discovered her trail, followed it, and gradually spotted the young dragon.

"The distance is sufficient; archers, prepare!"

Among the goblin riders mounted on gray giant wolves, several goblin riders drew longbows crafted from ironwood to their full-moon limit, with arrows nocked upon the bowstrings—arrows engraved with tiny runes and dipped in poison.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three feathered arrows tore through the air, emitting a piercing shriek that split the silence, heading straight for Samantha.

Her ears twitched; sensing the danger from behind, Samantha rolled clumsily.

Two feathered arrows missed, striking the damp ground and sinking deep from arrowhead to fletching; the third pierced Samantha's hind leg, its armor-piercing tip drilling through the dragon scales, the metal shaft trembling slightly and emitting a faint metallic chime.

The pain of the wound was secondary.

Worse still, the poison carried upon it began to corrode and spread.

Samantha was now far too weak.

Had she been in her prime, this poison would have had no effect on her whatsoever.

Samantha felt her last strength gradually slipping away; her steps grew slower and slower, her body heavy as a mountain, and the ironwood hills that seemed so close now appeared as distant as the horizon.

If given another chance.

Samantha would certainly have chosen to cling tightly to her elder brother's leg without letting go, rather than foolishly trying to survive alone out of stubbornness.

(End of this chapter)