Chapter 2: Water Affinity

Bernardo is the name of the planet beneath Galos’s feet.

On this planet, magical culture is highly developed, and every nation is relentlessly advancing magical technology.

The most advanced nations have even created interstellar ships using magical engines, exploring outer space and other planets to harvest cosmic resources.

“Dragons are nearly the apex lifeforms, yet even here they are not invincible.”

Galos blinked at the false moon in the sky.

The lineage records mention an ancient blue dragon known as [Stormwing], who destroyed several cities of the Naushil Elf Empire and was long hunted and pursued by them.

In the end, Naushil used a city as bait to trap Stormwing within a massive magical array.

The false moon unleashed a beam of annihilation, killing Stormwing.

“Moreover, other species on the Bernardo planet hold poor views of chromatic dragons and ironclad dragons; upon discovery, they immediately prepare to launch a purge.”

Dragonkind has many classifications.

For example, the most common are chromatic dragons, metallic dragons, gem dragons, and then ironclad dragons.

Chromatic dragons, due to their inherently evil nature and love of chaos and destruction, are labeled as evil dragons; ironclad dragons are even regarded as the “mad dogs” among dragons, frequently killing their own kin, let alone other species.

I am a hybrid of chromatic and ironclad dragon blood—specifically, red and iron dragon. I will surely be seen as the worst of evil dragons, a naturally evil dragon spawn, terrifying beyond measure, and must not be allowed to live.

He sat down heavily by the lake’s edge.

The young dragon’s tail dipped into the water, swaying gently.

Moonlight fell upon Galos; he felt the gentle drift of his tail in the water, occasionally enjoying the soothing sensation of small fish cleaning away weeds and debris, while his mind quietly pondered.

“I must train harder, strengthen myself.”

“Only when I am strong can I face future dangers with confidence.”

This dragon life has only just begun; Galos hopes to live as long as possible, unwilling to repeat his past life—where he was in the prime of youth at eighteen, yet struck by terrible fortune.

“First, set a small goal: live to a hundred.”

“No, dragons only reach adulthood at a hundred. I hope to live a thousand years.”

Galos leaned back.

The young dragon’s body shattered the water’s surface, splashing countless crystal-clear droplets under the moonlight; he dove to the lake’s deepest point, enduring crushing water pressure without breathing.

—Dragons can breathe underwater.

Galos merely wished to train his lungs and heart, and his affinity for water elements.

Thanks to daily, relentless training, his lungs and heart are far stronger than those of ordinary dragons; his dragon breath is more powerful and lasts longer than that of a normal hatchling.

Additionally, both iron dragons and red dragons are fire-type dragons, and they dislike water.

Galos, as a hybrid, is likewise a pure fire-type dragon.

Water or ice-based attacks inflict double damage upon him.

The best way to overcome fear is to face it.

To prepare for the possibility of encountering attacks that counter his element, Galos began, years ago, enduring his aversion to water by occasionally immersing himself to desensitize and adapt.

Now, his instinctive aversion to water has vanished entirely.

Though he has never actually faced a water-based attack and cannot confirm his water affinity, Galos believes he will at least avoid double damage.

Suddenly.

A faint ripple of water came from behind him.

A dark shadow sped toward Galos and launched an attack.

Galos sharply sensed the water’s shift; before the strike landed, he spun his body, raised his claw, and slammed down hard.

Boom!

The black claw met the fiery red claw, sending a ring of water surging through the depths.

The fiery red claw gripped Galos’s claw, attempting to wrestle him.

Yet.

Galos possessed astonishing strength; his muscles bulged beneath his scales, lifting the scales slightly; his claw slowly overpowered the red claw, forcing it backward inch by inch.

The wrestling match was lost.

The owner of the red claw retracted it, fixing Galos with a pair of crimson dragon eyes, speaking in a clear, displeased voice: “Galos, vile hybrid, I will defeat you someday!”

Samantha, the young dragon, Galos’s own dragon sister—a pure-blooded red dragon.

Among dragons, hybrids are rare, for dragon bloodlines are dominant and difficult to merge.

For example, when a red dragon and an iron dragon breed, the offspring is overwhelmingly likely to be either a pure red dragon or a pure iron dragon, inheriting one parent’s bloodline; hybrids like Galos, who fuse red and iron blood, are exceedingly few.

Slap!

Galos swatted the young red dragon on the head.

“When speaking to a stronger dragon, watch your tone and choice of words.”

The blow sent the young red dragon’s head lurching sideways; she nearly toppled entirely—his force was not light.

Among dragons, especially evil dragons, strength speaks; only power earns respect from other evil dragons. Galos has grown accustomed to this mode of dragon communication.

The red dragon sister hatched one year after Galos.

At the time, Galos found her chubby, round, and adorably wholesome, so he tore off a piece of meat from his own meal and gave it to her.

Result?

She took it as weakness, grew bold, and unleashed her evil dragon nature, demanding Galos surrender all his food. Another hatchling, an iron dragon brother born at the same time, also deemed Galos weak and joined forces with the red sister to extort his food.

After Galos refused, they immediately attacked with claws, trying to seize all his food.

He then pinned them down and beat them mercilessly, knocking out several of their teeth before they finally submitted.

As a hybrid, Galos was naturally stronger than ordinary red or iron dragons, not to mention he was a year older.

Meanwhile,

The red dragon sister, having been slapped, bared her fangs, ready to retaliate—but when she saw Galos’s fierce, glinting eyes, she wisely held back.

Red dragons revere violence and prefer to solve problems with force.

Yet when their force is weaker than their opponent’s, they temporarily endure, waiting to surpass them before striking back with cruel vengeance.

Besides, she had endured many beatings from Galos over the years; she knew her elder brother did not hold back.

“My beloved brother.”

The red dragon sister yielded, saying: “Mother wants you to go to Long Chao.”

After stating her purpose for finding Galos, she muttered under her breath: “Always lounging in the water—you’re so strange, now I have to get wet too.”

The red dragon sister was utterly uncomfortable in the water, her dragon face twisted in disgust.

She wriggled her tail and hips, swiftly rising toward the surface, leaving the lake before Galos.

Galos moved slowly, flapping his wings underwater, then broke the surface, soaring through the air, overtaking the red dragon sister, and flying toward Long Chao.

Long Chao—it lies on the cliff face east of the abyss.

From the outside, it appears as a crude, rugged cave.

Moonlight does not reach inside Long Chao, but the cave walls are coated with a strange metal, some areas glowing brightly, so it is not dark within.

Galos retracted his wings, stepped forward with crossed limbs, and walked across the metalized floor, delving deeper.

The deeper he went, the more metal surrounded him.

Clusters of metal bloomed like flowers on the stone walls; the ground also featured angular metal pillars jutting upward.

Finally, when Galos reached the cave’s deepest chamber, his vision opened wide—he entered a vast “hollow.”

This core of Long Chao is not a crude cave in the traditional sense.

The ground and surrounding walls are lined with a soft yet resilient metal, resembling mercury but marked with rust-colored ripples.

Directly north rises a thirty-meter-tall stepped metal platform, its summit the Iron Dragon Mother’s throne.

—It is forged from countless swords and spears; the weapons of defeated foes are now solidified into steps, each tier inscribed with dragon runes.

Galos looked up.

Upon the throne sat a colossal creature, twenty meters long, whose breath stirred gusts like howling winds—a true great dragon.

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(End of Chapter)