Chapter 34: The Evil Dragon's Rearing Method (Please Follow, Please Vote)

Morning wind gently caressed, red maple leaves rustled and fluttered, a man and a woman stood before the weeping Copper Dragon.

The man's face was flawlessly handsome, his figure tall and slender with ape-like arms and a wasp waist.

Silver-white long hair was tied up with an ice-crystal hairpin; a diamond-shaped ice soul pendant hung from his left earlobe. His skin was as pale as fresh snow, almost transparent; when he smiled, the breath he exhaled condensed into tiny frost flowers in the air.

The woman beside him was beautiful, her freckled cheeks always bearing a mischievous smile.

She had honey-colored skin, and metal-thread-like hair ribbons were woven through her copper-red curly hair.

They were Deborah's parents, the Copper Dragon. Outwardly they appeared human, but in reality, both were mature dragons over two hundred years old—Metal Dragons, in terms of aesthetics, preferred human forms and often lived in human guise.

The man was Deborah's father, a Silver Dragon.

【Frost Scar】 Adry.

The woman was Deborah's mother, a Copper Dragon.

【Copper Flame】 Selina.

Their tightly clasped hands did not loosen despite their tearful offspring, as if each other were true love and Deborah was merely an accident.

"A Metal Dragon's dignity is as important as its treasure."

"As a descendant of Metal Dragons, you should possess courage and a resilient will."

"Since you returned safely, it is no major problem. Do not cry; crying solves nothing."

The Silver Dragon father spoke.

The Copper Dragon mother rolled her eyes at her mate and said displeasedly, "Don't be so rigid. Deborah was bullied by an evil dragon on her first adventure outside; it is normal for her to cry."

In terms of mate selection.

Copper Dragons place extreme importance on a partner's wisdom and sense of humor, considering this the key to long-term coexistence.

Creatures that can catch their puns, riddles, or pranks, even turn the tables on them, or those who appreciate the art of language or excel at improvisation, are more likely to be appreciated by Copper Dragons.

And Silver Dragon Adry was not skilled in any of these.

He was a rather stern and dull Silver Dragon by nature.

Yet even so, Selina found it hard to refuse his pursuit; more accurately, it was actually Selina who pursued him.

—Silver Dragons were simply too handsome.

Among many dragon kinds, Silver Dragons ranked first in appearance; both males and females were highly popular.

Putting aside the topic, Selina showed a smile to her offspring and said, "My dear Deborah, what did you experience? Tell me in detail, let me be happy."

The father was stern.

The mother even used her offspring for her own amusement.

Deborah cried even more bitterly, sobbing so hard she could hardly speak.

Selina kicked a stone at her feet, sending it bouncing onto her daughter's head, and said with a grin, "Now it is riddle time—what thing makes you suffer and feel sad, yet makes you grow stronger and stronger?"

Copper Dragons' love for riddles was instinctive.

Deborah stopped crying and hesitantly answered, "Failure?"

Selina snapped her fingers, blew a kiss through the air, and said happily, "Correct! As a reward, here is a kiss from your mother."

Having solved the riddle and understood her mother's meaning, Deborah's emotions gradually calmed, and then she recounted the matter in full detail.

"Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon?"

Selina blinked her eyes and looked at her mate.

The Silver Dragon nodded slightly and said, "Most likely the offspring of the Iron Queen and the Wings of the Burning Mountain."

Examples of Red Dragons and Iron Dragons mating were rare; as far as the Silver Dragon knew, there was only one such pair on the Sael Wasteland. Unexpectedly, they had produced a hybrid dragon, and according to Deborah's description, it was an excellent hybrid inheriting the powerful traits of both sides.

"A dragon alone outside must have been exiled, surviving on its own in the wild."

The Silver Dragon shook his head slightly and said.

"Truly pitiable; evil dragons are simply too outrageous."

"To be able to defeat Deborah, who is covered in alchemical tools, with such a mature mind, it must have endured many hardships."

Selina also sighed and said.

Opposite.

Copper Dragon Deborah's eyes widened.

That's not right.

This isn't right.

Shouldn't you be furious? Why are you instead sympathizing with that detestable Red-Iron evil dragon?

Seeing her daughter's thoughts.

The Silver Dragon spoke slowly and calmly, "Deborah, the reason evil dragons are evil lies partly in their own inheritance and personality influences, and partly in their life experiences."

"Your mother and I both believe that if an evil dragon could grow up in a world surrounded by kindness, it would also have the chance to become a kind and righteous individual."

"Unfortunately, almost all evil dragons abandon their offspring; young dragons struggling alone in the wild suffer greatly, and the evil in their hearts is only infinitely amplified, their minds twisted, so that upon adulthood they become the evil beings we imagine."

Hearing this, Deborah fell silent and also felt some sympathy for the pitiable dragon that had snatched her things.

"Why is this so? Shouldn't family bonds and blood ties make dragons closer to one another?"

It asked.

Selina thought for a moment and said, "Abandonment is actually a method of raising offspring used by evil dragons."

"In battles between equals, we Metal Dragons are often inferior to evil dragons because they have been fighting for their lives against cruel fate since childhood. Although their mortality rate is high, any evil dragon that manages to grow up is invariably a powerhouse, whereas we Metal Dragons vary greatly in strength."

Deborah paced in place, her tail swaying left and right.

A few seconds later, it stopped moving and hesitantly said, "Then what should I do? Should I swallow this anger and let it take my things?"

The Silver Dragon and the Copper Dragon exchanged a glance and said, "That is certainly not allowed."

"What you should do is defeat it, capture it, train it, and gradually turn it into a righteous dragon."

"Turning an evil dragon into a good one is an achievement ten or a hundred times greater than defeating an evil dragon directly."

Deborah's eyes lit up; she knew what she had to do.

"My dear father, give me some more powerful alchemical tools. I want to find it and make it turn over a new leaf!"

The copper dragon girl rubbed her head against her father in human form, coquettishly begging.

"Relying solely on alchemical tools is not the right path."

The silver dragon said sternly, "You lack combat experience too much. I will harden my heart and train you personally for a while, then give you an alchemical tool and let you go out to handle your own affairs."

This failure also made Deborah realize how poor her combat experience was.

It nodded and did not refute.

Hemlock Hills.

Under the scorching midday sun, Garos, who had been training for a long time, lay resting on a rock slab, feeling lazy and lethargic; using alchemical tools for training had been very effective, putting him in a good mood.

"If only I could encounter other surplus metal dragons again, or even raid the copper dragons once more."

Garos thought to himself, then closed his eyes, basking in the sun to sleep and rest.

Several days later.

Garos was having Samantha breathe dragon fire on him to further improve his fire resistance.

Because treasure was dangling before Samantha, it worked much harder than usual; the dragon fire made Garos feel both pain and pleasure, a mix of suffering and joy, and its buffer scales, under the impact and burning of the fiery dragon breath, took on a glow like that of a red-hot iron.

After a while passed like this.

Samantha was nearly burned out, lying collapsed on the ground with her tongue lolling, panting heavily.

Garos plucked a buffer scale from his body; the red-hot iron glow on it was slowly fading, but at the very edge, a trace ultimately remained. This set of buffer scales seemed to be evolving toward some uncertain direction.

Crack.

The earth and stones on the ground ahead suddenly split open.

Garos shifted his gaze and looked closely; a earth spider rushed out from the crack.

(End of this chapter)