Chapter 58: Illusion Domain

"Can you play with Long Long Weila?"

At the fairy dragon's inquiry, Garos pondered briefly, neither refusing nor agreeing, and said, "Depends on my mood."

The words had barely fallen.

He felt something strange about his tail.

Turning his head, he saw emerald vines coiled around the tip of his tail, tied into a bow-like shape, their surface still shimmering with pink fairy dust shed by the fairy dragon.

Garos flicked his tail.

The sharp dragon scales, layered like blades, rubbed against each other, instantly slicing the vines into powder.

"Play later. Now, I need you to do some serious business for me."

He said.

"Okay, okay, let's do the serious business quickly, then you can play with me."

The fairy dragon nodded excitedly, then tilted its head and asked, "What is this serious business?"

Garos grinned.

"Come on, use your illusion technique on me."

A strange request from a strange dragon; its interests were unpredictable and somewhat dangerous.

"Illusions carry a certain mental damage. If you take too much, it will damage your brain and turn you into a fool. Aren't you afraid?"

The fairy dragon asked curiously.

That is exactly the mental damage I want.

"Don't ask so many questions. Begin."

Garos took a deep breath, focused his mind, and prepared to receive the fairy dragon's illusion.

"Alright, alright, you asked for this yourself. Don't get angry if you get hurt." The fairy dragon added uneasily, then used its signature Illusion Sound Technique on Garos.

The sound of a clear spring flowing rang out, reaching Garos's ears.

The scene before his eyes began to spin, twist, and deform.

In the distance, the fur of the raging bears vanished, their bodies shrank, turning into dolls chasing and playing; rocks and trees grew limbs and mouths, dancing and singing; the colors of the entire world became vivid, like an oil painting.

This time, Garos did not try to interrupt the illusion with physical attacks; instead, he let himself sink into it.

Looking down at himself.

Garos was stunned to find his dragon scales had turned into flowers.

Bees and butterflies swirled around him, buzzing their wings, singing vague, indistinct ballads that made him feel dizzy and groggy.

Garos sat upright on the ground, steady as a rock.

He let the song continue, the scene before him growing more bizarre, using this to train and adapt.

But not long after.

The sound and the illusions stopped abruptly.

The bizarre, oil-painting-like world vanished, the hallucinations disappeared, and the world before his eyes returned to normal.

The sensation just now felt like stumbling into some fantastical, eerie world. Garos felt somewhat reluctant to let it go, looked at the fairy dragon, his gaze falling on its butterfly-like wings, and said, "I heard fairy dragon scales can enhance mental strength."

The fairy dragon nodded and said, "Yes, that's right."

"Let me taste it."

Garos said.

Scales dust is a renewable resource on the fairy dragon; for it, it is not rare. Without hesitation, it flew above Garos's head and shook its butterfly-like wings.

Silver-gray light dust rained down.

Garos opened his mouth and ate it all.

In an instant.

His mind became highly sensitive; his excitement and concentration soared; the colors of the entire world became vivid and bright, as if turned into some warm hue.

The small spiders weaving webs in rock crevices, the insects and ants crawling on treetops, the dust in the air.

The rustling sound of wind blowing through leaves, the faint sound of his own scales rubbing together, the crisp sound of dewdrops falling and hitting stones.

Details usually ignored were now laid bare, presented to Garos's sight and hearing.

"This feeling is truly wonderful."

Garos thought, his eyes shining.

This was a sensation different from consuming black oil.

Black oil mainly made his body excited, while this was mental sensitivity and euphoria.

Besides perception, Garos felt his thinking speed had increased; he seemed to have become smarter.

Then he reconsidered, pondering whether he should shift his focus, placing more emphasis on mental and spiritual improvement, or formally begin learning spells.

After thinking deeply for a few seconds, he arrived at a negative answer.

His wisdom told him—physical strength and power were still more important.

Mental, spiritual, and magical abilities were not areas where a Red Iron Dragon hybrid excelled; the difficulty of improvement was high, combat power could not be formed in a short time, and it could not become his reliance for survival in the wilderness.

Waiting until he was strong enough to try again was the better choice, yielding twice the result with half the effort.

"Long Long Weila, continue using your illusion on me."

He turned his head and said to the fairy dragon.

Garos did not plan to focus on mental improvement, but he would not ignore it completely; appropriate training was necessary.

Feeling mentally exhausted, the fairy dragon rubbed its head, then used the Illusion Sound Technique again.

Because the scale dust had been used, mental sensitivity had increased, and the effect of the illusion on Garos had also increased.

The scene in his eyes became bizarre and colorful, indescribable.

The shadow of the stone stretched long.

It twisted into a grotesque monster.

A colossal tree hung upside down, rooted in the sky, its trunk and sky-obscuring branches all formed of flesh and blood.

The song in his ears had also become some kind of completely unintelligible murmur, like the low whisper-hiss of some creature.

Garos was once again immersed in a bizarre domain of illusion.

During this time.

He vaguely saw claw-like branches descending from the grotesque world, reaching toward him, yet as if separated by a barrier between illusion and reality, unable to approach or touch him.

"Is it because the scale powder heightened my spiritual sensitivity?"

"This illusion effect is absolutely not something a Fairy Dragon could produce."

Garos thought to himself.

Time slowly slipped past.

Not long after, Garos's eyes gleamed as he looked toward the Fairy Dragon and said, "Long Long Weila, you can go play. Today's spiritual training ends here."

The Fairy Dragon drooped her wings, lying on a treetop, and listlessly lifted her eyelids.

"N-no more playing. Long Long Weila wants to rest now. So tired."

The Fairy Dragon was skilled at illusion, but her spirit was not infinite either. She was now utterly exhausted; under Garos's relentless pressure, her spirit was worn to the breaking point, wanting only to sleep and rest, with no energy left even for play.

Garos was still quite alert.

The effect of the scale powder had already faded.

The world in his eyes was no longer vivid, and his perception was not as formidable as before, but compared to the very beginning, it had improved by a sliver.

"Truly a fine thing."

"If I regularly use the Fairy Dragon's scale powder, the strength of my spirit and perception can be greatly improved even without specialized training."

Garos glanced at the Fairy Dragon fast asleep on the treetop, feeling he had truly picked up a treasure this time.

What a pity was.

There was now no channel to obtain black oil, and so he could not get any black oil.

"What would it feel like if I consumed black oil and scale powder at the same time, with body and spirit both excited and active?"

Garos could not help but wonder.

"For a resource like black oil, if there's a channel, I can buy it from a merchant caravan."

"But I can't show myself, or I'll invite trouble."

After pacing in place and pondering for a moment, he spread his wings and shot skyward, preparing to more carefully scout the other creatures' territories around the Conifer Valley.

When choosing this place as his territory.

Garos had already known.

That around the Conifer Valley there were quite a few intelligent creature tribes, not too far and not too close, and there was also a branch road of the Thousand Serpent Trail.

These were all safety hazards.

It was only that.

In the wilderness, danger lurked everywhere.

Compared to other places, the Conifer Valley had richer resources, and these few safety hazards were already the lesser ones.

Moreover, if handled well, they could be turned to his use.

So after weighing all factors, Garos had chosen this place as his territory.

(End of this chapter)