Before they could catch their breath, another sound echoed nearby. Rattled by the commotion, another sow attempted to flee.
“Nora, dragon breath.”
A tiny spark of fire shot out from the bushes, grazing the boar's belly and sending it spinning in panic.
Kael, reacting faster, seized the opportunity and charged forward swiftly.
Carlos also dashed toward the boar's other side, working with Kael to cut off its escape.
Nora rushed out of the bushes as well.
With all three dragons working together, they quickly brought down this boar as well.
As for the piglets, they had long since darted into the thickets and vanished without a trace.
Of course, as Kael had said, they wouldn't eat them for now.
After all, pigs had to be fattened up before slaughter.
Carlos lowered his head to sniff the prey, then looked over at Kael without immediately fighting over it like he had yesterday.
Nora got up and blinked her draconic eyes, her amber pupils sparkling with a hint of excitement as she quietly leaned toward Kael's side.
Kael looked over the two kills and said with a smile:
“We did it. We'll drag the prey back to the lair and split it evenly this time—after all, everyone put in effort.
“From now on, we'll hunt using this method. Everyone sticks to their duty, and as long as we work together, none of us will starve again.”
His tone carried a bit of encouragement.
“Let's head back to the dragon lair. I'll haul the big one, and leave the smaller one to you two.”
With that, Kael walked up to the boar carcass, clamped his teeth onto its hind leg, and began dragging it.
Ample food and ultra-rapid growth gave Kael extraordinary strength, allowing him to pull the boar—which was roughly the size of his own torso—without any trouble at all.
Behind him, the two wyrmlings each bit onto a hind leg of the other boar and followed along.
The mountain trail was far too rugged, and it wasn't until noon that the three little dragons finally dragged the boar carcasses back to the dragon lair.
The moment they arrived, Carlos and Nora let go and collapsed onto their backs.
“I'm exhausted! Kael, why didn't we just eat down the mountain before coming back?”
Carlos's question carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
Looking at this brother of his who probably hadn't even bothered to flip through his draconic heritage, Kael shook his head.
“First of all, we aren't necessarily the strongest creatures in this forest.
“If the scent of prey attracts other beasts of higher tiers than us, we might not be able to defeat them.
“Meanwhile, this extinct volcano carries Mother's residual aura, so other magical beasts wouldn't dare approach. Bringing the prey back here is the only safe way.
“Second, everyone ate plenty last night.
“These two boars are enough to feed us for the next two days, so we need a place to store our food.”
Kael patiently explained to the two little wyrmlings.
Of course, this was setting aside Kael's own astonishing appetite.
Half an hour later, the three little ones finished eating.
The two little wyrmlings were already lying down to rest while rubbing their round, bulging bellies, having eaten significantly less food than yesterday.
Kael glanced at the untouched, visibly larger male boar to the side, having no intention of going over to eat more.
He walked over to a nearby rock wall, using his draconic claws to pick up basalt gravel from the ground to examine it.
With life settling down and the trio's teamwork improving, Kael could finally focus on studying his special talents in peace.
Rapid Growth (Possesses a digestion speed far surpassing ordinary dragons, faster growth speed, and the ability to gain more benefits from food.)
Turn a Blind Eye (Distorts the attention of other creatures and dampens one's presence; effect is influenced by the relative tiers of both parties. Grants an extra bonus to other stealth skills and talents. Can be controlled freely.)
Resting his chin on his claw, Kael fell into thought.
In his past life, basalt was rich in metal elements like iron and magnesium, so it shouldn't be much different in this world.
Besides, when he had browsed his draconic heritage, there was a red dragon predecessor who specialized in eating dirt, and that senior had held basalt in high regard,
stating that it was rich in fire and metallic elements, which worked exceptionally well for enhancing dragon breath and hardening scales.
Kael tossed a few small pieces of gravel into his mouth.
Hmm, hard on the teeth, unchewable—they had to be swallowed directly into his draconic stomach.
The taste was bizarre as well, definitely nowhere near delicious.
However, a strand of fire element indeed merged into his body, along with metallic elements slowly dissolving during digestion.
Looking at the ground covered in gravel and sand, Kael's eyes turned resolute.
He possessed a talent that allowed him to extract greater benefits from food.
This dirt—he, Kael, was set on eating it.
Immediately after, he began stuffing sand and gravel into his mouth.
Beside him, seeing their younger brother eating dirt despite having plenty of food, the two little red dragons didn't know what to say. After exchanging a glance, they drifted off into a deep sleep.
With both companions completely asleep, the lair fell silent in an instant.
Having just downed several mouthfuls of dirt, Kael had no intention of sleeping at all; he already had other ideas.
He glanced at the two sleeping little dragons and shook his head—this place wasn't suitable.
...
Kael had finished his own portion of prey and had made new discoveries among the basalt gravel.
With vitality surging within him and his whole body brimming with power, he was not only completely unwearied, but his desire to train this draconic body grew stronger and stronger.
He left the lair alone and chose a rock wall far enough away.
The entire mountain face before him was composed of pure basalt accumulated over a thousand years.
The rock wall was hard and massive, with weathered gravel and sand scattered all over the ground.
Kael had already come to understand the value of this extinct volcano.
If he could continuously consume, strike, and absorb the elements contained in this basalt over a long period, he could constantly temper his draconic bones, densify his scales, boost the power of his breath weapon, and build his physical endurance.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sharp claws scraped against the hard rock, sparking fine traces of fire. Kael's current physical strength was not yet enough to damage the basalt wall.
The rough stone ground against his claw tips continuously, sending sharp pain through flesh and into bone, yet Kael did not stop.
Every strike was honing his claw blades and strengthening the bones and muscles of his forearms.
Then, turning sideways, he slammed the scales of his shoulder plating hard against the rock wall. Heavy thuds reverberated as vibrations rippled through Kael's entire body, stimulating his draconic bones to become even sturdier.
Shattered dragon scales scattered, but in a few days, even harder new scales would grow in their place.
Only when the soreness in his body reached its peak did he stop, extending his claws to scoop up fine gravel and rock dust from the ground, placing it into his mouth.
This time, Kael didn't swallow directly, but chewed slowly instead.
As cold, rough stone chips entered his mouth, bringing a faint metallic astringency, Kael narrowed his eyes.
Only by enduring the hardship of hardships could one become the dragon above all dragons.
When an afternoon of training drew to an end, bathed in the faint glow of the stars, Kael dragged his exhausted body back to the dragon lair.
Seeing his two companions still lying on the ground asleep, Kael chose a spot reached by starlight, crouched down, and began to rest.
As Kael's consciousness drifted into sleep, his draconic body and the stars in the sky resonated.
This time, the starlight no longer gathered solely on his wings; it also shone upon the wounds left over from his daytime training, as if healing Kael's injuries.
Early the next morning, just as the morning light crept over the ridge of the extinct volcano, Kael was already awake.
Carlos and Nora were still asleep, and Kael didn't intend to wake them.
He looked down at the vast bushland below the mountain. How much prey was available to catch inside, and how many dangers needed to be avoided—Kael had not yet figured it all out.
Coincidentally, he possessed the "Turn a Blind Eye" talent, which happened to come in handy today to test out the true caliber of this special talent while he was at it.
A quarter of an hour later, Kael stayed low to the ground, weaving through the crisscrossing bushes.
A few tierless wild rabbits foraging for food ran past his side, completely unaware that a red dragon wyrmling was right beside them; a wildcat of the First-Tier seemed to catch a faint whiff of a predator's scent, but it merely looked around blankly before scampering off in panic.
Rate on N.U.
