"Third, I need information about this forest, traces of adventurer activity, and some experience with using magic in combat."
Hearing Kael finish speaking, the old priest hurriedly answered:
"My Lord, this old one will completely obey your arrangements!"
Receiving the old priest's response, Kael flicked his dragon claw lightly, sending the drop of blood flying toward him.
"Drink it."
The old priest wrapped his hands in magic and shakily caught the drop of blood. As if cradling a sacred artifact, he carefully conveyed it into his mouth.
A warm current rolled down his throat. An unusual flush rose to his aged face, his hunched spine slowly straightened, and even his intermittent coughing ceased.
The old priest closed his eyes as his body was remade by dragon blood. Only after a long while did he open his eyes, slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air. He touched his forehead to the ground, his voice noticeably clearer than before:
"Thank you, My Lord! This old one..."
"Enough," Kael interrupted before he could continue. "I dislike fancy flattery."
"Listen closely. Next, I need you to do two things for me."
"This old one shall obey your every command, My Lord!" The old priest looked up at Kael with a resolute gaze.
"First, keep a close eye on the activities of the humans outside, especially those adventurers and merchant caravans. If there is any abnormality, be sure to inform me. If I'm not here, tell my two companions."
"Second, return first to arrange matters in your tribe, then come back here tomorrow. I have some things to ask you."
"This old one understands." The old priest solemnly accepted the task.
"Alright, that will be all for today. Go back." Saying that, Kael waved his claw.
The old priest bowed, leaned on his bone staff, and bent his newly restored back once more as he walked back into the woods step by step, his figure gradually disappearing into the forest mist.
The old priest did not voice the doubt in his heart. Three years ago, when he was gathering herbs in the forest, the powerful magic aura and dragon majesty he had felt was a world apart from what the little red dragon had just displayed.
Now, he had guessed the answer. As for that true "Lord," perhaps he didn't even possess the right to meet them.
Watching his receding back, Kael felt a bit more at ease in his heart.
The information the old priest could gather was clearly more than Grok's, and his mind was sharper than Grok's as well. With these two pairs of eyes, his situation was even safer.
...
By the time he rushed back to the dragon nest, the sun had already risen to the zenith.
Carlos, who was lying at the cave entrance, spotted Kael's figure from afar and immediately stood up:
"Where did you go?! Nora said you woke up, I've been waiting for half a day..." Before he could finish, he sized Kael up from top to bottom and suddenly froze. "You... how did you grow so big?"
When sleeping normally, Kael curled into a ball, so it hadn't been obvious. But now that Kael folded his broad dragon wings and stood at the cave entrance, his tall, imposing body genuinely shocked him.
Seeing the downcast emotion practically overflowing from his previously ambitious brother's face, Kael patted Carlos's shoulder with his foreclaw:
"Sooner or later, you'll grow like this too. Don't be discouraged, I just grew a teeny bit faster, that's all."
"Is there any food left? I'm a bit hungry." Kael scratched his head in slight embarrassment.
"Yes! Nora saved one specially for you—a boar!" Carlos flicked his tail. "I'll go drag it over for you!"
Before long, a First-Tier boar magical beast had been placed before Kael.
He didn't stand on ceremony, lowering his head to chomp into it. At the first bite, the flavor was just as delicious as before.
Nora also came over, squatting beside Kael. Seeing him eating with great relish, her eyes curved into crescents. "Eat slowly, don't choke."
Only after devouring the entire boar in one go did Kael comfortably exhale a breath of air.
A new problem had already surfaced in his mind.
This pork now, combined with the fish, shrimp, and giant turtle from this morning, was already equivalent to a whole day's food for him in the past. Yet right now, he actually still felt somewhat unsatisfied.
It seemed that after his tier increased, unranked and First-Tier food could no longer provide him with sufficient energy.
Either he had to gorge himself on massive quantities of food, or hunt higher-tier prey.
Kael glanced at his two companions and decided to choose the latter.
Conveniently, what he needed the old priest to do tomorrow was to lead him to search for Third-Tier prey, allowing him to practice his skills while satisfying his expanded appetite.
"Kael, I heard that upon entering the young dragon stage, one can learn Draconic magic."
Seeing Nora looking at him with a pair of curious amber eyes, Kael demonstrated the cantrips he had just learned to the two little fellows, as well as his dimensional storage stomach ability.
The dragon family was warm and harmonious.
...
The winter snow had completely melted, and the chill of slaughter spanning the border between the Kingdom of Halen and the Kingdom of Noland had also faded away.
The border line between the two kingdoms, once filled with beacon smoke and confronting iron cavalry year-round, finally laid down the tense arms of several decades.
The prolonged warfare had caused significant losses to the manpower and finances of both countries.
Many border cities far from the front lines suffered a continuous decline in population due to the kingdom conscripting troops and raising taxes.
Some remote small cities were even rendered powerless to resist monster invasions.
Three years ago, the incident where two red dragons destroyed Greystone City caused immense shock within the Kingdom of Halen.
After that, the kingdom dispatched envoys to negotiate with its neighbor, the Kingdom of Noland.
The blood feud of decades of war finally gradually subsided after three years of back-and-forth negotiations between diplomats on both sides.
The two kingdoms signed an armistice treaty, completely dissolving the long-standing standoff. The garrison troops along the warring border withdrew and dismantled their defenses.
Strict checkpoint bans were lifted one after another. As the atmosphere of hostility and slaughter dissipated, it was replaced by the long-lost warmth of daily life.
Emberfire City, a small city located on the border of the Kingdom of Noland, had long been desolate and deserted under years of conscription orders and trade bans. Yet within just a few short months, it suddenly grew bustling and lively.
The once-barren gravel roads gradually saw more carriages, horses, and escorts than in previous years. Grain wagons and cloth merchant caravans from the heartland of the Kingdom of Noland began heading out of the city, while long-absent merchant caravans from the Kingdom of Halen finally crossed the border pass, their wagons laden mostly with ores, pelts, and exotic local specialties as they slowly drove through the city gates.
Far away in the royal capital of the Kingdom of Halen, Marquis Lawrence, a hereditary noble, keenly captured the immense value of this border trade route. However, unable to rush to the border in person, he had other plans in mind.
His eldest son was steady and dependable, destined to inherit the family title and the royal capital's assets in the future. His second son, Sevein Lawrence, though having read numerous ancient texts and studied magic under a master at the Royal Capital Magic Academy, lacked talent and, even more so, genuine practical experience.
Through years of overt and covert struggles with other families, he had long understood that relying solely on theory without practical experience was completely unacceptable.
Therefore, Marquis Lawrence decided to entrust the opening of the border trade route to Sevein.
First, he could use this opportunity to hone his second son's vision and resolve, testing whether he possessed the ability to stand on his own. Second, if successful, Sevein could rely on this achievement to forge his own family property and prestige.
After handling the relevant affairs of the family and academy, an entourage composed of guards, accountants, and craftsmen set off from the royal capital. Their destination was Emberfire City, located on the kingdom's border.
Rate on N.U.
