Chapter 1257: Stable 1
"We must leave this place."
Garen got up and said to the Dragon Whelps who were drinking water. He did not want to leave alone. He was still too weak by himself and needed these Dragon Whelps to move around with him, not just for power, but as a cover for his identity. Once his abnormality was discovered, problems were likely to arise and he would be easily noticed.
"Why do we have to leave?" Satwo asked.
"There are humans here," Garen whispered. "If they're moving around this area, they obviously have some sort of purpose."
"Humans? We can kill them straight away. They're just food," Saone thought otherwise.
"We may be able to kill them in the future, but not right now." Garen shook his head. "Are you guys moving?"
"No, there is water source here. Where there's water, animals are bound to come by. Therefore, if we stay here, we'll be able to find good food," Safour said with a witty tone.
"As long as there's endless food, we will continue to advance!" Sathree exclaimed loudly.
"As long as we advance, we'll be able to go find Mother!" Saone continued.
"And as long as we're able to find Mother, we'll all be safe!" Satwo waved his claws.
Bang!
A huge claw that was clenched into a fist landed on his eyes.
Instantly, Satwo stumbled backward. Before he could figure out what was going on, he saw Garen flinging another punch towards him.
"No! You..."
Bang!
Both of his eyes were completely bruised.
Saone was furious that he actually dared to hit the boss! He rushed forward and tried to entangle Garen into close combat but it was pointless.
Garen took a step back and simply kicked his leg causing his knee to land right on Saone's abdomen.
Oh!
Both Saone and Satwo fell on their butts. Their heads were spinning and they were completely stunned.
"Now I'm the boss," Garen walked to the front of both dragons and waved his claws.
"Alright... Alright, you're the boss," Saone was convinced right away.
There was still a look of dissatisfaction in Satwo's eyes, but from the strength and speed of Garen's movements, he was obviously no match for Garen. With a huff, he gave in reluctantly.
"Now, we're leaving this place," Garen confirmed his authority as the leader and proposed decisively to leave.
Sathree and Safour were shocked by Garen's sudden burst of powers.
The group of Dragon Whelps sorted out the leopard meat cubes and brought them one by one, tied them up with large leaf vines from the trees before flying away wobbly into the distance.
Roar!
Suddenly, a low rumble was heard from the forest below.
Something dark darted out from the woods. It seemed to be a gigantic, black wild boar.
The wild boar was covered with a black iron armor, rushing straight towards the group of Dragon Whelps. It had blood-red eyes and it reeked badly.
"Rise!" Garen shouted.
The wild boar was at least twice their size, rushing over like a car. He did not want to fight against this fellow.
All the Dragon Whelps immediately increased their heights but a beam of grey-white light shot out from the back of the wild boar, hitting Saone's hind legs.
"Ahhh!" Saone howled in pain.
The ray was actually able to break through the dragon skin's magic defense. Although they were only Dragon Whelps now, their epidermis was still able to immunize Level-One magic and even a certain resistance towards some Level-Two spellcraft. However, looking at Saone right now, the ray was clearly far more than just a Level-Two spellcraft.
After struggling for a while, Saone completely lost the ability to flap his wings and fell from the sky.
The other Dragon Whelps were shocked. At this moment, the selfish nature of White Dragons was truly manifested. All the Dragon Whelps ignored Saone who had fallen and flew away frantically.
Garen cast a glance towards Saone who was below him. The gigantic wild boar had its head up waiting for it to fall and there was a creepy old guy in a grey robe wandering beside the wild boar.
"Human..." Garen's heart shook. His strength and speed were incomparable to Saone. Moreover, Saone's body was temporarily frozen as he continued falling. Before he touched the ground, Garen once again fluttered his wings and fiercely squirted a mouthful of Chill towards the old fellow.
When the white Chill rushed to the old man, it seemed to be blocked by a transparent barrier.
The old man smiled and extended his right hand. A Void Shadow of a white skeletal hand could be seen around his entire palm, wrapping his palm within it. Looking from afar, it seemed as if his entire arm was just skeletal.
The skeletal arm pierced through the screen and grabbed onto Saone who was trying to escape.
Garen who was in the sky immediately felt the intense threat and darkness from the white skeletal arm. It felt as if he was standing at the cliff of an abyss, the cold feeling surged straight into his mind.
Garen could feel his hair standing on end and his Soul Ring instinctively judged his reaction. This old man was indeed very strong! Definitely not something he could deal with right now!
Without hesitation, Garen turned around and fled. Soon enough, Garen caught up with Satwo and Sathree who were in front of him and they quickly left the place. As for Saone, the odds were against him.
The old man below hesitated as he looked at the fleeing White Dragon Whelps.
"There's actually more than one. That's unfortunate, they'd make such good material."
Grabbing Saone in his hand, his sharp but bent fingertips pierced through the Dragon Whelp's skin.
Saone screamed in pain, wailing loudly as he felt the excruciating pain. White blood flowed from the wound and dripped on the ground, covering the small meadow with a white layer of frost.
After being caught by this old Wizard, he could not fight back at all.
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Garen followed the Dragon Whelps as they flew and soon enough, everyone was back together except Saone who was nowhere to be seen.
The group of dragons flew along their original path, staying silent the entire time.
"Saone... is he going to die?" Satwo whispered. No creatures could actually stay calm the first time they faced death.
"The outside world is too dangerous..." With his head bent, Safour spoke as his body trembled.
This was also the first time Garen felt that this world was not just generally dangerous. Before that, there was a God's inspection, and now he had just encountered an old man who looked strong and abnormal. Besides knowing some human combat techniques himself, his other strengths could only be used after the completion of the laws. However, it would take too much time to complete the laws and he could not even guarantee his own safety right now.
"There are only two options," Garen said in a low tone.
"What two options?" Satwo asked quickly. He found that among them, Garen was the most assertive and most knowledgeable.
Sathree and Safour immediately looked at him as well.
"Humans have appeared in our surroundings and obviously they're not here to just hang around leisurely. Look at the man's strength just now, there's no way he was here just to deal with us Dragon Whelps. If we want to be safe, we have to get far away from this place. We should find the White Dragon Clan Elder's Peak and tell them about our findings. There's a specialized Dragon Whelp Breeding Institute in the clan, we can go in and learn to fight."
Garen carefully explained his plan.
"I'm planning to go to the clan's breeding institute, what about you guys?"
The other Dragon Whelps were as clueless as headless flies. Saone had just died right before their eyes and they were frightened to the point where they had lost their definite views. They simply listened to Garen and set off in the direction of the clan.
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After they safely arrived at the White Dragon Clan, Garen explained their situation to the White Dragon guard and they obtained the entry permit.
It was evident that the White Dragons had long known that humans were nearing by and did not refuse the Dragon Whelps who came into hiding. Besides Garen and his group of Dragon Whelps, there were other White Dragons who had brought along their Dragon Whelps to seek shelter nearby the clan's Elder's Peak.
Due to the disappearance of their mother, Cocoreila, Garen and the other Dragon Whelps had arranged to enter the breeding institute, as he wished for.
The White Dragon Clan's Dragon Whelp Breeding Institute was an organization set up for Dragon Whelps who had lost their parents or families because they did not bother about their Dragon Whelps. There were over fifty Elder White Dragons in the entire race and five of them were in charge of looking after the Dragon Whelps. There were also many dragon beasts and Earth Dragons around who were managed by the White Dragons as a safety precaution.
Inside the institution, the Dragon Whelps were taught how to fight, how to hunt, and what creatures to look out for that were threats to them. They were also taught about the environment needed to advance, the conditions, and the storage of miscellaneous food.
What attracted Garen's interest was the practice of spellcraft.
When they were selecting their classes, Garen chose the Arcane Art Course without hesitation instead of the Actual Combat Course that most White Dragons would choose.
For White Dragons, as long as they stepped into adulthood, they would have dragon scales that would immunize all spellcraft below Level Four and their powerful Draconic Aura would be equivalent to a no-loss Level-Three spellcraft energy field that was able to control large groups of Earth Dragons as well as dragons. Moreover, they would have several Ice-type spellcraft of Level-Six Ice Mirror Art and two kinds of Frost Breath.
Every Wizard that faced an Elder White Dragon with such strong constitution and terrifying powers had the ability to reduce or even exempt the effects of the spells that were Level Four and above. With the swipe of a tail, the force could actually go up to a Level Six creature's top strength. No spellcraft screen or Wizard's armor could possibly resist such a strong force. The instantaneous burst of power would be as much as a Level Five lethal spell.
This kind of horrific talent was why the White Dragons, even some of the dragon race, rarely focused on learning Spellcraft. Only those Elder Dragon whose lives were too long would choose to practice Spellcraft because they were too bored.
"Are you really sure that you're choosing Spellcraft Course? Don't blame me for not reminding you that the most suitable path for us dragon race is to first improve our melee ability and only choose Spellcraft when we can protect ourselves because by that time, we'll have sufficient time to practice Accumulation," the young dragon that was in charge of registration reminded. "Also, we won't be responsible for your meals. In the process of learning, all of you will learn to hunt stronger preys and through this process, elementary Spellcraft is completely useless for dragons."
Garen nodded as a sign that he understood.
"I understand."
"No... You don't." The young dragon shook her head, her long slender snake-like neck made her as beautiful as a white swan. Clearly, this was a female dragon.
"Even though we are from the dragon race and we have a vast amount of spirit power, this doesn't mean that we can advance quickly. Like humans, we need at least ten years or so to reach the standards of Level Four, and this is if you're talented. If you don't have talent, it'll take at least sixty or seventy years. As for Level Four Spellcraft, it'll only cause a small damage to Adult Dragons. It's very weak!" She emphasized once more.
"I understand." Garen had known about this already. "That's why I've also signed up for Combat Course."
Stunned, the young dragon stared at Garen carefully.
"Alright then, since you've already made your decision." With a few strokes, she wrote down Garen's name on the paper. Not Safive, but Garen.
Ever since they got away from Cocoreila, Garen had changed back to his original name.
"We'll conduct recruitment applications every once in a while to enter different environments to train Actual Combat. If you die, don't blame me for not informing you," the young dragon said in a low tone.
Garen smiled.
"May I have your name?" This was the first time he had encountered such a kind-hearted fellow in the White Dragon Race.