Iron firs stood tall and dense. The midday sun spilled through the thick foliage, casting mottled shadows across the body of the Red-Iron Young Dragon.
"My Lord, subduing the Earth Storm Bear pack will allow you to establish a firmer foothold in the wilderness more quickly,"
Mobel said in a gruff voice.
Garros scrutinized the Storm Bear offering sycophantic suggestions, his tail lightly tapping the ground as he fell into thought.
Mobel's proposal seemed loyal, but it actually harbored selfish motives.
—It wanted to use his hands to eliminate the old Storm Bear so it could take its place and become the leader of the pack.
After all, it had not undergone Dragon Vein Transformation.
For followers like this, their loyalty was tied to their personal interests.
Garros didn't mind this at all.
Sometimes, followers with desires and selfish motives were actually easier to control and manage; if they had no desires at all, the possibility of betrayal would be even greater.
Besides.
Every intelligent creature has selfish motives and seeks its own interests.
Garros could accept Mobel's little scheme.
The fact that it was willing to follow him, and hadn't taken the opportunity to flee while he was away, was because it felt following him offered a brighter and broader future.
However.
A proper warning was also necessary.
This Storm Bear looked honest and simple with its thick-headed face, but its mind was actually quite active and its intelligence high—at least much smarter than his dragon brother and sister.
"You are my first follower. Once I subdue the bear pack, I will put them all under your management."
With a faint smile, Garros spoke words that filled Mobel's bear face with joy.
"Thank you for your trust, Dragon Lord! I will guarantee their loyalty! I won't fail your expectations!"
The Storm Bear's eyes brightened as it thumped its chest loudly.
"But."
Garros's tone suddenly shifted, his gaze turning cold and his voice deepening as he said, "You want management rights? I can give them to you, but you must bear the corresponding responsibility."
"If the bear pack shows even a hint of resistance or betrayal toward me, I will break your bear legs first."
Mobel's bear ears twitched, and a trace of fear flashed in the depths of its eyes.
"Uh... Great Dragon Lord, I suddenly don't want to be the pack leader anymore. After you subdue them, I can just live as their equal."
Mobel scratched his head and said with a thick-skinned grin.
"The bear pack still needs a headman, and I have already decided it will be you. This is not a negotiation."
Garros finalized the matter.
Mobel had a long face, his heart torn between the fear of being punished for management errors and his ambition to become the pack leader.
Back when he was caught secretly hooking up with a young female bear and was beaten to the point of death by his old father before being tossed out like trash, he had sworn that he would eventually take back what he lost and claim all the female bears for himself.
Ten years east of the ridge, ten years west of the ridge, do not bully a young bear for being poor!
Ambition eventually overshadowed fear.
"Thank you for your trust; it will be my honor."
Mobel lowered his head and said softly.
The sun slowly dipped westward, gradually sinking into the embrace of the distant mountains, as night replaced the dim yellow sunset, stretching across the sky without end.
In the thick of the night, the Red-Iron Young Dragon spread his wings among the high-altitude clouds, soaring and gliding. The gale brushed against his massive, powerful wings, which flapped with a whistling sound.
Before long.
Garros hovered above the mountain ridge, looking down.
A ridge densely covered with coniferous forests appeared in his vision. The coniferous firs were numerous and lush, while the ridge itself was somewhat low and not very tall.
This place was the bear pack's habitat.
Garros circled in the sky, his gaze scanning every inch of the ridge and coniferous forest. He soon discovered an unnatural clearing at the foot of the mountain, along with many dark caves—the bear pack's den.
Although it was already late at night, the pack was not resting in the caves.
Bears that looked similar to Mobel were in the clearing in front of the caves.
They were rubbing against rocks to scratch itches, lying on the ground napping, or grinding their teeth with sharp stones. There were also four or five small cubs chasing each other on their short legs.
And among these Storm Bears.
One of them was exceptionally tall and strong.
Its shoulder height alone exceeded ten meters, its arms were thick, and its frame was broad and round like a bear-shaped mountain. Just sitting on the ground, it radiated a sense of danger.
In terms of size, this Storm Bear far surpassed Garros.
Furthermore, its fur color was not like that of an ordinary Earth Storm Bear; besides the rock-like deep yellow fur, it also had some dark red fur mixed in, which looked like flickering flames when the wind blew.
This Storm Bear seemed to possess both the Earth and Fire attributes.
And its identity was obvious—the Storm Bear Leader.
Life Level Detection Technique!
A faint light flashed in Garros's black dragon pupils as he gazed at the Storm Bear Leader.
life rank: 10
At the same time, the Rank 10 Storm Bear Leader seemed to sense something. It suddenly raised its head to look at the night sky, its gaze piercing through the cloud cover to accurately lock onto Garros.
Roar!
Standing up its majestic body, the Storm Bear Leader's fur bristled, making it look even more massive as it let out a deep, thunderous roar toward the sky.
It had discovered the presence of the Red-Iron Young Dragon.
As the roar sounded, the small cubs seemed to receive some kind of signal, and they all ran back into the caves under the protection of the female bears.
The entire bear pack went on high alert.
"A Rank 10 Storm Bear Leader; its perception is sharper than any monster I've encountered before."
Garros circled in the sky, looking down at the bear pack while weighing his options.
So far, the highest-ranked Vicious Beast or monster Garros had hunted was Rank 8.
Among them, some were strong and some were weak. The weak ones couldn't even withstand a single blow from Garros, while the strong ones could tangle with him for a short time and leave minor wounds on his body.
As for Rank 9 or Rank 10 Vicious Beasts and monsters.
Garros hadn't touched them yet.
life rank cannot fully measure combat power, but it is a very valuable reference.
On average, every life rank brings a significant increase. Low life rank creatures aren't necessarily weak, but high life rank ones are definitely not to be trifled with; the higher the life rank, the stronger they are.
Rank 10. This is the average level of a twenty-five-year-old Adolescent Red Dragon.
Of course, a Rank 10 Red Dragon is certainly much stronger than an Earth Storm Bear, but this Rank, comparable to an Adolescent Red Dragon, showed that the Storm Bear Leader was a powerful monster.
Garros wasn't completely confident about dealing with the Rank 10 Storm Bear Leader.
If they fought to the death, he might win in the end.
But injury would certainly be unavoidable, and it was possible the wounds would not be light.
In fact, serious injuries could better stimulate Garros's Adaptive Evolution, but the risks were high. He no longer had a backer for protection and had no path of retreat. If he encountered another powerful enemy while injured, he would fall into an extremely dangerous situation.
There were too many dangers in the Serel Wilderness.
Powerful monsters and Vicious Beasts were everywhere, not to mention the armies stationed by the various countries of the Losern Federation.
Even unintelligent beasts knew to avoid getting injured as much as possible while hunting.
Compared to temporary excitement and danger, Garros pursued a steadier way of developing and growing, seeking to live longer. He was still young, only a seven-year-old young dragon, with great talent and a bright future; there was no need to be hasty.
"Now is not a good time; I'm not guaranteed to win."
"I'll wait a few more days; I'm about to Breakthrough to Rank 8."
Garros did not stay any longer.
With a flap of his dragon wings, he quickly disappeared into the night.
Watching the departing figure of the Dragonkin, the Storm Bear Leader also retracted its gaze.
There wasn't a trace of gravity or tension on its bear face. It didn't even return to the cave, but simply lay down in the clearing to take a nap, its state very relaxed.
From Garros's size, he was just a tiny young dragon.
It wasn't even afraid of Young Dragons. If a young dragon dared to come here and cause trouble, it would just be a matter of a single paw strike. If the opponent was looking for death, it wouldn't mind tasting how dragon meat salted up.