Gurgle!
Her stomach protested once again.
Hunger caused Samantha's stomach to twitch and cramp, making her feel extremely miserable.
She whimpered, lowering her head to gnaw on a mouthful of foul-tasting wet soil. She missed the time under the Dragon Mother's protection more than ever; even being oppressed and bullied by Garros every day was better than this precarious life of eating dirt to stave off hunger.
"Should I go beg Garros to take me in?"
Samantha suddenly remembered what Garros had said when he left.
Although she was reluctant to admit it, she knew very well that Garros was smarter and stronger than her, so he must be living a better life.
"Even if I have to follow Garros's orders completely, that's fine. I never liked using my brain anyway."
Samantha didn't want to wander aimlessly anymore.
However, she couldn't let go of her inner pride and arrogance.
"No, I can't. I'm a Red Dragon, destined to stand at the top of the world. How can I be defeated so easily by the wilderness? I can't let Garros look down on me!"
Samantha gritted her teeth and stood up from the muddy water, casting the thought of following Garros to the back of her mind.
"I'm too hungry. I need food—real food, not dirt or tree bark."
Samantha took a deep breath and trudged through the rain with heavy steps.
Hemlock Hills.
After the rain, the sky cleared, and the air was once again filled with scorching heat. Damp water vapor rose from the coniferous forest, gathering in low-lying areas to form shallow pools with iridescent glimmers. Broken hemlock branches lay in the mud, their cut surfaces oozing amber resin.
Garros lay on a huge rock on a slope of the hills.
The golden sunlight fell upon him, plating his scales with a brilliant luster.
He spread his wings, enjoying the comfort of the sunlight on his body, squinting lazily, not wanting to move.
Given Garros's diligence and self-discipline, such rest periods were rare, but he also understood the principle of balancing work and leisure. While pursuing evolution and strength, he would give himself chances to relax during his free time.
The previous heavy rain had lasted for a week.
During this time.
Since the wilderness was dry year-round, rain didn't come often. Garros cherished the hard-won rainy days, bathing in the wind and rain while repeatedly using the Dark Gold Tail Ring to train himself. Once the energy was depleted, he would immediately recharge it with lightning and continue training, repeating this cycle. However, he also kept the dangers of the wilderness in mind, interspersing rest to preserve his stamina and prevent himself from becoming overly exhausted.
And after being washed by the heavy rain and tempered by lightning.
Over the past few days, Garros's Buffer Scales had all been whipped away by himself. New ones hadn't grown yet, revealing a layer of black and red scales full of cracks, dents, pits, and mottling, looking as if they had been through an intense battle.
As for the results.
Besides an unknown increase in lightning resistance, Garros also felt a slight, tingling sensation, like an electric current, in the muscles beneath his dragon scales and skin.
This was a sign of gradually undergoing Adaptive Evolution.
Basking in the sun, Garros's tail, hanging off the rock slab, swayed gently. He shifted his body to let the sun warm his belly.
It wasn't until noon, when the sunlight became its most intense and scorching.
Garros still hadn't set off to hunt.
He decided to give himself a day off and had Mobel go hunt for food.
"Just a little nap longer."
Garros yawned, closed his eyes, and continued to bask in the sun, feeling drowsy.
Suddenly.
His nose twitched as if he had caught a scent, and then he opened a pair of black dragon pupils.
—A scent familiar to Garros drifted through the air.
The Red-Iron Young Dragon propped himself up and looked into the distance.
At the same time.
Samantha stumbled through the damp and muddy ground of the wilderness. Her already crippled right dragon wing had more wounds, with several poisoned Feathered Arrows still stuck in it.
She flapped her wings while running, trying to take flight.
But after several attempts, her tattered wings and weakened body could not support her flight into the sky. She could only gallop across the ground.
Behind her, dozens of Goblin Wolf Cavalry were in hot pursuit.
The paws of the Giant Gray Wolves stepped through the muddy water, moving as fast as the wind. The distance between the two sides was gradually closing.
Samantha gritted her dragon teeth and looked toward the hills ahead, densely covered with hemlocks, a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes.
"Almost there, I'm almost there."
"I hope Garros is still here. I hope he can forgive my past ignorance and savagery."
Even if she had to become Garros's follower, lower her proud head, and completely follow this elder brother's orders, Samantha would accept it.
Having endured so much hardship, she had deeply realized it.
Dignity wouldn't keep her alive in the wilderness; she had been too naive before.
In fact, both the Iron Dragon Mother and the dragon heritage mentioned that it wasn't easy for a young dragon to survive alone and required extreme caution. However, arrogance and conceit were born alongside the Dragon Bloodline; a young dragon who hadn't experienced hardships would always think they could easily conquer the world.
However.
What the Dragon Mother and the Legacy knowledge couldn't teach.
But cruel reality could.
When the heavy rain first started on the first day, Samantha already had the idea of following Garros, but at that time, she still had pride in her heart and was unwilling to admit defeat to the wilderness.
Bathing in the wind and rain.
Samantha tried to hunt, hoping to replenish her energy with food and let her injuries heal.
But things didn't go as planned.
Creatures that could survive in the wilderness, whether intelligent beings or beasts, had their own survival rules. With Samantha's clumsy hunting skills and weakened body, all her hunts ended in failure.
If not for the fact that Dragonkin life was truly tenacious.
Any other creature would have been half-dead after such a struggle.
After gnawing on a few more meals of tree bark and dirt, Samantha finally saw herself clearly and decided to follow her powerful and wise elder brother.
Unfortunately.
The Goblin Tribe Samantha had first encountered had been searching and pursuing her, wanting to turn the Red Young Dragon into alchemical Materials. After a period of tracking, a group of Goblin Wolf Cavalry discovered her trail, followed her, and eventually spotted the young dragon.
"The distance is sufficient. Archers, ready!"
Among the Goblin Cavalry riding Giant Gray Wolves, several archers drew their Ironwood longbows to their full extent. The bowstrings were notched with arrows engraved with tiny Runes and coated in poison.
Swish, swish, swish!
Three Feathered Arrows tore through the air, letting out ear-piercing whistles as they shot toward Samantha.
Her ears twitched. Sensing the danger from behind, Samantha rolled clumsily.
Two arrows missed, burying themselves deep into the damp ground from tip to fletching. Another one struck Samantha's hind leg; the arrowhead, imbued with armor-piercing properties, pierced through her dragon scales. The metal shaft vibrated slightly, emitting a faint metallic hum.
The pain from the wound was secondary.
What was worse was the poison it carried, which began to erode and spread.
Samantha was simply too weak now.
In her prime, this amount of poison wouldn't have affected her at all.
Samantha felt her last bit of strength fading away. Her pace became slower and slower, her body felt as heavy as a mountain, and the Hemlock Hills, though right before her eyes, seemed worlds away.
If given another chance.
Samantha would definitely choose to cling tightly to her elder brother's leg and never let go, rather than being brain-dead and trying to survive on her own.