After finishing his hunt, Garros found another barren mountain and crashed into the slopes and the ground repeatedly, finding it quite refreshing.
In the beginning, Garros trained to become stronger and to ensure his survival, forcing himself to endure pain. Now, however, he was long accustomed to the pain. If he missed a day of training, he felt as if something was missing; it had become a part of his daily routine.
As the twilight deepened into night, Garros returned to Coniferous Valley.
As soon as he returned, he sensed a faint atmosphere of slaughter.
He circled in the sky without landing immediately, casting his gaze down at the dragon and the ant army locked in a fierce, inseparable battle.
Faerie Dragon and Red Dragon—the two dragons had solemn and grave expressions, completely unaware of Garros's arrival, still immersed in their fantasy world.
Samantha was looking down at the ground in a majestic crouch, overlooking the top of an Anthill with a ball of fire held in her mouth.
Fairy Dragon Vera was circling above her head.
She sprinkled brilliant magical dust, making the ordinary black ants look like warriors clad in armor.
"Lowly Ant Tribe!"
Samantha's roar carried anger. She suppressed her throat to make her voice sound as deep as an adult dragon's. "How dare you build a fortress on the territory of the Red Dragon Queen!"
She spat out wisps of fire, burning a small smoking pit three centimeters from the entrance of the Anthill as a deterrent strike.
"Let us duel! King of the Giant Ants!"
Samantha carefully picked up the 'Ant King' and placed it beneath her.
This was a large soldier ant with particularly long antennae.
It scrambled in panic, trying to escape, but was circled in the middle by the trenches she had drawn, spinning around in desperate circles.
Fairy Dragon Vera used illusions to make light burst from the Ant King's body, expanding and contracting to make it look more powerful. Meanwhile, Samantha toyed with the Ant King with her claws repeatedly until, after a 'fierce battle,' she poked it to death with a single claw.
"It is over. The great Red Dragon Queen has won victory once again!"
Samantha raised her chin, looking down with proud disdain.
Just as she announced her victory, the Faerie Dragon chased a cricket until it jumped into the battlefield.
"Watch out! The true mastermind is the Dark High Priest of the Insect Race!"
"The traitorous Giant Ant Prince who secretly sent you news of the fortress was actually a puppet controlled by the High Priest! It was all the High Priest's conspiracy!"
Samantha froze for two seconds before quickly reacting and playing along, snorting a few sparks from her nostrils.
"What? This was all a conspiracy?! High Priest! What do you intend to do!"
The Faerie Dragon switched to a 'jie-jie-jie' laugh, voicing the mastermind: "Jie-jie-jie, naturally it was to cause a war between you and the King of the Destroyer Giant Ants. Now that you are exhausted, it is time for me to harvest the fruits of victory."
The Red Dragon Queen was furious.
"Very well, you have successfully provoked my wrath. So, are you ready to face death?!"
She let out a roar.
Meanwhile, Garros silently watched the scene below.
Samantha's queen fantasies seemed to have worsened, and so had Fairy Dragon Vera's, actually joining in the play. The plot was even quite rich, with twists and turns.
"What are you two doing?"
He landed, interrupting the two dragons' role-playing game.
"My dear brother, I am... uh... training Vera's tactical command capabilities."
Samantha stammered.
"Yes, yes."
Fairy Dragon Vera nodded in agreement.
Fine then, these two dragons have started playing together. Should I join in for a bit?
Garros shook his head, feeling that this game was too childish and didn't fit his dragon persona; it would diminish his dignity, so he decided against it.
However, I can play by myself during my free time, as long as I don't let them know.
He thought to himself.
Garros didn't press for details, pretending to accept the two dragons' explanation, and then flew toward the cave where the Cliff Snake Dragon's corpse was kept.
One large and one small, the Red Dragon and the Faerie Dragon looked at each other, then turned their eyes back to the Anthill.
The danger of the Dark Cricket High Priest was imminent; the battle was not over! The Red Dragon Queen was determined to crush the sinister plot against her!
After Garros left, the two dragons went back to playing happily.
Inside the cave where the moonlight could not reach.
The pitch-black environment didn't affect Garros; Dragonkin generally possessed Darkvision.
He walked up to the corpse of the Cliff Snake Dragon.
After about seven days in the sweltering environment of the Serel Wilderness, the corpse of an ordinary creature would have rotted and become foul-smelling if not preserved by special means.
But the Cliff Snake Dragon's corpse hadn't changed much; it looked the same as when it died.
It was a Fire-element Dragon, and dragon corpses themselves could resist decay for a long time.
Garros stepped forward, reaching out with his claws to pull back the Cliff Snake Dragon's scales. He focused his gaze, carefully observing the underlying structure.
Several honeycomb-like pores.
They were reflected in his vision.
Unsurprisingly, the Cliff Snake Dragon used these pores to erupt high-temperature steam for explosive boosts.
This was not a magical method.
This Cliff Snake Dragon was only a young dragon and had not mastered magic.
Magic is not powerful in the early stages, and the time and energy required to learn it are quite high, far inferior to a dragon's own claws and teeth. Dragons generally only begin to touch magic during their young adult stage—after reaching 50 years of age—when their physical growth slows down and their elemental affinity becomes higher.
Furthermore, since dragons are natural sorcerers, not all dragons are willing to study magic.
The professional paths within the dragon heritage include more than just the Caster path.
Garros had seriously considered which path he should take. For now, he was thinking of becoming a Martial Dragon while multiclassing as a sorcerer.
Sorcerer is an innate class.
It would allow Garros to master some Spell-like skills without spending too much time, enriching his repertoire.
And the Martial Dragon was actually a branch of the dragon monk.
Martial Dragons do not need to strictly follow monk precepts; they primarily grow through cruel training and combat, honing themselves through repeated pain and injury.
This suited Garros perfectly; it was a class practically tailor-made for him.
A normal monk can harness an alternative energy called 'Qi'.
Its essence is a special energy formed by the mixture of life energy flowing within living organisms and Demonic Energy.
Through the mastery and control of Qi, and cultivation over time, a monk can use Qi to enhance their speed, strikes, and reactions, strengthening various bodily functions while also creating some magic-like effects.
The Qi of a Martial Dragon is called Dragon Qi.
The effects of Dragon Qi are similar to normal Qi, but due to the bonuses of the Dragonkin race, Dragon Qi is thicker and more majestic. A Martial Dragon who masters Dragon Qi doesn't have many flashy skills, but possesses extraordinary combat power.
However...
Given Garros's current age, his current life energy and the intensity of his Demonic Energy were not yet enough to trigger the Awakening of Dragon Qi. He hadn't reached the standard to become a Martial Dragon.
His daily training could shorten this time.
However, Garros could not determine exactly when he would be able to take up the class.
But in any case, whether it was becoming a Martial Dragon or going far on the path of a sorcerer, Adaptive Evolution remained Garros's most relied-upon, innate talent.
It could fundamentally change him and enhance his potential.
Garros reached out with his claws, stroking the pores beneath the Snake Dragon's scales.
"If I can evolve some jet pores on my dragon wings and use Demonic Energy—or even better, Dragon Qi—as fuel, my speed will receive an explosive boost, making up for my lack of burst speed."
He thought to himself.
But how could he make the unpredictable results of Adaptive Evolution align with his wishes?
That was the problem.
Thinking of this, Garros didn't hesitate and took a lick of fairy scale powder.
This made his thinking clear, highly active, and rapid.
Idea after idea emerged in his mind, and one by one, they were rejected and discarded because they lacked the necessary conditions or were unrealistic.
As time gradually passed, through a brainstorm of rapid thinking, just as the effects of the fairy scale powder were about to end, Garros finally thought of a method that was the simplest to implement and had a high probability of success.