The seasonal changes in the Serel Wilderness are unusual and unpredictable; after the earth had been scorched by the blazing sun for three consecutive years, it finally welcomed a rare rainy season.
At first, there were only a few rolls of muffled thunder on the horizon, but then the dark clouds swallowed the sky at a speed visible to the naked eye.
When the first drop of rain hit the scorched earth, it didn't attract much attention from the wilderness creatures, but soon, thousands of silver threads poured down through the clouds, tearing the dry air into moist fragments, and a thick curtain of rain enveloped the sky and earth of the wilderness.
"This god-awful weather."
Samantha looked at the dense curtain of rain, cursed in complaint, and then turned to head deeper into the cave.
Red Dragons like dry, hot, high-temperature weather; this humid weather full of water vapor made Samantha unable to help feeling irritable and gloomy.
Garros was perched on a protruding rock slab, with no shelter above him.
He raised his head, his increasingly formidable dragon horns pointing toward the sky, and slightly closed his eyes, allowing the raindrops to hit his steel-cast body and shatter into pieces.
The rain falling on his body created a wet, damp sensation.
Garros instinctively felt the same disgust and dislike.
However, to improve his affinity and resistance to the water element—and because the cave Dragon Nest was too crude, with water leaking through some cracks and turning into muddy drops that soaked the cave floor into a mire—it was better to just stay out in the rain.
"When will I have a palace of my own that doesn't leak?"
Garros thought to himself.
The dwellings of different creatures vary in specifications and standards because of their sizes.
For instance, for Dragonkin, building a comfortable dwelling—whether by hollowing out mountains or constructing palaces on level ground—requires massive resources, a lot of time, and many servants.
Only an Evil Dragon Lord who dominates a region, or a Metallic Dragon with extensive connections,
can afford to live in a residence that makes them feel comfortable.
The cave Dragon Nest where Garros usually lived was just a natural cave.
Naturally, it wasn't comfortable; it was even somewhat unpleasant to live in.
When he first occupied Coniferous Valley, he tried to have the Earth Storm Bears carve into the mountains and break timber to build a dwelling for him, but the bears were cave-dwellers themselves and knew nothing about architecture; although they possessed the talent to manipulate earth and stone, the things they built were indescribable and completely failed to meet the needs of a Dragonkin, failing to meet Garros's needs, so he could only give up.
"If I can integrate and rule all the creature clans around the Scale-Earth Rift Road and obtain resources through this route, perhaps I can have my servants build a refined residence that makes me feel comfortable."
Thinking of this, information about several clans appeared in Garros's mind.
After about a week of investigation, Garros had also confirmed the number and general scale of the clans around the Scale-Earth Rift Road; besides the Grey-mane Werewolf, and not counting monster groups like the Earth Storm Bear, there were three intelligent creature clans present.
Red-Eye Clan—Gnoll.
Ripped-Claw Clan—Lizardfolk.
Bone-Chewing Clan—Ogre.
Among them, the overall scale of the Red-Eye Clan was similar to the Howling Moon Clan, the Ripped-Claw Clan was a step stronger, and the Ogres of the Bone-Chewing Clan were unrivaled in this region.
The Howling Moon Clan once had a conflict and friction with the Bone-Chewing Clan because of a looting incident on the Scale-Earth Rift Road.
When neither side could fly, marching through the wilderness was a very dangerous act, as they would encounter numerous attacks from Vicious Beasts and monsters along the way; if they weren't tough enough, attacking another clan was almost impossible.
The Bone-Chewing Clan was tough enough.
They dispatched some Ogre Warriors to trek long distances through the wilderness to launch an attack on the Howling Moon Clan, causing the Howling Moon Clan to suffer heavy losses.
Later, it was by relying on the Cliff Snake Dragons raised by the werewolves that they repelled the Ogre attack at a relatively small cost.
Another reason the Grey-mane Werewolf were willing to submit to Garros was that without the Cliff Snake Dragons, they would find it difficult to withstand another attack from the Bone-Chewing Ogres unless they abandoned their territory and relocated through the perilous wilderness.
Recently,
for some reason, the Bone-Chewing Clan hadn't launched an attack on the Howling Moon Clan.
And it wasn't just the Howling Moon Clan; this Ogre clan, which used to be very savage and domineering, had recently almost hunkered down in its territory, with no clansmen going out.
The werewolves of the Howling Moon Clan went to investigate but didn't find much useful information.
Just as Garros was preparing to investigate in person, the heavy rain came, and the curtain of rain would obscure his vision and affect his senses, so he wanted to wait for the rain to let up before setting off.
"Garros, Garros, why don't you go back to the cave to take shelter from the rain?"
Fairy Dragon Vera flew over, swaying in the wind and rain, and asked as she hid between Garros's dragon wing and his body.
"Because I like rain; I like the feeling of bathing in the rain in the open air."
Garros said.
"Really? Then stay in the rain a bit longer; it seems there are very few rainy seasons here."
Fairy Dragon Vera said with a giggle.
Nonsense, of course it's a lie. I hate rain; I want to enjoy a peaceful life in a spacious and comfortable palace. Garros glanced at the Faerie Dragon, and then, while she wasn't paying attention, he shifted his dragon wing, letting the water on the surface gather together like a winding stream and fall along the wing membranes, accurately drenching the Faerie Dragon.
Given the Faerie Dragon's size, this flowing water was like a waterfall.
Caught off guard, she was washed right down, and only after a few seconds did she flap her wings and fly back up.
"Oh! You're so mean!"
"I'm going to find Samantha to play with."
The soaking wet Faerie Dragon shook off the water, afraid that Garros would continue to tease her, so she quickly flew toward the cave where Samantha was.
The heavy rain continued to fall.
Raindrops hit the rocks and vegetation, making a crisp pitter-patter sound.
After resting for half an hour, Garros raised his wings, stood up, and simply soared into the thick dark clouds covering the sky, directly using the electric currents leaping through them to charge his lightning tail ring.
The charging was quickly completed, and the energy of the lightning tail ring reached its Peak.
Garros descended from the dim sky to a barren mountain, then used the fully charged lightning tail ring to strengthen his dragon tail, and while bathing in the wind and rain, he whipped his dragon tail against his own body again and again.
His body was drenched by the rain.
Because of the water's conductivity, every time his dragon tail rose and fell, a wave of numbness came not only from the direct contact point but also from other parts of his body.
The feeling like an electric current passing through his muscles became even stronger.
Thanks to Garros's accumulated training, this electric sensation was extending from his tail to his entire body; he had a premonition that when it spread throughout his whole body, he would undergo an evolution as a result, but he wasn't sure what the specific effects would be.
In this regard, he didn't have high hopes.
What Garros hoped for most was to evolve a Jet Structure on his dragon wings, and he had made many efforts and attempts toward that; now was just leisure time after training his wings to improve some lightning resistance.
Under the curtain of rain,
the electrical charge around the Red Iron Dragon was dense, and his tail shone with a blinding electric light.
Suddenly,
Garros felt a sense of trepidation and then instinctively looked up.
A flash of blazing white was reflected in his vision, close at hand.
Crack!
Silver lightning tore through the night rain, first striking Garros's dragon horns, and then extending from his Metallic Dragon horns at the speed of light to cover his entire body.
Garros's whole body shuddered.
He felt a moment of intense paralysis, spasms, and pain; wisps of smoke rose from his body, the rain between his scales was almost evaporated, and his tail curled slightly.
But that was all.
Phew. Garros exhaled a breath of hot air, flapped his dragon wings, and stretched his body; although some numbness remained, there was no other discomfort.
"My lightning resistance might not be able to rival a Blue Dragon's, but it has increased to a level far beyond that of a normal Red Dragon or Iron Dragon."
This accident instead allowed Garros to verify and confirm the strength of his lightning resistance.
Garros looked toward the sky; among the dense dark clouds, countless silver snakes danced, and lightning fell from time to time, illuminating the sky.
"The feeling of being numb and electrified all over is actually quite refreshing. Let's try again."
He raised his tail high, using the Tail Ring on it to attract the lightning to fall and strike him.
Then, one bolt of lightning after another struck Garros, the numbness and pain mixing together as they performed 'Lightning Body Tempering' on him.
Until a familiar copper-colored dragon shadow appeared on the horizon.