The migrating convoy was like a winding giant python, slowly advancing along the border between the tundra and the wilderness.
The sun in the sky silently cast its light, yet it seemed to have lost its warmth. The chill in the air grew increasingly palpable; with every breath, a visible mist puffed out.
Garros's dragon wings sliced through the biting air currents. Looking down from high above, the earth resembled a scroll crudely torn apart by a god.
The withered yellow of the wilderness and the pale white of the tundra clashed fiercely here.
To the south, the wilderness still held the lingering charm of the rainy season. Tiny patches of tender green sprouted from the moist earth, as new blades of grass stubbornly pushed through the cracked soil, swaying gently in the breeze. Low shrubs had also donned new attire, their deep green leaves still hung with crystalline water droplets that shimmered with fragmented light under the sun.
However, when looking as far as the eye could see toward the north, the situation became starkly different.
Signs of life came to an abrupt halt. The permafrost was like a cold-blooded tyrant, strangling vitality with its pale fingers. The terrain was primarily plains, with occasional hills and jagged highlands rising like the spines of giant beasts. Further off, the horizon gradually blurred, merging with the grayish-white sky, making it impossible to tell where the land ended and the sky began.
"This is already the Borderlands."
Garros withdrew his distant gaze and looked down at the ground below.
The speed of the monsters' migration became even slower than before. It wasn't because the path was difficult, but because they slowed down to search for a suitable place to settle along the way.
Ever since they crossed the Estonia Great River and reached the northern bank.
Although there were still occasional attacks from Vicious Beasts and magical creatures, the frequency was far lower than before. The biological density of the Borderlands was low, lower than that of the Serel Wilderness.
This also meant...
...that this place was even more barren than the Serel Wilderness, making it harder to find a truly suitable habitat.
Garros, along with the Iron Dragon and the Red Dragon, were circling in the sky at that moment, unhurriedly flapping their wings. Their gazes swept across the ground, silently searching for a suitable territory.
Because they had decided to develop trade along the Estonia Great River...
...they didn't migrate too far north, but instead moved upstream while maintaining a certain distance from the main river channel.
Along the way, the migrating convoy also discovered some decent spots.
Garros had once paused at a geothermal Sulfur Hills. The sulfur veins beneath the hills generated heat and warmth. Within a radius of several hundred meters grew heat-resistant mutant brambles and mutant fir trees. There were even several spots where steam from hot springs billowed up to form hazy pillars of mist.
Samantha strongly requested to build her nest here.
However, because the pungent smell of sulfur was disliked by many creatures, and the excessive heat wasn't suitable for most Borderlands inhabitants, there were almost no traces of animal herds nearby, meaning a lack of suitable biological resources.
Thus, they could only temporarily give up on it.
But Garros noted the location of the Sulfur Hills. Once the main force had settled down, this place could serve as an outpost. While the underground sulfur veins weren't particularly precious, the surrounding environment was very suitable for a Red Dragon to perform alchemy.
"Once the subjects are settled, I'm going to build a furnace in the Sulfur Hills and set up my Alchemy Workshop again."
Samantha couldn't stop thinking about the Sulfur Hills.
She flew to Garros's side to remind him not to forget. After a pause, she added, "If you live here with me, you'll be able to drink the freshest refined black oil."
Garros shook his head and politely declined, "A comfortable environment will erode my will."
The Martial Dragon class didn't require ascetic cultivation like a monk, but Garros felt that the cold Borderlands would keep his mind sharper, whereas the warm Sulfur Hills would make him drowsy.
After the fierce battle with the dragon hunters.
Although he had won, the process had left Garros with a lingering sense of dread. He knew he wasn't at a point where he could indulge in leisure yet.
"Fine then, I actually prefer having a large territory all to myself! Without any disturbances, I can do whatever I want!"
The Red Dragon curled her lip and snorted, speaking insincerely.
A normal Red Dragon indeed preferred to live alone, but she had grown accustomed to relying on Garros over the years and was currently quite displeased.
"Look, there's a fortress ahead."
The Iron Dragon's roar interrupted their conversation.
Garros and Samantha followed the Iron Dragon's gaze and looked over at the same time.
A somewhat dilapidated fortress came into view.
Its walls were towering and its architecture grand; its scale was even sufficient for an adult dragon to inhabit. It could easily accommodate the size of a Young Dragon and, with some modifications, could become an excellent dwelling.
"It looks like a ruined fortress left behind by Frost Giants."
The Borderlands north of the Estonia Great River originally belonged to the ice fields. However, as times changed and temperatures rose, the ice and snow melted, gradually evolving into the current Borderlands. This fortress was likely left behind by some Frost Giant tribe a long time ago.
"There might be danger inside. Let the subjects go in and scout first."
"If it's habitable, we'll never have to live in mountain caves like beasts again."
After a brief exchange.
A team of elite Gnolls and Lizardfolk with keen senses, escorting a sorcerer, entered the old fortress. After some investigation, they came out to report that there were no magical traps or threatening creatures.
The Red Dragon and Iron Dragon were about to fly over in excitement.
"Don't be in such a hurry."
"It looks extremely dilapidated; it might not be suitable for us to inhabit," Garros said.
Garros's gaze swept over the cracks and mottled marks on the high walls as he spoke.
"As long as we can live in it! It's a fortress!"
A fortress capable of housing Dragonkin was not something an ordinary Young Dragon could afford.
Both the Iron Dragon and the Red Dragon were somewhat excited and ignored Garros's warning, entering the fortress.
Consequently, in less than ten seconds, following a series of faint crashing sounds, the massive fortress began to crack, crumble, and collapse, eventually turning into a pile of rubble and dust.
Ptooie, ptooie, ptooie!
The two Young Dragons spat out mouthfuls of gravel and shook the dust off their bodies, flying up from the ruins looking bedraggled.
"Damn it, my tail just accidentally knocked over a pillar and it started collapsing."
Samantha shook her head and said irritably.
This fortress had endured unknown years of weathering; its interior had long since become rotten and unstable.
Garros narrowed his eyes, looking at the foundation beneath the ruins that hadn't collapsed. "This place can also serve as one of our outposts once it's cleared up in the future."
The migrating convoy set off once again.
To search for the next suitable territory, and also to familiarize themselves with and adapt to the surrounding environment.
And three days later.
As the twilight deepened and the sky took on a gradient of grayish-blue, Garros saw a massive valley formed by two high mountains embracing each other.
Looking down from high above, the mouth of the valley was as narrow as a Bottleneck, but the interior opened up spectacularly.
The mountain walls were jagged and towering, capable of blocking the wind and keeping out the cold. The entrance, which only allowed five Ogres to pass through side-by-side, was easy to defend and hard to attack. Inside, there was an unfrozen lake, with cold-resistant iron-needle pines growing on the shore. Animal herds could even be seen drinking water nearby. The internal space was spacious, resembling an oasis.
Seeing this, Garros's eyes lit up.
But he didn't act rashly; instead, he ordered the Crimson Iron Cavalry warband to send a squad of Giant Wolf Knights in to investigate the situation first.
Back in the Serel Wilderness, resource-rich territories were either occupied by powerful creatures or the territory itself possessed some kind of danger or discomfort.
The resources in the Borderlands were even more barren than in the wilderness.
The probability of a good territory being unclaimed was extremely low.
However, the valley space was vast, and the towering mountain walls obscured his vision. Garros didn't see any direct traces of powerful creatures from the air, but that didn't mean there weren't any. Therefore, it was best to send subjects to scout the situation first.