Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He had attracted a similar Level Five Giant Iguana immediately. If he had left slightly later, he would probably lose all hope of seeing the sun tomorrow.
Garen laid his back on the icy floor. The pain was coursing throughout his entire body. These injuries would probably take a few days to heal.
He pinched the Level Five Crystal Core and placed it in front of himself to take a look.
The subtle potential aura was currently surging outwards continuously and burrowing into his skin.
“According to this speed, I probably need three days before I can absorb the potential aura inside completely. The total amount is probably equivalent to one attribute point or a potential value of 100%.” Garen made these calculations mentally.
Since his Energy Machine Imprint had collapsed, he could only perform calculations on his own. Reconstructing the Energy Machine would require a rebuilding period which made it very troublesome. It was fortunate that this world could contain a type of strength such as Willpower.
Aside from Willpower, there were other types of Secret Technique strength that could be contained as well. However, the strength of most Secret Techniques was indeed slightly weaker in comparison to the grades of the forces in this world. Moreover, he did not come here this time to reconstruct his Secret Technique but to discover the reason behind the Depletion of the Mother Stream. If it was possible, he did not want to die with the Mother Stream. On the contrary, he wanted to alter the other systems instead.
He rested on the ice for a few minutes. Garen felt his body somewhat heal slightly. Only then did he crawl up slowly. He rubbed the Crystal Core against the snow-covered ground and cleaned it before placing it in his mouth in one go and swallowing it directly into his belly.
This Crystal Core was merely the size of a walnut. It was insignificant to a Dragon Whelp that possessed stronger devouring abilities.
Garen felt slightly safer once he had swallowed the Crystal Core. However, his stomach felt somewhat uncomfortable now.
“It looks like I can't swallow it directly next time… I need to think of another way.”
He scanned his surroundings and vaguely estimated the direction he had flown. Next, there was a snapping noise as he flapped his wings and flew down towards the snowy cliff to return to his original path.
The snowstorm whooshed and whistled. Garen hid in the snowy night. Currently, he could not afford to provoke even one Level Four Giant Iguana because his speed had decreased too much. His strength and vitality had also deteriorated terribly. He was completely at wit's end now and could only turn circles and make a detour.
It was fortunate that his intelligence was very high. Although his memory was not as good as usual, his brain's sense of direction was also pretty amazing. He could find his way around in the snowy night while hiding as well as locate the place where his little group had hidden once again.
The snowstorm had lessened slightly. When Garen was standing at the entrance of the cave that was used as their hiding spot, the sky had already turned brighter.
He rolled on the snowy ground a few times to cover the traces of blood and wounds on his body in a layer of ice. Next, he smelled himself carefully to ensure that the scent of blood did not linger on his body. He also found some delicate white fern-like plants that were growing beside the cracks in the rocks. These non-poisonous plants produced strong sweet scents. After crus.h.i.+ng it, Garen rubbed it all over his body multiple times.
Only then did he push the snow wall open before walking into the cave.
The three remaining Dragon Whelps were still snoring and sleeping soundly inside. Other than Boris who had sensed him entering and opened his eyes to glance at him blurrily, the other two did not respond at all. Saszt had even drooled all over the floor. His saliva had frozen into ice on both sides and fixed his large mouth on the floor, making him look very silly.
Garen resealed the hole in the snow properly while feeling as if this expedition had been truly somewhat risky.
He crouched down once again and crawled into an empty corner before falling asleep gradually. He felt the coldness that was constantly emitted from the potential aura before dozing off into dreamland slowly.
On the second day, after sleeping for twelve full hours, the four Dragon Whelps crawled up slowly and yawned continuously.
Boris pushed the snow wall open firmly before a gust of cold wind blew in from the outside. The four Dragon Whelps crawled out one after another. The layers of snow on the outside had almost buried the cave entrance.
They climbed a few steps upwards along the layers of snow. Garen yawned while his entire body ached. His entire body was terribly weak. Yesterday's critical injuries had finally displayed their formidable effects.
He glanced at the state of his current attributes.
‘Safive — Strength 21(7), Agility 15(7), Vitality 11(6), Intelligence 12. Potential 68%. Soul Limit 170'
Level 1 Draconic Aura. Level 1 Arcane Art Basics.
“They've been restored slightly. However, I don't think that I can catch up to the values of average Dragon Whelps.” Garen was helpless. It looked like he needed to hold back today.
“Garen, why do you look so dispirited?” Leona slapped Garen firmly from behind and almost knocked him down.
The area that she had hit was now aching with a fiery pain.
Garen was helpless.
“No reason. I encountered a Giant Iguana when I went out for a stroll last night. I ran in circles everywhere for a long distance before finally returning. I've exhausted a lot of energy.”
“You encountered a Giant Iguana? Oh my G.o.d, you're so brave,” Leona sighed in shock.
Garen chatted with Leona while thinking about what he would do today. It was fortunate that although he was injured, the sharpness of his claws was not affected. Basic coordination would probably not be an issue.
During the second day of hunting, they encountered another new Level Four Giant Iguana quickly.
This fellow was taking large chomps out of a White Dragon Whelp's corpse on the ground and chewing it.
When Garen and the group of dragons saw this scene, Saszt could not stop himself from charging over immediately. The battle began at once.
Naturally, the Level Four Giant Iguana was not their opponent when the Four Dragon Whelps could coordinate with each other skillfully. Saszt became the main supporting strength body while Garen followed from behind and used the Ice Pressure Blade to increase the strength of his claws and killing power. They managed to injure the Giant Iguana's skin and although they could not kill it because of its Ice Armor, they could enrage it effectively.
Garen had clearly grasped the way the Level Four Giant Iguana moved. Although their speed was slower and their strength was much weaker, Garen was not afraid because Saszt was here to support him significantly. When he noticed that the pieces of the Giant Iguana's muscles were moving, he could determine its attack direction. Hence, his own speed had decelerated greatly. Nonetheless, they could still dodge many of the Giant Iguana's oncoming attacks easily as Saszt was there to keep things in check and ward it off.
Therefore, the distribution of work here was very obvious. Saszt was mainly responsible for moving forward and providing the bulk of strength while Garen would spare some time to take revenge on the Giant Iguana. Meanwhile, Boris and Leona executed the Dragonfire Spells behind them.
They cooperated skillfully to take one Giant Iguana down. Saszt had suffered some light injuries while his muscles were faintly exhausted. After all, this was the first time that he had acted as the main attacking dragon. As Garen was fighting alongside him previously, the pressure this time was naturally greater.
Garen allowed the Giant Iguana to scratch and hurt his shoulder on purpose as well so that he could look as beaten up as Saszt.
Boris came forward to dig the Crystal Core out before giving it to Leona and placing it with the rest so that she could keep track.
“Come come come, I'll heal your wounds.”
Leona could only watch from the sidelines all this while. Now that both Saszt and Garen were hurt, she instantly felt as if she could use her abilities now. She rushed forward happily.
This was the result that Garen wanted. He stood next to Saszt.
Leona raised her hand before them while a pure white water flowed out and gathered there. The fluid floated in the air before quickly condensing into a ball of water that looked as if it was milk that had gathered in one place.
Bleurgh.
A large mouth spread open in the surface of the milk ball before it exerted all of its strength and vomited some translucent light white sticky liquid. This sticky liquid dispersed into numerous little water droplets that flew towards Garen and Saszt continuously.
“It looks so gross…” Saszt's entire body felt uneasy.
“Don't worry, don't worry. This is merely a fixed process of this spell. It's not as if a real creature is vomiting this out…” Leona whispered as if she was slightly out of breath.
Garen felt a psychological block as well. However, he could only endure it to heal his wounds as soon as possible.
Among the sticky water droplets that flew out, almost one-third of them flew towards Saszt quickly while the remaining majority flew on to Garen's body.
Most of these water droplets covered the surface of his body before burrowing inside through the cracks of his dragon scales and penetrating into his skin.
Garen instantly felt as if his entire body had cooled down, making him extremely comfortable. The aching areas received some effective relief.
This sensation lasted for several minutes before disappearing quickly.
“How miraculous! My injuries are actually healed!” yelled Saszt beside him in a happily surprised tone.
Meanwhile, Garen glanced at his statistics.
‘Safive — Strength 21(11), Agility 15(12), Vitality 11(11), Intelligence 17. Potential 69%. Soul Limit 170
Level 1 Draconic Aura. Level 1 Arcane Art Basics.'
“Its effects are pretty good. It restored an average of four points throughout my attributes during this one time. It can probably restore everything fully if I use it another few times.” However, Garen knew that it was better not to reveal the fact that he had left to hunt alone without informing the others. Anyway, Leona had the Dragonheal Spell that could be used thrice in a day. Since he was always getting injured, he could heal himself quickly as long as he used it in the future. Meanwhile, he had also gained a deeper understanding of Level Four Giant Iguanas. Hence, it would not be a major issue because Saszt would be there to support him as well.
This group of Dragon Whelps would not provoke Level Five Giant Iguanas anymore.
“Come over and look, you guys. This Dragon Whelp's corpse really looks like Burdock from the third cla.s.s.” Boris was investigating a Dragon Whelp's corpse on the side. Only half of its corpse remained because the rest had been chewed up.
The other Dragon Whelps gathered over there. They looked at the corpse of the Dragon Whelp that was gnawed beyond recognition.
Leona was slightly afraid while Saszt was burning with fury as his fighting spirit increased. Only Boris and Garen remained calm.
“It was probably killed by a Level Five Giant Iguana. We need to be careful after this because there may be Level Five Giant Iguanas nearby. Don't act rashly,” Boris whispered.
The three remaining dragons nodded.
After that, the group of Dragon Whelps continued hunting. They did not venture any deeper into the mountain range but wandered around the nearby area instead. They were looking for Level Four Giant Iguanas in particular to practice their skills. However, it seemed like they were not as lucky on the second day because they had only encountered one lone Level Four Giant Iguana. The others that they encountered were either in packs of three or four or were Level Five Giant Iguanas instead.
If it was not for the White Dragon Whelps excellent vision, the situation would have truly become tragic once they approached the Giant Iguanas.
They had merely hunted one Level Four Giant Iguana before the daytime scenery turned dimmed. Boris continued leading the other three dragons in search of a hiding spot. He had hunted here before so he knew the location of the safest hiding spots.
This time, they found a precipice in the middle of a cliff before they dug out a cave with all their might and burrowed inside. It would definitely be impossible for Giant Iguanas to discover them in terrains like this because they could not fly.
Garen did not dare to sneak out and hunt alone this time anymore. Instead, he was waiting for the Crystal Core inside his stomach to be absorbed completely. He would obtain one new attribute point because of this. Moreover, when he added it to his vitality, it would speed up the healing process of his bodily wounds.
Inside a deep cave in the depths of the icy snow
Darkness, coldness, and chills that were as sharp as knife edges spun slowly in the depths of the cave endlessly like an enormous twisting whirlpool.
On both sides of the cave, numerous sets of imposing knight's armor were positioned upright in a crouching stance with one knee on the ground. These sets of black knight's armor were empty on the inside while they held broad and heavy knight's swords with both of their hands. The edges of their swords pierced into the ground deeply. Seemingly countless strange symbols were engraved into their sheets of armor in a densely-packed manner. These symbols resembled tadpoles that were constantly swimming around. They were unimaginably strange and were all releasing faint auras of death.
“It's like… there's a kind of smell…” Suddenly, a gloomy voice echoed from the depths of the cave. It sounded like an old man that was about the die as the voice was hinted with an air of exhaustion and decay.
After a short period of silence, the voice sounded again.
“It's a powerful soul… A powerful Aberrated Soul. It smells good… Smells so good…” Greed and longing were indirectly revealed in the voice.
“Baschin.”
Pfoo…
Among the sets of knight's armor that were kneeling on one knee on both sides of the cave, moss green flames were ignited in the eyes of the helmet's one of these armors.
He stood up and drew his giant sword out of the ground before taking long strides towards the path in the center of the cave. He faced the interior of the cave as if he was waiting for orders.
“Master, I await your instructions.”
