Translator: AnubisTL
Garos landed in the wasteland outside Hemlock Hills, his claws pinching the Silverfrost Ring. The ice crystal core embedded in the ring's face glowed with a faint blue light, and even through his armored scales, he could feel a chilling cold emanating from it.
He examined the ring closely.
He noticed dragon scale-like patterns etched into its surface.
Moreover, these dragon patterns weren't limited to the ring; they also adorned the Guardian's Necklace and the Flowing Fire Wing Ring.
This strongly suggested that all three items were crafted by dragon alchemists, and given the similar dragon scale patterns, they were likely forged by the same dragon.
Did that Red Copper Dragon have a father or mother who was a skilled alchemist?
It must feel good to have someone watching your back, unlike me, all alone and relying only on myself.
Garos shook his head, then pressed the ring to the tip of his tongue, mimicking the Red Copper Dragon's method of activation.
A silver-white frost erupted from his mouth, and within seconds, a half-meter-thick layer of ice had crystallized on the rock wall thirty meters away.
He extended a foreclaw, cautiously reaching into the still-lingering, dense ice mist.
The moment his claw entered the mist, frost patterns crawled across its surface, and the chilling cold began to spread up his dragon arm, forming ice crystals on each scale.
The biting cold seeped through the gaps in Garos's scales, freezing his skin and flesh as if countless icy needles were piercing him repeatedly, sending searing pain through his body.
He felt like he had fallen into an icy pit, both numb and agonizingly cold.
"Just a light touch, and this ice-type damage is already so effective against me," Garos frowned.
There are four fundamental types of basic elemental energy: earth, water, wind, and fire.
Ice, lightning, radiation, and other elements are derived from variations of these basic elements.
In other words, ice-type damage is a subtype of water-type damage.
Having never had the opportunity for targeted training, Garos's resistance to ice was no better than that of a typical fire dragon—weak. Ice attacks could inflict double the damage against him.
"A bucket can only hold as much water as its shortest plank allows."
"This weakness severely limits my growth, leaving me vulnerable to targeted attacks."
"Ice-type damage has a wide range of applications. I need to adapt to it in advance," Garos thought.
His scalding Dragon Blood surged through his veins, causing the crimson patterns on his red iron young dragon scales to glow with a molten radiance. The scales hissed as they evaporated the frost clinging to them, turning it into white steam.
Immediately afterward, Garos tested the Flowing Fire Wing Ring and the Guardian's Necklace one by one.
The Flowing Fire Wing Ring amplified his speed and coated his wings in flames, increasing fire-type damage. The Guardian's Necklace, purely defensive, could withstand Garos's full-force attack.
"The wing ring is good, its effects are similar to the tail ring. It might help stimulate my wings to adapt and evolve."
After repeated use of the tail ring, even without activating its lightning amplification, Garos still felt a tingling numbness in his tail, occasionally experiencing electric-like sensations.
He theorized that the amplification and enhancement effects from alchemy items were gradually being "memorized" by his body, silently adapting and evolving in that direction.
However, without concrete evolutionary results, Garos couldn't yet confirm this. What he could confirm was that these alchemy items definitely stimulated his body to adapt and evolve.
"The tail ring is lightning-type, and my only lightning attribute is a trace in my electric fire dragon breath, making its compatibility insufficient."
"As a fire dragon, if my theory is correct, this wing ring might allow me to complete the adaptation and evolution of my dragon wings first."
After thoroughly understanding the specific effects and strengths of the three alchemy items, the night grew deeper.
Two moons hung high in the night sky, casting a brilliant, silvery glow.
Garos stowed away his alchemy items and strode toward the frozen rock wall, still encased in a thick layer of ice. He raised a clawed hand and struck the ice with brutal force. Ice shards scattered like snowflakes beneath his razor-sharp claws, leaving deep gouges but failing to shatter the ice outright.
"Impressively tough. I like it."
Garos's eyes gleamed with excitement.
The hardness of ordinary rock formations was no longer sufficient to match the intensity of his training.
The attack power generated by the ring was formidable. The condensed ice layer was as hard as steel and radiated a bone-chilling cold, making it perfectly suited for Garos's current needs.
As for directly attacking himself with the Silverfrost Ring...
While that method would indeed be more efficient, its overwhelming power could inflict severe injuries, placing Garos in grave danger.
Without the protection of elders, he had to carefully consider the consequences of every action.
Next, Garos relentlessly slammed and struck the ice-covered rock wall.
He was training the hardness of his scales and the strength of his muscles while gradually acclimating to ice-type damage.
This was a gradual process, one that couldn't be rushed. But as a long-lived dragonkind, Garos had time to spare—and he had always been remarkably patient.
Each time his body was invaded by the cold, it felt like countless ice needles piercing his flesh, an agony beyond measure.
Yet Garos had long grown accustomed to physical pain. Instead of suffering, he silently mused that this torment was proof of his gradual growth and evolution.
With this shift in perspective, a strange sense of exhilaration began to bloom alongside the pain. This twisted blend of agony and excitement became the key to Garos's unwavering persistence.
Under the radiant moonlight, the red iron young dragon tirelessly honed his body in solitude, unnoticed by any eye.
Meanwhile, under the same moonlit sky, the Red Copper Dragon Deborah sobbed and whimpered as she flew northward across the Sierre Wilderness.
The Sierre Wilderness bordered the Permafrost Tundra to the north, so the further she flew in that direction, the colder the air became.
Gradually, as dawn approached and the first rays of sunlight pierced the horizon, Deborah reached the northern reaches of the wilderness, where the air was neither hot nor cold. After circling briefly in the sky, she folded her wings and swooped down into a valley surrounded by towering peaks.
The air here was neither cold nor hot.
The dense canopy of red maple trees formed a continuous expanse. When the wind blew, the lush branches swayed like a sea of flames burning across the ground, creating a dazzlingly beautiful scene.
Deep within the Red Maple Forest, nestled beside a stream, stood a three-story cottage.
Forged entirely from metal and adorned with vibrant flowers and climbing vines, its overall design was exquisite and elegant.
Two figures, a man and a woman, who appeared human, strolled hand-in-hand along the stream, admiring the flowers, playing in the water, and exchanging tender smiles. Their eyes, when they met, overflowed with such deep affection that it seemed almost palpable.
Whoosh!
A fierce gust of wind swept through the forest.
A young Red Copper Dragon, nearly ten meters long, circled overhead, its shadow engulfing the couple.
Yet instead of fear, the pair waved cheerfully at the dragon.
"Dad! Mom! I was robbed! That wretched hybrid dragon stole all the alchemy items you gave me!"
Deborah, the Red Copper Dragon, landed before them with a roar, bursting into tears.
(End of the Chapter)