Chapter 10
Claudius was uninterested in the brawl between the sharkmen and dire wolf pack, nor did he plan attack the sharkmen while using the wolves as decoy. He understood that escaping hastily was the best option right now. It was the complete opposite of what a crimson dragon would do, and Claudius pretty much just forsook the pride of the proud Crimson Dragon Tribe.
Despite having a more ferocious look than any other dragon toddler, Claudius flapped his wings frenziedly as he flew further inland. Claudius" Dexterity was considered high among dragons, and he could travel freely and speedily in the skies. The Cardinal felt utterly defeated; he clearly knew that it was risky, and he had lost the bet in the end. Dire wolves were territorial beasts, and they were labelled as enemies or food moment they laid their hands on the gra.s.sland. Furthermore, Claudius was nowhere to be seen, thus the dire wolf King and Queen instinctively switched their targets to the invading sharkmen.
Apart from the excellent Dexterity and Strength, the most troublesome thing about the two was their "Area Control" ability: a roar which could inflict "Fear". Their Const.i.tution were nothing to joke about as well; they were basically tanks which could withstand tonnes of damage. The three Level 10 sharkmen warriors were by no means better than the two dire wolves in terms of attributes, and their Dexterity were drastically lower. Their will to fight were being shaved away bit by bit the fear-inflicting roars as well. The blessings of the G.o.ddess was about to wear off, hence apart from protecting them from dehydration, its effects against the roar were almost negligible. The Cardinal understood that their attributes were no longer enhanced by the blessing, and it was pointless to use divine skills to remove the "fear" status from the warriors. Even if they managed to kill the pack of dire wolves, that dragon b.a.s.t.a.r.d had already escaped. This meant that the Cardinal has once again failed his mission, and he could not even bear thinking about the awaiting consequences&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;.
As it was a worthless battle, the relatively intelligent Cardinal wanted to withdraw and return to the ocean. However, it seemed that the pa.s.sionate warriors were already engaged in heated combat with the dire wolves. The Cardinal invoked an area-of-effect Stun divine skill, stunning everyone, including his companions, in the area. He then used violent means on the sharkmen warriors to bring back their drifting consciousness and hurriedly retreated. Even so, the dire wolf king would not give up easily, since dire wolves were vengeful beings. With two of their companions killed by the sharkmen during battle, the pack was determined to avenge the deceased.
What happened next, though, was none of Claudius" concerns. He was only worried about the predators which could kill him, such as adult griffons or whatnot. Fortunately, griffons resided in lofty mountains, and the only terrain in sight was the endless forest. Claudius only had to pay attention to predators lurking on the surface while being mindful of the territory of the Jade Dragon which emitted a barely noticeable dragon aura. What about Britannia, his twin sister? Claudius once took the time to visit the young dragoness despite being occupied by hunting. Britannia sneakily poked her tiny head out of the cracks of the volcanic crater, only to squirm back to her lair quickly, and was nowhere to be seen afterwards.
"That fellow, unlike me, was living quite the leisurely life. Nothing could possibly spot her anyways."
After an hour of flying, Claudius was 200 kilometres away from the gra.s.sland. Regardless of how the sharkmen managed to travel on land, it was impossible for them to pursue him anymore; at least that was what he thought. Claudius was still a toddler after all, and he was not knowledgeable enough to know of the existence of various "Detection" and "Teleport" divine skills or magic. The dragon inheritance ceremony was not omnipotent as well, and it couldn"t be helped if the bearer was careless and didn"t search through all the existing knowledge. His conclusion this time was correct though, as the Cardinal could no longer track Claudius even with his wide range of skills. Claudius left a marking at the location where he got struck by lightning, and he was currently at a distance which even that could not be seen.
As this new environment might be a lot more dangerous than the seash.o.r.e, Claudius suppressed every bit of his dragon aura after he landed. He could sense that countless fierce beasts lived here, and it would be bad if he attracted their attention.
"In the end I"m still digging holes and hiding&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;" Claudius moaned as he excavated the dirt with his forelimbs.
Quite frankly, Claudius despised this unpleasant task even though it was necessary for survival. As he dug downwards, ground water gushed out when the hole was 3 metres deep. The wet and humid environment was really irritating for Claudius, thus with his intelligence he thought up a new plan. The crimson dragon toddler found a suitable place next to a stream and designed his new cave thoroughly before acting. Before the preparations were complete, Claudius had to sleep beneath large trees or boulders. As he slept outdoors, Claudius felt that dwelling in the volcano and eating volcanic worms everyday like Britannia was actually not bad at all.
With his detection senses, Claudius could tell it was safe for now as there weren"t any threatening presences nearby. After a few days of work, Claudius managed to create a large pit near the stream. He was vigilant all the time as other beasts might notice his actions if too much sound were produced. This time, Claudius still dug 3 metres into to ground. Before water flooded the place, the crimson dragon swiftly created a horizontal path. The path led to a short hill not far away, and Claudius emptied the inside of the 20-metre-talll hill with his claws. It was no simple task as he had to dispose the dirt bit by bit. After flying back and forth while carrying dirt away from his lair for 10 days, his lair was finally completed. The large pit was currently flooded with water, but the empty s.p.a.ce within the hill was unaffected. Claudius made sure to create a path for air ventilation as he did not want to suffocate in his comfortable home. The hole used for ventilation was somewhere near the ma.s.sive pit.
It was actually rather similar to crocodile lairs back on Earth, but there was a significant difference between the two. The inner surfaces of Claudius" lair was roasted by his flames and "Ring of Blaze", hardening and dehydrating the muddy walls. Still, the pitch-black cave could not be called a cosy home; it was at best a base purely used for hiding. Claudius settled down in the cave as there wasn"t much of a choice.
Back at Fire Dragon Bay, huge waves relentlessly clashed with the land while countless storms were ravaging the ocean. The sharkmen tribe were having trouble hunting in the irregular currents. They recently appointed a new cardinal, and he was told that the poor weather reflected the G.o.ddess" anger and wrath.
The forests were quite densely populated, as beasts and spirits both resided there. The spirits constructed villages within the forests as well. Claudius designated several zones as restricted areas after brief surveying. These locations were the territory of ferocious beasts with intense auras, the villages of the spirits, and the most important of all, the region which belonged to the jade dragon of the Five Coloured Evil Dragons. It was a zone which could not be trespa.s.sed. Even so, Claudius could still find various types of food in his surroundings. Deer and boars could be seen sprinting in the gra.s.sland, and there were these larvae of humongous worms available as well. The stem of the plants here were edible as well. The matter which bothered Claudius the most was his insatiable hunger. He prohibited himself from overhunting as it might expose his existence. Claudius then decided to expand his lair a bit and created a humid area. Due to the fact that fungi had unparalleled growth rate, Claudius began planting mushroom inside his lair. This was probably the only way to feed himself without exterminating the nearby animals&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;