Translated by: SaltyTank
Edited by: crimsonwolf8439
Please note, we will not be taking sponsored chapters for now, but then again, who ever gets sponsors in the first week? *dammit TGC I’m looking at you -_-*
Chapter 5
In the same underground cavern, the Cardinal prayed towards the holy symbol while cowering in fear. The sea water turned dark all of a sudden, and a large amount of dark water came gushing in, bringing along bunches of seaweed. As a sharkmen, the Cardinal was an aquatic creature, yet he could not resist the impact of the gush of sea water. The dark waves mercilessly slammed the Cardinal onto the wall, and blood splashed out of the Cardinal"s mouth. He activated a defensive divine skill on himself all the time, yet it was rendered completely useless. The cardinal could feel that half of his ribs had fractured from the powerful impact, and it was certain that he would die soon due to excessive blood loss from punctured organs.
The moment the dark sea water gushed in, all the divine magic he prepared beforehand vanished without a trace. The Cardinal was quite sure that the G.o.ddess has been angered, yet the moment he resolved himself for certain death, the sea water began to subside and a "Lesser Heal" has been casted onto his body. This divine magic could stop the internal bleeding temporarily, yet he would still die if Medium Level Damage Removal divine magic was not applied in time. To the bright side, this meant that the G.o.ddess was probably no longer angry, which was actually the case this time. A voice resounded within the mind of the Cardinal, leaving behind a divine message, granting the Cardinal authority to cross the land with the squad to capture the dragon whelp who hunted in the sea without permission. The message itself had no divine power whatsoever, but the G.o.ddess casted a special divine magic onto the soul of the Cardinal afterwards. It was an Area of Effect magic which allowed sharkmen to move freely on land without suffocating or dying from dehydration. The only issue with this divine magic is that it is only effective for 24 hours the moment it has been casted.
The G.o.ddess also revealed the approximate position of this bold dragon whelp to her faithful Cardinal, yet she could not pinpoint the exact location. As the G.o.ds of Floren were not omnipotent, Anbo could only predict the location of Claudius with an error of 5 kilometres as Claudius was not a disciple of hers. While the Cardinal was busy arranging personnel for this expedition, Claudius was snoring away cosily in his lair……
Claudius had more than enough nutrition intakes as well as significantly more activity than other dragons, resulting in him having unparalleled catabolic rates. His sister Britannia, was more active than your average adolescent dragons, but she would only dig and eat a few worms at the volcanic crater once every three days at most. If she managed to fully satisfy her hunger, Britannia could sleep for a whole week without hunting. In the world of Floren, Claudius was probably the only dragon whelp who had such an overwhelming appet.i.te and went hunting every single day. Despite eating a mountain of seafood the previous night, Claudius would always wake up in hunger. As he didn"t dare to leave his lair during daytime, he could not help but have the urge to devour everything in his sight at night. While Claudius was busy searching for food, he couldn"t help but lower his guard. This was only one of the reasons that he was discovered though, the second reason being the bright and reflective crimson scales on his body.
While Claudius was still asleep, the hole he dug for himself before sleeping could no longer contain his ever growing body, forcing over half of his body out of the hole. His crimson scales were as eye catching as burning flames in the middle of a night, and the unique horns on his head had grown thicker and were now a shade of dark red. His wings had also grown even larger, and thorns were appearing one by one on his scales. The most distinct change was the ratio of his body, gradually changing from that of a dragon whelp to grownups. This was way faster than any other crimson dragon whelps which normally required 3 to 5 years to reach this stage, whereas Claudius only took 1 year to do so.
If a description was necessary, Claudius as a large sized horse of a small sized breed before the changes, he would probably be at the size of a large stallion right now. After fully extending his wings, they could reach over 3 meters, which was approximately the same length of his body. However, Claudius boasted an exceptional height when he stood up on his hind legs. This was due to his more developed and strengthened hind legs with a larger proportion, unlike normal crimson dragons whose limbs were adapted for crawling on all fours. Speaking of his physique, his body was shorter yet stronger than normal crimson dragons, with his neck one third shorter than usual. With the developed hind legs and hips, a strong and slightly rigid tail, this fellow was more of an atrocious beast who ran around on two legs. His long tail acted like a spiked meteor hammer, but also served as a tool for balancing his upper body and the large pair of wings on his back, granting him enhanced mobility.
While crimson dragons crawled on the ground, Claudius decided to walk on two legs, yet everyone could tell that he was a crimson dragon. With his ever developing wisdom and thin yet present dragon aura, one could tell he was a pure blooded crimson dragon, not one of a mixed species. The crimson dragon which was being praised so much was currently sleeping with his b**t facing the sky, paying no mind to the approaching danger. At the volcanic crater 7 kilometres away from his lair, Claudius" sister Britannia was still maintaining her normal routine. Digging up and eating fat worms every three or four days, as well as collecting any sparkling rocks and minerals she came across. The current Britannia was still pet.i.te, with the size of a small horse. It seemed that she would need at least a few years before growing larger in size, which was the normal rate for crimson dragon whelps.
The only difference between Claudius and Britannia was their growth rate, and they both received the complete set of knowledge from the inheritance ceremony. It is due to the rapid growth of Claudius that he could unlock sealed knowledge earlier than Britannia, who was growing up at a normal pace. Before Claudius slept, he was fantasizing about using all sorts of fancy magic, yet he was shut down by the knowledge obtained through the inheritance ceremony. He was merely a beast, a slightly smarter and stronger beast at best.
The Cardinal chose 3 of the Warriors with cla.s.s level of 10, as well as a level 4 sharkmen mage, forming a five-man-squad including him, the cla.s.s level 12 mage. In fact, this squad had more than enough power to handle a crimson dragon whelp, hence a dragon whelp was simply not to be feared. As the squad reached the land, everyone felt rather uncomfortable. The Cardinal chanted a divine spell while holding the holy symbol of the G.o.ddess Anbo. Immediately, a transparent bubble wrapped around the members, automatically adjusting to their body sizes, and they felt as if they were still in the sea. No matter what the circ.u.mstances were, they felt unaffected by their surroundings, blocking off all the sunlight and unpleasant wind. The squad walked along the seash.o.r.e slowly but steadily towards their designated target. As this was a no man"s land, they could safely travel without worrying about sudden attacks by adventurers.
Unknown to Claudius who was in deep slumber, his first magic skill had finally formed within his sleep. The surrounding land began to dry up and cracks could be seen, as if there was a red hot barbeque right at the center. The area was small though, with a radius of only 30 centimeters from Claudius at the center. Along with Claudius" growth, this "Ring of Blaze" would enlarge to cover a huge area……