"Ohhh,"
The young Red Dragon, who had buried his head under his broad wings, curled up with his tail tucked under his chin, slowly opened his eyes.
Kalon lazily stretched his red wings, which were covered in magical patterns, and without intending to, flicked the tip of his tail as he let out a long yawn, a burst of intense embers spraying from his mouth and nose.
As a young Red Dragon, his scales had grown to the size of an adult human's palm, and their color was at its most gentle stage in a Red Dragon's life, transitioning from the bright crimson of a hatchling to a deep, dark red.
His entire body of scales, reddish with a soft metallic luster, emitted a shimmering glow in the dim volcanic lair, like a sparkling treasure in the deep magma.
Kalon floated up from the surging molten flow, shaking off the solidified magma clumps clinging to his body. These clumps, along with the dark red, deep magma, slid off Kalon's smooth scales, splashing up pools of radiating, scorching molten flow.
The Red Dragon, whose senses were connected to the field fluctuations of the entire lair, had already detected the young Blue Dragon Akzi waiting below the mountaintop.
In fact, Kalon knew, without even needing the field, that if there was the scent of a single True Dragon lingering outside his lair, it was definitely the young Blue Dragon Akzi.
Because the other young True Dragon would directly step onto the mountaintop, and although they wouldn't enter the Red Dragon's lair, they would shout and yell to wake Kalon, as these young True Dragon were familiar enough with Kalon and had grown accustomed to this mode of interaction.
Normally, Kalon wouldn't deliberately display the so-called majesty of the True Dragon Lord; he found such behavior somewhat foolish.
And the young True Dragon in the True Dragon were also very clear that, as long as Kalon's will and decisions were not touched upon, the Red Dragon was actually a very easy-going True Dragon; he was more approachable than those so-called good True Dragon.
In many ways, the Red Dragon was more like the young elder brother to all the young True Dragon in this True Dragon family—strong and tolerant enough, but with a sufficiently malicious sense of humor. Yes, to the extent that even these ill-tempered Chromatic Dragon found him sufficiently malicious.
Only the young Blue Dragon Akzi, when he came alone, would always wait patiently below the mountaintop for Kalon to appear. This wasn't because the young Blue Dragon had high standards; asking a Chromatic Dragon to be polite was as ridiculous as asking a Dwarf blacksmith to embroider flowers.
Rather, it seemed the young Blue Dragon always had difficulty integrating into the core atmosphere of the Dragon clan. He wasn't like the other young True Dragon's who had grown up, played, hunted, and fought together since childhood, and had experienced hardships together.
The other young True Dragon 'sdid not intentionally distance themselves from the Blue Dragon Akzi; this was a naturally formed atmospheric influence. The young Blue Dragon Akzi was only most familiar with the White Dragon Germott.
He usually appeared with the White Dragon Germott whenever the True Dragon gathered. Perhaps the Blue Dragon Akzi, like the Black Dragon Rosani, had not yet found his place within the True Dragon.
Therefore, he showed exceptional respect and awe towards Kalon, the True Dragon Lord, a fact Kalon keenly perceived.
The Red Dragon shook off the debris from his body, folded his broad wings, and stepped onto the edge of the mountaintop, gazing at the Blue Dragon Akzi's quietly waiting figure. His scales shimmered with enchanting brilliance under the setting sun.
His body glowed brightly in the sunlight, but his head and eyes, facing away from the sun, were in a dim shadow.
The Blue Dragon Akzi looked up at the Red Dragon, whose body was growing larger day by day. His scales, radiating a soft luster, were broad and neatly arranged, like the most perfect gems in the world. Under the Red Dragon's unknowingly growing pressure, a completely unrelated but strange thought suddenly arose in the Blue Dragon Akzi's mind.
"If Kalon's scales were sold to those greedy human merchants, one might be worth at least two thousand gold coins." The True Dragon's innate talent for appraising the value of treasures manifested in the Blue Dragon, and the thought that flashed through the Blue Dragon's mind began to subconsciously calculate the value of all the scales on the Red Dragon's body.
"Come forward, Akzi, and stand beside me," the Red Dragon lowered his head, calmly looking at the Blue Dragon Akzi, whose mind was currently filled with shimmering golden light.
In Kalon's heart, the Blue Dragon before him was also a very special True Dragon. When the True Dragon were still hatchlings and lacked the ability to hunt on their own, it was this Blue Dragon who single-handedly protected and fed the hatchlings.
Carlit, the nominal leader of the True Dragon, actually didn't put in much effort. Aside from establishing this territory with the Blue Dragon Akzi at the beginning, she would just stay in her lair and sleep, incidentally hatching those True Dragon eggs that were either found or stolen.
Most of the time, it was Akzi who maintained the territory, thus transforming Akzi from a lazy and pleasure-seeking Chromatic Dragon into the world's only model worker True Dragon.
Compared to her, the young Blue Dragon Akzi was more like the leader of a True Dragon family than the female Blue Dragon Carlit.
In his opinion, this transformation was more difficult than a True Dragon embarking on the path of recovering ancient bloodlines. Even Kalon himself sometimes couldn't overcome his lazy thoughts, even though Kalon could easily control the will of Evil Dragon Blood.
However, inertia is not a characteristic exclusive to Evil Dragon Blood; it is a universal presence in every living creature. Evil Dragon Blood amplifies it, which shows that the Blue Dragon Akzi is, in some respects, also walking the path of conquering Evil Dragon Blood.
The young Blue Dragon Akzi crossed the boundary of the waking dream, stepped onto the mountaintop, and then stood a few paces behind Kalon. Akzi, like the other young True Dragon, was not repelled by the waking dream.
After passing through the dormant period of his young True Dragon and young adult stages, the Blue Dragon Akzi had also been developing.
Although his physical development and growth rate were not as rapid as during his hatchling and young stages, the young adult stage is the last period in most True Dragon's lives when they can develop quickly.
By the time they reach the young adult stage, a True Dragon's physical development will gradually slow down, beginning to shift towards the excavation of bloodline talent inheritance.
Most ordinary True Dragon might only awaken one or two spells during the relatively long period from hatchling to young adult.
But once they reach the young adult age, no matter how poor their talent, they can use Evil Dragon Blood to accelerate the awakening of corresponding spells; every young adult True Dragon can be called a magical all-rounder.
However, the innate spells awakened by True Dragon are rather subjective. For example, True Dragon with strong offensive capabilities are very likely to awaken powerful spells that can cause great damage.
While True Dragon with relatively peaceful personalities tend to awaken control- and utility-oriented spells, no matter what, the spells awakened by each True Dragon are in harmony with the True Dragon's nature, and these spells are far more terrifying in the True Dragon's hands than the same spells cast by other mages.
This is also one of the reasons why True Dragon rank high in the food chain. Although True Dragon also have a sufficiently weak hatchling period, if human adventurers are numerous enough, these adventurers, who are good at using tools and schemes, can also overturn True Dragon in their hatchling period.
But the growth of a True Dragon and the increase in its strength are disproportionate; at a certain critical stage, a True Dragon's strength will suddenly explode.
Just like a True Dragon in their young adult stage, exceptionally talented True Dragon at the peak of this age group are already capable of contending with Legend and possess the power to destroy kingdoms. Of course, this is a level only achievable by exceptionally gifted True Dragon.
Some young White True Dragons are still enslaved by Frost Giant, or being chased everywhere by human adventurers. In short, the young adult stage is a watershed for True Dragon strength: the strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker.
The young Blue Dragon Akzi, of course, knew this. If it were a typical Evil Dragon, he might challenge Kalon's position as True Dragon Lord after reaching the young adult stage, but the Blue Dragon Akzi had no such thoughts.
During the rapid growth period of his young adult stage, Akzi's body had already reached over fourteen meters. Blue Dragon are not thin True Dragon species like White True Dragon or Black True Dragon.
Therefore, Akzi's current body is also extremely strong, especially the huge, thick horn growing between his nose and forehead, which looks particularly intimidating.
But when Akzi stood beside Kalon, he felt as if he was enveloped and covered by the Red Dragon before him. Those enormous wings, far exceeding the usual True Dragon proportions and defying convention, seemed wide enough to shield the Blue Dragon from a storm.
"Akzi, when did you learn those human rituals, like foot-binding cloths, huh?" Kalon's gaze swept over the quiet young Blue Dragon's eyes, and he said indifferently.
"Kalon, you are the Dragon Lord, the supreme ruler of the Golden Land, the king of this land. You rightfully deserve the respect and awe of all, even True Dragon's are no exception," the Blue Dragon Akzi said calmly.
Among True Dragon's, status and hierarchy have always been exceptionally clear. In some particularly strict True Dragon families, if a lower-status True Dragon showed even the slightest disrespect towards a higher-status True Dragon, it could even lead to ruthless killing by the higher-status True Dragon.
Even among Blue Dragon, who prefer to live in groups, the family has clear divisions of status and labor. The young True Dragon in the True Dragon also experienced this firsthand from the Blue Dragon Akzi during their hatchling period. At that time, Akzi was proud and aloof.
Even Kalon's flattery was hard-pressed to sway the Blue Dragon Akzi's demeanor.
The Red Dragon gazed into the calm eyes of the Blue Dragon Akzi, shook his head, and then his thick True Dragon claw patted the Blue Dragon's broad shoulder and back. He said in a deep voice, "Among the True Dragon, there's no need to be overly concerned with these formalities. Speak, Akzi, what brings you to me?"
"The Jackal Tribe, escorted by the Centaur Warrior, has arrived. However, the original leader of the Jackal Tribe, a Gnoll named Yug, said he wanted to offer the tribe's treasury to the Dragon clan,"
"Heh, I saw something called ambition in that Gnoll's eyes. He's different from ordinary Gnoll; he's very clever, Kalon." The Blue Dragon Akzi's eyes shimmered like ocean waves, revealing an expression of considerable interest.
Kalon nodded. Although he had only met the Gnoll leader Yug briefly, for a Gnoll, whose social structure is as loose as that of a Green Goblin, to be able to coalesce into such a tribe with strong combat capabilities and clear division of labor, this Gnoll Yug was not simple.
"Originally, I had no intention of confiscating the Jackal Tribe's wealth, but since he offered to dedicate it to the Dragon clan, I won't refuse. I will give him a chance to see how much value this Gnoll Yug's ambition can create for me. I hope his ability matches his ambition."
"It seems the Dragon clan's treasury will be replenished with some new trinkets."
The Red Dragon smiled, revealing his long, thick, stark white fangs. As a superior, he would not fear or suppress the ambitions of his subordinates; he even wished that all his True Dragon dependents possessed their own ambitions.
Ambition means having initiative, and Kalon will guide the initiative brought by these ambitions in the right direction.
Moreover, Kalon is not afraid of betrayal or other petty actions; he is a Red Dragon and can look down upon these dependents, as long as he always remains at the peak of the mountain.
"Alright, then I'll go patrol the territory," the Blue Dragon Akzi spread his wings, preparing to take flight.
The Red Dragon spread his right wing, stopping this diligent Blue Dragon, who seemed somewhat out of place among the Five-Colored Evil Dragon, and smiled, "Akzi, since the beginning of the True Dragon's covenant, you have been a member of the Dragon clan."
"This wealth of the Gnoll also has a share for you. Go, gather the True Dragons for me! Today is the Dragons's small feast, and the Gnoll's treasures will adorn our lair!"
The young Blue Dragon Akzi looked at the Red Dragon, then nodded, and soared from the mountaintop. Blue lightning darted through the rising hot wind and thick smoke clouds like a free wind.
"Awooo!" The young Blue Dragon's broad wings soared in the sky, letting out a roaring cry. The True Dragon's voice rumbled like rolling thunder, spreading across the land and all directions.
This was the signal for the True Dragon to gather in the past. Today, the Blue Dragon Akzi summons the Dragon clan!