Beneath the Red Dragon

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Eating and Troubles

The Blue Dragon’s eyes were filled with satisfaction, like a big cat that had eaten its favorite canned food.

Having gained another worker, the delighted Blue Dragon opened its mouth wide, gently wrapping its tongue around the little one before it and cautiously holding it in its mouth.

He turned and placed it between the ferocious saber-toothed lion, whose spine was torn yet still possessed formidable life force, and the giant antelope, whose body was long since dead and rigid.

”Eat, my little one, feast to your heart’s content, I anticipate your growth,” said the Blue Dragon, turning to step into the cave, lazily lying down and squinting at the juvenile dragon while it ate.

The two beast carcasses before it appeared as giant creatures in comparison to the juvenile dragon’s size, but the innate dragon sense told Little Karon which target was more energy-rich.

So the ravenous juvenile dragon scrambled and rolled over the ferocious saber-toothed lion’s belly, biting down along the torn spine of the giant beast.

He tore away the thick hide, tough for the juvenile dragon, until the belly was exposed, and began to gnaw on the fat-rich abdomen, devouring it greedily.

Blood and fat splattered but did not affect Little Karon’s appetite; when starving, humans eat dirt, let alone a dragon.

Physiological instincts were more influential, thus the metallic-scented blood and flesh became sweet delicacies, tempting his greedy appetite.

After devouring a large chunk of the abdomen, Little Karon squeezed into the ferocious saber-toothed lion’s abdominal cavity, carefully searching for the heart and liver.

To avoid cutting his intestines and tainting himself with peculiar flavors, he was not yet at the stage of indiscriminate eating.

For the juvenile dragon, the organs were the most nutrient-rich food, conducive for growth, and the most digestible.

The rich nutrients could expedite the growth of some organs within his body that had yet to grow fully and mature, turning him into a dining dragon.

Only when his belly became distended like a pregnant toad did Little Karon halt his dining spree.

He began to lick clean the blood and flesh stuck to his body and claws, then waddled like a turtle over to lie beside the Blue Dragon mother.

His mind was foggy after eating, drowsiness surged, and he drifted into sleep, his consciousness returning to that familiar dream vortex, sleeping peacefully.

As one of the closest-to-perfect creatures in this world, one of the most enviable traits of the giant dragon is that they do not need to meditate or venture.

They simply slumber peacefully in their nests, and their power grows with their size; theoretically, this can compound infinitely.

The slumber of a giant dragon is also a critical process for slowly absorbing and digesting the legacy of the Dragon Race, and as they age, they will gradually awaken their own magic abilities.

Though each type has the same fixed awakening spells, the differences between individuals are especially substantial.

However, Little Karon is not yet at the stage of hibernation, merely normal sleep.

Juvenile dragons undergo a bodily adaptation process that lasts several days to over ten days, depending on the individual’s variance, coordinating their body and organs to adapt to bodily regulation.

Generally, once the juvenile dragon’s horn claws and wing claws on its wings have hardened normally, and the scales have adapted accordingly, it is time for the juvenile dragon to enter its first slumber.

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Whimper, the young juvenile dragon opened its eyes, lazily spreading its pale pink flesh-colored wings.

Its tail wagged as it yawned, spewing a few sparks.

During the early juvenile stage, the Red Dragon’s scale armor was dense, bright, and vivid, like tiny, vibrant ruby art pieces, exuding a red aura even under the dim cave dome.

Such conspicuous color in the wild is a dangerous allure and does not benefit the young Red Dragon’s survival outside; predators would spot this flashy creature among the Five-Color Dragons immediately.

And prey would detect the Red Dragon’s approach early and flee, so despite that a Red Dragon hatchling, fresh from the egg shell, could rely on power and sharp teeth to battle adult humans, without parental protection, only death awaits.

However, Little Karon has been living a pampered life these few days, being waited on hand and foot — well, no clothes to wear, but certainly food arrives promptly.

Every day, he only needs to snuggle and snooze alongside Blue Dragon mother Carlette in the cave, while the other juvenile male Blue Dragon Akzhi is responsible for hunting, delivering prey on schedule daily.

Akhzi does not reside on this mountain; his lair is on the summit of a short mountain a few miles from Blue Dragon mother’s cave.

Akhzi is Blue Dragon mother Carlette’s suitor; the two dragons met during travels and were drawn to the Blue Dragon’s graceful and slender physique.

Thus he was guided by the Blue Dragon mother to form a contract, serving the Blue Dragon mother, while in adulthood he would have priority in mating rights with Blue Dragon Carlette.

Upon learning this, Little Karon expressed, the working guy fell in love — Akzhi’s life is essentially over.

No matter who you are, however wonderful, life will always have its troubles.

Little Karon’s trouble comes from another female Red Dragon, who was born a day after him; his sister Kleyna.

The two eggs came from the same clutch, and they were born not long apart, with roughly the same size.

Kleyna had already started provoking Little Karon, whether during meals or when resting.

Although they were still just juvenile dragons, giant dragons could be considered creatures that are born with inherent knowledge.

The Evil Dragon inheritance in their minds naturally endowed these juvenile dragons with a sophisticated worldview and values based on the True Dragon Race, which is why if you observe any giant dragons, they all appear stubborn and inflexible.

No need to doubt their intelligence; it’s simply because they are deeply influenced by the legacy of the Dragon Race.

This is a natural strength of the giant dragons, but also a natural flaw.

The evil nature of the dragon lineage within their blood constantly affects giant dragons, making them greedier, more prone to rage, worship power, and always thinking about challenging the status of other dragons.

Kleyna had already begun to resent Karon’s priority order during meals, unsatisfied with the fact that the delectable innards and tender abdomen were claimed by Karon, while she could only gnaw on the haunch, even though it is also a fat-rich part.

Not only that, Kleyna also wanted to establish a leadership position over Karon; Red Dragons are naturally ambitious and are famously matriarchal.

The lazy and strong male dragons couldn’t be bothered to establish families, and those powerful male Red Dragons preferred to be lone rangers, rampant bandits.

In families formed by Red Dragons, it is usually the Red Dragon queen who is the supreme ruler, so it’s understandable that the young female dragon wants to dominate the young male dragon.

However, forming families is not common for the lone, bandit-like Red Dragons and can be considered quite rare.

Even among female Red Dragons, only a few like the troublesome business of establishing families.

This is one reason why Red Dragon families are matriarchal; only female Red Dragons are willing to form families, while male Red Dragons are just freeloading bastards.

Karon, too, didn’t want to indulge this little female dragon, even though he didn’t mind someone riding on his back.

What he cared about was the method of being ridden, and it was obvious that this method was not acceptable.

The food rich in energy nutrients was one of his growth aids, and this alone he wouldn’t concede to the little female dragon.

Though he had a stable consciousness formed from the old world, and it wasn’t blankly accepting the imprints from the Dragon Race inheritance, he was more conscious in controlling himself, avoiding more imprints.

His now free will did not want to be controlled by other factors, even if it were his own body.

After all, he himself was a control freak. The difference was that while many control freaks enjoyed controlling others, he only controlled himself.

Even so, Karon was still deeply affected by the Evil Dragon bloodline in his body, perhaps because his will wasn’t strong enough, or perhaps because his independent soul wasn’t powerful enough.

He felt troubled by the evil roots inherent in the Evil Dragon and became more arrogant, impulsive, and combative.

And the source of his troubles stemmed from Kleyna’s growth. Red Dragons are matriarchal and have many queen dragons that dominate the giant dragons.

This same-age female Red Dragon was noticeably larger than the male Red Dragon in the early stages.

Now, after a few days of growth and development, Kleyna was visibly slightly bigger than the same-age Karon.

If things continued this way, by the time the two juvenile dragons passed through their first sleep stage, the size difference would be more noticeable, and maybe by then, Kleyna would be a circle larger than Karon.

Although this was happening in the early stage, just as girls typically mature earlier than boys.

In the middle to later stages, the male dragon would gradually surpass the female dragon, but Karon didn’t want to be suppressed in the early stage.

If he had no other way, the gap between him and Kleyna in the early stage would only grow, and in the end, he would have no choice but to bow his head in defeat.

As Karon thought about this, every time he slept, his consciousness would sink into that whirlpool of dreams, and he could feel it was a gift from the old world and a blessing from his rebirth.

But he was like a man guarding a treasure vault without a key; he still couldn’t grasp what exactly this gift was or how to use it.

Roar, thinking of this, Little Karon’s previously happily wagging little tail came to a stop.

Sullen, his head rested weakly on the ground, as he let out a displeased low growl.

The sleeping Blue Dragon mother, disturbed by his low growl, opened her eyes, her long tail lifted and coiled, its tip gently tapping on the little cub’s head.

Karon looked at the dragon mother’s coiling tail, and his eyes brightened, tossing his troubles aside.

With a display of tantrums and claws, he pounced, biting the tail tip with all four limbs pedaling, shaking his head, and biting fiercely.