Beneath the Red Dragon

Chapter 25: Chapter 24: Danger Approaches

After devouring two plump mountain deer meticulously selected by Riven, Karon nestled into his cave and drifted into slumber.

The golden gems painstakingly piled up by the Kobolds scattered everywhere as he sprawled amidst the shimmering treasures, his radiant scales reflecting the treasures’ brilliance.

And Karon’s consciousness, in the state between dreaming and waking, began to consciously suggest to himself, hypnotizing himself to influence his subconscious, thereby affecting the energy produced by the mysterious runes—the Heart Energy Vortex, as Karon temporarily named this magical energy.

Initially, it was indeed difficult; in the state between dreaming and waking, his consciousness couldn’t effectively generate a logical thought, much like many dreamers who aren’t even aware of being within a dream themselves, let alone maintaining a clear consciousness to formulate a logical thought.

Occasionally, as soon as his conscious thought was about to spring forth, it suddenly transformed into another thought, just like the incessant scene changes in dreams.

But through his continuous attempts, he began to grasp those fleeting moments of consciousness clarity, gradually prolonging the duration of conscious awareness.

When he first succeeded in maintaining clarity until forming a complete and logical thought, he suddenly sensed a part of his consciousness high above, gazing indifferently upon everything within the space where the Heart Energy Vortex resided, connected mysteriously with the runes hidden within.

In that moment, Karon realized it is the fundamental consciousness presence of all living beings, the true essence and the initial spirit, with the space encompassing the Heart Energy Vortex as the ocean of his subconscious, and the Vortex as the eye within that ocean.

This marked his first time proactively observing the state of this space, rather than being passively aware only during deep sleep.

Linked to his initial true consciousness, Karon suddenly felt as though his consciousness possessed a tangible view, with the vision before him rapidly expanding.

He saw the Evil Dragon Blood coursing through his body, like mountain rock barriers, from small to large. The field of view continuously expanded, his red body quietly lying in the cave adorned with gold ingots, gemstones, and various rare minerals. At the cave entrance, the Gold-eating Beast was lazily curled up, yawning, its furry paws meticulously wiping its face.

In addition, he saw with remarkable clarity various Magic Elements unseen to the naked eye, their particle fluctuations unknown, vibrant and colorful, challenging to capture through depiction. Karon even felt as if he could extend a paw to touch these elements.

This sensation resembled deep meditation among Mages, or closer to the Daoist perception of observing and comprehending heaven and earth; however, such a state consumed much Spirit, and Karon voluntarily disengaged after a few minutes.

This is the origin point of creatures’ Perception Ability, granting all living beings the power of perception, with the potent perception stemming from an individual’s true essence and powerful Soul.

Estimating roughly, his current Perception range circles a radius of about a hundred meters around him, although thick mountain walls and rocks obstruct his perception, expanding significantly in open spaces.

Joyful thoughts stirred within his Sea of Consciousness, as he settled into true sleep, ready to attempt harnessing the Heart Energy Vortex for a self-experimental enhancement once his Spirit recovered.

”Roar,” Blue Dragon Doss raised its head, mimicking Karon’s command for the Dragon Group to encircle, as Juvenile Dragons perched on the thick tree boughs, glaring at the panicked Green Goblins screeching amidst their forest camp.

The Green Goblin Tribe’s leader, a robust variant Earth Goblin, attempted to lead the tribe to charge into a fleeing burrow; yet, lacking courage, few Goblins followed. Barely a few steps out, he was pinned down by a barrage of wooden spears, tied with iron pieces, shot by the encircling Dogman Warriors.

The tumult and chaos of the goblin camp were swiftly subdued by the Dogman Warriors, the rows of skewered bodies rendering the noisy Goblins orderly and subdued, trembling upon the ground.

But at this time, the Juvenile Dragons began shifting blame amongst themselves, with even Green Dragon Antajena, eager to acquire new Beloveds, unwilling to accept these filthy, stinking green-skinned dwarves, let alone the proud Red Dragon Kleyna, who wanted the Dogman Warriors to eliminate the green skins and bury them in the Dragon Group’s orchard for fertilizer.

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Finally, it was Blue Dragon Doss who made up his mind. Having learned a bit of the art of shirking responsibility from Red Dragon, he called over the Dogman Leader and instructed, ”Bag, you’ll temporarily be responsible for managing these Green Goblins. Make sure they don’t cause trouble. They should learn to have order like you Dogmen. As for the rest, we’ll decide when Karon wakes up.”

”Alright, Master Doss.” The Dogman Leader Bag, who casually received his name from Karon, bowed humbly.

”Then let’s take our spoils back. As per Karon’s instructions, you Dogmen will also have a portion of the spoils. Go back and rest well, the next battle will come soon. We need to sweep away all tribes that don’t belong to the Dragon Group’s beloved within the territory before Karon awakens,” instructed Blue Dragon.

After speaking, the Blue Dragon soared into the sky with the proud Juvenile Dragons, returning to the nest.

The spirited Juvenile Dragons were unaware of the hidden danger approaching; powerful enemies from afar were already on their way. The mighty Ogre Tribe from the bountiful gulf was advancing through the towering jungles that seemed to obscure the sky, heading towards the Dragon Nest Mountain Range.

Enslaved by the Ogre Mage, the Banshee quietly flew ahead, scouting the way and pointing out directions. At the forefront walked the tall Ogre Tyrant Moergo, brazenly striding ahead, accompanied by two strong Ogre Warriors carrying his weapon. It was a heavy, undecorated Long Axe with a blunt edge that didn’t seem very sharp, but the Ogre Tyrant’s strength was the best blade for this unadorned axe.

The ancient two-headed Wizard accompanied by all the tribe’s Wizards walked beside the Giant Demon’s litter, raised by four ferocious Bear Goblin slaves, in the middle of the hundreds-strong Ogre procession.

The heavily protected Giant Demon Fafnir reclined on the litter, propped up by his right hand on his cheek, with a tiny Forest Beldam standing on his outstretched left hand. This was the future master of the Beldams enslaved by the Ogre Tribe.

At this stage, the Banshee couldn’t fully master her powers, and the sound she unconsciously emitted affected the spirits of other creatures. When using her talent ability fully, she could easily control powerful warriors among humans.

But at this moment, the Banshee singing melodious songs was being used as a toy by the Giant Demon. Her voice filled with allure and manipulation was treated as music, completely isolated in the small space of the litter. The other Ogres could only see the Banshee’s lip movements without hearing any sound.

Following the Ogre procession was a small group of humans, surprisingly bold merchants. Merchant Orsus was unlike those occasionally coming to chance their luck or venture to explore new business opportunities, being from a family of financial officials in the Gata Empire, with robust backing, often traveling between the Empire and the Beastman Kingdom across the sea.

Even in the Beastman Kingdom, he has deep connections, evident from the two powerful Beastman Warriors surrounding him. They were descendants of Ancient Beastmen, reserve warriors of the Beastman Royal Family’s Guard Army, Beastman Warriors.

The other ten human warriors of the small team were also wearing exquisite leather armor and sharp weapons, emanating a cold and fierce aura honed between life and death. Among them was even a Mage with quite high status within human society.

Initially, Orsus planned to habitually use leftover materials and some unwanted inventory from trade with the Beastman Kingdom to earn a profit within the Ogre Tribe and leave. However, upon hearing the Ogre Mage speak about the tribe’s intention to conquer a young Dragon Group and sell those Juvenile Dragons to him, he couldn’t help but feel greatly tempted, and unexpectedly took a risk, bringing his guards along.

Orsus couldn’t help but admire his foresight. Initially, when he led the family’s merchant fleet here, he discovered the Giant Demon Banshee which was so beautiful it didn’t seem earthly, immediately astonishing him as if a heavenly being. He even considered capturing the Giant Demon and presenting it to a bigwig in the Empire, ensuring he would gain favor and perhaps step into a governmental career, instead of just being a member of the financial official family.

But this unique Giant Demon not only possessed mysterious and powerful spiritual abilities, but the Ogre Tribe also had rare atavist Ogre Tyrants and strong Wizards. Accomplishing this on his own was unlikely, not to mention it was too far away, and as a businessman, long-term and sustained benefits were factors he needed to consider.

Thus, he abandoned his plan, thinking perhaps nurturing a controllable trader suited his interests better. Now, the time had come for his foresight to pay off.

Mysterious dragons, as an upper species of the Icaria World, were almost everyone’s dream partners and contract objects. If he could bring back these Juvenile Dragons, those noble Mage masters and Empire bigwigs would flock to him, and he would become hotly sought after, ending his ordinary days soon. He wouldn’t need to rely on borrowed power but truly become one of the nobility.

Thinking of this, Orsus’s eyes grew eager; perhaps he could even leave a Dragon for himself, sealing a contract with a Juvenile Dragon, ensuring his newly founded family would have strong protection and backing. He wouldn’t worry about holding onto this Juvenile Dragon, as he would bring back several.

Orsus gazed at the descending twilight; surprisingly, he hadn’t noticed how beautiful this barren land was.