Beneath the Red Dragon

”Saladin, do you think that guy Clagon is just blowing hot air? If we reach the Giant Dragon Territory and find out he’s deceived us, even if you try to stop me, I’ll still give him a good kick in the butt!”

A few stout, short dwarves leaned powerlessly against the cabin, their muscular bodies seemed like useless decorations under their withered expressions.

These dwarves, who prefer living in deep underground caves or on high mountains, are each formidable warriors on land, brave and fierce, but at sea, they’re like a bunch of weaklings because they get seasick.

Even after some time of adjustment, these dwarves on the ship are as deflated as frostbitten eggplants, lacking their usual vitality.

Saladin, a dwarf with yellow-brown beard braided into neat little plaits, leaned weakly on his large axe, his voice sounding feeble as if he were sick.

”Cough cough, although Clagon likes to brag, he won’t lie to his friends. Jala, if Clagon really deceived us, I’d hang him up alongside you and brush his bird with a layer of red chili water!”

”Haha, I like this idea,” another dwarf with a thick beard, Jala, answered with a loud laugh.

”Woohoo, we’re almost at the Land of Golden,” the deck of the big ship resounded with cheers from the crew and many others.

The seemingly weak dwarves perked up, stepped out of the cabin, and onto the deck, gazing into the distance.

The azure sky was clear and boundless, nearly blending with the equally colored shallow sea, making the dwarves feel as if their ship was sailing in the gap between heaven and earth.

Especially approaching the Golden Coast, the number of passing ships gradually increased, making the vast sea congested, with ships bearing the banners of various nobility territories and trade guilds sailing past, all competing with one another.

Numerous seagulls and terns were alighting around the coast, and some seabirds even dove directly into the sea, catching their prey from the waters.

A giant blue Dragon was soaring over the near sea sky, dispersing the distant storm clouds gathering in the sky, preventing a heavy downpour from affecting transport near the harbor.

And in the distance, the Golden Coast was visibly in sight, a massive white castle erected on a gigantic coral reef extending from the land into the sea, its tall straight white structure standing like a cliff in the sea.

Countless ships sailed near the castle, their towering sails reaching barely half the height of the castle.

In the harbor area where many ships were docked, numerous fishermen were driving boats in the coastal waters, casting out their woven nets with wide grins.

Young lads or even boys were riding dolphins and sharks in the sea, driving fish schools for their families.

”Woohoo, let’s see whose partner is stronger, charge,”

These young folks and boys, riding various dolphins and sharks, joyfully competed with each other, shouting to see whose partner was faster in the sea.

A boy frowningly patted the Eight-armed Octopus he was riding, quietly comforting his partner: ”Don’t be discouraged, Eight-arms, we may not be the fastest, but we’ve got more hands.”

Another particularly robust boy was riding a massive Tiger Whale, battling the waves in the deep sea area, driving large schools of fish easily visible from the ship’s deck.

Some medium-sized vessels, owned by merchants, were stationed in the deep sea, where Shahua Fishmen were made to dive and retrieve conch and treasures for these merchants.

These fish-like creatures, subjugated and tamed by the Dragons, possess some intelligence and spirituality, and were influenced and controlled to be present in the sea territories.

These creatures had a natural affinity with the Dragon Group Territory’s inhabitants and many were willing to form partnerships with them. The condition was that fishermen must share a portion of their catch with them.

This was a win-win relationship for both sides as the fishermen, with their help, could catch more fish.

And these creatures no longer needed to capture prey one at a time, saving time on each meal to fill their bellies.

Some other sea creatures were influenced by the Magic Enslavement Scrolls.

Once-upon-a-time, the wandering Mage Razi, unable to endure the exploitation by his companions who treated him like a workhorse, shut down his small magic shop out of exhaustion.

Drawn by the alluring recruitment offer from the Dragon Group Territory, this skillful wandering mage joined under Giants Dragon’s banner with a few companions, becoming one of the mages loyal to the Giant Dragon.

It’s worth noting that although the wandering mage Razi wasn’t particularly advanced in magical mastery elsewhere, he had an innate talent for crafting Magic Scrolls.

A usual mage would be deemed competent with a scroll crafting success rate of thirty percent, and excellent at fifty percent, but Mage Razi remarkably boasted a success rate of eighty-five percent, no wonder he was once used like a beast of burden.

However, after joining the Dragon Group Territory, he no longer had to labor as he did before, now assigned as a Magic Scroll professor at the Giant Dragon Basic Academy.