novelraw Chapter 11: Dragon Wing Blade
Chapter 11: Dragon Wing Blade
The Ser Wilderness was as scorching hot as always, seemingly forever stuck in summer.
The earth was dry, dust swirling everywhere, with bright, blazing sunlight pouring down from the sky, shining directly on Garoth as he circled above. It illuminated his current form and posture.
Compared to a year ago.
Garoth’s body length had grown by almost half a meter, not a huge increase, now roughly 6.6 meters long.
However, the weight and bulk of his body had clearly increased; his limbs were thick and powerful, his back and chest broad and strong, even his neck looked thicker and tougher.
The entire dragon was incredibly sturdy. Even through his scales, one could feel the strong, solid muscles beneath, as if cast from steel and iron.
Among dragons as physically powerful as red dragons and Gold Dragons, only a few young dragons could rival Garoth’s strength.
Garoth now was like the ‘Tyson’ of young dragons of the same age in terms of his physique and stance.
But it was not just this.
The biggest change was Garoth’s pair of dragon wings. First, the wingspan reached a full fifteen meters, more than twice his body length. What was more surprising was that the wing membranes were covered with a layer of densely overlapping dragon scales that looked like feathers at first glance. When cutting through the air, they perfectly guided airflow, preventing resistance and instead creating propulsion.
The part that had originally caused the most pain when flapping—the fleshy membrane connecting the wings’ roots to the body—had thickened threefold.
The folds piled up like steel hammered hundreds of times in a forge.
At the edges of the wings, an extra layer of metal-colored, razor-sharp material had grown, capable of easily tearing through air and slicing through living creatures, making the entire dragon wing resemble a huge guillotine, radiating a deadly sharpness.
During this past year, strength training was secondary. Garoth had spent almost every moment refining these wings, and his efforts had paid off.
After a recent evolution,
Garoth could now soar through the skies relying solely on his wings, his flight speed far surpassing that of dragons at the same level.
His life level had not changed, still at level 7.
But Garoth felt he could now defeat the two former versions of himself.
“I need to test the results of this evolution.”
“It’s decided—you, Earth Rampage Bear.”
His gaze pierced through the clouds as Garoth lowered his eyes to the ground below. He saw, resting among the hills, a giant bear eight meters tall covered in yellow-brown steel-needle-like fur, looking like a supercharged version of an ordinary brown bear.
The Earth Rampage Bear before Garoth was level 8, but it was not comparable to the level 8 petrifying lizard from before.
The Earth Rampage Bear was one of the stronger monsters, with a certain chance of reaching legendary status.
Not only did it have a strong body, but it also wielded many earth-type quasi-spell skills.
Though no match for dragons, it could easily crush most monsters of the same level.
In the spruce forest among the hills below,
the Earth Rampage Bear was rubbing its back against a century-old hemlock tree to scratch an itch, flaking bark flying like a rainstorm.
This time, Garoth’s purpose was to test his current strength, not to hunt.
He did not choose to sneak attack but instead flared his dragon aura, announcing his arrival to the Earth Rampage Bear.
With a flap of his wings, a wave of air mixed with dragon might formed visible ripples, sweeping past the Earth Rampage Bear.
The bear, originally scratching with a pleased expression, suddenly froze, then its fur bristled like a cat stepped on its tail as it looked up to the sky.
In its vision, a black dot rapidly expanded, diving down.
Scales, horns, claws, tail, wings... it was a giant dragon! Although by size standards, it was still just a young dragon.
The Earth Rampage Bear was highly intelligent. Facing a young dragon, it felt no fear but instead stood upright on its hind legs, roaring fiercely at Garoth.
The soil and rocks in front of it suddenly surged upward, condensing into chunks of rock.
The bear lifted a paw and stomped down, sending five or six huge boulders flying toward Garoth.
For the first rock, Garoth did not dodge or avoid; he lowered his head and rammed it with his dragon horns.
Crack!
The rock shattered like tofu, breaking into pieces. The fragments brushed across his scales, leaving only dust marks.
For the remaining four rocks, though they could be smashed directly, Garoth no longer charged head-on.
He flapped his huge and powerful wings, stirring up gusts of wind. The dragon seemed to dance in the air, weaving skillfully through the gaps between the four rocks, agile as a swimming dragon.
Strength, speed, defense... Garoth did not want any weaknesses and aimed to develop all aspects together.
After surviving the Earth Rampage Bear’s first wave of attacks, Garoth approached the lush upper part of the hills while the bear remained below.
He folded his wings and dove down, cutting through the treetops along the slope.
Oak branches scraped against his scales with a sharp sound. The blade-like wing edges swept past rows of ancient trees, cutting them down like stalks of wheat at the root.
The Earth Rampage Bear roared and slammed its huge paws on the ground, causing ten earth spikes to burst out of the soil.
Suddenly, the young dragon folded its wings and curled its body. Its tail, wrapped with broken wood and leaves, swept through the earth spikes, breaking them in half. The flying rocks embedded themselves like bullets into tree trunks.
The bear pushed its paws deep into the ground, lifting a three-meter-thick rock slab and smashing it toward Garoth again.
Garoth advanced instead of retreating. The wing edge sliced into the rock slab’s gap and flapped strongly, sending the entire rock slab flying a hundred meters into the air.
Sunlight filtered through the suspended boulder, casting mottled shadows. The young dragon took advantage of the light and shadow boundary to launch a surprise attack, swiftly closing in on the Earth Rampage Bear.
His claws extended, tearing through fur and flesh deeply into the bear’s shoulder. Then he flipped into the air, forcefully throwing the nearly twenty-ton beast like a broken sack.
The rolling bear smashed through seven oak trees before coming to a halt.
Roar!
It bellowed furiously, suddenly grabbing a broken log and hurling it into the air.
Earth-colored magical energy wrapped the log, which exploded into a rain of sharp spikes as it neared Garoth, slicing through the air with a whistling sound.
Garoth’s dragon face remained calm. His huge wings suddenly spread wide, sweeping to dispel the flying wooden spikes.
Even if some landed on him, they could not penetrate his tough scales.
Only places like his eyes needed some extra care.
“Now it’s my turn!”
The Earth Rampage Bear had just used many quasi-spell skills and was panting heavily, while the young dragon seemed to have no drop in stamina, flapping his wings to accelerate closer.
Heavy Rock Armor!
Facing the oncoming dragon, the Earth Rampage Bear stomped its feet and roared in anger. The earth and stones around it seemed to come alive, surging like water. Almost instantly, they covered its body, solidifying into a granite-patterned tough armor.
At the same time, Garoth’s right wing spread wide like a guillotine, tearing through the air with a piercing screech as it slashed toward the Earth Rampage Bear.
The bear raised its thickest armored bear arm to smash against the dragon wing.
Clang—shhh!
Like metal striking metal, a shower of sparks flew, followed by the sound of a sharp blade slicing flesh.
The Earth Rampage Bear howled in pain. The armor on its bear arm was torn apart almost instantly by the dragon wing, ripping through the tough fur and flesh beneath, even breaking the bones.
As Garoth and the Earth Rampage Bear’s figures crossed paths, the severed half of the bear’s arm flew into the air, dripping blood.