novelraw Chapter 313: Jinba’s Human Form
Chapter 313: Jinba’s Human Form
As time quietly passed, the banquet’s atmosphere continued to heat up in the fortress’s snow-whipped forecourt.
A large number of lower-ranked followers of various forms, like busy worker ants, carefully threaded between the massive, pressure-emitting dragons and the powerful monster leaders, bringing huge bowls brimming with meat soup, whole roasted beasts sizzling over the fire, and barrels of fragrant wine.
After his agreement with the red iron dragon, in human form Alberto let go of the gold dragon’s dignity and aloofness and began to improvise a lively dance again in the center of the yard.
His blond hair flew, his posture free and uninhibited.
Garoth’s enormous body lay prone on the stone dais draped in thick animal hides, his head slightly lowered.
He ate unhurriedly, his keen gaze sweeping across the hall, enjoying this long-missed clamor and festive atmosphere, then he turned his head a little and looked toward the nearby iron dragon.
“Sorog, while I slumbered, did anything urgent happen outside that deserves our attention?”
His deep voice cut through the noisy din and reached the iron dragon’s ears.
The iron dragon, with his unusual sweet tooth, had just gulped down a large jar of sugary honey syrup.
He was still savoring it, sticking out his thick tongue to lick the crystalline syrup clinging to the rim of the container.“A lot.”
After hearing Garoth’s question, he said, “There’s a great deal worth paying attention to.”
“The upheavals of the past decade or so far exceeded our expectations.”
“It’s not just the internal turmoil of the Federation escalating; the entire planet Bernardo seems to have stepped into an age of storms and unrest.”
Garoth nodded slightly, signaling him to continue. “Tell me in detail.”
The iron dragon fell silent for a moment, then began sorting and integrating the information he’d gathered from traveling merchant caravans, adventurers from Ximu Town, and channels like Gordon.
“First, there’s the elven empire Nausil.”
After weighing his words, the iron dragon said, “They claim that during their exploration of the stars they discovered the existence of other life-bearing planets, and they’ve already begun attempting preliminary diplomatic contact.”
This first matter was significant enough to make Garoth turn his head slightly.
Bernardo did not contain only one empire. They maintained a fragile, delicate surface peace while secretly engaging in fierce competition and power struggles. Among all the empires, the elven empire Nausil quietly held hegemonic status in comprehensive national strength and civilization level. They almost always led the times, and they had been at the forefront of star exploration.
It needs to be clarified that exploring the stars still belongs to exploration within the material realms, not interplanar travel. Material planes vary drastically in scale: a small one might be a single floating continent, while a large one could be a planet, a star system, or even an entire universe. The sum of all these material planes forms the vast main Material Plane. Therefore, exploration within a material plane, exploration across material planes, and cross-planar exploration are three entirely different concepts, each with distinct methods and difficulties.
Nausil finding other life-bearing planets means that the material realm containing the planet Bernardo is not an isolated world; its extent far exceeds imagination, containing unknown resources and endless potential waiting to be discovered. Likewise, it contains unknown dangers.
Next, Sorog’s topic turned to the orc empire Kantum. They intend, by iron and blood, to conquer the entire Thalassian Continent and incorporate it wholly into Kantum’s territory.
This news did not surprise Garoth too much. The Dragon Legacy recorded clear accounts of the Kantum Empire. It was a war machine with tightly unified theocracy and monarchy; their state religion, called the Fang Sanctum, fanatically worshiped the orc race’s chief god, the Sleepless Watcher—Ge’ush. He is a deity symbolizing frenzy, battle, and conquest! The Fang Sanctum’s core doctrine was to launch perpetual holy wars against the world: “Kill all who dare resist, enslave all conquered beings; only through eternal war and total destruction can the orcs seize broader living space and win the gods’ eternal favor.” Such a fiercely belligerent empire. Having defeated the giants—the most troublesome foe—seeking to remove other obstacles and fully conquer Thalassia was almost an inevitable choice. But it would be a long process fraught with uncertainties. Other empires, especially those with deepest grievances against the orcs, would never stand idly by; they would do everything they could to obstruct Kantum’s expansion and prevent the orc banners from filling every inch of Thalassia.
However, the next information Sorog revealed completely exceeded Garoth’s expectations. All adult metal dragons had collectively returned to the dragon domains to perform an ancient, grand ritual intended to help the dragons’ top power, Sky-Shrouding Wings, break through the bounds of life and step into immortality. Yet such a pivotal ceremony was audaciously attacked by the Five-colored Dragons. The attacker was the Ancient Dragon Hitherfell, notorious as the Winter’s End of Wanfa White Dragon.
Garoth knew this dragon. Her name and legendary deeds were vividly recorded in the Dragon Legacy. Even among the Ancient Five-colored Dragons, she ranked terrifyingly high; many ordinary white dragons took pride in her as a symbol of the white dragon clan’s rise and glory.
“A white dragon so deeply engraved in the Dragon Legacy… cannot be ordinary.” Garoth murmured internally and quickly searched the Legacy for records on this Wanfa White Dragon. In short, she was a magic-obsessed dragon who had reached the pinnacle of magic but suffered severe paranoid mental illness. Each scale on her body was said to be etched with arcane and dangerous magical runes. To advance further on the magical path, she would stop at nothing and commit shocking acts. Yet she differed in essence from other magic-addicted dragons who often died prematurely. Those other magic-obsessed dragons frequently lost reason from greed for arcane knowledge and acted recklessly—like storming a heavily guarded legendary wizard tower alone for a fragment of a forbidden grimoire, only to die without a trace. But Hitherfell was different. She knew how to exploit her advantages and possessed the patience of a top hunter; though a white dragon, her cunning equaled that of green dragons. She was like a spider lurking in shadows, capable of weaving nets over decades or even centuries for a single goal. One famous story circulated among dragons: to obtain a legendary caster’s unfathomable knowledge and coveted magical legacy, she used transformation magic to become a beautiful, intelligent human driven by curiosity about magic. She did not hide her race, and after careful planning she entered that caster’s solitary life as his wife. She played the most devoted partner—not for a few years but for a long stretch long enough to see small dynasties rise and fall—three whole centuries. Using her long-lived nature as an advantage, she turned those years into silent erosion. She maintained her disguise and played the tender, insightful companion, offering care and insight while the caster researched. She patiently waited as the human caster, chasing the ultimate secrets of magic, burned away his mortal life candle bit by bit until he aged and passed away. In the end she naturally inherited everything: his life’s research manuscripts, his vast magical library, his powerful magical artifacts, and a legendary wizard tower condensed from his lifetime’s work. That tower and the dread knowledge inside became the true foundation of Wanfa White Dragon Hitherfell’s rise. To reach the pinnacle of magic, she would abandon morals and convention, weave lies and illusions, and she had top-hunter patience. With these traits, Hitherfell rose from an unnoticed ordinary white dragon to the dreaded Winter’s End.
“But why would such a calculating dragon attack the metal dragon domains?” Garoth wondered. “Could Sky-Shrouding Wings possess the magic knowledge she craves?” That seemed the most reasonable explanation, but the truth remained unknown to Garoth.
As iron dragon Sorog continued his narration, the major events of the past decade on planet Bernardo gradually sketched a sweeping yet turbulent picture in Garoth’s mind. On high, the elven empire exploring the stars and contacting alien civilizations; in the middle, the orc empire sounding the drums of war, aiming to conquer the continent; below, the human empires frantically exploiting planes, attempting to harness Abyssal power. Each with their own plans and specialties… a subtle unease grew and spread in Garoth’s heart.
“If any of these three paths suffers a major error during exploration, it could evolve into a disaster with far-reaching consequences.”
“Especially the Halden Empire’s Abyssal Development Plan.”
“If it spirals out of control, the entire Atlantis Continent could be in mortal danger.”
The Dragon Legacy clearly recorded that in other distant material planes, due either to some demon lord’s evil schemes or some faction’s reckless folly, entire material planes had been dragged into the Abyss and utterly consumed—such precedents did exist. Entire continents swallowed by the Abyss were not uncommon.
Unfortunately, even sensing this looming great crisis, Garoth knew he was powerless now. If the sky fell, someone taller would bear it; matters of such magnitude were not his to worry about.
“Thinking about these distant, unreachable threats is meaningless now.”
“For me, the most important thing at present is to become stronger and grow quickly.”
“With enough strength, no matter what earth-shattering crisis comes, I can stand firm and get through it safely.”
“If I’m weak, even hiding at the world’s end won’t escape destruction.”
Garoth withdrew his thoughts and his gaze grew calm and resolute again. Among the many great events, the movements of those empires remained too distant from the Molten Iron Tribe’s current situation. After careful analysis, what mattered most to him and the tribe in practical terms were the Federation’s full-scale civil war and the simultaneous demise of two legendary rulers in the Permafrost Tundra—both provided rare opportunities for the Molten Iron Tribe’s next development.
Just then, the figure in the arena wielding a sword suddenly stopped. Alberto sharply turned his head and fixed his burning gaze on the red iron dragon. He sized up Garoth’s oppressive dragon frame from top to bottom with undisguised curiosity and asked, “Garoth, since you’ve already entered the youth phase, you should have mastered Transformation, right?”
Garoth nodded. Alberto’s interest immediately sparked. “With a body as absurdly strong as yours, I’m curious—what would you look like if you transformed into human form?” he asked.
“Can you satisfy this little curiosity of mine?”
Garoth wasn’t keen on showing off and was about to refuse. Just as the thought rose and before he spoke, he felt something gently poke his side. Turning his head, he saw brass-silver dragon Deborah tapping him with the tip of her tail; her eyes shone with full curiosity and expectation as she looked at him pleadingly.
“Transform for us, Garoth.” She blinked and said it so plainly.
The youth dragon’s Transformation was not yet powerful enough to let dragons change their facial features at will. The spell’s effect was more about mapping a corresponding humanoid race image from the dragon’s own morphology, temperament, and physique, rather than shaping a complete appearance purely by will. As a metal dragon, Deborah was naturally full of curiosity about what Garoth’s corresponding human form would look like.
By contrast, iron dragon Sorog, red dragon Samantha, and the other Five-colored Dragons showed little interest and remained indifferent. These evil dragons generally preferred their majestic, powerful original draconic forms. They believed their massive, resilient bodies covered in scales, with wings and claws, were the perfect symbol of strength and dignity! Even when they needed to become human, they preferred retaining some dragon features—towering horns, patches of scales on the skin, a powerful tail, or slit pupils emitting nonhuman light—to highlight their noble bloodline rather than fully becoming a vulnerable other race’s shape.
Under the expectant gazes of Alberto and Deborah, the red iron dragon pondered for a few seconds and finally decided. His huge prone body slowly rose to stand. At the same time, a strong but not harsh magical radiance surged from his body and quickly enveloped him. Under that glow, the rising red iron dragon underwent an astonishing metamorphosis. His massive bulk quickly shrank; his imposing horns retracted into a mane of dense black-red hair falling to the shoulders; his heavy, scaly claws and feet reshaped into long, powerful limbs and hands; his thick scales peeled away like the tide, turning into skin as tough as forged metal...
In the blink of an eye, the formidable red iron dragon vanished. In its place stood a young man over two meters tall, towering and impressively heroic. He was more than two meters in height, his muscles taut and prominent as if forged from steel. His bearing was wild yet aesthetically pleasing, his body lines and contours seeming carved by axe and chisel. His features were deep: a high bridge to his nose and a stubbornly carved jawline, like an ancient Greek god sculpted back to life. Simply standing there, he radiated a suffocating pressure and visual impact. This was starkly different from Alberto’s refined, handsome but somewhat slender appearance; Garoth’s human form immediately conveyed terrifying strength, far surpassing mere attractiveness.
“Ga... Garoth... you—you forgot to produce clothes!” Deborah’s voice shattered the brief silence. She habitually thrust a large silver dragon foreclaw up and slammed it in front of her face, but between those thick claw fingers were several narrow gaps through which a pair of curious, astonished dragon pupils peered, secretly admiring the perfect, art-like male body below.
At the same time, Garoth immediately realized the problem. Because he was still not adept at using Transformation and had been hurried, he completely forgot to weave clothing with magic while shifting forms. As a result, he stood there naked and completely uncovered. Every contour, every hint of power, and the masculine symbol of virility—all of it lay bare under the flickering campfire light for all to see.
“Those who accomplish great deeds do not fuss over trifles.” Garoth said without changing his expression. If I’m not embarrassed, then others should be.
In fact, apart from the embarrassed gold dragon and the shy, intrigued brass-silver dragon, the other Five-colored Dragons and the followers showed no obvious reaction. Still, ever practical, Garoth eventually formed a suit of armor from dragon scales. He moved his body and discovered that his human form could only exert about fifty percent of his strength, and his movements required careful control, otherwise he felt like his true form might reassert itself.
“With practice I should reach more output, but in any case it won’t match my true body.”
“It’s best to avoid using this form unless necessary; if ambushed, you might not react in time and suffer serious consequences.” Garoth thought. He disliked placing himself in unnecessary danger.
At this moment, Alberto looked at the strong, towering human figure; his eyes flickered slightly, and he suddenly said, “Garoth, I want to challenge you in human form!”
After a pause he continued, “If I win, my remaining debts to you are wiped clean.”
“If I lose, the debt doubles!”
Metal dragons who frequently used Transformation had rich, detailed knowledge recorded in the Legacy about the spell. A metal dragon in human form could exert about seventy percent of its power, while an evil dragon could only reach forty or fifty percent. During Garoth’s slumber, Alberto had been overseeing the Molten Iron Tribe on his behalf; his debts were nearly paid off with interest. Now he wanted to clear everything in one go and regain his freedom. He fancied his chances.