novelraw Chapter 99: Right to the First Night, Lightning Evolution, Stone Giant
Chapter 99: Right to the First Night, Lightning Evolution, Stone Giant
Within the Howling Moon Clan.
Garoth summoned the chieftain Russell and informed him about the purple copper ore, assigning him the responsibility to handle its extraction. Then he instructed him to start contacting Nick’s caravan to rebuild the trade routes and gave him many other orders.
The next wave of trade, aside from the black oil, was planned carefully.
Garoth allowed his clan members to profit for themselves, but the premise was that it must not affect his acquisition of black oil.
This would stimulate the clan’s enthusiasm. They followed Garoth for a better life and a brighter future. Garoth was not a cruel dragon; as long as they performed well, he would give them opportunities.
Furthermore,
if they only sought black oil, their behavior would appear abnormal.
There were many large black oil fields on the planet Bernardo, so black oil reserves were abundant. However, this did not mean black oil was a resource that could be obtained casually, nor did it mean anyone could use black oil freely.
No nation would ever disdain its own black oil supply.
It was primarily used to power large alchemical tools like alchemical golems, making it a strategic material subject to certain controls.Although there were official channels for purchase, the quantities were limited.
In the Ser Wilderness, traveling merchants often traded privately with the local oil field garrisons, transporting black oil southward to various countries and then reselling it to smaller nations that needed black oil but lacked sufficient local resources.
Buying black oil from southern countries and then transporting it back to the Ser Wilderness was somewhat strange.
Why would a monster clan in a wilderness crave black oil alone, and in large, continuous quantities? If someone with ill intentions noticed this, it would likely bring unnecessary trouble.
“Dragon Lord, please accept this.”
Russell presented a message stone.
“This was brought by the last caravan.”
“Through this, when you cannot arrive in person, you can issue commands to us remotely.”
He thoughtfully, yet unnecessarily, explained this to Garoth.
“Next time, have the caravan bring more message stones.”
Garoth accepted the message stone and said.
Flapping his wings, he lifted buckets of black oil contained in iron vine nets, preparing to take off.
At that moment, Frostfang just returned. Seeing his daughter approach, Russell recalled the clan’s records on dragon habits and hesitated briefly before calling out to Garoth, “Wait, Dragon Lord, please hold on.”
Garoth lowered his gaze toward Russell.
“Something else?”
Russell pulled Frostfang beside him and, under Garoth’s puzzled stare, whispered, “Honorable Dragon Lord, to celebrate your return, Frostfang wishes to offer her first night to serve you.”
“If that does not satisfy you, all the young female werewolves in the Howling Moon Clan are at your disposal.”
Garoth’s eyes widened.
As a young dragon, he didn’t quite understand Russell’s train of thought at that moment.
Frostfang stood obediently by her father’s side, showing no anger or displeasure; rather, there was a hint of expectation in her eyes.
Garoth fixed his gaze on this young female werewolf.
Her fur was glossy, her teeth white, her eyes clear and bright. A pair of erect ears were covered with fine fuzz. Her tail and limbs were slender, and her body proportions just right—a beautiful female werewolf.
Dragons had eyes that could discover the beauty in all things.
Garoth naturally admired Frostfang’s beauty.
But he still didn’t understand why Russell said that all of a sudden.
“Could it be that I inadvertently showed a lecherous side?”
Garoth carefully recalled and could not remember such behavior, so he directly asked Russell why he thought that way.
Russell stammered, and under Garoth’s gaze, hesitated before saying, “Our clan records mention that male dragon lords demand the first night rights from female clan members.”
“To enhance your regard and goodwill toward the Howling Moon Clan, I thought to offer it proactively without waiting for you to ask.”
Garoth fell silent.
It was hardly surprising that Russell’s idea was twisted.
Because the clan’s records were correct.
Malicious dragons like the red dragons did indeed like to do such things—promiscuity, indulgence, directly breeding dragon offspring with clan females, then having those offspring serve as their core guards.
As for reproductive isolation,
it did not exist among dragons.
The dragon bloodline was powerful and domineering; when it combined with almost any creature, it could produce dragon offspring.
However,
usually, dragons beyond their youth began to develop such desires and ideas.
At least for now, Garoth, only fourteen years old, had no interest in this. Even his well-trained reproductive organ had strength far beyond a normal young dragon’s.
Moreover, even if he were interested,
without mastering transformation magic, Garoth could not practically do much given the huge size difference between him and others.
Transformation magic was a spell all dragons would master, usually awakening in youth.
Metallic dragons, especially gold and silver dragons, liked to use transformation magic to mingle among other intelligent species and play in the world, while malicious dragons used it mostly for indulgence.
Frostfang stammered, “Great Dragon Lord, I voluntarily offer my service to you.”
Breeding dragon-werewolf offspring with dragons was beneficial to the Howling Moon Clan, strengthening their bond with Garoth.
Also, Frostfang herself revered Garoth’s mighty power.
That power-filled beauty, the majestic and fierce dragon physique, not only attracted dragons but also made Frostfang admire him across species.
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Garoth neither accepted nor directly refused.
Leaving only those words, he soared into the air.
“Father, do you think the Dragon Lord will agree?”
Frostfang blinked and asked Russell.
“He will, he will.”
Russell whispered, “At least half of the Dragon Lord’s bloodline is red dragon. Clan records say male red dragons are extremely lustful.”
Backward-swept, majestic dragon horns.
A faint scent of sulfur and blazing flames emanated from his body.
A powerful physique.
Thick, sharp fangs protruding from upper and lower jaws.
Dense, sharp spines.
These were all characteristics of red dragons. Although Russell was unfamiliar with the iron dragon subspecies, he had some understanding of famous dragons like the red dragon and could see the red dragon bloodline in Garoth.
It was said
human armies dreaded fighting male red dragon lords the most.
On one hand, red dragons themselves were powerful.
On the other, male red dragons showed no restraint in lust, nearly always in heat and extremely fertile, with many dragon offspring serving under them.
“I want to have a litter of little wolf cubs with dragon scales.”
Frostfang said longingly.
Time then slowly passed, with the wilderness’s sun and moon alternating.
Garoth brushed aside the minor episode with the Howling Moon Clan, paying little mind to it. Later, he descended again upon the Redeye Clan at Howling Cliff, solidifying the gnolls’ loyalty to him.
Nothing unexpected happened during this time.
Warlord Bloodfang’s grip on his clan’s rule was very stable. Six years had passed without aging him; he was in his prime.
Notably, a gnoll sorcerer was born in the Redeye Clan. This was the gnoll sentinel who fainted upon first seeing Garoth.
At the time, Garoth had thought this sentinel’s perception was exceptional.
It was not surprising that he awakened the power in his bloodline to become a sorcerer.
In monster clans in the wilderness, as long as they had a certain scale, there was likely to be at least one sorcerer, shaman, or priest—some form of spiritual leader. This seemed to be a survival mechanism developed through species evolution.
There were also the Rending Claw Clan’s lizardfolk.
They suffered the most in battles against the ogres. Seeing a dragon willing to protect them, they were eager to kiss Garoth’s toes and swore allegiance on the spot.
Garoth unified all four clans of the Serpentine Earth Rift under his banner but did not mix them together. He simply set rules to avoid overly fierce conflicts and to ambush and rob trade routes in a more orderly, sustainable manner.
Unfortunately,
due to the ogre clans’ rampant looting over the past six years, almost no caravans now passed through the Serpentine Earth Rift. The few that did were large-scale caravans guarded by troops.
But this was only temporary.
Garoth had already instructed the werewolves to contact Nick and spread news that the Serpentine Earth Rift was gradually becoming safe and peaceful again. He even went there himself as a demonstration.
When Nick returned with full loads next time, it would surely reignite other merchants’ greed.
Several clans were under his control.
Garoth’s days gradually became peaceful and stable.
With a reserve of black oil, his daily training efficiency improved. He tried combining black oil with faerie scale powder.
The result was as he expected.
With the faerie scale powder enhancing his mental reactions, he could control the speed boost granted by black oil in a short time.
Combined with the Bloodburst technique on his horn ring,
Garoth’s combat power in a fully explosive state rose to a brand-new level.
Garoth did not indulge in the enhancement from external items; he knew these were cards not to be played lightly. The key was to become strong at the foundation.
Under the night sky at the Spinebreaker Hills,
Sizzle! Sizzle!
Garoth stood silently at the center of several sorcerers, letting ogre sorcerers attack him with their Chain Lightning technique.
Dense arcs of electricity wrapped around him.
Garoth felt a tingling sensation all over, electricity pulsing through the muscles beneath his scales, stimulating them to swell and contract, the sensation growing clearer.
While being shocked, some arcs of electricity escaped from the gaps in his scales.
Dense, rich, and bright.
Like a mane woven from lightning.
Garoth had a strong premonition.
His next evolution might be related to lightning.
Luckily, ogre sorcerers used Chain Lightning, and direct attacks worked better than the enchanted lightning attacks from his tail ring. So he frequently trained this way to improve his lightning resistance, anticipating his next evolution.
Soon, the sorcerers exhausted their magical energy and collapsed, carried away by ogre warriors.
Garoth, still eager, called out to the gluttonous ogre who was eating, “Karu, come over and play with me.”
He had the ogre wear the lightning tail ring on his arm and train with him for a while longer.
Minutes later,
Garoth’s training was still not over.
Suddenly, an ogre sentinel hurried over briskly.
“Reporting to the Dragon Lord, a stone giant has arrived at the outskirts of the Bonegnaw Clan and wishes to meet the leader.”
The sentinel whispered.
A stone giant? Where did it come from?
Garoth’s gaze sharpened.
“Karu, prepare to receive it, inquire about its purpose and origin, but do not reveal my presence.”
Garoth did not take to the sky. Instead, he crawled along the ridge of the hills into a concealed slope depression, spreading his wings and gathering his aura, blending almost perfectly with the night, only his pair of deep black eyes quietly watching the Bonegnaw Clan territory below.