Chapter 100 "The Nature of Dragons"

"Thud!" In Muria's bedroom, amidst a pile of books, Claudia, engrossed in reading, flicked her ears and then glanced at the three red-haired girls who were sound asleep on the books next to her.

"Muria is back," Claudia said without looking up from the arcane spellbook she was reading.

"Where?" As soon as Claudia spoke, Renata, who had been sleeping soundly, immediately opened her eyes, sat up with a start, and looked around eagerly for that familiar figure.

"Muria is back!" Unlike the delighted Renata, the other two dragon girls woke up startled by the noise. Cynthia and Jessica sat up in a panic, hurriedly picked up the books next to them, pretending to read, and then sneakily glanced around.

The three little dragon girls then realized that the hall, usually filled with weapons, was empty except for themselves; the familiar figure of Muria was nowhere to be seen.

"Claudia, why are you tricking us?" Not seeing Muria, Cynthia immediately complained to Claudia, the white-haired and white-eyed girl.

"Hmph, white dragon, don't think that just because Muria favors you, you can mock us freely," Jessica was less polite. "Remember, you're just a lowly white dragon."

As soon as she finished speaking, an icicle smashed into Jessica's face, sending the small-framed dragon girl flying in an elegant parabola, crashing to the ground.

"Ow, Claudia!" Jessica roared as she hit the ground, transforming back into her nearly twenty-meter-long red dragon form. "You're asking for it!"

"Even if I am a white dragon, I will not tolerate your insults," Claudia said, setting down her book and standing up defiantly. With a flick of her hand, spears of ice, each nearly five meters long, rapidly formed and pointed directly at the red dragon.

"No fighting allowed here!" Just as tensions escalated and a battle was about to erupt, Cassio, the spirit overseeing all of Muria's domain, materialized within the stone hall.

When Cassio appeared, the ice spears around Claudia shattered into glittering dust and dispersed into the air. In Muria's residence, Cassio wielded the authority to nullify magic.

Beneath Jessica, who was about to spew dragon fire, a seal with a glowing earthen light appeared, pinning her enraged form to the ground with a terrifying gravitational force, rendering her immobile.

"Claudia was not mocking you," Cassio stated, glancing at Jessica, who couldn't even lift her claws.

"I only mentioned it because I heard the sound of someone falling into water," Claudia said expressionlessly, glancing at the red dragon pinned by the crushing force, still glaring at her with eyes like molten lava.

Ignoring the other dragons who had been watching the spectacle and those who had attempted to intervene but were stopped, Claudia returned to her seat, picked up her book as if nothing had happened, and continued reading, her scholarly aura unfazed.

"Cassio, can I go see Muria now?" Seeing the hall had returned to calm, Renata tentatively asked the floating spirit.

"Yes."

"Great!" The little dragon girl cheered and leaped down from the pile of books, rushing out of the hall toward the location of the Pool of Life.

"I'll go check too," Cynthia said cautiously to Cassio before quickly following Renata out of the hall...

"Muria, you're hurt?" Muria, his body submerged in the pool, felt a warm, comforting sensation throughout his body but had barely soaked for a moment when he heard a worried voice.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Muria responded somewhat helplessly, releasing bubbles into the pool before swimming up to the surface to face the red-haired girl standing by the pool.

"But you're bleeding." Renata's eyes welled up with tears as she pointed at the faint golden blood traces in the pool, which stood out sharply against the verdant waters.

"It's just a few drops of blood," Muria said, glancing at the golden traces with a dismissive smile. The blood was from his battle with Mikaela, having fallen into the water upon his arrival and remained distinct.

"Muria, you've never bled before." Despite Muria's nonchalance, Renata looked ready to cry, deeply upset.

In her mind, Muria was invincible, unbeatable even when her siblings ganged up against him, and even against giants of higher power levels, Muria always emerged victorious. To the little dragon girl, Muria was the strongest.

"Muria, you are injured," Cynthia added as she came to the nearly tearful Renata's side, her mouth agape in surprise at the sight of the blood in the pool.

"It's just a minor injury, already completely healed," Muria massaged his temples. Since arriving in the realm of the Titans, especially during his intensive training with Heloist, getting injured had become commonplace, something he had grown accustomed to. However, the young dragon girls, new to the realm of the Titans, still found it hard to accept that he could be injured so frequently.

But after his training, the frequency of Muria's injuries had dramatically decreased, and at his current level, very few beings, Titan or beast, could harm him.

"Ah, try not to get injured too often in the future!" Muria thought to himself, troubled by the sight of the two humanoid little dragon girls looking so worried. "I really can't stand this."

"Oh, by the way, how is your study of magic going?" Muria raised an eyebrow at the two worried dragon girls, taking the opportunity to inquire about their studies.

Hearing Muria's question, Cynthia and Renata stiffened. While Muria was around, they could muster the enthusiasm to grapple with the complex spellbooks.

But as soon as Muria left, without his supervision, they would slip into sweet slumber. To a dragon, sleep was far more enticing than any cryptic spellbook.

"Sigh." Seeing the expressions on the delicate faces of the two dragon girls, Muria internally sighed, knowing exactly what these dragon girls had been up to while he was battling Mikaela in Cloud City for a day and a night.

Laziness was a common dragon trait; after all, they could grow stronger simply by sleeping comfortably.

If the dragons under his direct supervision were this indolent, what about those he had let roam freely outside? "Splash!" With this thought, Muria climbed out of the pool, drops of life-rich water dripping from his robust Titan body.

"I'm going to check on those chromatic dragons," Muria announced as he dressed. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Let's go." Cynthia's eyes lit up as she watched Muria dress, and even after he was fully clothed, the dragoness, now in heat, still had a longing look on her face. "It's a good chance to see how my three brothers are doing."

"I want to go too," Renata chimed in softly.

And so, Muria, accompanied by the two dragon girls, left his residence and headed down the mountain. His home was built at the summit of a towering mountain.

A year ago, Muria had gone to great lengths, spending much time and effort to transport all the

 dragons to the land of the Titans.

Except for the three shape-shifting red mother dragons and the scholarly dragon Claudia, who were allowed to live inside the grand hall, the rest were placed on the mountain, with defined boundaries they were not to leave. This was for the chromatic dragons' safety, as at their mostly Silver-level strength, they were at the bottom of the food chain in the Titan realm. Muria was concerned that any dragon wandering off might encounter other beasts or Titans and get casually crushed, or worse, eaten.

Muria silently observed the three dragon dens lined up side by side, emitting a faint sulfur smell, surrounded by scorched marks.

He couldn't quite understand why these beings, whose intelligence was on par with or even surpassed that of humans, preferred to burrow holes like ordinary wild beasts instead of constructing more dignified dwellings.

Following the scent, Muria, after shrinking his form, led the two dragon girls into one of the dragon dens. Inside, they saw a dragon with bright red scales lying on a rock heated red by its own body temperature, sound asleep.

Muria approached and kicked the fearsome-looking red dragon's head. "Auston, you're sleeping? Have you finished learning your spells?"

The red dragon, Auston, was deep in slumber when he felt something hitting him. Half-awake, he opened his eyes just a crack and saw a large foot kicking towards him. Without a second thought or any hesitation, the dragon instinctively opened his fang-filled mouth and bit down.

"Clang!" The sound of hard materials colliding echoed as Auston's bite not only failed to harm the foot kicking him but also left his dragon teeth painfully vibrating.

Awoken by the pain, Auston fully opened his eyes, only to see the figure he loathed.