Chapter 26: Striking Out on One's Own

"Sophia, can you repeat what you just said?" Muria looked at the blond dragon-blooded girl in front of him with a stunned expression.

"Master Muria, as unbelievable as it might sound, the truth is that Lady Artelis has decided to revoke your residence rights in the castle. You are requested to leave the castle with your pets within today," the head maid Sophia stated matter-of-factly.

"So, my mother is kicking me out?"

"That's one way to understand it."

"Why?" Muria couldn't understand. His mother was the leading gold dragon, known for her benevolence, not a wicked dragon. Why would she decide to expel her own offspring from her castle?

The head maid did not respond but instead cast her gaze towards the corner of the room, where six young dragons were sound asleep.

Following Sophia's gaze, Muria immediately understood. A month ago, after toying with the young dragons for a while, Muria, out of impatience, used a bloodline-enhanced fourth-ring spell, Thunderbolt Sphere.

The four young dragons each took a heavy hit. Despite the dragons' defensive abilities, they only mitigated a fraction of the damage. That day, the four young dragons were reminded of the fear of being dominated by Muria's thunder.

Since that day, all the young dragons had been obedient, doing whatever Muria said, except for one thing. They had to "admire" the golden dragon mother's collection, drooling over it in the process.

Even though the young dragons knew these treasures would never belong to them, they still roamed around the crystal castle daily, touching and looking at everything. Muria had no doubt that if not for the strong defensive enchantments set by the golden dragon mother, theft would be a daily occurrence in the castle.

Muria had no good solution to this. After all, he couldn't keep these young dragons locked up in a room forever, given they were red dragons with intelligence equal or superior to humans.

Thus, the current situation arose. Lady Artelis could no longer tolerate six young dragons in her castle constantly eyeing her collection. Although she was initially pleased by their interest, her tolerance reached its limit over time.

The young dragons did not just drool over Lady Artelis' collection but also frequently cuddled and licked them. Had Muria not strictly controlled them, they would have chosen to sleep on the crystal display stands, clutching these precious collectibles.

Now, having reached her limit, Lady Artelis decided to expel all six young dragons from the crystal castle. Her fury also extended to Muria, their caretaker, leading to Sophia, the head maid, notifying him of the eviction.

"At first, she was the one who asked me to raise these troublesome dragons, and now she's kicking me out because of them," Muria said indignantly, his face darkened. "And by dragon standards, I'm still a child, not even a youth."

"Master Muria, regarding this, Lady Artelis also had a message for you," Sophia cleared her throat and then mimicked Lady Artelis' tone.

"Little Muria, you've turned thirteen this year. At this age, if you were a human, you could marry and have children, fully capable of living independently. And you, as the son of Artelis Elonsas, definitely won't be inferior to humans. So, you should leave the castle and make your own way!"

After finishing, Sophia looked at Muria with a hint of sympathy as his mouth twitched in response.

"Heh!" This was the only sound Muria made, vividly expressing his dissatisfaction.

"Fine, let's leave. Without the crystal castle, I can live even more freely," Muria said, his face dark as he approached the six slumbering young dragons, waking them up one by one.

"What's the matter? Muria, I haven't slept enough yet," the young female dragon Jessica yawned, somewhat displeased with Muria.

"Sleep? We no longer have a place here, and neither do you. Follow me now."

"Leave? To where?" the young dragon Albert asked curiously.

"We're leaving this crystal castle to go out and build a castle of my own."

"Leave this castle?" Cynthia exclaimed. "You must be joking. This is my home, and I would rather die than leave."

"Is that so?" Muria's face darkened, and golden thunder appeared in his hand. "If it weren't for you worthless dragons, I wouldn't have been dragged down and kicked out by my mother. Now, for the last time, are you coming or not?"

Seeing the golden thunder in Muria's hand, the young dragons, having suffered under him before, quickly nodded in agreement, including the stubborn Auston. They had no doubt that Muria would turn them into dragon-shaped charcoals and drag them away if they refused.

Muria had nothing much to pack, aside from the six dragons and the clothes on his back that could adjust size with his body. He had no other personal possessions.

"Master Muria, Lady Artelis instructed that all creatures on this island willing to follow you may do so," Sophia suddenly spoke as he was leaving the room. "Moreover, you can always come back to borrow any book from the library."

Hearing this, Muria paused, nodded, and then left Sophia's sight with the six young dragons.

As Muria reached the castle's gate, he heard a very familiar voice.

"Master Muria, wait for me," a dragon-blooded girl with an impressive figure caught up to him.

"Mia." Muria smiled. "Why are you following me?"

"After hearing you're leaving, as your personal maid, of course, I must go with you!" the girl stated as a matter of course.

"Fine, follow me," Muria agreed after a moment of silence. He then looked down at the twenty-four kneeling cloud giants and issued his command: "Inform all the giants on the island that I, Muria Iapetos Elonsas, from this day forward, am striking out on my own. I will wait at the training ground for all giants willing to follow me until the sunset."

The twenty-four cloud giants initially looked bewildered, then quickly turned ecstatic: "We will follow your will, Prince Muria."

The giants then stood up, disregarding their duty to guard the castle gate. They used their spell-like ability, levitation, to gain the ability to fly, then scattered in all directions to convey Muria's message across the island.

When Muria arrived at the training ground with the six young dragons and his personal maid Mia, he was stunned by the sight before him.

The ground and steps of the training ground were filled with giants—cloud giants, storm giants, mountain giants, tide giants—gathered by family units, creating a tremendously imposing scene.

What shocked Muria even more was when these giants saw him arrive, they kneeled en masse, regardless of age or size, creating a pathway straight to the highest point of the training ground, a stone throne overlooking the entire area.

With mixed emotions, Muria followed the path to the throne, with Mia closely behind and the six young dragons following obediently, too stunned by the scene to cause any trouble. They lacked any ancestral knowledge of such a scene.

Eventually,

 Muria reached the highest point of the training ground and sat on the throne, overseeing the many kneeling giants with the charming young girl standing by his side and the six young dragons lying at his feet. A sense of satisfaction emerged, diminishing the dissatisfaction of being expelled by his mother.

"Rise," Muria spoke his first words upon arriving at the training ground. Once the giants stood, he continued, "Please be patient and wait. Wait for all giants willing to follow me to gather."

From his vantage point, Muria could see more clearly. From all around the island, male giants were arriving with their wives and children. In the distant sea, one tide giant after another broke through the water to land...

Following the tide giants were numerous sea creatures—nagas, sea monsters, mermaids—many of whom couldn't come ashore.

"Titans!" Muria murmured under his breath, aware that the spectacle before him was caused by the pure Titan bloodline he possessed.

Strictly speaking, Titans are also part of the giant kin, the most powerful among them. To other giant races, Titans hold a special significance.

"Evolution," Muria whispered. He had read in Lady Artelis' library that Titans, like dragons, could subtly change their surroundings over time to suit themselves, a process similar to the life essence evolution seen in dragons.

Dragons' aura could infect nearby beings, leading to dragonification—a fundamental evolution of life essence, turning ordinary beings into dragon-like creatures.

The majority of Erathia's lower and middle-tier draconic creatures originated this way, infected by a dragon's power, inheriting a faint dragon bloodline, making them unique. As for higher-tier draconic creatures, they were directly created by dragons through well-known means.

Titan aura could break the limits of giants reaching their life's peak, enhancing their strength and life span, similar to dragons' influence on their surroundings.