Chapter 38: Dragon Taming

"Clang! Clang! Attention!" In the early morning, the bell in the clock tower of the Five-colored Dragon Castle rang, its sonorous and profound echoes reaching every corner of the castle.

The castle erupted into activity at that moment. Nearly a hundred doors swung open simultaneously with the bell's sound, and a flurry of young dragons, big-headed and small-bodied, rushed out of their rooms like their tails were on fire, hurrying towards the same destination within the castle.

"Rush! Rush! Rush! We must reach the dining hall before the bell stops."

"Get out of the way; I don't want to be punished by Muria."

"Move, move, or I'll breathe fire!"

"Yeah, right, as if I'm scared of a red dragon!"

"A bunch of stupid dragons, go on, fight. Just don't cry when you get punished later."

The corridor, wide enough for four giants to walk through side by side, was instantly clogged by these young dragons, the largest of which was no more than four meters long.

The dragons, notorious for their unpleasant dispositions, started fighting in the corridors at the slightest provocation, occasionally spewing harmless dragon breaths at each other—essentially, they were spitting at one another.

The cloud giants on guard duty ignored the brawling hatchlings, used to the sight after seeing it day in, day out. They were safe from harm, given the dragons' infancy.

Inside the castle's dining hall, Muria sat at the head, overseeing the neatly arranged rows of dark iron low tables. From his vantage point, everything looked orderly, a sight that brought comfort.

That changed when the storm giant rang the bronze bell in the castle tower. The ensuing chaos and noise from the corridors caused Muria's brows to furrow.

"Still the same, no improvement despite the lessons. Is my punishment not severe enough?" Muria rubbed his temples, pondering in distress.

Just then, at the dining hall entrance opposite Muria, a large black dragon rushed in, wings flapping. Realizing it was the first to arrive, it roared triumphantly, "Awooo! I'm the first today!"

Muria coughed lightly at the sight of the triumphant little black dragon. The dragon shuddered at the sound, deflating like a frosted eggplant.

"Muria, I know, no clamor," the little black dragon mumbled fearfully, looking up at Muria, who sat on a raised platform, watching it intently. "I'll be quiet now and sit down."

After speaking, the little black dragon obediently moved to its seat, sitting on the hard cushion to await the arrival of all dragons before engaging in the day's most interesting event and then starting the meal.

Following the little black dragon, more dragons of various scale colors rushed into the dining hall, quieting down upon seeing Muria's imposing gaze. They took their seats quietly, some even tiptoeing to avoid making noise.

"Clang!" The final bell tone rang, then silence. Muria, with a stern face, looked towards the dining hall entrance, as did the punctual dragons.

Under the scrutiny of Muria and the dragons, a little red dragon and two small blue dragons with bright cyan scales timidly entered the dining hall. Their scratched appearances testified to their recent brawl in the corridor.

"You three are late," Muria stated plainly from his seat, eyeing the three dragons.

"It's not my fault!" Before Muria could continue, the late little red dragon began to protest loudly, "It was them! They blocked my way, wouldn't move aside, and then teamed up to attack me."

The two blue dragons glared at the red dragon, "It's your fault for being unreasonable. We were ahead; why should we let you pass?"

"Exactly, as if being a red dragon makes you special. We, blue dragons, are not afraid."

The blue dragons' sentiments were echoed by other blue dragons in their seats, feeling justified in their defiance. While red dragons were the strongest among the five colors, the blue dragons were not far behind.

"Enough," Muria interrupted the ongoing dispute among the hatchlings with a sharp command. The innate malice of the five-colored dragons, prone to conflict over the slightest disagreements, was all too familiar to him.

"I won't waste words. The old rule applies: lateness incurs punishment," Muria declared coldly to the uneasy dragons below. "Will you volunteer, or shall I have the others assist you?"

Hearing Muria's words, the seated dragons eagerly awaited the latecomers' response, ready to jump at the chance.

"We'll do it ourselves," one of the little blue dragons decided bravely, stepping forward with a determined yet tragic demeanor towards Muria.

Then, the blue dragon approached the platform where Muria sat, grimaced, and climbed onto the first of the wide steps.

Muria's platform was not high, consisting of three broad steps, each embedded with dozens of hexagram magic circles emitting faint luminescence, specially designed for the inherently troublesome five-colored dragons, capable of disciplining up to fifty hatchlings simultaneously.

The brave little blue dragon stepped into one of the circles on the first step. As it fully entered, the magic circle's white luminescence brightened dramatically.

A chill spread as the circle activated, causing the nearby young dragons, except for the white dragons who seemed to enjoy it, to shiver.

The little blue dragon let out a short howl before falling silent, encased in a giant sphere of freezing water lifted by the magic circle, on display for all to see.

"Late and brawling, fifteen minutes of punishment," Muria announced the penalty emotionlessly, sighing inwardly at the sight of fearful hatchlings below. These malevolent dragon hatchlings, inherently bad, constantly erred without end. Punishment was a principle Muria adhered to.

However, personally punishing the dragons daily became tiresome, prompting Muria to design circles tailored to the dragons' habits and attributes for disciplinary purposes.

Blue dragons, earth-affiliated and preferring desert nests, were immune to lightning due to their electric breath. Muria devised a circle generating cold water just above freezing to maximize their discomfort without endangering their lives.

Despite Muria's stoic observation,

 the punished blue dragon appeared on the brink of death, highlighting dragons' robust vitality. His disciplinary magic circles needed strengthening to instill genuine fear in the hatchlings.

"The most ridiculous part," Muria noted, observing the eagerly watching hatchlings, was the absence of sympathy among them, turning punishment into entertainment. This encapsulated the evil nature of dragons.

After his reflections, Muria turned to the other two anxious dragons at the entrance, signaling for the others to assist them.

At Muria's command, the surrounding dragons swarmed the blue and red dragons, eagerly enforcing the punishment in a display of draconic malice.

"Help us; we're kin. You can't do this."

"I'm a blue dragon too. Have you no dragon honor? I refuse punishment; let me go."

The room buzzed with excitement as the dragons took hold of their unfortunate kin, dragging them to their fate with glee, illustrating the intrinsic evil of the five-colored dragons.

"Accept it quietly; resistance is futile."

"I've waited for this moment, red dragon. You dragged me to punishment three days ago. Dream on if you think I'll spare you now!"

"Finally, a chance for revenge. Stop struggling."

"I'll send you off to enjoy your punishment!"

"Mistakes warrant punishment. Roar, don't struggle."

With that, the dining hall erupted into a frenzy, the dragons' inherent viciousness on full display, leaving the latecomers no choice but to face their just desserts under the watchful eye of Muria.

Feeling frustrated, Muria contemplates his punitive measures' effectiveness, considering stronger consequences to instill real fear and order among the malevolent dragon brood.