Chapter 51: The Dragonization Phenomenon

"Let's go, go, go! Hurry to Gryphon Castle, I heard a dragonized gryphon has appeared."

"Really?"

"Why would I lie? Are we going to see it or not?"

"Of course, we are."

Inside the Five-Colored Dragon Castle, the cloud giants had built an annex specifically for the gryphons they were raising. It was packed with curious cloud giants, and their much larger mountain and storm giant counterparts were especially conspicuous among them.

The focus of all these giants, however, was on a particularly majestic gryphon. Unlike its kin, who were frightened into corners by the crowd, this gryphon proudly raised its eagle head, meeting the gaze of the many giants without a hint of fear.

Even fools could recognize the uniqueness of this gryphon, and the giants murmured in admiration at its bravery.

"Let me take a closer look," said a storm giant as he stepped forward and reached out to grab the proud gryphon.

The gryphon, unfazed by the approaching giant hand, tilted its head back and let out a piercing screech, spreading its ten-meter-wide wings and flapping them vigorously.

Instantly, several translucent blades of wind materialized in the air, shooting towards the storm giant.

The storm giant, unfazed by the meter-long wind blades, did not even flinch. His actions were unaltered as he ignored the blades.

With a clanging sound, the wind blades struck his pale hand but produced a metallic echo. Remarkably, not only was there no blood, but there wasn't even a scratch on his hand.

The gryphon, now slightly panicked, found itself firmly grasped by the giant's pale hand. Despite being captured, it continued to struggle fiercely, trying to escape the storm giant's grasp.

However, the storm giant paid no heed to the gryphon's efforts; to him, the force was far too weak. He was more interested in examining the gryphon's body.

Peeling back the brownish-yellow lion fur, the storm giant revealed small, intricate golden scales under the fur. The sight brought a genuine smile to his face.

He stood up, lifting the gryphon high for all to see. "This gryphon has grown golden scales on its body, which means something significant. I don't need to spell it out for you!"

"Prince Muria's power has spread throughout the entire castle, or at least within this area under his influence. His power is even beginning to affect the creatures within the castle," murmured a giant among the crowd.

"Our ferocious wolves, eagles, and now gryphons are all showing signs of gigantism or dragonization. It might be our turn soon."

"How much longer do we wait?"

"Who knows? But it should be soon."

The crowd of giants, filled with anticipation, whispered excitedly among themselves, their faces alight with eagerness.

As time continued to pass, more and more animals within the Five-Colored Dragon Castle began to exhibit signs of gigantism, with some even showing dragonization traits like scales or horns that should not naturally occur.

Eventually, the significant disturbances reached Muria, interrupting his daily leisure. Curious, he took Mia and toured the various annexes of the Dragon Castle to observe the beasts undergoing dragonization.

"Very good," commented Muria, in his youthful form, standing atop a ferocious wolf that had grown to nine meters in length. The mighty wolf lay submissively on the ground, allowing Muria to jump and walk around on it.

"The color of its fur is changing," Muria noted as he crouched down and parted the thick, dark blue fur that buried his ankles.

Beneath the fur, he observed dense scales, and at the roots of the increasingly disordered blue-black fur, a hint of golden color emerged.

"Am I considered their master now?" Muria mused as he trod across the giant wolf, feeling the firm muscle beneath his feet. "The newly grown scales and the changing color of the fur are influences of the golden dragon bloodline. The increasing size and stronger body must be effects of my titan bloodline."

"Mia," Muria jumped off the wolf's body and looked at his maid, "These wolves are so far from me and already showing changes. You take care of me every day, so close to me, you should be affected too, right? Why haven't I seen any changes in you?"

"Master Muria, I have changed!" Mia responded, gesturing towards her forehead, "I've grown taller recently."

"Is that all?" Muria looked at Mia skeptically, unimpressed by such a minor change, which seemed insignificant compared to the transformation of the ferocious wolf.

"Of course not." Mia leaned forward, her scent—a faint mix similar to that of golden dragons but lighter and slightly different—drifted to Muria. "Master, you haven't let me sleep next to you for a long time. You don't know this, but my figure has improved."

"You…" Muria was at a loss for words, then shook his head, unsure of what to say to his maid, "Let's go back to the room. That's enough for one tour."

As Muria returned to his room with his improving maid, it wasn't long before an intelligent and elegant white dragon sought him out.

"What's the matter, Claudia?" Muria curiously regarded the small, less than nine-meter-long white dragon before him.

Claudia hesitated, then awkwardly began, "Muria, do you need a personal maid? Like, really close?"

Muria, who was drinking tea, spit it out in surprise and stared at Claudia, "You want to be my personal maid?"

"Yes!" Claudia responded softly to Muria's question.

"Why?" Muria was puzzled.

"Because I want to become stronger," Claudia said firmly.

"Ha?"

"I've felt it. My power has been growing abnormally since you woke up," Claudia explained.

"But haven't you always been meditating? Your power should be growing all the time, what's abnormal about that?"

"The power I'm gaining now has surpassed what I'd normally achieve through meditation. Even when I sleep, I can feel my body getting stronger under a force that pervades the castle."

"So, you think it's because of me?"

"Who else could it be?" Claudia retorted.

"So, you thought about becoming my personal maid to stay closest to me?"

"Exactly!"

"It's not that you can't be my maid," Muria assessed the white dragon, "but you can't stay like this."

Without a word, Claudia began chanting a spell, transforming in a flash of pure white magic light. The elegant dragon disappeared, replaced by a white-haired, white-eyed girl appearing to be about five or six years old.

"Mia." Seeing Claudia effortlessly transform, Muria wasn't surprised; a silver-tier dragon casting a fourth-level spell was nothing extraordinary.

What really surprised Muria was Claudia's new appearance. He called his personal maid, and as the blonde girl hurried over, Muria pointed at Claudia's human form: "Take her measurements and make her a suit of clothes immediately."

"Yes, Master Muria." Mia looked surprised at the naked girl in the room but recovered quickly, responding with a smile. She could tell who the girl was

 just by her aura.

…

"So, this is how you serve as a maid?" Muria frowned at the white-haired girl sitting elegantly in a lavish chair, reading a spell book.

"Is there a problem?" Claudia sipped her chilled tea casually.

Muria tugged at his mouth corner, having anticipated that this bookish dragon wouldn't be much help, but to see her enjoying herself more than he did was a bit too much.

"Add some ice," Muria indicated his steaming cup of tea to Claudia.

Without a word, but with a visible rush of cold air, the tea in Muria's cup quickly frosted over, ice cubes bobbing on the surface.

"You're getting stronger at controlling your power," Muria remarked, admiring his "iced tea," which wasn't due to a spell but rather Claudia's innate ability to manipulate cold.

"Maybe this is what I should be doing," Muria pondered, finding it all too tedious, "I don't need to precisely control my power. Whatever it is, a slap should suffice."

"Ah, Claudia, I just remembered something," Muria suddenly thought of his grandfather, the Dragon King, who had stayed in his castle for five full years, "My grandfather taught you magic for five years, right? After spending so much time with him, why weren't you affected by his power?"

The influence of a Dragon King-level existence should be stronger than his own at the gold tier. Why did the dragonization phenomenon only appear after he woke up? In theory, the moment Dragon King Dimos settled in the castle, a host of beasts should have begun to dragonize.

"It's not just you who wasn't affected; in the Dragon Castle, no creatures were impacted, as if my grandfather never lived there."

"Muria, let me tell you," Claudia lifted her pure white eyes to meet his, "When Teacher Dimos taught us magic, I could hear his voice and see him, but my psychic sense couldn't detect his presence.

It's as if Teacher Dimos and we existed in different dimensions, connected only by voice and image, without any other interaction."

"I see," Muria murmured thoughtfully. This must have been intentional by his grandfather. If a Dragon King did not restrain his power, over time, all creatures on Taiji Island would become Dimos' kin, and Muria would be left commanding no one.