The Exceptional Young Dragon

The young dragon feeder had high hopes that Yongrong would help him make some money, but he was destined to be disappointed. Yongrong voluntarily gave up the duel just after the second round, handing over the remaining recording duties to Hel Nikleton and laboriously crawling back to his nest.

This kind of gladiatorial combat held little allure for Yongrong. Even if he won, there was no substantial reward, neither the so-called honor nor the sweet taste of blood appealed to him. After ensuring his place in the top ten to avoid hunger the next day, he lost the desire to continue and hurried back to his lair to engage in deep meditation training. This was his top priority, not to be neglected day or night.

In the pitch-dark cave, Yongrong coiled his body into a curled position and entered a state of feigned sleep. With his recent experience, the young blue dragon's efficiency in meditation had greatly improved. He quickly cleared his mind of scattered thoughts, maintaining a gentle and prolonged breath, letting his spirit disperse and then slowly retract into a state of blankness and calm.

As the feeder had said, the life of a dragon is like a river filled with treasures, with time flowing like water, bringing the treasures meant for him, allowing him to pick them at will. Meditation was a process of delving deeper, where he might encounter unexpected surprises or return empty-handed.

Through continuous "delving," Yongrong hadn't found any precious "treasures," but he still made some gains. The most obvious was his improved control over dragon breath. The breath of a blue dragon is lightning, and while young dragons usually emit conical streams of electricity, Yongrong could exhale broader, chain-shaped lightning. With time to accumulate power, he could even unleash a highly lethal spherical lightning.

Yongrong was also able to emit the blue dragon's innate lightning from his body's surface, not just through his breath. These were not high-level skills; adult blue dragons would naturally master them with age, but it was rare for one so young to grasp these techniques.

Additionally, dragons are natural spellcasters, known as sorcerers. Unlike mages who prepare spells, materials, and gestures beforehand, sorcerers' magic is much simpler, deriving from their bloodline and innate talents. They command their internal magical power with their will, manifesting magic without constructing spell models.

However, this direct method of casting has a critical flaw: the magical power consumption for creating a spell is often double that of a mage of the same level. Not even ancient dragons, with their vast knowledge and experience, can match a mage's efficiency, only striving to minimize waste.

Reduced magical power consumption is a crucial measure of a sorcerer's skill. As Yongrong's meditation deepened, his control over magical power increased. He noticed a reduced expenditure in casting "Purify Water" and "Create Water," minor but encouraging improvements.

Unbeknownst to him, his status had changed.

Name: The Exceptional Young Dragon. Challenge Rating: 5. Following Kazan Rego, Yongrong became the second young dragon in the group with a prefix to his name, reaching a challenge rating of 5, on par with Kazan.

...

The rain had finally stopped. When Yongrong returned to the nest the previous night, he saw heavy clouds, thinking the rainy season would linger. But this morning, he saw golden rays of sunshine piercing through the clouds, heralding the arrival of a refreshing dry season.

Blue dragons have peculiar preferences, loving both drought and heavy rain, but detesting persistent light rain. Humid, sticky weather always ignites their ire.

Yongrong approached Hel Nikleton to inquire about the previous day's rankings. As expected, Kazan Rego easily secured first place, with no one in the group yet capable of challenging the mixed-blood red dragon. Surprisingly, Belron Kwo also achieved ninth place, having quietly grown stronger.

After a brief conversation with Hel, Yongrong headed to the young dragon feeder's resting place to report to Quis Nikleton. He expected Quis to be in a good mood, but instead, he was met with the young dragon's fury.

The feeder, visibly annoyed, easily caught Yongrong and pinned him down. Before Yongrong could speak, Quis berated him, "Why did you run away yesterday!?"

"Run away?" Yongrong, confused and not resisting, knew his strength was insufficient to confront a young blue dragon.

"Do you realize, because of your cowardice, I lost five gold coins!" Quis roared, his saliva nearly splashing on the young blue dragon's face. "You must repay this debt!"

Yongrong vaguely understood. Quis must have treated the young dragons' duel as a betting game, wagering with others in the clan. Quis had bet on Yongrong, who had then forfeited the duel, causing Quis to lose his bet.

"I will repay this debt, Lord Quis." Yongrong had no choice but to agree, unfamiliar with the concept of money.

"There won't be a next time!" Quis said irritably, mentioning his difficulty in earning money from Kayar, who seldom returned home, spending his days patrolling the territory and exploiting clan vassals.

"Do we have many vassals in our clan?" Yongrong asked, seemingly forgetting he was pinned down, his tail twitching.

"Many," Quis muttered, his anger slowly subsiding. Although Yongrong wasn't particularly likable, Quis couldn't hate him. Calculating the five gold coins against his own earnings, Quis's mood improved, and he released Yongrong, willing to chat a bit longer.

Quis revealed, "I and Kayar each have two vassal groups, Galadan has three. Including the leader, our clan controls over a dozen tribes, hundreds of lives."

"So, all tribes and races within our clan's territory are loyal to us?" Yongrong asked curiously.

"Not exactly. There are resistors. Kayar's daily job is to deal with those trying to defy us. Some races are too weak; incorporating them into the dragon's vassals would be a disgrace, and the clan doesn't need them," Quis explained.

Yongrong's eyes gleamed with understanding. The unclaimed races in the clan's territory, though relatively weak, were good news for him. As a young dragon, it was better to start with these weaker tribes. The stronger ones were beyond his capabilities.