Under the Red Dragon

“Saladin, tell me, is Kragon just boasting? What if we arrive in the dragon territory and find out he deceived us? Even if you try to stop me, I'm going to kick his butt hard!”

Several short, stocky dwarves leaned weakly against the ship's cabin walls, their robust muscles seeming like useless decorations beneath their listless expressions.

These dwarves, who preferred to live deep in underground caves or high in the mountains, were all formidable warriors, incredibly brave on land, but on water, they were a bunch of weaklings because they suffered from seasickness.

Even after some time to adjust, these dwarves were like frostbitten eggplants on the ship, lacking their usual vitality.

Saladin, a dwarf who had braided his yellow-brown beard into neat little plaits, leaned weakly on his large axe, his voice as feeble as if he were ill.

“Cough, cough, Kragon likes to boast, but he wouldn't deceive his friends, Jala. If Kragon really deceives us, I'll join you in hanging him up and brushing his bird with red pepper water!”

“Haha, I like that suggestion,” a weak voice responded, and another dwarf with a thick beard, Jala, laughed loudly.

“Hooray, we're here, we're almost at the Golden Land,” cheers from the crew and many others echoed from the deck of the ship.

The seemingly weak dwarves perked up and walked out of the cabin, onto the deck, and looked into the distance.

The azure sky was clear for thousands of miles, almost blending into the equally clear shallow sea, giving the dwarves the feeling that the ship was traveling in the gap between heaven and earth.

Especially as they approached the Golden Coast, the number of ships coming and going gradually increased, making the wide sea area crowded. Ships with the flags of various noble territories and merchant guild markings sailed past, a race of a thousand sails.

Countless seagulls and terns rose and fell in the near sea, and some seabirds even plunged directly into the sea, snatching their prey.

A giant blue dragon was soaring in the sky above the near sea, dispelling the dark clouds and storms that were gradually gathering in the distant sky, preventing heavy rainfall from affecting transportation to and from nearby seaports.

And the Golden Coast, already visible to the naked eye in the distance, featured a huge white castle built on a huge reef extending from the land into the sea, its straight and tall white body like a cliff standing in the sea.

Countless ships sailed not far from the castle, and their tall sails barely reached half the castle's height.

In the sea area near the harbor where many ships were docked, there were countless fishermen driving small boats to catch fish and shellfish in the near sea, each grinning as they cast their woven nets.

And young lads or teenagers were riding dolphins and sharks in the sea, driving away schools of fish for their families.

“Hooray, let's see whose partner is stronger, charge!”

These teenagers and lads rode various dolphins and sharks to drive away fish, shouting happily and comparing speeds to see who's partner swam faster in the sea.

One teenager patted the octopus under him with a distressed expression, and whispered to his partner, “Don't be discouraged, Octopus. Although we are not as fast as them, we have more hands.”

Another particularly strong teenager was riding a huge orca, fighting the wind and waves in the deep sea in the distance, driving away schools of huge fish that could be clearly seen even from the deck.

Some medium-sized ships from merchants stayed in the deep sea, and schools of Sahuagin were driven to jump into the sea to salvage giant clams and treasures from the deep sea for these merchants.

Many of these marine creatures driven by humans were tamed marine creatures with some wisdom and spirituality, domesticated by the dragons to influence and control the sea area of ​​the territory.

These creatures had a natural goodwill towards the residents of the dragon territory, and many were willing to form partnerships with the residents of the dragon territory, at the cost of the fishermen giving them a small portion of the fish caught in their nets.

This was a win-win relationship for both parties. With the help of these creatures, the fishermen would catch more fish.

And these creatures did not have to catch prey one or two at a time every time, and it would take a long time to fill their stomachs each time they hunted.

Other marine creatures were enslaved by magic scrolls.

The wandering mage, Lazi, unable to bear the exploitation of his companions, who used him as a beast of burden, closed his magic shop out of exhaustion.

Because the recruitment price offered by the dragon territory was so attractive, this ingenious wandering mage joined the dragon territory with several of his partners and became one of the mages loyal to the dragon.

It must be said that although the wandering mage Lazi's magical attainments were not outstanding in other places, he had a unique talent for drawing magic scrolls.

The success rate of ordinary mages drawing scrolls was 30%, which was considered qualified, and a 50% success rate was considered excellent, but the success rate of mage Lazi drawing scrolls was an amazing 85%, no wonder this mage was used as a beast of burden.

However, after joining the dragon territory, the wandering mage no longer had to work as hard as before. He was now assigned to the Dragon Basic Academy as a professor of magic scrolls.

He was responsible for teaching the knowledge of drawing magic scrolls to the students.

In this way, the supply of magic scrolls increased and the price dropped somewhat.

In addition, the dragon territory now began to attach importance to basic cultural construction and carried out quite comprehensive cooperation with the Higher Mage Association.

Now, every child newly born and growing to the age of five, or residents under the age of fifteen who had not been tested before, could go to the qualification testing agency under the Magic Integration Department for testing.

Then the Magic Integration Department would assign and teach courses based on the talents and advantages of these people.

The territory did not need these people to have profound magical attainments and power, but only needed them to be dedicated to their duties in the finally assigned positions.

Magical production could also have an assembly line production model.

As a result, the prices of many magical supplies in the territory were reduced. Although these people's skills were not high enough and the materials used were inferior and shrunk, they were cheap enough.

A genuine magic slave scroll outside cost at least five silver coins, but in the dragon territory, it only cost three silver coins or even less.

Some magic scrolls used for practice could even be bought for one silver coin. Although the effectiveness of this scroll was only a short one or two years, and the relevant scrolls needed to be used again, this scroll was the best-selling because an ordinary family could afford it.

“Regardless of whether Kragon lied or not, I have decided to forgive him,” the dwarf Jala said happily, “I like this place.”

Jala held a bowl full of iced fruit wine in his hand, and the cold ice cubes shook in the fragrant wine. He took a big gulp and let out a burp.

“Ugh, I love this place,” Jala said.

It wasn't just the sights along the way into the Golden City, the crowded and prosperous atmosphere like a wealthy city in the Central Continent, the streets crowded with people, and the shouts of merchants that filled the entire city.

Nor was it just the various races and creatures that had contradictions and frictions but were integrated and compatible: short but cunning green-skinned goblins, rude and honest brown-skinned orcs;

Barbarians covered in totems who spent money without looking at it, trolls who could only enter the city gates after taking a bath, jackals with blood-red eyes, and human residents who always loved to bargain with merchants, etc.

Nor was it just the Golden City's unique Greek-style architecture. In order to cater to the dragon's aesthetics, the view that big is good and giant is beautiful, the styles were solemn, elegant, magnificent, and sublime.

There were also the clean and wide stone slab grounds that covered the entire Golden City, the public toilets set up every other street, and the Dragon Library, which was bustling with people.

There was always the Dragon Academy where many students tried to rush to the streets, and were driven back by the kobold soldiers guarding the gate, as well as the most lively Dragon Arena and the exciting Gladiator Arena.

Most importantly, the cups of iced wine made these dwarves feel infinitely fond of the city.

The climate in the dragon territory was mostly hot, so merchants and residents in the territory had developed the practice of using ice to chill wine.

But in other places, ice, which did not seem to be a luxury, was a luxury that only some nobles could use at will.

Although the dragon territory's grain was not enough to brew a lot of wine, the dragon territory's fruit resources were almost endless, so various flavors of fruit wine were also a popular feature product of the dragon territory.

“Burp,” the dwarf Saladin also burped contentedly. He raised his voice and asked the wine seller. The dwarf's natural loud voice was so prominent in the noisy environment.

He asked: “Burp, buddy, to be honest, the taste of iced wine is really damn good. I, Saladin, simply love this feeling.”

“But to be honest, buddy, gulp, gulp, burp, this kind of clean and pure ice is only qualified for those nobles to use.”

“Gulp, gulp, I have never tried this taste. How can you use them on these cheap wines? Ice is much more expensive than wine, burp!”

The wine seller was a halfling. These smart and capable opportunists could find a place to live anywhere, especially in settlements of various races.

The halfling smiled. These dwarves were good customers and were always generous when it came to drinking. It wasn't that they could pay twice the price for a cup, but they ordered a dozen cups at a time, which was dozens of times more than those humans who liked to buy half a cup at a time.

The halfling stretched out his finger and pointed to the extremely distant mountain peaks shrouded in clouds as if they were on the edge of the sky. That was the dragon's nest, the capital of the territory, and the place where the warriors' temple was located.

On a flat plain, a person's eyesight, without considering the visibility of the air and other reasons, could see up to more than one hundred kilometers away.

Ordinary people could see a candle flame dozens of kilometers away, but on a high mountain, they could see more than six hundred kilometers away.

Although the Golden City was more than four hundred kilometers away from the Dragon's Nest, on the one hand, these dwarves had better eyesight than ordinary humans, and the tall forests around the Golden City had been cut down and opened up, which would not affect their vision.

On the other hand, the mountains where the dragons lived were constantly extracting energy from the depths of the earth's core to grow. The highest peak had reached more than two thousand meters. Although it was not very high, it was enough for these dwarves to see the faintly visible mountain peaks in the distance.

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“This is the industry of Lord Camid and White Young Master Gamot. Due to the generosity of the dragon lord, these ice cubes are supplied to the territory at extremely low prices.”

“If your eyes are as far-sighted and sharp as those of the powerful dragon lords, you may be able to see many people collecting ice on the peaks of the Twins!”

The halfling boasted proudly.

In fact, even the dragon's vision was not enough to see the hidden figures in the mountains hundreds of kilometers away on the ground, but the territory's people always praised and deified their rulers well, or denigrated and demonized them badly.

“Oh, what a dragon who knows how to do business, a generous lord,” Saladin smacked his lips and shouted: “Come on, buddy, give us another big cup, your skills are just great, just as good as my weapon-making skills!”

The halfling smiled and moved out the wine barrel, filling each of the dwarves who had stayed in this area for a few days without leaving.

As for Kragon, the dwarf blacksmith official who took the initiative to write letters to recruit friends, had been temporarily forgotten by these dwarves.

Perhaps only when all the money on these dwarves had been spent on wine would these dwarves remember their fellow clan brother Kragon who was still waiting for news.

……

“Daddy, daddy, can I eat this?” “This won’t do!”

“Daddy, daddy, what is that? It looks delicious, can I eat it?” “This won’t do either!”

“Daddy, you smell delicious, can I have a bite!” “……”

Two chubby little snakes, blinking their round black eyes, looked very cute, but the words they spoke were not so cute.

The two Titan pythons were less than one meter long after birth, but they had fat heads and brains, and their appetites were frightening. Besides their eggshells, they wanted to taste everything.

The whole lamb sent by the elf maid was swallowed directly by the two chubby pythons, one bite each, completing their first feeding since birth.

At this moment, the two snake cubs, whose bellies were only slightly bulging if you didn't look closely, were being curled up by Calon with the tip of his tail and came to the castle that was almost completed in the main body.

The wide and tall castle, which was large enough for the dragon's body to easily enter and exit, had now been roughly completed in its outer body. This was thanks to the efforts of countless slaves and war treants. Especially after the war treants joined, the construction speed of the castle had obviously accelerated a lot.

Now the wide back garden outside the castle had also been completed, but it was bare and no ornamental plants had been planted yet. The fountain in the center of the garden with the dragon statue erected had not been diverted with spring water, and all were waiting for subsequent repairs.

Calon's arrival did not alarm the slaves and treants who were working diligently to build. The accompanying elf maids had already driven the remaining craftsmen away from the garden, creating a quiet environment for Calon.

Karon arrived at the center of the garden, next to the fountain, where he would plant the seed of the World Tree.

Although the safest place in the entire territory was definitely Karon's dragon's nest, the extremely high concentration of magic power there was not suitable for the growth of the World Tree, and the volcano connected to the Earth's core was not an environment that the World Tree liked.

So Karon chose to plant the World Tree in the back garden of his future royal castle, which would also become the most heavily guarded place in the future.

Moreover, he was not worried that the space in this place would hinder the future growth of the World Tree. Without Karon using spatial magic, the World Tree would naturally possess the ability to open up space after it grew.

Two slender and graceful elf maids were wielding hoes, digging a hole in the ground.

Although Karon could have completed these tasks with a casual spell, he never stopped his subordinates' desire to perform. This was a good thing, for a ruler.

Two magic pythons that slipped from the tip of Karon's tail wriggled their chubby bodies and swam to the elf maids who were busily working and sweating.

The slightly larger snake cub stretched out its still-pink forked tongue to probe the pheromones in the air, then blinked its dark, round eyes and asked Karon, who was squatting beside it, with anticipation, "Daddy, can we eat these two?"

The other snake cub, slightly smaller in size but equally chubby, also widened its round eyes, waiting for Karon's answer with anticipation.

The bodies of the two elf maids wielding hoes beside them suddenly stiffened. Although they knew that this red dragon would not casually dispose of the people around him, dragons were always unpredictable in the hearts of these elves.

They couldn't guarantee what the red dragon might do.

"Hehe," Karon's enormous body, even when squatting, resembled a huge red rock. In his eyes, the two Titan magic python cubs were like two small worms, beings that could be crushed with a single finger.

He slightly lowered his head, and his pair of naturally indifferent, crimson eyes, as perfect as the most flawless rubies, approached the two expectant snake cubs, like an incredibly terrifying beast staring at the ants under its feet.

"You two, although you have unexpectedly gained my favor, this favor is not an unlimited indulgence," Karon's crimson vertical pupils revealed a hint of impatience towards the mischievous children.

"You had better quickly learn and understand what things should be done and what things should not be done. Otherwise, if you do something that I find unbearable, I don't mind letting other dragons taste a delicious snack!"

"Hey, Daddy, don't scare me. You're too grumpy!" The larger snake cub blinked its eyes and quietly retracted its tongue.

"Daddy, Daddy, don't eat us," the smaller snake cub widened its round eyes. Its tone was soft and cute, like that of a young child, "We will only eat what Daddy allows us to eat in the future, and things that don't listen to Daddy!"

Karon retracted his head and scratched his chin with his dragon claw. Suddenly, he felt that these two snake cubs weren't that mischievous after all.

"How about we call one 'Edible' and the other 'Inedible'?" Karon nodded slightly, indicating that his idea was great!

"Daddy, Daddy, those names aren't good," the smaller snake cub said in a soft voice, "Can you give us other names!"

"Alright, let me think again!" Karon relented for the first time on something he had already decided.

While Karon pondered, he threw the seed of the World Tree into the soil and then had the elf maids bury it.

As soon as it was buried and watered with spring water taken from the magical spring in the Greenwild Forest plane, a tender green sprout eagerly emerged from the deeply buried soil.

A tender sapling swayed its branches in the breeze, sending its request to Karon, "Daddy, I want a name too!"