"Come at me!"
"Come on!"
"That's it~~"
"Aaaah~~"
The ear-splitting magical echoes reverberated through the valley as Newt stared at Wayne like he'd gone mad, then kicked off into the sky.
But halfway up, his eyes bulged at the unbelievable sight.
The Hungarian Horntail pursuing Charlie abruptly halted, swivelling its head. Those eyes - each larger than a man - fixed bloodshot on Wayne.
After one second's pause, the Horntail dove violently toward Wayne and Newt.
Newt gaped. So did the other keepers.
After all their failed spells to divert the dragon, this young wizard succeeded with just a shout?
Fortunately, their professional training prevented prolonged shock. Sutter declared decisively:
"No holding back! Subdue Luther first!"
Facing mortal danger, even a precious dragon's life warranted lethal force.
A dozen keepers acted as one, shouting in unison: "Confringo!"
Over a dozen explosive fireballs instantly coalesced, hurtling towards the Hungarian Horntail. To everyone's astonishment, the dragon showed no reaction to such obvious attacks, its eyes seemingly fixed only on the two 'insects' on the ground.
The fireballs struck its back with precision, eliciting a pained roar from the dragon, yet its speed remained undiminished.
What none of them knew was that the Hungarian Horntail's perception of the world had altered entirely, becoming utterly different from what they saw.
At this very moment, it perceived Wayne riding upon its dream dragon, galloping recklessly across the skies.
Consumed by raging fury, only one thought burned in its mind: reduce this insignificant creature to ashes!
Just as the dragon handlers prepared to launch another assault, the other two dragons let out furious roars, beating their wings and extending their claws as they charged towards them.
"Blast it! We've angered them!"
As the proudest of breeds, the Romanian Longhorn and Peruvian Vipertooth's first reaction upon seeing their prey being stolen wasn't relief, but outrage.
Now the dragon handlers had their hands full protecting themselves, let alone stopping the Hungarian Horntail.
"Wayne, it's up to you." Newt sighed, instinctively positioning himself beside Wayne.
Without his suitcase, he was rather powerless against enraged dragons.
As for why Newt trusted Wayne to handle everything...
Dumbledore had once told him that few things in the world posed a threat to Wayne anymore, and dragons certainly weren't among them.
Wayne was still marvelling at how effective the taunt had been when Newt's words snapped him back to reality. With a chuckle, he said, "Should've done this from the start. Wasted half my time watching the show."
After spectating for so long, he'd have to resolve things himself after all.
As he spoke, he didn't draw his wand, but casually picked up several pebbles from the ground.
Talent – Knight Does Not Die Empty-Handed!
Talent – Detonation!
The ordinary stones suddenly erupted with dazzling crimson light. Wayne hurled them with all his might towards the Hungarian Horntail less than a hundred feet away.
ROAR!
Scorching dragonfire exploded forth in rage, creating a flaming barrier dozens of feet long. Yet upon contact with the stones, it was cleanly split by an invisible force, leaving the projectiles' trajectory completely unimpeded.
Ping~!
A crisp chime sounded as the red light reached its brightest intensity.
BOOOOM~!
An ear-splitting explosion tore across the sky. A tremendous shockwave accompanied by flames and thick smoke violently expanded outwards. The Hungarian Horntail was hurled high into the air before crashing down with earth-shaking force, sending up great clouds of dust that made the very ground tremble.
Newt raised his wand, shielding them from the debris as he stared at Wayne in shock.
"Did you throw stones or bombs?"
"Ever heard of bun grenades?" Wayne said something utterly incomprehensible to Newt before taking aim again. Following the same method, he lobbed two more stones at the other dragons still battling wizards in the air.
"Take cover!" Newt pointed his wand at his throat to amplify his voice, ensuring everyone could hear.
The dragon handlers scattered without hesitation.
Two more slightly less spectacular explosions followed, like fireworks bursting in the sky, as the Romanian Longhorn and Peruvian Vipertooth joined the Hungarian Horntail's fate, crashing heavily into a nearby forest.
Wayne was reasonably satisfied with this display of power.
Enhanced by Knight Does Not Die by Empty Hands, ordinary pebbles had temporarily become akin to Noble Phantasms. Under the influence of his explosive talent, the magical power Wayne infused into the stones became extraordinarily volatile.
He'd actually been holding back, afraid of blowing the dragons to smithereens – yet the power remained terrifying.
Dragons that could withstand attacks from dozens of wizards were like paper against these small stones.
Pity the Knight Does Not Die by Empty Hands had relatively low limits. Otherwise, with greater strength, he could probably launch Dongfeng missiles with casual throws.
"Didn't blow them up, did you?"
Newt was now worried about the dragons' welfare, hastily mounting his broom to check on all three. Only after confirming their conditions did he exhale in relief.
Just some torn flesh and shredded wings – no life-threatening injuries.
With dragons' regenerative abilities and his salve, they'd recover in ten to fifteen days.
The dragon handlers landed, staring speechlessly at the three giants' pitiful state.
Charlie strode up to Wayne, gripping his hand firmly with profound gratitude. "Wayne, without you, I'd have been done for today."
"Just be more careful next time. And you should replace that broom." Wayne eyed the Nimbus 1700 in Charlie's hand – a relic from over a decade ago.
Charlie's earlier peril stemmed from the classic "my horse isn't as fast as yours" scenario. On a Firebolt, dragon-herding would've been child's play.
"Need a few more months' wages first," Charlie chuckled wryly.
He'd love to upgrade, but dragon handlers didn't earn lavishly. Combined with his spendthrift habits and meagre savings, it wasn't an instant purchase.
After more thanks, Charlie joined the other handlers assisting Newt with the dragons' treatment.
Wayne abstained, instead collecting shattered horns, shed scales, and the near-streams of Dragon blood pooling around the creatures.
Genuine materials these – far superior to market-bought half-breed substitutes.
Dragon scales made excellent alchemical components, saturated with potent magical power, while Dragon blood served as a universal catalyst rivalling Acromantula venom, superb for nutritional supplementation.
Perfect to bring back as pet food for Hestia and the others.
Wayne's gaze lingered on the Hungarian Horntail's claws. He glanced around furtively.
Perhaps... while no one's looking? Just chop them off?
Could claim they got blown up during the earlier blasts.
Newt seemed to notice the youth's scheming, hastily applying freshly prepared salve to the Peruvian Vipertooth before swooping over.
"Don't even think it. These dragons are all registered – tampering's illegal."
With Ravenclaw-worthy scholarly curiosity, Wayne inquired earnestly: "Then might you know where one could find unregistered dragons?"
Newt answered without thinking, "Of course it's the Herschel Islands... Wait, why am I telling you this?"
"Go on, scram. Don't disturb the healing process. Unless you can get Ho-Oh to help out."
"Forget it." Wayne curled his lip. "These reptiles aren't worthy."
As if his precious Ho-Oh would deign to heal these oversized lizards.
...
After nearly half an hour of effort, several dragons gradually regained consciousness.
Only when the dragon keepers and Wayne saw from above that the creatures showed no intention of resuming their fight did they relax, flying back to the residential area under the moonlight.
Sutter hosted a small welcome banquet for Wayne and Newt. Before the feast began, he thanked Wayne again for saving Charlie.
A group of burly dragon keepers heartily raised their tankards, clinking them against Wayne's glass of orange juice.
No helping it—Newt was watching, forbidding him from drinking.
Today, both Wayne and Newt had earned their respect through capability—one through brute force, the other through magical creature care.
Newt bolted after eating, uncomfortable with such gatherings, leaving Wayne alone in a room full of burly men.
After several rounds of drinks, everyone loosened up.
"Mr Lawrence, why did just one shout from you make Luther despise you so much? I've never seen it that furious before," a dragon keeper asked curiously.
Wayne explained, "It's actually a taunting spell. You weren't the targets, so naturally you didn't feel anything."
"Can I experience it?" Charlie asked excitedly.
"No problem." Wayne crooked a finger at Charlie. "Come at me."
Instantly, Charlie felt rage surge through him—and he lunged at... Sutter.
The taunt spell extracted from the system could only target oneself initially, but after thorough study, Wayne had optimised it slightly to work on others too—albeit with weaker effects.
Thud!
Charlie's fist connected with Sutter's eye socket. The moment the punch landed, clarity returned.
Seeing Sutter clutching his eye socket and hissing in pain, Charlie hurriedly apologised.
"I'm sorry, Sutter, I just couldn't control myself; it was the effect of that spell."
"No, it's fine, just take it easy," Sutter grinned, waving his hand dismissively.
The dragon keepers watching burst into laughter, and Charlie cast a helpless glance at Wayne, who was sitting quietly beside him.
Now he understood why George and Fred got along so well with Wayne.
All three of them were a bunch of troublemakers!
...
Back at their arranged accommodation, Wayne found Newt still awake in the living room
Newt had been waiting for him to return to discuss the plans for the next day.
"We need to address the issue of the dragon's mating before we can proceed with its training," Newt said. "Tomorrow, we'll go and take a look at that dragon to understand the specifics."
"Just let me know what you decide."
Newt smiled sheepishly, "I didn't expect it to be this complicated. If you want to go back to school, you can do so in a few days."
"No need," Wayne shook his head. "Taking a legitimate leave to travel and enjoy myself for a while is quite nice."
Seeing that Wayne genuinely felt this way, Newt relaxed.
...
The next day, both of them woke up early, just as the sun was rising.
While they were having breakfast, Charlie came over.
"I'll accompany you both to find Norberta today; Sutter and the others have other matters to attend to."
Initially, the plan was to have at least five dragon keepers accompany Newt and Wayne for protection, but after witnessing Wayne's explosive display with a dragon yesterday, it seemed unnecessary to waste manpower.
After all, dragon keepers were busy too; besides the attracted male dragons, there were plenty of female dragons in the reserve that needed care.
Upon hearing this, Newt showed little reaction, merely nodding, but Wayne's hand paused slightly as he looked up at the red-haired youth.
"Norberta... is that the one Hagrid sent over?"
Charlie was taken aback. "How did you know?"
Wayne rubbed his forehead. "I was the one who hatched her back then. I told Hagrid that Norberta was a female dragon and shouldn't be called that... I didn't expect your naming skills to be so lacking."
Charlie chuckled awkwardly, "When she was sent over, Norberta only responded to that name, but we couldn't keep calling her that; it would easily lead to misunderstandings, so we changed it to something similar.
Newt curiously asked, "Wayne, what exactly happened?"
"In my first year, Quirrell tricked Hagrid by giving him a dragon egg using the method to get past the three-headed dog. He kept it for a while, but when he could no longer hide it, Ron informed Charlie, who had a friend come and take Norberta away."
Newt clicked his tongue in disbelief.
If Hogwarts had been that lenient when he was a student, he wouldn't have been expelled.
"Did you not notice anything unusual about the dragon egg at the time?"
"The biggest anomaly was probably caused by me," Wayne sighed. "Hagrid wanted to hatch it using ordinary fireplace flames, but I stopped him. In the end, it was successfully hatched using Ho-Oh's flames."
Newt nodded, understanding the situation.
Hatching a dragon using a phoenix's flames was already a rare occurrence, let alone the fact that Ho-Oh was entirely different from an ordinary phoenix.
"Let's go take a look first," Newt decided.
The three of them mounted their brooms and flew to a location further than the day before, occasionally hearing the roars of dragons along the way.
Wayne was a bit curious. "How many dragons are there in total here?"
Charlie smiled. "One hundred and three. At one point, there were nearly one hundred and fifty, with various breeds."
"Are you the only dragon keepers looking after them?"
"What you've seen is just part of them. To facilitate the care of the dragons, there are rest areas every few dozen miles, and most dragon keepers generally live within the reserve."
Wayne nodded in understanding.
After flying for over an hour, the three arrived at a lush mountain range.
"Norberta's nest is at the peak of the mountain. If we fly straight there, we could easily be attacked by other dragons," Charlie pointed down, and both Newt and Wayne saw over a dozen dragons surrounding the entrance of a cave at the mountain's summit.
Some dragons were posing, while others were shooting flames into the sky, showcasing their might.
A few were more direct, clutching shiny treasures in their claws and tossing them into the cave. Wayne could feel the strong scent of... no, dragon affection.
A roar echoed from within the cave, and the dragon that had just tossed its treasure lowered its head and flew away from the peak.
Indeed, no matter where they were, those who fawned over others would not meet a good end.
"It shouldn't be that complicated; let me give it a try first," Wayne gestured for Charlie not to rush in.
With a thought, he summoned Ho-Oh, who was still sleeping in his suitcase.
Trailing a rainbow of colours, Ho-Oh soared into the sky, emitting a clear cry.
Inside the cave, a Norwegian Ridgeback, glowing faintly, lay resting atop a pile of gold and silver treasures.
Unfazed by the noise and display outside, it seemed rather annoyed.
Suddenly, its nose twitched, and it opened its bright dragon eyes, a glimmer of joy flashing across its face.
"Roar~!"
With a dragon's roar, Norberta flapped her wings and burst out of the nest.
The dragons still at the entrance erupted in excited roars, surrounding the cave, but Norberta rudely shoved them aside, not even sparing them a glance as she soared into the sky.
It was the scent of her mother, and the scent of her mother's master.
Norberta wanted to snuggle!