"Little one, protect Deborah well; she is in your hands."
The voice of the Copper Dragon Serena suddenly resonated, landing as softly as a feather deep within Garros's consciousness.
The Red-Iron Dragon's neck scales trembled slightly, and he nodded calmly.
Turning his head, he saw Deborah grumbling in a low voice about her mother not notifying her before coming, completely unaware of the undercurrents of crisis.
The Copper Dragon's unusual instruction confirmed his suspicions; some kind of storm was likely brewing within the Dragon Domain. This conscription of Metallic Dragons above the mature adult stage was extraordinary.
However, this was not something he should worry about.
If the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up; if the Metallic Dragon Domain had trouble, it was not his place to worry.
The Silver Dragon looked at Deborah and instructed: "I have set up a barrier at the Red Maple Valley."
"Except for you, it is difficult for other creatures to break in, and I will know immediately if it is attacked. If you encounter any fatal danger, remember to use the magic scale to save your life, then go to the Red Maple Valley to hide."
What a good place.
The Red-Iron Dragon thickened his skin and said: "Can I go in too?"
"Not for any other reason, it's just that Deborah is too lonely on her own; I can keep her company."
The Silver Dragon was expressionless, his sharp claws suddenly raised and landing heavily on the Red-Iron Dragon's thick neck. The force was so great that it almost knocked him over.
Is this old thing crazy?
Garros was angry for a moment, then realized that a rune had appeared on one of his neck scales. After flickering slightly, it vanished into the scales, invisible to the naked eye.
"This is the runic key to enter the Red Maple Valley," the Copper Dragon Serena explained.
"Faerie Dragon, have you decided?"
"Are you coming with me to the Boiling Sea Dragon Domain, and then I will send you back to your homeland, or will you continue to stay in the Material Plane?"
The Silver Dragon shifted his gaze to the Faerie Dragon Vera, who was struggling amidst a patch of cornflowers, plucking off petals one by one.
After hearing the Silver Dragon's words, she said: "Wait, wait for Vera to use this flower to make a choice; the last petal will represent my thoughts."
"Go back, not go back."
"Go back, not go back."
"…"
The Faerie Dragon muttered to herself, plucking a petal with every recitation. As the petals fell, the flower quickly became bald, eventually leaving only one petal.
"Hmm, go back."
As the words fell, the Faerie Dragon Vera plucked the last petal.
After hesitating for a few seconds, she again curled her tail around another flower, as if talking to herself or explaining to the Silver Dragon: "It doesn't count, it doesn't count. The previous flower wasn't bright enough; I didn't like it. It can't make the choice for me; I need to pick another one."
Seeing this, the Silver Dragon did not urge her; he already knew the answer.
He looked at the Red-Silver Dragon and the Red-Iron Dragon one by one, and warned Deborah: "Your mother and I will not be in The Borderlands. If you encounter danger, we cannot rush back immediately. Do not stir up trouble, and do not act recklessly."
After a few seconds of silence, he said to Garros: "When I return from the Dragon Domain, I hope to see The Borderlands in good order."
The Red-Iron Dragon: "I will do my best."
Deborah wagged her tail with a giggle: "Stir up trouble? Do I look like a dragon that would stir up trouble? I am the most law-abiding one."
She waved her claws at her parents and said: "You can go with peace of mind. I am almost a Young Adult Dragon; I know how to take care of myself, and I know what should be done and what should not be done."
Serena looked at the Red-Iron Dragon, her eyes brimming with a look of satisfaction.
"Hey, little one."
The Copper Dragon suddenly tapped the Red-Iron Dragon lightly with her wing membrane: "Remember to play riddles with me next time."
A cunningness familiar to Garros swirled in her eyes, exactly the same as the look in Deborah's eyes many times.
"Ms. Serena, it is my honor; I would be happy to accompany you."
Garros's dragon face revealed a smile as he responded.
He could tell that the Copper Dragon Serena did not have much hostility toward him, unlike that old Silver Dragon thing, whose eyes were always filled with guarded looks.
"Smooth-talking, cunning, Evil Dragon!"
The Silver Dragon snorted and remained silent.
After simple instructions and farewells, the Silver Dragon and the Copper Dragon spread their wings and shot straight into the sky. As a burst of light flickered over their bodies, their massive forms gradually twisted and disappeared.
They used invisibility magic, and it was not a simple visual shielding, but rather allowed their scales to refract the gradient colors of the sky, just like a drop of water blending into the ocean.
The Faerie Dragon blinked her eyes, staring blankly in the direction where the two Mature Adult Dragons had left.
After coming to her senses, she threw away the bald flower stem, and her small wings beat in a panicked arc: "Wait! The last petal said to go back!"
She shouted at the sky, but received no response. Only a few leaves, blown away by the dragon wings, drifted slowly down in the sky.
"Fine, then I can only stay in the Material Plane."
The Faerie Dragon sighed at first, but then quickly cheered up, flapping her little wings, and ran off in a flash to play pranks on the Violent Bears.
"Garros."
The Red-Silver Dragon twisted her slender tail and said in a low voice: "We were just getting into the rhythm of the workout when we were interrupted. Please continue to guide me now."
Exercise was just an excuse. The key was Garros's 'guidance.'
Whenever the Red-Silver Dragon thought of his hot and powerful giant claws landing on her body, she couldn't help but feel her dragon scales go numb and itchy.
Guiding the Red-Silver Dragon's exercise was a form of relaxation for Garros himself. He nodded and said: "Fine, your body is not weak, but it cannot be called strong either; you do need appropriate exercise."
He stepped forward and squeezed the Red-Silver Dragon's tail.
"The tail is one of the most commonly used weapons for Dragonkin; let's start with this today."
Feeling the softness and numbness of the tail muscles, Deborah's silver-white scales suddenly flushed with a faint pink hue, and she let out a soft "hmm" in agreement.
Afterward, while the Red-Iron Dragon exercised himself, he also guided Deborah, teaching her various movements he excelled at.
As time passed, the sun slowly rose into the sky and then gradually sank toward the horizon.
By twilight, the dusk grew thicker, and the layered evening clouds burned like fire in the sky, bursting with gorgeous and colorful light.
The Red-Silver Dragon was limp all over, like a molten silver ingot.
She lay on the ground, feeling her muscles aching all over, not even wanting to lift the tip of her tail.
Garros was still full of vigor. Not only was his explosive power strong, but his stamina and endurance far exceeded that of a normal Young Dragon.
At the same time, as the day passed, the scars left on Garros's body from their'sparring' had mostly healed.
Although they were not serious to begin with, such recovery in just over half a day exceeded his past performance.
"My regenerative recovery speed has improved quite a bit," the Red-Iron Dragon thought to himself.
Super-High-Speed Regeneration was a characteristic Garros very much wanted. Only his spines could regenerate at super-high speed; if they broke, they could recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Just regenerating spines was enough to cause significant trouble for enemies. With his formidable physical constitution, if he could also pair it with whole-body Super-High-Speed Regeneration, he would reach a brand-new height.
As for the method of using Adaptive Evolution to develop Super-High-Speed Regeneration, it was theoretically simple—injury and recovery.
However, there was much to consider in practice. The efficiency of recovering from minor injuries was slow, but if one were to push oneself to the point of severe injury just for Adaptive Evolution, without knowing exactly how long it would take to successfully evolve, the risk was too high and not worth the gain.
If he had a backer, he could try it, but Garros did not have a deep background. He needed to consider risks before acting; he could not go all-in.
"Besides, my regenerative recovery speed has been improving imperceptibly all along."
"There is no need to rush or deliberately self-harm."
"Super-High-Speed Regeneration might, like the spines, naturally undergo Adaptive Evolution at a certain stage," Garros thought silently.
His strength came from accumulation over time, not overnight success; he had always been very patient.
After some eating and drinking deeply of black oil, the Red-Iron Dragon continued to exercise himself under the cover of night.
Deborah also ate some food and was now curled up by the rock wall. Her silver-white chest and abdomen rose and fell slightly with her breathing. Her dragon eyes reflected the Red-Iron Dragon's figure leaping in the moonlight, and a trace of admiration appeared in her eyes.
Before, just watching Garros exercise every day, she didn't think there was any difficulty. But now, having tried it herself, she knew how difficult such day-and-night perseverance was.
Those indestructible scales, those steel-cast muscles, and that formidable, mighty body were all forged and built by him bit by bit, not entirely relying on talent. He deserved his talent; he deserved this strength.
Garros did not know the Red-Silver Dragon's inner thoughts. If he did, he would probably agree deeply and say: That's right! He owed everything he had today to his own sweat and diligence; even if he had been born a White Dragon, he would not be weaker than other dragons.
At this moment, moonlight poured onto the rock walls of the Dragon Valley like liquid silver. Garros slowly folded his dragon wings, ending the tempering that had lasted for a long time.
At this moment, all was silent. It was the best time to think and plan for the future.
After waking from his slumber, he had contacted Nick, and thus learned the news of the Holy King of Lothern falling and the undercurrents surging within the Federation.
Now, thinking carefully, if the Lothern Federation were in civil strife, it would be the perfect opportunity for his rise. It was a once-in-a-thousand-years chance that must be firmly grasped; the benefits that could be reaped were far greater than the risks.
"The Federation is like the Wall of Sighs spanning the border of the Serel Wilderness, a behemoth that even Ancient Dragons must deliberately detour around when flapping their wings."
"Its existence has always pressed down on me like a high mountain, making me anxious at all times and fearful day and night."
The Red-Iron Dragon's eyes flickered as he pondered. That Lothern Federation, which always hung over his head like the Sword of Damocles, made countless creatures like Garros unable to sleep or eat in peace, so much so that before doing anything, they had to consider the Federation's reaction, filled with heavy concerns.
Garros had always lacked a sense of security. And the Lothern Federation was a major factor in his inner anxiety. Being forced to retreat to The Borderlands back then was also because of fearing the Federation, not some stupid human viscount.
If the Lothern Federation remained a monolith, then once Garros had extracted the resources of The Borderlands, he would consider moving away from this place and changing to a safer place to develop and grow.
But now, it was different. The Holy King had fallen, and chaos was beginning to rise. When the Federation began to split, who among those powerhouses busy fighting for the throne would notice a certain Red-Iron Dragon rising rapidly?
Garros thought silently, his ideas becoming clearer and clearer. Take The Borderlands as soon as possible, consolidate resources, accumulate strength, raise a strong army, and then wait quietly for the building to collapse.