The vast, boundless grassland stretched as far as the eye could see, with wild grasses as tall as a person concealing lurking beasts.
Its powerful front paws crouched low, the muscles on its back bulging and ready to spring as it crept toward its prey.
Not far away, a group of herbivorous Giant Antelopes were scattered freely, grazing. These antelopes were tall, robust, and plump.
Their slender, spiraling horns were patterned, making them the most numerous herbivores living on this grassland.
While feeding, these antelopes would encircle the weaker young of their herd in the center, with the Ewes spreading out around them to graze.
The strongest Rams in the herd would be distributed along the periphery, occasionally raising their heads to chew while looking around, completely unaware of the impending danger.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through, causing the wild grasses to ripple like water, revealing the beast.
The alert Giant Ram snorted and bolted, its hooves pounding, causing the herd to instantly scatter and flee in all directions.
The grayish-yellow beast let out a low roar, its powerful hind legs propelling it forward as it burst from the grass and lunged fiercely toward its prey.
Generally, when predators have a choice, they prioritize hunting the old, young, weak, or injured in a prey group because they run slower and are easier to catch.
Even their resistance would be less than that of the stronger members of the herd, reducing the risk of injury to the predator.
In the wild, injury means the possibility of death.
But this grayish-yellow beast was fixated on the strongest and plumpest among the Giant Antelopes.
Its seven-meter-long body indicated it had already begun to exceed the limits of its species, stepping into the ranks of dire beasts.
In its eyes, there was not only the wildness of a beast and the cruelty of a predator but also a glimmer of intelligence.
A powerful body and strength, the instincts of a beast, and gradually emerging intelligence made it the most formidable predator in this region—the Dire Fang Lion.
The Dire Fang Lion stared intently at the Giant Antelope running ahead. This antelope stood two meters tall at the shoulder.
Its sharp horns were straight, and its long, thick legs ran like the wind.
It was one of the fastest-running animals on this grassland, yet in front of it, this Giant Antelope—a behemoth in human eyes—was merely a plaything fleeing for its life.
The Giant Antelope darted left and right ahead but couldn't shake off the predator behind it.
The rapid sprint began to drain the antelope's stamina, while the beast behind it remained composed. The distance covered grew longer, and the gap between them narrowed.
Several times, the Dire Fang Lion's claws could have brought down the Giant Antelope, but they only grazed its hindquarters, leaving a dozen deep claw marks.
This was the predator's cruel amusement, the strong toying with the weak.
Finally, the strong antelope ahead stumbled, its front legs giving way as it knelt and fell. The momentum of its run caused it to slide several meters before coming to a stop.
The Dire Fang Lion circled the helplessly struggling antelope on the ground with pride, pondering where to start its meal—whether to eat the sweet entrails first or the chewy spine ribs.
Suddenly, a shadow in the sky rapidly expanded, and the whistling wind was much faster than its full-speed sprint.
Alert, it raised its head, let out a roar, and immediately began a desperate dash, its speed far exceeding before—clearly, this was its true full power.
But before it could run even a few dozen meters, a pair of giant claws descended from the sky, pierced through its body, grabbed its spine, and lifted it into the air, gradually ascending.
It let out a pitiful howl, its struggles as futile as a puppet in a giant's hand.
It was the top predator in this region, but it faced the apex predator of the entire biological food chain.
Also one of the powerful creatures of the Ekania World, one of the most nearly perfect beings—the Dragon.
Thus, it too became prey, struggling helplessly.
At the boundary between the vast, expansive grassland and the endless giant forest lay a range of mountains, not very high.
The highest peak was about a thousand meters, but the mountains stretched continuously, serving as the watershed between the grassland and the forest.
Within this mountain range stood a tall peak that was once a volcano.
But now, it had been dormant for hundreds or thousands of years—a dead volcano.
The volcanic ash from past eruptions, rich in various organic materials, had now turned into fertile soil, making the dense forest at the foot of the mountain exceptionally tall.
The originally wide crater at the summit was covered with hard volcanic rock, but half of it had been excavated, forming a dome-like cave.
Half of the cave was bathed in sunlight, while the other half lay in shadow.
The sunlit part of the cave was clear and bright, with a thick layer of wild grass covering the uneven ground, scattered with several giant eggs of varying colors.
Under the sunlight, they shimmered with different hues—dark red, deep green, gray-black, deep blue, and glowing white.
The light shifted on the giant eggs, brightening and dimming like the eggs were breathing.
Karonr felt as though he had been sinking into a hazy, deep dream, surrounded by darkness.
His consciousness kept sinking and descending in the whirlpool of the dream.
His awareness drifted between clarity and oblivion, countless chaotic and illogical pieces of information flowing through his mind.
Sometimes, he would remember his name, his identity, his family, everything about himself.
But soon, it would be submerged in a torrent of information, and then fantasies would overwrite his memories. He became another creature, with another name and another language.
The darkness gradually made him irritable. His consciousness wandered aimlessly, but under the flushing of information, it slowly grew firmer.
Until one day, he felt his own body, and an impatient rage drove him to use it to shatter the darkness. Bang, once, twice, thrice.
Crack—a fissure appeared on the dark red giant egg.
Before it could spread, a second crack emerged, followed by more and more fissures accompanied by dense cracking sounds.
In the shadow-covered part of the cave, a massive creature stirred at the noise, opening its huge eyes.
Its bright gaze was like concentrated sunlight, directed at the dark red giant egg making the sounds.
Covered in cracks, the giant egg finally couldn't hold on and shattered.
A Dragon Hatchling stretched its limbs, opened its large eyes, and looked at it, as if startled, suddenly letting out a hiccup.
A thin stream of smoke mixed with sparks emerged from the Little One's nostrils and mouth. Then, the hatchling raised its head and roared, uttering its first words in Dragon Language in this world.
Kalon Kogmora—this was the hatchling's name in this life.
Although his true name was much longer, he clearly didn't like reciting a menu.
The newborn hatchling was about the size of a newborn foal, covered in fine red scales all over its body, though they were still soft, as were the claws on its limbs.
Even the horn-like bumps on its head were soft, the bone on its nose was pliable, and its wings were too weak to support themselves, lying limp.
It would take over ten minutes for the hatchling's claws and scales to gradually harden, as would the twin horns on its head and the small horn on its nose.
In a few days, the scales would start to thicken, and the claws and horns would become true weapons.
For now, what the newborn hatchling needed most was to eat—to eat its fill.
To obtain enough nutrition and energy to activate its body and support the growth of some still-developing organs, and to quickly adapt to its body.
But Kalon dared not move. The Dragon's innate superior vision allowed him to see the powerful creature in the shadowy cave.
Just its fierce, ferocious head was larger than him, and it seemed he wouldn't even be enough to fill its teeth.
A sharp, thick horn grew diagonally upward from its nose, with a mouth full of sharp teeth.
A pair of huge ears occasionally flapped, and its body was covered in thick, sky-blue scales, Enveloped in softness yet resilient flesh.
Its robust front torso blocked the view of the rear, only revealing a constantly swishing tail. Clearly, this was a Blue Dragon.
And himself? Kalon paused, looking down at the fine, bright red scales on his forelegs. Combining this with the information in his mind, he realized he was also a Dragon. Wait, how had he become a Dragon?
But his temporarily confusion mind instinctively surfaced a thought: At least he wasn't the weakest of the Five-Colored Dragons—the White Dragon.
Lucky my foot—the other was a Blue Dragon, a Dragon of a different species. The situation was clearly not right.
Although he didn't sense any malice from the other, there was a faint feeling of familiarity and closeness.
But the Five-Colored Dragons were Innately evil Dragons. Without understanding the other's intentions, the innate sense of threat a weaker being feels toward a stronger one lingered in his heart.
So, he had to ascertain the other's attitude, even though his stomach was already growling loudly from hunger.
The Dragon in the cave finally stepped out, revealing its strong and graceful body.
Its fourteen-meter-long body indicated it was at least an Adolescent Dragon, perhaps even a young adult.
If not for its fierce Dragon head and the bony protrusions on its tail, its soft, resilient body looked like a magical flying big cat.
Its eyes were also cat-like, with light blue irises and vertical yellow pupils at the center.
Like a cat, it indifferently examined the Little Hatchling before it, who seemed somewhat different from the Innate impulsive, arrogant, and reckless norm.
Gradually, its indifferent gaze turned into one of proud. The Blue Dragon lowered its High uphead, and the breath from its nostrils made Little Kalon feel unsteady on his feet.
"Oh, what a healthy, strong, yet cautious and timid Little One. You need not fear me," the Blue Dragon spoke, its mild Dragon Language accompanied by a faint arc of electricity flashing in its open maw.
"You are the hatchling I incubated. It is only natural that you regard me as your mother. I will raise you until you can be independent, fulfilling a mother's duty."
The tiny hatchling looked at the huge head before it with a face full of question marks. His Awareness scoured all the dictionaries in the Red Dragon's inherited knowledge, but none contained the word 'duty.'
This Blue Dragon was a strange Five-Colored Dragon, perhaps a rare good Dragon, Kalonthought to himself.
But lacking common sense of this world, Kalon didn't know that among evil Dragons, Blue Dragons—one of the few that liked to live in groups—sometimes retrieve eggs abandoned by Dragons of other species, incubate them, and raise the hatched hatchlings until they become solid strength in the family.
"And in return, you shall hunt for me in the future, become my sturdiest shield, my sharpest weapon, conquer territories for me, seek treasures for me. Your powerful followers shall also be mine."
The Blue Dragon's huge eyes stared at the Little One before it, waiting for his response.
"Well, I overestimated the Integrity of the Five-Colored Dragons. So, this is what's waiting for me," Little Kalon thought, as if seeing a street lamp rise behind the Blue Dragon. The question then was: How tall must a street lamp be to hang a Dragon?
This Damn it! This Blue Dragon actually wanted him to work for her for a lifetime. He worked before, and now, even after coming here and turning into a Dragon, he still had to work? Wouldn't that mean he came here for nothing?
And she even wanted him to be her enforcer in the future, even if he were the top enforcer, he'd still just be a lackey. Hmph, she's quite ugly—well, according to Little Kalon's current Draconic aesthetics, the Blue Dragon wasn't ugly at all but rather impressive. Still, she was thinking too highly of herself.
Damn it, just wait. I am not yet grown; when I am, things will change. Little Karon's thoughts raced. Though he didn't want to be a working Dragon, he clearly had no ability to refuse at the moment. So, he obediently lowered his noble head and babbled in Dragon Language, "Yes, Mother."