-Afternoon. Nefiru's POV-

Daylight is unreliable to tell time at the moment, but it should be past midday. I stop for a few short breaths to overview the battlefield reaching its conclusion.

The rainfall noise accompanies snarling and yowling sounds from the struggling beasts close to the northeast treeline of the clearance. A big dragon is biting down on the golden wolf leg with fracturing sounds while compressed air balls the size of human fists explode on his neck as two green wolves move about with slushing sounds, desperate to free their leader. The smell of blood thickens as the six wolf corpses lie scattered and seeping out while the rest of the battling beasts sustain new wounds to dye the sludge ground further red.

There is one sleeping, a carcass behind me, two to my right then another further to the center of this place, and two more close to my siblings... the wounded wolf that ran away stopped not far from the tree line. I stare back at the horse-sized green wolf with her body slightly inclined backward and showing the forelegs green fur covered in black from running in the mud while the rest of the green coat is puffed trying to look intimidating. Showing her fangs while growling, the green-eyed creature shows determination to stop me and starts preparing magic just a couple hum away from Sister who grunts as she struggles out of the earth pits.

I can tell she is that guy's mate by the scent, and I did get a good whiff at his smell...or rather, it's still on me. I confirmed Mida's scent is stronger on her compared to the rest of the wolves while feeling hatred from her snarls. It feels that way, but then again I was always hated by land animals, contrary to my human mother who had the disposition to be loved by them, and not even dogs would bark at her.

Argh, now that I think about the reason he's in such weakened state...I probably hit his nuts really hard...indeed hanging genitals are a weakness and make me glad I'm a lizard with mines protected by scales. Though it'd be hilarious if she's mad at me for castrating her mate, in actuality, she is resolutely stopping me from reaching brother who is under siege while biting down on the golden wolf, but he should be all right for a bit longer. I confirmed the gray Dragon's endurance and decided to play with the beast in front as such confrontation is a rare opportunity.

She's coming... I notice the rain drops impacting a mass of air that has started moving around her body then compresses to make white spheres similar to the other green wolves and launches them at me.

So she didn't use her magic reserves and was just running around huh? I probed her magic with mine while feeling the impact of the white balls over my scales and compared their strength to regular human punches then makes my neck shake. Well, it's never a good idea to exhaust your energy since unexpected things can happen and my intrusion just proved that, but it's good to know Wind users last much longer than darkness.

With the first attack completely ineffective, she created a couple bigger spheres slightly green in color and hollowed inside then relaunches them.

What...!? I moved my neck dodging most of the new spheres and the ones impacting my scales made pulling force with imploding sounds as the air rushes to fill a gap then rebounds.

...Those were vacuum spheres! After seeing the effectiveness of her attack, the fluffy creature of the same Rank as me creates a new batch of floating balls around her head. They could rip the exposed skin from the difference in atmospheric pressure, vaporize the water and dry the skin or create air bubbles in the blood stream...maybe all of the above.

A few more could shatter my scales, and she's producing more, so rushing will make me crash against the incoming ones, but she will dodge me anyway. Wind magic counters Lightning since it doesn't conduct electricity unless it ionizes into plasma, but they can also spin the air around and make wind barriers that parry projectiles while giving them more mobility. No direct attacks will not land so easily, but the ground is rich in minerals and soaking wet from the rain, so the conductivity is quite high.

Also noticed how auramancers have high endurance to lightning when I tested with Liana. I recall the woman that started liking electrocutions. Though I haven't seen any auramancer beast, they do exist.

Still, a magic fight huh...? Although Spirit clashes can occur during magic fights, it's not as intense as invading a body, and the discomfort depends on exposure before it can interfere with Magic phenomena. Well, it can be avoided by simply not have techniques overlap, moving the magic like a pipe and retract the spirit as soon as the Mana is used.

In any case, let's make fireworks! I moved to the right dodging a dozen incoming spheres then send two separate streams of magic and elementals close to the ground while dashing forward.

The green wolf sending out the orbs noticed my movements then adjusted their trajectory to intercept me, but suddenly her fur became tensed, and blue-white electric arcs started rising from the ground, around her paws sunken in the mud. The bolts became thicker and more numerous as the potential energy released was equivalent to tens of thousand volts trying to make its way from one end to the other in the circuit while alternating the direction a few times per second.

The increasing zapping sounds accompanied by sparks and rising fumes on the ground alerted the wolf of the danger level and jumped back, dodging the electrified ground, but I quickly increased the zone calculating her landing zone. The airborne beast noticed the sparks followed her path then delayed the landing before producing a wind gust to blow her body to my right, and away from the other dragon in the back who is staring at our fight.

Of course... it's a flying wolf. I watch the beast slowly landing next to the corpse of the first wolf that died while facing my way. This is why fighting wind users is a pain...they are too slippery. I affirmed and turned to meet the wolf who is obviously luring me away from the others then sniffed something different in the air.

Hmm? I stare at the green wolf three hums away from me and the smell I don't recognize intensifies slightly for my nose to pick up. Danger! I become alerted as the new gas has high probabilities of being poison then made a thin water bubble reinforced with magnetism close to my body and expand it outwards. This is similar to the EMP explosion from my awakening...

The smell is subtle, but enough for my dragon nose to pick up and even if it's an odorless gas, if it decomposes with air, the new substance will produce a different smell. I recalled wind magicians could produce any non-flammable gas related to combustion in oxygen and it's possible the toxic or noble gases as well. I don't know what effect will have if I continued to inhale this strange cloud and it seems she lured me far away so it wouldn't affect the other beasts, but she could die from it too... I think back to my hunt of low ranking snakes which didn't use this kind of attack.

Dragons are still living creatures which possess high resistances due to the highly adaptative cells but mostly come from our natural healing, and the fast metabolism that is responsible for eliminating the effects of toxic substances. However, there is a limit, and certain gases have extreme toxicity like Fluorine, Cyanide or Chlorine which can interrupt cell activity or the nervous system...

It seems to be the last resort if she didn't use it before or maybe they don't want to eat a poisoned meat, but it cannot affect me in this shield, though it's not enough to cover my whole body, she is making it in front of me. However, if she stops controlling it to make another technique then will get poisoned by her own attack...multitasking might make it leak too, so all that's left is wait until my shield fails, blow it away or waste her magic to reabsorb it... I think back to classes in the backyard about the functions of elementals.

It was wrong to assume only Lightning and Light elementals could re-absorb electrons or photons when the other magic systems can do the same, but the cost is exponential compared to tiny particles. According to Shaila, photons cost almost nothing to reabsorb while electrons cost me a bit, but molecules like water cost a huge amount to take away from the world, even more than defying gravity, though lighter elements under gravity also consume less magic. Moreover, absorbing photons is more efficient than a mirror...as if they enter through one portal then come the other like that game, instead of a new particle...thus confirming my theory that elementals are some kind of intricate diminutive gates in spacetime which has a set duration before disappearing again.

Elementals seem to be a medium to produce physical phenomena in exchange for mana while training the individual's magic density closer to the quantum world which strengthens the soul and increases our awareness. Perhaps we'll be able to assemble atoms using our own magic energy at some point unless something else is required, but I guess the amount will be limited since awareness is like a zoom while Spirit Density is like the lenses used to look. I can sense bacteria over a small area like looking through a microscope, but once magic density increases that focus will increase while I'll be able to look at tinier things.

While pondering inside my protective bubble, I turn my head to look at the other dragons and see brother next to sister with a muzzle made of rock around his snout while the three wolves are between the dragons and the treeline on the west.

Buahaha a muzzle for the rabid dragon...that was Mida's doing, which reminds me...I should probably name this green wolf too if she doesn't die. I turned to look at the green wolf making thicker gas cloud outside my bubble then contracts it into a tunnel shape extending in front of her to my head before rotating it.

Hey hey hey, no poison tornadoes! I complain as the vortex hits the shield and make it wobble before more pressure is applied as if trying to drill through. I'll call her Mirati since she's full of surprises, and even found an effective way to use the cloud since being on the defensive is disadvantageous for me because this shield is fabricated with bonds to distribute the kinetic energy from an impact, not a constant force pushing on it.

However, force-fields don't have to be only round. I changed the shape of the electrified water bubble to that of a cone followed by a pipe curving towards the sky and to my left, away from the other living creatures.

The gases went inside with the pressure the vortex was exerting, but the wolf behind the gray tornado didn't realize it, and while that was happening I send out two different streams of magic with elementals to her legs then blasted away the residues of the cloud. She was startled at her poison cloud pushed away and the coldness around her paws, but it was too late to notice the horizontal rings of ice trapping her legs with four supporting ice pillars coming from the ground while steadily increasing their thickness.

Checkmate... I walk to the struggling green wolf bound by ice shackles continuously getting bigger on her four legs then I electrocute her head to interrupt any magic ability she tries to make.

"HYARGH..." She cries out from electrocution every time magic is about to be used but does not fall to the ground as ice cones almost a human waist high support her legs.

I walk around her to the right and with her left side in front of me, I look at the wolves still running around dozen hum away, harassing the wounded dragon that is leaving blood trails in the mud while protecting my sister who is immobile. I wonder if these beasts know the concept of 'hostage,' but then again, wolves here should mate for life too, and if she dies, he will probably cry a long time for her.

I raise my right dirty foreleg to pat the giant wolf, but she trashes her body to avoid my paw and tries to bite me thinking I'm going to do harm. Be obedient doggy or do you want spanks? We exchange stares for a moment before slowly placing my paw on her tensed back and run it along while dirtying her coat then repeat it smoothly. Good girl...I don't have any treat other than letting you live though.

"GHUAAHh." I call out to Midas who is confronting my siblings while feeling the beast under my paw tremble then he turned to look this way.

The golden Alpha froze for a short moment trying to comprehend the scene of a dragon petting his pack mate bound in ice and called the other wolves before limping his way here.

"""GRRRR...""" The three wolves fan out and growl at me slowly running my claws on the fluffy green fur of the Rank 4 wind wolf.

Alright, enough fun...got an experiment to try and siblings to tame, though I wonder if these wolves know what a favor is for the next time tables turn on me. I get down on all fours then turn left to face the golden wolf with my head up high and break off the ice restraints, leaving ice shackles on the legs before spanking her with my tail. She awkwardly sprints forward to reunite with the survivors then turn to join the growling concert, but I pay no mind and turn around before walking towards the breathing wolf with frozen paws close to the treeline.

The four noticed my intentions and two Rank 3 wind wolves ran ahead of me to stop my advance. Oh, they know this one is alive? I stare at the wolves standing left and right in my path without attacking. Sorry but no more mercy today, and the four of you should be enough to start the pack again. I walked forward ignoring their presence, but they opened their mouths in a desperate attempt and used an imitation of a breath attack.

They each shot a stream of air human-fist thick that impacted my neck then made the scales rattle and lowered the temperature, but did no real damage since their magic exhausted right away.

That actually felt good... I move my neck to stare at each wolf then advanced casually through them.

To have a real effect on me, it would have to be like a true Dragon breath attack with the compression factor before firing, so basically they just moved all elementals and magic then threw it all in one improvised strike. Magic control is stronger closer to the body, and it's easier to move a torrent within cavities like magic channels or respiratory system rather than through the skin which is not hard to do when the Core is in the chest already.

Which reminds me, I need to practice those breath attacks myself since normal ones are lame, but compressing water to shoot a jet stream could blow up my head if I lose control for only a fraction of a second and making thousands of magnetic rings for a particle beam seems like a whole new level of multitasking. I recall the different types of breath dragons can do.

The easy breath is too inefficient while the second one despite being useful, is hard to pull off due to the control required and the third one is super dangerous since all elementals must deliberately go on a rampage in the mouth, but missing after all that would waste all magic. The interesting thing about Elementals is that during awakenings they rampage with random effects, but after being a magician for a while, they can go out of control reproducing the last command they received which is then increased by several folds. I compare the force produced with sharing a single tank of gasoline with many cars to pull something for a brief moment instead of a single car pulling for a long time.

However, before learning that, I need to devise other methods to attack outside my magic range since ice lances can only carry so much force and lightning bolts don't have enough accuracy through the air, but maybe with metal...I'm going to have to build a railgun don't I? I take a mental note to collect metal once I'm back to the estate while arriving at the unconscious but breathing furball.

I turned my neck to the right and lowered my jaws to the black wolf head then slip my tongue under her snout before slowly pulling inside my mouth while hearing the whimpers of the other beasts. I lift my gaze to see the intense stares of the golden wolf who's fur is increasingly dying in red from the gaping wound on his side and the green wolf with her legs encased in transparent ice bracelets slowly melting.

Ah...! I can see the range of emotions in their eyes from helplessness to hatred, either from slowly swallowing a member of their pack in front of them or because she's their daughter... I watch the Wolves drop their ears in sadness and leaving in silence towards the east. I'll be merciful and end her life as soon as she wakes up inside, but I still need to know how long until that happens for future safety measures.

This is the first time I'm attempting to eat something alive since it takes the fun out of chewing, and it's also very dangerous because of Spirit clash or magic arts from inside the stomach, though maybe I shouldn't try something so big for my first, it has to be a magical beast. Common animals have a minuscule amount of magic in them, barely above ambient mana densities which are insufficient for the experiment and they are already difficult enough to capture alive, but magical beasts are many times harder for obvious reasons.

This is a cruel method that humans can't attempt, and I also haven't heard of any beast doing the practice either, though it should be possible to have Shaila collect mana with me since one spirit isn't enough to hold the rushing energy...I need to get that loli used to hunts and gore. I think of ways to efficiently collect the energy torrent that is no different from scooping water from a high-pressure hose with a spoon.

I continue to slowly drag the hairy beast thicker than a human being inside my jaws and down my expanding throat when it got stuck while the hind legs are dangling outside my mouth.

Oh shit, she's stuck... Water water! I lifted my neck up high before producing a bit of water in my mouth to wet the fur, and the beast continues to slide down my expanding throat then into the neck until her hind legs disappear in my closed mouth. Almost there... don't wake up yet, though I could test it in my mouth, I need to know how much the effectiveness will increase in the middle of my body. I feel the hairball creating a bulge that slides down my neck and into my body until it plops in my stomach.

Finally! Swallowing something so big felt weird...not just inside, but outside my scales were lifted up from the curve, and I learned that even though my jaws couldn't detach like snakes, anything that goes through my throat will go down my neck. Sending my awareness inside my body to inspect, I find the beast did a turn when it fell and the snout is barely above the stomach liquid.

She weakened a little from the squeezing ride into my stomach but still breathing...as expected of magic beasts... their endurance is on another level, but her snout will sink in the acid once I move. Wonder if it's comfortable in there with the body heat and the acid stronger than car batteries...I puked before. After succeeding in my experiment, I turned to look at brother finish carving out the ground around sister's legs then walk up to them.

Magic reserve under 20% water elementals at 10% but increasing and lightning at 40%...quite enough to tame dragon siblings...hurray for dragon magic capacity! Well, I splurged the water ones using magic in a hurry instead of connecting with the ones in the ambient...it was a fight, after all, not collection time. The dragons become alerted at my approach and brother goes in front of Sister who still has the left hind leg stuck under tons of soil.