-Afternoon. Nefiru's POV-

I walk around wolf corpses while leaving paw prints in the bloody mud to confront a dragon with an imposing height taller than me and scales missing on his chest where blood is still spilling to the ground. The grunting dragon behind is making progress at pulling out the hind leg while the ground is slowly lifting and cracking before becoming dryer, then the big one in front initiated a simplistic bite attack from the right side towards my neck.

How cute...trying to bite me after losing the muzzle, though it doesn't look like they remember me or my scent since our noses were not effective at the volcano, do I look like such a threat...? I ponder over their behavior while moving my neck to the left and formed an electric net in the trajectory of his incoming jaws.

"GYAAH..." Cried out the dragon thrashing his head around with eyes closed.

Their eyes tell me this is the first time they saw me, and he shouldn't attack like an idiot when it looks like he's going to die any second from those bleedings...I mean he literally has a hole in the chest missing flesh larger than a human head! Also since when did you become the protective type? I think of ways to show dominance without killing the protective dragon.

Ugh, it doesn't look like he will going down easily but I rather not go overboard with electricity and accidentally fry the brain...yeah killing him would be much easier than put him to sleep. I take a big step with my left hind leg and sink my claws into the ground for stability then lifted the front of my body to stand on two legs. Next time, confirm your enemy or his strength before attacking like a moron because unlike that golden wolf, I can freeze your hearts from a distance or stop it with electricity then jump-start it again so I can kill you again! I raised my right foreleg up high then brought it down in an arch while gaining velocity toward the head of the lizard opening his eyes and recovering from my previous electrocution.

"GHA-" Yowled brother before my paw drove his head into the ground with enough force to sink a little while sending out splashes of muddy water, and rocking his brain to unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, the wolf in my stomach woke up and started thrashing around then I landed on three legs to inspect the situation. So far, no problems with Spirit clashes and even if there were, it'd probably just be an invasion into my domain since the cavities like the stomach don't count, but something to worry about would be physical damage from claws...

The sudden movements ruined part of the experiment, but it was enough to tell that a live creature won't last minutes unconscious in there which means that I can't wait to recover magic to kill it...I must have enough reserves to do it. I used Lightning inside my stomach and fried the wolf brain to stop her suffering while shocking myself in the process then focused on collecting the Mana rushing in all directions to even out with the ambient density.

Though it was rather disturbing having something struggling inside your stomach and it felt like it would burst out like that alien movie, I will just need to kill it as soon as it's safe to take in the Mana. I capture a portion of the escaping Mana after losing its Spiritual hold then mold it to replenish my Magic energy.

Just as I thought... it is far more efficient to collect this way since the released Mana passes through a large portion of the body where the Spirit is much stronger because of the domain, and I can't tell how much mana she had exactly, but absorption of it was between three to five times higher than with Spirit spread outside. Feeling my Magic reserves recover to almost 30% in one go from a low ranking beast which wasn't at full capacity tells me how reliable this method is. This is good and all, but size seems to be a problem unless I start swallowing humans alive instead of beasts...

Apparently, it's no use trying to expand the domain outside the body either since it is something that exists because the soul is bound to a vessel through Lifeforce. So the auramancers don't die so quickly because they have a lot of glue to bind the soul and the vessel, but any Soul under Divine Rank is too weak to attach to something other than a living organism. Although Divines might not have much trouble collecting mana even without a larger domain, that means it's possible to make a partial body of metal or diamond while it may require more Lifeforce than usual to bind the soul.

Hmm, a Divine Dragon made entirely of diamond might look cool, but how to make something like that even move? Perhaps imitating regular biology with flexible parts and joints then channels for the magic to flow like veins...too bad I'm not dual Fire and Earth that can make Diamond. I halt my fantasies then turn to look at sister who pulled herself out of the earthen constraints and is now standing behind the lizard slumped on the ground.

Noticing my line of sight, the Dragoness becomes agitated, and not knowing what to do, her gaze darted around before stopping on Brother who is knocked out.

A fidgeting Dragon...how cute! I notice her personality seems different from my memories considering she keeps glancing at the sleeping dragon for support without running away into the bushes behind. They have changed a little, and even him looked a little too overprotective compared to before where he just munched on something.

I'm tempted to walk over this mountain of scales and maybe even piss over him to assert my dominance but let's refrain...until he's awake. I repress the disturbing urges and just walk around him, then stop within the biting distance of sister who is deciding what to do about me.

"HISSS!" Sister hissed while baring her teeth once she saw me too close.

Oh? Is she tired of the weather or testing if intimidation works? I stare into the dragoness fierce eyes just slightly higher than my eye-level and tilt my head pondering then inhaled deeply.

"GHUUAAARH!" I roared back while splashing saliva splash on her snout and feeling the sound reverberating through my neck then she lowered her head before the air in my lungs ran out.

...That was too easy. I stare at her downward snout with closed eyes and unmoving. Is she faking obedience? Let's turn around and see how smart she is.

I turned left and headed towards a wolf she killed earlier then bite into it before dragging it back to her. I see her observing my actions again without moving from the spot then once I dropped the wolf closely, she switched her gaze once more between the hairball brother and me.

Well, she didn't bite me in the rear or my tail... that's good since in the old days she wouldn't miss that opportunity to munch on it, but she sure has changed now and I wonder if she became the target of Father's antagonism. I muse at her actions then turn to look at Brother on the side who seems to have taken the role of her protector. It's cute how a dragon bigger than me is afraid I'll do something harmful to her and keeps glancing back at him in worry, but she is quite injured though...I'm going to have to nurse them back to health, don't I? Well, these circumstances make things easier for me to bond with them since a creature that is dependent of another is simpler to dominate, and she appears smarter than brother despite looking this submissive.

I probe her with my magic and notice hers is higher than Brother. Ah...we have a lot to talk about and the Collar will work faster with her, then I'll teach them magic since reaching Rank 1 is a huge difference.

Seeing her indecision, I bring my head closer to push the carcass towards her, and it wasn't long before she understood the meaning then lowered her jaws to eat, but becomes stiff just as her teeth were about to sink into the fur.

"WUOOOoooo." A wolf howl echoes through the forest of ancient trees making the dragoness nervous and indecisive once again.

Oh, come on! What is it with that timing... trying to traumatize her? I turn right and look up to the East where the surviving wolves left.

It might be mourning howls from them, but I will not pity those who were chewing my family alive, and I was prepared to get eaten by wolves since the moment I stepped out of that volcano. I think back to the wolves on Earth who had feelings then compared them to the ones here, that showed feelings just like humans based on my observations and despite their beastly appearances. I think they were killing the two unawakened dragons scale by scale in revenge...our parents do have a diet solely of wolves, and my siblings reached this size on wolf meat alone. I would have done the same as them or worse if my family were livestock too, but from the predator point of view, knowing right or wrong doesn't help when you have to kill to survive.

I'm not sure if its because my body is reaching maturity after awakening, but some... urges, are growing and nature is changing. Not caring who to eat and even indulging in cruelty when I abhorred it as a person...is this the dragon side doing or perhaps the human side finally free of constraints? It's probably both since the dragon wants to enjoy preying on others while the human side wants to satisfy his curiosity with experiments and Rank up no matter the means. I analyzed the inner workings of my head where two dominant instincts have emerged while suppressing my morals further.

I've had dreams about eating Shaila besides those recent memories confirming why she feels important, but maybe I should just do it, then puke her out to get that out of my system. Perhaps I'm not considering the fact that by indulging in wild instincts, they are having a greater influence on my personality or becoming harder to control. I recall how the human body is also wired to behave in certain ways despite our personalities. In humans, first-impressions are used to predict behavior patterns, but that's irrelevant for Dragons or any animal with a hierarchy for that matter since the loser has to yield which doesn't sit well with people.

"GRHAA..." I call out Sister's attention with a grunt then signaled the hairball on the ground.

Now then... I should go wake up brother since we can't stay here for too long. I turned back to grab the wolf that almost made it to the treeline then noticed the scent of a blood trail through the woods. Oh? The one that was wounded left while I was busy... so they have five wolves in their pack now.

I dragged the big wolf towards the sleeping gray dragon and dropped it near his head before going for the one I killed with my tail earlier then placed my left paw on the hips while sinking my claws in the thick fur. I lower my jaws to the left hind leg of the wolf and bite down with eyes closed before pulling away as the strength of my neck allowed while hearing the fur stretch and rip until it made a popping sound. My body swayed a little then slightly opening my jaws and jerk my neck once more to accommodate the leg before chewing on it while slurping down the spilling blood.

There's still some room beside the furball dissolving in my stomach... I proceeded to fill my stomach while leaving behind less nutritious parts of the wolf. I feel a strong urge to devour everything, but two wolves around this size are my limit and feel really bad leaving all this food behind. I lamented the limited capacity of my bulging stomach to the point of hurting while looking at all the wolf corpses.

I heard ripping and cracking sounds of bones then turned my neck behind to find the dragoness eating her wolf in a hurry...

Oh, somebody is in a hurry, but her body should be demanding food to heal those injuries and that wing looks pretty bashed... I affirm the innate metabolism of Dragons responsible for our high-recovery and fast growth while wondering if she started eating after seeing me consume the black creature calmly. How ironic, using wolves to recover from the same wounds they inflicted.

It's frustrating not being able to tell her to enjoy the meal after bleeding for it, especially on their first hunt which is a memorable thing that I still recall sometimes, but it feels good having others like me around... I'm not alone anymore. For a moment I entertained the idea of killing brother and keeping sister to myself but realized that having him around might be entertaining.

I missed the computer mostly after recovering my memories, and this part of the kingdom lacks entertainment even for humans, but it never crossed my mind that being a Dragon in human lands would be so boring. The first few days in the Ragefire estate were a little exciting but soon realized that I couldn't take part in anything human related and even play with Shaila is limited in the things that we can do...I never felt more lonely despite being surrounded by people. All of the sudden the forest didn't look dull anymore, and lately, I only go to sleep in the firewood pile then Shaila wakes me up in the morning to practice Magic arts, but I can't take her to the forest yet.

It's not like I can try to be human anyway, so perhaps I had no choice but to enjoy what a beast is supposed to enjoy...hunting, dismembering and devouring prey. I preserve magic when hunting with teeth and claws in the forest then practice back at the estate, but never stay in full capacity for too long either.

Ahh, look at how graceful her thin snout is getting bloody, and the beautiful long curved horns are coming out from above the head in the same vertical section where the base of her long twitching ears are. I look towards brother's head then recall the description Shaila gave me of my horns since they didn't have mirrors and compared to her features. Unlike my round horns which come out above the base of the ears, but neither completely on top of the head or on the sides like brother's, her horns are square while twisting a little with sharp triangular sections.

Now that I think about it...she does look feminine to me somehow, but unlike before, I have no intention of treating her wrong since she cooperated and even brother will come around, then we'll be a team. I panicked the first time Lester told me about the mating season, but after thinking about it, I realized that my capabilities were exceedingly underestimated. Now I want a strong dragoness to be my partner...one with bloodline would be awesome and they say the golden dragon to the south might accept me if I reach Rank 7 but she's a little too big for the current me.

I'm still putting a collar on her though, firstly to warn them about humans because once people know there are unclaimed young dragons here...they will come. They are worth years of salaries around here, but with a war starting, they are worth a lot more in the capital. I look at the dragoness who finished her prey and is licking her snout while staring at me.

Am I on the menu? Nah, she probably still hungry and I also gotta wake up brother so we move out before nightfall. I turn my neck pointing towards a big wolf impaled with ice spikes then back at her and before I said anything she trots to it while her left wing hangs on the side of her body.

I approach the side of the sleeping dragon then hold down his neck with my left paw and with my right on his head, send out electricity to give him a little jog. His body shook before waking up but couldn't pull himself up as part of my weight was pressing down on his neck and head.

"GHU!?" Confused after waking up, he struggled as the scales screeched under my claws pressing him down.

The Dragon proved resistant to submit, but with the magic left, I sent electrocutions on the rest of his body while avoiding the head that could render him unconscious again until he spasmed enough that his body began to radiate heat. After seeing me torment brother, Sister stopped her meal and approached to intervene, but became obedient by the third electrocution, then went back to feast knowing what it felt to be in his position.

Do I have to piss on your head to assert my dominance? I lower my head to stare into his eyes wondering. Are you tired or giving up for now? I look back at his body not resisting anymore then let go of him.

He slowly lifts up his neck from the ground and stares at sister munching on a wolf then back at me.

Congratulations, you are several times dumber than Sister...she learned quickly, while I almost had to vaporize the water in your body with electricity to make you submit, but I guess that resilience will be helpful too. I have to change the direction of the flow of electricity passing through living tissue which causes the water to heat up, but even though the Direct current is easier to produce, it also performs electrolysis in the water and decomposes molecules that release toxic chemicals. Well, alternating with low amperage is more effective on organisms anyway, but direct...is deadly since the body could essentially melt from the inside.

After zapping brother into obedience, I pushed the furball towards him and allowed him to eat while sister who finished hers, crouches on his left...seemingly full, judging by her rounded belly. He chews the stomach open, drinks the contents and break the bones of the legs, rip apart the fur and eats them to reduce the size of the wolf until it fits in his mouth, then he swallows it. Done with the meal, he gets up and drags his feet across the clearance towards another wolf he defeated earlier, then does the same as the first one.

All of the sudden the rain starts to diminish in our spot as clouds in the sky show patches of clear with orange clouds high above indicating sundown, then we hear wolf howls from all around us.

Our time is up! With the rain decreasing the wolves will begin to track down invaders, and it's a matter of time before they pick up the scent of this pool of blood or the golden one leads those high rankers here. I determined then started to herd my siblings towards the south with grunts and growls that didn't even make sense to me. Stupid growls, it wasn't a priority to the old me since the behavior was straightforward, and not all growls are part of the language, but how much do these children know from parents that barely said anything?