-Dawn, Next Day. Nefiru's POV-

I surrendered my consciousness to dreams after visiting the forest last night and slept well until the noise from the estate bustling with activity as soldiers wake up, change Shifts, and the kitchen prepares breakfast, wakes me up. I slowly opened my eyes without moving my body to see a clear sky with thin isolated clouds illuminated by the Sun that has yet to rise above the horizon on the east, and the chilly breeze produces low sounds on corners of the tall walls keeping mist trapped inside the backyard.

Sounds... I could use lightning to make a speaker and graduate from the collar, but elaborate sounds like speech will be troublesome. Well, wind users can do it, so can I, but the development of attacks takes priority. I realize then inhale deeply to appreciate the morning scents.

Ah~ The smell of misty morning, kitchen cooking, and a woman nearby...breakfast snack? I lift my head and turn to look at the black haired maid in her thirties quietly picking logs from my pile.

...Trying not to wake me up? Then you won't see this coming. I slowly lift my tail and arched it then... slapped her ass.

"EEEEP!" She dropped the logs to the ground and tensed up arching her body with hands on her chest before turning around. "M-morning N-nefiru." She stuttered greeting.

Morning to you too, Hilda. I nodded at the black haired maid then went down the pile to pick logs in my mouth before bringing them to the kitchen door.

"Stop harassing the maids, I'm not giving them a raise!" Glared Lester as sent to the collar while approaching from the house middle door.

I look at the victim of my prank rubbing her ass while walking to the kitchen door next to me. Yeah, I don't think it's in their job description the risk of getting eaten, but I wouldn't do that since messing with her is more entertaining just to see those reactions hehe. Still, I may have hit her a little too hard... I look towards Lester who just reached us and tell him.

"Tell Hilda that I'll take responsibility and marry her." I request of him watching the maid taking the logs inside the kitchen.

After Lester had translated for me, She took a look at my eyes then slammed the kitchen door complaining something.

"Haha, how amusing. There are over forty people in this state, and I don't know anyone who isn't single." I shake my head then turn to Lester. "What about you, shouldn't you be marrying a woman in a political marriage?" I probe his marital status.

...I wonder if Dragons mated for life before that Demigod started playing match making or maybe they had harems since there were Clans. I imagine what dragon clans would look like.

Harems huh? In my previous life always eluded me how someone could maintain a harem when I couldn't even keep the same level of attention on two girls at once before quickly lost all interest in one, and since treating someone like crap while the other nice is too confusing, I just stopped those experiments permanently. Maybe I'm not built for cheating, but perhaps with effort, I could learn to share my life with two. I realize my emotional limit to accept two companions.

"Sighs... what an insensitive beast." Lester breathes a heavy sigh with eyes closed then open them to stare at mines. "Although it is my duty as a noble to maintain our lineage and protect our territory, I lost contact with my fiance after that event a year ago. Well, I don't blame her, considering how low our family fell despite Royal's lenient punishment because of Father's war merits... who now fades away honorless." He explained looking at the window where strong alcohol smell is coming out then turned back at me.

"I see... By the way, did Shaila tell you about the collar I need fast?" I seek confirmation.

"She did. But money doesn't fall from the sky everyday...only when beast riders get drunk and lose it. Anyway I'll see what I can do." He affirmed going inside the kitchen.

They are expensive but getting a new one only costs a little after selling the old collar since the thing is sturdy enough not to wear down quickly. I turned around and headed for the corner to jump outside.

I don't make a good meteorologist since I thought it would rain for days, but it is dark over the ocean to the west. I observe the horizon with my paws on top of the wall and neck extended high up.

Now then! Let's get a move on. I'm excited to find out if the siblings survived the night. I jumped out of the walls and ran into the forest at high speed.

...

While traversing in the forest, I do the usual routine of rubbing bushes and found my siblings in under two hours then sneaked up on them deeply sleeping in the same place as last night.

They did take root! I observe the two lizards slowly breathing in different positions from last night and paw prints around. Well, they had to go to the bathroom... I sneak up to Raiga's left side and whip her rear with my tail.

"GHUAA!?" She jolted awake and turned her head to look behind but met my gaze halfway then froze.

Seeing her paralyzed snout up close, I quickly lick her there, and she backed off to the trees behind alerting Brother in the process.

"GHUO?" Reylus woke up wondering what was going on then looked at me with vigilance.

What's up? I greet them with my right claw up. Want me to lick you too? I observe the two that have their backs against the trees staring back at me as last night events come back to them.

""GRRULRU..."" They make grumbling noises twisting their faces perhaps recalling what I made them go through.

It's good to see you too, brother, sister... Well they didn't attack me, and that's a start, but need to do something about their vigilance first then restore them to their mint condition. I start by freezing the ground and filling it with water.

They do another staring contest before deciding to drink the cold water and laid back down to continue resting.

It's best not to move them too much yet, so their wounds heal fast, but I'll need to hunt some green spaghetti and nurture them back to health while increasing their trust. I cringed at the notion of feeding other creatures like a mama bird then headed out to find some snakes.

...

The days passed nurturing the siblings back to health, then they followed me like a mama duck and imitated everything I did from burying the poop to rubbing their bodies on aromatic bushes before hunting.

They also tried to eat those bushes, and quickly found why they are only for rubbing... haha, the taste is absolutely terrible! The masked scent doesn't alert animals, as they are not used to be attacked by walking aromatic bushes or simply to ambushed when they approach. I recall the funny moments.

And now...eight days later, I'm finally taking them out to hunt larger prey. Still, we've been waiting for lunch to arrive past midday already...snakes are lazy this time of year. I confirm our position behind some bushes around the usual paths snakes takes deep in their territory where the trees decrease in size to seven hums tall which humans can hug. Raiga is behind me on the left side of the road while Reylus is on the right side and the plan is for Sister to distract the prey coming from the west then brother and I flank it. I recall the simple strategy to deal with the elongated animals.

We wait for a little longer, and when the day was at its hottest, a strong scent made its way to us from the west.

It's finally here! But it feels a little too big for our first hunt... perhaps a high rank. I exchange stares with the siblings for letting them know something is coming then slowly raised my head above the bushes to peek. We practiced ambushes for a while...with a lot of zapping, to stay perfectly still when hunting snakes since they are susceptible to vibrations on the ground, and it's possible it could even hear our heart beats transmitting to the ground through our legs, but so far no change in the target. I admire the versatility of Lightning magic while waiting for visual confirmation of the beast.

A snake head almost the size of mine finally came out of the elevation hiding the road then followed the body thicker than adult-human-knee tall while doing wide curves as it advanced over the black road littered with brown leaves and making crunching noises. The moving tree log with a green sheen on the scales displayed its length close to ten-hum once in full view while approaching our encirclement, then I signaled sister with my tail to start moving to block the path and nodded at brother who gripped the ground ready to pounce.

And just like that, we began our attack on the unsuspecting snake that could make us the food instead.

Raiga jumped out of the bushes, and the snake immediately reacted to her presence by lifting its front body up to three-hum high while us brothers rush from the side to bite it, then electrocute and freeze it, but the snake sensed our footsteps...

FUCK! I cursed at the snake slipping out of our encirclement to the north in mere seconds before turning back to examine us through the trees while flickering its tongue.

We attempt to surround it again while I confront it at ten-hum away preparing magic, then Sister goes on my right and Brother to the left before we dash once more, but the snake had plans on her own. It coated the body with high-speed wind raising dust from the ground, then rushed my way, but did a sharp turn towards Raiga halfway to my right who felt danger and sprinted around the trees to avoid getting bitten then ran Northeast.

Meanwhile, the biggest gray dragon of our group on my left started chasing the snake tail to bite it just as we trained, but the rapid movements and the wind shield is making it hard to approach.

"HISS!" The green snake fully opened its jaws displaying teeth longer than human palms as it darted between the trees to bite the dragoness.

...Of course, Sister has a sickly smell because the infection she had on the wing which the strong aroma of the bush isn't enough to mask when the snake flickered its tongue. I ceased preparing magic and dashed right maneuvering between the trees to intercept the runaway beasts. I didn't even know dragons could get infections, but I guess along with strong organisms, there will be robust pathogens or maybe her immunology system is weaker than mine since I've never experienced getting sick. I deduced from recalling the neglected wound on the wing that got infected after Alphonse tied it up with a rope.

It took a few days of being a parent for them before gaining enough trust to bring the black haired guard to tie her messy wing then had to use electricity and water to disinfect the wound a few times, a painful but effective treatment until a proper healer appears.

It probably saw the possibility of killing sister before we leave to eat her, and I still wonder how a snake would eat a dragon this big, but it certainly has a way by the look of things. I would do the same when fighting multiple opponents that are slower than me, and in game terms, it would be to take out the fodder monsters first then the boss for last. I agree with the snake actions from a gamer's point of view.

I reach the right flank of the slithering snake fervently chasing Raiga between the trees but failing to land a bite on her rear, then sent a magic torrent with lightning ahead while keeping up with their speed and quickly build an electric net in the space between them.

"SHAAH!" Protested the snake after crashing into a high voltage electric barrier behind the swaying Dragon's tail.

The creature instinctually curled up and protected the head inside the coils so thick that only adult humans could hug it, and made a bigger wind barrier covering the whole body. I pulled back the residual magic from the net to charge a shiny lightning ball human-fist size until it made the air around it turn purple-blue with crackling sounds as thin bolts escape to the ground or air while the beast was momentarily stunned.

Brother used the opportunity to attack from the opposite side of me, but the snake quickly recovered since the wind rotating at high velocity earlier prevented most of the discharge from harming the brain and whipped Reylus's head away without taking its eyes off me in caution. It intensely glared at me with visible green eyes that indicate high talent in Wind while its body menacingly slides around itself as if preluding an assault.

However, I attacked first... using elementals to create a bridge before increasing the voltage enough to make a thin conductive path of plasma through the air for the rest of the charge to follow in a split second which resulted in a lightning bolt two-human-finger thick guided towards the rolled snake five-hum away. The blue-white thunder impacted the wind barrier as the snake struggled with its integrity to contain the attack, but it only lasted briefly since the air rapidly heated up and ionized into purple plasma just before exploding.

"BAAAM!..." The shockwave echoed through the forest making all animal noises silent afterward while the snake's body violently shook and retreated behind a tree to keep a distance.

I used the opportunity to probe the beast's Rank while the wind barrier was down and start to prepare another charge, but the snake is being more cautious now that it saw my attack build up.

Tch! A mid Rank 5 beast and didn't check my Rank either...probably not confident with its magic control. Still, this may be a little more than we can handle and to make matters worse, it's employing hit and run tactics to deal with our slow bodies, but why isn't using any magic like that female wind wolf I fought? This is the problem with wind users, they can fight and run if they can't win...we just need to hold it down for a bit, but of course, it won't let us grab its tail so easily. I switch my gaze slightly to confirm the sibling's situation while the snake and I stare each other.

To my surprise, the siblings seemed to have recovered and were far away already after the explosion which probably made them realize the dangers of the fight or were simply frightened.

FUCKING HELL!? I glared with anger at the two gray dragons running away towards the volcano on the East.

The snake saw my distraction and lashed without hesitation towards my unmoving neck trying to sink its long fangs, but... I've been boosting the electric impulses going through my nervous system and connected the signal being sent by the brain to the inactive muscle fibers before doing an explosive charge towards the siblings who are becoming smaller in the distance.

Alright! Turbo level 1, and by that, I mean the scale of pain it causes straining my muscles to do this explosive burst of speed... The brain only put to use a portion of the muscles most of the time because it's lazy and could rip the tendons off the bone under enough force. I recall feeling the scales rattle from the vibrations and the wind being pushed aside by my body as I approach in a straight line the two runaway dragons.

Haha, the snake probably thinks I ran away too because my magic didn't work, but I'm just not giving those two the satisfaction, so I'm going to drag them back into the fight as punishment for their cowardly actions. I affirmed reaching my siblings while acknowledging the greater risk to hunt without their help.

I went past the two surprised dragons for some distance before lowering my speed, then turned while firmly pressing with my left paws on the forest soil skiing and sank my claws to stop completely in their path as the snake behind is catching up.

"GRRRR..." I growled while bearing my teeth to show my anger and the two dragons stopped in their tracks lowering their rear.

Just as sister lowered her ass, the creature behind was preparing to close the bite when suddenly missed its target, and the fangs ripped off the scales on her rump instead because of the angle.

"GHUAGH!" She screamed twisting her neck to look behind while sprinting forward again.

Ha-ha! Got bitten in the ass. I stopped the lightning boost straining my muscles and felt my body tremble from exhaustion.

But now we are back to our old formation... I confirmed Brother is rushing to attack the snake from the right while I started moving on the left and the snake chasing Raiga hoping to land another bite.

Reylus made it past the wind barrier in the front section of the snake, but before he could close the jaw to put pressure on the bite, it slithered out then continued chasing after Sister who is running in circles as the trees begin to lose bark and roots are uplifted from the sharp turns.

Good girl, running in circles is good... just need the damn snake to stop for a nano second!! Unable to find an inactive part of its body, I calculated the path where it would be and jumped there... Surprisingly, it worked as the snake body appeared right below my falling body for an instant and started to mobilize the magic with water elementals to freeze it on the ground and create ice spikes to impale it, or so was the plan... However, I was so busy in my calculations that didn't realize the snake saw my actions and whipped me through the air.

"GHAACK!..." I hit a tree that made my body turn before impacting another one behind and slid to the ground like some cartoon character.

Oh, the pain... I thought this thing was too thin to be able to thrash me through the air with the weight of a car, but it wiggled the body like a whip using the wind and channeling kinetic energy... I watch the snake switch target after unsuccessfully biting sister again.

Crap, it's going after brother now, and he's in the open. I really need a long range attack as soon as fucking possible. I affirm the need for experiments then got up staggering.

I stare at the snake coming from the right to chase Reylus next then ignored the pain and boosted my muscles to charge in a straight path towards the north. The green snake felt it was winning despite the pressure from the three lizards who were bigger and when it saw the opportunity like that of a dragon approaching in a straight line... it took it.

"WHAAP..." The snake raised the head as much as its body allowed before lashing at my lowered neck from above. "CRACK!" The scales break with loud sounds under the pressure before the fangs sink deep into the flesh below.

"GHUAAARRG!" I screamed in agony feeling like two heated iron rods make their way into the left side of my neck as the snake coming from the right bites me from above.

ARGH! T-this is more painful than I thought... so hot... what is this...!? Something is pouring into my neck... I realize a kind of poison is being injected into my body as the snake holds me to the ground while bringing the rest of its body to constrict me. Ah, this is why it doesn't need to use magic to attack... it has an effective poison. I confirm sensing my body getting weaker.