WHOOOSH!

A large 12 metre tall Dragon covered in shimmering silver scales arrived in front of Theodore with a powerful gust of wind. He had domineering green eyes, a row of spikes starting from his neck and ending at the tip of his tail, and 2 thick horns (which was a sign of high testosterone). And going by the aura that he was freely emitting, it was certain that he was at the peak of the Magic Beast Stage, and just a step away from the Spirit Beast Stage.

This young Dragon could be considered to be the poster child of all male Dragon youth and what most aspired to be. The eyes of all the male Dragons in the vicinity looked at him with respect or fear, and the females in the vicinity looked at him with either interest, lust or fear as well.

But apparently, he only had eyes for the ordinary Theodore before him, whose radiance compared to his was like day and night.

“What do you want, Argentino” Theodore asked with a bland voice whilst secretly preparing for any change in the situation. Not that there was much that a Stage 4 Magic Beast could do to defend against a peak Stage 9 one, but it was better than being completely passive.

“What? Do friends need a reason to catch up with each other after such a long time? How heartless.” Argentino responded, and the other Dragons that soon arrived behind him burst out laughing once again.

“We are not friends Argentino, and we will never be friends. Why can’t you get it through your thick skull that nobody likes you and only put up a front every time you’re around? Even the pack of hyenas behind you are only clinging to you for benefits. But the truth is, you would be treated just like me if it wasn’t because of your talent, and close connections with the Royal Family. Nobody likes the descendants of the sinner!” Theodore’s voice began quiet, but he was roaing a the end.

There was a wave of silence that allowed his voice to echo, which made the ordinary looking Theodore look quite imposing. But there was not one look of respect cast his way. Instead, there were just a lot more expressions of fear as people looked at Argentino, waiting for his reaction.

“YOU!” Argentino yelled as his face twisted into a grimace. But then just a second later, it smoothed out again into a disdainful smile, making it clear that he was pretending.

“Little Theo, I must admit, the first time you said something like that, it hurt quite a bit.” He said as an essence of wind began to circulate around his body, causing wild winds to push back the Dragons behind him.

“However, that seems to be the only thing you can say, no? Unfortunately for you, during the 1 year that we haven’t seen each other, I have reached the peak of the Magic Beast Stage and have matured quite a lot, whereas you have only broken through 1 stage and entered the 4th? Oh, does that upset you?” Argentino said as he noticed how Theodore’s aloofness began to crack.

“Sorry, sorry. That was not my intention~” Argentino said with a noble expression. “The point is that… I have long since come to terms with the sins of my bloodline. Yes, it was my Supreme Grandfather that was captured by those dreadful Snakes and caused the creation of those counterfeit Dragons, and it was my Father who fled from the Dragon Mountain during our latest war. But… I am not like them!” Argentino yelled with an ambitious expression.

In response to this, the Dragons in the vicinity had on awkward faces with a few who even cast looks of hatred before they quickly wiped it away (this included 2 of the Dragons that had been laughing with him). However, there were also a few who seemed to respect Argentino for what he was admitting.

“With my own 2 claws, I will reignite the glory within my bloodline and-” Argentino continued before he was rudely interrupted.

“Good for you Argentino, but I am unable to summon forth a single bit of care. My apologies. But what is it that you want from me?” Theodore cut in snappily.

Argentino’s arms that were slowly rising up paused, and then dropped down to his sides as if he had given up. But a cold light flashed in his eyes before he flew towards Theodore and pressed his snout to the other Dragon’s ear and started whispering.

“I just wanted to ask you… How’s Lyrria been, hmm?”

Theodore shivered as rage and fear flooded his mind.

“She’s quite the spectacle is she not? Hey, hey, calm down. You don’t want people to find out about your relationship with Lyrria right? Fix your face. …That’s better. Now where was I…? Ah! Right, as I was saying… Lyrria is an amazingly talented Dragon who has reached the 6th Stage at such a young age, and is completely incompatible with the likes of you. She’s even bigger than you! Does that not cause you shame? A female who should be submissive to you, is bigger than you! Anyhow… you have done something to grab her attention and she is now frolicking with you. How? I can never know. However… It is best that you make sure to enjoy your remaining time with her, because sooner or later, she will be all mine~”

Theodore was visibly shaking with rage, but Argentino wasn’t done.

“Picture this. Lyrria’s glorious body spread beneath mine with my teeth clamped around her neck. Then, with one mighty thrust I’ll-”

Theodore couldn’t handle it anymore and burst out with rage.

“ARGENTINO YOU EVIL BASTARD, SURRENDER YOUR LIFE!” he roared as struck out with his right claw in a domineering fashion, disregarding the fact that his target was more than double his size.

Argentino on the other hand merely flapped his wings and dodged backwards with a calm face. However, Theodore wasn’t fairing as well. The wind summoned by the flap of Argentino’s wings was abnormally powerful, and sent Theodore spiralling down the Mountain like a piece of paper in the in free fall.

“Count your days, Theodore! Count your days…” Argentino said with a smirk, before he looked at his followers with a cold emotionless face. “Let’s go. The goddesses' divinity reclamation will happen any moment now and we can no longer waste any time.” Then he disappeared into the distance with a powerful gust of wind that slammed into Theodore.

At this, everyone in the vicinity panicked and began zooming towards the 15 peaks of the Dragon Mountain, clearly having forgotten the same thing and just now remembering. However, they didn’t forget to talk about the drama that had just occurred, saying things like: ‘Did you see how the overgrown Lizard tried to attack Argentino?’ And ‘What did Argentino say to make him so mad?’

None of them turned back to look at Theodore, who was looking up at them with a shadow draped over his eyes.