-- Chapter 19:

Residents of the wilderness outskirts for tens of kilometers around trembled within the relative safety of their burrows. Even first level beasts shied away from this area, which had become the territory of a fearsome new creature. Though it possessed an adorable exterior, it was rumored to be ruthless to all living beings, and even towards itself. After it devoured anything that could settle its endlessly voracious appetite, it would follow with what could only be self-mutilation as it wore its body apart in excessively cruel practice, day by day.

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“Roar!”

The flood dragon roared, shaking the air around for hundreds of meters. Its territorial nature had flared when it sensed an intruder creep into its mountain valley. Bloodlust tinted its yellow eyes a shade of violet-red. It uncoiled from its perch in the lake and shook loose its powerful muscles. Surfacing from the lake it slept in, it half-crawled and half-slithered towards the entrance where it had sense the intruder.

As it charged, the ground gave in to his weight, and tore before his meter long claws. The faint remnants of dragon blood within its body surged violently as it prepared for battle. The flood dragon sneered to itself. Evidently, its period of inactivity had made the beasts of the forest overcome their fear. Saliva trailed from its lip as it thought of gorging on the prey who had so graciously handed itself over..

When it caught a glance of its prey, it recoiled slightly, underwhelmed by what it saw. A wolf pup stared back at it, quaking so much that it was taking all its willpower to even stand.

“Meow!”

The flood dragon was speechless. Such a tiny morsel of food wasn’t even worth the effort. It preyed almost exclusively on first level beasts, more for the evil spirit crystal than anything else. Giving the terrified pup a once over, the flood dragon doubted it had any amount of essence worth swallowing. As it prepared to conveniently swipe at the pup with its tail, the reptile’s eyes flashed cunningly. Its tail swung around past the wolf and slammed into the trees, devastating the woods. It coiled its powerful muscles, preparing for the follow-up.

When the dust cleared, the flood dragon was bewildered. There was nothing in sights. Even the trembling pup had vanished.

It had sensed a wrongness with the situation, expecting the pup to be a trap by an elder wolf. Why else would an insignificant creature wander into its territory? Something as timid as the pup would have strayed kilometers away as soon as it felt the higher beast’s markings.

A cold gaze swept the surroundings. The flood dragon sneered inwardly. As if a cheap trick could fool a creature such as itself.

It crawled over to where the wolf had last been, sniffing around hoping to catch a trail.

‘Hm?’

It stopped abruptly, taking another glance at an unusually attractive sapling. The dragon almost forgot its purpose as it caught wind of the fragrance emitting from plant. It brought its head closer, greedily breathing in the aroma. As it indulged itself, it was delighted by its improbable luck. Though it knew this secluded valley it had wrestled away from the previous resident was special in some inexplicable way, it hadn’t expected that a world treasure would be bred so soon.

The beast debated whether it should hoard the plant and raise it till maturity. Eventually, it decided on devouring it immediately. After all, a sapling in the hand was better than two efficacious medicines in the bush. It licked its lip in anticipation. Perhaps it could break through the final bottleneck and achieve its next evolution. The snake’s eyes glinted menacingly as it planned its oppression over further territories. Opening its jaws, it bit towards the sapling.

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