The overindulgence of Hagrid tired Ivan out, as his attempt at currying favour had been thwarted.
Under his diligent feeding, Norbert had grown to the size of half a table, and was as arrogant and irritable as ever.
Ivan went to great lengths to impress Norbert, including, but not limited to, scrubbing Norbert, shoveling shit, feeding him…
He even went as far as personally catching and grilling fish. With this string of fish, he did not gain many favorable impressions, but his skill at grilling had improved considerably.
A second-level skill called Cooking was added to the System's Knowledge Theory column, and Ivan secretly added a bit of a stimulating potion to improve taste, so grilled fish became Norbert's favourite food.
Aside from routine demolitions, Norbert spent most of the day relaxing by the fire, waiting for Ivan to finish roasting the fish, then opening his mouth lazily, waiting for Ivan to automatically bring the food to his lips.
After several failed attempts at appeasement, Ivan couldn't take it anymore and decided to do it the hard way!
Otherwise, as Norbert grew larger and larger, Ivan doubted he would be able to subdue him.
…
"Clear as a spring!"
On a sunny afternoon, when Norbert was happily burning down the house, Ivan threw a bucket of water at him.
The stream of water that appeared out of thin air hit Norbert's dragon face. This brat, who had never been hit since he was born, was immediately stunned. Before he could spit out a flame, it was extinguished in his mouth.
"Howl!" Norbert, feeling his authority being challenged, let out a childish dragon roar after a moment of confusion. Then, with a flick of his tail, he charged at Ivan.
With a casual flick of his wand, Ivan caused the wooden boards beneath Norbert's head to crack, deform, and trap his limbs, then he turned the torn sheets into twine and tied it around Norbert's mouth, which was about to breathe fire.
The originally ferocious Norbert was no longer intimidating except for flapping its wings.
Ivan then rolled up his sleeves and came forward.
"Let you breathe fire! Let you tear furniture! Let you be picky! Let you grow so fast… Let you sleep…"
Ivan vented all of his pent-up anger over the past two weeks by punching Norbert repeatedly in the head. Fortunately, Norbert's skin was still thick and wrinkled from his recent birth, and Ivan's punches were painful, but acceptable.
Ivan stopped, panting, and Norbert flapped his wings in frustration, unable to understand why he had been beaten.
After calming down a little, Ivan took advantage of Hagrid's absence to try out the Dragon Raising Manual, which he had seen before, on young dragons.
The first step is to establish authority!
At the very least, dragon tamers should not be associated with food in the dragon's eyes, and it would be best if they understood their place as subject.
Generally speaking, the authority would be tentatively established when the two parties met and the dragon retreated in fear.
Ivan did as he was told, immediately locking eyes with Norbert, who could not move.
In order to increase his ferocity, Ivan deliberately bared his teeth, but after staring at him for a few minutes, Ivan's eyes were sore, and Norbert remained the same.
'Did something go wrong?'
Yvonne tilted her head and looked in the mirror nearby. She saw herself in the mirror. She didn't seem fierce at all. In fact, she seemed strangely cute.
Ivan sighed. It wasn't his fault he was handsome…
Ivan had no choice but to use the Transfiguration Charm to create a one-meter-long, two-handed sword, which he raised high in the air. The sharp, double-edged sword gleamed coldly as he walked towards Norbert with a wicked smile on his face.
Of course, the two-handed sword was just for show. It was actually completely hollow inside, or Ivan would never have been able to lift it.
Norbert did not know this, however, and watched as Ivan moved closer, sword in hand, struggling to break free, rattling the floorboards that bound his limbs.
Yvonne deliberately slowed her pace, wearing down Norbert's explosive temper. When she reached him, and he hesitated to actually cut her, she decided to give in…
Ivan nodded, satisfied, and put down the great sword he had been pretending to wield. Now he could gradually train Norbert in obedience.
Ivan was furious when he thought about how he had tried to please her for so long without success. If he had known this would go so well, he would not have spent so many days as a dung-shoveling officer.
"Norbert, get down…"
A few hours later, Ivan gave orders to a nearby dragon whelp from a safe distance. Norbert reluctantly dropped to his stomach, and Ivan tossed a grilled fish across the table.
Norbert ate the sweet-smelling fish and smacked his lips in frustration. Although the rope around his mouth had been untied, he was wise enough not to try to breathe fire on the demon in front of him.
Because his previous failures had taught him that the demon in front of him had mastered the furthest it could breathe fire, it was not only useless, but would also suffer various punishments.
Seeing Norbert following orders and eating his food, Ivan was filled with a sense of accomplishment. He had not spent the afternoon practising the same instructions in vain…
Seeing that it was about time for Hagrid to return, Ivan waved his wand to remove the Transfiguration Charm from Norbert's limbs.
Norbert stayed where he was, and did not appear as irritable as before, as the meter-long two-handed sword was still within Ivan's reach.
As expected, not two minutes after Ivan lifted the spell, Fang's voice could be heard outside the hut, followed by the sound of a door being pushed open and Hagrid's large, bearded face standing in front of it.
"Ivan, how's Norbert today?" Hagrid asked casually.
Yvonne was about to reply when Norbert flew towards Hagrid, his wings flapping and his oval eyes full of tears, as if he were a young beast returning to its mother's arms after being bullied outside.
"Oh, Norbert, good boy," said Hagrid. It was the first time he had ever been treated like this, and he found it hard to believe, but when he saw the tears rolling down Norbert's cheeks and the bruises on his face, he knew something was wrong.
"I can't believe you hit him. Gosh, he's not even a full moon!" Hagrid exclaimed as he patted Norbert on the head.