Yesterday when Salovis heard about her elder brother from Mother Dragon, she was so excited that she wanted to rush out, only to find out as she was about to leave that he had gone out to hunt. There was no choice but to suppress her excited feelings, making everything else feel uninteresting that night.
The next day when she woke up, Mother Dragon was still snoring heavily in deep sleep; Salovis barely managed a few bites of the leftover meat from yesterday before heading out.
"Is this the place?"
"A burrow?"
"The entrance is so small."
Leon was quite satisfied with the nest he had painstakingly dug out, but at this moment, as she landed flapping her wings, all Dragon Sister could see was disdain and complaints in her eyes.
The Dragon Nest located on high mountain cliffs offered a broad view and ample space; what kind of fool would give up such a grand place to live on the ground, dwelling in a dark, damp underground cave so oppressive and cramped that one might struggle even to turn around?
"What about now?"
Mother didn't specify the exact location on the ground where she saw the brother, which really made her search difficult, taking half a day. It would be a big loss if she couldn't derive a sense of superiority from her brother in the end. Thinking of this, Salovis shouted loudly towards the entrance.
After shouting, she began counting.
One, two, three… why hasn't he come out yet?
Although she only counted to ten, Dragon Sister felt she had waited almost a century, and she swore to make her brother recognize her grandeur when he did appear…
At that thought, Dragon Sister scrunched up her nose, her nostrils flaring briefly as she bowed her head to inspect her body; her gaze landed on her shiny red scales and strong limbs, nodding in satisfaction.
Her daily diet consisted of giant goats, giant boars… Griffins, which were great treats. Daily consumption of fish, crabs, snails, and shells wouldn't produce such beautiful scales and strong body but only pale, dim scales and a dried-up, frail body. No wonder he couldn't fly, Mother told her he could only crawl on the ground, swim in the water.
Fish?
Crabs?
Snails?
Dragon Sister couldn't help but laugh heartily.
A Red Dragon, even a baby dragon, reduced to eating such things—could it be any more laughable?
If it were her, she wouldn't eat such things even if she had to roam outside; how could she grow on such food? She would hunt deer and wolves; she heard that human children were the most delicious.
Damn it, still not coming out?
Did he leave?
Without Mother's care, was he struggling to survive by waking up early and groping in the dark?
Salovis squinted her eyes, then flicked her forked tongue out to taste the air.
A Dragon's sense of smell is nearly as developed as its vision. This refined sense of smell relies partly on the Dragon's sensitive nose, besides this, it uses its forked tongue to taste the air, much like a snake.
Thus, Dragons possess the ability to detect the presence of other creatures through scent, making it generally so difficult to ambush a Dragon. Once a Dragon catches the scent of prey close enough, evading the Dragon becomes nearly impossible.
There's a smell, quite strong, clearly the smell of fish.
Salovis was sure her elder brother was in that burrow, but he just wouldn't come out to meet her.
Should she go in and check? The baby dragon hesitated for a moment, as she didn't want her beautiful scales to get dirty from burrowing.
"Coward." Salovis stretched out her claw and scratched at the entrance of the burrow, then brought her head close, "I know you're inside."
"Come out, come out now."
She hadn't considered the possibility that a certain baby dragon might not understand Dragon Language at all, whose ears had never heard Dragon Language, only a cacophony of roars.
Wait—
Footsteps!?
Her floppy ears twitched, Salovis heard footsteps, and after a brief wait, a large head popped out from the entrance.
The baby dragon peeked out in a comical way, reminding her of the kobolds she had teased not long ago. At that moment, she really struggled not to laugh, as she absolutely couldn't lose her dignity in front of those lowly kobolds.
The two baby dragons were now staring eye to eye.
Salovis took a couple of steps back to give space for the other to crawl out of the hole, and also to assert her dominance.
Imitating Mother Dragon, the young female dragon flapped her wings, lifted her forelimbs heavily, then shook her head and neck while spitting out a thick smoke tinged with sparks... Her process of showing off wasn't complete when the baby dragon emerged from the burrow.
The baby dragon that crawled out bore an oddly exotic feeling...like a Celestial Creature? No, rather than a Celestial Creature, it resembled more like a spirit-being. Those scales seemed even prettier than hers.
Of course, she didn't know that this baby dragon before her seized every opportunity to breathe in nature's spiritual energy and absorb Sun and Moon Essence, which were best at helping beings transform into spirit-beings. A life filled with nature's spiritual energy and Sun and Moon Essence surely had reasons to be exceptionally vibrant.
The young female dragon's momentum faltered, her intimidating actions suddenly became stiff, and she keenly noticed that the baby dragon seemed even slightly bigger than herself.
She didn't understand that exotic delicacies might be prestigious, but not necessarily more nutritious than an egg; giant goats and giant boars might not be more valuable than fish and snails. She exercised every day, while the other baby dragon must hustle daily for food which also counted as exercise, but the deciding factors were the nature's spiritual energy and Sun and Moon Essence.
Salovis subconsciously shrank her neck, noticing that the opposing baby dragon stood up in a bizarre way, balancing with its tail and standing on its hind legs, making it appear even taller and more formidable, full of deterrent power.
The young female dragon involuntarily stepped back, albeit just one step, retracting just one hind leg.
She was a Red Dragon, a mighty Red Dragon!!!
Salovis bared her teeth, unwilling to give in, tried to stand up awkwardly imitating Leon, but this comparison made her feel not just younger but also shorter.
The unwilling Salovis roared, taking an aggressive stance, finally seeing the other baby dragon draw a sword and raise it.
Dragon scales are slightly more flexible than steel but much sturdier, making them perfect for armor. However, a baby dragon's scales would only be at the level of chainmail at most and must go through years of growth to thicken and harden, eventually deflecting blows and harmlessly bouncing off enemy arrows and blades.
A dragon bigger and Stronger than her, and with a sword?
Salovis nodded, swallowing hard.
"Brother."
"I've come to visit you."
The fierce young female dragon turned into Dragon Sister.