With the Samadhi True Fire, Leon's confidence greatly increased.
The prerequisite is not to court death, because courting death will indeed lead to death. He now deeply comprehends this; he can't fathom why he once daringly toyed with his own tail. Could it be because he had once swum in the Molten River, which bolstered his confidence?
In any case, Leon was rather fortunate. The forest he took a fancy to was fairly large with abundant resources, capable of providing the daily needs of a baby dragon, meaning he did not have to spend too much time each day searching for enough food to satisfy his hunger. From squirrels, rabbits, foxes to wolves, the variety of food was quite rich.
Especially since, from his observations, there were no visible trampled paths or roads in the forest, no signs of trees being chopped, animals hunted, or plants harvested—nor were there any fires lit at regular times daily—indicating that there were no humans inhabiting this forest.
Since he had already decided to live here in the future, Leon had recently begun busying himself with building his nest.
Leon selected a nesting site close to a water source, occasionally spotting animals coming to drink. Unlike previously when he lacked experience and later felt that there was hardly any danger in the Mother Dragon's territory, and just roughly managed it, this time he was quite earnest.
Working for a boss might allow for slacking, but working for oneself doesn't.
Leon spent a good amount of time digging a hole, taking ten days to half a month in total. The finished nest had proper length and depth, several visible and hidden entries and exits, and even flood prevention measures. For instance, the entrances weren't facing the sky but were vertically orientated like doors, also equipped with simple eaves.
It was precisely during this major endeavor that he discovered the knack for digging: using his claws to dig open the soil and instinctively piling it underneath him, then kicking the loose soil behind him with his hind legs as he advanced.
Not only that, but Leon also learned how to make a door... basically by breaking branches to appropriate lengths and tying them with vines. This makeshift door was to simply guard while sleeping in the nest, in case of unwelcome visitors. After all, any creature that could pass through the entrance of just over a meter in diameter was unlikely to defeat him.
After the nest was completed, Leon truly spent a comfortable period, daily alternating between foraging and sleeping, and, of course, he never forgot to absorb the Sun and Moon Essence on the first and middle days of each month.
Monsters were rare; over so many days, Leon hadn't seen a single monster, missing any chance to use the Samadhi True Fire. Since it can only be used once per long rest and almost depleted all of his Mana, Samadhi True Fire was not to be used lightly.
However, it wasn't that Leon encountered no enemies; indeed, he came across a pack of Worgs.
They were evil predators that liked to hunt and devour creatures weaker than themselves. They usually roamed the remote wilderness or were domesticated by goblins and Hobgoblins as mounts, only turning against their riders if they felt slightly mistreated or needed a nutritional supplement.
Worgs have a low Challenge Level of only 1/2. Even in packs, they stand no chance against an ordinary baby dragon, let alone a baby Red Dragon like Leon who had mastery over several spells.
These Worgs certainly wouldn't court death by attacking Leon, they merely stole during the night, taking the leftover meat Leon had eaten, but they were unlucky to have been caught by Leon.
Leon would naturally not indulge them. With the use of the Sword Control Technique, he claimed the lives of a Worg outright, and in combination with the immobilization spell, no Worg could escape.
A pack of Worgs was not worth Leon's concern, but an Owlbear was a different story.
That was half a month after encountering the Worg, Leon was gathering sun essence early in the morning when he encountered an Owlbear. Because he was so focused on gathering sun essence, he didn't notice the Owlbear approaching.
The owl's screech echoed in the morning forest, its bulky body covered with feathers, the Owlbear's large round eyes glaring at Leon, screeching at him, the strong smell of blood and rot stimulating Leon's nostrils.
Normally, the challenge level of an Owlbear is only 3, but this Owlbear was clearly a large one, almost a behemoth; its challenge level was definitely more than that.
Survival competition is not beast fighting, Leon, unlike the typical reckless baby Red Dragon, had no intention of challenging the giant Owlbear, after all, with plenty of food, why take the risk?
Leon immediately stood up on his two legs and tail, spread his wings to make himself appear larger, reminding the other that he was not to be messed with.
However, the Owlbear was fierce and belligerent with a bad temper, never caring whether the enemy was stronger, it would attack even without provocation, and naturally charged towards Leon, jumping up.
It was unexpected for Leon that such a large body could jump, hopping several meters high, which led to him flapping his wings to fly but being grabbed and dragged down mid-air.
A Dragon and a Bear tumbled on the ground, rolling down the slope until they hit a large tree and stopped.
The Owlbear used its beak combined with brute force to attack; even though Leon was protected by tough scales, one peck would result in a bloody hole, followed by a claw attack...
This again speaks to the fact that reality is not a game, not a role-playing group; otherwise, according to the data on DND, an Owlbear's claw attack could cause damage comparable to an adult Red Dragon, despite one being over twenty meters long and weighing over 10 tons, the other merely of the size of a large Brown Bear.
Leon was pinned down by the Owlbear, unable to even summon his sword, let alone use the Sword Control Technique. He thought for a moment and used the immobilization spell to control the Owlbear, but it was of little use.
With this thought in mind, Leon took a deep breath and breathed out Samadhi True Fire at the Owlbear… After so long, it was an opportunity to use Samadhi True Fire, although he did not wish for such an opportunity because it meant danger.
After all, Samadhi True Fire is not an ordinary flame; it has the characteristic of burning external objects and scorching souls. If one can avoid it, that's one thing; if not, at least an Owlbear wouldn't have any chance of surviving, it would be charred within seconds, beyond recognition.
Pushing away the heavy body of the Owlbear, Leon checked his wounds, the tail which hadn't grown scales was pecked at several times creating bloody holes, and lost lots of scales, now truly bald and scabby.
No wonder creatures of the same size in nature avoid fighting each other, no wonder many monsters stronger and more powerful than Owlbears deliberately avoid entangling with them, losing means demise, winning also has no benefit as any injury is not worth it.
Having already fought, Leon certainly wouldn't miss out on the Owlbear's corpse, he had a big feast, dragged the remaining Owlbear body near his den, then dug a hole and buried it to prevent it from being stolen. This was something he learned after encountering a Worg stealing his prey.
Following this, after defeating the Owlbear, for a long time, Leon never encountered any ferocious beasts or strange monsters.
No ferocious beasts or monsters, but there was a nest of Kobolds, sprouting up like mushrooms.