Sarlon found a spot in the cave out of the line of sight from the Black Dragon Mother and his little dragon sisters and lay down. In the familiar darkness, he observed his own body slowly growing larger, as if he were an onlooker to his own transformation.
His scales became tougher, his claws and teeth sharper, and his limbs grew incredibly strong. In the prime material world, the body proportions of all true dragons—tail, body, and neck—each took up about a third of the total length, and even the mightiest of the chromatic dragons, the red dragon, was no exception. This made true dragons appear remarkably sleek, but Sarlon didn't approve of this look.
In his eyes, dragons should resemble the formidable and robust appearance of Deathwing from the video games of his past life, exuding a sense of overwhelming power.
The brief period of metamorphosis finally came to an end. Sarlon opened his eyes and examined his body. Though he hadn't grown much in size this time, he was close to four meters in length. His limbs had become more robust, and he could feel a significant increase in the density of his bones and muscles. He reckoned he now weighed more than his two little sisters combined.
【Sarlon: Health Points – 95】
【Feast Stacks: 2】
【Feast Cooldown: 4 days】
【Talent: Carnivore – You can recover health and energy by killing enemies, with the amount recovered dependent on the life energy of the enemy】
Surprisingly, the cooldown for the Feast had increased rather than decreased, and no new talent had emerged. But his health points had increased by 95. No matter, there was plenty of time ahead.
After a while, having acclimated to the changes in his body, Sarlon slowly ambled over to where his sisters were.
Emilia and Hanna were each hugging a leg bone of the magical beast, incessantly licking it. Sarlon shook his head at the silly sight of his sisters and wondered who to blame for such foolishness.
"Sarlon?" Emilia was the first to notice Sarlon's figure.
Hanna also began to scrutinize him, impressed. "Is this really a black dragon that's only a few days old? Even the young red dragons aren't this strong!"
"How long did I sleep?" Sarlon asked his two little dragon sisters.
"Hmph!" Emilia snorted, not bothering to acknowledge Sarlon.
"You've slept for about a day!" Hanna replied earnestly.
Sarlon nodded; it seemed this Feast transformation took a bit longer than usual. He lowered his head and bit the bone Hanna was holding, and she instinctively released her grip.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
"That blasted Sarlon, won't you even leave us the bones? There are so many more over there!" Emilia exploded in anger.
Sarlon paid her no mind. He bit down hard with his teeth.
Crunch, crunch—
Bones snapped into pieces, revealing the rich marrow within.
"This is for you," Sarlon said to Hanna, offering her the marrow-filled bone segments. Then he headed toward the remaining bones scattered further away. Although the Feast was in cooldown, as a true dragon, he could still grow normally, albeit not as rapidly as with the Feast's boost. Besides, even the growth of true dragons had its limits; even the ancient dragons faced the upper bounds of life. However, the Feast was different; it could stack indefinitely, and within the health points, there was the promise of extended life.
Sarlon entertained the thought that with a few thousand stacks, he might become invincible.
Hanna watched Sarlon's retreating figure and then looked down at the bone he had cracked open. She realized her big brother wasn't so bad after all. She began to suck on the marrow and munch on the bone fragments on the ground.
Emilia glanced between the marrow Hanna was enjoying and Sarlon, who was now feasting on the remaining bones. She then looked at the bone in her own claw and felt her anger rising. The nerve of Sarlon, to treat the future Black Dragon Queen this way—not even leaving bones untouched, it was infuriating!
As these thoughts ran through her head, Emilia moved closer to Hanna and swallowed her envy, "Hanna, you're not really won over by a few measly bones, are you? Remember, we've been in this together!"
"But the marrow is really tasty!" Hanna replied while eating.
"You're driving me crazy!" Emilia burst out, feeling like she was about to explode. Hanna looked at her and then stuffed a piece of marrow-covered bone into Emilia's mouth.
Mmm, mmm—
Emilia didn't even chew; she just swallowed it down. Delicious!
Meanwhile, Sarlon continued working through the bones, his gaze drifting towards the depths of the cave.
The Black Dragon Mother hadn't emerged yet, but it hardly mattered to him; the key point was that once they finished this meal, there would be nothing left. As the Dragon Mother, shouldn't she be out hunting by now?
Yet Sarlon had crushed and consumed all the magical beast bones, and still, the Black Dragon Mother had not appeared.
He had an uneasy feeling!
But Sarlon didn't dare approach the Black Dragon Mother himself. Instead, he glanced at his two dragon sisters.
"What kind of prey do you think Mother will bring back this time? A ferocious kind or a magical beast?" Sarlon licked his lips in anticipation.
"It should be a magical beast, after all, Mother is an adult black dragon!" Hanna mused thoughtfully.
"Don't even think about it—it's definitely going to be a mighty magical beast!" Emilia chimed in with enthusiasm.
"But Mother doesn't seem to have any intention of going hunting," Hanna added softly.
"Maybe Mother forgot to hunt; I remember seeing her sprawled on top of her treasure hoard!" Sarlon commented nonchalantly.
"Treasure hoard!" Emilia and Hanna's eyes gleamed as if reflecting gold. They didn't have any treasures of their own yet, and for true dragons, the absence of a hoard was almost a form of torture. However, even glimpsing someone else's hoard was a treat.
Sarlon shook his head at their predictable reaction. True dragons really had no resistance when it came to treasures. He himself wanted many treasures, but his past life as a human made him less concerned about such things. Still, he knew he would need to amass treasures eventually, as they were necessary for the Feast.
Emilia and Hanna wobbled off towards the depths of the cave, while Sarlon laid down, keeping an ear out for any disturbances.
Within minutes, accompanied by an angry dragon roar, a small black dragon flew out and crashed heavily onto the ground. It was Emilia, some of her scales shattered.
Soon afterward, Hanna emerged, panic-stricken.
"What happened?" Sarlon was puzzled—it was just a meal; how did it come to this? He guessed the Black Dragon Mother was just too lazy to hunt, but surely she wouldn’t attack her own offspring.
Emilia's injuries didn't seem severe, indicating that their mother had shown restraint.
Emilia, huffing and puffing, found a corner to collapse in, looking rather pitiable.
"We couldn't wake Mother, and Emilia thought she was sleeping deeply, so she tried to sneak away with a gold coin!" Hanna stuttered out the explanation.
Sarlon looked at Emilia, somewhat speechless. True dragons were exceedingly possessive of their treasures; it didn’t matter if the Black Dragon Mother was there or not. Had Emilia managed to take a gold coin, their mother would have noticed immediately upon her return. The memory of a true dragon about their hoard was precise—they could remember the exact placement of every coin.
After all, aside from sleeping, counting their treasures was what true dragons spent most of their time doing. And who had given Emilia the courage to steal from beneath the claws of an adult true dragon? Even if it was just one gold coin!
Sarlon sighed. It looked like he would have to rely on himself for meals.