Chapter 13

I woke up that morning, filled with excitement. I hadn't had the time yesterday to study my magic, but now, I was ready. I had gained a new understanding of magic—complete mastery over low- and mid-tier lightning spells, and I was unlocking high-tier magic. I had mastered low-tier earth magic and was unlocking mid- and high-tier. As for water and air, I had low-tier mastery and access to mid-tier spells. Lastly, I had incomplete knowledge of storm magic, but I could finally cast more than basic tier 1 spells. I'd been working on that forever, but couldn’t understand it until now. Thanks to Dragon Sleep, I'd unlocked more knowledge about magic. “Dragons are such cheats,” I thought to myself, “or maybe I’m the cheat. It would take a human a lifetime to achieve what I have, and I’m only six years old. Then again, the more you master magic, the longer your lifespan.”

According to my memory, the higher a caster’s tier, the longer their life span. Even tier 1 casters in other races have extended lives. With that thought, I trotted out of my home, feeling quite pleased with myself. I was so much more than a wyrmling now. I walked onto the beach, where most of the clan members were still asleep, and I got to work on my magic. Starting with lightning, I realized that low-tier spells were completely within my control. I had mastered them. With mid-tier lightning, I could still perfect some things, but I was close to mastery. High-tier spells, though, were a different challenge. Lightning had always felt like it wanted me to succeed, encouraging me forward, but it still had its wild nature. You guide and channel lightning in low and mid-tier spells, but for high-tier spells, you need to control and shape it. So, I spent hours practicing my control and even tried a few new spells from my dragon memories.

I was deep in concentration when Nimbra appeared. "So now that you’ve become a youngling—and quite a handsome one at that—it’s my job to show you how to handle some of our daily activities," she said with a grin.

With that, we were off. She showed me how to care for the dragon beasts, how to feed them, and what their diets were like. Unlike true dragons, who can eat almost anything—rocks, animals, whatever they find—dragon beasts have more restricted diets, similar to dogs. They are mostly carnivorous and have certain foods they can't eat. They’re quite intelligent, though—about as smart as a parrot from my past life. They take orders from stronger individuals but still maintain their dragon pride. They are also quite strong compared to most creatures once fully mature not as strong as a true dragon of Corse. That’s why most kingdoms pay a high price for them—they make excellent war beasts and companions. If they become a familiar, their intelligence increases as the bond deepens, like all familiar-bound creatures. Once a dragon beast reaches tier 20 on the creature scale, they regain their wings, which is why my mother keeps so many around. They're incredibly valuable.

Speaking of the creature scale, Nimbra explained that it's a system used to rank all beings, from 0 to 100. Each tier represents a sort of evolution, where creatures absorb mana as they rest, growing stronger and more intelligent. Dragon beasts at tier 20 when they become legendary creatures regain their wings and reach the intelligence of low-level sapient creatures, like goblins or low kobolds. As they continue to rank up, their intelligence increases. The scale is broken into ranges: 0-20 is the "lesser" scale, 20-40 is the "legendary" scale, blue dragons like me usually become legendary by late adulthood 40-60 is the "demigod" scale, and so on. It becomes much harder to rank up the higher the rank you're going for. Gods have their ranking system, called the divine rank system, which measures their divinity based on the number and strength of their believers. Dragons, being less devout by nature, rarely have high divine ranks. The divine rank does not show a god's strength the evil dragon mother could Mach a high-tier god like the sun god despite being tier 10. The tiers are 0-9 for low gods 10-15 for medium gods and 16-20 for high tier gods.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Back to the dragon beasts—Nimbra explained that when they fight, we usually let them, as it's a way for them to establish dominance. But we step in before things get out of hand, especially during breeding season, which occurs annually once they reach maturity. The strongest males and females are paired together, and the weakest are matched with each other. Dragon beasts typically lay about eight eggs per clutch, two more than chromatic dragons, and four more than metallic dragons. In very rare cases, a dragon beast can lay a true dragon egg, though these dragons are usually weaker than their naturally born counterparts. Chromatic dragon clutches typically have 3-4 true dragons, metallics usually have 1, and gems have 2.

Chromatic dragons have a high fatality rate—reds, blacks, and whites usually have only one dragon to reach adulthood, while greens and blues fare slightly better with two. But that's for blues that are without a clan usually clan-born blue hatchlings, all make it to adulthood but only about 1 in 5 blues are born to clans. Greens and Blues like me are common due to our environments, such as forests and beaches, and the slightly better care we take of our young. In contrast, metallic dragons usually see their young survive to adulthood. Gem dragons are rarer because they mostly reside in the elemental dominions and seldom come to the prime material realm.

After explaining the breeding process, Nimbra mentioned that the adult dragons usually handle selling the dragon beasts. She also told me that young dragons gather food for the older and younger ones. For some reason, we do it for the older dragons too, even though they no longer need to eat—they’re either too big to hunt in the forest or too lazy to bother. Once a dragon reaches a certain power level, they no longer need physical food, as their mana sustains them. I suspect this will happen to me much sooner than normal.

We then went to the beach. "When it comes to ships in our territory, we collect taxes and gold," Nimbra explained. "As for pirates, you can raid them, or even raid non-pirate ships, as long as you don’t get caught. That’s what your mother says, anyway."

I laughed at that. So, we collect taxes from traders, but we’re also allowed to plunder as long as no one catches us. I also learned that juvenile dragons are allowed to leave the clan territory and visit other races’ lands, as long as we inform the adults. However, dragons who fail to prove their strength or loyalty to the clan by the age of 15 can be kicked out.

With her explanations done, I asked Nimbra if she wanted to practice magic with me. She had been struggling with breaking through to tier 4 ground magic. After some effort, she finally cast a spell called *Ground Spear,* launching a spear of earth into the ocean.

"I did it, Azuron!" she shouted excitedly.

"That’s great, Nimbra!" I said, genuinely happy for her. She trotted over, rubbing her head under my chin while purring. I stood there, shocked. Usually, only mates or close pairs show that kind of affection. She withdrew her head and gave me a playful, knowing look, barely holding back a laugh.

"Don’t think I don’t know about the deal your mother made with me," she teased. "She promised me quite the treasure to be your mate, but honestly, I would have agreed anyway. A strong dragoness like me needs a stud like you. I hope we make excellent mates in the future."

With that, she sauntered off, leaving me standing there, stunned. “So Mother talked to her about our arrangement,” I thought, feeling embarrassed.

Still, as I walked back to my cave and curled up around my hoard, I found myself thinking about what a wonderful mate Nimbra could be—and about the magic spell I was close to perfecting. With those thoughts swirling in my mind, I drifted off to sleep, ready for whatever tomorrow would bring.