Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon's Might-Chapter 3 - Survival

Leon lay down by the riverbank, lost in his wild thoughts, and fell asleep. By the time he woke up from hunger in the evening, he continued to flip rocks in the river looking for crabs and snails, until he had had his fill with the moon already rising.

Night fell, and the bright moon hung in the sky, casting a silvery moonlight across the quiet riverbank. Leon thought he would be blind in the dark, yet to his surprise, he could see just as well as in the daytime.

He thought about how a cat's pupils dilate to let in more light in the dark, while a dragon's pupils dilate to let the Original Energy flowing in their blood emanate from their pupils. The subtle infiltration of Magic Power gives dragons Dark Vision, allowing them to see even in absolute darkness.

But wasn't he unable to use Magic? Perhaps he simply couldn't actively use Magic, but passive use did not hinder him.

There were too many confusing matters; Leon had no interest in delving into those questions, as they did nothing but give him a headache.

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He thought of the Breathing and Exhaling Skill he had learned at noon, looked around for a large boulder to climb onto, and looked up at the moon... The moon in this world was different from what he remembered, but he couldn't pinpoint how.

The baby dragon bathed in moonlight, slowly began to breathe, absorbing the Moonlight, harvesting the Moon Essence.

With the moonlight and his breath, a barely perceptible chill flowed through him, making him forget the flow of time for a moment...

Overindulgence is as bad as insufficiency, taking in Moon Essence should be done with thirty breath cycles, and unknowingly, it ended. Harvesting Moon Essence wasn't tiring, but foraging earlier was exhausting, and he fell asleep just anywhere from tiredness, only to notice the dawn arriving when he woke up.

Leon watched the sunrise, instantly becoming alert, ready to harvest the Sun Essence, but after taking a deep breath, he stopped himself.

If the moon allowed him to absorb its light and gather its essence yesterday, it would not be possible to collect the Sun Essence today. According to the lunar calendar, the best time to harvest Moon Essence is around the fifteenth of the month, while Sun Essence is gathered from the first to fifth day of the month; if these days passed, the Sun would be at an angle, and the moon waned – it was the least suitable time for essence harvesting.

Unable to collect the Sun Essence, Leon felt somewhat bewildered, but soon, the emptiness of his belly prompted him to jump into the river.

As usual, he searched for crabs and snails under the stones, and even with the richness of the water's bounty, it took Leon a long time to satisfy his hunger.

Having filled his belly, Leon thought to check his bodily state; last night he harvested Moon Essence, but it seemed there was no change to his body... No, that's wrong, the delay had lessened quite a bit, if it was his current state he definitely wouldn't have slipped and fallen off the cliff yesterday.

However, it's less because of the Sun and Moon Essence reducing the bodily delay, and more about him growing and getting more accustomed to his new body over the course of the day. After all, if absorbing the Sun and Moon Essence helps, it wouldn't take effect so quickly; it requires consistent effort, like needing lots of experience points for each level-up.

Leon suppressed his impatience, thinking about what he should do now.

Should he return to the Dragon Nest, to seek the Mother Dragon?

Or should he hone his sharp teeth and claws?

With his Golden Finger, as long as he works hard, he could definitely become a powerful being in this world, might even become a God, and then... In his past life, he strived to remain in the big city, ultimately working himself to death, does he need to push himself that hard in this life?

It might be alright not to become a Divine being, to leave the big city, perhaps even to move back to his old seven-tier small hometown to lay low and live. While he struggled in the big city, his classmates who stayed in the small city had already bought houses and cars, gotten married and had children. Their lives weren't extravagant, but they were content and full of flavor.

With that thought, Leon wrinkled his nose, found a spot to lie down, rested his chin on his stacked forelimbs, closed his eyes, and it was afternoon when he slow-ly got up.

Hunting for food, hunting for food, hunting for food; without Mother Dragon's care, he had to work hard every day just for a meal. As the moon rose, Leon began to collect Moonlight.

Hmm, if you can't afford a house, don't buy it; if a wedding is too expensive, don't get married; let go of the pointless struggles, stay away from overtime, promotions, and the rat race. Lying flat means not pursuing a career or fame, not striving for so-called progress and success, but choosing to enjoy the things you love, leisure and entertainment, and time with family and friends in life, but not to the point of becoming a layabout god.

Without the Dragon Inheritance, without Mother Dragon's guidance, he still needed to have something.

In the following time, except for filling his belly and collecting Moon Essence, Leon spent the remainder of his time either sleeping or occasionally taking some time to hone his skills, striving to adapt to his new body.

Before he knew it, several days had passed, and Leon had completely adapted to his new body and was able to run and bite freely. Because merely catching crabs and snails was not enough to fill his belly, he even learned how to catch fish.

Of course, his fish hunting mainly relied on cunning, waiting for those daytime-active fish to sleep at night, slowly swimming up to them motionless in the water, and suddenly biting down, catching a fish as big as an adult's calf.

As days went by, he gradually learned to swim, by tightly pressing his wings to his sides, kicking his legs backward to streamline his silhouette, then mimicking the sinuous movements of lizards to move his body from side to side, with his tail providing thrust with vigorous side-to-side flapping.

Once he learned swimming, he could catch fish even in broad daylight, though it was still more difficult than at night.

Furthermore, thanks to his increasing bodily functions, his brain was getting sharper, and he even learned how to set traps. For example, lying on the riverbed, opening his mouth wide and spitting out prepared meat scraps, and closing his mouth quickly when fish came to eat those scraps. He got the inspiration from snapping turtles.

After half a month of collecting Moonlight, it was time to gather Sun Essence. Leon didn't keep track of dates, he only knew that the sunlight on that day was exceptionally full, so he decisively collected the Sun Essence. He gently sucked the Sun's essence with his mouth, and after encompassing a full breath, held his breath, slowly swallowed it, directed it to his dantian with his mind, repeated the process seven times, and then sat and meditated for half an hour.

A month went by just like that, and Leon, who was originally the size of a big cat, on the level of a cheetah or a lynx – certainly not small with his neck and tail stretched out and wings unfurled – was now about the size of a cheetah.

Without any baby dragon peers to compare with, Leon didn't know how his body, which had been absorbing the Sun and Moon Essence whenever possible, actually developed, but he felt pretty good about himself. He had gained quite a bit of weight, especially with a lot more strength, and his scales were shiny, looking like gemstones under the sunlight.

With the sky clear and not a cloud in sight, the azure sky radiated an irresistible heat, and the weeds growing in the crevices of the river stones couldn't withstand the sun's scorched, their leaves curling into thin strips.

One day, as Leon was lying lazily dozing on a rock, he suddenly saw a familiar figure flying across the sky... Wasn't that his mother?

Among the birds, eagles are praised for their vision; under normal circumstances, they can see up to 36 kilometers away. Apart from their broad vision, eagles have extremely sharp eyesight, which allows them to accurately identify objects from high altitudes, hence the term "Eagle Eye" is also commonly used to describe someone with acute vision.

Dragon's vision had no reason to be inferior to eagles', only better. The baby dragon was sure Mother Dragon saw him, but Mother Dragon showed no intention of landing. He pouted and didn't pay much attention; after all, since he learned to catch fish, his life had been very comfortable.

"Now you ignore me, but in the future, you won't be able to reach me." Leon muttered, suddenly remembering something.

The baby phase of a Red Dragon is marked by smooth, bright red scales that are easily noticed by predators and Hunters. Perhaps he had been under the protection of Mother Dragon all along; at the very least, she chased away other large predators. Being the Master of the Mountains, the Red Dragon would not allow enemies in her territory, inadvertently ensuring his safety.

Leon acknowledged Mother Dragon's grace and didn't mind repaying it if the opportunity arose. At the same time, he finally remembered that he lacked one thing – a nest.