Chapter 37: Scars
It was obvious that Black was truly angry.
Theodore looked up, his eyes reflecting the golden core on the half-dragon's chest, blazing like a sun. Scorching fire elements surged around him, causing the mage, who possessed Mid-Gold Rank strength, to hold his breath. If not for the elemental protection he had cast earlier due to the extreme cold of Nissier Snow Mountain, the brown-haired mage would likely have been severely burned by the boiling air.
But this was merely the prelude. The real attack followed immediately. All that could be heard was an enraged dragon's roar, and then a blinding golden flash appeared on the lakeshore of the snowy mountain, engulfing everything.
Accompanied by a harsh sizzling sound, a scorching beam of light over three meters in diameter swept across, carving an arc into the ground. It triggered a series of violent explosions, instantly dispelling the chill at the mountain's base. The scorching air currents, exceeding hundreds of degrees, spread out, setting the cold pine forest on the shore ablaze.
When the smoke and dust cleared, there was no trace of snow or trees at the foot of the snowy mountain—only vast expanses of black charcoal.
Within a radius of several hundred meters, nothing remained. Such was the power of a single dragon's breath.
But in the middle of that black charcoal, a milky-white, semi-transparent barrier was slowly rotating. Though it flickered and seemed barely maintained, it had still perfectly blocked Black's previous attack.
"Good thing I've dealt with dragons quite a bit."
Standing at the center of the barrier, Theodore held two silver metal boxes containing dragon eggs. A black-covered grimoire with several gilded runes floated in front of his chest. He swallowed nervously, a look of lingering fear on his face. "I do have some experience with dragon breath."
The brown-haired mage knew he had truly angered the other party. He had initially treated Black as a being similar to a human, someone he could communicate with, hoping to ask for help. But he had forgotten that, no matter what, a dragon was a dragon—their views on certain matters were different from humans'...
Theodore shook his head regretfully. How had he not realized what a terrible idea it was to ask an unmarried female dragon to incubate dragon eggs? Indeed, it was the near fulfillment of his long-held dream that had clouded his judgment!
But setting that aside, Theodore knew he still had an enraged dragon to deal with.
Black wasted no words. Its dark-golden dragon eyes flickered with blazing flames. Seeing the brown-haired mage unharmed under its breath, the half-dragon's fury grew even greater. It took a step forward, fully emerging from the icy lake, revealing its massive form.
Now, Black's body length alone exceeded twenty meters, and this was partly because a portion of its tail was still submerged in the water, making measurement difficult. Its height had surpassed fifteen meters, nearing twenty. Compared to before its journey to the Ilgena World, the half-dragon had grown at least two sizes larger, nearly doubling. With its ferocious appearance and bone spikes, it was a complete mobile killing machine.
Focusing on the wary Theodore, Black took a deep breath, and the core on its chest began to glow once more.
Seeing the dragon preparing to attack, the brown-haired mage wasted no time in mobilizing his arcane power. The runes on the grimoire in front of him flickered. With the enhancement of wind elements, his figure vanished instantly, teleporting to an unknown location.
Theodore's reaction was remarkably swift, because an instant later, a golden flame shot out from Black's chest. This flame was not the thick beam from before, but a screen of light dozens of meters wide. It completely covered the spot where Theodore had been standing. When it struck the ground, it caused a thunderous roar, and the ensuing shockwave blasted a massive crater three meters deep into the earth.
"He... really wants to kill me!"
After that, the brown-haired mage's figure reappeared on the other side of the lake. Seeing the devastation at his original location, his scalp tingled. Turning his head, Theodore noticed that the half-dragon's third breath was already being prepared. He silently cursed his bad luck, then immediately raised the milky-white barrier from before, reinforcing it repeatedly, ready to withstand the coming assault.
In truth, Theodore had many ways to counter Black's attacks, whether by manipulating elements or using a refractive barrier to effectively defend against dragon breath. After all, he was a Gold-rank mage, certainly not limited to dodging and tanking. But at this moment, the brown-haired mage had to protect the dragon eggs in his hands and couldn't actually harm Black—though he might not have been able to anyway—so he was fighting with one hand tied behind his back, feeling quite frustrated.
Black, too, wasn't using its full power. Since advancing, its intelligence had grown increasingly close to a human's. Black understood that the human before it had merely misspoken, and that he was a mentor at the academy. Its master wouldn't allow it to kill him.
That said, the anger in its heart made the half-dragon unable to resist teaching him a lesson. Naturally, other mentors from the academy would soon arrive to stop the fight, and it would also make the man lose face.
—As long as he wasn't killed.
With that thought, Black launched its third attack.
At that moment, the entire base of the snowy mountain seemed to be swept by a sulfurous, scorching wind. The cold pine forest on the other side of the lake instantly had its leaves turn yellow and its bark blacken. Dozens of thin red beams, like countless sharp thorns, shot through the gale and struck the barrier protecting Theodore.
These thorns were solid, not dissipating quickly. Instead, they lingered for a moment before exploding violently, like a blooming red lotus. Before the brown-haired mage could even breathe a sigh of relief, he sensed his barrier shatter under the concentrated blasts. Without any hesitation, he triggered the incorporeal spell stored in his grimoire, temporarily leaving the material world.
The battle at the mountain's base was in full swing, and Winterfell Academy, halfway up the mountain, was on high alert. From the first explosion, the academy had immediately sounded the alarm. Students playing outside were quickly guided by guards and leaders into the academy's interior, while two Gold-rank mages flew out to assess the situation.
Then, they saw the fight between Black and Theodore.
"This... how did Theodore end up fighting the lord's dragon?"
Sophia, one of the few female mages at Winterfell Academy and an elemental mentor, muttered in confusion. "Weren't they on good terms? Just a few days ago, I saw Theodore go to the Sea of Bewilderment to catch several boxes of ice shrimp. How now..."
"It must be that Drake's brain is malfunctioning, as you know."
Dill, the rune mentor with a bright red rune on his forehead, snorted. He used Theodore's surname. "That fool has always been going around picking fights with all kinds of dragons, making the teacher clean up after him. This time, he's definitely angered Black again. Let's see who cleans up his mess."
These mentors were all students of Nostradamus and knew each other well. Their relationship was decent, as evidenced by the fact that even the sarcastic Dill was ready to set off immediately to stop this inexplicable fight.
"What's going on?"
But before the mentors could depart, a low male voice sounded behind them. "Why is there a fight at the foot of the mountain?"
The voice appeared without warning. Neither Dill's warning runes nor the elements swirling around Sophia had alerted them to someone behind them. The two immediately turned around warily.
A tall man with black hair and red eyes was frowning, looking at the fireballs and rumbling echoes constantly erupting at the mountain's base. Noticing that no one had answered his question, he looked up and asked again, "What? Don't you know either?"
Hearing this voice, the two, who had been frozen in place, snapped back to reality. The female mage's surroundings immediately manifested totemic projections representing the four elemental spirits, while the rune mage conjured a translucent shield of crimson runes in front of him. Both retreated at least twenty meters in an instant, instinctively preparing for a full battle. Only then did they belatedly realize who the man before them was.
"Lord..."
Somewhat awkwardly withdrawing the elemental projections, Sophia didn't know how to explain her reaction. Beside her, Dill silently dismissed the blood-red rune shield, equally embarrassed.
For some reason, when the two saw Joshua, they felt as if they were facing a terrifying prehistoric beast. Both their bodies and minds were completely suppressed, and a foreboding sense of imminent death echoed wildly in their minds. It wasn't until the warrior spoke that they broke free from the fear and instinctively assumed a defensive stance.
"It's nothing."
Shaking his head, Joshua was long accustomed to others' discomfort under his pressure. He asked directly, "Who is Black fighting? How did it start?"
"It's Theodore Drake, the biology and transformation mentor at the academy."
Clearing his throat, Dill stepped forward to explain to Joshua, but since they didn't know much themselves, it was brief.
"Strange. Black and he should have a good relationship. How did they end up fighting?"
Clearly, the warrior was also a bit confused. He had just come out of the teleportation array when he sensed the battle at the mountain's base. Without waiting for Ying and Lin to catch up, he had rushed out alone.
Joshua knew Theodore. He was a somewhat reserved middle-aged mage, seemingly hard to get along with, but actually very caring toward students and gentle in nature.
Due to their teacher-student relationship, the brown-haired mage had always studied dragon-related knowledge, so the feeding and daily care of Black had been entrusted to him. Theodore was very happy with this extra work and had never made a mistake before.
—It must be related to those dragon eggs.
Recalling the urgent letter from the academy he had received earlier, Joshua felt he had found the cause of this commotion. He sighed. "What a hassle."
But fortunately, he was relatively free lately. The matter in the Ilgena World was over, the plague was being studied by mages from the Imperial Capital, and the dragon calamity in the Far South, though ongoing, had little to do with the warrior in the Northern Lands. He had enough time to deal with various affairs in his territory.
Just then, another violent explosion came from the mountain's base, causing noticeable tremors even halfway up the mountain. Loose stones bounced on the ground. Shaking his head, the warrior stepped toward the mountain's base.
Sophia and Dill initially wanted to follow, but in the blink of an eye, Joshua's figure vanished. A howling gale pressed them to the ground, forcing their eyes shut. When the wind subsided and they opened their eyes, the warrior was already gone. A long path from the mountainside to the base lay before them, with rocks and forests along the way completely cleared, leaving only this scar-like trail.