Book 01, Coiling Dragon Ring

by Unknown

  And then the mysterious, violet-robed man didn’t say anything else. After gazing at Linley and the rest of the group with its cold eyes, the Velocidragon continued forward, two more lines of smoke appearing from its nostrils. Seeing the Velocidragon go in the direction of the township, the expression on Hillman’s face changed.

  “Everyone, stay here.” After he spoke, Hillman immediately chased after the departing Velocidragon.

  “Uncle Lorry, what is that? Is that a magical beast?” Linley was the first to ask.

  Lorry cleared his throat, a look of terror still in his eyes. But he still nodded. “Yes, it is. But it’s a very powerful one, a magical beast of the seventh rank. A Velocidragon!”

  “Velocidragon?”

  Linley memorized the word, forever etching it in his mind.

  The Velocidragon’s huge body, hard scales, sharp claws, and powerful tail served to create a terrifying appearance. Linley believed… .a single Velocidragon could most likely annihilate the entire Wushan township.

  “The defensive power of the Velocidragon’s scales is astonishing, and its attack power is terrifying as well. In addition, it is proficient in destructive fire magic!” Lorry’s heart was filled with fear as he explained to Linley and the others. “If faced with a terrifying magical beast such as the Velocidragon, most likely even a platoon of a thousand soldiers would be wiped out, unless it had a number of sixth or seventh ranked warriors and magi who could unite to penetrate the Velocidragon’s scales.”

  Linley’s heart trembled.

  Even a platoon of a thousand soldiers would be wiped out?

  “However, the most terrifying thing is not the Velocidragon… it is the mysterious violet-robed man.” Lorry took two stabilizing breaths, calming his agitated heart.

  By his side, Roger nodded as well. “Right. In order to subdue a Velocidragon, one must force the Velocidragon to willingly submit to being a servant. In other words… the violet-robed man must be significantly more powerful than the Velocidragon. Based on his clothing, he should be a magus.”

  “At least a magus of the seventh rank. Perhaps even a magus of the eighth rank!” Roger’s fists couldn’t help but tremble as well. “I never imagined such an important individual would come to our home.”

  Linley could also feel the fear which was in the hearts of Roger and Lorry.

  Velocidragon, a magical beast of the seventh rank. And a mysterious magus whose power dwarfed that of the Velocidragon? This definitely was enough to cause terror.

  “The magus was even more powerful than the Velocidragon?” Linley found this somewhat hard to believe.

  The Velocidragon’s huge body, hard scales, sharp claws, and powerful tail… all seemed to dwarf that small human figure of the magus.

  “Roaaar!”

  Suddenly, an angry roar erupted from the middle of the township.

  “Crap!” Lorry and Roger were stunned. Linley and the other children grew worried as well. Was the Velocidragon’s angry roar caused by Uncle Hillman, or by Wushan township? Nobody knew.

  “All of you, stay here.” Lorry and Roger, although terrified, still raced towards the center of the town.

  Linley gritted his teeth. “Uncle Hillman!” Linley was also worried for Uncle Hillman, as well as the citizens of Wushan town. He also ran in that direction. At this moment, Lorry and Roger were both panic-stricken at the thought of the Velocidragon, and didn’t notice Linley following behind them.

  In but a few moments, they arrived in the middle of the town. Hillman was standing far away, watching.

  “Why did you come?” Hillman reprimanded in a severe tone.

  But upon seeing Linley follow behind Lorry and Roger, Hillman frowned even further. “Linley, it’s far too dangerous here. Go back immediately.” Only now did Lorry and Roger notice Linley had followed them.

  “Linley, why did you… ” Lorry and Roger didn’t know what to say.

  “Uncle Hillman, I’m not going back.” Linley wasn’t willing to return.

  Hillman helplessly shook his head. He knew how stubborn Linley could be, and how hard it was to force him to change his mind. “Fine. Then stay behind me, do not go too far. As long as you stay next to me, I am confident that I can protect you.”

  “Thank you, Uncle Hillman. I definitely won’t run around.” Linley was overjoyed.

  At this point in time, Hillman’s group was roughly a hundred meters away from the Velocidragon. They quietly watched the events in the center of town unfold. In front of the huge Velocidragon, a group of youngsters could be seen. Four men, three women.

  *

  Book 1, Chapter 9 – Magical Beast – Velocidragon! (part 2)

  “Captain, what’s going on up ahead?” Lorry said in a quiet voice to Hillman.

  A hint of a smile played at Hillman’s lips. “That mysterious magus seems to be at odds with that party over there. Just stay here and watch. No need for us to interfere.” Hillman himself was only a warrior of the sixth rank. In truth, he didn’t dare to interfere either.

  The Velocidragon alone was something he would not be able to fight off, much less the mysterious magus.

  The strength of the seven-man party in front of the magus was not weak either. Five of them were warriors, while the other two were magi. The leader of their party was a powerfully built man with tousled red hair, who rode a pitch-black iron bull. The two sharp horns of the iron bull glittered under the light, dark and deadly.

  Its blood-red eyes gave testament to the true nature of this bull – “Vampiric Iron Bull”, a magical beast of the fifth rank.

  With a snort, smoke began to emit from the bull’s nostrils as well.

  Of the seven people in the party, four were men, three were women. Both of the magi were women, while the third woman was an archer. Aside from the Vampiric Iron Bull, a huge griffin floated in mid-air.

  “Griffin” – a magical beast of the fourth rank!

  It had the head of a lion, but a pair of enormous, powerful wings. For a party to have two magical beasts and two magi, clearly this adventuring party was no ordinary one.

  “Youngsters, it’d be better if you handed the [De’Pei’Luo’Ying] d’Bero shadow diamond over.” The mysterious man seated on the Velocidragon said a second time, his voice cold.

  “Lord magus, we don’t wish to be your enemy, but in order to acquire this d’Bero shadow diamond, we spent countless amounts of time and effort. The value of it exceeds a hundred thousand gold coins, but you, lord magus, want to buy it from us for just seven hundred coins. This… this is impossible.” The red-headed leader of the group said in a solemn voice.

  Listening to the conversation from far away, Linley, by Hillman’s side, now understood everything.

  So this mysterious magus wanted to spend seven hundred gold to purchase this d’Bero shadow diamond which was worth a hundred thousand.

  “Wow, the price of that diamond… ” Linley was shocked. “For it to be worth so much money, clearly this d’Bero shadow diamond must have some significance attached to it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t cause this magus to be willing to lower his status and try to forcibly buy it.”

  An offer of seven hundred gold, for an item worth a hundred thousand. No wonder the small party was unwilling to accept.

  “Hmph.” The mysterious magus coldly harrumphed.

  “I only have seven hundred gold on me. Right now, I’m still willing to use money to buy it from you. If you lot don’t know how to take a few steps back and do what’s best for you… then not only will you not receive a single gold coin, you will also lose your little lives.” The magus’ said in a frozen voice.

  “Grrrrrrrr.”

  The Velocidragon, taller than most of the houses in the town, let out a deep growl, causing all the houses nearby to shudder.

  “Captain, we risked our lives to obtain this d’Bero shadow diamond. How can we so easily cower in front of this guy and give it away?” A woman in black said coldly. As an experienced adventuring party, these seve
n people had experienced many battles and wouldn’t easily submit.

  The red-haired captain said in a solemn voice, “Honored lord magus, I am of the Kingdom of Fenlai’s ‘Cayley’ clan… “

  This captain wanted to use his background to force the opponent down.

  But unfortunately, powerful magi usually were eccentric and didn’t give a whit about noble families.

  “You all have chosen death.” The mysterious magus sneered coldly.

  “Careful.” In a flash, the seven person party raised its guard. The four warriors charged in front, the female archer in behind pulled out her strongest bow, and the two female magi began to prepare magic.

  “ROAAAAR!”

  The huge Velocidragon opened its mouth, and an enormous plume of fire erupted from its fangs, headed directly for the party.

  Where the fire came near, the very stone road underneath the fireblast began to warp, crack, and even shatter from the intense heat as the entire road charred black.

  “Careful.”

  The red-haired leader said in a deep voice, as his entire body became suffused with red-colored battle-qi. The other three warriors activated their battle qi as well.

  The red-haired leader wielded an enormous claymore in his two hands. With rapid speed, he fiercely swung it against a nearby stone wall, and with a thundering sound, the stone wall collapsed, as hundreds of rocks rolled down to the floor and dust exploded outwards.

  Just at this time, the fire from the Velocidragon enveloped the four men, who used their battle-qi to resist it.

  “Hah!”

  The red-haired man kicked a large rock nearly half a meter long at the magus.

  The other three warriors did the same, also kicking large rocks with the speed and power of enormous slingshots. The four rocks split the air, howling as they pierced forth towards the magus seated on the huge Velocidragon.

  “Swish! Swish! Swish!”

  One after another, a barrage of rocks assaulted the magus. In the twinkling of an eye, all the rocks from the collapsed wall were used up.

  Seeing this battle from afar, Linley’s hands were tightly clenched.

  “How incredible. They actually dare to use their feet to kick such huge rocks.” Watching the four men unceasingly kick the huge rocks, he felt all the more in awe of warriors in general. “Although, the Velocidragon is even more terrifying!”

  Staring at the Velocidragon, Linley watched as its whip-like tail snapped about, dancing in front of it.

  “Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!”

  One giant rock after another was smashed into smithereens. The rocks couldn’t even come close to harming the magus on the Velocidragon’s back.

  “Swoosh!” The Velocidragon’s tail seemed to be totally unimpeded. It covered an enormous area, and whenever it casually passed by a stone house, it sliced through it as though the house was made of mud. The stones would be shattered without any resistance. As one house after another began to collapse, stones rolled about everywhere and the entire area was bathed in dust.

  “Roaaaar!” Even in the middle of the dust storm, the Velocidragon’s mighty roar could be heard, and it continued to vomit fire from its jaws.

  This entire time, the two female magi in the back of the party were continuously mumbling magical incantations in a light voice. The words of magic were totally different from the common tongue spoken on the Yulan continent. It was much more awkward-sounding and complex. Before too much time had passed, the two female magi finished their incantations!

  “Protective Icy Carapace!”

  The two female magi chanted out in a low voice. Bright light erupted from their bodies, with four rays covering the four male warriors with a translucent, crystalline armor.

  The red-haired leader was delighted. With the protective icy carapace supporting his battle-qi, he now felt more confident in this battle.

  “Attack!” The red-haired leader ordered.

  The four warriors shot out four more rocks at nearly the same time, attacking the mounted magus simultaneously. Immediately following, the four warriors charged forward like arrows released from bows as they shot towards the Velocidragon.

  *

  Book 1, Chapter 10 – Dance of the Fire Serpents (part 1)

  “ROAR!” The flames erupting from the Velocidragon’s mouth encompassed a diameter of tens of meters of the surrounding area, bathing them in a sea of fire.

  “Hiss… ..”

  The Velocidragon’s fire danced around the bodies of the four warriors, but guarded by the Protective Icy Carapace and their own battle-qi, the four warriors definitely would be able to resist the heat.

  As for the archer, by this point, she had already mounted the Griffin and taken to the skies, her bow nocked.

  The Vampiric Iron Bull stood there like a iron wall, protecting the two female magi.

  “Swish! Swish! Swish!”

  Her eyes filled with a fierce cold gleam, and her hands as steady as a rock, the Griffin-mounted archer shot out three arrows in a row. The target – the mysterious magus on the back of the Velocidragon!

  “Whoosh!” The Velocidragon’s whip-like tail shot out like lightning, moving even faster than the arrows. In the blink of an eye, it shattered the arrows released from the archer’s triple shot. Immediately afterwards, its tail swept back towards the four charging warriors. The howling sound generated from the tail shattering the air with its movement caused the expressions on the faces of the four warriors to change dramatically. They immediately tried to leap backwards, like agile monkeys.

  But the draconic tail didn’t move in a purely straight pattern; it oscillated and curved strangely, with no fixed pattern.

  “Crash!”

  One of the four warriors didn’t manage to dodge in time, and was directly struck by the draconic tail on the waist. Both the Protective Icy Carapace and his own battle-qi were smashed into nothingness in the blink of an eye. With a slight flick, the tail curled around him and tightly wrapped him up.

  “Luke!” (Lu’jia). The red-haired warrior by his side howled angrily, his eyes filled with pain.

  “No!” Luke was also screaming in terror.

  With but a flick, the draconic tail tossed Luke directly towards the Velocidragon’s mouth. The Velocidragon opened its jaws, revealing its bloody maw, and chomped down. With a terrifying crunching sound, the last thing escaping Luke’s throat was an anguished scream.

  Ground beneath the Velocidragon’s saw-like teeth, Luke’s entire body was turned into mincemeat. Half of one bloody leg escaped the Velocidragon’s mouth and fell down to the ground. Gleaming white bone could be seen protruding from the bloody half-leg.

  “Don’t look.” Hillman covered Linley’s eyes.

  That sudden display was simply too bloody. Even a fully grown adult, when faced with such a terrifying scene for the first time, would be panicked. Linley was just an eight year old child.

  But it was too late. Linley had already seen everything.

  “Huff. Huff.” Linley felt as though his heart was being compressed by a giant boulder. His breathing was growing labored, and he started to pant. But in his mind’s eye, he replayed the sight of the young man named Luke being eaten, over and over again.

  His belly was ripped open, and his intestines had been shattered. His skull had been crushed, and half his leg had dropped to the ground!

  All of these things made it hard for Linley to breathe, and he felt dizzy.

  This was the first time Linley had seen a fight become so vicious and cruel. It was also the first time Linley had seen someone being eaten alive by a huge Velocidragon. The half-eaten leg, in particular, deeply buried itself in Linley’s mind.

  Hillman, Roger, and Lorry exchanged troubled glances as they watched Linley.

  What sort of harm to the psyche would this bloody affair cause an eight year old child? Would it serve as a constant psychological trauma? Once a youth becomes traumatized by battle, his future accomplishments would be dramatically impacted.


  “Killing someone. No big deal. No big deal.” Linley forced himself to think these words repeatedly. “When I grow up and join the army, I too will have to kill people. Gotta hold on. Gotta hold on.”

  Linley really was intelligent. He had read many books, and knew what path he had embarked on for the future.

  On the Yulan continent, when a man grew up, it would be very likely that he would experience life-and-death struggles. But since Linley was just a child who had not done so yet, he had to repeatedly tell himself to calm down. And slowly, the terror and horror in his heart really did begin to lessen.

  In fact, much the opposite; in just a short period of time, Linley felt as though his blood was beginning to surge.

  “That battle really is incredibly fierce. It really is exciting.” For some reason, that bloody battle just then made Linley’s blood boil with excitement, filling his heart with desire – a desire to battle and kill!

  “Is it because of the Dragonblood in my veins?” Linley didn’t know.

  But Linley suddenly discovered that he was actually very eager to participate in these bloody struggles. Linley immediately stepped to the side, bypassing Hillman’s protective arm, and continued to watch the battle which was still going on a hundred meters away.

  “Linley, don’t watch.” Hillman saw that Linley was intending to continue watching, and was shocked.

  “Uncle Hillman, I’m not afraid.” Linley turned his head to glance at Hillman.

  Hillman suddenly noticed a red gleam of excitement in Linley’s pupils. Surprised, he no longer tried to prevent Linley from watching. As Linley continued to watch the battle from afar, he saw that it was reaching an even bloodier climax.

  “ROAR!” With a howl, the Velocidragon turned its head and bit down towards a warrior, while its huge claws swept towards another one. Its lightning-fast, whip-like tail, as well, struck out, aiming at the third warrior.

  The warriors were pressed to the point of abandoning their assaults and instead retreating.

  The mysterious magus on the back of the Velocidragon still hadn’t moved. He let the Velocidragon deal with the threats as his lips continued to mumble.