Linley had a feeling…
Whatever strange factor was causing the elemental essence in this valley to be so much higher than normal, must have come from the eastern side of the valley.
Linley continued heading east, making his way through the dense grass. With the assistance of the supportive wind-style spell Supersonic, Linley was able to move at a very fast speed. A seventh-level magus using the Supersonic spell was capable of allowing someone to move three times faster than normal!
Three times Linley’s normal speed as a warrior of the fourth rank.
“Whoosh. Whoosh!”
Linley quickly scurried from one hiding spot to another, dodging one magical beast after the other. Fortunately, aside from that area which had an abundance of pegasi, the rest of the valley was filled with abundant grass, tall enough to hide Linley within it.
“From the point where I entered the gorge until now, I’ve perhaps gone almost a hundred kilometers east.”
Linley was very astonished.
The entire Mountain Range of Magical Beasts was around a thousand kilometers or so wide, so for a valley to be over a hundred kilometers long was very astonishing. Based on the distance he had travelled, Linley should have begun to draw very near to the core regions of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
“Hey, Boss. There’s very few magical beasts here.” Perched on Linley’s shoulders, Bebe was constantly scanning in all directions as well.
Linley nodded.
In an area around them with a radius of several kilometers, only two magical beasts could be seen. It was very strange for the density of magical beasts to be so low here. The two magical beasts present were both gigantic Velocidragons. Most importantly… these two Velocidragons were both resting on the ground, apparently asleep.
“Just two Velocidragons, and sleeping besides.” Linley laughed in a self-mocking way. “This section will probably be the easiest section to traverse ever since I got in here. But I must say, these two Velocidragons are rather different compared to your average Velocidragon.”
Linley noticed that these Velocidragons’ bodies were even larger than that of most Velocidragons. Because they were lying down, it was hard to be certain, but these two Velocidragons, even while lying down, were almost as tall as most Velocidragons were while standing up. In addition, their body length was double that of an ordinary Velocidragon.
While lying down on the ground, those two large Velocidragons looked very much like two small mountains.
In order to be extra cautious, Linley went so far as to carefully pass the two large Velocidragons via a patch of grass that was over twenty meters away from them. But Linley didn’t notice that when he passed through the grass, making a soft ‘swishing’ sound, the ears of the two Velocidragons twitched, even though their eyes remained closed and they didn’t move.
When traveling through grass, there would of course be some noise.
But Linley didn’t pay too much heed to that, because as Linley saw it, even the wind blowing through the grass would cause some swishing sounds. It would only just be a bit quieter than the sound of a person traveling through the grass, was all. Linley had crept through the grass for so long now without any trouble.
“Swish!”
A sudden blur sliced through the air and smashed directly towards Linley. Linley, even while boosted by the Supersonic technique, was only able to just barely stop in time.
“Whack!”
A long dragon tail, as fast and as flexible as an iron whip, heavily struck the ground right in front of Linley, perhaps just half a meter in front of him. The earth itself split apart from that blow, as a meter-wide crevice appeared in the ground. Linley hurriedly exerted force with his legs and began to run.
“I’ve been discovered.” Linley’s heart shuddered.
“Growl!” “Growl….”
Two roars in succession. The two Velocidragons that had been sleeping suddenly both rose to stand up. Both of them were four stories tall, and their body length alone was around forty meters, with their tails making up another forty meters in length. Their size was absolutely astonishing.
“They are so huge! These must be elites amongst the Velocidragon race. Most likely magical beasts of the eighth rank.” Linley’s heart trembled.
These were the first magical beasts of the eighth rank which Linley had met here in the valley. As a magus of the seventh rank now, Linley had confidence to tussle with even magical beasts of the seventh rank. But upon encountering a magical beast of the eighth rank, he didn’t even dare to entertain the thought of fighting, because at the higher ranks, the differences in power for each rank grew even more pronounced.
Just from the value of their magicite cores, one could tell.
A magicite core of the sixth rank was worth about 1000 gold coins.
But a magicite core of the seventh rank could be worth up to 50,000 gold coins! The gap between the sixth and the seventh ranks was thus easily imagined.
A magicite core of the eighth rank? The price could reach up to 500,000 gold coins!
As for a magicite core of the ninth rank? The value was an astonishing 5,000,000 gold coins!
“These were just the general estimates based on the books in the libraries. In reality, the magicite cores of some particularly large and powerful magical beasts are extremely rare, and thus even more valuable. Often, you won’t even be able to find them on the market.”
A magical beast of the eighth rank was far more powerful than a magical beast of the seventh rank.
“Growl.” “Growl!”
The two Velocidragons of the eighth rank exchanged glances. A look of amusement actually appeared in their eyes, and then they turned, charging at Linley at high speed.
The intelligence of a magical beast of the eighth rank was definitely no less than that of any human being.
“Whoosh!” At maximum speed, Linley began to frantically run eastwards while immediately beginning to chant the words to the wind-style Soaring Technique spell. But since it was a magical spell of the seventh rank, the incantation was quite complex as well, and thus took quite a bit of time to perform.
At this point in time, Bebe didn’t dare to try and show off either.
He could defeat a Velocidragon of the seventh rank, but a Velocidragon of the eighth rank? Just based on their size alone, which was a full size larger than ordinary Velocidragons, Bebe knew very well that his teeth might not even be able to bite through the scales and reach their flesh.
Their huge size signified that they had thick scales as well. Each scale of these Velocidragons of the eighth rank was more than half a meter thick, and beneath that was an even thicker layer of muscles.
To injure them was an extremely difficult proposition.
Possessing the speed of a warrior of the fourth rank boosted by the Supersonic supportive spell, Linley’s traveling speed was still somewhat faster than the rather slow Velocidragons. These huge creatures were rather slow and lumbering, but each step they took covered a large amount of distance. Each step of theirs covered as much distance as ten of Linley’s.
Most importantly…
The iron-whip-like tails of these Velocidragons of the eighth rank. Possessing the speed of lightning, they were even faster than the tails of Velocidragons of the seventh rank. With a flash and a flicker, they could move dozens of meters, and were approximately on the same level as Bebe’s own speed.
The earth shook as those two huge, ponderous creatures continued to chase after Linley. Every so often, the two of them would exchange a strange look with each other.
“Whooosh!”
Linley suddenly flew into the sky. He had finally completed the incantation for the Soaring Technique.
“I’m finally safe.” Linley quickly flew higher. Seeing the two enormous Velocidragons beneath him, Linley finally let out a sigh of relief. “These two Velocidragons of the eighth rank were really sinister. They intentionally feigned sleep in order to lure me in.”
&n
bsp; Actually, what Linley didn’t realize was that the two Velocidragons were not baiting him in at all, earlier.
But these two Velocidragons of the eighth rank were extremely sensitive to their surroundings. They were very used to the sound of the wind rustling through the grass. When they heard the frequency of the rustling suddenly change, of course they would immediately become suspicious.
“Growl…”
The two Velocidragons of the eighth rank watched as Linley flew away. They didn’t appear angry in the slightest. Instead, they raised their heads high and roared. That roaring sound seemed almost… happy.
Linley was able to differentiate between a roar of rage, and a roar of pleasure.
“Growl…” “Growl…” “Growl…” “Growl…”
Suddenly, the air above Linley was split with draconic roars as well, one draconic roar following the other. Just from the number of roars, one could tell that there was an extremely large number of magical beasts present.
“They’re above me.” Halting in mid-air, Linley looked up, startled. From within the white, foggy mists, one enormous draconic beast after another began to emerge, every single one of them around seventy or eighty meters long, and with an enormous wingspan of around fifty or sixty meters long as well.
Multiple huge, draconic figures hovered there in the white mist. Linley couldn’t tell at a glance how many there were.
“At least a few dozen.” Linley felt as though he couldn’t breathe.
One enormous flying draconic beast after another descended from the skies. Their flame-colored scales were very resplendent, and flames seemed to flicker around their entire bodies.
“Fire Dragons!” Linley knew that the situation had just become catastrophic.
Fire Dragons were considered middle-class dragon-type beasts. Most Fire Dragons were magical beasts of the eighth rank, while elite members of the race could reach the ninth rank in power.
“Two magical beasts of the eighth rank were able to give me so much trouble for so long. Now, I’m dealing with ten that can fly.” Linley felt extremely miserable right now.
And right at that moment….
“Growl…” “Growl!”
Another series of roars began to emanate from a different direction. And then, one flying creature after another, each approximately the same size as a Fire Dragon, began to spread their massive wings and fly in his direction. These enormous, flying draconic beasts had dark green scales that were as clear as jasper.
These flying draconic beasts with green jasper scales were not the slightest bit fewer in number when compared to the Fire Dragons.
The two Velocidragons of the eighth rank below Linley began to roar in amusement as well, their eyes filled with a sinister maliciousness.
“Now I know why when I entered this area, I only saw the Velocidragons of the eighth rank and didn’t see anything else.” Linley felt miserable. “Most likely, only magical beasts of the eighth rank are permitted to reside in this area. Magical beasts of the seventh rank don’t dare to enter. These Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons are all pack-type draconic beasts of the eighth rank. Most likely, these two Velocidragons were just toying with me this entire time. When they saw I was about to fly away and escape, they immediately roared out to have the Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons come as well.”
Over a hundred massive flying dragons were circling above him in the sky. Only now did Linley realize what was going on.
But by now, the way out through the skies was forbidden to him!
“Boss, what are we gonna do?” Bebe’s pitiful voice rang out in the back of Linley’s mind.
56
The Gloomy Depths
His head raised, Linley watched the more than one hundred dragons circle above him. The flames surrounding the Fire Dragons raised the temperature around them, while those jasper-scaled Emerald Dragons seemed to emanate a soul-chilling aura.
An amalgamation of opposites, frost and flame!
Beneath Linley, those two enormous Velocidragons were watching him with amusement. Right now Linley, who was seventy to eighty meters above the ground, had nowhere to flee. At the same time, those hovering, circling dragons also watched Linley with amusement.
The intelligence of a magical beast of the eighth rank was definitely not inferior to that of a human. Linley knew all too well that to these countless flying dragons, he was like nothing more than an ant. His opponents weren’t at all concerned with whether he lived or died, only… whether or not he could provide them with a bit of amusement.
A game!
Just like how humans might like to play with ants. When they were bored, they would crush him to death.
“Bebe, I don’t want to be an ant.” Linley glanced at Bebe. “Get ready to run.”
“Swish!”
Linley’s body shot downwards, allowing his natural body weight to combine with the Supersonic spell to rocket him forward towards the ground, and then, just before hitting the ground, he brought his body to a sudden halt. This sort of sudden change from high speed to a halt disrupted the flow of blood in his body, causing him so much pain that he spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Good thing I’m not just a magus, I’m also a warrior of the fourth rank and my body can take it.”
Right now, there were two enormous Velocidragons behind him, while above him there were over a hundred giant flying dragons. He didn’t have the time to care about anything else. Linley immediately began charging towards the empty wasteland in front.
“Roar…” The two Velocidragons began to roar.
“Roar!” “Roar!” “Roar!”
Over a hundred dragons swooped down from the skies. The Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons were roaring, and the two giant Velocidragons began chasing after Linley, the earth shaking with each step. The more than one hundred dragons were also swooping towards Linley, causing the sky to darken as they blotted out the sun.
A single dragon was already enormous, to say nothing of a hundred. They completely covered the sky with their mass. And then, the dozens of dragons all opened their giant maws and began blasting giant balls of flame at Linley.
“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”
One giant fireball after another, each the size of Linley or larger, began smashing down from the heavens. The ‘fireballs’ generated by the Fire Dragons were not like ordinary balls of flame; they contained within them a mixture of magic as well as the innate dragonflame which all Fire Dragons held within them. Their temperature was so high that even the tough scales of Velocidragons of the seventh rank would most likely crack from the heat.
“Boom!”
A particularly large fireball just barely brushed past Linley. The fleeing Linley instantly could smell the odor of burning hair.
“Boss, your hair got burnt.” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.
Linley himself knew very well that his hair hadn’t actually been touched by that ball of fire. It was just that the temperatures the fireballs generated were way too high.
Just by passing by him, the temperature had been raised high enough that his hair had been burnt. Like an agile little monkey, Linley began to run about in unpredictable patterns, constantly dodging those fireballs.
Those Fire Dragons also didn’t just charge forward to kill him. They were just playing around, using fireballs to toy with Linley.
“The difference in power is too great. Even though I’m a dual-element magus of the seventh rank, when facing a magical beast of the eighth rank, I would definitely be destroyed.” Linley could sense how terrifyingly hot those fireballs were, and yet those Fire Dragons could casually blast them out from their mouths, one after the other.
Fortunately, the Fire Dragons weren’t actually trying to kill him as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, Linley felt a cold aura. His body, which had just begun adjusting to the heat, suddenly clenched with the cold.
“Swish!” A translucent, faintly green spear passed by Linley,
and then shattered, releasing a terrible, cold aura that forced Linley to instantly and quickly dodge away.
In the skies above, those dozens of Emerald Dragons had also opened their maws and begun vomiting frozen arrows at Linley. To the enormous Emerald Dragons, these projectiles were perhaps just arrows, but to the comparatively small Linley, these three-meter long projectiles were not arrows; they were terrifying frozen spears.
With balls of flame and spears of ice raining down on him from the skies, Linley had to use all of his wits to constantly dodge and dart about in all directions.
It was exhausting!
Linley was feeling mentally exhausted. His mental energy was being worn down to the point of exhaustion. For a short period of time, this level of energy expenditure was fine, but in the long run, he would definitely suffer from mental exhaustion. Linley also had to expend enormous amounts of physical energy in sprinting around so frantically.
“Boom!” A ball of fire clipped Linley on his left shoulder.
A shattering sound could be heard as the Earthguard jadestone armor covering Linley began to splinter and crack. Earth elemental essence began to swirl about the armor, attempting to repair the damage.
“The attack power is terrifying. If struck head on, I expect my jadestone armor will only be able to take one blow.” Faced with certain death, Linley’s latent potential seemed to explode, and he once more upped his speed as he ran about and dodged wildly.
Even Linley himself was amazed at his dodging abilities.
This really was Linley at his absolute peak performance. But unfortunately, even at his peak, there was no chance of success when faced with over a hundred dragons.
“Roar!” “Roar!”
The hundred plus Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons in the sky watched Linley with amusement. Seeing him constantly dodge, they felt more and more interested in him. Even the two Velocidragons chasing after Linley would occasionally wave their tails to threaten him.
Coiling Dragon_Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 49