Atlantia Continent, Sel Wilderness.
A black-feathered, red-beaked eagle flapped its wings as it flew across the sky, passing through lush forests, over the crystal-clear green lake, and endless wilderness, gently slowing down in the process, and finally landing on a jagged cliff, preening its feathers while peering down below.
This place was like a huge circular crater, seemingly struck by a meteor.
The central area had forests and rivers, surrounded by steep and jutting cliffs.
The black feathered eagle tilted its head, puzzled by the sight reflected in its view— at the bottom of the crater was a creature constantly ramming its body against the mountain rocks with all its might.
From head to tail, the creature was about six meters long, possessing scales, horns, wings, and a long tail— unmistakably a young dragon, though its appearance was quite unique, not resembling common types.
Its head was similar to a red dragon, equipped with swept-back dragon horns typical of a red dragon, but different in that the base of the horns was encased in shovel-shaped metal bones, forming a structure akin to the angles of a knight's helmet.
The dragon's scales were layered in tiers, with a silver sheen against a black background, marked with subtle patterns that gleamed with a lava-like dark red glow flowing across a metal plate, giving off a sharp gleam at the edges, refracting an obsidian-like cold light as they moved with its breath, possessing an overall strong metallic texture.
Despite being a young dragon, it carried a sense of might and robustness far surpassing ordinary beasts, having especially strong limbs, wings, and tail.
Thump!
With wings broader than those of ordinary young dragons, Galos swung to accelerate, crashing into the bottom of the cliff before him, sending debris flying, followed by swirling dust.
He shook his head, pulling his head and the front half of his body from the rocks.
Galos shook off his dragon scales, flicking away the small stones stuck in the crevices and the dust adhered to the surface, then stopped his puzzling mountain-climbing antics seen by the black feathered eagle, and rested by the large hole he had just rammed out.
"It's been unknowingly six years since I became part of the Dragon Race."
Galos silently mused in his heart, looking down at his dragon claw, opening and clenching it repeatedly.
He, or rather, he wasn't of the ordinary Dragon Race.
First of all, he was a hybrid of red dragon and Iron Dragon, apparent from his distinctive appearance.
Although red Iron Dragon hybrids are rare, they are within the realm of normalcy.
Red dragons and Iron Dragons are quintessential Evil Dragons, all of which uphold the values of strength and power.
One is the leader of the Five-Colored Dragons, while the other is the head of the Iron Dragons.
Although typically, these two types of dragons have fierce competition, often displeasing each other and erupting into fights upon encounter, as dragons that equally respect strength, a battle could turn into a courtship, sparking passion— it's not impossible.
The reason for normalcy being claimed lies primarily in the fact that within this body of a young red Iron Dragon, there lies a human soul transmigrated from another world.
Yes, Galos is a transmigrator.
He couldn't fathom why he transmigrated, nor did he ponder it much, as there was no point, especially since the dragon's body was far mightier than a human's, and Galos, reborn anew, had long accepted the reality of becoming part of the Dragon Race.
After being influenced by the Dragon's Legacy, living six years as part of the Dragon Race.
His human soul and dragon nature now merged, inseparable, forming a personality that primarily embraced dragon nature, enjoyed pursuing strength and power, yet possessing human logical wisdom as well; he had the resilience and mightiness of dragons yet lacked excessive arrogance and conceit, or a pathological obsession with treasure that often manifested as negative traits.
In summary, he absorbed the essence, discarding the impurities.
Raising his dragon claw, Galos carefully stroked the head he had pounded against the mountain for a long time.
The texture of the fine scales on the face armor and the dragon horns on the head seemed more solid upon touching.
"Though not very noticeable, my body certainly grew a bit stronger."
The young dragon nodded contentedly, swaying his tail laden with knife-like dragon scales, carving dense scratches into the ground.
Over the six years, Galos continuously studied his dragon body.
Aside from the inherent divine traits of the dragon body, he was pleasantly surprised to discover— perhaps due to his hybrid red Iron blood and his human soul— a wondrous, unknown reaction occurred, granting him an innate talent greater than other dragons.
— Adaptive Evolution.
This talent wasn't obvious; the initial effect was minimal and unnoticeable, with Galos being unaware for the first two years he possessed such talent.
Even now, it's limited; requiring day-to-day accumulation of numerous exercises and adaptability before acquiring effective evolution, and the extent isn't large, demanding equivalent consumption in food for energy replenishment.
Over several years, it only made Galos' physique considerably stronger than normal young dragons, giving his scale armor a metallic quality already.
However.
With Galos' usage and advancing age, this talent itself also grows and evolves, with every year's effect surpassing the last— the limit is yet unknown.
As it's widely known, all evolution-related talents are hugely advantageous, filling Galos with hope for his future.
"With the Dragon Race's long lifespan, perpetually growing stronger as age increases, coupled with my adaptive evolution talent, one day, I can evolve and enhance myself to an unimaginable level."
Galos happily contemplated.
Turning his head to glance at the thick cliff, the robust young dragon extended his limbs, creating distance before repeatedly crashing against it, sending dust up and debris scattering.
The beautiful future was merely a fantasy for now.
As for the present...... it's still time to continue mountain climbing.
This was one of Galos' daily training methods.
Other methods included, but were not limited to, soaring into the sky before free-falling down, jumping into a bonfire to roast himself, having the Iron Dragon Lady whip him with her tail, holding his breath relentlessly underwater trying to suffocate himself, and so forth.
Time flowed by slowly.
The sun gradually leaned west, finally engulfed in the embrace of distant mountains.
The night sky, adorned with countless stars, descended, with one full and one crescent moon simultaneously radiating bright moonlight, making the world in the dark not appear gloomy.
After mountain climbing training ended.
Galos left the noticeably collapsed and sunken crater he had created.
Such craters were many in number around the area, all Galos' handiwork.
The arrival of Galos by the mirror-like clear lake scared away numerous birds and beasts.
He wasn't bothered, drinking copiously as he pleased, afterward raising his head to gaze at the twin moons.
Among these two moons, one undergoes phases and changes with the sky, while the other remains eternally a round jade disc, unchanging— the 'false moon.'
The false moon is actually an outer-magic fortress constructed by the Elf Empire in Naoxir.
Besides this false moon.
There are numerous twinkling stars that appear no different from others but are, in reality, various 'satellites' crafted by the numerous empires through magical means.