Reincarnated as a blue dragon, he collided head-on with a wizarding civilization.

After the battle with the dragonborn kobolds ended, it was already evening.

The sun had sunk below the horizon, leaving only a dark red afterglow on the sky.

The grayish-white rocks of the rocky hill gradually blurred in the twilight, their outlines softening. The luminous moss in the crevices of the rocks began to glow, patches of pale green light, like countless eyes opening deep within the earth.

Shark White picked up a pickaxe from the kobold's pile of spoils, placed it across his knees, and tapped the metal of the pickaxe with his claws, making a crisp, ringing sound.

It looked up at the dark red sky, its vertical pupils reflecting the twilight, its tail swaying slowly behind it.

"Speaking of which..."

It suddenly spoke, its voice carrying a casual anticipation.

"When should we contact the dragon instructors?"

Motu was looking through the fur map when he heard this and looked up at it.

"Now both of us have reached the first tier of strength."

The white shark counted them by their claws.

"According to the rules taught by the Dragon Instructor, once the Mud Seed advances to the next level, it is eligible to apply to leave the breeding farm."

"Let's go and report to them, go through the procedures, and then we can go check out the Dragon's Nest."

Its tail swung faster, slapping against the rocks with a loud cracking sound.

"What's it like outside? What's the dragon's nest like? Aren't you curious?"

Motu rolled up the map again and tucked it into the gap between the scales.

He did not answer immediately, but nodded and pondered for a moment.

Shark White is right. According to the rules of the Dragon's Nest, the Mud Seed can indeed apply to leave after advancing to the first tier.

He and Shark White are both now at level one, and theoretically they are qualified to go through the formalities.

But he glanced at the panel in his mind.

[Bloodline Evolution]: Kill a Tier 1 Dragon-type magical beast and absorb its bloodline essence. Reward: Bloodline concentration increased by 5%-8% (depending on the quality of the target).

The panel shows that the Blue Dragon's current bloodline concentration is 21.4%, which is still far from 60%.

But if you can get 8%, that's 29.4%. This number may not seem like much in percentage terms, but in the accumulation of blood concentration, each increase is a qualitative leap.

"Let's finish this last trip," Motu said.

Shark White tilted his head: "What, the last trip?"

"That wounded red dragon. It is my last request."

Shark White's vertical pupils blinked, the three layers of serrated edges closing and opening again.

It thought for a moment, tilted its head, and asked, "Why do you have to go looking for trouble with it? Did it offend you?"

"No," Motu said.

"Why?"

Motu was silent for a moment.

He can't talk about the cheat code.

In this world, the existence of a cheat ability (or similar ability) would absolutely cause enormous and catastrophic trouble if it were exposed.

"I have a feeling."

Blue Dragon used a different approach, carefully choosing his words.

Sha Bai was stunned.

"If I absorb the crystal core of that first-tier dragon bloodline, my bloodline concentration can be further improved."

Motu spoke calmly and confidently, as if stating a fact that had already been confirmed.

"I can't quite put my finger on it, it's just a feeling, something inexplicable."

Shark White's vertical pupils widened, and its three-layered serrations slightly opened, revealing the jagged tips of its teeth.

It stared at Motu for several seconds, its Adam's apple bobbing.

"...This works?"

Motu offered no explanation.

Sha Bai stared at him for a few more seconds, then slowly, little by little, grinned.

It tilted its head and thought for a moment, the confusion in its vertical pupils gradually turning into something akin to relief.

"I took a nap in the river, and my bloodline was awakened."

It said this with a tone of detached wisdom, as if it had been there before.

"You said you had a goal, which is much more reliable than mine. I was just sleepy, so I lay down on the bottom of a river, and when I woke up I found my blood was thicker than mine. Where can you even begin to reason with that?"

It scratched its head, the scales making a soft rubbing sound under its claws.

"Alright. Anyway, there really are gods in this world. Maybe it's Lady Tiamat, the mother of the five-colored dragons, exerting her power from countless dimensions?"

As it spoke, it started laughing, its three-layered serrated grin stretching to its ears.

"I suspected that she had turned over while dozing off and accidentally let a breath of hers onto me."

Your premonition might also be a divine guidance from her!

Motu did not respond.

Some things don't need explanation.

Shark White has already given the most reasonable reason.

Gods truly exist in this world, and the Blood Moon is a god who has been imprisoned.

Since God exists, why can't we believe in things like "premonitions"?

"After finishing this trip,"

Motu promised, "We'll go through the proper procedures to leave the Dark Forest."

Upon hearing this, Shark White's three-layered serrated teeth fully opened, revealing a set of jagged, sharp teeth. His vertical pupils reflected the twilight, shining like two lamps.

"It's a promise!"

Its tail swished loudly, sending pebbles flying.

"No more delays!"

"It's settled."

"Okay!"

Shark White slung the pickaxe back onto his back, leaped off the rock, landed on all fours, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Let's go, let's go back to our little nest tonight and rest for a while. Tomorrow we'll study the map left by that kobold and figure out how to get around."

Motu put away the map and then jumped off the rock.

The two dragons, one in front and one behind, headed towards the cave that had originally been located by the river.

Behind me, the glowing moss on the rocky hill grew brighter and brighter in the twilight, patches of pale green light like a starry sky sinking into the earth.

--------

The next day, in a cave by the river, Motu unfolded a map made of animal hide, and Shark White came over to look at it.

The tattered fur coat lay on the rock, its lines drawn with charcoal, crooked and uneven, like a flattened earthworm.

A circle was drawn around the location of the rocky hill, next to which was a crooked paw print.

Extending from the paw prints, a winding line passes through an area marked "Dead Forest," ending at a semi-circular cave with a skull drawn next to it.

"Do you know the way?" Shark asked.

"perhaps."

Motu silently memorized the information on the map, then rolled it up, tucked it into the gaps in the scales, and said to the white dragon,

"Let's go."

The two dragons got up and headed north, following the map's directions.

The further north you go, the sparser the trees and the more barren the ground becomes, as you approach the areas marked on the map.

The soil beneath my feet changed from dark brown to grayish-yellow, then from grayish-yellow to grayish-white, as if something had drained all the nutrients from the land.

The dead tree trunks, like pale bone spurs, stretched out from the cracked earth, pointing towards the gray sky.

The bark of these trees had long since peeled away, and the exposed heartwood had cracked into countless fine fissures under the wind and sun.

The ground was covered with a layer of grayish-white moss, soft and thick, which felt soft and slippery underfoot and made no sound.

Not only that, there were no insects chirping, no birds singing, and not even a breeze.

The entire grove of dead trees was as quiet as a tomb.

Shark White walked in front, the pickaxe bouncing on his back with each step.

It took a few steps, then suddenly lowered its voice and scanned left and right with its vertical pupils: "This place... why is it so creepy?"

Motu did not answer.

His vertical pupils scanned his surroundings, his nostrils flaring slightly as he caught every breath in the air.

The rotten smell of dead wood, the damp smell of moss, and the fishy smell of soil.

And, a faint, distant smell of sulfur.

That's the smell of dragon's blood.

It's faint, but it's definitely there.

"What do you think that red dragon looks like?"

To ease the oppressive atmosphere, Shark White took the initiative to speak, muttering to himself, but his voice was very low.

"Is it like someone whose whole body is on fire? Like someone who can breathe out a sea of ​​flames?"

"A first-tier red dragon cannot spew out a sea of ​​fire."

Motu's expression remained calm. "It's good enough that he can breathe fire."

"That's scary enough. Neither of us has dragon breath."

As Sha Bai spoke, he added,

"It's injured, so it shouldn't be too hard to beat, right?"

"Whether it's difficult or not, you'll only know after you fight it."

"Can't you at least try to comfort me? Say something like 'It's okay' or 'Relax'?"

"cannot."

Shark White muttered something, then continued talking to himself:

"Why did it get injured? Was it attacked by another magical beast? Or by a wizard—"

Its words came to an abrupt end.

The ground is shaking.

It wasn't a violent, sudden tremor, but a slow, rhythmic vibration, as if some enormous creature was walking in the distance, and the earth shook with each step it took.

The white shark stopped, its scales slightly raised, and the ease in its vertical pupils vanished instantly, replaced by alertness.

Its tail no longer swung, but dragged stiffly behind it, with the tip slightly curled.

"What's that noise?" it asked, its voice barely audible.

Motu remained silent. His body slumped slightly, lowering his center of gravity, his vertical pupils fixed on the direction from which the tremor was coming.

To the north, deeper into the dead forest.