EFB Chapter 8 Crisis
Chapter 8 Crisis
"You lowly bastards, you maggots with hooves, I will burn you all to ashes!!"
…………
A furious roar echoed through the cave, waking the sleeping Thor.
He suddenly opened his eyes, flipped over and sprang up from the ground, his limbs gripping the ground tightly, his spine arched like a cat's, and he raised his flexible neck to cautiously look around.
What came into view was still that familiar cave, but the entrance was now ablaze with flames, accompanied by violent banging and the roars of the Dragon Mother.
"What happened? Why is Daenerys so angry?"
A strong sense of curiosity rose within Thor, but reason prevented him from making any rash moves. Instead of going to investigate, he tried to shrink into a corner, afraid of attracting the attention of the enraged red dragon.
In another corner not far away, Sistana and Kalp were also curled up, like two red stones, not daring to move.
There's a saying that goes something like this: for a dragon, half the dangers of growing up actually come from its own parents.
If it were an older dragon, he might be able to control his emotions, but Thor dared not gamble on what a young red dragon like this, who had just entered adolescence, might do.
After a long while, Chiliel finally vented her anger, dragged her heavy steps into an open area in the cave, lay down on the ground, and fell into a deep sleep.
Only then did Thor cautiously crawl out from the corner, his pale golden vertical pupils flashing, as he turned to look at Daenerys Targaryen.
On the 17-meter-long behemoth, many of the bright red, metallic scales were damaged, and there were circular holes scattered on its wide wings. There was also a fist-sized pit on its left abdomen.
Even with its formidable physique, the true dragon was not fully healed at this moment. Sometimes, heavy blood, like magma, would seep out and burst into flames before it even hit the ground.
Daenerys Targaryen was indeed injured, and it looked like she was seriously injured.
What kind of creature could possibly hurt her?
It's important to know that young red dragons generally have a challenge level of 13 or higher, which means that a full team of adventurers, all of whom are at least level 13, is needed to have any chance of defeating them.
What does a level 13 adventurer mean? Weapon Master, Grand Knight, Master of Deception, High-Rank Mage... and so on, they are all high-level professionals.
Even with such a full-strength squad, victory is only a possibility, not a guarantee.
Thor calmly withdrew his gaze and slowly crawled towards the cave entrance. The elastic pads on his feet allowed him to land silently like a cat.
Upon arriving at the protruding platform at the cave entrance, the first thing that catches the eye is a series of shallow craters and shattered rocks.
The ground was covered with large patches of charred black, and in some places there were even traces of melting. Several wooden poles of different lengths were scattered haphazardly on the ground.
Thor stretched out his paw and rummaged through the ashes, prying out some half-melted arrowheads and examining them closely.
"Bows and arrows, and perhaps javelins, plus maggots with long hooves..."
Thoughts flashed through his mind like sparks, and Thor felt as if he had guessed the truth.
What race in the wilderness is the most skilled archer, wielding longbows and heavy arrows? The answer is the centaur.
There might be a centaur settlement near these hills, and Daenerys's hunting grounds clearly overlap with theirs.
After all, Thor had also found a heavy arrow on the wild boar he had brought back earlier, which was likely the prey of the centaur he had stolen.
Centaur: A creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse.
They are generally seven feet tall, over eight feet long, and weigh an astonishing 2000 pounds, close to a ton.
Since internal organs such as the heart and lungs are housed in a horse-shaped body, the upper body of a human-shaped body, except for the esophagus and trachea, is almost entirely composed of well-developed muscles in the chest and abdomen.
This gave them even greater strength and explosive power to their already larger and more robust human bodies, allowing them to easily draw a longbow weighing over 100 pounds and shoot heavy arrows comparable to small spears.
The lower body of horses endows them with powerful high-speed movement and charging speed, making them natural-born heavy cavalry.
Even without any training, adult centaurs possess a challenge level of up to 3, comparable to that of a seasoned adventurer.
Large centaur settlements are home to many advanced beings, and even adult dragons would not easily provoke them.
…………
"Damn it! Could it be that my cheap mother has brought the centaurs back?"
"Then she can just flap her wings and fly away, but what am I supposed to do?"
This speculation gave Saul a sense of urgent crisis.
He thought Daenerys was just irresponsible, and that at worst he would live a hard life but he could get through it. He never expected that she was such a deep pit.
"No! I must prepare early; I can't wait until a crisis hits before I think of a solution."
Thoughts flashed wildly through his mind, making Thor's expression momentarily uncertain.
He had considered leaving these muddy hills.
However, the fledgling dragon, which has only been hatched for less than a month, is not only weak, but its wings are also not fully developed, making it unable to fly long distances.
The true dragon's flesh and blood can be used as precious magical materials. Running around in the wilderness on four legs is like a child carrying gold through a bustling city, especially in the free country of Amelia.
While staying near these rocky hills might not provide the Dragon Queen with protection, her fierce aura could still deter some of the more aggressive predators, offering a degree of safety.
…………
"Don't panic! Don't panic! Daenerys might not lure the centaurs here, and maybe those arrows weren't even left by the centaurs."
Before everything is completely confirmed, we must not panic; we must remain calm!
Thor shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the jumbled thoughts.
He crouched in the shadows at the cave entrance, his pale golden eyes gazing at the boundless plains outside, and began to calmly consider how to proceed.
First and foremost, regardless of the circumstances, improving one's own abilities should always be the top priority.
Although a true dragon's strength will continue to increase over time even if it does nothing, it will definitely grow faster if it actively trains.
Thor had stayed in the cave without moving because he was hungry.
The amount of food we eat every day is barely enough to support our growth and development, let alone provide the extra energy for high-intensity exercise.
However, the appearance of the dragon crystal made up for this deficiency. At this moment, the piece in his stomach is still continuously releasing active life energy, constantly making up for the previous deficit.
"It seems I can't just randomly draw from the source anymore. I need to exchange all my spiritual essence for dragon crystals to accelerate my physical growth."
If there are any left over, save them first and then extract a biological template.
"As long as you draw the right creature, regardless of combat power, your survivability will definitely be greatly improved."