Warm Dragon

Chapter 2: Fluorescent Castle

Sir Ross was a dragon, but not a real dragon. He was a wyvern, a clay dragon to be exact.

This did not mean that he was made of clay, but rather that he could produce clay.

But not in the way you might think. It was the land where he resided, his dragon breath and blood seeping into the earth that over time gave birth to clay deposits, a type of metal ore.

“Clay… metal?”

At first, Russell was puzzled as well, but in the human understanding of this world, clay was indeed a metal – a metal that could become incredibly hard through sintering.

Clay Dragon Ross had been bound by the first Dusklight Baron and had guarded the Fluorescent Mushroom Family for over sixty years.

Near the Dusklight River Valley, three clay ore veins had gradually formed, producing a steady stream of clay. The family would then sinter this clay into various exquisite ceramics, which were sold throughout the entire Shadowflame Grand Duchy and even beyond its borders.

At the same time, Clay Dragon Ross was the most powerful combatant in the area. Several times when snow demons invaded, it was only thanks to Ross’s dragon breath that they were repelled.

Without the dragon, the baronial family would have no foothold in Dusklight River Valley.

Fortunately, wyverns had a long lifespan, typically living for three to five hundred years, and Clay Dragon Ross was currently less than seventy years old. He could protect the Fluorescent Mushroom family for several generations, perhaps even a dozen.

“Binding Sir Ross is probably impossible.” On the way back to Fluorescent Castle, Russell had completely abandoned this idea.

It wasn’t that he lacked greed or didn’t want to become a dragon knight – after all, a wyvern knight was still a dragon knight.

Nor was it because he was modest, thinking that his older brother Roland, the future Baron and head of the family, should be the one to bind Clay Dragon Ross.

It was because his status as a transmigrator might have been detected by Ross.

“Dragons have such keen intuition… If it weren’t for the fact that Sir Ross can’t speak, I would have been in grave danger”. Recalling the moment he first crossed over, Russell felt a shiver of fear.

At the time, he was eating a Magnum ice cream and crossing the road when he was unexpectedly run over, like an assassin, by a fully loaded dump truck.

His consciousness darkened, and he awoke in this body.

His predecessor was a bit of a failure. He started practicing martial energy according to the Martial Energy Cultivation Manual at the age of seven, and he was only able to cultivate the seed of martial energy at the age of ten. As his coming of age ceremony approached, the seed of martial energy had yet to bloom into true martial energy.

Determined, he forced the seed to bloom, leading to a catastrophic failure and his death.

However, thanks to his predecessor’s desperate attempt, the seed of Martial Arts Energy successfully bloomed. When Russell’s soul merged with his body, he didn’t have to go through that ordeal and immediately possessed the Martial Arts Energy he had always desired, becoming a qualified knight.

But.

The moment he stepped outside, he was noticed by Sir Ross, who was perched on the tower of Fluorescent Castle. Through a window, those huge dragon eyes, bigger than a cow’s, stared at him for a full fifteen minutes.

Russell had no doubt that without the blood contract, Sir Ross would have immediately unleashed a dragon breath that would have turned him to ashes.

Bound by the contract, Sir Ross ultimately did not harm him, but his attitude toward Russell took a sharp turn for the worse.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Russell immediately decided to stay away from Sir Ross. Fortunately, his father, Baron Roman, had enfeoffed him as a knight at his coming of age ceremony, granting him his own fief. From then on, he would focus on developing his fief.

“As the second son of a baron, I will uphold noble virtues and leave the opportunity to grow close to Sir Ross to my older brother, the first in line to inherit the barony.”

The three riders parted ways at a fork in the road in the city.

“Teacher Charles, Teacher Eric, goodbye.” Russell waved his hand.

The fork in the road split into two paths, one leading to the city and the other to the castle on the hill. As lords of the entire Dusklight River Valley, the Fluorescent Mushroom family did not live in the noisy, dirty town, but in the isolated Fluorescent Castle outside of town.

Charles made a gesture of removing his hat, bending over on his horse, baring his large yellow teeth and smiled, “Lord Russell, I look forward to your good news.”

Eric could not imitate the formality and simply grunted, “Goodbye, my lord.”

As Russell rode away, Charles invited, “The sun hasn’t set yet, how about a drink in the tavern?”

“No, thank you.”

“Such a boring fellow.”

Seeing Eric already turning to leave, Charles hurried to follow and tried to make conversation, “Don’t you think Russell has changed lately? He used to be so quiet, but now, even though he doesn’t talk much, he seems… more decisive”.

Eric replied, “The Baron’s offspring are supposed to be like that.”

“I mean, he’s changed quite a bit.”

“He’s grown up, advanced, and is now a man.”

“Hmm, indeed…” Charles nodded, agreeing with Eric, “A knight with martial energy has more confidence.”

Then he sighed, “A true knight should ride a dragon bravely!”

Eric rolled his eyes.

As a knight with surging martial arts energy, let alone riding a dragon, he couldn’t even ride a beast. All the newly born beast in the Dusklight River Valley belonged to the baron’s family, and unless one achieved great military feats, there was no chance of making a contract.

“I hope… following Russell can help me achieve the goal of riding a beast…”

At the same time.

Russell Fluorescent Mushroom, the one who carried everyone’s hopes, had already arrived at the gates of Fluorescent Castle.

This was a traditional stone castle, with walls built from massive stone blocks filled with various magical materials, making it almost impossible for even martial arts energy to leave a noticeable mark, rendering it impregnable.

At the top of the tall tower was the Fluorescent Mushroom Family’s banner, embroidered with a cluster of green mushrooms that vaguely formed the shape of a skull.

This was the Fluorescent Mushroom, also known as the Fluorescent Little Mushroom, the family’s main source of magical herbs.

The banner flapped in the wind.

The green skull swayed from side to side.

“Phew.” Russell took a deep breath and rode through the gate.

The guards at the gate, clad in heavy leather armor, immediately saluted with a single hand to their chest as he passed through.

The stone archway, the long corridor bridge, and at the end was the massive stone Fluorescent Castle.

To showcase the family’s glory, the entire corridor was paved with ceramic tiles, and the outer walls of the main castle were decorated with a layer of shiny silver-gray tiles.

The gray towers and walls were dark and heavy, while the silver-gray main castle shone brightly.

This was a castle that had never seen the ravages of war.

The snow demons from the snow-covered lands had never invaded the heart of the Dusklight River Valley, and the frequent intermarriages among the nobles of the Shadow Flame Grand Duchy ensured that they rarely fought among themselves. The few scuffs were from Lord Ross’ claws.

“Chirp, chirp…”

Russell looked up to see a black shadow swoop over his head, emitting a sharp cry that seemed disproportionate to its size.

It was Clay Dragon Ross returning.

“Huff, huff.” The black horse beneath him, though magnificent, began to tremble at the dragon’s presence, its nostrils flaring.

“Relax, relax.” Russell patted the horse’s neck.

Whoosh!

The black shadow landed on the tower on the other side of the castle, its massive bat-like wings folding, claws under the wing membranes hooking onto the edge of the tower, keeping its balance while tucking its powerful hind legs under the tower’s edge.

Like a gargoyle, it squatted atop the tower, surveying Fluorescent Castle below and the entire Dusklight River Valley in the distance.

Its body was covered in fine, dark red scales that overlapped to appear almost black.

The fearsome dragon head, with its vertically-pupilated eyes, rolled around.

Noticing Russell riding home, it bared its teeth slightly and exhaled two thin streams of dark red dragon breath from its nostrils, then looked away.

Russell reassured the black horse.

Without looking at Clay Dragon Ross, he lowered his head to examine his left palm. There, seemingly stimulated by the clay dragon, his palm grew warm and a faint red mark shaped like an “M” appeared.

Upon closer inspection, it resembled a slender dragon with its wings spread in flight.

He clenched his fist.

The mark seemed to be extinguished, with sparks flying from the gaps in his fist and disappearing into the air.

“I have a dragon, but… I can only ride it in my dreams…”