17 Chapter 17: The Resentment of the Evil Dragon Hatchlings

Six pairs of eyes, some of which Muria could feel brimming with deep malice.

"Renata. Come here." Ignoring those malicious gazes, Muria smiled, crouched down, and waved at the young female dragon, Renata.

Renata glanced at her older brothers and sisters, hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward towards Muria.

"Good girl." Muria scooped up Renata, holding her in his arms, and stood up.

"Roar!" Seeing Muria's action, the young dragon Auston let out a low roar, took a step forward, but then stopped. He turned his head to see his tail being stepped on by his sister, Cynthia.

"Be patient, Auston. It's not the time yet," Cynthia whispered in Draconic.

Auston looked up at Muria, who was petting Renata in his arms, turned his head away bitterly, lay down, closed his eyes, and decided out of sight, out of mind.

"Quite the tolerance." Holding Renata, Muria glanced at Auston, who had started to sleep on the ground. He then put the slightly embarrassed Renata down and turned towards the direction of the library.

"I can't keep playing around; my time is running out."

Once Muria's figure completely vanished from the young dragons' sight, the feigning Auston and the other four young dragons quickly surrounded the just-landed Renata.

"So, did you enjoy being touched by that bastard, my dear sister?" Auston looked at Renata maliciously, seemingly ready to attack his own sister if she didn't provide a satisfactory explanation.

"No, I didn't," Renata said, retreating a bit in fear of her surrounding brothers and sisters.

"Then why did you rush to him as soon as Muria called?" asked the young dragon Andrei.

"I..." Renata hesitated, "I'm afraid of pain. If I didn't listen to him, Muria might have struck me with lightning."

Hearing this response, the young dragons exchanged glances, then fell silent. The answer was indeed irrefutable; they had all been intimidated by Muria. However, they were not convinced.

"Renata, remember this, Muria is just a bastard who bullies us because he was born eight years before us. He's a half-blood freak with disgusting Golden Dragon blood," Auston cursed Muria bitterly. After spending some time together, the young dragons had learned of Muria's true identity; he was not a pure Golden Dragon.

"My elder brother, I must remind you of a fact," Jessica looked squarely at her brother, "Though Muria has only half of a Golden Dragon's bloodline, the other half of his lineage is not from any lowly stock but from the Titans, masters of thunder and storm, a race even nobler than our Red Dragons."

"So, Muria's bloodline is far nobler than yours," Cynthia concluded.

"Hmph, even so, it doesn't change the fact that he's a half-blood. He doesn't even have the basic dragon form, showing how suppressed his dragon blood is," Auston countered. This time, he refrained from calling Muria a mongrel, as even evil dragons maintain a basic level of awe for the mighty Titans.

"What if we gang up on Muria during the Young Dragon phase and still can't beat him?" Albert asked worriedly, "After all, Muria's lineage is truly strong."

"Impossible. That bastard Muria is only taking advantage of being older, using his age to oppress us. At the same age, I will definitely not be weaker than him, definitely," Auston declared, slapping the ground with his claw, vehemently.

"Stop dreaming, Auston," Cynthia said disdainfully, "Remember when Muria's mother visited here? You all felt it, didn't you? That was the aura of a legend. What does that tell you? It means Muria is not just a simple Golden Dragon. Titan blood plus something far beyond a regular Golden Dragon."

"At the same age, in a one-on-one fight, you'd definitely lose to Muria," Jessica concluded this time.

"Damn it, do you dare to underestimate me?" Auston roared, standing up straight, "Do you want to see my power?"

"We're just stating the facts, Auston," Cynthia and Jessica stood up, unflinching before Auston, "Just a few seconds older than us, and we give you the courtesy of calling you 'elder brother'. You're not much stronger than us."

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Andrei and Albert exchanged glances, then showed eagerness, seemingly wanting a big brawl – typical of Red Dragons, who revel in violence.

"Weren't you discussing how to resist Muria? How did it turn into fighting among ourselves?" Renata timidly asked from the side.

Hearing this, the young dragons froze, and the atmosphere eased.

"Anyway, before we enter the Young Dragon phase, none of us can provoke Muria. After reaching the Young Dragon phase, no one-on-ones. We six dragons will challenge Muria together, aiming to defeat him with united efforts," Cynthia finally settled the discussion's outcome.

"What if, what if we win against Muria, what then?" Renata timidly raised her claw again.

"Of course, we'll kill him, devour his flesh, and drink his blood," Auston roared impatiently.

"Auston, are you brainless? Don't drag us down with you," Cynthia yelled at Auston. "Have you forgotten where we are? This is the castle of Muria's mother, a legendary Golden Dragon!"

"Just look at this castle, the room we're in is made of magical crystals. Think about it, how powerful must Muria's mother be? If we kill him, our fate will be worse than death," Jessica also roared at Auston.

In the worldview of dragons, whether good or evil, their strength correlates with their size. But dragons have another standard for measuring strength – their wealth. The wealthier a dragon, the stronger it is. This is an acknowledged truth among dragons.

"If we can't kill him, then what? What's the point of challenging Muria?" An irritated Auston asked.

"We'll negotiate with him. He must treat us as true dragons deserve, provide us with enough food for our growth, and most importantly, he must never treat us as his pets."

"And one more thing, he must regularly give us gold," Albert excitedly added.

"No, not just gold, but also jewels, weapons…" Albert started, and the other young dragons fell into fantasies about what to do after defeating Muria.

"Um, what if, what if we lose?" Renata timidly raised her claw for the third time.

...The atmosphere, once heated and lively, suddenly fell silent. Finally, Cynthia roared at Renata, "Renata, shut up. From now on, you're not allowed to speak during our discussions."

...

In the library, Muria transformed into his just-weaned human baby form, standing in front of a levitating spellbook.

Cantrip, Mage Hand.

"Although Mage Hand is more of a trick and laughable in combat, it's surprisingly useful as an assistant."

Muria memorized the data related to the spell model for the first-level spell, Lesser Fireball, from this spellbook.

After taking note, Muria immediately began constructing the spell model in his spirit sea. If he failed, he would simply try again. The minor mental shock from a failed construction attempt was easily ignored.

"Hmm, success. Let's try activating it." Muria looked at the small spell model crystal in his spirit sea, began to infuse it with spiritual power, and triggered the magic within his body.

"Whoosh!" A nearly one-meter-diameter, crimson fireball appeared in front of him, its size several times larger than Muria's current form. This "Lesser Fireball" was significantly oversized, enough to astonish many low-level mages.

Lesser Fireball, as the name of this first-level spell suggests, hinted at the amount of fire element condensed. Yet, the fireball Muria had formed was of the volume typically seen with third-level Fireball spells.

"Bloodline amplification." Muria muttered to himself, not particularly surprised. After all, he possessed the blood of a true fire dragon. And this wasn't the first time he experienced such an amplification effect when activating spells.

Just today, Muria firmly decided not to continue being idle, primarily due to the growing unease in his heart, stemming from the six dragon hatchlings the Golden Dragoness had left him to raise.

Suspecting the Golden Dragoness's intentions, Muria had a premonition. When the six hatchlings began to resist and attack him, he felt he would have no support within the castle; he could only rely on himself.

Thus, to enhance his combat capabilities, Muria began learning spells, intending to memorize all spells from levels zero to four and construct all of them in his spirit sea.

Just before, Muria successfully constructed a model for the first-level transmutation spell, Lesser Shocking Grasp, and upon activation, a nearly one-meter-diameter sphere of lightning quietly hovered in front of him, leaving him stunned for a good while.

Then, Muria found the answer in his ancestral memories: beings with powerful bloodlines naturally possess spell-like abilities without needing to learn them. So, when they actively study spells related to their bloodline powers, the effects of those spells naturally become amplified.

"What's this now?" Muria looked unimpressed at the spellbook that silently floated in front of him, scoffing after a glance: "Ventriloquism? Must be for mute mages. Take it away."

A silent unseen servant put the spellbook back into its place far away.

"Magic Missile, not bad. This one I'll learn." Muria eyed another spellbook brought by a different unseen servant, his eyes lighting up.