21 020 Open a new hunting ground

For this slumber, Otto secluded himself in the deepest part of the cave and asked that no one, even Sofia, approach him.

He was going to sleep for quite a while and was worried about whether he might do something inappropriate while unconscious.

Thus, no matter how much Sofia protested, he wouldn't agree and asked Saru to keep an eye on the little girl to prevent her from doing anything outrageous.

Strangely enough, during his slumber, he could clearly feel his body slowly changing.

His muscles, bones, and the shape and composition of his scales seemed to be changing, and what concerned him even more was that he was hungry again...

The most essential thing for physical change and evolution is energy, and as a living being, the main source of energy is food.

After an unknown amount of time, Otto finally emerged from his slumber, slowly opening his crimson beast-like eyes and, just as he felt during his sleep, he was extremely hungry.

Sofia noticed Otto's awakening immediately and eagerly waited for him at the cave entrance, but when Otto slowly crawled out, she could hardly recognize him.

Could this scrawny, bamboo-like figure really be Otto?

If it wasn't for the familiar colored scales on this skeletal-looking creature, Sofia would have thought that Otto had practiced some evil spell and transformed himself into a Dragon Witch Monster.

Saru, who eventually arrived, shared almost the same thoughts as Sofia upon seeing Otto.

Seeing familiar faces, Otto breathed a sigh of relief and weakly lied on the ground, pleading, "Quick, prepare food for me..."

Saru didn't dare to delay, immediately calling a group of Lizardman warriors to prepare food for Otto.

It was still the usual wild boars and deer found in Nolan Forest; though Otto didn't usually like raw meat, at this point he didn't care and grabbed a struggling boar tied with a rope and put it in his mouth.

The poor wild boar struggled and screamed in vain, as it felt a moment of darkness followed by brief pain, then knew nothing more.

As if his stomach was bottomless, Otto devoured one wild boar and deer after another without showing any signs of a full belly.

Of course, eating so much wasn't without effect; Otto's body, once frighteningly slender, visibly bulged with muscles, and as energy continued to flow in, his body gradually regained its health.

He spent most of the day eating, with a steady supply of food brought in by the Lizardman squad from the clan territory.

If it wasn't for the newly obtained hunting ground from the Ogre Gang, they wouldn't have been able to produce so much food in such a short amount of time.

But even then, the pressure on the Lizardman Clan reached its peak, and it wasn't until the clan's stockpile of food was completely consumed that Otto finally stopped eating.

Yet he was only about seventy percent full, but he knew that if he continued eating like this, the old and weak Lizardman Clan would starve.

Setting aside the two clueless Ogres, this was still the only clan under his control, and he couldn't exploit them to death.

With a lingering appetite, Otto licked the bloody claws, stretched lazily, and finally regained his spirit after eating so much.

Suddenly, Otto asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

Saru respectfully replied, "It has been seven days and nights."

"Has it been a week already?"

A week's time was nothing to an ordinary dragon. They often slept for months or even years at a time.

But for Otto, a freakish creature barely over a year old, this was indeed quite a long time.

After this slumber, his appearance had changed significantly. The most obvious was that his body length had increased by half a meter.

The light silver scales had become larger and denser, covered with a gray-brown Stone-Iron Coating. The dragon skin under the scales had now fully merged with the scales, resulting in a doubled thickness and thus, greatly enhanced defense.

Scales now completely covered the previously vulnerable and under-scaled belly, and Otto's current defense could be described as having no weak points.

Looking at the dragon head, two more horns had grown next to the already thick dragon horns, and the four horns had spirals at the middle and end connections. The small horn on the snout became sharper and sturdier, covered with a thick layer of armor extending backward.

His head had become a powerful weapon of war.

The useless decorative-like fish fin spikes on his lower jaw had disappeared without a trace and were replaced by thicker, sturdier scale armor.

Otto's hind legs had become more developed, with bulging muscles indicating the massive power they contained. Scales covered his dragon wings, and sharp horns even grew at the base, indicating further utility besides flight.

Overall, Otto had become more lethal and even more pleasing to the monster's aesthetic sense.

This was evident by just looking at Saru's expression, as he nearly beamed at Otto with bright eyes.

But simply looking good wasn't enough; due to Otto's voracious appetite, the Lizardman Clan's food reserves were now in dire straits.

If nothing was done, the food shortage would completely drag them down.

So Saru suggested to Otto, "Your Majesty, our food reserves are severely depleted. It's time to open up new hunting grounds."

Otto nodded in agreement, just as Saru said, it was time, and his appetite had grown along with his strength.

If they were content with the current situation, they might end up starting to eat Lizardmen as food.

At this time, Sofia's eyes glittered, as she skillfully climbed onto Otto's neck, clenched her teeth and tried her best to look fierce.

"Big Dragon, you must take me with you this time. I've become strong; even Teacher Saru is no match for me now!"

Otto looked at Saru with some doubt, only to see the old Lizardman awkwardly scratching his chin. It seemed that Sofia was telling the truth.

Knowing that if he left her behind to watch the house again, chances were that something irritating would happen, Otto simply agreed and thought it was time for the little girl to gain some experience.

Of course, some things needed to be emphasized.

"You can come along this time, but first, you have to protect yourself. If anything goes wrong, you'll stay home and behave from now on, and don't even think about going out again!"

The half-elf girl didn't dare to say a word, hurriedly nodding her head like a pecking chicken.