The Sel Wilderness remains as scorching and sweltering as ever, as if eternally trapped in summer.
The ground is dry, dust fills the air, and the bright, harsh sunlight rains down from above, casting its light on Galos, who is currently circling high in the sky, revealing his current appearance.
Compared to a year ago,
Galos's body length has increased by about half a meter, which isn't much; now he measures about six point six meters.
However, the thickness of his body has grown significantly. His limbs are thick and powerful, his back and chest are solid and strong, even his neck appears thick and robust.
The entire Dragon is immensely strong, and even through the Scale Armor, one can still feel the robust and hard muscles beneath, as if forged from steel.
The Red Dragons and Golden Dragons, these physically mighty members of the Dragon Race,
also have few young dragons whose strength can compare to Galos.
Galos now stands among the young dragons of his age, like a 'Tyson'.
And it's not just that.
The biggest change is his pair of Dragon Wings.
First, the wingspan reached a full fifteen meters, more than twice Galos's body length, and on the wing membranes, there was even a layer that at first glance seemed like feathers, intricately inlaid dense Dragon Scales that perfectly guide the airflow when slicing through the sky, creating propulsion rather than obstruction.
Originally, the most painful area during wing flapping, the membrane connecting the Dragon Wings to the body, has thickened threefold.
The layered folds resemble Hundred-Forged Steel that has been hammered and forged.
At the wing edges, a layer of metallic sheen sharp material has grown, easily slicing through the air, capable of severing other organisms without effort, transforming the whole Dragon Wing into an enormous guillotine, revealing a dangerously sharp edge.
Over the past year,
strength training has taken a back seat; Galos has trained this pair of Dragon Wings tirelessly, and his efforts have paid off.
After a recent evolution,
Galos can now soar the skies relying solely on his wings, his speed through the air far exceeding other dragons of the same level.
His life level hasn't changed, still at level 7.
Yet Galos felt as though he could now fight two of his former selves.
"I need to validate the results of this evolution."
"I've decided, it's you, Earth Bear."
His gaze pierced through the clouds, and Galos lowered his eyes to peer at the ground below, seeing an Earth Bear residing between the hills, standing eight meters tall, its body covered with spiky brownish-yellow hair, appearing like an enlarged and enhanced version of a regular brown bear.
The Earth Bear before Galos is level 8, yet incomparable to the previous level 8 Petrifying Lizard.
The Earth Bear is a strong type among magical creatures, with some probability of reaching Legendary status.
Not only does it possess a robust body, but it also masters many earth-related Magic-like Skills.
Although not equal to the Dragon Race, it is sufficient to overpower most magical creatures of the same level.
Within the pine forests of the hills below,
the Earth Bear is scratching its back against a century-old iron fir, tree bark splinters flying like rain.
This time my goal is to verify the strength of my present self, not hunting.
Galos opted not to attack stealthily, instead directly unleashing Long Wei, declaring his arrival to the Earth Bear.
He swung his wings, merging the airflow with Long Wei, creating almost visible ripples, racing over the Earth Bear.
The Earth Bear, initially rubbing and scratching with glee, suddenly froze, its fur bristling, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, raising its head to gaze skyward.
In its vision, a black speck was rapidly enlarging, diving towards it.
Scales, horns, claws, tail, wings... it was undoubtedly a Giant Dragon! But based on size, more like a young dragon than a giant one.
The Earth Bear, with its high intelligence, did not feel fear upon facing a young dragon. Instead, it stood upright on two feet, roaring at Galos.
The earth and stones in front of it suddenly swelled, forming chunks of rock.
With another step forward, five or six enormous rocks ascended into the sky, hurtling toward Galos.
Confronting the first one, Galos neither dodged nor evaded, lowering his head for a head-on collision.
Bang!
The rock shattered like tofu under Galos's Dragon Horns, the resultant debris grazing his Scale Armor, only leaving a dusty print.
Four more remained.
Although he could have shattered them directly, Galos chose not to recklessly charge faced on.
His large, powerful Dragon Wings flapped, stirring up violent winds, as his entire form seemed to dance mid-air, weaving gracefully between the gaps of the remaining rocks, his Body Technique nimble, darting like a dragon.
Power, speed, defense... Galos disliked having weaknesses, aiming for well-rounded development.
Having dealt with the Earth Bear's first wave of attacks, Galos approached the lush side of the hills, while the Earth Bear remained at the base.
He folded his wings, diving down the slope through the treetop canopy.
The oak branches scraped the scales with a harsh, tearing noise, the bladed wing edges slicing through, cleaving rows of ancient trees down to the root.
The Earth Bear roared, swinging its massive paw to slap the ground, ten earthen spikes erupting from the soil.
Yet the young dragon suddenly retracted its wings, curling its body, sweeping with its Dragon Tail amidst the wreckage of snapped wood and leaves, slicing through the spike group at the waist, the rebounding rocks embedding into tree trunks like bullets.
The Earth Bear drove its giant paws into the ground, upheaving a three-meter-thick rock slab, hurling it toward Galos once more.
Galos advanced instead of retreating, the wing edge slashing into the rock slab's crevices with a vigorous flap, sending the entire slab soaring a hundred meters high.
The sunlight cast dappled shadows through the suspended massive stone, the young Dragon seizing the moment to strike from the light-shadow boundary, rapidly closing the distance to the Earth Bear, its claws tearing through fur and flesh to grip the bear's shoulders deeply, flipping over mid-air, flinging the twenty-ton giant beast away like a ragged sack.
The tumbling Earth Bear snapped seven oak trees before halting its momentum.
Roar!
It howled and roared, suddenly seizing a piece of broken wood to hurl skyward.
The soil-brown magic energy encased the broken wood, which erupted into a shower of sharp spines as it neared Galos, swishing through the air to engulf Galos.
Galos maintained a steady expression, suddenly unfurling his massive wings, sweeping the air to scatter the wooden spikes.
A few occasionally landing on him weren't enough to breach his hard Dragon Scales.
Only sensitive areas like his eyes needed slight caution.
"My turn!"
The Earth Bear had expended many Magic-like Skills in a single breath, now panting heavily, while the young dragon appeared unfazed by exertion, accelerating as it closed in.
Rock Armor!
Facing the approaching member of the Dragon Race, the Earth Bear stamped its feet and roared in fury, the earth and stones around it suddenly seeming to come alive, surging like water, flowing along its feet, instantly extending and enveloping its body, layer upon layer condensing into granite-patterned, solid Armor.
His right Dragon Wing simultaneously expanded like a guillotine, slicing through the air with a piercing screech, slashing toward the Earth Bear.
The Earth Bear simultaneously raised its most armored limb, swinging toward the Dragon Wing.
Clang—Screech!
The clash of metal rang out, shooting sparks, followed by the sound of sharp edges cutting through flesh.
The Earth Bear wailed, the armor on its arm shredded almost instantly by the Dragon Wing, the tough fur and flesh beneath torn open, bones severed.
In the instant Galos and the Earth Bear passed by each other, half of the bear's arm was flung skyward, bleeding profusely.