"No, not necessarily. If you have enough money, you could purchase a 'Soul Contract' scroll. When torn, it directly forms a 'Soul Contract magic circle.' However, those scrolls are extremely expensive." Hogg said with a self-deprecating smile.
"How expensive?" Linley pressed.
"The last time I heard, it was ten thousand gold coins per scroll, and even then, they were scarce and hard to come by." Hogg's words made Linley inwardly sigh.
To subdue a magical beast, the hardest part was defeating it. Of course, one could tame a weaker beast, but what use was a feeble creature? To subdue a powerful beast, did one possess the strength to conquer it? And if using deceit, how could the beast be made to submit willingly? Willing obedience was no simple matter.
The second condition—setting up a Soul Contract magic circle—though seemingly secondary, determined that only formidable mages or the wealthy could tame beasts. Spending ten thousand gold coins on a single 'Soul Contract' scroll was a luxury even nobles couldn't afford without substantial wealth.
Linley pressed his lips together, brows furrowing slightly.
"If I truly wish to tame a magical beast, given my family's financial state, my only path is to become a seventh-level mage and then attempt to subdue one." Linley pondered silently, fully aware of how arduous this path would be.
The first hurdle on this journey was clear—whether he even possessed the innate talent to become a mage!
After all, the odds were one in ten thousand. Without that gift, becoming a mage would remain impossible.Chapter 14: The Battle in the Sky (Part 1)
Early the next morning.
The open space east of Wushan Town remained crowded with children as usual. Hillman and the other two instructors had not yet arrived, and the children were engaged in heated discussions, their topics inevitably revolving around yesterday's earth-shattering battle.
"That magical beast yesterday was terrifying! When Uncle Hillman and the others went to the town center, I followed behind and watched from afar. You have no idea - that colossal beast just smashed its huge hooves down, and the entire stone-paved ground shattered completely. Those houses crumbled like mud!" Among the children, the most talkative 'Hadley' stood at the center of the group, gesticulating wildly and spraying saliva everywhere as if he'd witnessed everything firsthand.
Most of the children listened with wide-eyed fascination.
"Hadley, weren't you with us at the eastern open space yesterday? Too scared to go? How could you have seen anything?" A brown-haired boy who appeared about thirteen or fourteen snorted disdainfully.
These older teenagers weren't as easily fooled as the seven or eight-year-olds.
Hadley glared at the teenager. "Fla, you don't believe me? When has Hadley ever lied to anyone?"
The boy named 'Fla' scoffed, "Who doesn't know you're a bigmouth, Hadley? When have you ever told the truth? Hey everyone, when has this brat Hadley ever spoken truthfully?" Fla turned to address the surrounding group of teenagers.
The twelve to fifteen-year-old boys all laughed in agreement: "Exactly! That brat Hadley's always spouting nonsense."Some of the older youths clearly sided with Fala.
Immediately, 'Hadley' grew anxious: "You don't believe me? Fine, you don't believe me!" Fuming, Hadley glanced around and suddenly spotted Linde. His eyes lit up as he shouted loudly, "Everyone knows that besides Uncle Hilman and the other two, only Linley went yesterday. Linley saw it with his own eyes. You'll trust what Linley says, right? Have Linley tell you whether I lied or not!"
"Young Master Linley?" The youths turned towards Linley.
Linley held a respected position among the children and youths of Wushan Town. Firstly, as the eldest son of the Baruch family. Secondly, despite being only eight years old, his physical training already matched that of thirteen or fourteen-year-olds. In the martial-oriented Yulan Continent, Linley's excellence naturally earned admiration from Wushan Town's youths.
"Of course we'll believe Young Master Linley since he witnessed it personally yesterday," the older youths nodded.
The thirteen and fourteen-year-olds understood social proprieties - they knew Linley was nobility and different from them, usually addressing him as 'Young Master Linley'. Only carefree seven and eight-year-olds like Hadley addressed him casually as 'Linley' without formalities.
"Linley, tell them! Did I lie? What exactly happened then?" Hadley rushed to Linley, grabbing his hand while slyly winking.
Linley felt helpless. Hadley's wild exaggerations had now dragged him into this.
"The magical beast was called a 'Velocidragon', a seventh-level creature of immense power. Its entire body was covered in scales impervious to swords and blades. Its whip-like tail and razor-sharp claws shredded solid stone slabs like paper. It could breathe fire from its mouth - even stone slabs would crack under its flames." Linley recounted truthfully.
The group of children listened in rapt attention.
"Actually, you didn't need me to explain. Just seeing the Velocidragon should have shown how terrifying it was." Linley concluded with a faint smile.
The older youths nodded in agreement.When they first saw the 'Velociraptor' yesterday, they were truly stunned. The massive body of the Velociraptor resembled a small hill, and the fiery red scales covering it looked impenetrable just from a glance.
"See? I told you that Velociraptor was insanely powerful," Hadley boasted loudly.
The boy named 'Fla' immediately glared, ready to retort.
"Uncle Hilman is here," Linley called out upon spotting Hilman, Rory, and Roger approaching from afar. Instantly, all the children and teens fell silent, orderly forming three neat rows.
The clearing plunged into stillness, save for the footsteps of Hilman and his companions.
The three men stopped in front of the assembled youths. Hilman smiled casually and asked, "You all know about yesterday's incident, right?"
"We do!" The children chorused eagerly, matching his relaxed tone.
"Good." Hilman's expression suddenly turned grave. "That colossal creature was a Velociraptor, and its rider was a mysterious mage. They were extraordinarily powerful. But remember this—"
His sharp gaze swept over the crowd. "Even that mage started as a novice! Taming a Velociraptor demands years of relentless effort! If you wish to conquer beasts as mighty as the Velociraptor, if you aspire to match that mage's strength, you must push yourselves—day after day, without pause!"
"Every one of you holds the potential to become a powerhouse. The only difference lies in whether you're willing to strive for it!"Hillman declared resolutely, his gaze cold and sharp.
Immediately, all the children and teenagers fell silent, though the older youths harbored their own thoughts, their eyes revealing subtle shifts.
"Good, we'll begin today's morning training now. As always—face the rising sun and practice the 'Breath Holding Stance,'" Hillman cut straight to the point. The three groups of children promptly commenced their 'Breath Holding Stance' exercises.
...
Under the supervision of three instructors, each child diligently completed their assigned training tasks tailored to their group's capabilities. The atmosphere today was palpably different—not a single child complained of exhaustion.
Everyone clenched their teeth, pushing through the drills with fierce determination.
"...Fifty, fifty-one..." Linley counted silently in his mind. Currently prone on the ground, supported only by the fingertips of one hand and the balls of his feet, his body stretched taut as a bowstring, he performed one-handed five-finger push-ups.
This exercise—single-handedly supporting his weight with five fingertips—served as an efficient method to strengthen both finger and arm power.
To become a formidable warrior typically required cultivating battle qi through secret manuals. However, one's capacity for battle qi fundamentally depended on physical endurance—the stronger the body, the more battle qi it could withstand.
"My body carries the Dragonblood Warrior lineage. Since I can't cultivate battle qi, I must surpass others through physical training alone." Linley's eyes burned with resolve. His fingers gripped the earth like the gnarled roots of an old tree as he pumped out repetition after repetition, drawing envious glances from exhausted peers.
"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine..."
Linley persisted relentlessly."Today's morning training ends here." Hillman looked at the three groups of children and said loudly.
After speaking, Hillman took a deep breath and thought to himself: *What story should I tell today?* Every day after morning training, Hillman would tell the children stories, which had become a tradition.
"Uncle Hillman, tell us—"
A child's voice abruptly cut off.
Hillman, who had been mentally preparing his story, frowned at the sudden interruption. He raised his head and saw all the children from the three groups staring dumbfounded toward the eastern sky. At that moment, Lori and Roger also turned to look eastward, their faces filled with horror.
"Hmm?" Puzzled, Hillman turned to follow their gazes.
In the eastern sky, about two to three hundred meters in the air, an enormous black dragon nearly a hundred meters long coiled and writhed. Its eyes glowed like huge cartwheels, while its massive body shimmered coldly with jet-black scales. The creature's leathery wings—spanning over a hundred meters when fully spread—flapped powerfully yet rhythmically.
A magical beast—the **Black Dragon**!
Black dragons stood at the pinnacle of magical beasts. Generally, members of the black dragon clan were ninth-level magical beasts, with the strongest among them possibly reaching the Saint-level. Whether ninth-level or Saint-level, they were incomparable to the "Velociraptor" encountered the previous day.
At this moment, a group of children and three instructors on the eastern open ground of Wushan Town were merely a few hundred meters away from the black dragon. Observing this hundred-meter-long black behemoth at such close range delivered a visual impact more visceral than any words.
But the most shocking sight was—
Atop the black dragon hovering mid-air stood a gray-robed figure. Amidst the howling winds, the figure's robes fluttered wildly, yet he remained as steady as a spear thrust into the sky, unmoving as a boulder. His gaze fixed on a green-cloaked middle-aged man floating in the air ahead, who carried a longsword strapped to his back.
Now, this gray-robed man—commanding a black dragon—confronted the sword-bearing green-cloaked man in a standoff.
Hovering in mid-air!
Aside from wind-element mages capable of casting the seventh-level spell "Flight," only Saint-level experts could suspend themselves in the air. The green-cloaked man's sword marked him unmistakably as a warrior—a Saint-level warrior.
"A gray-robed man who tamed a black dragon... and a Saint-level expert who can fly?" Eight-year-old Linley stared at the scene. Though he had witnessed a fierce battle the day before, this spectacle still overwhelmed him utterly. Even Hilman, a level-six warrior, stood frozen in awe."Saint-level expert, it's actually a Saint-level expert." Hilman murmured, his entire body trembling slightly.
As someone who had faced life-and-death situations multiple times, Hilman was the first to fully regain composure. Yet even after sobering up, he still felt these past two days were like a dream: "Yesterday brought an eighth-grade dual-element mage, and today? Two Saint-level experts plus a Black Dragon. I, Hilman, have never been so shocked in my entire life."
His head spun dizzily.
A Black Dragon - that was a peak-level magical beast, at minimum ninth-grade. Whoever could subdue a Black Dragon was almost certainly a Saint-level expert. Moreover, from another perspective, only another Saint-level expert would dare confront a Saint-level opponent.
This confirmed the gray-robed man's status as a Saint-level expert.
Hilman and the others were several hundred meters away from the Black Dragon. Even with their acute hearing, they couldn't catch a word of the conversation between the two confronting Saint-level experts.
No one knew what the two Saint-level experts were discussing, but as they spoke suddenly—
"ROAR——"
The colossal Black Dragon abruptly roared furiously, its enormous wings flapping violently. A terrifying pressure radiated outward, causing everyone including Hilman to feel suffocated and their legs to weaken.
"Is this draconic might?" Leylin sensed his heart being crushed as if by a massive stone, yet he burned with excitement, his blood boiling within him.
This Black Dragon was simply too powerful."Rudy! Don't you go too far!" The green-robed middle-aged man suddenly roared, his thunderous shout reverberating through heaven and earth. This exclamation wasn't just heard by Hilman and the others - every resident of Wushan Town heard it clearly.
That furious roar also dispelled the black dragon's draconic pressure, allowing everyone to breathe normally again.
Hilman froze momentarily, murmuring to himself: "Rudy? Rudy?"
But after just a moment, Hilman suddenly realized something. He whirled around to face all the children and shouted sternly: "Everyone, go home immediately! Now! Go home and hide properly! Move!!!" Hilman's fierce shout and terrifying expression stunned all the children.
Hilman understood perfectly well.
Clearly, these two Saint-level experts had conflicts between them, and it seemed they were about to clash.
If Saint-level experts were to fight while these children remained in this open space without any buildings for protection... even the slightest ripple of their power could claim all these young lives. Saint-level experts possessed truly cataclysmic levels of power.
Though "cataclysmic" might be an exaggeration, destroying cities and flattening mountains was well within their capabilities.
"Run! Stop daydreaming! Go back! Now!!!" Hilman shouted again while physically pushing some children.
Only then did all the youths fully awaken from their daze. Though they didn't understand why Hilman was forcing them home, and though they still desperately wanted to watch the Saint-level experts' battle, Hilman's authority made all the children scramble towards their homes.
"Rory, Roger! Hurry! Help escort the six and seven-year-olds home! Quickly! If Saint-level experts start fighting and the shockwaves reach here, the consequences..."
Hilman's face was filled with urgent panic."Yes, Captain." Rory and Roger fully understood what their captain was thinking.
The two immediately began picking up the slower children, carrying two in their arms and two more on their backs. Hillman also joined in, swiftly gathering the children one by one.
"Linley, hurry home!" Hillman shouted while running with a child in his arms.
"Understood, Uncle Hillman!" Linley shouted back as he ran.
Though only eight years old, Linley could run as fast as a fourteen-year-old. As he sprinted, he kept glancing toward the eastern sky, mesmerized by the massive black dragon circling above and the two Saint-level experts.
"Captain, Lord Hogg sent us here!" A group of eleven or twelve warriors rushed over from the direction of the Baruch Mansion, calling out to Hillman urgently.
"Quick, get the children back to safety!" Hillman ordered.
"Yes, Captain!" The soldiers immediately obeyed, swiftly escorting the slower six- and seven-year-olds back.
"Everyone, go home! Hide and protect yourselves!" Hillman bellowed.
Hillman held immense authority in Wushan Town. His commands snapped the panicked crowd into action. The entire town was now in chaos as children and workers rushed home. At a time like this, only the sturdy stone houses could offer any semblance of protection.
Linley dashed into his family's estate.
"Quick, hide in the cellar under the storage room!" Hogg stood in the courtyard, barking orders the moment he saw Linley. The cellar beneath the Baruch family's storage room was the largest and most fortified shelter in the mansion, their best hope for survival.
"Yes, Father!" Linley nodded and immediately sprinted toward the storage room.Linley ran swiftly, yet his mind still dwelled on the gray-robed man riding the black dragon and the green-clad man. He couldn't help but glance toward the eastern sky. The town's buildings were all relatively low, allowing a clear view of the airspace hundreds of meters high to the east.
At this moment, the black dragon kept growling lowly.
"Tilnor, since you're so stubborn, don't blame me for what comes next." A cold voice resounded through the heavens. Immediately, the black dragon roared furiously, spewing streams of dark flame from its maw.
"Rudi! Today I'll see exactly how powerful you Saint-level mages truly are!" The green-cloaked middle-aged man shouted angrily.
Book 1: The Coiling Dragon Ring
Chapter 16: Catastrophe (Part 1)
The identities were now clear - the green-cloaked man carrying the greatsword was named Tilnor, while the gray-robed man was called Rudi.
The black flames spewed by the dragon beneath the gray-robed man's feet spread like smoke, completely enveloping the green-clad man. Suddenly, a piercing emerald radiance erupted from Tilnor's body, forming a protective barrier that repelled the dark flames. Simultaneously, a sword's cry rang out - clearer and more resonant than any dragon's roar, shaking heaven and earth.
Wielding his sword, the green-clad man swung once. A massive, hazy sword aura over thirty meters long tore through the sky, viciously slashing toward the gray-robed man. Rudi remained motionless, coldly watching the incoming attack while continuously murmuring incantations under his breath."Is this the sword aura? Such a massive sword aura?" Linley ran toward the warehouse while turning his head to watch. "How will that gray-robed man block it? Rely on the Black Dragon?"
*Boom!*
The Black Dragon didn't resist at all, allowing the colossal sword aura to strike the gray-robed man directly. The gray robe on the man's body exploded into fragments, but after shattering, it revealed a set of glowing protective armor underneath. The armor shone as brightly as diamonds, nearly blinding to behold.
The gigantic sword aura struck this armor yet didn't harm the gray-robed man in the slightest.
"How is this possible?" Linley was utterly stunned.
Distracted, Linley tripped over a stone beneath his feet and tumbled to the ground. Still, he kept staring eastward at the sky. "What kind of armor is that? How can its defense be so formidable?"
"Linley, hurry! Stop gawking!" Hearing Hogg's furious roar, Linley snapped back to reality.
"Yes, Father!" Linley scrambled to his feet and resumed sprinting toward the warehouse.
*Rumble——*
A terrifying roar suddenly shook the heavens and earth, followed by panicked screams erupting across Wushan Town. Linley instinctively turned his head to look skyward again—and froze in terror.
The eastern sky was now filled with densely packed floating boulders, each as large as a house.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...*
Every massive boulder, glowing with earthen yellow light, streaked across the sky like meteors, hurtling toward the green-robed middle-aged man. Each rock likely weighed nearly a hundred thousand pounds. Stones of this magnitude dwarfed even the largest projectiles from wartime catapults by countless times.Even the city walls would likely crumble under such an onslaught.
A single boulder was terrifying enough, but now, at a glance, there were countless such boulders. House-sized rocks crashed toward the green-robed middle-aged man one after another. This scene left everyone in Wushan Town utterly awestruck.
*Bang!*
The first boulder struck the green-robed man. Instantly, his entire body erupted with blazing emerald light, transforming him into a "green sun" that radiated blinding jade brilliance.
A torrent of boulders surged toward the man like a raging tide.
In the blink of an eye, the green-robed figure was engulfed by the massive rocks, though slivers of jade-green light still pierced through the gaps.
*Thud!*
Deafening explosions erupted as the boulders shattered one after another. Each house-sized rock was completely pulverized by the terrifying emerald battle qi, fracturing into rubble of varying sizes that scattered violently in all directions.
Propelled from hundreds of meters in the air and amplified by the explosive force of battle qi, even the smallest fragments carried lethal momentum, hurtling across vast distances.
"Disaster!" Hogarth's face suddenly turned deathly pale. On the streets below, Hillman's complexion drained of color as well. They both understood—
Wushan Town's doom had arrived!
Countless fragments—some nearly two meters wide, others the size of human heads—rained down chaotically from the sky. Each shattered boulder produced dozens to hundreds of debris, with nearly a fifth of the deadly hail now plummeting toward the town.
"Father!" Linley cried out desperately to Hogarth in the distance as he saw the sky filled with plummeting stones.
"Run! Get inside now!" Hogarth roared in urgency.
Still dozens of meters from the storeroom, Linley wasted no time. He sprinted toward shelter as the world erupted in thunder—*boom! boom! boom!*—the relentless impacts shaking the earth like the drums of apocalypse.
*Whoosh!* A boulder weighing hundreds of pounds grazed past Linley, cratering the ground mere steps away. Cold sweat drenched his back—a hair's breadth from certain death."Boom!""Boom!""Boom!""Boom!"...
The sounds of stones smashing through roofs, cracking stone slabs, thudding into the ground, and the agonized screams of crushed victims continuously resounded, composing a scene of apocalypse.
"Whoosh!" Several more boulders crashed down before Linley, forcing him to swiftly retreat and dodge.
If he kept evading like this, how could he reach the storeroom?
"Young Master Linley, hurry!" A figure rushed out from the storeroom - Grandpa Hiri. His body now radiated a protective flame-red aura as he sprinted toward Linley.
"Brother! Quick, quick!"
At the storeroom entrance, four-year-old Warton cried out desperately, his voice trembling like weeping.
"Warton, get inside. Now!" Linley roared furiously.
"Whooosh!" An exceptionally massive stone nearly two meters long shot across the sky, hurtling straight toward the storeroom. Observing this, Linley's mind instantly calculated the trajectory - if this boulder struck the storeroom roof, the collapsing debris would inevitably injure young Warton standing in the doorway. Possibly even... crush him to death.
"Move! Get inside, Warton!" Linley's eyes were nearly tearing from the strain as he bellowed, charging toward the storeroom at full speed.
Abandoning all caution, ignoring the falling stones and ceasing evasive maneuvers, Linley sprinted straight for his younger brother with desperate urgency.
Grandpa Hiri, facing Linley, remained oblivious to the incoming boulder targeting the storeroom. But Linley saw everything clearly - how could little Warton's fragile body withstand collapsing rubble?
"Young Master!" The steward Hiri paled upon witnessing Linley's reckless charge.Two or three more stones hurtled down around Lin Ley. The boy lunged forward like a panther, his gaze locked on little Warton as he sprinted towards the storage shed. Old Hillie, whirling around, finally noticed the massive two-meter-wide boulder crashing toward the structure. His weathered face drained of color.
"Get down!" Lin Ley roared, features contorted with fury.
Young Warton had never seen such ferocity in his brother's expression. Trembling, the child flattened himself against the ground, tears pooling in wide eyes as he whimpered, "Brother...?" Lin Ley threw himself over the boy's body like a human shield.
The collision came instantly -
CRASH!
The monstrous stone smashed through the storage shed's roof with apocalyptic force. Though the slate tiles of the roof were sturdy, they shattered like eggshells under the impact. Walls shuddered and collapsed in a roaring cascade of debris.
"Young masters!" Steward Hillie's eyes instantly reddened. Crimson battle-qi erupted from his body as he transformed into a blazing meteor. His protective aura flared while both palms became blurs, slapping away falling rubble even as his own body became a living barricade over the boys. The collapsing wall and the steward's body struck Lin Ley simultaneously.
RUMBLE~~
Within moments, Warton, Lin Ley, and Steward Hillie vanished beneath the mountain of shattered stone.
In the courtyard, Hoge brandished his greatsword to deflect another incoming projectile. When he turned toward the storage shed, witnessing his eldest son's desperate lunge to protect Warton followed by Hillie's sacrificial dive, his world froze.
The storage shed's complete collapse rained debris downward.
"Lin Ley..." Hoge's eyes reddened instantly.
The baron couldn't discern whether Hillie's body or the crushing stonefall had reached his son first.