Chapter 38: Early Education
From a young age, Fire Dragons possess boundless energy. Roughhousing isn’t much of an issue, but when they fight with their younger siblings whose shells haven’t hardened yet, even the Female Fire Dragon has to step in and separate them.
Jié Jié touched the Porcelain Bowl and then patted the Iron Pot, signaling disapproval.
Iron Pot still looked confused, gazing at him before deciding not to bully his younger sibling anymore.
Porcelain Bowl, disturbed by the earlier commotion, turned her head and opened her eyes, looking towards Jié Jié who had come to help.
Currently, Jie Jie wasn’t human, and these baby Fire Dragons probably wouldn’t behave like puppies. Educating them might indeed be quite challenging.
But if it’s difficult, well… at least raising them shouldn’t be too hard.
In front of the two young dragons, the Sky Dog Beast transformed into a Black Wolf Bird. Iron Pot came closer, trying to sniff its scent.
After allowing it a quick sniff, Jie Jie flapped his wings and flew toward the base of the Ancient Tree.
He arrived at the balcony where he had defeated the seasoned Male Fire Dragon. There were many vines here, so he tore off a few bundles and immediately flew away.
The smell of the Flying Thunder Dragon was faint here; it seemed like they had moved out.
Compared to Fire Dragons, for the Black Wolf Bird, flying high into the tree canopy was quite strenuous.
He returned to the reservoir. The two young dragons weren’t fighting. Iron Pot was hopping around near the reservoir, apparently having fallen in once, as his whole body was soaked.
Porcelain Bowl also crawled out of the nest and stared blankly, watching the Black Wolf Bird with an unreadable expression.
Had she never seen him transform into a Fire Dragon?
The Black Wolf Bird’s form swelled and faded in color, startling Porcelain Bowl into “waa waa” cries as she retreated.
When the proud Male Fire Dragon spread his wingspan and roared, Iron Pot approached to sniff his scent, and Porcelain Bowl cautiously edged closer, no longer afraid.
Following instinct, Porcelain Bowl opened her mouth, begging for food. Then, she watched as the Male Fire Dragon transformed back into the Sky Dog Beast, holding a meatball and approaching.
She fearfully backed away, but was held down, forcing her jaws open to stuff the meatball inside. Only after Jie Jie released her did she dare swallow.
Seeing her older brother already accustomed to this, she voluntarily approached the Sky Dog Beast’s feet and opened her mouth.
Jie Jie petted her head and tossed another meatball into her mouth. But just as she swallowed, she chased after Jie Jie again, crying out for more.
Fire Dragons eat quickly and grow rapidly. In just over a day, Iron Pot showed more details—there were shiny new teeth in his mouth.
It would be good for them to leave the nest and explore, otherwise, if Jie Jie had to clean up their droppings from the nest, he’d break down!
Jie Jie turned around, intending to handle the tree vines and spider silk. As he walked, he suddenly felt something tripping him.
“Waaa~”
Porcelain Bowl was mimicking Iron Pot, opening her mouth to beg for food.
“Hmm?”
The Sky Dog Beast looked back, observing Porcelain Bowl and Iron Pot. Having an older sibling to learn from certainly avoids a lot of trouble.
The mushroom pig was already eaten, so he jumped from the reservoir to below the tree canopy to fetch some Fire Dragon meat.
This Fire Dragon is almost finished too; there should have been another one slaughtered in the morning for reserve food.
“Ang~ Ang!”
The two Fire Dragons stood by the reservoir, Iron Pot seemingly about to jump in.
“Don’t jump!”
Jie Jie paused, shouting louder than intended, scaring both little Fire Dragons away.
He transformed back into a Male Fire Dragon, grabbing the mangled dragon corpse and tossing it onto the reservoir bank.
The two young dragons curiously approached upon seeing the dragon corpse, despite it being a Fire Dragon’s remains.
But after being fed by Jie Jie, the smell of the dragon corpse became synonymous with food to them. The faster-developing Iron Pot pounced on the corpse but couldn’t bite off any meat.
Transforming from Male Fire Dragon to Sky Dog Beast, Jie Jie used one claw to tear off a strip of meat, forming it into a ball, while the other claw pulled Iron Pot off the corpse.
The little Fire Dragon was lifted by its wings like a chicken, its legs kicking wildly and emitting childish cries—it was utterly adorable.
When the hand holding the meatball approached, the cries stopped, and it opened its mouth, returning to its state of crying for food.
Porcelain Bowl squatted on the ground, tilting her head upward, trying to understand what was happening.
After feeding both Fire Dragons until they were full, he let them play freely. Meanwhile, Jie Jie bundled the vines together, reinforcing them with spider silk to create a sturdy bag.
The Dragon Eggs were placed carefully into the bag, which he lifted to check.
The Dragon Eggs were sufficiently hard, no issues there.
Next were these two young dragons.
“Shao gua, shao wa!”
The syllables representing the names of the two young dragons were called out, but they only looked at him without coming over.
Apparently, their understanding of names was still shallow.
Names are extremely important in human social relationships, aiding greatly in self-awareness and recognition of others.
If they could understand the meaning of their names, it would likely indicate higher intellectual development.
Jie Jie wanted to wave at them, but as soon as he raised his hand, they came over, seemingly thinking there would be food.
But Jie Jie didn’t intend to feed them again just yet. He picked up Iron Pot first and began tying vines around his body.
The red Fire Dragon was tied up like a crab, but his wings and claws were left free.
Holding the rope, Jie Jie lifted the little Fire Dragon into the air. After struggling for a bit, it stopped.
A gust of wind blew, and Iron Pot’s wings flattened with the wind, his head stretching out as he sensed it, just like flying.
Jie Jie didn’t know how other Fire Dragon pups were doing, but he believed his own were leading the pack!
Clutching the rope, his claw moved horizontally, simulating flight as the little Fire Dragon flapped its wings, moving through the air.
Excellent.
Jie Jie slowly lowered the height, letting Iron Pot land on the ground.
Next was the other one. Porcelain Bowl made movements and poses similar to Iron Pot, her innate ability to sense the wind awakened by Jie Jie in a simple way, providing assistance for future flight learning.
And this behavior was quite enjoyable for Jie Jie too.
With two Fire Dragons in each hand, he leaped up, using the strong tail of the Sky Dog Beast, tipped with a claw, to support himself like a spinning top. Swinging the two little Fire Dragons simulated their flight.
After playing like this for a while, Jie Jie found a thicker piece of wood as a pole, placing the two Fire Dragons on either side, while the tail held the bag of Dragon Eggs.
The leftover roasted Dragon Egg from yesterday was eaten while weaving the vines earlier.
Before leaving, let’s explore the reservoir atop the Ancient Tree canopy.
The Sky Dog Beast, carrying the Fire Dragon family, began walking along the reservoir’s edge toward the deeper areas.
He originally thought of transforming into the Savage Jaw Dragon, but the oxygen demand during its activity was too great, causing hypoxia at the high-altitude reservoir location.
The altitude hindered the reproduction of many lives; insects were rarely seen. The reservoir was formed by accumulated rainwater, and at least Jie Jie hadn’t spotted any fish inside…..
