Chapter 113: Dragon Lair
This island is home to many exotic flowers and grasses.
Unfortunately, Soren has no research in the alchemical branch of “Herbology” and cannot distinguish the medicinal properties of these plants. He circled around with his subordinates, feeling that the temperature noticeably dropped as they approached the northern side of the island. This is a rare phenomenon, possibly related to the geothermal heat emitted by a volcano on the southern side of the island. The northern part is covered with snow and ice, though primarily concentrated in one area. Soren judges that this is very likely the lair of a White Dragon.
Because a giant dragon lives here, it is almost impossible to see any wild beasts.
After about half an hour of walking, Soren finally approached the snow-covered peak. The cliffs around appeared very smooth and steep, covered in a layer of hard ice, which doesn’t look like a natural formation but rather something deliberately arranged by a creature. Dragons like to make the walls of their lairs steep and vertical, making it difficult for other non-flying creatures to approach. As a White Dragon, which is slightly weaker than other dragons, it particularly enjoys covering the area around its lair in ice from its Dragon Breath.
This ice makes the cliffs extremely difficult to climb, and any enemies daring to challenge it near the lair would suffer a negative status of “Ice Walking,” requiring agility-related reflex checks while moving; otherwise, they might slip and miss attacks. However, White Dragons do not face this issue, as they inherently possess a special specialty of “Ice Walking.” The Frost Wyverns Soren dealt with in the past have some blood relation to White Dragons, which is why they also like to frost over the area around their lairs. [Details in Volume 1.]
“Hide.”
Soren gestured to his subordinates behind him and ordered in a low voice, “You stay nearby. I will find a way to lure the White Dragon out of its lair, and then you will find an opportunity to attack its wings with heavy harpoons.”
Heavy weapons naturally come with 1 point of armor-piercing capability.
This can be simply understood as heavy weapons being much more useful against fully armored knights than ordinary blades and swords; these heavy harpoons have hidden armor-piercing effects. It might be a bit difficult to pierce the dragon’s scales with a throw, but breaking through its wings is quite simple. The harpoons have noticeable barbs that look similar to those on spearfishing guns, and some harpoons are linked with chains, while the other end is a fully steel heavy short harpoon. If wielded properly, these weapons can pin down the dragon’s wings, rendering it unable to fly.
Unless the dragon forcibly rips the harpoon and its attached flesh off!
—”Shadow Concealment!”
Soren’s figure gradually faded into the shadows. He looked around at the environment and then stealthily approached the wall on the right side. Due to the layer of ice, the whole wall appeared very smooth; it would be impossible for anyone else to climb up. However, for Soren, who possessed a whole 25 points of agility, this posed no problem. He saw a pair of daggers appear in his palms and quietly began to scale the wall. Soon, he reached a spacious platform atop the cliff.
This is a large platform.
Its diameter is probably over fifty meters, and it is difficult for nature to produce such a perfectly shaped platform. Soren knew at a glance that this was prepared by a dragon for itself. Dragons fly much like eagles; they prefer to dive from high places and then soar to the sky with a flap of their wings. Therefore, many will prepare such platforms for themselves; even dragons occupying ancient castles prefer to dive from the highest point of the castle.
This is a habit!
After walking a bit to the left along the platform, Soren felt something was off.
It was a hard-to-describe feeling.
It felt as if he couldn’t help but breathe heavily, his heartbeat accelerating, as if startled. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, accompanied by a strange sense of weakness and lethargy. It felt like suffering from a severe cold. He felt utterly drained.
This is Dragon Pressure!
Almost simultaneously with this feeling, a series of data appeared:
“Influenced by the effects of Dragon Pressure!”
“Triggered a mandatory Will Save check! … Will Save passed! … You successfully resisted the negative effects of Dragon Pressure! … You successfully resisted the fear effects of Dragon Pressure! …”
………………
The feeling of weakness gradually faded.
The duration was not very long; Soren quickly returned to normal.
One of the most troublesome issues when hunting dragons is the Dragon Pressure emitted by Pureblood Dragons. This is a field ability that exists without activation. It is an innate ability of dragons that allows them to exert pressure on any creature approaching within a certain range. This pressure ignores friend or foe; while it cannot directly harm enemies, it can create a sense of intimidation and is quite useful against weaker creatures with feeble minds and wills.
Most dragons use their Dragon Pressure to subdue servants easily, easily taming some monsters.
Ordinary people cannot withstand Dragon Pressure.
Thus, employing a mass tactic against dragons may not be effective, as the sight of a dragon can easily cause many ordinary soldiers to quiver in fear, rendering them unable to demonstrate any combat power. The effect can be likened to a Tyrannosaurus Rex or a herd of wild elephants charging towards you while you hold a longsword and a shield; if you still have the courage to stand your ground and fight, then your Will Save will surely pass. If you cannot do that, then you might fail your Will Save against Dragon Pressure. (Will Check 16+!)
Soren is someone who places great importance on Will attributes, so it is not surprising that he can resist the negative effects of Dragon Pressure. However, whether the pirates he brought with him can successfully resist the negative effects of Dragon Pressure will depend on whether their wills are strong enough. But those who have spent years at sea, enduring storms and facing dangerous sea monsters, would undoubtedly possess stronger wills than others.
Will is truly important!
Since Soren visited the Abyss, he has understood this deeply.
Circling to the entrance of the dragon’s lair, Soren quickly spotted his target: a massive Adult White Dragon.
The depth of the lair is not very high.
In fact, adult dragons tend to lack patience; sometimes they appear a bit careless, much like impulsive young adults. It is only after reaching old age that dragons become cunning, avoiding direct combat, and preferring to use traps against intruders. Over a long time, their lairs gradually transform into vast mazes, with treasures buried deeper and deeper, and various dangerous monster guards emerging within, such as the commonly seen Minotaurs.
As for the Ancient Dragons, just think of the Ancient Red Dragon in White Horse City.
To this day, others still believe that only an Adult Red Dragon appears there, and it might be a while before anyone else discovers that an Ancient Red Dragon is secretly hiding there, causing quite a stir and a fair amount of panic across the Southern Plain. That would be a significant commotion; Soren doesn’t know if the unfolding events will be the same as what he previously knew. If possible, he still intends to take a chance in the future, as that Ancient Red Dragon’s lair contains artifacts.
White Dragons.
The weakest of the five-colored dragon species, they belong to the Chaotic Evil Faction.
The lair before him resembled Soren’s memories; White Dragons like to dig their lairs downward. Although the lair is high up on the peak, the entrance dips down, freezing all around due to its ice Dragon Breath, looking like a massive ice cellar. White Dragons are not picky about food; like other dragons, they can almost eat anything; their digestive capability is as tough as steel. However, White Dragons prefer to freeze their prey with their Dragon Breath before consuming them; many White Dragons living in overseas regions dive into the sea to hunt fish.
And most importantly!
White Dragons are the most fond of ambushing from high places among the dragon races and are the first to use their Dragon Breath when attacking.
Because White Dragons have more instances of Dragon Breath than other dragons!
In the hatchling stage, White Dragons have scales that reflect like mirrors; as they age, this luster gradually fades. By adulthood, the features of a White Dragon become a greyish-white, which is an important basis for judging their challenge power. Soren glanced into the lair and roughly assessed that this was an Adult White Dragon nearing its mature stage.
Most dragons can easily assess their strength based on age; their growth stages are: Hatchling (Challenge Level 1); Wyrmling (Challenge Level 4); Juvenile (Challenge Level 7); Young (Challenge Level 10); Adult (Challenge Level 13); Mature Adult (Challenge Level 16); Old (Challenge Level 19); Very Old (Challenge Level 21).
Basically, dragons stop growing here.
Beyond this are the Ancient Dragons, which inherently possess divinity, making them as challenging to deal with as confronting deities or saints; thus, killing an Ancient Dragon requires considerable luck.
The dragon before him is transitioning from the [Adult] stage to the [Mature Adult] stage!
This is not good news.
Because a Pureblood Dragon, even the weakest White Dragon among the five-colored dragons, will possess additional Physical Resistance and Spell Resistance upon transitioning from Adult to Mature Adult, making them immune to any physical and spell damage below 10 points of intensity. This innate gift gradually increases over time, eventually evolving into immunity to certain types of damage. The good news is that when these dragons are killed, their scales and hides inherit some defensive resistance, allowing for first-class exceptional equipment to be crafted directly.
This is somewhat troublesome!
Soren quietly observed the approximately fifty-foot-long Adult White Dragon in his sight, carefully making his way closer.
………………(To be continued ~^~)
