I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 288: Dragon Raising Insights

The facts proved that not just humans, but dragons also possessed strong adaptability.Under Gauss's "guidance", the Red Drake quickly established good relationships with the animal companions in the team.

"You should look on the bright side, this is your colleague, you know?"

"The more work it does, the less work you'll have to do."

Gauss patted the Ostrich while speaking to the Drake.

Fundamentally speaking, there wasn't much difference between the Ostrich and it - both were mounts.

The Drake was essentially just an Ostrich Pro Max version, with better performance and larger size.

Of course, considering the Drake's existence was still too rare and eye-catching, the Ostrich remained an indispensable transportation mount in Gauss's team.

"Roar~"

The Drake let out a low growl.

Looking at the wolf and bird beside it that showed no fear, it felt somewhat discouraged.

Just going to lie flat...

Speaking of which, the Red Drake had been feeling an itch in its head these past few days, as if something was about to grow there.

Compared to before, its thinking seemed to have become a bit smarter too.

Of course, it hadn't delved too deeply into this matter yet.

Thinking about why its thinking ability had improved was itself too mentally demanding.

It rubbed its head against a nearby tree trunk, relieving that faint, almost imperceptible pain and itch, and felt much more comfortable.

It simply closed its eyes for a nap.

Out of sight, out of mind - as long as it couldn't see these lower creatures scurrying around, it could deceive itself into thinking they didn't exist.

Moreover, it needed to conserve its energy.

After all, every night, Gauss would ride it around patrolling, and whenever they found monsters, they'd land and have a big fight.

This had gradually adjusted its biological clock to night mode without it realizing, making it quite lethargic during daytime. Or perhaps dragons were just naturally lazy creatures.

After all, sleep was almost deeply ingrained in their bloodline.

Their race was simply too superior.

If they could become stronger just by sleeping, who would be willing to work hard?

In the past, the Red Drake had also enjoyed such good days.

Unfortunately, Gauss's arrival ended all that.

No matter how much it missed the past, the days of lording over the goblin-like creature nest as a deity were gone forever.

The Red Drake shook its head - it still had work to do tonight, so it quickly fell back asleep.

Gauss didn't disturb its sleep.

He wasn't actually that violent of a person.

Most of the time, he considered himself quite reasonable.

The reason he frequently used fists to reason with the Drake was truly out of necessity.

When dealing with such giant beasts, gentleness meant weakness, while strength meant authority.

Glancing at the slumbering giant dragon and the animals gathered around it including Ulfen, Gauss and Aria breathed sighs of relief.

They stopped worrying about them and went to find open spaces to practice their skills.

Gauss had ample funds recently and bought two more 3rd-circle spells [Counterspell] and [Haste]. After reaching level 5, the difficulty of learning 3rd-circle spells had decreased significantly for him.

He originally wanted to buy [Vampiric Touch] too, but unfortunately, the stock of 3rd-circle spells in this remote town was very limited.

Counterspell was relatively more common, so its circulation was better.

Gauss recalled the effects of Counterspell.

Unlike visible, tangible spells like Fireball and Magic Missile, Counterspell was more like an advanced technique for offensive and defensive combat, most commonly used during "mage duels".

It allowed a spellcaster to interrupt and nullify a spell that another spellcaster was casting.

According to Gauss's understanding from his previous life, when an enemy started "channeling" a spell, immediately casting this spell on them could "cut off" their casting process, causing their spell to fail and suffer backlash from the spell failure.

This backlash might be manageable under normal circumstances, but in combat it could be fatal.

Of course, this spell wasn't guaranteed to interrupt the opponent just by being used.

It depended on factors like the levels of both spells, the power difference between casters, casting state and timing, etc.

In short, it was very complex, but in duels between similar power levels, the side with Counterspell could still grasp some initiative.

Even if not used, the opponent would be hesitant and restrained.

As for others using this spell against Gauss.

Gauss expressed no concern.

Because his attributes were normally much stronger than other spellcasters, anyone wanting to interrupt his casting would have to overcome the strength difference caused by their attribute gap.

Moreover, he possessed a talent [Stable Casting Master], which itself provided sufficient anti-interruption capability, making it extremely difficult to stop his casting.

That wasn't a concern either.

If they were truly that strong, they could defeat him even without using Counterspell.

Therefore, Gauss needed to learn this spell.

When enemies used it against him, the effect would be poor, but when he used it, the effect would be outstanding - could there be anything better?

Gauss had already completed constructing the spell model in the past two days.

However, this spell basically couldn't be practiced alone.

Gauss looked around.

Finally, he came to Aria's side.

"Aria, would you like to receive special training? I have specialized anti-interruption casting training that can effectively improve your casting stability in combat."

"Huh?"

...

"Bang!"

The natural energy in front of Aria exploded.

Dust filled the air, covering her in grime.

"Cough cough..."

She got some dust in her mouth and waved her hand to disperse the dust in front of her.

Perhaps the Counterspell skill itself wasn't as difficult to release as Fireball and Fly.

Gauss mastered its usage earlier than expected.

And perhaps due to the power difference between him and Aria, the spell took effect without much difficulty.

After some initial failures, Gauss, who gradually found his rhythm, quickly "cut off" Aria's casting repeatedly.

Aria gave him a resentful look.

He said it was specialized anti-interruption casting training for her.

But it was really just for his own practice.

And since Gauss truly mastered Counterspell, it became almost impossible for her to successfully cast spells under its interference.

Not just her - she felt even a Master-tier spellcaster, if not careful, would most likely have their casting interrupted.

"Can't do it, simply can't do it!"

She sighed, plopping down on a large rock nearby, waving her hand to create a breeze for her face.

Under the scorching afternoon sun, her face was flushed red from constantly casting spells and consuming energy, sweat trickling down her neck.

"Gauss, you're just bullying me, aren't you?"

"How could I possibly withstand your Counterspell?"

She was just a small support.

The goal Gauss set for her was simply impossible to achieve.

"Ahem."

Gauss had been using her as a practice target for a while, and seeing her drenched in sweat, he felt a little guilty.

But was this practice really of no help to Aria at all?

That didn't seem to be the case.

"But, why don't you try casting again?" Gauss blinked.

Aria rested briefly until the natural energy within her stabilized, then she mobilized the power within her body.

"Faerie Fire!"

As natural energy surged forth.

A area sparkling with fantastical light suddenly appeared before Aria.

Even in daytime, this effect was very noticeable.

"Huh?"

She wasn't surprised by the strange light produced by Faerie Fire itself - she hadn't mastered this spell for just a day or two.

She suddenly felt an indescribable smoothness in that last casting.

Thinking carefully, the casting process seemed to have become more efficient.

"It... it actually works?"

"Of course, did you think I would lie to you?" Gauss, who discovered his guess was indeed correct, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

How could weighted training not be effective?

Constantly undergoing such unpleasant training itself could quickly enhance understanding of the corresponding spell.

Feeling the changes in herself, Aria, who had been frustrated, actually felt somewhat embarrassed.

She felt she had misjudged Gauss's good intentions.

"Then, shall we continue after I rest a bit more?"

Aria wanted to practice her remaining few skills too.

Gauss naturally had no objections.

He also needed to continuously cast spells to practice his proficiency with Counterspell.

In the distance, Albenia, who was watching them out of the corner of her eye, sighed quietly.

As a warrior, she couldn't participate in this kind of training between spellcasters.

...

Night fell

The daytime heat subsided, and the evening breeze blowing over the forest created a chill that seemed to soak through clothing.

Amidst the clouds and mist, a crimson figure was flapping its wings flying.

Looking closely, a young man sat on the dragon saddle on the dragon's back.

His eye wearing the monocle was particularly bright, looking down from above, scanning the vast land below.

This person was none other than Gauss.

With the visual advantage provided by the Red Dragon, combined with the effects of [Eagle Eye Monocle], he could detect potential enemies within a considerable range.

Every recent night, he had been riding the dragon out like this, searching for enemies, killing them, and cleaning up the battlefield.

Keeping himself quite busy.

"Fly in that direction, we haven't flown that way before."

Gauss directed the Drake to fly in a certain direction.

As they spent more days together, the rapport between him and the Red Drake was growing daily.

Gauss patted the Drake beneath him, speaking as if to himself.

"Roar—"

It didn't want to eat either.

Eating the same food for many consecutive meals was easy to get tired of, not to mention that neither Goblins nor the goblin-like creatures tasted particularly good.

When it ruled over the goblin-like creatures in the past, it only ate them out of novelty and for intimidation purposes.

It didn't mean it actually liked eating such dry, bony, skin-only food that had a stinky smell.

"No, I think you do want to."

Now, whenever Gauss made physical contact with the Drake, he could roughly understand the thoughts it conveyed.

"Endure hardship to become superior among dragons."

"You should know that compared to those true dragons, you're inherently disadvantaged, so you need to put in more effort to catch up to them."

"Hephaestus, you wouldn't want to be mocked by your Dragon Mother and siblings if you meet them someday, would you?"

Normally, Drakes didn't have true names like real dragons.

So, Hephaestus was the name Gauss gave to the Red Drake.

The inspiration came from Gauss's previous life - Hephaestus, the ancient Greek god of fire.

Gauss giving it this name itself contained the hope of "expecting the dragon to become a true dragon", no, it should be "expecting the dragon to ascend to godhood".

The only problem was this dragon's lack of initiative.

Simply put, it was too lazy.

Yes.

Despite its ferocious appearance, and being a Drake from the most vicious and brutal of the Five Chromatic Evil Dragons - the Red Dragons, in Gauss's view it lacked ambition.

Irritable, arrogant, insecure, timid, lazy.

These seemingly contradictory words were indeed the best description of Hephaestus.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have stayed underground in the mine developing quietly for so many years, with laziness being the biggest reason.

Therefore, he needed to stimulate it from time to time, making it generate some motivation to strive.

So young, how could it just lie flat?

This was precisely the age for striving.

Sure enough, when Gauss mentioned the Dragon Mother and siblings, the Red Drake Hephaestus beneath him showed obvious psychological fluctuations.

A torrent of turbulent complex emotions flowed to Gauss through their physical contact.

It had been expelled by the Dragon Mother.

Especially recently as its brain slowly developed, memories from after hatching seemed to be gradually becoming clearer.

Those memory fragments of humiliation, anger, fear, and desire were slowly surfacing like icebergs.

Don't expect the Red Dragon Mother who worships strength above all and a bunch of Red Dragon whelps to have any friendly attitude toward a stupid Drake.

Flames began spurting from its nostrils.

Hatred was the most influential emotion.

"Believe me, with my help, you can surpass them - whether it's your true dragon siblings or your Dragon Mother."

Gauss continued, methodically painting a grand picture.

And Hephaestus, following Gauss's description, slowly envisioned a scene of itself covering the sky, stepping on the Dragon Mother, and toying with its true dragon brothers, causing the energy within its body to unconsciously become heavier.

"So, can you train? Can you endure?"

"Roar!"

The Red Drake Hephaestus roared firmly, even making its wing-flapping movements more powerful.

Of course, Gauss wasn't making empty promises without basis - he had also been paying attention to the Drake Hephaestus's condition these days.

This training pattern was greatly beneficial for its growth.

As for whether it could challenge true dragons with its Drake body, Gauss didn't know either.

He wasn't a dragon, and this was his first time raising a Drake, so naturally he couldn't provide an accurate answer.

But he only knew one thing - only by trying hard was there a possibility.

"There's a group of Goblins over there, fly there at maximum speed!"

"Boom!"

The Drake Hephaestus flapped its wings a few times, covering a great distance.

When it reached the target's airspace, it roared, violently flapped its wings, and dove down toward the valley.

The dragon breath brewing in the depths of its throat burst forth like a long-suppressed volcano, a cone of scorching flames sweeping through the center of the camp.

Gauss looked at the sea of fire below without much other emotion.

Perhaps due to some intangible contract, when the Drake Hephaestus was by his side, the kills it made were partially counted toward his kills, just like with those clay constructs.

"Watch the heat, you'll have to eat the burnt ones too." Gauss kindly reminded.

When it came to cherishing food, whether in his previous life or this one, he had always done quite well.