I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 285: Dragon Soaring in the Sky

Gauss and the others left Gold-Silver Town amidst the "staring ceremony."The group found a remote spot in the wilderness.

"Then I'll release it now?"

Aria confirmed with Gauss somewhat uneasily.

Every member of their team had witnessed the strength of this drake.

"Don't worry."

Gauss reassured her.

Not to mention the drake was already bound by those illusory golden chains, even if it had any ideas, with its strength weakened, it probably wouldn't be a match for Gauss's team anyway.

"Alright."

Receiving his reply, Aria carefully released the Red Drake from the Living Bag.

During this period, aside from regularly putting some food into the Living Bag, Aria hadn't taken it out of the bag.

Fortunately, the drake was recuperating from its injuries and spent most of its time sleeping, so it hadn't caused any trouble.

Under the vigilant gazes of Serlandul and the others, a crimson figure abruptly appeared on the open ground in front of them.

The Red Drake was clearly startled as well.

It had been spacing out, contemplating draconic life, and in the blink of an eye, the world spun around, and it was back in the real world.

"ROAR!"

It let out a stress-induced roar.

Seeing this, Gauss raised his hand.

"ROAR~~~ cough~~"

Seeing the familiar yet unfamiliar man before it, the drake couldn't help but tremble all over, its throat tightening. The originally majestic dragon roar suddenly got choked off, slowly fading into silence.

The impression Gauss left on it was just too profound.

Even though Gauss no longer had that powerful aura now, the moment it saw him, its entire body seemed to ache faintly.

It was the first time in its draconic life that it had been taught such a severe lesson.

However, Gauss's fist didn't come down.

Instead, his palm pressed against the dragon scales, checking its body.

Those wounds had already disappeared.

The shed scales had regrown, their color noticeably lighter than the other scales. It might take some time for the color difference to even out.

"It looks completely healed."

Gauss walked around its body, examining it for a long time, speaking with some surprise.

After all, both he and the drake had suffered quite serious injuries just ten days ago.

But he had people taking care of him, while the drake had relied purely on its own powerful regenerative ability to gradually recover.

The dragon's body was truly blessed by nature.

If it were almost any other species in that condition, they probably wouldn't have made it.

But as long as a dragon has a breath of life left, it can recover from injuries just by eating dirt - it's only a matter of speed.

"Good, good."

Discovering that although the drake's body was trembling, it at least showed no obvious aggressive tendencies, Gauss nodded to himself privately.

This saved him some effort.

Moreover, although this Red Drake hadn't reached adulthood yet, its size was more than sufficient as a mount.

Carrying a few extra people wouldn't be a problem either.

"You'll follow us from now on, alright?"

Gauss spoke up.

He could sense that through the white egg, the drake had formed some kind of intangible connection with him.

So it should be able to roughly understand what he was saying.

Hearing his self-declared statement, the drake was just about to raise its head and let out a low roar when it saw Gauss raise his arm again.

It could only silently lower its head.

When under someone's roof, one must bow their head.

"It seems you have no objections."

Gauss nodded.

As for what the drake would eat?

That was easy to handle. Meat, plants, the monster corpses from his usual kills - all were excellent food sources.

After all, a dragon's digestive ability was actually sufficient to process most items.

The difference was only whether they were willing to eat them or not.

The current cultivation strategy was to eat whatever was available.

It couldn't really come to Gauss's team to be a dragon lord, could it? Such good fortune didn't exist.

"Lord Gauss, this is a dragon saddle set I forged, the gift I promised you." Albenia suddenly took out a set of saddle gear from her armor's built-in storage space.

So this was it.

Looking at the large object in her hand, Gauss couldn't bring himself to speak any polite words of refusal.

He really did need something like this.

This saddle set had reached the level of magical equipment as well.

The main body was made of specially treated brown leather, with polished crimson metal components embedded at key points.

The entire saddle set had a beautiful, streamlined shape that looked very fitted to the curve of the drake's spine. The seat was padded with a layer of soft, fine cushioning beast fur.

A cyan magic crystal was embedded at the back of the saddle.

"This saddle set can reduce wind resistance for the rider during flight and increase comfort during the journey."

"Let's try installing it."

No one else dared to do this job, so Gauss had to do it himself.

Currently, the drake seemed to only recognize him. When others approached, it wouldn't attack, but it would have similar stress responses.

"Then thank you very much. I really like this gift."

After thanking her, Gauss took the heavy saddle set.

Albenia had probably been busy making this dragon saddle at the blacksmith shop these past few days.

Under Albenia's guidance, Gauss successfully fitted the saddle onto the reluctant drake.

The overall fit was quite good.

According to Albenia, as magical equipment, this saddle set could deform and adjust to match the drake's size as it grew.

After the saddle was installed, the drake shook its neck, letting out low rumbling sounds in its throat.

"Alright, get used to it." Gauss patted its scales.

Aesthetically, after wearing this saddle set, the Red Drake's appearance actually improved quite a bit.

The crimson metal components reflected cold, sharp light under the sun. The entire saddle set looked as if it had naturally "grown" from the dragon's body, with no sense of incongruity in its design.

Gauss cast the Fly spell, slowly rising into the air.

Finally, he landed on the dragon saddle.

As he sat down.

The entire saddle set slowly lit up with light.

"Take off."

He patted the drake's neck.

Although the drake was still somewhat unwilling about becoming a mount, after hesitating for a moment, it still flapped its wings and slowly lifted off the ground.

"WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!"

The airflow from its wings sent dust and sand flying everywhere around them.

Sitting on the dragon's back, looking at the surrounding scenery, Gauss was in high spirits.

He could still remember the envious feeling he had when he saw Guild Leader Eberhard's magnificent griffin mount back in Grayrock Town.

He had even entertained the thought of taming a griffin mount himself back then.

But griffins were too expensive.

He never expected that now he would actually own a Red Drake mount.

The Red Drake beneath him, although not yet fully grown, already showed signs of majestic bearing.

As mounts, the Red Drake was on a completely different level of power compared to a griffin.

Sitting on the drake's back now, he felt like he was realizing a dream.

He directed the drake to fly toward other areas.

Although part of its strength was sealed by the golden chains, its flying speed was still very fast, far exceeding the burst speed Gauss could currently achieve with the Fly spell.

Dragons were born rulers of the sky.

Very few races could suppress them in the air.

This was also why Gauss, even though he had mastered the Fly spell, still had to jump onto the drake's back the moment it dove down to attack during that battle.

In open wilderness areas, it held absolute initiative, unless it encountered enemies specialized in close combat.

Fierce winds howled past his ears.

The cyan magic crystal on the saddle continuously emitted a soft glow, forming an invisible barrier around Gauss's body.

The wind flowed past his body as if encountering no resistance at all, slipping gently by his sides. Moreover, he could sit steadily on the saddle, feeling no flight turbulence from beginning to end.

The altitude kept increasing.

Gauss sat steadily on the dragon saddle, hands lightly holding the saddle, feeling the tremendous power from each wingbeat of the drake beneath him.

The drake's flight was initially somewhat awkward and stiff, as if unaccustomed to the weight on its back.

But soon, the instincts belonging to the sky's ruler began to awaken. Its movements became smooth and powerful, its flying posture increasingly stable.

Through physical contact, Gauss could vaguely sense the drake's emotions.

At first, it was still somewhat irritable, but as it soared through the skies, it gradually calmed down.

He tried to coordinate further with the drake.

By shifting his body weight to convey turning intentions, after several attempts, the somewhat sluggish drake finally understood what he meant.

Slowly, it began to cooperate, tilting its body to change flight direction.

Gauss's Sturdy Scale Bloodline still had some effect.

Although the drake appeared unwilling on the surface, because of the Sturdy Scale Bloodline's presence, it didn't harbor much rejection toward Gauss, who had defeated it.

Of course, part of the reason was also that its strength was weakened, and any attempt to resist would probably end in failure anyway.

Since it couldn't resist, it could only slowly learn to accept and get along with Gauss.

Gauss rode the drake, circling several times over the uninhabited areas in the distant outskirts of Gold-Silver Town, adapting to this unprecedented mobility.

Before long, Gauss signaled the drake to decrease altitude, slowly landing on the open ground where his teammates were waiting.

The drake folded its wings, its heavy body still causing the ground to tremble slightly upon landing.

"Lord Gauss! Congratulations!"

"How does it feel?"

His companions all excitedly gathered around.

Gauss riding on the dragon's back seemed like a natural-born Dragon Knight. His composed demeanor combined with the crimson giant beast crouching beneath him created a harmonious picture, full of indescribable majesty and sense of power.

Just like the dragon-riding heroes from legendary tales.

Even though his current strength was still worlds away from that of a true hero.

Gauss turned over and jumped down from the dragon's back.

"Very good. The big guy flies well too, very cooperative."

Gauss patted the drake beside him.

The drake understood his meaning but deliberately turned its neck away, refusing to look at him, snorting hot air from its nostrils with grumbling sounds.

Looking at the drake beside him, then at his companions around him, Gauss felt a surge of anticipation for the future.

With the Red Drake joining the team, their squad had gained another powerful member.

Aria and the others gathered around him, chattering as they asked more about the experience of riding a dragon.

Facing this scene, Gauss couldn't help but become somewhat lost in thought.

As long as they kept moving forward, the team would only get better and better.

The second day after landing.

Gauss began to resume his magic practice again.

The improvements from this commission weren't limited to just a Red Drake mount.

Every member of the team had made significant progress.

Especially Shadow and Gauss himself, who had been stuck at level 5 for some time.

Gauss could already feel that the Magic Cup, symbolizing the source of a Magician's power, had once again become full.

Was he about to level up again?

Was this speed fast?

In terms of time, extremely fast!

It hadn't been long since he advanced to level 4.

Burning down the goblin nest was only three months ago.

For many professionals, this amount of time wasn't even enough to fully familiarize themselves with the changes after leveling up.

Yet Gauss had already reached the threshold of the next level.

However, when carefully considering his experiences and adventures during this period, his rapid advancement speed seemed understandable.

He had learned the White Sparrow Sword Method, killed large numbers of Sandscale Fishmen and shore-running goblins, unlocked a secondary profession, cross-level learned the Fly and Fireball spells that normally only level 5 spellcasters could master.

Killed the Commander-level Monster Gorgon, helped multiple villages establish defenses, taught many professional seeds.

And recently, just killed large numbers of goblin-like creatures, the Commander-level Monster Dragonborn Goblin, and subdued a Red Drake.

He had both rich adventure commissions and substantial gains in civilian reputation, plus numerous low-level monster kills and powerful monster subjugations...

If it were any other adventurer of the same level, they simply couldn't have accomplished these experiences, especially in such a short time.

Many of these experiences were completely beyond the scope of what a level 4 adventurer should encounter, hence the "experience" gained was exceptionally abundant.

"This is the magic crystal and other materials prepared for you."

Knowing Gauss was facing a breakthrough, Aria and the others had been busy preparing for a whole day.

A mid-grade earth element magic crystal.

Crystals of this grade were normally only used by Master-tier spellcasters, but since Gauss's mana was already much greater than normal spellcasters, using a mid-grade magic crystal was quite necessary.

"No need to be in such a hurry. It might still take a few days before the breakthrough."

Seeing Aria's flustered appearance, Gauss reassured her.

Although his physical injuries had completely healed these past few days, after so many days of rest, both his physical condition and magical activity had declined to some extent.

This was unavoidable and required gradual recovery through practice.

He estimated it would still take a few more days.

His situation was already considered good - at least the damage to his body hadn't caused irreversible effects, it just needed adjustment back to optimal condition.

Many adventurers, after suffering major physical damage, often experienced varying degrees of decline, frequently getting stuck before breakthrough level bottlenecks, creating lifelong regrets.

"You need to prepare well." Looking at Gauss's calm and composed manner, Aria reminded him again.

Although every level increase was crucial for professionals, level 5 compared to the previous 4 levels was still a rather special stage.

Because this was the last level for elite adventurers, beyond which was the Master stage.

For spellcasters advancing from level 4 to level 5, normally the improvement would be greater than from level 3 to level 4, since level 5 spellcasters could normally begin learning 3rd-circle spells.

Of course, Gauss's enhancement might be relatively smaller.

After all, he had already cross-level mastered 3rd-circle spells at level 4.

Time passed quietly amid Gauss's well-organized training.

....

In a countryside cottage in the wilderness.

Teammates gathered around the house, watching Gauss walk inside.

"I hope everything goes smoothly."

"Don't worry, the captain is a genius. Have more confidence in him."

"You really aren't tricking me? Lord Gauss only advanced to level 4 three months ago?" Albenia was still confirming this information she had just learned with Aria and the others in disbelief.

In her understanding, this was simply unbelievable.

If the person involved weren't Gauss, she would definitely think this was nonsense.

Since when did professional level advancements use months as the unit of measurement?

This... this... this makes any sense?