Ashen Dragon

Chapter 53 Nest and Ascension

Ashen Nest.

"Quick, bring the stone up."

"Lord Dolores said to make room for the catapult."

"Oh, okay."

"Captain, why did you hit me?"

"You idiot, you blocked the window!"

The goblins were still routinely building fortifications, making Rock Fortress even more indestructible.

The well-trained great goblins took over the sentry duties of the goblins, further lowering their status within the nest, but these timid and cowardly creatures dared only to be angry and not speak up.

"Open the gate, we want to come in."

The lizardfolk called out from below the city gate.

Behind them, they dragged a huge corpse on a sled, with warm blood still flowing down.

The lizardfolk, new arrivals, temporarily took on the tasks of patrolling and hunting.

The strong and robust lizardfolk chieftain Acker had superb hunting skills; he always managed to lead the lizardfolk to encircle and kill massive woolly boars and mammoths. Meanwhile, the old shaman stayed in the valley, using Druid spells to heal the wounded.

The half-goat people loved the strongest wine, the finest spices, and the most dazzling dances.

Shortly after entering Ashen Nest, these bard-like fellows spent sleepless nights in wild celebration.

It wasn't until Ramp, irritated by the noise, killed one of the dancing half-goat people with a club and roasted the body, that these fellows finally quieted down, although they appeared somewhat dejected.

They played different melodies on their magic pan flutes, causing enemies to fall into states of panic or charm.

Meanwhile, the ogres once again gathered in the depths of the valley, and Ramp resumed his literacy class.

This ogre mage had been living well recently; a caravan from Sgurr Town brought over twenty precious magic scrolls.

—Among them were useful Second Tier Spells like [Misty Step], [Magic Rope Spell], and [Human Binding Spell], and even a Third Tier Spell like [Stinking Cloud Spell].

This no doubt freed him from the embarrassment of being a mage who only knew fireball spells.

Ramp treasured these scrolls and stored them in the cave, placing guards at the entrance to prevent anyone from approaching, while he spent days and nights immersed in learning spells.

"I need to build a mage tower."

Ramp adjusted his newly received gold-framed glasses and thought this.

Considering his large frame, standing over five meters tall, the cave felt rather cramped.

He was contemplating building a mage tower, like all decent mages, to store magic scrolls and items and to spread his name across the continent. He had already thought of a good name—

"Giant Sage."

It conveyed both size and wisdom.

If he could add labels like Ashen Nest and Great Blueprint, it would be even more perfect.

Just now, the noisy curses of the surrounding ogres pulled Ramp back to reality.

"Boss, what's up?"

Bighead poked his head out from the side and said gleefully:

"Why aren't you talking, are you giving us something to eat?"

"I want to eat green-skinned goblin!"

"I want little one canned food!"

Ramp's face, covered in dragon scales, turned dark with a thick shadow.

"Shut up!"

He swung his club onto Bighead's skull, the terrifying strength from dragonification smashing down, causing Bighead's eyes to well with tears and his forehead to swell.

"Bang!"

Bighead fell straight over.

"Does everyone... know?"

A kind smile spread across Ramp's scaled, menacing face, showing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

Ignoring the fainted Bighead, he pulled out a few lifelike paintings drawn by the half-goat people's studio, pointing to the goblin figures on them.

"Come, read with me—"

"Companions."

Having seen what happened to Bighead, the ogres obeyed more and no longer dared to make trouble, timidly echoing:

"Com—pa—nions—"

Ramp finally nodded in satisfaction; these guys were showing some improvement.

But then, the ogres didn't stop.

"Delicious!"

This exclamation, more unified than before, contained an earnest joy akin to a farmer's harvest.

Ramp's face, which had just returned to normal, turned pitch black again, his thick arms slightly bulging, the veins under the dragon scales pulsating.

"Crack."

His newly received golden-framed glasses snapped under the strain of the bulging veins.

This stoked the flames of Ramp's anger even more.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Soon, the Ogre Cave was filled with wailing.

...

Giant's Mouth Cave.

Inside the Red Dragon's lair.

Cassius stretched, taking in the surrounding scent of sulfur and floatstone.

Every red dragon exuded abundant energy before entering adolescence, causing this scent as the impurities mixed into the air.

"Almost time for the hibernation phase."

Cassius thought this as well.

The experience he gained earlier from the gigantic snowmen remained unspent; he looked at his status screen, preparing to level up.

[Choose to increase Sorcerer level]

[Your Sorcerer level rose to 6]

[Acquired additional Third Tier Spell [Fireball Technique]]

The method of casting the fireball spell appeared in the red dragon's mind. Though a Third Tier Spell, the fireball spell seemed so straightforward and brutal—just one word—boom.

As a red dragon born to control flames, Cassius found releasing this spell to be second nature.

With a few tries, he could already summon searing fireballs, casually hurling them at the ground.

"Boom!"

The fireball hit the stone surface, leaving a large scorch mark.

"No wonder there was a cult of sorcerers dedicated to fireball spells in my past life; it really is quite satisfying to cast."

Cassius couldn't help but say.

[Acquired Trait [Advanced Elemental Affinity]]

[The powerful bloodline of the ancient red dragon imbues you with fiery strength. When you cast a spell dealing damage of the same type as your draconic bloodline, you can add your own charisma to enhance the spell.]

Though a pureblood red dragon from the righteous flag of ancient Tiamat, Cassius, as a dragon vein sorcerer, dug into his bloodline to gain spells far beyond what typical dragon vein sorcerer players could, and acquired far more potent traits.

Standard sorcerers knew only a handful of spells, casting them repeatedly, often becoming akin to artillery units in a team. Mages, however, had access to the entire spell list, allowing them to flexibly adjust their prepared spells daily.

Thus, at higher levels, once their spell list was known, a sorcerer of the same level had difficulty contending with a well-prepared mage.

In Cassius's view, the occupational abilities of the dragon vein sorcerer were becoming inadequate for his growing power.

Traits like [Wings of the Dragon], [True Dragon Majesty], and [Dragonification] in the mid to late stages of a dragon vein sorcerer's career seemed unnecessary luxuries to him.

Was he supposed to grow an extra set of wings?

Or have a dragon turn into a dragon?

Or perhaps add another layer of dragon might?

This showcased the importance of multiclassing and advanced occupations.

Yet many human occupations didn't suit a red dragon, such as warriors or paladins, which involved restrictions like weapons, equipment, and faith.

Therefore, Cassius had not yet decided on developing other occupations and could only hope to find hidden or advanced occupations.