The leaden sky hung low, its heavy clouds seemingly on the verge of collapsing at any moment. Seratus raised his head, his gaze piercing through the oppressive gray curtain. The air was thick with the damp scent of earth and grass, and faint rays of light squeezed through the cracks in the clouds, yet the land remained shrouded in gloom.
He knew he had to finish the irrigation before the scorching sun baked the earth. The coolness of the morning was far more conducive to the roots absorbing water than the dry heat of midday.
Yet, as his thoughts turned to the long-term task issued by the system—"Comprehend the Power of Love"—Seratus couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. The task’s description was vague, speaking of "communicating with plants with a sincere heart, letting them feel the power of love." But how exactly was he supposed to do that? Was it through words or some kind of telepathy? For a creature like Seratus, accustomed to communicating with claws and fire, this was nothing short of an absurd challenge.
He couldn’t help but imagine himself pouring out his heart to a plant—just the thought was enough to make him cringe so hard he could dig out a miniature fairy castle with his toes!
Seratus shuddered and quickly banished the ridiculous notion from his mind. After pondering for a good ten minutes, he still hadn’t come up with any valuable insights. Shaking his head, he decided to set the perplexing task aside for the time being.
When he arrived near the cultivated field, he suddenly remembered that his water flask had run dry the day before. Reluctantly, he had to make a detour to the lake to replenish his water supply. The clear lake water filled the flask, its weight giving him a sense of reassurance. After stashing the flask back into his system’s storage space, he finally returned to the field.
Looking up, he saw green energy swirling in the sky, its rich life force nourishing the land. However, as his gaze swept over the ground, he realized that the ten-meter-square plot he had originally planned was now densely packed with various plants. It was clear that it was time to clear a new area for cultivation.
With a thought, he opened the newly updated map module in the system. Yet, what greeted him was a baffling black projection. This wasn’t just any ordinary black—it was a deep, almost metallic black, with a faint sheen shimmering on its surface!
Seratus mentally commanded "zoom in," and sure enough, the black projection began to slowly enlarge.
After some tinkering, he finally managed to spot a tiny arrow icon in the darkness, marking his current location. The arrow wasn’t static; it pulsed faintly with a red glow, like a heartbeat.
Intrigued, Seratus spun around in place, and the arrow on the system panel rotated accordingly, accurately indicating his orientation.
However, upon closer inspection of the so-called "map," he couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment. It was merely a semi-3D, rudimentary map. Mountains and rivers were outlined with translucent energy lines, while trees were reduced to green crystal prisms scattered across the terrain.
Though he could vaguely make out the outline of a volcano, more detailed geographical features were nowhere to be found. He tried to locate his cave but could only see a blurry volcano model. The nearby lake, on the system map, was nothing more than a tiny puddle.
"What’s the point of this map besides locating myself?" Seratus muttered inwardly, growing skeptical of the map’s practicality. After briefly familiarizing himself with its functions, he lost interest and closed the system panel, turning his attention to planning his next steps.
The current field was already at capacity, and clearing a new area for cultivation was imperative. A Blue Star idiom came to mind—"a cunning rabbit has three burrows." If even a rabbit knew to prepare multiple hiding spots, how much more should a young red dragon like him, aspiring to become a powerful being, do the same? With this in mind, he began recalling the areas he had previously scouted, searching for suitable locations to expand his cultivation.
After a moment, a particular spot surfaced in his memory. Seratus made up his mind—that’s where he would clear the new field! He glanced at the sun in the sky, gauging the direction, and set off toward the north, heading for the ideal plot he had in mind.
Meanwhile, Katelya and Agnas, who had been tailing him, were growing increasingly restless. They had watched as Seratus approached the lake, gulping down water with gusto, yet they couldn’t quite figure out what he was up to. Still, based on his actions, they could guess that he was simply replenishing his water supply.
However, when Seratus finished drinking and instead of heading toward the coveted mushroom patch—a place rumored to hold plant life energy—he turned in a completely different direction, Agnas’s patience finally snapped. After trailing him for over half an hour, only to see Seratus wandering aimlessly with no intention of leading them to the mushrooms, Agnas felt as though he had been played for a fool. Anger began to simmer in his chest.
He stopped in his tracks and turned to Katelya, his voice laced with suppressed fury. "Katelya, help me decide. Right now, we have two options: either we charge at Seratus, beat him up, and force him to reveal the location of the mushrooms, or we keep following him until he leads us there himself. I’m furious, so give me a good reason to choose one over the other."
Katelya, sensing the rage in Agnas’s tone, felt a chill run down her spine. She swallowed nervously, her eyes darting over Agnas’s muscular frame as she quickly weighed her options. She knew that in terms of strength, she was no match for Agnas. If she provoked him, she’d likely end up with more than just a few bruises.
"Seratus may have been born a bit earlier than us, but if it came to a fight, he’s no match for you," Katelya began cautiously, her tone tinged with flattery. "But Seratus is notoriously tough. If he’s determined not to talk, even if you beat him to a pulp, he might still refuse to spill the beans. Plus, if he becomes wary of us, it’ll be even harder to find the mushroom patch later."
She paused, then continued her analysis. "The dragon’s code explicitly forbids infighting among our kind. If we attack him directly, we risk angering Tiamat, the Mother of Dragons. But if we just follow him secretly and wait until he reaches the mushroom patch, then we can take it from him without breaking any rules. At that point, you can teach him a lesson however you see fit. And let’s face it, Seratus is so weak, he’d probably surrender without much of a fight."
As she spoke, Katelya couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride in her own cleverness. She had managed to both soothe Agnas’s anger and subtly shift the blame onto Seratus, all while complimenting Agnas’s strength. It was a win-win situation.
Agnas, hearing Katelya acknowledge his superiority over Seratus, felt a sense of satisfaction. He mulled over her suggestion and found it quite reasonable. Forcing Seratus to reveal the location of the mushrooms would likely backfire, while secretly following him seemed like a more prudent approach. His anger began to subside, replaced by a sly grin.
Meanwhile, Seratus, guided by his memory of the vague location, arrived at the new plot he had chosen for cultivation. As he surveyed the area, he found it to be flat, open, and with excellent visibility. The surroundings were peaceful, devoid of any powerful magical beasts. Only a few small creatures rustled in the grass—creatures that posed no threat to the current Seratus.
What pleased him most was the fertile, moist soil—a rare gem of a plot. Not far away, a winding river surged, branching into numerous smaller streams that nourished the land. The plot he had chosen lay right beside one of these streams, its advantageous location resulting in lush vegetation. Even the wild grass here seemed more robust than elsewhere.
"This is the spot!" Seratus thought with satisfaction as he surveyed the area, his heart filled with anticipation. He had noticed this fertile patch during his previous explorations, and now that his original field was full, it was time to expand. With that in mind, he immediately set to work, planning the layout of the new cultivation area.
