Chapter 14: The Battle for Leadership

Chapter 14: The Battle for LeadershipAfter nearly a month of recovery, the red dragon’s territory is thriving. Under the direction of Langpu and the hobgoblin, the goblins and ogres have already constructed a makeshift stone fortress within the giant valley. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The walls reach over five meters high, with watchtowers positioned on elevated terrain. Langpu, with his extensive reading, has named it “Bastion of Stone.” This makes the already defensible valley even more impregnable. Even if a human army were to attack, the red dragon is confident they could be kept at bay. “Move faster, no slacking!” A three-meter-tall ogre shouted down from the top of the watchtower. However, the wooden watchtower looked fragile under the ogre’s towering, overweight body. One could even hear the creaking sounds of the wood—almost as if it were lamenting the half-ton weight upon it. “Heave-ho!” The ogres hoisted massive logs, struggling to lift them as they built the framework for the Bastion’s watchtower. Being close kin to giants, ogres possess enormous strength. Besides their gluttony and laziness, they make excellent laborers. The goblins, accustomed to building camps, combined with over four hundred of their kind and the ogres’ immense strength, could complete a basic fortress easily under the direction of Langpu, who boasted an intelligence of 17, and the hobgoblin’s leadership. Beneath the over-five-meter-high walls, a group of goblins were swinging pickaxes, vigorously chipping away at the stones. “Hurry up!” “You hit my foot!” As naturally lazy creatures, they once often slacked off. But after an enraged ogre overseer turned one feigning sleep into minced meat, such incidents had never recurred. After all, Langpu’s “discipline” was merely a temporary pain for the dumbfounded ogres, but for the goblins, it meant a permanent end. They understood this well. “Awooo—” “What is that?” The goblins paused in their work, looking up, startled by the huge shadow in the sky. They saw massive shapes approaching from afar, resembling a giant black cloud—a group of over ten wyverns. Sensing the call of dragon blood within them, they gathered in a swarm to see if there was a worthy being to serve. Among these wyverns, the largest spanned over seven meters, fierce and menacing, its size almost rivaling Cassius himself, though it was far more slender. Unlike true dragons, wyverns lack two limbs and wings; they possess two scaly legs and a pair of strong wings. The wyverns’ tails were thick and powerful, their tips equipped with their most deadly weapon—a venomous stinger. This venom, highly toxic, could corrode the hearts and arteries of victims through backflow of blood. The lethality of wyvern poison makes it a coveted resource among hunters and alchemists for concoctions and weapon coatings. The wyverns crouched on the ground, their wing membranes folding back. They landed, hissing and roaring. Summoning the land’s ruler. The nearby goblins panicked, fearing they would be devoured or crushed by the wyverns, and hurriedly scurried away. Being so weak, even a minor movement from these powerful creatures could mean death for them. Meanwhile, the ogre mage stood at the fortress wall, preparing a fireball spell. The chimera in the cliff cave also became alert, its three heads showing varied expressions. “Master, a group of wyverns has arrived!” “Roar!” The red dragon flew out from the Giant’s Maw Cave, letting out a long, distant roar, descending in front of the wyvern swarm. “Submit to me.” (in Draconic) Cassius commanded. The wyverns emitted a cacophony of hissing sounds before lowering their long necks and bowing their heads to show submission. But the largest wyvern in the group, seeing that the red dragon before it was merely in its juvenile stage and close to its own size, let out a challenging roar. Clearly, it was intoxicated by the rare opportunity to claim leadership. A leadership contest? A time-honored tradition among dragonkind. Two would duel, with the victor becoming the group leader, while the loser would be expelled. But for a proud, pure-blooded red dragon, a lowly wyvern challenging him was a severe insult. If Cassius had been a full-blooded red dragon, he would have been enraged enough to release steam, ready to tear it apart. “You’ve made the worst choice.” (in Draconic) Cassius was fuming, though his anger was focused on his own size—how much longer until he reached the stage of an adult red dragon, able to inspire immediate submission with a mere presence? “And I shall grant you—death!” (in Draconic) The red dragon flapped his wings, soaring high above, looking down upon the wyvern. [Based on your own power, you observe the following information.] Wyvern Large Dragon, No Alignment AC: 13 (Natural Armor) Speed: 20 feet, Flying 80 feet Strength—19 Dexterity—10 Constitution—16 Intelligence—5 Wisdom—12 Charisma—6 Skills: Perception +2, Hunting +4 Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14 Languages: Understands Draconic Actions: Multiattack, Bite, Claw, Sting Challenge Level: 6 (2,300 XP) Evaluation: “Sometimes, travelers in the wilderness look up to see the shadow of a wyvern carrying prey through the sky. These relatives of dragons also hunt within the dense forests and caves. They are ruthless hunters, and when they appear in packs, they often incite waves of terror along civilization’s fringes.” The wyvern on the ground slightly arched its slender neck, raised its menacing head, and let out a hissing roar, the sound coarse, almost snake-like. “Hissss—” Immediately, the large wyvern flapped its forelimbs, lifting off, its powerful tail swaying in the air, the sharp stinger glistening with a cold sheen. “Flame Breath!” Before it could fully leave the ground, the red dragon spewed a scorching cone of flame, aiming straight at the wyvern’s body. The wyvern hastily adjusted its body, slanting its wings mid-air, attempting to anchor its forelimbs to the ground to escape the attack, but couldn’t avoid the blazing fire breath. Its chest scales were burned black, the flesh beneath scorched by the intense flame, leaving it in a sorry state. “Awooo—” The wyvern let out a pained howl but immediately propped itself up with its forelimbs, shakily rising into the air again. It had little time, as the red dragon’s next breath was imminent, with the orange-yellow glow deep in his throat resembling an erupting volcano. “Boom—” Another sound of flames scorching the air followed, as another blast of crimson fire shot down from above, trailing the wyvern’s flight path. The nearby atmosphere turned searingly hot, causing the wyvern to panic. It could only desperately flap its wings, darting and dodging in the sky, with no means of counterattack.