Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Taming the Dragon Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Taming the Dragon “Ding! Ding! Block!” Early in the morning, atop the bell tower of the Five-Color Dragon Castle, a bronze bell was rung by the duty Storm Giant, sending its sonorous and deep peals throughout every corner of the castle.

The entire Five-Color Dragon Castle boiled with activity at that moment. Nearly a hundred doors opened simultaneously as the bell sounded, as baby dragons with disproportionately large heads and small bodies rushed out of their rooms like their tails were on fire, hurriedly heading toward the same place in the castle.

“Run, run, run! We must get to the dining hall before the bell stops.”

“Don’t block the way, I don’t want to be punished by Muria.”

“Move, move, or I’ll start breathing fire!”

“Come on then, let’s breathe fire at each other. Afraid, are you? Red Dragons think they’re so great!”

“A bunch of foolish dragons, go on, fight, but when you’re late, just meekly accept Muria’s punishment without squealing.”

What was originally a very wide corridor, able to accommodate four giants side by side, was suddenly blocked by these baby dragons, the largest of which were only four meters long.

These ill-tempered baby dragons, without any reason, started scuffling in the corridor, occasionally breathing harmless fire at each other, essentially just spitting at one another.

On duty along the corridor, the Cloud Giant paid no attention, letting these baby dragons play under their feet. At first, the sight was quite amusing, but seeing it every day, they grew tired of it; after all, these were just baby dragons, completely harmless to them.

In the castle dining hall, Muria sat at the head, looking down at the neatly arranged rows of black iron low tables. From his viewpoint, everything was perfectly orderly, making the scene very comforting to watch.

That was until the moment the Storm Giant rang the bronze bell on the castle’s bell tower; Muria’s brow furrowed as he heard the bustling, noisy clamor coming from the castle passageways.

“It’s still the same, despite teaching for so long, there’s no change. Is my punishment too lenient?” Muria rubbed his temples, pondering in frustration.

Just then, at the dining hall entrance opposite Muria, a large black dragon flapped its wings and was the first to rush out. When it realized it was first, it raised its head and roared in celebration,
“Howl, today I am the first to arrive!”

“Cough!” Seeing the proud little black dragon, Muria cleared his throat. The little black dragon, hearing the sound, shivered and meekly responded,
“Muria, I know I shouldn’t be noisy.” The little black dragon hunched over, looking fearfully at Muria who was sitting on a three-step high platform and squinting at it, “I won’t make noise anymore, I’ll just sit down quietly.”

Having said that, the little black dragon obediently walked to its seat and then plopped down on the firm cushion, quietly waiting for all the baby dragons to gather and then embark on the most interesting part of the day before meals began.

As the little black dragon entered the dining hall, one after another, brilliantly colored baby dragons charged into the hall to the sounds of the lingering bell chime. These dragons were still a bit noisy as they entered, but upon seeing Muria, sitting on the high platform with an intense gaze, they quickly quieted down, sitting properly, with some baby dragons even padding their claws to make less noise as they walked.

“Ding!” The last bell sound rang out and then quiet ensued. Muria watched solemnly at the dining hall entrance as the bell ceased. The baby dragons, who had already taken their places, also turned their heads towards the entrance.

Under the watching eyes of Muria and the other dragons, a little Red Dragon with brilliant red scales, accompanied by two little Blue Dragons with bright sky-blue scales, tentatively walked into the dining hall. The scratch marks on their bodies clearly indicated these three had just been involved in a brawl in the corridor.

“You three are late,” Muria stated flatly from his seat, expressionlessly looking at the three baby dragons.

“Muria, it wasn’t my fault!” Before Muria could continue, the late little Red Dragon began to complain loudly with a face filled with grievance, “It was these two, blocking my way! When I asked them to move, they didn’t, and they even ganged up to attack me.”

Hearing the little Red Dragon’s words, the other two Blue Dragons immediately glared back, saying, “It’s clearly your fault for being unreasonable. We were in front of you, why should we give way?”

“Yeah, being a Red Dragon is nothing so special, we Blue Dragons aren’t afraid.”

The words from the little Blue Dragon resonated with many Blue Dragons who had taken their seated positions, silently nodding in agreement. While it was true that Red Dragons are the strongest among the Five-colored Dragons, these Blue Dragons weren’t far behind.

“Enough!” Muria saw that the three baby dragons below were about to continue arguing, and he sharply interrupted, “The Five-colored Dragons are all ill-tempered by nature, quick to fight over the smallest disagreements, which is pretty normal for them. I’ve seen many dragons delayed because of fights.”

“No further nonsense, the old rules apply, tardiness is punished.” Muria looked coldly at the three uneasy baby dragons below, “Will you volunteer yourselves to save me the trouble, or should I have the other dragons help you?”

Hearing Muria’s words, the baby dragons seated in the dining hall looked eagerly at the three tardy baby dragons, greatly anticipating their response.

“We’ll do it ourselves.” After a moment’s hesitation, a baby blue dragon made up its mind. With a face resigned to death and a tragic momentum, it marched towards Muria.

Then it arrived beneath the high platform where Muria was seated. The baby blue dragon grimaced, closed its eyes, and climbed onto the broad first level.

The platform where Muria sat was not tall, only three levels high, but each one was spacious. What was most special, though, was that on both the first and the second levels, there were dozens of Six-pointed Star Arrays, flickering with a weak spirit light.

These were arrays that Muria had designed himself over many years, specifically for the inherently wicked Five-colored Dragons. They could punish up to fifty baby Five-colored Dragons at once.

With a tragic expression, the baby blue dragon stepped into one of the arrays on the first step. Once its entire body had entered the array, the hexagram on the array began glowing, its white spirit light turning from faint to radiantly dazzling.

“Buzz!” A chill spread as the array was activated, and the young dragons sitting close to Muria, all except for the White Dragon who seemed to enjoy it, shivered.

“Howl!” The baby blue dragon let out a brief and sharp howl before falling silent, as it was now enveloped in a cloud of freezing water, levitated by the force of the array, displayed in front of all the baby dragons.

“Being late, plus fighting, punishment time, fifteen minutes.” Muria announced the baby blue dragon’s punishment without any expression on his face. Looking at the many baby dragons below with frightened faces, he sighed slightly.

All these Evil Dragon Cubs were naturally vicious and irredeemably bad, committing misdemeanors daily without fail. A penalty for every fault was a principle that Muria stood firm by.

However, personally dealing with the punishment of these baby dragons every day was somewhat tiresome. Hence, he had specifically designed arrays to discipline these Five-colored Dragons, tailored to their habits and attributes.

Blue Dragons, belonging to the Earth-based Dragon Species, liked to nest in deserts and could emit linear lightning. Punishing Blue Dragons with Golden Thunder was ineffective as their resistance to lightning damage was too strong.

Faced with this issue, Muria set up an array capable of generating sub-zero, non-freezing water, to maximize the pain the Blue Dragons felt. Moreover, the effects of the array did not end there.

A giant frozen water sphere, three meters in diameter, floated above the fully activated array. The baby blue dragon flailed and struggled within it, appearing in extreme agony.

Watching the baby blue dragon as if it were about to die, Muria felt no inner turmoil. He had seen too much of the resilience of the Dragon Race; such a level could only make them uncomfortable and distressed, far from lethal.

“Is my punishment array still too ineffective?” Muria considered as he looked below. “My arrays can only slightly intimidate these young dragons. Their repeat offenses every few days suggest that they aren’t truly fearful of punishment. It needs to be modified, to enhance the disciplinary effect.”

“The most ridiculous thing,” Muria observed the young dragons eagerly watching the punishment of the baby blue dragon at the dining table, feeling a sense of helplessness, “is that their own kind’s misfortune doesn’t elicit any sympathy from them but instead becomes their source of amusement. Evil dragons truly live up to their name.”

After these reflections, Muria’s gaze shifted towards the entrance where two baby dragons, a blue and a red one, appeared frightened. The young dragons surrounding them looked ready to pounce.

“Help them both.” Saying this, Muria waved his hand, a mischievous smile appearing on his face. Despite the headache caused by the inherent wickedness of the Evil Dragons, the everyday entertainment must still go on.

Hearing Muria’s words, the young dragons around the baby blue and red dragons rushed at them like hungry wolves. Red Dragons, Blue Dragons, even White Dragons—members of all the Five-colored Dragon Species pounced on them.

“Howl!” “Roar!”… The entire dining room became lively at that moment, all the dragons entering an excited state, as if in the midst of a carnival.

“No, we’re the same kind, you can’t do this.”

“You’re a Blue Dragon too, don’t you have any dragon dignity? I don’t want to be punished, let me go.”

A dozen baby dragons surrounded the two small dragons, and soon, the room was filled with angry roars and desperate cries, quickly drowned out by the excited voices of the dozen young dragons.

They grabbed the two poor small dragons—pulling tails, dragging wings, pressing down on heads… The wicked nature of the Five-colored Dragons was evident in that moment.

“Stop moving, don’t struggle.”

“Roar, you damn Red Dragon, I’ve finally got my chance. Three days ago, when I was being punished, you were pulling my wing, dragging me up there with the others. Now you expect me to let you off? Dream on!”

“Hmph, you two scoundrels, finally I get the chance to get back at you. Resistance is useless.”

“Let me send you up to enjoy it properly!”

“If you err, you must be punished, howl, stop struggling.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read