r18novel Chapter 89 Expansion
Chapter 89 Expansion
"You bunch of lazy bums and good-for-nothings! A pack of filthy stray dogs, get out here! I have something to tell you to do!"
A high-pitched dragon roar suddenly resounded through the sky, startling the jackal-men who were leisurely basking in the sunset. They scrambled to their feet in a panic.
Even those gathered around the campfire reluctantly put down their food and rushed to the open space in front of the camp.
When Thor landed on a huge, protruding rock, accompanied by a howling wind, all the gnolls had almost finished gathering, lying haphazardly with their tongues lolling out, looking like a chaotic mess.
Looking at this group of scatterbrains, Thor felt a surge of anger rising within him.
While this is indeed the nature of chaotic and evil creatures, it should never be the behavior of his retinue.
"Now, who among you is the new leader? Step forward!"
With a roar, a gnoll, noticeably larger than its companions, stepped forward tremblingly.
"Great Dragon Lord, it is I, Liemo... who have seized the new leadership position."
This is a female gnoll. Because they are transformed from hyenas, females in this species are often much larger and stronger than males.
Thor glared fiercely at the gnoll with his golden eyes, growling a threat.
"If I ever see you all behaving this lazy way again, you can go and keep company with those dead goblins!"
The surrounding gnolls shuddered at these words. The one Thor was staring at trembled uncontrollably and quickly replied, "Yes!"
Seeing this, Thor withdrew his gaze and roared in a passionate voice.
"This mountain range is inhabited by too many evil creatures and filled with too many chaotic sounds."
Now that I'm here, all the different voices should disappear completely, leaving only one—my voice!
Now go north and deliver my orders to those evil creatures: Before sunrise tomorrow, come down to my lair and submit to me, or else await being burned to ashes!
The jackals, who had been trembling with fear just moments before, roared with excitement upon hearing this. Their instincts, ingrained in their very bones, fueled their constant thirst for blood and slaughter.
With a flap of Thor's wings, the gnolls on the clearing scattered and rushed impatiently toward the tribes of other creatures in the vicinity.
This night was destined to be anything but peaceful. The arrival of the red dragon had already attracted the attention of other creatures.
When the gnolls arrived as messengers, the various tribes responded differently: some, intimidated by the red dragon's power, chose to submit; others, confident in their strength, intended to fight to the bitter end.
However, many tribes, unwilling to submit to the red dragon and lacking the strength to resist, had no choice but to flee overnight.
This is also a true reflection of the reality for most small tribes in the wilderness: they have no fixed abode, and even if they manage to establish themselves in one place, they can only embark on a wandering journey again when stronger creatures appear.
Thor ignored the creatures that chose to flee. Although the more followers he had, the more essence they could provide, not all creatures were worth subduing.
It's important to know that both gnolls and kobolds are creatures with extremely high reproductive rates.
They often give birth to many cubs at a time, and they reach adulthood around the age of 10. Theoretically, their lifespan is comparable to that of humans, with kobolds even living to 120 years old.
However, due to the harsh wilderness environment, their average lifespan is less than 30 years, so their numbers are not very large. Once conditions are suitable, their numbers will quickly explode.
After sending the gnolls away, Thor returned to his lair.
He is just waiting for the sun to rise tomorrow so that he can completely wipe out all the races in this mountain range that refuse to submit.
This was a trivial matter to him. At this moment, what he was really thinking about was still that abandoned underground city in the south.
Just four mental attacks provided him with nearly five hundred units of mental energy essence, which shows how powerful the creature hiding in the shadows was.
Thor was eager to figure out what that thing was and what its current state was. Only by understanding these things could he feel at ease.
However, it was absolutely impossible for him to go back to that abandoned underground city again. After all, a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall, and curiosity often kills the cat.
So, should I send my gnolls and kobolds to investigate and report back?
Or, could you actually prepare for both possibilities?
Of the five spells Thor awakened in his childhood, four corresponded to his own magical elements, while the remaining one, "Control of Small Creatures," belonged to the realm of mind and soul.
This might be because he fused with multiple monster templates, making his mental strength far stronger than that of a typical red dragon of the same age, and this, combined with the remnants of that undead creature, resulted in a mixed reaction.
In fact, after the soul energy of that undead creature was drained, the memories within its soul became pure information, which was then spat out by the turntable.
Having never been particularly interested in them before, Thor had sealed these memories, along with the Dragon Legacy, deep within his mind. Now, however, he could finally revisit them.
He delved into the deepest recesses of his mind, beginning to search for useful information within the vast ocean of memories.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a very long process.
However, the more memorable something is in a person's memory, the more dazzling its brilliance becomes.
And for a lich, what could be more impressive than magical knowledge?
If I had to pinpoint anything, it would probably be hatred and those unattainable treasures.
Following those shimmering fragments of memory, Thor quickly found all the knowledge related to magic in the undead creature's memories.
He would set aside the more advanced content for the time being, and discard anything that required specializing in negative energy. He only needed to learn the parts about the soul and spiritual power.
Red dragons are born with higher intelligence than humans, and coupled with Thor's own powerful mental strength, he quickly gained a basic understanding of this topic.
Based on his awakened "controlling small creatures" spell, he only needs to learn a few more minor spells to combine them into an ability that allows him to share vision and hearing with the creatures he controls.
This inexplicably reminded Thor of the centaurs who had once hunted him down, one of whom, like a druid, could control a falcon.
It's been a few years since I last saw them, and I do miss them a bit. I wonder where they are now. I might ask them sometime when I have time.
Thor began to ponder what kind of creature he should control, and all things considered, birds were undoubtedly the best choice.
But his main purpose was to explore the abandoned underground city, and the sudden appearance of a bird seemed too out of place.
Let's try using a bat first! There are bats in that dungeon, maybe we can fool them?
Having made up his mind, Thor opened his eyes in the darkness and gently tapped the stone platform beneath him with his hard fingernails.
The crisp sound carried far and wide, and soon after, a kobold walked in.