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"He's vanished!"
Ignia saw George disappear and quickly grabbed the falling mirror. After examining it, he realized that all traces of magic had been erased. He muttered under his breath:
"He's even proficient in spatial magic... I'll remember you, little kitten."
He had been careless just now—who would have thought such a small cat could unleash such powerful magic? As a result, he'd only suffered some light injuries.
Had he been in dragon form, even that level of magic wouldn't have harmed him.
However, he had recently sensed the presence of the Black Dragon Acnologia in the northern continent and didn't dare transform, for fear of being discovered by Acnologia.
Although rumors claimed that the Five Dragon Gods possessed power on par with the Black Dragon, they themselves knew the truth well. At best, they only had the strength to escape from Acnologia's clutches.
Defeating or killing the Black Dragon? That was impossible—at least in their current state.
"Sigh... I guess sealing the Five Dragon Gods will have to wait."
Meanwhile, George teleported within the mirror space to the nearest city. Emerging from a mirror, he dispelled the mirror magic and made several more short-range teleports to avoid being tracked by the Flame God Dragon before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
Even using one-third of his life force to cast Fairy Law had only lightly injured Ignia's human form. Clearly, Ignia was not someone he could handle in the short term.
Normally, when fighting enemies of similar strength, using Fairy Law wouldn't consume much life force at all.
But knowing that Ignia's power far exceeded his own, George had willingly sacrificed one-third of his life force to amplify the power of Fairy Law.
Given his unique physique, he estimated it would take about half a year to recover that one-third of his life force. In exchange for testing the strength of one of the Five Dragon Gods, it had been worth it.
"Let's go take a look at the other two Dragon Gods."
Now that he had a general sense of the Flame God Dragon's power, George didn't hold out much hope for the remaining two. He decided to go through the motions, observe from a distance, and then return quietly to live out his days as a simple Earth Dragon Slayer Mage.
Following the guidance of his tracking spell, he first headed toward the Water God Dragon's location.
He discovered that the arrow from his spell stopped over a vast ocean. Realizing the Water God Dragon was likely hiding deep underwater, he chose not to proceed.
After all, underwater combat was not his strength.
Turning away, he followed the tracking spell's guidance to the Wood God Dragon's location, where a puzzled expression formed on his face.
"What's going on? The arrow keeps pointing to this mountain… Is it hidden inside?"
Following the arrow, he arrived at a mountain over 8,000 meters tall and discovered five human cities built on it.
At first, he thought the Wood God Dragon was hiding within one of those cities.
However, the tracking spell didn't pinpoint any of the five cities specifically; instead, it continued to point toward the entire mountain. Even when he used a more detailed Footprint Reveal spell, the result remained the same.
Perplexed, George assumed the Wood God Dragon was concealed within the mountain itself.
But as he landed on the summit, preparing to probe further, his body suddenly froze.
"No way… it's that big?"
The instant he touched the mountain, he sensed an overwhelming life force and an incredibly dense dragon aura.
This led him to a shocking realization:
The Wood God Dragon wasn't hiding in the mountain—the 8,000-meter mountain itself was the Wood God Dragon's true form.
Eight thousand meters—what did that even mean? That's as tall as Mount Everest.
"Is it asleep?"
George activated his psychic powers and discovered that the Wood God Dragon's consciousness seemed to be in a deep, sleep-like state.
"Asleep? Perfect. Absolutely perfect."
He hadn't expected that what was supposed to be a mere formality would turn into a godsend.
The Wood God Dragon was indeed sleeping, and judging by the well-established cities below, it had likely been asleep for many years, with no signs of waking anytime soon.
That meant he could remain here for a while, absorbing a small portion of the Wood God Dragon's power, without much risk.
The Wood God Dragon's power had always been one of his top choices for absorption. This was the perfect opportunity.
With that thought, George lay down directly on the mountain's summit—on the Wood God Dragon's head—and began channeling Dragon Slayer Magic, absorbing the Wood Dragon's power little by little to improve his physique and cultivate a Dragon Seed.
The process of cultivating a Dragon Seed would take about a month; unlike Dragon Crystals, which could simply be embedded into the body, a Dragon Seed required gradual integration.
However, the entire process posed no danger. While implanting a Dragon Crystal was convenient, it carried significant risk. If the mage receiving it lacked sufficient talent or physical resilience, the Dragon Crystal's power could overwhelm them and cause their body to explode. It was extremely hazardous.
According to Makarov, when Laxus underwent Dragon Crystal implantation, it was a harrowing and perilous experience.
As the dragon power flowed into his body, gradually improving his constitution and nurturing the Dragon Seed, George's vitality saw a dramatic increase.
The one-third of his life force he had lost using Fairy Law was fully replenished within just three days.
One month later, George's eyes snapped open. A flash of dragon scales briefly appeared on his feline face before vanishing. He leaped into the sky, puffed up his cheeks, and roared:
"Dragon Slayer Magic: Roar of the Wood Dragon!"
A swirling green vortex of magical energy shot straight into the heavens.
Immediately after, he puffed up his cheeks a second time:
"Dragon Slayer Magic: Roar of the Fire Dragon!"
A second blast of Dragon Slayer Magic erupted forth.
"Just as I expected—since wood gives birth to fire, my Fire Dragon Slayer Magic has also received a significant boost."
At this moment, George had become a fully-fledged, bona fide Wood Dragon Slayer Mage in this world.
Moreover, thanks to the Fire Dragon Crystal he had absorbed in another world, he could now replicate Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer Magic with ease.
His magical power, physical strength, and life force had all surged dramatically.
"This Wood God Dragon… isn't exactly a good guy, huh?"
Hovering in the sky and gazing down at the slumbering Wood God Dragon, George couldn't help but let out a sigh.
After spending a month lying on the Wood Dragon's head and absorbing its power, he had uncovered a terrifying truth.
The Wood God Dragon wasn't simply sleeping while disguised as a mountain. It was subtly assimilating all living beings on its body through its dragon power.
It was converting those beings into nutrients, absorbing them to strengthen itself.
In fact, the five cities built on the mountain were nothing more than bait—lures cast by the Wood God Dragon to entice humans to settle there, only to be consumed over time for the dragon's own evolution.
Spreading his wings, George circled above the five cities. He soon discovered that all the humans in those cities had been assimilated by the Wood God Dragon. Though they appeared normal, they were now nothing more than puppets under the dragon's control.
"Forget it… I should focus on my own matters first."
Though his strength had increased significantly compared to when he fought Ignia a month ago, George knew that even if he burned all his life force to unleash Fairy Law, he still likely wouldn't be able to kill the slumbering Wood God Dragon. All he'd achieve would be waking it up.
And that would only create a bigger problem.
(End of Chapter)