Chapter12-My Pet is a Dragon?

After recovering from his shock, the headmaster quickly asked, "Where did these things come from? You kids didn't do anything bad, did you? Did you make a deal with the devil?"

"Dad, what are you talking about?" Asha replied, exasperated. "Even the devil couldn't produce this many precious treasures at once."

"That's true," the headmaster finally understood why the three children were so nervous.

Such a pile of treasures needed to be kept secret. If others found out, the entire academy would likely be under siege.

Kevin recounted how they had injured the rabbit arcane beast, how they tracked it down, and then encountered Owen.

When he heard that the ferocious arcane beast was curled up at Owen's feet, behaving like a real rabbit, the headmaster could hardly believe his ears! This person must be a master.

The next part of the story completely overturned the headmaster's understanding.

"What are you saying? Such a god-tier item was casually planted by that Lord Owen? And he filled an entire yard with them?"

The headmaster clutched his chest, feeling a heart attack coming on.

The headmaster's wife quickly cast a healing aura over him. "Are you sure that the forbidden area really has someone living there?" she asked. "That's the most famous forbidden place in Azul Kingdom!"

"Absolutely," the headmaster said, recovering slightly as he explained, "I passed by there many times when I was younger, but I could never break through the barrier above."

"Not just me—many notable figures have tried, and they all failed."

"I never expected that the barrier would disappear now."

"Even more surprising is that there is actually someone living there."

The headmaster resolved that once the Stellar Competition was over, he would visit the master in the forbidden area! He wanted to bring the academy's treasures as a thank-you gift for that master.

"You three did an excellent job this time," the headmaster said appreciatively. "Luck is also a form of strength. You were fortunate to meet the master."

He opened the safe and took out three vials of potion glowing with purple light.

"This is your reward," the headmaster said. "You should have heard of this—it's the Demon-Breaking Elixir. Taking it can boost your tier level by 1 without any side effects."

Of course, this potion was useless for an old man like him.

The three looked at the potion, their faces lighting up with excitement.

Awesome! This adventure was definitely worth it!

…

"How boring." After the three left, Owen returned to his previous idle state.

Eating barbecue every day was starting to lose its charm. Playing with cats was fun, but Owen had been so busy that Avel had rewarded him with a cat punch.

As for the rabbit, while cute, Owen thought that such a small creature was quite fragile.

Plus, since it had been injured previously, it needed to rest well.

So Owen could only pat the rabbit's head at most.

That day, with his belly full, Owen took a walk in the backyard.

The area was vast; even if it was filled with vegetables, there was still a lot of unused space.

"Hmm, there's a cave over here." Owen went inside and found it dry and clean. "This environment is quite suitable for raising reptiles."

As soon as this idea popped into his head, Owen's eyes lit up.

Hey, not bad!

In his past life, he was a loyal reptile lover, but due to limited conditions, he couldn't raise too many small animals.

Now, with such a large area, he could finally enjoy it to the fullest.

"Avel, be a good guard." Owen eagerly grabbed a few gold coins. "I'm heading down the mountain to see if there's a market."

Avel didn't respond.

It was sound asleep.

At this time, it was the sacred midday nap time for cats, and nothing could disturb it.

Owen wasn't too worried.

After all, the three capable students had already scouted the area before heading up the mountain.

Since they hadn't encountered any trouble, it meant that the culprit responsible for the deep pit was no longer nearby.

After locking the pub's front door, Owen happily went down the mountain.

Once he left, the pub fell silent.

Only the sound of the Siamese cat snoring could be heard.

Meanwhile, the white rabbit, which had been resting quietly on the ground, suddenly moved its ears.

A glimmer of malice sparkled in its red eyes, and a wicked smile appeared on its face.

The rabbit silently slipped into the backyard.

It had noticed this place since the day it arrived!

However, because of Owen and that annoying smelly cat, the rabbit didn't dare to act recklessly.

It pretended to be obedient while waiting for an opportunity.

Today, that opportunity had finally arrived.

"Hahaha, this is great." The rabbit's eyes sparkled as it laughed to itself, "The foolish Owen is gone, the fat smelly cat is sleeping like a log—now, all the treasures in the garden are mine!"

"With so many rare and exotic fruits, if I eat them all at once, my power will surely reach an epic breakthrough!"

"I will become the most powerful rabbit king in the world! Hmph, the first thing I'll do is skin that smelly cat and turn its fur into a collar to wear every day."

The rabbit disdainfully glanced at the still-sleeping Avel.

So what if its level was temporarily a tiny bit higher? What's so great about it? How dare it push me around, ugh!

The trio wasn't wrong.

This rabbit, which had sneaked into Owen's pub, appeared harmless but was, in fact, the king of arcane beasts within a hundred miles!

Its name was White, and it was somewhat famous in the arcane beast world.

"Hmph, I, Lord White, am a rising star in the arcane beast realm." The rabbit thought proudly, "Difficulties are merely temporary. My injuries have brought me an opportunity. I, the destined rabbit, will be the future ruler of the demon world."

The more it thought, the more confident it became.

"Delicious and precious fruits, here I come!"

Without further delay, the rabbit dashed towards the nearest apple tree like a gust of wind.

Just then, a flash of white light appeared.

"Bang!"

The rabbit collided directly with something incredibly hard.

Its sturdy skull throbbed in pain, and tears almost sprang to its eyes!

What the heck?

Looking up, the rabbit saw cups floating around it—these were the cups Owen collected.

As a bartender, Owen loved to collect various styles of cups, including mugs, wine glasses, and glasses of different colors.

Most of the cups weren't expensive, but each had its own unique charm.

These cups weren't used to serve guests; Owen simply displayed them in the pub as decorations.

However, now, these ordinary cups, which had shown no mana fluctuations, stood firm like loyal guards between White and the orchard.

"Damn it, just a few cups!" White protested. "My teeth are sharper than the finest swords, my ears can produce winds that crush stones, and with a single kick, I can send dozens of human warriors flying."

"You miserable cups, get ready to be smashed by me, Lord White!"

With that, it charged forward again.

"Bang!"

White collided with the glass cup.

The cup didn't budge an inch; not even a crack appeared.

But White's head swelled into an exaggerated lump, and a large patch of fur was rubbed off.

It almost cried from the pain.

"Damn cups, what the heck are you?! Damn Owen, I knew you were no good. You left these cups behind to guard the place after you left!"

After several futile attempts to break through, White's head was now covered in lumps, and it had lost most of its fur, looking pitifully bald.

White gradually came to terms with reality.

This place was not meant for arcane beasts!

Things that seemed to lack mana fluctuations had suddenly turned terrifying!

"I want to go home!!!" White looked sadly at its fur. "I don't want to be a bald rabbit! It's too terrifying here; staying any longer would definitely spell disaster."

White limped toward the yard's exit.

As long as it got past this door, it would be free.

Goodbye, terrifying Owen!

Goodbye, annoying smelly cat!

I hope I never have to see you again!

Just as it reached the door, a figure slowly emerged.

The cat stretched and lazily lay down on the ground, blocking White's escape route.

The cat said slowly, "Look at you, all messed up. Since you're here, just stay put."

"Thinking of running? Did you ask me?"

Then, the famous arcane beast star, Lord White, simply burst into tears.

Owen was in a very good mood.

After descending the mountain, he quickly found the marketplace.

The market was bustling with a variety of goods, not to mention the numerous reptile eggs at the pet stalls.

What delighted Owen the most was that the prices here were unbelievably low!

He never expected the purchasing power of a single gold coin to be so strong.

Owen bought a large bag of items and hadn't even spent one gold coin.

Thinking about the money he had saved recently, he suddenly felt a bit inflated with pride, finally feeling like a small fortune in this other world.

Owen carefully selected a lizard egg.

The pet vendor told him that this type of lizard was not only beautiful but also very easy to care for, rarely falling ill to worry its owner.

Most importantly, the little lizard would consider the first creature it saw after hatching as its mother, obedient and cute, listening to everything.

Under the vendor's extravagant description, Owen reluctantly spent a hefty twenty gold coins and bought it.

Since he needed to incubate it himself, Owen rushed back home, not even in the mood to stroll around anymore.

As soon as he entered, he saw the white rabbit in the backyard, looking pitiful and crying. "Wow, what happened?" Owen was taken aback. "Little bunny, I was only gone for a little while! How did you get beaten up like this?" The once cute rabbit had lumps all over its head, and its soft fur was clumped together in places, looking quite bald.

"Avel!" Owen called, searching for his cat. "Did you bully the little bunny?" Avel lazily meowed and stretched its paw.

Seeing its adorable demeanor, Owen decided not to pursue the matter further. "Alright, I'll let it slide this time," he said, patting the cat. "Don't bully the bunny anymore; rabbit meat isn't that great. There's a disease called rabbit meat syndrome."

"Although rabbit meat looks good and is still meat, it doesn't fill you up. If the rabbit meat isn't clean, it could have worms, making you feel nauseous…" Owen went on to share a wealth of information, which made the cat uneasy. It rubbed against Owen's hand, meowing twice, signaling him to shut up.

The rabbit arcane beast shivered nearby.

 It was too terrifying.

Owen was indeed the real devil.

Just how many rabbit arcane beasts had he eaten to gain such experience? It felt like a warning! If it dared to act up, it would definitely be roasted and eaten by Owen.

Thus, the rabbit stopped crying, fearing to anger the dark lord. Seeing both of his pets so obedient and well-behaved, Owen felt quite satisfied.

"Do you see this lizard egg?" Owen instructed.

"I'm going to hatch and raise it in the cave in the backyard. You mustn't have any funny ideas and definitely can't sneak in and eat it."

After he spoke, he felt a slight movement from the lizard egg in the basket. Owen hurried to prepare the cave.

It was already very clean.

He quickly dusted it off, spread soft straw, and set up the incubator he had prepared earlier.

After doing all this, Owen carefully placed the lizard egg on the incubator.

"Little lizard, work hard and hatch." Owen lay beside it, eagerly staring at the patterns on the egg.

Unlike ordinary lizard eggs, this one was the largest and covered in red patterns, making it look very beautiful.

That was also why Owen was willing to spend so much money on it.

Yes, he was a sucker for aesthetics. A pretty eggshell would surely hatch a stunning little lizard.

Before long, the lizard egg made soft cracking sounds. Owen's eyes widened.

He saw a small crack appear on the eggshell, and then it widened quickly, soon forming a small hole. "Come on, little lizard Ollie! You can do it! You're the best!" Owen cheered for the hatching baby lizard.

He had already decided that if it was a boy, it would be called Ollie, and if it was a girl, Olivia.

The eggshell was finally broken wide open.

A small, adorable lizard crawled out from within.

Unlike the red eggshell, this little lizard was completely white, as if carved from fine white jade, with eyes that sparkled like rubies.

"Chirp chirp~" The white lizard saw Owen right away and quickly crawled toward him.

"Hahaha, it's pretty cute!" Owen said, satisfied. "I really know how to pick them."

"Chirp!" Ollie let out a series of urgent cries, though it was unclear if it understood.

Owen gently stroked the little lizard's back and felt that it was surprisingly different from the lizards on Earth.

Although Ollie had scales, its back was incredibly smooth and had a cool touch.

Suddenly, the little lizard quivered all over. Visibly, its body swelled to twice its size! It looked as if it had grown instantly. Owen was stunned. "Ollie, what kind of lizard are you? Your growth speed is astonishing!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ollie trembled again, doubling in size once more.

From just the size of an adult's middle finger at birth, in just a few minutes, it had grown to about Owen's size.

Moreover, a black smoke began to emit from the seams of Ollie's scales, quickly enveloping the lizard and soon filling the entire cave.

Owen couldn't see Ollie anymore, but he felt the little lizard growing even larger.

"What's happening to you?" Owen asked anxiously. "Is this normal growth or a mutation?" Hearing his voice, two dark red lights suddenly flickered in the black fog.

Owen froze, staring at the red lights for several seconds before finally realizing they were eyes. A pair of glowing scarlet eyes.

"Oh my gosh!" Owen's hair stood on end, and his heart raced! Without thinking, he dashed out of the cave.

This was too terrifying!

At this moment, the sun had disappeared, and the sky was overcast. Above the clouds, a dragon's roar echoed.

Suddenly, heavy rain poured from the sky. "What was that sound just now?" Owen jumped in surprise.

Boom! Thunder rumbled. "It must be some strange thunder," Owen thought, assuming the dragon's roar was just thunder.

Meanwhile, the ancient palace began to tremble.

A pair of long-dormant eyes suddenly opened. On the mysterious golden throne, the king who had been sleeping awakened.

"Your Majesty," a tall man in silver armor knelt down, "what has disturbed your sleep?" Behind him stood a dense formation of knights. At the moment the king awakened, everyone bowed before him.

"In the direction of the setting sun, I sensed the presence of a dragon," the king, dressed in a gem-encrusted robe, said, his face filled with weariness.

He was Caesar VII, the current king of the Azul Kingdom and the leader of the Goldengorse family.

"A dragon's presence?" The captain of the Silver Knights dared not question the king's words, yet his eyes were filled with confusion.

It should be noted that the only place in the entire empire that could have the presence of a dragon was here—Goldengorse Palace.

Caesar noticed the confusion of his most loyal subordinate but did not explain.

Having reigned for over a century, the king knew that a thousand years ago, the first head of the Goldengorse family had been fortunate enough to gain the friendship of a dragon.

Thus, they had gradually risen from an obscure family in a remote town to take the stage of history, becoming the absolute rulers.

The only dragon in the empire was sleeping in the Goldengorse Palace, and no one knew when it would awaken.

Dragons were creatures with a strong sense of territory. In a kingdom, typically, there wouldn't be two dragons.

"Go," Caesar commanded. "Search in the direction of the setting sun. I have a feeling this might be a turning point in our family's destiny."

"Yes!" The expression of the Silver Knight became serious. "How should I search?"

"When you encounter a place with a presence stronger than the dragon in the palace, that will be the end of your journey," Caesar instructed. "Return alive; do not disappoint me."