Chapter 13: Preparing Food for Anna
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Seeing that the pack of mountain wolves was nearly scared to the point of wetting themselves, Su Nian decided not to hesitate anymore. After all, if they actually did wet themselves, how was he supposed to eat them?
With a quick flap of his wings, he swooped down from the tree and landed in front of the terrified wolves. With each swipe of his claws, he tore through their throats, even biting down on the neck of one of them as he moved.
The ground was littered with the remains of the knight, which the wolves had nearly devoured entirely. But Su Nian didn't mind—he only wanted the wolf legs anyway, so it didn't affect him much.
After swiftly dispatching six mountain wolves, earning himself six system points, the remaining wolves finally snapped out of their fear. Whimpering, tails tucked, they fled in all directions. Su Nian didn't bother chasing them; he let them go.
If he killed them all, there'd be nothing left to eat. One must not drain the pond to catch all the fish.
After a satisfying meal, Su Nian's body quickly recovered under the effects of his Basic Devour ability, reaching peak condition—better even than when he used recovery cards. After all, recovery cards felt like taking a stimulant: effective but leaving an emptiness afterward.
Having eaten his fill, it was time to prepare food for the little girl.
Wolf meat was sour and tough—not tasty at all. While Su Nian didn't mind, the little girl was a different story. Given the current circumstances, he still wanted to give her something better.
In the forest, the tastiest meat was undoubtedly rabbit meat. And judging by the girl's appetite, one rabbit would be just about right.
With this in mind, Su Nian set out to catch a rabbit.
Soon, a strange scene unfolded in the Silvermoon Forest.
A black dragon, over four meters long with a wingspan of seven or eight meters, crouched at the entrance of a rabbit burrow. Its tail was raised high, and its slender dragon head was peering into the hole, searching around.
This was the burrow of a Tier-1 Fireflame Rabbit. The interior was dry and filled with active fire elements. Inside, a group of Fireflame Rabbits huddled together, trembling. They could feel the overpowering aura above them—a bloodline suppression that rendered them immobile.
But Su Nian found himself in a bit of a dilemma.
The rabbit burrow was deep and winding, making it difficult for him to reach them. Digging it out would be too much effort. If he used his dragon breath, the rabbits would end up completely corroded. Even if a few managed to escape the breath, their bodies would be riddled with holes, rendering them inedible.
"If only I knew magic," Su Nian thought, a bit frustrated. But he was still a juvenile dragon, and the magical knowledge in his dragon bloodline wouldn't unlock in his dreams until he became an adolescent.
Searching through the inherited knowledge in his mind, he found descriptions of Fireflame Rabbits. These rabbits were white with red ears and tails. As Tier-1 magical beasts, they only knew one spell: Fireball. However, their meat was exceptionally tender and flavorful. They were also quite large, each about the size of half a piglet.
Fireflame Rabbits hated dampness and kept their burrows dry. To prevent underground water from seeping in, they baked and reinforced their burrows daily.
An idea sparked in Su Nian's mind as he noticed a small stream nearby.
If the rabbits wouldn't come out, he'd flush them out with water.
Never underestimate a dragon's drinking capacity or the elasticity of its stomach—even a juvenile dragon.
Just as the Fireflame Rabbits thought the terrifying presence above them had left, the oppressive dragon aura returned, accompanied by heavy footsteps.
Outside the burrow, Su Nian waddled back from the stream. His belly had swollen to three times its original size, sloshing audibly with each step.
He estimated he had drunk at least half a ton of water—more than enough to flush out a group of rabbits.
With this plan in mind, he positioned himself at the burrow entrance. Leaning his dragon snout into the hole, he used his finely controlled muscles to compress his stomach, releasing a torrent of water from his mouth.
Dragons didn't experience discomfort from vomiting. They could control every muscle in their bodies, so regurgitating a bellyful of water was effortless.
Fortunately, his Basic Devour ability had already digested the wolf meat in his stomach, converting it into energy. Otherwise, the scene might have been a bit unpleasant.
The powerful stream of water surged into the burrow. Under the pressure, a group of Fireflame Rabbits, big and small, was flushed out from another exit, momentarily forming a small fountain.
Moments later.
A group of Fireflame Rabbits huddled in front of Su Nian, trembling. He didn't kill the adults, only selecting two plump young rabbits. After dispatching them, he tied their long ears together and hung them around his neck.
Now, Anna's lunch and dinner were ready, along with a tool for starting a fire—a young Fireflame Rabbit.
Using his dragon senses, Su Nian had identified this rabbit as particularly talented, capable of casting Fireball three times a day—perfect as a makeshift lighter.
With two dead and one live rabbit hanging around his neck, Su Nian left the grateful Fireflame Rabbit couple behind, snorting and humming as he returned to his lair.
But when he reached his sleeping spot, Anna was nowhere to be found. Looking around, he finally spotted her huddled in a corner, hugging her knees. She sat against the cold rock wall, her face filled with helplessness and sorrow. Her eyes were red, and tears glistened at the corners.
"Ah! M-Mr. Dragon, you're back?" Anna exclaimed, her face lighting up with joy and relief upon seeing Su Nian.
She tried to stand and run to him, but the heavy shackles on her limbs caused her to stumble and fall. The chains clanged against the rocks, and she winced in pain, clutching her knee. Yet her eyes remained fixed on the black dragon, as if afraid he might leave again.
Su Nian's sudden departure had made her think she'd been abandoned in the cave, left as a burden. Though she knew she was a burden, she still yearned for companionship in her final days. It was her last wish, even if her companion was a black dragon.
Fortunately, the Mr. Dragon she had been longing for had returned.
Su Nian dropped the rabbits onto the ground and approached Anna. Gently, he nudged her back to her original sitting position with his snout. Noticing the scrape on her knee, he remembered that dragon saliva could accelerate healing. Without thinking, he lightly licked her wound.
"Ah… Mr. Dragon, that… tickles…" Anna said, blushing as she shyly adjusted her skirt. She didn't know why she felt embarrassed, especially since her companion was a dragon.
[Anna Hathaway's Favorability +2, Current Favorability: 22 (Friendly)]
Su Nian: (?????)?????
He gave the blushing half-elf girl a strange look before taking a couple of steps back. The dragon saliva had already formed a thin film over her wound. According to his inherited knowledge, her injury would heal completely within two hours, with her skin as good as new.
Stepping back, Su Nian examined the shackles on Anna's limbs. He hadn't removed them earlier, not because he feared she'd escape, but because he couldn't. His immense strength and sharp claws could break or cut the chains, but the force would likely shatter her bones. Moreover, dragon claws weren't precise tools, and controlling them for delicate operations was challenging.
Acidic dragon breath was also out of the question. He couldn't control its spread, and even if he tried to extract a small amount of the corrosive liquid, it wouldn't work. Dragons weren't syringes; they couldn't precisely measure out five milliliters of acid.
The problem of the shackles would have to be solved eventually, but for now, it left Su Nian at a loss.