Slumber

Visibly, the scales on these kobolds began to fall off, replaced by new, white dragon scales.

Sturdy white dragon horns sprouted from their foreheads, and snow-white dragon wings grew from their backs.

However, three kobolds could not endure the process, dying with regret under the rampage of the dragon blood.

Two other kobolds had their consciousnesses extinguished during the bloodline conversion, turning into mindless dragon-kin monsters.

They instinctively avoided Jonavili, turning their fangs toward their former kin.

With a roar, they charged at the surrounding kobolds; Jonavili watched all of this with indifference, even as one kobold was on the verge of death.

A white shadow flashed by, and a fist filled with terrifying power slammed into the head of one dragon-kin monster, smashing it into the ground on the spot.

Seeing this, the other dragon-kin monster charged at the newcomer.

Xiao Shunzi simply opened his white dragon muzzle and unleashed a fan-shaped frost breath of blue and white; the dragon-kin monster struggled briefly within the breath before losing its life.

Having resolved the two troubles, Xiao Shunzi felt the surging power within his body, his white pupils filled with excitement.

He walked excitedly to Jonavili and knelt on the spot.

"Thank you, Master, for the grace of transformation. From now on, Xiao Shunzi's life belongs to you."

Looking at the drastically changed Xiao Shunzi, Jonavili nodded her dragon head in satisfaction; this was more like it, as his appearance had improved significantly.

Xiao Shunzi's entire body was covered in white dragon scales, a pair of sturdy white dragon horns grew from his head, and his originally red pupils had turned into white dragon eyes. More importantly, he had grown younger, transforming from an elderly state to his current prime, and his height had increased to two meters.

This was entirely because he had evolved from a short-lived species into a mid-lived species, greatly increasing his lifespan.

One after another, the other kobolds completed their transformation into dragon-blooded kobolds, professing their loyalty to Jonavili.

"From this day forward, your race is officially renamed the frost kobolds. And remember, the only one you owe your loyalty to is Jonavili Frator Amody!"

"We shall follow Master unto death, never flinching even through ten thousand deaths!"

Dragons generally do not reveal their true name, as the true name of the dragon race is far too special, representing absolute uniqueness. Revealing it carelessly could allow those with ill intent to perform tracking magic or place curses based on the name.

However, if it was to subordinates who were absolutely loyal, equivalent to fanatics, there was no harm in speaking it.

Jonavili led this group of kobolds to the white-scaled goblin nest, letting them mine alongside Blockhead and the others to breed and expand the race, leaving everything in Fanni's hands.

...

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, two months had gone by. The time for Jonavili's slumber had arrived.

Feeling the daily increase in drowsiness, Jonavili knew she was about to enter a periodic slumber, and there was no telling how long she would sleep this time.

She found Fanni and her subordinates, ordering them to slowly expand their influence toward the Sleeping Forest and allowing them to begin building a city-state, which was also a disguised way of permitting Fanni to wander nearby.

Then, Jonavili went to devour iron ore to bring her condition to its peak before finally returning to the dragon nest.

Gris and Furiel were also on the verge of slumber. Jonavili had originally thought Furiel would drive them out of the nest, but to her surprise, she did not.

Instead, Furiel confessed that she had taken some gnolls as subordinates and had performed draconic conversions on them, stationed as guards around the nest.

Jonavili was quite surprised by Furiel's words; after all, a red dragon was proud and looked down on all other races, so she hadn't expected Furiel to take the initiative to recruit subordinates.

And so, the three dragons fell into a deep slumber.

In the first year of slumber, Fanni led some frost kobolds and white-scaled goblins out of the caves to begin building a tribe.

This also attracted the attention of the dragon-blooded gnolls guarding the dragon nest, but upon sensing the dragon's aura on them, they merely remained on alert and no conflict occurred.

In the second year of slumber, possessing powerful strength, Xiao Shunzi absorbed three surrounding tribes: a minotaur tribe, a forest troll tribe, and a serpentfolk tribe.

The tribe expanded further, becoming a small village, and roads were built to increase contact with these three tribes.

In the third year of slumber.

A wandering caravan arrived at the Sleeping Forest. Fanni learned they were traveling merchants from the Wolf Supercontinent to the east, having crossed the Sea of Silence to reach the Jesup Continent.

Fanni successfully established diplomatic relations with them and reached a long-term trade cooperation agreement.

What they didn't know, however, was that the true purpose of this wandering caravan was to capture orc and half-orc slaves, though that is a story for later.

In the fourth year of slumber.

Under Fanni's management, a small city-state was successfully established and continued to expand, with many surrounding races choosing to seek refuge there.

...

After the fifth year.

Fanni looked at the increasingly prosperous city-state, her thoughts wandering.

She remembered when she was just a fledgling sprite who had been saved by a white dragon by chance and had ended up working here for five years.

After all these years of experience, Fanni was no longer as naive as she had been at the start. In the beginning, she had wanted to leave more than once, but she had abandoned that idea.

Setting aside whether that white dragon would hunt her down later, she had already developed feelings for this place.

Looking at the thriving city-state, she felt immensely satisfied; this was all her achievement. Sometimes, she would even forget that a dragon was still sleeping here.

However, whenever she saw those draconic subordinates and the red dragon's servants in the Dragon Roar Mountains, she would be reminded.

Standing at the top of the city lord's tower, watching the monsters coming and going below, Fanni curled her lips slightly.

"Jonavili, you really are a bad one. I wonder if you still..."

Before she could finish, a frost kobold over two meters tall flew before her. It was none other than Xiao Shunzi.

"Xiao Shunzi, what is it?"

Xiao Shunzi looked at the tiny sprite and spoke.

"I can feel the bloodline within my body becoming more excited. The pulse of the dragon heart is growing stronger."

"Hmm? And?"

"Master... is about to wake up."

Just as he finished speaking, a spirited dragon roar rang out. All the monsters looked toward the source and saw a black dragon seven meters long charge out of the dragon nest halfway up the mountain.

"Ahahaha! The great Gris has finally awakened! This surging power, this mighty dragon body! Who dares to fight me?!"

...

Jonavili's consciousness gradually recovered. Looking at the mental sea before her, where an ice-blue clock floated quietly, her white dragon muzzle curled into a slight grin.