Aether

As the Chaos Encyclopedia closed, the Beast Dragon also vanished from its spot.

Without its core, the runes forming the magic circle began to collapse, disappearing in a short while.

And that Beast Dragon had already been recorded in the Handbook.

【Beast Dragon】

【Race: Dragon】

【Level: 24】

【Strength: 210】

【Agility: 76】

【Stamina: 453】

【Endurance: 147】

【Magic: 165】

【Talents: Beast Dragon Blood, Beast Dragon Scales, Magic Resistance, Blade Resistance, Strike Resistance, Poison Resistance, Earth Resistance, Fire Resistance, Water Resistance, Wind Resistance, Light Resistance, Dark Resistance, Night Vision, Degeneration, Chaos Adaptation】

Caelan was dumbfounded by the attributes.

Not to mention the three-digit values, just the pile of various talents listed afterwards left one speechless.

This was still a degenerated Beast Dragon; what would a true Dragon look like?

It was a good thing they didn't fight, otherwise he wouldn't have been enough to even stick between its teeth.

As for naming this Earth Dragon…

“When there’s food later, I’ll let you eat your fill before naming you… it’ll give you a sense of participation too.”

Caelan patted the cover of the Handbook, muttering to himself.

…

When Caelan returned to the surface, the rain had stopped.

The sky was still covered in dark clouds, and the Black Earth was still a murky black; the effects of the magic circle closing wouldn't arrive so quickly.

However, the layer of black mist shrouding the Demon King's City was rapidly dissipating.

Before long, grass seeds carried by the wind would sprout in the soil around the Demon King's City.

Although these lands had been barren for so many years, due to the many major battles that had taken place here, countless bodies were buried within, making the soil fertility actually very abundant, truly living up to its name as Black Earth.

It was only due to the existence of that large magic circle, which siphoned off the magic from the soil, that not a single blade of grass could grow.

Magic, also known as Aether by Scholars, is the most important resource in this world, without equal, even more crucial than air and water.

The survival of any living creature is inseparable from Aether; even Undead and rock monsters, or some elemental beings, are completely unaffected by the absence of air and water, but losing Aether would cause them to instantly die.

Aether permeates all things; Magic is merely the name for the portion of Aether that can be manipulated.

According to the books, a lack of Aether leads to the death of creatures, while an excess of Aether causes creatures to mutate.

For orderly races, their exceptionally rigid body structures make their physical appearance less prone to significant changes, but for chaotic races with the Chaos Adaptation talent, gaining immense power is often accompanied by changes in their physique.

Like the Demon Kings before Caelan, they all possessed strange and varied transformation forms; those were their true powers, and only those bodies could accommodate their vast Aether.

“If I become stronger later, will I also turn into something with three eyes and two horns?”

Caelan stood at the castle gate, looking at the sky with his hands on his hips, deciding not to think about that problem for now.

With the magic circle dispelled, he was about to get busy.

On one hand, he needed to select suitable crops according to the season, and on the other, he needed to reclaim land for planting.

The most suitable time for planting was only a few short weeks, so he had to seize the opportunity.

The busy farming season was about to begin.

Meanwhile, about twenty kilometers away from the Demon King's City.

A group of hungry Kobolds, led by a large Kobold, were advancing forward.

Their target was the castle visible from the mountaintop, hidden within that Black Earth.

They didn't know what that place was, but they knew…

There was food there.

That was enough.