Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 192 - 191 Downy Hairs

Chapter 192: Chapter 191 Downy Hairs

Red dragons don’t kill every enemy they encounter in battle.

They always take reputation and status into consideration, often allowing some survivors to escape and spread word of the red dragon’s victory.

Reputation is incredibly important to red dragons. Although they often find themselves in dire situations, they refuse to flee, which ultimately leads to tragic consequences—all because they cannot let go of their pride.

Ordinarily, for a dragon to gain a reputation, simply destroying a few villages wouldn’t suffice; they would inevitably need to attack and destroy one or two cities. Even mature dragons couldn’t achieve this; they would have to wait until later in life as adult dragons... Leon figured the primary reason he had garnered such fame was that he had pursued the mature red dragon Angmog across half of the Lost Plateau, drawing widespread attention.

Now he realized that the Cloud Giant was apparently a bard and knew a few bard spells, which might have "helped" a lot with the publicity.

Under such circumstances, receiving a Golden Finger reward, and a high-tier one at that, came as no surprise to Leon.

Samadhi True Fire, Soul Summoning Mantra, Sleeve of the Universe, Vajra Body... High-tier rewards never indulged in trivialities. Unlike low-tier rewards that might include useless spells like the Water Walking Technique, he had no idea how to evaluate the Downy Hairs spell.

Downy Hairs, at its core, refers to bodies created by transforming strands of hair from one’s primary form. The Downy Hairs spell, without a doubt, was a cloning spell.

A cat can recline on its side, and dragons with feline traits can also recline—just mind the wings. Currently lying on his side, Leon pondered for a moment. He recalled that one of Sun Wukong’s divine skills in *Journey to the West* was the Downy Hairs spell. By plucking a single hair, Sun Wukong could conjure a clone identical in appearance and skill, capable of deceiving even Nezha.

"A clone, huh?"

Leon couldn’t help but fantasize. He pictured summoning clones to explore the world on his behalf, whether it was roaring against injustice or wielding a watermelon knife to slice through foes from the Southern Heavenly Gate to the eastern road to Mount Penglai. They could do whatever they pleased, carefree and fearless—so long as his primary body remained unharmed, losing a clone wouldn’t matter.

One can dream, but reality is always more brutal. Every book has different rules, and it was clear his Downy Hairs spell didn’t have such exaggerated capabilities.

His clones couldn’t stray too far from him, lacked self-awareness, couldn’t assist him in chores, and had limited duration. At best, they could serve as powerful allies during battle, preventing him from being overwhelmed by enemies.

The clones were certainly weaker than his primary body. How exactly weaker? Leon didn’t really know yet; he’d have to test it to find out.

"You there, come here for a moment."

"Go summon the Efreeti for me."

Leon gestured at a patrolling Salamander, assigning it the task before scratching his head. He yanked a scale off his body, tossed it to the ground, and watched as the scale quickly transformed into a red dragon identical to himself. It was like looking into a mirror.

"What can I do for you, my lord?"

The Volcanic Island wasn’t large to begin with; the Efreeti could also fly, so it arrived quickly. Upon seeing two red dragons, it was momentarily dumbfounded. After a long pause, it finally spoke, "My lord, have you learned a new spell? Is this an Illusion Technique or a Strong Illusion?"

"Neither," Leon replied with a mysterious smile.

"Draw your weapon," Leon instructed his clone, "Your opponent is him."

"My opponent is him?" The Efreeti could only discern who the real Leon was by voice. "Isn’t it just an illusion?"

"Of course not," Leon said. "It’s quite formidable; you’ll have to give it your all, or you’ll lose and look bad."

The Efreeti stared at the red dragon identical to Leon, reasoning that losing wasn’t too shameful in this scenario.

The Efreeti unsheathed its massive curved blade and assumed a combat stance.

"Attack." Leon lifted a claw and pointed at the Efreeti.

With just a thought, Leon could control his clone. Whether it used claw attacks or bites, he couldn’t control every detail, such as whether the clone’s claw strike utilized two claws or three. The clone wasn’t that precise, but it mimicked his combat style to a certain extent, executing moves based on his habits.

In short, at this moment, Leon’s clone lunged at the Efreeti, opting for melee combat without employing any spells. Its opening move was a ferocious claw attack.

The Efreeti raised its massive curved blade to block the attack. Under the powerful assault from Leon’s clone, the Efreeti stumbled backward but didn’t have time to ponder what exactly the clone was. The massive red dragon head surged forward once more.

"Identical."

"Truly identical."

Leon lay off to the side, watching the battle between the Efreeti and his clone. Gradually, he got a sense of his clone’s capabilities.

His clone couldn’t use spells—otherwise, it would be downright overpowered—and didn’t inherit any of his unique traits. For instance, it didn’t have his Vajra Body, immunity to non-magical and non-refined gold blunt strikes, punctures, or slashes, and was noticeably less resistant to damage.

That said, it wasn’t all bad. His clone still had flame immunity, making it impervious to the Efreeti’s fire attacks. Its damage output was fairly high, almost comparable to his own. Without direct control, it fought according to his combat style and experience, avoiding the awkward behavior of a clumsy AI.

In gaming terms, his Downy Hairs spell could summon a clone that inherited 100% of his attack power but none of his item effects or most passive skills. The clone took 200% damage, or even more.

"Not bad."

"Not bad at all."

Leon concluded that his summoned clone could be likened to a teenage red dragon with a large frame. It lacked abilities like Frightening Majesty and Flame Breath, with only half of his typical health. No matter what, it could handle challenges of level 10 and up without much issue.

The Efreeti was no slouch; defeating Leon’s clone wasn’t easy, but it managed to prevail in the end, using its curved blade to dissipate the clone.

"My lord, what exactly was that red dragon just now?" The Efreeti showed no signs of exhaustion, though its flames flickered erratically. "Was that a summoning spell?"

"Yes, I summoned it," Leon replied, picking up the faded, cracked scale from the ground. "Using this."

Leon mused that his clone could be understood as a creation born from his essence and scales.

"How is that possible?" The Efreeti was incredulous. A fake red dragon summoned from a scale had nearly bested it—pure absurdity. "What spell did you use?"

"Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand," Leon dodged the question dismissively.

"Go fetch a squad of Salamanders," he commanded again, contemplating further experiments with his Downy Hairs spell.

A squad of five Salamanders soon arrived at the volcano’s crater.

Leon plucked off another scale and carefully split it into five fragments—it was easy for him to pluck off or crush his scales. Tossing the fragments into the air, they transformed into five red dragons.

Compared to the first clone created with a single scale, these five red dragons were significantly smaller. Each was one-fifth of his size, with varying appearances—some fat, some thin, some tall, some short—but each bore a trace of his characteristics, whether in their scales, horns, body shapes, or tails.

"Let’s get started," he instructed, commanding the five red dragons to attack the Salamander squad.

With a challenge level of 5, the Salamanders weren’t pushovers. In the end, at the cost of two injured Salamanders, they managed to defeat Leon’s summoned dragons.

"That’s all for now."

"You may leave."

Leon dismissed the Efreeti and the Salamanders. While tempted to pluck another scale and crush it into dozens of fragments to see what would be summoned, he ultimately decided against it; after all, each scale lost took time to regrow. Indulging his curiosity wasn’t worth it.

"Wait a second."

Leon paused. Instead of crushing a scale into multiple fragments, he plucked another and used the Downy Hairs spell to create a single clone. After the clone’s duration ended, he picked up the scale and reattached it to his body—it magically "sealed" itself back in place, as if nothing had happened.

It made perfect sense—if a severed hand could be reattached for continued use, and hair from the back of the head could be transplanted to the front, then why couldn’t a scale reattach itself if it wasn’t completely destroyed?

The Downy Hairs spell was undoubtedly powerful. While a single summoned clone might lose to an Efreeti, the proper way to use it was in tandem with his primary form. Like a clone-based hero in competitive games, a single clone might not kill an enemy, but together with its primary form, they could achieve godlike feats.

Using the Downy Hairs spell once required a scale, but that wasn’t an issue—he’d only lose a few scales per battle, and they’d grow back after a period of rest.

What *was* an issue was the immense amount of Mana required to use the spell. With his current Mana reserves, he could only sustain one use per battle. If he wanted to use it more, he wouldn’t have enough Mana left for other spells.

All things considered, he already had enough spells under his control and didn’t particularly need the Downy Hairs spell. It wasn’t as practical as his Vajra Body and didn’t significantly raise his challenge rating.

But if he had more Mana, pairing the Downy Hairs spell with those other spells would tell a different story—his challenge rating would rise dramatically.

"Mana... Mana..."

"How do I increase my Mana?"

Leon longed for a Golden Finger ability that could grant him a spell akin to the Breathing and Exhaling Skill or the Inner Core Dual Cultivation Method, allowing him to quickly amass vast amounts of Mana.

In the absence of such a spell, he would have to grind slowly, never missing a chance to breathe in nature’s spiritual energy or absorb Sun and Moon Essence at the start and middle of each month...

Tear Claw, Dragon’s Jaw, Dragon Armor—he had acquired all of these. He had defeated Angmog, and the rule over Watchtower Port was essentially his. It seemed there wasn’t much else to do, and Leon suddenly wondered if he should take it easy for a few years—after all, teenage dragons didn’t need to be overly ambitious. In some sense, building high walls, stockpiling supplies, and biding one’s time wasn’t a bad idea.