Earthspring: How to Raise an Illegal Dragon

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

When Laz finally performed the last spell his missing mentor left behind, he figured his hardships were over. Unfortunately, the very next day a mineral-eating parasite known as a "dragon" appeared in his lab. Not only is it a fortune to keep fed, it's incredibly illegal! And even worse, it ate the focus he used to cast spells.

The only person he can trust? Calder. An annoying, overly-flirty knight that was assigned to watch over him and stop his experimental spells from terrorizing the town. Thankfully the knight's crush on the wizard proved useful, and the two must work together to keep the illicit creature a secret from the law, all with the limited magic and resources of their poor town.

Along the way, Laz must decide if he's willing to open up to Calder, or remain the recluse wizard he has always been.

Cover by @SANSTpx on twitter! Also available to read on Scribblehub

Read up to a full month ahead on my Patreon~

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: UnLucy

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 18
Views: 8,135

Reviews

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Community Reviews(4)

D. L. SchindlerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Welcome to Evermine, a town where anyone can express their feelings for anyone else in any number of ways, feel attracted, fall in love, get married - raise a baby dragon.
It might be one of the smaller towns in the Kingdom of Kradall, but the people have big hearts. Who could say no to that cute little dragon munching on kitchenware? It might even be the last dragon in the whole world.
Laz and Calder are a fun and eccentric pair. I love how their personalities complement each other. Each has their own thing going on, Laz is the town's (apprentice) wizard and spends his time trying to perfect his various spells while Calder is a tough knight who seems to be the one doing the chasing in the relationship.
Both are good to their friends and nurturing, so I have a really good feeling that they will take excellent care of their baby dragon.
The storytelling is quite excellent and crafted with care, using detailed prose that is perfect for the fantasy setting. The story moves along smoothly, at a gentle pacing, focusing on the dynamics of the main characters and their interactions.
It does take a few chapters before our dragon shows up, but it felt like it arrived at the perfect moment, symbolic of the growth of the bond between Calder and Laz. I think they are ready for this new responsibility and to learn and laugh and love together.
For me, "how to raise an illegal dragon" is the purest form of fantasy, in the most meaningful sense of the word. There's a whole world complete with fantastic creatures like the dire fox or pantry bear, local customs that adapt over time - such as offering a prescribed token of affection to one's intended, worrisome titles of books in the wizard's library like 'The Tale of The Mad King' and laws that prohibit raising a baby dragon - you could go to prison or even get beheaded for such a thing.
I love stories with delightful characters who choose to do what their heart tells them to do. Raising this adorable little gemstone muncher is alrea
Kia LeepRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall Score: 5/5
Only 7 chapters in but really enjoying this fic! It's off-genre for this website (not LITRPG, etc) but its quality is higher than most of the stories I've read here. Impeccable grammar, easy to read, a romance I shipped from page 1, and flawed, interesting characters. Add in some magic gems and a baby dragon, and what's not to like?
Style: 5/5
It's written very clean and clear; I never stumbled over any word choice, and the prose melts into the background as you get engrossed in the story---as any good writing should.
Story: 5/5
I'm a sucker for a good enemies to lovers, and while Calder and Laz aren't precisely enemies, I do like the way they're positioned in potentially opposing ways, given their professions and the knight's presence in the town. There's good seeds planted for conflict there. Information about the world and magic system is introduced organically (and I LOVE the idea of integrating precious gemstones into the magic system). The dragon working both as a point of tension/conflict and as a way to bring the boys together is delicious.
Grammar: 5/5
Not much to say here: the prose is very clean and likely edited.
Character: 4.5/5
Calder is best boy, clearly. In fact, I sometimes wonder what he sees in the hapless (hopeless?) wizard apprentice Laz who keeps dismissing Calder's advances and insulting his intelligence and profession. Stop being so mean, Laz! He doesn't know what a gem (pun intended) he's got; but I'm sure he'll come around. That said, I do like that Laz is pepper with self doubt and low self esteem; some good character flaws to overcome as the story progresses!
KonstanceKayRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm only on chapter 9 of this story, but I'm loving it so much so far! It's got interesting characters, a cool magic system, inventive setting, and just enough hints dropped throughout to give us an idea of something bigger to come!
While I'm usually a fan of slower stories, I am appreciating the balance that the author has struck here between setting up the story and giving us some action and plot early on. We get to meet the important characters rather early on and (maybe?) some characters that will end up becoming more important later on! There were enough hints dropped for some of the side characters that make me want to learn more about them and see how they affect the plot later on.
I truly am enjoying how the author is able to weave backstory elements into the writing so seamlessly and give us more information about the world without info-dumping. Can't wait to learn more about some of the more specific aspects, even though a lot are already out!
The writing is very clean and I didn't notice anything that detracted me from the story itself and my enjoyment of reading it!
The characters themselves are quite different, easy to spot their different POVs through their style and actions, and their personalities clash so well in such a natural way.
The only reason why I'm not giving a full five stars for character is because of some confusion on my part, but as I continue to read this story I do hope it clears up. I am having a bit of a hard time understanding why, exactly, Laz is so set on disliking Calder so much, but I get the feeling we'll find out more about it as the story progresses. We're already seeing a softening between them due to shared interests. Which leads me to my second confusion: why did Calder agree so readily to help Laz out? I want to learn more about their motivations and the reasons behind them, but (as I said) I do feel like we'll get to learn more about them later, which is why I'm not dropping it to a 4 star.
Overall, though, this is a cu
Raj Ch, AuthorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is perhaps the sweetest stories I've read in a while. Laz and Calder are a treat to read. Seriously what a pair! The conflicting personalities attracting one and other is one of my favorites and if that's what you like then you came to the right place.
The grammar is clean. I did not find many glaring errors.
I like the magic system and kudos to the author for explaining it organically without info dumping it. It's hard thing to do.
The characters are great. They feel distinct and different enough.
The style is smooth and easy flowing so not much to complain about.
Story so far is slow paced. I don't mind it that much but i won't lie and say I don't have a slight problem with it.
Overall if you love a sweet queer fantasy set in a condensed setting where you don't have to worry about getting lost and read it every week nice and easy then this will be 10/10 perfect book.
This is perhaps the sweetest story I've read in a while. Laz and Calder are a treat to read—seriously, what a pair! The conflicting personalities attracting one another is one of my favorites, and if that's what you like, then you came to the right place.
The grammar is clean; I did not find many glaring errors.
I like the magic system, and kudos to the author for explaining it organically without info dumping. It's a hard thing to do.
The characters are great; they feel distinct and different enough.
The style is smooth and easy-flowing, so not much to complain about.
The story so far is slow-paced. I don't mind it that much, but I won't lie and say I don't have a slight problem with it.
Overall, if you love a sweet queer fantasy set in a condensed setting where you don't have to worry about getting lost and can read it every week nice and easy, then this will be a 10/10 perfect book.