This week for Translation Necessary Thursday I’m covering the third volume of one of my favorite Chinese Web Novel series! It’s time to go on an adventure with Coiling Dragon Volume 03 by I Eat Tomatos!

Plot Synopsis: Linley Baruch, scion of the once world famous Dragonblood Warrior Clan, entered the Ernst Institute of Magic at the age of 8 and learned from both the teachers at the school and the spirit of the dead Earth Grand Mage Saint “Grandpa” Doehring Cowart. At the same time he formed a bond of brothers with three other students, Yale, George and Reynolds and quickly became the talk of the school. However he also started learning how to sculpt from Grandpa Doehring to improve his mage abilities. By the time Linley was 15 he had become a Mage of the Fifth rank in both Earth and Wind magic quickly marking him as one of the most outstanding mages in the world. He also reached Master Sculptor status and asked his big brother Yale to help sell some statues. However Bebe, Linley’s magical companion, was growing bored with the quiet and safe life in the city and wanted to go to the nearby “Magic Monster” mountain range to train. Linley agreed and set off for a few months to do some live-combat training with Bebe and Grandpa Doehring.

Plot: This volume is really about Linley learning about the world and how it’s not a nice place, and that staying alive requires you to be on your guard at all times. That being said it’s not a bad volume, in fact it’s one of the better ones in the early part of the series, with plenty of action and great character development for Linley and Bebe.

Characters: We don’t get introduced to a ton of new characters, but there are a few. Bebe is still my favorite with Grandpa Doehring being close behind.

Overall: An excellent entry in an amazing series.