Understanding

Milio's awakening let Yuan Chen breathe a sigh of relief.

At first, Yuan Chen had naively thought that, with enough preparation, all he needed to do was give Milio a little guidance for him to awaken his own trait.

But even after they found the Meat-toothed Beast and returned to the village, Milio's ability had remained only half-awakened...

Now, at last seeing Milio awaken and become Ming Zhu Milio, Yuan Chen could only feel relieved... His recklessness hadn't caused a genius to fade into obscurity.

After that, Yuan Chen gradually drifted off to sleep in the gentle firelight.

By the time he woke up, it was already the next morning.

He got up from the ground. His body was still sore, but his broken bones had healed completely. After moving around a little, Yuan Chen could tell that he was in perfectly good shape.

"You're awake too."

Hearing the voice, Yuan Chen looked to one side. Mordas stood before him, in front of the Dragon Corpse, holding a hunting knife as he worked with the other hunters and craftsmen to cut it up.

Though he was still the same Meat-toothed Beast, Mordas had changed beyond recognition, both in appearance and in bearing.

The fire had burned away much of the mane on Mordas's body. His once-beautiful silver-gray mane was now dotted with charred patches, and the parts that had taken the flames head-on were still a dark red.

He looked a little worse for wear. Even though Naduo had shoved Mordas out of the way when the dragon struck, everything had happened so suddenly, and they had been too close...

As a result, nearly the entire side of Mordas's lionlike face had been stripped of flesh. A massive scar ran across his eye, and it still hadn't fully healed.

He had grown somewhat quiet... Yuan Chen could tell that this made Mordas even more dangerous.

"Though I'm not sure what you're thinking...

My instincts tell me you've changed a great deal."

As he spoke, Yuan Chen got to his feet and stretched, his spine cracking. Then he held out his palm and guided the few remaining Flawless Heavy Blades back to his side before joining in with the work of cutting up the Dragon Corpse.

Hearing Yuan Chen's words, Mordas didn't respond right away. After a moment of silence, he shrugged and said, pretending not to care:

"People change, don't they~"

"That's true~"

Yuan Chen nodded in agreement, then stood up and asked:

"Where are Lupe and the others? How are they doing? And what about Nedeli?"

"Lupe is resting. She's exhausted, and her energy is low, but she seems to be in a good mood."

Mordas said:

"After all, just like you said, Lupe has dreamed of her family regaining its former glory. Hunting a dragon is enough of an achievement to let her family take that crucial first step."

"As for Nedeli... she's still on the hillside in the distance. Azure Starfire surrounds her, and we can't get close."

Hearing Mordas's reply, Yuan Chen glanced at the Azure Starfire on the hillside, then at the villagers bustling around in the distance. He nodded in understanding.

Nedeli had forcibly used Heavenly Power, and the process of her life's ascension had been affected. She probably wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

As for Lupe... Though she and the villagers weren't on the same side, and she had even helped Yuan Chen fool them, this couldn't be judged by looking at the people alone; the circumstances of the times also mattered.

Especially in a closed-off country like Ixialia, it was only natural to care about one's family...

The Yuentar of the Imperial Yellow Banner from Yishuaoken looked down on you country bumpkins. So what? You going to complain? Want to be thrown in jail?!

Even problems that couldn't be solved in his previous life, where magic didn't exist, would only be worse in this supernatural world. So many people had tried and failed to solve them. Yuan Chen, at least, didn't think he could fix things properly in a world where the situation was even more complicated.

But he was getting off track...

Yuan Chen focused on the Dragon Corpse in front of him.

Nedeli had shot the dragon in the chest with a javelin imbued with Death's Dawn, blowing its chest apart. The dragon had forcibly shifted its heart to avoid a fatal blow, but Yuan Chen and Mordas had then joined forces to kill it.

In the circumstances, most of the scales on the dragon's chest were ruined, with only a few of its toughest Inverse Scales still intact. Its head was in decent condition, too. Apart from the areas pierced by the ballista, the rest of its body was relatively intact—

Even the ballista had only left a superficial wound in its flesh.

If a dragon in its prime had been worth a hundred percent, this one was still worth at least seventy percent.

"You contributed the most. What do you want to take?" Yuan Chen asked Mordas.

Without the Azure Starfire, neither Yuan Chen nor Lupe would have tried to hunt a dragon. And with the Meat-toothed Beasts having suffered heavy losses, it only made sense for them to take the lion's share and choose first.

Mordas was silent for a moment, then looked at the Dragon Head with some reluctance and said:

"The Dragon Heart, ten Steel Claws, five Inverse Scales, four Sharp Teeth, three Tendons, and the Flame Sac."

Hearing what Mordas wanted, a hint of surprise showed in Yuan Chen's eyes. What surprised him was that Mordas had asked for the Dragon Heart first, rather than the Dragon Head.

After all, the main reason the dragon was worth only seventy percent of its value was that its heart had been pierced—

The Dragon Heart was one of the most valuable magic materials a dragon had. It was the core of the dragon's life and magic.

With every beat of its heart, the enormous amount of magic the dragon drew from the outside world flowed to every corner of its body, letting it support its huge wings in flight and strengthen them.

As a result, an intact Dragon Heart had always been among the most valuable Magic Materials in Runeterra—

Legend had it that during the Rune Wars, anyone who wanted to unleash the true power of a World Rune needed a Dragon Heart as the Magic Furnace Core, because no other material could withstand the terrifying energy released by a World Rune.

But during the hunt, the heart had been pierced, diminishing its value. A complete dragon heart could rival the Dragon Head.

By comparison, the other materials—Dragon Claws, Inverse Scales, teeth, Tendons, and the Flame Sac—were precious too, among the most valuable materials from a dragon, but they couldn't begin to make up for the damage to the Dragon Heart.

"Why choose the Dragon Heart?" Yuan Chen asked in confusion. "The Meat-toothed Beasts contributed enough for you to choose the Dragon Head."

"We can't take it with us." Mordas sighed helplessly.

"To get these things back to the tribe, we'll have to smuggle them along narrow paths...

"We can use a Concealment Spell to suppress the auras of the Dragon Heart and Inverse Scales, disguising them as ordinary cargo. But even if we suppress its magical aura, the Dragon Head's shape will draw the attention of anyone looking for trouble."

"And if we take it apart, its value will drop sharply. Better to leave it with you. At least you'll be able to help us if we run into trouble in the future."

Mordas shrugged, a trace of reluctance in his eyes.

Hearing about the problem Mordas faced, Yuan Chen could only pat him on the shoulder with a strange look on his face.

After taking a moment to collect himself, Mordas asked curiously:

"By the way... what's the deal with that little Milio? I heard he saved all of us?"

"He's someone who could become a hero." Yuan Chen teased him casually.

"Did you think I'd bring just anyone into the jungle to explore? Let me tell you a secret: his trait is epic-level!

"Even though he's only just awakened, his ability and potential blow yours out of the water!"

"Ha! Then I should be happy! A powerful friend will be a great help in bringing about change!"

Mordas laughed heartily, then patted his chest, which had been scorched and still hadn't fully healed.

"But don't worry! The Meat-toothed Beasts always repay a kindness. You, Milio, Nedeli, and the people in the village—we'll be there whenever you need us!"

"Make it happen first~"

Yuan Chen smiled and casually summoned a ball of water to quench his thirst.

After drinking, Yuan Chen looked at the people around him and asked, "By the way... where's Naduo?"

"..."

Mordas paused, then said:

"He's all right. At least he's still alive. Mage Lupe turned the ground under him to sand, making it especially soft. He was badly injured and still hasn't woken up, but his vital signs have stabilized. He'll just need time to recover."

Hearing that Naduo hadn't died, Yuan Chen breathed a sigh of relief—

He rather liked the Meat-toothed Beast. He seemed reckless, but he was good with children.

Relaxed now, Yuan Chen asked, "What did Naduo mean when he said, 'Save Hana'? Who's Hana? Does she need help?"

When Naduo shoved Mordas out of the way, he'd said, "Save Hana." Though everything had happened so suddenly, Yuan Chen had still heard him.

At Yuan Chen's question, Mordas pressed his lips together. After a moment of silence, his mood seemed to darken a little, and he said calmly, "Hana was Naduo's younger sister... She's already dead."

"Dead?" Yuan Chen's hand paused slightly as he guided the blade.

Mordas merely nodded.

"Yeah... Hana was frail from birth. The elders thought she wouldn't be able to bear strong children, so they exiled her to the jungle."

"It's nothing unusual in the tribe... It happens all the time. Naduo loved his sister, so he went into the forest after her."

"And then?" Though Yuan Chen asked, he had more or less guessed the answer.

"Then Naduo found Hana." Mordas took the Beast Tooth Necklace Naduo had pressed into his hand when he shoved him aside out of his clothes. It was made from the teeth of a young Meat-toothed Beast.

"Hana was already dead, just like the other children."

"..."

Listening to Mordas's calm account, Yuan Chen seemed to understand something. He realized what had truly changed in Mordas. For a moment, he didn't know what to say...

Mordas's siblings had suffered the same fate. Faced with the pain they had endured, every comforting word Yuan Chen could think of seemed hollow and powerless.

But Mordas clearly wasn't troubled by remembering that painful past. On the contrary, he had grown calmer than before—or, rather... more indifferent.

"Before, there was something I didn't understand..."

"What?"

"I didn't understand why, when you're a prophet and knew your homeland would be invaded, you still said so many people would die in Ionia."

Mordas pried off a Scale Fragment. The magic within it, which had belonged to the dragon, had dissipated, so it had lost its value as a high-grade material. He tossed it into the basket for inferior goods.

Ignoring the ruined Scale Fragment, Mordas continued:

"I thought that if you were a prophet, you ought to have been able to do better. Maybe it would've taken more time, but there should have been a better way... There might've been some problems, but at least there wouldn't have been so many deaths and disputes."

"But now I understand... People are going to die. They have to. No one is immortal."

Mordas tightened his grip on the cutting knife. His voice wasn't sad; it was cold and brutal with grief.

"Thirty-five of my people were willing to join me on this adventure... We've been through so much along the way."

"Now only eighteen are still alive, and three of them still haven't woken up... I underestimated the dragon's strength. If it weren't for you, we'd all be dead. But we're not."

"They died, and we survived... I can't let their deaths be in vain! You know what this means, Yuan Chen."

Mordas's eyes were filled with deep-seated hatred. It wasn't only directed at the dragon and the tribal elders, but also at his own arrogance and incompetence.

After a moment of silence, Yuan Chen nodded quietly. "It means you'll have to carry their share of the burden... Many people in the Meat-toothed Beast Tribe will die, too."

"That's right! I won't compromise with those old bastards!"

Mordas clenched his teeth and glared as he drove his knife into the dragon's flesh. His face had been ripped open by the dragon's claws and scorched by the flames of Dragon Heart Detonation. The half of his face stripped of flesh looked especially sinister and terrifying, enough to make children cry.

"But... the elders are still the elders." After a long silence, Mordas drew a deep breath and said, "When I go back this time, I don't know if I'll succeed. But no matter what, I hope you'll remember your promise."

Mordas looked at Yuan Chen, who nodded.

"I remember. I owe the Azure Starfire a debt. I'll help you... But you should understand that the Dawn Bringer's power doesn't belong to any one person or regime. We aren't mercenaries, let alone servants or slaves."

Though he was grateful to Mordas, some things were best made clear from the start.

Mordas understood.

"I know your ideals and goals. They're beyond the understanding of an ordinary person like me... I only hope that if we really lose, you'll protect our families and help them leave the tribe, leave that hopeless place."

"Your wish will be granted."

Hearing this, some of the tension left Mordas's face...

He was afraid that his efforts to change the tribe would lead to another conflict.

If he won, all would be well. But if he lost, he would face the elders' hunt as they tried to reassert their authority. Now that he knew his friends and family would be safe, Mordas had nothing left to worry about.

He smiled and said, "No matter what, thank you! You'll always be my friend, Mordas! If you ever find yourself in trouble, the Meat-toothed Beasts will fight for you!"

"I should be thanking you..." Yuan Chen shook his head. He knew that Mordas was the one trying to understand him...

People shouldn't overlook what others went through as they tried to understand them and see things from their point of view.

And...

Many people in the Meat-toothed Beast Tribe would die.