Curse (Please Keep Reading, Please Vote)

The surrounding air was frigid, and a layer of ice crystals had formed over the ground.

The densely packed ice blades had yet to melt, clustered together like countless blooming flowers.

A black figure stepped out from the shadows of the nearby forest. With obsidian-like dragon scales, dark red patterns, and a rugged, powerful body, it was Garos, returning to the scene of the crime.

He raised his head to glance in the direction the Copper Dragon had departed, then looked at the battered abandoned mine.

"Tsk, that Copper Dragon was truly furious. Still, dragons treasure wealth as dearly as life itself. The fact that it did not go completely mad showed considerable restraint. As expected of a Metal Dragon—it was far more composed than a Chromatic Dragon."

Garos smacked his lips.

He pulled out an ice blade with one claw. It was freezing to the touch, cold enough to make his claw ache.

"This is power that only a dragon at least as strong as an adult could possess."

"Ice-affinity... Could one of its parents have been a Silver Dragon? That is most likely."

Garos thought to himself.

When dragons chose mates, they did not deliberately seek out dragons of the same species. In fact, pairs of the same dragon species were comparatively uncommon.

However, dragon bloodlines were overbearing and difficult to merge, so the chances of producing mixed-blood offspring were low.

Thus, regardless of the parents' species, their offspring would most likely inherit only one parent's bloodline. Hybrid Dragons like Garos were relatively rare.

There was another point worth mentioning.

Hybrid Dragons were not always powerful and outstanding.

Garos had inherited the strengths of both Iron Dragons and Red Dragons, making him a positive hybrid.

But unlucky negative hybrids also existed, inheriting the flaws of both parent species at once.

For example.

The offspring of a Red Dragon and a White Dragon might be weak against both water and fire, physically frail like a White Dragon, yet reckless and violent like a Red Dragon—a dragon with ambitions higher than the heavens and a fate thinner than paper.

Garos rubbed the keratinous layer beneath his chin and lowered his gaze toward the abandoned mine.

"After enduring the Copper Dragon's furious venting, the Worm King should be badly injured. Should I take the chance to subdue it?"

Garos shook his head, dismissing the idea.

The Worm King was hiding beneath the abandoned mine. Garos could go down there as well, but underground was not his territory, and simply killing the Worm King would not bring much benefit.

As for subduing it.

Garos's method of using Mind Link to communicate and subdue a target was essentially a mix of threats, temptation, and negotiation. It lacked a stronger guarantee.

It would not work particularly well on the Worm King.

Its Life Level was already high. He might be able to subdue it initially, but once it recovered, betrayal would be inevitable.

Not long afterward.

Under the cover of night, Garos returned to the Iron Fir Hills and began tallying his gains from this trip.

With a shake of his dragon wings, gemstones and gold coins clinked to the ground one after another, gleaming beautifully beneath the moonlight.

These gemstones and gold coins were no ordinary items. They contained magical energy, and consuming them could aid a dragon's growth and development.

Looking down at those glittering things.

Garos instinctively felt a surge of attraction and delight, along with a powerful urge to hoard and protect them from the touch of any other creature.

A dragon's attraction to treasure was etched into its bones, almost like some kind of curse.

Garos did not want to be influenced by it.

Excessive pursuit of and obsession with treasure was one of the main causes of dragon deaths, no less dangerous than death brought about by arrogance.

Garos took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. He continued breathing deeply, resisting the desires within his heart.

His gaze gradually cleared.

When he was four years old, he had luckily dug up a magical gemstone. At the time, he had wanted nothing more than to hide it in the crack of his butt, but he had also felt that such emotions were abnormal and should not be allowed to grow unchecked. So he had considered eating it.

Yet when the gemstone reached his mouth, he simply could not bring himself to swallow it.

It was as though what lay at his lips was not a gemstone, but his own lifeblood.

Later, Garos hid the magical gemstone at the bottom of a lake. Whenever he had free time, he would go play with it, battling his desires and tempering his will.

Finally, when he was around six years old.

After two years of tempering, Garos gritted his teeth and successfully ate it, just as he had wished.

For a Hatchling Dragon.

That was an absolute feat.

It was difficult for anyone who was not a dragon to imagine a dragon's obsession with treasure. It was a tremor seemingly carved into the soul, an instinct rooted in the bones.

At the same time.

Samantha, who was engraving Alchemy Runes onto Mobel's body, suddenly paused and sharply perked up her ears.

"Ah, where did that crisp sound, so wondrous and heavenly, come from?"

She turned her head and immediately saw the pile of gemstones and gold coins by Garos's feet. Her breathing and heartbeat instantly quickened, and her eyes lit up.

One of her claws accidentally swept too wide, tearing a long bloody gash across Mobel's body.

Awooo—caught off guard by the sudden pain, Mobel let out a shrill howl.

But Samantha seemed not to hear him. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead as though her soul had been hooked away, and she walked step by step toward Garos.

"My dear, wealthy, great, radiant brother!"

Samantha completely abandoned the dignity of a Red Dragon. The moment she reached Garos, she bowed her head in supplication.

"Please, I beg you."

"Give me some treasure. I am willing to do anything!"

Samantha felt as though ants were biting all over her, from soul to flesh. She could not help herself; to obtain treasure, she was willing to pay any price.

Garos looked at Samantha with pity.

Her reaction was exactly how an ordinary Hatchling Dragon reacted upon seeing treasure.

She only knew she could not take it by force. Otherwise, she would have already pounced.

Even so, Samantha had to expend great mental effort to suppress her urge to snatch the treasure from Garos's claws.

One of the standard methods adventuring parties used to hunt dragons was to scatter vast amounts of gemstones and gold coins throughout areas frequented by dragons, set traps around them, and silently wait for dragons, which were exceptionally sensitive to such things, to arrive.

"No problem."

Garos agreed lightly, leaving Samantha unable to believe it.

After a pause, he added, "But only if your actions satisfy me. If I am pleased, I can reward you with some treasure."

Samantha's eyes widened as she asked joyfully, "What exactly should I do?"

Garos smiled. "I cannot say for sure. You will have to figure it out yourself. In short, just make me happy."

As the saying went.

When the law was unknowable, its majesty was unfathomable.

Without a fixed standard, whether he gave her anything or not depended entirely on Garos's thoughts.

Simply put, he was dangling an empty promise before her.

"Making Garos happy sounds so easy. He wants me to master Alchemy as soon as possible so I can help him."

After thinking briefly, Samantha came up with something that could make Garos happy.

"My dear brother, I know what to do!"

Leaving behind those spirited words, Samantha turned and resumed diligently studying Alchemy in order to receive her "reward."

After sending Samantha away.

Garos picked up a gemstone and slowly brought it toward his mouth. In the end, he shut his eyes and tossed it in, then ruthlessly clenched his teeth, crushing it with a crack before swallowing it.

A dense surge of energy, several times greater than the same amount of Black Oil, rose from his stomach.

The slight fatigue caused by training and battle.

Vanished almost instantly.

Magical gemstones were treasures that were difficult to mass-produce or mine. They were rarer and more precious than resources like Black Oil, and consuming them provided greater benefits than Black Oil, but they were also harder to obtain.

After eating one.

Garos struck while the iron was hot and tried to eat a second.

But when the gemstone reached his lips, he could not open his mouth no matter what.

Trying to swallow two gemstones in succession made Garos feel as though his heart were being cut by knives. Every scale and every muscle on his body resisted. He simply could not bring himself to bite down.

"This instinct is still too powerful. Eating one at a time is already my current limit."

Garos shook his head and set the gemstone down.

He still had five gemstones left: three ice-affinity white crystals, one fire-affinity ruby, and one water-affinity sapphire. He also had a little over two hundred gold and silver coins in total.

With a sweep of his dragon wings, he put away all the gemstones and coins.

Then, while the energy within him was still abundant and vigorous, Garos took the three alchemical devices and soared into the sky, intending to test their exact power and effects.

Alchemy items were unlike magical items.

These things prioritized practicality. Whoever held one could use it.

If an ordinary person obtained a powerful alchemical item, so long as it still had enough energy to activate, it was not impossible for them to use it to exchange blows with supernatural beings.

Unless it was an exceptionally high-grade alchemical item, there was no concept of recognizing an owner at all.