Alchemy Relic

"With all this Oil Soil, the Black Oil inside must be more than what remains in the Alchemy Engine."

Garos swayed his tail happily, picked up a chunk of Oil Soil, squeezed it, and pressed the Black Oil out into his mouth.

However.

It was nothing like the refreshing, fiery taste he had imagined.

It was harsh and unpleasant, with a texture like eating shit that made Garos frown.

—He had never eaten shit, but he figured it could not be much worse than this.

Unlike the Black Oil he had eaten last time, this stuff seemed to contain many impurities. After swallowing it, no rich energy surged up immediately. Instead, it first needed to be digested, and even then, the energy gained would probably be inferior to the Black Oil from before.

"Why is that?"

Garos was somewhat puzzled.

After thinking for a moment, he understood the general reason.

"The Black Oil in the Alchemy Engine was already refined, not crude oil. What I ate should be naturally occurring crude oil that has not been refined yet, with many impurities inside."

Crude oil could be eaten too.

But its absorption efficiency was lower than Black Oil's, and its taste was beyond description.

Fortunately.

There was a solution.

Garos turned to Samantha and assigned her a task. "Refine all the crude oil in this Oil Soil into Black Oil with your Alchemy."

To please Garos.

And earn treasure from him.

Samantha had studied Alchemy diligently day and night, and had already learned how to refine Black Oil. Though her skill was quite mediocre, she could still handle this simplest kind of refinement—turning crude oil into Black Oil.

Upon hearing Garos's words.

Samantha stuck out her tongue and licked her lips. "Oh, my dear brother, I am willing to do anything for you. But... will this make you happy?"

She did not want to work for nothing. She was asking for payment.

It was a reasonable request.

Samantha's current role was essentially that of Garos's follower, a subordinate dragon. In dragon society, such followers differed from dependents and slaves.

Subordinate dragons served their primary dragons.

Primary dragons needed to provide their subordinate dragons with regular compensation.

Empty promises alone would not do. Red Dragons were dull-witted and crude, but when treasure was involved, they became miserly and shrewd.

Garos had not yet completely shaken off his obsession with treasure. Asking him to part with money made his heart ache.

But after giving it some thought, Garos generously lined up several gold coins.

"Work hard, and these will be yours."

For a Hatchling Dragon, these gold coins were enough. Samantha pounced forward with gleaming eyes, ready to take them.

"My dear brother, you are wonderful! I am willing to serve you, willing to do anything for you!"

She cried out.

"Wait, my clever little sister. Do you want even more?"

Garos's words seemed to hold some sort of magic, making Samantha pause.

"Of course!"

She answered emphatically.

Garos said unhurriedly, "In consideration of the blood bond between us, I will give you two choices."

"First, take these five gold coins directly, guard them carefully, and risk losing them."

"Second, leave them with me for safekeeping. By the Dragon God, I guarantee that after one year, I can give you six gold coins. After two years, I will give you eight. It will keep growing every year."

Samantha immediately hesitated, unsure how to choose.

Garos struck while the iron was hot and patiently persuaded her. "Think about it. Which is better, unchanging wealth or wealth that keeps increasing? We dragons should look toward long-term benefits."

After hesitating for a long while.

Samantha thought it over and over, but ultimately could not resist the temptation of treasure that would increase every year, so she agreed.

"I will collect it after one year. You must give it to me then, or I will not work for you anymore."

Samantha said.

Her words were resolute.

But whether that would still be the case a year later was another matter.

Besides, since he was a dragon himself and understood the weaknesses in dragon nature, Garos was quite experienced at sweet-talking dragons. If she performed well enough and did not slack off or cut corners, there would be no problem rewarding her for real.

Garos nodded, put the gold coins away again, and said solemnly:

"Of course. You know me. I am not a deceitful Green Dragon."

Thinking of her growing fortune, Samantha skipped away happily to get to work.

She used common iron ore found everywhere in the Ser Wilderness, melted it with Flame Dragon Breath, then slowly hammered it. After inscribing a few runes, she shaped it into the most basic form of an alchemical crucible.

She placed chunks of Oil Soil into the crucible.

Muttering under her breath, Samantha drew symbols in the air with her claws, formed runes with magical energy and struck them into the crucible, then opened her mouth and exhaled Dragon Breath, beginning to refine the Black Oil through Alchemy.

Not long afterward.

Garos had a batch of refined Black Oil in his possession.

It was stored in a somewhat rough iron canister, a thick, pitch-black liquid.

After taking a light sniff, Garos drained it in one gulp.

Whoosh!

It was as though a ball of flame had ignited in his stomach.

"Pure flavor, strong kick! This is the Black Oil I want."

Sparks sprayed from his nostrils. Garos's vigor immediately surged, the dark-red patterns on his inner scales becoming more vivid. Even the faint brand-red hue at the very edge of his Buffer Scales seemed to brighten slightly.

Flapping his wings, Garos shot into the sky and landed on a stretch of wasteland at the outskirts where he often trained.

Whoosh!

Using the Silver Frost Ring, he exhaled cold air and froze the rocks, making them cold and hard as steel.

Burning with energy, Garos could not wait any longer. He lowered his head and rammed forward, beginning his daily training.

At the same time.

Several people slowly walked along a branch path extending from the Trail of a Thousand Snakes.

A Blonde Warrior clad in heavy armor, with a massive sword like a door strapped to his back; a pale, lanky Necromancer wreathed in negative energy; a curvaceous female Rogue with a dagger and powerful crossbow at her waist; a beautiful female priest in white robes; and a youthful-looking spellcaster wearing a light-blue robe.

There were five of them in total, forming an adventuring party.

The Blonde Warrior's armor and greatsword were both inscribed with Alchemy Runes and had an impressive texture, clearly quality equipment. The others' gear was more ordinary, but it was not mere ironwork either.

This group belonged to the [Tomorrow] Adventurer Party.

They had heard a rumor that powerful alchemical constructs had been left behind in an abandoned mine within the Ser Wilderness. They had come to investigate, hoping to find the powerful alchemical creation spoken of in the rumors.

The Rogue glanced at the intricate map in her hand and whispered, "There will be no proper road ahead. We will officially enter the Wilderness, the territory of countless monsters and savage beasts."

The Necromancer grinned. "Opportunity always comes with risk. This is a necessary path."

On Bernardo Planet, professions such as Necromancers, who desecrated corpses and souls, faced some discrimination, but they were not automatically branded as evil outcasts simply because of their profession. Whether one was evil depended on the individual.

"I heard there are quite a few dragons in this Wilderness. I hope we do not encounter any."

The priest said softly.

The spellcaster lowered his voice. "What if it is a Hatchling Dragon? If we encounter one, we will strike it rich. We can return directly without even exploring the abandoned mine. With the restraining spells I have mastered, I can easily drag a Hatchling Dragon to the ground and leave it unable to escape even with wings."

Hatchling Dragons posed no threat to them.

What they feared were older dragons.

"Stop dreaming. How could we be so lucky? Stay alert and follow close behind me."

The Blonde Warrior said in a deep voice. His tall body walked at the front, giving his companions a strong sense of security.

They entered the Wilderness, remaining vigilant toward every movement around them as they gradually ventured deeper.

If viewed from high above, a careful look at the direction of their route would reveal that—they would pass through the Iron Fir Hills. If they were lucky, they might encounter a Hatchling Dragon, just as the spellcaster wished.