The ocean of gold coins vanished into the unfathomable depths of the dragon's throat.
Those gold coins should have easily burst the dragon apart, but it seems to have remained unchanged, suggesting it wasn't simply swallowed.
Thinking this, Ed abandoned the idea of asking the question he had been pondering, fearing that the dragon would suck him in and force him to find the answer himself.
As the last gold coin disappeared into the cave, the Red Dragon's robust body fell from mid-air, but its movements were somewhat uncoordinated and didn't quite match its perfect lines.
Ed looked closer and noticed something was wrong:
He only saw the dragon's head and body from beginning to end; he never saw its tail.
Now that the gold coins obscuring his view had all disappeared, Ed noticed that the dragon's tail was stuck in the rock wall behind him...
There was almost no distance between the tail and the rock wall, as if the two had been fused together since birth, reminding Ed of a dragon in another world that liked to eat potato chips.
Staggering onto the ground, the dragon sensed something was wrong. It folded its wings, rotated its long neck half a circle, and looked at the part of its tail that was against the rock wall.
What's wrong with you?
"I can't speak, "Ed asked from a distance.
The dragon must have mentally considered the possibilities before answering:
"It's probably because it's been sleeping for so long, without even turning over, that its tail has undergone some Alienation."
Ed was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. It seemed that even creatures like dragons could not escape the misfortune brought about by Alienation. He just wondered if the Red Dragon in front of him was considered a master among the dragon race.
He pressed on, asking:
"Then why is your body fine?"
"Because the main part of the cave is enveloped by my domain."
The dragon gave a perfunctory reply and then began to caress its own tail.
Ed, on the other hand, keenly grasped the key word "domain." He wanted to ask more questions but felt he couldn't afford the corresponding price for it, and he was also worried about revealing that he, a human with extremely high knowledge reserves, knew very little about the Demonic Tide... so he decided to write down the questions first and ask them later.
On the other side of the cave, the dragon tried to pull it out a few times, but found it impossible. Ed, seeing this, asked:
"Then you won't be able to leave?"
The dragon shook its head:
"Is a tail such an inconvenient thing?"
As he spoke, his left forepaw was already coated with a high-temperature orange-red color, like a red-hot branding iron or a giant, burning sword.
"Whoosh!"
The dragon forcibly twisted most of its body, and with a swing of its sharp claws, it instantly severed its entire tail!
Ed stood there, stunned, watching what was happening. He wondered if the tail would ever grow back; otherwise, a tailless dragon flying would be truly comical...
After being severed in two, the dragon was completely freed. Despite the power of its muscles and the burning flames, not a single drop of blood flowed from its wound.
Ed looked at the dragon's comical physique and felt that a dragon without a tail was as awkward as a person without pants. He also had to forcefully suppress the corners of his mouth from turning up, lest the dragon give him a big blow.
Just as Ed was lost in thought, the cave trembled again, and the dragon actually grabbed the petrifying tail and twisted it out.
With a flick of its forepaws, it tossed its tail onto the now-empty floor of the cave, its sharp claws tearing open the petrified outer shell of the tail to reveal the flesh and blood of a dragon inside.
Ed instinctively sensed something was wrong, and sure enough, the next second the dragon tore off a piece of its tail and stuffed it into its mouth.
What a perfect way to digest food!
What a thrifty and diligent dragon!
Perhaps noticing Ed's strange look, the dragon explained:
"We dragons cannot easily discard any part of our physical body. Our power resides in every corner of our body, and the recovery speed is very slow once lost."
Ed nodded, accepting the explanation, wondering whether what it left behind in Dragonborn Village was a dragon scale or a dragon tooth...
The temperature inside the cave suddenly rose. Ed looked in the direction where the dragon was eating and saw it using its blazing dragonfire to roast slices of meat skewered on its claws, until they sizzled and dripped with oil.
Yes, I will eat it.
The dragon noticed Ed's gaze and used its other claw to slice off a piece, offering it to him:
"Want some?"
Ed's right hand transformed into a slender wooden sword, piercing the fist-sized piece of meat. He took a bite and discovered it was still raw inside...
Never mind what I said.
He looked at the dragon and said:
"If you're not in a hurry, you can put your tail away first. I'll teach you a few cooking methods later."
The dragon's eyes rolled twice:
Is there a fee?
"Free."
The dragon was overjoyed and skillfully ate all the tail meat from its claws, then swallowed the entire long tail. As before, its belly did not fluctuate, which gave Ed reason to suspect that the dragon possessed some kind of spatial magic.
At the same time, the half-cooked dragon meat had quickly disappeared from Ed's hand, and Little Green notification box appeared in front of his eyes:
[Genes collected: Red Dragon (purebred)]
There were unexpected bonuses?
Ed felt a surge of secret delight, wondering if his current animal affinity and abilities could allow him to partially Dragon Transformation... He could try it out later.
The dragon that had eaten its tail let out a burp and said:
"Let's go..."
It flapped its wings a few times, but found that without its tail, it had some trouble balancing.
Its enormous golden eyes rolled, and it said in a deep voice:
"Hold on."
Steam reeking of gunpowder began to spread through the cave. Ed covered his nose, trying his best not to inhale the smoke, but his vision became increasingly blurry.
After a dozen or so breaths, the smoke and white mist dissipated, and what appeared before Ed was a beautiful dragon girl who looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old.
She has long, fiery red hair, two irregularly symmetrical dragon horns growing on her forehead, with flames seemingly surging up and down in the cracks extending from their roots, and occasional glints of scales flashing across her exposed skin.
At this moment, she... no, she was wearing a complete set of elaborately made, retro-style pure white dress and leather boots that reached halfway up her calves. If you disregarded her dragon-like physical features, she looked exactly like a noble lady from a fantasy world.
Ed finally realized that he had been deceived by the other party's hoarse and murky voice and huge body; the name " Seraphina " indeed referred to a female dragon.
The dragon... no, it should now be called a dragon-woman girl, stared at Ed with her large golden eyes:
"Let's go."
Ed, recovering from his shock, replied:
"Okay, but then again, you actually have this kind of form and clothes?"
As Seraphina walked towards the cave entrance, she answered nonchalantly:
" Transformation Spell is something most dragons can use. As for this outfit... it was a gift from a princess I kidnapped over a hundred years ago."
"It's quite heartwarming."
"Yes, she also hired me to kill her seven brothers and sisters to secure her sole right to the duchy."
I retract what I just said.