Chapter 65: Brass Dragon
About three hundred kilometers south of the desert, there is a rather special place with a volcano that hasn’t erupted for hundreds of years. This volcano is Soren’s destination, and the third elemental crystal is located at the altar near the volcano. Fire elementals are the hardest to deal with among the four elements, but for Soren, who has just taken care of a Balroth Fire Demon, turning around to deal with some fire elementals feels as simple as child’s play.
With his current fire resistance and the power of the Curved Blade “Ice d*ath,” he basically doesn’t have to fear the raging flames they possess.
However!
There is something here that makes him wary.
— A Dragon!
Dragons live all over the world, but most of them don’t like areas with human activity, so many dragons establish their lairs in desolate regions. Soren’s current location naturally meets all the conditions for a dragon, so the destination he is going to is actually the territory of an adult dragon. Although this is not Soren’s first time facing a dragon, he is not naïve enough to think he can easily take on one.
Especially the dragon that dwells here is not easy to handle.
It is a ‘Brass Dragon’!
The Brass Dragon belongs to the Chaotic Good faction of dragons. Unlike the Pureblood Dragons that Soren encountered in the past, Brass Dragons are a type of Metallic Dragon, while Red and White Dragons belong to the Five-colored Dragons. Most Metallic Dragons are of good alignment and are not very aggressive, but unfortunately, as a Lawful Evil entity, the danger posed by Metallic Dragons to Soren is not much different from that posed by Five-colored Dragons. This is the downside of the Evil faction; encountering a Good faction often leads to a fight, and facing another Evil faction does the same.
The adult Brass Dragon that dwells here is already well-known to others, with even merchant caravans in the desert having encountered it and referring to it as the ‘Desert Wind.’
The Brass Dragon is a special kind of dragon.
It is special because it has a characteristic – it loves to ‘chat’ with others!
There is a piece of text that records them as follows:
“The Brass Dragons are very talkative and articulate; sometimes they can provide useful information for adventurers, but usually only after a long period of casual chat and with the suggestion of giving them gifts do they reveal their messages.”
“The pupils of Brass Dragons darken with age, eventually resembling molten metal spheres.”
“Brass Dragons prefer dry heat and spend most of their time basking under the scorching desert sun. They exude a strong scent of metal or sand. They like to build their lairs in high caves.”
“Brass Dragons can eat almost anything, but they usually eat very little, as they can extract nutrients from the morning dew. Since the habitats of Brass Dragons and Blue Dragons are the same, the Blue Dragons are the most dangerous enemies for Brass Dragons. In one-on-one conflicts, the larger Blue Dragons tend to have the upper hand.”
“For Brass Dragons, speaking with adventurers is more attractive than fighting.”
………………
That’s right!
You are not mistaken; the tags for the Brass Dragon include ‘very talkative,’ ‘articulate,’ and ‘likes casual chat,’ among others.
In plain and simple terms, the Brass Dragon is the talkative type among Pureblood Dragons, and it is born to be loquacious.
There was once a saying:
— “What is the easiest thing for the Chaotic faction to produce? Without a doubt! Jokers!!!” (Note: Since ancient times, chaos produces idiots.)
The Brass Dragon.
It is the joker among dragons, born with Chaotic Good alignment and loquaciousness—it is not just a joker; it is the joker among fighters!
The place Soren has now arrived at is the territory of the Brass Dragon referred to as the ‘Desert Wind.’ It once did something very silly.
It kidnapped a team of adventurers.
Then it forced them to chat with it for three whole days and nights!
Only after satisfying its desire for conversation did it release the adventurers, who had nearly gone crazy from the experience.
Due to never having done anything bad and having considerable strength, this Brass Dragon hasn’t had anyone come to seek revenge on it. Basically, this desert area is its independent kingdom, and it has lived here quite well until the Saint’s Cataclysm ended. Perhaps those who are naturally silly tend to have pretty good luck. In any case, Soren had not heard of anyone who had killed it. (Note 1: Brass Dragons are not numerous, and most live in uninhabited deserts.)
(Note 2: Because they live in uninhabited deserts, the Brass Dragon’s desire to chat is often left unfulfilled.)
………………
A volcano appeared before Soren.
Fortunately, the figure of the Brass Dragon did not appear; dragons spend a long time sleeping.
Finding the Elemental Altar is not difficult.
Because all elemental altars have a characteristic feature: they are guarded by elemental life forms. So if he finds the fire elementals, he can find the location of the Elemental Altar.
— “Flight Spell!”
Soren carefully searched around the volcano and soon discovered the traces of the fire elementals.
Dealing with these fire elementals is not difficult; Soren’s fire resistance is sufficient to ignore their flames, so he easily took care of a large number of them.
Killing Experience is continually accumulating.
As Soren eliminated several fire elementals near the Elemental Altar, he gradually approached the center of the altar.
He then began to search carefully.
Time passed little by little!
Soren’s expression grew more puzzled, and finally, he stood still with a frown, seemingly lost in thought.
The fire elemental crystal is not here.
This is a rather strange matter because according to his memories, the locations of the four elemental crystals should not be mistaken. Although the specific details were not disclosed at the time, the approximate location should not lie; the fire elemental crystal should be here. He had obtained the two previous elemental crystals from altars; why can he not find this fire elemental crystal here?
He stubbornly searched again.
Unfortunately, he still found nothing, but he did discover a hidden compartment for storing the elemental crystal.
It was empty!
The fire elemental crystal was taken away by someone.
This discovery made Soren feel troubled because lacking any one of the four elemental crystals is unacceptable. If it was really taken by someone, who knows if he could retrieve it from them. Even if he could, he has no idea how much time it would take. Right now, Soren is racing against time, and he cannot afford to spend too much energy on this. If the fire elemental crystal is indeed missing, he might have to give up just like that.
Just as Soren was at a loss for any clues, suddenly a voice came from above him.
“Hey!”
“Where did this Wanderer come from to dare trespass on my territory and steal something?!”
The voice was loud.
But it also carried a hint of youthful innocence.
As soon as Soren heard this voice, he almost instantly rolled back and drew out the Curved Blade “Ice d*ath” with a clank, slightly crouching down, fully prepared for battle.
My territory?!
When Soren raised his head to look ahead, his expression instantly froze.
Standing about fifty meters in front of him was a little girl, about 1.2 meters tall, wearing a golden princess dress with floral patterns, adorned with dazzling jewels. Her light golden hair naturally draped down, and her face looked incredibly cute and charming. However, she had a rather serious expression, waving a soft, pink finger at Soren and pouting, saying, “Hey! I’m asking you a question! Why are you here in my territory trying to steal something?”
“Hey!?”
“Are you mute? Or are you an idiot! Are you scared silly by my aura?!”
“Did I really scare you dumb?”
“That would be too unlucky, huh? I finally caught a human!”
………………
Before Soren could respond,
During the moment he was stunned, the little girl had already spoken a whole lot.
However.
He seems to know who she is now!
………………
(PS: Two updates today, taking a break to recharge.) (To be continued ~^~)
