“Yeah,”
Irene responded.
“Adventurers?”
She fell into deep thought.
Deep in the Great Gana Forest, dangers lurked everywhere, and magical beasts ran rampant. It was rare to see any intelligent life here.
Even passing merchants would hurry through, never lingering for a single second.
If there was any draw to this place, it was likely the presence of dragons.
One didn't even need a brain to figure out why this group of adventurers had risked coming here.
These guys' target was either Mother Dragon or the two juvenile dragons.
However, compared to Mother Dragon, Irene leaned toward the idea that they were after the two of them.
After all, Mother Dragon was a Gold Rank adult black dragon.
Both her magical prowess and physical strength had reached unimaginable heights.
Trying to make a move on an adult dragon like her was no less difficult than invading a small nation.
It would require at least a regular army, led by multiple Gold Rank or even Legendary experts,
to even stand a chance of killing her.
As for capturing her, unless they possessed absolutely overwhelming power, no one would even dream of it.
Otherwise, if a single mistake allowed the dragon to escape, nothing but endless vengeance would await them.
Chromatic dragons were notoriously vengeful, and their petty, vindictive nature was passed down through their bloodline.
As a long-lived species, they were exceptionally good at outliving their enemies,
only to exact endless revenge on their foes' descendants and families afterward.
In the Draconic Inheritance, there was a record of a red dragon named Wallace.
Simply because a human mage had stolen a few gold coins from him, he relentlessly hunted the thief for a hundred years.
Even after the human mage died of old age, the dragon dug up his corpse and desecrated it with dragon breath.
He even had the ashes forged into a sword and named it Firemourne.
This just went to show how dangerous it was to cross a dragon.
Irene raised her head, looking toward the direction the adventurers had gone in the dense forest.
“My foolish brother, those guys are probably targeting us.”
Grind... grind...
Daviel ground his teeth, his gaze shifting forward as his pupils slit into narrow lines.
Although he was often played by Irene, he wasn't a brainless dragon like a white dragon.
Thanks to the tacit understanding they had developed from living together all these years, he instantly understood what Irene meant.
“Then should we go wake Mom up to wipe them out?”
“No,” Irene shook her head.
“With Mom's lazy personality, as long as these people don't disturb her sleep, she won't bother to lift a claw.”
Daviel wanted to argue, but then realized Irene had a point.
“Then, dear sister, what do you plan to do?”
Irene narrowed her eyes.
“We'll find a way to gauge their strength. If they are too much stronger than us, we'll lure them near the dragon's nest.”
“If they wake Mom up, they'll be asking for death.”
“And what if they're weaker than us?”
Daviel asked.
Irene didn't answer. Instead, she extended a claw and drew it across her throat.
Daviel understood immediately, splitting his jaws into a sinister grin as he let out a classic villainous laugh:
“Hehehe...”
...
As time ticked away,
the sun gradually sank in the west, and the howls of wild beasts echoed through the forest from time to time.
After a full day of searching, the adventurer party had absolutely nothing to show for it. Forget finding juvenile dragons; they hadn't even spotted a single pile of dragon dung.
Disappointment was written all over their faces.
Tasha looked up at the darkening sky and raised her hand, summoning a small fireball to light their way.
The firelight illuminated the tired faces of her companions. She spoke with concern to Borent, who was leading the way at the front:
“Captain, it's getting too late. We should find a place to set up camp for the night.”
“The magical beasts in the Great Gana Forest are much more active at night. It's not safe to continue our search.”
Borent looked up at the sky, stopped, and said:
“Yeah, let's head back to that cave we passed earlier and rest there.”
As he spoke, he glanced back at their guide, Louis, who was already panting heavily.
Compared to seasoned professionals like them, Louis was just a merchant, and his stamina was noticeably lacking.
Even Tasha, the only female and a mage, seemed to be in much better shape than him.
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Borent led the party back the way they came.
Before darkness completely fell, the party of five arrived at the cave they had spotted earlier.
The cave had originally been home to a dire bear that tried to ambush them when they passed by.
Naturally, the adventurer party had easily taken care of it.
The moment they stepped inside, Louis collapsed onto the ground.
The journey had completely exhausted him. While he was used to traveling day and night as a merchant,
he usually rode a horse. Walking entirely on his own two feet was a completely different story.
The other adventurers, however, did not have the luxury of resting just yet.
Tasha immediately began setting up a magic circle at the cave entrance to act as an early warning system and block out noise.
Iron Hammer set off to gather firewood.
Alvin sat on the ground, maintaining his bow and arrows while keeping a disdainful eye on Iron Hammer, who was gathering firewood outside.
Deep disgust was written all over his face.
Meanwhile, Borent, their captain, pulled a trick out of his sleeve.
With a flash from the ring on his finger, he produced an iron pot and the carcass of the dire bear they had killed earlier.
Louis stared at the ring with intense envy.
That was a spatial item—a storage ring!
Even the cheapest storage ring, with only a single cubic meter of space, cost a whopping ten gold coins.
“Once I get paid for this job and return, I'm definitely buying a storage ring.”
Louis thought to himself.
A campfire was soon crackling merrily.
Borent skinned the dire bear, chopped off a few bone-in steaks, threw them into the pot, and added some salt,
preparing to make a hearty meat stew.
While waiting for the stew to boil, Borent looked around at his companions.
Since they hadn't seen a single trace of their target all day, everyone was clearly feeling a bit down.
After a brief thought, Borent clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
“Hey, guys! Once we capture those two juvenile dragons, we'll strike it rich!”
“What do you all plan to do with your share?”
“Personally, I'm definitely going to secure myself a noble title.”
His words immediately piqued everyone's interest.
After all, every part of a dragon was a treasure.
As peak magical creatures, their blood, bones, and scales were all premium magical ingredients.
Dragon blood could even turn a person into a dragonborn, granting them a longer lifespan and immense power.
Yet, dragons were also extremely powerful. It was rare to even see one, let alone capture it.
In the Eastern Kingdoms, rumor had it that someone once presented a newly hatched dragon hatchling and directly received a Viscount title in exchange—
complete with a fief!
That alone showed just how valuable a dragon was.
Iron Hammer rubbed his hands together and was the first to speak:
“If we really capture those two dragon hatchlings, I'm going to get myself a holy flail forged from mithril.”
“And I want it studded with top-tier magical gems!”
“Hah!” Alvin sneered.
“A brute like you is only capable of such a pathetic dream.”
“Why, you!” Iron Hammer's eyes widened in anger.
He grabbed his holy flail, ready to teach this impolite long-ears a lesson.
Seeing this, Borent quickly stepped in to hold him back.
Alvin kept goading him:
“If we capture those two dragon hatchlings, I'm going to propose to Lady Nicola the moment we get back!”
Iron Hammer immediately shot back:
“Long-ears, your dream is even more pathetic than mine! How can any woman compare to a heavy, powerful mithril hammer?!”
“You filthy dwarf! Don't you dare insult Lady Nicola!”
“Enough!”
Borent cut off their bickering. If he let them go on, they would probably end up in a fistfight.
“Um...”
A sudden, awkward voice rang out. Everyone turned toward the sound and saw Louis.
“What is it now?”
Borent focused his gaze on their guide's face.
Having just dealt with the two clowns in his party, his expression was rather sour.
“I need to take a dump,” Louis said.
Rate on N.U.
