Overwhelming Firepower

In the days that followed, Lucen and the others remained at the site to guard the young fire dragon’s carcass. The monster harvesters had begun their work disassembling the body, but progress was slow and grueling.

Their usual tools, blades enchanted to pierce hide and bone, struggled against the hardened scales and dense muscle of the dragon. What should have been routine became a monumental task. Even the best cutters among the harvesters found themselves helpless without aid.

It wasn’t until the Aura users and mages stepped in that they made any real progress. Blades wrapped in aura and spells designed for dissection allowed them to finally sever the limbs and carve into the thick hide. Even so, each strike required effort, and each part extracted was hard-earned.

The estimated two days for harvesting were turning into something that would take around a week.

Thankfully, Duke Vardon had anticipated complications. The rations provided were enough to feed everyone for at least two weeks.

The only stroke of luck was the eerie calm that followed the Frosthorn Alpha’s death. The monsters stopped attacking the area. Still, no one let their guard down, especially not with the suspicion that spies might still be watching from afar.

***

During this free time, Lucen and Robert turned to experimentation. They collected samples of the dragon’s blood and meat, but Lucen kept the greatest prize for himself: the dragon’s heart.

In the game, it was called the Heart of Embers, a powerful early game item known to grant a massive boost in mana and several stat increases. But the real thing was far different from the glowing inventory icon he remembered.

This was a massive organ, nearly the size of Lucen himself, and despite the dragon being long dead and dissected, the heart still pulsed faintly.

In-game, all you needed to do was click on it, and then it gave the mana increase and the stat increase, but it was never described how it was used. Was he supposed to eat it, or absorb it, or do something else entirely different?

In the end, Lucen decided to set aside the Heart of Embers for now. He placed the heart of embers in a runed box that had various enchantments, one of which was a high heat resistance.

’Since this was something that could survive twelve years without rotting, I guess I have a lot of time to figure out how to use it.’

With the Heart of Embers safely sealed away, Lucen went ahead and finally drank the dragon’s blood, and with the help of his blessings, his strong resilience, Robert on the ready, and the healers present, he was able to endure the burning from within. The notification sounded in his ears.

[You have gained +3 Strength, +3 Endurance, +2 Agility, +2 Dexterity, +10 Health, +4 Mana.]

[You have gained a skill: Flame Resistance - Passive (Novice) acquired.]

What he gained was a minor increase in all his stats and an increase in his resistance to flames. He tried a second dose, just in case, but nothing happened. Whatever power the blood held, it only worked once. Lucen then told Robert what he had gained.

”That’s interesting. I wonder if it will have the same effects on me.”

Robert wanted to try drinking the dragon’s blood too, so he used every potion he had brought to increase his resistance to heat. He also used various spells that he knew could possibly help him in this situation.

Robert, with the usual madness in his eyes, did not hesitate to drink the blood of the young fire dragon once he had used everything he had.

Unlike Lucen, who had a blessing that helps with the heat, had skills to heal, and traits to endure the pain.

Robert had his mad obsession with knowledge, his power as a four-circle mage, and the potions he drank that helped him get through this. The second he drank the dragon’s blood, he felt a burning pain in his throat, yet despite that, Robert continued drinking.

Robert felt like his insides were melting due to the heat, but instead of crying out in pain, Robert showed his usual manic smile and strengthened the spells he used on his body. Steam started coming out of his orifices. It was quite the sight to behold, but even then, Robert continued smiling.

”I see... This is truly something else. The increase is enough that you could feel it, but I don’t know if I also gained something like flame resistance. Well then... The only way to know for sure...” Robert licked the blood from his lips, eyes glinting with madness.”Is through experimentation!”

With that, Robert started experimenting on himself, wanting to know if he gained some sort of flame resistance like Lucen.

Watching the entire process in person and knowing just how hot the dragon’s blood was, Lucen could not help but be amazed.

’I might be getting by because of Acting Adept, and because I could actually see and hear what I gain from the Status Window, but this guy really is something else.’

***

After they were done messing around with the dragon’s blood, Lucen and Robert wanted to do something with the meat of the dragon, or at least figure out what they could do with the dragon’s heart.

”Aren’t there any myths or legends about what to do with a dragon heart?” Lucen asked Robert.

”There are several stories about dragon slaying, most of course are about young dragons or even wyverns. Still, the focus of those myths and legends was on how they defeated the dragon. There isn’t really much to go on those outside of battle.”

Robert spoke while thinking about it again. Even though his main focus was always on alchemy and trying to discover new things, he had read many books on myths and legends, trying to see if he could find anything he could use from there.

”There are stories about bathing in dragon blood, from different kinds of dragons, which give different things if you were lucky enough to survive, but as for the meat or the heart specifically, I haven’t read or heard anything.”

”So there’s no other way but to figure out things ourselves,” Lucen sighed.

”Well, that’s the fun part,” Robert replied.

”I guess I’ll leave you to it, I’ve got other things to do,” Lucen spoke, but Robert was no longer listening.

”Maybe I can use transmutation and see if I can somehow... No, that won’t work... Maybe I could somehow divide the properties... No, if then I might accidentally remove what I need.”

Robert was muttering to himself deep in thought while observing the pieces of meat taken from the young fire dragon’s carcass.

***

Lucen met with the mercenaries who were on standby alongside the soldiers. When they saw Lucen, the two sides had different reactions. The soldiers stood up and saluted Lucen while the mercenaries raised their hands and greeted him.

”Little leader, how are you?”

”Little leader, are you here to eat with us?”

”Yeah, the food they brought is great. I can’t believe we were starving just a few days ago.”

”Little leader, you’re not here to experiment on our food, too, are you?”

When one of the mercenaries said those words, the others reacted quickly and seemed to be covering their food. Even the soldiers unconsciously covered their food.

Seeing their reactions, Lucen could already guess that Robert must have done something. Maybe he placed a few pieces of monster meat to see their reaction.

”No, I’m not doing any of that.”

”So what do you need, little leader?” Harlik asked while finishing his meal.

”I want you guys to accompany me on a little adventure.”

”An adventure, is it? Well, if that’s what the leader wants to do, of course, we’re going. Right men!” Harlik raised his voice a little, and the other mercenaries responded with cheer.

”Of course, we’ll go, we already walked near the shadow of Velmira’s last embrace together and came back breathing.”

”Yeah, that’s right! The little leader has already shown us one miracle after another. Then this’ll be just another verse in the bards’ songs about us!”

The mercenaries’ excitement without knowing what they were going to do made Lucen chuckle. They seemed to assume that it was going to be some grand quest, like when they defeated the young fire dragon, or when they defended its carcass for four days straight.

But the truth was, it really wasn’t anything big. Lucen just wanted to go look for a fruit that grows nearby that increases one’s strength, dexterity, and agility. It was one of the good items you could find at this stage.

Lucen just wanted the mercenaries with him, just in case there were some unexpected factors.

With spies still lurking around, he wanted extra eyes. He could shoot a monster from afar, but tracking a hidden blade in the woods? That was something he was not capable of doing at the moment.

***

Before they left, Lucen met with Garett and Roland alone. He informed the two of what he was going to do. When the two knights heard about his little adventure with the mercenaries, they frowned.

”Young master, should one of us accompany you?” Roland asked.

”Yes, young master,” Garett’s eyes narrowed. ”Mercenaries are loyal while paid, but they are no knights. Especially these ones who had tried to kidnap you.”

Lucen, who had the trait Acting Adept, had no problem hiding what was truly in his mind, and since he’s been using the personalities of characters from his past life, some of their ideologies were becoming his.

The two personalities he keeps on using were from a conqueror who led with a laugh, and a little girl soldier who crushed hope before it could become risk. And yet, their beliefs made sense here. In this world of monsters and blades, those ghosts helped him survive.

The glare he gave the knights wasn’t his, but it felt natural all the same. Was the Acting Adept trait changing something within him? He wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter.

”Enough, you two! I already told you these men are under my command. Your insult to them is an insult to me.”

”I apologize, young master,” the two knights echoed in unison, placing fists over their chests and bowing their heads.

”Raise your heads, I’m not mad, but I keep on telling you these mercenaries will no longer betray me... And even if they did, it would be because I fail as a leader, not because they’re mercenaries.”

”It is as you say, young master. I apologize for my prejudice.” Garett said while sighing.

”I, too, have failed to see past them being mercenaries. I will try and better myself.” Roland also spoke while sighing.

”It’s alright. So the two of you and the soldiers stay here and continue protecting the carcass and the workers. I’ll take the mercenaries on a short expedition. Shouldn’t be anything serious. We should be back before nightfall.”

”As you command, young master!” The two knights did a knight’s salute. Lucen responded with a knight’s salute as well, before he turned around to leave.