novelraw Chapter 77: Deborah’s Puzzle, The Alchemical Horn Ring.
Chapter 77: Deborah’s Puzzle, The Alchemical Horn Ring.
It had been a full month since the Brass Dragon Deborah left Red Maple Ridge.
The Brass Dragon’s goal was very clear—to defeat the hybrid dragon who had tasted the bitterness of failure, then capture and train it, purge its evil nature, and lead it toward the embrace of the benevolent dragons.
A naturally evil Red Iron Hybrid Dragon, if it grew up unchecked, would undoubtedly become a super evil dragon.
On the contrary, if it could be reformed, that would be an extraordinarily glorious achievement—a feat difficult to replicate, worthy of praise and song!
This was the Brass Dragon’s own belief.
Her Silver Dragon father and Brass Dragon mother also encouraged and admired this idea.
For reasons unknown, metallic dragons generally held the notion of persuading evil dragons to turn good.
For example, metallic dragons liked to steal, even snatch evil dragon eggs to raise them themselves.
Such cases were not rare among metallic dragons, and those who successfully raised evil dragons into good ones were recorded in the metallic dragon heritage and highly rewarded.
The process of searching for Garoth was not smooth.Marking alchemical tools or coins and gems was beyond the means of the young Brass Dragon.
Although her belongings were stolen, she could not locate Garoth through such tracking.
At first, the Brass Dragon returned to the place where Garoth had defeated her, the abandoned mine infested by Rockgrub worms, and began a carpet search of the surrounding area.
Dragons were extremely sensitive to the presence of other dragons.
Moreover, dragons soaring through the sky had an unobstructed view of the land below, making focused searches for a specific target highly efficient.
But the wilderness was vast, and finding another dragon in such a short time was not a simple matter.
In the previous week, the Brass Dragon tracked Garoth’s scent and discovered the Iron Fir Hills.
Unfortunately, that place had been scorched to ruins, blackened everywhere, turned into a barren mountain. The Brass Dragon found nothing.
She did not lose heart, continuing her search with high spirits.
Passing over an oil field, the Brass Dragon was suddenly attacked.
She was furious and discovered the attacker was a Blackrock dwarf, so she directly descended toward the oil field.
Upon realizing the target was a metallic dragon, the Blackrock dwarves hastily ceased their attack. A senior officer of the garrison appeared, gifted the Brass Dragon some toys from the southern countries, and after playing a guessing game with her for a while, managed to calm her anger.
A young Brass Dragon was not enough to intimidate the Blackrock garrison.
If it had been another young evil dragon, even a young Red Dragon, daring to descend on their base would have meant a beating, or worse, being skinned alive.
But metallic dragons were different from evil dragons.
Evil dragons operated alone, indifferent to each other, without any backing.
Metallic dragons valued blood ties deeply, protecting their own fiercely.
Young metallic dragons adventuring outside who clashed with others and got injured was one thing—even serious injuries were a testament to their ability.
But killing one brought grave consequences.
Unless the killer could guarantee no tracking or detection, the wrath of older, stronger metallic dragons could descend at any time.
Magic flourished on the planet Bernardo, and various civilizations thrived. Dragons were not the absolute rulers but certainly were dominant, especially the united and closely connected metallic dragons.
It was said that killing a Gold Dragon could even bring the wrath of the Dragon God.
The Blackrock Duchy belonged to the Lothrian Federation, a realm of order that fully understood the consequences of provoking metallic dragons, so naturally, they would not lay hands on them.
While at the oil field garrison, the Blackrock dwarves explained the reason for attacking the Brass Dragon.
An alchemist dwarf named Groni had been ambushed by an evil hybrid dragon, which blew out his eyes.
Previously, this hybrid dragon had sent minions underground to steal their black oil and destroyed two alchemical golems, making the garrison quite sensitive.
So when the Brass Dragon flew overhead, they mistakenly thought it was an evil dragon scouting and launched an attack.
The Brass Dragon asked if this evil dragon was the Red Iron Hybrid Dragon and received a confirmation.
She hurriedly inquired if the dwarves knew the Red Iron Hybrid Dragon’s whereabouts, but they did not—otherwise, soldiers would have already been sent to hunt it.
With no clues, the Brass Dragon left the oil field garrison.
She wandered aimlessly over the wilderness, investigating whenever she smelled dragon presence, but still found no sign of Garoth.
Until today.
A torrential downpour made the fire-type Brass Dragon uncomfortable. Amid the howling wind and rain, she began to consider giving up tracking Garoth.
Then she noticed something.
In the distance, continuous lightning strikes lit the sky like daylight. Strangely, all the lightning struck a single spot, as if drawn by some force, and the faint scent of dragons permeated the air.
Driven by curiosity, the Brass Dragon flew over.
When she saw the target of the lightning, she was momentarily stunned, then ecstatic, unable to help shouting.
“Naturally evil hybrid dragon! I found you!”
Garoth looked up and saw the Brass Dragon’s figure, also hearing her shout.
Why was she yelling so loudly?
And how did she find me?
Garoth was both puzzled and cautious.
After stealing the Brass Dragon’s equipment and treasures, he had carefully checked for any tracking marks or spells and found none, and the young Brass Dragon theoretically lacked such skills.
Of course, the safest method would have been to discard or destroy everything.
But Garoth had not completely overcome his greed.
The thought of discarding his treasures tore at his heart like a knife. Finding no tracking marks, he kept them. Later, after meeting the Faerie Dragon Vira, he had her check again—still nothing abnormal.
“I was careless.”
“My obsession and desire for wealth made me subconsciously ignore potential risks. This is a major weakness that needs targeted training.”
Garoth thought to himself.
He keenly noticed the silver horn ring shining brilliantly on the Brass Dragon’s horn. The scales on her neck looked slightly swollen, as if hiding something valuable beneath.
Suppressing the urge to attack immediately, Garoth stared at the Brass Dragon and asked in a deep voice:
“How did you find me?”
“Hehe, the answer is hidden in a riddle.”
The Brass Dragon Deborah circled in the storm, her scales gleaming from the rain. She grinned slyly, cleared her throat, and recited in a rhythmic, intonated voice:
“It is intangible and formless, yet lets fools win and wise men lose.”
“It is silent, yet allows the weak to overturn and the strong to be defeated.”
“It is shadowless and trace-less, yet turns chance into certainty, and certainty into chance.”
“It is neither magic nor skill, yet it has brought you here today—to reunite with me!”
“Tell me, hybrid dragon, what is it?”