As the desert shook, the area where the young brass dragon had been perched suddenly rose high into the air. Startled, the small dragon hastily flew to a nearby rock formation, her face filled with surprise as she watched the sand dune swell below.
The adventurers who had been trapped in the desert by her earlier were now freed from their bonds. They tumbled down the dune, and seeing that the little dragon no longer paid them any attention, they scrambled to flee, not daring to linger any longer.
"Who's making all this noise? Who's so rude to disturb an old dragon's sleep?" As the sand dune continued to rise, a brass-colored dragon head finally broke through at the highest point, lazily fixing its gaze on Muria above, its eyes filled with displeasure.
"Muria Iapetos Elonsas." Muria smiled as he introduced himself, confident in the weight that his surname carried.
"Elonsas! That name sounds familiar." The old dragon scratched its chin with a claw, and then its eyes suddenly widened as it remembered something.
"Ah, I recall now! There was once a golden dragon named Deimos who borrowed 100,000 elemental crystals from me and never paid me back." The old dragon's gaze turned to Muria. "What's your relationship with Deimos? Are you here to pay off his debt?"
Muria was speechless. He hadn't expected this reaction to his name, let alone a debt being mentioned. Although Deimos was his maternal grandfather and had always treated him well, debts between relatives were still debts. Given that his grandfather was wealthier than he was, there was no need for him to step in and pay off the debt.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" The old brass dragon stared at Muria, finding him more and more similar to that young golden dragon who had once borrowed money with sweet talk.
"And who are you to me?" At this moment, a crisp voice interrupted the old dragon's questioning of Muria, giving Muria a moment of relief. When he turned to look, it was the young dragon. She was glaring at the old dragon who had been awakened by Muria.
"I'm your ancestor!" The old brass dragon rolled its eyes, exasperated.
"If you're my ancestor, why do you sleep underground every day? You're so leisurely while leaving me to suffer above." The young dragon became even more indignant, and she conjured a stone spear, hurling it at the old dragon in anger.
"Do you know how scared I was living on the surface alone all these years?" The young brass dragon's voice took on a teary tone as she spoke, looking pitiful and full of grievances.
The old dragon, who had been about to lose his temper after being hit, immediately softened when he saw the young dragon's expression. But he also felt somewhat annoyed.
"Who said I didn't care for you? If not for my presence, do you think you could have monopolized a crystal mine without any fierce beasts daring to disturb you after your parents left you behind? Why do you think those blue dragon whelps run away when they see you?"
"You still dare to speak!" The young brass dragon became even more upset upon hearing this and conjured a large stone to throw at her ancestor. "If you knew I was so scared up there, why didn't you come to keep me company? Even though your presence made this area safe, I didn't dare step out of it. These decades have been like living in a prison. Do you know how much I've suffered?"
Muria watched with a headache as the young dragon incessantly complained to her ancestor. He was also quite wary of the brass dragon's loquacious nature.
As night fell, Muria sat on the rocks and began to doze off, while Mikaela, having grown impatient, had already set off alone with her swords to challenge a nearby blue dragon tribe. She had promised Muria that she would bring all these dragons back alive for him.
The young dragon below continued to grumble to her ancestor, while the old dragon, tired of the chatter, had long since stopped talking and had rested his head on the sand to nap.
"Ancestor, are you listening to me?" The young dragon suddenly realized that her ancestor had fallen asleep quietly and slapped him awake.
"I'm listening, I'm listening. My eyes were just closed, but my ears were still working." The old dragon looked at his descendant with a doting and helpless expression.
"Oh, right. Kid, what do you want from me? You're not here to pay off your grandfather's debt, are you?" The old dragon finally remembered Muria and found a way to steer the conversation back on track, eager to escape his descendant's complaints.
"I want to establish a dragon academy and invite you to be a professor," Muria explained his purpose.
"An academy, like those human ones?" The old dragon thought for a moment before asking.
"That's right." Muria nodded.
"Can my descendants attend?" The old dragon looked at Muria. "I won't abandon my descendants."
"They can," Muria glanced at the young dragon and nodded, adding, "As long as they are juvenile dragons. All types of dragons are welcome."
"What about the salary and benefits?"
"Starting at 100 elemental crystals per month, with the specific pay depending on the number and quality of the classes taught." Muria answered, knowing that even as a Dragon King, he couldn't expect dragons to work for free; they had to be compensated.
"Alright, I accept." To Muria's surprise, the old dragon agreed almost immediately after hearing his request, leaving Muria slightly taken aback by how easily the dragon had been persuaded.
In truth, for the old brass dragon, teaching was a trivial matter. Brass dragons were naturally talkative, and now Muria was giving them an opportunity to speak to a group of their kin. They couldn't refuse such a job, especially when it came with a salary.
"Muria, I've subdued all the blue dragons here. Send someone to take over." Just as Muria was leaving the spatial coordinates of Synapse with the old and young brass dragons, Mikaela's voice reached him.
When Muria arrived at Mikaela's location, he saw a battlefield littered with crystal-filled craters and scorch marks from lightning strikes—evidence of the intense heat generated during Mikaela's battle with an ancient dragon.
"The ancient blue dragon was quite strong. It took me a hundred moves to defeat him." The valiant Seraphim stood on the back of the massive ancient dragon, whose body was in a pitiable state, having lost the ability to fight. Its head had been half-severed, its wings chopped off, and even its forelimbs were reduced to stubs. Mikaela had practically dismantled the ancient dragon with her swords.
Seeing the dragon, whose body had been almost halved, Muria couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. Mikaela never held back during a fight, especially against evil creatures like chromatic dragons. If not for Muria's request, Mikaela would have already beheaded the ancient blue dragon.
"Thank you for your hard work," Muria praised the Seraphim as he looked at the wounded ancient dragon and then the other near-dismembered blue dragons lying nearby. "You weren't hurt, were you?"
Hearing the concern in Muria's voice, Mikaela shook her head. "I'm wearing legendary armor. They couldn't break through my defenses to harm me."
"That's good." Muria nodded, then contacted Mia at Synapse to set up a one-time teleportation array. This would transport the ancient dragon, the other blue dragons, and the scattered blue dragons back, where they would either be reformed or used as power sources if they didn't comply.
...
After dealing with these matters, Muria and Mikaela set off to visit another ancient dragon. This one was an ancient silver dragon living atop a vast snowy mountain. Upon hearing Muria's request, the ancient silver dragon lazily refused, citing being too busy with other matters. The dragon had little interest in Muria's proposal.
Metallic dragons were considered the most responsible among dragonkind, but their sense of duty only extended to their own descendants. They had no interest in teaching other dragons, each preferring to mind their own business.
"Such indifference." Muria sighed as he looked back at the icy fortress from which they had been respectfully escorted out by the silver dragon's minions.
"What now?" Mikaela, knowing Muria's intentions and seeing his frustration at being refused by the silver dragon, wanted to offer some advice.
"If they refuse, I have no choice but to use some special methods." Muria looked up at the frosty fortress before him and sighed softly.
Brilliant lightning burst from Muria's body as he took a step forward. The slender human figure quickly grew, soon standing level with the towering fortress. Under the astonished gazes of the silver dragon's minions, Muria reached out, and as the silver dragons watched in panic, his hand pressed down. The fortress's defensive formations appeared but instantly crumbled under his power.
"The Titan Muria has come to challenge the ancient silver dragon Xilzati Baowudong!" Muria's voice boomed like thunder, and the golden energy surging from his body was like flames. The frost and snow within a kilometer radius began to melt.
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