Chapter 44: Treasure Hunting Time
Looking at the remains of the dead dragon, Rhodes let out a sigh of relief. A wave of exhaustion washed over him. He had poured almost all of his mana into that last spell to maximize its power, not to mention the mana he had spent blocking the dragon's breath. He didn't have a single drop left.
Beside him, Serie noticed the weariness on his face. She lowered her head, her thoughts unreadable. For some reason, Rhodes felt a sudden chill run down his spine.
Across from them, Somme and the others came running over. The shockwave from the massive explosion had left them in a rather disheveled state. Norne, who had seen the beam of light appear and had quickly ducked behind a large rock, was mostly unharmed. Somme and Eirik, however, had been less fortunate. They had been thrown to the ground, tumbling several times, and were now covered in dust. But their dishevelment couldn't hide their excitement as they approached the dragon's corpse and began to inspect it.
"Ah, a pity it's all in pieces. These scales are pretty much useless," Somme lamented, looking at the scattered remains. He had been hoping to use them to craft a simple shield for himself. He didn't know the more advanced forging techniques, but he could do some basic work with the innate dwarven skill for smithing. But now it seemed his plan was ruined. At most, he could only collect a few scales as a souvenir.
"Is there anything useful left in this mess?" Eirik asked, looking at the dragon's head, of which only half remained.
"We should at least collect the dragon's blood," Norne said. He took a simple water skin from his pack, intending to collect the blood from the corpse, but the hide was immediately burned through. It seemed that even in death, the dragon's blood was still incredibly hot. This was a problem. Norne was frustrated. Without the dragon's blood, they couldn't make the fade-resistant ink. And the blood that was spilling out was already beginning to evaporate, a painful sight for him to watch.
"Is there any way to collect it, Serie?" Rhodes asked. He didn't want all their efforts to be for nothing.
Serie shook her head, indicating that she didn't have a good method either. But then, as if remembering something, she said, "We could check its lair. Dragons have a habit of collecting treasure. We might find something useful there."
They didn't hesitate and immediately headed for the lair in the depths of the valley.
The spacious lair was filled with all sorts of colorful minerals, but the most eye-catching thing was a small mountain of various gems. There were also some gold coins mixed in, similar in style to the one Amuro had given him.
"I guess the dragon used these gems as its bed," Norne speculated after a close inspection of the pile.
"Wouldn't that be uncomfortable?" Eirik asked in disbelief. The gems were all different sizes. Just looking at them made him cringe. He couldn't imagine what kind of strange preference a dragon would have to use them as a mattress.
"Who knows. I've only ever heard stories about dragons."
Serie, who was at the front of the group, walked right past the colorful minerals and gems and went to an inconspicuous corner where a pile of armor and weapons lay. They were all rusted and clearly hadn't been maintained. Some were even partially destroyed and completely unusable.
"What's this?" Rhodes asked, walking over to inspect the pile.
"Elven bows, dwarven armor, Sky-Winged longswords... these are the equipment of those who died at the hands of this dragon," Serie said. She picked up an elven longbow. The crest on its handle was completely unrecognizable, worn away by time. The bowstring had long since rotted away, and only the bow itself, made of a special wood, remained.
"Should we take it?"
"No," she said, putting the longbow down. "It's meaningless. Magic is superior." She was just a little sentimental. If those elves had used powerful magic instead of these flimsy bows, would the outcome have been different? But alas, not every elf could use magic. Those who couldn't either became powerful warrior-monks like Kraft or archers, giving them at least some combat ability.
"Then let's leave them to rest in peace."
Rhodes also abandoned the idea of rummaging through the pile. A quick glance was enough to tell him it was mostly junk. The equipment of those who had been killed by this dragon was probably not very good to begin with. The classic novel trope of an adventurer falling to a dragon and leaving behind a legendary holy sword for the protagonist to find was not something he expected to happen to him. And what would he even do with it? He wasn't some white-bearded old man, wielding a magic staff in one hand and a holy sword in the other.
Just then, Somme, who was rummaging through the pile of gems, suddenly found a small, glowing metal box. "Huh? What's this doing here?"
In theory, the pile should have been nothing but gems and minerals. He had just been looking for some valuable materials, but he hadn't expected to find a treasure chest. It was a silver-white box, about the size of a palm. Rhodes tried to open it but couldn't.
"A magical seal?" Serie noticed the traces of mana on the box. "Let me try." She took the box and, using the simplest and most direct method, forcibly broke the seal. With a soft click, the box sprang open.
Inside was a small piece of black ore. They all looked at each other, unable to understand what was so special about the dark, unassuming rock that it deserved to be kept in a sealed box. Somme had never seen such an ore before. In the end, they decided to just take the rock and use the box to collect the dragon's blood. The box, made of a special metal, was able to withstand the heat.
They left the dragon's lair. Rhodes had picked out a few beautiful gems. Somme had filled a large bag with precious minerals, though his own forging skills were terrible, so who knew what he planned to do with them. Eirik was carrying a bag full of gems and grumbling, "So can we actually trade these for anything or not?"
"I don't know. We'll have to try," Norne said. He hadn't taken much, just a few gems and gold coins in his pocket, a stark contrast to Eirik.
As for Serie, she had taken nothing. There was nothing in the dragon's lair that she wanted. She had simply wanted to accomplish the feat of killing a dragon.
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yo guys trying something new for Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter