Chapter 46: The Beast-Headed Village
With the materials for the grimoire now collected, the next step was to prepare them.
Making ink from dragon's blood wasn't difficult. Serie knew the method, having overheard it from an elder in the Great Elven Forest. But she didn't know how to make paper that could last for a thousand years.
However, on their journey, they came across another village. The residents were a kind of beast-headed people, with humanoid torsos and limbs but the heads of wild animals. They were intelligent and could communicate. Using the common language of this world, they were able to get permission to stay in the village for a night.
"You want to make dragon-hide paper?"
An elderly leopard-headed man was hosting them. Norne had taken the opportunity to ask if he knew the method for making dragon-hide paper. And, as luck would have it, he did.
"I only heard of it from another race, to be honest," the old leopard-man said. "Dragons are incredibly powerful. Their fire alone is something no one can withstand. It's unthinkable that someone would dare to use their hide to make paper."
He didn't think for a moment that the seemingly weak group before him had actually killed a dragon. He just assumed it was the idle curiosity of an outlander. Of the five strangers before him, besides the elf and the dwarf, he had never seen the other three races before. They had the same bodies as his own people, but they had no fur, not even on their faces. Their bare skin was exposed. If not for their rounded ears, he might have mistaken them for elves.
From the old leopard-man's explanation, they learned that they needed a special plant to make the dragon-hide paper. Even the hide of a dead dragon still retained a terrifying residual heat. If you were to write on it directly, the ink would just evaporate. You needed to use a type of frost-attribute vine to neutralize it. The actual process was somewhat similar to the papermaking Rhodes remembered from his own world, involving soaking the vine in water and pounding it to a pulp. The dragon's hide, of course, couldn't be pounded, so it had to be soaked in the vine-pulp water until the residual heat had completely faded before the next step could begin.
"And where can we find this frost vine?"
"That, I do not know. Perhaps you could ask the tribes to the north. That kind of vine usually grows on the snowy mountains there."
Rhodes was in a bind. Their journey was to the west, towards the Godfall Land. The dwarven ruins were to the northwest.
"Why don't we go north to find the frost vine first?" Norne suggested. "Now that we've collected the dragon's blood and hide, we can't just let them go to waste." He had his own selfish reasons for the suggestion, and the others could see it, but they didn't call him out on it. After all, they had all agreed to this undertaking.
Somme scratched his chin. "That would be a long detour. The dwarven ruins are to the northwest. If we go north first, it will add at least half a year to our journey."
This was a vast world. For an ordinary person to explore it completely would take at least a decade, or even several. Unless, of course, you had some special ability, like the Sky-Winged who could fly, which could greatly shorten the travel time.
"It's too far," Serie said flatly from the side. She didn't mind the half-year journey; it was the distance itself that she disliked.
Seeing that she had made her opinion clear, the others fell silent.
After a moment's thought, Rhodes spoke up. "Frost vine isn't the only frost-attribute plant. Perhaps another type of plant could be used as a substitute."
Norne's eyes lit up. He was right. The purpose of the frost vine was to lower the residual heat of the dragon's hide. In theory, any other plant with the same effect should work. There were many other tribes and villages to the northwest. Surely someone among them would know of such a plant.
"If that's the case," Serie mused, "ice magic could achieve the same effect, but..." She didn't know any ice magic. Perhaps Rhodes could create some. He was, after all, full of surprises.
The old leopard-man listened to their discussion, a look of surprise on his face. "Honored guests, did you truly slay a dragon?" Dragons were incredibly ferocious creatures. And after the crucible of the War of the Gods, which had lasted for thousands of years, every dragon that had survived was a renowned and powerful warrior. Most creatures were lucky to just get out of their way. Who would dare to challenge one?
Eirik grinned and pulled a relatively intact dragon scale from his pack. He hadn't been the main damage dealer, but he had been the best tank. The dragon had chased him for a full fifteen minutes, spewing who-knows-how-many blasts of fire at him. He had thought he was a goner, but when the dragonfire had grazed him, he had felt nothing at all. Looking closely, he had seen a faint magical barrier around his body. Mr. Rhodes had taken precautions! With a newfound surge of confidence, Eirik had decided to stop running and fight back. But in the next second, the dragon's attention had been drawn to Serie's aura, much to his disappointment.
The yellow fur on the old leopard-man's face trembled violently. He was clearly in a state of shock. "Th-that is the scale of an adult red dragon!" The scales of dragons were highly recognizable; there was hardly a race on the continent that didn't know them.
Seeing their incredible strength, the old chief's attitude immediately became much more respectful. "Honored Dragon-Slayers, please, come this way. We will provide you with a better lodging."
In a small village like this, every house was a home, and there were rarely any spare rooms. So Rhodes's party had, as usual, made camp in the open, with only a tent for Serie. Now, hearing that the old leopard-man was offering them a room, they naturally wouldn't refuse. They moved into a spacious dwelling.
The old leopard-man even had the villagers bring them various fruits and the meat of some unknown animal.
After hearing of their feat, the villagers all looked at them with a newfound reverence. They no longer dared to stare openly. When they had first entered the village, they had been surrounded by the curious villagers. These beast-headed people had never seen humans before, and even elves were a rare sight. But now, seeing the respect their strength had earned them, Rhodes didn't ask for anything more. He simply thanked them for the room. He was not one to abuse his power.
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yo guys trying something new for Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter