Chapter 3650: Poisoned Arrow (Part 1)

เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 เม.ย. 2569 04:38

"Some of our best enchantments require rare materials that I doubt a Wyrm as young as you possesses. If you don't have them, we'll either find a deal or downscale the enchantments." "Speaking of jobs…" Solus cleared her throat. "Oh, right." The patriarch nodded. "Rhana, Hoshtak, with your permission." At a wave of the two Wyrms, Erghak Warped everyone away. It was a small and dark room, more suited to a conspiracy or a murder attempt than a conversation between allies. On top of that, Erghak looked awkward, if not even embarrassed. "So, does your sister need money?" He asked, and Solus nodded. "And she really has no idea how to make a few coins?" "It's not like gold grows on trees." Lith said in confusion. "Actually, it kind of does." Erghak exhaled sharply, looking like a man about to confess the murder of his own brother. "Look, I take no pride in this. Nobody does. To be fair, I never expected to be the one giving you the talk." "I know how babies are born." Lith furrowed his brow. "How do you think my daughter was conceived?" "Not that talk. The other one." Erghak shook his head. "Dragons have two of them." "We have two penises?" Lith was flabbergasted. "No, awkward talks." The patriarch chuckled. "The second one is about this." The Fire Dragon opened his palm, and a majestic gemstone emerged from his dimensional amulet. It was a diamond the size of a watermelon, but it was red like fire, and small sparks of light shone within. "By the gods! This is a Crimson Heart diamond. It's my first time seeing one in person, let alone one so big." Lith said. Unlike normal diamonds, which were mined by the tons and hoarded to keep their value high, Crimson Hearts were truly rare. There were only a few pieces on the entire Mogar, and every time a new one was found, gem collectors, nobles, and wealthy merchants engaged in auctions to get their hands on them. "I always wanted to buy Kami a small one, but the price and the rarity stopped me." Ripha and Solus were about to scold him for the "price" part when Erghak stunned them once again. "You should thank the All-Father for that, my brother, and then thank me for the knowledge I'm about to impart to you." "What do you mean?" Lith asked. "Do you know what a diamond is?" The Wyrm asked in reply. "Of course, I do. It's- Oh, shit!" Lith replied. "Exactly." Erghak nodded. "What are you talking about?" Solus was utterly confused. "A diamond is just organic matter that after experiencing high pressure and temperature for a long t- Shit!" "Indeed." Erghak sighed. "It's shit. What everyone on Mogar calls Crimson Heart, Midnight Star, Frozen Rose, and so many other romantic names are just the byproduct of a specific Dragon bloodline's digestive system. "We can eat and digest everything, so only the most dense and tough materials endure. Our intestines create the pressure, our inner fire the heat, and voilà." Only then did everyone notice that the gemstone floated above the Wyrm's palm without ever touching it. "We call it 'Poor Dragon's Gold' because only a desperate Wyrm would sell it. It's shameful, but sometimes a young Dragon or an orphan in dire need of a quick coin can use it to turn their luck around." "All diamonds are Dragon poop?" Solus was shocked and horrified. Yet she could feel through her mind link with Menadion that her mother was frozen in pain and disgust. She didn't say a word, but couldn't take her eyes off the Crimson Heart either. "Not all of them. Just the most beautiful and the rarest." Erghak replied, making it worse. "Can't you become rich just with that?" Lith pointed at the gem. "Yeah, and also be the laughing stock of our kind." The patriarch grimaced in disgust. "Besides, it's not that easy. I relieve myself barely twice a year, and this is what comes out. "Also, don't forget that the more Poor Dragon's Gold you release, the less it's worth. Did you really never notice any change in your… wastes after becoming a Tiamat?" "I mostly keep my human form." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment. "My human stomach is only that big, and with the amount of food I eat now, my habits are no different from those of a normal man." "Which gives the food no time for the transformation." Erghak nodded. "I see. Just tell your sister that this is a secret. No one, not even her fiancé, can know until they marry." "Bodya is not her fiancé!" Lith snarled. "Good!" The Wyrm rejoiced at the good news. "Wait, what? No one knows?" Solus asked. "Not even other Divine Beasts?" "How should they know?" Erghak scoffed. "Griffons exert pressure but no heat. They literally shit bricks and think everyone does the same." "What about Phoenixes?" Ripha asked. The Fire Wyrm felt weird talking about Divine Beasts' stool, but he just pictured himself talking to young whelps and moved on. "Phoenixes never take a dump, Ruler Menadion. They produce so much heat that everything they can't digest just evaporates. You could say they burp out what they gulp down, or as we Dragons say, that they talk shit." Erghak laughed at the joke while everyone else felt awkward. "If your sister is really desperate, she must always keep her Hekate form. If she's lucky, six months from now, she'll produce a gemstone the humans will call 'Rainbow Diamond' or something. If she's unlucky, she'll need a year." "I don't think that's an option." Lith looked from the diamond to the Wyrm, noticing Erghak was still offering the stone to him. "Is this a present? Also, is there any other way Tista can make some money?" "I wouldn't call it a present, but it's yours if you want it." The Fire Dragon replied. "Just leave it in the open long enough for my energy signature to fade. I don't want it traced back to me. "As for your other question, I could sell her Origin Flames. I'd use the connections of my clan and the name of one of our Hatchlings to keep Tista from being recognized. This is no freebie, though. "She will be introduced as a youngling her age, and her Flames will be appraised based on her mastery. A nameless Wyrm hardly finds any clients if she doesn't give her all. "She must work ten times harder than a famous Dragon just to make a fraction of what they earn. Like all our Hatchlings, she will be considered incompetent until she proves otherwise. "It's a fate we all share, but unlike us, I doubt she can afford to wait a few centuries to make a name for herself." "Still better than shitting for a living." Lith said. "I'll let Tista know, and she will contact you later." "Good." Erghak replied. "If there's nothing else…" As soon as Lith shook his head, the patriarch Warped him, Solus, and Menadion exactly to their starting point and himself to the Forgemastery lab. "Hands off the Ears of Menadion! I made the deal, I call dibs on the first turn!" The other Wyrms groaned and pouted, but no one dared complain.

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