"Are you really going down there just like that?"
Denken was still uneasy.
"Well, if they wake up, they wake up. Since the Goddess is looking out for Glenn, she might as well spare a little luck for me, too."
Garlan slapped both cheeks hard, forcing himself into a state of high alert. Having started the day early without a proper meal, he could feel a creeping fatigue in his limbs, but he couldn't afford a lapse in concentration. He tightened his belt, took a deep breath, and completely suppressed his presence.
"What exquisite stealth," Denken thought, watching from the ridge.
As Garlan began to descend the cliff face, finding traction on the smallest rocky outgrowths, Denken was secretly impressed. No wonder I couldn't pin down his location earlier. For a warrior to achieve this level of concealment... if I weren't looking at him with my own eyes, my mana perception wouldn't even register his existence.
A flickering thought crossed Denken's mind: Could he be one of 'them'? No... those people would never leave the Empire. They value their missions more than their lives. I'm overthinking it.
Garlan's powerful limbs moved like a spider's as he navigated the descent. He could have jumped from this height and survived the impact, but he was terrified of the noise. If the landing thud woke all three Red Mirror Dragons at once, his only option would be to run—and he wasn't keen on a three-way dragon chase while exhausted.
Most importantly, he was worried the "big babies" would roll over in their sleep and crush the Red Mirror Flowers. Preserving the potency of medicinal herbs was hard enough; if the raw materials were damaged, brewing the cure would be impossible.
Just stay asleep like the lazy logs you are. Please, don't start playing Red Light, Green Light with me, Garlan prayed.
Crumble—clatter!
A jagged piece of rock gave way under his weight, shattering into fragments that tumbled down the cliff. The sound echoed through the hollow. One of the dragons shifted its head, letting out a heavy, vibrating snort.
Hey, hey! Don't do this to my heart rate!
Garlan froze, pressed flat against the stone wall like a "Spider-Man" caught in a gale. He stayed perfectly still, as if being a statue would make him invisible, despite his black gear standing out sharply against the yellow rock.
He glanced down. Fortunately, after adjusting its sleeping position, the dragon didn't show signs of waking. Compared to Zaras—who smiled while plotting your murder—these dragons were starting to look downright adorable.
Puff.
Once he was close enough to the floor, he let go, dropping silently. He landed in a crouch and rolled behind a large boulder to break his momentum. After confirming the coast was clear, he stayed low, creeping toward the edge of the nest where the flowers grew.
The sensation was identical to a child sneaking past their sleeping parents to grab a phone—every muscle was tense, every footfall calculated to avoid a creaking floorboard. But for Garlan, the stakes were much higher. Cold sweat slicked his back.
A few heartbeats later, he reached the flowers without further incident. He bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud in triumph and began to harvest them carefully. Once they were tucked into his specialized wooden case, he cast a simple preservation spell—a trick he'd "stolen" from Locke. To get the old drunk to teach him that one, Garlan had to match him drink-for-drink until they were both vomiting in the gutters. He hadn't touched a drop of alcohol for a month after that.
Seven plants... not bad at all. One for Glenn, and the rest for his own experiments.
Hoooo—
A heavy, hot breath brushed against his back, like someone had placed a furnace right behind his neck.
Garlan froze. After a moment of paralyzed silence, he slowly turned his head. Up on the cliff, Denken was waving his staff frantically, signaling him with wide eyes.
Behind him, a Red Mirror Dragon had—without him noticing—extended its massive head to within a meter of his position. It was watching him.
Its bronze scales, thick as tank armor, opened and closed in rhythm with its breathing. Its massive claws had already carved deep furrows into the earth. At this distance, the heat was stifling; Garlan felt like he had been transported back to the height of summer.
It's hot.
Then, the "cicadas" started—no, it was a roar. A thunderous, majestic dragon's cry exploded in his ears, sounding like a massive bronze bell being struck with enough force to shatter stone.
The standoff lasted only a second. Sensing an intruder in its territory, the dragon's primal instincts took over. Despite the dangerous aura Garlan emitted, the beast launched its attack. High-tier monsters were fiercely territorial; to stand here was a declaration of war.
"Big brother, if you saw me, you should've just kept pretending to sleep!"
Garlan's legs coiled and exploded into motion. He blurred to the side, narrowly dodging the dragon's snapping jaws, and slid directly beneath the beast's underbelly.
His killing intent flared. He unsheathed the alchemical longsword from his back and swung it upward with everything he had, aimed straight at the dragon's softest scales.
___
There's a few advance chapters on my P@treon
Usually upload 2 Chapters a day in there, except Saturday and Sunday
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