Bright moonlight flowed like water over the Hemlock Hills, and Garros's scales shimmered with a cold, hard metallic luster in the night.
He put away the map and looked toward the distance.
Samantha was still buried in the work of repairing her Alchemy Workshop; the clinking and clanging of her hammers were exceptionally clear in the silent wilderness.
Garros's tail lightly tapped the ground, but his thoughts had already drifted to that abandoned mine—the nest of the Rock-Crushing Worms, where Marnes Dungeon was located, and the most likely burial site of a Legendary Alchemy tool.
The flames of greed burned in his chest, urging him to set out immediately and claim the treasure as his own.
At the same time, reason whispered: if he intruded rashly, he would likely pay a painful price, perhaps even with his life.
Feeling the struggle within, Garros took a dozen deep breaths before reason gradually gained the upper hand, slowly suppressing the greed, pride, and arrogance that stemmed from his nature as Dragonkin.
When it involved a Legendary-grade Alchemy tool,
these emotions had surged to an unprecedented height just moments ago.
Greed made him want to get the Legendary Alchemy tool at any cost.
Pride and arrogance made him feel that he would definitely succeed, ignoring all risks.
Fortunately, ever since Garros became a dragon and first felt these emotions, he realized that if he didn't control them and make them yield to his reason, they would sooner or later ruin him; thus, he frequently fought against them.
Even now, although he still couldn't completely rid himself of their influence,
he would not be entirely driven by them.
Phew. Slowly exhaling, Garros's gaze regained its clarity.
"These base instincts formed alongside the Legacy are like ferocious beasts; they really are terrifying."
Regardless of what other dragons did, Garros was unwilling to let his reason be affected by these emotions.
Although he was a uniquely gifted Hybrid Dragon and possessed an Evolution Talent, he was still far from having the conditions to be willfully supercilious.
"If I were a fabled Legendary Dragonkin, perhaps I wouldn't have to consider so much and could just embrace my nature; their pride and confidence would be only natural."
Garros thought to himself.
"But Legendary Dragonkin are ethereal and elusive. The vast majority of dragons are like me, or even inferior to me; the negative impact of these emotions far outweighs the benefits."
"Why not remove them? The gods worshipped by the Dragon Clan all truly exist; they should be able to do such a thing."
Garros pondered silently.
An excessive obsession with treasure like a curse, and irrational pride and conceit—in Garros's view, these were obvious invisible shackles placed upon Dragonkin.
Even without special talent,
even if it were just the weakest White Dragon among Dragonkin,
Garros felt that as long as they could break free from these invisible shackles, with the innate Physique and talent of Dragonkin, they would surely soar and reach heights that ordinary dragons could never hope to attain.
If these base instincts were removed,
the gradually declining Dragon Clan would surely be able to redevelop quickly, and it wouldn't be impossible to recreate the glorious honor of ancient times.
But why wasn't it done?
Was it that the gods of the Dragon Clan couldn't do it?
Or were they unwilling?
Garros couldn't figure it out, so he shook his head and stopped thinking about it, focusing his mind on the matter at hand.
He turned to the Red Young Dragon and asked, "Samantha, what do you think a Legendary-grade Alchemy tool would look like?"
Samantha stopped tapping the stone slab and turned to face Garros.
She tilted her head and thought for a while, her eyes sparkling with excitement:
"It must be the kind of thing that can make the whole wilderness tremble! Like a giant cannon that can spew lava and shatter heaven and earth? Or a mechanical core that can summon storms?"
Garros gave a low chuckle. "Perhaps."
Samantha had also heard the Rogue's story and couldn't contain herself, saying, "My dear brother, do you want to explore the dungeon? Take me with you! We'll definitely get the treasures inside and then dominate the wilderness!"
"When the time comes, you'll be the Supreme Dragon King of the Serel Wilderness, and I'll be the Red Dragon Queen—below one dragon, but above all things!"
"The two of us will rule the Serel Wilderness together; the future is infinitely bright, and our dragon lives will be flourishing."
Supreme Dragon King, Red Dragon Queen... How chuunibyou.
Moreover, she hadn't considered the risks at all.
Garros glanced at the excited Red Young Dragon who wanted to explore the dungeon immediately and said, "Stop dreaming. Instead of having time for fantasies, you'd better spend more time studying Alchemy."
"My dear brother, if you don't want to go, why not give me the map and let me go!"
Samantha said expectantly.
Garros was expressionless. "Go do what you're supposed to do; this isn't something you should be considering."
Samantha wanted to say more, but as soon as she met Garros's calm and deep eyes, she felt a prickling itch on her body.
It wasn't a real itch, but a certain 'premonition'.
Because it had happened so many times,
Samantha could roughly foresee the omen of when Garros wanted to beat her up.
His current expression, his current gaze, and his current tone were all conveying a danger signal to Samantha.
Samantha turned around resentfully and stopped mentioning the matter.
On the other side.
Garros suppressed emotions like greed and pride, using reason to think and evaluate gains and losses.
"Marnes Dungeon, suspected to exist under the abandoned mine where the Rock-Crushing Worm colony is, and suspected to hide a Legendary-grade Alchemy tool."
"The Worm King was injured by the Copper Dragon not long ago and hasn't recovered yet; ordinary Rock-Crushing Worms pose no threat to me."
"But the scale of the abandoned mine isn't large; it might just be the location of one passage to the dungeon. Who knows if there are higher-level, more powerful creatures than the Worm King below?"
"Furthermore, the dungeon fell a thousand years ago. Even if this Alchemy tool really exists, whether it's intact and can be activated is uncertain."
"There are too many uncertain factors; the risk is far higher than the reward."
After thinking it over, Garros temporarily suppressed the idea of exploring the dungeon.
In the final analysis, it was just a Legendary-grade Alchemy tool. For a dragon destined to become a Legend, obtaining it would only make the early transition better, rather than being something absolutely vital and mandatory.
To take unnecessary risks for an item that might not truly exist, might not be useful, and wasn't essential—
a young dragon blinded by greed and pride would do it.
But Garros chose to refuse.
As long as he progressed steadily and evolved step by step, he would become increasingly powerful; there was no need to take risks.
It wasn't worth it.
However, he didn't give up entirely.
If he could obtain a Legendary Alchemy tool before Level 20, it would also be of great benefit to him.
"When I grow enough to defeat the Worm King, I'll subjugate and enslave it, and then rely on it and its Rock-Crushing Worm colony to explore this dungeon."
Garros made his final decision in his heart.