Chapter 7: The Sinful Dragon
“Uh, true enough, Newman. Didn’t you say that wall over there has been taken care of? When can we break through it?” Rebrí and the tall, thin mage both lit up with excitement, eager to smash through the wall and see what was inside right away.
“It’s not that simple. Although I’ve found the mechanism to open the wall and tried to activate it, there’s a powerful spatial magic behind it—seemingly connected to another dimension. If we accidentally step into that dimension or some monster from it emerges, we’ll be in big trouble. We need to find a way to seal or destroy this spatial magic before we can complete the first stage.” The thin mage spoke with enthusiasm about his findings as well. “But to seal or destroy this spatial magic, we need some supplies. There are no magic supply shops in the Caucasus, and even magical materials are hard to find. The magic supply shop run by Mr. Hes is just a general store for adventurers—nothing useful there. I’ll have to ask someone to send them from Jazair or Prague. They should arrive soon.”
Prague is located in the middle reaches of the Volturna River and is the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia. It’s home to the headquarters of the famous Holy Wings Magic Guild and serves as a sacred place for mages, second only to the Church of Light. There are many venues dedicated to mage exchanges, and it’s also the largest and most renowned supplier of magic items and materials on the Azure Continent. The Tálin Valley in northeastern Bohemia is a famous region for magical metals, with ores like brass and flamestone—essential materials for crafting magic items and weapons.
The strong magical atmosphere here has always attracted magic practitioners and enthusiasts from all over the continent to come here for pilgrimage, learning, and exchange. The Bohemian Kingdom alone has over forty court magicians, with the number of magic users exceeding one hundred—more than any other country. Here, as long as you have the qualifications of a magician or above, you will surely be treated like a guest of honor by the kingdom’s court. Whether you are willing to serve the kingdom or not, as long as you wish to stay, the kingdom will provide you with free food and lodging, making you feel at home. If you are willing to become a court mage, the generous benefits will make you stay happily ever after. Moreover, the many beautiful women of Bohemia keep many magicians there for a long time. Although the National Ljubljana Magic Academy is just a junior institution that trains magic apprentices and is not large in scale, it is still enough to draw the attention of all countries on the continent. No one dares to underestimate the tremendous potential this academy could unleash. This place is also the favorite residence and living area for magicians and is recognized as a paradise for magic.
“How much longer do we have to wait?” Rebrí, like all the magicians, had been looking forward to it for a long time. Although Damolensk Fortress is a sacred place for cultivation and staying there for a long time is also a good option, who could sleep soundly knowing there might be countless treasures waiting to be discovered beneath their feet?
“It won’t be long. Once the few materials I need arrive, we can seal that spatial magic. I don’t think the remaining magical restrictions will stop us from moving forward. You should also get ready well. As we predicted, the richer the treasures, the more dangers there will surely be—magical traps and physical traps are inevitable, and there might even be undead creatures. We need to prepare some necessary things,” suggested the thin magician to the two of them.
“Is Mr. Newman sure there are undead creatures inside?” Kommer, who had already stepped closer, couldn’t help but interject. During this time, Kommer had continued to train that thief’s body. Although he had made great progress in magic control, training the corpse wasn’t as smooth as he had imagined. Especially once a certain level was reached, it became much harder to advance further—this was what was known as a bottleneck. Under Kommer’s painstaking training, the thief could now act freely according to his commands. The thief’s inherent combat energy had once filled Kommer with joy. Through his careful integration, Kommer was now able to make the corpse unleash demonized combat energy when necessary. This was a control technique that combined necromancy with the corpse’s original combat energy. However, this technique required a great deal of mental energy, and it was also extremely difficult to keep the corpse in a state of demonized combat energy for long periods. How to maintain this highly aggressive state in the corpse and further improve its level of demonized combat energy remained an important issue Kommer was diligently studying.
What troubled Kommer wasn’t just the issue of demonized combat energy. Another challenge was how to convey his mental commands to the corpse in the shortest possible time. Although he could now issue simple commands to the corpse without using necromantic spells, slightly more complex commands still required prior spell recitation, which greatly limited the corpse’s responsiveness.
The most critical problem was that due to the corpse’s death, its soul memory would vanish within a short time. Of course, if it were possible to preserve the corpse’s soul memory for a while and retain some subconscious reaction abilities, then the corpse could serve as a training medium for a necromancer. Kommer’s Cosmos Bag was such a magical artifact that could keep the corpse in a suspended state—it was the most important memento left to him by his master.
The more soul memories a corpse retains, the higher level it can reach after cultivation, though the difficulty of cultivation also increases accordingly. Ko Mo’s corpse was struck by the Sacred Saruma Wood Arrows all at once, and the paralyzing toxins from these arrows paralyzed the entire body within an extremely short time, including the brain. Thus, it can be said to be a remarkably well-preserved corpse. Ko Mo also used the Cosmic Bag to preserve it intact. Coupled with the corpse’s excellent abilities during its lifetime, this made it an exceptionally good material for cultivation. However, precisely because of its outstanding quality, great effort, advanced necromancy skills, and various auxiliary materials are required to successfully cultivate it. This forced Ko Mo to continuously study necromancy while also seeking ways to find such materials to improve his communication with the corpse. It seems that the spirit of resentment he once sensed in Damolensk Fortress was one of the most suitable auxiliary materials.
“Hmm, my lord, there are undoubtedly many necromantic creatures here. And according to what Mr. Lebrui said, there should also be intangible souls or spirits beneath this castle—what our magical community calls ghosts or phantoms, and what ordinary people call spirits.” Shrugging, the thin mage showed off his knowledge somewhat arrogantly. “This phenomenon only occurs when a human dies under extremely special circumstances. And these ghosts or spirits cannot be considered necromantic creatures, as they have actually lost their host and only remain in the world under certain specific conditions. To most people, they may be a scourge, but for skilled necromancers, they are rare experimental subjects.”
The thin mage’s words hit the nail on the head for Komer. In fact, Komer had long guessed that there must be something unusual beneath the walls of Damorlensk Fortress—something different from ordinary undead creatures. After all, the chilling sensation it caused in his mind when confronting them outside the city was certainly beyond what ordinary zombies or skeletons could produce. These creatures were quite cunning, retreating when things turned unfavorable, far superior to those mindless skeletons and zombies. It seemed these undead hiding beneath the castle were also under the control of these ghosts or phantoms. Although the thief zombie in his possession had seen significant improvement through his training, it still required constant mental guidance to adjust its attack tactics in actual combat. In practice, it might react instinctively or based on residual subconscious memories, but it lacked true wisdom and judgment. If he could capture and subdue these ghosts or phantoms and merge them with his zombie, that would truly be a groundbreaking achievement in the world of magic. Komer was already dreaming of such a distant future. Of course, this was just a hypothesis; even Komer wasn’t sure if it would work. Yet it was indeed a direction worth striving for.
“Hehe, Lord, it seems you’re quite interested in undead creatures. How about we exchange our insights sometime?” The tall, thin mage’s green eyes gleamed upon hearing Komer’s question about the undead in the castle—clearly very interested in the topic.
“Mr. Mihajic, I’ve heard that you have great expertise in illusion magic and necromancy, and I’d really like to discuss these topics with you. I’ve just been extremely busy lately, as you know, but I think we have plenty of time. There are many secrets in Fort Damansky waiting for us to explore. Perhaps we could also go to the Eastern Nether Sea to look for the dragon’s treasures, or visit the Volta Mountains to see the wonders of civilization left by the dwarves. What do you think?” Komer also wanted to keep these wandering magicians firmly in the Caucasus, as they represented a third force that neither belonged to the Church of Light nor the Order of the Holy Wings. Although they were scattered across the continent and didn’t interact much with each other, they had little political involvement with the countries and forces on the continent. They were the perfect candidates for Komer to bring together. It was just difficult to find them usually. Now that Rebril had brought them to the Caucasus, how could Komer give up this opportunity so easily?
“Hehe, my lord, the dragon’s treasures are just things ordinary people pursue. I’m not an adventurer, so I’m not very interested. Of course, the materials from the dragon are necessary for crafting many treasures. But although Mihajic is arrogant, he’s not foolish enough to risk his life against the dragon. The dragon’s formidable strength cannot be overcome by just a few magicians. Without a thorough and feasible plan, any rash action would be self-destruction. As for those wonders of civilization left by the dwarves, if they truly exist, that would be interesting. The dwarves did create many wonders during their peak, leaving behind many material and intangible treasures. Especially their forging and smelting techniques, many of which are now lost. If we can uncover them, it will surely greatly improve our current smelting and forging techniques, which would be very helpful for us in crafting special weapons, protective gear, and magical items.”
The calmness and rationality of this tall, thin mage surprised Komer. In Komer’s mind, almost all of Rebril’s friends had some degree of paranoia and abnormal tendencies, and their emotions were also somewhat different from ordinary people. Yet this unremarkable-looking mage could speak such sensible words, making Komer view these magicians with renewed respect.
“Mr. Mihajic, the power of the Abyssal Dragon is certainly beyond what ordinary people can handle. To deal with it requires careful planning and thorough preparation. However, I disagree with your claim that its treasures hold no value. The Abyssal Dragon has roamed the Abyssal Sea for years—who knows how many merfolk and merchants have fallen into its clutches? The treasures it has gathered are by no means just ordinary items like pearls and jade. Could there really not be anything among them worth Mr. Mihajic’s attention? Moreover, even if there are no treasures that truly capture your interest, couldn’t selling these ordinary treasures help you acquire or exchange for what you desire? I’ve also heard that the dragon crystals on the Abyssal Dragon are invaluable treasures for enhancing mental strength and practicing mental magic and puppet magic. A fight with the Abyssal Dragon can also serve as a test of a mage’s or knight’s skill level. Does it really mean we lack the courage to even fight it just because of its immense power? If we always fight against opponents weaker than ourselves, it will be difficult for our magical abilities to improve significantly. What’s then the purpose of practicing magic?”
At this moment, Komer’s unparalleled oratory skills were fully displayed. His skillful proposals and highly persuasive words not only moved the tall, thin mage but also made Rebril and the gaunt mage, who had remained silent until then, nod in agreement. There were certainly other valuable things on the Abyssal Dragon besides dragon crystals. And if one could use the dragon’s treasures to buy or exchange for the various magical materials they needed, that would be something every mage would desire. But what truly moved those mages were Komer’s final words. The purpose of practicing magic is to pursue the ultimate principles of magic. If one dares not face stronger opponents and is confined to fighting weaker ones, then, as Komer said, what’s the value or meaning of practicing magic?
Seeing that all three were attracted by his proposal, Komer felt satisfied as his goal had been achieved. Although Matdan had opened as a port, only the trade route to the north was truly unobstructed. The route to the vast continent in the east still required detours, while the route to the south could be attacked by evil dragons at any time. Though these dragons did not appear frequently at sea, the hidden risk meant that ships coming from the south had to pay much higher freight to reach the north, and many ships still avoided this route, especially the vast seas south of Matdan, which was feared even more. This was something Komer could never tolerate—it effectively reduced the significance and value of Matdan’s opening as a port by half. It not only affected trade between the Caucasus and the south but was especially important given the current strained relations with the Homer region in the north. If the evil dragons could be eliminated, Matdan could truly become a vital port connecting the north and south, playing a key role in shipping to the vast continent and the south. It would also earn the respect and admiration of the indigenous people of the Caucasus and merchants from the Abyssal Sea. How could Komer give up such a good opportunity?
Of course, Komer was well aware of the ferocity of the evil dragons. As Mihajic had said, rash actions were sure to lead to death. He would certainly not act lightly; unless he was quite confident, he wouldn’t risk his life. For now, he had merely made a proposal to give everyone some time to think. If they really wanted to undertake such a daring task, countless preparations would still be needed.
“The lord’s words make some sense. However, I don’t think the problem of the evil dragons is something we need to address urgently right now. It’s Damorsk Fortress that we need to solve first. Perhaps resolving the issue of Damorsk Fortress could provide us with many benefits and be of great help for our next adventure in the Abyssal Sea,” said the tall, thin mage, finally agreeing with Komer’s proposal, which relieved Komer somewhat.
“Hehe, please rest assured, Komer is not a hasty person. The power of the evil dragon is beyond the strength of a few people to resist. I think we not only need to make various mental and material preparations but also require more friends like you who have real skills to help. If you have suitable friends, feel free to invite them to stay here in the Caucasus. I believe the beautiful scenery and hospitable people of the Caucasus will make them reluctant to leave. For now, our top priority should be uncovering the secrets of Fort Damansky. I also welcome more friends to get involved.” Komer continued to promote his recruitment strategy at the right moment. He clearly saw a sly smile flash in Rebyri’s eyes, but Komer didn’t care. “Uh, there’s one more thing I’d like to inform you all. An envoy from the Church of Light might arrive in the Caucasus in the next two days to discuss matters related to preaching. If you have nothing urgent to do, try not to go out to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.” “Oh? An envoy from the Church of Light is coming to the Caucasus? My lord, what do they want?” Aside from Rebyri, the other two magicians also grew alert, clearly wary of this development.