hotmtlnovel Page 44
Page 44
It seems like it's time to find a way to recruit a few mages to Dragon Territory to selflessly share their knowledge.
Before a proper magic teacher arrives, let the girl catch up on her missing foundational lessons. Mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, logic—no matter how much they may suit this world, their core ideas and methods for exploring the laws of the world will undoubtedly lay a solid foundation for the future great mage's thinking.
Explanation of the situation and notice of resumption of updates
The unlucky month of April is finally over. This month I cut my finger badly, got an eye infection, strained my thigh... I'm covered in bruises and just want to quit. My son, Dad, had a holiday for May Day, so I took him out for a few days. We were planning to go home yesterday, but a landslide blocked the highway, so we had to postpone it until today. I'm finally home now, so I'm posting this chapter while I was out, written on my phone. I'll resume my regular double-update schedule starting tomorrow.
30. Dragon Apprentice
What is it like to be taken in as an apprentice by a dragon?
If anyone were to ask her this question, Isis would definitely tell them that it felt quite different from what she had imagined, rather peculiar.
Since being taken to the snowy mountain by that short but powerful monster, Isis's life has completely changed.
The new dragon "Lord" who killed Julius and replaced him took a liking to her talent. Instead of devouring her as a delicious snack, he took her in as an apprentice. Her destiny, which was destined from birth, took a turn from then on. There is no greater ups and downs in life than this.
In the languages of the grasslands, "apprentice" is a word with special significance, referring to a relationship even stronger than that between parents and children. The people of the grasslands have their own way of life and inheritance. Before childhood, your parents and family raise you, but after childhood, you must support yourself. Only by becoming an apprentice can you learn the skills to support yourself—often, parents are the best teachers, and children are naturally their apprentices.
A hunter's son is still a hunter, and a herdsman's daughter is still a herdsman; this is the legacy of the people of the grasslands.
If a highly skilled person takes a liking to you and chooses you to be their apprentice, it means that they regard you as their successor.
Isis didn't know if dragons had the same tradition, but compared to becoming a dragon's snack, wasn't she lucky enough?
However, she was still somewhat worried. She had originally thought that the dragon would teach her how to hunt in the vast grasslands, how to soar in the sky, and how to breathe out flames that could burn everything... She had no sharp teeth or claws, nor wings, so she couldn't understand what aspect of her so-called talent the dragon valued.
Could it be the "magic" described in those books?
Unfortunately, there were no mages on this grassland. Some merchant ships that passed through Desera were accompanied by mages, but they never disembarked in Desera. Isis had never seen them and had no idea how magical her talent was.
However, Isis was soon disappointed again. The dragon had no intention of teaching her any magic at all, but instead gave her many incomprehensible lessons.
I get up at 6:30 every morning, wash up, and have breakfast consisting of goat milk, dragon eggs, bread made from refined wheat, and unidentified fruits. Then I have a two-hour dragon language class.
Learning from dragons is normal, so it's natural to learn dragon language.
After the dragon language lesson, the dragon demanded that she undergo physical training alongside the large, scaled goblins. Fortunately, the dragon was considerate of her physical condition, making the training much less strenuous compared to the goblins'.
Even so, the daily physical training was enough to leave Isis exhausted.
Whenever this happens, the monsters that brought her up the mountain—Isis now knows they are dragonblood kobolds, the most trusted guards of the evil dragon—will use magic to dispel her physical fatigue, heal her injuries from training, and allow her to return to training.
The training was arduous, but for her own life and the survival of her tribe, Isis persevered, and the results were remarkable.
In less than a month, she had truly embarked on the path of a warrior, but the dragon didn't seem too happy about it, perhaps feeling its progress was too slow—Casaros harbored considerable resentment, having trained herself for years using the same methods with little success. Discovering a potential future archmage, fearing her delicate body was too frail, he had her undergo some warrior training, and she'd become a warrior just like that? Could this be what it means to have exceptional talent and do whatever you want?
Ultimately, the warrior, one of the purest physical combat professions in the Kingdom of Heaven, is still inseparable from the inherent magical attribute that all things possess, only its manifestation is different from magic in the narrow sense.
Casalos was quite pleased with Isis's swift transition to a warrior. In the broader D&D lore, there's no concept of warrior-mage conflict. Elminster, worthy of the title of Faerûn's most powerful mage, also possessed several warrior ranks; his staff-wielding skills were no less formidable than those of a certain melee mage representative, Dried Tofu. The only difference was that his metal armor slightly hampered his spellcasting.
Casalos's intention in having Isis participate in warrior training was to improve her physical fitness as much as possible. After all, in the eyes of dragons, the human body is pitifully weak, and studying is a very physically demanding and exhausting activity, especially since Isis has many courses to catch up on. If her physical fitness is not good, she might not be able to persevere.
With the Warrior rank, her physical weakness would be alleviated. Once the trial period ended and Isis was granted the Dragon Vein, she would no longer have to worry about her frail body.
What kind of mage are you if you don't have the body of a warrior?
In order to allow Isis to better focus on her studies, the dragon had the kobold guards bring her friend up the mountain to serve as her handmaid and continue to oversee her daily life—she had been Isis's handmaid when she was still known as the "Saintess," so this was a continuation of their past relationship.
The maid was terrified, thinking that the dragon had also taken a liking to her. After being taken up the mountain, she was unconscious for several days and then fell into a mild mental breakdown. It was Isis who took care of and comforted her for several days before she accepted the truth.
With the status of being a dragon apprentice, the Isis tribe's status rose accordingly, and they occupied the grasslands washed by the largest snow mountain rivers, enabling them to raise several times more sheep than before.
The new dragon is collecting offerings—no, it should now be called "protection tax"—which is much easier than before, but its warriors still protect the grasslands below the mountain, and the lives of the grassland people can slowly improve.
The only downside is that the dragon requires all eligible young men from each tribe to go up the mountain for training every year, and those he chooses will be selected for his reserve of followers.
The young people all went up the mountain, and the various tribes
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Animal husbandry and hunting became problems, and no one knew what the future held.
Isis's real learning sessions begin after her daily training sessions.
The dragon's teachings covered everything Isis could imagine, from the fascinating games between numbers to the secrets hidden between shapes; from the common phenomena of everything familiar to the laws governing the world itself; and then there were the diverse countries and customs of Faerûn, its varied landscapes and life forms...
Compared to the books the merchants brought to Dessela on the ship, these were far richer and more fascinating, and always maintained an intrinsic connection between them. Isis didn't know what the dragon wanted to teach her, but she felt that, from this moment on, she was truly coming into contact with the world.
Her life seems to be just beginning now.
31. Scrubbing teeth and claws
Since establishing his second base on the surface, clad in red dragon skin, Casalos's daily life has become increasingly fulfilling and busy.
Now, it spends seven or eight hours a day teaching Isis, the future archmage of Dragon Territory. This isn't some sudden burst of selfless dedication; Casaloz isn't a silver dragon... and silver dragons probably wouldn't have the patience or interest to teach a human. It does this entirely for its own future.
Isis possesses mythical arcane talent; her eyes can even see the warp and weft of the magic network, something unheard of. Casalos believes that neither Serenhi, the strongest creature in Faerûn, nor Midnight, who has not yet become a third-generation magical girl, possess such eyes.
In the future, these eyes might allow Isis to uncover the most fundamental secrets of magic, enabling Casalos to go further than the gods on the path of arcane magic—judging from the limited information available, it's quite interesting that any of Faerûn's goddesses of magic might not even have as much understanding of magic as mortals.
Talent is only one of the necessary conditions for brilliant achievements. Transforming talent into real ability is a difficult and long process that requires persistent pursuit and unwavering will. Many "prodigies" actually fall by the wayside.
Isis was very intelligent, and Casalos did not want her to waste her unique talent, because it was also his own opportunity, so he had to invest a lot of energy in guiding and educating her.
Fortunately, stimulated by her rebirth, Isis was filled with curiosity about the whole world. Even the most tedious and boring physical and chemical knowledge became fascinating to her. She absorbed the knowledge Casalos could transform into, like parched earth drinking in sweet dew.
The only problem is that this girl seems to have developed an extremely introverted personality because of the fate that led her to the first half of her life, and her mind is completely closed off in her own world.
Unlike the curious Eisen, she doesn't ask questions when she encounters problems, and even the paragon of mind-reading can't fathom her true thoughts. Casalos may have a long time to gain her "loyalty".
Now, it doesn't even dare to reveal its true identity to its apprentice. It can only wait until the girl is fast asleep before activating the Iron Dawn hidden deep in the nest to return underground and handle the affairs of the Dragon Territory. With Isis's strange arcane talent, if Casaloz activates the magic ship's teleportation while she is awake, she will definitely notice something amiss.
The orange and green dragons captured the Kotō murlocs in the Rift Lake, marking the official launch of a new strategic plan for the Dragon Territory.
Using intimidation to forcibly subdue the Kotao murlocs is unreliable. They are currently undergoing rigorous military training under the strict discipline of the earth goblins within Dragon Territory, while simultaneously being subjected to psychological manipulation by several mind sorcerers. It is anticipated that before the Dragon Cult's "gift" arrives, the Kotao murlocs will be thoroughly brainwashed into loyal underwater troops of Casaloz.
The first dragon-towed, unpowered underwater vehicle has successfully completed its trial voyage. Bellamy, towing a 20-meter-long, double-hulled, teardrop-shaped vehicle, along with two kobold engineers and the dragon vein sorcerers protecting them, cruised the lakebed for two whole weeks without encountering any major problems.
A minor problem arose with the kobolds.
The kobolds who failed to fully awaken their dragon veins and transform into half-dragons were much weaker than humans. The average depth of the rift lake was only about a hundred meters. The three kobolds in the pressure hull dry compartments developed severe decompression sickness after wandering around for a while. Fortunately, the healing magic of the exemplar warlocks could cure such a terminal illness.
Dragon Territory has only a handful of exemplary Dragon Vein Sorcerers, and even fewer skilled in healing magic. They were lucky to heal the three who participated in this experiment. However, when large-scale underwater troop deployments and the repatriation of captured laborers are needed, even these few Dragon Vein Sorcerers might not be able to save many lives.
Therefore, besides giving the kobolds more acclimatization training, Casalos could only have the orange and green dragons, the vehicles, learn to control water depth and the techniques of descending and ascending in stages. Through the strict measure of fining 100 gold coins for every kobold who contracted decompression sickness, the orange dragon Bellamyt quickly learned to cooperate with the weak kobolds in the lake's depths and shallows, and taught its "hunting hound," Shacales, through the intimidation of its claws.
Having been kept in the cage for a long time, Drowlong tried to gain Casaloz's trust with various oaths, but Casaloz could not trust him. He could only talk to him more and improve his treatment a little to prevent him from rebelling. He also used the conversation to let the mind warlock further explore his mind so that the staff could continue to check and improve the blood oath terms.
Lelothal, confident and unafraid, wouldn't easily reveal the location of his treasure anytime soon. The surface engineering team, limited by manpower and technical issues, was making very slow progress in their excavation, and obtaining the Blood Oath Pact remained a distant prospect—this thing wasn't particularly rare to begin with, but the main reason was that Casalos was wary of Tiamat, the five-colored dragon queen who was now a great demon residing in the first layer of Bathor. He had particular reservations about dealing with demons; otherwise, with so many warlocks in the Dragon Territory, conducting a demon-summoning ritual to exchange for a few Blood Oath Pacts wouldn't have been difficult.
The advantages of the surface overlay in opening up a second territory are already beginning to emerge. Compared to the sparsely populated and entirely evil Darklands, the surface population is quite dense. Even in the remote Thurte Peninsula and Tindor Grassland, standing in the snow mountain lair and looking down, not considering the large goblins and kobolds that are not considered human by humanoid civilizations, the total population of the area within sight exceeds 200,000.
Within Julius's traditional territory, the total population of all the tribes combined reached around 6. With a little effort, Casalos could recruit several thousand able-bodied men for his dragon territory.
However, it is not yet capable of governing such a large population. In particular, although the macro-alignment of humans is neutral by nature, they tend to be chaotic. If the administrative capacity is not developed, introducing a large number of people will only make the Dragon Territory a mess.
Svent's first inspection of the territory did not intend to forcibly bring the tribes below the snow mountain under the rule of the Dragon Territory. Casaloz's task for him was to recruit as many talented and promising individuals as possible from the tribes, as well as to temporarily recruit exploration and excavation teams to enter the abandoned territory of Lelotar in search of its treasures.
In addition, it will also bring back to the mountains tribes of "humanoid monsters" such as kobolds and gnomes from the grasslands, whose innate order is easily controlled by dragons, to strengthen the power of the dragon's territory.
32. Red Dragon Treasury
In fact, not only has the treasure of the Lelotar family not been found, but Casaloz has not even thoroughly searched the treasure of the red dragon Julius yet.
Unlike green dragons, which hide everywhere, arrogant red dragons mostly believe that treasure vaults are only safe under their own watchful eyes and personal protection—most dragons are like this, but green dragons are special in this respect.
This means that, under normal circumstances, a dragon's lair is where its treasure trove is located.
red
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The dragon Julius was no exception; its treasure vault was located in its lair. Casalos killed it and seized its lair, thus "inheriting" ownership of its treasure vault. But a dragon's treasure vault is not so easy to enter.
"How's it going?"
Casalos looked down at the three kobolds who had returned to report, and asked expectantly.
Under Casalos's policy of promoting diversity within the Kalik tribe, these three kobolds became wanderers early on, each specializing in different skills: tracking, dismantling mechanisms, and breaking magical traps. Since taking over Julius's lair, Casalos had brought these three thieving talents into the fold, entrusting them with the crucial task of searching the treasure vault.
During the decades that Julius occupied this snow-capped mountain, he hollowed out the entire peak and transformed it into a giant three-dimensional labyrinth.
The labyrinth is a maze of branching paths and dead ends, its deceptively winding passages severely impairing the senses of those who enter, making it difficult even for a dragon to discern its own location. Furthermore, the snow-capped mountains are primarily composed of solid rock, rendering the iron dragon's innate burrowing ability ineffective. Unless Casalos is willing to spend decades slowly carving out its way through, the only way to find the correct path is to follow the tunnels dug by Julius.
But the damned red dragon had laid out countless traps and magical mechanisms throughout the labyrinth. Casalos tried to go in several times but got dizzy and almost lost his way. He was also covered in dust and dirt from the various traps.
It even suspected that the red dragon itself might not be able to find the right path inside. Therefore, it ultimately had to seek help from professionals.
"My lord, our exploration of the outer perimeter of the labyrinth is essentially complete. We have removed all the traps and mechanisms on the paths leading to the inner layers and marked them. You only need to follow the markings to reach the inner layers..."
"Wait, this maze has inner and outer layers?"
"Yes, the maze was divided into two parts by the red dragon. The outer layer is like an outer defense, which is used to restrain intruders when the red dragon is not guarding the nest. Although the terrain is complex, the traps and mechanisms that can be set up have limited killing power. We did not encounter any difficulties in dismantling it."
"So you've come to me now, which means you've encountered difficulties cracking the inner layer?"
"Yes, my lord, please forgive our incompetence..."
"Alright, just tell me what difficulties you've encountered and what kind of help you need."
The three kobolds exchanged glances before mustering their courage to say, "We need the protection of a squad of goblin warriors, and we also need a mind mage."
"Hmm, a pair of goblin warriors. That makes sense. Is there any danger inside?" Casaroz asked curiously.
“We discovered traces of some ferocious dinosaur activity, as well as some torn carcasses… After building the maze, the Red Dragon must have captured a lot of ferocious animals and released them inside to serve as free guards. The ferocious species thrown into the maze had no food to replenish their numbers and could only starve and become aggressive. After they killed each other and depleted their numbers to a certain extent, the Red Dragon would continue to replenish them to maintain its size.”
"A biological defense line, huh? A very good idea. Dragon Territory could probably learn from it." Casalos wasn't surprised at all; it thought it was a very good design. "And what's this about mind warlocks?"
"The inner labyrinth is shrouded in a vast area of suggestion, with its core located deeper within. We need a mind mage to help us stabilize our minds and prevent us from being affected by suggestion."
Suggestion is a common tactic used by the Red Dragon. The suggestions Julius has placed within the labyrinth will amplify the greed of those affected. If any adventure team manages to enter the inner layer from the outside, their mentality will inevitably change during the game of hide-and-seek with the ferocious creatures inside. It wouldn't be uncommon for them to ultimately betray each other for their own selfish desires. While the kobolds are unlikely to betray him for this reason, the goblins might be a different story.
Having a mind mage to protect the team venturing deep into the maze would certainly make them much safer.
Dragon's Territory doesn't have many mind mages, but sending one up to help the Red Dragon's treasury would be a worthwhile investment for the dragons.
That's the treasure trove of a fully grown red dragon! Just thinking about it is enough to excite any dragon.
The exploration of the Red Dragon Treasury was progressing steadily. Casalos finished another day of instruction, told Isis that he would not be there for the next few days and that she should continue her training and review as usual, and then turned his attention back to the Dragon Territory in the Rift.
An item of great significance to it is about to be completed, and it cannot be absent.
Having experienced so many battles in the Dragon Vault training dungeon, Casalos's path to growth has become increasingly clear. If we were to ask what loot in the training dungeon provides the most significant single-time boost to his strength, the answer wouldn't be the increase in HD, nor his class, nor his feats, nor even the acquisition of one or two spell-like abilities, but rather equipment and magical items.
Even the worst +1 magic equipment would allow Casalos to clearly feel an improvement in his abilities during subsequent battles—reality isn't a board game, after all. Board games, for the sake of game calculations, strictly limit the improvements brought by equipment in their rules. But in real-world applications, the improvement of each item to the user's abilities is proportionally amplified.
Among the equipment, aside from those unmanageable divine weapons, the most effective is undoubtedly the Dragon Armor.
Humanoids, with their frail bodies, can even withstand the claws and teeth of dragons when they wear armor made of steel. Why would dragons have to rely on their natural defense of scales to withstand such attacks?
Dragon scales are indeed incredibly hard, perhaps even harder than steel, and dragon hides are extremely tough—but that's not a reason for dragons to use scales to defend themselves. In fact, the abstract heritage of the Alterac Valley records a spell for creating magical armor specifically for dragons: Invincible Dragon Armor. That spell is a powerful alteration-based creation, requiring an extremely expensive legendary feat, and its actual effectiveness is rather limited.
With the continuous improvement of Dragon's Territory's production capacity, the Karrick tribe is now able to forge a suitable set of physical magical armor for Casalos.
Casalos was going to leave the surface for a few days to try out his first set of dragon armor in the real world.
33. Dragon Armor
After being transported back to the Rift by the Iron Dawn, Casalos disembarked and flew toward the stone pillar where the original Grey Dwarf Expeditionary Force was stationed.
Amidst the roar of steam and the clamor of steel, the massive lid at the top center of the stone pillar spiraled open, revealing a shaft entrance over 20 meters in diameter, allowing Casaloz to plunge down unimpeded.
After passing through several magically created barrier layers, completing the processes of identity recognition, magical mark screening, purification and cleansing of various abnormal states, the flying dragon entered the space inside the stone pillar.
This place has been transformed into a complex processing workshop, isolated from the outside world by a specially developed multi-layered barrier combined with a steel structure, and purified air is introduced to form a high-pressure zone to ensure environmental cleanliness.
A set of jet-black, sleek dragon armor, already hung on a special frame by the gray dwarf engineer, still gleamed under the yellow safety light.
Casalos landed directly on the multi-layered buffer platform in front of the gantry, stretched his neck and tilted his head, and walked step by step to the gantry to admire his first set of dragon armor in the real world up close.
The dragon armor fits the shape of the Iron Dragon hatchling. Apart from the forward-protruding breastplate, the only additional bulges are made at the neck-chest junction and the limbs-drive junction to reduce air resistance during flight.
The visor retains the shape of an entrenching tool, but with a sharp steel ram extending from the tip of the nose to complement Casalos's signature charging attacks. The neck, chest, tail, back, abdomen, and the area from the forelimbs to the wingtips are covered in a layered, tile-like pattern.
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The streamlined armor plates were the thickest part of the dragon's armor, covering the weak points of the dragon's body.
Outside the key protected area are long, curved armor plates arranged neatly to fit the shape of the dragon armor. The physical defense they provide is actually very limited. In order not to affect normal activities, the gaps between the armor plates are also very large. If you get a little closer, you can see the black woven structure underneath. There's no other way. Casaloz's flight "load" is only so big. If the dragon armor is too heavy, it won't be able to fly after wearing it.
It's important to know that Casalos is now 12 meters long, with a wingspan exceeding 20 meters and a weight approaching two tons. Its invincible dragon armor, created using the legendary feat unique to dragons through shapeshifting magic, weighs only a mere 45 kilograms, ensuring it doesn't hinder its flight.