CHAPTER 121: DROPS OF DRAGON BLOOD

"What do you mean?"

Zeyvyr asked Lucien, not taking his eyes off the mana ring for even a second. His heart, calm just moments ago, began to race as his gaze burned with fiery shock.

Velmara could clearly see the dripping greed in his eyes alone.

’What did he give him?’

He thought in confusion. Something that could make even a dragon as powerful as Zeyvyr react like this had to be a treasure, right?

But such a treasure, and Lucien just handed it over like that?

"Is this to your liking? I noticed you have peculiar tastes, so I prepared something as a gift. I hope you like it."

Lucien spoke with a smile after seeing Zeyvyr’s reaction.

In truth, he had collected these treasures from his Dimensional Vault before leaving the capital, just in case they were needed.

And it seemed they were indeed useful.

"Yeah, they’re good."

Zeyvyr was truly stunned by Lucien’s generosity and nodded unconsciously; only drool was missing to show just how greedy he looked.

But when he caught two figures glancing at him from the corner of his eye, he realized his gaffe and immediately straightened up, trying to appear composed.

"Cough... I mean, they’re all right. Kid, what do you want? Do you want to make a deal, or are you after something else?"

He asked, trying hard not to look at the mana ring again.

"Umm... since you liked my gift, can you please help me become stronger, faster?"

Lucien didn’t want to waste time and went straight to the point.

"Hmm? What do you mean? How can I make you stronger?"

Zeyvyr looked confused and asked again, showing far more patience than before.

Heck, he even set aside looting those two caravans for the moment.

"I mean... I know that to increase my realm, I need to work hard myself. But I also noticed that my physique is too weak."

In fact, this had been Lucien’s painful point from the very beginning.

When he first gained a large amount of agility points, aside from unlocking a new skill, he could do nothing with them.

Even now, he couldn’t properly use all the stats he had gained from debt extraction.

And this was all because his vessel was too weak. To be honest, he was planning to gain some sort of physique stat from the dragon in front of him.

But what he had gotten was an A-rank passive; something not of much use without draconic essence or similar things.

"So... why don’t you spare me a few drops of your blood?"

"You see, I have a certain secret technique that lets me strengthen my body with treasures, and I doubt there’s any treasure more powerful than dragon blood, right?"

Lucien spoke with clear hope in his eyes. He now wanted to strengthen his body so that he could use more of the dormant power within him.

Unfortunately, the moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere turned eerily silent.

It was like the calm before a storm, making the air feel stranger and heavier than before.

Lucien saw Zeyvyr suddenly stop fiddling with the mana ring in his hand and simply stare at him in silence.

’This idiot...’

Velmara, who heard Lucien’s request, was busy cursing him under his breath on the other hand.

’Asking for dragon blood? What is he trying to do?’

Honestly, Velmara wanted to snatch Lucien up and fly away immediately, without giving Zeyvyr a chance to react.

At least that way, Lucien wouldn’t ruin the situation even further.

But after his blunder just moments ago, Velmara was hesitant to act recklessly.

’Hope this guy doesn’t get angry, otherwise...’

Velmara could only pray that Zeyvyr wouldn’t take Lucien’s words to heart.

After all, as a spiritual beast, he knew how valuable blood was. Not to mention, this was a dragon.

How could one easily expect him to part with his blood?

"Okay, as you wish!"

"What—?"

But Velmara was directly stunned the next second. To his utter astonishment, Zeyvyr actually nodded at Lucien, shocking him so much that he cried out loud.

"But don’t think you can get essence with just this little treasure."

Fortunately for Velmara, both Lucien and the dragon ignored him completely and continued their exchange.

"Cough... I mean, essence is out of the question. Since I also want you to become stronger, I can give you a few drops of blood to help."

Zeyvyr realized he had let something slip and awkwardly corrected himself, a trace of embarrassment on his face.

But Lucien clearly noticed that the mana ring on Zeyvyr’s hand vanished the moment he agreed.

’Tch... so your greed won out in the end?’

Seeing the sequence of events, Lucien immediately understood what had just happened.

He knew asking a dragon for blood wasn’t the wisest choice, but he also knew he wouldn’t find another dragon this amiable and talkative anytime soon.

And most importantly, he wanted to test something about his system.

’Didn’t it say a gift can also be treated as a debt? Let’s see if it works.’

Lucien smiled at Zeyvyr and said,

"That’s enough. I don’t think I’d be able to absorb dragon essence anyway. A few drops of blood will do."

"Oh... then it’s good."

As soon as Zeyvyr heard this, he smiled and waved his hand, tossing a transparent bottle into Lucien’s palm.

"Here are the drops of blood you asked for. Genuine dragon blood. Be careful when using it. I suggest you dilute it before absorbing. You’re too weak, after all."

He said, leaving Lucien stunned. Because Lucien could clearly see that Zeyvyr pulled out the crimson bottle from his mana ring.

’Is this really his blood or...?’

He couldn’t help but doubt and inspected the bottle carefully. But there was no way to confirm its origin just by looking.

"Hehe... did you think I’d bleed it out and hand you my blood?"

Zeyvyr, of course, noticed his look and laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Kid, do you really think I’d just give you my blood like that? Am I stupid?"

Sure enough, the dragon flat-out called him out, and Lucien couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, as though he had been seen through.

But now that he thought about it, he realized he had indeed been naive.

In a sense, they were still strangers.

Why would Zeyvyr give his true blood to someone who might harm him, no matter how greedy he was?

"This blood is something I collected from an enemy as strong as myself. So don’t worry and use it however you want. You’re not losing out."

He said, before finally glancing at the caravans. Of course, unlike his earlier enthusiasm to loot them, he didn’t look all that eager now.

"Okay, my work here is done. Let’s meet again in the Shadow Kingdom, if fate allows."

With that, Zeyvyr vanished without giving Lucien a chance to stop him. It was almost as if he feared Lucien might ask for the mana ring he had just given away.

Along with him, the two caravans also vanished as if they had never been there.

’So, it’s of the same rank? Then, it’s not a loss.’

Lucien didn’t care, though. Instead, he turned the thick crimson glass tube of dragon blood in his hand, filled to the brim.

Although it wasn’t Zeyvyr’s true blood, he couldn’t help but feel happy to own something that was nearly legendary in such a low realm.

Not to mention, the Debt Value of Zeyvyr in his status panel had once again risen from zero.

---

[Name: Zeyvyr]

[Realm: Weaver (Peak)]

[Class: S-Class Archmage]

[Debt Value: 20↑]

---

However, he quickly noticed that he didn’t gain any Debt Value from Zeyvyr for the mana ring he had gifted earlier.

’It seems a gift that’s reciprocated isn’t counted as debt. Well, that makes sense.’

Lucien wasn’t disappointed. If there was one opportunity, there would be countless more in the future.

Gaining this much was already good in his opinion. After all, he had almost lost his life in this incident today. Rushing things was the last thing he wanted.

"Let’s return to the capital. Grandpa might be worried. Tell him everything’s fine now."

After musing for a moment, Lucien carefully stored the glass tube and spoke to Velmara.

After what had just happened, he had no intention of wandering around anymore.

Besides, it was already getting late, and he still had to attend the night meetings.

"Umm!"

Velmara nodded, clearly agreeing with him. Although he wanted to scold Lucien for being reckless, he knew he had no right today.

Without Lucien, he might not have even survived. It was his own mistake to begin with.

"Thank you!"

So instead, he lightly thanked Lucien before preparing to take off toward the capital.

Although his realm was higher, he wasn’t incapable of recognizing his mistakes. At the very least, he could appreciate help when it was given.

"Haha... no need. But you should probably prepare to get scolded by Grandpa. He’s not going to let you off easily."

Lucien laughed as he teased Velmara. He was certain Malcolm would give Velmara a hard time once they returned.

He was practically gloating at his misfortune, making Velmara immediately regret thanking him.

"Okay, it’s none of your business. Let’s leave before that dragon decides to return."

Velmara cut him off, flapping his wings and hovering in the sky.

"Wait a minute!"

Just as they were about to fly away, Lucien suddenly stopped him. Then, he pulled a shining card from his mana ring and tossed it toward the rubble below.

Only then did he turn and say lightly,

"Let’s go!"