Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 634 - 587: Devotion to Twilight

Black blood was collected by Nia and stuffed into her mouth. The golden light emanating from her eyes signalled that Dragon Blood had ascended to a spot on her menu.

"There are individual differences from the information provided by Zhiyan, but I can still confirm this as Dragon Blood based on its basic composition, magical content, and viscosity," Lyle said as he picked up a leaf that had come into contact with the Dragon Blood. The blackened edges of the leaf had shriveled, and a faint corroding sound continued. "Even the blood contains the power of shadow; it seems there are existences within the Dragon Breed akin to void creatures."

The great dragon stared at the black stain amidst the cluster of withered leaves, shaking his head to cast away distracting thoughts.

"There is no memory of a Dragon Breed using shadow power in the recollection of the Dragon Priest, such powers akin to the Power of the Evil God were discarded by the father of dragons and should not exist in his progeny. If, Lyle, what you saw was truly a great dragon, then it must have been corrupted by some being..."

"Could its life be in danger?"

"Great dragons don’t use shadows, but the bodies they inherit from the father of dragons allow them to endure the shadow power. Its life will not be in danger, but its soul may not be so fortunate."

"That dragon might be a madman."

Lyle recalled the scene from before, the being with deep purple eyes. Indeed, a dragon of sound mind would absolutely not roar and hunt like a wild animal. Although it merely followed its instincts, it almost cost Lyle his life.

The bestial dragon had tried to harm him, but the grudge that should have been there was transformed into pity for the insane dragon, thanks to the timely rescue of Mr. Dragon and the sharp counterattack.

"You were too harsh, Dragon Teacher. You tore open the back of that dragon’s neck; that’s a nerve-dense area, extremely painful."

The dragon lifted its claw, looking at the black blood left on its white jade-like dragon finger bone, and blew the stains away with a breath.

"It was just a dragon, and you are my student, my opportunity for a new life," he said.

"I thought you would hesitate to act out of your love for great dragons, Teacher."

"I do love great dragons, and now I am a great dragon. I care more about my own future, so it’s not a problem. That mad dragon, struck is struck."

Lyle scratched his head, feeling that the Dragon Mentor had turned from an animal protector into a self-interested individual. Although this was the thought pattern a normal creature should have.

"Still, it was a dragon. I’ll contact Scholar Teacher right now. The Dragon Priest would be thrilled to know that there is still a great dragon out there."

Lyle reached for the Ring of Andreal, intending to relay the news of the new great dragon to Scholar.

Like a long spear, a dragon finger bone fell from beside Lyle, piercing the ground and forming a bone cage, trapping Lyle inside.

"Teacher?"

The dragon claw loosened slowly, leaving five radial cracks on the ground. As the obstructions blocking his vision disappeared, Lyle saw the Bone Dragon shake its head.

"Let’s make contact first to assess the target’s danger before notifying the Dragon Priest," he suggested.

Lyle nodded subconsciously, unaware of the true intent behind Mr. Dragon’s words, only noting the claw marks on the ground, which were deep.

Tracking the fleeing Shadow Dragon was not difficult. The back of its neck had been wounded by the dragon, creating a hard-to-heal injury. The wounded beast had lost all measure, and even without looking at the traces of blood left on the ground, the broken trees also showed the way it had gone.

Following the trail, Lyle and the dragon came upon a cave, surrounded by freshly upturned earth. The hewn soil and stone were not aesthetically pleasing, and small rocks still fell from the roughly ten-meter high entrance, giving the impression that the cave was unsteady and at risk of collapsing at any moment.

The dragon, as if a statue, stood in the forest. His skull was level with the treetops as if wearing a green bathing cap. He was making an effort to lower his threat level. The previous attack had left a severe psychological shadow on the Shadow Dragon; now, merely the sight of his bony body made the dragon’s cries shrill.

"It seems I can’t proceed any further." The dragon stopped fifty meters from the cave entrance, another step forward and the wounded dragon might act recklessly.

"We need to appease it, Mentor, if we want to make peaceful contact with it."

"You’re right, my student," the dragon looked down at Lyle’s slight frame. "Now only you can appease it."

Great, I’ve gotten myself a job taming dragons. The dragon feared getting hurt by the mighty dragon, but wouldn’t fear being used as food by Lyle, harmless Mr. Lyle wouldn’t stir the dragon’s nerves.

"It’s no different from a beast following its instincts. You need to express your goodwill and tame the beast starting with its needs..." The Dragon Priest began to give verbal guidance. As a former animal lover, Lyle took his advice.

What beasts needed most was a belly full of food.

As long as I offer myself as its meal... as if.

Stripping away the thoughts of the Liches from his mind, Lyle slowly approached the cave entrance, gazing at those two large purple bulbs floating in the air. The Dragon Priest’s intimidation still oppressed the dragon, whose survival instincts controlled its hunger. It seemed to view Lyle as the dragon’s property, reasoning that any attempt to snatch would be met with a beating. Whimpering a few times, the creature in the cave shrank its neck, hiding deeper and turning a blind eye.

Food was not limited to Lyle alone.

Maintaining a distance from the cave mouth, Lyle stood at the entrance and took out jerky from his pouch. It was food prepared by Naslan’s Specter Maid for both Lyle and Nia. Lyle did not know what preservative techniques the spirits used to keep this piece of dried meat still aromatic, but a deep, bone-chilling cold emanated from it. From the texture of the meat, Lyle sensed some chopped soul fragments... It seemed to be a dish with a soul.

He never had the chance to share Naslan’s specialty with others, but now was an opportunity.

Keeping a distance from the cave mouth, Lyle took all the jerky out of the pouch and piled it on the grass. The smell of salt, umami, and fats mixed together and wafted into the cave.

"Roar!" The dragon turned its head back, eyes locked on the jerky, and from the cave came scraping sounds, which were the dragon claws scratching the wall. This lasted for several minutes. Lyle even started a fire on the other side to make the heated food smell even more tempting to the dragon.

The Shadow Dragon ultimately moved.

Its eyes fixed on the jerky, then shifted back to the Dragon Priest, only continuing to move slowly forward when it saw that he made no move. Under the drive of hunger and Lyle’s patient wait, the Shadow Dragon finally emerged into the sunlight.

Its body was not black but more a deep purple that lightened gradually from neck to tail. The dragon’s body was not small, but it appeared slender next to the massive dragon. Its streamlined body carried a kind of gentle beauty, sadly marred by numerous scars and the dust it was covered in, destroying its dignified air as it tore greedily at the chunks of meat.

A sudden noise made the alert Twilight Dragon drop the meat from its mouth, arching its back and spreading its wings, ready to flee back to its cave at any moment.

It was the Dragon Priest moving his front limbs that caused the disturbance. Realizing the Twilight Dragon’s alertness, the tall Bone Dragon awkwardly retracted his bone claws.

Another ten minutes passed, and the Twilight Dragon plunged back into the pile of meat, realizing a small creature bristling with tendrils was trying to steal her meal.

Lyle couldn’t stop Nia, but luckily, she seemed to get along with her dining companion.

Lyle walked over, with the cautious sign from the Dragon Priest.

Lyle recognized the look in the dragon’s eyes, that shimmering brightness, which he had seen in Ralph’s eyes before. That look held the hope of life.

"Lyle! Lyle! It’s a dragon!"

"Didn’t we guess that already? Teacher."

Lyle felt something was off with the Dragon Priest at that moment.

"Lyle, I think I’ve found a suitable mate."

"I want to fall in love."