"With so much oily soil, the black oil contained within must be far more than what was left in the Alchemy Engine."
Wagging his tail with pleasure, Garros picked up a clump of oily soil, squeezed it, and let the black oil drip from within into his mouth.
However...
It was different from the refreshing spiciness he had imagined.
The astringent, unpleasant taste—reminiscent of eating feces—made Garros frown.
—He had never actually eaten feces, but he felt it couldn't be much worse than this.
Unlike the black oil he had consumed last time, this seemed to contain many Impurities. After swallowing, there was no direct surge of thick energy; instead, it required digestion first. Furthermore, the energy gained after digestion would likely be inferior to the previous black oil.
"Why is this?"
Garros was somewhat confused.
After a moment's thought, he understood the general reason.
"The black oil in the Alchemy Engine was already refined, not crude oil. What I'm eating now should be pure natural crude oil that hasn't been refined yet, so it contains many Impurities."
Crude oil was edible.
But the absorption efficiency was lower than black oil, and the taste was beyond description.
Fortunately.
There was a solution.
Garros turned to look at Samantha and assigned her a task: "Use your Alchemy to refine all the crude oil in this oily soil into black oil for me."
To please Garros and be granted treasures...
Samantha had been studying Alchemy diligently day and night and had already learned how to refine black oil. Although her skill level was mediocre, she was capable of such a simple refinement—turning crude oil into black oil.
Hearing Garros's words...
Samantha stuck out her tongue, licked her lips, and said, "Oh, my dear brother, I am willing to do anything for you, but... will this make you happy?"
She didn't want to work for nothing; she was asking for payment.
This was a reasonable request.
Samantha's current position was equivalent to Garros's follower, a sub-dragon. In Dragonkin society, such followers were different from kin or slaves.
Sub-dragons serve the primary Dragon.
The primary Dragon needs to give the sub-dragon a certain amount of compensation regularly.
Relying solely on empty promises wouldn't work. Red Dragons were dull and crude, but they became nitpicky and shrewd when treasures were involved.
Garros had not yet completely escaped his obsession with treasures. Making him part with money felt somewhat painful.
But Garros thought about it and, in the end, was quite generous, lining up several gold coins.
"Do a good job, and these are yours."
For a Young Dragon, these gold coins were enough. Samantha pounced forward with glowing eyes, ready to take them.
"My dear brother, you are too kind! I am willing to serve you, willing to do anything for you!"
She called out.
"Wait, my clever sister, do you want even more?"
Garros's words seemed to have a certain magic, causing Samantha to pause her movements.
"Of course!"
She said emphatically.
Garros said unhurriedly, "Out of consideration for the Bloodline connection between us, I'll give you two choices."
"First, take these five gold coins directly and keep them carefully, though there is a risk of losing them."
"Second, leave them with me. I will keep them for you, and by the Dragon God, I guarantee that in one year I can give you six gold coins, and in two years, eight gold coins, with the amount increasing every year."
Samantha hesitated immediately, not knowing how to choose.
Striking while the iron was hot, Garros said persuasively, "Think about it, which is better: wealth that stays the same or wealth that keeps growing? We Dragonkin should look toward long-term interests."
After hesitating for a long time...
Samantha thought it over and over, but she couldn't resist the temptation of wealth that grew every year, so she agreed.
"I'll want to withdraw it in a year. You must give it to me then, or I won't work for you anymore."
Samantha said.
Her words were firm.
But when a year actually passed, it might be a different story.
Moreover, because he was a Dragon himself and knew the weaknesses in the Dragonkin personality, Garros was very experienced in fooling them. Besides, if she performed well enough and didn't try to slack off, giving her some actual rewards wouldn't be a problem.
Garros nodded, put the gold coins away again, and said solemnly:
"Of course, you know me. I am not a treacherous Green Dragon."
Thinking about her growing wealth, Samantha skipped away happily to get to work.
She took some ordinary iron ore that could be found everywhere in the Serel Wilderness, melted it with Flame Dragon Breath, hammered it slowly, and inscribed a few runes, shaping it into the form of a basic alchemical crucible.
Placing clumps of oily soil into the crucible...
Samantha chanted incantations, her claws tracing patterns in the air, outlining runes with Demonic Energy to cast into the crucible. Then, she opened her mouth to exhale Dragon Breath, beginning the alchemical refinement of the black oil.
A short while later.
Garros had a portion of refined black oil in his hands.
It was held in a somewhat crude iron canister; the dark liquid had a viscous texture.
After a light sniff, Garros downed it in one gulp.
Whoosh!
It felt as if a ball of fire had ignited in his stomach.
"The flavor is pure and powerful! This is the black oil I wanted."
As sparks sprayed from his nostrils, Garros's spirit was instantly invigorated. The dark red patterns on his inner scales became more vivid, and the faint branding-iron red color on the edges of his buffer scales seemed to brighten slightly.
Flapping his wings, Garros took to the sky and landed on a stretch of wilderness on the outskirts where he often went to train.
Whoosh!
Using the silver frost ring, he exhaled cold air to freeze the rocks, making them cold and hard as steel.
Full of fiery energy, Garros couldn't wait and charged headfirst into them, beginning his daily exercise.
At the same time.
Along a small branch path of the Thousand Snake Scars, several people walked slowly.
There was a Blonde Warrior about two meters tall wearing heavy armor and carrying a greatsword as large as a door; a pale, tall, and thin Necromancer surrounded by negative energy; a female Rogue with a hot figure and a dagger and heavy crossbow at her waist; a beautiful female priest in white robes; and a young-looking Caster in a light blue mage robe.
A total of five people formed an adventurer party.
The armor and greatsword on the Blonde Warrior were engraved with alchemical runes and had a refined texture, clearly excellent equipment. The equipment of the others was more ordinary, but not made of common iron either.
This group belonged to the [Tomorrow] Adventurer Team.
They had heard a rumor that powerful alchemical creations were left behind in an abandoned mine in the Serel Wilderness, so they went to explore, hoping to find the legendary powerful alchemical artifacts.
The Rogue looked at the intricate map in her hand and whispered, "Further ahead, there are no more normal roads. We will officially enter the wilderness, the territory of many monsters and Vicious Beasts."
The Necromancer grinned. "Opportunity always comes with risk. This is a path we must take."
On Planet Bernardo, professions like Necromancers who desecrated corpses and Souls faced some discrimination, but they were not directly branded as evil entities like rats crossing the street just because of their profession. Whether one was evil depended on the individual.
"It's said that there are quite a few Dragonkin in this wilderness. I hope we don't run into any,"
The priest said softly.
The Caster lowered his voice and said, "What if it's a Young Dragon? If we encounter a Young Dragon, we'll hit the jackpot and can return immediately without exploring the abandoned mine. With the sealing Spells I've mastered, I can easily drag a Young Dragon to the ground and make it impossible to escape."
A Young Dragon posed no threat to them.
What they feared were older Dragons.
"Stop dreaming. How could we be that lucky? Everyone, be careful and follow me closely."
The Blonde Warrior said in a deep voice, his tall body walking at the very front, giving his companions a deep sense of security.
They entered the wilderness, wary of any movement around them as they gradually went deeper.
If one were to look down from high above and carefully observe their path, they would find that they were about to pass through the Hemlock Hills. If they were lucky, they might encounter a Young Dragon, just as the Caster hoped.