City of Sin

Book 8, 111

If There’s A Dream, There’s A Future

The human powerhouses were like a pack of wolves that had just come across grazing sheep. They shouted strange phrases that the dragons couldn’t understand, rushing forward in a bloodthirsty frenzy. Infernos, blizzards, and thunderstorms wreaked havoc throughout the volley even as figure after figure weaved in and out of the melee.

Midren’s blood-red radiance was the most eye-dazzling existence in the battlefield, but it wasn’t the only glittering star tonight. Many others joined by its side, taking out dragon after dragon with ferocious might. Even as he adopted an imposing stance to rush down an opposing dragon, Richard suddenly found many powerful spells whizzing by his side to severely injure the beast in an instant. An arrogant figure descended from the sky, crashing onto the dragon’s neck and crushing the back of its head with a shield. The dragon’s bones loudly cracked, showing that the shield was no weaker than a legendary weapon.

But... Richard’s divine sword was still pointed towards the sky, prepared to dash towards the dragon so quickly that there would be no chance to respond. This wasn’t even the first time he wasn’t given a chance. Once they learnt of the attack, he had assumed it would be necessary to show off a little in this battle to ensure that there was greater demand for Midren. However, it was clearly unnecessary. Judging from the attitude of these legends, the runes would sell well.

The dragons suffered their greatest loss yet in this battle, but the powerhouses still injured more than they killed. At least ten dragons could be saved with proper care, but this wasn’t out of any mercy. Live dragons were just worth more points than dead ones, so they had all reached a tacit understanding to stop once the target was downed. Of course, there were still some situations where things didn’t go all that well. Even a few moments ago, Ironshield had just ended that dragon by accident. The magic had just hit the creature harder than he’d expected, and he didn’t have the time to stop his momentum.

The few dragons that were still within range of the barrier immediately flew away, ending the battle less than an hour after it began. The draconians hadn’t even appeared yet, leaving many powerhouses confused. How did it end so quickly? They hadn’t gotten enough points!

Richard’s own tally was quite pitiful by the end of it all. He had only killed two dragons, with five other targets having been stolen. Thankfully, he could just brush it off unlike the rest of the legends on the battlefield. Even as the Archeron warriors started cleaning up, a number of them stuck around reluctantly as though hoping for more dragons to emerge from the portal.

Some legends even approached him to ask how many credits the Five-Coloured Dragon was worth. The group included more than half a dozen people, and it was clear that they hoped to set up a group expedition to go kill her.

Many others came to him with another common question: just how many sets of Midren would he release? Facing those hopeful legends, he had waited for a moment before telling them that the only limit was on the materials available to him. The room erupted in cheers when they heard that, a scene that shocked him greatly.

Once he’d sent everyone off, Richard couldn’t help but turn to Nasia, “Why are they so excited? They can’t get 10,000 credits, that’s the equivalent of 20 top-tier offerings! Some of them were even just sky saints, they can’t even use the thing!”

“Eh,” Nasia shrugged, “Why do you care? Isn’t it good to dream?”

“But there’s no way this dream will come true!”

“Yes. It’s a dream.”

......

A few hours later, Ironshield came looking for Richard separately. The legendary warrior asked about the materials for Midren, something that he had only made a passing comment about without any formal announcement.

Richard nodded, “The requirements for the core materials of Midren are pretty high, so I’m offering a good number of points for any one of them. That’ll also allow me to make more of the runes quickly, so it’s a win-win.”

“Mm. I already looked at the list you put up, and I have two of the materials on hand.” Ironshield brought out an unremarkable metal box, carefully opening it up and placing it before Richard. It was only palm-sized, but looking within Richard found that the space within was expanded to more than a dozen cubic metres. Within was an ivory fang the size of one’s arm, as well as an enormous eyeball that was still stained with blood and flickering non-stop.

“Beholder eye and... the fang is from a Duke? Definitely a legendary vampire at minimum...”

“An amazing eye,” the warrior nodded. These were both very powerful items that could replace the soul crystal of an astral beast. Alongside the legendary dragon crystal Richard had on hand, he could make the core components for at least three sets; the remaining parts would be much easier to deal with.

Richard’s eyes gleaned as he scanned across both items with his Field of Truth, only closing the box when he could confirm their quality, “These materials are far beyond common standards, and I do need them. How about this, I’ll give you 50 points above the normal, that should bring them up to 600 points in total.”

Ironshield’s face lit up. He’d known that both items were better than normal, but he had only hoped for that to endear him to Richard. The extra points was a nice bonus. After all, he was someone who specialised in defence, not offence; there was no way for him to accumulate points as fast as someone like Rakis.

He stood up and bowed, “I appreciate your kindness. I have a friend coming from the Outlands around tomorrow, and he has the eye of a cyclops lord on hand. That wasn’t on the list, but can it be exchanged for points as well?”

“Hmm... I’m sure I could find a use for it. If its quality is similar to these two items, then I’ll give it the same price,” Richard promised. He couldn’t think of a way to use a cyclops eye for Midren, but if he analysed it well, he could use it as a core material for a separate grade 5 rune.

“Thank you so much. If there is a chance, I hope to fight by your side for a long time.”

......

Once Ironshield left, the legendary assassin came looking for Richard with some other materials on hand. After he was sent off, a nervous Romney carefully entered the study as well. The saint was the most respectful out of anyone facing Richard, his hands trembling as he took out a magic-sealing case.

Richard didn’t have many expectations of the saint, but as he opened up the chest the man had brought a dull glow from within instantly covered his face in a layer of grey! His skin was petrified!

Fortunately, the damage wasn’t too great. He quickly cast several protective spells and blocked off the petrifying gaze, returning to normal before looking up and locking eyes with Romney.

The assassin had almost fallen to the floor amidst his shock, only snapping out of a trance when he saw Richard’s gaze, ”No, this is a mistake! I took all the protective measures I could! This wasn’t intentional, Your Excellency, forgive me! Please spare my life!”

Richard sighed, a soft smile crawling up his face, “Relax, this isn’t your fault entirely. I see the preventive steps, but you underestimated her strength. Take a look.”

Covered in cold sweat, Romney walked over and looked within. He yelped at what he saw within, having to scrunch up and activate his aura to fight off the energy that assaulted him. Within the chest was a female head with serpentine hair, that of a gorgon. However, this head was almost the size of an elephant’s; this one was likely at least ten metres tall. Her power was at the level of a lesser abyssal lord as well; no matter where she was from, she was definitely the tyrant of a large zone.

The most frightening ability of a gorgon was their petrifying gaze. This one’s eyes had already been sewn up with enchanted gold threads, a standard protective measure, but the left eye had actually managed to struggle open into a tiny slit. The small amount of light from that had been enough to petrify a thin layer of Richard’s skin.

Romney had to suppress a sigh of relief, thanking his stars that Richard was a legendary mage. Were he weaker, this could have spelt his end. Even if a priest managed to cure the petrification, it would leave one weakened significantly for the rest of their life. Of course, he had no idea that even common legendary mages would have been petrified in part by this head. Richard only got off lightly because of his body’s power.

Sewing the eye shut once more, Richard closed the chest, “Quite a surprising item, but I’m sure you’ll understand my skepticism if you say you took down such a being alone.”

Romney smiled with guilt, “I... wasn’t the one that killed this. When I first saw her in the underworld, she was already on the verge of death. Two legends and six saints had been turned to stone next to her, but I managed to behead her with a sneak attack.”

“I see. Regardless, gorgons of this level are rare. If you’re selling this to me, I can offer you 500 credits. Deal?”

“500?” Romney almost jumped once more.

......

As he left, Romney suddenly felt light-hearted, as though the world wasn’t real anymore. He couldn’t believe that he had gotten 500 credits just like that, a jump to level 4 in terms of what he could access. Many things he could only dream of in the past had suddenly become much more achievable.

He quickened his pace, intent on rushing back to take a good look at everything that was listed. He was rich!