The young werewolf broke down under Adam's intense interrogation. He left behind the resolve and toughness he'd shown before, along with his odd hatred for the dragons, managing to squeeze out such weak words.
Yet, he didn't realize Adam hadn't forgotten.
"Why do you hate dragons so much?" Adam pressed.
Right away, the young werewolf choked back his tears and replied, "The dragons are backstabbers. During the *u0026 amp;#? invasion, they turned their backs on the world. Then they double-crossed *u0026 amp;#? when our forebears tried to close the dimensional tear, and they did it again after agreeing to a peace deal."
Even though his words were short, the werewolf's voice steadied as he talked. He was sure he was going to die. He was speaking to a dragon, and everything he had said just now could've angered this formidable being. Convinced he was at his end, he chose to say exactly what he thought: "Dragons are the lowest of the low, lazy, vicious, and deceitful."
He hadn't finished his sentence when he saw Adam bow his head. Thinking Adam was about to attack, the young wolf squinted in terror, only to snap his eyes open wide the next instant.
Adam wasn't looking to devour him, nor was he interested in his long speech, merely asking, "Why have dragons betrayed others over and over?"
"I'm not sure."
"What do you werewolves call someone more powerful than an Elder?"
"In werewolf society, we call them Sages."
"Why can't we have more Elders?"
"The planet itself has been hurt."
"How come the dragons didn't suffer?"
"I don't know."
Adam fired off a bunch of questions one after the other, and the young wolf had few answers, particularly about dragons. When Adam ran out of questions, he put the wolf back in his cell and left.
"Was he lying?"
While Adam grilled the young wolf, the devil inside Adam's mind watched the whole questioning. Answering Adam's query, he offered, "Unlikely."
"Likely?"
The devil quickly added, "If these natives can't mask their soul's vibes when they're young, then he's telling the truth. But it's anybody's guess whether they've got that skill."
He felt a bit mistreated because Adam seemed to doubt his opinion.
Adam paid it no mind, and after figuring out the young wolf hadn't lied, he sent the devil back and started to mull over the fresh information.
From the young werewolf's answers, it was clear there was a realm out there against the Dragon Plane. The conflict happened long ago, and though the Dragon Plane's locals beat the intruders, the victory cost them dearly. The figures painted on the wall flying into the heavens, and the 'Sages' the wolf spoke of must match up to the transcendent beings from the mage realm. Now, they might all be gone, and any left behind are in no better shape than the Elder Adam had met earlier.
Adam figured that the Dragon Plane's lack of strong beings came down to them weakening the origin of the world. That plane with the weird name had to have a way to suck away the energy of the origin.
This was a big deal because the Mage World had grown powerful thanks to the Plane Sacrificial Magic Array. It was a key element, and Adam knew that no other place out there had this kind of setup.
Now, Adam's 'beginner's mission' had him stumble upon a world that might just have this same tech. If he could prove this and tell the Mage World, it would shake up even the big shots like the Tower.
"I guess I've struck gold," Adam whispered to himself.
Two months had zoomed by, and the City of Freedom had changed, showing off a new vibe of prosperity.
Adam added two fresh products to his exclusive list: Yeti slaves and Frost Giant slaves.
They remembered their promise to watch out for each other. When they found the werewolf tribe's spot empty and the underground areas wrecked, they figured the City of Freedom was to blame and attacked.
But their attack flopped.
These new races were just as tough as the werewolves, each with a big shot who had hung on by some secret trick. But maybe their spirits were weaker than the werewolves', because the leftover power from their big shots was pretty weak. Adam knocked them out with a couple of magic missiles, sending them off for good.
All the ones left were captured.
Adam had gone around the lands of these two races but didn't find any shrines or anything like that, which didn't really surprise him. The werewolves were kind of smart, but didn't leave any books or writings. These other races seemed to have only muscles, so they wouldn't have any old wisdom lying around.
The City of Freedom became a hotspot for adventurers, sparking new life in the barren lands, and the buildings the devil put up found their use.
But adventurers thought the City of Freedom was odd. It was built on an ice field people usually stayed away from, and it was orderly without seeming to have rules; moreover, the city lord, a dragon, claimed that you didn't need money or magic gems to deal with the lord's mansion. You just needed strange trinkets and stuff that seemed interesting but had already been tossed aside by everyone else.
"Odd Trinkets" were what the Dragon Plane folks called magical items with special tricks.
But for Adam and the devil, this wasn't weird at all. The Dragon Plane's money and what they called Energy stones meant nothing to Adam. The real jackpot for him was the quirky things that other people didn't think were worth much.
"Catch a young dragon for the lord's house and earn twenty thousand units of magic gems, or something equally valuable. Catching a Frost Dragon baby and the prize doubles, plus you get a special ceremony to boost your bloodline, hosted by the lord himself."
On that day, an announcement from the lord's mansion really shook up the adventurers. It was a shock to see a new group, other than the Dragon Slayer Guild, daring to say out loud that they wanted dragons hunted.
The big reward of twenty thousand magic gems was already quite the draw, but the extra offer of a bloodline boost drove everyone wild: In a world where your bloodline could mean everything, the chance to climb up the ladder was too tempting to pass up. They were ready to risk a fight with full-grown dragons, not just the youngsters.
Nobody thought the City of Freedom would back out on their word because no one would mess with so many different people. If they broke their promise, even if the lord of the City was a mighty dragon, they'd be doomed.
Still, this was just a comforting idea for the adventurers; even if Adam fell through on the deal, the chance of them all banding together against him was pretty slim.
...
The ongoings in the City of Freedom, especially after they started selling slaves from the icy plain, got people talking far and wide, all the way to the cities in the Racial Alliance. That's when the mysterious Dragon Slayer Guild decided it was time to step in.
They sent someone over to set up shop in the City of Freedom and talk about joining forces.
At the same time, Adam got a message out of the blue from Lina: "Master, the Dragon Slayer Guild has chosen me, and I'll be in your city soon."
And that messenger was Lina herself."
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om