Chapter 521: Selflessness? Reward Time!
Once the Green Dragon completely received the essence threads into his body, another light shone out, but this time, it wasn’t a momentary phenomenon.
’Impressive.’
Even before I could fully perceive it, I instinctively admired the image that was taking form in front of me.
With the cute little Dragon acting like a light source at the core, a large projection spread around it, drawing the image of something majestic.
’I can’t tell which one looks cooler.’
Even when compared with the still body that it rose above, the projection didn’t fall short in grandiose. Each one of them seemed to have their own charm.
While the Volcanic Dragon’s color and shape gave off a strong wild impression, the projection was very smooth and soothing.
The irregular shape of the rocks that studded the Volcanic Dragon’s body made it look outlandish yet stable like a mountain. On the other hand...
’If I had to pick, then this would be the one.’
The Green Dragon’s projection was a great example of elegance, with features so defined that it brings about relaxation!
However, although this form perfectly matched my taste, I still didn’t regret giving up all thoughts of snatching the essence to myself.
’Changing my outlook now is more necessary than ever.’
Among the many reasons behind this insight, the immorality of stealing something that didn’t belong to me had to be at the very top of that list.
Unlike the continuous stream of enemies that I had to deal with, the Green Dragon was the closest thing to an ally, and could even be considered a distant relative.
That was the correct approach to the matter, to begin with. However, now that I had been plagued by an invisible Demonic Thought, it was even more important to run my decisions through a morality check!
Furthermore, even basic logic denied this move. Even if I were to somehow avoid any possible retaliation, becoming a True Dragon was just a very tasty poison.
’Not only would I be asking for a beating...’
Sure enough, being capable of exercising the power of Full Dragonization without limits would trivialize a lot of problems, but when push came to shove, it would be the worst power-up I could receive!
I was already considered a high-priority target on the Demons’ list. However, the kind of attention I would receive as a True Dragon would be ten times that. Most importantly...
’But I would also be creating my own Achilles’ heel.’
While the pursuit of any number of normal Demons would no longer pose a threat, all they would need to do was send one Dragon Slayer my way.
If even the great Dragons who had been around for many centuries were helpless against them, what could I possibly do?
Whether it was the power of tools or not, let alone the Dragon Slayer who broke the norm and put the Volcanic Dragon down without obstruction, the Green Dragon’s hunter would be enough to get the job done.
After all, neither I nor the Green Dragon had any idea of how to resist essence separation. Once I ended up in the same situation, I would be reduced to nothing more than a piece of meat bound to a cutting board.
’Even if I don’t directly die, I can’t do much.’
I couldn’t confirm that I would obtain the Green Dragon’s ability to teleport by seizing his essence, but even in the case I did, the Green Dragon’s escape was a fateful event that couldn’t be replicated.
Lastly, trying to hide through hibernation was just an empty dream. Since I personally knew of three Dragons that had been targeted by Demons, it was obvious that the Demons had very trustworthy means for locating them.
’It’s definitely not for me.’
In short, the Green Dragon’s essence may look appetizing, but the consequences of eating it were far too many.
Even the simplest possible consequence meant losing heaps of painstaking efforts. If I couldn’t condense the power of a True Dragon into human shape, then all the ’human’ skills I have learned until now would be rendered useless.
{Huuuuuu...}
Just when I finished strengthening my defenses against the Demonic Thought’s useless plan, a strong sigh came out from the Green Dragon’s projection.
It wasn’t only there to look good, the body formed from light could actually move and produce sound!
{This is much better.}
The serene voice was still the same, but the tone was completely different. The old voice was almost like a shadow of the current one.
"I take it that your life is no longer at risk?"
{Indeed, this Green Dragon’s time has yet to come. Though... Making a true comeback will take a while.}
The positivity in the Green Dragon’s voice was contagious. However, I was still able to glean one undeniable fact.
’We can’t count him as an effective ally.’
A ’while’ might be a tolerable amount of time in human words, but a Dragon’s words definitely had different scaling. In this war when things could end within months or even weeks, waiting that while wasn’t a viable option.
{Since I wasn’t actually killed, nor did I reach the end of my life cycle, I don’t need too many steps to recover, but just reconstructing the body using half of my essence isn’t an easy task.}
’Oh?’
"Wouldn’t you recover faster if you take the portion in my possession?"
Although I had already given up on snatching the other half of the essence, I was extremely reluctant to give up something that had already become a part of my power. However...
’If it’s necessary...’
In the bigger scheme of things, loss or gain wasn’t a direct matter.
If it was to obtain a True Dragon as an active ally, losing the ability to use a fraction of their power was undeniably worth it!
’Besides, as long as he is willing, I can still regain that ability in the future.’
Once the Green Dragon completely recovered, obtaining some normal Dragon blood to re-attain my evolution wasn’t completely farfetched!
{Oho, Giving up precious Dragon Essence just like that? Unfortunately, while I appreciate the sentiment, that won’t be necessary.}
I did make the decision to give it up without looking back, but hearing the Green Dragon’s refusal was an immediate relief. It seemed like I really had to work on my selflessness.
{The regenerative properties of a Dragon’s Essence aren’t limited to its user. In the hand of its true owner, even just a drop of essence is enough to restore the thing in its entirety.}
This is yet another reason to regard Dragon Essence as a cheat item. If a near-death experience wasn’t the prerequisite to this method, then this property could have practically allowed infinite replication of such a precious matter.
’A lot of time would be needed as well, but that’s beyond the point.’
{Having the entire Origin itself would certainly make this process faster. However, it would still take too much time, time that the Domains don’t have. It isn’t worth nulling one of the few ways I could support you in. Instead...}
Since this was practically our first real meeting, such affectionate words should have sounded pretentious. However, the sincerity they carried directly touched my heart.
{Allow me to exercise the rest of my means to bolster up your resistance!}
No notifications popped up, but I could tell that the quest rewards were finally here.
