Chapter 225: Shamanic Soul Power

Leaving the "Fishing Room," Ronin tossed the sea fish he had conjured from the magic circle to Carlos, who was waiting outside.

Though the beast had grown utterly weary of such fare, his stomach was so desperately empty that he could only open his jaws and swallow them whole, caring nothing for flavor, seeking only satiety.

Ronin, meanwhile, continued to inspect the remaining chambers to see if any other spoils were to be found.

Regrettably, he was met with disappointment.

After wandering about for a long while, he came up empty-handed; there were no gold coins, no armor, no weapons—nothing of what he sought was there.

The only thing that could remotely be considered a harvest was a few sheets of parchment left upon a stone table in one of the larger rooms.

Ronin surmised that this room must have belonged to Natalia, for as the overseer of this subterranean palace, she had been responsible for Carlos's custody and refinement.

As it happened, the parchment on the stone table recorded the precise method for refining Carlos, as well as the ultimate objective of the endeavor.

According to the accounts on the parchment, Carlos had been brought here by Natalia’s master, Eliot, while he was still nothing more than a dragon egg.

On one of the sheets, Natalia had even penned her adoration for Eliot—

"Lord Eliot wrested this offspring from the hands of a legendary dragon; she is the most powerful sovereign in this world, and every man, every creature, shall grovel beneath my master's feet!"

There was no telling how much truth lay in the words of a fanatic, yet if Eliot had truly plundered a dragon egg by sheer force from a dragon itself, then this Eliot was undoubtedly a powerful figure.

Returning to the contents of the parchment.

Eliot had brought the dragon egg to this place and gathered many subordinates to construct this subterranean palace, ultimately leaving Natalia and a band of followers to guard it and see to the egg's refinement.

Carlos had spoken before of the method of refinement.

Whenever Natalia activated the magic circle in the hall with what she called "Witch-Soul Power," the array would pour forth this unique, transcendent energy, corroding the unhatched dragon egg.

By the time Carlos broke through his shell, this power would be deeply planted within his body, allowing Natalia to control it through the Horn of Souls, and thereby command the dragon.

But the process did not end there; their refinement of Carlos was meant to continue until the black lines representing the Witch-Soul Power covered the dragon's entire body, forming distinct patterns upon his scales.

At that point, Carlos's body would be completely altered, his soul twisted, and a new draconic creature would be born into this world—a Witch-Soul Dragon.

Truth be told, Ronin found Eliot’s line of reasoning somewhat baffling.

If one truly wished to control a dragon and reduce it to a servant, why not simply sign a master-servant contract?

He refused to believe that someone capable of obtaining a dragon egg would be ignorant of the existence of contract scrolls.

Could it be that this Eliot possessed a peculiar fascination with creating new species?

Unless he were to meet Eliot in the flesh, Ronin supposed no one would ever answer this riddle for him.

Yet after the passage of who knew how many centuries, that person had likely ceased to exist entirely.

"My Lord, Rydal and the others have returned."

Elrond found Ronin and said, "I hear they routed a boars' den and hunted seven or eight wild boars, two of which are quite sizable."

"That is a fine harvest indeed!"

Ronin smiled as he tucked the parchment away. "How is your recovery?"

"Do not worry, My Lord, my mana was merely severely depleted; I have recovered a great deal by now."

Chatting as they walked, the two men led Carlos out of the cavern.

Beholding a dragon with their own eyes, the men were profoundly shaken.

Yet when they saw the great beast staring fixedly at the prey on the ground, they could not help but feel that perhaps dragons were not quite so mysterious after all?

"Come on, boys, tonight we hold a feast of wild boar and sea fish to celebrate the successful completion of our campaign!"

As Ronin spoke, he brought out the remaining large fish.

His subordinates set to work, some butchering the prey, others washing the food at a nearby water source, while some had already set up the roasting racks.

To serve a dragon and to dine alongside such a creature was a notion utterly beyond belief.

That evening, Carlos finally tasted food other than fish, and a misty glaze could not help but rise within his reptilian eyes.

Had there not been so many people present, and had he not feared that weeping would diminish his dignity, those two tears of a dragon would have surely trickled down.

"Rest well tonight, everyone, and tomorrow we shall set out on our return journey."

Having eaten and drunk their fill, Ronin announced the next phase of his plan.

"Concerning the dragon Carlos, and particularly the matter of my taming it, I expect no one to breathe a word of this to the outside world. This is a top-tier secret of the North Wold!"

Ronin swept his gaze across the assembly. "Should anyone leak this, they will answer for the consequences!"

Dragons were mighty, awe-inspiring creatures, but they were far from invincible.

When all was said and done, Carlos was merely a magical beast that had just entered the sixth rank; his advantage lay in his ability to fly, his mastery of the skies.

But to speak of invincibility was far too premature.

Ronin had managed to climb onto Carlos's back and leave him utterly helpless; who could guarantee that others could not do the same?

Moreover, Ronin was not the only one in the kingdom who possessed a flying mount; there were others of even greater strength.

To defy the world based on a single sixth-rank dragon would be nothing short of sheer arrogance.

Perhaps, when Carlos reached the seventh, eighth, or ninth rank, he would command a truly terrifying deterrence.

Yet when Ronin recalled that immense level progression of over ten thousand points, it was ordained that he could not afford to invest energy essences into Carlos during these early stages.

Thus, raising a powerful dragon in a short amount of time was simply unrealistic.

In truth, for ordinary men, witnessing a dragon grow from the cracking of its shell to the pinnacle of its maturity was an almost impossible feat.

A dragon’s growth period was far too long—so long that even powerhouses of the Blazing Sun rank could not afford to wait it out.

Yet on the other hand, it was undeniable that Carlos possessed immense potential and highly rare traits.

If the outside world came to know of him, there was no telling who might target him; certain powerful figures might even go so far as to capture the dragon for research.

Therefore, it was best to keep the secret of the dragon's existence guarded for as long as possible.

If they could delay the revelation, Ronin and his men would have time to grow stronger, and then everything would be easier to manage.

The men had originally intended to boast grandly upon their return, but seeing their lord's stern command, they could only bury those thoughts deep in their hearts.

Yet they believed that the lord's dragon would one day appear before the world, and it would not be too late to speak freely of today's encounter then.

Ha, after all, they were men who had faced the breath of a dragon and lived to tell the tale!

"My Lord, what shall we do with this cavern?" Rydal inquired.

Ronin knitted his brows slightly; the two magic circles within the cavern held great reference and educational value for future magical research, and this place had to be protected.

Fortunately, the materials used to construct the arrays would not easily decay, and since this was the northern reach of the North Wold—a desolate, uninhabited land whose mudflats offered no harbor for ships to dock—it spared them the worry of accidental discovery.

"When we depart tomorrow, we shall block the entrance of the cavern with large boulders, lest the beasts of the mountains claim it as their den."

After a moment's thought, Ronin added, "Later on, you may treat this subterranean palace as an outpost and arrange for regular patrols to come by."

Ronin intended to wait until the population of his territory was sufficient before sending a group of settlers to develop a small fishing village here.

For now, there was no need for him to make special arrangements for a permanent garrison.

Development had to be taken step by step; resolving the territory's food crisis remained the vital key.