Dragonlord

Ep 186. Atta Boy. (3)

Ep 186. Atta Boy. (3)

“Professor, what about this one?”

“An old-fashioned pipe.”

“And this long stick?”

“An ancient Yori flute.”

“Then…what’s this crystal ball?”

“Judging by the size and the décor on its surface…an old ritual orb from the Caldon region.”

Once the relics were appraised by her professor, Light was quick to toss them over to Bruton who was busily making a separate pile of the peculiar items they’d found.

She’d then continue to wade through the chamber’s treasures, looking for the next item to quiz her professor on.

Truth be told, Light wasn’t even that curious about the relics anymore – not after the tenth one or so. At this point, she was just wondering if any of the items would stump Karas.

Even Xerun, who’d been watching cross-armed in silence, eventually became intrigued by the monster’s seemingly endless knowledge.

“How exactly do you know such items? You’re not even human yourself.”

“The same reason why humans are more interested in dragons’ history than their own history.”

“…”

That actually made sense to Xerun. At least somewhat.

But on the other hand, Light was furrowing her brows. And for a completely different reason than what Xerun had asked.

“Wait, I know you taught history, but…isn’t this archaeology?”

“I suppose it is. But there are inevitable overlaps once you go back more than a thousand years – there’s hardly any document that depict those times. History relies on archaeological work to explain that era.”

“Aha…”

While Light had momentarily paused her search in conversing with her teacher, this time Ilias was the one to dig up a peculiar-looking item – which she soon held out towards Karas.

“Professor! What about this wooden cube? A giant dice?”

“…That’s a box, Ilias. Open it.”

 “…Oh.”

Ilias awkwardly flipped the wooden box in her hand to finally notice that it was, in fact, openable. Which she soon did afterwards.

The youngling momentarily flinched at the sudden scent that pricked at her nose. Her frown quickly disappeared when she realized that the scent was a rather pleasant one, but she definitely hadn’t expected it within the depths of a dead dragon’s body.

Within the cube was a boxful of small green spheres, carefully placed above a thin layer of fabric that prevented them from scraping directly against the wood.

Although unremarkable in appearance, each sphere emitted a pure, forest-like scent. The intoxicating smell induced an inexplicable sense of serenity into Ilias, almost as if she was standing within Aldrid’s forest on her own, surrounded by the thickness of unblemished nature.

“Wow…what are these? Were they already making perfume a thousand years ago?”

“…”

Unable to tell, Karas soon approached the red dragon to take a proper look. He even took one of the green orbs into his hand, rolling it around between his fingers to study it from every angle.

But even with a closer inspection, the professor failed to identify the origins of the peculiar spheres.

“…I must say, I’m not sure what they are myself. They’re not dangerous, I don’t sense any mana infused within them…”

And before long, the forest-like scent had filled the entire chamber.

Everyone’s attention was soon fixed on the box in Ilias’ hand as they approached her for a closer look. But of those that came by to look at the box’s contents, only one of them managed to give a reasonable guess as to what the youngling was holding.

Much like Karas, Eline soon picked up one of the green spheres to give a closer inspection.

The herbalist soon furrowed her brows in disbelief, suspecting her own guess as she spoke.

“They look like…elixirs?”

“Elixirs?”

While everyone turned to Eline with curious eyes, Light and Karas were practically ridiculed.

The two knew exactly how rare elixirs were – as well as how much they went for in the markets. Alchemists that could brew them were few and far between, and they were always in high demand by the richest individuals of the continent.

Notably, there were a countless array of fake brews that claimed to be universal remedies. And even if one did manage to find a real one, their prices were often unimaginably high.

And, as Light would soon point out – as far as she was concerned, elixirs weren’t little round balls.

“But aren’t elixirs supposed to be…liquid?”

“Well…”

The herbalist initially answered with a small shrug, following up in a hesitant tone.

“You’re right; contemporary elixirs do tend to be liquid. But there are old texts that say elixirs were once synthesized as solids too. To put it simply, these are…really, REALLY condensed versions of the elixirs we have today. We don’t make them like this anymore.”

“Eh? How come?”

“…We don’t know how to make them like this anymore. A few alchemists tried to recreate them from the descriptions in old texts, but…nobody succeeded.”

Eline peeked into the box once more as she explained. Even from a brief scan, she could guess that there were at least thirty or so inside.

Following suit, Karas warily eyed the box as he processed what the spheres may be.

“Even assuming that’s all correct…are these even usable? Elixir or not, I can’t imagine a medicine lasting for hundreds of years in pristine condition.”

“Um…”

Eline briefly returned her attention to the sphere in her hand, rolling it between her fingers a few times before answering the academic.

“They should be alright. They’re preserved almost perfectly.”

Both Eline and Karas scanned their surroundings. Despite its melting state, Vulka’s remains were still mostly frozen solid, entombed in the depths of a frozen hollow.

Xerun likewise traced the bony structures surrounding them, noting the sheets of ice that encased it all.

‘The second lord must have known well in advance, then.’

But even as the gold dragon internally applauded their past lord’s wisdom, what came out of his mouth was another snarky comment towards Eline.

Or rather, her race in general.

 “…Hmph. But these medicines are of human craft. Will they even have any effect on the dragonkin?”

“…”

The herbalist gave Xerun a pathetic stare, shaking her head in evident disappointment.

“Xerun…really? What do you think I gave Elder Ardion all this time? Biscuits and honey?”

“…It was just a thought. Older crafts may not be as…advanced, as yours.”

“Gee, thanks. I’m so flattered.”

Once again, Xerun grimaced at the herbalist’s sarcastic tone.

And once again, Eline couldn’t care less.

“Though, you’ve nothing to worry about. If the records are anything to go by, then elixirs in this form are EXTREMELY strong – there’s a reason why alchemists tried so hard to recreate them. And since they were tributes specifically for dragons, I’m almost positive they’ll work.”

After a brief pause, Eline slotted the sphere in her hand back into the box. She then closed the lid for Ilias, looking into the youngling’s eyes with a sparkling gaze, hands folded over the wooden container.

“Actually…we could just try using one and see if they work or not.”

“Huh? On us?”

Eline shook her head. No one here needed an elixir for anything – Ilias was perfectly well and healthy, as was everyone else. One was somewhat grumpy, but that was his default state, so that didn’t count.

No. She needed a different test subject – one that wasn’t present with them at the moment.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

‘If these turn out to be the actual elixirs from ancient texts, then their worth would be unimaginable…’

Ideally, the test subject should be a dragon to prove its efficacy; they shouldn’t be too young, nor too old. The subject should ideally be tolerant to potential toxins, and at the same time, suffering from significant illnesses or wounds.

“…”

Even amongst the dozens of dragons Eline saw too, there weren’t too many that fit the criteria.

…Except one.