"Are you okay?" David asked Mery.
"Don't worry," she replied.
She knelt by the river, washed her face and even drank the water.
"Mm, it's refreshing," she said, looking rather amazed.
David was curious, so he also took some water from the river with both palms and drank it.
Sure enough, it was surprisingly refreshing, cool and somewhat sweet.
David drank some more to quench his thirst.
He felt very energized after drinking the river water.
After that, he finally walked towards the dragon skeleton.
It was finally completely dead, but although the light was faint, it was indeed still glowing.
The light probably didn't come from energy, but the pure light of the skeleton.
David touched it, and found the hazard to be extremely hard.
It was the hardest thing he had ever touched. He was able to make it crack only because he was using Excalibur which is very sharp by nature. Otherwise, even a nuclear blast probably couldn't scratch it. David couldn't imagine how strong the dragon that owned the skeleton was when it was alive with flesh and strength. It could probably destroy a mountain with one blow.
David started trying to measure its length.
Just from its head to its feet, it was probably about 50 meters long. Coupled with its tail, it could be up to a hundred meters long.
Surely it would be bigger when it had meat. It might be the equivalent of a football field.
If such a creature appeared on earth now, the excitement would be unimaginable.
Mery also touched the skeleton, observing its head.
"What can I do with this skeleton?" David asked Mery.
"It's a priceless treasure," Mery replied, continuing to show an expression of amazement.
Unfortunately, her words gave David no answer.
However, David chose to remain silent and wait, knowing that Mery was still in a state of not being able to answer.
After a while, she finally calmed down enough.
"David, helping to purify the blood of the Deities is just the basic benefit of the bones of ancient creatures. They are used for that because usually people only get a small amount of them, like the ones we found in that hole." Mery began to explain.
"For an intact skeleton like this, especially a deity-level skeleton, we can make it into a puppet. Even more than that, making them into weapons or armor is also possible. However, it is best to replace your own bones with those of a deity. That will increase your strength drastically, and extend your lifespan. You will also have an extremely strong physique that is not easy to harm."
"Replace my own bones with someone else's?" David was immediately intrigued by that, somewhat incredulous that it could be done.
His bones were mortal while the bones of the deities were clearly bones with divine power. Time could not corrupt them. Its power may be depleted but not its light. It will continue to shine until the world is destroyed.
"Wait, this skeleton is a dragon bone, is it possible to use it for humans?" he asked as he realized there was a difference in form.
"It can, of course, and it might be able to make you transform into a dragon," Mery replied.
"Does that mean I'm forever in dragon form?" David showed a strange expression when he heard that.
"Of course, no. I mean you can be a dragon and you can be human. However, I can't say that there are no bad side effects for you as a human." Mery replied.
The iron chest opened, revealing its amazing contents.
It was indeed amazing, leaving David and Mery mesmerized.
There were all sorts of objects inside the chest, from a jeweled cup, a crown that seemed to have once been used by an incomparable emperor, to a golden robe with the emblem of the Dragon and Phoenix. Each exuded an extraordinary majestic aura. It was an aura that was already thin, but it seemed to last forever.
All three still looked ordinary compared to the other objects.
David saw a silver knife with a curved shape.
When he saw the tip, David felt like his throat had been ripped out.
These were all obviously very valuable artifacts. Perhaps they were once used by great figures, then collected by the dragon.
As David continued to observe, Mery suddenly reached her hand into the iron chest, taking out three neatly arranged rings.
"David, you hit the biggest jackpot," she said.
"What's with those rings?" David asked Mery.
At first glance, the rings appeared to be ordinary objects, quite unlike anything else.
However, it was impossible for the rings to be ordinary objects and for the dragon to put them inside the iron chest. They must have some special value.
"These rings are legendary Artifacts of Space," Mery replied, sounding excited. "You know, they're sometimes called Storage Rings in eastern novels, artifacts with frozen space inside."
"So something like that really exists?" David was quite surprised after hearing Mery's explanation.
He couldn't help but take one ring from her hand, wanting to examine it for himself.
When he touched it, he immediately felt a connection with the ring. With his mind, he could look into it or put objects into it.
What he saw inside the ring was truly incredible. He saw an empty space similar to space, extremely vast, perhaps equivalent to the area of a city.
"What a stroke of luck!" David couldn't say anything to describe his own luck. All he could do was smile faintly in delight.
He immediately put the ring on his finger.
Right after that, Mery handed one of the rings in her hand to David.
"I'll keep one, you can give this to anyone," she said.
David smiled wryly at her words.
"You really know what I need," he said.
It was perfect to give it to Jane who had basically changed his life.
"What about it? Are you going to use it or give it to Erza?" David asked while looking at the ring on Mery's hand.
She didn't use it, but actually put it in her pants pocket.
What did that mean? Did she not want it?
Mery didn't answer and didn't argue, indicating that David's guess was correct.
David didn't know what to say.
He thought she needed to be freed from this kind of bondage.
It wasn't that Erza forced her to continue serving her, it was just that Mery seemed to want to do everything for her.