Book: 2: 167

Book 2: Chapter 167

Lukas recalled the passage he’d read in the book.

[The corpse of an Ancient Dragon can only be described as a treasure trove. It is a valuable treasure in itself, but many parts of it can also be used as unparalleled elixirs, or supreme ingredients.]

[There is no confirmation of this fact, but it is stated that the heart of an Ancient Dragon has miraculous properties. Only a handful of those who try to refine it would be able to handle the immense power contained within...]

Then he looked at the corpse of the Ancient Dragon that was currently before him.

Bones, teeth, claws, scales.

It was a huge mountain of treasure that blacksmiths would sell their souls to get even a single portion of.

However, in all honesty, Lukas didn’t feel like this Ancient Dragon’s corpse was a treasure trove.

After all, the Ancient Dragon’s body had been broken into pieces. This was natural because it had been turned into a giant ice statue before being shattered with lightning. Not to mention the fact that the magical bombardment it suffered had greatly damaged its prized scales.

Animal hide was always worth more the less it was damaged.

That was why it was usually difficult to obtain good quality hide from powerful beasts. It was very difficult to kill a beast that was struggling to survive without doing any damage to its hide.

Therefore, Lukas felt that the value of the corpse of the Ancient Dragon he’d slain would be rather low.

Of course, that didn’t matter to him. What he was after was its core, not its shell.

Lukas looked at the Ancient Dragon’s heart. It was as black as its scales, and one rubbed it gently with their hand, they would find themself with a handful of ash.

The heart was also much larger than Lukas. It was about as large as a small cabin.

‘I need to control the ice so it doesn’t melt.’

Lukas also had fairly deep knowledge about alchemy. He knew that if he were to let the ice around the heart melt, it would gradually begin to lose its vitality, which would, in turn, mean that it would lose value.

‘Can I really refine this?’

This thought appeared in his mind for a moment, but he shook his head after thinking about it.

He didn’t think he would completely fail the refinement at all, but on the other hand, he wasn’t 100 percent confident in his success either.

After all, he knew nothing about the biological structure of Ancient Dragons, nor did he know how their parts should be handled.N/nêw n0vel chap/ers are published o/n n0v/e/(lb)i(n.)co/m

Such things were better left to the professionals.

Refiners.

His current priority would be to find someone who could purify and refine the heart of the Ancient Dragon for him.

Of course, if he couldn’t find one, then he would have no choice but to research on his own and figure it out himself...

But that was only a last resort.

* * *

“None of it should be thrown away.”

“That’s true.”

“A black dragon the size of the one you slew is enough to equip hundreds of Fighters.”

“I see.”

It was that he understood what Bargan was trying to say.

“Would that increase the average level of the Fighters in the city?”

“It wouldn’t just increase, it would increase explosively.”

Lukas knew a bit about the subtle relationships between the cities on Combat Island. While they weren’t exactly hostile towards each other, there was still a certain level of competition between them.

‘The level of the Fighters in the city represents the strength of the city.’

This relationship would be even more strained than usual since the ‘Championship’, a competition that would determine the strongest in the realm, was soon approaching.

“My Lord, in this kind of situation, you slew an Ancient Dragon. I’m not too sure about the details, but I can guess that the value of this black dragon will be beyond imagination.”

“I’m not sure if I agree. It’s quite damaged.”

Lukas looked back at the corpse as he said this, but Bargan’s expression became a bit strange.

“Is it even possible to kill an Ancient Dragon without damaging its hide? In addition, the damage to its body is limited to its scales at best. The claws are still intact, and the bones are still in good condition except for the cute ones. I think this can be considered a top-quality material.”

Bargain knew.

Just how much manpower, effort, patience, and luck were required to defeat an Ancient Dragon.

The subjugation rate of Ancient Dragons was generally considered to be less than 10 percent, and even if they succeeded, the Ancient Dragon’s corpse was usually no better than a damaged wet rag. Nevertheless, such corpses were still viewed as incredible treasures, not to mention the one Lukas had killed, which suffered practically no damage except for its scales.

Lukas nodded slightly.

The dozens of spells he casted had thoroughly damaged the Ancient Dragon’s scales, but most of them had failed to penetrate its flesh and cut its bones. And naturally, its claws were fine because it hadn’t even gotten a chance to use them in the fight.

“And above all, the skull... I heard that the skull of an Ancient Dragon was comparable in strength to that of mythical metals. And that part has been perfectly preserved. The value of that alone would be enough to make anyone cry out.”

Bargan’s voice was filled with confidence as he spoke.

Even so, Lukas simply listened at the side without much change in his expression.

He naturally did have a need for a certain amount of money, but on the other hand, if he received an exceedingly large amount, then he wouldn’t have anywhere to spend it.

Of course, there was a saying that as far as money went, the more you had the better, but that was just one of the tricks spread by those obsessed with coins.

‘I don’t know if I’ll even require such a large amount of money.’

Lukas looked up at the sky as he had this thought.

A dim orange glow was beginning to spread from the horizon.

The long night had finally come to an end, and dawn had come.

To be honest, at that moment, Lukas was still underestimating the achievement of slaying an Ancient Dragon.

He didn’t expect that it would create a storm that would affect the cities near where he had single-handedly defeated an Ancient Dragon, no that would affect the entirety of Combat Island.