Volume 2 – Birth of Heaven’s First Dragon Sacrifice
Chapter I (Part 1) – Debate on sacred sacrifices vs magicians
“Hailun, there’s something I want to talk about, I actually want to ask something but do not know if now is the right time.” Liu Zhenhan finished devouring the third egg price and asked while wiping his mouth with a piece of cloth.
“Go ahead, ask.” Hailun gave her full attention to him and said.
“Actually…” Liu Zhenhan was carefully framing the words in his mind: “I actually want to make good use of this turtle sh.e.l.l. Well, you see, it belongs to my first magic pet and I want to do something to commemorate. ”
“Hmm, well.” Hailun thought for a moment then said: “That is possible. It is said that in the human country, respectable Dragon Knights use the skull of their slain dragon pets to decorate their shields. This is another way to commemorate their dead partner, but the issue is that this model turtle is too big, so is its sh.e.l.l.”
“We’ll later find someone who can prune it and make something useful.” Liu Zhenhan said hurriedly.
Actually, he was drooling over the quality of material from which this sh.e.l.l was made of. He still remembered how the giant wolf’s wind blade was unable to damage the sh.e.l.l. They were soon going to sail the sea and this sh.e.l.l could act as a natural tent, moreover, there wasn’t much s.p.a.ce inside it then the two of them could only sleep side by side. Awesome, right?
“I don’t mind, you can give it a try if you want. And then we can bury your partner’s corpse and offer a proper burial.” Hailun nodded.
Liu Zhenhan saw the green flag in her words, picked up his machete and began to whip the turtle’s corpse up and down. Although his machete was quite sharp and his butchering skills were effective as well, he still got all sweaty in separating the corpse from the sh.e.l.l.
After all, the turtle’s skin was very tough and if it was not burnt to a great extent then he could only call it a day and give up. However, fortunately, that was not the case.
Liu Zhenhan was cutting through meat and pulled out a big pearl, the size of a goose egg, from turtle’s lower jaw. This discovery made him really excited. The interior of this pearl-like object was translucent and a mist like substance was rolling on the inside like a stream of dense air.
“When mussels, snakes, turtles or dragons get very old, pearls like this appear in their bodies. It seems like your partner was very old.” Hailun smiled and said: “Consider this as a parting gift from your partner, keep it with you forever. Its head should have a magical beast nucleus; do you wish to collect it as well?”
“What is a nucleus?” Liu Zhenhan asked.
“See that thing hanging on Fruit’s neck? That is a magical beast’s nucleus.” Hailun said while pointing at Fruit’s necklace, a six-sided prismatic crystal that was tied around Fruit’s neck with a piece of vine. Liu Zhenhan remembered taking this crystal out of the blue wolf’s cremated body.
“Of course, I want it.” Liu Zhenhan immediately picked up his machete and inserted it into the turtle’s skull but was only able to make a tiny crack in the skull.
“Forget it. You won’t be able to take it out.” Hailun persuaded him to give up.
“No!” Liu Zhenhan used both his hands and put all his strength in the next series of thrusts. He finally managed to open a big hole in the skull and inserted his hand into the skull to look for a crystal, however, all he could feel was roasted semi-hardened brain matter. There was nothing else inside the skull.
“It’s not there?” Hailun was also shocked by this discovery.
“Nope.” Liu Zhenhan shook his muddled hand, “By the way, I still don’t know about a nucleus’ utility, care to explain?”
“Nuclei can vary in shapes and sizes, but first of all, I would like to tell you that they are all very beautiful stones that can be used to make ornaments. In addition, the nuclei can absorb the power of the elements, in other words, a human magician can store magic in them and this can help in a ma.s.sive increase in the amount of time for which he can actively use magical attacks in one go. Nuclei are very expensive, of course, only high-level magical beasts can produce nuclei within their bodies. It is impossible for your Fruit and my osprey bird to generate nuclei within their brains; the nuclei extracted from stronger magical beasts tend to be more precious.” Hailun smiled and said: “Every year, our Beamon Kingdom sells nuclei to the humans. The trade of nuclei generates a significant amount of revenue and it an important source of income for us.”
“You sell nuclei to humans?” Liu Zhenhan swore in his heart that Beamon King was really an idiot, “Why would your Beamon Kingdom sell precious nuclei to your enemies, knowing full well that they have always been hostile towards you?”
“No, wait, let me explain.” Hailun as if immediately noticed the mocking nature of his question and went on to explain: “Firstly, nuclei of magical beasts are not the specialty of Danube wilderness. If we do not sell nuclei to the humans, they can always go buy it from elsewhere or just go hunting themselves. Secondly, let me give you an example. Suppose, we give the giant wolf’s nucleus, the one attached to Fruit’s necklace, to a human magician. Then we must note that only a wind type magician can use it to store his wind magic. Now, we must also note that magical wolf can only be regarded as an ordinary wind type magical beast and its nucleus can only store enough magic to help a magician launch about a dozen wind blades.”
“That is also very fierce.” Liu Zhenhan still had a lingering fear of the wolf’s wind blades in his heart, “If I am a human and always keep 100 or so nuclei with me, whom shall I need to fear?”
“Li Cha.” Hailun laughed: “I think you still do not understand the true power of a human magician which is far from ordinary. A magical beast cannot compete with a human magician. Although magicians need to go through long chants, spill spices and perfumes and also have to use scrolls to summon magical attacks, but their absolute magic can directly invoke much effective and more complex magical attacks. Consider this magical wolf, for example, it can only use wind blades to attack. Its attacks are monotonous and there is no way for it to change its attacks, however, the same doesn’t apply to a human magician. A human magician can chant spells or use scrolls to immediately launch dozens of wind blades, then he can also use ‘chaotic dance of wind blades’ that is magical attack consisting of dozens of dancing wind blades, or he can summon a ‘tornado’ that can lift stones weighing 500 pounds and throw them into the sky, or he can use ‘wind wall’ to block all the attacks aimed at him. When you are facing a human magician, you just cannot guess the next magical attack that he is going to use. However, that’s not the case while facing a magical wolf since you can calmly read its attacks and dodge them in time. Now do you understand the extent of a human magician’s power?”
“d.a.m.n, they are so powerful!” Liu Zhenhan’s complexion changed.
“Ha-ha”
Hailun laughed for a second then smiled tenderly like an elegant princess: “The elemental magic used by a human magician is not as pure as the magic used by a magical beast. For example, the wind blade attack, when used by a magical wolf, can slice through a wooden stick that is as thick as your forearm, whereas the wind blade used by a human magician can only reach one-fifth of its width.”
“They are still very powerful.” Liu Zhenhan still felt intimidated.