Chapter 43: Desire and Reason

The clear moonlight flowed like water over the Ironwood Hills, and Garos's scales shimmered with a cold, metallic luster in the night.

He rolled up the map and gazed into the distance.

Samantha was still bent over repairing her alchemy workshop, the clanging of hammers ringing out with particular clarity in the silent wilderness.

Garos's tail tapped lightly against the ground, but his thoughts had already drifted to that abandoned mine—the nest of the Rock-Breaking Worms, the location of the Malnes Dungeon, and a highly probable burial site for a legendary alchemical artifact.

A flame of greed burned in his chest, urging him to set off immediately and claim the treasure for himself.

Reason whispered at the same time: if he rushed in recklessly, he would likely pay a terrible price, even his life.

Feeling the struggle within, Garos took more than a dozen deep breaths before reason gradually gained the upper hand, slowly suppressing the greed, arrogance, and conceit stemming from his draconic nature.

It involved a legendary-grade alchemical artifact.

These emotions had surged to unprecedented heights just now.

Greed made him want to obtain the legendary-grade alchemical artifact at any cost.

Arrogance and conceit made him feel certain of success, ignoring the risks.

Fortunately, since Garos had transformed into a dragon and felt these emotions for the first time, he had realized that if he did not control them and force them to submit to his reason, they would eventually harm him, so he frequently fought against them.

Even now, he still could not completely shake off their influence.

But he would not be completely driven by them.

Hah. Exhaling slowly, Garos's gaze returned to clarity.

"These inherent flaws formed alongside the inheritance are like a flood or a ferocious beast; truly terrifying."

Regardless of how other dragons were, Garos did not wish for his reason to be affected by these emotions.

Although he was a hybrid dragon of exceptional birth and possessed an evolution talent, he still lacked the conditions to be willfully arrogant.

"If I were a legendary dragon from the legends, perhaps I wouldn't need to consider so much and could simply embrace my nature; their arrogance and confidence would be justified."

Garos thought to himself.

"But legendary dragons are ethereal; the vast majority of dragons are like me, or even worse, and the negative impact of these emotions far outweighs the benefits."

"Why not remove them? The gods worshipped by the Dragon Clan truly exist; they should be capable of such a thing."

Garos thought silently.

An excessive obsession with treasure like a curse, irrational arrogance and conceit—these were, in Garos's view, obvious, invisible shackles placed upon dragons.

Even without special talents.

Even if it were just the weakest White Dragon among dragons.

Garos felt that if one could break free from these invisible shackles, with the innate physique and talents of dragons, one would surely soar to heights absolutely unattainable by ordinary dragons.

If these inherent flaws were removed.

The Dragon Clan, which was gradually declining, would surely recover quickly, and it was not impossible for the glory of the ancient era to reappear.

But why not?

Were the gods of the Dragon Clan unable to do it?

Or were they unwilling?

Garos could not figure it out, shook his head, and stopped thinking about it further, focusing his mind on the matter at hand.

He turned to look at the Red Young Dragon and asked, "Samantha, what do you think a legendary-grade alchemical artifact would look like?"

Samantha stopped hammering the rock slab, turned, and faced Garos.

It tilted its head to think for a moment, excitement flashing in its eyes:

"It must be something that can make the entire wilderness tremble! Like a giant cannon that spews lava and causes the sky to collapse and the earth to crack? Or a mechanical core that can summon storms?"

Garos chuckled softly, "Perhaps."

Samantha had also heard the wanderer's account at the time and could not restrain herself, saying, "My dear brother, do you want to explore the dungeon? Take me with you! We will surely get the treasures inside and then dominate the wilderness!"

"By then, you will be the Supreme Dragon King of the Sael Wilderness, and I will be the Red Dragon Queen, second only to one dragon and above all things!"

"The two of us will rule the Sael Wilderness together, with an infinitely bright future and a dragon life rising day by day."

Supreme Dragon King, Red Dragon Queen—truly chuunibyou.

Moreover, it hadn't considered the risks involved at all.

Garos glanced at the excited Red Young Dragon, who wanted to explore the dungeon immediately, and said, "Stop dreaming. If you have time to fantasize, you might as well study alchemy more."

"My dear brother, if you don't want to go, why not give me the map and let me go!"

Samantha said expectantly.

Garos was expressionless: "Go do what you are supposed to do; this is not something you should consider."

Samantha wanted to say something more, but the moment she met Garos's calm, deep eyes, she felt a prickling itch on her body.

It wasn't a real itch, but a certain 'premonition'.

Because it happened too often.

Samantha could roughly foresee the precursor when Garos wanted to beat her up.

His current expression, his current gaze, and his current tone were all sending danger signals to Samantha without exception.

Samantha turned away resentfully and stopped mentioning the matter.

On the other side.

Garos suppressed emotions like greed and arrogance, thinking with reason and evaluating gains and losses.

"The Malnes Dungeon, suspected to exist beneath the abandoned mine where the Rock-Breaking Worm swarm resides, suspected to hide a legendary-grade alchemical artifact."

"The Worm King was injured by the Copper Dragon not long ago and has not yet recovered; ordinary Rock-Breaking Worms pose no threat to me."

"But the abandoned mine is not large; it might just be an entrance to the dungeon. Who knows if there are creatures higher-level and more powerful than the Worm King down below?"

"Moreover, the dungeon was destroyed a thousand years ago; even if this alchemical artifact truly exists, whether it is intact and whether it can be activated cannot be determined."

"There are too many uncertainties; the risks far outweigh the benefits."

After much deliberation, Garos temporarily shelved the idea of exploring the dungeon.

Ultimately, it was merely a Legendary Alchemical Item; for a dragon destined to become Legendary, obtaining it would only serve as a better early transition, not as something so crucial it was indispensable.

To undertake unnecessary risks for something that might not truly exist, might not work well, and was not essential.

A young dragon clouded by greed, arrogance, and other emotions might do such a thing.

But Garos chose to refuse.

He only needed to advance steadily, evolving step by step to grow ever stronger; there was no need to take risks.

It was not worth it.

However, he had not completely given up.

If he could obtain a Legendary Alchemical Item before reaching level 20, it would be greatly beneficial to him.

"Wait until I grow strong enough to defeat the Insect King, subdue and enslave it, then use it and the swarm of Rock-Breaking Worms under its command to explore this dungeon."

Garos made his final decision in his heart.

(End of Chapter)