Luge took a step forward and tapped his hand against the metal surface, producing a dull thud.
The Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee had been quite thorough in their considerations, for in their eyes, this was no longer an ordinary aberrant dragon. An aberrant dragon that repeatedly violated regulations was essentially delivering itself into the hands of the Regulatory Committee—or rather, pushing itself into the status of property in a roundabout way. Once violations reached a certain threshold, the Regulatory Committee deemed it their own asset.
He looked at the blood extraction trough on the adjacent metal apparatus. Viewed as a whole, this place looked almost like a room lacking a roof and two walls; one could easily picture people once bustling about atop this aberrant dragon. As for their supposed thoroughness, it was manifest right here: property of the Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee could perish on its own, but it could never be quietly claimed by someone else.
Thus, by leaving an arcane mark and some magic stones beside the blood extraction trough, one could legitimately draw a fixed amount of dragon blood—the blood serving as compensation for filing this report.
As for how the report was made: once the dragon blood drained past a certain volume, this archaic metal contraption would be triggered. The Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee would receive the alert and arrive to recover the stray aberrant dragon. At the same time, based on the arcane mark left behind, they would create a file for the informant within the committee. If the informant had legitimate experimental needs in the future, they could apply for materials and even enjoy a degree of discount—the exact benefit measured by the number of recovered aberrant dragons and their regulatory tiers.
"Should this be enough?" he muttered to himself, secretly debating whether he should actually leave his arcane mark.
Would anyone dare challenge the Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee's authority? For instance, by doing something like slaying the aberrant dragon outright, or cutting open a wound somewhere else to bleed it dry before fleeing, just to save a few magic stones?
"Saving a few magic stones wouldn't be half bad, though..." he joked wryly to himself. Not that he truly wanted to go through the trouble of finding a scaleless spot to bore a hole and drain blood just for a few magic stones. Moreover, given the stature and resources of the Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee, tracking down a stray aberrant dragon shouldn't require such hassle, much less relying on passersby to report it. There shouldn't be any situation where they couldn't locate it—at least not for something at this one's regulatory tier.
"Great wizard, I still have a few magic stones in my mouth. As long as you report this properly, I can give them to you..."
A translucent, yellowish-black dragon phantom drifted beside him, speaking in an earnest tone.
"Do not be afraid. This is merely a feeble manifestation of my soul projection; it cannot harm you. In fact, if you hadn't said those words, I wouldn't have forced myself to appear before you at all," the dragon phantom said, its expression full of sorrow and grievance. "I am on the verge of death. My heart stopped beating long ago. Though I am technically still alive, that is only because my peculiar constitution is barely sustaining me. I want to wake up..."
The little kobold felt as if the fine hairs recently grown along his spine were surely shedding.
In that instant, he also saw through the Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee's twisted sense of humor. This was a form of domestication that cost very little yet yielded remarkable results. Some died outside, while others were recovered. True dragons were inherently arrogant and exceedingly difficult to discipline without killing them. By taking this compromise approach, manpower and resources could be kept to an absolute minimum. Moreover, such methods were likely applied only to aberrant dragons with lower regulatory evaluations, like the one before him.
He calmed himself.
This was the very first conversation between the Earth Cave's number one kobold wizard and a mighty dragon.
"Please don't call me that. I'm no great wizard, just a low-tier apprentice wizard," Luge said.
"Yes, an apprentice wizard," the dragon phantom repeated.
"There are many apprentice wizards in the Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee, ordered about daily by those wizards. Occasionally, they would climb onto my back to drain some blood, and then feed me something afterward in a fair trade. Although I couldn't leave that tiny place, looking back now, life there wasn't bad. It was just that people occasionally disturbed my sleep. I remember one apprentice whom I called Little Susie; she would even give me glittering trinkets in exchange for the food given to compensate me for the blood...
"I liked her very much. It has been so long since I last saw her. She carried the scent of thorn-ghost flowers that I so loved. I wonder if she is still alive. She said she wanted to become a wizard. Counting how long I have slept, if she didn't succeed, she is probably gone by now..."
The dragon phantom glanced back at Luge as it spoke.
"You can earn my friendship as well. If there is anything you need, you may tell me. You can even come find me later without going through the Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee. Come find me in my territory, and I can give you some dragon blood and dragon scales," the dragon phantom said.
Luge took a step forward, intending to retrieve magic stones and tinker with the metal contraption.
The dragon phantom flickered, however, darting in front of him to block his way.
"Are you leaving right now? Aren't you going to take some fresh, warm dragon blood back with you?" The dragon phantom sounded rather anxious.
"I want the fresh blood of a true dragon, but you don't have wings."
A thought flashed through Luge's mind, and he began to spin a lie, moving his hand away from his storage pouch in an attempt to squeeze out even more benefits.
The dragon phantom flickered between bright and dim, swaying from side to side.
"Ignorant fool though you are, to demonstrate our friendship, I can offer you the blood from my heart. However, you may need to provide a few more magic stones to assist me. Not even Little Susie ever received such a treasure. You had better agree quickly before I change my mind—a dragon's dignity brooks no insult..." The dragon phantom sounded distinctly displeased.
"Deal, great and honest dragon! You're surely more formidable than those winged fellows."
Luge tried flattering it, though it didn't seem particularly effective.
Wasting no more words, he dumped out a large pile of magic stones onto the metal contraption.
At the same time, he swiftly imprinted his arcane mark upon it.
This was the first time he had ever witnessed magic stones turning to ash.
Under the phantom's personal guidance, Luge's mental power triggered a switch—one that visibly soured the phantom's expression. Swaying gently as it witnessed this, the phantom seemed to finally relax completely before shattering and vanishing.
A massive torrent of dragon blood surged from the blood extraction trough.
Luge didn't know whether he had been duped or how immense the volume would be; he simply opened the passage wide and channeled it into his Abyssal bedroom space.
Had that dragon phantom not vanished, he truly would have hesitated, given that this was a corridor space leading toward the Abyss to meet demons.
The dragon blood surged in gurgling waves. The large basin he had previously constructed was quickly filled to the brim, yet the flow showed no sign of stopping. He had no choice but to keep taking it in, only ceasing when the blood rose from the low ground of the Abyssal Bedroom and nearly reached the edge of his stone bed.
Luge let out a breath of relief, swiftly leapt down from the dragon's back, and sprinted away under the enhancement of his spells, looking for all the world like a blood-stealing thief.
Chapter 48