Chapter 5) Noble Sculpture
Weed cleaned himself in the river before going to see the dragon Ratuas .
“I might be killed if I am dirty . This dragon might have a nasty nature so I can’t allow it to find fault with me . ”
He washed his body and looked at his face in the Yuskellanda’s mirror that he needed to deliver to the dragon . The item had a staggering level limit of 1,000 . It was an item he couldn’t use but had the ability to seal monsters .
“Hrmm, my mouth is ugly but the rest is okay . I have become lighter after washing . ”
Yellowy and Goldman were watching .
“Umoooo, he looks the same . ”
“Gol gol gol . He has changed . The water is dyed . ”
Only he would know the subtle differences! Weed washed himself then changed outfits . He wore equipment that he wouldn’t regret losing if he died .
There was only a day remaining for the deadline of the quest so he decided to go straight there .
Ratuas’ Lair . It was in the area south of the Rosenheim Kingdom .
There were light particles as Yurin appeared like magic .
“Oppa . ”
“Is the picture ready?”
“I’ve drawn a picture of the area . We can depart immediately . And…”
“Huh?”
“Should I prepare a coffin made out of paelownia wood? Or perhaps birch wood?”
Weed gave a long sigh .
He was close with his sister so she was joking around .
‘My family is happy enough now to make dull jokes . ’
Then he looked at his sister with affectionate eyes .
‘She grew up . ’
His grandmother and sister . He loved his family and was always nervous about looking after them . Sometimes an incident would occur but it was hard to replace the warmth of a family . His sister grew up pretty without any major incidents .
‘Any thief that steals her is a really blessed guy . No, I won’t send her away so easily . She’s been living with me all her life . ’
Yurin was still babbling .
“You might be burned to death . Or just melted . Oppa, you haven’t died in a long time . Shouldn’t you die at least once?”
“Isn’t this a great opportunity to die?”
Weed recalled when Yurin was a child .
They were young children with no parents . There was only a difference of a few years but it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he raised her like a daughter .
‘I remember when she had a runny nose . She cried easily, had food cravings and hung around some bad people for a short period in high school . ’
Still, she managed to get a scholarship for university . Their parents would have been proud and happy .
Spending a long time with his sister .
‘Now she needs to marry a good man and I’ll send her off . ’
Thanks to Yurin, he arrived right under Cregodal mountain where Ratuas was located .
There was a river flowing through the forest and the cries of birds could be heard .
“Oppa, I’m going . ”
“Yes . I’ll contact you later if I need it…”
Weed tried to ask for help from Yurin .
“I will wait with a coffin!”
Yurin stuck her tongue out before disappearing into particles of light .
“Indeed my sister…I will make her cook in the morning and evenings . ”
I felt more like a father than a brother .
In particular, he felt good because of her bright and active personality . It was good compared to when Yurin used to be depressed and dull .
“It will be good enough if she gets married in the future . ”
It was dangerous to be an unmarried woman . Weed started to climb Cregodal mountain . He wasn’t afraid of any monsters thanks to Time Sculpting .
Thanks to the Dark Gamers Union, he got information about the area around the dragon’s lair .
-Pathfinder Lane .
It was a long time in the past .
I just reached level 180 when I found a dragon’s lair . I accidentally stared at a big jackpot before dying .
There would be huge compensation for the great risk .
That time was the early days in Royal Road but I saw legendary weapons and treasure .
Those who obtained it would be able to grow faster than anyone else . Of course, they could also be sold for an expensive price .
Anyway . There are two dragons currently inhabiting Cregodal Mountain .
Blue dragon Ratuas and black dragon Kerminade .
I was killed by a monster trying to enter Kerminade’s lair .
Huge ant like creatures were crawling around . There are rare monsters near the lair of the dragons .
Weed had been to the lair of the black dragon Kaybern in the Thor Kingdom .
The evil dragon Akryong Kaybern!
He made a sculpture for him using the agate jewels obtained from the tomb of the master sculptor Belsos .
There were thousands of corrections as he made it into the shape of an elegant and brilliant sculptor! Just thinking about it caused his stomach to hurt .
“I don’t want to be involved with dragons . The quest should end here . ”
Weed paid close attention .
He was walking when he saw a lich!
The lich was holding a skull cane and wearing a red robe .
Weed automatically made calculations .
‘Not wearing a crown . Richer than a common lich . Looking at the blackened skull on the cane, I guess that the lich uses black magic to trick enemies . I should use Blink to narrow the distance and avoid the magic . ’
Figuring out the lich would be a great help in battle .
Weed took out his weapon in preparation for a head on confrontation .
-Human .
But the lich spoke to Weed .
-Ratuas-nim is waiting .
Wed understood the situation .
‘The dragon sent a steward to meet me . ’’
Dragons needed to satisfy their lofty intellectual interests and turned useful subordinates into lich .
It could be a terrible slave life but they were actually treated quite good .
There were many dwarf slaves in this area .
‘In other words, it is a type of slave management . ’
Weed had looked for information about Ratuas through Mapan .
It wasn’t reliable but information about the dragon was obtained from local legends, noble families and royal records .
Unlike Akryong Kaybern, Ratuas wasn’t evil and there were no special activities talked about in the records .
‘He isn’t a very bad dragon . Akryong Kaybern always asks for gold and other treasures from the kingdom but there is almost no records of Ratuas . I wanted to steal a rare treasure from Kaybern but he would have killed me . ’
Weed watched the lich and pulled out a turtle .
A turtle was a well-known favourite pet for lich . Of course, he had prepared it as a bribe . Giving bribes were necessary for mutual friendship!
-What is this?
“A minor token of my sincerity . ”
It would be a grievous situation if the other person rejected it . Giving bribes to a diligent and sincere knight would cause intimacy to fall instead .
Weed had considered all this when deciding the bribe . He needed to give a true bribery that the other party would accept .
A flimsy bribe wouldn’t be good if he was trying to build a relationship with someone . But the lich just took it since he was the servant of a dragon and didn’t have any morals .
-A small, white turtle .
“A precious thing . Its potential to grow safely in the sea is very low . I would rather the turtle stay here than be vulnerable to harassment from human hands . ”
-I think so as well . Ratuas-nim’s place is a rare heaven .
“And this is a small house for the turtle to live in . ”
Weed pulled out a golden turtle house .
The purity was 100% gold .
A sculpture of a house and small pond that made him cough up blood! The artistic value was 374 and the materials cost at least 4,000 gold .
“I thought some advance preparation was needed . The turtle can feel at ease . ”
-Then it will be useful for the turtle .
The jawbone of the lich got a little wider as he accepted the turtle and golden house . If he was a human then his mouth would be torn!
-Don’t linger anymore . Go before Ratuas becomes angry .
But the fierce voice had already softened .
Weed had managed to form a small relationship with him . Of course, he wouldn’t help Weed kill the dragon but even a slight increase in friendship was important .
If the bribe was enough then he could be useful later .
Weed imagined many things before meeting the dragon Ratuas .
He wondered how strong and intimidating he would be compared to Kaybern . Unlike Ausollet the Chaos Dragon, this dragon had his combat skills intact .
‘It would be a tremendous asset if I can discover even a small gap . ’
He also looked at everything when he had entered Akyrong Kaybern’s lair .
Weed would become strong enough to target a dragon one day!
Even when he was the desert ruler, he barely had enough power to face a strong dragon like Ausollet .
Weed’s overall level and combat power was far below them but that would change over time . He could take advantage of miscellaneous skills, the five secret sculpting techniques and even Time Sculpting . He also had the support of the Geomchis, helpers like Pale’s party and the overwhelming Grass Porridge Cult . If Weed hunted a dragon then even high level users would jump in!
In the future, he would create the myth of invincibility when hunting .
-Human, you might not know this but I have been waiting a long time for this day .
The huge body of the blue dragon Ratuas was waiting . He stared down at the tiny Weed with wise eyes .
He was once a young dragon on the Versailles Continent but had grown to a great dragon after living for at least 1,000 years . Time really didn’t matter to a dragon .
‘He receives gifts from dwarves and elves so he must be really rich . ’
Weed respectfully bowed his head .
“It is great to see you . It is within the promised deadline but I am sorry for the delay . ”
-In the past, I took away the Fairy Queen’s freedom but that punishment was too harsh . I regretted it later but it was irreversible .
“I understand . You are really great . ”
Weed searched from the corner of his eye .
Akryong Kaybern’s mountain was filled with many treasures . Compare to that, Ratuas’ lair was wide and empty .
‘He might be a frugal dragon or the treasure is stored in another warehouse . The warehouse is likely to be higher . ’
Later he might be hunting Ratuas and would need to loot the treasure .
‘Maybe he has another house . ’
Weed thought very quickly .
He didn’t miss any bit of the surroundings while talking to the dragon .
-I have waited for so long . The thing you brought…give it to me .
“Yes . I will give it to you immediately . ”
Weed pulled out the Mirror of the Silver Dragon Yuskellanda . Then the mirror floated towards Ratuas . Ratuas’ head bent a little closer .
-Her mirror…this is right .
The eyes of the dragon trembled .
It seemed like tears were pouring out!
‘Dragons have different colours and aren’t fond of family members . ’
And there was no reason for dragons to become lovers .
Ddiring!
-Ratuas’ Lair has been completed .A human has brought a relic of the silver dragon Yuskellanda to the blue dragon Ratuas .
Old memories have been brought back for him .
Weed gave him something containing old memories so the delivery system was successfully completed .
‘No compensation . I can’t be greedy . Just be glad that I am no longer bound to the dragon . ’
Weed was satisfied about completing the quest .
‘I will come back later and take Ratuas’ life . ’
He would lead tens of thousands of troops to hunt a dragon . There would be high ranking shamans and priests with special skills such as sealing . There would be certain limitations and it wouldn’t work on the dragon forever but hunting a dragon wasn’t impossible .
Then he would systematically attack the Central Continent .
Of course, Weed knew that the current level of the players meant there was only a 1% chance of killing a dragon like Ausollet .
Dragons weren’t stupid and wouldn’t fall into consecutive traps when fighting . They could even fly into the sky and launch a decisive breath attack .
But if the pinnacle of different professions were gathered and skills utilized then a miracle might be seen .
Currently, Weed needed to prepare to hunt the Hermes Guild and the dragons .
It would be in the future but the dream of being the ruler of the north would be accomplished . A dragon was the final boss .
Chaos Dragon Ausollet had swept away tens of thousands of priests and fanatics of the Embinyu Church .
He would need to use many troops as well as tricks to win .
“It is great to see your infinite glory . May you live long in the future . ”
Ratuas raised his head from the mirror and stared at Weed .
The large, sapphire like eyes looked at Weed .
-Human, you have given me something important .
Weed replied in just 0 . 1 seconds .
“Then a sword or luxury goods…heok, no . I don’t want any reward and simply did this as a favour to Teneidon . If you have any rewards then give it to the Fairy Queen Teneidon .
His instantly switched tactics .
No matter how good the treasures, his intimacy with the dragon was a little low . It would be a success if he just escaped from the dragon’s lair .
-I smell a good scent from you .
‘Heeok!’
Weed turned pale .
‘He can’t be a human eating dragon!’
He didn’t recall anything about this in the records .
-I don’t particularly like humans . They are disruptive and have no respect for other lives . However, I sense the clear smell of spirits and the aura of nature from you .
Humans who pursue art are worthy of respect .
-You have received the recognition of the blue dragon Ratuas .Fame has increased by 4,390 .
-The title ‘Dragon’s Artist’ has been acquired .It can be gained if the person has a great passion for the arts, has high fame and the recognition of at least two dragons .
The growth rate of the art stat will increase by 4% .
The sculptor’s quest experience and fame will increase by 11% .
Weed had a satisfied smile on his face .
The art stat was helpful in many ways . But nevertheless, he still wanted to get away from the dragon .
“Thank you for acknowledging me . However, there are many artists more outstanding than me . For instance, the painter Petrov . ”
He was an itinerant artist who was a potential rival so Weed willingly gave him up .
-Do not doubt your overwhelming fame . Although many artists have shone while they were alive, you are without a doubt the most outstanding contemporary artist .
‘Keheok!’
Praise was a burden in a situation like this .
‘I really don’t need a treasure . Then…’
-Artist, I would like to ask you for a job . You are the only one that can possibly do it on this continent . I will lend all my support so please make a sculpture of my friend Yuskellanda .
Ddiring!
-Silver Dragon YuskellandaThe dragon Ratuas has requested that you make a sculpture of Yuskellanda!
This opportunity is only given to one sculptor .
Utilize the materials in the dragon’s lair to create a rare dragon sculpture .
Ratuas believes in your reputation as the best artist on the continent .
So the dragon will demand perfection . If it isn’t…
You will be given two chances to create a sculpture and one month to complete it .
Level of Difficulty: The best work .
Compensation: Ratuas’ confidence .
Quest Restrictions: Limited to the best artist .
“Uhh . ”
Making a sculpture for a picky dragon would be quite difficult .
‘The contents of the quest isn’t that intimidating . I can give it up . Or try it a little bit . It isn’t an impossible risk . ’
He was highly familiar with making sculptures .
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he was either hunting or sculpting in Royal Road . He would even be sculpting during breaks . .
He was constantly experiencing new things when making sculptures . This was an opportunity to use the best materials .
‘I will soon rise to a sculpting master…there is a long way to go if I only make ordinary works . ’
Now the dragon was commissioning him to make a sculpture!
‘It will end if I refuse . But refusing will lower my intimacy . ’
He would become a sculpting master so he couldn’t run from the dragon .
Weed indifferently said after thinking for a while .
“I will try my best . ”
-You have accepted the quest .From that day on, Weed was able to freely come and go from Ratuas’ lair .
The first human allowed to visit a dragon’s lair freely .
Of course, many users would be able to see this scene through the broadcasting stations . It would also be helpful when the time came to hunt the dragon .
Ratuas had a large library approximately 100 metres in height and passageways connected to warehouses, a laboratory and housing for the workers .
It was similar to a 50 pyeong apartment and was like a huge royal palace inside the mountain .
Understandably, there were creatures like the lich, chimeras and sea creatures guarding the entrance to the passageways .
Weed was allowed to experiment with the magic treasures!
He could use the magic items and materials in the treasury for the sculpture . The dragon had various rare alchemy ingredients and new materials not seen on the continent . There were mountains of piled up gold and jewels .
“This is the Bank of Korea . Selling all of this…I would be able to live . ”
Weed was in extreme mental stress .
‘Looking without being able to take anything!’
It was like the gold piled up in a vault in the Bank of Korea!
He skimmed through the magic books in the laboratory that the dragon collected .
There were hundreds of books related to spells and strengthening .
Weed naturally tried to read them .
[Dragon Ratuas’ Magic Records #54
The way to take advantage of the properties of water…]
Ddiring!
-Your wisdom isn’t high enough to read it .Reading wasn’t possible!
He built up a variety of stats but knowledge and wisdom were the most neglected .
‘This is beneficial for a magician . It isn’t much use for me . ’
Weed decided to focus on making the sculpture .
He had many things to do on the continent . He would neatly finish the dragon’s quest and leave .
“Where should I make the sculpture?”
-Wherever you want to make it . In my opinion, the entrance is large so making it there would be good .
“I hope for a well-lit place . In my opinion, that is also the best location . ”
Weed searched the surrounding area .
The sculpture was a type of installation and the location needed to be carefully decided .
In particular, the harmony between the colours and ambient light was essential . He felt the energy from the magnificent Cregodal Mountains .
He started the sculpture of the dragon .
‘Yuskellanda . The target of the sculpture has been confirmed…the figure of the dragon can’t be significantly different from the original . ’
It couldn’t be a ridiculous or objectionable sculpture .
‘I am limited in my number of attempts . That makes it significantly harder . ’
The lich brought an image of Yuskellanda .
A pure and noble silver dragon . An elegantly handsome dragon worthy of admiration .
“It is really nice and beautiful . ”
-Ratuas’ friend . You deserve the best .
“I will make sure to generously use my artistic spirit . ”
The lich was more benevolent because of the bribe .
Weed looked at the image of Yuskellanda several times .
‘A beautiful dragon . Fortunately I have a good model . ’
A dragon wasn’t that different . The body type was just a variant of different animals .
Yuskellanda was a slim yet distinctively female dragon with a soothing atmosphere .
The dragon Ausollet was a violent machine while this dragon felt more like a friend to humans .
The dragon represented the Versailles Continent due to overwhelming strength and wisdom .
Weed had an ill-fated relationship with dragons but this dragon quest would be helpful .
‘It is worth trying to make a dragon sculpture . Furthermore, I can get significant support . ’
He normally made sculptures using rotten wood or stone . The chance to use the best ingredients for a sculpture was rare .
Weed asked Ratuas .
“I need a lot of silver . ”
-Tell me how much you want . How much is necessary?
Weed thought quickly .
‘I should demand as much as possible . So the materials can’t be blamed if he isn’t happy with the sculpture?’
He made a quick calculation and said .
“30,000kg of 99 . 99% pure silver…”
The amount was estimated according to the size of Yuskellanda .
‘It might be too hard . My intimacy will drop…’
-Is that enough?
“Yes . More could do but that is plenty .
-I will give 40,000kg . Tell me if you need more .
“Heeok!”
The dwarves working in the warehouses started bringing it out .
Treasure started to accumulate at the entrance!
The price of silver in Royal Road varied from time to time . It was cheaper than gold . However, this was a mountain of bullions!
‘I was mistaken when I thought this dragon was frugal . He is rich enough to buy a building in Gangnam . ’
Pure silver was necessary to melt and refine to the desired shape .
Weed was also given command of the dwarves .
“Please melt this . ”
“I understand . ”
The dwarves started working straight away . More than 100 dwarves were working in the nearby dwarf village .
There was no doubt about the skills of the dwarf blacksmiths . In addition, the dragon was watching so they wouldn’t play around . The dwarves used excellent blacksmith skills to refine the pure silver .
Weed made another request to Ratuas .
“I wish there was 100 pearls for decoration . ”
-How heavy?
“More is better . A minimum of 100kg should be enough . And the rating of the pearls are very important…they should be at least second grade . ”
-I will bring it from the warehouse .
100 first grade pearls were procured . ”
They were the best pearls without any imperfections .
I drooled like a beginner making a low level sculpture .
“And a bunch of…”
-Speak .
“Helium?”
A metal mined from Jigolaths .
The lifetime dream of any sculptor .
“Well, I will try my best even if I am lacking materials…it is obvious that I should use the best materials… Just tell me if you don’t have it . ”
-Bring it .
The helium appeared!
It was three times the amount he used to make the Goddess’ Knight Armour .
“1,000kg of platinum…”
-Bring it .
“I’d like some fairy tears . Around 10,000 litres . ”
-I will bring it .
The dragon casually handed out materials rarely found on the continent .
He started to feel the true gap between the rich and poor .
Thanks to Ratuas’ support, he started to prepare a lavish sculpture .
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