Cale immediately asked the Black Dragon .
“How can you feel the scent of dead mana?”
Mana . That symbolized a power that existed in nature .
In some senses, it was similar to an ancient power that was created in a specific location . However, the two were very different .
The difference was between whether or not it could be left behind .
Mana disappeared as soon as the person who controlled that mana died, while ancient powers could be left behind .
The Black Dragon easily answered .
“I think it is because of the swamp . The swamp is dominating the mana and preventing it from dissipating . ”
‘Dominating?’
Cale’s expression turned odd but the Black Dragon kept silent . The Whale siblings, as well as On and Hong, approached Cale and the Black Dragon .
The Black Dragon started to speak into Cale’s mind .
- I am very perceptive .
Cale made eye contact with the Black Dragon .
- I feel a power similar to your shield and wind inside the swamp .
“Ha!”
Cale inadvertently let out a gasp-like laughter . The mask-less Black Dragon started to smile . Cale also started to lightly smile as well .
Ancient power .
There was an ancient power inside the swamp and it had a good chance of being related to the keyword, ‘dominate . ’
‘This is a first . ’
This was Cale’s first time finding an ancient power that was not discussed in the novel . Of course, he had no idea whether this was an ancient power left behind by someone or one that was naturally developed in this location .
“You are very smart . ”
“Correct . I am smart . ”
The rest of the group became even more curious after seeing the Black Dragon and Cale smirking mischievously .
“Young master Cale, can you tell me what is going on? What do you mean by the scent of a dragon’s mana?”
Cale turned around to look at Witira . She was asking Cale, but seemed to have at least a decent idea of what was going on .
“I’m sure you already have an idea, but there is a good chance that there is a dragon corpse inside the swamp . ”
“ . . . A corpse?”
“Yes . But it is most likely very old and probably mummified . ”
Cale only knew about the Forest of Darkness based on Choi Han’s experience as described in the novel . However, there was a number of very important information told by the novel .
< The lifeforms in the Forest of Darkness have had to always fight for survival because there has never been any single dominant ruler . >
No ruler .
It was probably correct to say that there were no dragons in the Forest of Darkness while Choi Han was there . Furthermore, people in the novel never mentioned a Dragon’s Lair or a dragon in the Forest of Darkness .
‘It must mean that it is a very old corpse . ’
Tap . Tap .
Cale lowered his head to see Hong point to the swamp with a bitter expression .
“I guess I can’t eat the swamp water?”
Hong seemed to have lost his appetite after hearing dragon corpse . Cale could see that Hong was heading over to the Black Dragon to apologize without waiting to hear his answer .
“Sorry . I thought it would be delicious . ”
“I do not care . ”
The Black Dragon responded back with a curious expression .
“The thing inside the swamp and I are different . We are not related . ”
Dragons really didn’t seem to care about their, ‘tribe . ’ They all just considered themselves to be individuals unique from anything and everything else in the world . Cale looked at the completely unperturbed Black Dragon before he started to speak .
“I thought that the mermaids would have gotten stronger from the poison in the swamp . Their specialties are poison after all . ”
The Whale siblings Paseton and Witira looked toward him .
“However, now I am thinking that it is probably the dead mana in the swamp and not the poison increasing their power . Either that, or it is from both the poison and the dead mana . ”
Cale looked at the siblings .
‘If it is poison, they would just need to take a sample to find an antidote . However, this is a whole different ball game if it is from the dragon’s dead mana . ’
Cale could see Witira frowning while Paseton was looking at the black swamp and the nearby area . A depressed comment came out of his mouth .
“ . . . It’s too wide . ”
Witira spoke up as well .
“I am not sure about what we should do . ”
They were able to narrow down the cause of the mermaids’ source of strength, but they could not figure out a way to deal with it . It would be one thing if it was poison, but the other issue was too complicated to solve quickly .
“It’s not like we could prevent anyone from coming into the Forest of Darkness or stay here protecting this black swamp at all times . ”
Witira looked out toward the swamp once more . A dragon’s corpse? That was an unexpected problem . The fact that this swamp was large enough to completely submerge an adult dragon made things even more difficult .
A normal dragon grows in size a total of three times . An adult dragon that completed all three stages of growth was humongous . They were at least 5 meters larger than a Humpback Whale like herself .
At that moment, he could hear Cale’s voice once again .
“It’s simple . ”
His voice was peaceful . Witira turned her head . Cale had walked up to the edge of the swamp while smiling .
“First, take as much of the swamp water as you need . ”
Cale turned away from the swamp and looked toward Witira .
“And then we make another deal . ”
“ . . . Deal?”
Cale’s smile became bigger after watching the confusion spread on Witira’s face .
‘I didn’t plan on doing this, but…’
Originally, he was just going to figure out what caused the mermaids to get stronger before getting out of here . However, the situation was different now .
‘A pool of dead mana is dangerous . ’
The mermaids were probably able to absorb the dead mana because they were dark creatures . However, it was just a dangerous poison to natural creatures like the Whales or humans .
There was no reason to keep something around that was helpful to the enemy while dangerous to himself .
There was also a new benefit in front of his eyes .
Even if it was a mummified corpse, the dragon’s bones were still present . [1]
Furthermore, there was also the ancient power .
“Yes . We will make another deal . ”
“What does that have to do with dealing with this situation?”
Witira subconsciously caressed her whip again . An unexpected sense of anticipation filled her heart, and Cale fulfilled that anticipation completely .
“I will take care of it for you . ”
Witira could see the excitement in Cale’s eyes . She had never seen such a look in Cale’s eyes before .
Cale pointed to the swamp and gave a short answer .
“I’ll just destroy it . ”
“ . . . What?”
Witira looked at the black swamp . The very large black swamp . What did he say he was going to do to this? She was staring blankly at the swamp when Cale started to speak again .
“No need to overthink it . ”
She looked back at Cale . He still had a smile on his face and seemed to be very excited .
“I will get rid of it for you, so make a deal with me . ”
Cale was thinking about what he was about to do .
This was the Forest of Darkness, somewhere where nothing would seem weird . It was a place where he could claim anything that happened to be an accident and feign ignorance .
“Young master Cale . ”
It was a deal that Witira could not reject .
“Let’s make a deal . ”
Cale and Witira decided to make a second deal .
“But there isn’t anything I need right now . ”
“Please let me know whenever a condition you like shows up . I will accept it as long as it is something reasonable for both parties . This is a promise I, WItira, makes with my name on the line, so you do not need to worry . ”
Cale casually nodded his head at her words . It was fine if she did not do anything for him . The Dragon’s bones and ancient powers were enough of a reason to give it a try .
“By the way, anything coming out of the swamp belongs to me . ”
“ . . . Sure . ”
Witira was disappointed about the dragon’s bones, but decided not to be greedy . The Whale tribe was able to rule because they were strong on both land and sea .
However, water was also their weakness . Underwater, inside of the swamp . If the swamp water and mud was poisonous, it would be a difficult environment for the Whales to survive .
Cale decided to proceed right away after hearing Witira’s response . He stood at the border of the swamp and waved toward the rest of the group .
“Step back . ”
The rest of the group became confused . However, Cale just sternly said it once more for these chumps that won’t listen to him when he wanted to get to work right away .
“Go back into the forest and stay there . Don’t come out until I tell you to come out . ”
Cale opened up the magic bag and continued to speak .
“You could get poisoned or hurt if you don’t listen . ”
Paseton, who had been listening quietly, started to speak .
“Young master-nim, will you do it on your own?”
“He is not alone . ”
The Black Dragon responded for Cale . Paseton turned toward the sound of the voice and then flinched . He could see the clear vibrations of mana around the Black Dragon . They were like waves floating around the Black Dragon, who had found the perfect opportunity to show off his strength .
“The two of us will take care of it, so go wait over there . ”
“Young master Cale, I really can’t tell what your limits are . ”
Cale just let Witira’s comment go in one ear and out the other ear, as he patted On and Hong on the head . Hong’s ears and tails were down .
“You two stay there as well . On, take good care of Hong . Hong, I’ll bring you some of the swamp poison, so just wait for me . ”
Hong nodded his head at Cale before approaching the Black Dragon .
“Be careful . Don’t get hurt . ”
“I understand . ”
The Black Dragon nodded his head at Hong and stood still while Hong patted him with his front paws . Cale thought that the kids were playing well with each other and took an empty bottle out of the magic bag and threw it toward Paseton .
“Put the swamp water into the bottle . It is a magic bottle, so it won’t break . ”
“ . . . How did you even prepare for this?”
Paseton looked toward Cale with admiration, but Cale did not care . Instead, he continued to ruffle through the magic bag that looked small on the outside but was very spacious on the inside .
“Young master-nim, I filled the bottle . ”
“Then go wait over there . ”
Cale told Paseton, who had filled the large bottle with mud and water from the swamp, and the rest of the group to move along . Witira hesitated for a moment, but moved back toward the forest at the kittens’ urgings .
The Black Dragon verified that everyone was safely far away before approaching Cale .
“What do you plan to - . ”
The Black Dragon stopped talking after seeing what Cale took out of the magic bag . He then continued speaking after seeing Cale gently smiling at him .
“Human, you look a bit smart right now . ”
“Nah . ”
There were two magic bombs in Cale’s hands .
These were different from the bombs with the multiple explosions he used in the Ubarr coast . These were the stronger and more destructive bombs used in the novel when the Ubarr mages launched their final attack .
Two of those bombs were in Cale’s hands right now .
“I was debating where to use these, but I guess an opportunity has shown up . ”
Cale handed the two magic bombs to the Black Dragon .
“Run wild . ”
“Can I really do that?”
Cale shortly answered the Black Dragon, who had caused a very visible fluctuation of mana to show how much he wanted to use his full strength .
“Don’t ask something so obvious . Naturally, make sure I don’t get hurt . ”
The Black Dragon started to smile .
Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish .
A gust of wind started to run amuk with the Black Dragon at the center . Natural power . The mana was triggering the air in the vicinity .
Cale quickly summoned the Indestructible Shield after feeling like he was going to be pushed back .
At the same time, he could see layers of shields being created around him .
One layer, two layers, three layers .
It was a total of three layers .
“I need at least this much to make sure you don’t get hurt . ”
The confidently speaking Black Dragon’s eyes were sparkling . Dragons really had completely different personalities compared to Whales . Rather than loving peace, dragons prefered to rule with fear and destruction . They were selfish and violent beings .
Cale pointed toward the black swamp once the Black Dragon had finished preparations for the bombs and looked toward him .
“Destroy it . "
1 . (PR: I just got Skyrim flashbacks . The horror . )