章 106: The Killing Game (part one)
This one sentence really was more useful than any threat. Upon hearing those words, the hands of the dragon chief trembled so much that it nearly pierced right through Du Wei's neck. Considering how sharp those nails were, it really didn't take much effort; even the slightest prick would have sufficed.
Struggling between hope and suspicion, his facial expression changed over and over, but in the end, the dragon chief couldn't resist the temptation of regaining his dragon form. The shame of being trapped in a human body for nearly a thousand years has long been his greatest shame. Part of his anger at being fooled by Aragon can still be understood, but never regaining his former form is nothing but torture!
"Fine then!!" The Dragon chief yelled out a cry, withdrawing his hand from Du Wei's neck: "Let's see what trickery you can come up with this time! Get on with it; tell me how to regain my dragon form!"
Du Wei was much faster in his reaction this time, fearing the thousand year old penguin would decide to go nuts on him and carelessly reveal the method without any afterthought. Taking the lead, he quickly stepped in and cut off the conversation: "How can we possibly tell you so easily! What is there to say that after we tell you, you won't kill us the next moment? We might as well not say anything, then that would be even better for us!"
"Humph!" The Dragon chief angrily glared at Du Wei. In his heart now, this youngster was no less hateful than Aragon… No need to say now, just the previous insolent attitude he received is enough to make him want to skin this youngster alive at this very spot! Never once in his life did he ever get so disrespected! Regaining his dragon form is extremely tempting, but he is still unwilling to let Du Wei go so easily.
Kill, or not to kill. This question was floating in the old dragon's mind. For the arrogant and prideful dragon clan, getting revenge is a must. Seeing the sudden change on the chief's face, Du Wei quickly spoke up: "I know you want to kill me, but don't forget, you are the Patriarch of the dragon clan. If you continue to stay in this human form, how will you maintain your leadership? Could it be you want to continue this farce?"
"You just want to stay alive by saying all of this." Struck with a thought, the old dragon immediately came up with an idea to solve all of this: what difference will it make in letting this youngster go first? If anything, he can just go out into the human world and seek out his revenge after regaining his dragon form. How much power can one measly kid possibly come up with? In the human world, there is hardly anyone that could stand up to him. Unless Aragon revives, none in this world can resist him! Even if the boy were to retreat to the very edge of the world, he is certain in his capability as the dragon chief.
Resolve the problem at hand, and then settle the score later!
Unfortunately for the dragon chief, his plans won't go as smoothly as he wishes. Du Wei is not a fool. Seeing the murderous intent in the old dragon's eyes, Du Wei naturally understood what the other party was thinking. Even if Du Wei is to somehow escape today, he wouldn't be able to stop the other party from seeking revenge at a later date. If that were to happen, Du Wei would not be able to resist such a troublesome fella like this old dragon.
"Don't get any ideas, you old thing. If you were playing the idea of coming to kill me later on, then you might as well make it quick and kill me today! I'll die today; I'll die tomorrow, then why bother dragging it out!" Du Wu clenched his teeth in anticipation.
"Boy, do you think a few words can erase the hatred I have for you?" Spending a long moment in thought, the dragon chief finally came up with a good solution: "Let's do this then. I can't possibly let you go so easily, but I must have the method to regain my dragon form so I'll make a compromise. We can play a game…. If you win, then afterwards, I won't bother you! If you lose, sorry then… You and your companions all must die!"
Might as well listen first, Du Wei nodded: "You go first, if I find it to be unfair, then I won't agree."
"It's been a long time since I played a hunting game!" His face grinning: "I can first let you out of here and give you and your companions a day's head start! Afterwards, I will set out to catch you guys. If you guys let me catch up to you, then the result will be self-evident! But if I fail, then consider it your win and the vendetta between us is over. Upon my name as the chief of the dragon clan, I guarantee that as long as you can run away, I won't bother you again…. How is that?"
Du Wei thought for a moment…..
One day? He could probably flee up to the forgotten ice field, but who is this dragon? Du Wei feared this chief wouldn't have much difficulty catching up to him in one day.
"No, no! This condition is too unfair." Du Wei shook his head: "You are the dragon chief, the most powerful being in today's world. I am just a little magician, the distance between our abilities are far too different. One day's worth of time, I fear you will easily catch up to me if you flew. I have to rely on my legs, how far can I possibly run?"
"Two days." The Dragon chief spoke coldly: "Cannot be anymore. I give you two days to run, this is enough."
Two days... Looking at the unwavering eyes of the Dragon chief, Du Wei feared that if did not agree now, this guy would immediately move to kill.
"There is another problem." Du Wei said: "When you come chasing after two days, we need to have a limit! Otherwise, you will just endlessly hunt us down."
"Then let's use the frozen forest as the boundary." The old dragon said this with a smile: "I'll let you run for two days, and then in two days, I'll begin my chase! As long as you can make it into the frozen forest, then I'll consider it your win! From then on, I'll immediately head back to the Holy Mountain and never trouble you again."
"Within the two days, you, and all of your clan members are forbidden to attack me and my companions. This includes stopping us from fleeing!"
"Fine!" The Dragon chief proudly nodded.
Contemplating, Du Wei estimated that in two days, he and his companions would be able to make it as far as the half-way point in the forgotten ice field. (When he was coming, it took them four days to make it through) Even if the strength of the old dragon is tough, he would most likely need one day to catch up to them.
Adding the days up, that would be three days.
In other words, the time left for them to flee is around three days.
Three days to cross the terrifying ice field. Du Wei wasn't certain of this, but at least there is a glimmer of hope.
"Dear honorable chief, shall we set up a contract again?" From the penguin's word, the old dragon's facial expression instantly changed. It was obvious he did not want to have another contract with a human again! Just one single contract with Aragon was enough to make him suffer.
"Humph, I'm the chieftain of the dragon clan. There's no need to form any contract, I'm not someone without credit. If I'm not someone that keeps his promise, then I wouldn't have been chained by Aragon for a thousand years!"
With that said the dragon patriarch used a low voice and vowed in the Draconic language. Du Wei may not understand the words, but from the dignified face he was seeing, he knew the old dragon would not repeal his oath. It did help that he repeated the vow in the human language afterwards.
"Now, quickly tell me the method of returning to my former body, then you can start running!"
Raising a hand, the dragon chief instantly conjured up a huge hourglass about the size of a person. With a smile: "When the sand in this hourglass finishes pouring, it will be the end of two days! After that, I will begin my chase towards you."
Glancing at Penguin, the bird nods his head and says: "In the past you were able to change your form from an adult dragon to a human, then obviously you should have mastered the transformation spell, correct?"
"Yes." The Dragon chief proudly spoke: "I am the dragon chief, so of course I have reached the highest level in the art of transformation. I can easily take on the shape of anything in this world, including humans."
"Very good then." Penguin nods: "The message Aragon asked me to pass on to you is this: The water he made you drink is essentially a magical substance that permanently solidifies someone's form. In this world, there are no antidotes. Unless God intervenes, there is no other way to lift the magic of the water."
The old dragon's complexion changed: "Then what is your solution?"
"It's simple." Penguin smiled: "Aren't you capable of transforming, don't tell me you forgot your own body's form? You can transform into a body of dragon…."
"Nonsense!!!" The Dragons Chief flew into a rage: "You think using such a thing will stall me?! If transformation magic can return me to my dragon form, then I would have done it a thousand years ago!!!
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(Authors explanation)
The art of transformation in the human world has long been considered useless. It may seem strong from an onlooker's point of view, but it was very impractical.
Reason behind this was that this kind of magic is too difficult to practice and understand! Considering the effort required to achieve any noticeable result, most people thought it was just not worth it.
Transformation magic, as the name suggests, is to be able to transform into other species of animal.
Also, the magic does not only allow the caster to change his form, but also to take on the abilities of the creature they transformed into!
In other words, if a person were to transform into a bird, then that person can fly into the air! If they changed into a fish, then they can swim in the water! As for what animal the caster can take on depended highly on the magician's power level. For a magician that could only use a low level transformation spell, they could only take on the form of a small fish or rabbit…. Even If they can learn this magic, there isn't much use for it.
Just like that mouse Prime Minister Gargamel, this person had once upon a time cultivated his transformation magic to an intermediate standard. Even so, the most he could do was to take on the form of a low leveled magical beast and wield the limited abilities of such creatures. Due to this, others paid little attention to him in the past.
But Transformation magic is absolutely not a useless spell! If you can practice it to the advanced stage, you can become a much more powerful creature! Some grand magicians in history that had specialized in transformation magic can even transform into high leveled magical beasts. Only when the art of transformation magic reaches such a height can its powers truly be manifested!
Even in the legends, if one can reach the peak of transformation magic, the person can directly transform into a dragon! Not just in appearance, they will wield all the powers and strength of the dragons. This would of course include Draconic magic!
A powerful dragon is definitely a horrifying existence!
Thus, transformation magic is definitely not useless.
The problem was that the method to cultivate this kind of magic is way too difficult and hard to understand.
Historically, very few people can practice this magic to such a profound level. The best example on record was at best a high leveled magical beast, but the energy and time required is several times than that of other spells of the same class.
As for the level of being able to transform into a dragon, no one in history had ever done it.
Moreover, the spell of transformation requires the input of magic, so there are time limits to how long they can last. Once the energy is depleted, they will return to their original body. Theoretically speaking, those with higher magic reserves will last longer, and those with lower reserves would have a shorter time limit.
But if one can turn into a dragon, even for a small period, the combat strength is definitely enough to deal with any problem.
But...
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"Relying on transformation magic to turn into a dragon?" The old dragon felt like he's been fooled. Angrily growling, he continued: "Do you not know there's a time limit! Even if I could transform back into a dragon, that is only for a short period! After the time limit, I'll return to this human form!"
"I understand." Penguin gently knocked on the head, and then began his explanation:
The fundamental use of the fountain of youth is to permanently solidify ones form.
Look at it this way. Since your normal form is that of a human, even if you were to take the form of a dragon, there will be a time limit.
But the fountain of youth disrupts this rule. A good example is Gargamel. When he first drank the spring's water, he was in the form of a mouse, so he is stuck in the form of a mouse. Flipping this around, if he were to transform into a human from his current mouse form, the water would solidify his human transformation.
章 107: The Killing Game (part two)
The old dragon too is like this. Under the effect of the spring's water, his body was permanently changed to that of a human. Even if he were to use transformation magic to modify his body, it would only last up to the time limit.
Ignoring the old dragon's rage, Penguin continued asking: "I'll just ask you this one thing. With your current ability, can you take on the form a dragon even if it's just for a little while?"
"Yes." The Dragon patriarch endured his wrath and answered, "But only for a short period!"
"Then that would be easy to work with." Penguin was relieved to hear this.
Despite being under the effect of the spring's water, the old fella is still able to transform into a dragon due to his transformation magic reaching its peak level.
But in Gargamel's case, he could only keep the form of a mouse. Even at his best, this mouse could only change his body size and not fully take on the form of a human….. This is due to Gargamel's transformation magic being only at the sixth level, far below that of this old dragon.
"My approach is very simple." Penguin reveals his answer: "You transform back into the body of a dragon, then drink a little bit of the solidifying water! With that, your body will return to its original form! Wouldn't that work?"
The old dragon was stunned.
Over all these years, he has been looking for a solution to this problem in many ways. But because of his overwhelming strength, his way of thought has long been restricted to using powerful magic or miraculous cures to counteract the spring's water… This was one of the reasons he would often travel into the human world.
Although the solution thought up by the penguin is simple, but the thought pattern to come up with this idea is already out of the norm. The old dragon may be smart, but he had never gone down this route in thought.
Drink the spring's water?
It's like eating a poisonous food, then asking you to eat it again later on. Would you want to eat it again? Of course not!
Pausing for a long moment, the dragon patriarch's complexion changed colors several times before breaking out into a laugh! Within his voice, there was excitement and a hint of unwillingness mixed into it!
"For it to be possible like this!" After his initial excitement, the old dragon suddenly stared at Penguin: "However, what is that water! Where can I find some more?!"
Struck with a thought, Du Wei took the initiative: "I have the water and I can give it to you!"
Du Wei was worried about penguin revealing the canyon valley in the frozen forest—Out of personal interest, Du Wei didn't want the old dragon to know about the spring's existence in the Canyon!
The events that took place afterwards became much simpler. On his body, Du Wei carried with him a lot of the spring's water... Of course, this not includes the fountain of youth, but also the water from "As time goes by."
Fortunately when the older Dragon used his magic to cut apart his clothing earlier, the bottles of water weren't damaged in the process because they were kept inside his baggage.
Under the careful gaze of the old dragon, Du Wei took out a bottle of the spring water to give the old fella. It was at this moment when he was taking out the bottle, a sudden thought hit him: if he were to take out a bottle of the "As time goes by" instead of the "fountain of youth", then wouldn't he have a chance to kill this old dragon if he could trick this him into drinking the aging water?
Du Wei absolutely believed the water of "As time goes by" can kill this old dragon because this water is a poison of time, there is definitely no cure to save him.
But in the end, Du Wei gave up on the plan to kill this old dragon because the success rate of this going smoothly is far too low. This would work if the old dragon drank a mouthful, but if he only drank a sip?
Even then... If he did succeed, there would be trouble following closely behind him at every turn!
This matter is not only about killing the dragon chief. The dragon clan as a whole would chase him down if they ever learned of this. Wouldn't that be a disaster in the making? Moreover, what if in his dying moments, this powerful dragon figured out what has happened? Du Wei would never know if this old fella could muster enough strength to rip him apart just before his death.
Best not to invite anymore trouble.
Du Wei sighed and then dutifully pulled out a small bottle of the 'fountain of youth': "This is it. Once you change your form into a dragon and drink this, it will be done."
Du Wei looked at the water with a heart wrenching pain. He may not like this because the amount of water he had on him was limited, but in order to save his life, he had no other choice. If anything, he could go get some more later on after getting out of here.
Once the deal is done, the Dragon Patriarch waved his hand and shouted: "Now you can go!"
"Hold on." The Penguin reminded Du Wei: "Within the sarcophagus, there still remained some other stuff from my previous owner."
This old Dragon may be ferocious, but luckily he was someone that kept his promises. Standing there as he watched him coldly, Du Wei carefully removed each and every item from the coffin.
These things were very messy: eight badly looking pots, a box with tattered clothing inside, and a strange looking bag made out of cloth.
Fortunately the penguin appears to be very familiar with the contents inside. Under the guidance of the penguin, Du Wei found that this strange looking bag had a function similar to the bag of the old magician's. Even after he stuffed everything into the bag, it still seemed like it wasn't even close to being full.
Before he could investigate, Du Wei took everything he had and stuffed it into the strange looking bag. This of course includes the bottles of waters he had on him. But as he was doing this, the penguin strongly objected to what he was doing. In his mind, Du Wei actually wanted to also throw this penguin into the bag.
Finally solving all his problems at hand, Du Wei hitched the bag onto his back and took one look at the old dragon.
Letting out a grunt, the old dragon asked: "Good now? You can be off then!"
With that said, the dragon gently raised a finger towards a rock in the back of the secret chamber. As if being commanded, the rock wall quickly dissolved to reveal a large hole with rays of sunshine shooting in.
"Remember from now on; run as far as you can! Two days later, I'll start from here and chase after you!" Snapping a finger, the grains of sand inside the giant hourglass started to gently pour down...…
"Quick! We have to hurry!" Du Wei anxiously shouted at the Penguin next to him: "Can't you run any faster?"
The Penguin's tone was calm: "I'm an elegant animal. Even when running, I cannot give up my style." With that said, penguin gently twisted his ass and short tail as he walked. Twist, twist...
Du Wei could no longer stand it. With one fell swoop, he lifted the penguin up and stationed the bird onto his shoulder. Ignoring the screams beside his ears, Du Wei ran towards the exit like the wind itself... (AHHHHH run for it!! Man this part reminded me of playing tag in grade school.)
This god forsaken Holy Mountain simply had too many passageways! Extending in all directions, this place was more like a maze than anything else. Luckily his memory was super strong, so along the way, he was able to barely remember the way he came from. After many turns, he was finally able to make it out.
As he came out, he came across the so called strongest warrior of the dragon clan. Seeing the huge dragon lying there with his huge claws scratching the floor, it was pretty obvious the guy was still trying to calculate the math question set up by Du Wei.....
In a single breathe he came of the Holy Mountain. Upon reaching the entrance, Du Wei saw that the old magician and Hussein were still standing outside the dragon cave in order to wait for him.
Panting from his run, he could not help but give in to his worries as he shouted: "How come you are still here! Quick, run!"
Seeing him running out, the old magician had a shock of surprise in his eyes. Stopping Du Wei in his track, the old magician excitedly exclaimed: "The things from the secret room..."
"Got it! I got it all!" Du Wei quickly answered.
However, when they all saw the penguin on Du Wei's shoulder, every one of them couldn't help but be surprised for a moment. Du Wei sighed at their reaction because there was no time to explain: "Alright! This is no time for questions! These fellows are my companions, Wizard, Knight, a rat and a snake! This here... Is an animal Aragon left behind for me! A Penguin!"
Both the Old Magician and Hussein looked at each other: "What's a peng, penguin... An ugly bird?"
The penguin immediately protested: "I am not an ugly bird! I am a penguin! Penguin! Are the most elegant animal in the world!"
"Good then! Now is not the time to argue on this subject. If you don't shut up then wait till you become the dragon's dinner! They will roast you and then let's see how elegant you are afterwards!" Du Wei harshly patted the penguin once.
"It can talk?" The old magician's facial expression changed: "A talking bird... Can it be, this bird is the heavenly beast left behind by Aragon?" In-between his words, his attitude and tone took on a more respectful tone.
Heavenly Beast?
At this point, Du Wei has already become very impatient to this word and immediately yelled out: "What nonsense heavenly beast! From this point onward this is my pet…. Hmmm, you will be called QQ then. (This is not a mistake, the author really named this penguin QQ.)
Before others could even speak, QQ already raised an objection: "I do not want QQ for my name! I am a graceful animal and should be matched with a graceful name….."
"Off the mountain, off the mountain! That old dragon promised to give us two days to run away! You guys can ask me other questions as we move. The most important thing right now is to escape!" Du Wei shouted this to stop them from asking anymore question. But seeing Hussein and the others heading towards the mountain road, he stepped up to stop them: "Hey! Have you guys lost it?! Taking the mountain road? In order to climb the mountain, we spent a total of two days! Why do we need to take the road down? The old dragon promised that within the two days, no dragon can stop us! Of course we will fly down! By the time we get down there, a day would have already passed if we relied on the road!"
Subsequently, the old magician performed a wind based flying spell to carry everyone down the mountain. In their attempt, everyone ended up like a sugar coated haw just so they won't break up apart in midair: Hussein held onto the old magician's leg, Du Wei held onto the knights leg, Medusa held onto Du Wei's leg, and Gargamel along with QQ hid inside Du Wei's clothing.
Enduring the hard winds, the group desperately flew towards the south where the forgotten ice field was...
Now they only had two days left before the hunt begins.
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