?The smoldering heat, the rough sand beneath my feet and the odd rock formations in the surroundings, coupled with the cry of a vulture or some bird in the far distance.
“Yeah… I am back.”
I muttered to myself, as I stood in front of the labyrinth-like city. Not only that, but I took a leave for two days and came here, I teleported here and gazed at the towering walls.
They were made of black stone, and the depictions of bulls and Minotaur were as vivid as ever.
“Damn it.”
I cursed as my feet dug into the sand, I wasn’t mad about the sand or something, but rather the heat. Since I am predominantly an ice-dragon, the heat is my worst enemy.
Although according to Lanesha, I’m a special kind of dragon that has access to forms related to all my affinities, it doesn’t disregard the fact that I have mastery over the ice element the most, therefore my body is filled with more mana related to the ice element.
And because of that… I already am at a disadvantage here.
I remember when that damn bastard at the city of giants trapped me in a room with lava…the heat there was so immense it was truly hell for me. Since I was weakened at that time as well… It was truly an unforgettable experience.
“So… I guess I should wait for nighttime.”
I said as I sat down on the rough sand. My domain, The Jade Palace, belongs to my frost element. Therefore, it’s just like me, at a disadvantage in this environment. Using it right now and charging in would akin to suicide.
Therefore, I decided to wait until nighttime. In direct contrast to daytime, Deserts are cold during the night. It would be the perfect opportunity for me to attack them.
I took a look at my inventory and examined the items I brought to sacrifice at the altar…I had to spend a fortune on this, and borrow some from Richard as well. I had already informed him of my intentions, so a force from twilight would be ready to renovate this entire place the moment I am done.
‘Please…don’t ruin it too much!’
I was also met with pleas to preserve this place as much as possible. Both from Richard and the elders back at home…
‘Who do they think I am?’
Of course, I would do my best to preserve this place! They should really put more trust in me.
[Supreme dragon of frost, Lanesha takes the side of the humans.]
“…you be quiet…”
Nevertheless, this old and bored dragon still kept a watch over me. I honestly wonder whether she has something to do or not. From Aranus and James’ memories, however vague or faint they may be, Supreme beings are almost always busy.
I finished my examination and prepared to teleport inside my domain. I covered my face with my hood and exclaimed.
“Finally, I am going out of this dirty place!”
I came here only to perform an inspection, to check if something had changed or not… With it over, I could finally enter my domain, and deal with the next hurdle.
[Supreme dragon of frost, Lanesha, comments that it is bold of you to call something dirty.]
Hmm? What is she getting at now? The desert is not a sanitary place.
“As if you would enjoy a desert.”
[Supreme dragon of Frost, Lanesha mentions that it is not the desert, but the man who didn’t wash his face at all after receiving a kiss.]
…
“Hey, That was a compl-”
[Supreme dragon of Frost, Lanesha asks you if the lipstick does not bother you in any way.]
“Ok, you win. Can we drop this now?”
So what if I hadn’t washed my face? I admit it may be a bit dirty or something else, but it’s not that bad… It can’t be that bad.
[Supreme Dragon of frost, Lanesha comments that if other dragons knew the antics of her ‘son’ they would be laughing at you.]
“…”
[Supreme Dragon of Frost, Lanesha comments that her house would be reduced to a laughingstock.]
“…”
They didn’t stop, she continued to tease me about it until I finally gave up and apologized, throwing a bit of water at my face. I looked to the sky and shouted. Like a madman.
“Here! Happy?”
But there was no response, I could vividly imagine the picture of Lanesha still laughing, and enjoying every moment of this. Before she could say anything else, though, I hurriedly entered my domain.
I spawned right in front of the Altar and took out the items from my inventory, and personally threw the most valuable thing, the corpse of the Night lady, at the altar. It took a while for it to absorb all the sacrifices, and during that time I cried tears of blood, watching the money disappear.
“Keugh!”
I wonder…am I really becoming too much like Sabrina? Obsessing over money like this.
After a while, the large sum of points were distributed to me, and the options presented themselves to me once more.
[Please allocate the distribution of the points.]
[Troops]
[Jade City.]
[Jade Palace]
[Tower.]
The same three options, accompanied by the fourth that came after I gave it the core of the tower. I ignored all the others and clicked on the [Troops] option.
The list of my current troops appeared.
Jade Serpent Beast King: 2.
Jade Serpent Beast: 100
Jade Knights: 150.
Jade Mages(Ice): 25
Jade Soldiers (Infantry(Spear)): 500.
Jade Soldiers (Archery):300
Jade Soldiers (Swordsman): 200
Jade Workers: 1000.
Jade Serpents: 5000.
Along with a few other options for new troops, there wasn’t anything I was interested in except for one, so I only glanced over them for a bit. I remember using my points last time to purchase more troops, Knights and mages. There weren’t a lot, but it was better than nothing… But now?
I have enough for an army.
First, The Jade workers and serpents can be excused, as well as the Serpent kings. The workers and serpents aren’t fit for battle, whilst the Serpent kings can’t leave the premises of the city.
If I want to increase their range, I need to increase the size of the city. So, excusing them, I’m left with the others.
Out of them, I’ll excuse the Swordsmen, The Minotaurs would slaughter any who got too close. That leaves me with Spacemen, Archers, Mages and Knights, as well as the beasts. If I’m being honest, I’m kind of excited for this.
I increased the number of Spearman to 2000, and the archers to 800… And the knights to 200, I kept the beasts the same number. They won’t be accompanying the army. Based on what I could see with [Dragon Eyes], They would make conquering the labyrinth difficult with their large bodies.
And then… I increased the mages to 100… I wanted to make it 150, but I needed to save points for the other type of troop I was going to buy.
With the remaining points, I can only afford 5 of these troops. Each one is the cost of 10 mages…
“Why is it so expensive…”
[Supreme Dragon of Frost, Lanesha says that it is not easy to raise and maintain an army.]
“Sigh…”
I grit my teeth and summoned the 5, and lamented at the fact that I…
Became dirt poor once more.