The corners of Vaan’s lips twitched after he heard the older dragon’s word.
At the same time, Aeliana was dumbfounded.
She would have been happy if she had made out even a single understandable word. But she didn’t just succeed with a single word; she succeeded with an entire phrase!
However, it was a very insulting and offensive one!
(Bahahahaha! Serves them right. The young ones need to learn that when they make fun of others, others can also make fun of them too!)
A bunch of old dragons buckled with laughter. Even a few that disliked humans couldn’t help but smile with amusement.
It was something quite entertaining to watch.
(Haha, these humans are not bad. Quite interesting.)
(Hahaha, tell me about it. I haven’t laughed like this in ages.)
The mood was quickly lifted among the older dragons, but the young ones were left fuming. Getting laughed at by the older dragons only fueled their anger.
Roar!
The young dragons roared at Aeliana, challenging her to a duel.
(Now, now, children. These humans are still the Lord’s honored guests. Don’t cause trouble. The young lady did not know what she was saying.)
(That’s right. You all better quiet down as well. The young princess is resting in the building nearby. If you disturb her rest with your loud voice, this father will whoop all your asses.)
(But…)
(But what? Do you want a beating?)
After the older dragons scolded the young dragons, the young dragons had nowhere to vent their anger. They could only snort and storm off.
Even though some of the older dragons disliked humans, they still looked after Vaan’s group as they were loyal to their Lord.
“That was quite amusing to watch, Vaan. It can be dull around here sometimes. However, your presence has brought more life to this peak,” an elder dragon spoke after stepping forward.
“Senior Jergag,” Vaan respectfully greeted.
“Oh? You can recognize this old dragon right away?” Jergag expressed his surprise before mentioning, “You have a sharp eye, Vaan.”
“You possess quite a unique disposition that makes you stand out among the dragons, Senior Jergag,” Vaan casually replied with a smile before saying, “I was just thinking about looking for you to honor our promise.”
“Our promise?” Jergag paused for a moment before shaking his head. “There’s no need for that. Your group would have been fine, even if this old dragon didn’t speak up for you all.”
“Nevertheless, a promise is a promise. I intend to honor my word, Senior Jergag. If you think you don’t deserve my treatment, just take it as an extension of my friendship,” Vaan stated.
“Extension of your friendship. Very well, if you want to be friends with this old dragon, then this old dragon will not decline,” Jergag acknowledged before suddenly sighing, “It’s a pity that once you leave the peak, you will have your memory wiped and not remember anything about our friendship, though.”
“That’s not necessarily true, Senior Jergag,” Vaan argued, “I heard that if we can overcome the Trial by Fire’s second stage, we come and leave this place as we please without having our memories wiped.”
“You intend to challenge the Trial by Fire?” Jergag was startled before he quickly dissuaded him, “Don’t even think about it. The Trial by Fire wasn’t designed for humans to overcome. Even us dragons find it difficult to overcome. You will lose your life.”
“We can talk more about the Trial by Fire later, Senior Jergag. Let me treat you first,” Vaan said.
“Fine,” Jergag agreed with a nod before stubbornly saying, “But this old dragon won’t change his mind. I truly wish you don’t challenge the Trial by Fire and throw away your life.”
Nevertheless, Vaan still intended to learn more about the Trial by Fire from the elderly dragon later.
A few moments later, Vaan left with the elderly dragon after informing the group he would be back once he settled his matter with the elderly dragon.
Shortly after that, older dragons approached Astoria, Hester, and Aeliana to satisfy their curiosity regarding the outside world.
…
Vaan arrived at Jergag’s dragon cave before the elderly dragon cut to the chase.
“Alright, Vaan. How do you intend to cure this old dragon’s ailment, something that even dragon medicine and magic can’t?” Jergag asked.
“Wasn’t that because Senior Jergag was too stubborn to see a dragon specialist in the field?” Vaan calmly replied, “If Senior Jergag didn’t hide it, I’m sure someone with special ocular abilities could have seen the problem and resolved it for you.”
“So exactly is my problem? Where does this chronic pain come from?” Jergag inquired with the intent to learn.
“As I’ve previously mentioned, Senior Jergag has suffered far too many wounds throughout your life. Furthermore, these aren’t just light wounds but deep ones. Ordinary wounds and healing magic won’t cut it,” Vaan mentioned.
From what he could see with Omni-Sense, the elderly dragon must have lived through turbulent times or a battle maniac that fought countless battles for thousands of years.
“Even among recovery medicine and healing magic, there are subtle differences in properties that could turn into a major difference in the long run. For example, true Dragons might be highly regarded as a superior race. But from what I can see, True Dragons are still the same as humans; they are imperfect beings.”
“We can recover from wounds with our body’s natural regeneration ability or use our knowledge in medicine and magic. However, they aren’t always perfect restoration. Since we are using new cells to patch up old ones, the memories aren’t the same. So even if the wound is closed, the affected area isn’t necessarily the same as it was prior to the wound. That’s why it leaves scars.”
“And even if the scars are removed, it’s only removing the surface deformity and not the internal deformity. Thus, when one suffers as many wounds as Senior Jergag, the deformity is stacked, causing the body to diverge further and further from its original shape. As for why these deformities exist, it’s because of the microscopic shrapnel of magic and other impurities left behind that weren’t properly removed during the wound’s healing process.”
“The accumulation of tiny mana shrapnel that can’t be seen with normal eyesight is the cause of your chronic pain,” Vaan explained as he treated the elderly dragon.