Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

Auduin looked at him without saying a word.

Krieg's voice trailed off: "Just throwing it away like this... it's a bit wasteful."

Auduin tapped the stone platform lightly with the tip of its tail.

"You're quite good at keeping accounts."

Krieg lowered his head and did not reply.

"What about the snake core?" Alduin asked.

"Retrieving the core while it's in a petrified state will reduce its quality by 30% to 50%," Krieger said. "But if you wait for it to naturally reawaken before retrieving it, the snake core can remain intact."

"How long will it take for him to wake up?"

"It can take anywhere from six months to one or two years."

Auduin frowned.

"I don't want to wait that long."

Krieg paused for a moment, then pulled a slender mithril needle from his tool bag. The tip of the needle glowed with a faint blue light, making it very conspicuous in the dim light of the nest.

"When I was examining it just now, I used this needle to probe its wound," he said, holding up the needle. "Look at the tip."

Auduin's vertical pupils contracted slightly.

The tip of the mithril needle was no longer silvery-white, but grayish and dark, as if it had been contaminated by something.

“Mithril is very sensitive to the aura of the undead,” Krieg said. “Normal wounds don’t change the color of needles. But this needle only touched the edge of the wound, and it turned out like this.”

He put the needle back into his tool bag.

"The snake's wounds aren't just ordinary wounds; they've been infiltrated by necromantic energy, and at a considerable concentration. If left untreated, the necromantic energy will spread through its bloodstream, contaminating its core. At that point, forget about removing the core; the entire snake will be reduced to a pile of mangled flesh."

Auduin opened his vertical pupils.

"You mean it's been corrupted by the undead?"

"Yes." Krieg nodded.

"Moreover, what contaminated it is not simple. The necromantic aura left by ordinary undead creatures only remains on the surface of the wounds. What can seep into the blood... must be at least a high-level being."

Auduin remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Can it remove pollution?"

"Yes." Krieg looked up. "Nurturing the runes will accelerate the repair process, and the necromantic aura can be gradually removed. It will only take three to four months."

"Well, this snake is yours now. If anything goes wrong, you know the consequences."

As soon as he finished speaking, Alduin stopped looking at it and turned to walk deeper into the dragon's lair. Shadows surged behind him, concealing his figure.

Krieg watched his retreating figure until it completely disappeared before slowly rising, his gaze falling on the mithril needles, a complex expression flashing in his eyes.

High-ranking necromancer...

This sunken basin actually hides such a thing.

He then shook his head and left.

Deep within the lair, Alduin lay atop a mountain of glittering treasure, his dragon eyes half-closed.

High-ranking necromancer?

Alduin didn't believe that the Tier 3 Serpent of Ygg could escape from his hands unintentionally, or... for some other purpose.

He rolled over, the gold coins clattering beneath him. The fire spirit chick was awakened by his noise, let out a groggy chirp, and then retreated back into its horns to continue sleeping.

If it was unintentional, it means that the snake wasn't even worth killing in the other person's eyes.

If it was intentional...

Alduin's tail twitched in the pile of gold coins, making a rustling sound.

That's a provocation.

At that moment, a series of heavy footsteps approached. Alduin knew without needing to sense it that it was Bru, and beside him was a small figure—the old goblin Grimm.

"Boss, the person you wanted has arrived," Blue said.

Alduin opened his eyes, his vertical pupils slightly contracting in the golden light of the pile of treasure.

Blue turned his massive body to the side, revealing the small figure behind him.

Grimm stood at Blue's feet, looking up with a hint of unease in his small eyes.

He had clearly heard something from Blue, at least that the great dragon hadn't summoned him to inspect ore.

"Great, great dragon." Grimm stepped forward quickly, placed one hand on his chest in a salute, and said in a slightly nervous voice, "You wanted to see me?"

Auduin did not speak immediately.

He climbed up from the pile of treasure, waking the fire spirit chick from his movements. The chick peeked out from between the dragon's horns, glanced at Grimm, and then shrank back into sleep.

Alduin walked slowly to Grimm and bowed his head.

The vertical pupils were level with the goblin's small eyes.

Grimm swallowed hard, not daring to back down.

He could feel the scorching heat emanating from Alduin, the embers of the fire spirit symbiosis, more intense than ever before, making the beard on Alduin's face curl.

"That snake," Alduin began, his voice low and echoing deep within the lair, "where did the kobolds find it?"

"Outside the mine to the south," he said, his mind racing. "Brew said it was found by those kobolds to the south, but exactly where..."

He paused, then secretly glanced at Blue.

"It's about half a day's journey to the edge of the Bone Hills, southwest of the mine." Blue added in a deep voice.

Grimm nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, that's it. Those kobolds were recruited two months ago and put to mine mithril over there..."

"Stop talking nonsense and tell me, what's wrong over there?" Alduin frowned, interrupting him.

Upon hearing Alduin's words, Grimm shuddered, quickly banishing all the distractions from his mind, and hurriedly tried to recall the commotion from the Bone Hills.

"Something...something's wrong..." He swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "A few days ago, the kobold miners came back and reported that something was wrong near the southern mine."

Alduin didn't speak, but his vertical pupils narrowed slightly, waiting for what he would say next.

"It's... bones."

Grimm lowered his voice even further, "The bones in the Bone Hill used to be completely still, but recently, the broken bones in the mine tunnels are not only moving on their own, but at night you can also hear soft 'clicking' sounds, as if someone is knocking on them."

He paused, then added, "Also, the torches will dim, the flames will turn green, and the miners say it's especially cold and damp there; if you touch bones, your hands will go numb from the cold."

Grimm glanced furtively at Alduin, and seeing that Alduin wasn't angry, he dared to continue, "The strangest thing is that some kobolds said there was a breathing sound deep in the mine, not from monsters, but... very low, very slow, like bones breathing."

He became increasingly flustered as he spoke, his voice trembling: "I... I thought the miners were just making things up out of cowardice, so I didn't take it seriously... But... but now that you've asked me this, I... I realize that something really is wrong with that place."

Auduin paused for a moment, then gently tapped the tip of his tail against the pile of gold coins, making a crisp sound.

"The Hills of Bones..." he repeated softly, his voice devoid of emotion, "High-ranking undead."

A cold glint flashed in his vertical pupils.