Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

Upon hearing the word "necromancer," Grimm's expression instantly changed, and he frowned.

"Great dragon," he said respectfully.

"The Hills of Bones... that place isn't called that for nothing. There were battles fought there before, and many people died. If there really are undead creatures hiding there..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Auduin knew what he meant.

The more skeletons there are, the denser the corpses, and the stronger the aura of the dead, the greater the strength and intelligence of the undead creatures.

Alduin had previously explored that area, and it was indeed as its name suggested, littered with bones and corpses.

Alduin tapped the platform lightly with the tip of his tail. "Grim, send a few goblins to the Bone Hills to investigate where that snake has been and what it has come into contact with this year."

Grimm raised his head, blinked his small eyes, and looked somewhat troubled: "Great dragon, Grimm would very much like to serve you, but what if we encounter undead..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was crystal clear.

They're passable at mining, finding people, and acting as scouts, but sending them to face high-level undead creatures is practically suicide.

Alduin's vertical pupils narrowed slightly as he stared at Grimm for a moment.

Grimm's legs felt a little weak.

"When did I say I was going to let your goblins in?" Alduin finally spoke, his voice tinged with displeasure.

Grimm was taken aback.

"The edge of the Bone Hills," Alduin said. "The snake was found on the edge of the Bone Hills. You don't need to go deep inside; just search the outer perimeter."

He paused, then nudged the pile of gold coins with the tip of his tail, pulling out a gray stone shard the size of a fingernail. The shard had a rough rune engraved on its surface, emitting a faint earthy yellow light.

"Take this with you." Alduin flicked the stone at Grimm.

Grimm caught it in a flurry, and found it surprisingly heavy, almost dropping it. It didn't look big, but it was quite heavy.

"Earth runes can sense unusual fluctuations in the surrounding ley lines," Alduin said. "If that snake touched something, it would leave a trace on the ley lines. Have your goblin take it and walk around the edge of the Bone Hills. Wherever the reaction is strongest, start investigating from there."

Grimm carefully tucked the stone fragment into his pocket, his expression softening.

It's certainly possible to just wander around the outskirts without venturing deep into the undead territory.

"And," Alduin's voice turned somber, "have your men go during the day, but they must be brought back before sunset."

"You are not allowed to touch anything that looks like it was artificially constructed—piles of stones, piles of bones, sticks stuck in the ground, you are not allowed to touch any of them."

Grim nodded repeatedly, taking every word to heart, and felt a surge of emotion at the thought that Lord Dragon would remind them.

What he didn't know was that Alduin was simply afraid that if they died inside, it would strengthen the undead.

"Three days," Alduin said, extending three claws. "Within three days, I need to know where the Serpent of Ig has been."

"Three days..." Grimm gritted his teeth. "Fine, three days. I'll personally lead the search."

Alduin glanced at him, said nothing, and simply nodded slightly.

Grimm bowed, turned and strode out.

Only after Grimm had completely left did Alduin turn to look at the stone giant standing there, dumbfounded.

"Blue".

Blue realized what was happening, looked up, and asked, "Boss?"

"You go with that old goblin. If you find the undead..."

Blue paused for a moment, then grinned, revealing a mouthful of uneven, grotesque teeth.

"Killed?"

His voice echoed in the nest.

Blue is a warrior, but there hasn't been anything worth his attention near the dragon's nest for a long time.

Auduin glanced at him.

"Don't be reckless," he said. "High-level undead are not like those flesh and blood beasts. If you find them, first assess their strength. If you can kill them, then kill them; if you can't, then come back."

Blue's smile faded somewhat, and he nodded sullenly.

He had been with Alduin for a period of time that was neither short nor long, and when he heard his boss say, "Come back if you can't kill it," it meant that the thing was indeed difficult to deal with.

"Understood, boss." He patted his chest forcefully and said in a deep voice.

"Go. Catch up with Grimm and have his men lead the way."

Blue turned around, and the heavy footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

The nest fell silent again.

Because the stone giant was inherently dull-witted, although powerful, he was not suitable for scouting, which is why he sent those goblins over.

Bru possesses the strength of a peak sixth-tier being, which is more than enough to deal with a necromancer.

If there really is any problem that cannot be solved, he will step in.

Auduin lay on the pile of treasure, his dragon eyes half-closed, the tip of his tail swaying unconsciously.

The fire spirit chick was awakened by the noise of him turning over, and it poked its head out from between the dragon's horns, letting out a drowsy chirp.

"You feel something's not right too?" Auduin said in a low voice, as if asking the baby bird, or as if talking to himself.

The baby bird tilted its head, then shrank back to sleep.

Auduin also closed his eyes.

……

When Bru caught up with Grimm, the four goblins had just emerged from the mine tunnel and were panting at the entrance.

"Bruce?" Grimm was startled when he saw the towering figure behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"The boss told me to come with you," Blue said in a muffled voice, his gaze sweeping over the three goblins before finally settling on the cloth bag on Grim's chest. "Have you used the stuff?"

Grimm took out the earth spirit rune and handed it to him.

Blue held the stone shard, turning it over and over to examine it. The runes on the surface were flickering, indicating that the energy of the earth veins here was unstable.

"Unstable," Grimm explained.

Bru nodded, handed the stone to Grim, and looked past the mine entrance toward the Bone Hill.

He doesn't understand things like runes.

"You understand," he said. "Lead the way."

Grimm tucked the rune back into his pocket, took a deep breath, and stepped into the gray wasteland.

The barren hills during the day are not much better than at night.

The crunching of broken bones underfoot was somewhat eerie.

Grim led the goblins ahead, with Bru following two steps behind, walking slowly.

Grimm kept an eye on the runes in his pocket, taking them out to look at them every now and then. The light on the surface of the stone slab flickered faintly, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

"Which way?" Blue asked.

Grimm held up the rune and spun it around. The light brightened when it faced southwest and dimmed in other directions.

"there."

They walked along the edge of the barren hills, going further and further away, deeper and deeper into the wilderness.

Grim felt a little uneasy. They had agreed to circle around the outer perimeter, but they were already almost in the heart of the hills. However, he didn't dare to stop because the runes were reacting more and more strongly, and the stone shards were slightly hot in his palms.

After walking for about an hour, Grimm suddenly stopped.

There was a winding trail extending from the pile of broken bones. The trail was not wide, but it was very deep, and the grayish-white bone powder had turned dark gray.

Grim crouched down and brought the rune close to the mark.

The light on the rune suddenly shone brightly, making him squint, and then dimmed again, but a layer of dark green substance appeared on the surface of the stone.