Free Web NovelChapter 149: The Culprits Were Just Hungry
Damian continued walking through the enormous storage hall, carefully examining the walls, floor, weapon racks, and surrounding formations.
At first, he found nothing unusual.
The storage hall was simply too large.
Even with his senses focused, there were too many weapons, too many racks, and too much spiritual energy constantly flowing through the room.
Damian clicked his tongue. "Damn. Finding one problem in a place this big is like searching for one ugly woman in Heavenly Palace."
Corven’s mouth twitched. "Sir Damian... perhaps you should focus."
Damian sighed. "Right, right."
He forced himself to concentrate again and slowly continued searching.
A few moments later, something caught his attention.
Damian crouched near one of the walls and suddenly froze. "Wait a minute..."
Corven immediately walked over. "What is it?"
Damian pointed toward the floor.
Several faint footprints were hidden beneath the dust.
They were small, narrow, and clearly did not belong to a human.
Corven’s expression changed.
Damian grinned. "Now this is interesting."
He slowly followed the footprints along the wall until they disappeared behind several large weapon racks.
Once the racks were moved aside, Damian finally found a small hole near the bottom of the wall.
The opening was easy to miss.
Compared to the enormous size of the storage hall, it was practically nothing.
Corven stared at it in disbelief. "A hole?"
Damian crouched and carefully examined the edges.
A faint trace of spiritual energy still remained there.
He slowly nodded. "I think I know the most likely answer."
Corven looked at him seriously.
Damian pointed toward the damaged weapons. "Some kind of special beast has probably been sneaking inside."
His eyes sharpened. "It doesn’t eat the weapons themselves. It eats the spiritual essence inside them."
Corven’s expression darkened. "Damn it. To think the reason might actually be something this simple."
Damian stood up and dusted off his hands. "Simple now that we found it."
He looked toward the small hole again. "Don’t close it yet."
Corven frowned. "Why?"
Damian grinned. "Because we still need to see what kind of creature it is."
His expression became more serious. "If we only block the hole, it might find another way in later. Better to catch it, figure out exactly what it is, and make sure this never happens again."
Corven thought for a moment before slowly nodding. "You’re right."
Damian looked toward the dark hole and smiled. "Good."
He crossed his arms. "Now we wait for our little thief to come back."
---
Night slowly fell over Thousand Forges City.
Inside the enormous weapon storage hall, Damian and Corven waited silently near the hole they had discovered earlier.
For a long time, nothing happened.
Damian eventually yawned. "Damn. If this little thief doesn’t show up soon, I’m going to start sleeping here."
Corven glanced at him. "Please remain patient, Sir Damian."
Damian sighed. "Easy for you to say."
Several more breaths passed.
Suddenly, both of them froze.
SCRATCH... SCRATCH...
Faint movement came from inside the hole.
Damian’s eyes sharpened. "Something’s coming."
A moment later, a small creature slowly crawled into the storage hall.
Its body looked somewhat like a Komodo dragon, though much smaller and covered in dark metallic scales. Several tiny pieces of ore seemed to grow naturally from its back, glowing faintly with spiritual light.
The creature carefully looked around before crawling toward one of the nearby weapon racks.
Damian pointed at it. "So this is the culprit."
Corven did not answer.
Instead, he rubbed his eyes once, then stared at the creature again.
His expression gradually became stranger. "No wonder all my weapons and armor kept breaking..."
Damian glanced at him. "You know what this beast is?"
Corven slowly nodded. "Yes, Sir Damian."
He pointed toward the creature. "This is called the [Metal Essence Devouring Drake]. It is an extremely rare spiritual beast that feeds on the essence contained within metals and ores."
The small drake reached one of the swords and began licking the blade happily.
Corven’s mouth twitched. "It seems it never deliberately intended to destroy our weapons. It probably entered the storage hall by accident, discovered that the spiritual essence inside the weapons and armor tasted good, and simply kept coming back to feed."
Damian nodded. "Makes sense."
Another sound suddenly came from the hole.
SCRATCH!
A second drake crawled out.
A moment later, a third followed behind it.
Damian stared at the three creatures before slowly turning toward Corven. "You said this beast was rare."
Corven nodded.
Damian pointed at the three drakes. "Then how the hell are there three of them?"
Corven completely ignored the question.
His breathing had already become slightly faster.
Damian noticed immediately. "Why are you so excited? Don’t tell me you want to kill them."
Corven turned toward him in shock. "Kill them?"
His expression immediately became serious. "How could I possibly do that, Sir Damian? Do you know how useful these beasts are?"
His eyes burned with excitement. "These creatures may feed on metal essence, but with proper training, they can also be made to devour impurities from ores and spirit metals."
Damian’s eyes widened slightly.
Corven continued, "Do you understand how valuable something like that would be to a blacksmith?"
Damian looked at the three drakes again, then let out a sigh. "Fine, fine. I won’t kill them."
Corven immediately relaxed.
Damian raised one finger. "I can help you catch them, but that wasn’t part of the original mission."
A shameless grin appeared on his face. "I’ll need extra payment."
Corven nodded without hesitation. "Of course, Sir Damian. Please just be careful not to hurt them."
He paused for a moment before adding, "Aside from the additional payment, I can also give one of them to you."
Damian’s eyes immediately brightened.
Corven gestured toward the three [Metal Essence Devouring Drakes]. "Since you want to become a blacksmith, having one would be extremely useful to you."
Damian blinked. "Really?"
Corven nodded. "Two are enough for me, as long as I can keep one male and one female."
Damian’s grin immediately widened.
"Damn. I came here to learn blacksmithing, and now I’m getting a rare spiritual beast too?"
He held out his hand without hesitation. "Sure thing."
Corven looked at the offered hand for a moment before reaching out and shaking it.
Damian’s grin became even more shameless. "Nice doing business with you, City Lord."
He released Corven’s hand and turned back toward the three drakes.
The small creatures were still happily crawling around the weapon racks, completely unaware that their futures had just been decided.
Damian cracked his knuckles. "Alright, little thieves. Good news."
His eyes narrowed mischievously. "Your lives are safe."
A second later, his grin widened. "Unfortunately for you, your freedom isn’t."
