"Not just Flame Wolf, some other mercenaries don't seem to be using all their strength in that fight as if they were holding back for some reason" stated Anne
"Something seems off about this situation Dante" continued Anne
"I'm not going to argue with you on that one, you're right something does feel off," said Dante agreeing
"but it's too wasteful to just up and leave right away especially as we've already come this far." Said Dante Hesitantly
"How about this, I'll double the pay from 30 to 60 contribution points what do you say ?"
Hearing this sky high price Anne couldn't Hesitate after all how many chances will you have to earn that much in one sitting ?
After some hesitation, Anne replied "well... if you've doubled the price, it's hard for me to refuse" she said with a conflicted expression
"Well if you're still in let's follow them, they're starting to move" called Dante
Soon later the three flickering figures flashed through the forest tracing after the group of mercenaries, stalking them like a group of vengeful ghosts
...
Around twenty minutes later the mercenaries were still travelling through the Howling Beast Forest, only they were even more cautious this time.
Maybe due to their increased cautiosness or increased luck this time they were fortunate enough to not encounter any beasts or accidentally trespass on their territory and aggravating them in the process.
Suddenly Flame Wolf came to a stop before laughing out boisterously
"Hahaha ! " laughed Flame Wolf with joy "From the increased amount of fire element Spirit Energy I'm certain the Natural Treasure is nearby. After all these years I've finally found it, my path to breakthrough !"
As he said this Flame Wolf dashed rapidly into a thicket of bushes crazily.
Stunned the mercenaries looked around in hesitation before grudgingly following after him.
As They dashed after him they were greeted with a mystical scene.
In front of them was an area completely different from the surrounding green of the forest. Instead, it was glowing a vibrant red hue with mystical fluorescent particles flowing freely in the environment like a group of dancing fairies like a scene straight out of a fairy tale.
In the middle of this area stood a giant rose flashing periodically with a blinding red light, as it attracted these flying particles of red light towards itself like a magnet.
"This... This is a direct manifestation of elemental particles changing environment " said Anne in shock
The reason Anne was so shocked was that it was very rare to directly see directly opposing elements manifest Like this.
as elements like to congregate in areas of their liking, for example, fire element particles will congregate near areas like volcanos and water element particles will congregate in areas like deep ocean areas, it was quite a simple theory
what made this scene so shocking was that the concentration of fire element spiritual energy reached such high levels that elements started to physically manifest and become visible even to the extent of changing the environment.
Like Anne, Dante was also stunned but unlike Anne who was stunned by an overwhelming sense of Greed !
It was almost Maddening Dante felt an unreasonable urge to Claim the treasure for himself causing his breathing to quicken and rapidly speed up . But the reason was not that it could increase his strength, no it was just for the fact that he could possess it and claim it even if he had to slaughter all the mercenaries present to have it.
shocked by the sudden urge, Dante tried to calm himself down and understand what he was currently experiencing.
Then it hit Dante.
His Dragon Soul!
While Dragons were a tyrannical race known throughout the multiverse for their strength and magical prowess, another major known fact about dragons was their overwhelming greed and an unquenchable thirst for wealth!
Whether it be Good or Evil Dragons, Young or Old. Dragons have been known through all forms of literature to do anything in their power to get their hands on treasure and wealth
And to make matters worse, The dragon soul Dante currently had was that of the Red Dragon. one of the most vicious True Dragons of the Chaotic Evil alignment.
Putting it simply, in most stories where Dragons are the villains and you hear about them destroying cities and Kidnapping princesses, These guys are usually the culprits.
As a being of Chaotic Evil, the Red Dragon has no scruples when it comes to the means of gathering its wealth.
Be it the mass murder of an entire city or threatening a small family with utter annihilation, a Red Dragon had no bottom line when it came to treasure and was willing to go to any extent possible!
The more Dante thought about it the more Dante realised the effect the Dragon Soul was having on him.
A clear example was visible in just the way he acted.
Ever since he got his dragon soul, it was clear that his confidence and pride had shot through the roof.
Before he had just attributed it to the confidence he had from having his own personal cheat but it seemed to be also coming from his Dragon soul as, after all, Dragons are known for their Confidence and Pride in themselves.
Another observation he made was that whenever he entered his dragonification state his emotions were magnified and he became more violent and short-tempered.
It was not to the extent where it affected his combat abilities and judgment , but it did increase his tendencies towards melee combat and fighting viciously.
Now Dante didn't even shrink from violent confrontations.
He happily exchange blow for blow with his enemy, hurting himself to hurt the enemy even more.
It was almost berserker-like fighting style.
But Dante wasn't extremely worried about these developments as they weren't necessarily negative per see but more like extra quirks to his personality, in fact, Dante would be even more worried if there were no negatives to his Cheats
After all, if something Is too good to be true, it probably is.
This applies even more so to something as mystical and unknown as his system that has no known sense of reasoning or understanding. Abstract things like Luck and Karma are the only things that can have some effect on such mystical things