Arad stared at Alcott's back, debating whether he should run or stay. The man knowns as the dragon slayer have arrived, and he can't stand a chance against him.
Thud! Arad took a step backward, keeping his eyes on Alcott.
{Back away slowly and hope he won't attack us.}
Just as Arad started moving, Alcott stared at him. "A strange wyrmling, you remind me of astral dragons, but you have legs." Alcott sheathed his sword and sighed.
"Thank the divines I reached in time. Only they knew what kind of disaster your mother would have caused had you died." He smiled, "Go, don't approach human cities again."
{Let's run away. We will return to the city later.}
Aella stood, looking at Arad. "Are you injured?" She rushed toward him immediately, alerting both Arad and Alcott.
Arad leaped back. ^Stay away from me, idiot!^
Aella chased him, "Why are you running? Arad, come here and let me see if you got injured." She spilled the beans on the spot.
{Stupid elf!}
^Damn it, should I bolt away?^
Alcott stared at them, "Arad? Is this wyrmling Arad?" He looked at them, slowly approaching.
Arad tried to speak, but he could only growl. As a wyrmling, his vocal cords haven't developed.
Alcott lifted his hands, "Listen, I'm not here to hurt you. Wave your wings if you understand me."
{He would have killed us if he wanted to. Give him a chance. But be ready to bolt away with teleportation.}
^Can I transform back to my human side?^ Arad asked with a worried thought.
{You can't until you eat and recover, your humanoid body is at 0 HP.}
Arad waved his wings, and Alcott smiled, "This explains the air around you."
"Arad, are you?" Aella tried to approach him, but she fell on her face, tearing up like a little kid.
Alcott stared at her with a smile, "Elves are dexterous. They can even run with sprung ankles and broken bones." He explains.
Alcott stared at Arad, "Can you transform back into a human?"
Arad shook his head.
"Let me change the question, will you be able to transform back soon?"
Arad nodded, looking toward the corpses.
"Can you do it in less than a day?" Alcott scratched his beard.
{You can transform back just after eating.}
Arad nodded.
"That sound like a plan." Alcott smiled, "I will take the girl to get healed and report the bandit attack. The bandits have captured a wyrmling and intend to sell it in the city. You and Aella found them and eliminated the threat. I will tell this story."
Arad stared at him, confused, but Alcott smiled.
"I'm more than a dragon slayer. I'm the dragon meditator. I'm the one to look for when negotiating with dragons." He explained.
Dragons are the apex predator and the strongest, living, intelligent creatures.
Due to the dragons' might, fighting them is considered a stupid idea. Most humanoid cities resort to peaceful negotiation with either bribe, sacrifice, bartering, or mutual benefit relationship to deal with them.
A city dealing with a mighty red dragon might resort to sacrificing a single beautiful maiden each year. The settlement would prefer to appease the dragon instead of raising a ten-thousand-man army to kill the beast Because that would result in countless deaths.
Dragons are greedy. You can bribe them for benefits. But most dragons walk by the rule: "Wealth belongs to those strong enough to take it."
That has caused the need for strong individuals to deal with dragons, and Alcott is one of them.
Alcott took Aella and headed back to the town while Arad turned toward the bandit corpses, ^Should I eat those?^
{Probably not. The authorities will look for the corpses. Eat one of the toads, as we can always hunt more.}
Arad strolled toward the closest giant toad corpse, ^Should I munch on it?^
{That isn't necessary. You can throw it into your stomach and consume it like that.} Eating directly from his inventory was possible.
Arad approached the toad's corpse, touching it with his claws.
ZON! The toad's body disappeared, and Arad could sense it inside his stomach.
{This toad can sustain you for a week. But, if you want to grow faster, you best eat one daily.}
^One each day?^ Arad gasped. That was a lot of meat.
Dragons can survive for a long time without food, but they need a lot of it to sustain their power and grow stronger.
{Dragons grow stronger the more they age. You can hasten your growth by cultivating. Want to start now?} Mom suggested.
Arad stared at his surrounding, ^Can I do it now?^
{That's what I said. Activate your void eyes.}
When Arad looked through the void, he could see hundreds of sparkling stars around him, glittering like precious gems.
^What are those?^
{The souls of the dead. They are the way you're going to cultivate your power.}
Mom then proceeded to explain the void dragon's age stages.
[First stage, Wyrmling]: 0 to 16 years.
[Second stage: Very young]: 17 to 32 years.
[Third stage: Young]: 33 to 64 years.
[Fourth stage: Juvenile]: 65 to 128 years.
[Fifth stage: Young Adult]: 129 to 256 years.
[Sixth stage: Adult]: 257 to 512 years.
[Seventh stage: Mature Adult]: 513 to 1024 years.
[Eighth stage: Old]: 1025 to 1536 years.
[Ninth stage: Very Old]: 1537 to 2048 years.
[Tenth stage: Ancient]: 2048 to 3072 years.
[Eleventh stage: Wyrm]: 3073 to 4096 years.
[Twelveth stage: Great Wyrm]: 4090+ years.
{You can either wait and grow naturally or cultivate to increase your growth speed. And before you ask, this won't reduce your lifespan.}
And she then went on explaining it.
Each soul has its worth, and none are the same.
The soul of a baby is worthless. The soul of a frail old man is meaningless. You want the soul of someone in his prime, around thirty. Their level also adds up in days.
A man around thirty years old will be worth around a month. His being a level ten will add another ten days. To proceed to the next stage, you must cultivate the necessary time.
But humanoid souls can corrupt your mind. You better stick to using monsters for cultivation, even though they offer much less value.
There is also another way for dragons to cultivate, and that is by hoarding wealth.
Gold, magic items, artworks, ancient relics, jewelry, and gems of marvelous value. Even the service of humanoids would count. The more wealth you acquire, the faster your cultivation will be.
For how to store your hoard, as a void dragon, your stomach is the best place.
^Why does gathering wealth increase my cultivation speed?^
{I don't know. But it's one of the reasons why dragons are greedy. Also, it doesn't matter how you get your wealth.}
^So I need to eat, kill monsters, gather every gold coin I see, and get a ton of wives. Do I understand it right?^
{Pretty much.}
Arad transformed into his humanoid form, feeling pain across his whole body.
{What do you want to do now?}
"Finding a cure to the void dragons comes first. But besides that, I want a mountain of gold with a thousand women dancing on it."
{You're mother would be proud.}
"But we need to deal with Alcott first," Arad sighed, looking down with a worried face.