"Greedy dragon!" Dino cursed as he watched the black dragon fly away.
Most of the sailors on the deck were unconscious, foaming at the mouth. Only the knight-level sailors remained conscious.
As the pressure lifted, Helag quickly got up and removed his robe, covering Lilian with it.
His robe was made of black fabric, which didn't become see-through when wet.
Lilian hurriedly wrapped herself tightly in the robe and quickly returned to the cabin, looking quite disheveled.
Helag didn't rush back. Seeing Dino approaching, he asked, "Mr. Dino, what was that dragon about?"
"Damn bug! These greedy dragons love to rob passing ships. If it weren't for the ship's safety, I'd have turned its dragon oil into lamp fuel!" Dino said angrily.
The pile of treasure hurt him; it wasn't a small amount for him.
Seeing Dino was angry, Helag didn't say more, just watched the direction the black dragon flew, while lost deep in thought.
A knight-level sailor nearby walked to the railing, holding a bucket tied with a thick rope. He threw the bucket into the sea, filled it with seawater, and then splashed it on the unconscious sailors, waking them up.
Feeling uncomfortable in his wet clothes, Helag returned to the cabin to change.
As soon as he finished changing, Lilian knocked on the door.
Lilian was in her pajamas, her hair still wet.
She held a thick red book with the title "Introduction to Dragon Language" written in Sivirian on the cover.
"I need to check what they were saying in dragon language. It's so hard to learn; I can't remember all the basic syllables."
Lilian walked in as she spoke, sitting on the bed and pulling her legs up, exposing her white legs and delicate feet.
She opened the heavy book, scanning the index with her finger. After finding the information she needed, she flipped to the specified pages, repeating this process many times until she finally translated the conversation between Dino and the black dragon.
Lilian looked up and smiled. "I figured it out. The black dragon said, 'Hand over your treasure, or I'll capsize your ship.'"
"Then Dino said, 'Are you looking for death?' The black dragon replied, 'You're strong, but you can't keep me here.'"
"Finally, the black dragon said, 'Too little, not enough.'"
Helag pondered, "So Dino is that strong? Even a massive black dragon is afraid of him."
"Of course, Dino is a seasoned Level 1 wizard. On land, that black dragon wouldn't dare come near," Lilian said, pulling her legs together.
"Can I borrow this book?" Helag asked.
"Sure, are you interested in dragon language?" Lilian asked.
Helag nodded. "I plan to learn it. It might come in handy someday."
"Dragon language is tough. You'll see. I'll teach you; otherwise, you won't know how to pronounce the syllables. It's said that learning dragon language allows you to use dragon language magic, but the spell models are extremely complex, even difficult for official wizards."
Lilian scooted over and patted the spot next to her. "Sit down! Listen carefully!, I will teach you"
Helag chuckled, finding her behavior amusing.
Dragon language had 900 basic syllables, and that was just the basics, not the complete version.
Combining these syllables, some words required hundreds of syllables, with a single word taking up two pages.
Dragon language was so complex because dragons' vocal structures were different from humans, making it unsuitable for human use.
After getting a basic understanding, Helag realized why Lilian said dragon language was hard to learn.
"Good thing I'm diligent and have an excellent mind," Helag thought, undeterred by the challenge.
"Deep Blue, start recording dragon language and assist me in learning it."
[Task archived.]
With Deep Blue's assistance, learning became much easier for Helag.
Lilian was amazed. "You remembered all 900 syllables? Are you kidding me? You must have studied this before!"
"No, I haven't. It's just 900 syllables. Isn't it normal to remember them after one go?" Helag said innocently.
Lilian felt a bit disheartened, questioning her own intelligence for the first time.
After learning the basic grammar, Helag could use dragon language to say simple sentences.
"#$@?%" Helag said in dragon language.
Lilian looked puzzled. "What?"
"Nothing, let's continue," Helag said with a smile.
Lilian, feeling suspicious, said, "No way! Let me check!"
She flipped through the index, recalling Helag's words, and slowly matched them.
"I'm a bit hungry. I'll go eat first," Helag said, sensing trouble and running out.
As he left, he heard Lilian's angry shout, "You called me stupid!"
Wearing pajamas, Lilian couldn't chase him, so she could only curse him from the cabin.
Dragon language was indeed complex. It took Helag five days to fully master the content of "Introduction to Dragon Language."
To avoid hurting Lilian's feelings too much, he pretended it took him half a month, so she taught him for that long. Still, the result disheartened her.
Lilian couldn't understand why something that took others years to learn, Helag mastered in less than a month. Was the gap between people really that big?
***
Late at night, Helag meditated in his room. The third star was fully solidified, marking a successful meditation.
[
Helag Merlin: Strength 2.1, Agility 1.7, Constitution 2.9, Spirit 5.8, Magic 100%.
]
His Spirit increased by 1.2, making his mind clear and comfortable.
After finishing his meditation, Helag didn't rest. He opened the door and headed to the deck to find the fourth star for meditation.
During this time, he occasionally went to the deck to relax and hadn't encountered any unusual situations.
The ship had been sailing smoothly for over half a month.
When he reached the deck, he was greeted by a sky full of stars and a huge moon hanging over the sea.
Dino was still at the bow. Every time Helag came to the deck, Dino was there.
Helag didn't disturb him. Dino stood at the bow with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep.
"Maybe it's because of his meditation technique?" Helag wondered.
His own meditation required observing the stars, so it wasn't impossible that Dino's required observing the sea.
Helag found a spot, sat cross-legged, and began observing and meditating on a star in the sky.
The three stars he had so far were in different directions, far apart from each other.
He chose the fourth star in a different direction from the other three.