Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon's Might-Chapter 59 - Essential Needs

He couldn’t be bothered to chase after them and finish them off one by one.

The Steam Mephits had already slipped away without a trace, and the intelligent Salamanders, lucky enough not to have died from his Soul Summoning Mantra, immediately knelt at the sight of him…

Well, with their serpentine bodies, it’s not really kneeling, but more like crouching low.

“Let us be loyal to our new master,” a tall Salamander called out, leading the rest.

Having been the master of Hobgoblins and Orcs for many years, Leon now had some experience.

He placated the Salamanders with a few casual words and then strode into the Dome Castle.

The Efreeti was not a mere mortal.

He was tall and burly, only slightly shorter than Leon when standing up, almost as tall as a two-story building.

After using the Enlargement Technique, he was even larger than Leon, and his living quarters allowed Leon to move around freely without any hindrance.

Leon entered the Dome Castle, ignoring the Fire Elements that were panicking and fleeing because of his arrival.

He climbed the large throne at the end of the hall, looking around, feeling unprecedented elation.

Leon didn’t linger too long on that throne.

He’d had his fill of the experience since he couldn’t comfortably sit on it anyway.

Due to his large tail, no matter how he placed it, it felt uncomfortable; he could at most lay atop the throne.

The Dome Castle was, in a certain sense, not very large.

After all, the Efreeti’s body was exaggeratedly massive.

To equate the Dome Castle in scale to a human castle, with dozens if not hundreds of rooms, would truly require hollowing out an entire mountain, and even with magical assistance, the difficulty was immense.

Thus, Leon quickly found the room where the Efreeti lived and his treasury.

There wasn’t much worth writing home about in the room where the Efreeti lived, but the treasury was another story.

Compared to the vast treasury, the amount of Gold Coins wasn’t strictly speaking a lot.

They really couldn’t accumulate to a high number, as the value of a single Gold Coin was not low.

But, neatly arranged on a large table, combined with silver coins, copper coins, and gemstones, they were enough to dazzle the eyes.

Besides money and gemstones, there were quite a few weapons and pieces of equipment in disarray.

This was easy to understand.

The subordinates of the Efreeti were Salamanders, who could be called living forges.

Their ability to generate high heat gave them an advantage in their Blacksmith skills, able to soften and shape steel with their bare hands, ranking them among the greatest metal craftsmen across the planes, not something Hobgoblins could compare with.

For the first time, Leon harbored the thought of prosperity, suspecting that the Blue Dragon had always aimed for the Efreeti Treasure Vault, therefore, enlisting him as a helper, and in the end only needing to give up the Efreeti’s territory, which he wasn’t interested in…

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Speaking of which, with so much in the Efreeti’s vault, the Blue Dragon’s treasury must be pretty impressive as well.

No, that won’t do.

The Efreeti’s domain was in the Fire Element Plane; a little bullying in the Material Plane was of no real consequence.

The Blue Dragon’s domain was in the desert; it was best not to provoke without necessity, especially since they had always been benign towards him.

It would be far too much to repay kindness with enmity.

Leon shook away that terrible thought.

Leon had yet to recover from the shock of his immense newfound wealth when, in a daze, he heard the familiar “ding-dong” sound.

Another reward?

But he didn’t do anything at all, so does that mean success comes when you least expect it?

“Looting to aid oneself—neighbors stockpile grain, I stockpile guns, my neighbors are my granaries, plundering an enemy’s treasure vault.”

“Standard Reward: Transformation Skill.”

Leon’s attention shifted.

Could looting a vault actually get a Golden Finger reward?

In Leon’s memory, he definitely looted an Annis Hag’s vault before, but no reward came of it…

Could it be that compared to the Efreeti, the Annis Hag’s collection wasn’t even worthy of being called a vault?

In fact, he did not find anything useful from the Annis Hag.

Thinking about it, plundering an enemy’s vault seems like quite an impressive feat, so why is there only a standard reward and no higher-level reward, even though it didn’t take much effort to drive away the Efreeti…

The fact that he let the Efreeti escape still irks Leon somewhat.

His focus is now on the Spell from the Golden Finger reward.

Isn’t Transformation Skill considered a high-level reward?

According to the big demons, shouldn’t Transformation Skills only belong to powerful demons?

Then again, the claims of the big demons are modern; in ancient myths, transforming into human form wasn’t considered a significant Divine Skill, many minor demons could do it, and in “Journey to the West” it seems any random wolf or leopard could take human form, and any Bivalve Spirit could turn into a beautiful woman.

After musing for a while, Leon suddenly shook his head.

Why bother with all this confusion?

Just take it when it’s given.

Who knows where the Golden Finger comes from, why care about the details?

Back to the main point.

Leon seriously “read” through the newly acquired knowledge and found that this Transformation Skill wasn’t very powerful, placing it among the standard rewards seemed fair.

The reason is simple: this Transformation Skill can only transform into humanoids, not other miscellaneous creatures, and is nowhere near as versatile as the Nine-Ring Magic Shape Change, which allows transformation into any creature with a Challenge Level equal to or lower than one’s own level, and also allows changing forms with a single action during the spell’s duration.

Moreover, this Transformation Skill isn’t even on par with the transformation skill that adult Metal Dragons have at their disposal, after all, they can not only transform into humanoids but also into beasts.

If he really wants to freely shape-shift, he’ll probably have to wait until he learns 72 Transformations from a higher-level or even more advanced reward, if there is one in the future.

But that’s a story for another time.

In any case, having the Transformation Skill that allows him to become human is enough for now; as a human, he can roam freely without being hunted down as a Red Dragon.

Just bought a car and already dreaming of a luxury vehicle, just bought a starter house and already wishing for a mansion, Leon couldn’t help laughing at his own greed.

Leon laughed for a moment, then composed himself and began using the Transformation Skill, as the huge body rapidly shrank.