Chief Grimm's cloudy, grayish-green eyes sized up Leopold, as if weighing how much sincerity lay in the young dragon's words.
“A few days?” Grimm finally spoke, his tone giving away neither anger nor pleasure. “Little one, are you bargaining with me?”
“It is not bargaining, but mutual understanding,” Leopold said, keeping his voice steady. “As you said, Chief, we are not familiar with this path. Similarly, you are not familiar with us either, correct?
“Under such circumstances, rashly signing a contract would not be good for anyone.”
Blake let out another suppressed growl behind him, but Leopold pinned him down firmly with the tip of his tail, preventing him from speaking again.
Grimm fell silent for a moment, his fingers lightly tapping twice on the ore at the top of his wooden staff.
“Interesting.” The old goblin's lips curled slightly. “A Night Black Dragon who speaks more smoothly than us goblins. Fine, three days.
“Three days from now, we will return here. We look forward to your answer then.”
Chief Grimm turned and walked upstream along the underground river. The remaining goblins also retreated one after another into the caves on both sides of the rock walls. One by one, the amber-orange points of light went out, and the underground river sank once more into the cold, faint blue light of the fluorescent jellyfish.
Only when the last trace of footsteps vanished deep within the rock walls did Blake roughly fling off Leopold's tail.
“What do you think you're doing?!” he hissed, unable to hide his fury in the slightest. “You almost made us sign that kind of thing! ‘Serve forever’? We are dragons, dragons who never bow our heads!”
“So what did you plan to do just now?” Leopold turned around, his golden vertical pupils staring at Blake in the darkness. “Charge straight ahead and fight over thirty goblins? And then? Even if we won, would you know the way?”
Blake opened his mouth but found nothing to say.
Isabella walked over from the side, the white dragon's wings already folded tight against her body. She stood between the two young dragons, her icy-blue eyes fixed on Leopold.
“Why did you ask for three days?” Isabella asked. “Do you already have a plan?”
Leopold exhaled a heavy breath. He lowered his head and pressed his front claw against the scabbed-over wound on the side of his neck.
“This is a gamble for both sides,” Leopold said, looking into Isabella's beautiful eyes. “They are betting that over these three days, we will grow weaker as our injuries worsen and food runs scarce.
“And I am betting that we will recover, so that the initiative will be in our hands.”
Blake finally turned his head away. The tip of his grayish-blue tail tapped irritably against the rock twice, but he said nothing.
“You are taking a big gamble,” she said softly. “What if we haven't recovered after three days?”
Leopold did not answer immediately. He looked down at the golden bloodstains on his front claw, then glanced sideways at Blake. Although the grayish-blue young dragon kept his face turned away, his ears were clearly perked up, waiting for his answer.
“If we haven't recovered after three days,” Leopold said slowly, “our choices won't actually be any worse than they are now.”
Isabella tilted her head, confusion flashing in her icy-blue eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“The goblins need us too,” Leopold said, raising his head, his golden pupils shining in the darkness. “They are the Fifth Race, living underground and making a living by mining ore. But who is the primary buyer of their ore?”
Isabella frowned, searching her inherited memories. “The Fourth Race, the Dwarves...”
“Exactly. The Dwarves are the superior race to the goblins. This means that in the ore trade, the goblins have always been in a weak position.” Leopold turned his head.
Isabella's eyes lit up as she understood.
“You mean... the goblins want to use us?”
“Yes.” Leopold lay down and let out a long breath. “They want the dragon clan to supplement their military strength, addressing the imbalance of power between them and the Dwarves so they can secure better prices.
“In other words, unless absolutely necessary, they won't kill us. As long as they believe cooperation is possible, we can definitely secure a more favorable position...”
Blake fell silent for a long time before finally speaking, “So how do you plan to make use of these three days?”
“Recovery is the first priority,” Leopold said with his eyes closed. “All three of us are injured, especially Bella. Her left wing has a long gash torn in it.”
Blake followed his gaze. Isabella was crouching nearby, her head lowered as she licked the wound on the inside of her left wing.
“You're right,” Blake admitted reluctantly. “But recovery requires food. What do we have?”
“Jellyfish, or lava worms.”
“Lava worms?” Blake was astonished by Leopold's boldness.
“Lava worms are monsters, but so what?” Leopold sat up. “My inherited memories tell me that the flesh of these worms is rich in fire elements, which will be of great help to us. What's more—they are afraid of the cold.”
He looked at Blake.
Blake narrowed his eyes, taking a moment to realize what he meant. “You want to use my frost breath?”
“Your frost breath can freeze them, Bella's speed can catch them, and my claws can tear open their shells,” Leopold said calmly. “By dividing the work, we can probably take one down in ten minutes.”
“Leopold, you're amazing,” Isabella couldn't help but praise.
Blake fell silent for a few seconds before finally snorting. “...I suppose you have a bit of a brain.”
Over the next few hours, the three little ones ate a few jellyfish and rested for a while, finally recovering some of their strength.
The flow downstream along the underground river grew rapid, and the water temperature rose noticeably. Leopold walked at the very front, his golden vertical pupils slowly contracting in the darkness to adjust the amount of light entering his eyes.
“Are you sure it's around here?” Blake followed behind him, his tone returning to that familiar, critical edge.
“My inherited memories say that lava worms prefer warm waters. They like to hide in rock crevices and spring out when prey passes by.”
Leopold observed the rock walls on both sides as he walked. “The water temperature here is clearly higher than upstream, and the steam is heavier. There must be a geothermal fissure nearby.”
Isabella followed at the very back. She still couldn't fully unfold her left wing, but it was already much better than before.
Leopold stopped. He looked around and suddenly noticed a yellow mineral not far away. He leaned down and sniffed it carefully.
“The smell of sulfur...”
Before Leopold could finish speaking, a dark red shadow suddenly shot out from a crevice in the right-hand rock wall, easily half a head taller than Leopold.
The dark red figure was covered in a rough carapace. Its head was a ring of writhing tentacles, with a gaping mouth full of backward-facing barbs in the center.
Out of sheer reflex, Leopold rolled to the side. Scalding mucus splashed onto the rocks behind him, producing a harsh, sizzling sound of corrosion.
After missing its mark, the dark red shadow slammed into the rock wall, but the lava worm quickly adjusted its direction and lunged at Leopold once more.
“Blake, freeze it!”
Leopold shouted in panic as he kept rolling.
“I don't need you to tell me, I know!”
Blake's reaction was faster than Leopold had anticipated. The grayish-blue young dragon had already opened his mouth, spraying a blast of icy-blue mist precisely onto the worm.
The dark red carapace was instantly covered in a layer of white frost, and the worm's movements slowed down noticeably.
Yet, it was only frozen on the surface. Its thick body continued to writhe violently, its barbed mouth making cracking sounds as it strained to lunge toward its prey.
“I'm finished!” Leopold's back hit the rock wall. He could only watch as the barbed mouth closed in to bite down on him...
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