Chapter 655: Come Home with Me

This chapter is a bonus update thanks to "Featherfall Burial."

The wind howled, and the white clouds swirled as Leo surged straight up several thousand meters into the sky, reaching the normally unreachable clouds.

Feeling the mist brush against his face, Liszt was exhilarated. Acheronides in his arms trembled with excitement—perhaps mixed with a hint of fear. As a sea spirit, she had never been so high in the sky before.

"Rawr!"

Leo let out a mighty cry, mentally conveying to Liszt that he had reached his current flying limit. No matter how powerful he was, he was still just a young dragon, lacking the ability of an adult dragon to soar at altitudes of ten thousand meters. The rarity of dragons was also closely tied to their capacity to soar to such heights.

Above, the sky was filled with clouds, making it easy to hide.

"Since we've reached the limit, let’s go back down!" Liszt was just out for a ride.

The high altitude was cold. Though both he and Acheronides had hardy constitutions and strong resistance to temperature extremes, there was no need to endure such discomfort. Besides, the dense clouds blocked the scenery, making it far more pleasant to circle Dodo Island and admire the beauty below.

Leo immediately folded his wings and dropped like a rock.

Compared to the time spent ascending, the descent was much faster. Within a few breaths, the Human Skull Trees on Dodo Island came into view. Just before crashing into the ground, Leo spread his wings dramatically, jerking to a stop.

He just barely bent a few Human Skull Trees before flapping his wings and lifting his massive body weighing tons, beginning a smooth glide around Dodo Island.

After two laps, he landed by the shore.

Liszt set Acheronides down. Her face was flushed with excitement—she was likely the first of her kind to fly several thousand meters above the ground.

"So, how was it? Exciting?" Liszt asked.

"Yeah!"

"Take a moment to calm down. I’ll take Leo to finish today’s training first." He had been so caught up in riding the dragon that he hadn’t yet performed his dragon-breath forging and dragon-magic cultivation. Moreover, he needed to explore the next phase of his training to complete the Smoke Mission and avoid delaying Acheronides' advancement to Archmage.

Unlike before, when Leo had been reluctant during training, this time he cooperated fully.

Thanks to their mental link, the two were now mentally bonded, allowing them to fine-tune the details of their practice and maximize efficiency. Completing both training methods took half a day, and Liszt spent the rest of the afternoon experimenting with new approaches.

Yet, even by nightfall, he hadn’t made any breakthroughs.

Seeing the moon nearly set in the west, Liszt patted Leo’s large head. "I’ll head back tomorrow. You stay at the volcano and keep training."

"Rawr!"

"Hmm, are you saying you want to come with me?"

"Rawr!"

Through their mental connection, Liszt was delighted to discover that Leo didn’t actually need to stay in the volcanic magma every day. Essentially, he only needed to absorb the extreme-natured magic power condensed in the magma once a month to form his dragon will. The rest of the time, he was just lazing in the lava, mostly sleeping.

Clearly, Leo had been lying to Liszt before—or perhaps he simply hadn’t enjoyed being around humans like him.

Now mentally bonded, Leo had grown fond of Liszt.

This was a good thing.

Liszt quickly agreed. "You can come back with me, but most of the time, you’ll need to exist in your dragon-will form. Don’t recklessly reveal your physical body in front of others."

"Rawr!" Leo gave an agreeing nod.

"Then go down and absorb the dragon essence condensed by the volcano. We'll set off together tomorrow morning!"

"Whoo-hoo!"

Leo suddenly extended his large tongue and licked Liszt's face. There was no saliva or dragon drool, only fiery magic. Then he abruptly stepped back, plunging down the volcanic cliff. As he landed, his wings fluttered, and he dove headfirst into the seething magma.

...

The night passed.

Early the next morning, carrying Hemp Rope Vine seeds and a batch of skull fruits, Liszt summoned Leo.

Leo directly transformed into his dragon-essence form, crashing into Liszt's body and condensing into a flaming Fire Dragon emblem on his chest.

They descended the mountain.

Calling over Rainbow Whale Rosi, who was playing by the sea, and calling out to Acheronides, they headed straight back.

Ten hours later, in the afternoon, they arrived at Black Horse Port. Liszt had Acheronides take the previously contracted purple kelp worms back to the seaside villa in Flower Town, while he prepared to inspect his territory—there was still a peanut sprout that might nurture a spirit insect, which he hadn’t checked yet.

"My lord, you’ve finally returned!" Gort came forward to greet him.

"Has anything happened in the territory?"

"Earl Tulip has returned to Tulip Castle. Yesterday afternoon, he sent a messenger knight to invite you to Tulip Castle for a family banquet."

"Really? Did the messenger knight mention anything about the aftermath of the expedition order?"

"He briefly mentioned it. The Iron Mountain Mine in Dragon Trap Mountain has been completely emptied, hauling a staggering 1.12 million tons of iron ore. Not a single dragon knight showed up to contest the mine, but the Crown Prince still called an early end to the expedition after all the iron ore left the Kingdom of the Eagle’s coastline."

"Everyone returned safely?" Liszt was astonished. This plunder amounted to 1.12 million tons of iron ore, yet not a single dragon knight showed up!

Back when the Earl plundered only 200,000 tons, dragon knights were hot on his heels.

The contrast was simply unbelievable.

"The messenger knight relayed that the Blue Gemstone knights all returned safely. The Coral Island Knights not only suffered no losses but also swelled their ranks by 800 earth knights. Earl Tulip’s promotion to Marquis is already confirmed—it was personally announced by the Grand Duke at Ox Hoof City in Iron Hoof Island."

"The Grand Duke went to Ox Hoof City?"

"Yes, the Grand Duke took command at Ox Hoof City and held a debriefing on battle merits, essentially confirming that Earl Tulip’s achievements were sufficient for promotion to Marquis. He even discussed with the Earl where on Iron Hoof Island to claim as his fief."

"Which part did my father choose?"

"The messenger knight didn’t know. Earl Tulip doesn’t seem to have publicly announced his choice."

That was essentially all the messenger knight conveyed. The specific details would require Liszt to personally visit Tulip Castle to learn.

Burning with curiosity, Liszt didn’t linger in Port Town. He immediately rode Rainbow Whale Rosi and made a beeline back to New Port Town.

Inspecting the peanut plantation, sure enough, that sprout was nurturing a spirit insect.

After instructing the spirit insect guardians to guard the insect grass, he made a beeline back to Flower Town without pause. Then, returning to the castle, he freshened up with a bath, changed clothes, and rode strider Loki to Tulip Castle at breakneck speed.

He arrived just before nightfall.

His appearance quickly sent Tulip Castle abuzz. The Earl personally led his family and numerous servants to greet him at the castle gates.

"Liszt, the Tulip family’s shining star, welcome home!"