Chapter 450: Burning Heart

Fast-paced narrative

Read on the go

Often, Liszt is an ordinary person who likes to fantasize about the future but lacks long-term planning. He's a bit like the monkey from elementary school textbooks, who picks up sesame seeds but loses sight of the watermelon.

Of course.

He wouldn't go as far as losing the watermelon, but he keeps picking up things along the way, wanting to pick up everything. His territory is bustling with numerous projects, almost more than the industries in the Earl's Coral Island territory, but the problem is, none of the ventures have been pursued with serious intent.

They all started but were then left aside, keeping them from declining.

Naturally, poverty and a lack of manpower hinder development. It's also tied to his lack of foresight and inability to prioritize industry distribution. Moreover, he enjoys initiating projects but lacks the patience to see them through to excellence, leading to the current situation. He holds a strong hand but can't assemble a winning combination.

However.

Liszt also has strengths in his character—being adaptable and content with his circumstances, quickly integrating into new environments; diligence and hard work, particularly in honing his mana and consuming elixirs; persistence, sticking to his guns until he hits a brick wall; and charging ahead, taking immediate action once he's made up his mind.

For example, now, he fully utilizes his brave and persistent character.

Unleashing the vast reserves of Fire Dragon magic power he had just extracted, watching as they were incessantly consumed by the Fire Dragon bones. Even as his heart ached, he didn't pause in his actions.

"Just do it; I refuse to believe I can't forge a baby Fire Dragon!"

Jar after jar of Fire Dragon magic power is poured out, the Fire Dragon bones seemed like an endless abyss, continuously devouring the Fire Dragon magic power. On the surface, the squire knights were breaking open the bubbles in the freshly mined volcanic glass, releasing the Fire Dragon magic power, allowing the five dragon bones to greedily absorb.

It took nearly a week to collect.

It only took two short hours to release.

The reserves of Fire Dragon magic power were entirely depleted.

The so-called dragon bone magic array had yet to coalesce the envisioned 'magic-formed fire seed.' This was the essence of the smoke mission's reward. Liszt was convinced it was intimately connected to the little Fire Dragon, likely the very 'seed' that would give rise to the little Fire Dragon. The dragon bone magic array's purpose was presumably to condense such a fire seed.

"The smoke mission remained incomplete, a sign that the Fire Dragon magic power was still lacking." Liszt drew forth the bone hammer and struck the Fire Dragon bones with all his might.

Almost every strike, the crimson magic threads densely appeared.

Making the Fire Dragon bones look like they were on fire, becoming five huge flame pillars, spectacular. However, the flames never rose, the magic threads remained just magic threads.

"But it's still a bit short!"

"Continue mining volcanic glass!"

Liszt ordered his subordinates to continue mining volcanic glass while calling out Virginia Truth, explaining his actions in detail—almost revealing all the Fire Dragon magic power, to get useful clues—after all, the smoke mission hinted that Virginia held the clues.

Virginia circled around the dragon bones, pondering, but still couldn't figure out anything: "Viscount Liszt, when I was alive, I was just an ordinary magician, working in the family's dragon bone production, mostly following the great magician's instructions."

Liszt was unwilling: "Think again."

She sighed: "I don't want to bring it up, but, if my sister, Curtis Truth, were still here, she would definitely know what these five dragon bones are about. She was most passionate about studying dragons."

Curtis?

A flash of inspiration suddenly crossed Liszt's mind: "Curtis is dead, but she left behind relics! Yes, she left behind a book 'To Prince Anut—Curtis Truth'."

He recalled Virginia.

Quickly took out this magic notebook, then kept flipping through, trying to find useful information.

However, the entire magic notebook documented numerous experiments on creating liches and researching ghost ships, but it did not mention any information related to dragons.

He closed the notebook.

Liszt frowned. "The book has no information on dragons, and Virginia hasn’t provided any new leads. Could it be that there’s no other way besides continuously adding the Fire Dragon’s magic power? I’ve always felt that the magic power in the Fire Dragon bones is sufficient, but something is missing."

What’s missing?

As his eyes scanned the notebook’s cover, it hit him: "I’ve got it—it’s the soul!"

The magic circle can indeed gather the Fire Dragon’s magic power, using it as fuel to condense a magic fire seed, and even nurture a small Fire Dragon.

But it’s missing a soul.

In the eyes of magicians, matter, spirit, and magic power are the three fundamental elements that make up the world. Now, the Dragon Bone Magic Circle has magic power and dragon bones as the material foundation, but it lacks spiritual support. Legend says a dragon’s soul resides in its teeth, but Liszt couldn’t find the Fire Dragon’s teeth.

Then he remembered.

Inside his gem space were several soul-related items: the Sapphire Dragon figurehead, the ram-headed banner, and the soul-soaked wood.

All of them hovered between reality and illusion.

"Can these items, through the Dragon Bone Magic Circle, condense a soul?" He decided to test it, starting with a piece of soul-soaked wood.

The soul-soaked wood remained intact in the gem space.

The moment it was removed, it trembled and disintegrated, vanishing as if it had never been there. However, after Liszt cast the Magic Eye skill, he discovered a faint trace of magic power flowing through the air into the Fire Dragon bones.

"It’s working! The Dragon Bone Magic Circle can absorb this material. The soul-soaked wood, crafted by Curtis Truth after sacrificing an entire ship’s crew, is deeply tied to the soul."

Next.

He kept pulling out pieces of soul-soaked wood, each one devoured by the Fire Dragon bones. As he struck the dragon bones again, he noticed the magic threads seemed livelier, but it still wasn’t enough. It couldn’t condense a magic fire seed.

Only the ram-headed banner and the Sapphire Dragon figurehead were left.

He started with the ram-headed banner, which crumbled and was absorbed in moments.

It still wasn’t enough, but he could feel it nearing a tipping point.

Finally.

After the Sapphire Dragon figurehead disintegrated and was absorbed, Liszt took a deep breath, raised the bone hammer, and struck the dragon bones with force.

He struck again and again.

With each strike, the magic grew more vibrant, lingering on the Fire Dragon bones and forming intricate, fiery patterns. Delighted, Liszt kept striking, and the fiery patterns spread across the dragon bones.

Finally.

On the twenty-fourth strike,

A loud explosion!

The Fire Dragon bones suddenly burst into raging flames, and the flames at the tips of the five dragon bones quickly converged, forming a bright small fireball.

Then, all the flames on the dragon bones moved towards the small fireball.

The temperature in the cave beneath the collapsed sinkhole suddenly rose. Liszt had to dodge to the side.

Then he saw that the originally thick dragon bones appeared to shrink and then entirely transformed into flames, eventually converging into that small fireball.

The flames came quickly.

And disappeared just as fast.

In under half a minute, the raging fire died out. The five dragon bones had vanished, leaving behind only five faintly visible channels of light that led straight to the ground. In the center where the dragon bone tips had been, a small fire seed floated in the air, emitting a flame about the size of a candle.

"Is this the fire seed composed of magic power?" Liszt cautiously approached.

He felt no temperature; the heat from the previous fire quickly dissipated, and the cave soon returned to normal temperature. He didn't bother to wonder where the dragon bones had gone, only circling around this magic fire seed, continuously examining it.

From every angle, it looked like an ordinary flame.

Bright as sunlight inside, red as blood outside.

"Is it really nurturing a small fire dragon?" Liszt was extremely curious. He knew this magic fire seed was extraordinary, but with the naked eye, it was no different. Even when he used the Magic Eye, it appeared the same—just a simple flame, like that of a candle.

He carefully extended the bone hammer's handle towards the fire seed, letting it burn the handle.

However.

After the flame burned, the handle of the bone hammer remained intact, as if the flame lacked any power. Liszt tried other materials, but none were harmed; even thick parchment refused to burn. He even tried touching the flame with volcanic glass, only to find it remained intact.

It was completely different from the Fire Dragon's magic power.

"No temperature, no burning, what kind of entity is this?" After repeated tests and confirming it posed almost no danger, Liszt couldn't help but have the idea to touch it himself.

His curiosity got the better of him.

His finger carefully extended, and as soon as the fingertip touched the flame, his vision blurred, and the magic fire seed had already entered his finger.

Panicked, Liszt quickly shook his hand, attempting to dislodge the fire seed.

But the fire seed rapidly circulated through his mana meridians, and in a blink, he felt it appear at his heart.

Then a piercing pain struck, feeling as if his heart was burning.

His head buzzed... and he lost consciousness.

As he lost consciousness, a single thought echoed in his mind: "It's over, I'm done, my heart is burned out!"