Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 345 Hunting the Earth Dragon 3

The next day, at the darkest hour before dawn, before the sky was even a fraction of a second bright, Caesars was awakened in the tent by bursts of heavy snoring. The sound maintained a fixed frequency, and it was clear without a doubt that the puppy had eaten too much at night and was having trouble sleeping on its stomach.

He put on his magic robe and walked out of the tent. He saw the fat puppy lying on its back at the door of the tent, its dark red belly rising and falling with its breathing, like a bloated leather bag.

Kaesus shook his head and swiftly packed up his armored leather tent. He then picked up the heavy magic steel stew pot and headed towards the gurgling lava river nearby. Dark red lava slowly churned through the gullies, and the volcanic ash along the riverbank was incredibly hot, so hot that even stepping on it barefoot would cause blisters—a perfect stove for heating food.

Even though the heart of the earth dragon had been shattered into several pieces, it was still a priceless magical ingredient. Yesterday, Caesars carefully removed the parts damaged by magic, cut the remaining intact flesh into small pieces, and slowly simmered it with herbs and rock salt. As for the salamander, its flesh exuded a pungent sulfurous smell. Even after rinsing it seven times in ice spring water, a hint of sulfur still lingered. Caesars had to add some spices to neutralize the sulfur taste, and then sprinkled a handful of spices to cover the last faint fishy odor.

The perpetually hungry puppy's chubby belly rose and fell with its snoring. No matter how loud Caesars made his noises, it merely twitched its ears. But the moment the lid of the stewpot was lifted, the rich aroma of meat wafting out amidst steam, and the puppy's wet nose suddenly began to twitch rapidly. Its purring gradually faded into a dreamy whimper, its scarlet tongue unconsciously licking the corners of its mouth, and its stubby limbs began to twitch slightly. It was as if its entire soul was lifted by the aroma, its keen sense of smell awakening before its body.

Caesars slowly stirred the thick soup with a long oak ladle, amber-colored fat scattered across the surface in tiny specks of light. He scooped up half a spoonful and tasted it, his frown indicating that the salamander's ferocity hadn't yet been completely tamed. The rock salt shaker was tapped three times in quick succession, and the white salt grains fell into the soup pot with a fine, rustling sound, like snowflakes falling on a crystal window on a winter night.

The stewpot began to simmer once more, the rich aroma of meat wafting through the breeze along with the curls of steam. The gluttonous pup finally awoke from its deep sleep. It lazily rolled over, revealing its chubby back, then leaped up with a start and, with small, cheerful steps, headed for the stewpot. Its wet, black nose twitched constantly, greedily sniffing the alluring aroma in the air. Then, eagerly, it thrust its head into the pot—and just then, Caesars precisely pinched its signature triangular ears.

"Go wash up, you damned dog!" Caesars frowned in disgust, pinching his nose with his other hand. "You're covered in blood, grease, and even your own saliva. You stink all over!"

The puppy whined in dissatisfaction, its tail drooping as it reluctantly trudged toward the lava river. The scalding lava surged beneath its feet, but it couldn't hurt it at all—for a fire-attributed lava dog, the scorching lava was the perfect washbasin. It plopped into the river and rolled comfortably in the lava, instantly burning away any stains on its body.

"We have to find another earth dragon today," Caesars said as he checked his equipment. "You lazy fellow, you have to work harder today and don't just steal food like you did last time."

The puppy, enjoying a relaxing bath in the lava, hummed again in response. As they approached the lair of the Earth Dragon, the perceptive puppy had already noticed something unusual about the area—the salamanders that used to be everywhere had almost disappeared, leaving the area eerily quiet.

After breakfast, the man and the dog set out again along the lava river. They walked quickly because there were no traces of salamanders on both sides of the lava river - they had all been eaten by ground dragons.

For two whole days, the pup had captured only a few slender flame adders in the barren volcanic terrain, fueling its resentment towards the ground dragons like boiling lava. Whenever it dragged its exhausted body back to its temporary shelter, its mind would recount the hunting grounds plundered by the ground dragons. Now, when it spotted the familiar ground dragon footprints in the sand, etched with sharp claw marks, the blood-red sunset was almost sinking below the horizon.

"You idiot! Go search carefully for the Earth Dragon's lair!" Caesar's voice exploded in the scorching air. "I'm going to find a safe campsite, away from the lava river this time!"

The puppy perked its ears and surveyed its surroundings warily. The lava river bordered vast, flat plains of volcanic ash, as if plowed over by a plow. In this exposed expanse, any movement would be spotted from miles away—especially the voracious ground dragons. Their vertical golden pupils gleamed like beacons in the twilight, easily locating their prey.

The pup flicked its ash-covered tail and reluctantly patrolled the lava riverbank. Dark red lava flowed slowly beneath the cracked riverbed, occasionally emitting dangerous bubbles. It knew this routine inspection was futile—a cunning ground dragon would never build its lair in such a conspicuous place. But its master's orders had to be carried out, so it carefully sniffed every suspicious crevice to ensure there were no ground dragon nests nearby.

As the last rays of sunset sank into the horizon, dusk spread across the sky like a tide. A cool evening breeze blew through the camp, finally dispelling the scorching heat accumulated during the day.

The puppy returned from the twilight with small steps, with a few grains of sand on the tip of its wet nose. Caesar was sprinkling the last handful of spices into the stew pot on the campfire, and the rich aroma of meat wafted around the camp.

The puppy whimpered and nudged Kaisas's boots. The news it relayed knitted Kaisas's brows together. While exploring upstream, it had discovered the riverbed was incredibly deep, its sides sheer and sharp, like a canyon carved by a giant. Even more disturbing, about two miles upstream, several dry lava tunnels dotted the south bank of the Lava River. Each dark tunnel lingered with the thick scent of earth dragons, their sulfur-smelling paw prints clearly visible in the volcanic ash.

Caesars stirred the bubbling broth in the pot, the flames casting flickering shadows on his angular features. "These lava channels are probably connected. It's common sense for dragons to not nest near their own kind..." He suddenly tapped the edge of the pot with a wooden spoon, startling several nearby moths. "But I still have to be careful tomorrow, just in case I run into two hungry creatures..."

In the dancing flames, the pup's pupils shrank to two golden lines. Caesars remembered Orcus' words that the earth dragons of the Lava Lake maintained a hierarchy comparable to that of a human court. Within that vast, boiling crimson lake, the strongest male ruled the pack with a breath as molten as molten lava and claws as sharp as steel. All female dragons and cubs bowed to him.

The earth dragons banished to the outer lava rivers are, in all likelihood, desperate outlaws defeated in bloody challenges. Scarred and scarred, they wander the edges of their territories, threatening like a moving volcano. Of course, there are rare exceptions—when a challenger crushes the old king's horn, the new king allows the aging loser to depart with a final dose of dignity. These eliminated rulers spend the rest of their lives in the lava rivers.

"You stupid dog, if it's an old dragon, then you'll have enough food. It must be bigger, about fifty meters long!" Kaisas narrowed his eyes, tapping the dagger at his waist with his fingers, and the images of the old earth dragons with mottled scales that he had seen in the magic tower emerged in his mind.

The puppy's ears immediately perked up, its ruby-red eyes sparkling with delight, and its bright red tongue licked the tip of its nose repeatedly. It completely ignored the disdain implicit in Caesar's tone. Throughout their long lives, the elves had long since learned from experience that the flesh of these earth dragons, which had lived for hundreds or thousands of years, was like soaked oak. Even if it was stewed with secret elven spices for three days and three nights, it still tasted like dried firewood.

"If it's an old earth dragon, all its meat is yours." Kaisas squatted down and deliberately pinched the soft flesh on the back of the puppy's neck. "You stupid dog, you've only been in the Southern Continent for a few days, and I think you've lost weight!"

Upon hearing this, the puppy immediately stood up on its hind legs, slapping its furry front paws against its bulging belly, its tail wagging like a whirlwind. It remembered eating a lot of ground dragon meat yesterday and sneaking in two flame vipers this morning. How could it possibly be thinner? However, these thoughts were quickly overwhelmed by the anticipation of the delicious meal. While the meat of an old dragon might be tough and dry, for the puppy with sharp fangs, dragon meat, rich in the energy of the fire element, was more chewy than beef.

The puppy raised its furry paws and pointed precisely at the spice jars next to the stewpot. Then it exaggeratedly spread out its two stubby front paws, shaking its pads upwards, with a cunning glint in its little eyes.

"When we get back to Rose Castle, I'll get you ten bags of premium seasoning!" Kaisas squatted down and poked the puppy's moist nose. "Your special recipe requires flame flowers. Collect more for me in the next few days!"

"Ouch!"

The puppy suddenly raised its head, grinning triumphantly, its tongue wagging happily. It expertly scratched the storage ring around its neck with its hind paws. A flash of red light appeared, and hundreds of dew-covered flame flowers clattered to the ground at Caesars' feet. Their vibrant stems and leaves resembled dancing flames in the firelight.

Kaisas was stunned for a moment, then he rubbed the puppy's head with a laugh and scolded, "You dead dog!" He pinched the puppy's erect ears and said, "You've already learned to hide the good stuff!"

The puppy whimpered as it was pulled, but it still kept covering the storage ring with its front paws. Caesars narrowed his eyes and decided that after returning to the castle, he would definitely check the fat dog's storage ring thoroughly.

Late at night, thick darkness enveloped the camp, only the embers of the campfire still shone faintly. Suddenly, a deep, drawn-out roar echoed from the distance, as if piercing the layers of rock and vibrating from the deepest depths of the earth. The earth dragon's roar was remarkably clear in the still night, as if imbued with some ancient magic that shook the very air. The puppy, curled up in its blanket, seemed to sense the unusual sound. Its nose twitched slightly, and its small, triangular ears twitched unconsciously, but sleepiness overcame it and it simply rolled over and fell back into a deep sleep.

In a tent not far away, Caesars sat cross-legged, meditating during his evening prayers. As the roar of a ground dragon pierced the night, he suddenly opened his eyes, a flicker of alarm in his dark pupils. The emotion in that voice was too vivid—rage like blazing flames, resentment like roiling lava, and a certain indescribable sorrow. This was no ordinary ground dragon's roar. Caesars' fingers unconsciously touched the dagger at his waist, a foreboding feeling welling up in his heart.

As the first rays of morning light dispelled the night's darkness, the puppy was already ravenous. It scrambled out of its blankets, its bright red tongue licking its nose, its round eyes fixed on the leftover stew from the previous night. The broth, steeped overnight, had only intensified its aroma. The puppy eagerly buried its head in the stew, slurping away with gusto, splashing broth all over itself and even licking the bottom of the pot until it was shiny. After its fill, it burped contentedly, only then noticing a gaze fixed on it from behind.

The puppy drooped its ears, not daring to look back at the tent. It simply bit the handle of the stew pot and ran towards the lava river with all four paws flying. It still remembered the warning in Caesar's dark eyes: "If you dare to use my stew pot as a food bowl again, you will never eat delicious food again!"

Although puppies can't use a brush to clean pots and pans like humans, they have their own tricks: the boiling magma can not only instantly burn away the residue at the bottom of the pot, but also completely eliminate the most stubborn meat smell.

When the puppy returned with the shiny pot in its mouth, its fur was steaming. It turned out that not only had it cleaned the pot, but it had also taken the initiative to roll in the lava—it didn't want to be scolded for the lingering smell.

Soon after, the puppy excitedly led Caesars to a dry lava tunnel. Ten meters from the tunnel entrance, dark red lava flowed slowly like viscous syrup, forming a stark contrast to the dry tunnel.

Caesars narrowed his eyes, surveying the behemoth. The oval tunnel, over thirty meters in diameter, had a slightly rounded interior, evidently formed by long periods of lava erosion. He knelt down and touched the ground, the warmth from his fingertips making him frown. The nearest volcano was over a dozen miles away. Where could such a massive lava tunnel lead?