"Tell , hybrid dragon, what is it?"
After listening to the Brass-Silver Dragon's latest riddle, Garoth furrowed his brow and pondered deeply.
But this riddle from the Brass-Silver Dragon contained no straightforward hints—it sounded mystical and obscure, full of imagery yet lacking concrete expression. In short, it was rather abstract.
Ambition? Hope? Change? Each answer seed close yet not quite right.
Faced with such an abstract riddle, Garoth refused to answer. It wasn't that he couldn't think of the exact answer—he simply wasn't interested.
Moreover, as a red dragon descendant, solving problems with his fists first was perfectly acceptable.
"What nonsense are you babbling about?" Garoth suddenly spread his wings, his massive body lifting into the air amid a surge of violent winds.
He stared at the Brass-Silver Dragon and said, "I prefer solving problems with strength."
The red dragon Samantha, the white dragon Trixie, and other subordinate leaders present all turned their gazes toward the Brass-Silver Dragon, ready to move.
Seeing the red iron dragon preparing to charge at her, with many hostile eyes fixed upon her, the Brass-Silver Dragon quickly raised her claws in a surrendering gesture. "Stop, stop! I'm not here to fight you."
Compared to before, Deborah—now with her silver dragon hybrid blood awakened—had changed significantly. As a young adult, she was already stronger than an adult white dragon.
When the Brass-Silver Dragon witnessed Garoth's fierce battle with the demon bull, she had thought: if the demon bull proved stronger, she would intervene midway, descending like righteous justice to make Garoth owe her a favor.
If Garoth ultimately won, she also considered taking advantage of his post-battle exhaustion to defeat and humiliate him, avenging her previous loss.
However, seeing Garoth largely unhard with barely any visible wounds, the Brass-Silver Dragon Deborah wisely abandoned that idea.
In Deborah's eyes, Garoth had also changed dramatically.
He had beco more ferocious and intimidating, his physique growing unbelievably robust, his unique wings unprecedented, his spikes appearing dangerously sharp, and the golden lightning he emitted during the battle with the demon bull all surprised and intrigued her.
Why was this hybrid dragon so powerful? Why had he changed so drastically? There must be secrets hidden within him.
The Brass-Silver Dragon thought she might uncover the secrets behind Garoth's strength.
"You wouldn't appear here without reason." Hearing the Brass-Silver Dragon's words, Garoth suppressed his imdiate urge to attack.
After all, he was an iron dragon descendant—when unsure, observing first was perfectly reasonable.
"What do you want?" Garoth asked.
Opposite him, under Garoth's gaze, the Brass-Silver Dragon grinned slyly. "The answer lies within the riddle, hybrid dragon. Think carefully."
Garoth: "I'm not interested in your riddles."
The Brass-Silver Dragon tilted her head, her gaze clear and sharp.
"You played my riddle gas the last two tis. I don't believe you're suddenly uninterested now."
After a brief pause, the Brass-Silver Dragon adopted a knowing tone, as if realizing sothing:
"You must be unable to solve it, so you're pretending not to care. Ah, don't rush—riddles are most fun when pondered slowly, aren't they?"
Garoth fell silent.
Tiny golden currents like snakes flickered beneath his scales, and a faint burning scent filled the air.
The Brass-Silver Dragon's smile stiffened slightly. She pursed her lips, thinking how evil red iron dragons were—getting angry just for being exposed.
"Adventure! It's adventure!" the Brass-Silver Dragon revealed her answer.
She continued, "Your words last ti made realize sothing."
"I want to experience real adventure, not playful gas."
"And you, red iron dragon—you're easily antagonized and targeted for extermination."
Finally, the Brass-Silver Dragon stated her true request: "Please let join your adventures! During this ti, I'll obey your commands as long as they don't violate my moral principles."
Garoth's eyes glead as he calculated.
Having another tal dragon in Dragon Valley would undoubtedly be beneficial.
Back in the Serpentine Earth Rift of the Ser Wilderness, if he'd had a tal dragon to serve as a public front, subsequent troubles could have been avoided.
No one wants to see evil dragons gathering.
An evil dragon group without cover or sufficient strength would face countless problems during growth—but most could be avoided with a tal dragon's presence.
As for the Brass-Silver Dragon's moral principles...
tal dragons were good dragons, but "good" ca in different types.
Brass and yellow dragons were standard chaotic good.
These intelligent creatures acted mainly according to their own ideas—kind-hearted, believing in justice, yet not bound by secular laws, following their own moral codes.
However, while these codes were good-natured, they might not align with mainstream concepts of goodness.
Their version of justice might also differ from conventional understanding.
Gold, silver, and bronze dragons were standard lawful good.
They fought evil, acted honorably, never lied, helped those in need, upheld justice, spoke against unfairness, and could be relied upon to complete tasks faithfully.
A lawful good dragon would likely disapprove of Garoth's actions.
However, the Brass-Silver Dragon before him—perhaps because her silver dragon hybrid blood was awakened later—still retained her brass dragon personality traits.
Her use of shapeshifting for extortion proved she remained in the chaotic good alignnt.
Her moral baseline might not be higher than his own... Garoth considered that the Brass-Silver Dragon could be quite useful.
But 'taming' a chaotic good brass dragon's personality wouldn't be easy.
After careful thought, Garoth realized the key was not refusing her riddle gas—even proactively proposing riddles himself.
Different dragons required different approaches. To make a brass dragon obsessed with you, you needed to master riddles.
—Another entry was added to Garoth's Dragon Taming Techniques.
"You can join my adventures," Garoth said after consideration. "But I won't take you in for free. You must provide wealth as paynt."
The Brass-Silver Dragon's expression darkened with inner struggle.
She couldn't easily part with treasure.
Though Garoth had robbed her more than once, having wealth taken versus handing it over voluntarily were entirely different matters. Greed for treasure wasn't just an evil dragon's nature—it was an inherent trait even tal dragons struggled to resist.
Garoth suddenly changed tack: "If you can answer my riddle, I'll let you join for free."
The Brass-Silver Dragon froze montarily before her face blossod into a radiant, overjoyed smile.
Every reaction matched Garoth's predictions exactly.
Simple. Handled.
Now, what riddle should he pose?
Garoth's peripheral vision caught the ravaged, scarred land, sparking inspiration.
Clearing his throat, he imitated the Brass-Silver Dragon's tone and cadence:
"It uses blood as kindling, wails as wind; I light its fuse when scepter's swung, you brave sword-forests for its crown."
"It drinks heroes' final crimson draught, chews cowards' first deceit; tempers dals on broken spears, buries embers 'neath scorched earth's sheet."
Pausing slightly, he turned to the brass dragon: "Tell , tal dragon—what is it?"
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