Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 143 - 142 Volcano

Chapter 143: Chapter 142 Volcano

When there’s nothing urgent to do, Leon isn’t afraid to waste time, but once he decides to do something, his drive is actually quite strong. Compared to the last time he left the desert with Cecilia, choosing to ride a camel and follow a caravan, which took many days to reach the Lost Plateau, this time he planned to fly directly there with the Fire Giant.

As the Fire Giant took flight, its lower body would turn into a mass of grey smoke and embers. Its flying speed was actually not slow, but it was somewhat embarrassing compared to Leon.

"How about you go inside that Magic Oil Lamp, and then I’ll carry the lamp and fly over, and you can come out after?" Leon proposed.

"No, I refuse. Please forgive my denial," the Fire Giant rejected.

Leon’s original idea was to get the Fire Giant into the lamp, and then release him at Watchtower Port after he himself had carried the lamp there, but the Giant wouldn’t submit to entering the sad place that made him a servant.

Leon figured they had waited for so many years; not minding an extra day or half. Although he liked to promise more than he could deliver, he still considered himself a decent boss and didn’t trouble the Fire Giant. He allowed the Giant to use his preferred method and slowly fly to Watchtower Port.

However, Leon had no interest in accompanying the Fire Giant on his slow flight, nor did he plan to travel to Watchtower Port alone. His plan was to wander around and catch up with the Fire Giant later.

While hesitating on where to wander off to, Leon suddenly remembered the tomb of the Ancient Fallen Empire he had visited once before. He felt he could go for another visit now that the Male-faced Sphinx no longer posed a challenge to him.

The tomb of that Ancient Fallen Empire was indeed a bit sinister and would require more strength to deal with; Leon gave up the idea as soon as it popped into his head.

Circling in the sky, neither the Blue Dragon nor Roc dared cause him trouble. Soon he got bored and turned back to look for the Fire Giant, only to discover that he was talking to someone... no, it was not talking; rather, they were in a fight.

Leon flapped his wings hard and approached the battleground, spotting the Fire Giant’s opponent - a Djinni resembling the Genies from Aladdin’s Lamp. He understood right away. The Djinni found the Fire Giant arrogant and condescending, and conversely, the Fire Giant, who preferred the desert, didn’t like the Djinni who rode on desert whirlwinds—frequent conflicts often led to battles.

While the Fire Giant was Leon’s servant, he preferred not to intervene and just watched the commotion... The Fire Giant’s scimitar had more might than the Djinni’s, but the Djinni was more agile and swift, attacking at greater speeds and possibly even flying faster than Leon.

Leon had no intention of interfering with the battle, but his presence clearly influenced the duo... The Fire Giant didn’t really care, but the Djinni was truly scared; he feared that the Red Dragon circling above would suddenly attack. The Djinni was confident he could beat the Fire Giant, but had no desire to fight a Red Dragon.

The Djinni had a faster flight speed than the Fire Giant and could choose to fight or flee at will. At this moment, he easily broke away from the fight, planning to leave and avoid any accidents.

"Master, seize the Djinni and confine him in the Magic Oil Lamp, then you will have another powerful servant," the Fire Giant shouted.

The Fire Giant despised the act of being enslaved by force and would tirelessly seek revenge on those who offended him. In contrast, the Djinni believed servitude was a matter of fate, and none could escape the hand of destiny, making them the easiest among all giants to be enslaved, even though they did not relish such treatment.

Holding this thought, it was easy for Leon to catch up with the Djinni.

"Red Dragon, what do you want to do?" The Djinni hovered easily in the sky, holding two scimitars and vigilantly watching Leon. "You surely didn’t believe that despicable Fire Giant’s words... You absolutely cannot catch me in the sky."

Leon didn’t really want to enslave the Djinni, his main intention was to negotiate a deal and have a talk. Seeing the Djinni’s reaction, he quickly realized that the Djinni likely disliked Red Dragons.

That was completely normal; even beings of chaos and good like the Djinni wouldn’t like Red Dragons, let alone beings of the evil alignment. Chaotic and evil Red Dragons acted on a whim, never doing good deeds but excelling in bad ones, not only targeting the virtuous.

Djinni naturally flew fast and had the ability to ride the wind, turning into a cloud of mist, further boosting his speed several folds. His Gathering Form and Scattering Energy spell transformed him into a mass of Clean Energy, improving his mobility similarly, besides, he had other concerns. Hesitating briefly, Leon turned around and said, "Never mind, you’re free to go."

Upon hearing Leon’s words, the Djinni quickly took his leave.

The Fire Giant finally caught up, asking, "Master, why did you let him go?"

"We’ve got important things to do," replied Leon, embarrassed to admit that he probably had an eight in ten chance of not catching the Djinni.

Watching the Djinni’s silhouette fade away in the sky, Leon suddenly felt a bit greedy. Following Frightening Majesty and underwater breathing, he now wanted to acquire a spell that would increase his mobility. Without Gathering Form and Scattering Energy, his flying speed was not much different from an ordinary Red Dragon.

The Fire Giant could fly very fast at full power, like a rocket or a jet plane, but it wasn’t sustainable. In normal conditions, his pace was just that of an airship, with the advantage that he no longer needed to eat, drink, or sleep. As such, the journey from the desert to the Lost Plateau took the better part of half a day or almost a full day.

Upon arriving at the Lost Plateau, the Efreeti was clearly far more excited.

"Does my lord know?" The Efreeti looked down high and mighty at the Dwarves moving along the mountain path, "Dwarves are slaves much more excellent than Humans, adept at mining and also skilled in forging, and they endure hard labor."

"However, they are still far inferior to the Fire Dwarves," the Efreeti sighed, "Fire Dwarves are almost all masters of craftsmanship, unafraid of fire, and as elemental beings, they require no food, water, or sleep. The Brass City in the Fire Element Plane was built by those Fire Dwarves, they are indeed the best slaves."

The Efreeti usually didn’t like talking, but when it came to capturing slaves, he was energized; born a master of slaves, that’s who he was. After commenting on the Dwarves and then the Fire Dwarves, next came Humans and Elves, and finally, he forced himself to assess the Fire Giants, an existence certainly not inferior to theirs, and said:

"The Fire Giants are not bad either, one Fire Giant could be worth a dozen Fire Dwarves, capable in both forging weapons and equipment as well as constructing buildings, only they’re strong and disobedient... if you catch a Fire Giant, you must torment him severely, absolutely cannot give him enough rest, must keep him half-dead."

Leon knew the Efreeti was quite powerful, stronger than most Fire Giants, but the latter often lived in groups, and a bunch of Fire Giants enslaving an Efreeti was a greater possibility. He asked, "Have you ever captured a Fire Giant slave before?"

The Efreeti suddenly quieted down at that. The most he knew was one Evil Flame Fire Giant, and he did not have the ability to capture a Fire Giant slave.

"I cannot catch a Fire Giant, but you, my lord, can," the fervently burning Efreeti never got disheartened and quickly regained his spirits, "I can help my lord activate a dormant volcano, but it’s beyond me to construct a lair for my master. If you desire a perfect lair, those Salamanders won’t do a good job; it requires capturing a Fire Giant... If not, Dwarves can also suffice."

"That kind of thing can be discussed later," Leon said. He preferred to do things step by step, to first complete one task well, to carry bricks diligently, to load bricks on a vehicle first, then drive to transport them, and once arriving, unload the bricks, rather than thinking about drawing blueprints while carrying bricks. In short, his approach was somewhat linear.

The Lost Plateau wasn’t small, otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to accommodate so many beings, among whom there were Dragons and Giants.

Crossing the Lost Plateau also took Leon and the Efreeti quite some time, of course mostly because of the Efreeti lagging behind, anyhow, as long as they safely passed through, it was fine.

Next was just the need to fly over a stretch of forest.

Watchtower Port was a territory Leon had his eye on, but he wasn’t in a rush to seize Watchtower Port; his main objective was the Volcanic Island on the Flash Sea outside Watchtower Port.

Flying over the sea, Leon noticed the Efreeti became somewhat timid and curiously asked, "If you Efreeti accidentally fell into the sea, would you die?"

"No," said the Efreeti, "Efreeti are not Fire Element, they are not susceptible to water and cannot be extinguished by it."

Leon nodded his head, figuring that the principle of water extinguishing fire was to isolate oxygen and cool down the temperature, and compared to a Fire Element which is a flame, Efreeti were likely more akin to Molten Lava, belonging to fluid, not burning with oxygen, but certainly affected by seawater cooling down the temperature, leading to a severe drop in power.

Although he was a Red Dragon, he quite liked water and even being from inland, he had some yearnings for the sea.

The Volcanic Island was not far from the coast, merely ten to tens of kilometers away, easily within flying distance.

Leon landed first atop the Volcano Top. The top of the Volcano was cratered, like a large bowl, with a few shrubs and wild grass sparsely growing. Watching the Efreeti slowly land on the ground, with its lower body changing from a pile of grey smoke and embers into a pair of legs, he asked, "How about it? Is this a dormant volcano?"

"Yes, this is a volcano," the Efreeti glanced at Leon, thinking no normal Red Dragon wouldn’t recognize a volcano, but dared not voice out, "Just a look and I know... an obvious Volcanic cone."

"The important part is whether you can activate it, awaken it," Leon walked back and forth; he couldn’t tell much himself.

The Efreeti didn’t speak. He was sensing.

Unlike many professions that required consulting with nature momentarily to merge with it then receive information about the surrounding terrain, such as landscapes and water bodies, main flora, fauna, or minerals, or if there were effects from beings of other Elemental Planes, manmade structures, etc., as the Lord of Blazing Flames, the Efreeti could detect flames just by feeling.

Finally, the Efreeti opened his eyes and nodded at Leon, saying, "I will need a little time."

"A little time?" Leon squinted slightly, "That simple?"

"A few days or a month."