Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 196 - 195: Discovery

Chapter 196: Chapter 195: Discovery

Gathering Form and Scattering Energy can be used for traveling, but it’s only suitable for short distances.

Stopping to admire special scenery, pausing at the sight of unfamiliar monsters—walking and stopping intermittently—it took nearly a day to travel from Watchtower Port to the desert. Finally finding Tassera, Leon obviously wouldn’t turn around and leave after just one fleeting night.

To put it another way, the thought of spending such a long time flying back, with nothing particular waiting for him at home, left Leon feeling drained, unwilling to move, and only wanting to collapse on a bed.

Tassera continued her research, delving into the Bloodsucking Sword forged by a Yugros Demon, while Leon lounged in her study, planning to brush up on his knowledge of Yugros Demon lore.

Not just Yugros Demon lore, but also Demon Knowledge and Devil Knowledge. Leon was determined to familiarize himself with these subjects, cross-referencing his past readings from lore books to ensure he wouldn’t make a fool of himself later. After all, this world was built on DND principles—one could never guarantee some twist or modification in its rules.

At some point, he would undoubtedly need to journey through the Star Realm, so books on that topic were worth flipping through whenever possible.

If it weren’t for Tassera being a Storage Dragon, he wouldn’t even know where to find such an abundant collection of books.

When he grew tired of reading, Leon would often watch Tassera at work, conducting her research.

Though he knew nothing about magic, it didn’t stop him from chiming in: "I know an Evil Flame Fire Giant who’s hanging around a volcano in the Black Desert. Maybe we could ask him for help."

"I’m no Blacksmith, and I’m not interested in the craftsmanship of this sword," Tassera replied. "I’m focused on the magic solidified within this blade... Aside from the Bloodsucking magic, there seems to be something else hidden, though I can’t discern what it is for now."

"If you were familiar with the Fire Giant Furnace Masters, they’re adept in Rune Magic..." Tassera commented while shaking her head. "Although I still can’t identify the magic, I can guarantee it’s not Rune Magic."

Leon had nothing more to say, merely shrugging his shoulders. "Good luck with that."

A week passed in a blur of reading, strolling, hunting, sleeping, and teasing Tassera—Leon’s routine lived out day by day.

That afternoon, Leon, as usual, had barely fallen asleep for his nap when Tassera woke him up.

Different people, different treatment—it was a clear double standard. If the Efreeti had disturbed his nap without something critical requiring immediate decision-making, Leon would have unleashed hellfire. But since it was Tassera, he just frowned and let it slide, asking, "Is this revenge for me annoying you earlier?"

"No, I’m not as petty as you," Tassera said. "I came to tell you that I succeeded. I’ve uncovered the secret of that sword."

Leon, still groggy, was on the verge of drifting back into sleep, but Tassera’s words jolted him awake. "What secret?" he asked eagerly.

He couldn’t resist the allure of gossip and drama.

"It’s a Curse Weapon."

"Anyone who attunes to it will be bound to it until it’s sated with fresh blood. Unless they have Remove Curse or a High-level Restoration Technique, there’s no way to abandon it..." Tassera, wearing glasses today, adjusted them as she explained. "After drinking its fill of blood, the sword enters a brief dormancy and then grows even stronger."

"Low on blood—it curses you, making it impossible to let go of the sword; wanting to discard it, but unable to. Sated with blood—it becomes extraordinarily powerful, making it too tempting to part with. What kind of game mechanic is that? Most people would end up dead from playing with this thing," Tassera added with a sarcastic laugh.

Leon thought for a moment and could easily imagine the malice behind crafting such a weapon.

"If it’s just that, then it’s merely an ordinary Curse Weapon," Tassera said, licking her lips. "But there’s a locator spell on this sword. Through this locator, the one who left it can use Detect on the sword... You know about Detect, right?"

"I do. Isn’t that considered a high-level spell?" Leon thought to himself that five-ring spells indeed counted as high-level magic. "Its function creates a hidden sensor near the target, allowing the spellcaster to see and hear the surrounding environment through that sensor."

"If one can perceive invisibility, they’d see the sensor as a glowing orb about the size of a fist," Leon supplemented.

"Detect belongs to the divination school of magic, which I’m not very versed in, making it hard for me to uncover the magic hidden within the sword," Tassera paused briefly. "Until I checked the Magic Book just now."

"It’s not just about Detect—there’s also Teleportation. The one who left the locator spell can use Teleportation Technique to teleport directly beside this sword."

"It can even teleport?" Leon remarked, raising an eyebrow. "That sword is something else."

"Though I haven’t attuned to the sword myself, I suspect that once I do, the locator spell will extend to me as well," Tassera postulated. "At that point, the one who set the locator could use Detect to monitor me and teleport to my side at any moment."

"You said it yourself—someone showed up with this sword as soon as you opened your shop," Leon noted, piecing the puzzle together. "It’s pretty evident that someone’s plotted against you."

"Not necessarily," Tassera nodded slightly. "I’m the only shop in Oasis City that buys strange, wicked items like this, and many adventurers wait specifically for me to open up. It’s also possible that I’d been closed for so long that someone who wanted to sell the sword had no opportunity until I finally reopened my doors."

"Regardless of how it ended up in your hands—whether someone schemed against you or it landed here by pure coincidence," Leon said, "it’s clear that the sword is extremely dangerous."

"Dangerous to others, perhaps, but not to us," Tassera said, crossing her arms. "Do you know who I am? And who you are? If anyone tries to manipulate us, they should watch out—they might bite off more than they can chew."

"It doesn’t matter if the one who enchanted the sword was a Demon or Devil. Since it’s tied to Yugros Demons, we can safely assume it’s one of them."

"If it’s out of sheer misfortune, so be it. But if it’s because I drew the Flame Card and someone set me up..." Tassera’s voice grew cold, her expression shifting into a smirk—a reminder of her identity as a Blue Dragon, the second most fearsome Evil Dragon among the Colorful Dragons, far from easy prey. "Who says Hunters can’t become the hunted?"

"That’s what you always say—" Tassera turned her eyes to Leon. "There’s no such thing as a thief thriving for a thousand days without anyone catching on."

"When the time comes, we definitely need to lure them out," Tassera declared, pounding her fist.

"I should make one thing clear," Leon said, raising his palm as if to interject. "I never agreed to help you with this."

"I agreed to that move you suggested last night," Tassera took a deep breath. "Consider that sufficient payment."

"Deal," Leon said with a grin.