In the ship's cabin, a small blob of scorching molten gold twisted and churned in mid-air. Franco carefully waved his wand, using Levitation Alchemy to shape the melted gold into the form of a ring. Then Barrett picked up a pitch-black gemstone and placed it on the ring's face.
The tip of the blue-green wand shot out a burst of cold air, solidifying the ring into shape. The dark gemstone embedded in the ring was precisely where Dragon Endbringer resided.
Soon, a ring housing Dragon Endbringer's spirit was crafted. EeDechi took the ring and slipped it onto her right index finger.
A burly, muscular figure appeared behind EeDechi. He was clad in jagged, ferocious dark red armor, with icy eyes and a dignified, solemn face.
"Very good." EeDechi examined the ring on her hand.
"Interesting forging technique," Dragon Endbringer said with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face. "I can consider becoming your contract partner. But show me some respect—after all, I am one of the ancient dragon gods."
With that, he turned and sat down beside Barrett, putting himself on equal footing with EeDechi.
"Why did you agree to join us so quickly?" EeDechi asked curiously.
"One reason is that I can't move the spirit artifact I'm bound to on my own. That means if I don't want to stay stuck in one place until the world ends, I have to rely on help from others." Dragon Endbringer spoke sincerely, reining in the deathly aura that surrounded him. He looked no different from an ordinary dragonborn warrior.
"The other reason is," Dragon Endbringer said, covering his eyes as he gazed at EeDechi, "your soul is too powerful, and so brilliantly bright—like a dazzling torch shining in the darkness—that it commands respect without even trying."
"I ask you, am I your Master now?" EeDechi lightly tapped the table with her finger.
"Interesting question." Dragon Endbringer pondered for a moment. "I don't get what you're saying."
"Is it or isn't it?"
"If you say it is, then it is. I won't argue." Dragon Endbringer replied boldly.
"I've heard that the stronger the soul, the more powerful Wild Magic is. Is there any way for me to master Wild Magic?" EeDechi asked.
"By convention, those without dragonborn blood can't control Wild Magic. But our Wild Magic didn't just fall from the sky—I believe there are ways for you to learn it."
"What ways?" EeDechi asked, her face full of anticipation.
"Sorry, I forgot... Because my soul is so overwhelmingly powerful, I was the dragon god that the Eight Greed Kings disciplined... no, modified the longest. They stripped away my memories. I vaguely remember that some important recollections were stolen by the Eight Greed Kings."
"What about the other two dragon gods, Dragon Emperor and Dragon Progenitor?"
"Dragon Emperor died in battle, utterly destroyed in body and soul. Dragon Progenitor seems to have died too, but I think I heard the Eight Greed Kings say they didn't capture Dragon Progenitor's soul." Dragon Endbringer hung his head and sighed softly, a hint of sorrow in his words.
Barrett patted his shoulder in consolation. The companions who had once shared every dawn and dusk with him were gone now, and the memories that surfaced unbidden truly filled one with sorrow and disquiet.
"When can we leave this ship? I want to 'grab a drink' and experience human life," Dragon Endbringer asked.
"Check the ship's route. We can go once we're near the Vast Stellar Gate." Barrett replied. He furrowed his brow and looked out the window at the desert landscape outside the ship. "Something's odd—the ship's course is exactly the same as the one we're taking deep into the Eight Greed Kings' desert."
Dragon Endbringer had been subdued by EeDechi, and the magical item he resided in was crafted into a ring—all of it done in secret from everyone on the ship. If the crew found out that Dragon Endbringer, who had slaughtered them over a dozen times, was still on board, they'd probably go insane from the shock.
But these days, the crew's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point, not far from a total meltdown. The weird monsters in the Eight Greed Kings desert were rampaging everywhere, attacking the ship every two or three days, and the assaults were getting more frequent by the hour.
The Emerald Sandboat warship had already lost two-fifths of its people, and even a few high-ranking wealthy merchants had met gruesome ends. In the face of the monsters' sandstorm claws, no pile of gold coins could buy back a single life.
Everyone was living on edge, hearts in their throats, just hoping to reach the Vast Stellar Gate sooner and escape the living hell of the Eight Greed Kings desert.
Now, the crew worshipped the Last Defender of the Way adventurer team like gods. If it weren't for EeDechi stepping in multiple times, the ship might have already been wiped out in the endless desert.
According to Dragon Endbringer, the ones who had enslaved him before were the ancient remnants in the Eight Greed Kings desert. These ancient remnants had transformed into lich-like undead, with a taste for devouring the flesh and blood of the living. They often ambushed travelers and adventurers crossing the Eight Greed Kings desert, dragging the innocent deep into the sands to strip their bones and feast on their meat...
...
Late at night, faint moonlight spilled across the vast, boundless desert, where a few tall cacti stood lonely in the sands. The Emerald Sandboat warship plowed through the desert depths, its bow slicing through the dunes like crashing waves, leaving a massive, winding trail of sand behind.
"Fire! The captain's quarters are on fire!" The clanging alarm bells jolted the entire ship awake in the dead of night.
In the captain's quarters, thick smoke billowed, black choking fumes spreading across the ceiling. The wooden deck and sandy carpet were perfect fuel for the flames.
The night watch crew dashed back and forth in a panic, splashing the desert's most precious water into the captain's quarters to douse the flames. This was no time to skimp on water—in the bone-dry Eight Greed Kings desert, a single spark could spread into a raging inferno that devours the whole ship.
Luckily, it was the dead of night, when the desert's temperature swung wildly from day to night. Sand and rocks have low heat capacity, heating up fast and cooling just as quick. By day, the sand warms faster than the air, making the desert brutally hot; come night, it dumps that heat back into the air, dropping temperatures sharply and turning the nights bitterly cold.
"Put out the fire fast! My documents are still in the captain's quarters!" Captain Steve, in cotton slippers, clomped down the stairs. He was a mess, face twisted in anxiety. He had on a wool nightshirt with two buttons undone, and a nightcap perched crookedly on his head.
The ship's traveling mages rushed over in a hurry, chanting spells as thick blasts of freezing air shot into the captain's quarters, finally snuffing out the fire.
Barrett and EeDechi came down the stairs to the front of the captain's quarters, checking if there was anything they could do to help.
Captain Steve was just stepping out of the charred room, his face pale as a ghost. When he looked up and saw Barrett, he dropped to his knees with a thud right in front of him, wailing, "I'M SORRY!"
"What's this mean?" Barrett stared at the captain in shock, quickly pulling him to his feet.
"You lent me that map of the Eight Greed Kings desert before, and I kept it in the captain's quarters to study." Steve looked guilty, avoiding Barrett's eyes. "I never thought the place would catch fire—the map... it's burned up."
"What did you say!" Barrett grabbed the captain's nightshirt collar in rage. "That was the map the Slane Theocracy's Six Scriptures gave us! I let you borrow it for a few days to look at, and you burned it?"
"I didn't expect a fire in the captain's quarters either. Maybe from the attacks these last few days—some of the ship's gear got wrecked. I'm really sorry," Steve protested weakly.
"What do we do now? Without the map, how are we supposed to explore the Eight Greed Kings desert?" EeDechi said, frowning with worry.
Steve's eyes shifted, and he gave EeDechi and Barrett a flattering look. "Didn't you say it before? Our merchant caravan's route is a lot like yours. My map's still safe in my spatial ring. Why don't you just travel with us?"
Barrett sneered. "I'm dead certain it was you who torched the map on purpose!"