Chapter 121 Cursed Monkey’s Paw

What should one do when cooking a delicious piece of chicken? First of all, the higher the quality of the ingredients, the simpler the cooking method should be in order to preserve the original flavor...

Correction: it was about crafting the most expensive chicken figurine in the world.

The entire thing was made using materials obtained from a Wind Dragon.

Wind Dragons were a branch of the Dragon Species that ruled the sky, the modern descendants of the Ancient Dragon Species known as Sky Dragons. Under the unchangeable rule that an individual’s weight directly affected its Power, Wind Dragons would not sacrifice their Power just to fly at high altitudes. Therefore, the bones of a Wind Dragon were incredibly heavy and tough, its muscles were exceptionally strong, and its wing skeleton was more than capable of supporting its massive weight.

So, how did Wind Dragons fly?

[Flying Magic]? No, the MP consumption of this Magic was directly linked to weight. Using this Magic just to maintain daily activities would be too much of a loss for a Wind Dragon.

The correct answer was [Divine Speed Magic].

When their speed reached a certain level, they would naturally take flight. If they wanted to hover, they simply relied on their gigantic wings to glide. This Magic was incredibly powerful. Even Foreigners found it difficult to learn because it placed extremely harsh demands on physical strength.

Blaze took out an incredibly heavy bone and used a dagger to whittle it down into the shape of an avian skeleton. Next were the Wind Dragon’s scales. These scales were unbelievably light and soft, with a texture akin to feathers.

The highlight of this expensive figurine was a Fire Dragon’s Flame Bag. This was the key for the Chicken to actually possess direct combat Power.

The final result was a bird nearly a meter tall. However, due to Blaze’s lack of craftsmanship, the bird looked like some sort of hideous, stitched-together Monster.

The Chicken silently tortured Blaze with his gaze, while Blaze awkwardly scratched the back of his head. It wasn’t noticeable when the size was small, but once it got bigger, the fact that he was all thumbs was completely exposed.

"W-We can ask Marika for help in the future. She’s very good with her hands."

"I just want to remind you that we can muddle through with this size for now. But when the scale gets larger, a tiny mistake in the details could lead to a complete collapse of the whole structure," the Chicken said helplessly. "Of course, my main soul will be fine since it’s protected by the seed, but the physical body will completely fall apart.

"Just think about it. One day, when I reach the size of a giant bird, you’ll go through untold hardships to gather the materials, only to fall at the final hurdle. You’d have to collect all the materials all over again."

That would undoubtedly be a trip through Hell.

Right now, a few Wind Dragon bones were enough to build the Chicken’s body. But one day, the Chicken would need a size capable of dominating the sky. At that time, a single Wind Dragon might not even be enough to craft his spine, let alone the rest of his body.

"When that time comes, I’ll really have no choice but to ask the Foreigners to help complete your body together."

"That’s a good idea." The Chicken actually hoped the Foreigners would step in now. After all, there were no beings in this world more imaginative and wealthy than Foreigners.

They were, after all, a bunch of people who could piece together an Ancient Dragon out of chicken bones.

This time, the Chicken’s resurrection took quite a while. After all, the complexity of this body far exceeded his previous ones, and it even contained Dragon Power.

Blaze sat on the ground to rest. During this time, an employee from the Dionysus Tavern came down. They were startled by a pitch-black Knight sitting in the shadows with glowing golden eyes and almost went to notify the Guard Team. Fortunately, one of them recognized Blaze.

After Blaze stated that he didn’t need any service, the employees immediately retreated from the wine cellar, leaving him with some private space.

Seeing that the Chicken wouldn’t wake up anytime soon, Blaze simply started tinkering with his inventory. Because he always threw the items he picked up directly into his inventory, it was a total mess. Although there were neat grids separating them, their arrangement was completely chaotic.

Fortunately, there was a magical button called "Auto-Sort." The inventory instantly became clean and organized, with the highest rarity item—the Dragon Memory Crystal—placed right at the top.

"A Dragon’s Magic, huh..."

Blaze stroked his chin. Honestly, he really wanted to learn it.

The might of the Dragon Species was all-encompassing, which naturally included Magic. [Dragon] was even considered a tier of Magic on its own, showing just how powerful a Dragon’s Magic truly was.

One of the ways to obtain Dragon Magic was through [Forming a Bond with a Dragon]. The reason Marika held the title of [Red Dragon] was partly due to her crimson hair, and also because she had a contract with a Dragon. No one had ever seen the Dragon Marika contracted with, but her titles as a [Dragon Knight] and a [Dragon Speaker] were the best proof. In this situation, the Contractor could specify which of the Dragon’s Magic they wanted to possess.

Another method was to use a Dragon Memory Crystal, but in this case, the Magic obtained would be entirely random.

According to the Foreigners, it was just like using Skill Points to play the lottery; sometimes, you would roll a Skill you couldn’t use at all. For example, [Dragon Sleep], a baffling Skill that allowed the user to enter an Invincible state and sleep for a hundred years.

For a Foreigner, using Skill Points to play the lottery didn’t matter at all. But for Blaze, it meant spending 10 Full Attribute points just to take a gamble.

Ten points wasn’t a lot, but it wasn’t a little either.

It wasn’t that Blaze was too stingy, but if these 40 total Attribute points were exchanged for [Dragon Sleep]...

Blaze’s mind told him not to take the risk, but his body honestly reached out and took the crimson Dragon Memory Crystal out anyway.

"Huh?"

It happened again.

Blaze suspiciously stared at the purplish-red Monkey Hand clutching the Dragon Memory Crystal. This Monkey Hand had actually crawled out of the inventory on its own... No, it was more like it had been holding onto the Dragon Memory Crystal and got dragged out along with it.

Blaze recalled the last time with the Golden Fleece. Back then, the Monkey Hand had tightly gripped the Golden Fleece and refused to let go. It had held on because he expressed pleasant surprise at getting the item. However, once he learned that the Golden Fleece was just bait that would only attract terrifying Monsters and expressed his disgust, the hand immediately let go.

" ’[Grants wishes, but in the way the wisher wants least].’ In other words, it wouldn’t let him have his way and would snatch away his most precious things."

Thinking carefully, he would occasionally find items in his inventory that he had no memory of picking up. The most important of these were the Star Fragments imbued with the [Power of the Constellation].

"Does carrying this thing increase the drop rate of rare materials? But the Foreigners never seemed to have mentioned this... Is this Monkey Hand special, or..."

Blaze transformed into a Silver Werewolf, raising his Intelligence and Faith. Affixes appeared on the Monkey Hand.

[Addicted to Stealing] [Vile] [Incorrigible]

This thing was alive.

Blaze tightly squeezed the Monkey Hand. Because Blaze’s attention was no longer on the Dragon Memory Crystal, the Monkey Hand released it.

The crimson Crystal fell to the ground. Under the red glow of the Crystal, the withered Monkey Hand slowly twisted.