The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 774: Chapter 0771: Degrees of Kinship (Second Update)
 

“`

Giving a Super Magical Beast to his father, Li Weiliam, from both a strategic and familial perspective, was not a big deal nor a loss.

After all, the Tulip Family and Liszt were bound together, with blood ties that were difficult to sever.

Of course, there were limits to family affection and interests. Liszt still had a Light Green Gemstone Dragon that no one rode. However, he absolutely could not bear to give it to Marquis of Bull Tail, for the strategic value and interests of a dragon were too great—honestly, even if he dared, Li Weiliam might not dare to accept it.

Dragons are naturally proud creatures, not just anyone can ride them.

To dragons, humans are merely ants, and those who have not become Sky Knights by the age of sixteen are even less significant. Only those who become Sky Knights before the age of sixteen, barely qualifying as stronger ants, have the chance to approach dragons. This is also the standard for the Continental Kingdom’s plan for selecting Dragon Knight candidates.

Worthless individuals will never succeed in riding dragons, so there’s no need to waste resources on training them.

And even amongst knights with talent, the ones who actually succeed in riding dragons are one in ten thousand. They need to undergo numerous hardships, pass the tests of dragons, gain the favor of dragons, and thus qualify for a Mind Battle—only by triumphing in a Mind Battle can one truly earn a dragon’s recognition and succeed in dragon riding.

Since ancient times, Dragon Knights have been the favored children of the heavens.

Liszt is an exception.

His talent can only be described as mediocre. If it were not for the support of Bewildering Dragon Mind Fruits, he probably would not be able to win over the heart of Leo; if it weren’t for taking advantage of the Light Green Gemstone Dragon’s serious injuries, coupled with the boost from the Power of Destiny, he would not have been able to eradicate the brand of the First Dragon Knight.

He still has three Bewildering Dragon Mind Fruits, but it would be impractical to waste them on Marquis of Bull Tail—the Marquis is no longer young and could not ride a dragon for many years.

Bewildering Dragon Mind Fruits are for riding more dragons, not for wasting on one that has already been ridden.

Only those knights who, relying solely on their talent and soul, are worthy of riding a dragon—like Emily, whom he is now vigorously training. She started practicing at eleven, became an Earth Knight at twelve, and quickly advanced to Elite Earth Knight, charging towards becoming a Sky Knight.

Such talent is what wins a dragon’s favor.

But Emily still needs to prove herself further.

From the sparse historical information available, it is a fact that the Legendary Continent has never given birth to a female Dragon Knight.

Whether the Light Green Gemstone Dragon will recognize Emily in the future remains unknown.

“Actually, when all is said and done, it’s just that I haven’t accepted my relationship with Li Weiliam as father and son,” Liszt reflected, taking the rare opportunity to examine his heart, “My values were fixed before the transmigration, making it difficult to truly integrate into another family, and the original owner of this body seemed to have always had issues with the family.”

To be honest, the former self’s status within the family was not high, as his brother, sister, and younger brother looked down on him.

Li Weiliam might have liked him very much when he was young, but as his lack of talent became apparent, he grew colder, leaving a deep shadow on the predecessor.

But this shadow wasn’t because he was bullied; it was the attitude of the family that made him feel the chill of noble kinship.

Li Weiliam hadn’t mistreated him. When he came of age, unlike other nobles who would cast out a grown lesser son to fend for himself, Li Weiliam ennobled him as Baron of Fresh Flower Town, giving him a small fief for self-sufficiency, fulfilling his duty as a father—but the previous occupant of his body would rather see this as being due to pressure from his maternal grandfather.

As one of the seven Marquises of the Grand Duchy, when his grandson came of age, Li Weiliam had to consider Marquis Merlin’s views.

The title of Baron over a small town was barely acceptable on the face of it.

“`

“During the period when his predecessor’s worldview was being shaped, the people from the Tulip Family seemed cold to him, even Lady Penelope was no exception… Marquis Merlin was probably his only solace, never showing him a cold face. And inheriting the predecessor’s memory, I truly feel that Marquis Merlin was the sincerest towards his own grandson.”

As an adult.

Liszt would not be easily swayed by a child’s memories; he had his own ability to distinguish right from wrong.

While he wouldn’t become cynical due to the coolness of human affection, he had his own measure in his heart, and the person closest to him was always Marquis Merlin, not Li Weiliam or Lady Penelope—both Li Weiliam and Lady Penelope only became warm to him after his talents were showcased.

“If I knew how the Dragon Domain Landlord formed his contract, I might have let Marquis Merlin try to contract the Light Green Gemstone Dragon… But unfortunately, the Grand Duke doesn’t know the method of the Dragon Domain Landlord’s contract, and that madwoman Curtis Truth didn’t leave any clues about the Dragon Domain Landlord… I can only try my best to protect the Long Taro Family.”

The true method of contracting with the Dragon Domain Landlord, I fear, completely dissipated with that Ghost Ship incident and the annihilation of Curtis’s soul.

Back then, only the low-ranked Lich Technique was passed down, ultimately leading to the Marquis of Bull initiating the dragon-slaying incident.

…

No matter what, the past is the past.

Liszt had no need to dwell on a past that wasn’t his own, the present him is a brand-new self, with a brand new network of connections, brand new interpersonal relationships.

He could act entirely according to his own wishes.

Moreover, since he changed his surname to Flame, he had already branched out from the Tulip Family—everything he had belonged to the brand new Flame Family.

A Super Magical Beast to express his intentions, as for a dragon that was out of the question, in fact even a Super Dragon Beast was not considered—Little Yellow, Little Red, Little Black were obviously more eye-catching than the Obsidian Stymphalian Bird, and would be stronger when they grew up, but he had no intention of giving them away, preferring to keep them for his own followers to ride.

Soon.

The Flame Number arrived at Black Horse Port, where the workers on the docks merely curiously glanced at the huge Obsidian Stymphalian Bird for a moment before returning to their work.

They were people who often saw dragons, so a big black bird wasn’t anything special to them.

The Obsidian Stymphalian Bird was quickly dragged to the open space around Thorn Castle, and tied down with thick iron chains—not that the chains could actually restrain it, but Liszt released Leo to keep an eye on the Obsidian Stymphalian Bird.

To be regarded differently by a dragon.

The Obsidian Stymphalian Bird was deeply moved, so it didn’t dare to move at all.

“Send a message to Tulip Castle, tell the Marquis of Bull Tail that a Super Magical Beast bird is subdued at Thorn Castle, and ask if he wants to tame it as a mount,” Liszt asked a Retainer Knight to deliver the message.

He then asked Ach to find some time to take Nami to the newly discovered mangrove forest on an island to see if they could develop it: “Ach, I know you’re busy and the Magic Guild can’t do without you. However, Nami also needs more attention; I feel it has the potential to evolve.”

Since the Smoke Mission issued a task for Nami, it was evident that Nami possessed the capacity to influence the Power of Destiny.

“Mm, Ach likes Nami a lot.”