Chapter 134 - Testing Medicine

"Take a look and if there are no issues, sign both contracts, and I’ll start construction tomorrow," Gaven was well prepared.With a turn of his head, he pulled out four parchment scrolls, all of which had various terms meticulously listed.

One was about the employment agreement between Gaven and the young dragon.

Another was about the construction agreement for the Aivensa Dragon’s Nest.

Both contracts were in duplicate, showing Gaven had long been planning this.

Though a verbal agreement with the young dragon would suffice,

Some things, especially big things, are best done with a sense of ceremony so that the other party takes them more seriously.

Sure enough, as the elaborately mounted parchment scrolls were presented, the atmosphere immediately assumed a buzz of importance.

Lord Aivensa, unable to help herself, read each line of the four scrolls very carefully, holding them tightly in her claws.

A contract spoken and one in writing have quite different atmospheres.

Gaven hadn’t played any tricks on the documents, so the young dragon naturally raised no objections and quickly signed the scrolls, formalizing their employment relationship.

Gaven thoughtfully placed the two scrolls belonging to the young dragon into a meticulously crafted scroll case, full of artisanal quality, easily fit to be part of Lord Aivensa’s treasure collection.

After discussing serious matters with Lord Aivensa, Gaven handed the Maiden Priestess the long spear he had with him and said, "Help me identify this piercing spear, please."

This piercing spear, from the Harpy Cave, was the most valuable part of the treasures, and he had no chance to return to Blackwell recently, so it had yet to be identified.

"This is a piercing spear, enchanted with a spell to find weak points," Anna quickly concluded. "This +3 spear can ignore the innate armor of the targets it hits."

Gaven nodded in satisfaction, considering it a minor exquisite item that would surely fetch more than twenty thousand gold coins on the market.

Against heavily armored soldiers, the spear was nothing special.

Innate armor referred to naturally occurring body armor, like dragon scales or carapaces.

Therefore, it was exceedingly useful against those beasts with tough skin and thick flesh.

Its most substantial utility now was to bleed the young Red Dragon.

The young Red Dragon’s thick scales were like tofu to the piercing spear, easily punctured through and through.

Unlike the usual Dragon Seeking Ritual Ceremony, Susie only had the formula for the Dragon Blood Potion, passed down orally, with a high rate of error.

Not just a mistake in herbs, but even the slightest error in quantity could lead to a complete failure in concocting the Dragon Blood Potion.

These past few days, Susie had been busy with trial and error.

Fortunately for them, they had a live dragon at hand, providing enough dragon blood for Susie to misuse.

Overall, the progress was still pleasing, with the Dragon Blood Potion Susie made today already looking quite convincing, emitting magic power like flames.

As usual, they made a Rock Sheep drink this batch of the Dragon Blood Potion—the animal had its hooves tied.

Bleat! Bleat!

The Rock Sheep went into convulsions like a creature possessed, struggling violently as clouds of smoke billowed from its mouth and nostrils.

In the end, the smoke turned into sparks.

And what followed was the distinct aroma of barbecue.

With a final frenzied bleat, a column of fire resembling dragon breath burst from the Rock Sheep’s mouth, and then there was no more movement.

At this point, the Rock Sheep was one-third cooked.

From the inside out.

The Dragon Blood Potion that had just been poured into it was imbued with the young Red Dragon’s fiery strength, too much for it to bear.

Susie sighed nearby, seemingly holding back something she wished to say.

Gaven immediately inquired, "Clan Leader Susie, if there is anything you need, just say it. As long as it’s within my power, I will do my best to accommodate."

Susie shook her head and said, "Leader, everything you could provide has been adequate. The Dragon Blood Potion is meant specifically for the unique bloodline of the Gnolls; only we can withstand the strength from the dragon blood. Even if we tested it on the Rock Sheep a thousand more times, the result would be largely the same, with zero chance of success."

Gaven, ever so clever, instantly understood the hidden meaning in Susie’s words, his expression darkening slightly, "Does Clan Leader Susie mean to suggest that the Gnolls should test the potion themselves?"

Susie clenched her jaw and nodded, "I understand you are kind-hearted, Leader, and unwilling to engage in such evil deeds, but this is a necessary final step in perfecting the potion. We don’t need to force anyone; with your approval, Leader, many from our tribe will volunteer to try it. If that’s not acceptable, we could find some Gnolls from outside the tribe—it’s not that difficult."

Susie’s last statement clearly indicated she was only concerned with the Gnolls of her tribe, less so with those outside.

But Gaven saw things from a different perspective; the external Gnolls were potential tribal members of Blackwell, especially now with Lord Aivensa as their trump card.

He only needed to find the time to wield this trump card openly.

While it might be an exaggeration to claim they could subdue all the Gnolls in the Rocklands, the ones within dozens of kilometers would certainly be manageable.

Gaven paced back and forth before offering a compromise, "Let’s adjust our approach—don’t aim for perfection all at once. Dilute the Dragon Blood Potion and start with a diluted version so that the potency during testing isn’t so high. As long as no lives are lost, we’ll have room to maneuver."

Susie’s eyes lit up, and she said with sincere admiration, "The Leader is truly thoughtful—I hadn’t even considered that. This will be easy; I’ll get to it right away."

Of course, the dilution she referred to wasn’t just adding water.

It meant reducing the dosage of the potion.

From the prepared Dragon Blood Potion, Susie poured out one-tenth, tilted her head back, and gulped it down her throat.

This action clearly took Gaven by surprise. He wanted to stop her, but it was too late. Annoyed, he exclaimed, "Are you insane?"

Wreaths of black smoke began to curl out of Susie’s mouth and nostrils. Her body shook uncontrollably, clearly showing that the Dragon Blood Potion she had just consumed was taking effect. Meanwhile, she managed a smile and said, "Sorry, it wasn’t right to trouble you, Leader, with this decision. In fact, I am the most suitable candidate for this trial; only by tasting it myself will I know where I have erred. Moreover, as a Level 7 Professional, my life force is much more tenacious than that of an ordinary tribesman."

By the end of her speech, sparks seemed to fly from between Susie’s teeth, and a red flush soaked through her earthy yellow Dragon Scales. Even from several steps away, Gaven could feel the intense heat radiating from her.

It’s a good thing Gnolls don’t have sweat glands, or Susie would be drenched in sweat by now.

Although Gnolls are cold-blooded creatures, they differ from the norm; they are particularly hardy against heat rather than cold and have certain elemental traits of Giant Dragons. For example, in high temperatures, they can consume very little food and maintain prolonged activity.

That is to say, during the scorching summer, they only need to eat once a day to sustain themselves. But in the biting cold of winter, without additional heat intake, they have to eat three or even four times a day to keep up with their body’s high energy consumption.

Despite showing unusual reactions, Susie was not in pain. On the contrary, she seemed to enjoy the experience to some extent.

Gaven said sternly, "In the future, don’t make such decisions on your own. Even if you really must trial the potion yourself, wait until I have acquired several Resurrection Scrolls or secured a Priest who knows the Resurrection Technique. This time, even if the trial is successful, you won’t be credited for it.

Your life may be a minor matter, but hindering the development process of the entire tribe is a grave issue. Remember, your life is not solely your own; it also belongs to the whole tribe." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt

Susie, the effects of the Dragon Blood Potion still coursing through her, promptly bowed and replied, "You are right to reprimand me, Leader. I oversimplified the matter, and I won’t repeat the same mistake. However, I believe I have successfully concocted the Dragon Blood Potion. It’s just that the dosage needs to be redistributed, especially between Professionals and non-Professionals; their dosages absolutely cannot be the same."

Deep emotions surged within Susie; she could keenly feel Gaven’s genuine concern for her.

Though Gaven was not a Gnoll himself, he treated all Gnolls with an equality that was even above their own kind.

On the matter of trialing potions, any other Gnoll leader would not have shown the anguish and dilemma Gaven felt. It wasn’t a big deal to them whether the lives were from within their tribe or from without.

Gaven nodded in satisfaction and said, "You must control the dosage well, better for the potion to be less effective than to overdo it. All Dragon Blood Potions must be kept within the tribe, and no tribe member is allowed to use them privately."

"Naturally," Susie added, "To maximize the effectiveness of the Dragon Blood Potion, it must be paired with the Dragon Seeking Ritual Ceremony. Not only will this enhance the success rate of the Ritual, even in failure, it will tap into the potion’s potential to the fullest extent and achieve the goal of enhancing the body."

"In the next ten days, I plan to organize a large-scale Dragon Seeking Gathering at Eagle Cliff Burrow. The first batch of Dragon Blood Potion will come in very handy. When the time comes, I will need the assistance of Clan Leader Susie to preside over the Gathering." With more and more Gnolls under his command, Gaven realized that rescuing the Pitfall Tribe had been a wise choice; the tribe was a true treasure trove.

The spread of Dragon Seeking Meditation and the Dragon Seeking Ritual Ceremony among Gnolls, at least among the Rockland Gnome Tribe, was not particularly widespread.

Even a large tribe like Eagle Cliff Burrow didn’t have them.

Heritage sometimes has little to do with the size of a tribe.

Of course, this also had much to do with the particular environment the Pitfall Tribe had found themselves in.

In the end, the biggest beneficiary was, of course, Gaven.

The Dragon Seeking Ritual Ceremony was an excellent means for him to win over people’s hearts on a large scale.

Bark and the other Erders have been coveting Blackwell Tribe’s Dragon Seeking Meditation and Dragon Seeking Ritual Ceremony for more than a day or two.

"It would be my greatest honor," Susie said, barely able to hide her excitement.

Presiding over such a large-scale Dragon Seeking Gathering would be greatly beneficial to her as well. The last Gathering had allowed her Professional Level to increase by half. Another event like that, and she was likely to level up.

Chester had been feeling quite gloomy in recent days.

He felt his status in Eagle Cliff Burrow was hanging by a thread, rapidly marginalizing.

This feeling was especially pronounced after the new task that Gaven had assigned him.

The task Gaven gave him was anything but minor.

Leading a hundred Gnolls to construct a Dragon’s Nest for the True Dragon Lord Aivensa, he was to supervise this team.

For many Gnolls, this was a dream job, because from now on, they could serve directly beside a True Dragon.

But for Chester, who had once been the leader of a tribe, it was definitely not.

Yet, he dared not utter a word of objection.

If he refused this task, even if Gaven and Aivensa might not trouble him, many of the Gnolls of Eagle Cliff Burrow certainly would.

But accepting this task meant he would be moving farther and farther away from the administrative center of the entire Gnoll Tribe.

Gaven’s methods were much more sophisticated and ruthless than Chester could have imagined.

With just a handful of Tremor Bombs, he had buried the young Red Dragon that had plagued Chester so much, and now, half-dead, it was at their mercy for extracting Dragon Blood. It was rumored to be used for concocting Dragon Blood Potion, preparing for a Dragon Seeking Gathering in Eagle Cliff Burrow, and teaching all Gnolls Dragon Seeking Meditation.

Though the Tremor Bombs came from Eagle Cliff Burrow, it was someone else’s idea to use them.

Even if Chester had the method in his hands, he might not have been able to achieve what the other party did.

What truly caused Chester’s heart to tremble were the Dragon Seeking Meditation and the Dragon Seeking Gathering.