Bai Shi held the bluish-green wolf egg up before his eyes.
Even through the thick shell, he could feel the pulse beating within.
However, it seemed Bai Shi had no good way to carry it off. Perhaps he could only hold it in his arms.
The spatial disk Ranni had given him, after its lightweight modifications, could no longer hold living creatures like a sealing evergaol.
Bai Shi looked at Senessax.
Speaking of which, now that he had an ancient dragon by his side, wasn't it time to consider becoming a dragon knight?
Bai Shi's desire to soar through the sky on the back of a dragon was not something that had only begun a day or two ago.
It could be said that anyone who transmigrated to a fantasy world with dragons could not resist the temptation of riding one.
"Senessax."
Hearing Bai Shi call her, Senessax shifted her gaze from the wolf egg in his arms."What is it? Please, speak."
Bai Shi met Senessax's eyes.
"May I ride you?"
Senessax froze for a moment, then, with a look of disbelief, her fair skin immediately flushed red.
"W-wait a minute, I'm not mentally prepared for something like this..."
Bai Shi realized that what he had just said was indeed a bit ambiguous.
Using the word "ride" for a mount was perfectly fine.
The mounts in the Lands Between were all quite intelligent, and the various horses could only be ridden by their masters.
If he had said it to Torrent, there naturally wouldn't have been any problem, but the one before him was a dragon-girl who could take human form.
Could she have misunderstood something?
Regardless of whether she had misunderstood, Melina certainly had, and she was starting to look a little bristly.
A chill seemed to run down Bai Shi's back, and his expression instantly changed.
"Uh, uh, don't get me wrong."
"I mean, when you're in your dragon form, let me ride on your back and have you carry me in flight."
Senessax now looked at Bai Shi with a strange expression.
"Hmm? What else?"
"Besides that kind of riding, is there any other way to ride?"
For a moment, Bai Shi was at a loss for words.
"Er, then may I ask why you had such a strong reaction just now?"
Senessax turned her head away, glancing at Bai Shi out of the corner of her eye, and spoke shyly:
"For an ancient dragon, letting someone ride on our back is not something... just anyone can do."
"We must forge an ancient pact and swear an oath..."
Senessax crossed her arms over her chest, fidgeting slightly.
"Although I do wish to serve you, so it's something that would happen sooner or later."
"But to bring it up so suddenly... at least give me some time to prepare."
Bai Shi: ...
Fortunately, the icy glare from behind him seemed to have vanished.
Bai Shi breathed a sigh of relief.
Wait, how did Melina know that "ride" had another meaning?
It seemed he could use this to tease her in the future.
But for the sake of his own life, Bai Shi decided to abandon that plan.
Returning to Senessax's issue, Bai Shi asked her:
"A pact and an oath, you say. Alright."
"In any case, you've agreed, right?"
Senessax lowered her head, pressing the tips of her index fingers together and tapping them back and forth.
Then she gave a slight nod, which counted as an agreement.
Although Bai Shi still didn't know what the ancient dragons' so-called pact and oath entailed, he could understand that they took the matter very seriously.
After all, ancient dragons had always stood at the pinnacle of all living beings.
Perhaps for ancient dragons, letting someone ride on their back was indeed a matter that required deep consideration.
But in any case, Senessax had agreed.
Since that was the case, Bai Shi decided to continue exploring the Night's Sacred Ground.
There were actually many places to explore in the Night's Sacred Ground.
Previously, due to the time limit of Fengling Yueying's clear-encumbrance ability, Bai Shi had gone to the chapel where his big brother's body should have been after getting the Fingerslayer Blade, and hadn't explored anywhere else.
After all, if he missed the usage window for Fengling Yueying, it would be a huge loss.
But since Senessax had already agreed to be his mount, he no longer cared about a little bit of Fengling Yueying's clear-encumbrance time.
Bai Shi took Senessax with him and left the underground area, beginning to explore the Night's Sacred Ground once more.
This time, Bai Shi headed for the buildings to the right of the throne temple in the Night's Sacred Ground.
These structures were built facing the chapel area, and their architectural style seemed somewhat residential.
However, upon actually entering, the place wasn't as simple as it looked from the outside.
One of the buildings was indeed similar to a residence, furnished with all sorts of luxurious furniture, a stark contrast to the dwellings in Nokron.
It appeared to be where the former ruling class lived.
There was nothing of particular interest to Bai Shi here, so after a cursory look, he didn't linger.
But the other places were not residential areas at all.
According to Senessax, those were research sites.
Filled with anticipation, Bai Shi came to another nearby building.
Here, there were numerous Mimic Tears on guard, as well as two flawed Mimic Tears that could only transform into Nox people.
Besides these Mimic Tears, there were also the classic lightning orbs.
In the game, these lightning orbs were one of the most annoying things imaginable.
They had no health bar, couldn't be locked onto, and would just unleash a barrage of attacks upon seeing a Tarnished.
Encountering a large group of them was like facing the thunder god himself; the experience was indescribably electrifying.
Fortunately, in reality, these lightning orbs would explode on their own after a couple of hits, and their power wasn't particularly exaggerated.
But their form of existence greatly interested Bai Shi.
These lightning orbs were just clusters of condensed lightning. After dissipating, they left nothing behind, having no physical form.
Moreover, the color of this lightning was different from any other lightning in the Lands Between; it was bluish-white.
In the game, only the special ice lightning had such a color.
And these lightning orbs weren't magical traps; they were special life forms in their own right.
In the Lands Between, the three most important elements that constituted life were: body, soul, and consciousness.
Bai Shi felt that these lightning orbs were special life forms with only an artificial soul, lacking a body and consciousness.
Unfortunately, there was no way to control them, otherwise, he could have studied them.
Bai Shi explored the various laboratories here, one by one.
He didn't understand how to use many of the things he found; after all, they were from a completely different civilization, separated by a vast gulf of time.
However, the various products of their research were quite intuitive and easy to understand.
For instance, Bai Shi now found a peculiar corpse in one of the rooms.
The corpse was soaked in a silvery liquid, but the container that once held it had broken long ago, and it had fallen out.
The corpse was entirely silver, with atrophied legs, and was very gaunt.
Clearly, this was an Albinauric.
However, its appearance was very different from the common Albinaurics in the Lands Between today, and it was much larger in size.
After a moment of thought, Bai Shi felt he could push back the timeline of the Albinaurics' origin.
He originally thought they were a product of research at the Academy of Raya Lucaria, derived from Mimic Tears, but now it seemed there was a prototype long before.
Perhaps the ancient Albinaurics mentioned on the Albinauric Staff referred to this kind of Albinauric.
That made sense. After all, even the Dragonkin Soldiers, who had been created long ago, had the symptom of flawed legs. Such technology must have been in use for a long time.
The Academy must have found a prototype like this special Albinauric, which is why they began their corresponding research.
Because the research was based directly on the prototype, their appearances were so similar.
This would also mean that the Consecrated Snowfield map likely had a strong connection to the Nox Dynasty.
There were giant Albinaurics in the Consecrated Snowfield, as well as the spirits of Dragonkin Soldiers.
Adding the fact that there were also giant, fossil-like columnar trees of the same type as in the underground, it was hard not to suspect some connection between these two places in ancient times.
Bai Shi entered the next room, but the following few rooms held nothing worth mentioning.
It was not until he reached the next floor that Bai Shi discovered something interesting.
This entire floor was a single vast room without any partitions, exceptionally spacious.
In this massive room, Bai Shi found several enormous skeletons. These corpses had aged, dragon-like features, with large cavities in their abdomens. They were kneeling by the wall, all in almost identical postures.
These were the bodies of Dragonkin Soldiers.
Dragonkin Soldiers fought with their physical bodies and ice lightning; they were not weak.
That ice lightning was a power unique to them.
They had never seen the true sky and lightning, and so they created ice lightning.
The bodies of the Dragonkin Soldiers were arranged in two rows in this huge room, three in each row, filling the entire floor.
They didn't look like they had ever been active. Perhaps they had never been awakened since they were created.
Senessax followed beside Bai Shi, holding the wolf egg for him.
Seeing these Dragonkin Soldiers with their obvious partial ancient dragon features, she couldn't help but speak:
"We ancient dragons are much better-looking than this."
"I really don't know how they managed to piece together such strange creatures."
Bai Shi didn't reply, because he actually thought the Dragonkin Soldiers were quite cool.
They had the vibe of rampaging, man-made biological weapons.
However, what surprised Bai Shi was that the Dragonkin Soldiers had actually left behind spirit ashes.
Within the abdominal cavities of two of the Dragonkin Soldiers, Bai Shi found the bones that housed their souls.
Their souls were attached to one of the sternum bones, which had fallen to the bottom of their abdominal cavities.
Such bones, serving to carry the soul, were essentially spirit ashes.
Bai Shi didn't stand on ceremony and took both of their ashes.
Ancient dragons were the king's iron wall.
The Nox Dynasty created the Dragonkin Soldiers to assist their artificial king of the night—the Mimic Tear.
Although the Dragonkin Soldiers were considered failed products, Bai Shi wasn't picky.
Bai Shi came to the top floor of this building. It was a small, circular-domed room, securely locked.
However, through brute force demolition, Bai Shi still got in easily.
There was nothing here except for a solitary pedestal in the very center.
On that pedestal was an ornate, silver-white chalice, decorated with intricate patterns.
This chalice was quite different from the many golden chalices Bai Shi had collected.
This silver-white chalice had a flatter shape and a wider mouth.
Within this silver-white chalice was a purple liquid that exuded a thick aura of 'mystery'.
Or rather, the liquid in this silver-white chalice was liquid 'mystery' itself.
Bai Shi looked at this strange silver-white chalice and the highly concentrated 'mystery' liquid within, not knowing what it was for.
Upon closer inspection of the liquid, it was as if stars were twinkling within it, and its surface seemed to bear the same steel-like pattern as the Mimic Tears.
Could it be that the Mimic Tears were born from this?
Bai Shi carefully searched his mind for anything related to this chalice and liquid.
But it seemed there was nothing that matched it.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Bai Shi's mind.
Bai Shi thought of the previously missing Mimic Tear, Ashmi.
It seemed that in the cut content storyline, the player needed to find the 'Eternal City's' Teardrop Chalice.
After that, by drinking the special dew from the chalice, they could strengthen Ashmi.
It appeared this item was also known as the Cradle Chalice. It seemed highly likely that the Mimic Tears were born from it.
If that was the case, then was this the Teardrop Chalice and dew meant to strengthen her?
Regardless, Bai Shi stuffed the silver-white chalice into his spatial disk.
Never mind what it was for now; taking it was definitely the right move.
With that, Bai Shi had thoroughly explored the Night's Sacred Ground.
Seeing no more places to explore, he led Senessax to the edge of the Night's Sacred Ground.
By now, the clear-encumbrance time from Fengling Yueying had long since ended. To leave, Bai Shi had to rely on Senessax.
So Bai Shi needed to perform the pact ritual with her here first.
Bai Shi looked at Senessax and began to ask:
"Senessax, how is the pact you mentioned earlier carried out?"
Senessax twirled a strand of hair from beside her ear around her finger.
"Mmm... actually, the process of the pact is very simple. It doesn't need to be overly complicated."
"We just need to leave our own marks on each other."
Bai Shi blinked.
Those words sounded a little strange for some reason.
"Er, how do I do that?"
Senessax took a few steps forward, coming so close that she was almost touching Bai Shi, making the scene a bit sultry.
Bai Shi immediately held his breath, not daring to breathe heavily, but his heart immediately began to race.
Senessax bit her lip, feeling a little nervous herself.
Ancient dragons were a very proud race. Very few would mingle with other creatures, let alone allow another creature to ride on their backs.
In Senessax's understanding, this was something that could only be done after signing a pact.
"Mmm, although I've never signed a pact before either..."
"But please, leave everything to me."
She took Bai Shi's somewhat stiff hand and gently placed her right hand over the back of his.
Soon, a unique lightning power entered Bai Shi's body, and the appearance of the Dragon Communion Seal on his hand was gradually changed.
When Senessax moved her hand away, a red ancient dragon crest appeared on the back of Bai Shi's hand.
At this moment, red ancient dragon lightning flickered around the seal.
A power of lightning was thus born within Bai Shi's body.
Senessax released Bai Shi's hand, turned, and lifted her braided hair, revealing her smooth back.
"Please place your hand here and sear your mark upon me..."
"Do not worry, I will guide you to complete it."
Bai Shi placed his hand on Senessax's back. The delicate, smooth skin was completely different from an ancient dragon's rock-like scales.
Senessax's body seemed to tremble slightly; it appeared she was not as calm as she let on.
Bai Shi released his own power, which was guided by Senessax to form the brand.
A crest of a soaring eagle appeared on her smooth back, and behind the eagle, a sun was rising.
Before long, the complete mark was branded onto Senessax's back.
Bai Shi could feel that Senessax had also gained a portion of the power of storm and sun.
This pact seemed to be a ritual of exchanging power as well.
Bai Shi removed his hand, and Senessax turned back to face him, beginning to explain:
"Because the meaning of the pact is so profound, very, very few ancient dragons sign pacts with other races."
"An ancient dragon will only make one pact in their long life."
Senessax paused, looking a little embarrassed.
"Actually, this pact is not entirely equal."
"In the past, when ancient dragons made pacts, they were often in the dominant position, though of course, the dominant position doesn't grant any particularly special powers."
"However, I took the liberty of making you the dominant party when we made the pact."
Senessax's gaze met Bai Shi's, and she immediately lowered her head, giving a slight bow.
She called out shyly:
"Master..."
--
Afterward, under Senessax's guidance, Bai Shi also swore an oath.
The general content was that he and Senessax would watch over each other from now on and would never betray one another.
Although the pact indeed did not involve any matters of romance.
There was no doubt that this relationship might even be more intimate than that of an ordinary couple in the Lands Between.
Riding on Senessax's neck, Bai Shi recalled what had just happened and still felt it was a bit outrageous.
He never expected the ancient dragon's pact to be so solemn.
No wonder Senessax had reacted so strongly when he first asked if he could ride her.
After signing this pact, it seemed the level of intimacy was even more extreme than *that* kind of 'riding'.
What was the difference between this pact and marriage?
A contract is bliss for a moment, but a field of carnage later.
Bai Shi had a feeling he wouldn't be able to handle the future showdowns.
But a beautiful dragon-girl calling him 'Master'... who could resist that!
And with the appearance of a Fire Keeper, no less. That was just too foul!
Rescuing an ancient dragon from a dungeon, only for her to transform into a dragon-girl, acknowledge him as her master out of gratitude, and from then on, gaining a beautiful and powerful dragon-maid.
Is this some kind of light novel plot?
Aargh! I wanna be a dragon knight, too!