novel bin Chapter 95 The Heart of the Dragon and the Final Entrustment
Chapter 95 The Heart of the Dragon and the Final Entrustment
Chapter 96 The Heart of the Dragon and the Final Entrustment
"I've been barely surviving for nearly two hundred years—every day has been like dancing on a knife's edge. If it weren't for my many tricks, I would have turned into a handful of dust long ago!"
The mentor's voice came through the puppet Carlo, carrying a weariness and vicissitude that came from traversing a long period of time, as if one could see again that dark time when they struggled to survive in despair.
"But a few years ago—"
His tone suddenly carried a hint of barely suppressed, long-lost excitement.
"Fate gave me an unexpected turning point! I discovered a lost dragon's nest, and inside—there was an entire nest of dragon eggs! Hick, can you imagine how I felt?"
Hick's heart skipped a beat!
He instinctively covered his chest, feeling the strong, powerful, and extraordinary heartbeat.
Could it be—could it be that the heart beating in my chest—?!
"I poured all my resources into it, paying an unimaginable price, and finally managed to hatch them—."
The mentor's voice was filled with a morbid fanaticism and a hint of something subtle—relief.
"Then, I obtained their hearts! The purest dragon hearts, imbued with the ancient life force!"
Sure enough! Hick felt a chill mixed with a sense of absurdity rush straight to the top of his head!
His own source of magic, and even the "powerful heart" he was so proud of, was actually a dragon heart transplanted from his mentor!
"That dragon—it healed me!"
The mentor's voice became complex, carrying a sense of relief at surviving a disaster.
"Although it was only the heart of a newly hatched level one dragon hatchling, its rank was high enough! It dispelled the lingering curse of Qabus's damned 'Deathly Flame' and repaired my collapsing body! From that moment on—Hick."
His tone surprisingly revealed a touch of genuine warmth.
"I really just want to let go of the past and stay quietly in the Apprentice Tower, to be a competent mentor—to teach you, my last and most talented disciple."
Hick remained silent, his fingers unconsciously tightening until his nails almost dug into his palm.
He knew that the crucial turning point was about to begin.
"But—I underestimated the terrifying power of the Dragon Heart!"
The mentor's voice suddenly turned bitter and helpless.
"It is not an inanimate object! The proud, greedy, and insatiable will of the dragon lies dormant within, like the most stubborn brand! It can amplify the deepest darkness and desires within a person's heart infinitely! For someone like me, who had long since lost all hope and only wanted to live a peaceful life, I could have suppressed it—."
The mentor paused for a moment, his voice carrying a heavy, fateful tone.
"—Unfortunately, you let me get Qaboos's ring."
boom!
These words struck Hick like a thunderbolt!
He looked up in astonishment, staring intently at the puppet!
All the clues connected instantly!
Yes!
If he hadn't schemed to "offer" Kabus's ring to his mentor for self-preservation because of Karal, the "protagonist"...
If the mentor hadn't learned of Qaboos's burial place from the ring, if the ultimate greed for power amplified by the Dragon Heart within him hadn't been rekindled.
So, the mentor might actually suppress that ambition and continue to be the gentle Pelo Heath mentor!
Therefore, Leo will not die, and the conflict between the Silent Forest and the Eternal Tower will not break out!
Then he himself wouldn't have been caught up in this terrifying storm that nearly killed him!
That is to say-
My own struggle on the brink of death, that seemingly ever-closer dead end—
The root of the problem lies in the ring he himself "handed over"?!
So—in a sense, it was himself who wanted to die?!
A chilling, absurd and laughable feeling instantly swept over Hick.
He shook his head vigorously, trying to shake off these heavy, philosophical thoughts—thinking about them now was pointless!
It's all that damn Clara's fault! The very thread that led to everything!
"Hick—." The light from the spiritual imprint on Carlo Bailey flickered rapidly, becoming extremely weak, like a candle flickering in the wind. "Do you—have anything else you want to ask? Time—is running out."
Watching the faint light about to disappear completely, Hick felt a mix of emotions.
Anger, lingering fear, a faint sense of gratitude, and other emotions of unknown composition intertwined.
Finally, he took a deep breath and, facing the fading spiritual imprint, asked in an almost calm tone:
"Thank you, mentor."
This expression of gratitude encompasses both the initial teachings and the final "legacy."
"Is there anything else you want to say?"
The desert wind howled, filling the brief silence.
The quicksand made a soft rustling sound underfoot, as if sighing for the complete demise of a powerful figure.
A long, drawn-out sigh, seemingly piercing through the vast expanse of time, came from the fading mark.
"If—if it's possible—please help me—look after the Silent Forest—"
The voice was so faint it was almost inaudible, "And—for me—for me, tell Mochamo—"
The mark's light flashed suddenly, like a final burst of light before death, carrying an indescribable, heavy plea:
"I—never—never thought—to kill David—never!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the light emanating from Carlo Bailey went out completely.
A faint, pure wisp of spiritual energy, like a firefly, slowly drifted out from between the puppet's eyebrows, carrying a peaceful aura, and quietly floated toward Heath.
Upon seeing the evidence, Hick's eyes instantly sharpened.
With a slight thought, the raven perched on Qaboos's shoulder immediately opened its beak and precisely swallowed the faint light. Even if it was a trap, only a raven would be sacrificed.
The light spot merged into the raven's body without causing any unusual activity.
A clear stream of information instantly flooded Hick's mind—his mentor's lifelong accumulation of secret strongholds and resource storage points.
Unfinished research notes—incredibly detailed!
It was like a huge treasure trove, open to him without reservation.
This was the mentor's final gift, and also proof that he had completely vanished from the world.
"—Take care on your journey—Mentor—"
Hick stared at the Carlo Bailey puppet before him, now cold and lifeless, his expression extremely complex.
This man, who loomed over his apprenticeship like a shadow, this ambitious and ruthless figure who nearly overturned the entire Aikar system, this mentor who initially sheltered him but ultimately sought to devour him.
In the end, he fell on the thorny path he had chosen to reach the pinnacle of power, forever buried beneath this merciless yellow sand.
He paused for a moment, then slowly turned around, his gaze fixed on the seemingly tranquil sand dunes in the distance. A subtle, enigmatic smile played on his lips as he spoke clearly:
"Mentor, those words you entrusted to me—perhaps they no longer need to be conveyed by me, do they?"
His gaze pierced through the wind and sand, as if locking onto something.
"Mochamo—sir."