Chapter 456: Preparations
“Let’s start with extracting the Black Spirit for now.”
Last night, I practiced with the White Goose.
It’s big, but the procedure should be the same. The black ‘fragments’ wriggle out from the Dragon’s body and drift toward me. I’m not sure if I’m doing it right, but it’s definitely coming out.
“…Hey,” Haulon’s voice is strained.
Alright, I’m definitely doing something wrong!
“This is quite the perplexing reaction,” the Butler murmurs.
“I don’t really get it, but isn’t it just brute force pulling it out!?” Dinoss is confused.
“…It’s difficult to make a spirit without will do anything consciously. It should be… difficult,” Haulon continues to mutter under his breath.
“Beautiful, yet at the same time, ominous. Jean, are you feeling unwell?” I can sense Ash’s brow furrowing deeper.
“I’m perfectly fine.” I named the black ‘fragments’ that lingered in the Dragon’s body and gave them an image to coalesce.
The ‘fragments’ are the smallest form of spirit. They are born and disappear quickly, but under the right conditions, they can gather and become a small spirit without vanishing. They are remnants of Spirit’s Power, or rather, pieces that are torn off, and they are born when life is created or begins to move. No, it’s not limited to just life. They can be born even when the wind blows.
Though they are so small that they can be put into [Storage], gathering enough of them can create a spirit of considerable size.
Of course, it’s in the form of the Black Dragon! Hahaha! It might look like a ball to everyone else!
“Did a spirit just get born? No, it must be my imagination, right?” Haulon is already looking exhausted without even starting the disassembly.
“It seems to be near Lord Jean…”
“Stop putting it into words…” Haulon weakly tells the Butler.
“Ultimately, the spirits I can control are becoming uneasy…” Karn looks perplexed.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s related to spirits, right?”
“Since it’s outside my expertise, please ask Haulon for an explanation. I will do my best to pretend I’m not seeing anything.” Dean and Chris, who are in the invisible group, are receiving a quiet explanation from the Butler. It’s hard to hear due to the wind and their whispers.
Oh, now they’re confirming with Haulon. Double-checking reduces mistakes, but isn’t it a bad impression to ask the same thing of different people when one of them is right next to you?
“Don’t ask me!”
See, I got scolded.
But in the end, it’s Haulon who has to explain. The Great Sage can’t leave things unclear.
“Oh. Good, it’s all out!”
There’s no trace of spirit left in the Dragon’s body!
In reality, there’s a tiny bit left, but even regular Pig-kun meat has some. In short, it’s a natural amount.
“Where do you think we should tie it to hang it properly? Should we go with the legs? The tail seems like it would slip off…”
Unlike boars or bears, this Dragon has a thick, impressive tail. What should we do?
“Guess we’ll have to wrap the legs and tie the tail?” Dean suggests.
“I didn’t bring that long of a rope.”
I prepared some rope and chains, but a single wrap might snap under the weight, and it’s not long enough.
“Can’t we extract the blood like we did with the spirit?” Chris asks.
“Oh. We can, we can.”
Let’s use the method I used to extract moisture from the Great Tree.
That time, the moisture was expelled into the atmosphere from the side that absorbed it, but this time, we’ll gather it instead. Plus, the quantity is significant.
“We’ll have to cut off the head to drain the blood, but where should we cut?”
“How do we even cut this massive body?” Dean looks at the Dragon’s neck.
It’s overall quite stout, with a thick neck and a large head. The scales of snakes or lizards and the shell of a turtle are similar. This Dragon is covered in hard parts that resemble armor instead of scales.
“According to the materials Jean brought, this bulging part is the Fire Pouch. We should avoid this area and cut above it,” Retze touches the Dragon’s throat to confirm.
Though he calls it a Fire Pouch, depending on the type of Dragon, it could also be a Poison Pouch. Some don’t have one at all.
“Alright.”
I ask the surrounding spirits for help, and the preparations are complete. It’s been a while since I’ve used the Zanzenken.
“Ha!”
I draw it from [Storage], swiftly unsheathing it and cleanly slicing through.
The blood flowing from the Dragon’s neck defies gravity, not falling to the ground but instead swelling like a balloon. Good, good, just as planned.
As I store it like water, I ask the spirits for help with the procedure I used to extract moisture from the Great Tree. The spirits that assisted in drying the Great Tree and those that helped when entering the lake are nearby. Since I’ve named them, they recognize that I’m close and gather around.
Oh, wait. I was going to ask Haulon how to make Auro not sense my presence. I completely forgot.
“Equipped with a dedicated Spirit Sword. Your swordsmanship is impressive—?”
“—Jean, you can use a sword too?” Karn and Haulon ask.
“Now that you mention it, I’ve mostly been practicing magic and using my powers related to spirits…”
“My sword skills are fairly normal—no, they’re strong. I don’t use any big techniques, and my fighting style is stable,” the Butler and Dinoss chime in.
“Why is that part normal!? Did Retze teach you!?”
“Pfft!”
Haulon’s frustrated shout makes Retze burst out laughing.
My sword instructor is Van, and my image is straight out of a samurai drama…!