The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 720 Attribute Transformation!
"If it really is a dragon egg, then everything makes sense! They wouldn't even blink if thousands of people died to create a dragon knight!" Kaldor murmured. As a dragon himself, he knew all too well how deadly and attractive the term "dragon knight" was to a knight!
“Yes, we need to go check the area! Hopefully we can find some survivors to tell us what happened here!” Caslo shook his head and said to his dragon mount.

"All done washing?" Caslo and Cardo's conversation abruptly stopped when he saw Weiss emerge with a wet head, his eyes still red and filled with tears.

"Let's say goodbye properly. The deceased is gone, but we still need to live well!" Caslo patted Weiss on the shoulder and threw the torch in his hand into the pit that had been dug earlier. Instantly, a raging fire swept up and surged up. Lying inside was Weiss's grandfather.

"Stay here and don't wander off!" Caslo instructed Vess before lighting another torch and walking away. There was a larger pit there, containing the remains of the other victims of the village and the mercenaries. They had become carriers of the plague, and Caslo had to burn them, or the consequences would be dire!
……

"Is he asleep?" Kaldo asked, gesturing towards the tent.

"You should have gone to sleep long ago after crying for so long! It's all over!" Caslo said calmly.

“Let’s go, let’s go up and see if there are any details we haven’t noticed!” Caslo sighed and climbed onto the dragon saddle.

With a sudden flap of his wings, Kaldor propelled the enormous dragon into the sky, soaring rapidly into the distance...

"See where there are any survivors!" Caslo whispered.

"No survivors, but corpses everywhere!" Kaldor's dragon eyes narrowed into slits as he scanned the ground below.

“What did you find?” Caslow asked.

"A field of orc corpses! The situation isn't good..." Kaldor murmured and suddenly swooped down.

……

“These orcs were all killed in one blow! Look at this blade!” Caslo flipped over the neck of an orc corpse, and judging from the wound, it was a fatal one! It must have been a longsword that swiftly severed half of its neck when it came down from above.

“And this one! It should be a battle axe!” Caslo kicked the two halves of the skull, whose brains had long since been emptied.

"The method of killing was very clean! No wonder they are elites, and there are no mercenary corpses here! This must have been caused by the breakout of the most elite mercenary team!" Caslo rubbed his chin.

“Let’s go! Let’s look to the west!” Caslow shook his head.

“Don’t go too far! Your little apprentice is still there all by himself!” Kaldo said, exhaling.

“He’s been crying all day and won’t wake up anytime soon. Let’s get on with our business!” Caslo nodded and estimated the time.

……

"This must be where the last mercenary group died, right?" Caslo looked at the mess of mercenary and orc corpses scattered on the ground.

"They're a bunch of tough guys! They've got guts!" Kaldo exclaimed in admiration. There were probably only a few dozen mercenary corpses here, but there were definitely over a thousand orcs! It's already quite an achievement for a group of mercenaries to fight to this extent!

"Stop being spineless! Quickly check if there are any survivors!" Caslo kicked his dragon.

"There's no one alive, both humans and orcs are dead!" Kaldor shook his head.

“It seems that dragon didn’t chase after us! There’s no trace of plague here… Did it turn back halfway through the pursuit?” Kaldo suddenly frowned, his huge dragon eyes filled with confusion.

"What? Isn't it normal to give up halfway through a chase? Why would a dragon care about an ant?" Caslo asked, somewhat puzzled.

“You don’t understand dragons. Dragons don’t care about ants. But if an ant offends the dragon’s might, the dragon will not rest until it crushes it!” Kaldor said solemnly.

"So why did this dragon turn back halfway, leaving only these orcs to pursue it?" Kaldor hesitated.

“The Anduin River is just west of here! If we can’t catch up with the remaining mercenaries here, we should cross the river and retreat westward! It’s unlikely that the orcs will cross the river to pursue us…” Caslo glanced westward at the Anduin River beside him, which was still surging.

“Unless something unexpected causes that dragon to turn back…” Kaldor muttered to himself. “…” Suddenly, the two exchanged a glance.

"Dragon eggs!"

"Some mercenary remnants have gone against the grain? They've gone straight into the Dark Forest! Otherwise, there's no reason why the dragon would give up the pursuit of these remnants!"

"That's it! The darkest place is under the lamp! The Dark Forest is filled with towering ancient trees, so even a giant dragon can't move freely. Entering the Dark Forest offers a glimmer of hope. The people carrying the dragon eggs must have gone into the forest!" Caslo's eyes lit up.

“Let’s go back. We’ll go check out the east tomorrow!” Kaldo said calmly.

……

"Awake? Come and eat some fish!" Caslo handed over the grilled fish in his hand.

"Thank you, teacher..." Weiss took the grilled fish from Caslo with little interest and took a small, listless bite.

"Tsk!" Caslo shook his head. It seemed that the death of his only relative had dealt a huge blow to the child.

“You’re 14 this year, you’re not a child anymore! You’re capable of avenging your family!” Caslo said calmly.

With a "whoosh," Caslo flung out a gleaming one-handed short sword, which landed at Weiss's feet.

“Pick it up! Tomorrow I’ll take you to avenge your grandfather!” Caslo looked calmly at Weiss.

"Thud!" Weiss suddenly loosened his grip, and the already somewhat cold grilled fish fell to the ground with a thud, mixing with the dust. He reached out and grabbed the short sword, pulling it out.

"To be honest, besides the orcs, there's also a dragon behind this. Are you... scared?" Caslo's voice remained calm.

"I'm not afraid, I'm going to kill him! Even if he's a dragon!" Weiss raised his head, his eyes suddenly turning pitch black! The sight of those slightly crimson black eyes made Caslo's heart skip a beat.

"What the heck? The attributes have changed?" Kaldo's surprised voice rang in Caslo's mind.

"Your young apprentice is probably not able to carry on your mantle. His attribute has changed from wind to dark and evil dual attributes!"

"How could this be?" Caslo frowned and wondered to himself. Even if something had happened to his family, it shouldn't have caused his attributes to change, right?

“We overlooked something… the dragon power remaining here has affected him, and he’s probably been corrupted by the power of darkness and evil! You need to make plans soon!” Kaldo said after a moment’s hesitation.

"Heh! Kid, snap out of it!" Caslo ignored his dragon and chuckled, slapping Weiss's face.

"Hmm, uh? Master, what just happened to me?" Weiss's eyes cleared instantly, and he looked up and asked in a silly and cute way.

“It’s alright. You were just about to slay the dragon, and I promised! I’ll take you to see him tomorrow!” Caslo said meaningfully.

"Ah! No! Master, you must have misheard me, right? I didn't say I was going to slay a dragon!" Weiss exclaimed in panic.

"It's alright, get some rest. We'll slay the dragon tomorrow morning!"

"No! I really didn't say that! I..." Weiss cried, now he couldn't explain himself. Why did he have to slay the dragon for no reason? He's not stupid!
……

"Strange, the dragon's power affected his attributes but didn't assimilate his will?"

"The only thing that can destroy a childlike heart... is himself!" Caslo sighed to himself.