Black Hearted Mage

Cecilia bent her slender fingers and gently tapped on the attic's mottled oak door with a strange rhythm. With a long, groaning "creak," the door slowly opened, revealing a ridiculous scene: a plump, fat dog, no bigger than a boot, gnawing at the brass doorknob with its teeth, its plump body dangling in mid-air.

"Oh my God!" Joanna, wearing a red dress, covered her mouth in surprise as she watched the miniature fat dog struggling to kick its almost invisible legs. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and landed on the ground with a "plop", uttering a disgruntled "grunt" at the uninvited guest, looking like a baby that had been woken up.

Cecilia quickly explained, "Miss, you don't know, but the fat dog is no longer what it used to be. It used to be really huge, but now it can't control the dangerous flames. It's too troublesome, so we have no choice but to..."

"Can you control fire by shrinking your body?" Joanna raised her carefully trimmed eyebrows, her sapphire eyes full of doubt.

At this moment, Caesars, who had been meditating, slowly opened his eyes and took the shimmering elemental crystal in his arms. He stood up and gracefully smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles on his magic robe. "Madam," he said in a low, serious voice, "when the fat dog shrank, the newly formed magic patterns were imprisoned by the existing magic pattern system, like a seal on boiling lava."

"Are those flames really so dangerous?" Joanna asked persistently.

Caesar made a gesture of silence, and a warning flashed in his dark pupils: "I advise you not to explore the mystery of this flame. Even a magician who specializes in fire magic will be reduced to ashes in an instant." As he said, he made a "please" gesture - this small attic is really not a good place to entertain guests.

In the velvet-carpeted reception room on the fourth floor of the castle, Caesars took out the gift he had prepared. The scales of the earth dragon shone with lava-like patterns under the light, and the dragon horn exuded a scorching heat—both rare treasures for fire mages. Seeing this, the fat little dog beside him immediately rolled on the ground, whimpering coquettishly.

"Greedy!" Caesars shook his head helplessly. "Didn't I promise to give you an extra dragon tail?" He squatted down and poked the fat dog's bulging belly. "Once we've purchased some beef, I'll give you a hundred more pickled hind legs!"

The fat dog suddenly perked up, its short tail waving rapidly like a propeller, its small eyes gleaming with cunning. To it, ground dragon meat was as bland as cooled magma. How could it compare to the tender and juicy wild bull leg?

"Ma'am, look at this—the finest ground dragon meat, tender and juicy; and these pieces of ground dragon leather, all carefully selected, top-quality goods; this fire salamander hide is in excellent condition; and most precious of all, these two golden ginsengs, at least hundreds of years old." Caesars introduced the gifts spread out on the carpet. "But I'm afraid I can't give you the ground dragon's magic core. Look at this fat dog, it's in urgent need of fire energy!"

Joanna's eyes flashed with greed the moment she laid eyes on these treasures. First, she swiftly snatched the two golden ginsengs into her pocket, as if afraid someone might snatch them away. Then, she began carefully examining the ground dragon hides. Her slender fingers caressed three pieces of back leather, feeling the nearly three or four-inch-thick, tough texture beneath the hard scales. The last piece of belly leather she picked up was surprisingly flexible in her hands, producing a pleasant rustling sound with a gentle shake.

"Where's the head of the Earth Dragon?"

After Joanna put the gift away properly, she immediately asked impatiently, with a strange gleam in her eyes.

Caesars scratched his head and reported truthfully, "We brought back three heads in total. Two of them we hunted ourselves, but unfortunately one was already badly damaged, while the other was well-preserved. The most surprising thing was the third head, which we stumbled upon in the wilderness. The body had been nearly completely devoured, but the head itself was miraculously intact. However..." He hesitated, then couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me, ma'am, but what do you want these skulls for? They don't seem to have any practical use other than displaying them as trophies."

Joanna raised a mysterious smile and answered without disguising, "I want to emulate the ancient craftsmanship of the elves and use the skull of a ground dragon to build a unique ship!"

Upon hearing this, Caesar's expression suddenly grew serious. "Madam, I must warn you," he said in a low voice, "without the powerful magic array, the skull ship is just a flashy decoration. Not only will it provide no protection, it could actually put you in danger!"

"Caesars, explain yourself clearly!" Joanna frowned, her tone clearly displeased.

"This...it's hard to explain with words alone." Caesars seemed a little embarrassed. "Why don't you please move to the castle living room? I happen to have a skull ship sample from the crater. I can show it to you with your own eyes."

Joanna couldn't hide her surprise when she heard that Caesars actually possessed a genuine elven skull ship. After all, acquiring such a secret elven craft is extremely difficult. The three of them, along with the fat dog, quickly arrived at the castle's spacious living room. Caesars pulled out a skull ship covered in intricate magic patterns from his space ring.

"Caesars, this... who gave you this?" Joanna's voice trembled slightly with excitement, and she stared at this rare treasure intently.

"The elven elder gave it to me! Madam, take a close look at the magic patterns and arrays. They're not painted, but embedded in the bones. Just this one thing will keep you busy for years!"

Caesars pointed at the magic circle, and Joanna leaned in to examine it carefully. She didn't recognize most of the magic runes, nor did she know their purpose. Even the magic-conducting material engraved in the magic runes was a silver magic metal filament, not magic copper at all.

"Kaesas, what exactly is this metal with a strange silver glow?" Joanna stared at the gleaming metal filament and asked relentlessly.

Kaisas wiped the sweat from his forehead and said helplessly, "This is extremely rare mithril, ma'am. Its magic conductivity is more than three times that of magic copper, but it is extremely rare and precious. It is said that only those who have reached the level of magician can purify this metal using special methods."

"Then what kind of ore is it extracted from?" Joanna's eyes flashed with curiosity.

"Mithril never forms a mineral alone," Caesars explained, his fingers unconsciously stroking the metal surface. "It always coexists with refined gold, and only exists in the most dangerous veins deep underground. Madam, I really only know this much. I can't tell you any more details..." His voice gradually lowered, and an embarrassed look appeared on his face.

Seeing Joanna's unwilling expression, Caesars shrugged helplessly. If this stubborn lady continued to ask questions, he would be unable to bear it.

"What are the functions of these magic arrays filled with mithril?" Joanna raised a new question.

Kaisas leaned in to observe the intricate patterns, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter: "These... these are deformed magic pattern arrays. The irregular structure is chosen to prevent people from deciphering their purpose. Madam, it is even more impossible for me to know their specific functions!" There was a bit of frustration in his tone. He had no knowledge of magic patterns.

Joanna had some knowledge of magic runes, but she was completely unable to understand the magic rune array on the skull ship.

"Kaisas, how old is the Elf Elder?"

Caesars put away the skull of the earth dragon, and at this moment Joanna suddenly asked a question.

"I don't know exactly how old they are, but they seem to be over 30,000 years old!"

"How many?"

Joanna was shocked when she heard the number of 30,000.

"They must have lived for thirty or forty thousand years!"

Joanna stopped questioning and walked to the window, looking out at the rose garden, which was being drizzled with rain. The green leaves had faded, and the flowers were no longer visible. All that could be seen were dark green branches and black thorns stained with raindrops.

As dusk fell, several magic lanterns were lit in the banquet hall of the Rose Castle, casting the shadows of six or seven people on the rose-embroidered tapestry. The fat, shiny dog ​​was squatting on a carved dining chair, its front paws resting on the table covered with a linen napkin.

"Oh my god! This is raw meat!"

Depero's silver fork clanked onto the porcelain plate. His snow-white beard trembled with his trembling lips. His cloudy blue eyes glared at the gilded plate the maid had just set down. Blood oozed from the edge of the three-centimeter-thick slice of meat, forming a small lake at the bottom. The fat dog kept sticking out its tongue; this was its main course for dinner.

"Depero, look at your plate. That plate contains slices of ground dragon meat. It can't be stewed or boiled." Caesars used a dinner knife to cut the truffles on the plate. The blade made a harsh sound when it collided with the bone porcelain. "Last time I tried to stew a pot, I almost lost my stew pot." He suddenly picked up a piece of truffle with a dinner knife. The fat dog quickly raised his head to catch it, and the fat on his neck rippled.

The fire-infused slice of meat suddenly stirred, and the fat dog tapped the tabletop lightly with its front paws. The maid immediately sprinkled it with plenty of spices and seasonings, then filled the soup bowl with amber wine.

"Pour the wine for the master!"

Caesar suddenly slammed his fist on the table and burst into laughter. The maid hurriedly picked up the jeweled decanter. Amber liquid swirled in the sterling silver goblet. Caesar took a sip from the goblet, and the fat dog followed suit, licking a few sips. Its wet black nose, stained with wine, shone like a fallen star in the candlelight.

"Depero, don't even think about eating the ground dragon meat! That's not something you can digest. Eat your own portion!"

The black-robed Saint shouted harshly, the silver knife in her hand flashing a cold light in the candlelight. However, Depero turned a deaf ear to her, his eyes fixed on the plate filled with dark red meat in front of the fat dog, his Adam's apple rolling up and down.

The fat dog, feigning elegance, pressed its front paws against the edge of its plate. Initially, it maintained aristocratic dining etiquette, nibbling at the bloody meat in small bites. But the moment the distinctively spicy aroma of local dragon meat exploded in its mouth, it lost all trace of decorum and buried its furry face in the plate. The silverware clanked, and scarlet meat juices splattered onto the snow-white napkin. It devoured like a three-day-starved hyena, devouring every last scrap of meat until it had licked it clean. Only then did it raise its head, its swollen belly pushing up the silk napkin. It burped with a contented, bloody burp, the leather cord holding its storage ring cutting deep indentations into the fat flesh of its neck.

The head maid, always standing by, immediately stepped forward and took away the saliva-stained plate with a silk cloth embroidered with the family crest. When the caramel pudding, fragrant with the aroma of orange blossom and honey, was served, the fat dog's wet black nose twitched violently, and sticky saliva dripped from the corner of its crooked mouth, forming glistening threads in the candlelight, threatening to drip onto the gold-embroidered tablecloth.

"Dead dog, where are your dining etiquette?"

Caesars suddenly picked up a silver spoon and hit the fat dog's greasy forehead hard. "Look at you, you greedy face! If you dare to stain Master Caesars's embroidered tablecloth with your saliva, you will be forced to eat slop in the kitchen tomorrow!"

The fat dog shuddered with fright, stretched out its nimble tongue to clean its saliva, and then used its front paws to pull a napkin to wipe its mouth. The fat dog then raised its head high and nodded slightly to the crowd as an apology.

"Kaisas, this fat dog learned all this from you, right? I taught you all your dining etiquette!"

Joanna watched the fat dog eating the dessert in small bites and thought it was a bit funny that it could imitate the movements so vividly.

The fat dog, who was rolling the dessert with his red tongue, froze at the words, his red button-like eyes darting between Joanna and Caesars. He deliberately slowed down his movements, imitating the aristocracy by using the tip of his paw to pick up the gold-embroidered napkin, but he used too much force and knocked over the salt shaker.

"Damn it! This dog is really a spirit!" Old Depero exclaimed with gravy still on his beard.

Caesars stroked the fat dog's sleek fur. "Everyone, the fat dog is very intelligent, definitely not much less intelligent than anyone here!"

The sound of knives hitting porcelain plates echoed repeatedly. Joanna, cutting venison, nearly cut her finger, while Depero, known for his composure, looked as if he'd choked on a lemon.

Caesars suddenly grabbed the fat dog by the scruff of its neck and lifted it to the center of the dining table like a trophy. "You damn dog, recite the Testament to them!"

The fat dog suddenly stood up, and used its cream-covered paws to imitate the priest's blessing movements, and a strange gurgling sound came from its throat: "Holy light... burp... shine on the glutton..." Then he burped with a burp full of alcohol.

"Damn it! It really mixed up the prayer and Depero's embarrassing incident last week!" The saint's pearl earrings shook as she laughed back and forth.

"This old guy smells a bit. He was too greedy and peed in his pants!"

The fat dog spoke as if he had a hot chestnut in his mouth. Depero's face suddenly turned redder than the lobster on the plate, and the fat dog was already raising his tail.