Chương 207: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 207 - This is the European Emperor

The old dwarf's aura was there and gone in an instant. A flash. Then nothing. No trace. Su Nian almost convinced himself he'd imagined it. But the Insight Technique's notification didn't lie. [You have been subjected to a Willpower Check by Gray Dwarf Forging Grandmaster Britt Sanderson Grayrock. You have resisted the Willpower Check.] Su Nian turned the moment over in his mind. The Gray Dwarf hadn't done it on purpose.

Aura was like Dragon's Might that way — something that settled into a person after enough years, enough hard miles. The simplest example: why couldn't young teachers control a classroom? But a veteran with thirty years behind them could walk up to the podium, say nothing, and the room would go dead quiet. That was aura. Not a technique. Not a weapon. Just presence. Britt's presence hadn't touched him.

And the old master had pulled it back almost immediately, clearly no more aware of it than a man who'd forgotten he was still carrying a sword. Still. Sanderson. That surname. Su Nian raised a dragon claw and scratched his head. He was fairly sure that in the ancient era, a dwarf surnamed Sanderson had marched with the Conqueror King when he lit the divine flame, and had forged a whole treasury of divine artifacts for him in the process. Were they relatives?

Or was "Sanderson" just a surname that produced one absurdly gifted craftsman per generation? Either way. The frail old dwarf standing in front of him was a hidden heavyweight. How the System had managed to recruit him was a mystery for another day. As for materials, he had none. His gold coins were essentially inside him at this point. If he weren't worried about literally eating his own home, he'd already be gnawing on the obsidian walls. But he didn't have ore. He had treasure chests.

He'd conned a pile of Silver Keys off people and never used them. Fifty-odd Silver Treasure Chests, surely something useful had to be in there. Some ore. Something. In front of Grandmaster Britt, Su Nian ordered his Kobolds to haul every Silver Treasure Chest and key into the hall. The chests weren't heavy. Post-training Kobolds could manage five or six each with a good grip.

Chest weight was tied to the material of the chest itself, not whatever was inside, which meant he had no way of knowing what he was about to get. He jammed the first key in, gave it a turn, and the lock clicked. [You have opened a Silver Treasure Chest and obtained a purple item: Silk-Grade Toilet Paper, 1 roll. (PS: Show him you care, care for his rear.)] The garbage Insight Technique was at it again. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Su Nian's face went dark. He said nothing. He opened the second chest. CLICK. [You have opened a Silver Treasure Chest and obtained a purple item: Antique-Grade Liuwei Dihuang Wan, 1 jar. (PS: A joke! You think you can burst my kidney with one punch?)] What in the absolute hell. He refused to accept this. Third chest. [You have opened a Silver Treasure Chest and obtained a purple item: Divine-Grade Glycerin Enema, 10 bottles. (PS: Ever since getting these, Old Eight's been all smiles~)] By the tenth chest, surrounded by a pile of items that looked useful and were completely useless, Su Nian had made peace with a fundamental truth about himself: he was a black dragon with catastrophically black luck. He was done. Someone could destroy the world. Fine. This was a world where the unlucky had no right to exist. He collapsed on the floor. Limbs out. Belly up. Eyes glazed. Full sage mode.

Anna surveyed the collection of bizarre objects scattered across the obsidian floor, then looked at the black dragon whose gaze had drifted somewhere beyond the ceiling. She seemed to piece it together. The things her brother opened didn't make him happy. She bit her finger, tilted her head, and thought for a moment. Then she flew down to the floor, picked up one of the Silver Keys, found the nearest chest, and slipped the key into the lock. CLICK.

[Anna has opened a Silver Treasure Chest and obtained a purple item: Starsteel, 10 units. (PS: Humble appearance. Flashy name. Exceptional performance. The definitive choice for forging equipment.)]"HUH?!" Su Nian jolted back from the dead.

"Materials?! First try, just like that?!" He scrambled over and pawed through the ten floor-tile-sized slabs of Starsteel at Anna's feet. Silver-white. Matte finish. Even at a glance, unmistakably high-quality forging material. He picked one up and bit into it. CRUNCH! The flavor was close to gold, but with a slight chew to it, a faint stickiness that meant good toughness. Ideal for longswords, if he had to guess. [You have consumed 1 unit of Starsteel. Scale armor strength increased by 0. 0003%. Dragon breath power increased by 0. 0001%.] He put the rest down. Barely. Then he turned to Anna, shoved every remaining chest and key across the floor toward her, and lay flat on his stomach with his chin on the ground. His tail swept back and forth, whipping up small cyclones in the surrounding air. His eyes sparkled. Anna laughed at him. He looked exactly like a very large, very hopeful dog. She stood on tiptoe, pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, leaving a cool, faint print on his scales, and got to work.

CLICK. [Anna has opened a Silver Treasure Chest and obtained a blue item: Hundred-Fold Iron, 1000 units. (PS: A staple equipment material. Cheap, reliable, and plentiful. Refined through a thousand strikes by human smiths, suitable for casting Fine-grade equipment and below.)] CLICK. [Anna has opened a Silver Treasure Chest and obtained a purple item: Waterwheel Blueprint. (PS: Built into a stream near cultivated fields, this device may significantly increase crop yields.)] CLICK.

[Anna has opened a Silver Treasure Chest and obtained a purple item: Shapeshifting Potion. (PS: Grants non-human creatures the ability to take human form. 10% of base strength is retained. Duration: 1 hour.)] Half an hour later, every chest was open. Not one piece of junk. Every single item usable. Forging materials in particular had come out in abundance, more than enough to fill the System's hundred-slot free processing quota. Su Nian's eyes were wet. So this was what they meant by a legendary lucky draw.

He finally understood what the System had meant when it described Anna as a [Lucky Elf Girl]. That wasn't a label. That was a fact. This wasn't just lifting the hem of Lady Luck's dress. This was stripping Lady Luck completely bare.

"Brother, look at this one!" Anna was already flying toward him, a small purple bottle held up in both hands like an offering, her face bright with excitement.

"This potion — Anna knows this smell! I've seen it before, in the Emerald Forest!"

"It's exactly the same as the Shapeshifting Potion!"

"Druid masters use it. They brew it so their apprentices can get used to human form ahead of time. It's rare — really rare."

"The transformation only lasts an hour, but..." She stopped there. But her hands were trembling faintly, and the look in her eyes said everything she hadn't.

Author's Note: Anna, Lightly Menacing Edition. Seeking power~ (づ￣3￣)づ Also, taking suggestions for what the male lead should look like in his one-hour human form. ➤ Next: Equipment and Polymorph (1)