Chương 208: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 208 - Equipment and Polymorph (1)

So this Polymorph Potion was actually a local specialty of this world? Su Nian had assumed it was a system product, the kind you could only pull from treasure chests. But no matter. If this world produced Polymorph Potions on its own, that was nothing but good news for him. If his advancement was too slow, he could always fly over to the Elven Forest and raid the supply. Down one bottle an hour, and it would be practically no different from having a permanent polymorph. Close enough.

He thought about this with considerable satisfaction, his mind having already quietly discarded Anna's description of the potion as "precious." As a dragon, all treasures in the world were only truly precious when they were in a dragon's hands. Still, now wasn't the time to drink it. Su Nian reined in his excitement and assumed his most righteous tone.

"Anna, we'll save that for later. A batch of human captives is being escorted in right now. I need to maintain my image of authority." The real concern was simpler than that. If the potion turned him into a small boy, he wouldn't be able to do anything, and more critically, he'd have zero intimidation factor against the incoming players. His true age was that of a juvenile dragon. His current appearance was the result of accelerated development, and he'd rather not give that up just yet.

Anna wasn't particularly disappointed. Her brother hadn't refused. He'd just said to wait. She'd heard that most Chromatic Dragons refused to take human form entirely. They looked down on humans, considered polymorphing a humiliation, believed the dragon body to be the most perfect state, and wore their dragonhood like a badge of pride. The Metallic Dragons, more neutral, more open, had no such hangups. They transformed into humans, elves, titans, whatever suited the occasion. Sometimes for friendship.

Sometimes to find a suitable mate. So for her brother, a Black Dragon, to agree to use the Polymorph Potion at all was already remarkable. It was affection. It was tolerance. She just needed to be patient and good. Anna tucked the potion away carefully, placing it as close to her as she could manage, then spread her wings and settled back onto the Black Dragon's back with a contented little flutter. Staying close to him had stopped being a choice. It had become instinct.

"These are the materials I want to submit." Su Nian slid the large pile of materials Anna had pulled from the treasure chests across to the Old Dwarf. The waterwheel blueprint was buried somewhere in the stack.

"Tell me what kind of equipment you can forge." The Old Dwarf bent over the pile and examined each piece of metal with care. The cloudiness in his eyes cleared. Everything here, he recognized, and the quality of it was nearly flawless. He'd just watched an elven girl open those silver chests and produce all of this out of thin air. He had no intention of asking how. He forged. That was his business, and that was all he needed to know.

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"Your Majesty, this material is sufficient for a fine batch of equipment. At master-grade, if we limit production to weapons alone, I can forge over twenty pieces. Factor in full armor, and that number drops to five sets."

"That calculation assumes standard human proportions. If your subordinates run larger than average, the yield will be lower." Su Nian felt a flicker of awkwardness. As it happened, the monsters under his command treated size as a virtue. Each one was bigger than the last, and they were still competing to grow larger.

"What if we only need fine-grade equipment?" He'd abandoned the idea of elite-tier gear. What he wanted now was coverage, equip as many as possible. The Old Dwarf ran the numbers silently. After a moment, he spoke in a measured tone.

"Mixing high-grade materials into lower-grade stock raises the overall strength of the finished product. Conservatively speaking, this batch can yield over three hundred sets of fine-grade equipment. That estimate assumes a human knight at 1. 8 meters." Su Nian turned it over in his mind. Three hundred sets was workable. He could find more treasure chests if he needed to, but that wasn't a sustainable strategy. Raiding chests was a shortcut. Securing rare metal veins was the real foundation.

Every great dragon in history had controlled several precious metal veins. Show up without a mine to your name, and other dragons would laugh you out of the sky.

"Start with twenty battle axes. Around 1. 5 meters in length — use your judgment on the axe head. The users are all over two meters tall. For the armor, I'll bring the relevant monsters by later so you can take measurements." The Old Dwarf nodded, then turned and let out a bellow that carried clean across the grounds. Every dwarf and goblin in the vicinity snapped to attention. They poured into the foundry and came back out moments later hauling a massive forge furnace.

"Smelting comes first, forging after — both take time. My skill bonuses make short work of low-grade pieces compared to most smiths, but I'll still need you to wait a short while." He finished speaking. Su Nian watched. Then the Old Dwarf began to change. Visibly, almost comically fast, the man expanded, the scruffy, hunched figure filling out, muscle stacking onto muscle, until the frail old man had become a dwarf who could trade punches with Rabbit Eight without blinking.

The one thing that didn't change: the enormous grey beard, still sweeping nearly to the ground.

"Bring the forging hammer!" The roar shook the air. A dozen goblins scrambled into the foundry and staggered back out again, gasping, hauling a hammer that looked entirely unremarkable between them.

"Set it down here. Bring the rest of the tools out too — the air inside is poor for combustion." The goblins obeyed with great care, lowering the hammer gently toward the ground. It struck the earth with a boom that rolled through the stone like a thunderclap.

"Good grief." Su Nian clicked his tongue. The density on that thing had to be well beyond his own armor. The Old Dwarf swung that when he forged? Grandmaster. The title wasn't for show. He'd been half-skeptical before, wondered if the Old Dwarf was overselling himself. He wasn't so sure anymore. Su Nian had planned to stay and watch the work begin, but his monsters were already sending word through the golden neural network of the Swarm Will. The captives were all in position.

Watching the Old Dwarf forge was interesting. Playing games with a dungeon full of player captives was more interesting. He left the foundry with Anna and flew toward the Dark Dungeon. The monster leaders had processed and housed the captives inside. The dungeon was a substantial structure, rows of dense cells lining the walls, and at its center, a vast arena designed specifically for the prisoners to occupy themselves. A pity, then, that the current population was so thin.

Most of the players from before were out working the fields. Only four remained inside. The Healing Warlock and Medrac, both of whom Su Nian had very specific plans for. And two women. One was Freya, the eldest princess of Ogrillar. The other was a female mage he didn't recognize. The moment Su Nian arrived, he heard it, the distinctive sound of someone getting hit repeatedly. Well. The monsters had learned to abuse their captives on their own initiative. Maybe they deserved extra meat at lunch.

He descended from the upper terrace and got a proper look. In the giant arena at the center of the dungeon, Rabbit Eight had Banana Wolf pinned to the ground and was delivering a thorough, methodical beating. ➤ Next: Captives and Transformation (2)