The young dragon became increasingly upset as she spoke, eventually running over and throwing herself against Adam's leg, which was as thick as a pillar, and bursting into loud sobs.
Adam, feeling awkward, shook himself slightly and gently pushed the young dragon away. She fell to the ground with a thud, but such a fall was nothing to a dragon. The young dragon just stared at Adam with her large, tear-filled, silver-white eyes, full of confusion, before attempting to rush at his leg again.
Adam had to use his finger to hold her back by pressing against her dragon horn. He felt a bit out of place. This must be a true young dragon, possibly just chased out of her mother's cave and then captured by the Dragon Slayer Guild. Otherwise, she wouldn't show such vulnerability to another, even if it was a fellow dragon. After all, dragons were not known for being friendly to their own kind.
"Your name is Sofia?" Adam asked.
After struggling for a while and realizing she couldn't resist the force on her horn, the young dragon, named Sofia, reluctantly gave up the idea of hugging his leg. Sitting on the ground, she started to sob again, "Yes, Sofia. Sofia Frost." She suddenly felt miserable again, and her crying resumed. "Poor me! My mother doesn't want me anymore. I was captured by bad people just after leaving the mountain. They wanted to kill me! Then I kept crying, and they decided to send me away, to a very scary place."
"Big dragon, you've come to save Sofia, haven't you?"
Adam felt that this young dragon's issues were more than just her age; her intelligence seemed to be lacking too. She blurted out everything without Adam even asking.
Her incessant crying was starting to irritate Adam, who had neither the experience nor the inclination to comfort a young dragon. So, he bluntly said, "I'm not here to save you. You've been brought by the Dragon Slayer Guild to the icy City of Freedom and given to me."
Her crying stopped abruptly, and after a moment of stunned silence, she looked at Adam in fear and asked, "Big dragon, are you a bad person too? Are you going to kill Sofia?"
Adam, not used to her way of speaking, corrected her, "You should refer to yourself as 'I,' not 'Sofia.'"
"Why?" the young dragon asked, puzzled. "Mother always called me Sofia."
"Say 'I.'"
"Oh," Sofia replied, still sounding miserable, "Big dragon, why did you capture Sof... capture me? I'm still very young, not tasty at all!"
Adam felt that with this intellectually underdeveloped young dragon, he might not need to resort to harsh measures to obtain her heritage. Direct questioning might be more efficient, so he engaged in some small talk.
"I don't eat dragons. I need you."
The young dragon's eyes widened in surprise. "You're not going to eat me? That's great! But then, big dragon, why did you capture me?" She paused for a moment, as if realizing something, and then exclaimed, "I know! You want to mate with me!"
"I---"
The young dragon seemed troubled and shook her tail and horn. "But I'm too young. My mother said I can only mate when I'm grown up, and it will be a long, long time before I'm grown. Can you wait for me, big dragon? I can stay by your side, and I don't need much food or treasure! I eat very little!"
Adam felt for the first time in his life that he was completely unable to communicate normally with another being.
"Ha-ha!" At this point, Adam heard insane, unrestrained laughter in his mind. The devil had been sneakily listening to Adam's conversation with the young dragon, but he couldn't hold back any longer. "Haha! Master, have you finally developed a desire to mate? But are you sure you want to do that with a little female dragon not even as long as your leg?"
Adam's expression instantly turned stern, and the temperature in the lab suddenly dropped. The young dragon got scared, thinking the big dragon had decided to kill her because he didn't want to share food and treasure. Just as she was about to say something to save her life, she fainted, overwhelmed by the immense dragon power.
"It seems I've been too easy with you recently, letting you forget what should and shouldn't be said," Adam said through gritted teeth in his mind, delivering thirty soul-whipping blows to the devil. "I think it's time to remind you."
Outside the lab stood the devil and Lina. After settling her slaves and the members of the Dragon Slayer Guild that came with her, Lina followed the devil to the lab, feeling uneasy. She found it odd that the dragonkin didn't knock on the door but didn't dare to ask.
However, the dragonkin's expression grew increasingly strange, and he eventually collapsed to the ground in a fit of mad laughter. Just when she couldn't help but ask what was happening, his laughter turned into wails of pain.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Haha, I---ah, it hurts, master, I won't dare again! I won't dare!" The devil, unable to help himself, laughed out again, only to be silenced by great pain.
Lina, startled, cautiously stepped back and poked the devil with a vine, "My lord, what's wrong with you?" Knowing the dragonkin was also Adam's slave, she wasn't sure how to address him, so she simply referred to him as the lord.
At that moment, the doors of the lab swung open, and Adam, with a cold expression, walked out. He didn't even glance at the devil but gestured for Lina to come inside. Just before closing the door, he said coldly, "You'd better stay out of my sight for a while, or you'll suffer. Now, get out of my sight immediately."
After disciplining the devil, Adam's good mood returned. He never had the habit of taking out his anger on others, so he assured the visibly anxious and jittery Lina, "What just happened has nothing to do with you. You only need to focus on your own tasks."
Lina nodded quickly, timidly saying, "But master, I really can't disclose the contents of the Refinement Art."
Adam gestured in the air, and ice elements converged to form a surgical table familiar to Lina. Knowing that the less she said, the fewer mistakes she would make, she didn't ask any questions and walked over, undressed, and lay down on the table.
Adam said approvingly, "You don't need to speak it out. Just follow my instructions and run the Refinement Art later. By the way, I will complete your transformation during this process."
Lina knew the surgery would be painful, as she had experienced it before, but she didn't care. What mattered to her now was whether she could continue to grow stronger and enjoy the power that strength brought. Adam wanted to obtain the most complete form of the Refinement Art, so he did not sever her pain nerves.
Yet, Lina didn't utter a sound.
"Let's begin."
As soon as he spoke, Lina's blood started to 'boil', rapidly circulating throughout her body. During this process, the elemental essences roaming between heaven and earth converged around her body. This looked similar to the Knight's breathing method.
However, the Refinement Art was clearly more complex. Adam created a vacuum of elements around himself to isolate the roaming elements, but still, an unidentified energy continued to converge towards her body."
