Chapter 275: A Problem Called Progress

Welp.

The meeting was fruitful, to say the least. Not only had Riley shamelessly knocked sense into the heads of the leading dragons of the clan, but they had also come up with a temporary battle plan based on the information they currently had.

Good news. They had a lead.

Bad news. He was the lead.

Yep.

That happened.

It was not like Riley didn’t understand how dubious that sounded, or how much pressure it put on him. But he was also the one who had pushed hardest for a welfare check on the elder dragon. So if anything, this felt like nature’s way of telling him that he had, in fact, asked for it.

Right.

And honestly, he was fine with that. At least now they had something tangible to work toward. A concrete goal.

With the first item on the list being Riley claiming his inheritance

The only real issue was how he was supposed to do that in his current state. And more importantly, how much time they actually had. Everything hinged on how fast Riley could improve, and that was not something anyone could rush without consequences.

What if it took too long.

A few weeks would probably be fine. Even a month or two.

But what if it took years.

What if something had already gone wrong.

That thought refused to leave him alone.

The problematic black dragonling frowned and then, inevitably, thought of something he probably should not have.

“Mom,” Riley said, turning toward her, “do you know if the place where the inheritance is hidden is populated? And if it isn’t… would it still be possible for me to go as I am? Or maybe use a barrier to hide my presence temporarily?”

That was definitely cheating.

But Riley was starting to feel like time was not a luxury they had. If he waited until he could fully shield himself on instinct alone, would it already be too late by then.

His mother didn’t take long to answer. She shook her head gently.

“Son, in truth, I wouldn’t be able to tell you that,” Renee said. “I’m not particularly aware of where it is.”

“Huh? But…” Riley trailed off, genuinely confused now.

“But,” Renee continued, smiling softly, “I do know how to show you where it is.”

“Ohhhh.”

“And hopefully,” she added, “you’d be able to figure out where it is from there.”

That was welcome news. At least it meant they were not completely stuck.

Still, in hindsight, maybe when his mother asked him if he was sure he wanted to try the method now, maybe he shouldn’t have agreed so quickly.

Or at the very least, when she warned him that it would sting, he probably should have put a towel in his mouth instead of trusting his poor molars to survive.

Because that sting hurt like a son of a bitch.

And worse, Riley had to do it three times.

Three.

Times.

He kept momentarily blacking out from the pain and missing the details he was supposed to focus on, which forced his mother to stop and start over while Kael hovered nearby, looking increasingly distressed.

The black dragonling who couldn’t even turn into a dragon had not thought much of it when his mother asked him to come closer. It was Kael who looked downright constipated even as Riley reassured him that it should be fine.

After all, considering how hard his biological family had worked to keep him alive, they probably wouldn’t be doing something that could kill him.

Probably.

But when his mother touched his forehead and used her blood to draw whatever final dot or shape was required, Riley nearly screamed himself cross-eyed.

So much for everything being fine.

People often said that you saw your life flash before your eyes when you died. Riley suspected that was only because they had never experienced a dragon’s method of transferring proprietary knowledge.

Because whatever this was, it made him seriously question whether receiving his inheritance was a good idea.

What if he died from the pain alone.

And if the map to the location hurt this much, then what would the actual inheritance do to him.

To make matters worse, it was not even a proper map.

It was more like flashes of a satellite view, zooming in again and again until it focused on a location that was both extremely mountainous and painfully generic.

Obviously, Kael didn’t want him to try again.

But Riley, panting and half convinced his brain was being fried, managed to hold him in place with a single sentence.

“Don’t I need the inheritance so we can fully complete our bond?”

That stopped him.

In a way, they were already in the middle of a very long mating ceremony that had somehow started centuries ago and still had not finished.

Faced with Riley’s stubborn resolve, there was only one thing Kael could do.

He stepped in and cushioned him with his body.

Then again, there were honestly more reasons for why the new immortal felt compelled to do everything in his power to claim that inheritance.

It wasn’t just about Elder Zephyros nor was it even about a possible apocalypse.

Even without all of that, and the threat of certain death, Riley still needed his inheritance.

Without it, he would be like a dragon without instincts. Other creatures knew how to proceed through life. They understood metamorphosis, maturation, and reproduction without needing to be taught.

Riley, unfortunately, did not.

And without his inheritance, it would probably take him ages because the other dragons around him weren’t particularly built to teach such information as digestible lessons.

No wonder they passed on knowledge like that, because they likely wouldn’t be able to stomach teaching each other before they started some form of all-out-war.

And would Riley really want to force Orien to teach him the birds and the bees when the baby was still concerned about storks and beads?

Also, won’t he shortchange the next generation if he didn’t get his inheritance? Just what would he be able to pass on? And how does one even do that in the first place?

There were obviously many issues hinged on this discovery, and so Riley gritted his teeth and trudged along.

__

Everyone grew tense when Riley stopped reacting to the pain.

At first, they thought he had passed out.

Then they realized that was not quite it.

His breathing evened out, his expression going blank as if he had slipped somewhere else entirely. Not unconscious. Not awake either.

Somewhere in between.

The people around him edged closer, watching for any sign that something had gone wrong, only to freeze in collective confusion when Riley suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

“???”

The reaction was immediate.

The magical beings stared at the small rectangular device. Renee looked just as baffled, because while she’d definitely been familiar with technology, she hadn’t really been one to solve magical issues with them. So she couldn’t really understand why her son had reached for his phone.

Lawrence Hale, however, became increasingly interested.

He watched his son’s fingers move, hesitating and then growing increasingly frustrated when whatever he was trying to do did not quite work.

“Son,” Lawrence said carefully as he took a guess, “do you need an offline map?”

“!!!”

Riley’s eyes snapped open wider.

“Dad. Do you have one?” he asked, hope flaring so fast it almost hurt.

Lawrence nodded solemnly. “I do. I will be right back.”

He left as quickly as he could.

When he returned, the room was silent.

Riley had apparently called a halt to everything, one hand lifted slightly as if any interruption might cause him to lose whatever fragile thread he was clinging to.

Lawrence handed him a large rectangular object.

At that, everyone could not help but gather closer as Riley accepted it and immediately went to work, his fingers moving with practiced speed across the surface.

__

Thyrran watched in open fascination.

The object called a laptop was not something he had ever encountered before. As a former guardian of the archives, he had already been preparing to suggest ancient books, scrolls, and record hunts that would likely take years to complete.

Knowing his former masters, they would have hidden their crypts thoroughly. Dragons who valued safety never made things easy.

Even Lord Karion, who had once searched for the tomb of the white dragons, had warned them how arduous such a task would be.

Which was why the ex-guardian nearly shed his skin when Riley suddenly gasped.

“!!!”

Everyone leaned in.

“What is it, Young Master?” Thyrran asked at once.

Riley blinked several times at the device in his hands, then turned it around so everyone could see.

“Well, we don’t have internet here, so I just used the offline map and navigation app my dad has,” he said slowly. “But if this is accurate, then I think we have a slight problem.”

“A problem?” Lady Cirila asked, already tense.

Riley swallowed.

“Um. My Lady. This place?” He pointed at the screen. “This place has been converted into a water park.”

The Hales stared.

“A water park?” they repeated.

“The water park,” Riley confirmed with emphasis while the dragons and the great serpent looked at him with blank stares.

Understandable. They didn’t know what kind of crisis they were facing.

But after he finished explaining exactly what a water park was, the room fell into a heavy silence.

And then, almost unanimously, everyone came to the same conclusion.

They would need to make contingency plans or work on other things.

And Riley would need to train more.

A lot more.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep