In the days that followed, Genasar focused on forging, while Aishy showed talent in all kinds of areas.
But as the saying goes, the true nature of a Red Dragon is stubbornness—Genasar still hadn’t given up on learning the wonders of alchemy.
“Hmph, I don’t believe it. Let’s go again!”
These days, almost every time he woke up, he’d chase after Golly, begging her to teach him alchemy.
“You child, I really don’t know what to do with you. Ahem, listen carefully—first like this, then like that…”
Finally, hard work paid off. Genasar at last managed to brew a barely passable Tier 1 potion.
Golly picked up the red potion, studying it closely.
“Ah… this is a Berserk Potion, but it still feels like it might explode at any second. Still a bit lacking, but it counts as passing.”
Hearing that it was only passable, Genasar was still a little dissatisfied.
“How can this be? I mean, I’m a dragon. Even if I have no talent at all, I shouldn’t be doing only this well, right?”
He slumped down, wearing the grumpy face of a little cat.
At that moment, a hand landed on his head.
“Obviously, your heart can’t settle. Maybe it’s because you’re a Red Dragon, so you’re more hot-blooded. It’s not like you have some great hatred in your heart, right?”
“Hm?”
Genasar noticed a blind spot, turning curiously to stare at Golly.
“If I did have deep hatred in my heart, would that cause me to fail at alchemy?”
“Of course. Alchemy touches on many aspects, including temperament. You see how little Aishy always looks like a block of wood? That calmness is actually the best state for learning.”
Genasar glanced at Aishy not far away, hugging a book, looking as lifeless as ever.
“Born just to study… No wonder she looks half-dead every day…”
But Genasar soon wondered—was it really because he was hiding hatred in his heart?
He thought he concealed it well, but these little details still gave it away. Sigh…
Thinking of this, Genasar became even more downcast. Golly, standing behind him, stroked his head a couple of times.
“But you’ve only just hatched. How much hatred could you possibly have? It’s not like you hate me, right? Maybe it’s just the Red Dragon’s nature. After all, I’ve never seen a just-hatched Red Dragon want to learn alchemy.”
Genasar rolled his eyes at Golly, but, thinking about it, this excuse wasn’t bad either.
“Maybe that’s all it is. Ugh, it’s killing me…”
“Stop sulking. I’ll take you out for some fresh air—maybe that’ll help.”
That was meant to be comforting, but Genasar instantly remembered what happened last time they went out. His body tensed up, and he quickly refused:
“No, nope, not a chance, thank you, Master.”
His anxious look made Golly purse her lips in exasperation.
“Tch, then what do you want to do? You don’t have any hobbies. Just say what you want to do, unless you want to suffocate from bottling it all up.”
“Hmm…”
Genasar ignored her, but Golly seemed to notice something.
She eyed him up and down.
“No matter how wild a Red Dragon’s nature is, it shouldn’t be so bad you can’t even make a proper potion. You’re not… deliberately holding back, are you?”
Her offhand remark drifted into Genasar’s ears. He widened his eyes, giving Golly a sidelong glance.
She leaned in close, whispering in his ear:
“You’re not… afraid I’ll kick you out, are you? No way, right? Hehehe~”
Genasar: =_=
He pointed speechlessly at Golly’s pile of junk.
“Didn’t you tell me not to run around or touch anything? There’s nothing here for me to play with. What am I supposed to do? Play with you?”
“Heh, you… Well, that does make sense.”
Golly was about to lecture him but stopped and thought. It really did make sense.
Genasar really was suppressing his Red Dragon nature, but mainly because he had nowhere to let loose. He couldn’t be as wild as a normal Red Dragon.
After all, acting up here would get him killed even faster.
“So, if I find somewhere to let off steam, maybe I’ll succeed?”
“That’s the idea, but I don’t know how you want to let loose. You’re still so little, and you can’t… ahem… Maybe I should just take you out to beat up some goblins.”
Hearing that Golly still wanted him to go out and bash goblins or slimes, Genasar felt no excitement at all.
“I don’t want to. Beating them doesn’t give any sense of accomplishment—it’s just a waste of effort.”
He turned away in frustration, listlessly prodding the potion he’d just brewed with his claw.
Boom—
It suddenly exploded.
“Damn! I—%#￥#￥@beep—&￥#! Beep—!”
Aishy silently stepped up to comfort him…
Golly watched the furious, cursing Genasar, and after thinking a moment, pulled out a brocade pouch.
She shook out a pile of gold coins onto the ground, creating a small mountain of gold.
“Look, does this make you happier?”
The glittering mound of gold coins was so dazzling, Genasar could hardly open his eyes.
Golly, hands on hips, looked exceedingly proud and confident.
‘Little brat, like I don’t know what you’re thinking. This should satisfy you, right?’
“Uh… I don’t feel anything.”
After a moment of silence, he finally let out a disappointing response.
“Huh? What?”
Did that really just come out of a dragon’s mouth?
Genasar realized something was wrong, tried to force some excitement, but just couldn’t.
“No interest… Ugh, it’s driving me crazy!”
I’d trade ten years of being single just for something fun to happen!
Knock, knock, knock—
Just as he swore this in his heart, there was a knock at the door.
“Who’s there?”
All three dragons turned at once. After Genasar spoke, Golly immediately grabbed a coat and threw it on.
“Who else could it be? That annoying guy, of course. Ahem! Er… Yes, that’s it.”
Golly instantly adjusted her dragon persona, making Genasar speechless.
(ㅍ_ㅍ) “Forget it, I’ll get used to it.”
The door opened to another burst of golden light. Fortunately, Genasar quickly shielded himself.
He suddenly remembered something, turning in a panic.
“Oh no!”
Aishy, completely unprepared, blanked out and fell to the floor.
“Hey! Aishy, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me!”
Genasar ran over to check on her—Aishy was dizzy from the glare, her eyes vacant.
“Abba abba abba…”
“Ai—shy—!!!” Genasar howled to the sky.
Batak, just entering, looked at them curiously.
“Why is there another White Dragon now?”
“Damn you! Pay up! Look what you’ve done to my sister!”
“Hm?”
He tilted his head in confusion but didn’t bother with them.
Just as he turned to say something to Golly, he saw her very displeased expression.
“Pay—up.”
She spat the words out venomously.
Batak was full of question marks.
“So what exactly happened?”
In the end, Batak still paid quite a few gold coins.
“Didn’t anyone tell you not to flash that light around?!”
After getting the money, Genasar still wouldn’t let Batak off, giving him a tongue-lashing.
This guy really was the most annoying. He’d seen other Gold Dragons before, but none of them were as blinding as him.