Chapter 40: Bribes and Incentives

Dragons are inherently greedy creatures, drawn to anything shiny, valuable-looking, or truly valuable. This trait is universal, affecting both good and evil dragons alike.

Murphy, carrying the bloodline of a golden dragon, found himself developing a habit of collecting various precious treasures. He constantly had the Tide Giants under his command search the seas for treasures, never once considering halting their quest.

Aware of the influence of his bloodline, Murphy didn't try to correct this behavior. After all, it seemed harmless, and his greed for treasures wasn't as intense as that of true dragons.

Leveraging the dragons' greed, Murphy devised a rather unscrupulous plan. For the Five-Colored Dragons, he set up arrays and established punishment measures. Correspondingly, he also devised a reward system.

The twist was that the items used to reward the dragons were all magic-depleted, discarded mana crystals. These were by-products of Murphy's practice with arrays and some were remnants from hatching arrays.

To Murphy, these depleted crystals were practically useless, except as decorative items due to their appealing appearance.

But Murphy had no need for them; he had plenty of mana crystals, and those depleted of magic were truly just waste to him.

However, when the young dragoness Renata, transformed into a red-haired, red-eyed little girl, came to Murphy with a spellbook he had given her, Murphy first fulfilled his promise by taking her on a tour of the White Jade Divine Palace.

Then, while observed by the dragoness in her loli form, Murphy, somewhat impulsively, asked Renata what reward she wanted. As expected, she requested treasures.

In this scenario, Murphy shamelessly handed over a bunch of the accumulated, unused crystals to the young dragoness.

Renata, upon seeing the pile of transparent crystals, became ecstatically confused and joyfully took these shiny trinkets back to her room.

Renata's windfall naturally caught the attention of her siblings. After jointly pressuring Renata to reveal the source of her crystals, they approached Murphy together.

"If we learn transformation spells, will you reward us with as many crystals as you gave Renata?"

Murphy was initially baffled but quickly realized the new use for the discarded crystals he had considered worthless.

"Of course, not only transformation spells but any spell you learn will earn you a corresponding reward. As long as you're willing to learn, I'm willing to give."

Thus, Murphy answered the five juvenile dragons. The young dragons, eager to accumulate treasures, turned into studious dragons, memorizing spells day and night.

For each spell they successfully learned, they would excitedly present it to Murphy. Upon successful demonstration, Murphy rewarded them with corresponding amounts of discarded crystals.

Inspired by these juveniles, Murphy learned how to educate the young dragons: incentives are the best method. While punishment arrays could control their behavior and suppress their bad habits, offering rewards encouraged the dragons to learn proactively, like donkeys chasing carrots.

Moreover, after awarding crystals for learning spells, Murphy established a system.

He assigned all dragons the task of learning spells within a set timeframe. Completing it on time meant a crystal reward. Failing to meet the deadline, however, didn't lead to physical punishment but required the dragons to pay crystals as a fine.

Under this system, even the most reluctant learners began memorizing spells diligently, striving to complete Murphy's assignments within the allotted time. After all, every dragon was greedy for treasures.

Yet, as with humans, dragons displayed differences in learning capabilities. Some struggled with spells despite their high elemental talent.

"Red dragon, Cleist." After reviewing the juvenile dragons' spell learning tasks, Murphy started checking on the young dragons. He took out a notebook recording all the dragons' true names and their progress in learning spells.

"Present!" A bright-scaled red dragon stepped forward from the group of young dragons, approaching Murphy.

Murphy glanced at him, then at his notebook, and nodded upon seeing the spells the dragon had learned. "Second-ring spell, Cat's Grace."

At Murphy's command, the dragon named Bertleyne began chanting, using the spell model constructed in his mind. A faint magical glow enveloped his body, making him appear more agile in an instant.

"Walk straight, rush over, then come back," Murphy directed the young dragon Bertleyne towards the opposite end of the training field, wanting to see the effects of the spell in action.

Without hesitation, the little red dragon dashed forward. After casting the supportive spell on itself, it truly seemed as agile and graceful as a cat.

It effortlessly leaped over low obstacles and climbed over taller ones, cat-like, scaling them vertically.

In just five minutes, Murphy watched the little red dragon agilely make a round trip on the training field. Satisfied with Bertleyne's performance, he nodded, "Well mastered, Cat's Grace."

"Here's your reward." Following his established rule, Murphy handed out twenty neatly cut, transparent crystals to the young dragon Bertleyne.

The dragon, seeing these essentially useless crystals, lit up with joy, gratefully accepting the crystals from Murphy's hands before returning to his spot.

...

"Blue dragon, Adrian."

"Second-ring spell, Electric Burst."

A crackling ball of lightning, conjured at Murphy's behest by the blue dragon Adrian, struck a wooden target shaped like a giant tiger on the training field.

The lightning ball hit the target, leaving a charred mark with a faint "crackling" noise.

"Well done, reward of twenty crystals."

...

"Blue dragon, Aldrich."

"Second-ring spell, Flame Burst."

After a moment, Murphy frowned at the blue dragon, struggling to chant the spell without any sign of fire elements gathering in the air.

"You failed to learn the spell on time, Aldrich. According to the rules, pay a fine of twenty crystals."

"No, give me more time, I can learn this spell," the little blue dragon pleaded miserably, finding the fine too painful to bear.

"Refuse to pay the fine, and it doubles," Murphy coldly warned. The learning tasks he assigned were reasonable; any dragon could complete them on time if they didn't slack off.

"I'll pay!" The little blue dragon, visibly pained, took out twenty crystals from its storage space and handed them to Murphy.

"I'll give you three more days. If you still haven't learned the spell, continue to pay fines," Murphy noted in his book, giving a deadline. "After three days, even if you've learned the spell, there's no reward. You're already overdue."

Hearing Murphy's words, the little blue dragon Aldrich shuddered, returning to his spot disheartened.

...

"Green dragon, Cecil."

"Second-ring spell, Summon Monster II."

Following Cecil's incantation, four gibbering goblins wielding wooden clubs appeared before Murphy.

Murphy frowned at the sight of the summoned goblins, lying on the ground in terror, "Goblins, of all things. Disgusting."

"The spell was successful, reward of twenty crystals."

"Murphy, wait, I've also learned another second-ring spell. Let me show you," the little green dragon said, not taking the reward but eagerly demonstrating another spell.

"Melf's Acid Arrow." With Cecil's chant, four acid arrows appeared in the air, targeting the summoned goblins. The arrows struck accurately, dissolving the goblins

 into pus with their screams.

The little green dragon, delighted by the slaughter, showed a pleased expression. It's common for evil dragons to revel in killing.

Murphy, watching the scene with a furrowed brow, said nothing. Killing a few chaotic evil goblins wasn't a reason to scold Cecil.

"Advanced learning of a second-ring spell, very good, reward of thirty crystals." Murphy took out thirty more crystals, combining them with the previously promised twenty, and handed them to the little green dragon.

The sight of so many crystals made the other young dragons envious, but none dared to steal. A precedent had been set: any dragon caught stealing would lose all personal treasures and "enjoy" a day in the punishment array at maximum power.

...

"Black dragon, Lorelei."

"Second-ring spell, Swarm."

Following Lorelei's chant, a sparse group of bats appeared. The little black dragon Lorelei looked anxiously at Murphy.

"Spell success, but the effect... Lorelei, are you joking? A bat swarm with single-digit numbers." Murphy scolded the black dragon.

"Reduced reward due to poor performance. Based on your spell's effect, here are seven crystals." Murphy counted the bats and decided on the reward.

"Murphy, that's too little. I did succeed in casting the spell. Can you give me a bit more?" The little black dragon tried to bargain for more crystals.

"Go away!" Murphy glared at the little dragoness Lorelei, coldly dismissing her.

"Oh." Seeing Murphy angry, the little black dragon quickly took the pitiful seven crystals and scurried away.