Chapter29-Mere Drake Lizard

Owen landed steadily, leaving a single footprint in the snow. 

As he ascended along the ridge, Owen's speed increased, taking him less than twenty breaths to reach the nearly 4,000-meter summit of the volcano! 

There seemed to be some kind of restriction in the area, preventing flight over the volcano—even the simplest levitation spell would fail, necessitating a climb from the base. 

Fortunately, this wasn't difficult for Owen. With reduced gravity and Wind Walk, Owen's speed reached an astonishing level. 

Standing at the edge of the volcano, Owen peered down into the crater. The rolling heat waves melted all the snow nearby, and the molten lava within the crater churned endlessly, radiating an intense heat that was palpable even from a distance. 

But just then, a sudden impact struck from behind! Owen flipped backward, narrowly avoiding a pitch-black claw that grazed his cheek. He stumbled back several steps before regaining his footing. 

The assailant was, without a doubt, the guardian beast of this place—the Molten Drake Lizard. 

Facing those scorched-earth-colored eyes, Owen narrowed his gaze slightly. 

"Impressive aura, but sadly, you're not qualified." 

If what stood before him was a genuine diamond-tier level 9 dragon, Owen might have been slightly cautious. But this Drake Lizard, with only a trace of diluted dragon blood, was no match for Owen. 

As the deadly claw lunged at him, Owen didn't even bother to dodge. Just before it struck, he snapped his fingers, and the space in front of him shattered, swallowing the Molten Drake Lizard's claw. 

"Close." 

Owen exhaled, and the shattered space rapidly healed before his eyes, neatly severing the Molten Drake Lizard's arm. Scorching, viscous blood gushed out, only to be blocked by a barrier Owen casually erected. 

"Still, the Lawrence family's ancestral magic is quite interesting." 

[Invinciblades]! 

Although Owen had only seen Lawrence use [Invinciblades] up close once, replicating it wasn't difficult, though not to perfection. 

In an instant, a rain of swords descended, shattering the Molten Drake Lizard's tough armor like an eggshell. In just a few breaths, the Drake Lizard was turned into a pin-cushioned corpse, pinned to the ground, unable to struggle. 

"Mere Drake Lizard." 

Owen couldn't help but think it would have been better to have the golden lion from the Desert Temple as the guardian beast—at least it wouldn't have been as weak as this Drake Lizard. 

With the guardian beast defeated, Owen let out a sigh of relief, spreading his arms and allowing himself to fall. 

[Fireform]! 

Owen's eyes snapped open, and in an instant, his body transformed into pure fire element, completely impervious to the searing lava he plunged into. 

The dragon egg lay hidden at the bottom of the lava. In the original story, John and Emily accidentally discovered the egg by triggering a volcanic eruption. 

Owen had no need for such extreme measures; he had many ways to enter the volcano's interior. 

As his body slowly descended, his vision cleared, and soon Owen spotted the dragon egg, submerged in the scorching lava, and his heart leapt with excitement! 

According to the original story, this dragon egg was no ordinary one—it was the last remnant of the dragon race, descended from the royal bloodline, possessing the purest blood. As a juvenile, it would already have gold-tier strength, and once it reached adolescence, it would break through to diamond-tier. In adulthood, it could even rival sage-tier powerhouses! 

Moreover, Elaine's succubus bloodline could further enhance the royal dragon bloodline, making it not impossible for it to reach god-tier! 

This was why Elaine was so important, and one of the reasons Owen was so determined to give her the dragon egg! 

The other reason, of course, was that Elaine was indeed very beautiful, and her devotion to Owen made it hard for him not to be moved. 

When Owen finally reached the dragon egg, he realized it was much larger than he had imagined. 

It stood at least three meters tall, with a diameter of nearly two meters. 

It took Owen several attempts to find a position that allowed him to lift the egg. He then began to swim upward, breaking through the lava and landing on the crater's edge as if walking on solid ground. 

Looking at the egg's shell, which seemed to be made of countless overlapping black scales, Owen couldn't deny his excitement. 

Who wouldn't dream of being a dragon rider? 

At least Owen had fantasized more than once about soaring through the skies on a dragon's back—the very thought was exhilarating! 

However, the issue was that carrying such a massive egg would be too conspicuous. Fortunately, after testing it out, Owen found that when he used Absolute Stealth, the egg also became invisible, which gave him some relief. 

Before setting out to find the dragon egg, Owen had already informed Elaine that while the other members of Fox Academy could leave first, she had to stay behind because he had something very important to give her. 

Elaine didn't understand at first, but then she recalled Owen's earlier thoughts, which seemed to be related to a dragon egg. Suddenly, it all made sense to her. 

After all, Owen wouldn't deceive her, so Elaine naturally followed his lead. 

When Owen emerged, he calculated that the passage to leave the Tower would soon open. At that point, only a few people would choose to leave. 

While this dragon egg was the most valuable treasure on the sixth floor of the Tower, it wasn't the only one. 

During this expedition to the Tower, most of the academies hadn't found much of value. They wouldn't be willing to leave empty-handed, and with some time remaining before the Tower closed completely, they would undoubtedly search the entire Dragon's Nest thoroughly. 

Emily had promised to leave the moment the passage opened and to ask her mentor to protect Elaine, ensuring that the dragon egg wouldn't be taken by others. Then, when it was safe, Elaine would take the egg and leave, which was the most secure plan. 

As for Owen, he had more important matters to attend to—namely, investigating the dark magus that Claire had mentioned within the Tower. 

Though Owen found it unlikely, Claire's certainty made it worth a try. 

At worst, Owen could reveal his power—sage-tier level 9. Unless a god-tier mage appeared, who could stop him? 

As for god-tier mages, there was an unspoken agreement at that level not to interfere easily, so Owen wasn't worried. 

The worst-case scenario would be to destroy the entire Tower. 

Before long, Owen found Elaine. 

The passage had already opened, and the other members of Fox Academy had chosen to leave. Given their gold-tier strength, staying any longer was too dangerous. Chasing after far-fetched treasures clearly wasn't worth more than their lives. 

"Elaine, can you hear me?" 

Owen's voice rang in her ears, and Elaine's eyes lit up as she quickly stood up, eagerly asking, "Owen, is that you?" 

"It's me. I have something to give you, but not yet. You'll have to wait a little longer. For now, follow my guidance and find a quiet place. I'll be right behind you." 

"Okay! But Owen, this magic of yours is amazing! I can't sense you at all, but I can still hear your voice. Can you teach me?" 

"We'll talk about that later. If you want to learn, I can teach you. For now, just find a quiet place." 

Hearing this, Elaine nodded hurriedly and ventured deeper into the forest, turning and twisting for a while until she found a quiet spot. Owen sensed the surroundings, ensuring no one else was nearby before dispelling Absolute Stealth. 

As she sensed Owen's familiar presence behind her, Elaine rushed toward him like a fledgling bird returning to its nest, only to collide head-on with a massive dragon egg. She clutched her nose and staggered back, tears welling up in her eyes. 

"Ouch... that hurt!" 

"I didn't expect you to rush over without even looking..." 

Owen sighed, gently rubbing Elaine's forehead as he said seriously, "As you can see, this is a dragon egg—a genuine dragon, not one of those creatures with diluted dragon blood." 

"Th-that's impossible!" 

The dragon race had long since gone extinct; everyone knew that. Elaine couldn't believe that such a powerful race had left behind a dragon egg to this day.