Konbini Ossan Volume 6 Chapter 10 — Dragon Scales
The preparations for the dress were complete.
Next came the accessory.
Thanks to my «Iron Blood» skill, I had access to many rare metals — even orichalcum.
And after the battle with the dragon Aresvelg, I had obtained a strange, unknown metal from its scales as well.
Since this would be something Arisa would wear daily, a necklace made from several types of rare metal should be more than fitting.
Which was why I was now headed to see the court mage, Shuri.
I had two reasons.
First, I needed him to appraise the metal extracted from Aresvelg’s scales — to determine if it was suitable for use in jewelry.
Second, I wanted him to analyze the mysterious material born during that battle: the cursed orichalcum known as Dark Matter.
That one was more out of curiosity than necessity, but understanding it could only help.
All I knew for certain was that it rotted the skin of anyone who touched it.
Shuri welcomed me the moment I arrived.
“Hey hey, welcome, Otogin! Long time no see!”
“It has been a while.”
“So? Did you find something interesting during that inspection trip of yours?”
“Yes, that’s exactly why I’m here.”
I placed the two ingots — the metal from Aresvelg’s scales and the Dark Matter — on his desk.
“Otogin, these are…?”
“This one is the metal extracted from the scales of the Demon King Army’s Four Heavenly King, Aresvelg, after I defeated him.
…
And this is orichalcum that became corrupted by my skill. I’ve been calling it Dark Matter.”
Even as I explained, Shuri was already leaning close, eyes sparkling with scientific hunger.
“I’ve never seen either of these. This Dark Matter thing is constantly releasing magic — dense, heavy magic.
…
But the other one… it rejects magic entirely. Even with all this strong magic flowing out of Dark Matter, the moment it gets close it’s pushed away.”
“Is that so… that explains a lot.”
I had stored Aresvelg’s metallic scales inside «Curse-Sludge» when I collected it, yet unlike other metals, it hadn’t undergone cursed transformation.
It made sense. If it repelled magic, then it would repel the influence of «Cursed-Sludge» as well.
“In any case, both are clearly unknown substances. I’ll need to examine them thoroughly. Otogin, can you give me more details?”
“Of course.”
And so Shuri’s examination began.
While he analyzed the samples through various methods, I explained everything:
My new «Calamity» skill, the derived «Miasma» and «Cursed-Sludge», how metals exposed to the mud became cursed, and how only the dragon-scale metal remained unaffected.
I finished explaining, and without pausing his work, Shuri started firing questions.
“So this — let’s call it an insulator for now, easier than that long explanation — this insulator came from the scales of that Four Heavenly King dragon, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Did it feel like a piece broke off when you extracted it? Or was the whole scale basically made of this stuff?”
“It felt more like… something within the scale was being drawn out. Like water being squeezed out of a cloth.”
“Mm. And you didn’t try the same thing on other dragons?”
“No. I assumed the fallen dragons would be used to help fund the reconstruction of the base after the attack.
…
I didn’t want to take anything that might reduce their resources.”
“I see. Then there’s still a possibility that regular dragon scales contain this insulator too.”
He stopped working for the first time and began rummaging through drawers.
After searching through a few, he returned with a small object in hand — a chipped fragment of dragon scale.
“I had this leftover scrap from some research material.”
The fragment was no larger than a pebble.
“If dragon scales really contain this insulator, you should be able to extract it from this too. Think you can?”
“I can try.”
I took the scale fragment.
To avoid destroying it, I chose «Iron Blood» rather than «Cursed-Sludge».
I opened a wound on my palm and placed the fragment there.
I felt a faint pull — not as clear as with Aresvelg’s scales, but enough to sense the skill reacting.
Following that sensation, I activated the skill, and slowly, some kind of metal began flowing into me.
When the process finished, I set the scale fragment on the table and produced the absorbed metal into my palm.
It was a tiny bead of metal, about the size of a red bean.
“Knew it. This one repels magic too. Looks like the hypothesis holds.”
Shuri grinned at me triumphantly.
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E/N:
Hmm… Interesting! An unusual way to explain why Dragons are able to repel magic.
Stay tuned! (2/4 chapters)
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