Gurkado, motivated by the two dragon scales, wasted no time. With expert precision, he embedded the Wrathscale into the armor.
The Earth Dragon T-shirt's stats immediately surged.
[Earth Dragon T-shirt – Dark Gold Grade]
Defense: +300 HP: +3000 Strength: +80 Level Requirement: 20 Special Effect 1 - Buffer: Reduces physical damage taken by 20%. Special Effect 2 - Dragon's Blood: +20 to all attributes. Socket Bonus: +50 to all attributes. Active effect: Boosts damage by 100% for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.
As expected of a Smithing Master, Gurkado had not only preserved the Wrathscale's active effect but also unlocked additional enhancements, granting extra attribute bonuses.
A flat +50 boost to all stats was no small gain.
After equipping the Earth Dragon T-shirt, Tristan retrieved the two promised dragon scales and handed them over.
But Gurkado didn't take them immediately.
Instead, he rubbed his hands together, hesitating for a moment before asking:
"Uh… say, do you happen to have any more dragon materials?"
Seeing Tristan's raised eyebrow, Gurkado quickly explained:
"This isn't me trying to squeeze more payment out of you! I want to strike a deal. I'm willing to buy any extra materials you've got."
For dwarves, collecting high-quality smithing materials was a lifelong pursuit.
And in ExoGenesis, it wasn't just minerals that could be used for forging—monster parts were also highly valuable.
Among them, dragon parts were the absolute pinnacle of smithing materials.
The moment Tristan had taken out Wrathscale, Gurkado had known immediately—Tristan had killed a dragon.
And if he had one dragon part, he must have more.
Two dragon scales? That was nowhere near enough.
Gurkado wanted everything he could get.
However, Tristan simply shook his head.
The light in Gurkado's eyes dimmed instantly, his whole demeanor turning devastated.
If he weren't so mentally strong, he might've cried on the spot.
But just as quickly, his mood skyrocketed again.
Tristan spoke casually:
"Master Gurkado, I actually have an entire Fire Dragon. If you're willing to craft some equipment for me, you can take ten percent of the materials."
He added, "You can pick what you want first, then use the rest to forge my gear."
Gurkado froze, then started doing quick mental calculations on his fingers.
A fully grown Fire Dragon had around 500 dragon scales—ten percent meant fifty.
And that didn't even count the teeth, claws, bones, or tendons.
Put together, that was enough to form a small mountain.
The more Gurkado thought about it, the more excited he became.
At this point, he didn't even care about the Fire Dragon race seeking revenge.
All he wanted was to forge!
The dwarf stretched out his massive hand:
"Deal!"
Tristan clasped his hand with a slight smile.
"Deal."
However, with the upcoming world event, forging would have to wait.
Tristan spoke, "Master Gurkado, let's hold off until after this battle is over."
Gurkado nodded.
"No problem. No way I could work properly while the war's going on anyway."
Tristan nodded in satisfaction.
"Then I'll see you after the fight."
With his business settled, Tristan didn't linger.
He immediately headed back to Davi City.
There, he spotted Horreo, sweating buckets as he rushed about.
Seeing Tristan, the captain hurried over.
"Warrior! I just received word—monsters are gathering in the south and west! There are too many of them. Can you help thin them out and ease our defenses?"
[Ding! You have triggered the quest: 'Defend Davi City']
Quest Objective: Kill as many of the gathering monsters as possible. Quest Rewards: Calculated based on the number of kills.
Tristan nodded immediately.
"Leave it to me."
Horreo beamed with relief.
"It is truly Davi City's honor to have a warrior like you."
Then, as if talking to himself, he grumbled:
"I just wish I knew which reckless idiot managed to piss off the Fire Dragon King…"
Tristan kept a straight face, nodding along.
"Yeah, I wonder who could've done something like that."
Then, with a respectful gesture, he said:
"Horreo, I'll head outside and assess the situation."
Horreo nodded firmly.
Exiting through the west gate, Tristan found a quiet spot and summoned Shadow Dragon.
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The moment he hopped on, they soared into the sky, speeding towards the battlefield.
This was a rare opportunity—with so many monsters gathered, he could grind to his heart's content.
Even though he was currently level 30 and couldn't level up without class advancement, he could still stockpile experience points.
After the previous battles, Shadow Dragon had already reached level 35, with all its stats significantly boosted.
In mere moments, they covered dozens of kilometers.
Then, the monster army came into view.
A sea of creatures from all directions was slowly advancing toward Davi City.
Just the visible forces already numbered over 50,000.
By the time the full swarm reached the city, the total would easily surpass 100,000.
And that was just the western front.
The southern side likely had just as many monsters.
Even with the player base assisting, Davi City's defenses would be under immense pressure.
However, what caught Tristan's attention the most was the group at the heart of the monster army.
Hundreds of draconic humanoids stood in formation.
Their upper bodies were humanoid but covered in scales, while their lower halves were thick, muscular reptilian limbs.
They wielded various weapons—some carried massive four-meter-long greatswords, others held primitive, brutal-looking staffs.
No dragons in sight—yet.
Which made sense.
Dragons were scarce, and Takhtu's decision to launch this world event was impulsive.
There hadn't been enough time for dragons from all over to gather.
Tristan estimated that across the twelve major cities, only five dragons at most would appear.
The real bulk of the enemy force was these dragonkin—the offspring of dragons and other races.
Not as strong as true dragons, but still carrying draconic blood, making them absolute rulers over weaker monsters.
Using dragonkin as the vanguard was a classic dragon warfare tactic.
Tristan cleared his mind and stomped his foot lightly.
Shadow Dragon instantly understood, diving straight down toward the monster horde.
Then, its mouth opened wide—
A blazing breath attack swept across the battlefield.
In a single instant, over 300 monsters were incinerated.
The pressure of its dragon aura alone sent shockwaves of fear through the enemy ranks.
After all, Shadow Dragon was a real dragon.
Compared to it, the dragonkin were mere half-bloods.
Even before it attacked, many had already started panicking.
Had they not been bound by the Fire Dragon King's orders, they might have submitted outright.
Then—
"Attack!"
A dragonkin commander roared, signaling the counterattack.
From the ground, a storm of spells and ranged attacks surged toward Shadow Dragon.
But it didn't bother dodging.
It simply swooped down, its tail sweeping through the battlefield like a razor-sharp whip, carving a deep trench of blood and flesh into the ground.
"Pathetic! You're all too weak!"
Shadow Dragon's laughter boomed over the battlefield.
Tristan fell silent for a moment.
…Why did it feel like they were the villains here?