Chapter 86: The Greedy Dragonhide Pouch
【Quesser】 first floor dining room.
Two lizardfolk sat awkwardly on small stools, surrounded by a dozen crew members.
The lizardfolk shaman originally didn’t dare come up, but after seeing so many different races on the ship, most of his unease dissipated.
“Are you sure you want to come with me?” Anse looked at the lizardfolk Giant Tail in surprise.
“Yes!” Giant Tail nodded heavily, his yellow eyes somewhat uneasy.
“Uh, aren’t you the tribe king?” Anse couldn’t understand his thought process. “What about your tribesfolk if you leave?”
“There’s the shaman.” Giant Tail pointed to the old lizardfolk beside him. “He’s usually the one making decisions. Now that the archenemy is destroyed, it doesn’t matter much if I’m here or not.”
“Oh.” Anse signaled Brat to pour the wine. He tapped his fingers on the table, his eyes constantly sizing up Giant Tail. “Can you tell me the reason? We just met.”
Putting himself in the same position, even if the Green Dragon Queen came to recruit him, he might not be willing.
“Feeling.” Giant Tail stared seriously at the soft scales on Anse’s face. “You’re right. I can’t stay holed up here anymore. I don’t want to die in a daze when disaster strikes.”
“Mm, welcome aboard.” Anse felt this reason was relatively reliable.
“Then should I call you… great king?” Giant Tail suddenly got excited.
“No, I’m Anse. Just call me by name.” Anse raised his hand to interrupt him.
Salian listened to them jabbering away, only understanding a few words. He was fluent in Elvish, Common Tongue, and several other languages, but knew little of Dragon Speech.
“He’s the guide?” he asked.
“Yes, he’s the lizardfolk chieftain Giant Tail. He speaks Primordial, Dragon Speech, Abel Common Tongue…” Anse introduced.
“This…” Salian’s mouth twitched, his expression strange. For a moment he didn’t know what to say, and could only give Anse a thumbs up.
“This is Captain Salian…” Anse simply introduced Giant Tail to a few important people, figuring he might not remember more.
He also pulled over that green dragonborn to act as a temporary translator. On the ship, only they two spoke both Dragon Speech and Common Tongue.
“Mm mm…” Giant Tail kept nodding, his eyes gradually becoming dazed.
He was a bit face-blind and felt that except for that dragonborn, everyone else looked about the same—not distinctive like lizardfolk at all.
The lizardfolk shaman had been silently observing Anse without interrupting. Seeing the matter settled, he stood up, placed a lightweight black pouch on the table in front of Anse, and solemnly bowed to him.
“For you. Please take care of it.”
Anse was stunned, pondered for a few seconds, and gave no promises. “Maybe we’ll meet again.”
The old shaman grinned, revealing a mouth of broken teeth. He raised his long staff and tapped Giant Tail on the head, then turned to leave. “Let’s go.”
Giant Tail hurriedly went to see him off, all the way to the warriors waiting in the wilds.
Taking advantage of this time, Salian notified everyone about the powerful new lizardfolk companion on the ship, instructing them to avoid conflicts as much as possible.
The crew were mostly welcoming. After all, having a lizardfolk tribe king as a companion sounded cool and added a sense of security.
‘No other motives, right? Doesn’t seem like it.’ Anse didn’t fully trust him yet and decided to observe for a while.
He picked up the black pouch—one foot long, palm-thick, seamlessly connected to a four-finger-wide belt. The inner layer was soft, the outer covered in black scales, faintly glowing with magic.
‘Magical item.’
The dice spun slightly and quickly detected its information.
【Magical Item: Greedy Dragonhide Pouch】
「Type」: Curio
「Rarity」: Uncommon
This is a curio crafted from rare materials like adult black dragon skin. The interior is a pocket dimension with a maximum volume of 10 feet（3 meters） cubed.
No matter what’s inside, the weight is negligible.
First use requires inscribing a personal magic seal, activated by mana to open.
After the pocket dimension closes, the internal air sustains a Medium creature’s normal breathing for one hour.
Note: Cannot place other space items inside, or both will be destroyed, opening a gate to the Astral Plane. Any creature within 10 feet of the gate will be sucked in.
「Curse Seal」: The dragonhide pouch randomly links to a cursed dragon treasury. At dawn each day, it uses the holder’s aura to “steal” one item from the dragon treasury, which inevitably carries the vault curse.
Vault Curse: A dragon’s violent death can sometimes curse its treasury for ages!
A dying dragon or living dragon may also inscribe terrible curses on its treasury: Those who steal from a dragon’s treasure will be tainted by evil magic.
This curse usually affects not only those who steal from the treasure, but anyone holding the treasure.
‘A pouch that steals things?’ Anse squeezed the pouch; it felt cold and elastic.
He’d heard of vault curses—effects vary widely but are generally very troublesome. They can only be ended by returning all dragon race treasures to the dragon’s lair, even a single gold coin.
Spells like 「Remove Curse」 and 「Greater Restoration」 can only temporarily suppress such curses.
‘This is too dangerous.’
Not only does it steal in his name, but the items carry the dragon’s curse. If it steals a space item, wouldn’t it explode?
‘Can’t sleep with it.’
He infused mana into the pouch, leaving his personal magic seal, then carefully probed the internal pocket dimension.
Packed full!
Coins, jewelry, and various magical items, with mana spiritual light nearly overflowing.
On top was a perfectly ordinary parchment. After confirming no issues, Anse tried opening the dragonhide pouch.
Activated by mana, one end of the dragonhide pouch expanded to form an opening the size of the parchment, its interior a void.
The parchment was gently tossed out, and the pouch returned to normal.
‘Pretty convenient.’
Anse caught the parchment and unfolded it. It was covered in dense Dragon Speech.
This was a warning letter from an ancestor of the Green Marsh Tribe to descendants, detailing the drawbacks of the dragonhide pouch and strictly forbidding tribesfolk from touching or using any items inside. If necessary, it could be offered to a dragon.
‘Won’t get the vault curse if not taken out?’
Anse didn’t dare take anything out, instead using the dice to detect the internal items’ information.
【Magical Item: Elemental Orb（Fire）】
「Type」: Curio
「Rarity」: Rare（Requires Sorcerer Attunement）
This is an arcane artifact: an outer hollow mithril orb with an inner elemental essence suspended from the Plane of Fire.
Once attuned, it orbits you or hovers overhead, automatically dodging attacks or obstacles—equivalent to being held.
「Fire」: Your flame spells have faster casting speed and hotter temperature.
When using metamagic to release flame spells, the flames cling like maggots to the bone, burning the target for seconds and dealing 1d10（1-10） fire damage.
「Craftsmanship」: Collect air, water, and earth elemental essences to upgrade the elemental orb to uncommon quality and gain new properties.
「Vault Curse」: Holder gains level 1 exhaustion status, reduced endurance, and disadvantage on attribute checks until the curse is lifted.
He quickly scanned around and found quite a few good items, especially this orb—it made him itch to have it.
Unfortunately, all items carried vault curses, and of different types.
