The morning sun crept over the eastern cloud banks, painting the wooden porch of Solitude Spire in pale golden light.
A cool autumn breeze brushed through the tall iron-pines, carrying the crisp scent of damp needles.
Up on the cedar rafters, Barnaby the clockwork owl stood locked on his polished brass perch.
The thick black rubber stopper Felix had shoved between his mandibles remained wedged tight, clamping down on the owl's copper tip.
Barnaby’s amber crystal eyes flickered with silent annoyance, but no screeching motivational lecture escaped his brass throat.
Inside his chest, small brass cogs turned with a rhythmic cadence: *tick... tick... tick.*
Below the perch, the low cedar tea table rested in complete stability.
Grandmaster Vivienne’s purple Sovereign Heart Seal served as the front left table shim, holding the heavy wooden slab level against the crooked floorboards.
Resting on the tabletop, pinned beneath the glowing Soul-Pearl paperweight, lay sheets of parchment covered in Felix’s scrawled notes.
Most of the scribbles consisted of angry strike-throughs detailing the atrocious drop rates of the autumn gacha banner.
Right beside the parchment sat the white porcelain Infinite Cozy Teacup.
The fragrant Nine-Sun mountain tea within steamed gently, held at exactly 68.5°C by its thermodynamic anchor.
Down in the yard, the five-star Sun-Lotus Cabbage spread its golden emerald leaves across the central garden plot.
The cabbage hummed with a steady pulse of gentle heat, keeping the entire clearing locked at a comfortable sixty-nine degrees.
Near the garden rows, Lord Nether-Bane pushed a wooden wheelbarrow filled with dry compost.
The skeletal former Ghost King adjusted the straps of his hemp apron, his bleached jaw clicking with quiet satisfaction.
"Spread the mulch evenly around the outer stalks," Nether-Bane instructed his spectral corsairs. "The Master expects tidy rows."
A few yards past the garden fence, the courtyard took on a distinctly reptilian atmosphere.
There, stretching along the stone shelf where runoff from the under-porch heat exhaust pooled, sat the hot spring trough.
It was a wide canal of carved granite, fed by mineral water warmed by Felix’s stellar core exhaust.
Lounging directly inside the steaming water were four enormous figures.
In the center lay Ignis-Azureus, the Azure Dragon King of the Upper Strata, coiled comfortably in the mineral basin.
Flanking him were three ancient Dragon Elders, including Herald Ao-Kun, their massive sapphire scales gleaming beneath the sun.
Steam billowed lazily from the dragons' nostrils.
"Ahhh..." Elder Ao-Bao groaned, resting his horned chin against the smooth granite rim. "My spinal joints have not felt this loose in centuries."
"The radiant heat in this water is incredible," Elder Ao-Jing agreed, letting out a sleepy rumble. "Three centuries of cold-frost rheumatism, dissolved after only four days of soaking."
Herald Ao-Kun floated on his back, his claws twitching with lazy contentment.
"The Sovereign Vance is truly terrifying," Ao-Kun murmured. "He uses a stellar furnace simply to heat his bathwater, and permits us to wallow in the runoff."
The Dragon King opened one slit-pupiled golden eye, staring up at the quiet wooden cottage.
A sudden wave of deep guilt struck the ancient sovereign's pride.
"Brothers," the Dragon King rumbled in a hushed whisper. "We have committed a grave spiritual error."
The three elders turned their heads, water sloshing against the stone banks.
"What troubles you, Your Majesty?" Ao-Bao asked.
"We have been squatting in the Sovereign's personal healing spring for four straight days without offering a single speck of compensation."
Silence fell over the trough, broken only by the gentle gurgle of warm water.
Elder Ao-Jing gasped, his azure scales bristling with panic.
"You are right," Ao-Jing breathed. "In the Upper Strata, consuming a single drop of solar-refined dew requires a tribute of ten thousand spiritual jade blocks."
"We have been soaking our hides in his cosmic runoff for free," Ao-Kun squeaked. "We are acting like common vagrants! If the Sovereign Vance interprets our presence as freeloading, he could swat us into ash with an old broom!"
"Precisely," the Dragon King declared. "True dragons do not accept charity without honoring the sacred pact of tribute! We must pay rent!"
"Assemble the vault tokens!" the Dragon King commanded. "We shall offer a tribute worthy of his divine tolerance!"
The four dragons quietly slipped out of the trough, careful not to splash water onto the path.
Shifting into humanoid elder forms draped in regal blue robes, they opened their spatial rings.
Over the next half-hour, a mountain of glittering wealth accumulated on the grass.
They worked in hushed secrecy, tiptoeing across the yard so they wouldn't disturb the hammock on the porch.
By the time the sun cleared the trees, a three-ton mound of treasure sat directly in front of the porch stairs.
There were massive boulders of Void Amber, glowing with atmospheric storms locked inside dark gold resin.
Beside them lay heaps of Sky-Thunder Cores, crystalline orbs that crackled with arcs of violet electricity.
Piled around the base were thick ingots of pure Dragon Gold, each stamped with the royal seal of the Upper Strata.
The pile stood eight feet tall, sparkling with immense wealth.
The Dragon King and his three elders stood in a neat line beside the pile, bowing with their heads lowered.
Up on the hammock, Felix Vance finally opened his eyes.
He stretched his arms, letting out a long yawn.
"Man," Felix mumbled, rubbing his face. "Solid ten hours. Offline generation should be capped out."
He slid his legs over the side of the hammock, slipping his feet into his woven straw slippers.
He picked up the Infinite Cozy Teacup, took a sip of the warm tea, and stepped toward the edge of the porch.
Then he stopped dead.
Sitting squarely at the bottom of the porch stairs, completely blocking the path to the garden, was a gigantic, shiny pile of rocks.
A jagged block of dark golden amber rested right against the bottom wooden step.
Felix stared at the obstacle, his brow slowly furrowing.
He raised his AetherDeck, tapping the glass to activate his Inspector HUD.
【Item: Compressed Void Amber Ore (Bulk)】 【Grade: Low-Tier Cosmic Slag】 【Estimated Weight: 1.2 Metric Tons】 【Inspector Note: Dense fossilized tree sap saturated with stale atmospheric static. Sells to junk vendors for 14 copper coins per hundredweight.】
【Item: Sky-Thunder Cores (Unrefined)】 【Grade: Common Elemental Mineral】 【Quantity: 84 Units】 【Inspector Note: Standard battery components dropped by low-level storm birds. Excellent for wiring novelty holiday lights, useless for serious crafting.】
【Item: Upper Strata Dragon Gold Ingots】 【Grade: Heavy Decorative Metal】 【Estimated Weight: 1.8 Metric Tons】 【Inspector Note: Standard currency of dragon clans. Extremely heavy. Most players leave it on the dungeon floor to save inventory weight.】
Felix lowered the slate, his expression turning into one of pure, deadpan exhaustion.
He looked at the four dragon elders standing by the fence.
The four men were trembling slightly, waiting for his judgment.
Felix let out a heavy sigh.
"Are you serious right now?" Felix asked, his voice flat.
The Dragon King straightened, bowing until his forehead nearly touched his knees.
"Sovereign Vance!" the Dragon King spoke. "We have partaken of your sacred thermal spring for four days. Our old bones have been revitalized by your grace!"
Elder Ao-Bao bowed even lower.
"We know material trinkets are like dust before your cosmic sight," Ao-Bao added hurriedly. "Yet the Azure Court cannot dwell beneath your roof without offering tribute! Please accept this meager token of our gratitude for the rent of the waters!"
Felix stared at the eight-foot mound of glowing yellow rocks and golden bricks.
He looked at the narrow, blocked walkway leading down to his cabbage patch.
"Rent?" Felix repeated, rubbing his temples. "You dumped three tons of scrap metal and static rocks right in front of my stairs for rent?"
The dragons froze, the color draining from their faces.
"S-Scrap metal...?" Ao-Kun stammered, his soul withering under Felix's indifferent tone.
"Look at this pile," Felix complained, gesturing with his teacup. "It's completely blocking the path. How am I supposed to walk down to check the compost without climbing over an eight-foot boulder of sap?"
Felix took another sip of tea, his face sour.
"I don't have the inventory space for this kind of junk," Felix muttered. "Every open-world game has this problem. You give NPCs a place to sit, and immediately they start dumping low-grade quest materials and vendor trash all over your front yard."
He tapped a large ingot of Dragon Gold with the toe of his slipper.
The heavy bar didn't budge.
"Heavy, bulky, and sells for pennies at the general store," Felix grumbled. "What am I supposed to do with three tons of raw ore? Build a shed? I don't need a shed. I have a cottage."
Around the corner of the porch, Lyra Ashford stepped into view, carrying a basket of freshly harvested spirit mint.
She halted, taking in the scene.
Her eyes darted from the mountain of Upper Strata treasures to Senior Brother Vance, who stood slouched in his hemp robe, glaring at the treasure as if someone had left a pile of wet leaves on his doormat.
*Incredible...* Lyra thought, her mind spiraling into dizzying reverence.
*That is the royal treasury of the Azure Court!*
*Those Void Amber boulders contain the ancient essence of the First Lightning! An entire empire would wage a century of war to claim a single shard!*
*And those Sky-Thunder Cores... three of them could power an imperial flying dreadnought for a decade!*
*Yet Senior Brother Vance looks upon it with genuine disgust!*
*To him, the supreme treasures of the dragon race are nothing more than inconvenient clutter blocking his morning stroll!*
*He is showing them that true mastery over the universe requires complete freedom from material greed!*
Lyra set her basket down on the porch railing and bowed with tears of spiritual awe gleaming in her eyes.
"Senior Brother’s detachment is higher than the firmament," Lyra murmured softly. "He scorns the glitter of worldly wealth, seeking only the pure harmony of an unobstructed path."
The Dragon King looked up, his draconic heart seized by sheer panic.
*He called our royal gold vendor trash!* the Dragon King thought, cold sweat dripping down his neck.
*We brought common pebbles to the lord of the sun!*
"Forgive us, Sovereign!" the Dragon King cried, dropping to his knees on the gravel. "Our draconic ignorance has offended your eyes! We shall remove this worthless garbage immediately!"
"No, wait," Felix said quickly, holding up a hand. "Don't haul it back and forth. You'll just kick up dust all over the clean porch boards."
The dragons stopped, frozen in place like children caught breaking a flowerpot.
Felix looked at the glowing Sky-Thunder Cores, noticing the soft violet light pulsing beneath their translucent shells.
Then he looked at the dark wooden fence posts lining the front yard.
"Actually..." Felix mused, scratching his chin. "The fence gets pretty dark after sundown. And the chicken coop could use some ambient light so the gryphon doesn't trip when it waddles out for water."
He glanced at the Dragon King.
"Do these thunder rocks shock people if you touch them?" Felix asked.
"N-No, Sovereign!" Ao-Kun answered desperately. "The static charge is fully contained within the crystal!"
"Fine," Felix said, waving a hand dismissively. "Leave the thunder rocks and the amber. Shove the gold bricks under the garden tool bench so they aren't in the way of the wheelbarrow. If you guys are going to keep leaving stuff here, at least make it useful."
The four dragon elders beamed with overwhelming relief, bowing so vigorously their foreheads clicked against their kneecaps.
"Your divine mercy is without end!" the Dragon King declared. "We shall organize the perimeter according to your celestial design!"
Felix took a slow sip of tea, shaking his head as the four ancient dragons scrambled to stack the heavy gold bars beneath the wooden bench like ordinary patio pavers.
"Tourists," Felix sighed, opening his AetherDeck. "Always leaving their stuff lying around."
Felix tapped the screen to claim the 50 gacha dust, pocketing the slate with a dry grunt.
"At least the quest gave some dust," he muttered. "Better than nothing."