Steven actually knew exactly what Talulah was trying to do just now.
Any guy with a functioning brain would understand the situation when a girl closes her eyes, wraps her arms around his neck, and leans in.
But the problem was—he had absolutely no such intention or preparation.
Sure, kissing a beautiful girl was a great experience, but only when there were real feelings involved.
Steven fully acknowledged that Talulah was indeed a beauty, no doubt about it.
However, when it came to their relationship, at best, they were just friends.
And besides, she had clearly misunderstood something.
If he just went along with it and kissed her now, not only would they not get any closer, but he might not even be able to stay friends with her afterward.
Forcing a kiss out of a girl might sound exciting, but Steven wasn't someone without morals.
If the day ever came when Talulah genuinely wanted to kiss him, he wouldn't reject her.
But right now, he was far more interested in whether or not she could actually breathe Dragon's Breath.
Fortunately, when Talulah, still in a daze, unconsciously exhaled after he urged her, the glass bottle in Steven's hand actually changed color to a faint purplish-pink.
'Hmm, looks like my guess was right. As long as it's a dragon, it would still count as Dragon's Breath—it doesn't necessarily have to come from an Ender Dragon, huh?'
Satisfied, Steven retracted the bottle, nodding in approval as his grin widened.
Now that he had Dragon's Breath, brewing Lingering Potions wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Those were far more useful than regular potions, and the best part was that milk couldn't wash them away.
Whether it was for continuous healing or sustained poisoning, this would be a game-changer.
Talulah, on the other hand, remained completely frozen until she saw Steven, still grinning like a troublemaker, pull the saliva-coated bottle out of her mouth.
Wait—so when he said he needed her saliva, he really just meant saliva?!
But why did he have to smile so infuriatingly while doing it?
Was he planning to do something weird with her spit?
Covering her lips, which were now slightly sore from having the bottle shoved against them, Talulah coughed lightly.
She was just about to scold him for not explaining things more clearly when she suddenly saw Steven reach behind him—
And casually pull out a few more identical glass bottles.
"What are you trying to do?"
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
She hadn't expected him to be this shameless.
At this point, she didn't even want to question how he was hiding all these bottles on him. She just wanted them away from her.
"Huh? You didn't think just one bottle was enough, did you? Come on, a little more—it's not like it costs you anything. Or do you want to drink some water first to clear your throat?"
With a perfectly innocent expression, Steven even pulled out a fresh bottle of water from his inventory and offered it to her.
"You—!"
Talulah didn't know whether to be relieved or angry.
This guy—every single thing he did was completely unexpected, yet when she thought about it, somehow, it almost made sense.
"Pfft, I think you should just cooperate with him, Talulah. After all, you were the one who agreed to it, right? It's just blowing into a bottle—it's not like he's asking for anything unreasonable."
Standing off to the side, Alina had finally pieced together what had just happened.
From the moment Talulah had leaned in to kiss Steven, Alina had figured that whatever he was doing must have been at her request.
She just hadn't expected things to take such a strange turn afterward.
But she could also see that thanks to Steven's unexpected response, the awkward tension that had almost formed between him and Talulah had completely disappeared.
Alina had no idea what he wanted Talulah's saliva for, but seeing the usually strong and commanding girl show such a flustered expression was too amusing to ignore.
Besides, as Steven said, it was just blowing some air—it wasn't like it would harm Talulah in any way.
"This is totally unreasonable! He shoved that thing right into my mouth—how is that not over the line?"
Her cheeks puffed up in frustration as Talulah pointed at Steven and the pile of bottles in front of him, growing even more annoyed just from looking at them.
"I didn't do it on purpose. You were the one who leaned in—how is that my fault? You're the one who misunderstood things."
Steven mumbled under his breath, struggling to hold back his laughter.
Watching this bold and sharp-witted girl suddenly act like a pouting little lady was too entertaining.
"You—!"
Talulah shot him a furious glare.
How could this be her fault?
He was the one who made it sound so weird!
Asking a girl for her saliva out of nowhere—how could anyone not take that the wrong way?!
"Fine, whatever. You're smart. You're righteous. You're just so amazing!"
Perhaps because she was laughing in exasperation at this point, Talulah's expression softened.
Now that the initial embarrassment had faded, she found herself accepting the situation more easily.
Just as Steven had said, he really had only asked for her saliva.
The whole kiss thing—yeah, that had been entirely in her head.
And honestly, wasn't this outcome exactly what she had wanted?
If she had actually gone through with a deep, passionate kiss with Steven, she would definitely have been left with an awkward, lingering discomfort afterward.
Compared to that, simply blowing some breath into a bottle was way easier to accept.
Instead of continuing to argue, Talulah sighed and obediently blew into the bottles Steven had lined up in front of her.
Watching them turn into that strange purplish-pink hue, she blinked in confusion.
She had no idea her breath could change colors like that.
And from the way Steven talked about it, could this actually be used to make some kind of special potion?
Talulah had never heard of Dracos' breath having this kind of effect before, but Steven didn't seem like he was lying.
It wasn't until Steven had finally filled up all the dozens of glass bottles he had pulled out from behind him that he finally let Talulah off the hook.
By then, her cheeks were already starting to ache.
"This should be enough for now. If I ever need more, I'll just come find you again."
In reality, even a single bottle was enough—Steven could register it in the Transmutation Table and duplicate it infinitely.
But that would cost EMC points, and why waste valuable EMC when he could get Dragon's Breath for free?
If circumstances allowed, having a Draco unwillingly spew Dragon's Breath at him could actually be a pretty solid way to farm EMC points.
But then again, Dragon's Breath wasn't exactly worth that much.
In the end, he decided it wasn't worth the effort.
If he really wanted more EMC, he'd be better off setting up a few EMC collectors at home.
That way, he could have as much as he wanted without any trouble.
But then, that would force him into becoming a shut-in. And that was completely at odds with his goal of going out and having fun.
"You're still thinking about next time? There's no next time, you jerk."
Rubbing her sore lips, Talulah rolled her eyes at Steven.
What did he take her for?
Sure, this didn't actually cost her anything, but that didn't mean she was okay with being used like some kind of tool.
No way was she going to set this kind of precedent—if she let him get away with it once, there was no way he'd ever stop taking advantage of her.
The only reason she had gone through with it this time was because she had already agreed.
On any other day, she would've burned all his stupid glass bottles to ashes.
"Come on, don't be so absolute about it. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll need my help too."
Steven grinned, not taking her words seriously at all.
Whether she liked it or not, he already had all the Dragon's Breath he needed.
Besides, with Talulah's personality, there was no doubt she'd run into some serious setbacks in the future.
When that time came, she'd be asking for much more than just a few bottles of Dragon's Breath.
Speaking of which… what else could he get from a dragon?
Dragon blood, dragon scales, dragon fangs—those were all common materials, but they weren't exactly renewable.
Plus, harvesting those from someone was a little too extreme.
He wondered if Dracos had anything like a dragon pearl or heavenly scales—something rare and valuable.
With a thoughtful look in his eyes, Steven silently appraised Talulah like a merchant sizing up his goods.
<+>
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