Tyrant

"Think you can best me? Think twice, red-haired bastard, I will show you the true power of a dungeon."

Despite his confident words, he was gasping. He'd calculated Edard's strength and carefully chosen a dungeon that was way above his level, yet, he was still defeated.

This is no time to whine, he thought. Time to go all out.

Name: Tyrant

Hierarchy: Hybrid

Type: One-way

Dungeons: 98

Longevity(years): 400,220 years

Life energy: 5100/9100(598/sec)

Ether : 808

Internal Body

•Monsters: {Choose a starting monster?} {Keep original monsters?}

•Cities and Puzzles: ????

•Time limit: Assign time limit for every floor, Y/N?

External Body

•Surrounding adventurers: 11,044

•Nature energy density: 330/m²

•Longevity gain: 102 days/hour

•Ether gain: 27/per hour

The surrounding cultivators absorbed the nature energy produced by Tyrant and released ether as a byproduct, the same way humans inhaled oxygen and gave out carbon dioxide. Creating monsters depended on ether, longevity and life energy. When he was born, Tyrant didn't have enough ether to make major changes to his core, but now he did. The ether had increased to 800, longevity had increased to four-hundred thousand years and life energy had increased to 9,100(98/sec). It was time to take the next step.

Kraken

Orc

Bluewyvern

Werewolf

Ghoul

Lich

Wraith

Hellhound

Flying Ammit

Amarok

Salamander

Tyrant observed the list of the ten most powerful monsters available to him. With 800 ether, hundreds of thousands of longevity and life energy, he could rear any.

Salamanders and Hellhound belonged to the same category and had similar pyrokinetic ability. The main difference was Salamanders produced a red flame while the Hellhound breathed black flames. Rearing any of them would take over 1,000 longevity and 170 ether.

Amarok was an arrogant beast which had a polar ability like no other. Legends said it could freeze even the great Black Sea. It didn't take much longevity because it had a short lifespan but it took over 250 ether. Tyrant longed to see Edard frozen but he couldn't afford that much ether.

Ghouls, Liches and Wraiths were all undead creatures. They'd unlimited lifespan and extreme viciousness and durability but with low intelligence. Edard was too smart for them.

The Flying Ammit had a powerful curse. Its curse was so powerful it could kill anybody beneath the renaissance realm. The Curse took time, but once cursed, it was only a matter of time before you met your end. However, Tyrant couldn't wait for that long. He needed Edard dead as soon as possible.

The Orcs were humanoids with tough skin and bones. It was said they could shatter steel with bare hands. They took the least ether and longevity. He could produce over one hundred Orcs with 400 ether. But they weren't strong enough to take down Edard.

Kraken had a powerful regeneration ability, it could recover from any injury as long as it wasn't killed immediately. It had an insanely powerful tentacles, second only to the Bluewyvern.

Last but not the least, the Bluewyvern. It required 456 ether and an infinite amount of longevity. The Wyvern alone could consume what the other beasts required altogether. It belonged to the extinct dragon race that had indestructible body and the ability to breath fire that could incinerate anything. Not only that, he had a very high dragon magic that could kill even dragons.

Tyrant was already swayed by the Wyvern but he didn't want to part with his ether and longevity. It was a difficult decision. He spent several minutes thinking about it before he decided.

With more cultivators arriving at the external body, he could afford spending his ether. For the first time Tyrant looked away from Edard and his team. He focused his entire attention on his new job.

Are you sure you want to create a Bluewyvern for 456 ether? Y/N?

He gritted his teeth and pressed yes.

All the ether he'd accumulated over the past hours coalesced at the centre and gave birth to a small creature that looked like an ostrich. It was first a bodiless figure but it later became corporeal. It had a pair of wings and a body covered with hard, blueish scales. Its eyes were still closed and it lay there unmoving.

Name: _ (assign name, Y/N?)

Race: Bluewyvern

Age: 5 seconds

Growth rate: 4kg/m²/hr

Longevity: ?

Intelligence: 0

Willpower: 0

Dragon magic: 127

Loyalty: 0

Skill(s): Fire Breath level 0; Solid level 0; Golem Creation level 0; Body Metamorphosis level 0

NB: Intelligence, willpower and loyalty depends on longevity. Assign longevity, Y/N?

Tyrant thought about it for a moment before he assigned a name and longevity.

Name: Dragonkiller

Race: Bluewyvern

Age: 16 minutes

Growth rate: 4kg/m²/hr

Longevity: 10,096 years

Intelligence: 101

Willpower: 145

Dragon magic: 127

Loyalty: 49 (Tyrant)

Skill(s): Fire Breath level 10; Solid level 10; Golem Creation level 10; Body Metamorphosis level 10

"Only a genius could do this. It is now only a matter of time before I get my revenge."

Tyrant laughed uproariously, feeling quite pleased with himself.

"I'll get my longevity back in one fell swoop. IN ONE FELL SWOOP, you red-haired bastard."

There was nothing he could do but shout and curse. Edard had massacred his way through Lancel and Luffy. Offering any E-rank dungeon would be a waste. He had utmost confidence in Dragonkiller but he couldn't help feeling uneasy, especially with the amount of longevity and ether he'd spent on the beast. If Edard were to somehow defeat it....

No, no. Absolutely not. He shook his head. Nobody, in their right mind, would ever think a measly Tertiary Awakening cultivator could win against a dragon. Not even a Sage could pull it off.

Edard

You have 50 minutes in the safe zone.

The safe zone was much better than the previous one. It had three different apartments, each of which was larger than the previous zone. It had a large training ground which, despite having no monsters, was perfect for training. They had 50 minutes in the safe zone, which was the time needed by the Bluewyvern to grow.

They had mostly healed and were already planning ahead.

Spirit stone: rare quality

Longevity stone: 811,507 hours

Edard rolled the two crystals the boss had dropped in his hand. It was still a mystery to him how a simple, shining stone would determine life and death.

"We are rich, man." Dylas said, eyeing the spirit stone, "do you know how many mansions that will buy? Five. Five mansions in the capital, including servants."

Edard, who was more interested in the longevity stone, pointed at it. "Yeah, I get the picture but this longevity crystal is roughly 92 years. If I can live a healthy, comfortable 92 years then it will all be worth it."

"You have skills to level up, don't you? We don't know what tyrant is planning next, we need to prepare." Dylas said.

As if answering his question a screen popped up.

You have been chosen to participate in a compulsory Dungeon Quest.

Description : Track and kill the monster Dragonkiller.

Reward :

1) 120 Blessing Drops

2) 6.5% of the beast's longevity (~650 years)

3) Approval to enter an Ancient-rank dungeon.

Quests starts in 45 minutes.

"Why the hell is a Dungeon Quest compulsory?" Dylas asked angrily.

Dungeon Quests were supposed to be optional, only needed when you conquered enough floors of a dungeon and you wanted to jump to a higher floor.

"Starting from the beginning, Tyrant hasn't followed any rules. There are many Tier-1 dungeons in this place, ideally we are supposed to clean them up before he throws a Tier-2. But what happened? He threw Luffy, a Tier-3, immediately after we finished a Tier-1 . Now he realized even a Tier-3 is no match and he resort to this." Dylas explained angrily.

If Tyrant had followed the protocols then as Armed-conquerors they had to finish all the Tier-1 dungeons before they could move to a Tier-2 and after finishing them completely they would move to a Tier-3. Tier-1 to Tier-3 were E-rank dungeons and then above them were the D-rank dungeons. Between every rank there should be an optional dungeon quest which you had to complete before ascending to the next rank.

"That's not even the problem here," Dylas added anxiously, "let's say we take the Quest and, by some miracle, we win. Tyrant will have the right to send us into any Ancient-rank dungeon, directly. We can't withstand a D-rank rebuff."

"What's a D-rank rebuff?" Edard asked.

"D-ranks are different, they have a powerful soul that repels intruders. It can even kill a peak Tertiary Awakening cultivator, if not protected." Dylas explained.

"How do you get a protection?" Edard asked.

"By becoming a Sage." Dylas answered.

"Then it's not as depressing as you make it sound." Edard said.

"You can say that because you don't have any bottleneck. Even if you can do it, I can't. I will die the minute I stepped into any D-rank dungeon."

"We will find a way, I will find a way. Besides, what other options do we have? It's compulsory. So stop whining and tell me what's a Blessing Drop?"

Dylas wagged his tail. He often did that when faced with an impossible situation. "Not that I have ever used it but it's used to access the Skills Sea and get the description and nature of your next Awakening skills. The skills aren't for sale and you can only see a description, but, some say you can buy special weapons and devices."

"So I can see what skills will pop up in my next Awakening, and their descriptions?" Edard asked.

"Yes." Dylas nodded.

"Okay. Take this," Edard threw the spirit stone at him, "I will use the longevity stone, and don't worry I will pay you back."

You have absorbed 811,507 from a longevity stone x 1

He decided to start with the Violet Rose.

Violet Rose has reached level 2/10 secondary (300 hours)

Violet Rose has reached level 3/10 secondary (400 hours)

Violet Rose has reached level 4/10 secondary (500 hours)

Violet Rose has reached level 5/10 secondary (600 hours)

Violet Rose has reached level 6/10 secondary (700 hours)

Violet Rose has reached level 7/10 secondary (800 hours)

Violet Rose has reached level 8/10 secondary (900 hours)

Violet Rose has reached level 9/10 secondary (1,000 hours)

Violet Rose has reached level 10/10 secondary (10,000 hours)

Upgrade: interval between usage has been reduced to 4 secs.

+45 strength

+18 willpower

You have Awakened Violet Rose to Tertiary Awakening for 10,000 hours

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Universal Pull: increase gravity around yourself to pull objects towards you.

+4 agility per level

+5 strength per level

2] Focus: ability to focus the power of gravity on a pinpoint (1 to 5mm), increasing both effectiveness and precision. User can affect the blood flow and internal bodily functions of a target.

+7 strength per level

+1 willpower per level

3] Crush Class: gravity effect will automatically rise to 15x; you can also transfer 10 units of gravity to any bladed weapon to be used later.

(1 unit equivalent to a Crush)

Cost: 40

+2 intelligence per level

+5 willpower per level

Alternatively, you can upgrade Violet Rose to Violet Push Class

Violet Push Class: this will automatically reduced the interval between use to 2 secs.

Choose one more layer of protection:

1] Mind shield? Y/N?

2] Soul Protection? Y/N?

3] Longevity Protection? Y/N?

+5 strength per level

+3 willpower per level

He'd already seen Crush Class but it was even more relevant now that he'd the Elven Dance and the Dragon-essence sword.

Universal Pull would make it impossible for enemies to escape from him. It could easily render targets immobile and powerless, giving him the opportunity to strike.

Focus was even more enticing. Imagine stopping the heartbeat of an enemy in the middle of a fight or stopping the blood flow of an area.

But... the upgrade was something Edard had been looking for. A mind shield, a soul protection and a longevity protection. No matter how powerful his body was, a soul cultivator could easily kill him or steal his soul with a single strike, a mind cultivator could knock him out before he could blink and a longevity cultivator could steal his hard-earned longevity. A protection against these branches of cultivation was not something he could overlook. He tried to see more description on the nature of the shields but to no avail. He could only see more after choosing one.

He'd Curse. Hopefully, he would get some protection against any longevity skills as he leveled up.

He'd psychomancy and he could get a Mind Shield from it, and he could ask Dylas to make one for him.

But soul protection... was different. He hadn't seen a necromancer but he felt they would be more dangerous than psychomancers. Imagine a necromancer stealing your soul and planting it in some undead or just bypassing your physical defenses and killing your soul. He even hoped it would help him solve the mystery of the corpse and the soul bond.

You have upgraded Violet Rose to Violet Push Class.

Soul Protection provides a Rare quality protection against all soul-based skills.

+1 layer of protection per level.

+5 strength

+3 willpower

Violet Push has leveled up to 2/10 tertiary (12,000).

Violet Push has leveled up to 3/10 tertiary (13,000).

Violet Push has leveled up to 4/10 tertiary (14,000).

Violet Push has leveled up to 5/10 tertiary (15,000).

Violet Push has leveled up to 6/10 tertiary (16,000).

Violet Push has leveled up to 7/10 tertiary (17,000).

Violet Push has leveled up to 8/10 tertiary (18,000).

Violet Push has leveled up to 9/10 tertiary (19,000).

Violet Push has leveled up to 10/10 tertiary (100,000).

Upgrade: +10 layers of Rare quality soul protection. You can Push any attack beneath the renaissance realm away from you, be it elemental, physical or soul.

+45 strength

+17 willpower

That's reassuring!

He turned to Dragonbreath which was already in the Tertiary Awakening.

Dragonbreath has reached level 2/10 tertiary (12,000 hours)

Dragonbreath has reached level 3/10 tertiary (13,000 hours)

Dragonbreath has reached level 4/10 tertiary (14,000 hours)

Dragonbreath has reached level 5/10 tertiary (15,000 hours)

Dragonbreath has reached level 6/10 tertiary (16,000 hours)

Dragonbreath has reached level 7/10 tertiary (17,000 hours)

Dragonbreath has reached level 8/10 tertiary (18,000 hours)

Dragonbreath has reached level 9/10 tertiary (19,000 hours)

Dragonbreath has reached level 10/10 tertiary (100,000 hours)

+95 intelligence

+75 willpower

Upgrade: the suction power of Dragon-essence is now focused on the edge of your blade; you can cut anything beneath the renaissance realm, with no resistance. You can also choose any two elements below:

1] Slicing wind: manipulate air into a powerful wind blade that moves at the speed of sound and cuts woods and metals.

2] Frigid wind: lower the temperature of the surrounding air to a freezing point.

3] Storm wind: move clouds and cause rain through winds. You can predict weather.

4] Water vapor: create water vapor out of nothing and evaporate any fluid. You can manipulate biological perspiration.

5] Rain drops: create fresh water out of nothing and manipulate the shape and turbulence of any surrounding water body to your needs.

6] Fire ball: breath a ball of fire through your mouth to pulverize the enemy.

7] Lightning bolt: manipulate lightning bolt and blades to become a true elementalist.

NB: by completing the primary cycle of the Bang spectrum, you have created a Dragon Core. All elements stored in the dimension can now be created from the Dragon Core and be used instantly without storing them.

The last sentence was the best news, he could now use lava without storing it. All the five elements were enticing on their own, but he considered choosing the two that could be used together to get a better power. He already had lightning and earth. Lava had also canceled the need for fire which left wind and water.

Edard decided.

You have chosen Frigid Wind and Water Vapor.

He extended his left hand and it was immediately surrounded by water vapour. Which turned bluish and then into... an ice cube. He flipped his hand and the cube became an ice mirror. Though it was just an ice but it looked harder than a rock.

Time to test how much ice he could produce, using all his energy.

He closed his eyes and focus on the surrounding vapor.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing at the centre of a fifty meter radius of ice. Everything, including the ground, the trees, the rocks, had all been frozen. The only sound was that of... nothing.

He turned to psychomancy.

Psychomancy has reached level 2/10 secondary (300 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 3/10 secondary (400 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 4/10 secondary (500 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 5/10 secondary (600 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 6/10 secondary (700 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 7/10 secondary (800 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 8/10 secondary (900 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 9/10 secondary (1000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 10/10 secondary (10,000 hours)

Upgrade: you now have 33 memory packs and you can maintain Mind Reading for five full minutes.

+18 willpower

+18 intelligence

+18 free points

You have Awakened psychomancy to the Tertiary Awakening for 10,000 hours

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Mind Trap: create a prison inside your mind to trap anyone accessing it without your consent. Prison has a maximum of ten floors (one floor per level) and each floor has its own arsenal. You can set deadly traps using purchased weapons in the Skills Sea.

+8 intelligence

+2 willpower

2] Reality: create an entire dream world and implant it in the mind of a target. World is as real as the material plane.

Duration: 3 minutes (+3min/level)

3] Intimidation Class: create an Intimidation field of up to 5m radius. You can condense psychomancer energy inside the field and blast the target's mind with it. This is commonly used to break a mind shield but can also be used to temporarily stop brain activity.

You can Intimidate anybody within range even without making an eye contact. Affected targets will be stunned for a minimum of thirty seconds.

You can only use it on one person at a time.

+7 intelligence

+6 willpower

Cost: up to 350

Alternatively, you can upgrade Mind Read to Mind Read Class.

Mind Read Class: every time you read someone's mind they will be aware. Even if you read it when they are unconscious they will still be aware that someone has tempered with their minds. Mind Read Class eliminate that drawback, you can successfully Read any unprotected mind without the target knowing.

Cost: 180

+11 intelligence

+1 willpower

Psychomancy would never be easy. How could you not be enticed by Reality?! Even if the target was you, you could choose what you want to dream about and make it happen.

Mind Trap was even better than Mind Shield. You could trap the target when they least expected it.

Even the upgrade was fascinating. Reading someone's mind without them being aware. Awesome!

But... he really cherished battering a mind shield with series of telepathic attacks. It sounded awesome. He knew he was just being a sadist but he really like it.

In the end he... couldn't decide. He left it to his next encounter.

He turned to lightning.

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 2/10 secondary (300 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 3/10 secondary (400 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 4/10 secondary (500 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 5/10 secondary (600 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 6/10 secondary (700 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 7/10 secondary (800 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 8/10 secondary (900 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 9/10 secondary (1,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 10/10 secondary (10,000 hours)

Upgrade: you can covert 100 units of nature energy into lightning every second.

+18 vitality

+18 intelligence

You have Awakened lightning elementalist to the tertiary awakening for 10,000 hours

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Lightning Ancestor: transform your entire body into a lightning for 5 seconds. Duration of use will upgrade with leveling.

Transformed parts will be indestructible to any physical and elemental attacks.

Cost: 250

+19 resistance per level

2] Lightning Contract Class: You will gain 200 Seals per level and a superior control over your followers.

You can even shut down your follower's ability to control life energy if they break a Contract rule.

Cost: 500

+9 willpower per level

Alternatively, you can upgrade lightning elementalist to Thunderbird Class

Thunderbird Class: By activating this Class you can convert 1000 units of nature energy to a lightning bolt every second.

The more units of nature energy converted the more potent the lightning becomes. Giving appropriate time you can virtually create the most powerful lightning element ever seen.

Cost: 0

+5 vitality per level

+2 willpower per level

It was easy this time. The Thunderbird was a scam, increasing the figures to one-thousand wouldn't change his mind. And upgrading the Contract wasn't a priority.

You have activated Lightning Ancestor.

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 1/10 tertiary (11,000 hours)

+19 resistance

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 2/10 tertiary (12,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 3/10 tertiary (13,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 4/10 tertiary (14,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 5/10 tertiary (15,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 6/10 tertiary (16,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 7/10 tertiary (17,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 8/10 tertiary (18,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 9/10 tertiary (19,000 hours)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 10/10 tertiary (100,000 hours)

Upgrade: you can maintain elemental form for 50 seconds

Cost: up to 1000

+171 resistance

Their time in the safe zone was up.

The environment shifted and they were transported to a different part of the dungeon.

The first scene that greeted them was a desert that extended as far as the eyes could see. No any vegetation in sight.

"So...?" Dylas started.

"We find the beast and kill it." Edard answered.

They took a few steps forward but immediately stopped.

"Shield your legs with whatever you can." Edard shouted, detecting something coming up from beneath the desert.

A heated air filled the desert turning the sand red. At the very second they realized what was happening, a giant fire ball burst out from the ground and engulfed the desert in an endless sea of flame.

Half of Edard's skin burned down to a crisp. But even before the scream left his mouth, the skin had healed and returned back to normal.

You have been cleansed by a dragon fire.

+10 resistance

Edard spread his Spiritual Sense but he found nothing. It was as if the fire was just a natural occurrence.

Dylas had protected himself with a thin layer of lightning that made Edard visibly jealous. He was the source, and yet, he couldn't use it.

Even Dylas had a stupefied look as he observed his body. "The Contract is definitely worth it." He said, pointing at the layer of lightning surrounding him.

"A Class skill or an Acquired skill?" Edard asked.

Dylas happily explained. "Class skill. It's called Positive Shield and it can repel any heat, including fire, lava, steam and so on."

"What of ice?" Edard asked.

"That's the only limitation, it attracts cold the same way it repelled heat. So I will receive more damage from ice than usual. But that's only if..." Dylas stopped.

The Fire had heated up the air, creating a powerful sandstorm that engulfed everything.

They ran in the opposite direction as the storm chased them.

It was entirely impossible to see anything in the storm. If not for Edard's Tier-2 Spiritual Sense they would have died or at least been lost.

"Wait." Edard pulled Dylas back, pointing at the swamp in front of them. Hundreds of stone golems had suddenly erupted from within the swamp.

Dragonkiller

Despite not being able to receive any information about the skills of its prey, as it was against a dungeon's jurisdiction, it had its way of finding out. It was intelligent like any higher-ranked beast but because it belonged to the dragon race it had a much higher intelligence. It could even control other beasts of lower intelligence with dragon magic.

As a Bluewyvern, which was a family of Earth Dragons, it could create a limited amount of undeads in form of stone golems and still breath fire, like any dragon, because of its dragon magic. Once the Bluewyvern saw you as a target, you couldn't escape.

Dragonkiller laid nobly, analyzing its prey.

The red-haired uses a speed clone and the horse uses lightning. That red-haired was able to sense my fireball a kilometer away. He is likely the leader of the team. If I attack him, the horse would shield him but if I attack the horse he would shield him, thereby exposing himself.

After analyzing the situation critically, it decided to test their skills more before attacking.

Edard

The stone golems gradually transformed into fully grown monsters clad in stone armors. They'd blank faces covered in mud. Edard appraised the largest golem and the two golems behind it.

Greater Golem, Earth Undead level 8/10 (secondary)

Lesser Golem, Earth Undead level 7/10 (secondary)

Greater Golem, Earth Undead level 5/10 (secondary)

The other golems were all Lesser Golem in the Primary Awakening. They followed the Greater Golems and attacked.

Dylas prepared his enchanted punch and lightning bolts, ready to attack. Edard contemplated between using Dragon-essense, ice and lava. After some thought he decided to alternate between the two, giving him enough time to regenerate. His right hand became ice while his left hand turned into a lava.

Their combine attacks wiped over eight Lesser Golems. As the golems died, they transformed into mud and dissolved into the swamp, leaving no crystal behind. Edard cast the Violet Crush on the golems crushing them to the ground.

They defeated over twenty golems in a minute. But the golems erupting out of the swamp exceeded the amount they had killed. In a short period, over one-hundred golems surrounded them. More golems still coming.

Edard created a Dragon-essense sword and appeared next to the level 10 Greater Golem. The Lesser Golems surrounding it attacked him and formed a shield around it. But they'd massively underestimated Edard. He simply punched five lava fists in succession before he froze the rest of the golems and then proceeded toward the Greater Golem at the centre. The Greater Golem dodged the first slash but he was markedly slower than Edard. Edard disappeared and reappeared behind it and slashed it in half.

At the same time, Dylas destroyed the two remaining Greater Golems. Apparently, the Greater Golems were the brains of the Lesser ones. As soon as they were defeated, the remaining golems in the Primary Awakening ran around haphazardly. Edard and Dylas killed them easily.

But before they could relax, the swamp shook violently and several craters appeared. Giant golems climbed out of the craters.

Greater Golem, Earth Undead level 10/10 (secondary)

Fifty level 10 Greater Golems, each comparable to the skeleton boss appeared. As if the situation wasn't bad enough, a powerful gust of wind picked up. An incredibly large figure climbed out of one of the craters. It was so large it covered the whole sky. Its body was covered with large, bluish scales. It had two yellowish-brown eyes beside two small horns on its forehead. It had two pairs of wings that created a tornado whenever they flapped.

"A dragon?!?!" Dylas shouted in shock.

As soon as it appeared, it casually breathed a massive pillar of fire, twenty meters long. Edard escaped the centre of the fire with his speed but he was still burned by splashes.

You have been cleansed by a superior fire.

+13 resistance.

Even with pain resistance in Tier-2, the pain never lessened but the benefits increased.

Dylas coughed up blood while his lightning shield disappeared.

The one hundred Greater Golems attacked from the ground while the dragon attacked from above. It was a desperate situation.

Edard looked at Dylas and saw the despair in his eyes. They didn't expect a dragon or even one-hundred golems, each equivalent to the skeleton boss.

Dragonkiller, Bluewyvern, dragon magic 160.

A dragon's status was different. It had no Class or skill, only dragon magic.

"I'll take the dragon. Take care of things here." Edard said with a stern voice.

"You can't take that thing head-on. You can't even fly, how do you plan on... " Dylas cried.

"Just get the golems." Edard shouted as he tried to distract the dragon.

Dragonkiller roared angrily. His initial plan was to attack Dylas which would give him the opening needed to kill Edard. He could never have imagined Edard to be foolish enough to take him head-on.

I'll just burn you to a crisp. Dragonkiller mused.

Edard's blood boiled and his heart pounded. He felt fear against the massive creature but he had no option. They couldn't outrun the dragon even if there were no golems, and running wasn't an option to begin with. His mind worked increasingly faster as he faced another breath of fire.

The fire breath turned into a giant pillar several feet wide. It completely overshadowed everything in line and engulfed Edard in a sea of flames.

"Edard... " Dylas cried as he saw the exchange. But Edard had his Skin Tempering. Even though, he would feel pain for a few seconds, it would disappear with the burn. Also the deeper the burn the lesser the pain. Before he could react, the dragon fired another attack. This time it was fifty feet wide. Edard stood there, screaming in agony. His initial plan was to get close enough to the and used Dragon-essense sword on him but the dragon was quite intelligent. He refused to give any opening.

Edard's second plan was to wait for Dylas to finish the golems and helped him defeat the dragon but the end wasn't nigh. Dylas would be lucky to survive them.

The dragon chased Edard but he kept his distance. Making sure he could inflict a maximum damage with his fire and at the same time giving Edard no chance to attack.

Stamina down to 38%

Dragonkiller had inherited impatience from Tyrant. At one point, it became tired of the running around and it opened its crater-size mouth to reveal very long teeth that looked like claws. It breathed an enormous amount of fire that was ten times larger than all the previous breaths.

If Edard let the fire hit him he would evaporate even before his Skin Tempering activated. It was time to risk it.

He merged with his speed clone to appear next to the dragon and slashed with Dragon-essense sword. When the blade hit the dragon it... broke into two. Not only did he not absorb Dragonkiller, his attack couldn't even scratch the dragon.

Edard fired lava but it dissipated before making contact. He froze half of the dragon's head but the ice melted a second later. Since all physical attacks had failed, it was time to retreat and restrategize, try psychomancy maybe.

So he turned to flee but... he couldn't.

You are too close to a dragon magic.

-75% to all skills.

He summoned Violet Push to push the dragon away so he could escape but the dragon didn't even budge.

Dragonkiller sighed, feeling quite disappointed. In both status and power, it had exceeded Edard's wildest imagination.

It opened its mouth and swallowed Edard up. At that moment, Edard called upon his newest skill.

"Lightning Ancestor."

But he was swallowed before the skill fully activated.

"Edard... " Dylas cried. He was surrounded by over fifty golems attacking from all directions.

Tyrant

Finally!

Tyrant literally jumped out of the Master Floor. His body trembled with excitement as he remembered his stolen longevity. He would finally get his longevity back.

Nobody knew Edard's strength better than him so when he created Dragonkiller he made sure he'd given the beast more strength, agility, dexterity and resistance than Edard's full power. Because of all these, he knew from the beginning Dragonkiller would kill the red-haired bastard but to see it happened was the happiest thing in his life. Finally!

Edard

Edard found himself in a dark and slimy oven. The heat inside the dragons stomach was hotter than any fire. Edard screamed as his lightning body melted away like a candy. He could do nothing against the raging heat.

You have 41 seconds before the lightning ancestor shuts down.

Of course, he would die the minute his body turned into flesh and blood.

As his lightning body melted and mixed with the dragon's gastric fluid he gathered every ounce of power he could to create a Dragon-essense orb. But as soon as it appeared it melted and dissolved in the fluid. He tried to use the Violet Rose but it had no effect whatsoever.

Time to blast the beast's mind.

Edard focused his last remaining energy into a powerful telekinetic slash directed at the dragon's mind. What he met was a full powered ten layer barrier that was coated with a dense layer of dragon energy. It was hopeless.

Psychomancy had also failed.

Even if he couldn't use any skill, he wouldn't sit around and wait for his death. He punched the insides of the dragon madly, he opened his mouth and viciously ate on the dragon like a mad vampire. It was an unforgettable sight.

He unexpectedly saw a notification.

You have eaten a dragon meat.

+250% affinity for all dragon magic

Innate dragon magic is reacting to the magic of the dragon beast...

In that instant Edard knew he could communicate with the dragon. The earlier barrier blocking him was gone. He talked to the dragon with Interracial Communication.

"Get me out!"

How dare you!

Edard couldn't use Intimidation from there but he could see the outside with Spiritual Sense. Technically, he could look into the eyes of the dragon, just not with his real eyes. After contemplating for a while he decided. Surviving was more important than any skill, as much as he wanted the Reality, Mind Trap and the Mind Read upgrade, upgrading Intimidation would be the only way out of the dragon's stomach.

You have upgraded psychomancy to Intimidation Class.

Psychomancy has reached level 1/10 Tertiary (11,000 hours)

+7 intelligence per level

+6 willpower per level

Psychomancy has reached level 2/10 tertiary (12,000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 3/10 tertiary (13,000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 4/10 tertiary (14,000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 5/10 tertiary (15,000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 6/10 tertiary (16,000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 7/10 tertiary (17,000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 8/10 tertiary (18,000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 9/10 tertiary (19,000 hours)

Psychomancy has reached level 10/10 tertiary (100,000 hours)

Upgrade: you can use telepathic attack on ten individuals simultaneously. If you focus on a target, they would receive ten times the normal effect.

Range of Intimidation field has upgraded to 55m radius

+63 intelligence

+54 willpower

By upgrading, he'd removed the eye contact requirement and he now had the means of breaking the mind shield. He hit the dragon's mind with a concentrated psychomancer energy. The shield didn't burst but a simple crack appeared. Edard hit the crack again and again until cracks spread. He then attacked from the opposite side to create another weak point. When the mind shield became full of cracks it became easy to break. A last powerful effort involving more than half of his energy burst the shield into countless pieces.

"KNEEL!" Edard said through gritted teeth. He used all his energy to Intimidate the dragon.

How dare you....

"KNEEL!!"

How dare...

"KNEEL!!!"

How....

"KNEEL!!"

The dragon opened its mouth to resist but its will was overridden.

You have tamed the beast Bluewyvern.

Make Bluewyvern a familiar spirit? Y/N?

He had successfully tamed the dragon but without making it a familiar it would be difficult to escape the oven alive. He decided.

Bluewyvern has become your familiar spirit.

His dragon magic will help you grow your dragon potential.

Tyrant

He. Tamed. It.

"HE... TAMED IT!"

"He tamed my dragon!!"

Tyrant visibly shook from anger. The enmity between him and Edard had become personal. It was no longer about longevity. Taming his spirit beast was a slap to his face. It was the same as someone forcefully adopting your child while you are still around.

"It's irreconcilable between us, you red-haired dimwit. I'm waiting for you, you hear me bastard, I'm waiting for you."

Edard

The heat of the stomach immediately stopped hurting him. His body healed and he appeared outside. The previous raging dragon looked subservient as he laid on the ground. All the stone golems fell to the ground and turned into a mud.

Dragonkiller transformed into a bolt of ether and imprinted itself on Edard neck. A very complicated, two-inches wide rune appeared by the of side of his neck. Edard touched the rune and he knew he could summon the dragon anytime anywhere.

Dragonkiller killed.

Quest completed.

120 Blessing Drops, 650 longevity years and a direct entry into an Ancient-rank dungeon are received. To be distributed in the group as they see fit.

Killing Dragonkiller would have taken you directly into the nearest Ancient-rank dungeon but taming it was different. You can choose not to enter the next floor.

Enter? Y/N?

Without the slightest hesitation, all of them hit no. But they were faced with another trick.

You have chosen not to enter the next floor directly but there is no safe zone between the quest and the next floor.

You have a maximum of ten minutes to the next floor. After that you will be transported there by force.

There was no safe zone. They found themselves in an empty void with a bizarre landscape. It was neither vertical nor horizontal, it felt like it moving and yet it wasn't. Somehow Edard felt like he was transported in a boot of a small car inside a body bag.

Edard was the first to regain his composure and asked, "What are our options?"

Dylas sighed. "We have two options: reach Sagehood or die."

"Nobody is dying today so stop being a crybaby. What if I reach Sagehood and use my power to protect you? Won't that count?" Edard asked.

"It won't. Unless if you can put me inside your belly. You don't understand, my body just can't withstand... "

Edard interrupted him. "What if I can put you in a pocket dimension?"

Dylas made a puzzled look. "Pocket what? I don't know what that is."

"It's a... WHAT THE FUCK!!" Edard swore.

"What?" Dylas asked.

"All the clones, including the one I sent to the Déniz empire, are dead! Three were killed in cold blood and one committed suicide during an interrogation." Edard answered.

"W....what exactly happened, are we in trouble? No, how much trouble are we in?! And why on earth would you send a clone to Déniz empire?"

"It's a long story, but there is an army of more than twenty thousand cultivators outside the dungeon, waiting for us!!"