Chapter 23
“You have already reached the peak of the First Circle?” Lilia asked while raising her brows. The youth in front of her was smiling brightly, brimming with innocence.
“That’s right.”
Drayken smiled.
“Let me process it. You haven’t reached Rank Two but are already qualified to advance to the Second Circle.”
“You are right.”
“…And you were able to accomplish it in just a few days. Even with the circle that could let you absorb more mana, this is…”
“Anything else?”
Drayken chuckled:
‘There is no need to hide my strength. I could attribute this all to me being otherworldly and gain benefits from it. Since she must think that I have become one of them, this dragon must want to win me over—but for that, I will have to show my usefulness.’
He had his own thoughts in his heart and considerations when showing off his power.
Lilia was a little dazed before her face turned frosty again, and she said in an icy voice:
“Very well.”
She extended her hand, and a chest appeared.
Drayken took the chest with curiosity and opened it to check inside.
A bright golden light shone in front of him, along with another that emitted a purple glow.
“What are these two magic sigils?”
“These are the two sets provided for you to reach the Third Circle Mage. After this, you are on your own.”
“I see.”
Drayken nodded. “Could you care to explain to me?”
Lilia’s expression was still as frosty as ice.
“The golden one is called Aura Projection. It allows you to project your Aura and attack enemies from a distance. The purple one is Soul Mark—you can mark people with Aura, and you will be able to track them and even weaken their vitality over time.”
“It’s like a curse,” Drayken shouted when he heard the overpowered effect of Soul Mark.
“It is, but you have to touch them first, and it can be negated by many things. However, it takes a long time to remove, so it can only be used in immediate battle,” she explained in one breath and walked away again.
‘This girl… she is really too strange.’ Drayken narrowed his eyes while looking at her back.
Her personality changed more than the flowing water in a river. At first, she was a blushing girl, but then she became colder, and now she was completely cold to him.
Drayken remained standing on the spot for a long time before finally sighing in exhaustion.
“Oh, well.”
He looked at the two magic sigils and only stared at them for a short time before deciding.
There were almost no benefits in the order in which you built your spell—it was about how compatible they could be when laid together.
So, Drayken chose the purple one: Soul Mark. This spell was one of the best out there, after all.
Dragons mostly fought in close range, and he would have plenty of opportunities to use the spell. If he were fighting humans who had Telekinesis, then he might have chosen Aura Projection instead.
“I wonder how they fight.” A trace of greed flickered in his eyes.
If he got the chance, he would definitely create a clone to mix with the humans as well.
“Also, it seems obtaining Destiny Points isn’t easy.”
A fleeting thought flashed in his mind. Without a certain amount of power and influence, it was impossible to make any significant impact here, but in this world, even surviving was a challenge of its own.
The only guy who escaped this world did so purely by hiding among the humans. He didn’t even fight, just worked at a small tavern before he was automatically transported back to his world. It was that person who publicised this information.
Obviously, as a person with such a humble background, the amount of information he had was extremely limited, and some of it was outright lies.
“Luckily, I will have enough status to explore on my own.”
Drayken immediately started the process of engraving the circle into his core.
The process was surprisingly smooth and didn’t even make him break a sweat.
The circles of Mages were strange on their own: if you met the requirements, then it would be as easy as drinking water. If you did not meet the requirements, then it would be impossible.
That’s why reaching Rank Two was the requirement for advancing to the Second Circle.
Drayken opened his eyes and stood up. He activated his first spell, Aura, and a faint black light surrounded him. Then, he applied mana to the second spell on his core.
Swish!
The aura around him became brighter by several margins, and he could feel that he could strangely mold his aura.
Drayken tried to do so.
Slowly but surely, a dragon-shaped aura formed in front of him and hovered over his right palm.
“So, just physical contact will allow me to mark my opponent.”
Drayken felt like he was ready for battle. “Also, I forgot.”
He contacted his main body, Eryke, and soon he gained a new skill: Insight.
This skill, as the name states, allowed one to gain knowledge of an object with a simple glance.
“This should be helpful in battle.”
Drayken closed his eyes, and his heartbeat started to pulsate violently, like a dragon’s roar.
Gradually, his body transformed into a dragon, and he looked in the mirror.
Golden scales covered his body!
Three meters tall!
Wings around a meter long.
“Hmm.” He opened his crimson, slitted pupils and carefully sensed his core.
In dragon form, a dragon’s heart is normally the core, but for him, it was at his back, tucked away beneath a scale.
“Humans have always known the weakness of dragons, so it’s better that it’s there. Even if they destroy my dragon heart, I could still have a chance to survive and retain some strength.”
Drayken rejoiced and then closed his eyes again to sense his surroundings. The five senses and the illusionary sixth sense, for humans, might be different, but for dragons, their sixth sense was called Battle Instinct.
And in this dragon form, Battle Instinct was heightened to the maximum!
This helped one detect danger and provided an innate talent for close combat, an ability that came from the very bloodline itself.
He used the rest of his time to get used to his dragon form. He was only allowed to enter the library if he won, which made him a little disappointed, but Drayken was confident he could win!