Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 172 Mutation
"call!"

Rean sheathed his longsword, looking with satisfaction at the faint golden light emanating from it.

With abundant physical strength, the increase in holy power is also obvious.

Yesterday's farce of lifting people up high was actually regarded as "fulfilling a vow," and the improvement was quite obvious. Rean didn't even know how it worked. Did he do something amazing yesterday?
At that moment, he looked up at the sky and saw the familiar blue sky and large clouds.

A few rays of morning light fell through the clouds, illuminating my body after my workout, warm and comforting.

He was inexplicably moved.

Only those who have traveled through the underground world can feel a strange sense of happiness and contentment when they look up at the sunlight and feel the fresh morning breeze.

"Let's take a short rest, then practice again."

Rean had completed his usual training regimen but did not feel tired, and it took him much less time than usual.

Clearly, his current physical condition requires a significant increase, or even doubling, of his training volume.

"Snapped!"

Rean clenched his fist and could feel a completely different level of strength and power. He had no reference point before and had no feeling about it, but now, after practical training, it had probably doubled easily.

[Biotype Level: Silver, Status: Strength 14 (17), Physique 16, Agility 10, Spirit 14]

Now, with the Fire Giant Gauntlets, his strength is only slightly less than that of a true giant, the Hill Giant.

In combat situations, the hardware can be further enhanced by using spells and divine arts for assistance.

At that time, the Paladin Rean's "Beat the Giant" was a literal description.

"call."

He began to swing his sword again, but he needed more training and even real combat experience to get used to his physical condition.

He even ate and slept without taking off his gloves to get used to this state, but now he's seriously considering whether he should take them off when he sleeps.

He was sleeping on the floor in the middle of the night when the bed suddenly collapsed!

His own assessment was partly due to the significant weight gain he experienced after his physical transformation.

On the other hand, he might have simply turned over or twisted his body in his sleep, which caused the cheap wooden bed to collapse.

The broken planks of the wooden bed are still lying in a corner of the yard. I guess I'll have to order a metal bed later.

After all, he can now truly be considered a shrunken giant, so it's normal that ordinary wooden furniture can't support him.

"Not bad, this feels completely different from when I wore the cursed gloves before. I feel like I can unleash my full power now."

In this attribute list, the most important attribute is not the 17 points of strength, but the 16 points of physique. This means that his current physical body can exert its strength to the extreme. Not only can it withstand the reaction force after exerting full force, but its recovery ability, endurance and even explosive power will also be significantly improved.

High physical strength is also a basic characteristic of legendary creatures. The physical attributes of dragons, giant dragons, and beasts are all quite exaggerated, which is the foundation of everything.

Extraordinary power also requires a physical body and soul to sustain it; the foundation of mind-body techniques is always the physical body.

"The upper limit of the mind and soul ability has also increased, but to truly improve it, it can only be done gradually."

Rean's Thousand-Faced Dragon's Mind Power remains at the Primal Stone level, as do Sul's Wallbreaker and Kuku's Multiple Minds. These things are not so easily improved.

It can evolve along with the growth of one's profession and body, but for it to grow, it needs emotions as nourishment, an evolved body as a foundation, and advanced or new professions as expansion.

Rean estimated that improving the Paladin's abilities and Sul's swordsmanship should enhance the Wallbreaker's soul abilities, while improving the Mage's abilities should enhance Kuku's abilities. Well, let's leave that aside for now; it's enough for now.

Rean always felt that if Kuku's heroic spirit ability leveled up too high, some problems might arise.

The conditions for the Thousand-Faced Dragon's soul ability to improve are currently unknown, but it is estimated that it will be enhanced along with the possession of heroic spirits, the soul ability of heroic spirits, and the physical hardware.

Rean is now quite looking forward to it. He has experienced the power of "improving his soul ability by one level," which will allow him to possess the core abilities of a hero's soul several years earlier and mature his combat system.

After all, taking that crucial step of spiritual awakening is no easy feat.

If the Thousand-Faced Dragon's abilities could be further enhanced, turning its weakening effect on the Soul of Heroes into no reduction or even enhancement, then it would be even more anticipated. As for raising the Soul of Heroes by two levels, Rean really didn't dare to think about it.

"It looks like it will take at least three days. Let's go to the mage district then."

Even while practicing swordsmanship, his second line of thought was analyzing the spell model of the scorching ray. He had to admit that even though its principle was relatively simple and ray-type spells were not particularly difficult (the spell model was just a line/arrow), this rate of progress was still too abnormal.

For Rean now, the computing power provided by the "second leader" is clearly excessive.

"I'll ask about psionic professions when I get there."

Rean's list of plans for pursuing power is already full.

And today his work list is almost full.

He didn't notify anyone yesterday and went straight to rest after returning home. Even today, his physical condition has not fully recovered.

The fatigue of the journey was one thing, but the premature awakening and forced use of his bloodline ability further increased the consumption of his physical body (beasts consume physical strength and stamina when using supernatural abilities).

"I'm going to visit Sallyman later and bring Lana back. If we don't inform them of our return, they'll definitely complain. If we don't bring her back soon, little Lana will be very angry."

Rean sighed; he was a little embarrassed to see Suliman. He really didn't know what to say to her, or even how to address her now.

But I owe her a lot, so it wouldn't be right not to let her know I'm safe and sound after I get back. Visiting Suliman in the Radiant District is the first thing I need to do, and then I need to go to the blacksmith to have my weapons (except for the Holy Sword) and armor serviced.

Although the battle was short, it was quite intense, and the armor is severely worn, likely requiring major repairs.

"Oh right, we also need to buy some supplies. Holy water, potions, alchemical fire, medkits, thief's toolkits, etc., are definitely necessary."

During this trip, Rean learned a lot from his companions and mercenaries. He needs to replenish his regular inventory and may need to buy another storage bag.

"Uh, there are still some leftover Shadow Dragon materials and Black Dragon materials in the space bag." It would be best to sell these things as soon as possible, as they could greatly alleviate Rean's financial problems.

In reality, the most valuable material is the "Beast Prince" material, but processing such a thing carelessly will cause serious problems. It needs to be handled by professionals, and ordinary warriors are not qualified to use it, making it difficult to sell.

The best way to use it is naturally in some high-level alchemy and forging equipment, as a core material or auxiliary material, using other top-quality materials to dilute its bestial nature, but this is not something that ordinary craftsmen can do. Those designs, blueprints and other materials of equivalent level are also not easy to obtain, so Rean still prefers to find a suitable buyer to sell it directly.

Back home, Rean relaxed. With the cook and maid not around, he grabbed some snacks from Lana and Suliman to fill his stomach. Thinking about the numerous tasks on his to-do list, he became even more reluctant to go out.

"Tsk, the snake is gone again, that's good." I can finally relax like this thanks to the snake disappearing early this morning.

This big shot, who is not aloof at all, is just too talkative and nagging. The worst part is that you have to pay attention to and think about what he says. Before you know it, you'll be dragged along, and then new troubles will often be waiting for you.

"It's best to go on vacation for a few more days; it's perfectly fine to stay until the time is up."

After finishing his meal, Rean felt a little sleepy. Perhaps he could go out a little later. Now that he was free from the pressure of survival, he seemed to want to slack off and be lazy.

But he didn't want to cause trouble, yet trouble came looking for him.

After news of his return spread, many people hesitated to visit him directly yesterday (to give him time to rest), but today the visitors are all on their way.

Prior to this, Rean suddenly encountered an unprecedented phenomenon.

"Clap clap clap!"

Suddenly, his hero encyclopedia popped up on its own and strangely turned the page automatically.

Clearly, something unexpected has happened.

Unexpected events occur, altering the course of fate, and the current state of the main mission is reassessed and revised.

Main quest? Isn't that the quest to seal the deer? Rean was completely bewildered; this thing could be changed.

[Main Quest: Seal/Kill the Evil God Elsena.]

Mission Brief: The seal of the evil god beneath Glowing City is crumbling. He is about to escape. Eliminate him, or be eliminated by him.

[Penalty for mission failure: If the mission fails, the city will become history, no penalty required.]

[Countdown complete: 720 days and 8 hours remaining. Recalculation and evaluation underway.]

[Countdown complete: 846 days and 12 hours!]

Rean was completely dumbfounded. He originally thought that the time to break through the seal would be shortened, but it has actually increased. Isn't this a good thing?
This gives us almost four more months, which means we can accomplish even more.

The next moment, the updated task line revealed some glimpses of the future.

[New Side Quest: The enraged evil god Elsena roared, expending his own primordial power within the seal, temporarily increasing the birth rate of underground monsters and producing new beast bloodlines. To prevent the seal from being broken, deal with this beast horde as soon as possible!]

[Task Rewards: Random Soul Ability Level Increase by One Tier, Two Random Heroic Spirit Armor Pieces, One Heroic Spirit Quasi-Artifact Clue.]

Rean was completely dumbfounded; it was hard to say whether this was a good thing or not.

But why the sudden change? Is this Heroic Spirit Encyclopedia really that unreliable?

Kuku said that this kind of fate-based predictive ability is almost absolute when there is no interference.
He only paused for a moment before he figured out the answer.

"Snake! What have you done!"

The roar, which was expected to receive no response, was met with a lazy reply.

"What? I just slept in and didn't do anything. Don't accuse me of something." Sometime later, it was already sunbathing on the roof, seemingly never having left.

But at this moment, Rean became certain of his decision.

"It was definitely you who did it! Otherwise, if I had wronged you, would you be so easy to talk to?! You would have already retorted and been preparing to mess with me."

You always know yourself best, and Lee Eun-suk hates being framed the most.

If he were to be unfairly blamed, he would instantly fly into a rage, and would never offer a calm and reasonable explanation.

The snake's gaze swept over, but the danger only intensified.

"Do you know that when the situation is not in your favor, it's best to play dumb?"

Okay, the snake stopped acting and started threatening directly.

But from the perspective of someone who can only see it, the view is quite different.

"Tsk tsk tsk, just half a year more and the chance of the city being destroyed has dropped from 61% to 37%. Looks like the little guy has quite the potential."

(End of this chapter)