Dragon Power

Allen had so many titles, yet he was actually quite innocent.

The Kingdom of Locke's number one disgrace among nobles, the good-for-nothing lord, the idiot noble, the fool baron, and so on.

It was not that he had truly brought disaster upon the nation or oppressed the common people until they cursed him to the heavens. The main reason was that his starting point had been too high, and everyone's expectations of him had been too high. In the end, reality gave everyone a resounding slap across the face. Unable to save face, they gave him all those nicknames.

Born into a top-tier noble family, with extraordinarily high magical elemental affinity, capable of memorizing everything at a glance from childhood, and able to learn most martial skills after seeing them once—this was practically the setup of a knight novel's protagonist.

Unfortunately, things never went as planned. Fate always loved to toy with people, and it had played a joke that was anything but funny.

Allen's affinity for magical elements was high, but after chanting a spell, he could not cast any magic at all.

He had possessed a photographic memory since childhood, provided that he would fall asleep and enter a meditative state after reading for a while.

He could learn most martial skills after seeing them once, but even if he could perform an entire set flawlessly, without Battle Aura enhancement, they were still just fancy moves. They were fine for bullying ordinary people.

From a lucky child favored by the Supreme God, Allen had become an unlucky bastard cursed by the gods.

If Allen had spent his entire life hiding within little Outpost County, or even within the borders of the Kingdom of Locke, then with his cheap father's reputation behind him, there would have been no problem with him living happily as a profligate noble until he died.

Unfortunately, Allen wanted to leave Outpost County, leave the Kingdom of Locke, and even leave the territory controlled by humans. That made his current situation extremely awkward.

Dina might have been the best gift heaven had given Allen. His inseparable personal maid could use the special ability of her Titan Bloodline to suppress Battle Aura, Barbarian Battle Rings, and Behemoth war songs within a radius of several yards.

But Allen understood that on the Saint Cassis Continent, where war was the main theme, great strength was the greatest safeguard one could possess.

Unfortunately, magic was no longer an option. Even Old Laixi could not help him.

The path of Battle Aura had also been completely ruled out. Sakre had wanted to teach Allen Golden Battle Qi, but Allen knew that he could not cultivate Battle Aura.

Allen was so frustrated that even when he practiced Enemy Capture Fist, he looked listless. Every punch and kick came out limp and weak.

As an earl who had received noble education since childhood, Sakre pitied Allen's current state. He willingly became a sparring partner, hoping to lift Allen's spirits without activating his Battle Aura.

Allen accepted his goodwill and prepared to spar with him in close combat.

In the end, Sakre, who had originally planned to go easy on him, suffered a terrible misfortune out of kindness.

The situation at the time was extremely strange. Sakre, who thought highly of himself, wore an annoyingly smug smile as he covered his head with both hands and let Allen punch him with all his strength.

Allen had always hated people who acted even more pretentious than he did. He put all his strength into it and swung a slap at Sakre—using his palm rather than his fist.

Then... then Sakre flew away and crashed into a weapon rack dozens of meters off.

The tremendous noise drew everyone in the Old Castle's attention: Dina, the Old Butler, Old Zak, and the two barbarians, Big Babylon and Old Zak.

Ever since they had driven back the Wolf Cavalry outside Outpost County's eastern gate, Little Zack and nearly a hundred elite warriors from the Bloody Hoof Tribe had departed. Old Zak and Big Babylon had remained behind, intending to accompany Allen and the others into the Great Wilderness in a few days to search for clues about Dina's birth mother. The two barbarians could then return to the Great Chieftain Tribe and report back. No matter what, they had brought the person back from the Church for them.

Everyone looked at one another after seeing Allen slap Sakre flying.

Big Babylon said, "This guy has incredible strength."

Old Zak said, "It's comparable to the enhancement of a Barbarian Battle Ring."

Old Laixi said, "The power of a False God!"

Dina said, "Second Young Master is amazing."

Bare-chested, Allen noticed that the golden dragon totem on his chest had flashed when he attacked. He shouted excitedly, "The power of dragons! Hahaha, Dragon Power possesses me!"

Having completely stopped taking Sakre seriously, Allen crooked a finger at Big Babylon.

Big Babylon was thrilled at the sight of a worthy opponent. He removed his short beastskin shirt, stepped forward, and began testing strength with Allen.

Among the tens of thousands of barbarians in the Great Wilderness, Big Babylon was known as a barbarian strongman. Whether in size or muscularity, he was a level above Allen.

Yet after the two began wrestling, Big Babylon used the strength he had been saving for his wedding night and still found himself at a disadvantage everywhere.

After Big Babylon was defeated, Bloody Hoof Chief Old Zak took his place.

Although Old Zak was already over fifty, he was still vigorous. Before stepping forward, he activated the Bloodhoof Battle Ring. The muscles all over his body swelled by thirty percent, and his eyes turned bloodshot, making him resemble a crazed barbarian bull.

Allen won again. Although it was a difficult victory, he still flung Old Zak away while retaining some of his strength.

Old Laixi looked at the excited Allen and chose that inappropriate moment to pour cold water over him. Confused, he said, "Over the past three thousand years, those who claimed to have received Chaos's blessing included the Dark Demon God of the Green Demon Tribe, who excelled in mental attacks; the Hell Black Dragon Knight, whose Battle Aura had reached the Sword Saint realm; and the Lich King, whose magical cultivation had reached an unimaginable level. Why has everything changed when it comes to you?"

Allen froze.

Old Laixi was deeply puzzled. "Whether it is a god's blessing or, as you claim, Chaos's curse, would it really create such a huge spectacle just to grant you brute strength? Powerful Mental Power attacks can affect the minds of crowds over a wide area. The Sword Saint realm and magical cultivation need no explanation. What use is your brute strength? Is it only so you can easily win gladiator tournaments?"

Sakre, his face swollen, shouted gleefully, "Hahaha, maybe it's because Allen is a native of this continent, while those three were outsiders from another world."

Old Laixi shook his head. He simply could not understand it. This was far too absurd. Allen had said he had personally witnessed such a bizarre scene, that gods had appeared in some form, and then all he got was greater strength?

Allen could no longer laugh. He realized that the Old Butler was right.

Seeing that the Second Young Master was unhappy, Dina comforted him. "Mages are nothing special. Don't they just hide hundreds of yards away, protected by a group of warriors, and launch sneak attacks? Second Young Master has tremendous strength and unmatched courage."

Allen's eyes lit up. He asked impatiently, "What is a Magus's casting range?"

"Eight hundred yards! Why?" Old Laixi asked, not understanding.

Allen walked to the weapon rack, picked up a Knight Greatsword, and, under everyone's puzzled gaze, gave a loud shout and hurled the greatsword into the air.

With a piercing whistle, the Knight Greatsword vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye like a meteor. The gust it carried made everyone's faces sting.

Allen asked smugly, "Was that eight hundred yards or not?"

Old Laixi's mouth hung open, and he could not speak for a long while.

That was more than a Magus's eight hundred yards, wasn't it? Ignoring accuracy, it probably reached two thousand yards. Even a Saint-level Mage might not have a range of two thousand yards.

The two barbarians looked at each other. For the first time, they felt that the strength barbarians had always been proud of was nothing worth boasting about.

Sakre said stubbornly, "What use is that? Forget a mage's wide-area destruction. Without Battle Aura enhancement, ordinary weapons can never become divine weapons capable of cutting iron like mud."

Allen glared at him. "What use is your Third Tier Battle Aura? Isn't it still single-target?"

Sakre drew his sword and gestured for Dina to move farther away. He activated his Battle Aura, then lightly swung his sword. Sword Qi burst from the blade and sliced a log over twenty centimeters thick cleanly into two, as if it were butter.

Allen snorted, shoved Sakre aside with his shoulder, and bent down to pick up the Seven-Meter Dragon Spear.

Grasping it with both hands, Allen leaped into the air and smashed it viciously toward a pile of logs.

With a boom, dozens of logs exploded into tiny splinters. The stone bricks on the ground shattered one after another, and the area struck by the dragon spear was a complete mess. A shallow trench over thirty centimeters deep had been carved into the ground.

"Anything else to say?" Allen hugged the slightly bent dragon spear to his chest, then flexed both arms and straightened it out.

Sakre stared at his hands, which still flickered with Battle Aura. Suddenly, he felt that the Battle Aura he had cultivated for decades did not cause as much damage as brute strength.

If the two of them were on a battlefield filled with large-scale slaughter, Sakre felt that even if he hacked away all day with two broken swords, he still would not kill as many enemies as Allen could by blindly swinging the Seven-Meter Dragon Spear a few times.

"Dragon Power! Hahaha!" Allen threw back his head and laughed. "From now on, it will be called Dragon Power."

Old Laixi's eyes twitched. He suddenly remembered that Allen had once eaten an Evil Dragon Egg.

Outside Outpost County, at the camp of the Earth Dragon Legion, which had just been stationed beyond the northern gate.

A messenger burst into Xiulunte's military tent with a terrified expression.

Xiulunte shot him an unpleasant look.

"Reporting to the Legion Commander, your Earth Element Earth-walking Dragon is injured."

"What happened?" Xiulunte sprang to his feet.

The messenger's mouth felt bitter as he explained, "The Earth Element Earth-walking Dragon was feeding just now when a Knight Greatsword suddenly flew out of the sky from the direction of Outpost County. It struck the Earth-walking Dragon's claw directly after descending from high above. Your... your Earth-walking Dragon's entire right rear claw was severed."

Xiulunte said, "..."