Origin of Magic

If this were the later stages, Keosius would have chosen Mage without hesitation. After all, being a mage was no joke.

A well-prepared and wealthy mage could confidently defeat any enemy of the same level, and later on there were powerful advanced classes like Time Mage that wielded the power of time and space.

But mages had a fatal weakness in the early stages—they needed to copy spells.

Yes, to mages, magic was a science that had to be studied.

Only by carefully studying how to construct spell models through Spell Scrolls, mastering the Weave parameters of each spell, and undergoing long-term study could one successfully acquire a spell.

And Keosius was currently penniless, with only a few pieces of Magic Equipment on him.

He could hardly run to a Human Town in the body of an evil dragon to study magic, could he?

Was he supposed to enroll in a Magic Academy? Sorcerers were different. Their spells practically "fell from the sky." Of course, there was a better term for it—natural talent.

After thinking for a moment, Keosius made his choice.

[Choose to advance class: Sorcerer]
[Dragon Bloodline detected]
[Automatically selected: Dragon Vein Sorcerer - Red Dragon Bloodline]

Dragons were powerful magical creatures, naturally proficient in many supernatural phenomena.

Dragons of any age, even Dragon Whelps, could possess Sorcerer Class Levels.

Some ancient scholars believed that Sorcerer abilities were inherited from dragons, perhaps through intermarriage generations ago.

More importantly, a Sorcerer's casting level could stack with a dragon's innate casting level, allowing dragons to fully utilize their bloodline and unleash the power within their bodies to even greater effect.

For instance, the renowned Ancient Red Dragon Imvaernathoarra had devoted himself to mastering Fire Magic and possessed a casting level as high as forty.

[Your Sorcerer level has increased to Level 1]
[Origin of Magic: Magic itself is part of a Sorcerer. This latent power permeates the Sorcerer's body, mind, and soul, waiting to be unleashed.]
[No one can choose magic. Magic chooses you.]
[You have gained 4 cantrips and 2 Level 1 spells.]

A rich spell list appeared on the light screen.

[Cantrips gained: Mage Hand, True Strike, Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion]
[Level 1 spells gained: Fog Cloud, Magic Missile]

It was still the standard early-game setup.

But when Keosius had advanced his class in his previous life, all he had received were cold, displayed numbers. He had never noticed anything unusual about it.

Only now did he realize how incredible this power was.

"This feeling..."

One spell after another appeared in his mind out of nowhere.

No, they had not appeared from nowhere.

It was more like something he had been born with, an innate gift.

This precious knowledge seeped into his body, his memories, and even attached itself to his will.

Mage Hand.

With a thought from Keosius, an invisible hand appeared out of thin air, picked up a stone from the ground, and threw it.

Even though it was the lowest-level spell and the simplest of actions, the red dragon found it somewhat astonishing.

Because this power did not come from some magical item or program, but from himself.

Compared with the scientific rigor of a Mage's spellcasting, a Sorcerer's spellcasting was more like an art.

There was no need to painstakingly construct spell models or calculate the various parameters of the Weave. One only needed to sense the Weave with one's consciousness, then project one's will into reality and make it manifest.

Thus, naturally gifted Sorcerers, capable of easily casting powerful spells, were often envied and scorned by Mages, who mockingly called them "barbarians among spellcasters" and "orcs with staffs."

"How marvelous."

The red dragon stepped over the enormous remains of the Owlbear, more than half of which had been eaten, and walked out of the cave with light steps.

He finally understood why the spellcasters of Erezege were so arrogant. The feeling of controlling reality could give one the illusion of being a god before ordinary people.

Yet the prompt messages on the panel had not ended.

[Bloodline Tracing: The bloodline of a Great Wyrm Red Dragon fills your body with blazing fire power.]
[You have gained affinity with fire elemental magic. Fire damage will be enhanced.]
[Breath Weapon (Fire) enhanced.]
[Additional cantrip gained: Fire Bolt.]

Blazing flames reflected in Keosius's golden slit pupils, and his body was like an erupting volcano.

His heart pounded fiercely, pumping this fire elemental energy throughout his body, while his bloodline burned and surged like pulsing magma.

[Tracing your bloodline inheritance...]

The red dragon closed his eyes, and visions appeared in his mind.

It seemed to be an unknown ancient battlefield on an Outer Plane. In the distance stood majestic metal walls hundreds of meters high.

A Great Wyrm Red Dragon beat his enormous Wings, whipping up a violent gale that sent the winged celestial army below tumbling in all directions.

He opened his jaws and unleashed a terrifying flame beyond the imagination of mortal creatures. The air warped from the heat.

The sturdy walls melted in an instant, opening a massive breach as the metal turned into scalding liquid and slowly flowed downward.

Aasimon Angels with dragon heads and human bodies wielded staffs and cast divine spells. Several Celestial Colossi dozens of meters tall leaped high into the air, pouncing toward the Great Wyrm Red Dragon above, while silver-haired Barachiel Angels drew their bows in unison and fired into the sky.

Yet compared to the vast battlefield as a whole, even that Great Wyrm Red Dragon seemed insignificant.

"Roar—"

Farther away, a terrifying monster with five savage dragon heads raised them toward the sky in a Long Cry. It spread its Sky-Shading Wings and slowly rose into the air.

At once, hurricanes surged and dust swept through the air.

A black shadow blanketed the earth, as though the end of the world had arrived.

Keosius in the illusion could not help but look up at the sky.

Yet he clearly saw that among those heads overlooking all living things was a red dragon head remarkably similar to his own. It stared down at him from above, and a faint curve seemed to form at the corner of its savage mouth.

The head slowly opened its mouth. "My child."

The voice seemed to come from the depths of his soul, and the red dragon immediately felt an overwhelming pressure from his bloodline.

That terrifying power made him instinctively want to bow, kneel, submit, and yield beneath the might of this god.

"She saw me!"

Alarm bells blared in the red dragon's heart.

The next moment, the sky of the illusion cracked apart like shattered glass.

Whether it was the Great Wyrm Red Dragon, the Celestial Colossi, or the terrifying five-headed figure in the sky, everything in the illusion shattered into fragments.

"Huff, huff."

"Huff."

Keosius barely escaped that suffocating pressure. He gasped for breath, his entire body stiff and trembling.

The red dragon stared at the game panel before him in utter astonishment. To his shock, the panel seemed to have caught a virus and began rapidly refreshing messages.

[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[You have drawn the attention of the god Tiamat, the Dragon Queen.]
[Thought-blocking system activated.]
[You have Faced Directly the god Tiamat, the Dragon Queen. You may undergo unpredictable changes.]

Keosius watched the lines of data scroll across the panel, still shaken but helpless.

"So this is the Power of a God. It's utterly terrifying."

"An ancient planar battlefield."

"Did I see Tiamat's true form?"

In the Erezege of his previous life, even when the players' power cap had reached Legendary Level—Level 21—the power of the gods remained a mystery. Almost no one had witnessed the true body of any god, not even those with weak divine power.

As for so-called "godslaying," that was nothing but pure fantasy.

Some top players had once said, "As long as they show a health bar, even a god can be killed."

But in truth, the level of a god's power was wholly beyond mortal imagination. By the setting, they were beings "without health bars."

This was the Power of a God. Simply gazing upon her true form within an illusion could bring terrible consequences.

But for a fledgling young dragon like him, Great Wyrm Red Dragons, cross-planar wars, and even Tiamat all seemed far too distant, far too grand.

If some powerful being truly had designs on him, he had no power to resist right now.

Rather than worrying about gods of the Outer Planes, he might as well steadily improve his strength first and consider the future later.

"But since I've already caught her attention, as a red dragon, I should still offer Tiamat an incense stick someday."

"Wouldn't want her to hold a grudge."

Keosius leaped lightly into the air, beating his powerful Wings as he gradually circled upward.

"Next, it's time to farm some experience."

The red dragon gazed over the endless forest and the mountains in the distance, then let out an involuntary Long Cry. Though his voice was still somewhat youthful, it already carried a hint of draconic majesty.