Early morning, the Vitality Hall.
Ifrit had just woken up when she immediately shook the two still-sleeping baby dragons awake.
When faced with his "older sister's" invitation to play a game, the energetic Reshiram immediately started chasing after her, while his younger brother Zekrom wasn't very interested.
With a haughty snort, the black dragon spread its wings to cover its head and fell asleep again.
"Hahaha, come and chase me--"
"Aww!"
"Slow down, don't fall."
Looking at Vera, who was staring intently at the two little ones, Vane, who was propping his head up on the cushion, said speechlessly:
"Is it necessary? One is Terra Superman, and the other is a fantasy dragon. We'd be more worried about the furniture than about them falling down."
"That's so true..."
Rolling her eyes, Vera pointed to the empty hall.
"If we still have any furniture."
[Feel sorry...]
The culprit, the furniture destroyer Gregor, lowered his head.
"This has nothing to do with you, boss, right? If we're going to talk about it, it should be some pathetic guy who fainted from being scared by a cockroach."
Faced with Vera's explicit suggestion, the Vampire lying on the ground dared not speak out in anger.
I'll buy some furniture.
Gregor didn't think it was Vane's fault; not only his own furniture, but also the furniture in the Nearl Family's house had been damaged.
Upon returning, he found the room filled with Silverlance, ready to strike. He had to use some persuasion to explain that he had lost control of his strength.
Although the Nearl family repeatedly assured him that it was no problem, Gregor still felt bad about it.
Paying with Pure Gold... they definitely won't accept it.
Thinking of what Vane said, the future Nearl Family might even have to sell their furniture.
Gregor decided to buy some new furniture for the Nearl Family while he was there.
"Shopping, huh? I'd like to get those grilled sandworm legs from last time too."
Vane's eyes lit up, and he began to lay out the shopping list, while Gorth silently took out the Pure Gold bag and wrapped it up.
"Is this enough? If not, have some more."
Are you asking me to buy the shop?
Looking at the pile of Pure Gold the size of a suitcase, Gregor said worriedly:
Won't this kind of reckless spending lead to inflation?
"Don't worry, just like gold before, Pure Gold has extremely high industrial value and has always been in short supply."
After handing over his list and seeing Gregor off, Vane turned to Vera.
"Hey, second brother, didn't you go to the Scar Market? It's already morning, hurry back."
Why are you being so enthusiastic?
Frowning as she scrutinized Vane, Vera caught a glimpse of the two little ones beside her and suddenly realized what was going on.
"You want to take the Daikū and the Daichi out of here?"
"Gulp!" Vane's body stiffened.
"I was wondering why you've been staying here since last night..." Vera sighed.
"Bring it if you want, just don't cause any trouble."
Knowing that Vane would definitely sneak out to show off, and since she couldn't stop him anyway, Vera simply ignored his nonsense.
"Don't look at me like that. I told you to choose one. Just remember to feed it on time."
It wasn't until Vera's figure disappeared in the light that Vane snapped out of his daze.
"You agree just like that?"
"Otherwise what?"
Gorth then took out a piece of fresh meat from the shadows and nudged Vane, signaling him to move to a different spot.
After returning last night, the two young dragons, having exhausted their energy, fell into hunger again. They only fell asleep after consuming a massive mountain of flesh that was completely disproportionate to their size.
To ensure a sufficient food supply, Vera and Gorth spent the entire night repeating the process of [resurrection → taking meat → resurrection].
"Prepare today's dragon food, "Gorth instructed Vane.
"In short, I'm leaving them both in your care. Unlike us, they don't have a chat system, so they'll be hard to find if you lose them."
"It's alright, it's alright, I'll just find Bloodline Heir to attach to later."
Knowing that he had indeed become a supervisor, Vane's smile became brighter.
"It's good that you're aware of this, but it's best not to test their abilities. Their destructive power... is a bit too great."
Thinking of the still-warm lava lake, Gorth's voice became solemn.
"You've seen it yourself, Reshiram is alright, but Zekrom's flames must be contained!"
"I understand. I know how dangerous it is for someone so young to become a level three lord."
Recalling the experiment of the previous night, Vane couldn't help but sigh.
Just as Gorth had guessed, the young dragons that had been soaked in blood did indeed undergo a mutation.
Zekrom, the younger brother, mutated into a flame that absorbs energy and burns, while Reshiram was somewhat different.
They initially thought the white dragon that sprayed lasers in the game must have mutated into lightning, but after a careful inspection, they found nothing unusual.
Reshiram was punched when he bit Ifrit.
The young dragon fell to the ground, but did not cry out in pain. Instead, a blood-red light shimmered from its scales.
Vane initially thought the other party had inherited Immortal Body, but then he discovered something amiss.
He waved to Reshiram, who was chasing Ifrit, and the latter immediately changed his target and charged straight at him.
The white dragon chariot roared in with a strong wind, but Vane stopped it with one hand.
Looking at Reshiram's slightly swollen body, Gorth asked in confusion:
"Isn't what the Daikū Awakens really your [Immortal Body]? Judging from the effects alone, they're the same."
"It is indeed Immortal Body, but a castrated version."
Picking up the baby dragon and stroking its belly, Vane coughed and began today's mini-lesson.
"Question: Seaborn can obtain Immortal Body, so why don't your vines, which also absorb blood, have this ability?"
"Yes, it has the property of absorbing energy, doesn't it?"
"No, no, no, strictly speaking, that's the lifesteal ability of the first skill."
Vane shook his head and pointed to Zekrom beside him.
"Like the flames of the Daichi, it also has the [lifesteal] effect added to the first skill, but it's an incomplete version."
"The normal process should be to summon a medium to absorb the enemy's energy and then feed it back to the main body, but your vines and the Daichi only have the ability to absorb that one part."
"Although the vines are physical entities and can be indirectly returned to the original body by storing energy, an incomplete version is still an incomplete version, not a complete one."
Listening to Vane's description, Gorth asked curiously:
"And what about you? Don't your blood bats need to return to their original bodies after absorbing energy?"
"Indeed, it's not necessary." Vane nodded.
"The energy returned to my body the instant I absorbed it, probably because Vampires inherently possess spatial abilities."
"You mean [the Otherworldly Vortex]?"
Recalling the visual presentation of the Vampire's second skill, Gorth hesitated and said:
"Speaking of which... Vampires do indeed possess spatial abilities; they can even open a portal when encountering the real vampire in the Dungeon."
"Yes... I even tried to stick my body into the whirlpool before, but all I got was torn to pieces."
Vane unfolded an energy void in his palm, a look of regret on his face.
"I don't know how the Vampire himself uses his abilities, otherwise I would have opened a portal and sent us home myself."
"It's normal not to understand. If you really understood, you might become a madman like the original."
As Gorth picked up a piece of fresh meat and fed it to the baby dragon, he suddenly realized what was happening.
"Wait, you said we inherited incomplete versions, so why is Seaborn the complete version?"
"This brings us to the unique aspects of Seaborn."
Vane controlled his body to dissolve, and his blood-tinged form floated in mid-air.
"The We Many network connects my spirit with Seaborn's, while my blood serves as the physical bridge."
"Strictly speaking, it wasn't Seaborn controlled the [Immortal Body], but rather I who turned Seaborn into an extension of my own body."
"So... Seaborn actually used your terminal to access his abilities?"
"You could say that, since Seaborn was modified from Behemoth, it has a bit of mystical power to it."
Having affirmed Gorth's analogy, Vane returned the baby dragon to Ifrit, who was watching eagerly.
"The complete version of [Immortal Body] has 3 abilities."
1. Damage absorption property.
2. Convert damage into health.
3. Release the stored energy in the form of a shock wave.
Pointing to Reshiram, who was now running around happily again, Vane explained:
"Daikū possesses the first two, but the way he converts his blood volume is to strengthen his physical body, which is why his body grows larger every time he gets hit."
"But I remember that this enhancement has its limits."
Thinking about the way it would be presented in the game, Gorth said with concern:
"Won't Daikū go berserk like the boss?"
"Don't worry, I already said my transformation method is different from the boss's."
Rubbing his temples, Vane pondered how to explain:
"The boss's skill truly converts damage into energy; the reason there's no upper limit is because he is an energy being."
"My skill converts damage into health, which manifests as physical enhancement."
"Seaborn's unique ability is to obtain energy by decomposing the physical body; your vines themselves are also creations that transform energy into physical form."
"But Daikū is different. He is a dragon species with extremely high physical potential, and he is still in his infancy, lacking growth."
"If I really push myself to the limit, I'll just breathe fire like last time; going berserk is out of the question."
After hearing the explanation, Gorth felt much relieved and sighed:
"If your blood were placed in a Western fantasy world, it would be a legendary material, comparable to Ultraman Cosmos."
"I'll take that as a compliment..."
Rolling his eyes, Vane, intrigued, began to talk about Gorth's skills.
"Speaking of which, your skills are quite interesting. The Shadow Wolves are all energy creations, and with your enhancement skills, you should be able to grow continuously like the boss, right?"
"Even the leader can get hurt during growth, it's just that a bug in the skill was exploited."
Gorth understood what Vane meant; he had indeed tried this idea when he was in a state of crisis regarding combat strength.
"And then what happened?"
"The result is that my output rate can't keep up with the increasing size; the consumption is too high, so it's better to just summon the forest directly."
"Hmm... maybe it's because the core is missing?"
"Core?"
"That's right, the glowing thing on the boss's chest is his energy core. Although it looks like a weakness, the [Energy Shield] makes up for it very well."
"You mean you want me to get a core like the boss's? But I don't have any damage immunity skills, where am I supposed to find such a high-energy crystal?"
"That is indeed a problem..."
Vane scratched his head and changed his approach.
"How about trying to devour enemies with shadows? By the way, what's your maximum range again?"
"For a single person, a radius of 50 meters is the limit."
Gorth calculated the range, then shook his head.
"But I don't really want to do that."
"Huh? Why? Even if the enemy is strong and you can't die, being locked up in the shadows is no different from being in a cage."
"That's disgusting..."
"Disgusting? What's disgusting about it?"
"Because I can feel it."
Gorth clutched his stomach and gave an analogy.
"It's like knowing you have worms in your body; it doesn't hurt or have any effect, but it's still unsettling."
"I didn't see anything unusual when you put the corpse into the shadow..." Vane squinted and looked Gorth up and down.
"We've known each other for so many years, how come I didn't know you were a germaphobe?"
"I just don't like handling live animals. You can eat cooked silkworm pupae, but would you accept swallowing a whole live one?"
"... That's enough, stop talking."
Thinking of that image, Vane felt a wave of nausea for some reason, as he conjured up the image of cockroaches.
"And you're one to talk...!"
After expressing his disdain for Vane, Gorth brought up another reason.
"Besides being disgusting, putting things into shadows requires energy."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, and the energy consumed is linked to the energy and mass of the stored object itself. It's not impossible to use it in actual combat, but it would be very troublesome."
"Tsk, are you destined to be a mass-production army player for the rest of your life?"
Listening to Gorth's description, even someone with Vane's wild imagination felt a headache coming on.
"Why don't you try turning the forest into a spell tower to enhance your skill effects? That way..."
"Etc."
Gorth stopped Vane from continuing his divergent thinking and asked in confusion:
"And what is a spell tower?"