As soon as Nick heard the system's delightful ring his expression immediately turned for the better. It was always the system that took care of him best.
Ding! Congratulations host for comprehending incomplete skill-Gluttony!
Ding! Congratulations host for unlocking new bloodline skill-Devour!
Ding! These skills harmonize with each other, does the host want to fuse them?
He Knew that the heavens wouldn't let someone as kind and honest as him down, yet the names of the skills scared him a little, why did the names give him the feeling, that they wanted to make him more of a fatty than he currently was...
but the third notification puzzled him.
Ever since he got the system, he has checked the system menu almost every day, but the fusion and the shop function were always grayed out, but now according to the system he could still use the function?
But the system's guide explained it to him soon enough, apparently, the fusion menu was an overpowered function that allowed a person to take two completely different skills and combine them into a new and improved skill of a higher grade. And even though there was always a chance of failure, this function was awesome nonetheless.
While what the system was doing now, was a super run-down version of this function, because the two skills were very identical combining them didn't even require that function and could be handled by the system.
After getting a deeper understanding of the system, he immediately asked the system to combine the two skills, because if he didn't get something out of this situation then he might just jump off a bridge, which, considering his current weight was a guaranteed suicide.
As for why he decided to combine them, it was because he saw their individual descriptions, and they frightened him, to say the least!
[Gluttony(incomplete): This skill is an incomplete version and while it was complete, it allowed the possessor of the skill the ability to devour everything and gain its attribute, while their hair color will change into the last attribute they consumed. And even though it's incomplete, it still retains most of its functions and only has one tiny disadvantage, once a week the skill owner will go into a crazed state where they will lose their minds and devour everything in front of them...]
Obviously, no one would cultivate this technique, only a crazy person would cultivate a technique that would change his hair color, sigh if only it didn't change the color of his hair that was the only downside Nick could see...
[Devour: This skill is an innate skill of the Heaven devouring Ancient Dragon, this dragon could in fact devour the heavens if its cultivation is strong enough, and it is this skill that has made the Heaven devouring Ancient dragon the third strongest dragon race in the Upper realms! Once cultivated the owner turns larger and larger and it is said that the strongest Heaven devouring ancient dragon could reach the size of ten worlds combined!]
As for this one, the idea was to get thin again, not become a giant, besides, how would he enjoy the little things if he became that big, how would he entertain the ladies then, there was such a thing as overkill you know, at that time he would have to go find companionship with another heaven devouring dragon...
But it surprised him that a dragon that could literally devour the heavens was actually only ranked third among the dragon races, one could only imagine how powerful the two races above it were.
So, he combined them and sat there cross-legged while crossing his fingers hoping for a little luck to shine on him.
Ding! Fusion complete, new skill created-Gluttonous dragon body tempering technique!
Nick didn't hesitate in checking its description.
[Gluttonous dragon body tempering technique: As the name suggests this is a body tempering technique created from the fusion of two powerful skills. This technique allows a cultivator the ability to devour all things and use their energy to strengthen his body. The technique also grants the user the ability to manipulate their body size, and the higher their cultivation gets the larger or smaller they can make their body!]
Does the host want to learn the Gluttonous dragon body tempering technique?
Nick accepted right away, he could only hope that cultivating this technique would somehow make him thin again.
And pretty soon vast oceans of knowledge drowned his consciousness, as knowledge of every bone, meridian, and muscle, as well as ways to manipulate his size, imprinted themselves in Nick's mind.
Then after five minutes or so, Nick had officially learned the skill, and could now use it.
Sssssss
The moment he began practicing the skill he could feel his stomach working overtime devouring the fat on his body quickly and violently, but it didn't stop there because as he got thinner, his body, became stronger and stronger!
And he had only lost a little fat when,
Ding! Congratulations host for leveling up your physical body to Spirit realm rank 1!
Joy wasn't enough to describe Nick's mood right now, what was being overpowered, this was being overpowered, this skill was too heaven-defying!
If girls ever found out that he had a skill that could make him thin no matter how much he ate, then Nick would be hunted down and killed off in their attempt to get their hands on this skill.
Halting all distractions Nick kept cultivating, and only stopped once he reached his previous size, but by then his physical body had already reached the fifth rank of the profound realm!!
The Dark Nightmare was running laps around the forest and was passing by where Nick was, but what it saw made it trip and crash to the ground violently, causing dust particles to fly through the air. Wasn't Nick fat a moment ago? How come his fat just melted away like a candle now?!
Nick couldn't understand the simple mind of the stupid beast so he didn't bother to give it any attention. But was instead focused on the heated debate he was having with the system's guide.
"Brat, hmph, you sure are lucky, who knew you had so much dumb luck?!"
"This isn't luck, old geezer, it's called skill."
"Pfttt...skill my ass!! This was all the grace of the system!!"
"Yes, and the system is part of my skill."
"Your tongue is still fat as always I see!"
"What do you mean fat?!" Nick had always prided himself in never having any weak points, but today's experience really left him scarred. Being fat wasn't what scared him though, as it was the unfamiliarity his body carried afterward. Even his little soldier down there had turned meaty in a second earlier!
Noticing Nick's sensitivity, the old geezer was ecstatic, isn't this what he was waiting for, to find the weak spot of the boy and poke it over and over again.
"Well, you were fat for a minute there remember?"
"Yeah but I'm not fat anymore!!"
"Don't worry, you're still fat on the inside. Your body might lie, but your heart won't. You're a fatty through and through!"
"Well, you know what they say, it's better to have two chins than to be two-faced like somebody I know!"
After hearing this, the system's guide stayed silent and just projected an image into Nick's head of what seemed to be a gigantic meatball, but if one looked closely and was good at understanding abstract art, then they would see that the meatball looked a little bit like Nick...
Nick didn't retort and admitted defeat, it was said that a picture was worth a thousand words, but in this situation, the picture was worth a thousand insults.
And so, Nick quickly ordered the Dark nightmare to bring him high-quality meat and started leveling up his physical body, only stopping when he reached the first rank of the Origin realm.
As for why he didn't continue to level up, it was firstly because the system notified him that his physical body was also unable to level up to the gathering realm before he completed the main mission, and secondly, he was tired of chewing and was afraid he would develop a phobia of food if he continued anymore.
[Name: Nick Michelson
Title: The Slayer Of Scorpions
Cultivation Level: Origin realm rank 9
Physical Body Level: Origin realm rank 1
Cultivation Technique: Star Devouring Dragon manual
Physical Body Skill: Gluttonous dragon body tempering technique
Skill: Dragon eyes, Deception Fist, Cooking, Disguise Level 1/10 (Ten domineering points to level up)
Technique: Crimson steps Level 1/3 (5 domineering points to level up)
Exp:(Finish the main Mission to access)
Domineering points: -250
Bloodlines: Heaven devouring Ancient Dragon bloodline]
Everything seemed to be in order except the tiny bonus of Domineering points he got when he tamed the Dark nightmare, in the few seconds before the collar took full effect the beast was shocked by Nick's tricks and methods and provided Nick with Fifty Domineering points!
However, it seemed that after the beast was fully tamed it wouldn't provide any domineering points, which was a shame.
Calling over the Dark Nightmare Nick asked it if it had a personal name instead of one that was given to it as a general species because calling it dark nightmare felt wrong like calling every human...human and besides it was too long for comfort.
"Master, I don't have a Name?" The beast said honestly.
"Well then...I'll call you Silver from now on."