Adam was naturally excited as he read the notifications, but his attention remained on the piece of armor. With all the trouble he went through to get it, it better be something incredible. But before even seeing it's stats, Adam knew from the aura it released it would definitely satisfy him.
When Adam arrived half a meter from the armor, he took off all the pieces of armor he had on him, sending them back into his inventory. Thankfully he still had his underwear on. He touched the armor to inspect it, but as soon as he did the armor actually moved on it's own.
A Dragon's and a Tiger's roar echoed from the armor as it attached itself to him. The armor was a perfect size, and Adam felt a power greater than ever go through him. Drawn in the feeling of power, Adam also assigned the 5250 AP he got from the quest and his level ups, and it only intensified the feeling.
Next to him, the two orcs felt a powerful pressure coming from Adam, which would even make a beginner Gold Rank tremble. However, Adam was controlling his aura so that he wouldn't hurt the two. But what they didn't know was that it was far from over.
Adam checked his armor, and he definitely wasn't disappointed.
[Water Dragon Chestplate] (Unique, Level 60, Set)
Requirements: Bound to Valiant Heart
Defense: +4000
HP: +40000
All stats: +4400
Dragon Dominance (1/4 set effect): You naturally exude a dragon's dominance. Moral skills have their effects doubled.
Strong as a Tide (2/4 set effect): Water elemental skills become 50% stronger.
Blood Burn (3/4 set effect): Whenever your enemy is suffering from a bleeding effect, any healing will become 50% slower if you were the one who caused it.
Hell Spirit (4/4 set effect): Stun every enemy within a hundred meters for five seconds. May be resisted. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
[Water Dragon Helmet] (Unique, Level 60, Set)
Requirements: Bound to Valiant Heart
Defense: +4000
HP: +40000
Strength: +8000
Endurance: +4000
Dragon Dominance (1/4 set effect): You naturally exude a dragon's dominance. Moral skills have their effects doubled.
Strong as a Tide (2/4 set effect): Water elemental skills become 50% stronger.
Blood Burn (3/4 set effect): Whenever your enemy is suffering from a bleeding effect, any healing will become 50% slower if you were the one who caused it.
Hell Spirit (4/4 set effect): Stun every enemy within a hundred meters for five seconds. May be resisted. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
[Water Dragon Gauntlets] (Unique, Level 60, Set)
Requirements: Bound to Valiant Heart
Defense: +4000
HP: +40000
Strength: +14000
Dragon Dominance (1/4 set effect): You naturally exude a dragon's dominance. Moral skills have their effects doubled.
Strong as a Tide (2/4 set effect): Water elemental skills become 50% stronger.
Blood Burn (3/4 set effect): Whenever your enemy is suffering from a bleeding effect, any healing will become 50% slower if you were the one who caused it.
Hell Spirit (4/4 set effect): Stun every enemy within a hundred meters for five seconds. May be resisted. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
[Water Dragon Boots] (Unique, Level 60, Set)
Requirements: Bound to Valiant Heart
Defense: +4000
HP: +40000
Strength: +8000
Agility: +4000
Dragon Dominance (1/4 set effect): You naturally exude a dragon's dominance. Moral skills have their effects doubled.
Strong as a Tide (2/4 set effect): Water elemental skills become 50% stronger.
Blood Burn (3/4 set effect): Whenever your enemy is suffering from a bleeding effect, any healing will become 50% slower if you were the one who caused it.
Hell Spirit (4/4 set effect): Stun every enemy within a hundred meters for five seconds. May be resisted. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
The armor was light blue and was mainly made of dragon scales. His helmet was an opened one that revealed part of his face and was adorned of a pair of horns, which used to belong to the Water Dragon Princess.
The Chestplate was closely stuck to his body and almost looked like a second skin made of scales, showing off Adam's powerful muscles. His arms were also covered in scales, and his hands were made to look like miniature dragon claws, capable of being used like a human's, but also having terrifyingly sharp nails.
As for his boots, there wasn't much to say about them, except the word dragon. With this Water Dragon Set, Adam was covered from head to toe in dragon's parts, making him look like a legendary dragon slayer… well, he was one.
But his power scaling wasn't over. Since this was a safe place, Adam decided to undergo his promotion right here, right now. In his new armor, Adam sat on the ground and activated his promotion.
The moment he did, Adam felt the world around him stop, and Adam remembered this sensation to be the same as when Sofia appeared to him in the game. However, instead of her appearing, Adam disappeared from the smithy and appeared in a white room.
In front of himself, Adam saw Sofia, who was smiling at him.
Adam looked at her and asked "What happened? I could promote on my own, right?"
Sofia smiled and said "Had your situation been usual, you could have promoted on your own like many other players. However, you have grown too powerful. There is no doubt I won't be able to keep up with your avatar when you promote to the next rank. Hence, you need to form your own avatar."
She snapped her fingers, and instead of half of the universe turning into ashes, Adam saw his body appear in the room. Sofia said "This is your real body, I took it away from your gaming cabin. Now, you need to fuse your current avatar with your body. Fortunately, your real body's cultivation has reached the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm."
This time, she clasped her hands, and Adam felt a force act within his body as his real body began levitating. The process was much faster than Adam thought it would be though as it only took an instant for his body to fuse with the avatar.
Adam was ecstatic to see his real body had become as powerful as his body in the game. Sofia then said "Before we go any further, there are things you need to know. First, please take off everything you have on you."
Adam was stunned by her request, but still did as he was told without hesitation. Having taken everything off, Adam stood naked in front of Sofia, but he didn't care. First, he was proud of his body, so he didn't mind showing it off.
But more importantly, he was standing in front of a literal goddess, it felt very different from being seen by a mortal. She was above this. Or so he thought.
Adam was shocked when he felt her gaze descend from his face to his part below. Hey, aren't you supposed to be an all powerful goddess?
But Sofia clearly felt no shame as she looked at his member openly and seemed deep in thought. Only after a moment did her eyes climb back to Adam's face as she shamelessly said "The next step is for you to promote to the next rank. Then, you will create your avatar. But first, I want you to move everything inside your inventory inside the Blood Tower."
She had shamelessly ignored what she just did, but since she did this, Adam decided to also ignore it. Guessing what would come, Adam emptied his inventory inside a part of the Blood Tower, and as expected, the moment he did he felt his inventory disappear.
Sofia said "Breaking through to next realm, or the next rank, will bring many changes. First, your avatar will be mortal. To form your avatar you will have to split your soul in two, and your real body or your avatar dying will be permanent, and mean losing half of your soul."
Adam's face became grave, but Sofia wasn't finished "I see you have started to understand the Sovereign Concept of Spirit, which is good as it will allow you to slowly strengthen both of your split souls back to your soul's current level, and even beyond."
"Having two bodies and minds will be very useful to you though. Both of your souls will be connected at all time and their thoughts will be shared. This means you can meditate on two concepts at the same time for example."
"However, what you will form will not be a mere avatar, but a Yin Yang Avatar. This is the most powerful kind of avatars that will allow you to reach extraordinary heights in the future. For now, you will have to separate your body in a Yin half and a Yang half. Since your body's main affinities are water and fire, you will have to give your Yang body the fire affinity, and your Yin body the water affinity."
"This means that your Yang body will not be able to use any skill of the Water element, and the opposite for your Yin body."
Adam scratched his head and said "That's a lot to take in…"
Sofia was stunned, before she smiled and said "Right, there is no need for me to go on further, you will discover everything by yourself… Well, time for you to breakthrough then. You should know how to do so, right?"
Adam nodded and sat on the ground, starting his breakthrough.