An hour or so after Edward managed to eat something his body was back to normal. Well, for the most part, at least. There was still the massive issue of how his IRL body had somehow transformed to appear as his avatar. His hair, while once a light brown, was now as dark as black can be. His eyes, once blue, were now black. His lip used to be smooth and clear, but now he had a massive scar covering it. Even his skin had paled to some extent.
Every change he experienced within the last few minutes should've been impossible. Hell, revitalizing himself with a few sips of water was already supernatural, but now he faced an entirely new problem.
"What the hell happened to me," Edward muttered as he saw on his bed. He looked at his DDS, almost afraid to put it back on again. Had a connection been linked to himself and his game avatar? If that was the case, how deep did the connection go? Would he die if his game avatar died?
Markus had already left after making sure Edward was safe— though not without promising to never speak of what happened with Edward's appearance. Edward had no way to ensure his friend wouldn't spill the beans, at least not until Edward had a grasp of the situation, but he trusted Markus to do the right thing.
Just in case, Edward had tried to open his game menu while in the real world. It didn't work, obviously, and he found himself greatly relieved by that fact. For now, as far as he could tell, the connection between his avatar and his body was only physical.
He would have to level up to test if his strength was increased proportionally, as well. If it did, would he end up as a superhuman in the real world if his character was at a high level? He knew every kid had dreams about being as strong as a superhero when they were younger, but those days were merely the time for fantasies and daydreams. Now that Edward was potentially facing the situation for real, he didn't know if he should've been happy or absolutely terrified.
"This should be impossible," Edward mumbled into his hand as he pressed his palm against his face. He rubbed his eyes for a moment before suddenly standing up, "Can I even go to work like this? I might be abducted by the military if I show such a drastic change! Will I be arrested if people think I undertook illegal plastic surgery? This isn't surgery! I promise! FUCK!"
Edward sat back down again as he desperately hoped for something to distract his mind. Without thinking, he took his helmet and placed it over his head. Then, with a press of a button, Edward found himself back in the game world again.
The transition was flawless, more so than usual. There wasn't even a lag in consciousness as he transferred from the real world to the game world. He simply found his environment flipping around— as if gravity had played a prank on him— as his body suddenly readjusted to the cold environment of the dungeon caves.
He immediately stood up, slightly dazed from the rapid transition, then immediately opened his menu. He checked the time, to be safe, and confirmed that there was a four-hour window of nothingness between when he drank the elixirs to when he woke up.
Four hours of a period he didn't remember. Was he dreaming? Edward quickly opened his menu and looked through his past notifications. A few of them made sense, like how his system caught onto the weakened elixir and used it to destroy the other ones. It was similar to how a vaccine was essentially a weakened version of a virus. His body must've treated the weakened elixir in the same way— which is why he didn't hallucinate when he fell unconscious.
"I suppose I should be glad about that," Edward said as he moved on to the next set of notifications, both of which confused him
︽
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Draconis. You have proven yourself worthy to share the blood of the first Dragon. Thus, you have learned the truth of the world. It is time for you to rise to ascension.
︾
"Dragon? I guess Draconis and Dragon sound similar, but I wouldn't have made the connection at all. I thought Draconis was some evil cult leader. As for the truth of the world, I suppose I should've learned it when I was supposed to be a hallucination. Now that I've skipped that step, I had no idea what that 'truth' even is. As for the final bit, ascension?" Edward mumbled to himself, "Is that why my avatar and body have mixed? I've ascended? What the fuck?"
︽
The Ancient Dragon, [UNLEARNED NAME], has seen your bold efforts in consuming all of the elixirs at once and applauds you. He has granted you a soul companion.
… Take care of him.
︾
"What the fuck does a soul companion mean? Who the hell is this ancient dragon?" Edward mumbled. He read the rest of the message and became even more confused, "This guy is rewarding me for consuming every single elixir at once, so I suppose the developers considered that? Or is this something the NPCs are deciding on their own? Ahh! Advanced AI is tricky to deal with!"
A moment later, Edward opened his status screen out of simple curiosity. He was surprised to find it contained new information.
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Lvl: 1
XP: 0%
Origin: Dragonkin
Title: The Winged Legion
—
POW: 2
AGI: 2
END: 1
WIS: 1
LUC: 1
—
Skills: [Dragon Tame]
︾
He skipped over everything that hadn't changed and instead focused on the new content.
Firstly, he was glad that his title increased his stats, though it didn't appear by much. The increase in power and agility, but that only increased his damage and speed by a minor amount. His stamina had doubled, but that advantage seemed to only be as effective at lower levels.
He was surprised to find that he had gained a title. After looking it over, information about his title appeared in his mind like a long-forgotten memory resurfacing after years of darkness. This made the information feel natural to him as if he already knew it. It was a strange feeling, but one he felt was nice.
After viewing the information from his new title, he discovered three major pieces of information.
One was that his title was a result of the blood Origin he consumed. This caused his race to be recognized as half-human and half-dragon. Unfortunately, information about this condition wasn't revealed to him, so he didn't know what being half-dragon provided him.
The second piece of information was that his title gave him a new skill: [Dragon Tame]. After looking over the information, he simplified it into a screen of its own. To his surprise, that exact screen appeared in front of him only a moment later— as if Edward had materialized it.
︽
[Dragon Tame] - Unique to the Dragonkin
Allows the user to use magic to magically tame wild Dragons— a race of monsters known to wreak havoc everywhere. Among the most powerful of monsters, Dragons reign supreme. This is the only known method to control dragons, though the mana usage for this skill is expensive.
At the moment, the Dragonkin may only tame newborn Dragons or defeated Dragons.
︾
︽
Automatic skill: [Appraisal] saved
(This skill will be active at all times but will not be shown in the skill list)
︾
"Ooh, a skill. Nice!" Edward muttered to himself. He brought his attention back to the status screen before him. After all, there was still one more piece of information he had to confirm.
︽
In light of your efforts to acquire a unique title, your username has adapted to your title
New username: The Winged Legion
︾