Luton was leading the way back to the temple with the others following. I was deep I though wondering about my rematch with Fake Chrono alias FC. Is it possible that he saw my level of threat as negligible the same way I saw that of the spider? Just like me, he did not move an inch from his original position and used a fraction of his strength to acquire victory. If that is the case, what should I do?
[Negative. A dragon is the strongest species in this world.]
[Those are species that have lived for eons attaining the strength of gods.]
[Your base strength as a dragon at the same point in evolution, is higher than the four of them.]
[Setting aside the supreme magic Life Creation that the hydra holds, that is correct.]
[Negative, you lack the required life force. However, it is possible to evolve into a stronger dragon species now.]
[Yes. However, you will need to sacrifice your attributes and mana reserves to make the new body.
Thunder Dragon
Size increase x0.9, Mana maximum capacity 40 million,
Cost 8 million mana + 30% all current attributes
Special attribute: Control Weather, Lightning speed
Sea Dragon
Size increase x2, Mana maximum capacity 90 million,
Cost 13 million mana + 50% all current attributes
Special attribute: Water healing, Control ocean waves
Shadow Dragon
Size increase x1, Mana maximum capacity 250 million,
Cost 24 million mana + 99% all current attributes
Special: Physical attacks nullified, elemental attacks nullified, illness nullified, Shadow Realm]
Three paths to choose from. Shadow dragon is definitely the strongest choice but having 99% of all attributes sacrificed is risky. Trouble may come knocking at any point.
[Negative. Each specialized dragon attribute is carried with you once you evolve.]
That is really good to hear. Jumping straight to shadow dragon means that I will lose some very interesting abilities. "We are here master Chrono." Luton said. Master? Well I don't really…Meh who cares. "Good. I want to be left alone if you don't mind. Clear all the spectators from this room." I said. "Sir Chrono, thank you for sparing my family." The queen said as she left the room. I nodded my head and watched as they left. I was now alone inside the room that I first met Luton. The soldiers had already left whether by their own power or someone assisted them, I could not say.
I followed Jenga's guideline and soon I could feel it. Strength was leaving my body and I felt very weak and tired. My body was disintegrated with a piercing bright light and began reconstructing itself. I must have passed out somewhere through the evolution process because I woke up naked and very tired. A Thunder Dragon's evolution did this much? What if I had chosen the Shadow Dragons path?
[It would have taken a century to complete.]
[Correct. But this does not account for energy required to maintain life during these processes which varies greatly depending on the individual.]
[Affirmative, but in that case, you provided the life force and energy to the subjects. For your case, nobody else can provide it to you.]
What this meant upon further questioning was that if I had spent 24 million mana reserves for Shadow Dragon awakening, the regeneration of mana would be capped at 1 million mana reserves until the process was completed. My maximum mana capacity was at 25 million. 1 million in mana reserves would have to support the energy required to maintain life while also supporting the evolution process. This low energy present would make the process take a century to complete. However, if I jumped from sea dragon to shadow dragon (90-24= 66) spare million mana reserves, the process would take less than a week.
[Affirmative. You are now a thunder dragon. The process took six hours.]
I conjured up some simple clothing and began walking to the door. The door was flung open by Luton who was out of breath. "Forgive me master Chrono, there is an emergency." Luton said. "What is it?" I asked. "There is a horde of spiders just outside the city gates. They number over a thousand." Luton answered. Why are they here?
[It is estimated that they came to deal with the biggest threat here. YOU!]
Ah exactly. The spider likely had the kin communication ability. No doubt it sent a distress call to the others. Well this is not a bad thing either, I get to test my new powers. "Alright. I will be at the gate shortly. Go and evacuate the residents near the wall." I said. Luton left immediately. He used shadow magic to disappear immediately. I really need to learn that skill but now is not the time. I left the temple and flew immediately to the targeted site. I did not land but instead began surveying the horde. There was at least 10,000 low level and midlevel spiders outside the walls. The soldiers were launching flaming arrows at them from the top of the wall. The spiders were terrified of fire and were at a safe distance away. This was the only reason that they had not overrun them and climbed over the walls. This was a perfect opportunity for me to test the Lightning speed. I landed in front of the horde and began stretching my limbs. Let's see how fast I can move. In an instant, I had rammed through the first rows of spiders. The speed was magnificent. My body always had a limit to how fast I could go but with this ability, there were no bottlenecks. Only the clothes were not strong enough to withstand such speeds.
[Mana increased by 2.36 million
Strength increased by 2.36 million
Gained ability Awareness.]
[Ability that allows you to detect dangers up to a distance of twenty meters.]
Not bad, I severely lacked the ability to scan my surroundings. I was standing on one edge planning about the next skills to try out. I decided to try out the control weather ability. It was initially a clear night sky with the moon improving the visibility. Through, Jenga's instructions, I managed to call up heavy dark clouds. It began raining and lightning strikes were observed throughout the field for at least twenty seconds before I gave up on it. The mana consumption was extremely high and about 100 lighting strikes a second for 20 seconds made this battlefield a living hell. The clouds dispersed and the moon was visible once more.
[Mana increased by 12.7 millionStrength increased by 12.7 million]
< How much mana do I have?>
[13.5 million]
Considering over 70% of the spiders have been eliminated, this Dragon body used it's ability efficiently. It was time to try out my dragon form and see if the 10% size reduction was a big deal. In a few moments, I changed into a dragon. My body was very dense and dark in color with few glowing white scales on my head and back. I felt that this body was much sturdier and more muscular than my previous dragon form. Sparks were flying all around my body which made the spiders try to conduct a retreat. However, that was not part of my plan. I opened my mouth and shot a violent lightning strike much more powerful than any attack before. A large tunnel was formed that extended to a nearby hill and made a hole on its side. Forget, the dark void, forget any directional elemental attack that I had cast before, this lightning attack surpassed them all in power and mana efficiency. I heard a loud roar from the sky and before I knew it, I was facing fire attacks. The attacks did not harm me even without a barrier for protection. Just as I had suspected, the scales of a thunder dragon were much sturdier. Wait, isn't that Zari? Why is she attacking me? "Who are you? I have never seen your kind before." Zari asked in her dragon form. So she doesn't recognize me. I might as well use this chance to spar with her. I did not answer her question but instead lounged at her. She used her tail to whack my face, it did not hurt but the impact was enough to make me lose my footing for a second or two. She did not miss this opportunity and flew slightly above the ground and began launching ice attacks at me. I decided not to use any barriers this time in order to test the durability of this new body. The giant icicles shattered upon impact and could not penetrate my body. Seeing this, Zari launched a fire attack more fierce than the one before. The fire did not penetrate my scales either. I decided to use my lightning attack on a limited basis. Zari could tell what I was planning to do and she erected an ice barrier to protect herself. I lunched the attack and it pierced through the barrier as if it were made of paper. The attack landed on Zari's stomach and electrocuted her. She fell from the sky and landed on the ground. BOOM. A large sound was heard. A small crater formed where she landed. I went to her side still on my dragon form and nudged her with my head. She was not badly hurt compared to our normal training. She was just immobilized due to the electric shock. "Were you always this weak Zari?" I asked. Zari opened her eyes and looked at me. She stared at my eyes before she changed back to her human form and I followed suite. "Chrono. You bastard." She shouted. "In the flesh. How do you like my new dragon form?" I asked. "Wait new… is that why your hair is white in color?" She asked. I had not looked at it since waking up.