Hm… waking up, the first thing I noticed was this weird, nauseous feeling swirling through me. Took me about half a second to figure out what had happened.
Ah, right.
The sudden evolution or transformation, which I honestly prefer to call it, had caused me to lose control over myself. The lesser dragon body I was possessing got wrecked, leaving me in a purely spiritual state.
Tch. What a mess.
Still, it's not like I'm helpless. Since there was no one nearby, something I confirmed using my newly evolved sensory skill, I started focusing my mana and began shaping a new body from my magicules.
It only took a second.
I wasn't able to do this before, but now it came naturally. And I know why. Antares. He could shape his body from mana and freely change it according to his will.
The question is what do I want to look like?
I tried thinking about how I should look, but since I couldn't decide, mostly because of too many options from anime floating in my head, I decided to make something normal for now. The next second, my magicules shifted according to my wish, and I gained a humanoid figure.
Using Dragon Perception, yeah apparently that's what my Mana Perception evolved into, I took a look at myself from a third-person view. It seems many of my skills have evolved; this one became an alternative to Universal Sense.
Just as I imagined: a six-foot-tall boy, lean but muscular build, hair split between white on the right and crimson red on the left.
Shoto Todoroki.
Let's give it a little tweak. The white changes to blue. Hmm, it doesn't look good. For now, let's stick with white.
Changing it back, I looked down and noticed the raised elephant trunk I'd made between my legs.
I might have gone a bit overboard with the proportions. Of course, it's not even functional yet. I'd have to analyse a few samples to get that part right, but whatever. I'll leave it there for the symbolism.
I used Material Creation, yes the inherent skill of demons or daemons. It seems I've got quite a variety of skills now. Anyway, I used it to make a simple black shirt, pants, and underwear. I don't know why I bothered with the last one, maybe dignity's a habit that's hard to kill.
And finally, I wasn't standing around naked like some pervert.
Anyway, back to priorities. I really need to work on suppressing my aura and controlling my magicules. If I can hide my power properly, it'll make it easier to move around unnoticed. Sure, it won't fool monsters like Milim or Guy, but it'll work on most others, and that's good enough for now.
Plus, the last thing I want is a mini Charybdis popping out of my leaking magicules. Not because I don't want to deal with child support, I just don't want to attract attention by a sudden increase in monsters.
Also, magicules are practically radiation, especially mine being too potent as a disaster class. Most beings hanging around me too long would be dead instantly. A few lucky ones might mutate or evolve, but most would just combust.
Fun to think about, but not exactly ideal for social life.
Now then, time to check my skills. Let's start with the obvious one, the overpowered one, Flames of Destruction.
Just from the name, you can tell it's not for decoration. Definitely an attack type skill.
Let's see what it does.
It bypasses resistance, physical, magical, spiritual, you name it, and hits straight through. Even the Astral layer isn't safe.
And the best part is it burns you in every possible sense. Not just physically, but mentally too. Anyone unlucky enough to get caught in it will feel the pain, pain resistance or not.
It also interferes with regeneration. The burned parts don't heal properly, and the flames don't just vanish after contact either. They spread, slowly but relentlessly. If not purified or sealed off, they'll consume the target completely.
It's good I have control over these flames and can absorb and convert other forms of fire, natural or magical, into my own Flames of Destruction.
I want to test it, but first, let's look at my other unique skill.
Summoning Gate. It's a combination of my Monster Summoning skill and Antares's Dimensional Travel. It's reassuring to know that the abilities from the template can merge like this.
Still, I wonder if it's influenced by my own thoughts. Hopefully not all of them follow that rule, otherwise every skill will just become predictable, part of the system. I'd rather keep some things alien, stuff that can't be easily analysed or countered. Surprises are always handy.
I'll need to test the Gacha more once I get more cards, but for now, let's focus on the skill.
The biggest deal? It lets me open gates to places I know, including other worlds in this multiverse. Yeah, other 'magical' worlds. Damn, this is basically weaker version of Velgrynd's ability. Only problem is if I don't have the coordinates, the gate opens somewhere random.
Luckily, that's covered by a sub-skill that stores the coordinates of places I've visited or seen.
Then there's this other sub-skill, kind of an upgraded Monster Summon. Basically, I can grab all sorts of magical creatures from other worlds or planes now. Before, the old version only worked with that one Megalodon dimension, so this is a big upgrade.
Wait. West side. I'm picking up at least three hundred presences.
Seriously?
I just woke up and had to fight.
I don't think it's a coincidence. It's way safer to assume they came for me.
Though rather than fleeing it's better to meet them. Could be useful. Get some info while I'm at it.
Since I got out, I've been staying put. Don't really want to draw attention. No idea where the hell I got sealed in the first place. Could be near some human kingdom, though that seems like part of the setup. Humans were around when I got released. Most of them didn't survive my aura leak. One managed to live, though.
Whatever happens, it better not be the Luminous Kingdom.
I can't sense any particularly strong auras among them, well except for a few, but even those feel like ants compared to me.
Using Gravity Flight, I float toward them. They're not coming close, probably because the area within two kilometres around me is completely saturated with my magicules. It's basically a death zone.
Oh? One of them noticed me. Guess his perception's better than the others. Not that I was hiding my presence in the first place.
Since I don't want them running off, I pick up the pace. A barrier pops up ahead, holy attribute judging from the energy. There's magicule flow inside, but it's thin and light, too pure in quality. Looks like it's meant to block external magicules from entering.
Pity for them. It might've worked on weaker monsters, but not me. I wrap my aura around my fist and throw a punch.
I gather my aura around my hand and punch forward.
BOOM!
Cracks spread through the air like shattered glass. The barrier breaks with a satisfying crack crack crack.
I only need one or two people alive, so I let my dragon fear sweep through the rest. The weaker ones drop instantly, leaving two survivors standing which I deliberately left.
All of that happened in an instant, thanks to Thought Acceleration. My decisions played out faster than they could even react.
"Who are you?" one of them asked, trying to sound tough. But I could tell he was scared. His hand was twitching behind his back, fingers moving just slightly. Probably preparing to cast a spell or teleport.
I didn't bother waiting to find out which. I waved my right hand, and a crimson black flame burst out, slicing through the air and his hand. It hit the ground with a wet thud, blood spilling across the dirt.
"Ahhhhhh!"
The scream was loud, pathetic. I turned my attention to his companion, robes, polished staff, that sanctimonious look. A priest, maybe.
"Where am I?" I asked.
He froze. My aura must have snapped him back to reality because a second later his lips started moving again, stuttering but trying.
"Archelion! Archelion Depthwoods!" he blurted out.
I just stared.
He quickly continued with shaking voice, "It's a forest between the Thaldrin Kingdom, the Korynthia Kingdom, and the Erelith Theocracy!"
The names didn't ring a bell. I frowned slightly. I don't remember any of those from the novel.
Then it hit me.
Right. It was just a story. Of course it wouldn't cover every detail.
Let's get some more information before killing them.
*********
Other world's for travelling