Caesar stared intently at the few pieces of cloth in Cecilia's claws.
He sent her to rob someone, and the Dragon brought back the person's undergarments! If word got out, how could a respectable Dragon like him continue to live in the mountains?
"Throw them away immediately!" Caesar commanded disdainfully.
"Oh..." Cecilia pouted pitifully, about to unclench her claws.
[Ding! Special Magic Item detected.]
[Item Name: aura cloak (Imitation)]
[Quality: Gold]
[Effect: When the wearer receives an attack that could cause fainting, internal magic power can be consumed to forcibly retain 1 HP. Can only be triggered once per battle.]
[Attached Skill: Voice of Allure (Fairy/Special/40): Consumes magic power to emit a sound that affects the target's mind. Has a 30% chance of causing targets below LV.30 to enter the 'Infatuation' state, lasting one turn; has a 15% chance of slightly increasing the 'Affection' of targets below LV.40.]
The System notification sound froze Caesar's movements.
He looked at the pieces of cloth in Cecilia's claws, which were clearly undergarments, and then at the appraisal result, his mind a complete blank.
aura cloak?
System, you're telling me this thing is an aura cloak?!
This is way too bizarre, seriously?!
Although it was an item that could save his life at a critical moment and came with a skill that sounded somewhat interesting, Caesar still felt this thing was utterly cursed.
He couldn't imagine tying this thing around himself.
It was too much to handle.
Disgusted, Caesar rummaged through the spoils of war, pulled out the smallest Storage Ring, and tossed it to Cecilia.
"This is yours." He pointed his claw at the few "aura cloaks." "Put these cursed things inside. You are not allowed to take them out without my permission! Understand?"
"Oh..." Cecilia took the ring, pouting. Although she didn't know why Caesar was reacting so strongly, she obediently put away the "shiny things."
Now she had her own personal treasury! Hooray!
Caesar sighed in relief, took several blue Healing Potions from the largest blue ring, twisted off the caps, and downed them. The cool liquid flowed down his throat, and his depleted magic power slowly began to recover.
While recovering his mana, he took stock of his gains from the battle.
Reaching Rank LV.30 officially brought him into the Gold Rank, making him a major player in this world. Furthermore, he hadn't even started consuming the Giant Crystal Crab King's massive corpse yet; after devouring its flesh and blood, his Rank would surely climb another step.
The biggest gain was undoubtedly the two complete "elemental resonance crystals"—the Tera Crystal Blocks.
Caesar held the two fiery red crystals with his Shadow Claw, examining them carefully.
In the game, after defeating a Terastalized pokémon, the Tera Jewel on its head shatters, leaving behind "Tera Shards" with an extremely low probability. Those shards need to be handed over to the chef at the pokémon Cafeteria and made into a dish to change a pokémon's Tera Type.
But the two blocks in his hand were complete items that could be used directly.
Caesar recalled the feeling during the battle... the moment he touched the Tera Crystal Block, his own magic power was first replenished, and then immediately converted into the power of Fire Terastalization.
This was why this Terastalization had placed such an enormous burden on him.
Even the System's "Rank Up Status Refresh" mechanism couldn't restore his mana, because his magic power wasn't consumed; it was "converted," turning into the fire-type power that he was incompatible with.
After Terastalization ended, that power could not be reabsorbed by his ground/dragon-type body and simply dissipated.
Caesar drew two conclusions from this.
First, using an "elemental resonance crystal" to Terastalize meant the crystal itself would first fully energize the user and then convert that energy into the corresponding Tera power.
Second, during Terastalization, the user's own magic power would be continuously converted into Tera power.
This process was quite crude, amounting entirely to a temporary, reckless burst of power.
Caesar guessed that there should exist an item in this world similar to a "Tera Orb," used to stabilize the Terastalization process and reduce consumption.
He looked at Cecilia, who was still fiddling with her personal treasury nearby.
"Hey, Fat Dragon."
"What is it! This Miss is busy!" Cecilia didn't lift her head.
"In the Legacy memories of your ancestors stretching back eighteen generations, is there any information about this kind of crystal, or items that can stabilize the use of this power?" Caesar shook the Tera Crystal Block in his claw.
Cecilia finally looked up, glanced at it, and shook her round head: "Never seen it. The power of True Dragons comes from our Bloodline; we don't need to rely on stones like this."
Fine, he couldn't rely on this glutton.
Caesar could only give up. It seemed he would have to figure things out himself later... Aside from his Rank and the Tera Crystal Blocks, the other major gain was the weather Move, Sandstorm.
In the game, Sandstorm, like Rain and Sunny Day, was just a weather condition.
But in reality, the Sandstorm unleashed by Caesar was a veritable natural catastrophe!
Within the area covered by the Sandstorm, creatures of types other than Steel, ground, and Rock were suppressed in all aspects; their movement, breathing, and spellcasting were all affected.
This was simply a Domain-level divine skill!
The only drawback was the extremely high mana consumption; with his current magic power reserve, using it twice would completely drain him.
If it was only meant to trigger the Sand Veil Trait, using other skills would be more cost-effective.
Speaking of prerequisite Moves, Quicksand Abyss also underwent a qualitative change after Caesar grasped Sandstorm.
Caesar mobilized a trace of magic power and used Quicksand Abyss on a sandy patch not far away.
Instead of collapsing into a vortex as before, the sand patch directly coiled up, forming a Quicksand Tornado about ten meters high! The grit spun rapidly in the air, emitting a piercing howl.
It was no longer just a simple trap, but had transformed into an area-of-effect Move that could directly attack...!
Caesar estimated that if this Move were used during a Sandstorm, its power would likely increase exponentially.
More importantly, with the Sandstorm weather, once he mastered the Weather Ball skill, he would essentially gain a stable Rock-type ultimate Move!
He finally had a slight breakthrough in dealing with the cheating Charizard on the sixth floor of the Legacy Space.
The setting sun's afterglow sprinkled across the muddy lake surface, reflecting a tragically beautiful orange-red hue.
Caesar's condition had recovered somewhat. He kicked Cecilia, who was still rolling around in the pile of treasure.
"Stop playing, put your things away, and get ready to work!"
The two little Dragons began to dismember the remains of the Giant Crystal Crab King.
Although this giant creature was blown to pieces by the Inferno Overdrive, there were still many parts that hadn't been carbonized... Cecilia gleefully drilled into the crab shell, which resembled a ship's cabin, to collect the tender crab meat.
Caesar, meanwhile, was responsible for collecting the crystal-clear blocks from the Crab King's back—
These were Gold Rank energy storage crystals, rich in Rock-type factors, which might allow him to learn new Rock-type skills.
They had to hurry with this process.
Caesar's Sonar Organ could clearly sense that many hungry predators were already lurking in the dense forest several kilometers away.
They were deterred by the previous catastrophic Sandstorm and dared not approach for the time being. But the scent of flesh and blood would eventually overcome their fear.
Caesar planned to first store the easily processed parts in his Storage Ring, leaving the remaining carcass as bait.
When those unwise Demonic Beasts were drawn in, he could stage a perfect ambush, allowing the old Giant Crystal Crab King to serve one last purpose.
Speaking of which, it was strange—the Giant Crystal Crab King was clearly a Bug/Steel dual-type Demonic Beast living in the lake, so where did it get the Fire Terastalization power from?
Caesar felt that there was something suspicious about this matter.
Just as he was concentrating on cutting the crystals,
his sonar suddenly detected an unusual vibration!
It wasn't coming from the ground, but from the sky!
"Get down!"
Caesar let out a low growl, dragged the Little Silver Dragon, who was still digging for meat in the crab shell, and both Dragons plunged into the viscous mud pit, leaving only their eyes and nostrils exposed.
Almost simultaneously, three massive shadows swept across the sky, bringing a bone-chilling cold wind.
Caesar looked up through the gaps in the muddy water.
They were... three Sub-dragons, each over twenty meters long!
Their entire bodies were covered in crystal-clear Frost Scales, reflecting a diamond-like brilliance in the sunset. Every flap of their wings caused ice crystals to condense in the surrounding air.
Three pairs of cold, vertical pupils scanned the devastated Yan Yan Lake.
[Frost Wyvern (Dragon/Ice) LV.32]
[Frost Wyvern (Dragon/Ice) LV.33]
[Frost Wyvern (Dragon/Ice) LV.31]
The three high-Rank Sub-dragons circled above the lake a few times, seemingly confirming something.
When they discovered that the Guardian of the Lake Heart, who had originally occupied this area, had been reduced to charred remains, they simultaneously let out a high-pitched Dragon Roar, as if reporting the situation.
Afterward, the Sub-dragons flapped their wings and flew toward the depths of the distant mountains, quickly disappearing into the horizon.
Only after the cold oppressive feeling completely vanished did the two little Dragons crawl out of the mud pit together.
"Hoo..." Caesar exhaled a mouthful of foul air, his expression turning serious.
The plan has changed!
They must leave this place!
Frost Wyverns were creatures that absolutely should not appear in the outer regions of this mountain range; they dwelled on the Extreme Northern Peaks, which were covered in snow year-round.
There was only one possibility for who could command three Frost Wyverns above LV.30 to act as scouts.
A True Dragon!
And most likely, an Adult True Dragon!
A map of the continent's spheres of influence quickly formed in Caesar's mind. The closest Dragons Nest with this scale of power was only one place—
The "True Dragon Imperial Court"!
The largest and most tyrannical Dragons Nest in the world of Azeria.
Just as Alice had said, the long-dormant great Dragons seemed to be starting large-scale activities again...