After making an appearance to reassure his teammates he was safe and sound,
Gauss resumed observing his bodily changes.
This time, the [Dragon Kind] talent was like an evolution in life for him.
The greatest change was, naturally, his heart as robust as a Giant Dragon’s, but his other organs also experienced significant improvements.
Simply by standing there, he emitted an aura of majesty from his bloodline, like a humanoid Giant Dragon exuding a terrifying and awe-inspiring presence.
However, Gauss knew that this was a residual effect of newly ascending to [Dragon Kind] without fully acclimating to its powers.
Eventually, it would be controllable, allowing him to regulate it freely.
Ignoring the unusual leakage of aura, he paid attention to the other transformations of his body.
His skin became exceptionally tough.
Furthermore, with a mere thought, a layer of tangible, translucent Dragon Scale emerged from beneath his skin.
Upon lightly touching the Dragon Scale, he noted its hardness surpassed normal human skin and naturally possessed greater Magic Resistance.
He retracted the Dragon Scale, and internally, his organs and bones had grown even sturdier.
In addition to these organs, his blood seemed to experience some change.
He extracted Holy Water, transforming it into a small dagger, then pressed the pad of his finger against the dagger’s tip.
As he applied more force, the skin eventually split open, leaving a small cut.
Within the wound, red blood slowly flowed out.
Upon closer inspection, however, he discovered the blood was not purely crimson but reflected a faint golden hue.
Before he could continue to observe, the skin around the wound quickly moved, drawing closer until it sealed like invisible stitches rapidly sewn together.
In the blink of an eye, looking at the wound, his skin was smooth as new, with no trace of injury.
He sensed that his self-healing ability now not only could heal this small wound instantly but also more severe injuries multiplied might pose little trouble to him.
Only considerably serious injuries might give him a bit of inconvenience.
"So strong..."
"Is this the power of Dragon Kind?"
Despite Gauss usually being cautious and getting injured rarely, no one would refuse more robust survival means.
Why are many Demons scarier than human Professionals?
Isn’t it because of their monstrous physical gifts?
Many low-level human Professionals are greatly diminished by one slash, but Demon Beasts are different. Their Life Force is far stronger; unless struck in a fatal spot, they can continue fighting. Some races with self-healing talent can completely ignore the negative impact of injuries.
Gauss heard that when a Demon’s Life Force reaches a terrifying level, it behaves like an "undead" effect.
It’s said that the strongest human hero, the Legendary Sword Saint, slew such undead creatures while on his way to defeat the Demon King.
As for how they can be killed despite being undead,
Gauss can only understand that these undead characteristics are relative to ordinary Professionals.
Like a battle of contradictions, when a spear overpowers a shield, it can penetrate the supposed invincible defense.
And now, he was starting to possess a monster-like Constitution.
After resting for several hours,
Gauss’s team began their return journey.
...
Gauss descended slowly from the Red Dragon’s back.
This outing took several days, with most of the time devoted to his talent ascension.
But rather than being perplexed by this "abnormal" duration, the rest of the Red Dragon Team showed no surprise whatsoever.
Or perhaps, in Toga, Ivan, and others’ minds, this was a reasonable delegation handling time, or this speed was relatively fast.
"Captain, welcome back."
Ivan reeked strongly of potion scent but kept his eyes fixed on Gauss, just like when Aaliyah and everyone first witnessed Gauss’s completed ascent.
"Thump!"
Ivan’s heart started to race.
An aura of majesty washed over him, immediately tensing his whole body.
It belonged to a higher life form’s pressure.
Despite trying to contain it during the return journey, some inadvertently leaked due to the brief passing of time.
"Are you alright?"
It wasn’t until Gauss proactively spoke that Ivan seemed to recover, showing an awkward smile.
Even though he couldn’t fathom what changed in the captain, he sensed that the captain grew stronger.
This was undoubtedly beneficial for the entire Red Dragon Team.
"Was there any trouble while I was away these days?"
After being away for several days, Gauss inquired from his chief steward about the station’s status.
Ivan probably had prepared earlier, selectively summarizing key points on the Red Dragon Team station’s situation during Gauss’s absence.
First, to handle the battle trophies from the previous acquisition of two thousand goblin nests, they hired twenty temporary workers.
The two new stores on Feather Pen Avenue had gotten on track.
Though they couldn’t claim bustling crowds, the customer flow could be considered top-tier. Judging by current trends, establishing themselves on Commercial Street seemed unlikely to face major issues.
After all, Red Dragon Team’s two stores mainly sold their own-made weapons, Armor, and potions, and the products were relatively stable. Customers who’ve made purchases easily become regular patrons.
Gauss was confident in this aspect.