〈 Inheritance (2) 〉
Horus, a blond little boy who looked to be six or seven years old, scratched the back of his head several times.
‘The last gold dragon.’
Although I already knew this, I felt strange that the system even notarized it.
Especially since there were times when I wondered if there might be other clans that Shurihatgen had missed besides himself.
‘I can’t believe this is considered an achievement.’
Horus’ small, round head slightly tilted to the side.
Despite the fact that there have been quite a few big events, there has always been no news, but I never thought my achievements would be recognized until I became the last survivor of the fallen dragon clan.
I didn’t know if the dragon race was that great, or if the keyword “last survivor” was important.
‘Should we be glad that it is the ‘last gold dragon’ and not the ‘last dragon’?’
Well, that’s a fact I already knew from Schrihartgen.
Unlike the Gold clan, which was driven to complete extinction, other clans were said to be barely maintaining their existence.
‘I’d like to meet you sometime.’
Of course, that wasn’t right away.
Contacting them will be enough to try once you have collected everything you have now.
No matter how difficult our compatriots may be, we cannot carelessly look down on them as they belong to a completely different faction!
‘I can’t do that even if I think of him. Then, let’s check again what we got earlier.’
Horus opened his eyes tentatively and turned to the list of messages that came to mind a moment ago.
There were three main things he needed to check this time.
‘Bonus “Dragon Rare”. It’s literally the ability to create a dragon’s nest. What’s special is that… that place is not in the world of phenomena, but in the realm of subspace.’
In other words, not only is the location of this special nest not limited to a specific area, but it also serves as an excellent hiding place where you can take refuge anytime, anywhere in case of an emergency.
It could definitely be said to be an excellent perk that is worthy of being given as a reward for achievements.
‘Then what’s next?’
Nodding his head in satisfaction, his attention naturally turned to “Heart of the Elder Dragon.”
A gift from Shreehartgen, who processed his own spirit and body and gave it to the hatchling Horus, who would be left alone on this earth, just before he passed away.
Since the Elder Dragon personally created it with his own life, I couldn’t help but look forward to it more than anything else.
‘As expected, it’s outrageous.’
Horus quietly closed his eyes and clicked his tongue at the enormous density of energy writhing in his chest.
I clearly saw with my own eyes that a significant amount was scattered during the processing process, and what was inside was so overwhelming that it easily exceeded the total amount of magical power that he, a hatchling, previously possessed.
Although it was impossible to deal with it as I wanted right now, that wasn’t what was really important right now.
All of the increases in potential and accelerated growth that occurred as a result of having this were merely additional effects derived from the main effect.
‘…Okay, now let’s get started. Use this properly…’
Horus closed his eyes and immersed himself more deeply in the mass of energy lodged in his chest.
Thump—! Cooung—!
As concentration continued, a strong pulsation and a repulsive force came through.
After this was repeated several times, he could no longer bear it and used “Polymorph” to return to his original dragon form.
Because I couldn’t withstand any more pressure than this in the form of a human child like before.
“Carring—!”
A small dragon the size of a calf appeared and roared bravely.
As a result, the surrounding energy begins to shake again with a small storm swirling around.
The momentum and power emanating from him was close to Jackie Chan’s level, but as physical time was also essential for body growth, there was bound to be a limit to his size.
Still, compared to the past when it was only the size of a large dog, it could be seen that it had grown quite a bit now that it had grown to the size of a sturdy calf…
but of course he couldn’t be satisfied with that amount.
‘“Heart of the Elder Dragon” is not just a dragon heart.’
It was everything about Shurihatgen, who had passed away after living a turbulent dragon life, and proof of the status he had built up over the years. It was also a black box in which all of his physical information, including muscles, bones, and scales, that he left behind was recorded.
And if you take advantage of that….
Faaaat—
Light emanated from Horus’ whole body as he spread his wings wide and raised his head.
Just like the Schrihatgen that happened just a little while ago.
However, the reaction that followed was significantly different from then.
Unlike him, who gradually became smaller as he was wrapped in light, Horus was actually growing in size little by little.
5 meters… 10 meters… 15 meters…
arms, legs, wings, horns, etc.
All body parts began to rapidly expand and grow.
And finally.
[Kwoaaaaa——!]
Flap— flutter—!
A gold dragon appeared in the empty cavity after its owner disappeared, letting out a harsh roar and flapping its wings.
***
[Hehe hehe—Are we still here….]
A golden creature sprawled on the floor, sticking out its tongue and breathing heavily.
Rolling around on the floor in an insignificant manner, as if he had never shown such great power, his appearance had returned to the size of a calf.
‘As expected, it doesn’t work out as I thought.’
Unfortunately, there were limits to the rapid growth using “Heart of the Elder Dragon.”
About 10 minutes.
That was the duration of the transformation that Horus succeeded in on his first attempt.
In addition, the power he was able to demonstrate in practice fell far short of what he had thought in theory.
‘I didn’t even want to reach Elder level, but I thought I could do it at a slightly lower level!’
But it was an unthinkable thought.
Even among Jackie Chan, the level he was able to reach during his rapid growth was limited to intermediate levels.
Considering that his normal mode was only slightly inferior to that of Jackie Chan, it could not be considered a dramatic increase in power.
‘Still, it’s better than not doing anything. Above all, the difference in physical ability is overwhelming.’
Horus, who was rolling around on the floor, groaned and twisted his body.
In fact, the reason he is struggling like this right now is because of the difference in physical abilities.
No matter how much the combat power has been boosted by various adjustments, a hatchling is a hatchling.
Naturally, there was bound to be a drastic difference from Jackie Chan’s body.
Hatchlings, which are infant dragons, have softer scales, muscles, blood vessels, and magic circuits than adult dragons.
You can be fatally injured by a single attack from a strong person, and a single mistake can cause the magic you activated to flow back and injure you.
In other words, it could be said to be a glass cannon without stability.
Compared to the adult stage, where one could take a decent amount of attacks with one’s bare body and still feel no pressure even when pouring out magic as much as possible thanks to the tough magic circuit, the difference in actual combat power could be seen to be even greater.
Slowly—
the hatchling that had been rolling around on the floor slowly returned to the form of a human child.
Then, after wiggling on the floor for a moment, he stood up, twisting his whole body.
“Keu…cha.”
Even though he only used it for about 10 minutes, he looked much haggard than before.
I wouldn’t mind being in a dragon state when resting, but since I’m actually human, it was much more comfortable to rest in this state.
‘The power of skills varies depending on skill level, so it’s still too early to be disappointed.’
If you continue to practice and research in the future, not only the operating time but also the reinforcement efficiency will increase.
Then, when transformed, the size will be larger than before.
‘No matter how irregular Horus is, the bigger he is, the better.’
I experienced it myself this time as well, but body size is a very important factor for a dragon whose formula ‘size = age = strength’ holds true.
And above all, isn’t it more impactful and cool when someone with a huge body appears?
“Hey, now that I think about it, I need to check that too.”
Then, a thought suddenly occurred to Horus, who was wiping the sweat from his forehead and muttered softly.
It took longer than expected to look at “Heart of the Elder Dragon,” but there was still one more thing left to check.
「Treasure of Gold」.
It was a secret temple of the Gold Dragon clan that had been passed down from generation to generation for a very long time.
‘Of course, I heard that most of the treasures they had collected were used up while fighting the two Immortal King invasions.’
Didn’t they say that even if a rich person goes bankrupt, it will last for three years?
No one yet knew what mysteries lay dormant in the warehouse of a prestigious family that had been passed down for tens of thousands of years.
‘Then let’s go now.’
With that in mind, Horus stepped aside to one side of the common.
“Open it. “A treasure trove of gold.”
And as soon as he finished speaking.
A huge golden metal door appeared as if splitting the air.
Squeak—
the door slowly and wide open, as if welcoming a new owner.
***
Immortality, the home of evil, shrouded in darkness all year round.
“Ahh— um— ah—!”
An unfamiliar voice rang out from a laboratory there.
He cleared his throat a few times as if checking an unfamiliar pitch, and soon let out a low laugh as if he was satisfied with the result.
“Keukeuu—I guess this is enough.”
He made a sound of laughter as if suppressing the darkness inside him, pressed his neck a few times, and then turned his gaze back to look at the mirror on one side of the wall.
A middle-aged man with a cold expression, dark hair, black eyes, and a short black beard, looking at me with a cold expression.
The moment he stared at himself in the mirror for a moment and raised the corners of his mouth—.
Wiggle—
mouth to right cheek. The nose goes under the chin, the right eye goes to the forehead, and the left eye turns 180 degrees and returns to its original position.
The face began to move as if it were a separate creature, and the well-defined facial features were distorted in an instant.
“…….”
However, despite the mess on his face, the middle-aged man just stood still and looked into the mirror.
“…Tsk, I guess we still need more adjustments.”
Then, before he knew it, he was chanting lowly with his mouth moving towards the nape of his neck.
Ahhhh—!
He raised one hand and ripped off his face.
With that firm hand, not only the facial area containing the eyeballs, but also the part where the hair was located and the uvula were removed cleanly.
All that remains is a skeleton.
Wriggle—Wriggle—
“Ah… uh… uh…”
Even in that situation, the face that came to life like a separate living creature… no, the chimera in the shape of a face kept blinking its eyeballs and making strange noises through its mouth hole. I made a sound.
[I knew it would work out right this time. [This has become a hassle.]
Hans, the Skeleton Immortal King, who was staring at the test subject in his hand with burning eyes, shook his head.
Then, as if he was annoyed, he threw it away and put it in a metal container in the corner, then took up the research materials he had organized and started looking through them.
‘…Still, I guess it’s almost over at this point. It will be over in the next few days.’
He was currently making preliminary preparations before going to Kang Hwan-gye.
To hide his identity as an undead and disguise himself as a perfect human.
Just as Hugo felt from Unhyeonjinin of the Shaman faction not long ago, the spirit of the martial arts masters is beyond imagination.
No matter how well-made the mask is, it will be of little use to them.
No, Hans, who did not live before, would be nothing more or less than a self-conscious jiangshi to them.
‘One way would be to just rush in and scold them, but you should still try as hard as you can.’
In order to carry out operations smoothly, it is important to reduce the feeling of discomfort as much as possible and let it sink in.
It was already obvious that he would stand out because of his energy and abilities, but if the person in question was not a human but a jiangshi, there was no excuse.
So the idea was to implant a chimera, a carefully crafted ‘real life form’, into one’s body to fool the attention of martial arts experts.
A chimera that not only responds to surrounding stimuli but also performs metabolism, such as breathing and digestion, perfectly like a human.
[I guess I should mix E-3 and G-2N. To reduce variables and strengthen responsiveness…]
And the life force that survives while parasitic on the body of the immortal king, who is death itself, and the assimilation power and perfection that moves exactly according to his will. It is natural that it is difficult to create a living organism with the ability to carry out human metabolism.
In addition, since non-awakened creatures cannot cross the dimension, isn’t it necessary to transfer the prepared items to an inorganic state and then do the finishing work on site?
Even if the target was a low-level chimera with no self-consciousness, there was no way it would be that easy to transform a living being.
But have the consistent efforts made over the years paid off?
Just one day later.
“Hehehe—that’s good.”
A cold-looking middle-aged man with black hair and black eyes raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
A smile so natural that it gives me the creeps.
〈 Legacy (2) 〉 End