Eventually, he saw the start of a commotion, but a moment later Jill was beside him. She didn’t look the least bit bothered. However, she had her javelin drawn, and he noticed the end was covered in blackish blood. She had no other injuries, and there was not a single drop of blood on anything other than the weapon. She had apparently decided that it had been time to start fighting. Hopefully, that meant she found what she wanted rather than just got impatient.
“There were five of the blackish demons, now there are only four. Other than that, only whites.”
Mash looked at her and noticed the oddly bored expression on her face. Her eyes had gone flat like she didn’t care about the commotion she had started. Honestly, he bet that she had done it intentionally. He wanted to laugh at his earlier concern. It actually sounded like she was planning on defeating all the demons herself and had only told them because they wanted to know. Red did not seem as amused.
“You are being too reckless, but either way, did you see anything?”
Jill rolled her eyes at the comment, but responded, nonetheless. It didn’t seem like Red’s words would get through to her, and he didn’t really have anything to say either. The only time Jill would need to be concerned was when something had the ability to stop her teleportation. That wouldn’t happen at dungeons of this level. A skill or ability like that would almost be impossible to run into.
“Yeah, there were a few threads that led back into the village. We can head back too if you guys want.”
It was certainly an option, but her sarcastic tone made it obvious that she wasn’t actually planning on just leaving. Luke and Red obviously wanted to fight as well. Mash wasn’t any different, his anger having risen over the past few days. The peacefulness of the past week had given him ample time to consider the actions of the demons. Although, he hadn’t been given an opportunity to vent that anger. It had been ruminating, patiently waiting for an outlet. Finally, he had the opportunity.
“No, let’s fight, do as much damage as we can. Let me attack first, I want to test my dragon form.”
Mash was eager to use his new power, and this would be just as good of an opportunity. So long as there were no purple demons, he was confident that their group could handle the monsters. The confidence bled into his voice. Red nodded but had a demand for herself.
“Fine but let me fight the black demons.”
Everyone agreed, knowing that it was something that she felt like she needed to do. Despite Red’s demand, Mash still sent Jill a mental message.
She didn’t give any signs of confirmation, but he knew that she received the message. He believed that she would do it, although he expected that Red would be fine. Her class made her really good at not dying, and he was curious to see how strong she had become. Mash let the thoughts fall to the back of his mind as he looked over the entirety of the demon territory. It was bigger than the village, though not by much, and he believed that he could do a lot of damage in a single attack.
Priscilla understood as he saw outlines beginning already. It wasn’t for an attack he had seen before and realized it was because of the wide area he wanted to affect. Most of the demons were so far beneath him that he was unlikely to need a lot of power. They probably wouldn’t give him any levels either, however, he had no sympathy for the callous creatures.
He changed to the dragon form, prepared to grow out wooden wings. It proved unnecessary as this form seemed to have gained wings of its own. There were a lot of differences to this transformation as well. He had bulked up physically, his muscles thickening noticeably. His scales had grown even thicker and covered his body like metal plates. Their color had somehow become a deeper shade of black. He could feel as though some of his bones shifted too, allowing for a thicker tail to sprout from his back.
His tail was half as tall as he was, and his wings were enormous. There was no shrinking them, so he would need to get used to fighting with them. Each wing was as long as he was tall, though they didn’t feel like weak points. If anything, they felt like a shield that he could use to protect himself. It had always bothered him that such powerful creatures would have something as frail as wings but having them he could tell that they were sturdier than the strongest shields. The scales on his wings seemed stronger than the ones coating his body. There were sharp spikes along the sides of his wings, making them vicious weapons as well. It turned out that a dragon’s wings were one of their strongest features.
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His hands and feet had changed, becoming bigger and sharper. Claws extended from each of his fingers. It felt like his fingers had grown connected, and he realized that he was left with only three on each hand. He thrummed with power, it felt like it was straining his body. It wanted to be released, but he contained it until Priscilla finished her outline.
He saw his friends move away from him slightly. They knew who he was but were coping with what. For now, Mash ignored them, focusing entirely on what was to come. Once the outline was finished, he didn’t hesitate on flooding it with his newfound power. He didn’t care for energy costs as his hunt skill would trigger for a fight like this. This was a fight to the death, and he was certain there would be a lot of it. These creatures deserved it in his mind.
Lightning swelled in his body flowing into his wings until he felt them vibrating from the magic. He could see some of the lightning bleeding out and bouncing with his scales. It rolled across him making him look like an avatar of lightning. The energy began pooling around the pointed ends of his wings and built up until it could no longer be contained. He had already felt his hunt skill trigger, the added power being incorporated into the attack.
Then the power was released, and lighting rained down over all of the demon’s territory. Large bolts spread from the points of his wings and struck down upon the scattered camps. There was no accuracy involved in his strikes. The bolts struck the ground and expanded hitting anything they could. Each was stronger than Priscilla’s attack had been when he had first met her. Each killed a countless number of demons, and the rain of bolts didn’t end anytime soon. Continuing to rain down like strikes from a god. The sound of thunder drowning out all other noise.
He vaguely noticed demons running to their underground shelter but ignored them as lighting continue to cascade over the rest of the land. Their simple huts and camps were destroyed, the very ground scorched black from the bolts. The world was colored by his lightning, its light was more intense than the sun itself. His attacks struck down like the hand of God, crashing into the ground violently.
This much power was only a fraction of what a real dragon could produce. He couldn’t shake the image of the one dragon he had seen and remembered how large it was. A single attack from something like that would be able to destroy part of the world. The thought came to his mind and reminded him of how reckless he had been at the time. A single mistake could have led to countless people dying.
The attack continued for only a couple of seconds, but the effects were unlikely to vanish anytime soon. The destruction felt strangely good, and he stopped the attack himself. He could have kept going until every demon was dead until there was no hope for them to retaliate, but he stopped when he started enjoying the destruction. It was not something he wanted to take pleasure in. This attack was him letting out the emotions he had been forced to contain over the past few days. Even if he didn’t enjoy the combat, he wouldn’t feel any empathy towards the demons. They were truly evil.
Trying to understand the emotion, he realized that he wasn’t enjoying the destruction but the power. It was filling him with pride, though he didn’t understand why he was feeling it. A concern for another time, instead his gaze flowed down to what his attack had done. The camps had almost all been turned to rubble, and the ground was crisscrossed with black marks. He had even managed to gain a level and knew that that would only happen from killing hundreds of lesser demons, maybe even thousands.
Once he stopped his attack, his friends teleported away, presumably to fight the demons underground. Mash flew down, heading to clean up what remained. He would follow the others once he made sure that the white demons on the outside were dealt with. Those were around level sixty and could prove troublesome to the villagers. The lesser demons were dangerous but didn’t really have the damage output to prove a significant issue. Mash flew low to the ground sending blasts of lightning at any demon he saw. Being so close to the ground, he realized just how much destruction he had caused. The smell of burnt flesh and grass filled his nostrils. The demons’ rancid skin smelled worse when burned and the stench hung in the air like a cloud.
This attack was on the same level as the purple demon's flame had been. In fact, he had taken more lives than that monster had. His had spread over a much wider range and had been just as indiscriminate. Plus, his lightning was extremely quick and none of the demons could dodge it. The combination of the power from this world and his unique class was immense. In terms of raw power, he would be unparalleled for his level. This only proved to him that seeking out more power outside of the class system could only lead to benefits. Plus, he still had the quest to upgrade his body again. That would be something he would need to figure out. He had become significantly stronger after getting the golden body, even more than his status alone would suggest.
The white demons he encountered didn’t last any longer than the lesser demons. A single strike enough to kill any of them. It was startling to realize just how much of a difference his golden body had made. He didn't need to rely on his imitations to do significant damage anymore but felt a temptation to try it anyways. There was no reason to test that now though, and he held off on satisfying his curiosity here. The combination of his skills seemed to exponentially increase his power. For now, he needed to return to his friends.
Once he scoured the territory, he returned to the entrance of their underground fort. The sounds of fighting and screaming echoed from within, and he entered quickly. His wings were actually a detriment here, as they took up much of the space inside. He would need to figure out how to move properly with them, especially inside of buildings.
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Name: Mash Stellumbra Class: Draconic Thunder-wood Imitation
Level: 78
Health: 2000 / 2000
Energy: 3510 / 3510
Fortitude: 200
Endurance: 131
Strength: 150
Agility: 170
Intelligence: 220
Wisdom: 112
Charisma: 96
Free Stats: 0
Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Monstrous Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation, Draconic Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Monstrous Humanity, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, Golden Body
Hunt: You have gone beyond your limits when fighting enemies and devouring their power. Go beyond your limits. Continue current fight even after depleting energy. Stats improve while at 0 stamina. Continues until either you or your enemies are dead.
Current Bonus: +100% stats
Inhuman Hibernation: You have stolen the techniques of mages and monks to form an artificial technique, your inhuman body morphing it to fit your corrupted nature. Hibernating will increase the rate at which your body recovers, healing most wounds.
Current Rate: +200% recovery
Thunder-wood Creation: You know how deadly sticks can be. Forge your mana into wooden creations. Lightning has tempered your wood, and it thrums with the power of thunder.
Wooden Body: You can connect with the wood that you are touching. By expending your energy, you bring your creations to life as another one of your limbs.
Monstrous Transformation: Transform your body taking on aspects of those which you have consumed.
Thunder-wood Imitation: Form imitations of creatures you have consumed, imitating some of their bodily functions through your wood.
Draconic Domain (Passive): Your eyes just weren’t enough. Sense the changes in the mana around you. Connect to the mana in your space and inherently understand the nature of the mana. Your presence suffuses the space, weakens the magic of enemies beneath you.
Current Range: 23 feet
Adaptable Monster Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body, fusion with a monster has given you access to its potential. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy. Your monstrous body is better able to handle the changes to your core.
Current Bonus: +75% efficiency
Monstrous Humanity (Passive): Giving up your humanity has improved your body, improving your physical control, natural defenses, animalistic intuition, and mana control. Now, a human in appearance only, you further empower yourself through your monstrous side.
Mimic’s Avarice (Passive): Devour your enemy in battle to temporarily raise your stats. The fresher the victim the stronger the bonus. Gain full benefits even when consuming through your magic. Absorbs some properties of those you devour alive. Removes the negative effects of things you consume.
Golden Body (Passive): Having stolen the techniques of another world, your body evolves beyond its old limitations. However, even this transformation is incomplete. Seek out the next Step and truly make this power your own.
Trial of the True Body: 0 / 100
Priscilla Form: Improved Mana Control and control of wooden creations, Better Lightning Resistance and Power: Thin dark blue and green scales that match Priscilla's cover his body
Dragon Form: Raw Power and a lot of it: Thicker black scales that would look more like armor cover his skin and his body bulks up a bit and he grows claws on his hands and feet.
Winged Cat Form (Sphynx Form): Improved Reflexives and Agility, Something he hasn't realized yet, and flight: Fur grows over his skin, and wings sprout from his back. A lion-like mane, and white fur to match his hair.
nvisible Lizard Form: Has mentioned it but hasn't used it yet, so far you know that it grants him the ability to become somewhat invisible
Demon Form: black fire affinity
Treant Form: Improved Wood affinity, living wood creations