These past two days have been somewhat peculiar. I’ve been able to rest peacefully, and I’ve had a lot of downtime, something very rare in my life. I’ve always been busy with many projects, so these two days have been relaxing.
Little by little, I’ve gotten used to this “new body.” It no longer feels like walking around in a strange body. Now it feels more like it is completely mine, just... different. It reminds me of when I grew a beard for the first time, only hundreds of times stranger.
I can already move without feeling insecure. The smallest problem has been solved, now the most complicated part will come: moving this body at high speed, and using my mana and Imra.
Susan explained a little to me about bodies related to mythical beasts. There is very little information to know anything concrete, and even she, with so many contacts and years of experience, doesn’t know much about the subject.
My body is completely different from that of other ruby ranks. One characteristic of dragons is that they are beings loved by mana, it flows in perfect harmony through their bodies. That will be a great advantage, but the problem lies in how difficult it will be to control this new power.
The same thing happens with Imra. Now it is much more fierce and aggressive than before. I must learn to control it very carefully so I don’t release bursts toward my companions or friends. My feelings can throw my Imra out of control and cause destruction if the people around me are not prepared.
My abilities must have received some kind of increase in power. My body is now more prepared to use rank IV abilities, and now I will look more deeply into the limit of each one of my abilities. Ruby rank is designed for the use of this type of skill.
This is Susan’s assumption. She thinks it will be much more difficult for me to control this body, but if I do, I will be an unstoppable beast among those of my own rank. Even once I get used to it, I could be strong enough to face a newly ascended diamond rank.
“Are you sure? You don’t have to start with something so complicated in your current, fragile condition.” Brendu, who is preparing to ascend to ruby rank today, looks quite unsettled by my choice.
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I was capable of slaughtering grade four monsters before, now it’ll be easier.” I try to calm the princess, though the concern in her eyes is a bit painful.
“You focus on ascending, don’t worry about the rest. I’ll be here to take care of you for as long as possible.” I stroke the princess’s hair. I can’t let her keep resisting, I’ll end up giving in if she keeps looking at me with those eyes.
She sits in the middle of the room where I ascended a few days ago. It is her moment to reach ruby rank. Her older brother assumed I would go train as soon as I could, so he sent a ruby-rank nurse to monitor her while I am not there to take care of her.
Brendu gives me one last look. I smile at her to ease her worry and raise my thumb, showing her that everything is fine.
She concentrates and closes her eyes. Everything is ready. The next time I see her, she will be the same rank as me. Her increase in power might even be greater than mine at the beginning, and I’m looking forward to seeing it.
I say goodbye to the nurse trusted by her family, leave the room, and head toward the dungeon area. Susan gave me permission to enter a grade 4 dungeon. At first, she seemed a bit reluctant, I had to convince her for a few minutes, and she finally gave in.
The dungeon I’m going to is quite special. All the monsters are golems made of different types of material. Their cores are quite special because they serve as a base for many projects and crafts. Today I’ll have the dungeon to myself.
“Are you ready? If you’re scared, you can stay and sleep in my cube.” I ask Glia jokingly.
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My sister rolls her eyes at my joke. “I’m much more prepared than you. Please don’t embarrass yourself, I don’t want to have to go help you.” She throws the joke back at me.
“As if I would ever need help from my little sister.” We both keep joking all the way to the dungeon.
I try to hide my feelings from her. I’m a little nervous, and it’s possible that she’ll perform better than me at the beginning. Monsters have the ability to adapt more easily to their new bodies, they have to do so in order not to perish in such hostile environments.
On my side, I’ll feel strange at first. If I had to compare it to something, it would be like learning to drive a tractor with no experience, only going in with the knowledge of having driven normal cars for many years.
Glia’s change is obvious. I’ve only been able to see her clearly now. She is even bigger than before, her head must easily reach 230 cm. She is much taller than me, her fur is now softer, her body looks much more imposing, and her face looks a little more “human.”
“People will get scared if they see you walking down the street.” I make another joke.
“I can shrink if necessary, maybe to the size of a normal dog. I’ll try it when we leave, I don’t think I have time right now.” I follow Glia’s gaze, and she’s right, right now it’s impossible. Several golem-type monsters are already coming toward us.
Glia is the first to move. She scatters off to one side, drawing the attention of two of them, while the other two come directly toward me. The golems are more or less Glia’s size, with a strange mix of colors, some brown, others gray, and so on. They have sturdy bodies and are much faster than their build suggests.
Mana flows through my body as it always does, but this time it feels different. I don’t feel any restriction or resistance at the moment, it’s simply that the form is different. I can’t find a good example to explain it.
My abilities come to the surface. I need more control to shape them, I have to use my brain more intensely in order to construct my ice armor around me. I’ll go slowly for now, just some defensive abilities and mostly using my swordsmanship.
This is strange... I don’t feel like I’m using my brain at all. Has my mental capacity increased that much? I expected a great boost, but not to this degree. The only unpleasant part is how I’m wasting mana trying to keep all my armor together.
I only reinforce my body with mana and Imra. As I take the first step, I’m surprised by my speed, it’s almost the same as when I was sapphire rank and used electricity to reinforce myself. I shoot forward, controlling my body with some difficulty to dodge the golem’s first punch. I position myself to the side, and my first slash lands with great force.
“So hard.” I haven’t been able to do anything to it, only a slight scratch. The resistance of these monsters is impressive.
Several minutes of playing with them on the edge of being hit are necessary for me to get slightly used to my new movements. I no longer feel so clumsy fighting, and even my control over mana is slightly better.
It’s time to add something else to the equation. My Personal World and Thundersnow come into action. The world around me expands to show me everything within the range of my ability. I’m lucky to have activated both abilities at the same time.
It would have been a huge mistake not to activate Thundersnow. That golem would have hit me and sent me flying. A headache came at the same time as my brain received all the information. The world really is sharper, the problem is that the necessary information is now much more vivid, so I have to start filtering it a little.
At least there isn’t much relevant within the area of my ability. It would be a problem to focus on several things at once right now, first I need to get used to reducing the necessary information. Maybe thirty minutes passed before I finally felt comfortable enough to use another ability.
Glia and I have held our ground firmly against both golems. So far, neither of us has had any major problems, only a few slight mistakes or stumbles, but nothing important. Both of us are gradually getting used to it, although she is doing much better. Her golems are far more injured, while my opponents have even managed to heal several wounds as time goes by.
Death Sharpness is the next ability. I can feel my twin swords trembling with power. I need to reduce the amount of mana I’m using a little, I don’t think it’s a good idea yet to go all out right now.
I can notice the difference in the first cut. The slight scratches become deeper, every slash becomes sharper, and I can feel how the golem is struggling hard to keep my death mana in place.
An hour later, the first golem fell. Glia defeated her first golem about 15 minutes earlier, she has better control over death mana than I do. Her claws are very dangerous, even I would have a lot of trouble restraining her right now.
The next thing to try is something I’ve been waiting for a long time, my favorite ability since I got it: Gravity Overload. I really like playing with gravity, this ability has allowed me to do things that would be impossible under other circumstances.
I let myself be carried away by the excitement, I see an opening in the golem’s defense and swing my sword. “Shit.” I don’t control the mana properly, I used too much. My blow passes through the golem, splitting it in two. “Oops?”