Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

Poison Dragon Ambacca was a special dragon. Up until now, he had repeatedly died before being reborn again from an egg. The Poison Dragon Ambacca was a dragon that did not die. Once his egg was formed, he would be reborn with all of his memories intact. Immortal. Perhaps that was the term that was apt for his situation. 

Poison Dragon Ambacca was shocked to see the man standing up again after he had received his attack that was strengthened by the Dragon Orb.

When the man finally stood up, a faint breeze began to blow from the sword of the man who was slowly standing up. Hundreds of falling silver leaves also began to flutter from all over the place.

“Fluttering Sword.” 

The wind that blew from his sword swept the falling leaves as they rained down on Ambacca. 

Pipipi―

When one of the leaves grazed Ambacca’s body, green blood slowly dripped down from the injury.

“Kiyaaaaaaack!” 

At the same time, the Dragon Orb appeared and disappeared from Poison Dragon Ambacca’s mouth once again. 

[Dragon Orb.]

[Momentarily increases your defense by x2.]

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang―

The black scales covering Poison Dragon Ambacca’s body had become sturdier and firmer than before. Ambacca quickly flew out as he ignored the rapid influx of the falling leaves. 

Pipipipipipipipipipipipi―

He believed that those falling leaves would not be able to penetrate and tear through his hardened skin. And just like he expected……

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!

The falling leaves that grazed his scales were easily blown away. Ambacca’s defense had already exceeded 5,000. With the help of the x2 increase in his defense, he had as much as 10,000 in his defensive power. He now had a formidable defense. Of course, it was only because it was increased through the use of the Dragon Orb and it was a given that there were limitations to this ability.

At the very least, he believed that he could tear the neck of the man who stood up again before it wore off. But……

Piii―

Even though Ambacca flew fiercely with his strengthened defense, the leaves kept on fluttering towards him. They even dug deep on his skin after penetrating through his scales before disappearing. He couldn’t help but let out a scream.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

The leaves still continued to stab on his body. 

But what did he say a while ago?

Then……

Pipipi―

“Graaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Several falling leaves stuck to his body as warm blood started to flow down from his body.

‘This punk…… I will not lose to this punk……’

A terrible death always awaited Poison Dragon Ambacca but this person right in front of him was just like a ghost of his past. What was worse was the fact that his poison did not work on him at all. The ghost of his past was none other than ‘Conir’. Although Minhyuk was unaware, Conir was special even among all of the chimeras. His ‘Ten Thousand Poison Resistance’ had allowed him to completely ignore poisons. In addition, the ability that allowed Minhyuk to tear through Ambacca’s defenses was none other than the ‘Intangible Sword’. So a terrible death would still await him.

‘You can’t take away my Dragon Orb……!’

The Dragon Orb……

The only dragon that could live forever was Poison Dragon Ambacca. The other dragons would completely lose their memories as they leave behind their eggs before being reborn as children. This was the other dragons’ fate after their death. 

Although they might not have remembered it, during the time when the Four Legendary Dragons were all gathered together, they would lose part of their energy forever and would not be able to regain them again. Their energies were then received by an artifact called ‘Dragon Orb’. The Dragon Orb was a special artifact that contained all of the energy and power of the four dragons.

The reason why Ambacca was the one tasked to protect the Dragon Orb was because he was the only one among them who would be reborn as a fully grown adult with his memories intact. He was the best choice for protecting such a special artifact.

The Dragon Orb was something that couldn’t be kept by the guardians. It was an item that could only be kept by foreigners. And the person in front of him was clearly a foreigner. Ambacca did not know the reason for this but this was a system that was set up by the game Athenae.

Despite the pain tearing through his body, Ambacca still flew fiercely as he swung his tail with great strength. And once again, the Dragon Orb appeared and disappeared from his mouth. At the same time, a light flashed at the end of his tail.

The Dragon Orb was the crystallization of the powers of all four of the legendary dragons. Although it only contained the dragon’s partial strength. However, the strength that was available for Ambacca, the third dragon in ranking, was the power of the fourth dragon.

This was the power of the fourth dragon, ‘Cracana of Destruction’. It could temporarily increase his tail’s attack power by x3.

Baaaaaaaaang―!

The man flew back after being directly hit by his strengthened tail. Ambacca did not miss any moment as he opened his huge maw and devoured the man.

Crack― crack― 

‘Brothers, I will definitely protect this Dragon Orb!’

Ambacca felt lonely. He missed his older brothers. But he still continued to protect the Dragon Orb alone. 

“Keuheop!”

Just as he was about to bite down again, the man’s sword suddenly emitted a red light.

***

[Your HP has fallen below 80%.]

[Fatal blow!]

[Your HP has fallen below 50%.]

“Keuheop!”

Minhyuk’s body was being constantly bitten. Ambacca’s speed was incredibly fast and it was quite hard to get out of his mouth since he had such a mighty force. He kept on targeting Minhyuk’s neck, who was only able to hold out by hitting or blocking his chin with his left arm. However, he could not hold on any longer.

Finally, the waiting time for Sword of Fury was finished. He made sure to stab the ferocious and chaotic force in the mouth of the bastard. He wanted to rip his head off through his mouth.

Splurt!

[You have succeeded in stabbing a vital point.]

[100% additional damage!]

He stuck the sword directly in his mouth. After all, there was no other vital point that he could stab except for the mouth. 

“Kiyeeeeeeeeeek!”

The dragon started to thrash around due to the pain. However, the effect of the Sword of Fury was still not done. The strong wind that could tear apart anything within a two meter radius rampaged inside the dragon’s mouth.

Shwaaaaaaaaa―

The dragon’s mouth was torn apart by the horrendous storm that rampaged inside.

“Kyaaaaaack!”

Poison Dragon Ambacca roared in despair. He was struggling with so much pain that he fell down on the ground. However, he still persevered to fly back up again. He was desperately struggling. 

Minhyuk could see the tears falling from the eyes of the dragon. He was a dragon that was desperately trying to squeeze out every last bit of strength that was in his body.

[You have seen the Dragon’s Tears.]

[Your resistance to poison will increase by 50% for 1 week as an effect for viewing the tears of a dragon.]

It was meaningless for Minhyuk who had a body that was immune to ten thousand poisons.

But the dragon still desperately struggled.

“Have to…… protect…… for my brothers…… dragon orb……”

Once upon a time, when the Dragons of Beginnings were still gathered, the four dragons happily spent their time together. However, that moment would never happen again. He was not even aware if the other dragons were awakened already.

But Minhyuk interpreted things differently.

‘Did this guy not want something like this either?’

Conir had told him that the Poison Dragon Ambacca would die and revive. He had also attacked him using different patterns. From his words, Minhyuk could deduce that his memories remained intact after his rebirth. 

Who would ever want to do something like this, anyway?

And Minhyuk, who had seen other dragons from his father, Black Dragon, knew that they were creatures that were gentle and loyal. However, regardless of his thoughts, the dragon in front of him succumbed to his death. In the end, he couldn’t stand the fatal blow that he had received in his mouth.

[You have gained 8,317,842 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have successfully hunted Poison Dragon Ambacca.]

[You have acquired the Dragon Orb.]

[You have acquired the egg of Ambacca, one of the four legendary dragons.]

[You have acquired Poison Dragon Ambacca’s Cursed Dagger.]

‘Egg? Dragon Orb?’

Minhyuk couldn’t help but be confused. Especially because of the egg. He knew that one of the reasons why Ambacca could be reborn through his egg was because they would sacrifice a man with a high and pure holy power. Or so he’d been told.

But why is the egg still here?

He was not aware of this but Ambacca’s egg could still be acquired even if he did not devour a man with holy power. However, the power to produce chimeras had now disappeared. 

At that moment, he remembered one person. 

‘Will my dad like it if I gave this to him?’

The guy inside the egg had always kept his memories intact. If that was the case, then, would he be willing to serve Minhyuk? 

No, I’d rather give him to my dad. 

After all, his father, Black Dragon, was already well known as the ‘Legendary Dragon Taming Master’. He felt that it would be better if his father was the one to take on this egg. 

Then, he went ahead and checked the Dragon Orb.

(Dragon Orb)

Rank: Epic (Able to Evolve)

Restrictions: A person with a dragon.

Durability: 00 / 00

Special Abilities:

― If you have a dragon, this could take them to the next level.

― A 1.5x increase in commanding ability.

― Some of the powers of the four legendary dragons could be borrowed through the use of the Dragon Orb.

Special Abilities after Evolution:

― Sealed.

― Sealed.

― Sealed.

Description: This is the sacred dragon orb created by the four legendary dragons. The orb will continue to evolve with each increase of dragon owned by the user in possession of the orb.

He was surprised when he saw that it was an artifact that could evolve but he was once again surprised after he saw that it could also evolve a dragon. 

‘Wow. I think my dad will really like this, right?’

Especially because his dad was already the owner of two dragons so the moment he received the Dragon Orb, the orb would immediately become a lot more stronger.

Finally, he checked Poison Dragon Ambacca’s Cursed Dagger. Minhyuk’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw the information about the dagger.

(Poison Dragon Ambacca’s Cursed Dagger)

Rank: Legendary

Restriction: The one who hunted Poison Dragon Ambaccca

Number of Uses: 10 / 10

Attack Power: 1 ,619

Special Abilities: 

― Upon successful attack, there’s a 50% chance of inflicting x2 damage.

― Active Skill: Poison Dragon Ambacca’s Curse

Description: This is a purple dagger that contains the wrath and fury of Poison Dragon Ambacca after being kept in the Dungeon of Sin for a long time.

(Ambacca’s Curse)

Active Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: 500

Cooldown: None

Effects: 

― If the opponent dies after being stabbed by the dagger, he will be cursed by Ambacca and his soul will wander around the stream for 30 days.

― The soul wandering around the stream will suffer from terrible hunger that is on par with the Seven Deadly Sin: Gluttony for the entire 30 days.

― Can be used on NPCs.

Minhyuk was grinning widely. It seemed like the best scenario was already being completed in his head.

***

After a few hours, Barchel and the three knights that accompanied him leisurely went back to the Dungeon of Sin after having a satisfying meal. 

“Deputy Tower Master Barchel.”

“Fufufufu. Don’t say that. I’m still not the deputy tower master.” 

“Won’t it happen soon?” 

“De. Pu. Ty. To. Wer. Mas. Ter. Barchel.” 

Barchel was grinning widely. He would definitely receive a lot of benefits if he became the deputy tower master.

Everything was going smoothly. After he had received the Essence of Flavor, then his class would be upgraded. He swaggered happily as he pushed the rock that they used to block the entrance to the dungeon.

Then, he saw the egg on the altar with the Cup of Essence. He couldn’t help but whistle happily.

“Whistle~ The poor kids had been eaten~ Where did the chimeras go?” 

He giggled happily as he thought about drinking the water that filled the Cup of Essence. Perhaps he had stumbled upon the platform of ‘awakening’ that he had heard from the rumors. There had been rumors circulating recently that a lot of users had reached their limits. But Athenae had prepared a new class that created infinitely new contents every day. This was a class that could help their existing class become stronger. Perhaps it was him who was going to be the first of this kind.

Just as he was about to reach the Cup of Essence he could see a sword pointing at his neck.

“Woah, woah. Is there an uninvited guest?” 

Barchel’s brows furrowed in annoyance. The knights were flustered when they saw a sword hanging in the air. It was none other than the invisible Minhyuk.

“A…… user?” 

Barchel was surprised but he still remained calm. After all, they were plenty in numbers. And the knights behind him would definitely not lose ground if they fought against him so he trusted their strength. Even if their levels were lower he was sure that their strength would still be above their opponent. 

On the contrary, this mysterious man had just finished a fight against Ambacca. He was sure that he would have lost a lot of stamina with his fight against Ambacca. His skills cooldown would also still be up. 

And Barchel, who was second or perhaps on par with Carr, was confident that he could avoid this man’s attacks easily. 

“The children were crying of hunger…… Weren’t you ashamed that you did something like this because of your greed?” 

“Woah, woah. Let’s be honest, shall we?” 

Barchel shrugged his shoulders.

“Didn’t you come here to get something too? Those NPCs are just artificial intelligence so what’s the big deal?” 

He was pretending that he was trying to persuade him but he quickly pulled out his sword as he tried to widen the distance between them.

“What does it matter to us, users, whether an artificial intelligence dies or not? Huh?” 

The man fell silent for a moment before asking him.

“Have you ever been hungry?” 

“What?” 

“Please let me eat something, anything. Have you ever begged for something in your life?” 

Barchel’s brows furrowed deeply.

What the hell is this guy talking about? Is there anyone who goes hungry in Korea these days?

Barchel grew up in a wealthy family so he was clueless about the harshness of reality. 

“……Hunger. Well, that’s not that big of a deal, right?” 

Barchel answered him lightly.

The man who had his sword around his neck, Minhyuk, could see that he took this situation lightly. He was rid of any guilt from his despicable actions.

“Then, from now on, I will show you something that will make your face distorted in despair.” 

“Hmm.” 

Barchel grasped the hilt of his sword tightly.

Make my face distorted? In a situation where our chances of winning are very high? Unless he’s someone on par with Carr. 

If that was not the case, then his face would not be distorted. No, he thought that he should roughly agree with him.

“I’m the Frying Pan Killer.” 

“……!” 

At that moment, Barchel’s lax and carefree expression suddenly hardened. The hairs all over his body stood on end and his mouth dried up in tension.

Then, Minhyuk spoke coldly.

“For being such an adult…… Shame on you.”

***

PR’s corner!

That dagger, able to make someone’s soul wanted for a month while feeling an effect that caused an entire group of players to devolve into eating dirt, rocks, and each other in a matter of seconds. If that gets used on another player…