Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World-Chapter 55: Breaking the Iron I Limit! Chaos Dragon Heart
"With the heat dying down, I should utilize this time to use the Race Awakening Stone."
He looked at Prime, who gave a firm nod in response. Both of them vanished from their spot and safely arrived back at the town.
Afterward, he went to find Sylvia. She was inside her cabin, coincidentally busy making potions.
"Oh, you are making potions?" Caelus tilted his head in genuine interest. He was curious as to how the crafting process actually worked.
He watched her seamlessly guide a long spoon inside a bubbling alchemical furnace. With every single stir, a soft light pulsed from the mixture. Maybe the rhythm of the stirring was what made the actual difference in quality?
Soon, the heavy pot magically shook, and several glowing blue vials popped out onto the table. They were all at the Rare tier.
[Item: MP Potion (Rare, 1-Star)]
[Effect: Restores 30% of the user’s MP instantly. Afterward, restores 5 MP every 5 seconds until the mana pool is completely filled.]
"Here, for you." She picked three vials from the fresh pile and handed them to Caelus.
"Thanks," Caelus said as he securely grabbed hold of them.
One crucial resource he lacked was mana restoratives. During their dungeon runs, Sylvia had continuously provided him with MP potions. It looked like she had meticulously crafted every single one of them herself.
"Then, with that over, shall we start our racial awakening?" Caelus asked.
"Oh, yeah." Sylvia blinked, having totally forgotten about the stones in the heat of her crafting. "Let us head somewhere with fewer people."
As it stood right now, the town square was packed. The players of Server 513 were mingling, instructing the newcomers, and actively helping others complete their mandatory quests. Some brave groups had already gone out of their way to hunt for the required Origin Merit Stone.
After finding a secluded alleyway, they pulled out their respective awakening stones.
"From the looks of it, both of us possess rare races," Sylvia noted with a small, knowing smile. "I know you are no longer human. Your draconic eyes make that perfectly clear to me."
By now, she was fully aware of the situation. She firmly believed his unique race was the core reason he had grown so powerful in record time. He also seemed to obtain rare skills from defeated enemies, first with Projection Frame and then the Mythical plasma attack. She assumed he possessed a special drop-rate attribute tied directly to his bloodline.
This was a documented phenomenon among elite racial traits. She had read extensively about it when she was younger, back when she was just a human anticipating her inevitable transformation into a vampire.
"Indeed," Caelus gave a subtle nod.
"My race is not ordinary either. I am a Vampire Progenitor. It is considered a Lower SS-Rank bloodline," Sylvia revealed without a hint of hesitation.
She did not want to hide a single secret from Caelus. She then shared her status window with him.
[Name: Sylvia Reign]
[Race: Vampire Progenitor (Locked)]
[Class: Blood Progenitor]
[Profession: Blacksmith (Tier 1: Iron I) (0/25,000 EXP)]
[Aspect: True Vampire Progenitor (Mythical, 1-Star)]
[Talent: True Vampire Progenitor (Lower SS-Rank)]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 100/100]
[Rank: Iron I]
[Level: 10 (0/2,200)]
[Combat Score: 69.12]
[Affinity: S-Rank]
[Origin Credits: 4,631]
[Reputation: 11]
[Title: None]
[Skill: Fire Blitz (Rare, 1-Star), Blood Control (Legendary, 1-Star), Blood-Fire (Epic, 1-Star), Origin Blood Blessing (Legendary, 1-Star), Cleanse (Common, 1-Star), Acceleration (Rare, 1-Star), Weapon Manifestation (Common, 1-Star).]
[Profession Skills: Potion Maker (Tier 1: Iron I)]
"How did you unlock so many racial talents?" Caelus asked, genuinely bewildered by her extensive list of abilities.
"Some are from my class, some are from my innate talent, and some stem directly from my race," Sylvia explained patiently. "For example, I got Blood-Fire strictly from my talent."
"Oh," Caelus nodded in understanding.
He hesitated for a brief moment before sharing his own stats with her. Of course, he made sure to mask his Endless Extraction talent. That specific secret could never be revealed to anyone, both for his own safety and for Sylvia’s. There was not a single known being on the Azure Origin Planet with an SSS-Rank talent; the highest he had seen so far was Sylvia’s. If that information were to leak, things would turn incredibly dangerous.
"Chaos Perception Dragon... Upper SS-Rank?" Sylvia stared at the floating screen, completely baffled. "What is a Chaos Perception Dragon? I do not think there has ever been a record of a dragon race on the Azure Origin Planet."
She tilted her head in deep confusion. "Dragons only exist in the deepest, uncharted parts of the Domain. They are considered a mythical race."
"It just happened," Caelus sighed. "Fate is truly a joke sometimes."
"At least you awakened an overwhelmingly powerful race," Sylvia smiled happily. "Now, no one will ever dare look down on you again."
"Okay, enough chit-chat. Shall we start?" Caelus smiled as he crushed the dark stone in his hand.
Immediately, the vision around him blurred. In the very next moment, he found himself standing inside an endless, starry void.
A glowing system window lit up in the darkness.
[System: Please select a core aspect to awaken:]
[1. Chaos Dragon Heart]
[2. Chaos Dragon Skeletal Structure]
[3. Chaos Dragon Brain Matrix]
[4. Chaos Dragon Aspects]
[System: Select other traits:]
[1. Chaos Dragon’s Strength (Iron I) : Massive increase in physical power.]
[2. Chaos Dragon’s Absolute Defense : Unlocks an impenetrable draconic barrier.]
[3. Random Upgrade (Suggested)]
[System: Skill options are available.]
"Oh?" Caelus’s eyes lit up with pure excitement upon seeing the extensive list of upgrades.
However, his anticipation quickly died down. He eagerly tried to select the Chaos Dragon Aspects and the skill options, but a restrictive warning window blocked his path.
[System Error: Unable to select. Please equip yourself with the Chaos Dragon Heart first.]
For every single alternative option he tapped, it showed him the exact same error message.
"..." Caelus’s expression darkened in annoyance. "Why even show me the other choices if I cannot unlock them yet?"
Shaking the frustrating thoughts away, he firmly tapped on the Chaos Dragon Heart.
Boom!
The exact instant he locked in his choice, Caelus’s vision began to glitch wildly.
The dark void around him twisted and turned as a profound, mysterious power erupted from deep within his core.
Boom! VAAAUARRR!
A deafening, primordial roar echoed throughout the endless void. His physical body began to glitch unnaturally, distorting as if his fragile mortal frame no longer belonged in this dimension.
For a second, Caelus was struck by a wave of intense, blinding pain that prevented him from even thinking straight.
"Urgh!" He dropped to his knees, clutching his chest tightly.
He felt it clearly. The frail organ that had been beating inside him until now, his human heart, was forcefully transforming. His old cellular structure began to rapidly die off, painfully replaced by a superior anatomy that contained the raw power of chaos. Within agonizing seconds, it reshaped itself into a flawless pentagonal structure with a radiant golden-black light revolving around its core.
The blood flow temporarily stopped. Then, the new organ kicked into gear, rapidly influencing the rest of his body.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Popping noises rang out from his bones and muscles as his anatomy shifted and expanded. The Chaos Dragon Heart pumped its first heavy beat. As soon as it did, thick golden blood with pitch-black energy surged through his veins.
[System: You have awakened the Chaos Dragon Heart.]
[Chaos Axiom Energy: 100 -> 500]
[Health: 100 -> 500]
[Combat Score: 72.05 -> Limit Exceeded]
[System Warning! Your Combat Score has exceeded the Iron I limit.]
[System: Adjustments are being made. You are now breaking through to the next rank’s power.]
[Combat Score: 1 (Iron II)]
