Level 1 Fallen

Chapter 198: Signature Technique

As the other two made their way into the city, I activated Beyond the Veil, intending to take a look at the damage caused by the final attack from the group of grandmasters. I still needed to clean up whatever problems had arisen, given the likelihood that I would need to sneak through this area in the future.

What I saw was… breathtaking. No, really, I was more than a kilometer away, and I still died within seconds, respawning back in the center of Fallcry. My eyes widened at the sheer scale of the attack. Although it would not have directly caused the deaths of people within the city, it would have done so over time.

Simply put, the ground was covered with a bubbling, green liquid. From this liquid, toxic fumes rose into the air. It was this cloud of toxic fumes that had killed me almost instantly.

Looking off to the south, I wondered why they would use something like this, since it would certainly draw the attention of the League. Were they going to just use the excuse that they planned to clean it up after they won, thus it would have never caused a problem to begin with as long as they won?

I sighed helplessly, moving back towards the southern wall. This time, I sent my fire and water generals to handle the mess, now that I knew where it was and how bad it was. Neither of them technically needed to breathe, so they could exist indefinitely within the toxic cloud, without me needing to use Beyond the Veil myself.

Between the flames scorching the poisoned stones, and then the water washing it away, it took almost half an hour before the contaminated area was properly purified. Only then did I make my way back to the village, where the residents already seemed to be celebrating.

Ennolf and Nuoda looked over at me from where they were leading the celebrations, gesturing for me to make an appearance. I hesitated, having made very few proper public appearances ever since I made this kingdom. Still, this was our first time at war, so there was certainly a need to do so, regardless of how I felt on the matter.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped up towards them and looked at the crowd. “I won’t say that this was an easy victory, nor that it will be the last time that Fallcry gets into conflict,” I began, my voice quieting the crowd as I swept my gaze over everyone. “We are still a new nation, one with limited resources and connections. Still, despite that, we managed to push back the draconic forces at our door.”

“Because I was able to trust the defense of the city to our knights, I could fight with all my strength. Without that confidence, I do not know what outcome we would have faced today… Which is why I have made a decision. I plan to popularize the half-dragon transformation skills, such as have been shown by Diane.”

“These skills will be available to anyone who becomes a citizen of Fallcry. However, I must give you all a warning in regards to the skills, for there may be some who misunderstand their power.”

My gaze swept the crowd again as I continued. I knew that this message wasn’t just for this lot, but would undoubtedly reach other players, as well. Either through someone recording this speech, or through the sponsorship system. Thus, I was doing my best to state my case now.

“When cultivating these skills, you will need at least three other skills of an identical element ready to evolve from the novice tier to the intermediate tier. Once you have done so, you will have your specialized half-dragon form. In this form, your damage output will be limited by your dragon form’s skill level, but the cost of using skills of that element disappears. However, the cost of using skills of a different element will increase tenfold.”

“If you do not prepare a specialized transformation, you will obtain the version of the skill that I use myself. Unfortunately, I am not a proper example of how to judge the costs of a skill, so I can only use my speculations. When I use this skill, I must select a single other skill to use as the basis for my draconic form. In this form, that single skill becomes strengthened.”

“To balance this, I anticipate one of two scenarios. Either the chosen skill becomes free to use, and all other skills become more expensive, as with the specialized form of the skill, or all other skills maintain their normal cost, while the chosen skill becomes more expensive to use to compensate for the increased power.”

“Choose carefully when you are planning what form you want to use, as it could impact all aspects of your growth in the future. These skills will be available starting tomorrow from our local martial expert,” I glanced at Kelly, who was leaning against a nearby building. She seemed to have anticipated the announcement, merely nodding her head in understanding.

“Finally, if you do not want to achieve a fully draconic form, it is suggested that you do not advance the skill past the intermediate stage. We have confirmed that the master stage of the skill cannot only do a half-transformation, and you will only enjoy the skill’s buffs while it is active. I ask that everyone keep this in mind moving forward. For now, let us celebrate our victory!”

As soon as I finished speaking, the crowd cheered. It was hard to tell whether they were cheering for the victory, or for the new skills that were going to be made public. Regardless, I made my way away from the square, signalling with my eyes for Kelly to follow me.

“So, you’re going to be teaching me a couple of new skills, huh?” she asked in an amused tone as we made our way towards the southern gate.

I was just about to speak when I noticed Diane rapidly approaching, soon catching up with the two of us. “Weren’t you planning to keep those skills as a secret?” she asked, her eyes wide with surprise. Given that I myself had only just made the decision prior to giving the speech, it was understandable that she was caught off-guard.

“I changed my mind for a number of reasons,” I explained to the two of them as we walked. “First, since you are no longer using the skill as part of your primary arsenal, there is less harm in allowing the knowledge to spread. Secondly, we can use this to pull in a lot more people to the kingdom. Previously, there were very few people who were able to learn both skills required for the dragon transformations, due to one of the skills requiring them to fight a dragon in an area with no land to maneuver. Even a current high level player would have a hard time in that dungeon, and the skill is probably not a guaranteed drop.”

“Third, defeating the dragon empire and then turning a draconic transformation skill into our specialty will further cement our image in people’s minds. Some might look at it as us having taken the skill from them as part of the surrender, despite the evidence to the contrary. Some might think that we stole it prior to the war, and used it to overpower them. Some might even think that we looted it off one of their corpses.”

“Fourth, we need more defenders for Fallcry. This is definitely not going to be the last war that people declare against us, so we need to be ready for what comes next. Having an entire unit of draconic fighters ready to defend us would be instrumental in future wars.”

“Finally, do you remember what trick we used to quickly level up those skills when we first got them?” I asked Diane as we reached the southern gate.

“We used… dragon pearls from the sea dragon dungeon, right?” she asked, and I confirmed, before pointing out to the area south of the camp. Dragon corpses lay strewn about, some in multiple pieces while others were completely pierced through from my turrets.

“And we just got a bulk delivery of dragon corpses. With even a few grandmasters mixed in,” I smiled, looking at Kelly. “Your quest to learn the Dragon Form and Dragon Pulse skills will be to help me collect all of the dragon corpses.”

Kelly’s brow twitched, but she soon laughed. “Well, that sounds easy enough, at least. I suppose you want the big ones before they have the chance to come back and reclaim them.”

As soon as I agreed, she disappeared, running off to the camp that they had used for their war. Meanwhile, I began walking around, using my Scavenging Mastery skill to collect the bodies. I couldn’t ask Diane to do this, since she wasn’t physically strong enough to lift and carry the bodies herself. Maybe if she entered her own draconic form, but she was probably not used to controlling it properly yet.

“You’re planning to use this to get the last bit of experience that you need to level up Scavenging Mastery, I assume?” Diane asked, causing me to freeze in my tracks after collecting the corpse of a reed dragon.

“...Would you believe me if I said that had slipped my mind?” I questioned wryly, before entering my dragon king mode to maximize my experience gain. “Though, now that you’ve said that, I should be able to use all of these bodies to rank up the skill.”

As soon as I had said that, Kelly returned with the first delivery, Cyranis’s corpse. His green neck was twisted at an unnatural angle. Seeing me in my dragon form, she barely reacted, immediately running off for the next one.

Like this, we spent the next two hours handling the cleanup of the battlefield. From what I saw, only a few dragon species seemed to have Dragon Pearls, primarily those from aquatic branches. However, dragons with the earth element had Dragon Crystals with a similar effect. I assumed that dragon blood could also be used to make a potion that would have the same effect.

Thankfully, Diane was no longer the only alchemist in Fallcry. Her friends over in the Sunset Isles had managed to recruit an alchemist, and were heavily invested in training him. As such, I had Diane send the dragon blood to this alchemist, while leaving the meat for Ennolf, and the scales and bones for Hammerhead. As for the organs, I wasn’t entirely sure  what to do with them.

After checking the market, Diane reported to me that dragon hearts were highly valued, while the eyes, tongues, lungs, and brains were at least worth selling. Everything else could be considered as ‘waste products’ and disposed of.

Along the way, it was only natural that my skill finally evolved, granting me the long-awaited Corpse Collector skill. Unfortunately, even after gathering up the rest of the bodies, none of them were transformed into a card. This just showed that the skill had a low chance to activate, or maybe it was related to the level of Corpse Collector itself.

I couldn’t say for sure either way, given that I had only just unlocked the skill. All I knew was that I was happy to finally be done cleaning up the mess of the battle. I even had to use Walking Fortress to fix the landscape, so I was determined to get some proper rest after all of that.

The next day, I awoke to the sounds of bustling crowds within the city. According to Diane, someone in the crowd had been ‘streaming’ the battle, as well as my speech afterwards. Drawn in by the promise to be able to use the kingdom’s new signature skill, a large number of players had arrived.

Seeing not one, but three airships queueing in the distance to dock and unload passengers, I felt cold sweat dripping down my back. I knew that a crisis was about to befall, so I did the only thing I could!

“Diane, Bella, we’re leaving now! Breakfast will be after we get to the primary realm,” I called out to the duo, already pulling out the car within a Wraith Zone. Kelly spent most of her time deep in meditation, so she had probably not noticed the commotion yet. If she saw how many people were going to be coming here to learn the two new skills that I had imparted to her, it would be days before we were able to leave.

Thus, as soon as the girls were in the car, I channeled World Walker through it to teleport all of us to a place I had not visited in a very long time, Brita. This was the same city where Diane and I first began our adventures, and was the oldest location I could go to with World Walker.

As soon as we arrived, I couldn’t help but imagine a vast killing intent directed at me from somewhere far off in the distance. Sorry, Kelly. You did agree to this!Your sacrifice will be remembered.