Chapter 582 - The Opportunity to Improve in Power Level
Chapter 582: The Opportunity to Improve in Power Level
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
“Are Devil Lords supposed to be that easy to find these days?”
Snake God Voka’s information could be considered trustworthy. He was the master of the 75th level of the Chaos Abyss. Countless spies would be working for him, and he would also be connected to this level’s dimensional laws. It would be almost impossible for anything to happen here without his knowledge.
However, there were now only five Devil Lords remaining from the previous nine. With the devils’ current wretched condition, they had still sent out three Devil Lords just to hunt me down. This would only worsen the devils’ situation back home to the point where they were likely to lose several more dimensional levels. They were paying such a major price just to try and capture me. Should I feel honored?
“I can’t stay here any longer.”
This was something obvious that didn’t even need to be said. We didn’t have much time left. If the devils really caught up to me, that would mean a great amount of trouble.
Since time was of the essence, I stopped beating around the bush, and directly requested Voka’s assistance. He needed to at least provide me with a safe teleportation portal, as well as live up to his promise of giving us two items from his treasury.
Voka would absolutely have plenty of teleportation portals available to him. This meant that I wouldn’t need to return to the Blackrock dark dwarf tribe. I obviously had no time to waste. Although I was slightly sad that I wouldn’t be able to collect payment from the dark dwarves, I wouldn’t be losing out, as I could take something from Voka instead.
Voka also directly expressed his “friendliness”. While having his servants arrange a teleportation portal for us, he had other servants bring us over to his treasury to take what we wanted.
Even so, I still didn’t tell him of my real destination, the 100th level. I only told him that I wanted to go to the 102nd level in the Chaos Abyss.
“Weren’t you having a nice discussion? How come you still don’t trust him?”
We were walking along an exquisite corridor decorated with white clouds. The walls were made of white jade, and also full of reliefs depicting all sorts of grand accomplishments of Snake God Voka. Little Red was currently rubbing her belly and picking her teeth while walking alongside me.
“This isn’t an issue of trust. It’s only natural to be cautious. My value hasn’t exceeded what the devils might be able to offer. Neither is Voka the kind and loyal type. If the Devil Lords come to see him again to ask where I went, there’s no need for him to lie to the Devil Lords for my sake, as it would only antagonize them. He’ll definitely sell out my location to make the devils happy and receive some benefits. If I die, nobody will care regardless, nor is it likely that we’ll be coming to the Chaos Abyss again to take revenge on him for such a small matter.”
The fact that I mentioned the 102nd level would also match what I’d previously told the dark dwarves. Don’t look at how there was only a two-level difference, as this would be a difference of two entire dimensions. Trying to search for me would then be the equivalent of searching for me in the entire wrong world. That would obviously be highly difficult.
“Oh.”
Little Red simply oh’d without caring too much. She was just asking a casual question. Little Red then focused back on the snakeman leading the way.
I felt rather helpless. She was just asking so casually, yet I acted all serious in explaining everything. This made me feel rather silly.
This was the same as when we were previously adventuring together. She and Adam didn’t care about anything except for the joy of adventure. They never needed to worry a single bit about anything related to schemes or using wits.
This would have been still fine as I, the team leader, would only have to pay some more attention to them. Yet, both Little Red and Adam were highly skilled at starting trouble, and then they would always act however they pleased. In the end, Margaret and myself always had to work very hard, cleaning up after them.
Not only did Little Red and Adam not die after creating so much trouble, they also constantly met with “miracles” and important personages, receiving excellent training that constantly made them stronger…
Could they be the legendary character type with protagonist plot armor? Causing trouble everywhere they went, yet they seemed like the luckiest naughty children around…? Could it be that all legendary heroes who were supposedly chosen by destiny were actually nothing more than naughty children with incredible luck? Yep, you had to be constantly causing trouble in order to level up quickly. If you weren’t lucky enough, or powerful enough, you would simply die. Those who were lucky and talented enough would then become the main characters.
While I thought about such things, the snakeman leading us constantly led us from one palace to the next. Since we still had some time left, I wasn’t in that much of a rush.
The scenery along the way was excellent. These palaces were designed with nature as the main theme. They appeared simple, yet had a unique and beautiful design. They were classically beautiful without being extravagant. They would make a great place for a vacation spot.
These palaces were constructed on a mountain. A long river passed through Voka’s entire Divine Kingdom. His servants and God Envoys lived by the riverside. Over 70% of his Divine Kingdom was a forest. Since Voka obviously loved forests, I now believed his claim that he had formerly been a Guardian God of a forest.
I stood on a platform and looked at the mountains and plains. Not far away was a giant waterfall that crashed down from a cliff that was more than one thousand meters tall. The closer we got, the louder the sound of water was, just as if there were booming thunderclaps.
We turned around a corner, and immediately came upon the waterfall right before us. The pouring water from above was just like a natural barrier that blocked the way.
I immediately frowned. The waterfall was blocking the path, so the path had ended? Why had this snakeman brought us here?
“Your Highness Roland, please come over this way. This is our most majestic sight in our grand God’s Divine Kingdom.”
When I walked closer, I finally noticed that there was actually a large cave approximately six meters tall and a few dozen meters wide behind the waterfall. This was the next part of the path leading onward.
Being able to open up a path inside such a heavy waterfall required serious work. But to a God, that would be nothing.
The snakeman was about to enter the cave when I suddenly stopped.
“What giant beast do these bones belong to?”
I couldn’t possibly just trust Voka one hundred percent yet. Ever since we entered his Divine Kingdom, Harloys’ clones had constantly been acting as scouts, providing me with information. And right now, she just shared with me an image that she obtained from one of her clones in the sky.
A bird clone looking down from above would see humans as nothing more than specks of rice. However, there was a tremendous dragon skeleton that was especially noticeable. This skeleton was constantly being bombarded by the waterfall. Its snow white bones were like white jade, and its gigantic body managed to block that powerful waterfall without even a single hint of being moved.
“Hundreds of meters large? Thousands of meters large? This skeleton is comparable to that Tiger God’s.”
A dragon’s size was typically a direct representation of its power level. Although smaller dragons might not always lose to larger dragons, such a ridiculously large dragon skeleton was far beyond normal comprehension.
Quite obviously, this skeleton belonged to a super powerful Supreme Immemorial Dragon that was far more powerful than any ordinary Supreme Immemorial Dragon. I could already imagine how powerful it must have been during its life. It was likely that not even all the Supreme Immemorial Dragons in Dragon World combined would have been a match for this one while it was still alive.
I was rather tempted to ask for this skeleton. If I could use such a gigantic dragon skeleton as material, I could create a tremendously powerful super bone dragon. But after I thought about it some more, I decided to give up on this idea.
This dragon skeleton was far too ancient. It had also been bathed in Voka’s power in his Divine Kingdom for countless years, meaning that the skeleton no longer possessed that much negative energy. It would have still been usable if it hadn’t also been bathed in a waterfall for so many years, as water also had some powers of cleansing. By now, I could no longer sense any grudges within that dragon skeleton. It would be far too difficult to revive it.
And when thinking about my future battles, creating a gigantic weapon like this wouldn’t really be that meaningful. So in the end, I gave up the idea of asking Voka for this skeleton.
Suddenly, Little Red, who hadn’t been serious all this time, finally stopped. She seemed to be interestedly looking at the rainbow created from the waterfall. However, she was actually secretly sending me a magic message that only I could hear.
“Roland, you must obtain that dragon skeleton for me at all costs. That skeleton is a set with the ‘dragon heart’ that I just obtained. If I can obtain this skeleton, I’ll finally be able to progress in power level!”
I was rather surprised to hear this, and then I was overjoyed.
In this world, humans weren’t the only ones who could level themselves up or have job classes. Dark elves had shadow dancers, wood elves had nature archers, beastmen had berserkers, and so on. These were all famous combat-oriented job classes. A so-called job class would simply be a path of cultivation that other people had come up with in the past. It was only natural that different species would have different job classes more suitable for their natural talents.
Even ogres were capable of becoming ogre mages or shamans. As dragons were one of the most powerful species in the world, of course dragons would also have job classes.
Indeed, dragons could become stronger simply as time passed. However, there would always be powerful dragons that focused on training themselves to become stronger, creating their own paths. For instance, the first generation’s Supreme Immemorial Dragons and Dragon Gods. But, dragon job classes would differ from human job classes. Dragons’ fighting styles were focused on their physical bodies, so leveling themselves up would be more like an evolution of their physical body, changing something foundational within them.
Rune dragons were dragons that wore rune armor all over their bodies. They were similar to the human monk job class, but they had far more outstanding defensive prowess, which was renowned throughout all dimensions. Their runes would also provide powerful support for their magic.
Blood berserk dragons were the dragons’ version of the berserker job class. These dragons abandoned their useless wings in favor of evolving even more powerful claws and fangs. They sought the most powerful melee abilities. Their berserk states were even more powerful than beastmen berserkers’.
Eternity dragons were dragons that abandoned their useless pride and wealth in exchange for eternal life. They were grand and majestic, yet also rarely fought. Their abilities were unknown, but each eternity dragon would be a famous personage in Dragon City.
These three job classes were all relatively common dragon job classes. Actually, Little Red’s mother Molly transforming into an inferno dragon was also a way of entering a dragon job class. A red dragon that became an inferno dragon would obtain demonized power, allowing its dragonbreath to gain corrosive properties. An inferno dragon would also be able to summon cannon fodder from the lower planes.
But, what actually happened was that Molly actually lost a lot of power after transforming into an inferno dragon. She lost her red dragon abilities of outstanding control of and resistance against fire, along with her red dragon combat instincts. Little Red had been able to beat Molly so viciously because of this.
Many dragons that found themselves unable to level up anymore through their own efforts would then enter a dragon job class that was suitable for their natural talents. This would have an effect of 1 + 1 > 3.
Actually, humans also had similar job classes, such as demon warlock or dragon bloodline sorcerer. Such humans would add demon or dragon bloodline traits to their physical bodies, theoretically being able to achieve progress like dragons could. However, the effects would be far weaker.
Compared to human progression, dragons achieving higher power levels represented foundational changes and evolution. Dragons would pay more of a price in order to change even more. It could be said that a dragon that entered a new power level would become an entirely different species. In fact, dragons would even have the almost laughable problem of being unable to reproduce with another individual that was weaker than them.
Little Red had previously learned magic from human archmages. This hadn’t actually helped her to progress in power level. But to my knowledge, she had long been ready to progress in power level, having met all the conditions. She also possessed plenty of resources and preparations for progressing in power level. It was just that she didn’t want to progress in power level to any normal job class.
“Rather than getting a job class that will limit my future potential and development, I would prefer to continue improving my foundations, taking my own path instead.”
I also agreed with Little Red’s choice. Her self-study of fire and wind magic would also help her improve herself. There was no need for her to casually choose any job class which would limit herself. It was easy to understand. No matter if she chose the rune dragon, blood berserk dragon, eternity dragon, or some other job class, she would lose just as much as she gained. It would be unavoidable that her control over fire would be greatly weakened. She might even end up becoming weaker despite progressing in power level.
“Dragons are strong enough regardless, without needing to progress in power level. They simply need to cultivate their personal element’s magic for their entire lives. There’s no need to forcibly raise power level.”
Yet, Little Red had told me that she now had a way to improve her power level. This naturally meant that she had understood this deceased Supreme Immemorial Dragon’s path from its dragon heart and skeleton, and that she was greatly tempted by the opportunity.
“This is a chance that will only come once in a thousand years. Only the Chaos Abyss will have such an opportunity…”
This was just how the Chaos Abyss was. Although this place would be incomparably dangerous, countless powerful individuals would come down here to chase their dreams, looking for miracles. However, it would be far more common for these powerful individuals to die here, becoming miracle opportunities for others instead.
Dead Gods, lost God Equipment, the remains of some powerful individual, and so on. The mortal plane was far more peaceful, but the endless Chaos Abyss represented an uncountable number of opportunities and potential. It was far more common for people to either suddenly die here, or miraculously become super powerful.
Little Red would have exceedingly high standards. Her foundational strength was already frighteningly powerful. Even without progressing in power level, she had been able to beat Molly so much when Molly was two power levels above her. Something that instantly made her want to progress in power level so badly would absolutely have to be exactly what she wanted.
I was trying to find resources for improving my own power level, yet I somehow managed to help Little Red come up with hers first. I could only laugh at how the world worked sometimes. But of course, I would never miss such an excellent opportunity for Little Red.
Over all these years, Little Red had probably made the least progress out of any of us. This wasn’t because she didn’t work hard. The reason was quite easy and simple. She had started at far too high a level already. Dragons would progress very slowly. Most progress for dragons would be a foundational change within them rather than a change in fighting style. Now, since she had such a great opportunity to progress in power level, as she was like a bro to me… okay, maybe like a sister to me, of course I would try my best to help her progress in power level.
“What if he doesn’t want to give it to us?”
“Then we’ll take (steal) it! You should still remember where the dark dwarves’ teleportation portal is, right? We’ll meet up there if he won’t give it to us.”
Little Red nodded in satisfaction as she continued to pretend to gawk at the scenery. As for scamming… er, negotiation, she naturally left that up to me.
“Actually, I could introduce some dwarven diggers to you that can help you all to construct a safe and beautiful passage through here…”
And so, I started randomly beginning the haggling process, and as I talked, I went back to go see Voka again.