Chapter 77: Lania
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 77: Lania
【Gomodo】 can evolve into one of the following:
1. 【Saltwater Crocodile】 (Faith, Religion will be lost)
2. 【Titanoboa】 (Faith, Religion will be lost)
3. 【Stupendemys】 (Faith, Religion will be lost)
4. 【Salamander】 (Faith, Religion will be lost), (Consumed Thousand-Year Hwari, Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Spirit Fruit, Supreme-grade Inner Core (Yellow))
5. 【Gomodo-Lania】 (Faith, Religion will be maintained), (Acquired 「Gaegaek Death Beam」, Consumed Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Spirit Fruit, Supreme-grade Inner Core (Yellow))
Let's exclude the options I've already seen.
The only ones I need to look at are 4 and 5.
First, let's examine the Salamander.
【Salamander】
A giant lizard whose entire body is covered in flame-like scales.
It possesses complete immunity to fire and can manipulate flames.
It is a sacred spirit beast with the potential to become a dragon.
It was a better option than I'd thought.
A spirit beast, just like the Gomodo.
And it even had the potential to become a dragon.
A lizard whose entire body was wreathed in flames.
A mythical being that could even be considered a fire spirit.
Of course, blindly trusting the status window's description wouldn't be a wise decision.
It only said it was "giant," with no precise indication of its size.
In the worst-case scenario, I could end up as small as a gecko.
Still, it mentioned the potential to become a dragon and the ability to control fire.
This meant it wasn't a trap like the Bearded Dragon or Green Basilisk, which only had grandiose names.
Setting aside the potential to become a dragon, the ability to wield flames would be a tremendous advantage.
Size and other physical traits could be compensated for somehow.
But special abilities like that were irreplaceable.
And since it was the ability to control fire, of all things, it would be even more impossible to substitute.
The advantages of fire were immense.
Even if I were dropped into the jungle with nothing, just a single torch would increase my survival rate exponentially.
Beyond maintaining body temperature or securing a field of vision, fire possessed a power all its own.
Animals are instinctively wary and afraid of fire.
It might not be as effective against a spirit beast, but even they couldn't completely erase their primal fear of flames.
A Salamander that could freely control such fire.
I couldn't help but covet it.
If I became a salamander, I could sleep on the plains scratching my belly, and no one would dare touch me. If they did, they'd be instantly roasted whole.
So far, so good.
There was no reason not to choose the Salamander.
But there was also a clear drawback.
That was the fact that my Faith and Religion would be lost.
I hadn't actively used my Faith and Religion.
But I knew this wasn't a common ability.
Even the Dilophosaurus that used Sky-Filling Flower Rain didn't have Faith.
The only Faiths I had seen were the Gaegaek Faith and the Snake Queen's Faith.
That was it. Just the two of them.
You had to be on the level of the Snake Queen to possess Faith.
Even she hadn't reached the level of a Religion. I could tell that the Gaegaek Faith and the Gaegaek Cult were highly unusual.
At most, four people.
Including unconfirmed followers like Jang Bong, maybe five people believed in me. That was all.
So, were the effects of my Faith and Religion insignificant?
No.
The divinity I'd accumulated thanks to my Faith.
With it, I had gained a skill called the Gaegaek Death Beam.
Of course, it wasn't a skill I could use at will.
The Gaegaek Death Beam was a skill that imitated the Destruction Ray using the effect of my Reverse Scale, enhanced with divinity.
It wasn't easy to use, but its power was absolutely immense.
It could be considered a superior version of the Destruction Ray.
And the reason I could use such a powerful technique was thanks to the divinity gathered in me.
The divinity I had accumulated over time, combined with the faith sent by the newly joined Jang Bong, had allowed me to use such a skill. I was able to see that much power despite the small amount.
What would happen, then, if the amount of divinity increased?
As tempting as the Salamander's power was, giving up my Faith and Religion would be a painful loss.
The potential of Faith and Religion was extremely high.
I hadn't actively proselytized, but the moment Jang Bong left the 100,000 Great Mountains, the number of people who believed in Gaegaek could increase exponentially.
If word of my deeds spread, people might even flock to the 100,000 Great Mountains to see me.
...Of course, they'd probably take one Yeon-yeong Punch and be sent straight to the River of Three Crossings.
A faction that worshiped me might form naturally.
In other words, it meant I could gain divinity and experience points just by existing.
I couldn't give up something this good.
The Salamander was tempting, but I'd put it on hold for now.
Let's look at the next option.
Seeing the name "Gomodo" still there must mean it's a superior species.
【Gomodo-Lania】
An ancient death with a tail.
It is a wanderer and a butcher.
A superior species of Gomodo.
The status window, giving me another vague description.
Just looking at that, it would be impossible to understand.
Still, there was a clue.
The word "Lania" attached to Gomodo.
It was probably taken from the lizard known as Megalania.
Megalania was known as the largest terrestrial lizard.
I'd say its size was comparable to the Saltwater Crocodile I saw earlier.
Megalania was an incredibly strong creature.
There are even research findings suggesting it fought Komodo dragons for territory and drove them out of their habitat.
Meaning, the Komodo dragon itself tucked its tail and ran.
If the "Lania" at the end was indeed Megalania, then this option would also be an excellent choice.
But this was just my speculation.
In the worst-case scenario, 'Lania' could be a different species, and I might end up with a bizarre evolution where another head sprouts from my lizard body.
That might be an exaggeration, but with so little information, I had to be extremely cautious.
If it weren't for the issue with Faith, I would have immediately chosen the more certain option, the Salamander.
Honestly, it might not be a big deal even if my Faith disappeared right now.
Even without Faith, my dear Swish-Swish would see my flaming scales, let out a "Hieeek!" and get hearts in her eyes.
The same would go for Tus and Pus.
As for Tang Soyeong, well, she'd probably call me a "Salamandra" or something and praise me as a spirit beast recorded in ancient texts.
I could even create a new name for my Faith.
Something cooler than "Gaegaek."
The problem, however, was that it wouldn't happen in an instant.
Swish-Swish was right next to me, so that was fine.
But Tus and Pus were not.
From their perspective, it would be as if their Faith and Religion had vanished overnight.
They already relied on me so much; they would be devastated if they thought I was gone.
I couldn't let that happen.
No matter how I calculated it in my head, I came to the conclusion that I had to maintain my Faith and Religion.
Besides, it's a superior species of Gomodo. How weird could it get?
I've done well as a Gomodo so far, so it should be fine this time, too.
Gomodo.
I'm counting on you.
[Are you sure you want to evolve into 【Gomodo-Lania】?]
It was time to evolve.
Crack... creak...
Something incomparably larger than any egg I'd seen before enveloped my body.
As my vision was obscured, the transformation of my body began.
CRACK.
There was no sign of a Heart Demon appearing.
I simply felt the strange sensation of my body changing.
C-CRACK.
I could definitely feel myself getting much bigger.
CRACK.
The distinctive scales of a lizard covered my entire body.
SHHHHHHK!
And covering them, a layer of black scales.
They were Dragon Scales.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
[Congratulations! 【Gomodo】 has evolved into 【Gomodo-Lania】!]
【Gomodo-Lania LV1】
HP: 4112/4112
MP: 910/910
【Titles】
「Beloved by the Spider」
「Master of the Silver Dragon Cave」
「Master of the Swamp (Lower)」
What?
I couldn't help but be stunned when I saw my HP and MP.
The numbers were more than double what they were when I was a Gomodo.
Compared to when I was a gecko, the difference was easily over 500 times.
Was sticking with the Gomodo line the right answer after all?
No, was it even possible to get this much stronger from a single evolution?
Okay, enough admiring. Time to do what I need to do.
CHOMP.
Gulp.
I instantly stuffed the eggshell that had encased me into my stomach.
After devouring the eggshell in an instant, what I saw was a chunk of meat dripping with blood.
As expected of the Snake Queen.
She's always so well-prepared.
CHOMP.
CRUNCH.
As I soothed my hungry stomach, a message from the status window caught my eye.
[The level of Dragon Scales has increased.]
[The level of Dragon Scales has increased.]
[The level of Dragon Scales has increased.]
...
The level of Dragon Scales went up by a whopping 5.
[「Cold Blood LV1」 has evolved into 「Dragon Blood LV1」.]
Dragon Blood?
I had to check this out immediately.
「Dragon Blood LV1」
The blood of a dragon flows through your body.
It helps you maintain your composure at all times and grants strong resistance to mental attacks.
The dragon's blood can become either a poison or a medicine, according to your will.
You can infuse your blood with internal energy to alter its properties.
I had obtained the superior skill to Cold Blood.
The effect of maintaining composure was the same as before.
What I needed to focus on was the role my blood could play.
It could be poison, or it could be medicine.
I could alter its properties by infusing it with internal energy.
It didn't take long for me to realize what this meant.
The Thousand-Year Hwari and the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng Wine I had consumed.
It meant I could imbue my blood with both cold and fire energy.
It was an incredibly flexible skill.
I had been gifted a skill that could create variables, one that fit my fighting style perfectly.
【Skills】
「Dragon's Claws」「Little Dragon's Sky-Ascending Steps」「Small Heavenly Cycle」「All-Poison Immunity」「Baekran Mental Cultivation Method」「Gecko Wall-Walking Art」「Ancient Dragon Leg Art」
「Dragon Scales LV10」「Reverse Scale LV1」「Poison Generation LV7」「Poison Collection LV4」「Dragon Blood LV1」...
My skill list is getting plastered with dragon-related stuff. Am I actually going to become a dragon at this rate?
It was while I was lost in such a vain delusion.
Thump.
Something bumped into my body.
I looked up to see the adorable little creature.
"Hieeeeeek!"
The cute Swish-Swish wiggled.
...But wait, was Swish-Swish always this small?
"Hoh. You've changed more than I expected."
The same went for the Snake Queen.
The Snake Queen's size had shrunk tremendously.
...No, that's not it.
There's no way the two of them would suddenly shrink.
I was the one who had gotten bigger.
A lot bigger.
So big, in fact, that I couldn't leave this temple of my own will.
In terms of length, am I about 8 meters now?
I had truly reached a size close to the Megalania I knew.
It looked like Swish-Swish was trying her best to measure me, but there was no way that plump little body could gauge my size.
"Princess. At that size, I don't think I could handle you unless I was in my true form."
"Piyaaaaaak!"
Right.
To measure my size, you'd need at least a Basilisk...
...Huh?
Didn't she just say something incredibly dangerous?
"Gek-ge-ge-gek!"
Not your true form!
"Although, even in this body, I might be able to manage somehow..."
That doesn't mean this form is okay, either.
Although, if I only look at her upper body, it seems fine...
No, what am I thinking?
This is driving me crazy.
Is there any way to shrink my size?