The Dragon Trinity
The Dragon Heart lodged firmly in his chest.
It had settled inside Lim Dojun’s body, ignoring every physical barrier.
Ugh…
Lim Dojun fought desperately to stay conscious. The Crystal Dragon’s will was rampaging like a storm unleashed. He possessed the Dragon’s Body—even if it was only two percent—and the Dragon Heart, though merely a third of a fragment. Both were amplifying the dragon’s will.
-Creeeeak.
“!!!!”
His entire body stiffened at terrifying speed. His pupils trembled before he could stop them. The despair he had felt countless times over five years surged upward, but he clamped down on his mind.
Think. Think.
He had overcome this once before. He was no longer on Earth but in Astelgard. If he had done it once, he could do it again.
Lim Dojun swiftly turned his awareness inward. Inside him, it was not only the Crystal Dragon’s will that ran wild. Every element connected to dragons was in uproar, yet the chaos was not purely destructive. Like hallucinations born of fever, Lim Dojun found himself wrapped in searing heat, reflecting on everything he had seen on his way here.
The countless records Casian had frantically studied. There had been no time to decipher them properly, but the walls and ceiling had been covered floor to ceiling in dense text. He had only glanced at them in passing, too focused on moving forward, yet now those fragments were assembling themselves inside his mind with mechanical precision.
-Click. Click.
They merged with his existing knowledge. Missing sections were inferred from context, virtual theories were tested, and every hypothesis was verified. The process unfolded at blinding speed.
Skill ‘Incomplete Dragon-Style Magic Theory 2’ has evolved into Dragon Soul Magic.
The existing skill ‘Incomplete Dragon-Style Magic Theory 2’ has been deleted.
After what felt like an eternity, Lim Dojun finally regained his senses and opened his eyes. A mysterious gleam lingered in his half-lidded gaze. The dragon’s will still rampaged inside him, making his head spin. Yet obtaining Dragon Soul Magic had allowed him to calm the chaos that had nearly torn his body apart. The magic only a true dragon could wield had stabilized his frame.
Unfortunately, his body was already almost completely frozen. Only the area above his neck, his heart, and a small cluster of surrounding muscles still functioned. Everything else had shut down. The condition was worse than when he had been confined to a wheelchair. With only his head and heart alive, he was little more than a living corpse. Even his lungs had nearly stopped; drawing each breath was a battle.
Fortunately, he had a solution.
I still have achievement points.
Injury Recovery: Restores all physical injuries.
Required Achievement Points: 10
He had only now noticed the message that appeared earlier. Gathering the dragon’s will, body, and heart—the complete trinity—had granted him a full ten achievement points. Thanks to that, the same recovery option he received upon first arriving in Astelgard had surfaced. He breathed a sigh of relief.
My original plan was to keep collecting points until an effect appeared that could erase every side effect…
But there was no time to wait in a situation like this.
10 points consumed.
Recovered from all injuries.
The moment the message appeared, his whole body healed as though freshly washed. Lim Dojun exhaled the breath he had been holding.
“...Haa.”
He had survived.
“Jun! Are you all right?”
The Blue Magic Tower colleagues and mercenaries who arrived late cried out in alarm. What had felt like an eternity to him had been only moments to them. From their perspective, something had flown at him, he collapsed, and then stood back up.
“...I’m fine.”
“Didn’t you get hit? Want a potion?”
“No. There are no wounds.”
Lim Dojun shrugged. Because the Dragon Heart had not entered him physically, he appeared completely unharmed on the surface.
“Let’s leave this room first.”
There was nothing else worth seeing here besides the Dragon Heart. The statues were merely objects of worship. Having perceived all of it while his mind was expanded, he wanted to get out as quickly as possible.
* * *
The party remained inside the ruins for a considerable time afterward. To be exact, Casian needed a long while to examine the site. To her, the place was practically heaven.
“Oh my god… records preserved this perfectly…!?”
The inscriptions inside the dungeon were abundant, neat, and—most importantly—readable. Naturally, most remained indecipherable, but with so many records present, sections she could understand appeared here and there. That alone was enough to send her into a state of near-euphoric collapse.
Jo Difel stayed beside her, helping in case any content proved useful to his own research. The mercenaries kept glancing at Lim Dojun with obvious greed.
“Hehe… Um… Sir Mage. Would you perhaps be interested in exploring the rest of the dungeon with us?”
Reina asked cautiously. She had been unable to comprehend his power at first, but she had accepted it soon enough. Great mages often displayed incomprehensible phenomena; she simply chalked it up to that. Now she wanted to keep him close like a lucky charm.
“Yes. Let’s go together.”
Lim Dojun did not refuse their request. He wanted to tour the entire dungeon to see whether any records existed beyond what he had gained through Dragon Soul Magic. The nearby inscriptions dealt only with various dragon legends and peripheral spells. Those offered little real value. They merely praised how magnificent dragon magic was—information that held no practical meaning.
After all, Dragon Soul Magic cannot be used unless the Dragon Trinity is complete.
The dragon’s will, body, and heart had to exist in perfect harmony. Of course, even Lim Dojun’s version was imperfect.
I don’t know when the stabilized dragon’s will might rampage again.
He had used Dragon Soul Magic to complete the trinity and calm his rampaging body. It was an excellent solution. Obtaining draconic elements with a human frame naturally caused an outburst; calming it with equally profound ancient magic had been the correct counter. The problem was the trinity’s instability. The Crystal Dragon’s will was too complete, the Dragon’s Body was only two percent, and the Dragon Heart was merely a third of a fragment. It felt like riding a bicycle whose every part creaked and threatened to fall apart.
He was forcing the pieces together with achievement points and somehow moving forward, but a single mistake could shatter everything.
I must secure more of the Dragon’s Body and Dragon Heart as quickly as possible.
Now that he possessed Dragon Soul Magic, the situation had completely reversed. He needed to obtain the remaining pieces before another rampage occurred and forge a complete dragon physique. Only then could he perfectly control his body with the magic.
* * *
I’d like to see the mage who rides a drake.
The Pope’s casual mutter was all it took. The members of the Extreme Martial Cult sprang into action. Their obedience did not stem from pure loyalty. Many followed him for personal gain rather than devotion.
“Kuhuhu. If we capture that mage, I wonder just how enormous a reward the Pope will grant…!”
The being closest to god. The strongest existence on the continent. Any reward from him would never be trivial. In fact, recipients often received profound enlightenment. That was why cult members would gladly risk their lives for even a single lesson.
Normally the Pope showed interest in almost nothing and devoted himself solely to training, so such chances were rare. This time, however, was different.
“I gathered information. He’s a first-year mage at the Blue Magic Tower. Hasn’t even been there a few months.”
“Only that?”
“Must be a genius. Taming a drake is no small feat.”
“Still. At best he’d be an Intermediate Mage.”
Even talented individuals usually needed three years to reach Intermediate Mage in the great towers. Late starters could take a decade. While an Intermediate Mage from a major tower was certainly strong, to elites from the Extreme Martial Cult’s main headquarters, it was nothing remarkable.
“We brought an ignition stone that weakens cold abilities just in case. No problems there.”
“That’s overkill.”
“Then let’s go catch him.”
The two cult members began tracking the drake’s trail from Bellangs.
* * *
Lim Dojun knew he had to move quickly to stabilize a body that could rampage again at any moment, yet he felt surprisingly calm.
My luck potential is 10.
Even if things grew difficult, enduring would eventually bring good fortune. At least, that was what he wanted to believe.
Still, he found no further gains inside the dungeon. While Casian, Jo Difel, and the other mercenaries remained in the statue chamber to excavate more information, Lim Dojun stepped outside for fresh air. He wanted sunlight to clear his mind and to shake off the memory of nearly dying. The others had said they would stay in the trap-free room for a while, so he had no reason to worry.
Outside, Dreck-i was lazily rolling about nearby.
“Dreck-i.”
“Kyak?”
“Smell anything useful this time?”
“Kyaaak?”
He had half-expected the drake to bring him something again, but the creature simply snorted as if to ask what nonsense he was speaking. Only then did suspicion creep in.
…What? Is my luck potential slacking off today?
He was desperately hoping for something—anything—to appear. And at the exact moment that thought crossed his mind—
“Oh. Found them. The drake and the Blue Magic Tower mage.”
“?”
Two men with distinctly hostile eyes stepped into view.