Dragon's Nest, Experiments, Advancement, and Enhancement (4)

It had already been more or less obvious that the experiment would yield something.

Diaugia was a legendary monster classified among the dragonkind, after all, and her body still remained shrouded in mystery.

Even so, I had not expected it to hand me a gift this large.

Unique Legendary!

A Unique Legendary grade. I had been happy enough when I obtained a Heroic-grade class, but the effect itself was on a completely different level from the old days, when my whole body had sparkled purple.

“Wow…”

The effect of golden light bursting out all over my body was the sort of thing that announced advancement to Legendary grade, the kind of thing I had only heard about in stories.

For a moment, it felt as if I had become somebody important.

The golden radiance that kept exploding from inside me showed no sign of fading, and the smile tugging at my mouth, so high it hurt, showed no sign of going away either.

Legendary grade!

It was only when my eyes started to ache a little that the light finally began to dim. Even then, the afterglow would not fade so easily.

“Pfft… pffuhuhuhuhu.”

I was a mess, but I just kept laughing.

There was nothing strange about being this happy.

I knew exactly what it meant to possess even one thing called legendary on this continent.

Yuliena, who was already useful even in her dormant state. The Legendary-grade trait Mind's Eye. And now, a Legendary-grade class as well.

At this point, I wanted to ask the all-important total evaluation that had always looked down on me whether it was blind.

When you consider that, by continental standards, a Legendary-grade class usually opens up at the fifth or sixth class, my growth rate is absurd enough to make talk of having no talent sound laughable.

Of course, my stats are pathetic...

This was no ordinary Legendary grade. It was a Unique Legendary grade. The fact that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was now the only person on the continent who could possess this class alone made the result valuable.

Whoa!!!

I’m an alchemist anyway, you moron. What the hell does that have to do with anything?

Truthfully, it was not completely irrelevant. Strength, agility, and endurance could be dismissed like that, but stamina was a fairly important factor.

Even so, it was not enough to make me regret anything.

Who could have imagined that I would end up with 45 mana?

This is... 45 mana!

Compared to other mages, it was still a hopeless number, but I could not stop laughing at the immense mana now filling me from within.

Of course, immense only by my standards. I pushed a little mana into my hand, clutched a catalyst in my arms that looked fairly solid, and applied force...

Damn it.

It did not break.

I had no choice but to set that catalyst down and pick up another one. With a sharp crack, it shattered.

Hulk!

It felt as if I had become Hulk himself. Things impossible with mana in the thirties became possible in the forties.

A brief enhancement of the body through mana circulation.

That was not the only pleasant thing. My intelligence stat, which had not been rising much lately, had also grown explosively.

I had already heard from Hwang Jeongyeon that once intelligence reached 90, another trait would unlock.

Raising intelligence by 3 points while researching would probably be nothing at all.

Of course, there might be some kind of restriction when crossing from 89 to 90, but for the moment there was no problem with growth.

In any case, I had only just achieved my fourth class advancement, and there was still a fifth waiting ahead.

For a human who had only entered this world a year ago, it was growth speed that would be difficult to comprehend.

The people who had come in with me were mostly still floundering in their third class or second class, at best.

My decision to take firm control of Kim Hyunsung's party had been absolutely right.

I had reaped the benefits of that choice in full, and because of it I could share in this extremely pleasant situation.

It was while I was still thinking dazedly about everything I had gained that the one who spoke to me was Diaugia, who had been looking at me with a deeply unimpressed expression.

“Did you obtain something?”

“Thanks to you, I got something very good. I love you, darling. Oh dear! Oh dear!”

Diaugia's status had been promoted from crazy wife to lovable mate.

A textbook turnaround.

Unable to express this joy in words, I rushed toward her enormous face and clung to her scales, showering her with kiss after kiss like a man possessed.

“That is disgusting. Would you stop this?”

“What do you mean, stop? We can kiss a little between us!”

“In any case, I told you to stop. Such displays of affection are uncomfortable and unpleasant. If you have time for this, finish the experiment quickly and pay a little more attention to our Dialuria. Humans, honestly...”

“My pretty one! How could I have failed to notice this charm all this time? Look at that polished sheen, those straight, elegant horns! There is not a single ugly part on you.”

“For some reason, even though that sounds like a compliment, it is still profoundly unpleasant.”

“Hehehe!”

“I said stop clinging to me so disgustingly. Do not cling to me. I will move.”

“Oh, how adorable... if you move, I’ll get crushed to death, darling.”

“T-this human...”

To be honest, I was a little excited. No, it would be more accurate to say I was very excited.

I had been happy when I obtained the Unique Heroic Bio Alchemist Summoner class, but the feeling now was completely different.

Besides, there was no one here watching me, so I figured it was fine to enjoy myself alone like this.

Diaugia had worn a disgusted expression at first, but after a little time passed, she seemed to give up and let out a quiet sigh.

The force of that sigh nearly knocked me sideways, but even so, it was only natural that I could not hide how happy I was.

It was right then that Diaugia spoke again.

“So... what did you obtain?”

“Ahem...”

“Please tell me quickly. Is there something you are trying to hide?”

“No. I was only calming myself down a little. I have realized that your body is worth more than I thought.”

“So it was greed in the end.”

“Not exactly. Well, that is not entirely wrong, either, but...”

“...”

“...”

“Please just tell me already.”

“Of course. Humans living on this continent, unlike you, are granted classes. I do not know whether your human form can receive one too, but in any case, that is how it works for humans. Ah! This explanation is becoming too complicated, so perhaps we should skip ahead for now. That is not what matters at the moment. I already told you before that my class was Alchemist.”

“I remember.”

“Alchemists are a profession granted to those who pursue truth. It is a branch derived from mages, but there is no denying that what they seek is different.”

“It does not suit you very well.”

“I will partly concede that. Anyway, to put it grandly, the genes and blood and such taken from your body are materials that had never been discovered on the continent. Of course, they cannot be used as catalysts right away, so they require a refining process... but the fact remains that they were discovered here for the first time. In other words, those three substances were originally things that did not exist in this world.”

“But that is my blood, is it not? It is not some substance that did not exist in this world. It has clearly existed from the beginning.”

“Once it has gone through refinement and been successfully turned into a catalyst, it is a stretch to call it entirely your blood. Strictly speaking, it is a composite catalyst created together with several other catalysts that assist smooth function. The main ingredient is still yours, though. An experiment meant merely to observe a simple chemical reaction turned into a huge success. I did do a little calculating in advance, of course... but honestly, I never expected it to go this well.”

Only three things survived out of several hundred flasks.

At a glance, it might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but the fact remained that I had hit the jackpot from my very first experiment.

The brilliantly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shining Legendary-grade catalysts were so dazzling that just looking at them was enough to make me tingle.

As Diaugia quietly stared at them with her large eyes, a flicker of interest passed across her face.

“What are their names?”

“They are still undecided. Did I not tell you? These are catalysts discovered for the first time. Since there are exactly three, I thought perhaps you, I, and our little Toltol-i could each choose one name.”

“Ah...”

She seemed to be in a somewhat better mood. Her large eyes blinked once, wide and slow.

“They were made through things I threw together without exact calculations, so there is still time to define and prove what effects they produce and why such results appeared. But the process of sorting that out is not especially difficult.”

“So I was of help.”

“Of course. And that is not all I gained. I mentioned it just now, did I not? That humans receive classes through certain actions.”

“Yes.”

“I received a class before I had even examined these three catalysts in detail, and before I had thoroughly looked into your body. It is a top-tier class, and I suppose it would be accurate to call it a class specializing in the study of dragonkind. In other words, I have come to understand you much better.”

“You mean you were granted a special power?”

“Yes. That would be a fair way to think of it. Of course, it is still in its early stage, so a little more research will be needed...”

“Ah...”

“Once the research is complete, many things should become possible. For instance, putting your breath into this tiny flask.”

“Breath?”

“It will be difficult to expect the same firepower, but that is probably what will happen.”

“Impossible. It is hard to understand, in any sane way, that my breath could be stored in that tiny glass bottle.”

“Whether it is impossible or not is something we will only know once the research begins. I believe there is potential.”

“It will probably be impossible.”

“It will be possible. Because things like this have become ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠possible too. The third class I obtained is called Bio Alchemist Summoner. If you think about the effect of that class and the effect of Dragon Alchemist, which I have just gained...”

The moment I held the catalyst made from Diaugia's cells, I felt it transform into mana and gather around me.

Unlike the old days, when switch and remote control had been necessary, the dragon catalyst had completely erased that complicated process.

With just one catalyst, anything became possible. It was a class-bonus effect worthy of a Unique Legendary grade.

With a crackling sound, a strange current sparked across my hand.

Diaugia staring blankly at me was only natural.

She seemed very curious about what I would do. I was curious too, honestly, about what sort of result would come out of this.

The moment I formed a hand sign with the energy gathered in my palm and placed a hand on the ground, a huge dragon hand began to materialize from the earth a short distance away.

The mana vanished in an instant, and with a series of crackling bursts, the dragon arm that emerged revealed itself fully.

“Ah...”

“This is insanely good... this...”

“This is absurd... y-you...”

Diaugia wore an expression of utter incomprehension.

Of course, she was not the only one making that face. I, too, found the result I had created ridiculous.

“Are you a god or something? What you just did is, by any sensible standard...”

“No, that is strictly not a living creature. Its destructive power is not exactly something to expect yet, either. And I cannot truly create a dragon. I do not think this is an issue that can be judged simply by whether experimentation makes it possible or impossible. Even creating a human-shaped homunculus consumes an outrageous amount of time and money. If that were possible, then, as you say, I would be in the realm of gods, not humans. I cannot create a complex and noble lifeform like you. As for lesser species...”

“Are you saying lesser species are possible?”

“No.”

“I see.”

“Not yet.”

I could hear a dragon swallowing hard.

Creating a clone of Diaugia was impossible. But mass-producing clones of other drake species might well be possible.

Thoughts about ideas that seemed possible, like breath potions, kept springing up one after another.

Of course, there was also a great deal to consider regarding the final purpose of this research, the method of strengthening Park Deokgu.

Maybe it really is possible.

Maybe I really could create a Captain Lindel who would throw away the shield emblazoned with the Blue Guild's mark.