"This is truly fascinating. I never expected that the two forms of the dragon race would be fundantally identical in so ways. In theory, Mr. Sieg, that ans you should be able to use magic even in your humanoid form, right?"
Using a magical lens, Avia carefully scrutinized a faintly glowing patch of skin on Sieg's hand. An intricate magical circuit was embedded within.
The flow of magic within that circuit was significantly less than that within the far larger spell formation inscribed upon his draconic body, but it was still a fully functional magic array.
"I'll establish a direct ntal energy link to this circuit for you, Mr. Sieg. Try using it to cast a spell."
Though the primary magic circuit designed to interface directly with Sieg's ntal energy was still incomplete, it wasn't too difficult to temporarily establish a direct connection using a spell.
With a flick of her finger, Avia seamlessly linked Sieg's ntal energy to the magical array. Sieg offered no resistance, allowing the connection to form smoothly.
Through his senses, Sieg found that, while he still couldn't directly manipulate the magic within the array, controlling the miniature formation was surprisingly easy.
As his ntal energy activated the formation, tiny purple sparks of electricity flickered at his fingertips. An invisible force lifted the dust on the ground in the direction in which his finger pointed.
Under the trio's gaze, fine dust particles hovered in midair, clearly visible.
"It worked." Sieg nodded. His ntal link with the array was functional. Since the array was so small, the lifting force it produced was weak—just enough to suspend dust in the air.
"Thank you, Miss Avia. The fact that this experint has worked so well is astounding to . I'll continue my research to refine this success further."
Given his vast knowledge, Sieg was well aware of the implications of this breakthrough. Countless new possibilities arose from this singular success. Though his current draconic form had reached its limit in certain aspects, this newfound path—though weak and insignificant in the short term—held limitless growth potential in the long run.
"Of course! An opportunity to study a dragon's body isn't sothing money alone can buy. This has been an excellent chance for to improve my alchemy as well."
The chance to study a dragon's physical form was indeed invaluable for Avia, and Sieg wouldn't take her help for granted—whether it was gold deposited into Wang Yu's mana crystal card or assistance within the Nightblades, his gratitude always resulted in tangible benefits.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Avia. Shall we schedule a weekly session to continue experinting with magic circuit inscriptions?"
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before Sieg beca a full dragon.
Since there were still many other matters to handle as far as the Nightblades were concerned, Sieg bid farewell to Wang Yu and Avia as he left the Church of Nightfall's headquarters.
"I'm really envious. The ability to inscribe magic circuits directly onto one's body to enhance strength—I doubt any other race could achieve that." Wang Yu shook his head. Dragons were far too amazing.
"It might work on, say, earth elentals too." Avia poked Wang Yu as she corrected him. "But lower-tier elentals lack the intelligence to control these circuits, and high-tier elental lords have no need for them."
"They don't count as normal lifeforms, surely," Wang Yu argued. "But Sieg's ability to shift between dragon and human form—that's beyond the scope of what a normal creature should be capable of. Do dragons naturally possess the ability to distort space like that?"
Wang Yu sighed. Given his background on Earth, he often overlooked the existence of strange beings like elentals. As the conversation returned to dragons' unique abilities, he couldn't help but wonder whether this power was simply a result of their imnse strength.
But could sheer strength alone grant such abilities? Other similarly "unreasonable" latent potentials existed as well. Were they really all just manifestations of fighting spirit ford into structured matrices?
Sowhere within the underground cliffs of the capital's shadow, rocky walls trembled. Cracks ford across their surfaces as dust and small stones crumbled and fell. The sound of tal tools striking stone echoed from within.
A large chunk of rock broke loose, revealing the tip of an iron mining pick. Shortly after, a rough and muscular arm extended from the hole, groped around briefly, then retracted.
"Should we use an alchemical bomb? We're almost there."
"You wanna get buried alive? That's a horrible excuse for a brain you've got."
"Let's just dig through and be done with it. The pay's good, and I'd rather finish up fast and go buy so booze."
"Fine, fine."
Voices rang out from within the tunnel, gruff, loud, and unmistakable. Anyone would recognize that these were dwarves—or at least, a certain type of dwarf.
With one final strike of the iron pick, the already weakened rock wall collapsed to reveal a pitch-black passage. Several stocky figures erged from within. They were gray-skinned, red-eyed, with rougher, flatter features compared to normal dwarves: duergar, gray dwarves.
"This should be the place. Take out the cargo." One of the gray dwarves stepped out, tilting his head upward to observe the underground cavern of the capital's shadow. Bioluminescent plants covered the ceiling like a starry sky, confirming that they had reached their intended destination.
These glowing plants had a long growth cycle that lasted for over a decade. By morizing their positions, one could use them as a substitute for real stars to navigate underground.
"Let's hurry. I really don't want to get involved with those Abyssal lunatics—damn zealots're always one step away from throwing themselves into the abyss."
He turned and urged the others forward before stepping to the edge of the cliff. As he peered down into the abyss below, an involuntary shiver ran through him.
They were deep underground, perilously close to the abyss itself. The vast, unlit chasm filled him with a primal dread, as though sothing unspeakably horrific might rise from the darkness and drag him down.
Yet, as far as he knew, nothing had ever erged from the abyss to claim anyone. The only ones who disappeared were those who went mad and threw themselves in.
This was the first ti they had dug so deep. Only duergar, dwarves who were even more attuned to underground life than their surface kin, could mine to such depths. The reason they had done so was a commission from the Cult of the Abyss to transport a massive tal container to this location.
"What the hell are they planning? Who's supposed to pick this up?" He glanced around. Aside from the endless darkness below and the sheer cliffs around them, there was no sign of anyone.
"Whatever. Not my problem. Just do the job and take the money. No need to overthink it." Pushing his thoughts aside, the duergar leader refocused on the task at hand. He was here to deliver the cargo—nothing more, nothing less. Whatever the Cult was up to, it had nothing to do with him.
The massive, heavy tal container was dragged out of the tunnel with thick ropes, scraping against rock with a harsh, grating noise. The tension in the ropes made it look as though they might snap at any mont.
With a resounding crash, the iron container landed on solid ground, sending deep vibrations through the cavern.
"Alright, let's go. Our job was just to deliver this thing here. Let's go back and get paid. Make sure to get an image of the delivery, so they can't claim we didn't do our job." The duergar leader waved his hand, signaling his n to hurry up and get away from the abyss.
"Hey, boss, wait a second—I've got an idea."
Just as the others started leaving, one gray dwarf hurried forward and whispered into the duergar leader's ear.
"What? Speak up." The leader impatiently yanked the dwarf's beard.
"Hey, boss, you know I worship the God of the Forge, right? That ans I can sense the presence of powerful, valuable artifacts. And this chest? Heh..."
The duergar rubbed his fingers together—a universal sign for money.
The duergar leader raised an eyebrow. He knew this particular subordinate well. Thanks to his faith, the dwarf had the ability to perceive the aura of valuable crafted objects. If he was saying this was sothing special...
His gaze shifted to the heavy iron chest. The lid wasn't even locked. Opening it wouldn't be difficult, and neither would taking whatever was inside.
"Wait. Let's take a look inside before we leave."
The duergar leader hesitated not at all. He imdiately decided to pocket anything valuable within. No one in the capital's shadow survived on honesty alone. They hadn't thought to steal from the chest before simply because they weren't sure whether the contents were worth it, and the reward for the job had already been generous. But now that they knew there was sothing valuable inside—why not?
The other duergars quickly turned back. Smirks crept onto their faces—it seed they would be getting another unexpected bonus. They pulled out their tools and returned to the large tal chest.
With a coordinated effort, they jamd their pickaxes into the gap between the lid and the chest, prying it open with ease. The lid wasn't secured, and it popped off with little resistance to reveal what lay inside.
"What's that? One of those alchemical golems the gnos make?" the duergar leader muttered as he peered inside.
Within the chest lay a towering humanoid figure, crafted entirely of an unknown tal. Its face had two large, embedded crystals, and its overall design exuded imnse strength and power.
"No idea, but it's definitely valuable." The dwarf who worshiped the God of the Forge was practically trembling with excitent. "It's practically glowing in my senses! The last ti I felt sothing even close to this was when the Viper Gang was selling top-tier magitech gear... No, wait, this is even stronger! Boss, we're rich!"
"Alright, alright. I'll make sure you get a bigger cut for spotting this. Now hurry up and get this thing out of the chest!"
The duergar leader was in an excellent mood. If this thing was really as valuable as it seed, he didn't mind giving that perceptive dwarf a larger share of the profits.
The duergar gathered around the chest and prepared to lift the heavy figure from the chest. The mont their hands made contact with it, however, a powerful magical energy surged from deep within the tal humanoid.
None of the duergars were spellcasters, so they didn't imdiately sense what was happening. Within seconds, however, they realized sothing was very, very wrong. The seams of the tal figure began to glow, ever-brightening light spilling from its joints.
"What's going on? Ah!" One dwarf's curious question was abruptly replaced by a scream of terror.
The tal humanoid's crystalline eyes flared to life, shining with a bright yellow glow that illuminated the dim surroundings.
Its oversized tal hand shot out, seizing a nearby duergar's head—then crushed it like a ripe lon.
The remaining dwarves imdiately panicked, scrambling toward the tunnel they had dug to reach this place. Two, either braver or more foolish than the rest, gripped their iron pickaxes and swung them down hard on the tal figure's body.
Sparks flew. The impact sent painful vibrations through their arms, nearly making them drop their weapons. The golem's glowing surface, however, remained entirely unscathed.
With two swift, effortless strikes, the golem shattered the skulls of both attacking dwarves, leaving only their grueso remains behind.
Now fully upright, the massive tal figure turned its head toward the tunnel where the remaining gray dwarves had fled. The light in its crystal eyes grew brighter as magical energy surged toward its head.
A blinding beam of energy burst forth from its face, shooting straight into the tunnel. Everything in its path—rock, tools, and fleeing dwarves—was instantly vaporized. When the beam faded, all that remained was molten rock and a pile of ash.
At the sa ti the golem annihilated the duergars, its sudden and intense magical signature spread outward in all directions.
In a nearby Nightblades outpost, a detection array abruptly blared in alarm. "Alert! A sudden surge of magical energy has been detected. Analysis complete: 'Destroyer'-class construct. Deploy an ops team imdiately! Notify all nearby squads! Possible invasion attempt from the capital's shadow!"
As the detection signal reached all Nightblades in the outpost, the entire station mobilized with unparalleled efficiency...
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