The actual combat continued, just when I thought victory was in sight. But this Stupid Dragon, because of our frequent battles, underwent a change in strength and advanced to the next rank. Damn it, that is utterly ridiculous.
Here I am, the protagonist, still waiting to level up, and yet you've already advanced to the Middle rank? Doesn't this make your master here look even stupider than you?!
Any Monster that can survive under Saga is bound to be immensely powerful. Perhaps it was already on the verge of advancing, and the frequent battles over the past few years pushed it over the edge. Yes, that must be it!
Haven't I also made massive progress? While my raw power hasn't increased all that much, my combat skills have improved tremendously! I've practically mastered the skills of all three, formed my own combat system, and unleashed endless combo attacks.
Even my Tai Chi Swordplay from my past life has developed into a reliable combat style. Based purely on swordplay, I wouldn't lose; it's just that I didn't want to seriously injure this Stupid Dragon.
After all, fighting an Iron Tortoise is just too aggravating. First of all, its raw strength completely crushes mine. Second, it's too tough—if I don't use a finishing move, I can't break its defense at all. But if I do use a finishing move and something breaks, I can't repair it myself, and the loss would be catastrophic. It simply isn't worth it!
As for the other three, they're nothing more than bodyguards. They won't fight me at all—they don't retaliate when hit, nor do they talk back when cursed at. They are completely useless.
I originally thought that once I beat the Stupid Dragon, I could go out and explore the world. But who would have thought this guy would advance? A faint wave of melancholy washed over me.
I continued learning the final skill: Energy Convergence. This isn't just a skill; it's more like an ability. It allows you to gather light and dark power for your own use.
Once mastered to its peak, you can take enemy attacks head-on. As long as they don't exceed your controllable range, you can redirect them right back as your own ultimate attack. It doesn't consume any of your own energy at all—it's terrifying. This is Legend's signature ability.
Aside from Legend, only Saga can use it. This is precisely why they can still exert terrifying power without a physical body. This skill is simply absurd.
As time slowly passed with my studying, Lugiel's advancement was also complete. Looking closely, aside from the pressure brought by its energy, I couldn't detect any other changes.
To know the specifics, the only way is to fight. So what's the use of thinking? Let's fight!
I immediately shouted out loud: "Come on, Stupid Dragon! Show me the strength you've gained after advancing."
The Stupid Dragon wore an expression of utter contempt, as if saying: You're just trash! You can't beat me.
Damn it! I was actually being looked down upon by a Stupid Dragon. How could I tolerate this? I immediately challenged it: "Stupid Dragon, take this Noah Lightning of mine!" I went straight for a finishing move without a moment's hesitation.
It countered with its own ultimate beam, instantly releasing a Genesis Requiem. The two forces collided, creating a massive shockwave. If I hadn't been prepared in advance, I probably would have been blown away.
For this strike, I used seventy percent of my power. Seeing the Stupid Dragon's casual expression, I wanted to lock myself in a room and despair.
I seemed to have barely shaved off forty percent of its power. What kind of nonsense is this? Does a difference of just a minor rank create such a massive gap?
This is Noah's skill, which possesses the attribute of disassembling enemy power. Most importantly, it breaks down the enemy's living tissue, fundamentally eroding their vitality.
It is currently the most advantageous skill for a beam clash. I traded seventy percent of my power for less than forty percent of its health—has advancement really made the gap this obvious?
In the past, even when I used my Light-Dark Slashing Ray, it was at least a one-for-one trade. Now, I couldn't do that at all.
I was deeply unconvinced. I shouted loudly: "Stupid Dragon, I used the wrong skill just now. Let's recover and do a beam clash again."
Lugiel didn't care in the least and leisurely recovered its energy, as if saying: Come at me all you want, you little rookie, it's no big deal.
After recovering my energy and adjusting my state, I got serious this time. "Stupid Dragon, let's go! Let's clash beams again."
With that, I unleashed a very serious Light-Dark Slashing Ray.
The Stupid Dragon met it with another Genesis Requiem. It went a bit better this time—it consumed nearly forty-five percent of its power, while I still lost seventy percent of mine.
How strange! Why was Noah's Lightning, the skill with the greatest advantage, actually inferior to my native ray? What was the reason? I could accept that I couldn't beat the Stupid Dragon because it had advanced and become stronger.
But when throwing out skills with the same level of proficiency, why was there such a huge difference? Why couldn't the skill with the greatest beam-clash advantage deal any damage? What the heck is going on?
After repeated experimentation, I finally discovered the reason: one was a pure light-type skill, while the other was a dual-attribute skill. When released, a small-scale energy collision and mutual consumption occurred, thereby reducing the lethality of my own skill.
My native skill had no repulsion toward light and dark, so its lethality was actually greater.
Having figured out the cause, I categorized and processed my skills. Aside from Saga's skills, which showed no repulsion toward light and dark and were kept, the others should be used strictly under either the Light Form or the Dark Form.
No sooner thought than done, I began switching to the Light Form and used Noah Lightning and the Shattering Ray respectively.
Noah Lightning's lethality increased, though it was still inferior to the one I was born with, the gap was negligible.
I tried the Dark Form as well, and the result was the same: the abilities I was born with were better suited to my power attribute. They could unleash greater might, making them the most suitable for me.
Their skills were good, but they still had attribute repulsion, after all, I possessed three power attributes. Fortunately, Saga's skills had a high degree of compatibility, showing almost no repulsion to either light or dark, and their power was not much inferior to my native rays.
With a clear plan in place, I continuously practiced actual combat drills to adapt to both forms.
Through battles spanning long ages, I discovered that in the Light and Dark Forms, if I fought in places with abundant energy, I recovered very quickly. As long as I didn't engage in overclocked bursts, my color timer basically wouldn't turn red. With the cooperation of Energy Convergence, I could basically avoid the red light altogether and maintain long-term combat effectiveness.
Although its lethality was slightly lacking, the combat duration was extremely long and recovery was exceptionally fast.
My normal form was fine too, but its recovery speed and endurance couldn't match these single-attribute forms. After all, recovering two types of power—light and dark—naturally took a bit longer.
Having gained a thorough understanding of myself, I was no longer the rookie I was at the beginning. Interestingly, no matter how I switched forms, my sword and Head Slugger never shifted their positions by even a millimeter, and even the armor and Leg Ring given to me by Saga remained completely fixed in place.
They were completely unaffected by my power forms. I could understand my own weapons—after all, I was born with them, so it made sense for them to be unrestricted. But the arm blade and Leg Ring gifted by Saga were truly formidable to remain unaffected as well.
Through the trials of these years, my strength had improved significantly. At the very least, I could fight the Stupid Dragon to a 50-50 draw. Since it hadn't advanced all that long ago myself, I could consider my goal of defeating the pre-advancement Stupid Dragon complete. I was finally ready to go out and roam the world.
Besides, with five top-tier bodyguards in tow, who was there to be afraid of? Against opponents of the same rank, I wouldn't necessarily lose. Against someone one rank higher... well, fighting one against five—no, five and a half, since I barely counted as half—I could manage.
As for Upper and Peak Old Ultimates, running away was entirely feasible. After all, the space-time abilities inherited from Noah and Lucifer weren't weak; I could open a tunnel and run at any time. Compared to me, the golden boy of later generations had space-time abilities that were absolute garbage.
After much deliberation, I decided to go out and have some fun. I didn't even know how long I'd been here; it was time to go out and make a name for myself.
Having made up my mind, I started packing my gear. I could store all five bodyguards inside the Leg Ring, but what should I do with this Energy Tower? It was a great treasure, and throwing it away would be outrageously wasteful.
Using my own body as a baseline, it wouldn't be too hard to carve out a small space. I should give it a try—no sooner thought than done.
However, the space I carved out was too fragile. The spatial stability failed, and the newly created space directly collapsed. Lowering my head in thought, I caught sight of the Leg Ring. This should work, right? It could fit such a huge Monster inside, so it was definitely worth a try.
Acting on the thought, I tried storing it the same way I stored Monsters. Oh man! It went right in! If I'd known, I would have done this earlier. I must have a pig's brain, wasting half a day of my own time.
I ramped my energy up to the maximum and looked at the energy conduit before me. Where on earth did this tunnel lead? Using it for the first time was still quite worrisome. Although there was no immediate danger to my life, the unknown was the greatest adventure of all.
Forget it, wherever it leads, I'll just go in first. If there's danger, I'll run away then. With that, I stepped into the spatial conduit and walked toward the unknown.