My Two Status Windows

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 87: Completing the Dragon Heart

[Strength increases by 11.]

[Agility increases by 8.]

[Mana increases by 23.]

Upon consuming a piece of the Dragon Heart, a message appeared indicating an increase in stats.

Additionally, there was a message stating that the neutral faction’s stats had also significantly increased.

Wow...

This is insane.

It's even more than the piece given to me by the Black Dragon Arkardian before.

Back then, he said he was giving me only a little because he was afraid I might turn into a dragon, and he really did give just a tiny amount.

And then...

[Dragon Heart’s Mana Regeneration skill has upgraded to Lv.3.]

[If you absorb more pieces of the Dragon Heart, it will transform into the 'Dragon Heart' skill.]

So, just one piece isn’t enough to unlock the Dragon Heart skill, huh?

Alright, I'll eat another one.

[Strength increases by 7.]

[Agility increases by 6.]

[Mana increases by 15.]

This time, the stat boost was noticeably lower than before.

The neutral faction’s A-gauge also filled up a little, but not as much as last time.

What?

Is it already losing effect?

That's a shame...

Dragon Heart’s Mana Regeneration skill also upgraded to Lv.4.

It’s still prompting me to absorb more.

After consuming three out of the six pieces, I ate the fourth one.

At that point, strength and agility stopped increasing, and only mana went up—by just 4 points.

And the Dragon Heart skill still hadn’t upgraded.

If it doesn’t upgrade even after the fifth one, I might as well keep the last piece for myself instead of giving it to Drakina.

With that thought in mind, I consumed the fifth piece.

[Mana increases by 1.]

Now, even mana barely increases anymore.

Just as I was feeling a little disappointed, the message I had been waiting for finally appeared.

[Dragon Heart’s Mana Regeneration skill has transformed into the ‘Dragon Heart’ skill.]

[Dragon Heart]

[Skill Grade: S]

[The heart of a dragon, the master of mana. Significantly increases mana affinity and mana recovery, enhancing the effectiveness of mana stats by five times. Since the user does not belong to the ‘Dragon’ class, Dragon Heart exists independently. If the user belongs to the ‘Dragon’ class, the Dragon Heart will completely replace the user's heart, and all mana-related efficiency will increase more than tenfold.]

[You can now consume mana to temporarily enhance strength, agility, and other physical stats.]

[You can use ‘Dragon Tongue’ magic.]

[Command mana to manifest miracles. Since the user is not of the ‘Dragon’ class, the power is limited to a 6th-circle level.]

[You can now fully wield the ‘Power of the Dragon.’ When igniting the Divine Dragon’s Flames using Dragon Power, half of Dragon Heart’s mana will be consumed. If mana is insufficient, life force will be consumed instead.]

A series of messages flooded my vision.

At the same time, I felt a fundamental shift in my mana levels—it was on a completely different level now.

With mana effectiveness multiplied by five, everything related to mana—its control, recovery, output, and limits—had undergone a complete transformation.

If I use this mana to enhance my strength and agility, the results will be insane.

On top of that, I have Dragon Tongue magic and the Power of the Dragon.

There are so many additional effects.

Excluding soul-related skills, this is probably the best skill I’ve ever obtained.

Even the Flame Chariot I was riding suddenly expanded significantly as the Dragon Heart skill upgraded.

It wasn’t just a war chariot anymore—it was practically a massive tank.

I felt so good that I couldn't help but grin, but then a message popped up that instantly killed my mood.

[You have three S-grade skills. Due to your low rank, one skill must be sealed.]

[If you do not seal a skill, one will be randomly deleted in 10 days.]

[Would you like to seal an S-grade skill? This will consume 10,000 SP.]

What?

Skill deletion?

And it even costs SP to seal one?

This is ridiculous.

Currently, I have three S-grade skills:

Dragon Heart

Aegis Shield

Heimdall’s Return

Dragon Heart has too many additional effects, so I definitely want to keep it.

That means I need to choose between Aegis Shield and Heimdall’s Return.

If I level up a bit more, I'll reach A-grade, and the S-grade skill restriction will be lifted.

I probably won’t need the Return skill for a while, right?

I just need to level up quickly.

Hunting warriors here should give me a huge experience boost.

Alright.

I’ll seal the Return skill.

I clicked ‘Yes’ on the message asking if I wanted to seal an S-grade skill and selected Heimdall’s Return.

Immediately, its skill description darkened, with the word [Sealed] covering it.

I need to level up fast and unseal it.

[Hey. Please. You didn’t eat all of them, did you? If you appointed me as an apostle, shouldn’t the Guardian God grant me something? Please. Please, let me recover.]

A sudden message appeared.

It was from Drakina.

Hmph.

I didn’t really receive anything from the Guardian God either.

Ah.

I guess Pollux did give me Infinite Stamina, but that was probably just to use me as a breeding stud.

Anyway, I still have one piece of the Dragon Heart left.

If I eat it now, I doubt my mana will increase by more than 1 or 2 points.

But at the same time, it feels like a waste to give it away.

[You’re just a temporary apostle, so why should I act like your Guardian God? Give me something in return.]

[In return? Can't you see I’ve already sacrificed my heart and body to the Dragon God and ended up completely wrecked? At least let me evolve from a humanoid dragon into a hatchling. Please. I beg you, Guardian God.]

[That’s your problem, not mine… If you think about it, you must have something you can offer in return. You’re stuck inside the sanctuary anyway, so use your brain and figure it out.]

[Ugh... A Guardian God being this stingy…]

[It’s stingier to expect a free handout, apostle.]

After that, no further messages came.

Tch.

Trying to get something for free, huh?

If I’m going to give it to someone, I’d rather give it to Diana than to a temporary apostle like Drakina.

I wasn’t sure what I could get from a C-rank dragonkin, but if she was desperate enough, she’d figure something out.

I carefully stored the last piece of the Dragon Heart in my inventory and looked around.

The endless red landscape stretched on in every direction.

I had no idea where to go next.

I need to level up quickly and reach A-rank.

That way, I can unseal Heimdall’s Return and use the S-grade Random Skill Box that’s been sitting in my inventory.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“A map would be nice right about now. Like the ones Rareder used in games.”

The moment I muttered those words, a new interface window suddenly appeared.

It was the [Dragon Tongue] window.

[Your words carry your intent. Miracles that can be realized within the 6th circle will be manifested. Would you like to activate Dragon Tongue?]

Wait… Did this appear because I mentioned a map?

Oh, Dragon Tongue…

So anything I say turns into magic?

This is amazing...

I might not even need Athena’s Encyclopedia anymore.

Curious about how it worked, I pressed ‘Yes.’

[Map magic has been activated.]

[Due to the 6th-circle limitation, the map's range and functions are restricted.]

Then, a semi-transparent system window appeared on the left side of my vision, displaying a map.

Even as my Flame Chariot moved forward, the map followed along, tracking my position.

I grabbed the small map displayed on the left, and as I stretched it, it expanded.

Oh.

I enlarged both corners, and soon, the map became much bigger.

The area marked as "Land of the Dragon" came into view.

When I first saw it, it looked exactly like a map of Russia.

A vast land spread across the north.

My current position was in the southern region.

To the south, there was a land bordering a nation labeled "Holy Empire," though only part of the map was visible.

It seemed like the map was restricted to a six-circle range.

Still, it's nice to get a rough idea of where I am.

As I tapped around the map, I found options to zoom in and out, as well as a feature to display living creatures.

However, this function was incomplete—it only showed creatures ranked C, B, and A.

I could understand why it wouldn't display higher-ranked ones since they were too powerful, but were lower-ranked ones just too numerous to track?

As soon as I checked the option to display C, B, and A-ranked creatures, my mana drained significantly.

Then, at the center of the map, where the red dot representing me was located, a blue circle appeared.

It seemed that only creatures within this circle could be detected.

"It's pretty small."

Still, it's better than nothing.

There were no living creatures around me at the moment.

Hmm… Should I head to the border?

I just need to keep moving south.

The Dragon God probably won't show up, so the Holy Empire’s emperor will eventually start a war against the dragons.

When that happens, enemies will gather at the southern border.

If a main quest triggers at that point, I'll just go along with it and fight alongside the Holy Empire’s soldiers…

I've been experimenting with Draconic magic for the past ten days while endlessly traveling south.

I've reached the vicinity of the border, but the main quest is still silent.

Instead, now that I'm near the border, my radar has started detecting presences.

To the south, there was a dense cluster of green dots, representing C-rank creatures, and among them, some blue dots, representing B-rank creatures.

There were no navy-colored dots, which meant there weren’t any A-rank creatures here yet.

"Conceal with the Flame Chariot."

A message popped up asking if I wanted to use Draconic magic.

I accepted, and both I and the Flame Chariot slowly became transparent.

In that state, I flew high into the sky and approached.

The red land abruptly ended as if cut by a blade, giving way to a massive fortress wall.

Inside, a large military city had formed, and outside the walls, soldiers carrying pure white flags were lined up in formation.

Most of the blue dots, representing B-rank beings, were stationed outside the walls.

Are they preparing for deployment?

"Amplify sound."

Mana drained again as their voices were magnified.

"Third Corps, our mission is simple. We are to investigate the Land of the Dragon beyond this wall! Despite its name, no dragons have ever been found there…"

The paladins reassured their troops that the mission was safe.

Since they were B-rank, they weren’t on the level of heroes, but they were still quite strong.

It seemed the Holy Empire had sent a well-prepared force.

Should I just let them conduct their investigation?

At that moment, the long-silent quest window appeared.

[Sub Quest]

[Holy Empire’s Emperor Ernhardt V has sworn allegiance to Chaos. Unable to obtain the Dragon Heart of Drakina as he originally intended, he has shifted his goal to investigating the Land of the Dragon. Prevent the Holy Empire from investigating the northern Land of the Dragon by attacking their forces.]

[Objective: Annihilate the reconnaissance unit of the Holy Empire’s Third Corps.]

[Quest Rewards]

SP 10,000

Additional Stat Points +3

The Third Corps… so that means those guys?

Does "annihilate the reconnaissance unit" mean I don't have to take out the whole army?

As I observed, I noticed that rather than advancing as a whole, a cavalry unit was being reorganized separately.

The reward… is kind of stingy.

Or is it generous for a sub-quest?

The quest to destroy Drakina’s Dragon Heart had far better rewards.

Probably because it was crucial to preventing the Dragon God's awakening, they were willing to give out huge rewards for it.

This level of reward is more standard.

It's a bit disappointing, but I accepted the quest.

Since I was at it, I checked the progress of the Dragon God Awakening quest—it was at about 15%.

The Valkyries were still chasing, but instead of hindering progress, the completion rate was increasing by 1% per day.

At this rate, the Dragon God will recover in no time.

Just imagining the massive rewards for stopping the awakening put me in a good mood, when suddenly, a message popped up.

[I've prepared your reward. Summon me.]

A message from Drakina, arriving after ten days.

Huh?

The reward is ready already?

There shouldn’t be much to give at C-rank.

"Return."

Summoning in Kalvine seemed inconvenient, so I decided to return to Earth first.

Back on Earth, I headed home and opened the Apostle’s Garden window.

I selected the option to summon Drakina.

[Do you want to summon the C-rank Apostle Drakina? Summoning an Apostle of a lower rank will consume 500 SP per day.]

Even summoning a lower-rank Apostle costs SP?

It’s only 500, but still…

I clicked "Yes," and before me, a blue portal gate slowly opened.

Through it, Drakina emerged.

She had long, slender legs and a curvy body.

Her skin was pure white, and her red hair and red eyes gave her a strikingly Western appearance.

Despite her mature figure, her face looked somewhat youthful, as if she hadn't quite reached adulthood.

She was slightly shorter than me, probably over 175 cm tall.

She was as stunning as Diana, but the clothes she wore were seriously bothering me.

A ragged outfit from her days as an orc named Arik.

Because of her absurdly attractive face, the rags somehow looked vintage, but otherwise, she just looked like a beggar.

Though glimpses of her pure white skin showed through the holes, the sight of her old clothes reminded me of her orc form, making it hard to see her as a woman.

"What's with that outfit?"

"This is super comfortable."

Drakina blinked at me and answered matter-of-factly.

"You might as well just go around naked instead of wearing that."

"Take it off? Humans engage in reproductive activities when naked, right? Should I give that as a reward?"

She looked ready to strip immediately.

I hesitated for a moment but quickly shook my head.

Losing a piece of the Dragon Heart over something like that would be ridiculous.

"…No. Just tell me what you had in mind."

"Is this face not to human tastes? Maybe I should’ve kept the Arik look…"

"If you do that, I'll kick you out of the Apostle’s Garden immediately."

I cut her off before she could say something horrifying.

She pouted before finally speaking.

"I'll give you a ride."

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]