Chapter Sixty

As Edward stood up and began putting his armor back over his body, he also took the chance to allocate his stats for his level-up. Because he needed enough Power to wear his new armor, he put ten points into Power and dumped the rest into Wisdom.

+10 Power

+10 Wisdom

Afterward, he looked at his new available skills and picked the [Minor Dragon Strength] skill. He had hopes that he would eventually gain the skill called [Minor Dragon Echo]— the one Leila had shown him.

[Minor Dragon Strength] - Learned

Bestows the strength of Dragons to the user. This will increase the user's strength relative to their Power Stat. This does NOT increase the user's damage, but instead increases the carry limit for armor and objects.

Minor: 2x Power

'Nice, that solves the armor problem,' Edward sighed. He was unhappy that he had wasted ten stat points on an endeavor that immediately became pointless, but he quickly realized the new skill would only prove more effective thanks to his earlier choice. He looked at his current status and inspected it closely.

Lvl: 11

XP: 22.5%

Title: The Winged Legion

Origin: Obsidian Dragon

HP: 315

MP: 385

SP: 160

DMG: (Pyrokinesis - 20) 97

DEF: (Leather Armor - 8) 71

POW: 23

AGI: 32

END: 63

WIS: 77

LUC: 12

— 

Active Skills: [Master Dragon Tame], [Perfect Pyrokinesis], [Minor Dragon Breath], [Minor Morph]

Passive Skills: [Minor Dragon Presence], [Minor Dragon Strength]

Knowledge Skills: [Perfect Draconic Language]

"It's strange that I'm not human anymore, but I don't feel any different," Edward mumbled to himself as he turned to Ikarus. He crouched down and began to pet his dragon's mane. Ikarus smiled and sat down as he received Edward's treatment. The man— now turned dragon— was lost in thought as he looked at Ikarus, "I don't know what sort of long-term effects this will have on me, but I look forward to it. I can tell, Ikarus. This is a good thing!"

Edward looked back at his stats one more time before standing back up. Because he chose to not increase his Endurance, his HP and Defense didn't change. Edward made a mental note to focus more on that category during his next level-up. Afterward, he looked to his new skill, the one assigned to him from his race change.

[Minor Morph] - Unique to Dragons

Allows the user to shapeshift between a Dragon form and a Humanoid form. This change will cause the user's strength to increase dramatically when in Dragon form.

This skill can be upgraded to reduce or, at max level, entirely remove the MP cost while also increasing the percentage boost while in dragon form

Minor: +50% Stats - 1000 MP

'Oho! That's awesome!' Edward thought to himself as he read the appraisal screen. He knew he wouldn't be able to use his skill at the current moment, considering how high the MP cost was. Still, he was excited to finally take to the skies in the same way Ikarus did, 'There's no need to wait until Ikarus is big enough to ride if I'll be able to fly myself! This is amazing news!'

After Edward's level-up, he turned his attention to his comrades. After the battle, they all collapsed onto their spots and took a few minutes to breathe. Brandon, the most injured of them all, was on death's door when the battle ended and had Markus healing his wounds.

When Edward and Ikarus approached the group, Leila waved them a greeting before collapsing onto the floor.

"That tired?" Edward laughed as he sat next to Leila. The woman chuckled before slowly sitting up and turning to Edward.

"After Markus's skill ended, all the wargs focused on Brandon. Because he kept on getting injured, I had to focus more on defense than offense," Leila told him, "Blew through half of my MP in the process, too."

"My luck isn't that good today," Brandon laughed cheekily. Markus slapped him in the back of the head before continuing to tend to Brandon's wounds.

"Did you increase your Endurance?" Edward asked. Brandon quickly nodded, then flicked his fingers to summon his status screen.

Lvl: 11

XP: 17.5%

Title: Leapt into Luck

Origin: Tychokinetic

HP: 155

MP: 5

SP: 145

DMG: (Flintlocks - 6. Rapier - 11) 25 - 15

DEF: (Leather Armor - 8) 39

POW: 4

AGI: 19

END: 31

WIS: 1

LUC: 100

Active Skills: [Intermediate Quick Reload], [Intermediate Quick Shot], [Basic Sprint], [Minor Stealth]

Passive Skills: [Intermediate Fortune's Aura], [Intermediate Roll the Dice]

After Edward looked at Brandon's new stats, he smiled. Other than the five points Brandon put in Luck, everything else had been put into Endurance— thus increasing his health and Defense

"I got a new skill, too! Look!" Brandon smiled.

[Intermediate Roll the Dice]

Every time the user is damaged or deals damage to their enemies, this skill will activate. A six-sided dice will be rolled in the system. If the result is an odd number, the user will take more damage if hit by enemies and deal less damage to enemies if the user is attacking. If the result is an even number, the user will take less damage if hit by enemies and deal more damage to enemies if the user is attacking.

If the user rolls a 1 or a 6, a random effect in the surrounding environment occurs. 1 will be detrimental to the user, such as a random monster being buffed. 6 will be helpful to the user, such as their allies being buffed.

Can be enabled or disabled at any time - This skill can be upgraded to exaggerate the skill's effects

Intermediate: Deal - 2x damage | Take - 1/2x Damage

"So you're a gambler, now?" Edward joked. He looked to Markus and Leila, then appraised them both. First, though, he looked to Markus.

Lvl: 11

XP: 17.5%

Title: None

Origin: Warden

HP: 200

MP: 120

SP: 80

DMG: (Great Sword - 11) 45

DEF: (Plate Armor - 15) 55

POW: 34

AGI: 16

END: 40

WIS: 14

LUC: 1

Active Skills: [Perfect Provoke], [Minor Ground Smash], [Basic Heal], [Minor Sacrifice]

Passive Skills: [Minor Warden's Aura]

As Edward looked at Markus's new stats, his attention was diverted to his skill list. A new one had appeared— though it had an ominous name.

[Minor Sacrifice]

This skill allows the user to sacrifice their HP and use it to deal direct damage to enemies. If all of the user's remaining HP is used, [Sacrifice] will deal double damage to the targeted enemy.

WARNING: This skill CAN kill the user.

Minor: 1 HP = 1 DMG

"I haven't been doing enough damage in our recent fights. I was hoping this would allow me to contribute more to the team, considering my Endurance stat is my greatest strength," Markus explained. Edward nodded, then turned to Leila.

Lvl: 11

XP: 17.5%

Title: The Forgotten Flame

Origin: Dragonkin

HP: 200

MP: 500

SP: 235

DMG: (Pyrokinesis - 17) 117

DEF: (Leather Armor - 8) 48

POW: 10

AGI: 47

END: 40

WIS: 100

LUC: 10

— 

Active Skills: [Perfect Pyrokinesis], [Basic Dragon Breath], [Minor Dragon Tame], [Basic Dragon Echo]

Passive Skills: [Minor Dragon Presence]

Knowledge Skills: [Perfect Draconic Language]

Naturally, Leila had put most of her points into Wisdom, finally reaching the 100-point milestone, while also putting some points into Endurance. Then, she chose to upgrade her Echo skill, allowing her to use it over more of her body.

Finally, Edward looked at Ikarus.

Lvl: 11

XP: 22.5%

Race: Platinum Dragon

HP: 175

MP: 450

SP: 365

DMG: (Breath - 15) 105

DEF: (Dragon scale - 38) 73

POW: 10

AGI: 73 

END: 35

WIS: 90

LUC: 2