Transformation, Skills and System Upgrade

[Upgrade initiating]

Drahon stared in anticipation, feeling anxious as he expected what was to happen…

And then, his body suddenly surged with a great amount of power, his bones cracking under the sudden weight of transformation.

His muscles tensed, flexing unnaturally as if trying to contain a storm. Heat went through his skin, and his vision blurred with golden light.

A snarl escaped his throat, quite a tiny sound that sounded like a roar.

His back arched violently as scales erupted across his skin, dark gold and rough, layering over his arms and chest.

His fingernails lengthened into claws, while his eyes glowed a molten amber ringed in black. His pupils slit like a serpent's.

Drahon was feeling an extreme amount of pain from this transformation. It felt like his whole body was slowly being dipped into the sun.

His breath came in harsh bursts and his jaw ached as fangs broke through his gums, sharp and predatory.

[Congratulations player, you have gained the ability: Half Dragon Form.]

[You have broken your Class: Draconic swordsman and awakened a new one: Dragon blood.]

[You have broken your Race: Human and evolved to a new one: Half Dragon]

[You've upgraded your system!]

[You have been granted new skills]

[New system profile:]

• Level: 2

• Class: Golden Dragon

• Race: Half-Dragon

• EXP: 25 / 500

• HP: 135 / 150

• Dragon Bond Slots: 2 / 5

• Summons: None

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Stats

• Strength: 46

• Agility: 41

• Endurance: 33

• Intelligence: 42

• Willpower: 43

• Charisma: 30

• Luck: 21

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Dragon Codex

• Status: Active

• Progress: 2 / ???

• Bonded Dragons:

– SSS: Fire Dragon

– SSS: Barbarian Dragon

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Skills

• Draconic Blade – Active – Tier: A

• Scaled Guard – Passive – Tier: A

• Draconic Leap – Active – Tier: A

• Draconic Sense – Passive – Tier: A

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Abilities

• Half Dragon Form

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Inventory

• Golden Iron Sword (SSS)

• Draconic Shield (S)

• Draconic Potion

Drahon stared at the glowing runes in front of him. He could barely recognize his system stats at this point because so much stuff had been taken out and new skills had been added.

He had gained the perk of having experience points - EXP.

He found this new revamp really good. It made the stats more confined and not crowded with skills of his dragons and some stuff he didn't even use.

Like in level one, he had a Torn Cloak and a 'System Starter Token ×1'. He never used the torn cloak and he didn't even see it. Same applies to the system starter token which he never got to fully understand.

The new system profile seemed pretty good and he was liking the new skills already from the name. And all his skills were ranked Tier A.

As soon as the voice from the runes had started to list his upgrades, the pain had instantly disappeared.

The extreme pain! stopped and he felt nothing after that, managing to stand up. Since he was now in his half dragon form, he would have really loved to see how he was from a mirror but sadly there was no one here.

Nevertheless he examined his features though, but never got to see them on his face and back.

The runes explained his new skills and abilities now:

[Draconic Blade – Tier: A]

[You can now channel draconic energy into your weapon. Each strike releases force strong enough to cut through armor and send shockwaves across the battlefield.

Warning: Repeated use may trigger cooldown.]

[Scaled Guard – Tier: A] >

[You'll be able to make your skin hardened dragon scales, greatly reducing incoming damage for a short duration.

Use with timing. Cooldown applies after activation.]

[Draconic Leap – Tier: A] >

[Your legs are empowered by draconic strength. You can leap great distances, escape dangerous zones, or crash down to create impact.

Can be used offensively or defensively.]

[Draconic Sense – Tier: A] >

[Your senses sharpen beyond human limits. You can detect hidden enemies, sense nearby threats, and track targets with precision.

Passive effect. Always active.]

[Half-Dragon Form]>

[You awaken your half beast form. Transform into a golden-scaled half-dragon, gaining a significant boost in all stats. Your skills become stronger, faster, and deadlier.

Limited time form. Automatically deactivates when energy runs low.]

The skills all sounded really great to Drahon. And the Half Dragon form he currently was seemed to be OP. It would have been more OP if he didn't have limited time as it ran on energy.

The skill he liked the most was draconic leap (at least it sounded really cool), the description made it look like a fun skill.

Also the Scaled Guard was super weird but awesome at the same time. If a monster was to be running towards him in full speed, ready to smash his neck off with some really large axe, all he had to do was to use the skill and his neck would be really thick for the axe to penetrate.

It depended on the weapon though and what Teir the skill is. It was at Tier A so it would be pretty effective. If it was Tier F then he would be cooked. His head would surely be coming off.

The Draconic sense also sounded cool and the Draconic blade. Since he had an SSS ranked sword, the skill would be very effective.

The rune guide continued:

[Draconic Shield – Tier: S] >

[A shield forged from a golden dragonbone and imbued with elemental resistance. It can absorb a portion of incoming damage and release it back in a shockwave.

Special Effect: Reflective Guard — Stores kinetic energy from blocked attacks and unleashes it in a counter-blast.

Durability: Extremely high. Resistant to fire, frost, and dark magic.]

[Item: Draconic Potion – Unique] >

[A shimmering gold-red liquid sealed in a small enchanted vial. Despite its size, it never runs dry.

Using this potion once per day boosts your strength, speed, and endurance significantly for a limited time.

Daily usage limit: 1.]

Drahon was almost overwhelmed from such superb inventory. At first when he saw them in his system, he didn't know they would be this great (from their description).

The Shield's description was really dope and Drahon couldn't wait to use it…

[Congratulations player, you have fully transformed]

[Congratulations player, you have fully upgraded your system]

The rune went silent for some seconds and Drahon stared at it curiously, expecting something…

[Awaiting Test Monster]

Even though something was expected, Drahon was surprised to hear this.

"Test monster?" He asked.

'[Yes]' the rune guide replied. [Don't be too scared. It's just to test your new skills and abilities]

The instant those words were voiced, a gust of wind howled towards Drahon and that made him involuntarily close his eyes, a sort of unconscious act. Mainly so as not to get some weird object into it as many sharp bones and similar stuff on the ground rolled towards him.

When Drahon finally opened his eyes, he could see, standing in front of him, a Cerberus!

He was surprised, not from horror but just from plain 'surprise'. Wasn't Cerberus the three headed dog from Greek mythology that guards the underworld?

But this was no real Cerberus, this was a dragon Cerberus.

Half Dragon, half Cerberus.

It towered above high, its muscular frame laced with blackened, stone-like scales.

Three heads protruded from its thick neck, each dragon-shaped, but twisted differently. One bled smoke from its nostrils, eyes glowing red. The second had serrated fangs too large for its mouth, drooling molten saliva. The third bore a crown of barbed bone spikes, its golden eyes glaring in cold calculation.

Its arms were long and brutal, ending in claws.

A row of spiked spines ran down its back to a whip-like tail.

Drahon stared at the monster, unfazed. He was ready.

This was just a time for him to flex his new skills and abilities.