Chapter 174: Established Fact
There was something White Wolf always said.
“A creature with nothing but scales.”
“No fur whatsoever.”
She said things like that as she pushed me away with her front paw.
For a lizard to have no fur was common knowledge.
It was more plausible for me to suddenly sprout wings than fur.
But now, I had become an existence that shattered even common sense.
I had turned into a lizard with abundant white fur.
I began to question whether I could still even be called a lizard.
“…It’s just amazing how you suddenly grew fur.”
White Wolf avoided my gaze.
Just a moment ago, she had been wildly touching my fur, but now she seemed to have come to her senses.
“Hmph, well… it’s passable fur, I guess.”
Though embarrassed, she kept glancing at my fur.
What did fur mean to wolves, anyway?
Considering Shikshik liked my scales, this might be a standard of beauty.
“…The color is just like mine.”
She fiddled with her fingers.
It seemed like she was imagining something strange, as she suddenly started grinning.
Then, our eyes met again.
“Gegek.”
“…Hey!”
She suddenly smacked my chest with a paw.
I still couldn’t quite understand White Wolf’s behavior.
Was this just how women acted?
“Geck?”
“What’s with the geck?! You perverted lizard!”
What was her problem now?
“You kept touching me while I was asleep!”
She was saying things that could easily be misunderstood.
I only touched her ears, tail, and cheeks.
“Hmph, whatever. I saved your life once, so you owe me proper repayment.”
Didn’t I save your life once, too?
I wanted to retort, but all that came out of my mouth were gecking noises.
Even if I was right, it didn’t change the fact that White Wolf had helped me.
So, what do you want?
Let’s hear it.
“…So.”
The confidence in her tone suddenly faded, and she started fidgeting again.
Even so, her tail wagged, leaving me clueless about what she was thinking.
“This time, when I touch you all over, you won’t complain.”
Gulp.
I heard the sound of swallowing.
White Wolf’s eyes were fixated on my white fur.
Seriously, what’s so great about touching this, even for someone her age?
“…It’s because you touched me first!”
Fine, whatever.
“Gororong…”
White Wolf made a cute sound as she fell asleep in my embrace.
I was about to recommend the Gecko Faith to her, but it seemed she was more exhausted than I thought.
Even the horn of the Igaksu that healed the body didn’t seem to alleviate fatigue.
The power White Wolf displayed while fighting the Red Dragon had undoubtedly pushed her beyond her limits, putting strain on her body.
“Hyoroong…”
She had returned to her wolf form, curling into a ball instead of staying in her inconvenient human form.
Was this her way of asking me to stroke her?
“The eldest with me… then, starting from Illang in order…”
Listening to her sleep-talk, it was clear she was incredibly tired, so I decided not to bother her for now.
I still had something important to take care of, almost as significant as stroking fur.
From Lania to Paryong, and from Paryong to Paryong again.
It was time to assess what I had gained from these two evolutions.
“Geck.”
Skill Window.
【Komodo-Paryong LV1】
HP: 14800/14800
MP: 7400/7400
…Is it really okay to have become this strong?
It felt like my stats had doubled compared to when I was Komodo-Lania.
No wonder I survived a direct hit from Lijamoun’s ultimate technique.
Although, considering I underwent two evolutions, this might not be such an impressive stat increase.
Still, given that my size hadn’t changed much since Lania, I was quite satisfied with the results.
However, HP and MP were just resources without much real significance.
The more you had, the better, but at a certain point, they became nothing more than a numbers game.
That wasn’t the important part.
“Geck.”
Skill Window.
【Skills】
「Eternal Life and Death Gourd」「Dragon Claws」「Soaring Dragon's Ascension Step」「Minor Heavenly Circuit」「Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity」「Gecko Heart Technique」「Gecko Kung Fu」「Ancient Dragon Kick」
「Dragon Horn LV1」「Gecko Death Beam LV10」「Dragon Scales LV10」「Dragon’s Reverse Scale LV5」「Poison Creation LV10」「Poison Accumulation LV10」「Dragon Blood LV1」……
Skills like tail-cutting were listed much lower on the page.
Some skill levels had risen, and Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity had evolved into Thousand Poisons Immunity at some point.
What stood out the most was the skill directly beneath martial arts.
Dragon Horn.
It likely referred to the horn of a dragon.
Dragon Scales, Dragon Blood, Dragon Fang (probably).
And now, Dragon Horn had appeared.
I immediately noticed the fur that had grown on my body.
It was obvious since I could see it.
But my horns weren’t visible.
It would’ve been stranger if I could see something on top of my head.
I walked over to a puddle in one corner of the cave to check my reflection.
…Is this me?
I bared my teeth in a grin.
Wasn’t I a universally adorable lizard before?
Seeing myself now, I felt a surge of pride.
While my size hadn’t increased significantly, my arms had grown exceptionally muscular.
If I hit an average enemy with these, their skull would probably cave in.
By using miniaturization creatively, I could increase my size even more.
Although my form was suited for quadrupedal movement, I could stand bipedally in emergencies to raise my stature.
My combat capabilities had risen dramatically.
Even the durability of my Dragon Scales was incomparable to before.
After inspecting my arms, it was time to examine the two horns adorning my innocent-looking head.
There really were two horns.
Both were straight and extended backward, making them unsuitable for combat.
At most, they might be useful for headbutting an enemy.
…That kind of thinking was for amateurs.
If the skill existed, it must have special abilities.
My heart raced as I activated the detailed view.
「Dragon Horn LV1」
Dragon’s horn.
Temporarily allows the use of ?? from ?.
There’s a saying, “Simple is best.”
The simpler the description, the greater the effect.
I used to think tail-cutting was a trash skill when I first got it, but its simple explanation hid incredible effectiveness.
The original tail-cutting skill allowed me to infinitely create Komodo tails loved by all things, and the newly obtained tail-cutting skill—or whatever it was pretending to be—had saved my life multiple times.
The Dragon Horn seemed to be the same.
Its description was simple, but the effect was extraordinary.
Although some text was garbled, it could be interpreted as the power of a dragon.
Of course, my interpretation might be wrong, but for now, that’s the only way it reads.
The power of a dragon.
It wasn’t difficult to guess what it was.
I had already used it during my battle with the Red Dragon.
It allowed me to quell fire and grow plants, which seemed to be the extent of its abilities.
To a lizard who didn’t understand, they might think, “Just plants?”
But having used it firsthand, I knew how incredible it was.
In an area dominated by fire, seeds buried deep in the ground germinated instantly, growing into massive trees.
Though it consumed a lot of MP, it worked fast enough to counter the Red Dragon’s flames and produced an overwhelming amount of vegetation.
For someone like me, who often relied on hidden factors and strategic diversions, it was a perfectly compatible ability.
If plants could grow even in a volcanic area, they could probably grow anywhere.
In a jungle-like environment, I might even be able to manipulate the grown trees as weapons.
“Geck geck geck…”
Is this the power of a mid-level dragon species?
Well, the Red Dragon breathed fire freely, so this much should be possible for me.
Fire and cold.
And plants.
I now wielded three distinct powers.
Although I could also manipulate poison, let’s set that aside for now.
These three powers I controlled had something in common.
Fire, water, wood.
They represented three of the five elements in Yin-Yang and the Five Elements.
Of course, I wasn’t particularly adept at controlling fire and water, as I relied on the power of Hwary and Seolsam.
But if I could gain control over earth and metal in addition to these?
A lizard wielding the power of the five elements.
And if I added Yin and Yang to that?
“Geck geck geck…”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
A golden future appeared before me.
Though it was still a far-off dream, I already possessed three of the five elements.
“Geck geck.”
If the power granted by Dragon Horn wasn’t related to wood, I’d have miscalculated.
But the ability to grow plants had to be tied to the wood element.
Making it rain briefly couldn’t possibly be attributed to water.
There were no enemies around, and I felt fine.
Should I try using Dragon Horn?
I focused my mind.
Drawing the inner energy stored in my dantian.
“Ge-eck!”
Dragon Horn!
….
“…Ge-eng?”
Is this not how to use it?
Last time, I just used it instinctively.
“Ge-ge-geck!”
I struck a dramatic pose, but no plants grew.
…Do I need to use my horns?
Tap tap.
I touched my horns, but nothing happened.
“Ge-geck…”
This was getting frustrating.
“Geck!”
MP was consumed.
But nothing happened.
…Was it because there weren’t any plants nearby?
There were dandelions blooming over there, so that didn’t seem to be the case.
Could the skill have scammed me?
“Ge-ge-geck!”
Fine.
Let’s see who wins.
I was in the middle of an imaginary battle with the skill when—
Crack.
“Geck?”
A strange noise came from the ground.
Crunch.
Crunch?
I had clearly used the ability on a tiny plant over there.
So why was the ground…?
Boom!
“Ge-ee-eck!”
The rocky ground split open, and an overwhelming amount of plants began to grow.
Rustle rustle!
It wasn’t that the skill had failed—the plant directly beneath me had kept growing.
Unaware, I’d poured MP into it endlessly.
Still, as they say, failure is the mother of success.
Learning this during an assessment meant I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
…The quantity seemed excessive, though. Let’s cut it back a bit.
Swoosh!
As I hacked away at the growing plants, White Wolf’s voice called out from the other side.
“Hey, you did this, didn’t you?”
She seemed to have woken up from the commotion caused by the plants.
“Ugh, you troublemaker.”
She spoke gruffly but froze the growing plants with her icy breath.
Crunch crunch!
After a long battle, we finally managed to clean up the mess.
This was a cheap lesson learned.
“When did you get so close to plants?”
“Geck geck.”
White Wolf walked up beside me.
“But it’s strange. Why would you use wood power at a volcano’s Dragon Gate?”
“Geck?”
That was odd, but it wasn’t entirely nonsensical.
I wasn’t a typical spirit beast but a divine beast under the blessing of the status window.
…Didn’t this evolution happen without the status window’s help?
“There aren’t many spirit beasts who’ve overcome the trials of the Dragon Gate, so I’m not sure what’s normal.”
“Geck geck.”
“The Red Dragon might know, but asking her would be impossible.”
I felt a hiccup coming on.
White Wolf seemed to think I had defeated the Red Dragon.
But in reality, I had put a collar around her neck and left her soaking in a hot spring.
If she found out, it wouldn’t be a disaster, but I’d probably be met with disdainful stares.
“…Why that face?”
“Ge-eck…”
“Come here.”
Sensing something suspicious, she sniffed around.
“There’s something fishy about this smell.”
“Ge-eck!”
It tickles!
White Wolf pressed her nose against my scales, sniffing deeply.
“…Hey.”
Who knew she had such a preference?
Then again, dogs do like sniffing things.
“…The plants that just grew.”
White Wolf staggered slightly.
She moved as if intoxicated.
“It’s catnip….”
Swaying, she suddenly bit me playfully.
Judging by her actions, she seemed drunk.
…Wait, isn’t catnip for cats?
You’re a wolf.
“…As time passes, you’ll grow even more, won’t you?”
She inspected the area near my tail intently before looking up at my face.
“This won’t do….”
Crunch.
Her icy breath froze my legs.
“While you’re still small… I’ll establish the facts….”
What are you talking about, White Pup?
“Ge-ee-eck?”
“Stay still!”
I’m still just one year old!