Chapter 78 Lania
__________________________
【Komodo】 can evolve into:
1. 【Saltwater Crocodile】 (Faith, Religion extinction)
2. 【Titanoboa】 (Faith, Religion extinction)
3. 【Stupendemys】 (Faith, Religion extinction)
4. 【Salamander】 (Faith, Religion extinction), (Thousand-Year Fire Carp, Myriad-Year Golden Spirit Fruit, Top-grade Core (Yellow) consumed)
5. 【Komodo-Lania】 (Faith, Religion maintained), (「Gecko Death Beam」, Myriad-Year Golden Spirit Fruit, Top-grade Core (Yellow) consumed)
__________________________
Let’s exclude the options I’ve already seen.
I’m only interested in options 4 and 5.
First, let’s look at the Salamander.
__________________________
【Salamander】
A gigantic lizard covered in scales like flames all over its body.
It has complete immunity to fire and can control flames.
It’s a divine beast with the potential to become a dragon.
__________________________
It was a better choice than I had expected.
A divine beast like the Komodo.
Moreover, it had the potential to become a dragon.
A lizard covered in flames.
A mythical being that could perhaps be considered a fire spirit.
Of course, it’s not wise to blindly trust the description in the status window.
Especially since there’s no indication of its size.
In the worst-case scenario, it could shrink to the size of a gecko.
But the fact that it had the potential to become a dragon and could control flames was a huge advantage.
Even if there were physical limitations, those could be compensated for.
But such a special ability was irreplaceable.
And since it wasn’t just any ability, but the ability to control fire, it was even more irreplaceable.
The benefits of fire were immense.
Even if I were dropped into a jungle with nothing but a torch, my survival rate would skyrocket.
Aside from the advantages of maintaining body temperature or securing visibility, fire itself had power.
Animals instinctively feared and avoided fire.
Even for divine beasts, the fundamental fear of fire wouldn’t completely vanish.
A Salamander that could freely control flames.
I couldn’t help but want it.
If I became a Salamander, I could sleep on the plains without anyone daring to touch me. If they did, they’d be roasted immediately.
Up to this point, it was good.
There was no reason not to choose the Salamander.
However, there was a definite downside.
That was the extinction of faith and religion.
I hadn’t actively utilized faith and religion.
But I knew it wasn’t a common ability.
Even the Dilophosaurus, which used Manifold Venom, didn’t have faith.
The only faiths I’d seen were the Gecko Faith and the Snake Queen Faith.
Just two.
Only someone like the Snake Queen could possess faith.
Even she didn’t reach the level of religion. It showed how unique the Gecko Faith and the Gecko Religion were.
At most, four people.
If I included those not explicitly mentioned, like Jang Bong, five people believed in it.
Was the effect of my faith and religion insignificant?
No.
The divinity accumulated through faith.
That was how I obtained the technique called Gecko Death Beam.
Of course, it wasn’t a skill I could use all the time.
It was a technique that mimicked a destruction ray with the effect of the Reverse Scale, using the added divinity.
Although it wasn’t easy to use, its power was immense.
It was a higher-level technique than the destruction ray.
And the ability to use such a powerful technique was thanks to the divinity gathered within me.
The accumulated divinity, combined with the faith sent by Jang Bong who had recently joined, allowed me to use such a technique. Despite the small amount, it showed such a tremendous power.
If the amount of divinity increased, what would happen then?
I desired the Salamander’s power, but abandoning faith and religion was a painful decision.
The potential of faith and religion was very high.
Though I hadn’t actively spread it, as soon as Jang Bong left the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, the number of people believing in the Gecko could skyrocket.
If word of my exploits spread, people might flock to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains to see me.
…Of course, they’d be sent straight to the afterlife by Yeonyeong’s punch.
A faction worshiping me might naturally emerge.
In other words, I could accumulate divinity and experience just by staying put.
I couldn’t give up something so good.
Though I wanted the Salamander, I decided to put it on hold for now.
Let’s check the next option.
Seeing the name Komodo intact, it must be a higher species.
__________________________
【Komodo-Lania】
An ancient death with a tail.
It is a wanderer and a butcher.
The higher species of Komodo.
__________________________
The status window gave another vague description.
You couldn’t understand it just by that.
But there was a clue.
The word Lania attached to Komodo.
It probably derived from the lizard Megalania.
Megalania was known as the largest land-dwelling lizard.
Comparable in size to the saltwater crocodile I had seen earlier.
Megalania was very strong.
Research indicated it fought Komodo dragons, driving them out of their habitats.
It meant the Komodo fled.
If Lania indeed referred to Megalania, this option would be excellent.
But that was just my speculation.
In the worst-case scenario, there could be another species called Lania, leading to some bizarre evolution like growing another lizard head.
It was a bit exaggerated, but with so little information, I had to be extremely cautious.
If not for the faith issue, I would have chosen the relatively certain Salamander.
Honestly, even if faith disappeared immediately, it might not be a big problem.
If faith disappeared, my little Shikshik would look at my fiery scales with hearts in her eyes.
Tus and Pus would feel the same.
Tang So-yeong would praise me as a divine beast recorded in ancient texts.
I could even create a new faith name.
Something cooler than Gecko.
But it wouldn’t happen instantly.
While Shikshik was right beside me, Tus and Pus weren’t.
From their perspective, it would be like suddenly losing faith and religion overnight.
They already relied on me a lot, and thinking I was gone would be very difficult for them.
I couldn’t allow that.
No matter how I calculated, maintaining faith and religion was the conclusion.
Surely, the higher species of Komodo wouldn’t be bad?
I’ve been doing well as a Komodo so far, so it’ll be fine this time too.
Komodo.
I trust you.
[Are you sure you want to evolve into 【Komodo-Lania】?]
It was time to evolve.
Crack.
A massive shell enveloped me, far larger than any egg I had seen before.
As my vision was obscured, the transformation of my body began.
Creak.
There were no signs of something like a demonic horse approaching.
I just felt the strange sensation of my body changing.
Crack.
I could feel my body growing significantly larger.
Creak.
Lizard-like scales covered my entire body.
Shrrr!
Black scales covered those.
They were dragon scales.
Crack!
[Congratulations! 【Komodo】 has evolved into 【Komodo-Lania】!]
【Komodo-Lania LV1】
HP: 4112/4112
MP: 910/910
【Titles】
「Loved by Spiders」
「Master of the Silver Dragon Cave」
「Master of the Swamp (Lower)」
What?
I was astonished at the HP and MP values.
They had more than doubled compared to when I was a Komodo.
Compared to when I was a gecko, it was a difference of 500 times or more.
Was sticking with the Komodo the right choice?
I mean, was it okay to become this strong in a single evolution?
Enough with the admiration, let’s get to work.
Munch.
I quickly devoured the eggshell that had enveloped me.
As I quickly dealt with the eggshell, a piece of bloody meat appeared before my eyes.
As expected of the Snake Queen.
She was thoroughly prepared.
Munch.
Crack.
As I satisfied my hungry belly, a message from the status window caught my eye.
[The level of Dragon Scales has increased.]
[The level of Dragon Scales has increased.]
[The level of Dragon Scales has increased.]
…….
The level of Dragon Scales had increased by 5.
[「Cold Blood LV1」 has evolved into 「Dragon Blood LV1」.]
Dragon Blood?
I needed to check this immediately.
「Dragon Blood LV1」
Dragon blood flows through your body.
It helps you maintain composure at all times and grants strong resistance to mental attacks.
Dragon blood can be a poison or a medicine according to your will.
You can infuse your blood with inner energy to alter its properties.
I had gained a higher skill of Cold Blood.
The effect of maintaining composure was the same as before.
What I focused on was what role my blood would play.
It could be a poison or a medicine.
I could infuse it with inner energy to alter its properties.
It didn’t take long to understand what this meant.
The Thousand-Year Fire Carp and Thousand-Year Ice Lotus I’d consumed.
I could contain cold and heat in my blood.
It was a very flexible skill.
It created variables, a skill that matched my combat style well.
_________________________
【Skills】
「Dragon Claws」「Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Step」「Minor Heavenly Circuit」「Immune to All Poisons」「White Orchid Heart Technique」「Gecko Kung Fu」「Ancient Dragon Kick」
「Dragon Scales LV10」「Reverse Scale LV1」「Poison Generation LV7」「Poison Collection LV4」「Dragon Blood LV1」…….
__________________________
The skill window was getting filled with dragon skills. At this rate,
wouldn’t I actually become a dragon?
I was having such a wild delusion when it happened.
Thud.
Something bumped into my body.
I looked up at the cute little creature.
“Hissssss!”
Cute little Shikshik squirmed.
…But, was Shikshik always this small?
“Oh. You’ve changed more than I expected.”
The Snake Queen was the same.
Her size had drastically reduced.
…No, that’s not it.
It wasn’t that their sizes had suddenly decreased.
I had grown.
Enormously.
To the point where I couldn’t leave this temple on my own.
I was about 8 meters long now?
I had become nearly as large as the Megalania I knew.
Shikshik seemed to be trying hard to measure my size, but her chubby body couldn’t handle it.
“Princess. At that size, I doubt you could fit anywhere unless it’s my main body.”
“Screeeeech!”
Yeah.
To measure my size, you’d need at least a Basilisk….
…Huh?
Did you just say something extremely dangerous?
“Hissss!”
No to the main body!
“I think I can manage somehow with this body….”
That doesn’t mean your form is fine either.
Of course, only looking at the upper body seemed fine….
No, what am I thinking?
This is driving me crazy.
Can I shrink this size somehow?