Stationed on the mountain which was right beside the one housing Zarestia's limb, Orsted stood on one of its peaks.
"Even if the mountain is obliterated, you are sure that your limb will still stay undamaged?" Orsted repeated his prior question.
"Absolutely! It's way below that mountain." Zarestia answered confidently.
"Okay..." Orsted could smell Zarestia's lost limbs slightly too, however it was hard to predict its location perfectly at their current distance.
After practicing [Arcane dragon slayer magic] for around 7 months, Orsted's body, which was already half divine dragon, further developed its dragon features. Dragon lungs, dragon heart and dragon scale saw the highest modification.
Currently [Light] element and [Lightning] element were considered his strongest, when used alongside [Arcane dragon slayer magic].
However, they weren't the ideal element when it came to destruction.
[Light] elements provided high penetration power.
[Lightning] element boasted its invasive power and paralyzing effect. This element possessed a lot of potential in Orsted's eyes too.
[Wind and fire fusion dragon slayer mode] - deciding on what to use, Orsted immediately inhaled sharply.
Zarestia's eyes gazed at Orsted as he inhaled an abnormal amount of air. Being sensitive to mana, she was able to sense that he didn't just inhale the air, the mana in the atmosphere was devoured alongside it too.
'It wasn't like this before.' Zarestia raised her brows, she had watched Orsted use [Arcane dragon slayer magic] before, hence she could predict what he was doing.
[Wind and fire dragon's roar]!
The pure recoil was able to push Orsted's body back dozens of inches, as the breath attack left his mouth.
The [Dragon's roar] expanded violently as it shot forward, covering Zarestia's and Orsted vision to the brim.
Two synergetic elements coiled into each other, approaching the mountain rapidly.
The dark night was illuminated by this sudden trail of light.
Boom~!
The moment the beam of fiery light came in contact with the mountain, it grew into a spherical explosion - slowly covering the whole mountain in its way.
The shockwave arrived at their location in a second, alongside the minor tremors in the ground.
Orsted only stopped after he felt that more than half of his mana storage was emptied. Even after stopping for a few seconds, the shock wave continued to rattle their clothes rapidly.
'Hmm?' Orsted frowned, feeling something within him stirring.
The [Dragon seed] developed by a few percents instantly, as if reacting to his violent use of [Arcane dragon slayer magic].
"...!" Orsted's eyes widened, feeling heat spreading from his neck.
Zarestia reacted to his condition immediately, flashing beside him with her wind.
"What is that...?" Zarestia worriedly touched the black dragon scale, which appeared on Orsted's chin, spreading from his neck.
'The [dragon seed]'s growth has hit 30%...' Orsted pulled his sleeves and saw that black scales were beginning to grow on his arms too.
As the heat subsided within his body, Orsted breathed out slowly. Both his physique and mana gate went through visible enhancement, but it did plant a seed of urgency within him.
'I have stationed black Zarestia near to the Sixth-city. I should finish my journey in Kararagi quickly tomorrow and head towards Flugel's tree. If in the end, I can't join hands with Roswaal, I will have to think of a suitable place to complete my dragonification....'
Knowing Roswaal and himself well, Orsted logically felt there was a very low chance of his special quest failing.
If there were enough benefits, Orsted would even help Roswaal fulfill his dearest wish of resurrecting the witch of greed, Echidna. Though, personally, he would rather keep his distance with people like her.
'I should still take precautions before meeting him....' Orsted contemplated seriously.
"Hey, hey!" Zarestia shook Orsted's shoulder with an annoyed face. It wasn't a rare sight, but it always made her worried watching him stare into the blank space seriously.
"What?" Orsted calmly pushed away her hand.
"Is this about that? That turning into a dragon talk a month ago?" Zarestis asked while pointing at the black scales on his chin.
"...That's right." Seeing her face, Orsted was sure that she didn't remember much of what he explained about his dragon slayer magic. He had no intention of repeating himself in the end.
Turning towards the mountain that was supposed to stand above Zarestia's lost limbs - Orsted could only see a thin layer of cloud rising from the heated crater in its place.
'I doubt any normal spirit arts user can survive against that. I don't sense any survivors for now...' Orsted kept his guard up till the end.
After Orsted comforted Zarestia about his condition, she began digging for her original legs alongside him with an excited face.
It was almost excavated within ten minutes, Orsted used welded magic - [Quagmire] in a wide range and Zarestia removed the softened ground with her wind.
Watching a familiar scene of Zarestia hugging her enormous legs again, Orsted blankly stared at her.
The leg appeared to be similar to that of a bull, however at the hoof - it seemed more comparable to a ground dragon's leg.
'...Just what does her beast form look like? A combination of a minotaur and a dragon?' Orsted wondered.
Seeing that Zarestia would take a while to absorb her lost limb, Orsted thought of taking a look at his status after the recent subtle dragonification.
[Name: Orsted] [Original name: Heil Madstone] [Template Orsted: 10%]
[Dragon points: 9,706]
[Lifespan: 1,989 years 2 months]
[Bloodline: Half human and half-divine dragon (changing)]
[Physique: 21.3]
[Mana gate: 23.8]
[Spirit affinity: 27.9]
[Physical and magical resistance: 32.8]
Techniques -
[The sword god style/ Water god style/ North god style: Saint attainment.]
[Magic: Saint attainment in all elements]
[The reincarnation technique: Upon death, the host will be sent back in time the moment you fused with the template.]
[Side-effect: Your mana will recover 1,000 times slower than usual and your existence would fall outside the natural order of this world - Your existence can still be affected by Authority wielders.]
[Dragon tribe curse: Every living being who places their eyes on you would come to either hate or fear you.] [Modification: Can be activated and deactivated according to the host's will.]
[Arcane dragon slayer magic: advanced level.]
[Dragon battle aura: advanced level]
[Claw Technique: a part of the fundamental fighting style of the Dragon Tribe: Teaching of Nail, Fangs and Wings]
[Dragon gate: it creates a coiled dragon shaped monument, which can absorb the opponents magic.]
[Disturb magic: Causes the opponent spell to fail.]
Equipment:
- [Lightning imbued gauntlet]
- [Apex anti-physical gauntlet]
- [Beginner camouflage bracelet]
It was a satisfying growth, he could overwhelm any demihumans with just his raw strength.
Unless they could use mana reinforcement or technique like [Flow] - which boasted the wielder's physique tremendously, only defeat awaited them in a physical brawl with Orsted.
'What was that?' Orsted looked around warily, sensing something change in his surroundings, but it was hard to pin-point.