Second Life Ranker Vol 2 Chapter 17

(Volume 2, Chapter 17)

Chapter 42 . Akasha’s Snake (10)

Akasha’s Snake had a venom gland attached next to its Neidan . A gland that oozed out poison that could melt any monsters that came in contact with it . It was a kind of self-defense mechanism that Akasha's Snake developed in order to protect its Neidan . Therefore, it would have required a specialized skill to remove the gland from the Neidan .

'It’s not a problem if I can absorb it . '

Bathory’s Vampiric Sword devoured anything that contained energy, even if there was a venom gland right next to it .

Thanks to this skill, it was a piece of cake for Yeon-woo to absorb the Neidan . He separated the venom gland and stored in the bag with Undine's Goblet .

"It would be of great help if I absorbed the venom from the gland . . . But it’s also the main ingredient for crafting Gyges’ Eyes . ’

[‘Bathory’s Vampiric Sword’ skill proficiency has increased . 6 . 2%]

[A huge amount of spiritual energy (Akasha) is pouring into your body . It will be converted into Magic Power . ]

[A huge amount of poison is flaring up inside your body . It will be converted into Magic Power . ]

[Your status ‘Half Dragon Body’ is influencing the absorption process . ]

[Your Magic Power has increased by 8 points . ]

[Your Magic Power has increased by 6 points . ]

···

[‘Mana Circuit’ skill proficiency has increased . 2 . 1%]

[Due to the large energy inflow, the conversion process will require a considerable amount of time and health . ]

[Your status ‘Half Dragon Body’ has been determined to be unable to contain all the potential mana . Your body will continue its growth . ]

[Trait conversion in progress . ]

[The halted succession process will resume . 44%… 46%… 48% . . . . ]

[You are advised to stay in a safe place during the conversion process . Outer impact will cause a slowdown or deviation . ]

[Estimated time: 15 hours]

*Crackle* *Crunch*

The amount of energy contained inside the Neidan was too much for Yeon-woo to handle all at once . A mixture of monsters’ spirits that were yet to be purified, and the resentful spirit of Akasha’s Snake, they were all jumbled up inside the Neidan .

Thanks to Bathory’s Vampiric Sword, barely no energy was lost during the absorption . The intake of such enormous amount of energy caused drastic changes in Yeon-woo’s body . A change presumably far bigger than those that had taken place with Reinforced Physique .

The system warned him to stay isolated from the outside world until his body stabilized . But despite the warning, Yeon-woo slowly rose from his seated position and turned his head to see the Goblin King and the Orc King .

A vortex of mana was swirling along his Mana Circuit . It was causing the circuit to break down and burst open, and his muscles and bones to shatter and reassemble .

Terrible pain followed after the changes . However, Yeon-woo stood high, paying it no heed . He could control his senses and shut down a few nerves to suppress some of the pain . His Physical Resistance skill also helped him alleviate it .

"Hup!"

"That’s impossible . . . !”

Looking at Yeon-woo’s bloodshot eyes, the two kings flinched . It was due to a massive energy storm wound around Yeon-woo .

*Go-o-oh*

Yeon-woo’s aura coupled with the excess energy emitted during the absorption process created an indescribable atmosphere . Moreover, the two monster kings felt something in Yeon-woo that stimulated their instincts . Something akin to a predator .

Just then, they figured it out . It was his eyes . Those were the eyes of a predator . Right in front of them stood a predator even more insatiable and more frightening than Akasha’s Snake .

"I will kill you, chwik!"

Ignoring the mortal fear, the Orc King leaped to attack Yeon-woo . It was clear that the human in front of him was the cause of this whole tragedy .

But this was the situation that Yeon-woo wanted .

The two monster kings were also boss monsters just like Hargan . And boss monsters like them,

‘Will give me a lot of Karma and Tokens . ’

These two monsters had received serious injuries from fighting Akasha's Snake . On the other hand, Yeon-woo’s body was in perfect condition excluding the conversion process .

Yeon-woo held Carshina's Dagger backward and made a wide swing .

*Spurt*

The Orc King's head flew off into the air .

[You have slain the boss monster, Farak (Orc King) . Additional Karma will be provided . ]

Without giving a second look to the messages, Yeon-woo dashed straight towards the Goblin King .

The Goblin King held out his helbard with a stern look on his face . Unlike the Orc King, his two eyes were calm, knowing his death was nigh . But the Goblin King struggled with all his might, as if he would not forfeit his life that easily .

*Kwang*

*   *   *

*Crunch*

Yeon-woo’s body was still going through changes . Now, even if he tried suppressing it, the terrible pain was still transmitted to him .

The good news were, the proficiency of Physical Resistance was increasing very quickly, now reaching almost 17% .

But he couldn't help feeling physically exhausted .

Yeon-woo gritted his teeth and cut off the head of the last remaining Orc .

*Spurt*

With his face covered in bitterness and anger, the Orc’s head dropped and rolled on the floor .

"Haah!"

Yeon-woo let out a long deep breath .

After the death of the two kings, there were two paths the remaining monsters took . One was to run away, and the other was to resist till the end .

He did not bother chasing down the runners, because they were all weak and worthless . But he made sure to get rid of the resisting ones . Then he shoved the serrated teeth into them and absorbed their energy .

Yeon-woo didn’t stop after acquiring the Neidan and venom gland of Akasha’s Snake . He wanted to speed up his succession progress and improve his body as fast as he could . He desired more and swallowed more . He would do anything to become stronger, and nothing else mattered .

However, consuming hundreds of monsters had made him too exhausted . He could really use some rest in a quiet place .

Yeon-woo thought of going back into the snake's den for a little rest, but he clenched on Carshina's Dagger instead . There was one more thing left to bother him .

"Just come out already . "

Yeon-woo cast an indifferent glance to one side .

There was no one in sight, but soon the space seemed to distort, then a player appeared .

With a stiff look on his face . Holding onto his shoulder with his one remaining arm . It was Bain .

"How did you know?"

Yeon-woo snorted lightly .

"You didn’t think you could stay hidden with your aura leaking all over the place, did you?"

" . . . You really are a monster . "

Bain stared at Yeon-woo with a look of fear .

He had been watching the whole process . From the time when Akasha’s Snake had gone on a rampage, to when Yeon-woo absorbed the Neidan and swept out the remaining monsters . And Bain had only one emotion towards Yeon-woo .

It was fear .

Running around like a ghost with a white mask, Yeon-woo took away the lives of others with just a swing of his knife . Such scenery reminded him of a grim reaper .

But soon, greed started to peek through his eyes .

If only he could have that power for himself . If only he could take the hidden piece waiting to be taken .

In Bain's eyes,Yeon-woo was the hoarding hidden pieces all to himself . If so, he had to take them . They belonged to him .

So he waited and waited until Yeon-woo was exhausted . And at last, the time was here .

*Schwing*

Bain slowly drew his sword from the scabbard . It was his treasured artifact granted by ‘The Isle’ when he had first joined Team 1 .

The cold sound of the sword being drawn spread across the air . The green thread tied on the pommel of his sword trembled as well .

"But that monstrous power you have, I'll have to take it away from you . ”

Yeon-woo twisted the corner of his lips .

"You? By what means?"

"Don't pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about . ‘Cause I know that right now you don't even have the strength to lift a finger . "

Bain slowly walked towards Yeon-woo, thinking he was bluffing . Even if he could fight back, it didn’t matter . He had been conserving his energy the whole time just for this moment . Even if he had lost an arm, one arm should be enough to take him out .

But Yeon-woo didn't stop sneering at Bain even when he got closer .

"Didn’t I ask you already? How are you going to take it away when I'm not alone?”

"What are you . . . !"

When Bain was about to shout back at his nonsense,

*Swish*

A sudden piercing sound rended the air .

*Puck*

And before Bain could even react, an arrow stuck deep into his temple .

The arrow was so powerful that Bain’s head snapped to the side as his body flew off .

Dying a painful death, Bain’s eye spotted Galliard with his bow pointed at him on top of a rocky mountain .

Galliard lightly leapt down from the cliff and landed next to Yeon-woo . He clicked his tongue as he looked around the completely devastated area .

"What’s all this mess? Was this all you?"

Even with his experience of countless tutorials, he had never seen anything like this before .

But Yeon-woo suddenly burst out laughing .

"Hmm? Why are you laughing?"

Yeon-woo didn’t know how to answer his question . Just as Bain had said, he was feeling so wrecked he couldn’t even lift a finger because of the on-going conversion process .

And Galliard showed up right on time .

He didn’t know whether to call it a coincidence or fate . But it didn't matter, because with him on his side, he could finally take a rest .

"Galliard . "

"What?"

"I brought you a gift . "

"What? Wait, you . . . !"

Yeon-woo took out the pendant from his pocket and threw it at Galliard .

The sudden throw took Galliard by surprise, but he managed to grab it . And as he realized what it was, he looked back to Yeon-woo with strained eyes .

So many questions flashed through his mind, but he couldn't get them out because Yeon-woo was already falling unconscious before he could continue speaking .

Galliard quickly came forward and held Yeon-woo from falling . Looking at Yeon-woo, his eyes were shaking . He didn’t know what to make of this mysterious man .

But one thing was certain . He was asking for help in return for the present .

Galliard noticed his body was unnaturally hot . It didn’t seem like he was sick . He could only guess there was something happening inside his body .

"You’re leaving me no choice . ”

Galliard shook his head .

With Yeon-woo on his back, he headed back to his cottage .

*    *    *

It was a long time before Yeon-woo woke up .

The first thing that came to his sight was the ceiling of a familiar cottage .

And also,

The messages crammed in his retina .

[Trait conversion has been successfully achieved . Your trait 'Reinforced Physique' has been changed into 'Diamond Physique' . ’

[92% of the energy has been converted to Magic Power and absorbed into the body . ]

[Body improvement has been confirmed . The vessel is strong enough . The halted succession process had resumed its progress . ]

[Current progress: 92 . 5%]

[Your current status will be changed from 'Half Dragon Body' to 'Near-complete Dragon Body']

92 . 5%!

Yeon-woo checked his now almost complete succession process and clenched his fist tightly .

At that moment, it seemed that all of his painstaking effort had finally paid off . But on a second thought, he was surprised at the fact that the succession process was still incomplete despite the massive amount of energy he had absorbed .

It seemed his understanding of ‘Dragon Body’ was still lacking . He was getting very curious about how strong he would be when the succession process was completed .

Yeon-woo then went ahead and checked his status window .

[Player: Yeon-woo Cha]

Traits: Cold-blooded, Diamond Physique

Strength: 121   Dexterity: 133 Health: 129   Magic Power: 208

Skills: Draconic Eyes(11 . 2%), Sense Strengthening(32 . 5%), Foresight(0 . 0%), Physical Resistance(20 . 3%), Combat Will(10 . 5%), Bathory’s Vampiric Sword(9 . 5%), Shunpo(19 . 5%), Magic Circuit(10 . 9%)

Several parts of the status window had changed a lot since he last checked . All of the attribute points were over 120, and Magic Power, the stat that was lacking the most before, was now the highest of all four .

His skills had grown a lot too . This was accomplished through continuous battles and growth .

Most surprising was that Mana Circuit, a skill he had acquired the day before, had grown by far the fastest in a single day .

Yeon-woo quickly focused his senses on his Mana Circuit and tried to control mana . And then,

*Woosh*

Mana began to move at his will . Very softly and smoothly . It was a somewhat novel sensation . A very strange, but at the same time, very familiar feeling . It felt like he had grown a new body part he could control at will .

Yeon-woo slowly gathered mana onto his hand .

When he swung his hand, he noticed that movement was now much easier than before . Mana had also hardened his hand, making it rock solid .

‘Mana is said to have a variety of uses depending on the user . ’

Yeon-woo kept in mind he should do some experiments on the uses of mana . Now that he could control mana at will, he wanted to find a way to use it in combat .

‘But what is this?’

While returning mana back to its original position, Yeon-woo realized his body seemed to have experienced a lot more changes than he expected . Not just the mana flowing through his body, but his body itself had gone through some changes too .

'My senses… they’ve gotten keener . ’

Despite only making a slight movement, a huge amount of information poured into his head . The light was blinding, and the smells were paralyzing . Pain reverberated throughout his entire body . It was a similar sensation to when he first used Sense Strengthening .

He tried to figure out what might have caused this change . It was unlikely to be a change due to simple physical strengthening .

He considered the possibility of some of the energy from the Neidan having seeped into his body .

But what was interesting was that the feeling wasn't strange to him . Somehow, it was very familiar .

‘Like Undine’s Goblet . . . . ’

While Yeon-woo was lost in a series of thoughts,

*Creak*

The sound of the opening door brought him back to his senses .

When Yeon-woo lifted his head, Galliard entered the room with a basket full of fruits .

"Are you up?"

Chapter end