Level 1 Fallen

The next morning started fairly normal. I made myself another loaf of bread to eat for breakfast, and then began my training. Since I expected that the officials would be looking for me, I left instructions with the front desk of the inn. As far as I could tell, Diane had already left for the day, though I wasn't sure if it was her Player or her Chosen in control at the moment.

Regardless, I chose a different spot to train today than previous, just in case the player party decided to make trouble for me. Besides, I had a new skill that I wanted to test out. From its description, Dragon Form could be considered a physical enhancement skill, which was perfect for me, since I needed extra stats from wherever I could get them.

I could already feel other players catching up with me, like when Grog nearly dislocated my shoulder just from gripping it too hard. His raw strength was certainly leagues above my own, even when I was using my various skills to enhance my stats.

Thankfully, most players wouldn't have properly evolved master-level skills at this point yet. Even Diane, who had a superb talent for stealth, only just got Ghost-X. That was also why I was so confident in her selling the dragon materials, as there shouldn't be many players capable of dismantling dragons yet.

As I was thinking about that, I reached my new training area, a floating rock positioned near one of the city's waterfalls. This would be an easy place for the city's officials to locate me with the information I gave the inn.

Once I was there, I deployed my Ghost Zone to give myself some peace from random prying eyes. Then, I focused, activating the Dragon Form skill. Green scales covered my skin, and I felt my armor shifting around me, slits opening to allow the emergence of large wings. While the change was uncomfortable, it wasn't nearly as painful as I imagined it would be.

Clenching my fists, which now ended in dangerous claws, I marveled at this new form. However… to my surprise, I didn't feel any significant increase in physical strength. Bringing my claw to my arm, I tried to cut into the scales, finding that my defense had instead increased.

Natural weapons, wings, and increased defense. I thought to myself, analyzing the abilities of the skill. There was one other thing that I wanted to test, taking a deep breath. I aimed my head up, blowing as hard as I could. I needed to know whether or not this skill came with a dragon's signature breath weapon.

Unfortunately for me… my exhale did nothing but disrupt the air above me, with not a single ember released. Never before had I been so glad that nobody could see me, standing there with my arms spread and my head raised.

Okay… good to know. I cleared my throat awkwardly, thinking what else there was to try. Mastery of my new form would greatly increase the rate I gained experience in it. Looking back at my wings, I thought that I should give flight a try.

Yes, I could always achieve flight through other methods, but this was all training. I needed to be able to properly use any skill at my disposal. At the same time, I was already thinking of skill combinations that I could use. For instance, if I combined Animate Shadow with Dragon Form, would I summon shadow dragons?

Additionally, I wasn't sure what rank Dragon Form was as a skill. Originally, I thought it would be at least an intermediate skill, but given the level of changes, I was beginning to doubt this theory. It could have been a higher level basic skill, in which case I would be able to train it even further.

As I thought about this, I began to flex my wings, flapping them up and down. To my surprise, my body wasn't actually lifting off the ground. I could feel an upwards force, but it was only a fraction of my natural bodyweight. Don't tell me that these wings are only good for gliding…

If that was the case, I was certain that this wasn't an intermediate skill. A dragon-themed intermediate transformation that didn't allow either flight or a breath weapon? I let out a disgruntled huff.

Looking at my friends list, I saw that the one in control of Diane really was her player. Since she was there, I sent her a message, asking her to meet and telling her my current location. It didn't even take her a minute to arrive, appearing from stealth just a few feet away from me. However, she apparently couldn't see through my own stealth, since her eyes were scanning for me.

With a thought, I included her as a target for my Ghost Zone, and her eyes immediately locked onto me. When she saw my transformed state, her eyes twitched wider. "Dragon Form?" She asked, to which I nodded. "Abilities?"

"Just increased defense, claws, and gliding." I shook my head, showing her my arm. "My wings can't generate enough lift to pick me up off the ground. It might be possible after I evolve, but this is all I've got so far."

Diane nodded her head, looking at my outstretched arm. She suddenly withdrew her dagger, slashing along my scales. I briefly flinched, before noticing that she hadn't put enough force into it to cause any real damage. All she did was leave a white mark on my scales. "The defense is half-decent, but it'll get better as you level up. I'd ask what the consumption is, but… this is you we're talking about. I'll need to try it out for myself."

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"You want the skill, then?" I asked, and she nodded her head. With that, I considered what sort of quest I could give her. It had to be something dragon-themed, so… I gave her a quest to concoct a potion made with draconic ingredients, and consume it.

Diane hesitated when she heard this, pulling a red potion out of her inventory. "I was actually experimenting with potions when you called me. I haven't tested the effects of this one, but if it will complete a quest…" She popped the cap off of the potion, and downed it in a single gulp.

I simply stared at her incredulously. "You… realize that I can't heal other people, right? What are you going to do if that potion is bad?"

"Respawn." She answered simply, face scrunched up. "Tastes awful, though. And don't worry, I made it based on healing potions. I only added in the dragon essence because I wanted to try to make a regenerative potion. Like how lizards can regrow their tails. Not sure if it worked, but that should do for the quest."

Sure enough, the quest was marked as complete, and Diane was given the skill. Without hesitation, she activated it, and I watched her transformation. Her height increased by a couple of inches, and her body became more lithe. Whereas I received green scales, hers were pitch black, with black wings sprouting from her back. Additionally, I saw a long, scaled tail flick behind her, something I hadn't originally noticed on myself. "Interesting…" She muttered, looking at her new claws.

"So? What's the consumption like?" I asked, and she glanced off into space.

"It looks like there's a transformation cost, not a channel cost. Part of my mana bar is just greyed out."

Well, that was something. In other words, this skill could be maintained indefinitely. However, that also meant that it would be more of a pain to train. If it was balanced around people being able to maintain the form as long as they wanted, experience would be gained by participating in active combat and mastering this form.

Diane crouched down, her tail coiling around her waist, before she jumped high into the air, her wings spreading with unusual grace. She seemed to hover briefly before her body slowly lowered down towards me. I had almost forgotten that her original positive trait enhanced her jumping power.

"You seem to be quite used to that form already?" I pointed out, curious. Diane simply nodded her head, flexing her wings.

"I've played dragon type characters before. It's been a while, though, so I'm a little rusty. Still, I think your assessment might have been a little inaccurate before." I arched my brow, and she extended her own arm. Her black scales looked somehow softer than mine.

"Why would yours be different?" I asked in confusion. If anything, she should be mastering the skill more quickly than me.

"I think the skill amplifies your abilities based on your highest stat. If you deactivate all of your skills, Stamina should be your highest stat. Because of that, your defense was increased. As for me, my highest is agility, so I'm able to move around faster. When I jumped just now, I felt like I could fly with a little more mastery over my skill."

That made the skill considerably more useful than I had imagined it at first. "In that case, the extra skillbook in your hands should sell really well. Since players don't have to spend constant mana to maintain it, and it amplifies their highest stat, there should be a lot of people wanting to buy it."

Diane nodded her head, but still looked at her hands. "Probably. But first, I want to test some things. Stamina's my weakest stat, so I want to make sure that this form doesn't reduce it further."

With that said, Diane pressed her dagger against her own arm, carefully applying force until her scales were cut and just a trickle of blood emerged. Then, she undid her transformation, and repeated the same experiment. After she was done, she wiped her dagger off and sheathed it, before drinking another potion that healed her arm. "Okay, there was a stamina enhancement, but it was small. I'd say, probably about five percent at most. Meanwhile, my agility…"

Diane crouched down, entering her Dragon Form again. Her tail flicked as she darted forward, her figure almost blurring with speed. She ran one full circle around the interior of my Ghost Zone, and then changed back into halfling form to repeat the run. "Fifteen percent or so?" She muttered. "Still, that's a significant enhancement for a new skill. I'm going to log out for just a minute to update the listing for the skill."

After she said that, the brand on her forehead dimmed, and her Chosen shuddered. "I'm never going to get used to that form." She said softly, before looking up at me.

"Sorry. Didn't think you'd have a reaction like that to it." I apologized, and she shook her head.

"It's fine. It just feels weird. How long are you going to stay in that form, by the way?" She asked, and I thought about it.

"I want to try to evolve it, so I'm going to be using it casually, at least in private or in battles. If I need to appear in front of others, I'll change back." When I said that, Diane sighed.

"Okay, but if you turn into an actual dragon when it evolves, you have to let me ride you." She stated, hands on her hips. I let out a light chuckle, before considering something.

"What do you think would happen if we channeled this skill into the bike?" My words caught Diane off-guard, and her eyes widened.

"I-I think it might be best to wait for my Player to get back, and ask her about that. It seems like a dangerous and expensive experiment."

I couldn't help but agree with her. Applying a transformation ability to the bike could go one of two ways. Either it transformed into a naturally flying vehicle with a draconic appearance… or the transformation disrupted the internal structure of the bike, and the entire thing broke. I didn't want to be responsible for breaking a bike worth a hundred platinum just because of a random idea.