NOVEL NEXT Chapter 398: A golden token?
Damon wiped the corner of his mouth. His throat burned like sandpaper, but the satisfaction blazing in his crimson eyes drowned out the discomfort.
That blast hadn't just worked. It had cleared the battlefield in one decisive sweep. In this abyss where endless waves of spawn pressed in, wide-area devastation was king.
There was also something more special about this attack. He had lesser fire manipulation, and he could technically create a wide area fire element attack on his own if he tweaked fireball a little and practised for a while, but he had a feeling this one would still be superior.
After using the crimson fire lance for so long, he could feel it. This fire was different. One could even say it was superior.
Even the natural magic resistance of the abyssal creatures did not hold up against the wyrm's breath. The wyrm's breath carried weight, a destructive essence layered beyond simple elemental manipulation. It wasn't mana woven into flame. It was something primal.
This was not new news to him. He had heard about dragon's breath being superior before, but this was his first time personally using it, that too he was using a diluted version of it. Then how powerful should the actual thing be?
"Maybe when I use the wyrm core for forming my true core, I will get a better idea." Damon mused. Now that he thought about it, he had two wyrm cores in his possession, both collected from the pet wyrms of the same dude.
"Would he be able to summon them again? Or are they permanently gone?" Damon wondered.
A tamed beast was different from a summon, and both the wyrms even dropped their mana cores. A summon that could be summoned again and again, even after its death, would never do this.
Or rather, once it dropped its mana core, it would probably die permanently. That meant that these two wyrms were also probably a permanent loss for the guy. Quite a big one at that.
Damon wondered how he ended up getting so many wyrms in the first place as he continued to search the zone. He might have brought out only two of the big guys, but two in itself was too many when it came to wyrms and draconic beasts. They were the rarest creatures in the entirety of the game world.
"Little dude, you better hatch into one of the better dragons." Damon looked at the lightly pulsing egg, which was still slowly and steadily absorbing abyssal essence. He checked the progress, and it had only increased to 45%.
"It's fine. Take your time."
While this progress might seem slow when compared with the pitiful guy from his last life, his condition was already a lot better.
Damon continued searching for some more time without any results when one of the abyssal hounds returned to him with something peculiar. The hound padded out of the shadows, its black-furred body slick with ichor.
It carried something clamped carefully between its jaws, something that didn't reek of abyssal corruption. Damon's eyes immediately sharpened.
The hound dropped the object at his feet with a low growl, tail stiff and ears pinned. Damon crouched down, his claws brushing aside the ichor. What lay there wasn't a monster core or a random trinket.
It looked like a token of some sort.
Damon's eyes widened as he instantly saw it. The legendary orangish golden glow. The token was of legendary rank?! It was unbelievable!
The token shimmered faintly in Damon's palm, its surface etched with scales that seemed to shift and ripple under the faint light. The orangish-golden glow pulsed in rhythm, exuding an oppressive majesty unlike any treasure he had touched before.
[Ding! You have obtained a pass to the Dragon's Paradise world number 158.]
[Description: Dragon's Paradise is a sealed realm where draconic lineages thrive. Few mortals ever set foot within, and fewer still return alive. Access is limited to those holding a valid pass.]
Damon's lips parted in surprise, then curved into a sharp grin. He clenched the token, feeling the thrum of power run through his veins. He now understood how that black robed bastard had managed to get his hands on so many freaking wyrms. With access to such a realm, even he could get his hands on wyrm eggs and such.
This had to be it. He was sure of it. It was too much of a coincidence not to be true. Here, he was hoping to get his secret technique, and he had actually managed to snatch the golden goose right from under his nose!
As Damon was staring at the token, suddenly he once again felt a presence sweep over him. It sent chills down his spine. He immediately tucked the token into his storage space and looked around him, melding back into Stealth mode.
He had wandered in this area for far too long. Maybe it was time to get the hell out of here while he was still on the winning side. He first opened his system interface and messaged the group to move out. He then was about to dismiss his minions and move out as well when, suddenly, one of his hounds communicated with him through imagery.
Damon's eyes widened in shock as he caught a glimpse of what looked like a ruined palace. Several corpses were scattered around, players and NPCs from what he could see. At the center of it all was a throne and a figure was sitting on the throne.
Damon couldn't exactly get a good picture of who it was but even as the memories of the hound flashed in his mind, all of a sudden a pair of black eyes without pupils stared straight at him.
Damon felt his entire body go stiff. He had distinct feeling that the eyes were not staring at the hound but rather him. He instantly made the decision to get the hell out of there.
He no longer hesitated and did not even waste time dismissing his hounds. In situations like this, even that split second could help. He blinked out of his spot and started rushing towards the exit.
***
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