The roaring orange flames enveloping his cleaver receded, the last embers dying out with a soft hiss, leaving behind only the shimmering heat in the air. Dravin let out a long, slow breath, his arms trembling slightly from the exertion of channeling so much power.
The Advanced Stage of the `Inferno Slash` was incredibly potent, but it also placed a significant strain on his body and his energy reserves.
Looking around the relative safety of the cave, he knew this was the perfect opportunity. There was no time to waste, no better moment to act. He had to strike while the iron was hot.
Dravin proceeded to sit cross-legged on the cold stone floor, the faint, three-mooned light filtering down from the ceiling creating an ethereal atmosphere around him.
He took in a deep, centering breath, clearing his mind of the recent battle and the thrill of his new technique. He then began to circulate the `Astra Breath Absorption Technique`.
Almost immediately, the super-concentrated void energy of the dimensional zone responded. It was a tangible presence, a thick, invisible mist that eagerly gathered around him, seeping through his pores and into his expanded meridians.
He could feel the familiar, gentle warmth of cultivation spreading through his body. He trained for nearly an hour, his focus absolute, pushing himself to absorb as much of the rich energy as he could before his body reached its natural saturation point.
Finally, he stopped. A dense, potent pool of void energy had gathered within him, and it was just about to fully ingrain into his cells when he heard it, the glorious, chime of the system.
[Ding!]
[Cultivation of 'Astra Breath Absorption Technique' detected.]
[Random multiplier activated: 9,999x!]
Dravin's eyes flew open in excitement and a hint of terror.
Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times!
It was the highest multiplier he had ever received, a number so close to the limit!
He remembered the agony of the 3999x multiplier, how it had nearly torn his body apart.
This was more than double that.
Before he could even brace himself, the energy within him detonated. A massive, impossibly dense surge of void energy erupted from his core, a torrent of pure power so violent it threatened to vaporize him from the inside out.
He bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood, as he tried his absolute best not to scream in pain. It was a useless.
A choked cry escaped his throat as his meridians, muscles, blood, and cells were all forcefully expanded and fortified.
It felt like every single cell in his body was being individually torn open and then jam-packed with raw void energy.
The progress bar on his status panel didn't just blur; it ceased to exist, replaced by a waterfall of notifications that flashed by too fast for him to read.
He broke through the barrier of Rank 5 in an instant, the process so violent it barely registered.
The energy continued its relentless surge, pushing him higher and higher, until it finally, began to slow down.
When the storm finally subsided, Dravin was left gasping on the floor, his body slick with a mixture of sweat and a thin film of black, foul-smelling impurities that had been violently expelled from his pores.
[Congratulations! You have broken through to Rank 5 Super Soldier!]
[Congratulations! You have broken through to Rank 6 Super Soldier!]
[Lifeform Level: Rank 6 Super Soldier <90.00%>]
He had leaped over two more entire ranks. He was just ten percent away from becoming a Rank 7 Super Soldier. The very thought was staggering.
He slowly pushed himself up, his limbs trembling with newfound, untamed strength. He clenched his fist, and a small, audible "boom" of compressed air echoed in the silent cave.
He could feel the power coiled in his muscles, ready to be unleashed.
It was the most powerful feeling he had ever experienced, a sensation of absolute control and indomitable might.
He quickly pulled up his full status panel, his eyes scanning the new numbers with excitement.
His base attributes had all increased by a great deal, a natural result of breaking through two major realms. He was in a completely different league now.
Happily, he scrolled down, his gaze landing on the lottery section. The last reward from his victory over Klein. He realized he hadn't used it yet. And the system had rewarded him with another one for defeating the bear. He had two spins.
Instantly excited, his heart pounding with a gambler's thrill, he decided to use the first one immediately. "System, use one lottery spin!"
The cosmic slot machine appeared in his mind's eye. Fueled by his manic excitement and a sense of invincibility, he pulled the celestial lever with wild abandon. The reels spun, a blur of golden light, before clanking to a stop.
[Better Luck Next Time! Please Try Again!]
Dravin stared, his excitement instantly deflating like a popped balloon. He got nothing. A complete dud. He let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed that even a system this powerful had its limits.
With his expectations now thoroughly managed, and without much hope, he decided to use his final spin. "System, use the second spin."
He pulled the lever again, this time with a sense of weary resignation. The reels spun, slowed, and clanked to a halt. He braced himself for another disappointment. But what appeared was something so astonishing, so far beyond his wildest dreams, that his expression turned completely blank.
[Congratulations! You have won a Legendart Grade Prize!]
[Bloodline: Crimson Thunder God (S-Rank Physique)]
For a long, silent moment, Dravin was simply stunned, his mind unable to comprehend the words. An S-rank… bloodline? Before he could even begin to process what was happening, his world dissolved into pure, absolute agony.
An intense, searing pain erupted from the very core of his being, from his DNA itself. it was a pain a thousand times more profound than the energy-induced expansions he had endured before.
His genetic code was being forcibly, violently overwritten. His very cells were being unmade and remade from their core, their structure changing, transforming, evolving.
"GRAAAAAH!"
A raw, inhuman scream was torn from his lungs as crimson lightning crackled to life within him.
It was not a foreign energy attacking him; it was his own body, his own blood, turning into a weapon that threatened to fry him from the inside out.
Only his newly enhanced Rank 6 foundation and his monstrous physique kept his body from disintegrating under the strain.
The phenomenon was no longer contained within him. Crackling, crimson thunder began to spark around his body, arcing from his chest to his limbs. The air in the cave became thick with the smell of ozone as small, uncontrolled bolts of lightning shot from his body, striking the cave walls and leaving behind scorched, blackened marks. Even his eyes began to spark, arcs of red lightning dancing between his pupils.
The little mole-like thief, which had been watching curiously from a corner, let out a terrified squeak. It scrambled out of the cave as fast as its tiny legs could carry it, not wanting to be caught in the sudden, violent burst of chaotic energy.
The process felt like an eternity, but in reality, it lasted only a minute. By the end of it, the violent energy receded, drawing back into his body, now tamed and under his control. As the last sparks faded, a single, crimson mark, shaped like a stylized thunderbolt, appeared on his forehead before fading from view.
[S-Rank Physique: Bloodline of the Crimson Thunder God has been successfully integrated.]
[Grants the user a transcendent physique and innate mastery over any lightning.]
[Passive Ability: Thunder God's Body]
— Grants complete immunity to all lightning and thunder-based attacks below your realm.
— Provides extreme resistance to paralysis and energy disruption effects.
— Absorb lightning and thunder energy from the environment to rapidly heal wounds and replenish stamina.
[Innate Skill Unlocked: Crimson Thunder Step]
— Move at the speed of lightning, leaving behind arcs of crimson afterimages. (Agility +300%)
[Innate Skill Unlocked: Crimson Bolt]
— Condense and release a spear of crimson lightning that pierces defenses and explodes with divine thunder.
[Innate Skill Unlocked: Divine Thunder Might]
— Empower physical strikes with thunderous force, generating shockwaves that devastate surroundings. (Attack power +300%)
[Innate Skill Unlocked: Thunder God's Wrath]
— Summon world-shattering crimson thunderbolts directly from the heavens.
Dravin was stunned for a very long while. He had been thinking even when he receive things from the lottery, it won't be as good as his 10,000 times cultivation multiplier but he was dead wrong.
The lottery was simply too powerful!
He then checked his full status, and his jaw dropped.
┌───────[ Profile ]───────┐│ [Name]: Dravin Borne
│ [Quest]: NILL
│ [Astra Soul]: Water [E-rank] (Level 1) <0.01%>
│ [Bloodline]: Crimson ThunderGod [S-Rank]
│ [Lifeform Level]: Rank 6 Super Soldier <90.00%>
│
├──────[ Attributes ]──────┤│ [Strength]: 146
│ [Speed]: 146
│ [Physique]: 286
│ [Energy]: 1,930│
├────[ Combat Techniques ]────┤
│ [Cleaver Art]: Basic Cleaver Technique [Level 7] <5.50%>
│ [Ranked Art]: Inferno Slash [Advanced Stage] <85.00%>
│
├──[ Innate Bloodline Skills ]──┤│ Crimson Thunder Step [Initial ]
│ Crimson Bolt [Initial ]
│ Divine Thunder Might [Initial ]
│ Thunder God's Wrath [Initial ]
│ Thunder God's Domain [Initial ]
│
├────[ General Skills ]─────┤
│ [Meditation]: Astra Breath Absorption [Level 5] <30.10%>
│ [Beast Companion]: NILL
│
└──────────────┘
As a result of the bloodline integration, all of his base attributes—Strength, Speed, Physique, and even his Energy capacity had increased by a flat 10 points each.
"Hahahaha!"
A maniac laughter resounded through the entire forest, making the little beast who was still outside tremble in fear!