Chapter 30: 30. Dragon Riding Face
Flying was no longer an unfamiliar experience for Dorothy, but flying with wings was a first in her life.
Originally, she was a bit worried if she would crash since she had never used wings before, but once she got the hang of it, she realized these issues didn't need to be considered at all. How to fly with dragon wings was an instinct for a Dragon Witch, just like how you don't need to specifically learn how to control your hands.
As long as the thought of how to fly emerged in her mind, the rest could be left to instinct. Her dragon wings would automatically adjust their posture, and everything was so smooth and effortless.
This free and easy flying experience was incomparable to flying on a broomstick before; it was the unique joy of winged flying races.
"I didn't expect the new specialty awakened this time to be dragon wings. That's quite lucky."
Feeling the freedom of soaring through the sky, the high-speed airflow hitting her body, and her long hair fluttering wildly behind her, Dorothy thought with a hint of joy.
Every race has core talents, such as the Angel's Ring of Faith or the Demon's Demonic Contract. Core talents represent the core abilities of a transcendent race; other abilities are built around this core or are simply derivatives of the core talent itself.
Therefore, the Demonesses found that when choosing to evolve, evolving the core talent of the template race first often made the subsequent path twice as effective with half the effort.
Dragon's Breath is the core talent of dragons. Most of a dragon's power is derived from it. Even if Dorothy, who inherited this talent, no longer actively evolves, as long as she breathes, this talent will gradually and slowly push her body to dragonize.
Even due to past misunderstandings, Dorothy had never actively used Dragon's Breath, but the passive effects brought by this talent were something she herself could not block. Even though she had not wasted a single bit of magic power in this regard, merely relying on self-development, Dragon's Breath still brought her a free acquired specialty.
The asterisk on the specialty page of her identity card also disappeared, revealing the text that was originally blocked.
[Dragon's Remnant Body (SSR): Your breathing continuously transforms your flesh, making you robust. Even though there is still some distance from a complete dragon body, the dragon factor has already taken root within you. All your attributes will be corrected based on the degree of dragonization.]
[Currently activated dragonization: Dragon's Scales, Dragon's Claws, Dragon's Wings]
This specialty was the source of Dorothy's monstrous strength. It was no wonder she could easily suppress Alice, a genius Armed Witch, with one hand before. As the embodiment of absolute violence among the Calamity Race, even an incomplete dragon's power was not something other races could easily contend with.
Dragon's Scales were the layer of illusory dragon scales she had displayed before. That innate layer of scales could provide her with all-around, seamless protection, and there's no need to elaborate on how strong the defense of dragon scales is. Even if Dorothy's dragon scales could at most be considered hatchling scales, as long as she wasn't brain-dead enough to provoke a Great Witch or higher, it was enough for her to become the overlord of the fishpond.
Dragon's Claws greatly increased her strength. Those innate claws were also the best weapons, with their strength increasing synchronously with her growth. The innate magic-breaking ability of Dragon's Claws had miraculous effects when facing various magic shields.
Finally, there were the newly awakened Dragon's Wings. These massive dragon wings, with a wingspan of about six meters, were the symbol of a dragon's flight ability. Given a dragon's enormous size and terrifying weight, it naturally couldn't fly by simply flapping its wings a few times like a bird; this doesn't conform to aerodynamic principles. However, dragons can indeed fly, and this is entirely due to the power of these Dragon's Wings.
These newly born Dragon's Wings provided Dorothy with a conceptual magical flight, disregarding physical laws. As long as she spread her Dragon's Wings and symbolically flapped them once, she could naturally fly, and she could fly however she wanted, truly moving with her thoughts. Even if Dorothy had not received professional flight training, she could now directly apply to be an aerial acrobat.
Of course, Dragon's Wings actually brought Dorothy more than just this fully-mastered flight ability; there were also more hidden benefits.
For example, the increase in all attributes brought by the increased degree of dragonization immediately made her brain, which was originally feeling overloaded from processing various information on the real battlefield, much more relaxed. The world became clearer in Dorothy's eyes.
Strong Dragon's Wings are also a dragon's combat weapon. Sharp wing slashes are practically innate dual blades, and even if not used as weapons, these huge Dragon's Wings are also excellent shields, capable of blocking various otherwise fatal damages.
Moreover, this Dragon's Body is merely a derivative ability of Dragon's Breath. This core talent of dragons is not only for development; it is also a powerful combat talent.
Inhale~ Exhale~
Dorothy, soaring freely in the sky, maintained the rhythm of Dragon's Breath. At this moment, she was experiencing an unprecedented sense of power.
With each inhale and exhale, terrifying free magic power was devoured into her body. Furthermore, a dragon's breathing is not like a human's, where only the simple respiratory system participates in circulation. A dragon's entire body participates in breathing. Have you ever experienced the feeling of even your bones, muscles, and blood vessels breathing?
Thus, powerful magic power was transported to every corner of her body with each breath, not even sparing the most minute details. Because of this, some scattered powers within her body that were normally unused or she didn't know how to use were also integrated by the rhythm of her breathing.
Power reaching the whole body, consolidating scattered parts into a whole, unifying them.
This reminded Dorothy of the Chinese martial arts novels she had read in her previous life. By that standard, she should now be considered a master of 'Hua Jin' (transforming strength).
Not even a feather can be added, nor a fly land.
This feeling of having strength throughout her entire body was exhilarating, making her want to shout, but Dorothy held back. Her will easily controlled this upgraded body, suppressing the impulse from her instincts.
Meaningless excitement would not help in the upcoming battle. She needed to maintain a calm, unruffled combat mindset.
The high perception brought by high inspiration spread fully, and all information from the entire Gladiator Arena flowed into her mind as various data streams, being processed rapidly. Various combat strategies were quickly formulated, reviewed, discarded, and then confirmed.
These were already instincts honed through countless battles during Magic Net Duels. At this moment, Dorothy found her own rhythm, and once she entered this rhythm, a confidence that the law of victory was already established emerged from her heart, making her inner self even more peaceful.
Her inner imagery transformed into a smooth, mirror-like lake. Her will stood upon this mirror-like lake, calmly watching countless pieces of information, like raindrops, fall upon the lake's surface, creating ripples.
Only with a calm mind can one see clearly like a mirror.
Hmm, this time I'm truly going for a Dragon Riding Face.
And everything that just happened seemed very long, but the narration time was paused. In reality, all of this happened in an instant.
On the other side of the Gladiator Arena, a brilliant and holy figure quietly appeared.
That was Sophia.
And when the figure of the holy Great Archangel, with six wings on her back, a halo above her head, and clad in golden armor, entered Dorothy's eyes, the calm lake of her heart instantly rippled, and the overwhelming influx of information almost broke her state of mind.
Hiss, this Angel is truly terrifying. Just her appearance has such might?
Dorothy couldn't help but gasp.
Then I can't let her live. I must strike first.
The mischievous Demoness thought to herself.
Thus, at the very moment the countdown to the battle in the sky reached zero, the figure with dragon wings on her back moved, disappearing in an instant, leaving only a strange dragon roar that echoed throughout the arena.
That was the Dragon Language—Dragon Language.