Gauss had to explain for quite a while before Albena finally understood that it was a skill, not some kind of bloodline.
Albena nodded—though it was hard to tell whether she truly accepted it or still had doubts.
Either way, the matter was considered settled.
Gauss spent some time digging up the vine-beast's rhizome from deep underground.
Holding what looked like a one-meter-long ginseng root, he examined it briefly and handed it to Alia for research.
This was the vine-beast's true body.
The massive "trunk" aboveground looked impressive, but it wasn't vital.
When faced with an enemy it couldn't beat, the vine-beast would play dead, retract its life force back into the rhizome, and—once the threat left—relocate somewhere safer, feed, and recover.
It was a survival trait born from natural evolution.
And the stronger the creature, the better its survival toolkit tended to be:
elemental resistances, regeneration, feigned death, revival tricks…
In short: armored to the teeth, absurdly hard to kill.
Gauss glanced at his Adventurer's Manual, then at the surroundings, then pushed those thoughts aside and began harvesting the vine-beast's remaining materials.
Besides the rhizome, the aboveground "main stem" was valuable too.
Just this one vine-beast's materials were worth at least three hundred gold.
Once he finished processing, several kill notifications popped up.
The clay creatures he'd sent out had also cleaned up the goblins and other monsters he'd spotted during reconnaissance.
"Let's leave this forest first."
They returned near the temporary camp—less than two hours after leaving.
Gauss informed the team, then went back into the folding house room and finally looked at the Adventurer's Manual.
After steadying his breathing, he fed the newly gained 20 warlord points into the racial trait [Ironscale Bloodline].
This time, when he focused on the [Ironscale Bloodline] entry, it began to shine with a blinding light.
[Requirements for quality advancement have been met. Advance blue-quality racial trait "Ironscale Bloodline"?]
"Yes."
The moment the thought passed through his mind, the 20 warlord points were consumed—pouring completely into [Ironscale Bloodline].
Almost instantly—
A scorching warm current erupted from deep inside Gauss's body.
"It's starting!"
That savage, ancient power—dense with raw strength—washed through his limbs and bones.
Within a few breaths, his fair skin flushed red, the color deepening rapidly.
"Hah…"
Burning steam rose from every pore.
His blood surged through his veins several times faster than normal, driving his whole body into an extreme high-speed state as it tried to vent the skyrocketing heat.
The sight was terrifying—something that would irreversibly damage a normal person's brain in a second.
But Gauss felt no discomfort at all.
If anything, it felt like his body was being refined.
His mind and body drifted into a weightless, euphoric state.
Even the air around him seemed heavier because he existed within it.
Thump. Thump-thump!
His heart, wrapped in powerful muscle, clenched and expanded with brutal force—then clamped again, then expanded again…
Only the rhythm began to slow.
If someone tracked it, they'd find his heartbeat dropping from roughly 30–40 per minute down to 10–20.
A slower heartbeat didn't automatically mean a stronger body—but the change reflected the transformation underway inside him.
Thump. Thump!
Outside the room—
Even though Gauss had warned them he might undergo a breakthrough, the worried teammates still gathered at the door.
Hearing the drumlike heartbeat inside, they exchanged looks.
The pressure was too intense. It felt less like a teammate was inside and more like a sleeping nightmare beast.
Could a human heart really sound like that?
"He should be okay… right?" Alia whispered, then looked at Serandur.
After every fight, Serandur always did medical checks—injured or not—out of caution.
The vine-beast fight had been no exception. Serandur had examined Gauss especially thoroughly.
He understood Alia's worry, but could only shake his head helplessly.
"His condition was excellent earlier," he said. That was all he could offer.
The stronger the profession, the less "human" the body tended to be. Many high-rank professionals grew closer to what ordinary people would call monsters.
And Gauss was, without question, a monster among monsters.
And… it's so heavy…
Even through the door, Serandur could feel the pressure rolling out in waves—a bloodline dominance, an upper-tier suppression that made him want to bow.
In contrast, Alia, Shadow, and Albena didn't seem as affected by it.
"Maybe it's tied to the captain's draconic bloodline," Serandur deduced from his own reaction.
"You should rest outside," Alia urged, seeing his face go pale.
"We'll stay here. If something happens, we'll call you."
They didn't dare barge in, afraid they'd interrupt something and cause harm.
All they could do was wait.
…
A day passed.
Then the second. The third…
Alia and the others grew anxious.
But from the pressure inside the room, they believed Gauss wasn't in danger.
Still—days were days.
"The heartbeat sounds quieter," Alia murmured.
Since morning, the heartbeat had clearly softened. The oppressive aura was also drawing inward, sinking back into Gauss.
Inside the room—
Gauss's skin had returned to its usual fair tone.
If you looked closely, a layer of extremely fine, translucent dragon scales seemed to veil his body.
As time passed, those physical scales gradually merged into his skin—appearing and vanishing like breathing.
A deep, ancient, almost primordial aura flowed around the sleeping Gauss.
But if you tried to focus on it, you'd realize it was fleeting—there for an instant, then gone.
In Gauss's consciousness—
He seemed to be standing in chaos.
And before him loomed a creature of beauty, vastness, and near-perfect flawlessness.
He had never seen anything so beautiful—like a miracle crafted by the Creator, so perfect it shouldn't exist in the world.
It was an ancient dragon.
Its scales gleamed. A pair of massive, crown-like arc horns rose from its head. Its body was colossal—like it could blot out the sky.
As Gauss stared, the dragon seemed to look back.
Strangely, he felt no fear.
Maybe he was in a dreamlike mental state.
Or maybe… this was simply a dream.
Gauss couldn't tell.
Fragments of broken memories flashed before him—
white claws tearing flesh, a sharp sword annihilating bodies…
brief, scattered shards.
Then, after a glimpse, he felt a powerful suction below—like a vortex twisting.
His consciousness sank deeper and deeper, and the dragon's figure blurred, finally hiding in the depths of his mind.
…
Gauss opened his eyes.
A rainbow shimmer flickered across them.
He shook his head.
He vaguely felt like he'd dreamed, but the details were already gone.
"Hah…"
He let out a long breath.
Sitting on the bed for a while, he finally remembered what he'd been doing before he fell asleep.
"Right. I was advancing [Ironscale Bloodline]."
He felt his body. Something familiar now held an extra layer of power—especially his strong, pounding heart.
He checked the panel.
As expected, [Ironscale Bloodline] had successfully advanced, transforming into a new racial trait.
On the display, the new entry radiated a blinding purple glow.
[Blue-quality "Ironscale Bloodline" Successfully Advanced!]
[Purple-quality "Dragonseed"]
[The gate to a flawless body has opened. Ancient power will awaken within your flesh—this is draconic might, a gift beyond the mortal.]
Thump. Thump!
He instinctively pressed a hand to his left chest, feeling that slow, powerful heartbeat.
Dragonseed.
His whole body warmed.
Was this the power of Dragonseed?
Compared to his other two purple traits, [Dragonseed] felt like the biggest change yet.
Maybe there was some deeper reason he didn't understand.
He sank his awareness inward, and his body became clear—like he was seeing it from the inside.
His heart stood out most.
It was like a powerful machine wrapped in mana and Dragonseed power, pumping blood through his whole body.
A heart wasn't just a pump—it was the engine of life, the wellspring of strength.
As Gauss studied his now-complex, subtly altered heart, he understood for the first time:
as he grew stronger, his body would inevitably leave the path of the ordinary.
This could no longer be called a human heart.
It was closer to a dragon's.
A human structure simply couldn't hold endlessly escalating power.
And not only him—other powerful humans' organs would also evolve or mutate in some way.
He took a slow breath.
Then—THUMP—his heart struck like a war drum.
Dragonseed power surged out and flooded his right arm.
In a blink, the muscles swelled with blood.
Crack—crack!
A layer of tiny, transparent scales crystallized across his skin.
His human arm became a pure white dragon arm.
It reflected faint prismatic arcs. It wasn't grotesque—if anything, it carried a strange, sacred beauty.
"Partial dragonization?" Gauss flexed the claw, feeling explosive force within.
And it wasn't just power and defense.
More importantly, his affinity for mana increased significantly.
"Light—upcast!"
With a thought—
A small but blinding orb formed instantly between his five claws, flooding the room with light.
So fast.
Gauss narrowed his eyes.
Most spells could be upcast—more mana, stronger effect.
But upcasting usually took extra effort, making it less smooth in real combat.
That was why Gauss rarely bothered.
But now—perhaps because of [Dragonseed]—upcasting felt far easier.
He dismissed the spell and checked his stats.
"Constitution +1"
"Perception +1"
"Charisma +1"
Strength: 15
Agility: 14
Constitution: 15 → 16
Intelligence: 17
Perception: 13 → 14
Charisma: 14 → 15
[Dragonseed] gave him three full attribute points.
No wonder his body felt so different.
He frowned slightly, thinking.
If he remembered correctly, this was the first time a racial trait advancement had granted such a major stat boost.
Only one prior case came close: when white-quality [Basic Draconic] became blue-quality [Intermediate Draconic], his Charisma had increased slightly.
And now this—blue [Ironscale Bloodline] advancing into [Dragonseed].
None of his other traits—[Witching Hour], [Second-Stage Ghoul Form], or the rest—had granted stats.
He pressed his lips together.
Both instances were tied to dragon blood.
Were dragons truly that favored? Even their related traits felt abnormal.
Or… did he have an unusually high compatibility with them?
He shook his head and forced the thought away.
Then he looked toward the door.
Maybe the commotion had worried his teammates—he could sense them pacing outside, raising hands to open the door, then hesitating.
With a thought—
An unseen force pressed down the handle.
The door opened.
The sudden movement startled everyone outside.
But their eyes snapped to the room.
"Roooaaar—"
A wave of invisible pressure rushed out.
Their hair stood on end.
For a heartbeat, they all saw a dragon crouched before them—
then blinked, and it vanished.
In its place stood Gauss, safe and whole.
Alia and the others finally breathed out, relieved.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/NotEvenMyFinalForm
— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!