Chapter 245 : Chapter 245
Chapter 245. Choosing an Ability
Only after killing the young dragon did its true form finally appear in Fulan’s mind.
Its entire body was golden as it rose from the waves. Its scales were packed tightly together, and from a distance its skin almost looked as smooth and supple as silk ribbons.
What surprised Fulan a little was that this Deep-Sea Golden Dragon was not the traditional Western dragon she had seen before. Its appearance was much closer to that of an Eastern dragon.
Its body was long and serpentine, and it had only a tiny pair of wings on its back. Yet while it flew, those wings did not move in the slightest.
After thinking about it, Fulan let go of some of her surprise. Although a dragon with this kind of appearance was unexpected, she really should not have been that surprised.
After all, even in the D&D of her previous life, there had been quite a few Eastern dragons like this. It was perfectly normal for an otherworld to have them too.
Setting aside the dragon’s appearance for the moment, the most important thing for Fulan now was to choose an ability that she actually needed from among the available options.
She carefully reviewed the list and decided to eliminate some of the more basic abilities first.
What counted as a basic ability? Things like dragon scales and dragon claws, the sort of abilities every dragon had.
And although the basic abilities of a Deep-Sea Golden Dragon should be somewhat stronger than those of ordinary dragons, how much stronger could they really be?
Judging from its appearance, this clearly was not the sort of dragon that relied entirely on sharp claws and hard scales to fight.
She guessed that this kind of dragon was probably something like a mage among dragons, with exceptionally strong spellcasting abilities.
Then there was the fact that although the Deep-Sea Golden Dragon had displayed elemental abilities during its earlier struggle—water, lightning, and the like—
Fulan did not really need that kind of elemental affinity right now. Her elemental spells were already very strong. With her current elemental affinities alone, she already had enough to handle second-tier battles.
The chance to hunt a Deep-Sea Golden Dragon was extraordinarily rare. If she missed this opportunity, then the next time she could probably obtain an ability from one would not be until she herself reached the third tier.
“I don’t want this one either. Who would want a dragon’s sleeping ability? After falling asleep, it can rapidly consume the energy swallowed into the body and make itself grow quickly...”
“The ability to devour ore and energy... forget it. My body is this small. How much could I even swallow...?”
What she could choose was the devouring ability, and its digestive capacity on its own was only a little useful. When true dragons digested those ores and energies, they simply went to sleep...
In the end, there were only three abilities that Fulan found truly interesting:
【Draconic Instinct: When you use this ability, every living being within range will clearly recognize that you are a dragon, even if you currently look very much like a human... For dragonkind, the draconic instinct they are born with does not lie, nor can it be disguised.】
【Ocean Sovereign: When you stand upon the sea, all your attributes receive the ocean’s blessing and rise greatly, while all water- and lightning-related spells are significantly strengthened.】
【Aether Manipulation: Mages often say that magic power and mental power are what assist us in casting spells. A rare few among them, along with dragonkind, know that spells originate from the aether, a substance that exists evenly in all environments. And now, you can directly move the surrounding aether, or manipulate it into mental power, magic power, and spells...】
Fulan looked over the carefully selected abilities once more, raised a brow, and began analyzing the three of them.
First, Draconic Instinct probably referred to an ability that could intimidate other living beings, as well as identify dragons among their own kind.
It sounded very strong. If Fulan encountered some minor enemy and used this ability directly, the other side would probably flee in terror on the spot.
And if she ever met an actual dragon, she could even use this ability to get close to it, or perhaps even blend into a group of dragons.
But Fulan had no need for any of that. She was in the Northern Society right now. What would she even do by going to dragonkind for no reason?
So after only a moment’s hesitation, she immediately placed this ability last in priority.
The second one, Ocean Sovereign, could only be described as extremely powerful and extremely straightforward. It was nothing but raw stats.
Fulan noticed the phrase “rise greatly” in its description. This talent of hers had come from the Spirit Realm, and according to the descriptions of Spirit Realm talents she had seen in books,
the Spirit Realm generally did not use exact numbers. It preferred terms like “slightly,” “a little,” or no qualifier at all.
Of course, there were mages who could still calculate concrete numbers through measurement and testing.
For instance, Yiqi, the teacher of her Spirit Realm Analysis class back when she was an apprentice, had specifically measured the numerical increase to his spells.
And the “rise greatly” in Fulan’s description carried real weight. Based on what she had read in books, its actual range should fall somewhere between 33% and 100%.
This ability was a pure numerical increase, simple and direct.
But Fulan seemingly did not need this ability either. The description had made it very clear—it only worked while standing upon the sea. Right now she was at the Northern Society, far too distant from the ocean.
Even if she needed this ability in the future, there was no need to choose it now. If she ever had to go out to sea later, she could simply hunt a dragon that possessed this ability then.
There was absolutely no need for her to choose an ability she could not even use right now. Rather than taking this one, she might as well choose an elemental ability to strengthen her spells more directly.
Then she looked at the final ability. To be honest, the moment she saw it, she wanted to choose it.
Not because she had seen some book saying that aether was something incredibly amazing.
Rather, it was because of her curiosity as a mage. Ever since coming to the Northern Society, that desire had only grown stronger by the day.
Merely reading the description filled her with a longing she could not suppress. She wanted to know what exactly this “aether” was—that thing known only to a small number of mages and to dragonkind.
And the description above it, which said that all spells, mental power, and magic power originated from aether, made it almost impossible for her to look away.
Her right hand trembled twice. In the end, within her mind, she used her mental power to touch the line of text marked 【Aether Manipulation】.
The names of those abilities vanished from her mind one by one, while 【Aether Manipulation】 became yet another trait on her panel.
The instant she acquired the ability, she had wanted to try it out at once.
But then she remembered Anna, who had already been gone for quite a while.
She shook her head and decided to contact the Northern Society first and let them come here to receive this thing.
She took a metal plate from her pack and directly wrote down the relevant information about the object, their current situation, and finally a request for support from the Northern Society.
Just as she was preparing to activate the device, a message from the Northern Society suddenly appeared before her.
“Battle Mage Corps Summons Mission: find an azure chest...”
After reading it carefully, Fulan’s eyes lit up. It seemed she would be able to collect a little more reward after all.