Chapter 6: Divine Draconic Physique

Craig stared at the glowing cyan text hovering before him, his mind racing to process the absolute absurdity of the status screen.

He understood the hierarchy of this world with cold, painful clarity. In his past life, he had spent decades watching high-class Rankers command the battlefield with supernatural abilities.

Firestorms that incinerated entire mountain ranges, spatial shifts that bypassed physical defenses, and bloodline talents that turned mortal men into living gods.

A Special-Grade Talent was something that existed only in legends, a power reserved for those destined to sit at the absolute pinnacle of human power.

And he now possessed one.

Yet, excitement alone was useless to a veteran General.

He needed to confirm it’s path.

He needed to know how it worked.

Noticing a small, pulsating description icon beside the talent’s name, Craig reached out and focused his intent on the glyph.

The panel flickered, expanding into a detailed breakdown that made his breathing stall entirely.

[ TALENT: DRACONIC DEVOURER (SPECIAL-GRADE) ]

• Description: Grants the host the divine authority to consume, digest, and assimilate any living organism, energy form, or living material object without physical or conceptual limitations. Upon successful digestion, the host permanently extracts and integrates the subject’s memories, physical attributes, innate traits, and unique abilities into their own foundation.

Craig stared at the floating text, his golden eyes widening in profound shock.

He read the lines a second, third, and fourth time, his throat going completely dry.

"Devour... without limitations?" Craig whispered, his voice trembling slightly.

"Memories? Aspects? Innate traits?"

He swallowed hard, a cold, breathless laugh threatening to spill from his lips as his tactical mind dissected the terrifying implications of the description.

’If it doesn’t specify a species... does that mean if I devour a Ranker, I steal their talent? If I devour an Abomination, I assimilate its physical carapace and specialized traits?’

There were no listed restrictions.

No cooldowns mentioned.

No cap on how many abilities he could stack into his foundation.

A sharp, dangerous smile curled the corners of his mouth.

A memory from earlier this week suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Three days ago, the patrol knights of the Lucerion Barony had cornered and subdued a wandering 1st-Tier Abomination near the border ridges—a grotesque, razor-clawed beast that had strayed too close to the estate.

To keep the young master’s domain secure until the main Duchy’s purgers arrived, the knights had heavily wounded the creature, shattered its tendons, and locked it in a specialized mana-suppression cage within the manor’s underground dungeon.

In his past life, Craig hadn’t paid the creature any mind.

He had been too focused on his upcoming departure for the City of Dragons.

Now, it was the perfect test subject.

"That 1st-Tier Abomination," Craig muttered, his eyes gleaming with a dark, predatory light.

"Let’s see if this Special-Grade Talent lives up to its name."

He took a step toward his bedchamber door, intending to summon his head knight and request immediate entry to the lower cellars.

But before his foot could hit the polished floorboards, the transparent cyan panel flickered violently, cutting off his path with a flashing prompt.

[ WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACTIVATE YOUR TALENT: ’DIVINE DRACONIC PHYSIQUE’? ]

• [ YES ] / [ NO ]

Craig paused, his eyebrows knitting into a hard furrow as he stared at the new notification.

"Activate it now?" he questioned silently.

He knew from the previous screen that the Divine Draconic Physique was listed as a one-time consumable item—a dormant talent waiting to be integrated into his mortal frame.

Realizing that entering the dungeon to face an Abomination with an unconditioned, unawakened fifteen-year-old body was tactical suicide, Craig didn’t hesitate.

He focused his intent squarely on the affirmative icon.

Yes.

[ PERMISSION CONFIRMED ]

[ ASSIMILATING WITH THE DIVINE DRACONIC PHYSIQUE ]

[ DRACONIC TRANSFORMATION HAS BEGUN ]

"Draconic transformation?" Craig staggered backward in sheer shock, his heart skipping a violent beat.

"Wait—!"

Before he could utter another word, his entire world exploded into pure, unadulterated agony.

SNAP!

A sound like cracking timber echoed inside his chest.

Craig fell to his knees, his hands slamming onto the cold floorboards as a wave of primordial heat detonated deep within the center of his chest.

It wasn’t just energy—it was a violent, raging sea of dormant mana, forced into motion all at once.

In his previous life, awakening into a Superhuman had been a long, gradual process that required months of meditation, mana-gathering techniques, and the assistance of a dragon partner during the ceremony.

Now, the process was being smashed into a single, terrifying second.

"AGHHH!"

A strangled scream tore from Craig’s throat as the ambient mana in the room went completely out of control.

A violent, localized gale whipped through the bedchamber.

The heavy velvet drapes blew outward, the glass windows rattled violently in their lead frames, and silver cups on the side table flew into the air, crushed by the sudden spike in atmospheric pressure.

Dense, crimson energy swirled around Craig’s body like a hurricane, seeping through every pore of his skin and rushing directly into his bloodstream.

His heart thundered against his ribs—not like a human organ, but like a heavy, metallic war drum.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

With every beat, his blood scorched his veins like liquid lava.

Craig gasped for air, his spine arching violently as his skeletal structure began to shift, realign, and compress under the immense pressure of the ancient physique.

His skin reddened, turning a deep, vivid crimson as small, diamond-hard draconic scales erupted across his forearms and collarbone.

His fingernails elongated into razor-sharp, obsidian claws, digging deep grooves into the mahogany floorboards before dissolving back beneath his skin as the physique refined his outer layer.

His eyes flickered uncontrollably—shifting rhythmically between his natural golden hue and a slit-pupiled, terrifying reptilian crimson.

The mana radiation that usually corrupted normal men into mindless monsters did not corrupt him.

The Divine Draconic Physique acted as an absolute forge, devouring the wild mana, purifying it of its toxicity, and crushing it into pure, condensed essence directly inside his heart.

CRACK!

A blinding flash of crimson light detonated from his sternum, illuminating every corner of the darkened room.

The roaring wind instantly died.

The floating debris crashed to the floor. Silence reclaimed the bedchamber.

Craig collapsed forward, resting on his hands and knees, his chest heaving as hot steam rose from his damp skin.

The agonizing pain vanished as quickly as it had arrived, replaced by a sudden, terrifying surge of raw, physical strength.

He raised a hand, staring at his palm. His skin was smooth, but beneath it, he could feel the dense, unyielding weave of muscle and bone that felt more like hardened steel than mortal flesh.

He could hear the faint heartbeat of a bird perched on the roof two stories above.

He could smell the faint scent of sulfur lingering in his blood.

He had transcended. He was a Superhuman once more.

Before he could fully revel in the sensation, a series of sharp chimes echoed inside his mind.

Ding!

[ ASSIMILATION COMPLETE ]

[ YOU HAVE MERGED WITH THE DIVINE DRACONIC PHYSIQUE ]

[ CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE AWAKENED YOUR DRAGON HEART ]

[ YOU HAVE AWAKENED YOUR MANA CORE ]

Ding!

[ YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR SECOND TASK ]

• Task: Awaken your Mana Core

• Reward: 1 Golden Giftbox