Chapter 224: Nine-Headed Hydra (1/2)

A few moments earlier, in a forest made of red and brown candy, located inside a Dungeon called Sweet Reprise, a one-tailed Rakna clenched the head of a large monster made of dripping blocks of chocolate.

”[Rift,]” he muttered and in a matter of seconds, the dimensions became erratic and due to the meager defense of the creature, half of its body turned into minced blocks.

”That was a level 60 Wilden with high physical damage resistance…” Kaelith commented from the sidelines with her arms crossed. ”Are you sure that you're a clone?”

Rakna snorted and mentally controlled his body's nano-material to boil the chocolate on his hand and then shed it like some sort of dust. He passively noted that overloading was possible in order to gain short-term buffs. He wondered if his other selves had figured that out.

”To be fair,” Allan's voice interjected as he rubbed his wrists, walking away from a field destroyed by the impacts of his fists and where remains of glazed creatures laid inert. ”Dimensional power sounds like a cheat just by the name.”

The therian shrugged and turned to Nyx who was dragging a very large monster, this time organic, unlike the rest of the 50th Plateau's Wilden, with her shadows. But it still had some… toppings? It was as if it wore cream as clothes.

”The Boss is level 80,” Flavia remarked and glanced at Pronos. ”It should barely be enough, right?”

The little snake nodded eagerly and slithered around the bull-like monster's neck. He enlarged himself a bit before biting and releasing a potent poison. At the same time, his eyes shone with an infinity sign and the creature swiftly died.

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You have completed the Sweet Reprisal!

Difficulty: Fiendish

Number of Participants: 7 | Average Level of Participants: 190

Rewards: 10 000 Talys, 'Sweet Deal' Proficiency Card, 'Candy Potion' x3

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A minute later, the group was teleported out and they all focused on Pronos who stood upright on top of a large confect flower. He seemed to be tilting his head at a notification he received.

”Hey, how many evolution paths can pets usually choose from?” Rakna asked Kaelith.

”Depends. Attribute distribution, magic elements, traits, personality, race… All of those variables determine possible evolution paths. As for your little guy… I wouldn't be surprised if he had the maximum number of possible choices; which is ten.”

”Just like our Paths then,” Marie commented.

Rakna hummed and as he was observing Pronos, the little guy looked back at him with a probing eye. ”No need to ask me. Take what you want,” he reassured him and the little snake nodded before using his tail to select something on his system window.

Instantly, Rakna's Soul Sight activated and his eyes widened as he noticed an exchange between his soul and Pronos'. It would have been near undetectable if not for his absurd senses.

Then, it started. A green and purple aura erupted around Pronos and nearly knocked over a few members of the group. The pillar of light shrouded the little snake's body but they could hear and see his silhouette twisting.

At first, Kaelith frowned at the sight and then opened her mouth wide as a very familiar feeling washed over her. Rakna didn't seem to have missed it either as Eye of Symphony recorded every change in his sight.

Gradually, they saw the silhouette expand far over Pronos' previous maximum size. His body grew wider, especially below his head, like a cobra, and glowing lines of blue energy shone through his scales. His head was then slanted to the side and instantly, eight other appendages grew out in the blink of an eye.

They branched out and extended before forming very menacing heads with prominent fangs and glowing green and blue slitted eyes. Right after, the aura dispersed into a shockwave and everyone could now see him unobstructed after stopping shielding their eyes.

”Shit… you take the scary crown from the dragon-wannabe,” Allan commented uneasily as he bent his neck to look at the nine-headed creature towering above him.

Pronos' scales were far more distinct than before and there were random patterns of Eion energy coursing through the perceivable gaps. Additionally, some spikes had grown around his heads like a crude crown. But most importantly, he easily was over twenty meters tall without even counting the rest of his body slithering on the ground.

The nine pairs of eyes blinked and the heads momentarily moved on their own dissociated course before they all focused on Allan whose expression twitched.

”This is…” Kaelith mumbled in shock and one of the heads turned toward her while the eight others spread out to everyone else.

Pronos lowered one head to Rakna and hissed softly; at least from his perspective. Due to the size of his head and mouth, it felt more like a low purring sound.

But Rakna simply snorted and stroked the serpent's head, a bit over his nose, and he let out a cry of contentment. As he did that, Rakna mused as he opened his pet's status.

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Name: Pronos

Master: Rakna Xiorra

Age: 4 | Level: 100

Race: Nine-Headed Eion Hydra | Path: Ouroboros (+)(Path Quest Available)

Titles: Poison Master, Legendary Imperial Guardian, Mythical Serpent, Serpent King

Potential: S | Pet Rank: VIII

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Attributes:

STR: 35.6 -> 55.6 | END: 90.8 -> 100* + 16.26

SPD: 95.9 -> 100* + 15.9 | DEX: 14.2 -> 34.2

INT: 68.9 -> 88.9 | LCK: 3.5

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SPD and END capped until First Ascent is carried out.

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Statistics:

STA: 522.3 -> 600 | MP: 1048.5 -> 1363.5

SWI: 337.6 -> 387.8 | AGI: 134.3 -> 178.4

SEN: 374.3 -> 323.1 | ATC: 313 -> 382.2

ATT: 320.6 -> 426.6 | DEF: 413 -> 450.72

MA: 223.7 -> 286.7 | MR: 5.44 -> 7.02

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Proficiencies:

- Bite (Lv. 15 ⋆)

- Grapple & Strangle (Lv. 13 ⋆)

- Mana Control (Lv. Ex)

- Mana Sense (Lv. Ex)

- Tracking (Lv. 9)

- Magic Theory (Lv. 8)

- Melee Combat Mastery (Lv.6)

- Flight (Lv. 6)

- Magic Circle Theory (Lv. 3)

- Magic Formation Theory (Lv.3)

- Runecraft (Lv.2)

- Soul Sense (Lv. 5)

…

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Magic Skills:

Myriad Poison Magic (Lv. Ex) => [Bane of Atrophy (T.5), Gu (T.6), Myriad Death (T.6-5), Salve of Toxin (T.7), Poison Arrow (T.8-6); Acidic Venom (T.9-6); Poison Fog (T.9-7); Paralyzing Fog (T.10-9)]

- Infinity Magic (Lv.8) => [Mana Accel (T.7), Kinetic Accel (T.8), Status Alteration (T.10)]

- Mystic Magic (Lv.1) => [Uniform] – [Infinity Non-Compatible]