THE DRAGON DEVOURING ART

Chapter 7

Lucifer calmly wiped the blood from his hands, his gaze fixed upon the three figures before him with lifeless expressions.

His own face was eerily calm, his childish, innocent features devoid of all emotion as he stared at the corpses as if they were nothing more than insignificant bundles of dust.

A shimmering, transparent panel, the system, flashed to life directly in his line of sight.

[Killed, 3 creatures. Obtained 10 Creation Points.]

[Congratulations on killing three humans. Please circulate the Dragon Devouring Art to extract their bloodline and obtain the corresponding Blood Points.]

At the system’s words, a faint glimmer of emotion, a spark of sudden understanding, appeared in Lucifer’s eyes.

A surge of new knowledge on how to extract a life’s essence surfaced in his mind.

He now understood how to manipulate a peculiar, vibrant substance within his body called Dragon Essence.

This Dragon Essence could effectively devour the purified blood essence from the corpses, storing it within a separate reservoir in his Dragon Core, a space vastly similar to his normal core.

Lucifer hesitated, taking a single, deep breath to absorb the information, and then moved his hand toward the first corpse.

Pressing his palm lightly against the cold skin, he circulated his Dragon Essence and felt a strange, powerful energy pull from within the corpse and flow into his own body.

Lucifer’s eyes widened slightly.

He could feel that simply by absorbing the essence, his physical form had become subtly enhanced; his body felt lighter, more flexible, and more adaptable to combat techniques.

When he felt he could absorb no more from the first body, he moved to the next, then down to James.

Looking at the fat youth with the horrified, lifeless expression frozen on his face, Lucifer was momentarily lost in thought.

‘I was once just like them, left to die… I must never allow that to be my fate!’ Lucifer clenched his fist, steel forming a core within his resolve.

He then placed his hand over James’s head and began extracting the bloodline essence.

A new system notification appeared.

[Host: Lucifer]

[Strength: 10.5]

[Agility: 10.7]

[Endurance: 11]

[Defense: 9.3]

[Mana Points: 90]

[Dragon Essence: 6]

[Bloodline Points: 60/100%]

Lucifer read through the lines of text, his eyes widening slightly as he noticed the changes. ‘All my base attributes have increased by 0.3 points. And there’s also the addition of a new stat: Dragon Essence…’

He was confused about what Dragon Essence meant or what it could do. Fortunately, the system provided an explanation below.

[Dragon Essence: A higher form of mana belonging to legendary creatures. It can be used to activate all dragon-related abilities and, when used to activate normal talents or abilities, it can display more than x2 of its effects due to its higher life rating.]

Lucifer’s eyes widened further at the description. ‘Similar to mana?’ he pondered, then recalled another memory. ‘That’s right, aside from the Dragon Devouring Art, I also received the Primordial Dragon Eyes. It seems I need this Dragon Essence to use this ability.’

Coming to this conclusion, he acted immediately.

‘Primordial Dragon Eyes, activate,’ he muttered internally. Instantly, he watched as the number for Dragon Essence dropped from six to five.

Lucifer didn’t have time to dwell on the loss as his field of vision transformed. His eyes narrowed into golden slits, and in this altered perception, everything seemed to become transparent. The solid barrier of the walls was no longer an obstruction for close to a meter. Everything was vividly visible. In the next two rooms, he saw another youth, just like himself, being repeatedly pummeled to the ground by two slightly muscular bullies. A similar, brutal scene was playing out in a room nearby. Lucifer noticed he could even slightly predict their movements by observing the flow of their mana, which was now faintly visible to his eyes.

Just as he continued to observe his surroundings, his vision dimmed, then returned to normal. He glanced at the system and realized his Dragon Essence had been completely exhausted.

Lucifer let out a gasp. ‘What kind of power is that? And I still feel as though I hadn’t even explored the depths of the Primordial Dragon Eyes!’ He was startled by the thought. He touched his eyes, feeling a faint, lingering burning sensation. He then exhaled slowly and focused his attention on the system.

[Detected the blueprint of a unique E-Grade Potion. The creation of this material will cost 10 Creation Points. Do you wish to proceed with the creation?]

Lucifer nodded. ‘Yes.’

The system flashed, and Lucifer, already familiar with the process, focused his thoughts on the system storage. There, he saw a glittering black potion. He selected it, and it materialized physically in his hand.

Lucifer smiled faintly at the sight of the liquid, then uncapped the bottle and poured some of its dark contents over the bodies of James and his two lackeys.

‘I read about them researching something like this previously. In the book, they only discussed theories; they didn't have the sufficient equipment to create such a potion. Who would have expected that it could actually be realized with my ability?’ Lucifer grinned at the thought.

This potion was called a Corpse Dissolving Liquid. It was said that the liquid would be able to swiftly dissolve a corpse, eliminating all traces. Watching as the corpses dissolved into wisps of acrid smoke, Lucifer smiled. He stored the remaining contents back into the system and left the place, creating another E-Grade ability, Invisibility, which cost him his remaining 10 Creation Points.

No one realized what had happened in the abandoned building, and Lucifer went back to his dormitory as normal. He reached his room and entered calmly, his face betraying no emotion to give away what he had done. His roommates ignored him, continuing with their game, and he too paid them no attention.

Entering his own sleeping area, he glanced silently at the system’s notification.

[Time Left: 25 hours]

‘I don’t have much time left. I need to quickly deal with that couple…’ Lucifer frowned, turning toward his bed as he stared blankly at the wall, all sorts of thoughts surging through his mind.

Another thought was tugging at him: ‘With the school’s investigators and varying talents, they will definitely discover the abnormalities and the death of James and the other two.’

‘There will be a slight suspicion on me as I was the last person seen with them. And there’s also the fact that I survived the Black Dungeon… I just hope Seraphina isn't in charge of this case. Based on what I’ve heard, she possesses a talent related to gazing into the future at random times… she might just discover everything…’

Lucifer was far from calm as he tossed around restlessly in his bed.

Later that night…

Outside, a notification blared to life inside a building filled with students…

Just as Lucifer had guessed, some abnormalities had been discovered!