123 Dragon Power acquired! Hahahaha!

Slowly peer forward from behind the rock shadow.

On the landmass some distance ahead, seven monsters are gathered.

Valuable food and experience points.

Those monsters are Red Hounds.

Red-colored dogs, with no relation whatsoever to some high-ranking naval official.

The Red Hounds are lounging, play-fighting, and doing as they please.

But those dogs—being dogs—have sharp senses of smell, so they'll detect us before we get close.

For now, suppress intimidation.

I was detected, but when intimidation is turned off, stealth effectiveness returns slightly.

Harder to be noticed.

Though, given the title of "Bringer of Fear," complete concealment is impossible.

Even with intimidation off, it's only a slight improvement in avoiding detection.

The Red Dog has high detection range. It hasn’t noticed yet—current distance is sufficient for observation through telescopic sight—but it will detect us if we close in.

When that happens, it will flee naturally.

The Red Dog is rare among mid-tier beings: it lacks swimming skill.

It cannot escape by diving into magma.

But if it scatters and flees in different directions, that complicates things.

No individual will be allowed to escape. But if they split and flee opposite directions, additional effort will be required.

Must avoid that. Must hunt effectively.

Hmm.

Now is the time to test that skill acquired earlier, in real combat.

Thus: Dragon Install!

Dragon Power activated.

By the way, Magic Combat Technique is already active.

Status immediately spikes.

Accelerated by enhanced speed, it dashes straight toward the Red Dog.

The Red Dogs noticed my presence midway, but it was too late.

With both scythes raised, I cleave off the heads of two in a single motion.

I circle around the two attempting to flee and sever their heads as well.

The remaining three try to escape in the opposite direction, but I immediately unleash my breath attack.

The breath strikes true, impacting the ground directly before the three Red Dogs, triggering a violent explosion.

The Red Dogs are thrown off balance by the shockwave.

I do not miss the opening, and dispatch them with ease.

Mission complete.

Hmph.

To me, this is effortless.

Then, I shall consume them while fresh.

Heh heh heh.

Dragon Power—truly the power of a dragon.

A status increase so vast it renders the mere concept of Dragon Power insignificant.

Even that alone is remarkable, but Dragon Power has two additional effects.

One is the breath attack.

Can emit breath attacks only while Dragon Power is active.

Two types available: single-target fireball-style breath and area-of-effect dispersal breath.

Power level is, unfortunately, not particularly high.

As expected, being only a fraction of the original dragon’s strength, it falls far short of the true dragon’s capabilities.

Still, it is roughly equivalent to the strength of an eel—sufficient, in that sense.

Did not aim directly at the red dog, because direct impact would have obliterated it.

Could not afford to destroy such fine meat.

Incidentally, this breath appears to align with the user’s most suitable attribute. My breath manifests as a combination of poison and darkness.

Darkness attribute generates pure destructive force. Poison attribute induces gradual erosion of the target.

Considering it, pure destructive force alone cannot match a true dragon, but it might surpass in sheer brutality.

The second effect is the same as dragon scale—resistance to magic.

It does not reach the level of the original dragon, but it can reduce magical potency.

Cannot test it directly, as no magic-using monsters are present.

Status increases, attack methods become available, defense improves.

Dragon power is a skill of exceptional utility, but it comes with a significant drawback: high cost.

Uses both SP and MP, same as before, but consumption has increased.

MP is acceptable.

SP depletion, however, is problematic.

Used it for a trial, but it is too costly for common enemies.

Performance-wise, this is clearly a boss-tier skill.

Hmm.

SP usage has become increasingly tight lately.

No issue if used normally, but attempting to gain skill proficiency requires far more than available.

Spatial Mobility, Dragon Force, Mind Combat Technique—each drains SP.

An SP regeneration skill would be ideal, but none exist.

Just eat quietly, then.

MP, conversely, is abundant.

Even while moving, Mind Combat Technique is active. The primary and secondary magic users continuously cast spells without pause. Still, consumption slightly exceeds regeneration.

No matter how much is expended, awakening after rest results in full recovery.

Using Abyss Magic—any spell with extreme SP cost—could consume it, but doing so would trigger catastrophic phenomena around me within the dungeon.

That won't do.

That’s absolutely a collapse flag.

Additionally, the spatial magic currently being prioritized for level advancement is of a low-tier classification.

Spatial magic has reached level two.

As expected from a skill demanding a high allocation of skill points, the rate of level progression is slower than that of other magic skills.

The spell learned at level two is coordinate fixation.

A spell that merely locks the area selected via coordinate designation at level one.

"Fixation" means only that the lines projected from the coordinate designation halt at their current position—no physical effects are produced.

This is also a prelude to higher-level magic, similar to coordinate designation.

Unlike coordinate designation, which proved entirely ineffective, coordinate fixation is functional.

Once coordinates are fixed, other spells or skills can be launched toward them.

In such cases, the hit rate toward the designated coordinates is 100 percent.

The hit skill has maxed out—still, an effect like this isn’t particularly necessary, but better to have it than not.

Would be good to level up quickly and learn teleportation.

MP is abundant, so push forward, magic specialists one and two.