Mikella had to really try and not get dumbfounded by every single thing she spotted at her new body.
After the change occurred, Val had the decency to lead her towards the bathroom for women, and strangely enough it was very spacious, enough to walk around in a circle with one part of the shower actually drizzling warm water. It became something akin to being in a dome fueled with steamy warmth and fresh water, like in one of those hot springs and saunas Mikella had heard so much about from any rich folk who had the money on TV.
To think she found herself in the same position was stagnating, but frankly she needed the extra room since her transformation into a Draconian brought along some extra new features–like wings.
She had literal wings behind her back. Just like Myra’s wings, they were pretty large and pretty unwieldy. They were perhaps several feet in length across the wingspan, though she still knew they were too small physically speaking to actually carry her.
She knew, however, that with enough energy control, she could do so with ease, and she was honestly thankful that they weren’t bigger than they were now. She could barely feel them, like new muscles that still felt numb to her senses, and she kept batting them and hitting them across the walls she was close to and other things. Thankfully the hallway they used to travel to the shower was devoid of anything breakable for this exact reason.
It wasn’t just the wings that were new to her. Across parts of her body were several scales that were dark and tinged with hints of yellow. When she felt one with her finger, they felt hard and rigid, and when she tried to pick at them like they were scabs, instead they felt so infused into her skin and body that it was weirder to pick at them. It was a sort of dissonance she was trying to get used to, and that was on top of everything else.
She did know that these scales were tough as hell, and she swore that with her stats, she could basically hit a wall with her fist alone and the wall would break without any damage done to her body. While there were only some scales visible on her person, she felt there were more of them that were invisible to the eye, something like an ephemeral scaled body of sorts. It was hard to say it in words, but that was how she felt.
But the more she looked at the mirror to see herself in the shower, the more unbelievable she looked. Outside of the wings and scales, her body grew in all sorts of places, mainly her height which she always felt uncomfortable with. Nobody ever mentioned it but she always felt so short compared to everyone else, even if it was just an inch between them. But now she grew several inches taller, expanding her world view by miles long.
And her body… damn. She was always proud of her fit body, how her lean muscles were obvious and became even more apparent in this new world, but the Journeyman upgrade improved that by not just adding in more muscle, but more… everything.
She filled out in a lot of places, and her impressive physique grew more impressive. If she had to say, she was practically close to Val’s appearance, the almighty super-model of a woman. Just thinking that she was like Val now filled her with joy and pride she can’t explain. It made her giddy and she just wanted to try all sorts of new outfits to go along with this.
“Damn, look at these babies…” Mikella muttered. Her goodies got quite an upgrade. “Zeke won’t be able to keep his eyes off me~”
Mikella wasn’t even going to bother thinking why she personally thought of Zeke, nor was she going back to that.
She focused on the real upgrades, however, looking up at the notifications once she got a good understanding of how everything works.
> You have chosen your sub-race.
>
> You are able to advance.
>
> You are now a Journeyman.
>
> As your reward for advancing to Journeyman, you are eligible to evolve your Class. Choose your evolution on the list and further strive for ascension.
>
> Due to choosing your sub-race, your body has been permanently altered to that of a Draconian.
*****
> Exclusive Race Skill: Dragon Breath
>
> A Draconian is no simple long-distance relative of the powerful dragons–they represent their heritage by sheer force of will and conquest. You can shoot a torrential stream of energy to wreak chaos and destruction around you. Increases the overall power and defense piercing capabilities according to the level of the skill and the current Attunement Rank.
She was a bit surprised that she didn’t turn out to be a total lizard freak after all, even if she had scales and literal wings to prove the change was real. She was still human in the bits that mattered, at least for her own mental sake.
The Dragon Breath wasn’t entirely something she wanted, but now that she had it, she couldn't wait to try it out. She had her wonderful Lightning Mastery, but it was originally supposed to be the supplier of power rather than an actual attack skill. With her mastery and attunement, her Dragon Breath, now including a defense-piercing property, is probably more dangerous than any attack she could make with Heavenly Strike.
Though she just knew that the cost for that skill would be astronomical. She actually shivered at the thought despite being in a warm shower just now.
She went ahead to check up on her Class evolution choices, not really all that surprised to find only two options as usual.
> -Iron Dragon Berserker
> -Chaos Dragon Berserker
Rather than an actual change to her Berserker status, she only received an adjective next to her original class name. Still, these two feel like they were the complete opposite of each other.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Iron Dragon Berserker is typically an overall improvement of the same class except now it was geared towards enforcing her body to keep up with her rampage.
Chaos Dragon Berserker was the same, except this time, she was putting all of her eggs in the rampage basket, upping her power level to the highest degree and bringing more destruction than ever before.
Normally, in the past, Mikella would have definitely chosen Chaos Dragon Berserker. But this time she paused. After a whole year of focusing on her skill leveling, she had a much better picture of the path she wanted to go on.
She wanted power. That never really changed. But what did change is how she gained that power. She knew that somewhere in the distant future, she’ll find ways to up her powers without solely relying on a Class improvement which can only happen once every advancement. Master-tier was still way far off, so it was natural to assume that this was the last chance for her to upgrade her Class in a way she wanted.
But the Master-Stage was still her goal, and Grandmaster beyond that. She just knew now that it would take several years, if not decades, to reach that far.
If that was the case, then choosing more power for her Class evolution felt like leaning too far back into her chair. At some point, she’s going to fall over.
Val and Cloud kept reinforcing the idea to Zeke and Mikella that a proper foundation was key, even if you were on the path of your choice. You have to be willing to give in on some parts to make a better whole of yourself.
And there was one thing Mikella knew she wanted more–she wanted to be indestructible on top of being all-powerful. Zeke’s barrier has only gotten stronger over time, but just like what happened back at the biodome, there are only so many chances to rely on someone else before eventually being on your own.
She also knew, though a bit embarrassingly, that her armor was total shit and she needed to replace it at some point. Considering the ramifications of that, she decided to go for more defense than offense. This way, she can toughen out powerful attacks rather than get lucky if something comes to pass.
No, she was not making an incredibly important choice for her Class just to avoid buying stronger and more expensive pieces of equipment. That’s just ridiculous.
But still…
> Iron Dragon Berserker
>
> Dragon Berserkers are notorious for their rampage and destruction. Iron Dragon Berserkers are by far the worst kind. They’re tough enough to keep up with their own rampage.
>
> Two Skill Choices at Level 60, Level 75, and at Level 90.
…..
> You have chosen Iron Dragon Berserker.
>
> For each level, you gain:
>
> +5 STR
>
> +5 DEX
>
> +5 END
>
> For choosing Draconian as your sub-race, your Dragon Eyes has advanced. It is now Legendary.
>
> You gain points based on the advanced Rarity:
>
> +1 DEX
…..
> For choosing Iron Dragon Berserker, any remaining weapon mastery skill you possess that is below Rare rarity will max out and advance:
>
> Axe Mastery (Uncommon) Level Up! It is now maxed. It has advanced into Axe Mastery (Rare).
>
> You have gained +1 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +1 END from your skill.
…..
> Bow Mastery (Uncommon) Level Up! It is now maxed. It has advanced into Bow Mastery (Rare).
>
> You have gained +6 DEX from your skill.
> You have gained +6 END from your skill.
…..
> Hammer Mastery (Uncommon) Level Up! it is now maxed. It has advanced into Hammer Mastery (Rare).
>
> You have gained +2 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +2 END from your skill.
Her eyes bulged at the sight of the new skill improvements. Just like that, a slew of General Skills just advanced in a single second the moment she chose her Class Evolution, contrary to taking a whole year raising just some General and Class Skills.
Putting aside the absolute horseshit she just witnessed, Mikella realized that she had just gained her first ever Legendary skill. Her Dragon Eyes had been a constant companion since her first tower, and had aided her to the point where other people assumed that her eye color was primarily yellow. Then again, her new body made her once human eyes now slitted like a lizard, her pupils showing a sharp line top to bottom. When she flared Dragon Eyes, the yellow irises around the slanted pupils glowed with such intensity that it could easily silence weaker creatures.
Now that she thought about it, a few Rare skills wouldn’t really make much of a difference now that she was a Journeyman. She has to get over it and try to get her skills to Epic, or in this case, to Legendary like her Dragon Eyes. The difference between an Epic and a Legendary skill was massive, which was proven multiple times when Zeke’s Restoration could now restore lost limbs if he tried.
Rather than get bitter about it, she should be thankful. It just helped her skip the time necessary to train them all. Now that her Class evolution was done, her two Skill Choices came up as usual. Her Iron Dragon Berserker status proved that she was looking to toughen herself up, and the skills reflected that.
One was ‘Tough Armored Skin’, something that was extremely familiar to the Armored Skin Class Skill she once had as an option before but put it down in exchange for Heavenly Strike. Even now, after all the other options she went through, it still didn't’ seem worth it. To see it coming back with an added adjective didn’t seem worth it once again.
The other one, however, caught her attention.
> Class Skill: Elemental Maw
>
> There is nothing that can withstand the might of an Iron Dragon Berserker, and none shall try to force it down. It allows you to absorb any magical attacks thrown your way into your body, transforming it into mana for you to use. The skill increases absorption rate and mana recovery according to the level of the skill and the current Spirit stat.
If she could say that Tough Armored Skin made her physically tougher, then Elemental Maw can make her magically tougher. Not only that, but it can even increase her mana regeneration even further, something similar to Forced Regeneration when it comes to recovering health.
With both of these skills along with Clashing Energies, all the while her absurd Endurance and stamina pool, wouldn’t this cover all of her areas?
It was the easiest decision in the world.
> You have chosen Class Skill: Elemental Maw
Done with drying herself with a towel, which had proven to be difficult as the towel kept getting cut up by Mikella’s scales by accident, she put on the clothes Val had out for her. They were bigger than the clothes she normally wore, but considering her increased size, she thanked Val once again in her head as she put them on.
“Now then…” Mikella let out a tight breath. She didn’t even realize she was holding it for a while. “Time to go and meet everyone. God, I hope Clara won’t get scared from this…”
It would absolutely destroy her if Clara saw her and ran away screaming.