Chapter 44

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t go outside from now on.”

“Why?”

“If you go out, I think things will get more annoying for me.”

“Then how am I supposed to run errands?”

“Order online. What kind of world do you think we live in these days?”

“Yes, understood.”

If a woman with a face like Sia’s went wandering around outside, it wouldn’t end at just being annoying—that’s why he said it.

After that idle chatter, Jaeha soon told her about summoning Gersia and the deal he’d made with him.

“So what are you going to do with the dragon blood?”

“Not sure, I haven’t decided yet. Whatever I do with it, I’ll manage.”

“Will it be better than wyvern blood?”

“Probably, wouldn’t it?”

Having said that, Jaeha told Sia to roughly tidy up a room for Gersia, then began to rest.

* * *

About a week after summoning Gersia, Jaeha received the dragon blood from him. The dragon blood was a bright red, slightly different from what he’d imagined—it didn’t look much different from any other creature’s blood. However, when he examined it using alchemy, the dragon blood proved to have far superior effects than he’d expected.

“Not only does it boost regeneration, but it seems like it would extend lifespan quite a bit too.”

It couldn’t extend lifespan as much as an elixir, but when you factored in all the other supplementary effects, it was fair to call it a superior alternative.

He pondered how to use it, but no particular method came to mind, so in the end he just stored it in his Inventory for now.

With nothing left to do, Jaeha opened the MuTube app and started browsing various videos. Before long, he came across one.

“[Video of the server’s strongest Dragon Knight killing a level 90 boss.]”

From that, Jaeha learned that the video was from a game, and that the game had a class called ‘Dragon Knight.’ He also learned that this Dragon Knight class was different from a Dragon Rider.

Dragon Riders were people who rode dragons or wyverns and fought alongside them, whereas the Dragon Knight in the video Jaeha watched was a knight who had grown stronger by receiving a dragon’s power.

After a moment’s thought, Jaeha played the video.

‘I’ll decide after seeing the skill. Whatever.’

It was true that this was a great opportunity given his current situation, but since he couldn’t predict exactly what would happen, he decided to check the skill first and then make his choice. When the roughly ten-minute video ended, a skill appeared before Jaeha.

[Pure Bloodline]

[Rank: Legendary]

[A technique that can only be learned by a knight who possesses a pure bloodline, either by drinking dragon blood or by contracting with a dragon.]

[Mechanism: Total Ability × 6000]

[Proficiency: 0%]

“Hmm.”

Whatever the skill’s name or description said, it was indeed a skill similar to what Jaeha had in mind. And since it was explicitly labeled a ‘technique,’ it probably wasn’t an ordinary skill.

‘It’s probably a support-type skill that helps in combat. It’s not like learning this prevents me from learning other things, and if it’s useless, I can just remove it midway.’

With that thought, Jaeha immediately acquired the skill. A window appeared before him.

[Skill acquisition is incomplete. Deactivating skill.]

[If you wish to reactivate the skill, fulfill the conditions to unseal it.]

[Dragon Blood consumption: 0/1]

“Oh ho.”

Jaeha thought for a moment, then took out the dragon blood from his Inventory.

‘Anyway, I’ll probably be able to get more dragon blood soon.’

With that thought, Jaeha opened the lid of the glass bottle containing the dragon blood and brought it to his lips. Then he drank it.

Gulp.

[Would you like to learn the skill?]

Jaeha nodded, and a window appeared before him. Chapter 16

[The skill is evolving.]

[Congratulations. You have obtained a skill that will go down in history for the first time.]

“Huh?”

Jaeha checked the skill.

[Dragon Blood]

[Rank: Ancient]

[By consuming the blood of a pure dragon, you have achieved a higher-dimensional racial advancement.]

[A new trait has manifested.]

[The blood flowing through your body has transformed into dragon blood.]

“There’s no proficiency or mechanism. Is it a Passive Skill?”

After glancing over the skill, Jaeha slowly read through its effects. He’d just taken the first sentence at face value, but after reading the second, he couldn’t help but be shocked.

‘A new trait manifests? That means……’

Jaeha immediately opened his status window.

[Na Jaeha]

[Trait: Ranged Dealer, ?]

[LV: 49]

[Total Ability: 276]

[Skills: MuTube, Grant Me Power, Half Recovery, Divine Physician Hua Tuo’s Secret Art, Bow Mastery, Mana Shot, Marksmanship, Breath Control, Shadow Walk, Stealth, Shadow Eye, Metallurgy, Rapid Fire, Triple Shot, High-Speed Rapid Fire, Clone Technique, Indestructible Vajra Body, Five Elements Art, Throwing Art, Enchant, Mana Conduction, Magic (Circles 1–7), Spirit Arts, Alchemy, Taiji Divine Art, Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Dragon Blood]

His level hadn’t reached 50 yet, so his Total Ability remained the same. But what was surprising here was the ‘?’ next to his trait. Swallowing, Jaeha checked his trait.

“Trait check.”

He immediately confirmed his information.

[Na Jaeha]

[Trait: Ranged Dealer, Knight]

[LV: 49]

“Kni……ght?”

Jaeha was a little taken aback by the unfamiliar trait. But it wasn’t long before he began checking the information on the Knight trait. The system was generous in this regard—it told him everything that had already been revealed to him, and then some.

[Knight: A trait that existed in the medieval era of the distant past. As the knights who protected the nobility disappeared, this trait gradually vanished as well. It can no longer be found anywhere.]

After reading the description, Jaeha nodded. It wasn’t as if he was the first to have this trait. It was simply a trait that had existed in the past but no longer did.

Such traits were rare, but they did exist. The most representative of these was the Martial Artist trait.

It was one of the traits that existed back when China’s martial arts hadn’t yet been lost to time. It was said that in terms of handling mana, Martial Artists far surpassed Mages. Of course, by now, it was a trait that had all but disappeared.

‘So what’s the advantage, then?’

Just as Jaeha harbored that question, a new window appeared.

[Knight: Those with exceptional talent in close-quarters combat. Strong in both one-on-one and group battles. Possesses outstanding combat instincts.]

Seeing that, Jaeha nodded. Talent was bound to differ from person to person. His own Ranged Dealer trait was simple to understand when explained the same way.

[Ranged Dealer: Those with exceptional talent in long-range combat. As long as distance is maintained, they excel in both group and one-on-one battles. Possesses the ability to survey the battlefield.]

Jaeha knew his own talent better than anyone. When he first underwent Awakening, his Total Ability had been 100.

Unfortunately, because his trait was Ranged Dealer, he had chosen the bow as his weapon. But with the new Knight trait, there was no longer any need to stick to that.

Feeling like he’d won a lottery he never expected to win, Jaeha smiled and rose from his seat.

* * *

“Really?”

Jaeha told Sia about the skill he’d obtained and his current situation.

“Yeah.”

As he said that, Jaeha made a small cut on his finger. Then he caught the falling blood and showed it to her.

“It really is dragon blood. Congratulations, Master.”

“I got lucky this time.”

Jaeha said with a smile.

“How’s he doing?”

“Who?”

“Gersia.”

“Hmm. Ah, the dragon. He’s just…… fine, I suppose. Well, no matter how impressive a dragon might be, the knowledge that exists in this world isn’t exactly scarce. There’s no way he could absorb all of it within fifteen days, obviously.”

Jaeha already knew that. That was why he’d taught him how to use a computer from the start. Even knowledge gained through the internet had its limits. The internet took time to load, and he had to search to obtain information.

So getting all the information in just fifteen days was nearly impossible.

“Well, it’s not like I recommended a bad method either.”

“Of course. Is there any way to get information faster and easier than the internet? If he couldn’t use the internet, he’d be going back and forth to the library instead.”

“Right, right.”

Jaeha smiled as he said that. And then fifteen days passed, and Jaeha entered Gersia’s room.

“Hey.”

“Hoo. The knowledge of this world is astonishing. And this human called Einstein…… I can say this with certainty. When it comes to science, there is no dragon who can surpass him.”

“Is that so.”

“Studying has no end. More importantly, what brings you here?”

“Today’s the day.”

“What do you mean?”

“Today’s the 15th day.”

At Jaeha’s words, he paused for a moment. Then he checked the time and let out a low hum.

“Oh dear. I failed to keep track of time.”

“It’s time for you to go back now.”

“…….”

At that, he began to ponder for a moment.

“What are you doing? Get up.”

Still, he didn’t get up, and Jaeha spoke.

“I told you back then. Even if you refuse, I’ll send you back by force.”

With that, Jaeha channeled his energy and prepared the reverse summoning. Sensing the urgency, he spoke.

“Damn it! Fine. What is it you want?”

“…….”

At that, Jaeha smiled. But he said nothing. Gersia let out a sigh and spoke.

“You concluded from the very beginning that I wouldn’t be able to obtain all the information in fifteen days, and that’s why you said those words to me, isn’t it? Which means you want something from me.”

“That’s right. I was certain you couldn’t learn all the knowledge in fifteen days. The knowledge of this world, especially science, isn’t the kind of information you can grasp in the blink of an eye.”

“What is it you want?”

“Actually, what I wanted was dragon blood.”

“Then I shall give it to you.”

“But that changed.”

“Why?”

At that, Jaeha cut his own finger and showed the blood that flowed from it.

“Have you become a Dragonean?”

“No. Among the things that exist in this world, there’s one thing that can’t be explained by either science or magic.”

“You speak of the System?”

“Yeah.”

“From what I can see, it seems like a divine miracle. Without that, it would be impossible.”

“Anyway, that’s how it is. I used the System to consume the dragon blood you gave me in a specific way. So dragon blood started flowing from my body too.”

At that, he stared at Jaeha silently for ten seconds before speaking.