Chapter 878 Dampen Enthusiasm
[Of course, that is what would happen, unless you didn't have me.]
"What…do you mean by that?" Ying asked in confusion as he carried Meyn, intending to exit the Dungeon.
[Soul Fusion: 1.7%]
A panel appeared before him suddenly, causing him to mutter, "Soul Fusion? What's that?"
[It is a parameter depicting your rate of fusion with the Orc-Dragon Soul. The more you fuse with it, the more an Orc-Dragon's power you could wield.]
"Isn't that weak though?" Ying muttered, "The monster I killed just now was only an E-Rank Dungeon Boss. Even if I obtain all its power, nothing will change. I would only be on par with a D-Rank Hunter at most."
[That's where you're wrong.]
The panel flashed before him as the words on it blinked. Immediately after, the words changed, shocking him.
[The boss you faced was just a mere Orc. Only at its final moments did it become an Orc-Dragon. But, before it awakened, you killed it. Had it awakened, it would easily be an S-Rank Dungeon Boss. And that's the power you now possess, one that would easily allow you to attain S-Rank.]
"I-Is that true?" Ying was shocked as he asked, "Then, what should I do to attain a 100% Soul Fusion?"
[Kill as many monsters as possible while using the Orc-Dragon's abilities.]
<Ding!>
Immediately after, a status screen appeared, displaying the abilities he obtained thanks to the Orc-Dragon Soul.
[Orc-Dragon Soul Fusion: 1.7%]
[Innate Trait: Devour]
[Skill: Orc-Dragon Skin]
[Skill: ---]
[Skill: ---]
[Skill: ---]
[Skill: ---]
[Skill: ---]
Ying focused on the Innate Trait, pulling up its information.
[Innate Trait—Devour: Allows the user to consume blood and flesh of any organism and digest it in a matter of seconds to replenish mana and stamina.]
"Amazing," Ying muttered, "Does that mean with it, I would be able to fight for extended durations?"
He then focused on the Skill, noticing that there were six of them in total, but except for the first one, the rest were all blank, meaning that he would obtain them as his Soul Fusion increases. He then focused on the first Skill, activating it.
"Amazing!" Ying noticed the Orc-Dragon scales form on his skin immediately, feeling like ceramic to the touch but flexible. He made a light slash on his wrist with his short sword and didn't even notice a scratch.
Though, a few seconds later, the Orc-Dragon Skin vanished as he gasped for breath, "I'm out of mana."
[I recommend my corpse to devour. Use it to replenish your mana reserves. It will also accelerate your Soul Fusion since it's an Orc-Dragon body, though incomplete.]
Ying hesitated for a moment before he approached the Orc-Dragon corpse and placed his hand on it, instinctively absorbing all its fleshly mass, sensing his stomach bulge in response.
But in a matter of seconds, the bulge vanished as immense power surged in his body, brimming to the limit as he felt intoxicated, muttering, "I…feel like the Main Character!"
[Don't be a freaking idiot. There are dozens of creatures similar to the Orc-Dragon. And there exist Hunters with their powers as well. You're neither the Main Character nor someone special. You just gained my soul through luck, nothing else. With your lacking talent, if you don't capitalise on this, you won't be anything beyond a mere F-Rank Hunter.]
[Besides, your sister is in that state, so what are you becoming intoxicated for?]
It was like cold water being poured all over him as Ying felt deflated instantly, getting a reality check on things, "Indeed, I'm just a weak bastard that couldn't protect my sister. I'm nothing special."
Muttering weakly, Ying carried his sister and began to make his way to the Dungeon exit.
[Don't forget to harvest all the resources. Your teammates might have died, but you still need enough funds to fuel your growth and afford the Elven Tear.]
"You're…right." Ying sighed as he muttered, "Honestly, I'm glad I killed you before you awakened fully. You're smarter than me, by a lot. You would have casually killed us all."
[It's a waste of time bringing it up. I'm a part of you now. So get moving already.]
Ying took out a porter bag and stuffed all the resources from the Dungeon within. Since the Boss Monster had already been killed, the Dungeon wouldn't collapse anymore. And there was still an hour before it ejected all Hunters out before going into an inactive state.
After a certain interval, the Dungeon would be full of monsters once again as its gates would open for the Hunters to raid. The stronger the Dungeon, the longer the cycle to spawn monsters within.
Ying had been a porter for two years and had ample experience in collecting resources. Hence, he was done soon after, carrying the bag and his sister as he exited the Dungeon.
"Where are the rest?" The staff from the Hunter Association frowned upon seeing only two people exit the Dungeon, peeking over his shoulder to stare at the Dungeon Gate.
"We're the only survivors," Ying said sullenly as he dragged his feet, depositing the bag of resources to the staff in charge. "Please deposit the money to my account."
The staff there checked the IDs of the two and then collated all the resources in a matter of minutes before deposing the money into his account. He was the only survivor that was awake and hence, all responsibility for the distribution of the money lay with him.
The Hunter Association didn't meddle in the affairs of the raid teams beyond that.
"Her body is just exhausted. I didn't find any other faults in her." One of the staff, an E-Rank Healer inspected Meyn and gave her report, "Just in case, you should bring her to a hospital."
"I will, thank you." Ying arrived at his worn-down car, placed his sister in the passenger seat, and then drove it away, sighing as he reached a hospital, checking up on her condition.
He admitted her to an expensive hospital upon diagnosing that Meyn was in an unexplainable comatose state, hiring a caretaker to take care of her, depositing enough money for a month before he arrived home, slumping at the living room to sigh, "Too many things happened."
The faces of his teammates flashed once before he closed his eyes, exhausted, falling asleep, "I should work harder."
All along, the Secondary System was observing his actions, sighing in relief once he had fallen asleep, 'That was dangerous. If he continued to feel like a Main Character, that would simply strengthen the Main Character System fragment in me. It would be easy for Arnark to detect me after that. Thankfully, I dampened his enthusiasm enough.'