Chapter 167
Immediately after Bahamut levelled him up, Draco felt some changes in his perception.
Getting up from Bahamut’s bed, he marvelled at these changes.
His horns had always been an organ that helped him perceive and control elemental energy.
As he grew stronger, this ability became more potent.
After his transformation during his level 3 upgrade, Draco had been able to vaguely sense higher-tier elemental energy around him, though it felt ephemeral.
Now, however, it became more pronounced, and he felt as if he could harness this energy if he tried hard enough.
Curious, Draco reached out, stretching his palm open to pull at the energy.
“What are you doing?” Bahamut asked, intrigued by Draco's sudden odd behaviour.
“Something changed; I’m just checking it out,” Draco replied.
“Oh,” Bahamut muttered, saying nothing more as she observed him.
To Draco, the elements were perceived by colour.
He already knew the colours representing the four basic elements.
Now, he could sense two new colours which he associated with higher-tier elements.
One was deep blue, almost dark blue, leading him to believe this element was ice, although he wasn't entirely sure.
Vasiliki had described her version of ice as light blue, almost white, which added to his confusion.
The second element was even stranger; it changed hues constantly, first appearing pink, which baffled him since he couldn’t think of any element represented by that colour.
It then shifted to violet, red, yellow, green, blue, and back to red, creating a rainbow of colours.
This intrigued Draco, prompting him to pull at the element with his palm.
Draco was surprised to find that the element resisted his pulls quite aggressively, controlling the four basic elements was like moving a smooth liquid.
In contrast, trying to pull at this higher-tier element was like funnelling a very viscous liquid out of a bottle.
Even worse, this particular high-tier element felt wild and untamed.
Draco felt as though, if he wasn’t careful, it might lash out at him—quite a different experience from the four basic elements.
“Interesting,” Draco muttered, accepting the challenge.
With his new development ability, 'Mage,' he managed to draw enough of the new element to his palm, before manifestation it.
Immediately, the elemental energy manifested sparks that surged through him, sending a shocking sensation from his palm through his entire body, causing him to freeze up and lose control of most of his motor skills.
‘Shit, this is the lightning element,’ Draco thought, his reptilian eyes widening in realization.
THUD!!
His body suddenly fell to the floor, spasming as he struggled to cut off the flow of lightning elemental energy.
It was a miracle that he hadn’t immediately lost control of his bowels.
“Draco, what’s wrong?” Bahamut yelled, rushing to his side.
“Don’t touch me yet!” Draco yelled, finally managing to sever the flow of energy.
‘Ugh, I nearly died,’ he thought, breathing a sigh of relief.
His body felt tingly inside, and he was a bit disoriented.
“Why the hell is this element so potent?” Draco muttered in frustration.
He began to wonder if the other element would also be this potent, enough to incapacitate a level four adventurer with high elemental resistance like himself.
‘What if someone else could use this, do I have any means to tank it’ he thought.
However, he quickly dismissed the thought.
Vasiliki had been using the ice element since childhood, and her elemental energy wasn’t nearly as potent, suggesting it was something unique to him.
‘Well I am not even sure it is the Ice element, and I don’t feel like trying to test it right now’ he thought.
“Can I approach you now?” Bahamut asked.
“Ah, yes,” Draco replied.
Bahamut immediately dove onto him, burying her face into his chest and began squeezing his body with enough strength to make his bones creak.
“Ugh, please let go; you’re killing me!” Draco asked.
But Bahamut didn’t answer, instead squeezing even harder.
“Forgive me; I won’t worry you like that again,” Draco began pleading.
“Really? Are you sure you’re not just saying what I want to hear?” Bahamut asked, narrowing her eyes.
“No, this is genuine. Please have mercy!” Draco gasped, now struggling to breathe.
Bahamut looked at him skeptically before finally letting go.
Draco immediately began gasping for air, regaining his ability to breathe.
‘By the gods, just how strong is she? I just became level 4, and yet I still can’t escape her grasp,’ Draco thought.
This had become Bahamut’s way of punishing him whenever he did something foolish.
“So mind explaining what you were trying to do?,” Bahamut asked, her arms spread wide in a threatening posture.
Draco looked at her, shuddering at the thought of another squeeze.
Normally, such an experience would be pleasant for most guys, but with Bahamut, it felt different.
Her ridiculously hard silver scales partially covered her chest, and while her breasts were somewhat present, they didn’t make being squeezed worth it; it was more of a punishment.
Regaining his composure, Draco explained his experience to Bahamut, eager to avoid another “hug of death.”
“Hmm, maybe it has something to do with your spirit ancestry—an increase in strength or the effect of a skill,” Bahamut mused aloud.
“My best guess is that as you grew stronger, your senses attuned themselves to denser variations of elemental energy. Have you perhaps noticed the colours of the basic elements becoming deeper or more pronounced?” Bahamut asked.
“Hmm, now that you mention it, they do appear to have darker shades now. I hadn’t paid much attention to that,” Draco replied.
“Well, there’s your answer. Are you satisfied?” Bahamut asked.
“No, I have more questions instead. If I can use the denser variations of an element, then why didn’t I gain access to the lighter versions, like Vasiliki’s ice? Not to toot my own horn, but I’m quite gifted in elemental magic,” Draco inquired.
“Well, I don’t really know. Maybe there are some kind of restrictions for you or something,” Bahamut replied.
“Sigh, so many things to find out. Anyway, thanks for your insight,” Draco said.
“Sure, feel free to consult me anytime,” Bahamut replied.
“Anyway, go freshen up and come have lunch or dinner; you smell terrible,” Bahamut said, her nose a cutely scrunched in disgust.
Taking a quick whiff of himself, Draco was appalled, making a quick run to the bathroom to freshen up.
He didn’t want to lose anymore manly points with Bahamut.