"Alright then."
"Let's take a look at the knowledge points gained today."
After collecting his routine knowledge rewards, Yuuto Kagami didn't forget to check the new Knowledge Points he had earned.
He was especially looking forward to it.
Through previous experience, Yuuto Kagami had figured out roughly how these points were calculated:
They were based on how many people he had successfully educated about a particular treasure.
One successful explanation = 1 point.
100 people = 100 points.
10,000 people = 10,000 points.
And—
Each treasure had its own separate point tally.
For example, if he explained Demon Blade Qianren to 100 people, he'd get 100 points.
Then if he explained Shadow Mask to the same 100 people, he'd get another 100 points.
And as for today...
Yuuto Kagami guessed it would easily surpass his previous record of one million points—by several times!
Sure enough—
As soon as he opened the Knowledge Points interface, the number blew him away:
[Knowledge Points: 3.5 million points!]
"Three and a half million?!"
Even though he'd mentally prepared for this,
Seeing the actual number still made Yuuto Kagami's eyes light up with excitement.
With that many points,
He could run four high-tier lottery pulls—
Not to mention a bunch of mid and low-tier ones.
"But before that, let's check how much it takes to upgrade the Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon Form."
Instead of drawing prizes right away,
Yuuto Kagami opened the enhancement menu and looked at the cost breakdown:
[Fish-Fish Fruit: Azure Dragon Form · Beginner Mastery — 30,000 points]
[Intermediate Mastery — 50,000 points]
[Advanced Mastery — 100,000 points]
[Awakening Stage — 500,000 points]
"Hsssss…"
Yuuto Kagami sucked in a breath through his teeth.
The cost of upgrading this Fruit was far higher than he imagined.
After all,
The Ice-Ice Fruit, a powerful Logia-type fruit he had used before, only needed 100,000 points to reach full Awakening.
But the Azure Dragon?
Its Awakening cost was five times that.
"Five hundred thousand…"
He muttered.
Even with 3.5 million points in hand,
The idea of burning 500,000 all at once made his heart ache a little.
But—
Pain was pain.
Yuuto Kagami didn't hesitate too long.
Because to him, upgrading the Azure Dragon Form to its Awakened Stage was absolutely worth it.
"Do it—upgrade!"
He maxed it out.
The moment his finger tapped the screen,
500,000 points vanished instantly.
And the mastery level of the Azure Dragon Form began to skyrocket:
Beginner Mastery
Intermediate Mastery
Advanced Mastery
As his control deepened, Yuuto Kagami's body began to change.
Dragon traits began surfacing—
Dragon horns
Dragon scales
A swaying dragon tail
Flowing dragon whiskers
Then came fire, lightning, and gale winds coursing over his skin,
With a mystical flame cloud forming around him!
From afar, he now looked like a true dragon—soaring through clouds and mist!
BOOM! BOOM!!
Within the room,
Thunder roared, flames raged, winds howled.
Furniture was torn to shreds. Desks, sofas—everything was getting annihilated.
And finally—
Once his mastery reached the Awakening Stage,
All the chaos around him suddenly fell silent.
"Hoo…"
Yuuto Kagami opened his eyes slowly,
Feeling the immense power flowing through him.
There was so much raw force, so much surging energy,
He could barely contain it.
He could feel it clearly:
In his current form, with a full-powered strike, he could probably blast apart an entire mountain.
"Too cramped in here."
"I'll test it outside."
When he first got the Azure Dragon form, Yuuto Kagami had resisted the urge to try it out.
But now, after pushing it straight to Awakened,
The desire to unleash that power was unbearable.
He immediately opened the Anywhere Door.
After choosing a seaside location, he stepped through without a second thought.
In the blink of an eye,
The scene changed from a cramped room to a vast, empty ocean under the night sky.
The beach was quiet.
Only the rhythmic sound of waves lapping the shore echoed under the stars, reflecting silvery moonlight.
"Hoo…"
Facing the boundless sea and the quiet sky above,
Yuuto Kagami could no longer hold back.
His Azure Dragon power erupted like a volcano!
"ROOOOAR!!!"
He let out a deafening dragon roar.
At that moment, the entire ocean boiled.
Waves churned violently.
Tsunami-like swells rose as the sea responded to his power.
"BOOM!"
His skin turned azure.
Muscles bulged, arms and legs thickened—dragon scales spread across his body.
His hands trembled slightly—becoming razor-sharp claws.
His face grew long eyebrows, and dragon whiskers flowed from his nose and mouth.
And then—
Up in the skies…
A deep rumble rolled in from the horizon.
What had been a clear, starry sky moments ago was now flooded with clouds!
In seconds, they merged into a thick, dark mass, completely covering the heavens.
Thunder and lightning sparked and crackled across the sky,
Radiating an aura of power and fear.
"BOOM!"
Yuuto Kagami raised his head high.
His semi-dragon body expanded rapidly in the wind!
In half a breath's time—
He grew longer, broader—until he was no longer human.
He had become a majestic azure dragon!
A body over 100 meters long,
Just like a creature from myth stepping into the mortal world!
"ROAR!!"
With a thunderous roar, Yuuto Kagami's dragon body leapt into the sky.
He tore through the thick clouds like a missile,
And yet—within moments, the clouds surged back and wrapped around him.
"ROAR!!"
Yuuto Kagami soared joyfully,
His massive body dancing among the clouds, surrounded by thunder and lightning—
A divine being descending from the heavens.
Below him, the ocean surged with his every movement,
As if bowing to his might.
Meanwhile—
On the far side of the beach…
Several stunned onlookers stood frozen in place.
They had watched the dragon soar into the sky,
Its body weaving through clouds, lightning sparking in its wake.
Their minds were completely blank.
It wasn't until the dragon disappeared into the distance,
Its silhouette fading into the mist,
That someone finally reacted:
"A—A dragon! That was a dragon!!!"
"We—we actually saw a real dragon!!"
One of them scrambled to open their phone,
Hands trembling as they opened the camera app,
And just managed to snap a photo in the final second.
In the image—
The majestic dragon head peeked out of dense clouds, eyes fierce and proud.
It was blurry, half-hidden, but still awe-inspiring.
The group stared at the image, faces flushed, eyes wild with excitement.
At the same time—
Further out to sea, several Sakura Nation destroyers and escort ships cruised quietly across the waters.
Inside the bridge, most of the crew were dozing off,
Since this was just a routine patrol.
Nothing ever happened out here.
But then—
Suddenly—
A shrill alarm rang out!
"What's going on?!"
"T-The alarm!!"
Everyone was instantly alert.
As they looked up at the main display screen—
Their eyes went wide.
A massive red dot had appeared on the radar.
And it was flying—toward them—at terrifying speed.
"W-What is that?!"
Panic spread.
One crew member slapped himself to stay alert, then bolted toward the captain's quarters.
He didn't bother knocking—just slammed the door open.
"C-Captain! Emergency!!"
Inside, the captain turned in a panic, halfway through pulling up his pants.
He spun around, ready to curse the intrusion—
But the crew member shouted again:
"Unidentified flying object spotted on radar!"
"WHAT?!"
The captain's face turned pale.
This was Sakura Nation's territorial waters!
He immediately pushed aside his female subordinate and sprinted for the bridge.
"Where is it?!"
"Get the visuals up!"
Someone scrambled to pull up the camera feed.
When the image finally appeared on the main screen—
The entire bridge…
Fell into stunned silence.
To be continued…