***********
Dragon Chanting was a lost art, capable of chanting words that affect the laws of the world.
According to the databooks— it was said to be such as a powerful magic, that chanting even just one magic from using this, will leave you severely exhausted, even if you are at the level of a Grand Mage, or one of the most powerful existence in this game, or an endgame character to be exact.
"Hahhhh..."
But me, the Douchebag of the Empire, Kudos von Zekenia, and also a trash character, planned to use that lost art to gain more mana in this world— a cruel fate for an untalented person like me.
"Such a suicide attempt...for a mere mana boost..."
Well, I have to, there's no way to become strong in this world in just a short period of time.
You have to take risk, and I will take one of the dumbest risk of all, I don't have any choice.
"Dragon Chanting, huh..."
Dragon Chanting helps you open the path of the Dragon Class, an extremely strong racial species in this game.
But you will have a cruel fate— you will be hunted by Dragon Slayers, you will be also condemned by the Holy Kingdom and all other racial species. You will be killed if someone manages to find you, even if you hide in dungeons or gates.
It was guaranteed death, because a dragons body was a treasure trove in itself. Blood that can be used as potions, wings that can be used to make armor or clothes, internal organs used in alchemy and many more.
Dragons, in general, was one of the strongest species in this game.
"But I want to be human until the day I died..."
That was one of my resolved, overflowing when I was transferred to this game. I don't want to forsake my humanity, just for a power boost from this world. Even if I die in this world, Nevestria, I want to die as a human.
"Well, it's going to hurt..."
Going back into the Dragon Chanting technique, there's a downside in using it.
It's extremely deadly, I even doubt that if I will survive this. But I have to, I again, have no other choice but to save those two.
"I just have... to suffer again, shit."
I learned about this technique from my difficult past playthrough of this shitty game, and even I, will only use it when my beloved character was at the brink of death, as a trump card to turn things around, or to fight foes until the end.
Well, either way, I will die if I don't save those two, so it's a life-and-death situation for me.
"But first, let's prepare so I won't die..."
I prepared myself for the upcoming days, calling my maids to buy me some high grade pain tolerance potions, some high grade healing patios, a highest grade mana stabilizer and three highest grade health potions. I spend half of my money as a noble buying these things in the Mage Tower, but it's better to be safe than sorry, or in this case, die horribly.
And if I want to save those two from assassination, and prevent my death, I have to become stronger, even if it's temporarily.
"Now, let's start... with this torture..."
I looked at the remaining time of the quest after my preparations for a slight chance of survival in this torture technique.
[Time Left: 4 days, 10 hours, 35 minutes, 28 seconds.]
After looking, my hands trembled, the sweat started to form in my body, but I... resolved myself, and breathed deeply to calm myself down, and started to whisper.
I used my trash mana to voice myself to the World of Nevestria, chanting:
"Thou shall pledge thy..."
Immediately, a searing pain engulfs his body, as it was burning, from the bones, to my muscles, and tissues, it was horrifyingly hurting me.
"M-Mana through thy..."
My orifices started to bled, and my bones started to break, my muscles started to swell, and my tissues started to melt one by one.
"ARGGGGGG! LAWS OF THE DRAGON KING!"
My body started to experience intense seizure, spasm all over his body, blood flowing all over my face and body, I felt my breath slowly weakening as time passed by.
"THOU SHALT E-EVOKE THY LAWS OF THE D-DRAGON KING...."
"TO... GIVE THY... MANA, IN EXCHANGE FORN... A PART OF THY SOUL... ARGGGGGGH!"
The final four words tore from Kudos's throat, sounding less like a chant and more like a dying words. His vision turned into a blinding white flash, and the searing pain momentarily vanished, replaced by a terrifying sensation of emptiness, a hallowed feeling.
"Accepted."
An answer comes from out of nowhere, like a child, a woman, a man, an aged one sounded all at the same time, speaking in his mind.
And immediately, he felt his soul, his very existence, being momentarily erased and then violently re-written by the laws of reality themselves. The price of even this sliver of Dragon Chanting was absolute corporeal destruction.
"Shit..."
A dense, black-red energy, thick and viscous like crude oil, erupted from his mouth, nose, and open wounds, momentarily coating his body into a bloody mess . This was the raw, unrestrained essence of the law he was invoking—the Law of the Dragon King, The Dragon's Eternal Laws.
The air around him sparked, not with thunder, but with the sound of reality protesting.
Then, silence
THUD!
Kudos collapsed weakly onto the floor, his body resembling less of a man and more of a sack of broken porcelain. Every single potion that he had drunk before starting the chant was instantly activated, not to heal, but to mediate the damage in his body.
The high grade patios and highest grade healing potion went into overdrive. The energy of the Dragon Chanting had successfully completed its purpose: it had forcibly converted the extreme physical damage, the broken bones, the ruptured innards, the melting tissue of his body into pure magical energy known as Mana.
A self-sacrificing power, giving you mana in exchange for the breakage of his body.
"Not a bad cost..." He thought, his nerve endings were already complete broken, he felt numb of this deathly pain.
The black-red essence, viciously seeped back into his body, not through the normal channels, but by being absorbed directly into the grievous wounds.
Kudos lay shivering, face flat, his consciousness was flickering. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe properly.
"Shit..."
The system, however, delivered the cold, hard truth of his technique:
[Warning: Critical System Overload. Physical Structure Integrity: 1.5%]
[Condition: Dragon Chanting Side-Effect: Self-Conversion. All Major Bones Fractured. Systemic Organ Rupture. Bleeding (Critical).]
[YOU ARE DYING! PLEASE HEAL YOURSELF!]
He noticed the flagged, red notification in his head. But he couldn't speak properly, nor have the energy to react to these words.
[Mana Pool (Before): 5/5]
[Mana Pool (After): 50/50] (Maximum Capacity Temporarily Increased)]
[Duration of Extreme Mana State: 72 hours (3 Days)]
The chant worked. He had transformed nearly his entire physical well-being into enough mana to temporarily rival a full-fledged mage, but he had less than 2% of his health left. The 72-hour window meant the mana would disappear before the emergency quest clock ran out.
His consciousness began to slowly slip away, but the sheer volume of magical power enveloping through his destroyed body acted as a brutal stimulant, coupled with his sheer will to live. He can't die, he really can't.
He managed to grab the last, undrunk vial of the Highest Grade Healing Potion that he had.
With a superhuman effort powered purely by his borrowed, unstable magic, and sheer will. He smashed the vial and desperately poured its contents over his face. The viscous ded liquid began bubbling violently as it hit his open wounds, forcing his broken tissues to mend at an unnaturally rapid pace.
His destroyed nerve endings started to heal, and he felt the devious hell of pain.
"Ahhhhhh!"
He had bought the mana he needed. Now, he had to survive the healing process and race against both the clock and his expiring magic.
"Shit, it hurts too much..."
He gritted his teeth, he had to survive this pain, and live for another day.
"Fuck..."
[Time Left: 4 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes, 11 seconds.]
Kudos fought the crushing pain, and death threatening to swallow his mind. He couldn't rely on the pain to keep him awake, the pain was too great, demanding oblivion, true hell that he suffered with.
"Shit... I can't sleep in this situation, or I'm dead..."
He managed to grasp, the words coming from his throat as his ribs slowly began fixing back together, guided by the potion's powerful magic.
He needed a focused task, something complex enough to engage his mind and utilize the immense mana he had just acquired, forcing his consciousness to remain intact.
He dragged his ruined hand toward the scattered materials nearby, ignoring the scream of protesting nerves. His focus was a small, ornate highest grade Mana-Stabilizer Crystal he had prepared beforehand.
"Gotta stabilize... the flow..."
The massive influx of 50 Mana Points wasn't just stored— it was raging through his system, threatening to overload his body and burn out his circuits, a fatal consequence for any mage. He had to tame it immediately.
Using the only operational parts of his body, his mind and the bare minimum of muscle in his fingers, he began forcing the volatile black-red Dragon Mana to flow into the crystalline structure, it hurts too much.
"Fuckkkk..."
As the mana surged into his body, the mana glowed an angry, pulsating crimson, humming violently. For three agonizing hours, Kudos poured his focus into the task, his teeth grinding against the pain, sweat mixing with the blood still seeping from his body.
[Dragon Chant Mana Stabilization Successful. Mana Flow Rate Reduced by 85%.]
[Condition: Healing in Progress. Duration until Minimal Mobility: 2 Days.]
He had successfully absorbed the dangerous energy, ensuring his core wouldn't explode. But the system's timer was explicit: he had two days until he could even move. He had spent his health for power, and now he had to spend his time on forced recovery.
Kudos let out a shivering, blooded breath. He was alive, albeit kind of, but still useless for the next two days.
"Just... gotta wait... and watch the clock."
He weakly mumbled, his eyes fixed on the display of the panel with fierce determination.
[Time Left: 4 days, 7 hours, 34 minutes, 55 seconds.]