I peer out slowly from behind the rock.
On the land some distance ahead, about seven Monsters are gathered together.
Valuable food and Experience Points.
Those Monsters are Red Hounds.
They're red-colored dogs that have absolutely nothing to do with a certain Marine admiral.
The Red Hounds are sleeping, playing with each other, and generally just lazing about as they please.
But, being dogs and all, their sense of smell is razor-sharp, so they'll notice you before you can get close.
Anyway, Intimidation off.
I noticed that when I turn off Intimidation, my Stealth effect returns a little.
Makes it harder for them to detect me.
Well, with the Title of the One Who Brings Fear, there's no way I can hide completely no matter what.
It's more like... even with Intimidation off, I'm only slightly harder to notice.
Red Hounds also have high detection ability, and at this distance I'm only spying on them through my telescope, so they haven't spotted me yet. But the moment I close in, they'll catch on eventually.
And when that happens, they'll run.
Red Hounds are rare among the Middle Layer in that they don't have a Swimming Skill.
So there's no chance of them fleeing into the magma.
But if they scatter in every direction, that's a pain.
I don't intend to let even one escape, but if they bolt in opposite directions, it just means extra work.
I need to hunt them without letting that happen.
Hmm.
Maybe I should test that Skill I got the other day in actual combat.
So, Dragon Install!
Dragon Power, activate!
Oh, by the way, Magic Combat Art is already active.
The instant I activate it, my Status skyrockets.
Using the enhanced speed, I dash toward the Red Hounds in one burst.
Halfway there, the Red Hounds notice my presence, but it's already too late.
With the twin sickles raised overhead, I cleanly slice off two of their heads.
Cutting off another two that try to flee, I swing around in front of them and lop their heads off as well.
The remaining three are trying to run in the opposite direction, but I promptly spit out a Breath attack.
The Breath hits the ground right in front of the three Red Hounds exactly as aimed, causing a violent explosion.
The Red Hounds are sent tumbling from the impact.
I don't miss the opening and finish them off swiftly.
Mission complete.
Hmph.
For someone like me, this is nothing.
Now then, let me dig in while everything's still fresh.
Heh heh heh.
Dragon Power — truly impressive stuff.
The Status increase is on a completely different level from the old Dragon Force.
That alone is incredible, but Dragon Power comes with two additional effects.
The first is Breath.
While Dragon Power is active, I gain the ability to unleash Breath attacks.
There are two types: a single-shot type like a Fireball, and a wide-area Breath that scatters destruction across a broad range.
As for power, unfortunately, it's not all that great.
After all, it's only a fraction of the original — no match for a real dragon's Breath.
That said, it's still plenty powerful, about as potent as an eel's worth of oomph.
The only reason I didn't hit the Red Hounds directly was because I was worried a direct hit would vaporize them.
Can't very well blow up perfectly good meat.
Oh, and this Breath apparently takes on the user's most suitable attribute. The one I breathe out seems to be a composite of poison and darkness.
The darkness attribute generates pure destructive force, while the poison attribute corrodes the target.
Thinking about it that way, I'd lose to a real dragon in pure destructive power, but I might actually win on sheer viciousness.
The second effect is the same as Dragon Scales — a power that interferes with magic.
This one isn't as effective as a real dragon's either, but I should be able to at least weaken incoming spells.
There aren't any Monsters that use magic around here though, so I can't really test it.
On top of pure Status boosts, I've got new offensive capabilities and improved defense too.
Dragon Power is a wonderful Skill, but it has one drawback — the consumption is no joke.
Like the old Dragon Force, it drains both SP and MP, but the amount consumed has increased.
MP is fine.
But the SP drain is rough.
I only used it this time as a test run, but the cost is too high for wiping out trash mobs.
In terms of performance, this is definitely a Skill meant for boss fights.
Hmm.
My SP management has been getting pretty tight lately.
I mean, for everyday use it's totally fine, but when I try to grind Skill Proficiency, I can never have enough.
Spatial Mobility, Dragon Power, Spirit Combat Art...
An SP auto-recovery Skill would be nice, but no such luck.
Guess I'll just have to tough it out and eat my meals.
MP, on the other hand, I have in excess.
I keep Magic Combat Art active during travel, and Magic User Number One and Number Two are constantly firing off spells without a break, and even so my consumption barely outpaces my regeneration by a little.
No matter how hard I try to burn through it, I go to sleep, wake up, and — wouldn't you know it — fully restored.
If I used something ridiculous like Abyss Magic with its absurd consumption, I could drain it fast enough. But if I did that, natural disasters would be going off left and right all around me inside the dungeon.
No way am I doing that.
That is absolutely a collapse flag.
Besides, right now I'm focused on leveling up Spatial Magic, which is still at a low level.
Spatial Magic hit Level 2.
For a Skill that demands a high number of Skill Points, its level-up speed is slower compared to other magic Skills.
The spell I learned at Level 2 is Coordinate Anchor.
It simply fixes in place the area selected by the Level 1 Coordinate Designation spell.
When I say "fix," all it does is make the line from Coordinate Designation stop and hover in midair — it has zero material effect.
Like Coordinate Designation, this is a preliminary spell for higher-level magic.
But unlike Coordinate Designation, which was completely useless, Coordinate Anchor actually comes in handy.
I can fire other spells or Skills at the anchored coordinates.
And the Accuracy when hitting those anchored coordinates is 100%.
With Accuracy already maxed out, it's not exactly a game-changing effect, but having it is still better than not.
I'd love to hurry up and level this so I can learn Teleport.
MP is practically overflowing, so keep at it, Magic Users One and Two.