Re-Awakening: I Became a Pay To Win Boss Monster

<ETA: 5 minutes.>

"Hmm..." Rael turned to Mercurius, who was still face-down on the ground.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Rael said. "Never mind, I'll just ask anyway."

Rael cleared his throat. "How do I unlock Dragon Force?"

[You know I could've just told you that, right?] Burger remarked with a scoff.

Sure, but maybe there's some special way each dragon gets it, you know? Rael replied with a hum.

Burger sighed. [There's only one real requirement, and that is—]

"A filthy human such as yourself thinks he can obtain Dragon Force? Pfft..." Mercurius held back a laugh. "Do you have dragon blood running through you?"

"Not that I know of," Rael replied flatly.

Mercurius rolled his eyes. "I mean a dragon heart... if you had that, then you wouldn't be asking such a stupid question."

"Hmm... is that all it is then?" Rael asked. "A simple dragon heart, and I can start using Dragon Force?"

"A simple dragon heart...?" Mercurius muttered, baffled. "You think you can acquire a fresh dragon heart and have someone cleanly transplant it into your body? Pfft... don't get me started..."

Rael tilted his head and opened the premium shop.

•—Premium Shop—•

Category: Dragon/Heart/Instant

•—Balance: 12,934,035,136 Trell—•

• [Grade 1] Dragon Heart (Legendary): 3,000,000,000 Trell

• [Grade 2] Fire Dragon Heart (Ancient): 8,000,000,000 Trell

• [Grade 2] Ice Dragon Heart (Ancient): 8,000,000,000 Trell

• [Grade 3] Magma Dragon Heart (Ancient): 20,000,000,000 Trell

<Expand for more>

I did select instant... so the heart would probably replace the one I have now, Rael thought. But god fucking damn, is it expensive.

He slowly turned to Mercurius, lifted him up, and stared straight at his chest.

A shiver ran down Mercurius's spine. "Don't even go there... you already erased the only skill that made my dragon heart function, so now it's nothing but a drained shell that's slowly depleting its power."

"Well, I would be the one using it, and I have your skill, so I think it'd work, right?" Rael mused with a smirk. "So, how about it? Are you interested in trading your dragon heart for some snacks?"

"Absolutely not," Mercurius replied as he turned around. "Go away, human. Let me rest, will you?"

Of course, Rael had only said it as a joke. After all, this was a Grade 1 Dragon Heart at most, so he wasn't interested in it.

On the other hand, the hearts he'd need to grind for were on a whole different level.

So, with nothing better to do, Rael leaned back in the dragon's kitchen, kicked his feet up, and watched the final seconds tick away.

And a few minutes later, it was finally done.

<Ding!>

<Your races have merged...>

<New Race: Mindforged Emperor (Runic)>

Mindforged Emperor (Runic)

—Chimera race between Emperor of Dreams and Nightmares (Exalted) + Celestine Paragon (Transcendent). Unrecorded data detected.

—Stat Gains:

None

—Traits:

Combine the Dream Realm and the Mind Realm after a mind-invading skill is used.

Immunity to Fear and Madness Status Ailments.

15% Resistance to Reality-Bending Effects.

Passively harvest negative emotions from those around you, increasing your stats.

Your Mental Integrity is tripled.

You are seen as a Sovereign in Dream and Mind-based realms.

Increased Crystal-based Damage: +5,000

Increased Mind-based Damage: +200%

Resistance to all types of Magic Damage: +55%

Energy Efficiency: All crystal and mind-based skills cost 50% less mana to cast.

(NEW) You may project your Mind Realm into reality, forming a domain.

(NEW) While inside your Mind Realm Domain, all stats +200%

—New Skills Gained:

None

<Prismatic Genesis (Legendary++) has evolved into: Absolute Architect (Celestial)>

Absolute Architect [Level 223 | 42,143 / 571,857] (Celestial)

—Combines the mastery of Mind-related crafting with Crystalline gemstone and construct creation.

1. Increases crafted item durability by 4460% → 10,000% (MAX)

2. Enhances crafted item stats by 1784% → 3,000% (MAX)

3. Reduces MP cost for maintaining Crystal and Mind constructs by 100% (MAX)

4. Grants a 446% → 500% (MAX) chance to enhance created items/constructs with a special effect. Once the threshold passes above 100%, anything extra will contribute to another special effect. Current: 5 Guaranteed.

5. Enhances Soul Crafting by 2.33%

"..."

The what crafting...? Holy shit. Rael's eyes widened in shock.

But it didn't seem like that was all, as another bout of pop-ups flashed before him.

<Notice: Your Crystal and Mind constructs may freely travel through the minds and dreams of those affected by the: Pact of the Mind (Exalted) skill.>

<Notice...>

<New Title: Eye in the Sky (???)>

—???

That title... Hmm... can I delete it? Rael thought and tried, but it didn't work.

So, for the time being, he put it aside as he let out a tired breath, grabbed something from the dragon's fridge, and started eating.

These last few hours were pretty hectic. Still, he managed to grow much stronger than he expected, and he only had around 1,000 more levels to go until he could ascend.

But I've pretty much reached the limits of my stats... Rael sighed, glancing at one thing in particular.

Spell Power (SP): 129,544,640 (+312,000) → 160,000,000 (+312,000) (MAX)

Attack Power (AP): 24,725,904 (+243,000) → 40,000,000 (+243,000) (MAX)

But then again, he was already way too overpowered for his level, and even for this continent.

He fell into deep thought as he munched on the sandwiches Mercurius had made.

If Zafira wasn't here, then I would've left this continent in a heartbeat... but until I've dealt with the Five Seats, I'm going to stay here for a little while longer.

At heart, he was a person who liked to adventure and find cool stuff. Being a ruler was like a side gig.

Sure, he could stay in his home, grind levels inside dungeons from time to time, and eventually grow overpowered.

But alas...

That's not me, and that's just way too fucking boring, Rael thought.

He knew just how much Sketa Online had to offer, so he wanted to explore all those possibilities while he could.

And of course, if possible, he'd take Zafira with him.

But until then, he needed to take control of this entire continent and make it function without needing him or Zafira to watch over.

A faint smile appeared on his face at the thought of her.

He left the kitchen and glanced at the cave's ceiling.

Rael had already done one of the things he had set out to do, and that was to evolve.

But for good measure...

<Change Race Into...>

<ERROR!>

<The user has recently merged races, and thus cannot evolve for the next: 168 hours>

Rael rolled his eyes and opened up another interface window.

After all, it was about time he got down to the second thing he wanted to do.

<Would you like to alter the stat: [Intelligence] into [Draconic Intelligence]? Yes/No>

<Notice: The alteration takes time, and the user must be in a safe place, and far from combat.>

<Confirmed.>