Level Up

The young nobles performed remarkably well.

Alice, ever since mastering the sword techniques taught by Black, had greatly increased in strength. Wherever she went—sword light flashed—bringing countless bloodshed.

Cyril, this nobleman—seemed quite gentle, effeminate—but acted decisively when fighting. As a Level 40 Mid-Tier Alchemist—he used magic to remotely control several cold weapons—knives, spears, swords moving with thought! With a casual wave—slaying several sea lions dozens of meters away. Truly worthy of being the Eighth Round Table Knight’s son.

Among these youths—Black unsurprisingly saw Seth’s figure. His injuries must have nearly recovered. Seth glared at him from afar—eyes full of killing intent—clearly holding a grudge.

But constrained by battlefield conditions—he truly couldn’t openly retaliate against Black. Had to vent all fury onto sea dragons. With his Level 45 Diamond Knight strength—even without Overlord Spear—combat power remained astonishing. Actually punching to death many sea dragons.

Among young nobles—Krystin stood out most. As Saintess of the Church of Creation—her class was Level 45 Starlight Priest—with top-tier spell talent and comprehension. The number of spells she mastered far exceeded ordinary people—magic reserves even more so.

“Healing Spell!”
“Divine Protection!”
“Holy Light!”
“Ice Seal!”
…

In an eyeblink—she simultaneously cast multiple different types of spells. The area around her filled with magical radiance. Healing Spell healed injured teammates—Divine Protection boosted teammate defense—Holy Light granted teammates combat power—Ice Seal instantly froze several hammerheads. Balanced offense and defense—truly an all-around priest!

This ability left other Dragoncleavers and nobles stunned. Black nodded repeatedly—Krystin’s combat performance indeed outstanding. No wonder later—after falling into Dragon Demon form—she became Chapter One’s final boss. When your teammate becomes the enemy—that’s truly a nightmare.

Just as Black pondered—a Level 20 sea lion suddenly leaped—crashing down behind him.

Wood chips flying—foul wind rushing! It opened its gaping maw—saw-toothed fangs only three meters from Black. Black frowned—just preparing to dodge—when the Imperial Winged Dragon on his shoulder suddenly excitedly cried out. Then—it turned into a golden flash shooting out!

Next second—the Imperial Winged Dragon already appeared before the sea lion—golden vertical pupils cold and vicious.

Dragon aura suddenly erupted. This sea lion seemed to see something terrifying! Its massive body suddenly trembled violently—plop—collapsed on deck—unable to move.

Like a mountain pressing down on it.

Dragon aura suppression? Black pondered—in dragon race—there were also upper-tier and lower-tier distinctions. Under same level—upper-tier dragons could easily crush lower-tier ones—leaving them no counterattack chance. In the hands of Level 39 upper-tier Emperor Winged Dragon—this lower-tier sea lion was utterly powerless.

The sea lion began desperately struggling—tail slapping ship hull—trying to break free from aura suppression.

Unfortunately—Goldie wouldn’t give it that chance.

Whoosh!

The Emperor Winged Dragon flapped wings—eyes flashing—activating skill Wind Blade! Around—wind roared—converging into several arc-shaped green blades—extremely sharp.

Swish—directly slicing the sea lion into pieces—blood splattered everywhere.

This one just died—then another rushed toward Black.

Tch—really never-ending.

This sea lion was much higher level—nearly Level 30—able to use dragon skills! Its lion mouth opened—scales flickering—golden mane dancing without wind. A golden orb formed—with constant electrical flashes—impressive momentum. As it spat—orb exploded toward Black. Though fierce—before the Emperor Winged Dragon—this wasn’t impressive.

A Wind Blade flew out—colliding with orb—both canceling each other. The sea lion bared fangs—roaring at Goldie—clearly wary of it. The Emperor Winged Dragon naturally didn’t regard such lower-tier species. Paw waved—this high-level sea lion also collapsed under dragon aura.

Goldie opened its mouth—blazing dragon breath surged out. Half the sea lion’s body instantly charred—letting out a mournful wail. One strike only severely wounded—more resilient than the previous one. Desperate counterattack—almost broke free from dragon aura suppression. Seeing this—the Emperor Winged Dragon prepared to finish it—when Black waved, stopping its action.

Looking at this dying sea lion—Black felt a guess arise. To verify—drew Overlord Spear—charged and thrust! Directly piercing through the dragon’s skull—ending its life. At this moment—faint light drifted from the sea lion’s corpse—permeating into Black’s body.

[Player killed Level 30 Sea Lion Dragon—gained experience bonus.]
[Level Up: ]

Indeed.

These appearing messages matched Black’s expectations. In games—main way for players to level up was killing dragon species—gaining experience.

This also fit the game world setting. On Cassel Continent—humans had two main ways to level up—one was daily cultivation—the other killing dragon species—looting their life essence.

This method of slaughtering dragons for leveling was much faster. Every Emperor-Tier expert among humans had slain over 100,000 dragons.

The higher the dragon’s level—the greater the boost. Empress Elizabeth—when at Dragon-Rank peak—killed a similarly Dragon-Rank peak dragon. Looting its life essence—she immediately ascended to Emperor-Tier Swordsmanship.

This Sea Dragon Tide was both crisis—and excellent opportunity for Dragoncleavers and young nobles to improve strength.

This was also why such dangerous actions included young people.

These battles—were both leveling up and accumulating combat experience for youth. Even with life danger—such battles were necessary—otherwise they couldn’t shoulder responsibilities when grown. Considered part of imperial elite education. Though many were connections forced in.

Of course—for dragons—humans were also excellent experience packs. Dragons devouring humans could also bring them level improvements. Most dragons might have different tastes—but reached consensus on eating humans.

So in Black’s view—except Winged Dragon species—humans couldn’t coexist peacefully with dragons. After all—each was the other’s best supplement.