The Dragon Heart 2

‘I can feel it.’

Doyun’s willpower dominated the vast quantity of mana coursing through his body.

An ocean of mana circulated through him. The might once residing in the heart became absorbed, with the mana now flowing through his blood vessels.

Even as the mana diverged into scores and hundreds of pathways, every stream remained under Doyun’s control.

Truly astounding mana control prowess surpassing even draconic levels.

Mana vapors emanated from his body like mirage distortions.

A densely concentrated, pure mana too vivid to be believed with mere eyes.

“Wh-, What mana is this…”

“Ooh…!”

Highly sensitive to mana, Lei trembled before the intense saturation unlike anything he had ever sensed, leaving all observers awestruck by the mystical spectacle.

Soon, all the mana converged upon Doyun’s heart.

Yet unlike others who stored mana there, Doyun channeled it downwards towards his lower abdomen instead.

The mana ocean born from the liquefied Dragon Heart met Doyun’s Cosmic Tear region.

And there resided another Dragon Heart – Doyun the Supernatural’s own draconic heart furnace.

Doyun’s heart blazed furiously.

Fwoooosh-

Shining like a star yet simultaneously devouring mana like a black hole, in paradoxical fashion.

The inflowing external mana passed through this mana fusion reactor, filtered into Doyun’s golden mana – burning away any residual tainted mana or foreign essences.

The filtered mana gradually became absorbed into Doyun’s heart.

He could feel his lower abdomen grow heavier in real-time as the Dragon Heart exponentially expanded his vessel.

But upon absorbing around 1/3 of it, Doyun’s heart ceased expanding further – the bodily limit Winny mentioned.

Doyun’s heart had now become a full-sized mature Dragon Heart, indistinguishable from an adult dragon’s.

Yet Doyun remained unsatisfied.

‘I must grow stronger.’

Impossible to accumulate more mana? Subjugating the Dark Lord had been impossible too.

Becoming a mercenary commander who conquered the South despite his slumderf origins – impossible. Forging friendships with the Dragon Lord and Dwarven King as a human – impossible.

Surpassing Sword Saints and Fist Saints despite his initial mediocrity. Becoming the continent’s strongest with a human body. Being hailed as a Paladin and the Alliance’s hope. Vanquishing the strongest Demon Lord’s Vanguard.

All impossible feats.

The vast impossibility that was the Dark Lord. To overcome such an immense challenge, ordinary efforts would never suffice.

He had always challenged impossibilities, rendering them possible – each conquered impossibility merely a step towards an even greater one yet to come.

And now, Doyun tackled impossibility once more.

‘Incinerate.’

The driving force behind the Sword Blaze – the ‘incinerating’ will.

It stoked the Dragon Heart’s mana into an even more furious blaze akin to a star’s nuclear furnace.

The distortions emanating from Doyun intensified into blazing flames.

Fwoooooash-!

“Huh?”

“Wh-, What is this?!”

The observers gaped in shock, but Lei soon recognized it – a familiar sight.

“That’s…”

The brilliant golden holy flames that had immolated the Dark Lord forces during the previous war.

Fwoooosh-!

Doyun’s Dragon Heart burned radiantly, igniting the mana ocean filling his lower abdomen into his personalized mana through sublime incineration.

‘Even if I cannot possess it immediately, I cannot abandon it.’

Having filtered all the mana into golden flames, he drew more upwards.

The location where others stored mana – the heart. There the remaining two-thirds he could not absorb had gathered.

As Winny said, too much for Doyun’s body to contain presently. But mere containment changed the situation entirely.

He compressed the mana within his heart densely.

An immense mana volume crushed into a singularity, generating tremendous mana pressure within its core. At the center, mana began coalescing while emanating light and heat.

The Dragon Heart – a 100% pure mana crystal formed by mana condensation. The most efficient and stable form of mana storage possible.

And Doyun conceived an idea.

‘Another Dragon Heart.’

Instead of a reactor engine, he would fashion an additional Dragon Heart solely for storage purposes.

Building upon the Dragon Heart formed in his lower abdomen, Doyun innovated and refined the draconic mana cultivation art in an unprecedented manner even Tiamat herself could never have fathomed.

An audacious yet simple notion, only feasible through Doyun’s peerless mana control talents.

Fwoooosh-

Another star ignited within his heart.

Through the fusion process, the central mana condensed into a mana gemstone – the Dragon Heart.

The remaining surplus mana within his heart rapidly solidified and hardened. The light and heat gradually dimmed as the flame-like distortions dissipating outwards subsided.

The trio had witnessed the entire process.

‘…’

‘…What just happened?’

Silence descended.

Though a thick mana aroma still lingered, far less than the expected volume should have been expelled.

Doyun seemed focused on some lingering task, yet the previously violent mana reactions had calmed – his consciousness likely nearing completion.

Inwardly, Winny reeled in shock.

‘The mana… was not released.’

And Doyun’s reactions stabilized completely.

An outcome nearly impossible to believe.

‘Could it be… he truly absorbed that entire mana quantity…?’

Her left eye glowed emerald as the inlaid analysis magic activated.

Upon perceiving the changes within Doyun’s body – the second heart – her jaw dropped agape.

‘…!’

Shortly after, the light and heat from his heart region completely faded.

At its center, a scorchingly heated gemstone cooled within the rapid flow of Doyun’s circulating blood.

Once the aftershocks fully subsided and the mana ocean coalesced into that singularity:

Thoom!

The Dragon Heart pulsed.

Trillll!

[Magic Power stat level has increased. Current Level: 8]

[Vitality stat level has increased. Current Level: 8]

[New Skill ‘Orichalcum Physique’ has been created.]

[New Inherent Trait ‘Second Dragon Heart’ has been created.]

Beneath his slowly opening eyelids, vivid golden irises radiated brilliantly.

+++

In the shower room connected to Winny’s workshop.

Having bathed the sweat away, Doyun emerged wearing only a loose robe, damp hair hanging low as rippling pectoral muscles peeked through the parted folds.

Flushing slightly, Winny averted her gaze from his physique.

Duke Noir broached the topic first.

“How do you feel?”

Carrying a vastly transformed demeanor, Doyun appeared utterly invigorated in a way seldom seen before.

His expression alone hinted at overwhelmingly positive results.

“Never did I expect to witness a Dragon Heart ingestion in my lifetime. Truly an enlightening spectacle.”

“Senior, how was it? Huh? Tell us quickly!”

Though both badgered him, Doyun merely smiled wryly without answering.

Step, step.

He walked over and slowly drew a sword previously displayed on a rack.

Shring-

Accompanied by a crisp ringing, the Jupiter blade revealed its pristine brilliance.

Grasping it, Doyun closed his eyes as sword ki emanated forth.

Fwooosh-

“Oooh…”

“Wow…”

Even the martial Lei and Duke Noir gasped in awe before such dense, saturated sword ki.

Ordinary sword ki merely emitted a faint moonlight glow slightly obscured by clouds – visible only by straining one’s eyes.

Yet Doyun’s sword ki shone so intensely, his blade’s shape disappeared within the blinding radiance.

“Wow… How did you do that? What kind of sword ki is that dense?”

The astonished Lei inquired.

Despite his own supernatural physical specs granting Magic Power 8, even he could never produce such sword ki. The same held true for the continent’s foremost swordsman Brunhilde.

To Lei’s perception, Doyun’s sword ki fundamentally differed from theirs.

Unlike simply expelling mana through a sword, Doyun’s stemmed from the realization of ‘extending phenomena through willpower’.

Though not actively manifesting, his deepened sword comprehension naturally permeated even his ordinary sword ki – worlds apart despite identical Magic Power levels.

Moreover, having reached Magic Power 8 while further elevating his willpower through this war.

Combined with his Supernatural nature and the Dragon Heart’s purified mana essence.

None at his Magic Power level could wield mana as efficiently as Doyun.

Gazing at the sword ki, Doyun smiled in satisfaction.

‘Truly bountiful gains.’

Both his formerly Level 7 Vitality and Magic Power had risen to Level 8 stats.

The gap between Levels 7 and 8 was immense.

The middling Paladin Heineken’s main Agility stat peaked at 8, while the sole Level 9 Apostle – the peerless Lion King – held the Alliance’s strongest title.

Considering Level 9 as an outlier benchmark, Level 8 effectively represented the pinnacle for ordinary Apostles.

Heineken had spared no outrageous means to reach Agility 8, underscoring its significance.

Yet Doyun had instantly acquired not one, but two Level 8 stats – Vitality and Magic Power no less.

The paramount importance of Magic Power went without saying, while Vitality held great significance for Doyun’s Heclaeus style repertoire.

Truly, the Dragon Heart represented monumental progress.

‘Not to mention acquiring that second Dragon Heart.’

The heart region’s Dragon Heart was merely a gemstone – a dormant star, unlike the lower abdomen’s reactor.

His current Magic Power 8 did not reflect that heart’s reserves – Level 8 derived solely from absorbing 1/3 of the lower Dragon Heart’s mana.

Unusable for now, but he had succeeded in containing the 2/3 portion that should have dissipated into the air – a meaningful accomplishment.

An immense mana volume now slumbered within Doyun’s heart region.

‘If I can one day ignite that heart’s mana…’

The Alliance’s strongest, the Magic Power 9 Lion King.

Could he potentially match that sheer offensive output through mana reserves alone, skill differences aside?

Doyun’s chest pounded with anticipation.

“Ah, Doyun. Now that your urgent matters concluded, I should mention – Elizabeth wishes to meet you.”

Upon those words, his sword ki’s brilliance intensified ever so slightly – a subtle change Duke Noir failed to notice.

“Seems she wants to apologize for past events and maintain amicable relations. Understandable, given your emerging status as the continent’s foremost rising power.”

The timing could not be more opportune.

During the pre-war procession, Doyun had merely wielded power on par with the lowest-tier Paladin Lei.

But a month later, Doyun now commanded prowess worlds apart from back then.

“I know you harbor significant grievances against her… But perhaps meeting to discuss things would be advisable? Hmm?”

“…Is that so?”

Concealing his emotions, Doyun courteously curved his lips into a polite smile.

Yet his eyes remained emotionless and frosty as ever.