Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 632 - 585 The Ancient Call

"Ah————" "Ah————"

A dark shadow swiftly swept across the treetops, the loud sound startling birds into flight. It was not a scream connoting terror, at least Lyle didn’t think so. Having gradually become accustomed to the heights after being carried away by the giant dragon, the roaring wind seemed to fuse with his veins, and the storm extracted all the fervor from the boy’s blood. Thus, he shouted, as elated as he might have been when swinging through the trees of Liveser.

Clinging to the protruding bone spurs on the dragon’s spine, Lyle slowly grew accustomed to the journey on the dragon’s back. Nia was even more delighted than Lyle, opening her mouth to the wind, her body bloated with air like a balloon tied to his back.

"Where exactly are we going, teacher?"

"Anywhere far from the Dragon Priest..." The speed of the bone dragon gradually decreased to a level where verbal communication was no longer hindered, "But those fellows left a mark on me, so it’s only a matter of time before they find us."

The giant dragon regained his composure, having adapted to his strength, he turned back into the collected mentor Lyle remembered.

"Teacher, I thought you wouldn’t mind finding a few animal companions, considering how much you used to like them."

"My dragon life! I do not need a mate! And certainly not an animal one!" The giant dragon roared a few times toward the clearing in front of him, flapping his wings to hover in place.

"I do have a fondness for animals, but it has not escalated to that degree. My affection is akin to a biologist’s interest and liking for other species, perhaps mixed with my gratitude to that black bear from the past. But my feelings are very pure."

After pondering for a moment, Lyle asked, "So, giant dragon teacher, does your choice of a mate still fall within the range of humanoid creatures?"

"No."

Lyle was startled by the giant dragon’s reply, but fortunately, the giant dragon quickly elaborated.

"I lack the desire for romance or marriage. Such ideas did not exist for me in life and certainly not after death. My ideals, my obsessions, all relate to becoming a giant dragon; I have not considered the issue of a mate and will not in the future. On reflection, is it possible for a noble giant dragon to only reproduce in the primitive way? Spirit Summoning Skills can create fresh bodies, so I do not believe that the masters of ancient knowledge cannot remove such problems."

"At least, the notion of seeking a mate and siring offspring is out of the question."

The bone dragon flew forward again, and the calm giant dragon covered Lyle’s body with a magic membrane to block the fierce wind.

"So, what are we doing now, teacher? You have already fulfilled much of your dream. Teacher Scholar told us to wait..."

"There are still many things we can do, such as studying my new body. I was too excited when I awakened and, aside from flying, I haven’t employed the full potential of this corporeal form. A simple capability assessment—you can be my associate judge."

"I would be delighted," Lyle said, taking out parchment, as Nia’s tentacles smeared black slime, slapped it onto the paper. "What shall we test first?"

"Something like casting abilities."

The scales of the bone dragon stood erect, its sternum opening like a louver, and Lyle could feel magic flowing and gathering into the cavity protected by the ribs. Both dragon claws came together in front; a mana orb took shape within the claws, and the magic from the dragon’s body was drawn, swiftly forming a precise array upon the orb.

Lyle recognized the array—it was one of the high-level rituals of Spirit Summoning Studies.

[Legion of the Dead]

The power of death dropped from the dragon’s hands into the earth below, pale lines spreading across the ground, and a large throng of skeletons roared as they burst forth from the land. This horde was mostly remains of wild beasts that died in this secluded wilderness, some so ancient and brittle they collapsed the moment soul fire ignited within them.

To awaken all carcasses within a hundred meters’ radius and have them obey the spellcaster’s command, these bodies would regain parts of their living abilities, forming a Legion of the Dead. On a battlefield, this spell could tilt the scales of an ordinary war. Similar effects could be achieved even more effectively by Lyle as the Omen Incarnation, but it was more than evident that the Dragon Priest was merely warming up.

[Legion of the Dead] was capable of generating a host of expendable forces, one of the signature spells high-level Spirit Summoners would use to bully the weak.

Transforming into a dragon affected the level of this Master of Spirit Summoning Studies’ Magic Lock, but he remained the same Master of Spirit Summoning Studies and had now become an Undead Dragon, or rather, a Dragon Lich.

"The effects had weakened, but it was acceptable," the Bone Spur and Bone Shield spell strength had not changed, but the curse and Spirit Summoning Spells had weakened. "If I were to continue my research, I would need to replan my experimental area and various pieces of equipment, and also a giant experimental desk that could accommodate my Giant Dragon body..."

"Ah, and the abilities associated with the [Dragon] part..."

The dragon accustomed to piecing together skeletons disassembled the skeletal creation he had nearly completed and buried it in its original form in the ground.

The Giant Dragon planted all four feet on the ground, allowing Lyle to slide down his ribcage.

"Step back further, my student, I want to test the ’Dragon Breath’."

Lyle thought of the laser barrage released by the gem Bone Dragon earlier—a powerful force capable of altering the terrain— and quietly moved further away.

The bone wings on the back of the Bone Dragon stretched out to their fullest, beginning to glow like a reaction of the magic web, causing tiny tides of Magic Power to form around the Giant Dragon. This was the Dragon Breath at its maximum power. A piercing buzzing noise echoed within the body of the Giant Dragon, his chest had become a dazzling orb of light, the dragon’s head lifted high, and the joints of his neck stretched one after the other, like the slow pulling of a gun’s bolt.

A flash of cold light, and the Bone Dragon opened his gaping maw.

The Giant Dragon expelled a storm. Everything within a ninety-degree fan-shaped area starting from the dragon’s snout was blown away, and a fissure formed on the plain, deep enough to completely bury the body of the Bone Dragon.

If the gem Giant Dragon’s Dragon Breath was a beam of lasers, then the full-force Dragon Breath of the Giant Dragon was a nuclear bomb.

This was an attack of the level of the Advanced Magic Research Society.

In Lyle’s astonished gaze, the Giant Dragon exhaled a ring of smoke and slowly nodded.

"The full-force Dragon Breath without interference indeed has impressive power. My Dragon Breed is more that of a Warrior Dragon, had it been a Spellcasting Dragon, the Dragon Breath might have been even stronger. But this is not bad, even better than any Dragon Breed remembered by the Dragon Priest, could it because of the super-sized body that Lyle altered..."

"Physically, there is no need for concern."

"As for the Draconic Magic and the more advanced Dragon Roar, those are pieces of knowledge inherited through blood, and I currently do not have a single drop of blood..."

"Combat strength can be assured, so let’s try the roar of the Giant Dragon..."

"The language of the Giant Dragon..."

After notifying Lyle beside him to cover his ears, the Giant Dragon raised his head and puffed out his chest and, following the knowledge in his memory, let out a high-pitched roar. It was the grandest roar from a bygone era, the call blowing away leaves, shaking forests, reverberating against mountains, and piercing the skies.

"Teacher, you have quite a voice," said Lyle.

"The roar of a Giant Dragon represents authority to a certain extent, the volume of the voice is equivalent to strength. You should be happy my roar is so resounding; I will not be inferior to the father of dragons, Yemotar, my student," the Giant Dragon replied.

Lyle smiled.

"If the father of dragons were still alive, I really wish he could compare roars with you. I’d love to see you two roar at each other..."

"Roar!!!"

Not long after the Giant Dragon’s roar had faded, far away, a deafening roar sounded like thunder in the sky.

The mentor and student looked at each other, with cold sweat appearing on Lyle’s face.

"That was the echo of your roar, wasn’t it?"