Chapter 49: Winter Break Discoveries

A few weeks before our close season, my sister and I managed to defeat the 50th Floor Domain Guardian of an unconquered dungeon. Our next goal is to overcome the boss of the 60th Floor.

Although we've reached that far and the risk has been significantly raised, Sister still doesn't want our parents' assistance in conquering the dungeon. Not until we at least reach the 70th Floor, if there's one after the 60th.

Since we don't know what lies behind the doors of the 60th Floor Guardian Room yet, we have to strengthen ourselves by leveling up first. We had the monsters of the 51st to 59th Floors as our source of EXP.

After we bathe ourselves in the density and breeze of the Forest Floors, we have to endure the drought and searing heat of the desolated and barren Desert Floors.

Like the name implied, those floors were filled with nothing but sand. Scorching and arid desert sands. Not a single plant or even a cactus was erected on those floors. Desert Floors had an area of six kilometers' radius with three-kilometer high black walls surrounding it.

The monsters on those floors were diverse. Flying, crawling, walking, slithering, etc. The deeper the floor, the more powerful the monsters. Desert Floors have monsters starting from Level 201 up to the strength of Level 359.

Desert Floors provide more EXP than our current hunting grounds inside the forest, which have an average level of around Level 300. Since these unlimited monsters were enclosed by the sky-high dungeon walls, we were able to accumulate a dense amount of EXP compared to a vast forest.

Not only did we increase our Levels and stats, but we also increased the intensity of our mock battles with mothers to improve our proficiency with our skills and gain more experience in battles.

Even though it was just a mock battle, our opponents were the continent's most powerful couple. A single clash of Sister's and Mother's blades caused winds to run amok. While an exchange of spells between me and Mom could change the terrain.

They didn't even use their Ultra Skill, Divine Sword Art, or World Magic while fighting us, but the damage was already that destructive. That's why we've been doing battle inside the dense and fertile Great Forest of Darkness to prevent collateral damage. We don't mind if we catch some monsters since they're leveling us up.

It doesn't matter how much damage we made in the forest as long as we fought somewhere far from adventurers' hunting grounds. Since it's the Great Forest of Darkness we're talking about, the forest will heal itself at a great pace.

We keep strengthening our bodies and improving our skills for a long period of time. So long that we missed the opportunity to fight or even fathom the identity of the 60th Floor Guardian before the close season.

By the way, Griffith stayed in the plains where the dungeon gate stood off. She spent countless winters in the forest, so I know she will be fine. Our mothers still don't know a thing about her.

"What are you doing?"

"I've been trying out some skills that I rarely use. You can see why, right?"

"Yeah. You can't let anybody see that."

I answered her question as I was showing her my scaled arm.

With nothing to do, I've been experimenting with the new Skills that I acquired during the dungeon conquest. Also skills that I rarely use due to their inconvenience in battle and discomfort in the body while using them.

Right now, in the middle of the transition between winter and spring, at our mansion's workshop on the third floor, I am using one of the Racial Skill of dragon-type monsters, Dragon Scales.

It's a skill that lets me grow sapphire-blue scales like those of a dragon on any part of my body. By the way, I acquired it after killing my first A-ranked Wyrm, a wingless, limbless serpentine dragon.

"It feels weird, like wearing a thin but very durable metal gauntlet. I feel that I can smash boulders barehanded." I proclaimed while punching the air.

Dragon Scales are used not only for defenses, like tolerating physical and magical damages, but also for increasing the damage output of one's body techniques.

With a protected fist, one can punch without worrying about the impact. But it also has its limits, like a fast and powerful swipe of a sharp and durable blade.

"Dragon Scales is not the only one that I can just expose. Look at this."

I did a few hand signs with my deep blue scaled hands before taking a long breath.

Swoosh.

After talking enough, I released it in the form of flames. Ignited the embers in the fireplace that had been giving warmth to this room. Seeing the charcoals lit, I immediately turned off the skill.

"Did you just shoot fire from your mouth? Is that a dragon's skill?"

"Yes. It's the dragon's Breath Attack."

"I knew it."

Breath Attack is one of the dragon's signature moves. It's a skill that shoots off the attributed breaths, not just fire. Based on my experiments, the attributes that the Breath Attack could do were fire, frost, lightning, wind, and fog, either poisonous, misty, or miasmatic.

By the way, the hand signs weren't particularly necessary. I just did it to look like a fire-style user shinobi.

"It would be weird if I just spit out flames from my mouth."

"Yeah. I find it out of the ordinary, too. What's the reason for you summoning me here?"

"About that… I have something important to tell you in private."

"Based on your behavior earlier, it's about your skills, right?"

"Yeah, you're right. As sharp as ever, my sister. Let's take a seat first to warm ourselves."

We sat on our couches, facing each other across a glass table. We can feel the heat of the fireplace from where we are positioned in front of it.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"You remember the 50th Floor Guardian, the Abyss Slime, right?"

"That transforming slime? Of course I remembered it. Don't tell me it's about its Skill?"

"Yes. Even since I acquired its Unique Skill: Organic Domination, I've been conducting experiments with it."

I called my sister here in the soundproof workshop to inform her of my latest discoveries on the Organic Domination over the last month.

"Organic Domination doesn't only take the form of what the skill absorbed, but also analyzes the components of it up to the molecular level."

"What does it mean?"

"Give me a strand of your hair."

Sister plucked a piece of her hair and handed it to me. In front of her sharp stare, her hair was slowly ingesting into my palm. When the hair fully disappeared from my palm, I began to explain the details.

"Using a subskill called Biological Analysis, I am able to break down the information contained within a single strand of your hair. In my previous world, there was a forensic analysis called DNA testing. It's a test to verify the biological relationship between two individuals."

"So you can determine the relativity between two people by analyzing the samples, huh. I already knew the results, but what's our rate of being siblings?"

"Based on the test, we are 100% full siblings with the same pair of parents."

"Is that so? It's good then."

(Hmm? What's that? Lemme tease her a little.)

"Oho. Why do I hear disappointment in your words? Are you not satisfied with the results?"

"I-its just your imagination," she refuted as she averted her gaze.

In these recent months, me and my sister have been more intimate with each other to the point where Sophia considered Sister as her rival. I don't know what Sister thinks, but for me, I considered our relationship platonic. Honestly, I wanted us to be more than that. 

"I made a modification to my body using the True Transformation subskill. Can you guess the changes in me?"

"Hmm…"

Sister scanned my body using her amethyst gaze and fingers under her chin. She widened her eyes when she ultimately noticed something.

"Wait, why does your mana flow so quickly throughout your body? Not only that, it's so stable that you can run it even while sleeping."

"Hehe. Since I can biologically copy the traits of the monsters I've absorbed, I changed the qualities of my mana veins to those of a dragon."

"…"

My dumbfounded sister fell into silence after hearing my nonchalant explanation. Well, it would be shocking to know someone with monstrous capabilities.

Dragons are S-ranked monsters that have high physical strength, toughness, and magical abilities. They were quadrupedal monsters with majestic bat-like wings and tough skin under the hard, lustrous scales.

They are wild creatures that ravage villages and cause catastrophic damage. Due to their high-quality materials and wild behaviors, they were the number one priority to subjugate in the Adventurers' Guild.

"But that's not the revelation that got me the most. It's about the one that I just discovered a few days ago."

"That's not it?"

Now that we're done with the first topic, I move on to the next one. It's the most important part of this discussion.

"When I was experimenting with the Unique Skill, I tried to analyze and copy the Abyss Slime. But the results really surprised me. As I am copying it, four Skills have been added to my Extra Skills category. Infinite Regeneration, Acid Body, Fragmentization, and Crystalization. All of it was the Racial Skills of the Abyss Slime."

"Wait a minute. If that Skill can copy the racial abilities of a monster, it means that you can also…"

"Yes. All I need is to get hand of their part."