Lyle digested the power contained in the Dragon blood within his body while intently watching the changes in the three values on his Status Panel.
Thump!
Thump!
His heartbeat was extremely powerful; the power of the Dragon blood seemed to have significantly increased the flow of blood throughout his entire body.
With every breath.
Lyle exhaled a stream of heat from his nostrils, though it wasn't very noticeable in the already high-temperature environment.
At irregular intervals of ten or twenty seconds.
The values for HP, Physical Defense, and Magic Defense would all increase accordingly.
However, compared to the increase in the HP value, the other two attributes increased much more slowly.
About 20 minutes passed.
Lyle's powerful heartbeat gradually slowed down, and upon careful perception, the strong warm current within his body also dissipated.
"The effects of the 'Dragon blood' have been fully absorbed."
Lyle's eyes shifted, and he exhaled a puff of hot air from his mouth; his entire body felt as if he had taken a sauna, with wisps of steam rising from him.
...
'HP: 450 → 478'
'Physical Defense: 249 → 260'
'Magic Defense: 264 → 275'
...
The changes in the values had stabilized again; apart from the 28-point increase in HP, the other two values had only increased by 11 points.
"The attribute increase isn't very significant; is it because my own Rank is already high?"
Lyle pondered internally; he remembered that the Ghost Hound had only licked a trace amount of Dragon blood, yet its Aura had shown a significant enhancement.
He looked at the passives on his [ability sheet].
Before this, after he had been stained with Dragon blood, he had gained "Fire Resistance (1%)" and "Poison Attribute · Weak Resistance" as passives.
Due to the appearance of "Fire Immunity," the effect of "Fire Resistance (1%)" had disappeared.
However, "Poison Attribute · Weak Resistance" had not disappeared, and the Dragon blood he just drank had not triggered any strengthening of this passive.
Lyle looked toward the Dwarves, and seeing that the group of Rune Smiths was still arguing intensely, he took out the water bag containing Dragon blood from his Item Box again and drank it all in one go.
The three base values began to rise again!
"The effect has weakened."
After the effect was fully absorbed, Lyle compared the changes in the values, his expression unchanged, and took out another water bag containing Dragon blood.
When he originally collected the Dragon blood that had spilled on the ground, he had used seven water bags in total, which was, compared to the Ancient Red Dragon's massive physique, at most a "trace amount" of Dragon blood for Lyle to drink.
After the third portion of Dragon blood was consumed.
Lyle felt again that the strong warm current had weakened significantly, and through the changes in the values on the Status Panel, this was even more clearly observed.
...
'HP: 478 → 530 (41%)'
'Physical Defense: 260 → 280 (22%)'
'Magic Defense: 275 → 295 (23%)'
...
"The duration was even shorter this time, and the buff effect has completely disappeared." Lyle opened his eyes slightly, revealing a sharp glint.
Judging by his own feelings, he had determined that continuing to drink "Dragon blood" would no longer increase his attributes.
The overall increases were: 81 points of HP, 31 points of Physical Defense, and 31 points of Magic Defense.
"An unexpected surprise; calculated by high-level job Ranks, the HP value alone increased by five Ranks out of thin air, and Physical Defense and Magic Defense increased by two Ranks."
Lyle thought to himself with some surprise; should he say that the "Dragon Clan," whose entire body is a treasure, lives up to its name?
The only thing that puzzled him was "Poison Attribute · Weak Resistance"; this passive still hadn't changed at all.
...
Passive: Poison Attribute · Weak Resistance
Effect: Applicable for resisting weak toxins (≈ less than 10Lv).
...
"Speaking of which, since drinking 'Dragon blood' only increases base values, how did this passive ability appear?" Lyle felt a bit confused at this moment.
He carefully recalled the entire process at that time.
Lyle subconsciously looked at his skin; he remembered that when his skin was stained with Dragon blood at the time, large red marks had appeared.
Could it be that drinking "Dragon blood" separately and having skin stained with "Dragon blood" result in different buff effects?
This thought popped into Lyle's mind.
Come to think of it, he didn't know if the blood of the Solar Anglerfish also had similar buff effects; these were all things worth experimenting with next.
He raised his head.
Lyle looked at the Rune Smiths who had gradually returned to normal after an intense discussion: "It seems there is already a result."
He first glanced at the Ghost Hound lying on the ground nearby, which was trembling in fear because of the "Dragon blood."
"Really, if you are affected by just this bit of Aura, how will you be able to withstand even greater power?"
Lyle raised his hand, patted the Ghost Hound's head, and then stood up and walked toward the group of Dwarves.
"Awooo~" The Ghost Hound let out a soft cry as it watched Lyle's back, a hint of resilience in its beastly eyes.
"Everyone, you are the best Rune Smiths I know of at the moment."
"I wonder if you can replicate this Rune Armor made by the Gray Dwarf tribe." Lyle walked over and looked at the group of Dwarves as he spoke.
The sudden voice.
Made all the Dwarves who were immersed in observing the damaged armor raise their heads at the same time to look in Lyle's direction.
Facing the long-lost, highest-tier Runic script, the faces of the Rune Smiths were filled with excitement and exhilaration.
But the air was a bit quiet at this moment!
None of them had ever experienced the forging process of such high-level Rune items, so naturally, they had no confidence that they could complete it.
"What will happen if we can't build it?" Gondo stared closely at Lyle and asked loudly.
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit serious.
The Rune Smiths became cautious; none of them had forgotten that they were kidnapped.
"Then you fail, that's all."
Facing such a question, Lyle casually spread his arms, seemingly unconcerned about whether they would succeed or not.
And that was indeed the case!
He did want to replicate this piece of Rune Armor from the Gray Dwarf tribe, but he was also aware that there was a high probability of failure.
Success would naturally be best, but failure wouldn't have any impact on Lyle; it would just be a waste of some time.
And Rune Technology was indeed a craft worth researching and developing.
However!
Seeing Lyle's indifferent attitude actually made these Dwarves, who were nervous, widen their eyes and blow their beards in defiance.
"If you asked us to forge a Rune item with the highest-tier characters on our own, I would have absolutely no confidence."
"But if it's just replicating one based on this armor, I have some confidence."
"We've really been looked down upon; even if Rune Technology is far inferior to your human magic technology, it is still the greatest craft of our Dwarf tribe!"
"It's just a mere replication!"
"I am very Life Qi now."
"Idiot, speak quietly."
"...!"
"I just think that being able to forge such Rune Armor in my lifetime will definitely become a unique memory in my mind."
Voices of intense noise rang out again; this group of Dwarves was clearly dissatisfied with Lyle's casual tone just now.
Looking at these Dwarves who had become full of energy, the expression on Lyle's face did not change at all.
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