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When Gryme and the other True Dragons saw Vaan\'s confident look, they were immediately displeased.

They did not like the fact that a human they looked down on truly believed he stood a fighting chance against them, the noble dragons.

"Do not go easy on him, Hedwig. Teach that foolish and arrogant human a hard lesson that he will never forget for life!" True Dragon Gryme strictly instructed with a harsh look.

"Heh," Hedwig snickered with a cruel smile and said, "You don\'t need to tell me twice, Gryme. I plan to!"

Nevertheless, Jergag and Gryme\'s group distanced themselves, making room and forming a large battle ring for Vaan and Hedwig to fight within.

Vaan stood upright and tall on a hot rock platform surrounded by magma, but his presence paled in comparison to the huge dragon fifteen yards away from him.

Even so, it was only a size difference between them; the strength difference was a completely different matter entirely.

"So you\'ll be my first opponent," Vaan calmly acknowledged before casually saying, "Alright, giant winged lizard. As the stronger one, I\'ll be gracious and let you have the first strike."

"Give me your best shot, big guy," Vaan gestured provocatively with his fingers.

He was not afraid of Gryme\'s group, even if they did possess greater strength than his.

He could see they were still afraid of trouble from the higher-ranking dragons. Thus, they didn\'t dare to kill him. At most, they would beat him up badly—if they could, that is.

Nevertheless, that much information told him they were just big bullies, and he could fight them to his heart\'s content.

"How audacious! Do you really think this dragon is weaker than you, human?!" Hedwig was quickly enraged by Vaan\'s insult and roared furiously, "Know your place, human!"

In the next instant, Hedwig slammed down on Vaan with one of his front legs, intending to crush him with immense brute force and weight.

Boom!

Vaan\'s figure disappeared under the magma as the rock platform under his feet failed to withstand immense force and shattered, sinking a dozen feet while a column of magma rose, followed by a splash shortly after.

"Dammit, Hedwig! I told you to teach the foolish human a hard lesson, not kill him!" Gryme scolded with a change in expression. "How will he know the power difference between us if he dies instantly?"

"I… No, something didn\'t feel right, Gryme," Hedwig quickly said with a frown.

He quickly retracted his front leg before Vaan reappeared underneath it. Although Vaan lost his fresh set of black clothes to the magma, he appeared completely fine otherwise.

"Haiz, there goes one set of new clothes," Vaan sighed nonchalantly as if he cared more about his clothes than he did with Hedwig\'s attack.

"You… How are you completely fine, human?" Hedwig asked with surprise.

"How, you ask? Isn\'t that obvious? It\'s because you are weak. But of course, you already know that. Otherwise, why else would you take the first strike I graciously granted?" Vaan replied with a sly smile.

Ding!

<You are no longer in contact with the earth>

<You have lost the blessing of the earth>

<[570 → 453 Defense (↓117 (26% Earth Blessing))] [High-level Rank 3] [250 Aura Power] [22 Dragon Force] [Total Defense: 842 → 725 (Mid-level Rank 4 → Low-level Rank 4)]>

After his solid ground was destroyed, Vaan\'s defense dropped back to its original value.

"I\'ve underestimated you, human. We all did. Your body is surprisingly sturdy for a human. I give you that much," Hedwig commented gloomily before saying, "However, if you think you are stronger than me just because you managed to withstand one of my attacks, you can\'t be further from the truth!"

"A dragon is strongest when it augments its already strong body with magic!" Hedwig roared as his huge dragon body glowed with fire-attribute red mana.

The mana quickly condensed into glowing runes that stuck to his body and augmented his dragon body\'s physical prowess.

In a short instant, Hedwig\'s combat power rose to High-level Rank 4.

"Is that so? Well, I guess I should also be serious," Vaan casually said. He sensed the threat from Hedwig and decided not to underestimate him.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Vaan increased his heartbeat and entered his Lycan state as his eyes turned yellow, white hair grew out, nails sharpened, and his muscles slightly bulged with power.

…

=====

«Lycan State»

[Total Defense: 725 → 951 (↑226) (Low-level Rank 4 → High-level Rank 4)]

[Total Strength: 636 → 811 (↑175) (Low-level Rank 4 → Mid-level Rank 4)]

[Total Speed: 467 → 575 (↑108) (High-level Rank 3 → Low-level Rank 4)]

=====

Vaan\'s Lycan form surprised every dragon present, even Hedwig. However, he did not wait for his opponent to recover from his shock.

He quickly kicked himself out of the magma sea, lunging straight at Hedwig\'s stomach like a cannonball.

Bam!

Although he rammed straight into Hedwig\'s stomach, his strength was insufficient to cause significant damage.

It only managed to snap Hedwig out of his shock before the dragon glanced down at him with disdain in his eyes.

"Was that your best shot after getting serious?" Hedwig snickered and said, "I must admit that your form surprised me, but this is the difference between us. You cannot hurt me, Hu—Uwarghhh!"

Before Hedwig could finish speaking, Vaan rained punches on the exact same spot on the dragon\'s stomach with accelerating speed due to increased kinetic energy in his arms.

His fists became so fast that they struck like bullets flying from a machine gun and roared like thunder upon impact.

"Bleurgh!" Hedwig gagged as Vaan\'s last fist broke through his defense and winded him.

"What the hell are you doing, Hedwig?! Hurry the fuck up and teach that arrogant human a lesson! Stop showing off and making a fool out of yourself! You\'re embarrassing us dragons!" Gryme reprimanded from a distance.

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Gryme!" Hedwig snapped back as he wiped some saliva off the corners of his mouth with a grin of excitement. "We\'re in the middle of a gentleman\'s duel now! No one is allowed to interfere!"

"Vaan, was it? I was wrong about you. I\'m sorry, so let us keep going all out!" Hedwig roared excitedly, forgetting his former objective after Vaan ignited his fighting spirit.

At the same time, he viewed Vaan as a worthy rival and opponent, deserving of his respect.

"Oh?" Vaan smiled with surprise.