'Damn it. What a mess.'

Dante moved away from the monkey's ashes, feeling a faint headache.

'Oh, the side effect is finally here.'

A faint headache wasn't a minor thing in this world. Dante's stats were beyond the normal humans in his past world. His immune system was something that all the billionaires would exchange their lives for.

That headache wasn't natural, but a side effect from using chaos magic.

The first thing Dante had done after obtaining the book was learn how to convert mana into chaos energy inside his own body.

As a sorcerer, he could anything that a runic circle could do by his will without needing to chant.

He had spent one week understanding that runic circle, then another week learning how to use it inside his own body without any risks.

He succeeded, and the results were incredible. It was now easily accessible like mana, even though it was a bit slower in channeling than mana due to the conversion process.

Then for one more week, he had studied only the first two chaos spells in the book.

The first spell was Chaotic Thoughts. It was a mental attack that put chaotic thoughts into the mind of an enemy.

He modified it to work using his gaze, which meant he had to see his enemy to use it.

The second spell was Chaotic Mutations. It caused chaotic mutations in the body of his enemies by making the energy have direct contact with the target, which was likely responsible for what happened to Beth's body and her victim.

Of course, there were two downsides to this magic.

'I can't control them. The mutation and thoughts are chaotic and random. Sometimes, the chaotic thoughts would force a monster to kill itself. Other times, they'd only give it the urge to relieve itself.'

'The chaotic mutations are even more problematic. It once gave a wolf some parts of a fish, causing it to die because there was no water nearby. But now, it armed the monkey with a blade of bones and a strange internal maw. And for some reason, this spell tends to give tentacles.'

'The other downside is the headache. It grows stronger the more I use chaos magic, and there is a warning to never ignore the headache.'

It was truly a shame, as he really wished to use this magic freely.

Another thing he discovered while reading that book was…

'That woman is truly evil!'

She had intentionally drawn all the runic formations in the wrong ways to make them dangerous and unstable rituals. Then under them, she wrote how to fix them in English.

That way, copying these things and attempting to understand them by reading only the runes was a big mistake.

By relying on understanding runes, the Chaotic Mutations spell was supposed to be a healing ritual that draws the vitality of other animals.

Apparently, Beth had used that spell on herself, and the result was the tentacles that came out of her severed neck.

So, the conclusion is, Dante now had a normal energy that he could use safely, a higher energy that could break his body, a demonic energy that could corrupt his body and mind, and the new one—a chaotic energy that could apparently break his mind.

'Now all I need is an energy that can break my soul to break my entire existence… Well, time to go back.'

Dante jumped off the tree and turned into a shadow, crawling toward the town.

'No wonder Fafnir likes to travel like this. It's faster and more comfortable. Unfortunately, I have to use mana contentiously to maintain this form, unlike him.'

After some time, Dante arrived at the town, showed the guards his token—which he bought recently, due to it being monthly—and returned to his room in the Mercenary Guild.

He was living alone now, so he rented a cheaper room with one bed and a smaller size.

Out of boredom, Dante jumped to the bed and cast Appraisal, seeing the small changes in his runes.

Dragon Bloodline: 10% → 11%

Existence Essence ⟨100/1000 → 200/1000⟩

• Vitality: 41 → 43

• Spirit: 44 → 45

• Mind: 32 → 33

Aspect: Shadow [Comprehension:41%→43%]

Aspect: Misfortune [Comprehension:38%→45%]

'I'm growing in a good pace.' Dante nodded to himself in satisfaction.

In the past three weeks, he had completed several quests that required killing living beings with cores. The one he preferred the most was killing humans.

By killing them, 'confiscating' their belongings, and using another a secret method, he collected another 100 Existence Essence and gained another boost in his stats.

He also improved his comprehension of his aspects, focusing more on Misfortune Aspect and allowing it to surpass Shadow Aspect.

And then was the biggest surprise that occurred to Dante randomly when he was taking a shower.

'I finally grew up a little as a dragon.'

The awakening percentage of the dragon bloodline increased by 1%, giving him two Vitality points. It was a very welcomed boost to reduce the gap between his Vitality and Demonic Energy.

After checking his runes, Dante ate the last meal he'd have in this town before walking out the Mercenary Guild.

'I had read many books, completed several quests, rested long enough, and now Elizabeth is getting close to her kingdom… I have to leave now.'

There was a trade convoy, similar to the one that Elizabeth took, heading to a nearby town called Silverwood.

'I'll never understand the naming sense of those people.'

Dante was planning to go there in that convoy. It was faster and safer than going in a carriage. But the most important part…

'I won't pay a single coin!'

Why would he pay anything? He was just a mercenary that accepted a quest from one of those merchants. He had to only protect them and ensure that no one would cause problems.

'Free travel, free food and water, and two mana crystals as my payment. Is there anything better than this?'

Dante walked for some time. Finally, the gathering area of the convoy appeared in his sight.

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