Ize had always maintained a “powerful yet vague” understanding of his true strength, especially regarding the upper limit of his defense.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to figure it out, but rather that he lacked a safe and effective means of testing it.
The primary issue lay in his methods of attack.
He lacked efficient single-target offensive magic. Those “chipping-style” spells were fine for clearing out minor mobs or testing attack frequency, but using them to test the limits of his own defense was like using a water gun to blast a steel plate—completely pointless.
He couldn’t exactly fight himself.
So, what about looking for outside help?
Seeking out his teacher, the 8th-circle Archmage Claire, was undoubtedly the best option.
She could precisely control the power of her magic, testing him step-by-step from low to high until he touched his defense limit.
But that thought was ruthlessly extinguished by Ize as soon as it emerged.
Given Claire’s flamboyant and competitive nature, once she discovered her student possessed such inconceivable physical defense, she would probably go around bragging about it the next day—”Let me tell you, my student Ize is incredible. Without wearing any magic gear or using magic, he can tank my high-tier spells with his bare body!”
At that point, his dream of “laying low” would completely vanish into thin air.
As for seeking out monsters to test against, before encountering this Lord-class Goblin, he had only dared to “cautiously” attempt taking hits from some D-rank and C-rank elite monsters.
The reasons were simple: first, he was afraid of dying. Monsters didn’t understand the concept of holding back. If a monster just so happened to possess some kind of special attack that ignored defense, or if its power far exceeded his estimates, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Second was environmental restrictions. Lord-class (B-rank) monsters or higher within the borders of the Olai Empire were rare and mostly strictly monitored or exterminated.
If he rashly ventured into unknown monster zones outside the Empire’s territory to find stronger monsters for testing, the risk factor would increase exponentially—if he truly ran into something that could break his defense, given his lack of decisive offensive means, wouldn’t he be seeking his own death?
Therefore, for a long time, Ize’s understanding of his own defense had conservatively remained at the level of “safely handling elite-rank monsters or 4th-circle magic.”
Anything beyond that was a mist of the unknown.
Until today, at the east gate of Casipe Village, when that Lord-class Goblin leader’s bone staff, carrying terrifying corrosive energy and physical impact, slammed squarely into his back.
In that instant, the impact Ize felt was far beyond anything he had encountered from elite-rank monsters in the past, yet the result remained the same—uninjured. He didn’t even feel a hint of pain.
This accidental “test” was like lighting a lamp in the mist, giving him a clearer understanding of his lower defensive limit:
At the very least, ordinary Lord-class (B-rank) hybrid physical-magic attacks could not pose a threat to him.
And now, this Lord-class Goblin—trapped in the cave and possessing decent intelligence—undoubtedly became an excellent, controlled subject for follow-up testing.
It was strong enough to provide data beyond his previous understanding;
And yet it was “weak” enough to be completely under his control, avoiding the risk of the test spiraling out of hand.
Seeing Ize’s “kindly” smile and the “game rules” he proposed, a flicker of the will to survive suddenly ignited in the desperate Goblin leader’s eyes.
If it could wound him even a little, it would live!
It stared intently at Ize’s seemingly defenseless chest. Its intelligence allowed it to make a judgment in an instant.
This human might have extremely high magic resistance, but pure physical piercing attacks might not be ineffective!
As a savage monster species, its physical attacks were no less powerful than its magical ones.
It let out a low growl, gripping the bone staff embedded with a murky gemstone with both hands. The power within its body began to accumulate, reaching its peak.
The Goblin leader let out a sharp screech, pouring all its strength into its arms, and with the force of a thunderbolt, it lunged and stabbed at Ize’s heart!
“Thud—Boom!”
First came a muffled sound of impact, followed immediately by an ear-piercing explosion of shattering bone!
The scene of flying flesh and blood that it had anticipated did not occur.
The bone staff, which concentrated all the Goblin leader’s strength and hope, could not withstand the terrifying reaction force at the moment it touched Ize’s chest. It shattered inch by inch, and the flying shards even cut the Goblin’s own arms.
As for Ize, his body only swayed slightly. He didn’t even take half a step back.
He looked down at the spot where he had been hit. His clothes did indeed have a hole in them, but the skin underneath was as smooth as ever, without even the slightest red mark. The attack hitting him just now felt like being pushed hard by a slightly strong ordinary person.
“…” Ize felt for a moment in silence, confirming there wasn’t even a hint of soreness, and couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. He looked up at the dumbfounded Goblin leader, whose fire of hope had been completely extinguished, leaving only boundless fear and despair. He asked seriously, “Are you sure you used your full strength just now?”
The Goblin leader looked as if it had heard the most absurd question in the world. It pointed at itself, then at the pile of bone staff shards on the ground, making a raspy sound in its throat. Its expression was distorted, seemingly using its last bit of energy to protest: “Was that not full strength? Why don’t you look for yourself?”
Ize watched its reaction, stroked his chin, and muttered to himself, “Hmm, it seems that was indeed your full strength. Data collection complete: the limit physical piercing attack of a B-rank Lord-class Goblin cannot break defense and causes no obvious pain. Thank you for your cooperation.”
His tone was as calm as if he were recording an experimental report.
Then, he no longer hesitated and casually swung his right fist forward. There was no flashy battle aura, no complex moves, just the purest strength brought by his [Constitution] attribute, which had been stacked to an absurd degree by the system.
“Pfft!”
With a light sound, his fist easily pierced through the Goblin leader’s tough hide and muscle, emerging from its back.
The Goblin leader’s body stiffened abruptly, the light in its eyes faded rapidly, and it finally collapsed limply to the ground.
“The power of physical attacks is also quite good.” Ize shook his hand, expressing satisfaction with the destructive power of his fist.
Though he didn’t know martial arts, this brute strength was more than enough for clearing trash mobs or dealing with enemies that couldn’t break his defense.
After the Goblin leader died, its body actually began to slowly dissipate, eventually leaving behind a palm-sized, dark-colored scale with irregular edges. It was an entire size larger than the fragment he had seen with Rhea earlier. WIP Established Year TA, h: 3X81013.4k1
A faint energy fluctuation flowed over the scale, sharing the same source as the previous one, but with a significantly stronger aura.
“Just as I thought.” Ize bent down to pick up the scale. “It seems the root of the Goblins’ mutation and the birth of this Lord-class individual lies in this thing.”
Just then, the system’s notification sounded in his mind right on cue:
[Detected host in contact with key item: Igneel’s Scale (Fragment).]
“Oh? You have an appraisal function too, System?” Ize was a bit surprised.
[Response to Host: Basic information assistance is provided only when in contact with key items or characters from the original plot of “Era”.]
“What is this thing used for specifically?” Ize pressed further.
[Consistent with Host’s speculation, the Dragon Race power contained in this scale can catalyze monster evolution, enhancing their strength and intelligence.]
“What about for humans? Can it enhance my strength?” Ize immediately thought of himself.
[It can. If the Host does not mind the high probability of monsterization, mental erosion, and physical collapse, you may attempt to absorb it.]
“Uh… then never mind.” Ize decisively dropped that dangerous thought.
He didn’t want to turn into a half-human, half-monster freak.
However, as a rare material, the value of this dragon scale was still extremely high. “It is a dragon scale, after all. The texture is hard, and the magic conductivity seems good. Maybe it can be used to forge some special magic tools in the future.”
He carefully put away the larger dragon scale, then turned around, preparing to leave the cave filled with the smell of blood and char. Then, he froze.
Looking at the rocky barrier behind him—which he had blocked solidly with over a hundred layers of [Earthen Rock Wall], reaching a thickness of over ten meters—a hint of embarrassment appeared on Ize’s face for the first time.
“Uh… it seems I’ve sealed off my own way out…”
He didn’t know any high-destruction magic, nor had he learned any high-tier spatial magic for teleportation.
Though his [Constitution] was high, he didn’t know martial arts either. Relying purely on brute strength to blast through this reinforced, thick rock wall would be dreadfully inefficient.
Ize sighed helplessly. He could only roll up his sleeves, walk to the rock wall, and begin the most primitive “demolition” work—smashing through it fist by fist.
Relying on his terrifying constitution and strength, the rocks continuously crumbled under his fists, but progress was slow.
He was like a human excavator, forcibly carving a tunnel through the heavy rock wall.
“Next time… I must remember to leave a back door…” Ize reflected deeply while swinging his fists.
When he finally broke through the last rock wall and breathed the cool, damp forest air again, he didn’t dare delay. He immediately put on his [Misty Shadow Cloak], silently sneaked back to Casipe Village, and slipped into the room where he was temporarily staying.
By now, it wasn’t far from the scheduled departure time for the party.
Even though his ultra-high [Constitution] and [Mental Power] meant that going several days without sleep would have no impact, the sleeping habits he had formed in his previous life were deep-rooted. He always felt like something was missing if he didn’t lie down for a while.
Ize quickly took off his outer coat, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes, preparing to squeeze in a short nap.
However, less than three seconds after he lay down, an extremely unsettling feeling made the hair on his body stand on end!
He snapped his eyes open and turned his head—only to meet a pair of beautiful eyes that were clear even in the darkness, filled with complex emotions and a shimmer of tears.
The face of the owner of those beautiful eyes was currently less than a foot away from him.
Shocked, Ize sprang directly from the bed, stumbling back to the wall. His voice even carried an uncontrollable tremble: “Rhea?! What… what are you doing sleeping in my bed in the middle of the night?!”
Due to the extreme shock, he even forgot to use honorifics.
This was the second night in a row! Did this genius of Liyue Academy and heir to the Arseid family have some kind of strange hobby?
Rhea sat up as well. Under the moonlight filtering through the window, her face could be seen covered in an unnatural flush. Her breathing was slightly labored, and her hands tightly gripped the sheets beneath her, her knuckles white from the force.
She seemed to be trying her best to endure something. Her eyes held a mixture of shame, anger, embarrassment, and a hint of a plea that was hard to voice.
Avoiding Ize’s shocked gaze, her voice was much lower and raspier than usual, carrying obvious suppression and awkwardness: “That… the sedative you gave me last night… do you have any more?”
She took a deep breath, as if it took all her courage to say the next part:
“I… I feel like… I’m about to lose control again…”
Ize: “…”
He looked at Rhea, whose current appearance was the complete opposite of her usual cold and stern image, and then thought of the favorability value on the system interface that had once again broken the 90 mark and was still slightly fluctuating.
Alright, he probably understood why Rhea had “night raided” again and climbed into his bed.
The side effects of that “Obedience Potion” were starting to make a comeback after the effects of the sedative had gradually worn off.
And it seemed that he, the “culprit” and the “trigger” for the potion’s effect, had become the only person her subconscious could seek help from.
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