Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

Caelus rushed forward immediately, Sylvia right beside him as they reached the chained woman.

"Get these off her!" Caelus ordered.

Marcus hurried over and began working on the restraints, his hands trembling as he processed what they had found.

"I had no idea," he said with horror. "I swear I knew nothing about this."

The chains fell away one by one, and Seraphin collapsed forward into Caelus’s arms.

She was impossibly light, her body weakened from prolonged captivity and abuse.

"I missed you guys..." Seraphin managed to smile weakly despite her condition.

Sylvia’s expression shifted between relief and fury.

"How did you end up here?"

But she didn’t reply.

Well, she couldn’t.

They carried Seraphin out of the dungeon and into a safer area where Church medics immediately began treating her wounds.

Once she had recovered enough strength to speak, Seraphin explained everything.

"After leaving the Abyss, I woke up somewhere in Italy," she spoke slowly. "I didn’t know where I was or how to contact anyone."

"A few days later, a mysterious man approached me. He said he could help me find my way home."

Her hands clenched into fists.

"That’s the last thing I remember before waking up in that cell. Every day after that, they extracted my blood and beat me. I lost track of time completely."

Caelus’s expression turned ice cold.

"Who did this to you?" His voice carried deadly intent. "Give me a name."

Seraphin shook her head helplessly.

"I never saw his face. He always wore a mask whenever he visited, and his voice was distorted beyond recognition."

Frustration flickered across Caelus’s features.

"Did he say anything that might identify him? Any details at all?"

"He mentioned something about my blood being special," Seraphin recalled. "Something about the Abyss changing me in ways I didn’t understand."

Sylvia’s eyes narrowed at those words.

"It’s related to the Abyss?"

But they couldn’t continue the topic anymore.

Marcus approached with a deeply apologetic expression.

"I failed in my duties as one of the Commanders of the Church. I should have known about this dungeon and its contents."

Caelus studied the man carefully before nodding slowly.

"This wasn’t your fault. Whoever did this operated in complete secrecy."

He turned back to Seraphin.

"You’re safe now. We’ll make sure no one touches you again."

Seraphin nodded with slightly trembling hands.

"Thank you... both of you. When I was in that cell, I kept hoping someone would find me."

Sylvia reached out and gently squeezed her hand.

"We found you. That’s what matters now."

After ensuring Seraphin was properly cared for, Caelus stepped away from the group as he let Freya and Seraphin talk for the first time.

It was evident that Freya was also immensely angry and also wanted to talk with her.

That aside, there was something he needed to do.

He found a secluded area within the place they were in, a courtyard surrounded by walls that blocked out most distractions.

The battle against the demon leader had revealed serious weaknesses in his abilities.

His Ender powers kept awakening at unpredictable moments, and he needed to gain proper control over them and use it to upgrade and unlock more of his Ender powers.

There was his Origin Lock and Origin Reflection as well.

More importantly, he needed to master the Armor Mode of his Half Dragon Transformation without suffering the cellular damage he had experienced before.

He closed his eyes and focused inward.

The Chaos Dragon Body hummed within him, a constant presence that had become as familiar as breathing.

That was his base form.

But the Half Dragon Transformation was different, it was far more difficult to control.

He activated it slowly, allowing black scales to spread across his forearms first.

The sensation was immediate, raw power flooding his muscles as draconic strength merged with his human form.

But he didn’t push further.

Instead, he held the partial transformation steady, feeling how his cells reacted to the foreign energy.

They strained under the pressure, exactly as he expected.

The key was learning to distribute that pressure evenly rather than letting it concentrate in specific areas, and then use Aura to keep it intact.

He had to do this if he wanted to fully control the Half Dragon Transformation.

If he couldn’t control the dragon power while inside his human form, then he simply wouldn’t be able to reach True Dragon Transformation at this rate.

The end goal was simple.

Unleash the Half Dragon Transformation, continue staying in human form, and learn to control the dragon transformation without needing to fully transform.

Meaning, the triple stats and the combat score even when he was just in human form.

He realized that this was the most efficient way to train it after achieving the partial transformation during his fight with the demon leader.

He adjusted his internal energy flow, redirecting the draconic power through different pathways within his body.

The strain lessened slightly, much to his surprise.

"Oh, it worked?" Caelus was taken aback by this.

But he didn’t lose focus.

He pushed the transformation further, scales spreading up his shoulders and across his chest.

The circuit-like blue patterns appeared along the edges of each scale, pulsing with contained power.

His cells protested more strongly this time, microscopic fractures beginning to form.

But he had anticipated this.

Instead of fighting the transformation, he allowed his Ascended Body to work alongside it and swiftly called Freya to come and heal him.

A delicate balance emerged, transformation causing damage while regeneration repaired it.

How did a human build endurance? It was by repeating the same set of actions, essentially adapting to it. He just needed to continue exposing himself to this fracture, and with the help of healing and Chaos Axiom Energy running through his body, he should eventually show progress with his cells adapting.

Hours passed as he practiced.

Each attempt refined his control slightly, teaching him exactly how much draconic power his body could safely contain.

He experimented with different configurations, discovering that certain scale patterns were more efficient than others.

Full coverage wasn’t necessary, strategic placement provided nearly the same combat benefits with significantly less strain.

The tail was optional, useful for balance during aerial combat but not critical otherwise.

By the time he finished his basic mastery, he could maintain the Armor Mode for extended periods without suffering permanent damage.

[Half Dragon Transformation duration has increased.]

[Duration: 2 minutes -> 5 minutes]

[Cooldown: 4 days -> 3 days]

But he wasn’t done yet.

The Ender of Origin slumbered within him, awakening only during moments of extreme emotion.

He needed to understand that power well.

Caelus sat in meditation and reached deep within himself, searching for the source of his Ender abilities.

What he found was vast and terrifying.

An ocean of power existed within his soul, far beyond anything he had consciously accessed.

The Ender’s Will, the Origin Sever evolution, the Ender passives, all of these were merely droplets from that boundless reservoir.

But accessing that power directly was dangerous.

During his fight with the demon leader, the Ender had awakened in response to the demon’s threats and the former Ender of Origin’s hatred for them.

The power had responded to his emotions rather than his conscious control.

He needed to change that.

Carefully, he extended his will toward the ocean of Ender of Origin energy.

The moment he touched it, overwhelming pressure crashed against his consciousness.

Visions flooded his mind.

Countless worlds and beings of unimaginable power clashing across the cosmos.

He saw fragmented figures destroying worlds with casual gestures.

He then saw the First Ender of Origin, a dragonoid shrouded in golden-black light whose presence made the world itself tremble.

Then he saw himself.

A small spark in that vast ocean, barely beginning to understand what he truly was.

The vision faded, leaving him gasping for breath.

His Ender powers weren’t random awakenings, they were responses to specific triggers.

Threats against Sylvia, threats against his friends, moments where normal power simply wasn’t enough.

The Ender within him was a guardian, protecting what mattered most by providing strength when needed.

But he could do more than wait for emergencies.

He could learn to call upon that strength deliberately.

Caelus spent another hour attempting exactly that.

Each attempt taught him something new about the connection between his emotions and his Ender powers.

It wasn’t perfect, full control would take a lot of time.

But it was enough for now.

Just as he finished his final exercise, a system notification appeared.