Yet leveling up was the least noteworthy gain from his journey to the Elemental Plane of Fire.
Even if the red dragon had not slain those genies, the experience provided by the players would have been enough for him to advance within half a year; it was merely a matter of course.
His greatest harvest from the trip was devouring the quasi-divine elemental power within Ismail.
According to Cassius's conjectures, this had originally been raw material prepared by the Grand Sultan of the Efreet for his own ascension to godhood, only to be stumbled upon and "enjoyed" ahead of time by Cassius.
Becoming a god: an ambitious yet common goal.
Such matters were not uncommon among the evil-aligned factions of Elezerg.
For instance, the ruler of the githyanki in the Astral Plane, the mighty lich Vlaakith CLVII, consumed the power and souls of high-ranking githyanki, using them as material components for Wish spells in her pursuit of godhood.
Most githyanki above the rank of centurion had their souls drained, leaving behind only husks that obeyed Vlaakith's commands.
In comparison, the Grand Sultan of the Efreet—who had only cultivated six fiercely loyal, direct servants as materials—could practically be considered a "benevolent master."
Although this was only one of the six portions of power, it was the culmination of thousands of years of painstaking cultivation by the Grand Sultan, holding authority far beyond Cassius's expectations.
Had it not been for the uprising led by the Prince of Sacred Fire, that Grand Sultan would have surely descended in his true body to wage a fight to the death.
Cassius understood why the Grand Sultan had been so enraged, nearly losing all sanity.
Over a month had passed since Cassius returned from the Elemental Plane of Fire, yet that power still churned within his belly, not yet fully digested.
It was a strange sensation, as if an efreeti noble were wailing, roaring, and resisting the red dragon's conversion from deep within his stomach.
Unfortunately, the progenitor dragon's body also possessed an exceptionally high nature; it imprisoned that power securely within, rendering any struggle or resistance futile.
"Quasi-divine power..."
"Tsk, tsk. It's almost like it has a mind of its own."
Accompanied by a sizzling hiss, the last vestige of the efreeti's spirit was absorbed by the progenitor dragon's terrifying magical digestive power.
That crimson energy flooded through the red dragon's body, returning through his fundus vessels to his heart, before being pumped across his entire form by that powerful organ.
From heart to neck, head, forelimbs, wing-claws, hind legs, all the way to the tip of his tail.
"Roaaar—"
The red dragon could not resist throwing back his head and roaring toward the heavens.
In response to his roar, streaks of flaming meteors rained down from the sky, while a colossal Fire Storm whipped up across the ground.
Once fully unleashed, these spells would bring catastrophic devastation to all living things, but Cassius would not permit that to happen.
"Flames, obey my command..."
"Halt."
With just a low murmur from Cassius, the violent, surging flames obeyed like docile sheep and dissipated entirely.
Such was the power of authority.
As an Inner Plane constituting worldly existence, the Elemental Plane of Fire was the primordial source, ultimate destination, and essence of virtually all flames, and elemental nobles were wielders of that authority. This power could not only be wielded on the Elemental Plane of Fire, but extended even further to manipulating fire on the Material Plane.
After all, the elemental lord who truly ruled the Elemental Plane of Fire—Kossuth, the Lord of Flames, the Undying Fire—was a deity of greater divine power.
Crimson flames burned within Cassius's pale gold vertical pupils, and raging tongues of fire enveloped his head.
[You have completely digested a portion of elemental quasi-divine power.]
[Having grasped the authority of the elements and comprehended the natural forces of the cosmos, you have unlocked a new class path—Elemental Master.]
[To qualify to become an Elemental Master, a dragon must fulfill all the following criteria.]
Race: Any true dragon.
Feats: Any three metabreath feats.
Spells: Able to cast arcane spells.
Special: Elemental Attunement: The dragon must have an elemental or energy subtype, such as air, cold, earth, electricity, fire, or water.
Breath Weapon: The dragon must have a breath weapon that deals energy damage.
[You meet all requirements. Do you wish to advance to Elemental Master?]
"A new prestige class..."
"Elemental Master."
Cassius's eyes lit up. He truly had not expected such an unexpected boon after digesting the efreeti's power.
This was a renowned draconic prestige class in his past life. Around Silvermoon Bay, there was a sea drake that commanded the water element, capable of summoning terrifying tidal waves and whirlpools like the master of the Western Sea.
That sea drake had slaughtered players trying to complete the Naga Kingdom side quest until they cried in misery, leaving swollen corpses floating across the surface of the sea.
Cassius continued browsing the information on the panel, deepening his understanding of the class.
ELEMENTAL MASTER
Dragons are creatures of primal elemental force. Two potent powers riot within their veins: the energy that fuels their breath weapons, and the elemental essence that forms the core of their being. The elemental master strives to achieve a perfect, pure attunement with both forces.
Virtually all elemental masters are true dragons, for the class requires a connection to elemental and energy forces. Some dragons have a few levels in other classes, typically wizard or sorcerer, before taking this prestige class, but many do not.
Elemental masters are among the most solitary and reclusive of dragons, devoting their lives to communing with the primal forces of the cosmos rather than interacting with creatures they view as lesser life forms.
When they do cooperate with other beings, they choose elementals and outsiders from the Elemental Planes as their allies, and occasionally younger dragons of their own kind.
"A draconic prestige version of an elemental savant, is it..."
Rubbing his chin, Cassius gave it a brief thought and made his choice.
Free class levels—taking them was a no-brainer!
Moreover, he now possessed a portion of elemental quasi-divine power. While becoming an Elemental Master might pose a risk of energy instability or bodily explosion to an ordinary dragon, for Cassius it was purely natural.
[You have chosen to advance to Elemental Master.]
[The efreeti pasha's spirit you devoured has granted you a vast amount of Elemental Master class-exclusive experience. Your Elemental Master level increases to 4.]
Thus, three different classes appeared on Cassius's character sheet:
Sorcerer 16 / Elemental Master 4 / Bloodscaled Fury 3.
Among players in his past life, this was practically unheard of. Only one meme-loving troll had leveled four different classes to Level 1, but could advance no further—meme builds came at a cost, and spreading across classes meant diluting power.
Yet for Cassius, this wasn't an issue at all—his other two classes had been given to him practically for free.
"Good grief, a Factotum, are we?"
Cassius puffed out a plume of sulfurous white smoke, unable to resist a quip.
Maybe he should find a chance in the future to collect every draconic class legacy?
The notifications on the panel continued to update.
[Your Elemental Master level has increased to: 1]
[You have gained the special abilities: Element Mastery, Energy Attunement.]
Element Mastery: The elemental master gains additional attunement with the element type corresponding to its subtype.
As a dragon with the fire subtype (including red, gold, and brass dragons, as well as hellfire wyverns), the dragon gains Fire Mastery: if both the dragon and its foe touch fire or use items or spells with flaming or flaming burst special abilities, the dragon exerts formidable mastery over them.
Energy Attunement: The elemental master attunes itself to the energy type that fuels its breath weapon.
A dragon with multiple energy breath weapons can choose one energy type from acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic to attune to, entering an "elemental mastery" state that enhances its control over its breath.
"Both are just ways to boost energy output, merely the icing on the cake for me."
"Still... free class levels are free class levels. Why turn them down?"
Cassius opened his jaws and breathed out a slender wisp of flame, controlling it to weave through the air like silk threads into various patterns, sparks of fire leaping across his entire body.
Such was the effect of Energy Attunement, granting a dragon an uncanny degree of control over its breath.
Furthermore, as a red dragon equipped with items such as the Eye of the Storm Sovereign and the Horn of Everfrost, Cassius possessed no small comprehension of lightning and frost. He could even unleash Lightning Breath and was already capable of attuning to lightning energy.
His eyes flashed as lightning, frost, and fire took turns flickering within his breath.
The notifications continued to scroll.
[Your Elemental Master level has increased to: 2. You have gained the special abilities: Energy Substitution, Summon Elemental.]
Energy Substitution: An elemental master gains the ability to alter its spells with energy descriptors, allowing them to use the energy to which the dragon is attuned instead.
The substituted spell functions normally in all respects except for the type of damage dealt.
Summon Elemental: Beginning at 2nd level, once per day, an elemental master can use its breath weapon to summon a Medium elemental corresponding to its elemental subtype. The dragon breathes as normal, but the elemental appears following the breath.
If the dragon chooses, it can instead summon an adult arrowhawk (air or cold), an average salamander (fire), an adult tojanida (water), or an average thoqqua (earth).
Energy Substitution was a fascinating ability.
Cassius cast a Witch Bolt crackling with lightning energy, then immediately triggered Energy Substitution.
Instantly, the arc of lightning transformed into a chain of fire, blazing furiously and scorching the stone black.
This was the substitution of energy, allowing the same spell to be manifested in different energy forms, keeping enemies guessing.
As for Summon Elemental, that went without saying—just a freebie summon, of little use to Cassius.
Whenever he wished, he could use the Candle of Invocation negotiated from the Grand Sultan to summon an efreeti noble capable of granting wishes.
It was said that efreeti nobles dreaded the assignment of granting wishes for the Cinder Empire, terrified their bad luck would see their name drawn, yet none dared refuse.
After all, the ferocious title of "Genie-Devouring Dragon" was not an empty boast; it had been built on the lives of hundreds of efreeti citizens, two Emirs, and a Pasha.
[Your Elemental Master level has increased to: 4. You have gained the special abilities: Energy Focus, Energy Burst.]
Energy Focus: An elemental master's study of a specific elemental energy reaches profound depths, granting its breath weapon unimaginable potency.
Energy Burst: An elemental master can resonate with elements in the surrounding environment, creating a damaging burst of energy centered on itself.
"Looks like these are the real highlights."
Cassius narrowed his eyes, white steam venting from his nostrils.
He felt an explosive power surge through his body, flooding every inch of his fundus vessels like latent elemental bombs.
The previous Elemental Master traits might have been powerful for players or ordinary dragons, but to Cassius they were rather marginal.
Now, however, Energy Focus and Energy Burst were truly formidable abilities for the red dragon.
Fiery Dimension Door.
Tearing through space, the red dragon departed the outskirts of Northwind Keep and emerged directly at the Great Khalkha Glacier in the northernmost reaches of Anzeta.
The cold wind howled, biting and bitter, as mountains of ice reflected glaring sunlight.
This had once been the settlement of the Everfrost clan. But the frost giants, who had lived here for nearly ten thousand years, had been exterminated by the red dragon. Their legacy had been stripped clean, and the surviving clansmen had been reduced to the empire's sweatshop slaves.
Within the ice caverns, rotting bone clubs and tattered hides remained—perhaps the final traces that frost giants had ever lived here.
Of course, the shattered glaciers, collapsed ice mountains, and scarred snowfields also bore witness to that earth-shattering war, though most had since been buried beneath fresh snow.
"The Battle of the Glacier's Fall."
"Has it really been six years already...?"
Gazing upon the ruins of the battlefield, Cassius felt a wave of wistful emotion.
Six years was nothing more than an afternoon nap to an ordinary dragon, but he had experienced so much.
Boom!
In the distance, an enormous, worm-like creature burst violently from the ice, swallowing a tundra yak that stood atop it.
Having lost the frost giants' domestication, and with the empire paying no heed to governing this bitter-cold waste, remorhazes had become the most terrifying predators here—unless players took up the Tundra Hunt quests.
Watching the crater in the ice left by the remorhaz, Cassius murmured:
"Then let me test out... these new abilities of the Elemental Master."
The red dragon effortlessly climbed to the crest of the great glacier, spreading his broad wings and slightly parting his jaws.
Energy Attunement.
Flames of radiant energy danced across his massive draconic form, warping the surrounding air with blistering heat until a scorching center emerged in this frigid polar expanse.
The snow melted; the glacier thawed.
The light radiating from the red dragon grew ever more dazzling. He seemed to merge into one with the surrounding fire element, causing every snowfield and glacier to reflect a blinding glare as the entire world fell dead silent.
Then, an even more blistering flash of fire suddenly erupted, swallowing everything around him.
Boom!
Energy Burst.
The glacier sublimated in an instant. The cracked ice mountains collapsed with a thunderous roar, and the deep blanket of snow on the ground turned into scalding water.
Steam—scalding white steam drifted across the wild, expanding unchecked until it engulfed everything for ten li around.
When the mist finally cleared, the red dragon hovered high in the air, his wings beating slowly. Where he had stood, there was no longer a glacier or a snowfield, but only a massive crater nearly a hundred meters wide, its water still bubbling and boiling.
"Now that's an explosion..."
Cassius grinned, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth and a satisfied smirk as he surveyed the devastated Great Khalkha Glacier.
The destructive power was just about what he had estimated.
Chapter 468