Draco came down upon the earth with all his energy concentrated into his fist. This was the activation procedure for the Magnitude skill, but it could be done in various other ways like stomping, bashing, slamming, etc, but Draco simply chose the flashiest way.
When the monsters of the animal farm saw him crash into the earth, for a split second their minds froze and their hearts shook. This was something they had never seen and could not comprehend.
When Draco connected with the earth, the land shook like someone had thrown it onto a roller coaster. All the beings within range of the skill screamed and panicked greatly.
Being in an earthquake was horrifying in and of itself but Draco's magnitude was a concentrated tremor, not one that was spread over a large area like a natural earthquake.
Or to clarify it, the range of the skill could be considered the epicenter. Everything within was thrown and tossed about haphazardly, suffering intense tremor damage.
The exact number wasn't specified. It depended on the situation, location, and method of execution of the skill. In this case, Draco focused on the monsters within the Area Zone.
Of course by doing so, it was inevitable that some farm animals would be included. They panicked and scuttled about in fear due to the power skill, but were still unable to leave their pens due to the intense fortification, even with their high Ranks.
However, none of these farm animals suffered even an 8% loss of HP, and that was even for the Rank 3 ones. As for the Rank 4 and above only -1 damage was dealt.
After the tremor damage came the disintegration damage. This manifested itself when the earthquake receded. A small canyon was opened up in a straight line from where Draco punched the earth to the center of the Area Zone, where the boss resided.
Many of the monsters scrabbled at the edges of the canyon, trying to guarantee their safety. The canyon had popped out suddenly, and more than 70% of the monsters had already fallen in, being cooked alive by the hellish lava within.
The rest were trying their hardest not to fall within. As for the farm animals, they were safe. Draco's attack was not even able to penetrate the area around the various pens, coops, and styes.
So the Area Zone ended up looking like a ravaged region with small islands floating here and there, which represented the sphere around the pens and whatnot.
Listening to the monsters scream and squeal in agony as they were cooked alive made Qiong Qi and Clarent blanch. Such brutality was not new to them, but the intensity of it was a bit much.
Draco was saddened by the fact that he didn't have his Devil Form to harvest all of this, but he used his bloodline to absorb what he could, only that it had a much, much weaker effect.
Surprised? One should not be. Just because he got the Abyssal Prime class didn't mean that his bloodline itself had run away. He still had his bloodline energy and his various techniques, only that they paled in comparison to the efficiency of his class.
Was the acquisition of his class solely based on the General Aspect? Impossible. The General Aspect was only a trigger for its presence.
The Abyssal Prime class was something that never existed in the system, how could the AI derive such abilities based on a mere General Aspect that only lasted 3 milliseconds?
The true source was back when Draco and Eva paid the AI a visit. Draco's bloodline source was already with the AI and Eva gave some of hers back then, so they unlocked this privilege.
So, if Local Lord were to activate his General Aspect, he would be wasting time and energy. He would need to present his bloodline source to the AI for analysis first.
So to clarify, the creation of the Abyssal Prime class was essentially what Draco had hoped for when he and Eva gave their bloodline sources. The AI had done a preliminary analysis and designed some skills and means for them to use based on their bloodlines.
What does this mean? To a normal player in this timeline, not much. After all, Boundless had many attractive values for them, but the main one which would show itself when the pods launched was not yet present.
But how could Draco and Eva not know? That the number 1 benefit Boundless gave was not extended life, the ability to gain power and live out various fantasies or make money… it was the Retention Effect!
What was the Retention Effect? Well, it was pretty simple. It was the ability for a person to retain their cultivated skills and techniques, combat prowess, and whatnot in the real world.
One player once asked a prudent question: 'Why do skills only have percentile effects? Why not add to the base damage value, instead of being a mere percentage of it?'.
The answer was quite simple. It was because players could not control such power at their level. A skill was system-assisted, but the player would certainly feel its very essence.
Or one could picture it like the Personal Workstation. Whenever Draco learned a new design, wouldn't he enter the body of the design's creator and follow their actions perfectly?
Then after he came out, wouldn't he be able to create the device perfectly? Of course, he had Control so he could easily replicate the actions the first time, while others might need more than one try.
The Retention Effect was like this, but much weaker. By continually using a skill, one could eventually turn it into a technique. So if someone were to learn Draco's Sword Skills in a skillbook form and use them often, they might one day find themselves able to mimic the actions of the skill without having to activate it.
If player's skills could deal normal damage like in other games, they would grow too fast without being able to grasp anything. By making it percentile, it forced them to use the same skills over, and over, and over again.
At a point, these skills would become muscle memory to players, and they would be able to use them on their own, turning into techniques!
Why else would EVERYONE in the goddamn world play this dangerous game? It was basically free training to become a powerful fighter without risking one's life.
Why else would Draco and Eva still play Boundless after learning about bloodlines, Gerdo Galaxy, and the various hidden entities in the world?
However, this was tangential to the current scenario. Currently, Draco was rushing towards the center of the Area Zone. His movement speed was now above even what the Herald's Cloak gave him.
Though, what shocked and pleased him was that he was perfectly able to control this speed. He tore through the side of the canyon, kicking whatever monsters that scrabbled at the edge down into its abyss.
They howled in fear and hate, but all of that evaporated when they entered the boiling mass. They splashed and sploshed, taking obscene amounts of damage per second in the lava.
Draco eventually reached the center and laid his scarlet eyes upon the monster that guarded this zone. It had also been shaken by the tremor aspect of Magnitude, but the damage had been limited.
After all, what stood before Draco, with anger and hate in its eyes as it gazed upon him, was a large Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its eyes focused on Draco and it roared, its own movement shaking the earth.
｢Name: Rexxy – Captain Rank monster
Level: 94
HP: 5,950,000/6,400,000｣
Despite this majestic monster standing before him, Draco was not bothered. A monster like this was perfect for his Demon Form and he wasted no time leaping towards it with his fists outstretched.
Rexxy also rushed to meet Draco's charge, showing no fear in its eyes. To dare intrude on this farm that was under its protection, Draco must be slaughtered and chewed to pieces, then shat out to alleviate his crimes.
Draco sneered and activated a skill perfect for this scenario.
Pulverize!
His fist connected with the head of Rexxy who thought to use its hard skull to knock him back before chomping him to bits. However, when that unbridled force that was boosted by 1,000% connected, it screamed and was blasted backward.
-2,300,000!
Rexxy flew back and drew a deep gorge in the ground before its momentum was dispelled. As for Draco, he landed on the ground with a loud thump, then rushed at Rexxy.
He didn't have the luxury of time to admire his damage or the aftermath. He used his Supreme Speed to close the distance with Reexy and jumped atop its large body.
It weakly tried to resist, but half of its skull was blown open and brain matter was leaking out slowly. It was forced into a <Shocked> state and could not even sense much of what happened around it.
As for Draco, he certainly wouldn't play with his food. He directly activated another awesome skill he possessed that was practically designed for killing strong bosses.
Decimate!
Draco's fist glowed in a red-gold color for a split second before he brought it down on Rexxy's body. Despite its high defense thanks to the Rank Suppression and its tough skin, the damage dealt was not small.
What made things worse was that Decimate wasn't a one time skill. It allowed Draco to punch endlessly, dealing 150% damage with each attack.
With 500 points in Strength, the Supreme Strength passive skill, Demonic Might and the skills own boost, each of his punches shaved away more than 500,000 HP.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
With every hit, Rexxy's whole body shook and shivered. It was truly a mind-numbing sight to see such a small body going to town on such a large one, yet the force of it was far beyond what Rexxy itself could produce.
The sound of it and the sight of it shook any and all onlookers, up until Rexxy breathed its last and died with endless regrets. Just like Viney, it died before it could even display any tricks or skills.
Why… why did it seem like it was rather the challenger and Draco was the boss?
Draco absorbed the blood on his body and activated Demon Minions. Around him spawned the Four Hors.e.m.e.n of the Apocalypse and every demon that was feared in hell.
Baphomet, Abaddon, Archon, Baal, Dagon, Ifrit and more demonic archetypes appeared. Just when these evil and murderous demons wanted to slaughter all living things, Draco pointed to the loot of the various dead monsters.
After sending these unruly fellows that would make anyone else wet their pants on a laborious job, he then counted down the remaining time for his transformation.
After 10 seconds, everything elapsed. Since more than 50% of the various monsters were already dead, the Demon Minions only collected their loot before disappearing.
Draco reverted back to his normal form and sighed with regret. If only those mangy curs had quickly died so that their loot would be collected once and for all, his precious time could have been saved.
Thinking like that, Draco walked to the edge of the canyon and gazed down into it. Many monsters still struggled within it, trying to climb the sides. Those with strong claws had already left the lava, climbing the wall slowly but surely.
When they saw Draco, they roared and displayed endless hate. They couldn't wait till they climbed up there and ripped him to shreds, then used his bones as a latrine.
Draco smiled wickedly, and the monster's hearts could not help but tremble. The next moment, they all screamed in fear as the canyon slowly closed itself, smashing every monster within and drowning the rest into the depths of the lava.
All their loot appeared in a straight line above the crack where the canyon used to be, and Draco picked it up one by one while whistling a tune.
