My SSS-Rank Clone Talent: I Level Up Endlessly!

Drayken sat cross-legged in pitch-black darkness, eyes closed, meditating with a focused mind.

At this moment, his thoughts swirled rapidly, centered on a single goal: his fifth spell.

This had been his original reason for venturing into the outside world, to discover his fifth spell and ascend to the rank of a Fifth-Circle Mage. He had to admit, he had grown significantly stronger since then.

Sure, Drayken could have settled for a simple or weaker spell. But that would've offered little advantage, merely adding to his existing spells without providing a meaningful boost in power.

No, what he wanted was something more.

A spell that was compatible with Aura, his foundation, and one that could fully harness the might of his lightning bloodline.

However, until now, he hadn't found any true inspiration for his fifth spell.

That changed when he gained the Mana Core Creator skill, it sparked the idea he had been searching for.

After a long time in deep meditation, his muscles suddenly twitched. He snapped open his eyes, revealing his sharp pupils in the midst of endless darkness.

The surrounding mana stirred.

And then, right before him, a mana core took shape.

In this void of blackness, the core radiated like daylight. Drayken could see it clearly, as if it illuminated the entire space.

He stared at it for a moment, then calmly opened his notebook and began to scribble.

"Lightning Aura."

The concept was clear in his mind. But turning it into reality, that would be the true challenge.

He needed to forge the Intent behind it.

And for this "Intent," in his vision, he didn't even need to create any material for it, just merely mana core would do.

After some time, Drayken finally added and combined everything, forming a perfect "Intent" for the spell.

The Intent was simple: it would use mana as the medium to combine Aura and Lightning together.

Now, he needed a design that could perfectly utilize the spell.

The more refined it was, the easier it would be for him to use the spell and the less mana would be wasted during its activation.

When Drayken began to draw the pattern for his spell, with the Intent engraved into it, he was suddenly stunned:

"Eh? Just a ball does it best?"

He truly hadn't expected that. However, considering that the Intent behind it was closely related to the Mana Core, Drayken felt it wasn't completely baseless.

"Now, the material for it."

Drayken had created the Intent behind it, and the pattern of the spell, now, all that was left was the Material.

"Sigh, nobody could possibly replicate my spell," he muttered, then immediately ignited his bloodline.

Four Mana Cores hovered around him in perfect sync.

He bit into his thumb, and a drop of golden blood fell, hovering between the four Mana Cores.

Then, Drayken extended his hand and closed his eyes, the pattern forming as a clear mental image in his mind.

The true difficulty lay in the formation of the "Intent." After that, the rest of the process was relatively quick and easy.

In just a few minutes, Drayken was staring at a glowing circle hovering in front of him.

He opened his mouth and swallowed the spell.

Then sat cross-legged.

This time as well, the process was smooth and unhindered. In just a few minutes, his eyes snapped open:

"I have reached the Fifth Circle."

With the establishment of his Fifth Circle, all his other spells were automatically strengthened as well.

To test it out, Drayken stood up and began channeling mana into his Fifth Spell.

The moment he did, his entire body became enveloped in a thick layer of Aura, merging seamlessly with lightning crackling around him.

Then, Drayken casually pointed ahead.

From his fingertips, lightning gathered and surged outward, transforming into a strange black bolt.

Bang!

Everything in its path was reduced to dust and as it struck the stone walls, it immediately collapsed inward by at least ten meters and that was just a single strand of lightning.

"Aura Spell: Lightning Aura."

Drayken's eyes lit up with excitement. He hadn't expected that the simple combination of Aura and Lightning through Mana would be this powerful.

"Now, time for the battle."

He walked out of the cave and transformed into a dragon. The surroundings shifted with great fanfare as he soared through the skies.

After a brief flight, he descended and landed on an empty patch of land, returning to his human form.

***

The cold afternoon wind rustled through his long crimson hair.

The breathtaking sight of the sun sinking below the horizon bathed the world in warm golden light.

Those rays fell upon a bulky man standing still, eyes narrowed as he admired the view.

"Ah, this is the perfect time to fight," he chuckled. "A perfect chance to stretch my muscles."

Drayken took a deep breath of the fresh air, his voice calm and steady.

This was his plan. He didn't intend to fight recklessly without backup, he had prepared plenty of back up, and now it was time to test his strength.

At the same time, this was to gain Destiny points so that Zarek could level up as well, allowing Zarek to free himself from the binding of time more quickly.

As for the Naga, he did have some plans for them, but they weren't as important.

Besides, he had already fried the arms of the Naga princess, which was punishment enough. After all, wasn't it Zarek who had been too overconfident? Or should he say was too overconfident?

Drayken shook his head, pushing away unnecessary thoughts as he spotted small dots in the sky, rapidly growing larger.

"They bit the bait," he sneered.

With a sudden surge, he ignited his skill and bloodline simultaneously.

Boom!

Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and thunder rumbled ominously.

Drayken levitated, arms spread wide.

Lightning struck his body again and again, surging through him like raw energy.

Each bolt he absorbed strengthened him, electrifying his very cells, fuelling his power.

The breakthrough from Rank 4 to Rank 5 felt closer than ever, fuelled by the electric energy coursing through his body.

Drayken tightened his fist and closed his eyes, savoring the moment.

Then, suddenly, his body began to transform. A mouth elongated into a snout, and his humanoid form rapidly shifted into that of a giant dragon, one so immense it seemed to blot out the sky.

A fifty-meter-tall dragon was no joke.

His slitted dragon pupils locked onto the distant figures.

The dark clouds rumbled in the skies as countless bolts of thunder struck the distant dots without mercy, striking continuously.

Drayken didn't stop. Lightning crackled in his dragon's pupils, tearing through the air to strike the distant figures, combined by the thunder rolling across the skies, they both became terrifying.

He could keep this up forever, and he did, hammering the humans from afar without pause.

After some time, a sharp sting burned in his dragon eyes. At last, he relented, closing his eyes in exhaustion.

Still, thunder continued to rain down on the distant figures from the sky.

Then, suddenly, a terrifying force descended upon him.

His massive dragon body nearly lost control; his flapping wings met an overwhelming resistance that froze them in place and his giant body fell to the ground.

"Shit."