When he arrived in the hall where the device to enter the legacy dungeon was located, the eight players were already there waiting for him. He didn't recognize any of them, except for Jet. But what fascinated him more was, out of the eight, there were four different races, human, dwarf, vampire, and orc.
Jack wonder if Jeanny and the others had managed to recruit more of the other three races. The elf was for sure because Grace had already joined, but he still had no idea about draconian and ethereal. He was too lazy to check the guild member list since there were so many names on it already. He needed to click them one by one to find out about their information.
"Yo, Jack boy, you finally returned," Jet greeted. "You are the only guild leader I know who almost never spends his time in the base nor managing the guild."
"Thank you for your compliment. Do you know where my gramps is?" Jack asked. "His status is not within this headquarters."
"He went somewhere with Haon," Jet answered.
"Wow, those two have really gotten close."
"Is that jealousy I heard?"
"There must be something wrong with your ears then. Do you know what those two are up to?" Jack asked.
"Something about a new beast form," Jet answered. "Haon had learned the beast form skill as he intended. That fairy of his said she could take him someplace that gives him a powerful beast form. The kid asked Domon if Domon minded following along since he doesn't want to stop learning martial arts from Domon. Seeing his enthusiasm, Domon couldn't reject him."
"So he ditched his many students here for one favorite disciple? Some teacher that geezer," Jack commented. So, who is training the members here?"
"Domon gave the assignment to his past disciples, Balo, Michelle, and Jason. Well, I also help from time to time. There is nothing to worry about, Domon had already laid out the groundwork. They only need to follow the training program diligently."
Jack nodded. He then turned to Peniel, "Do you have any idea what kind of beast form Carnelia is planning for Haon?"
"I can't say for sure," Peniel replied. "There are various powerful beast forms, but many have special circumstances. For example, if you didn't have Syndrillis' bloodline, I wouldn't have taken you to attempt Broidrireg's trial."
"I see… Okay, is everyone ready to enter?" Jack asked the players who gathered there.
Everyone nodded.
"All right, I don't know if any of you have experienced the medium difficulty of this Ice Throne legacy dungeon. If you haven't, do know that it is very different from the easy version. The longer you stay inside this dungeon, the more likely you will be afflicted with slow and frozen. If you are frozen, then it's goodbye to you. Our objective is to kill the minions speedily and rush towards the boss with haste. Once we reach the boss, all of you stay back. Leave it to me."
"Ain't that a bit too cocky, Jack boy?" Jet asked.
"Oh, you are welcome to try fighting the boss, but don't blame me if you get killed," Jack replied. "And one other thing, all the exp pills and Thousand-Year Wine drop from the boss are mine. If any of you have a problem with that, it's fine that you don't enter. I can do this dungeon myself."
Everyone nodded again. Tip had informed them of this requirement when Jack asked who was willing to join the legacy dungeon, because last time, Jack also hoard the pills and the wine.
"Good, let's go in," Jack said and be the first one to enter.
Inside, he summoned Therras immediately. Once the others entered, he ran forward. When the ice ray birds and ice dogs appeared, he explained to them about the monsters' attack patterns, while making short work on them. His blade orbs came out one after another as he was slashing non-stop. Everyone was impressed by the ease Jack dispatched these monsters.
"What is your level? Why does it seem like you are getting stronger than the last time I see you?" Jet asked.
"My Blade Dancer is level 45, with the other two following closely. But the reason I am more powerful should be because of my set equipment and bloodline. Hey, that lion of yours is not bad either. That's the new pet you got from the ancient battleground, isn't it?"
Jet had summoned his Crimson-maned Lion. Its size was much larger than the real-world lion. The lion's claws and bites delivered large damage. It also had several skills like Therras. One of which was when its mane turned fiery, fire swirled around its body. It was similar to Elementalist's Flame Shield, but this lion's one also affected its offensive, because its four claws were coated with fire. Every strike that it delivered caused fire damage.
When it was surrounded, it uttered a mighty roar that damaged and petrified the enemies around it. The lion was intentionally running alongside Therras. The two pets were visibly competing with one another.
They arrived near the boss soon. Only two out of the nine of them had gotten the Slow affliction, these two had the lowest ice resistance. The Ice Demon Fiend was staying still at the center of the ice basin.
"Okay, everyone stay here, don't go past that ice spear fence. I will deal with it," Jack said. He instructed Therras to stay behind as well. He didn't unsummon his pet so that it would get the exp from killing the boss, but he wanted to try going one on one with this boss.
"Are you calling out your companion?" Jet asked. "I heard you people are having trouble when you first fought him when you are still level 41. Although you are getting stronger now, it's not that steep a difference, is it? You are only four levels higher."
"Heh, you just want to see my companion's might, don't you?" Jack said.
"Well, there is that. I've heard a lot about him after wandering around this headquarters," Jet said.
"Don't worry, I will show you something equally stunning," Jack said with a grin. "Especially for a beastmaster like you."
"Huh?" Jet was wondering what Jack meant when Jack turned around and walked towards the Ice Demon Fiend.
As he walked, his body started to enlarge. His human skin was replaced by reptilian scales, the scales were brownish-blue in color. His face deformed into an elongated form, with two long whiskers coming out of his snout. A pair of antler-like horns sprouted from the back of his head. Two skeletal structures with leathery membranes grew from his back, forming two large bat-like wings. His hands and feet turned into large claws that gleamed with energy. Several plates covered his body, especially the back of his neck, shoulders, arms, and legs. These plates were as if the scales on his body grew to enormous size and became some sort of armor.
The eight players who watched the transformation were lost for words.
"Is… Is that beastmaster's beast form?" Jet finally asked.
Jack stopped walking and looked back. He grinned with his current dragon face, which made him look awfully weird. "It's cool, ain't it?" He said. "This is my Supreme Dragon Form."
Jack turned back. "Okay, I will put this form to the test. Let's see how powerful it is."
He squatted down. As he was about to jump, his wing flapped. He felt weird, he could feel the wing as if additional arms. He couldn't describe the feeling of suddenly having an extra pair of arms. 'This will take getting used to,' he thought.
He then jumped. Except he was not jumping. He was lifting off. The two large wings continued to flap as he ascended higher and higher.
"Woo-hoo…!!" He shouted as he shot forward. He then turned left, then turned right. He circled up there while the others stared at him from the ground. Even the Ice Demon Fiend was looking up, but it stayed still since Jack hadn't come close enough.
Jack was testing his flight. His wings continued to flap. He was sure that his current flying ability had nothing to do with the wings. Although they looked large, they were still too small to generate enough force to lift his heavy body. His flying ability was mostly magical. The force that directed the path of his flight was controlled by his thought, like his spells. And like his spells, he felt that he could strengthen it by manipulating the mana. He figured that when his mana manipulation reached the state where he could freely use it in combat, he should be able to fly faster or make sharp turns in the air.
"Are you having enough fun yet, lad?" Jet called out from below. "You do remember that beast form has a duration, don't you?"
"Oh, right," Jack chuckled. He had been too absorbed by the flying. This was the first time he had experienced flying, after all. He thought he needed to wait till he get the flying spell, but fate had given him this ability via different means.
Jack stopped in the air. He was hovering above the Ice Demon Fiend, who was staring back at him.
"Let's test this form's battle capability," he uttered.
