” So how exactly did you become half-dragon? ” Anna asked Max, who took a deep breath and said

” So the only reason I became an ant was because my master was unsure of my temperament, but after realising my insignificant place in this universe I was finally ready to ascend.

So what happened was ….

**************

( Past- Timeline, Max )

” Are you sure you want to use 4 tier 6 dragons for the procedure? It may be too much for the boy ” Rhea said as she inspected the four near dead dragons collected by Kremeth for Max’s transformation.

” I’m sure, the boy has a lot of latent talent, he thinks he is doing his best but in reality he is not even close to reaching his full potential.

At first, I was happy with tier 4 dragons for his procedure because I felt it was enough then we went to tier 5 to think that it was the absolute best this kid could do, but recently the talent he has shown me has forced me to reconsider.

He mastered the way of the wind, my blocking technique and my counter technique in less than 6 months!

These tricks are not easy, you bring the most talented warriors from your nation and they will not be able to master these in 2-3 years.

The boy is special, when he is not thinking too much he is learning much more.

His mind is as clean as Mira’s although he was born much sooner, it’s like everything is new to him and he grasps it well.

I don’t want him to grow and have a body that doesn’t match his talent, so I’ve chosen to go with tier6 dragons ” Kremeth explained as Rhea nodded in agreement.

Initially Rhea was reserved about Max sharing a once in a lifetime bond with her baby Mira but her reservations naturally reduced the more she got to know Max and dissapeared completely when she saw his potential.

It was for these reasons that Rhea was extremely particular in setting up the arrays for Max’s transformation, as she wanted everything to be as perfect as possible.

Over the past 6 months, Mira had changed from being a small baby to now a 6 feel long dragon who was almost as tall as Max when she stood up on her hind legs while already reaching tier2 being only fractionally behind Sebastian and Max in terms of levelling.

While her growth was phenomenal and she gave Max a lot of levels in the process, Max too taught her a lot of essentials of fighting and defending, while teaching her the basics of the outside world such as manners, etiquettes, tool usage and more.

Every night, Max and Mira would sleep leaning on each other as Max would narrate a story from the outside world to Mira who would spin an adventure in her mind before sleeping comfortably.

In Max’s words and adventures, Mira witnessed the outside world and her bond with Max deepened.

Although she did not have to state her authority around her mother, Sebastian or Kremeth, Rhea could see the overprotective nature of Mira for Max as she found it both dangerous and endearing.

Before the procedure, Mira had asked Rhea fifteen times if Max was going to be okay and if she needed to bring her any components or offer any help.

Rhea tried to assure her repeatedly and had to even blow fire on her to shoo her away but the kids mind was still stuck on Max’s wellbeing as instead of training she kept snooping around.

Had it been another day, Kremeth would have scolded her for this behaviour but today his mind was fully occupied about the upcoming procedure and hence he did not pay much attention to the snooping Mira.

” You will be okay, don’t worry, mother is a very knowledgeable dragon ” Mira said huffing and puffing to Max as she placed her foreleg on the seated Max’s head as if patting him.

” I know, I’m not worried, also you are heavy ” Max replied to Mira who was annoyed about removing her palm.

Apparently, Mira loved it when Max patted her, it helped her calm down a lot but when she tried to do the same to Max it was not fun because her dragon legs were not built for such a task.

” When I reach tier 6 and learn to shapeshift I’ll become a human and pet you ” Mira said in fury as Max calmly nodded, playing along with her antics.

Although Max did not show it, he was extremely glad for Mira’s nonsense talk before the procedure. Max had a recollection of when he became a vampire and it was not exactly a pleasant memory for him.

The transformation hurt like hell and there were various moments where Max either blacked out or felt like he was certainly dead.

At the time it did not feel traumatic but now that he had to undergo one more such procedure he felt nervous internally as every fibre of his being refused to undergo that traumatic experience once again.

” Boy, come, we are ready for you ” Kremeth said as he placed the large high grade mana stone in the rune circuit powering the whole thing up.

When all the runic lines connected they began to glow with a blue hue as Max noticed that the entire structure spanned over 1 kilometre and had many intricate lines in between.

” RAWRRRR “

” RAAAAAA”

” GRRRRRRRR “

” UUUAAHHHGRRRR “

Four dragon howls could be heard by Max and from their voices it was clear that they were in a lot of pain.

Max was dazed and observed the beautiful formation in leisure until he was broken from his stupor by Kremeth’s stern voice.

” Come now! Fast! ” Kremeth said as the anger in his voice made Max move Instinctively as he rushed up to the formation centre.

” Mira, OUT! ” Rhea said angrily as the little dragon jumped out of the runic circuit but settled down nearby.

Rhea began chanting ancient draconic hymns and then nodded to Kremeth who proceeded to move towards the first tier6 dragon, a yellow coloured one.

The yellow dragon snarled and bit at Kremeth but it’s chains disabled it from moving too much while Kremeth had already blinded its eyes making her unable to see his attacks.

*SPLAT*

Kremeth pierced the dragon’s heart with his dagger as he purposefully sliced it in a way that all the blood would come oozing out as he gently placed the dead body over the runic channel as the blue mana currents on the north end were mixed with a blood red.

” Stay still ” Rhea ordered Max as she pinned him down under her claws before plunging Max’s palm with her dragon claw and bolting him to the north power end of the central structure.

” AGGHHHHH “.

To say that Max felt mind numbing pain would be an understatement, he had not prepared for having his palm plunged at all, but there had been no warning, no intimation, just pure brutality by Rhea.

The good thing was he was pinned down under her other claw otherwise he would have began to squirm and struggle from the pain.

‘ It’s better than being manaless trash, soldier through boy, soldier through ‘ Drax said in Max’s mind as Max was reminded that the physical pain he was suffering at the moment was nothing compared to the potential rewards he could get from completing the procedure.

Since two lifetimes Max had bore the shame of being a manaless trash, not only did his disability make him fall behind his competitors but it was also the reason behind a lot of his personal shame and the disgrace that he brought to the Rajput name.

Compared to the humiliation he had suffered from being a manaless trash, this pain was nothing as Max would rather go through pain 100 times this intense than to be humiliated as a man.

Soon, the purple coloured mixture of blood and mana current reached Max’s palm and his vampiric body began to quickly absorb the blood and try to heal it’s injuries because of Max’s passive healing abilities.

Fortunately, Rhea’s dragonclaw made it impossible for the wound to close as Max’s body passively began absorbing a lot of the bloody liquid as the manaless blood in Max’s bloodstream soon began to saturate with supercharged mana blood of a divine dragon.

*HISSSSSS*

Max’s blood satiety dropped at an insane rate as the divine blood of the dragon began boiling Max’s real blood as hot steam escaped the arm wound where Rhea had pinned his palm, with the steam being his blood essence.

Once his blood Satiety dropped below 70% Drax knew it was the last opportunity for him to talk some sense into Max as he said ‘ It’s going to be the end of the road for you should you not succeed in this procedure, you cannot pass the tier 3 promotion test without having mana.

You cannot become the vampire king and fulfil your destiny if you are not a god, you cannot take revenge for me if you are not a god and you cannot relive your brother of his duties of you are not a god.

All your ambitions hang in balance, so whatever happens don’t give up!

Even at the cost of death, don’t give up! ‘