Bloody Odyssey

Two months had gone by in a breeze.

Dax spent the past few months training intensely, swallowing mana with the hunger of something that had been starved for far too long. From being a rank one battle mage, his power grew to that of a rank two battle mage. His power was growing steadily. His cultivation was fast — impossibly fast.

Normally, that realm would have taken a year to reach. Six months for the geniuses. A year for the regular.

But Dax was not regular. He was not a genius. He was something else entirely.

Through his training, he even came to realize that this world's world-ki was far more potent than his past life's world. It flowed through the earth like liquid fire, thick and rich, waiting to be drawn. He could feel it even now, seeping into his body, nourishing him in ways he had not experienced since before the fall.

He continued to practice in his courtyard, the lake before him rippling gently with each movement of his hands. The water responded to him now — not as a mage, but as something deeper. Something that had begun to understand the essence of this world.

Focus.

Breathe.

Absorb.

The mana flowed into him, filling his core, his veins, his very being.

Then, his cultivation was interrupted.

"Young Lord."

Alfonzo's voice was respectful but urgent. He stood at the edge of the courtyard, his bio-armor gleaming faintly in the afternoon light.

"Your presence is needed. Your father summons you."

Dax's eyes opened. The lake stilled.

"Very well."

Dax cleaned himself up and headed to the clan hall.

The path to the hall was lined with elegant carriages — polished wood, gilded trim, wheels reinforced with enchantments that hummed softly in the air. Powerful steeds were leashed to the carriages, their bodies sleek and muscular, their eyes…

Dax paused.

Draconic eyes.

He moved closer, studying the beasts with fascination. Their eyes were serpentine — slit pupils, golden irises, an ancient intelligence lurking behind them. They watched him as he passed, their nostrils flaring, their bodies tense.

Magnificent.

He filed the observation away and continued moving.

As he reached the clan hall, he saw them.

A young brown-haired boy stood at the center of the hall, covered in gold-trimmed garments that screamed of wealth and status. He carried the royal symbol on his hand — a ring that gleamed with an inner light — and royal insignia embroidered into his clothing.

Behind him stood his guards.

One was a woman with a very calm expression. Her gaze lingered on the chickens and ducks that wandered the courtyard, but her hand never strayed far from the hilt at her waist. She was motionless, patient, dangerous.

The other was a burly man with a scar across his face. He wore powerful golden armor that brimmed with radiance and a strange glow. His presence was undeniable — a force that pressed against the air itself.

There was no doubt that these two people behind the young man were extremely powerful. Only Omin, being the clan head, had a presence that put them beneath his gaze.

Dax walked in.

He bowed to his father, greeting him warmly.

"Father. You summoned me?"

He did not glance at the others. He did not acknowledge the prince, the guards, or the tension that hung in the air like a blade waiting to fall.

The man in gold armor was deeply insulted.

"How dare you!" His voice boomed through the hall. "How dare you not pay your respects to the royal? To the young prince?"

Dax spared him a glance.

Then he turned back to his father.

"Yes, Father? You summoned me?"

Omin rubbed his forehead, tired.

Before he could speak, the silent woman interrupted.

"The main purpose of our visit is for the royal consorts and the prince to arrest Dax for destroying the City of Stone."

Omin's expression shifted. He looked at Dax with shock.

The City of Stone?

He had not heard of this. Dax had been in the house for the past two months. He had not left. And the sudden news of the city being destroyed came as a surprise to him.

"That is impossible!" Omin's voice rose. "My son has not left the house in months!"

He snarled, his aura bursting from his body in a wave of pressure.

"You dare acuse my son in front of me?"

The silent woman and the man in golden armor burst with aura, matching Omin's power. But Omin was different. They were all rank nines, but Omin was something else entirely. His aura had a grasp on them — a weight that pressed down on their very souls.

The woman remained motionless, her blade sharper than ever. She was ready to move at any moment. The epitome of danger. She began to leak a reek of blood — like something had changed in her, something hungry.

Before the whole thing could escalate, Dax cut them short.

"I will follow you."

The words hung in the air.

The prince watched everything with calm eyes. Calculative eyes. There was a certain detest for Dax in his gaze, but Dax did not even put him in his eyes at all.

The guards moved to put chains on Dax.

"I will not be degraded to that of an animal."

Dax's voice was calm, but there was steel beneath it. He did not argue. He did not fight. He simply stated.

The prince nodded slightly. The guards stepped back.

Being that he is a noble.

The man in gold armor spat to the floor.

"Rank two filth." His voice dripped with contempt. "How dare you speak big words to the world? Declare a war on what you can't even handle? You're just rank two filth. What can you do against the fucking gods?"

He walked dauntingly.

"You are just calling the mites on your clan."

The prince looked at Dax too — like he was looking at nothing less than an ant.

All they could feel from Dax was his rank two presence. They could not feel the monster deep within. They could not feel the monster they had seen that day in the hologram — the one who had slaughtered an angel, who had bathed in its blood.

Rank two filth.

That was what they saw.

But that was what bothered the prince. That was what made the prince's mind waver. That was what made him not utter a word since the beginning of their meeting.

Why does a rank two filth feel so… wrong?

He was calculative. He did not need to have the serpentine behavior. He was already worse than that. That was his true nature.

He was a snake that constantly shed his scales.