"Lian!!" Sabiri screamed while slamming her palms against the surface of the table and nearly knocking her glass, "Are you crazy!!??"

The emperor pressed his finger against his chin and just stared back at her with a confused look, "Well... Deep inside, aren't we all a little crazy at the end of the day?"

"I'm serious!! Kurt is not ready for this yet!! Call it off!!"

"Not ready yet?" he repeated while staring coldly into her eyes, "That's so funny. I was just thinking the exact opposite!"

He then stood from his seat and began to slowly walk towards her, causing the woman to flinch in response.

"Thirteen years I allowed you to be in charge of how the guest would be raised because you kept insisting on it so much. You went on and on about how you wanted to handle everything and begged me to have as little contact with him as possible. Begged me to trust you...

And now here we are, after all this time, and I find out the kid doesn't know anything about anything? Doesn't know about the game, the rulers, or even unlocked his second form yet??"

"He's my son! I have the right to choose how I will raise him!"

The emperor turned his hand into a red claw and pierced a hole into the table, "Not... If it interferes with my plans, you don't..."

The blond woman just looked away as the rest of those present remained silent and waited to see where things would go.

"Karina!" Sabiri called, "You have no problems with this??"

Saramin's mother simply laughed and removed her hair from her face, "If my husband thinks this is for the best, who am I to doubt him? Besides... I'm sure my girl won't disappoint me."

"You two..."

Lian Garen grabbed Sabiri's cheeks with one hand and forced her to look at him, "You had a job, Sabiri... And if you failed at it, you only have yourself to blame."

"My job is to be his mother!"

"Your job is to make him a warrior!" he responded, "Thirteen years and he still relies on that weak pathetic appearance? What kind of dragon can't turn into a dragon?? We have a war to win!"

He began to tighten his grip. His claws started to carve their way into her skin and blood began to drip from her face.

"I saw his true self today during his fight with Hugh... So much ferocity... Anger... Bloodlust... Mercyless... Even though you tried your best to keep it from him, I know he is hiding a beast deep inside behind that fragile mask..."

He finally released her and stared at the two butles who now looked like massive creatures. The pair nodded at him and dashed away from the room to give chase.

"And I will make everything I can to make it so it can see the light of day!"

_____

_____

Kurt continued to run through the hallways of his father's mansion with Saramin right in front of him when the sound of something big and heavy started to approach through the building.

"What was that!!?" the boy asked.

"They are finally coming!! We have to hurry!" Saramin replied while constantly looking back.

"Sara!! Sara, what's going on!? What is dad doing??"

"He's trying to trigger the dragon inside of us!!"

The two stopped moving all of a sudden once they noticed the small cracks appearing on the wall on their left.

"Oh, hell..." Saramin whispered.

An enormous scythe suddenly bursted out of the wall and nearly pierced the girl before she lowered her head to evade it.

The dragon that looked like a green-scaled centaur with blades for hands and the head of a lizard opened a hole and placed himself in their path while glaring at the two.

"Hi, Anthony..." Saramin grumbled while stepping back from him, "Damn, I forgot how fast you are..."

Anthony raised his blades and leaped towards the two with the full power of his four legs. Both kids dashed towards him and began to slide under his body before he landed on the ground.

The dragon quickly turned around and was about to start moving again, but Kurt responded faster and jumped close to his head in order to smack him with a right hook on his jaw.

The creature was pushed back but it didn't even take two seconds before it composed itself again.

"What the hell was that??" Sara complained, "Where is that power you used earlier today during the combat lesson?? Just punch this guy like you did with Hugh!"

"I don't know how I did that!! I didn't even know I could do that!!

Anthony raised his blade arms and began to unleash a series of fast thrusts at the two.

Kurt noticed the attacks coming and kicked Saramin away in order to keep her safe. Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough to save himself and ended up getting his boy pierced in several spots.

"Guaaagghh!!!"

"Kurt!!!"

This was the first time Kurt had ever lost in a test of speed. If it was just about evading the blades, he usually would have no problem thanks to all the training with his mother, but because he had to keep Sara safe, he didn't managed to react in time.

"My apologies, master Kurt!" Anthony commented, "But this is for your own good!"

The boy was brought to his knees as blood started to drip all over his clothes, "Ugh!! Could have fooled me..."

He rushed to use his healing flames and began to treat the wounds on his body, but the dragon didn't wait and started to attack again.

Only this time, Kurt was prepared. He stood up just as his head was about to be chopped off and got the scythe stuck into the ground.

He used the opening he had and dashed towards his opponent with his fist raised and proceeded to shove a powerful punch into Anthony's torso.

"Uugghoogh!!" the green dragon cried as he was sent flying down the hallway.

"Sorry, Anthony... But this is for your own good, or whatever..." Kurt commented while continuing to glare at him.

The beast was about to crash against the window but he simply used his blades to stop his momentum by getting them stuck on the walls.

"He's still not down??" Kurt gasped.

"Dragons have a much higher defense in their second form than in their first form" Sara explained.

"Joy..." the boy complained.

The two used this chance and just started to run away again while their pursuer was busy. They managed to reach the stairs that led to the exit doors and began to dash towards it.

"How is this supposed to unlock our dragon forms??" Kurt asked just as he sensed the butler starting to move once more.

Saramin just shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure... Maybe... Do you know how sometimes creatures will begin to move by instinct when they are driven into a corner? I think that's how dragons unlock their second form! They need to be put in an extreme sense of danger and crave for the desire to live above anything else!"

"So he's trying to scare us into becoming dragons??"

"Something like that? I don't know! My mother never explained these things to me either... I think the emperor forbade her from telling me!"

"Why would he do that??"

Kurt still felt like something was missing. If the only requirement to transform was being in danger, he should have been able to turn into a dragon a long time ago since his life had been threatened from an early age.

There had to be more, but the question was, what? And more importantly, why would they keep this secret from not only him but even Saramin as well?

The two were about to reach the end of the staircase, but before they could touch the floor, Saramin began to float in the middle of the air like a superhero.

""What the!?"" both kids screamed.

The girl then stopped flying and just stood still as if she was being carried by strings like a puppet.

"Hey!! Let me go!!" she ordered much to Kurt's confusion.

Suddenly, a new figure appeared. A large snake-like being with two heads and six arms, two of which were being used to carry Sara like a lollipop.

"Invisibility..." Kurt mumbled, "He's a body type!"

The girl with white hair continued to struggle to free herself but with little success, "Hey! Lil' bro!! Help?"

"Ah! R- Right!" Kurt began to run towards the new opponent but was then interrupted by a sudden wave of pain coming from his leg, "AAAARGHH!!!"

He fell down on the floor and noticed that his limb had been stabbed by one of Anthony's blades as he was now standing right behind him.

"Damn, Sara was right... You are fast!"

"Why, thank you, master Kurt!" Anthony responded while lifting his other arm and readying to stab Kurt again.

Kurt moved his head out of the way right before it got pierced and pulled his leg away from Anthony's scythe in order to heal his wound.

He then grabbed onto the dragon's arm and by using his superior strength, launched it at Jefferson.

The six-armed snake saw his fellow butler flying towards him and released Saramin before moving out of the way and turning invisible again.

Sara fell on the floor and began to roll in order to break her impact, followed by dashing towards Kurt.

The two brothers then placed their backs against each other as Anthony and Jefferson appeared on both sides.

"Sara..." Kurt mumbled with heavy breathing, "Can you memorize their talents?"

"Not if I can't see it..." she confessed, "And it's kinda hard to see someone that moves so fast or someone that can turn invisible... How about you?"

"I think I can hold on against one or the other, but not both, and not while protecting you..."

"I'm sorry... I hate being dead weight... If only dad hadn't ordered Ron and Wes to be locked away..."

Kurt turned his head confused, "Ron and Wes? They're here?"

"Of course they are! They're my bodyguards!"

Jefferson once again used his power to hide himself and seemingly vanished right in front of them.

"Oh, no! Guaaagh!!" Kurt screamed as he was suddenly grabbed and lifted from the floor by an invisible force.

Saramin tried to aid him but Anthony jumped in front of her and slashed her in the arm, "Kyaaahh!!"

She dropped to her knees while bleeding and twitching from the pain.

Luckily she had seen Kurt's power in action and had now access to his healing talent, which she used to fix her arm injury.

"God, freaking, dammit!!" she shouted, "This fixes the wound by that still hurt so much!!"

Anthony started to unleash another wave of attacks with quick stabs from his blades, forcing the girl to try and do her best to run away from him, but thanks to his speed talent, she couldn't get away from him in time, eventually getting pierced once again in her shoulder.

"Aargh!!"

"Hey!!!" Kurt shouted while putting every single bit of strength he had into freeing himself from Jefersoons' tight grip, "Stay away from my sister!!"

"Until you unlock your second form, master Kurt..." Jefferson commented while revealing his body. Only one of his heads was speaking right now, "I'm afraid we will not be able to obey that order."

"You mean that stupidity about being cornered like a wild animal?? How much more cornered do you want me to be?? Shouldn't I have transformed already by this point?"

"That's not all, master Kurt" the other head added.

"What?"

The snake beast then raised Kurt up and proceeded to crash him against the ground.

"Gaaaagh!!!"

"To fully awaken the sleeping dragon inside of you... You not only need to feel a desire to live after being pushed to your limits...

You also need to end the life of your opponent while your body is being showered by this feeling!"

"Ugh! E- End the life?"

Both heads then began to talk at the same time, "Indeed, master Kurt! To become a fully realized dragon, you need to unlock your survival instinct... And you predator instinct! You have to kill us!"