“According to the raven, his highness the 4th Prince Rekim Draco should be arriving any minute now.” Andre announced to the group of soldiers and attendants waiting at the gate. Uther, who was standing next to Andre, remained silent.

“The 4th Prince has a very low temper, do everything as I have said, and you won’t antagonise him. If by any chance you do make a mistake, I will send your families my condolences.” Andre continued as the soldiers all did a discernible gulp.

“Sir, would you like to add something.” Andre turned to Uther and whispered.

“Sir, you are still the leader of these men, it would be better if you were in your draconian form.” Andre said as he stared at Uther’s slim humanoid physique.

Uther looked at Andre with his eyebrows raised, and rolled his eyes.

“You know sir, things would go a lot easier now that you and the princess are on the same side.” Said Andre, not taking Uther’s attitude at face value.

Just as Andre was about to continue, the surrounding air vibrated, followed by a rumble in the earth.

Uther, who was trying his best to ignore Andre, looked into the distance, and saw a figure riding the wind.

Uther knew what it was, he had been to the capital to attend the royal academy, and had personally seen the crown prince arrive on his Royal Chariot.

However, this chariot was not pulled by winged horses like the one used by the crown prince, instead it was mounted on top of a cloud Komodo. Cloud Komodo’s are massive Spiritual beasts. They are descendants of black dragons, and even have the possibility, of ancestral evolution during the avatar realm.

All descendants of dragons are haughty, and are very difficult to tame. However, they have an inclination to be close to the Draco Royal Family, as the bloodline of the azure dragon is important to them.

The Komodo rode the clouds, its roar caused the air to pulse, and as it touched down in front of the camp, it whipped out its long tongue, rolling it around the nearest soldier, devouring him whole.

Andre and the rest of the soldiers all gulped. “Level 29, peak incarnation realm, King Han sure likes to play favourites.” Andre whispered to Uther, with his eyes glued on the beast.

The Cloud Komodo’s actions set everyone ablaze, but no one took any action. Even Andre remained standing, as if nothing happened.

Andre stared at the beast, several droplets of sweat rolling off his forehead. He looked over at Uther, expecting him to have a serious look, but instead he was greeted with a light smile.

Uther looked at the Massive Spiritual Beast, he could feel it, the dragon blood flowing through its veins.

Just as the Komodo whipped it’s tongue out again at another soldier, a dark flame appeared in front of it. The flame latched itself onto the beasts tongue like a sticky fluid. The Komodo started to beat its tongue on the sand to put the fire out, but the dark flame only intensified.

“Take back your flames Uther, Modi was only having some fun.” Said a voice as the doors on the mounted chariot opened and a figure stepped out.

Uther waved his hand, and the dark flame dimmed out. “Your Highness, if this pet tries to satisfy its taste for draconian flesh again, I may have to indulge myself and taste some cloud Komodo. ” said Uther as he looked at the figure of the 4th Prince Rekim Draco.

“It seems your failure to bring me the artefact, and your subsequent demotion has not affected your attitude.” Said the 4th Prince as he stepped down from the Cloud Komodo.

“There, there, don’t worry Modi, I will teach him a lesson for you.” Said the 4th Prince as he rubbed his hand on the beast’s chin.

The 4th prince turned his head to look at Uther, their eyes met.

Andre sensed the tension, but before he could say a word, the figure of the 4th prince, who as already in his draconian form, vanished.

He appeared right next to him and Uther. “Let’s see if your body martial path has caught up with your spiritual path.” Said the 4th Prince as his right fist rushed towards Uther.

Uther didn’t try to dodge, he simply reached out with his right hand, and grabbed the 4th Princes Fist. The impact of the punch made the ground rumble, which caused Andre to lose his footing and fall flat on the ground.

“2nd stage of body tempering, the desert has treated you well cousin. You didn’t even need to go into draconian form.” Said the 4th Prince, as he took his arm back, rubbing his knuckles.

“You as well my Prince, your bones have already been tempered. With your current strength, you should be a match for anyone below the avatar realm.” Said Uther nonchalantly, taking his hand back.

“Your highness, that was quite a show of strength. I’m lieutenant Andre Severs at your service. I have prepared your tent with all of your requirements, and I have also prepared a stable for your magnificent Spiritual Beast.” said Andre as he got up, and approached the 4th Prince.

“Lead the way, lieutenant.” Said the 4th Prince, his eyes never leaving Uther.

“Cousin, can you take Modi to the stables, my last stable boy got eaten. Also make sure to feed him some meat. There should be some humans in your camp, then again, some useless draconian soldiers should also be fine.” Said the 4th Prince as he made his way towards Andre.

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

“Oh, did the little pipsqueak smack you Koren, I knew it. Kaph tells me of her demonic powers all the time.” Said Haruki as he took out a bun from his bag, and started eating it.

“You know brother fatty, if you continue to eat all the time, sister Sumi will always avoid you.” Said Enri with a light grin.

“I heard her say she likes a slim and strong man, like Uncle Sappa.” Whispered Enri right in Haruki’s ear.

“No!, my Sumi would never like that baldy, she’s the reason I eat all the time. Her food is just so good.” Said Haruki as he devoured the whole bun in mere moments.

“Senior brother, do you want to stay and spar some more, or should we cultivate our cores.” Asked Koren, as he was getting the feeling that this bickering would go on for a while if he didn’t nip it in the bud.

“Ah, no, absolutely not. I have a better idea, hehe hehe.” Said Haruki, his face showing and mischievous grin, as he started to sprint towards the training field’s exit.

Enri bumped Koren with her elbow and sighed “I know that look, senior brother wants to play a prank on uncle Sappa.”

“This guy is very adventurous. I wonder if that baldy will skin him alive.” Said Hope who was leisurely floating over Koren, silently witnessing the whole exchange.

“Enri, how do we stay out of this” Asked Koren.

“We can’t brother Koren. Once brother fatty gets like this, there’s no stopping him. Kaph always gets in trouble with uncle Sappa because of him.” Enri replied.

“OK, lets just go for now, and stop him from doing anything outrageous.” Said Koren as he grabbed Enri’s hand and ran behind Haruki who was sprinting onwards.

Enri, who had to some extent, gotten used to Koren, blushed when Koren grabbed her hand. She looked at his head, feeling guilty for hitting him, and just said “OK, let’s go.”

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

Uther brought the Cloud Komodo called Modi to the stables prepared for it. The beast behaved itself the whole way, not daring to annoy Uther. Uther left it in the hands of a draconian soldier, who was sweating profusely.

“s…Si…Sir, I don’t have any experience with spiritual beast of t…th…this size, perhaps someone else may take this duty.” said the soldier with a panicky stutter.

Uther didn’t reply, he simply looked at the beast, and rubbed its head. The beast lowered its head in response, it could feel the intensity of the azure dragon bloodline in Uther.

“Behave yourself, and you will be fed. Your attendants are not food. Do you understand.” Said Uther.

The beast’s eyes widened, and it nodded its massive head.

“He won’t give you any trouble, feed him some of the human slaves or meat from the captured sand beasts.” Said Uther as he walked away.

Uther walked all the way to his tent, and just as he was about to go in, he heard Andre’s voice.

“Sir, the 4th Prince has requested your presence.” Said Andre, as he leaned close to Uther and whispered. “Now remember what we talked about, he must not suspect anything. You do your part, and the princess will do hers.”

Uther turned to look at Andre, his gaze calm, but sharp. “I know, you don’t have to remind me.” Said Uther as he made his way to the 4th princes tent which was only a few paces away from his.

As he approached the tent, he could see a few female attendants step out. They looked at him and said “You may enter.”

Uther ignored them and walked right in. The 4th Prince was seated on a massive chair, no doubt moved in from his chariot. The whole tent was filled with odd things like gold cutlery, buckets filled with spiritual wines and closets filled with silk robes, things that had no place in a military camp.

“Uther, do you know why my father, King Han Draco, named me ‘Rekim’.” Asked the 4th Prince Rekim Draco, his gaze staring at his own silk robes instead of Uther.

“I’ve heard the stories.” Replied Uther, his tone calm and composed.

“Let me tell you anyway. Rekim is short for ‘requiem’, a mass for the dead. He named me Rekim, because I was born dead. And the world breathed life into me. My bloodline is as pure as that of the first born children of the Ancestor.”

“It is my destiny to become the next King of the Draco Empire, and all those who stand in my way are doomed to fall.”

“Tell me Uther, are you one of those who will stand in my way.” Said the 4th Prince as he looked straight at Uther.