[Merge with Left Hand of Thomalus is successful]

Left Hand of Thomalus=????? damage; ????????; ???????

“Wow, it actually worked, I don’t really feel much different though but since a dude as strong as Heckel said that it would help make a miniboss who’s probably stronger than this dragon into a piece of cake, then I guess that this dragon should be the same,” Terry said as he floated around inside the void. Flames raged across his body as he attempted to rest from the difficult and rushed merging with his items.

Even though the flames raged across Terry’s body, covered in black as if it was part of the void itself, the flames dealt little damage to him as the flames were continuously pulled into his mouth, down his throat, and deep into his chest where it was concentrated and refined. The flames that had nearly incinerated Terry once before were now being slowly eaten at an easy pace.

I honestly thought that the flames would be magnified a bunch inside here since time is so different and passes much faster here but that actually made the flames much weaker and easy to handle, Din explained in his mind. If only being inside one of these things wasn’t so damn hard, they’d be a perfect training tool, exploited by all. Well, now that we’ve increased our skill Flame Resistance quite a lot and merged with the left hand, we just need to wait until this void is burned to a crisp and we get forced out.

I don’t sense any change but even so, the chance to revel in the experience of life and death is exhilarating. Similar to the only important thing that I ever learned from school about how nothing else matters as long as I have fun. Terry responded.

Now onto that? I agree about the fighting part but that phrase is also used here while most don’t truly understand it. I’m amazed that you have such a simple yet complex look on the world, Din responded in respect.

Heh, this is so boring. All we have to do is talking to each other, man, I’m so f*cking bored. If anything, why don’t we just explain our stories to each other to alleviate our boredom for the next possible month or so? Terry suggested.

Considering how there’s nothing else, I may as well, Din said in weak annoyance.

Perfect, let’s star-

Crack! Whoosh!

-t, well sh*t, I guess that we won’t need to talk any longer with that big bastard in front of us. Time to face some real flame, Terry thought as his pitch black surroundings were instantaneously replaced with the large fire-lit room where Terry remembered fighting inside full months ago although he couldn’t properly calculate with no indications from inside the void.

“Ow~” Terry moaned in pain at being introduced to light after such a long time.

After blinking several times, Terry looked directly upon the massive dragon before him and smiled.

“Sorry for stealing your egg?” Terry pleaded sarcastically.

The dragon froze with wide eyes as he looked at Terry’s body that was once covered in thick black armor that had melted away and now stood covered with a shiny yet pure shade of black that reflected the color of the very void Terry had spent quite a while inside of along with the same color of the pupil of the massive fleshy creature that stood behind Terry, now a heap of ash.

The dragon watched Terry carefully with eyes still wide in shock. When the dragon had last seen him only a minute before, he was literally nothing more than char, able to be smashed into dust with the flick of a finger. But now, the vampire standing before the dragon was very different. A look of incredible rage, respect, fear, tenseness, caution, humor, and worst of all, pity, made the dragon not need a single word to be spoken further. The 2 would fight no matter what was said anyway. Even though the dragon was curious as to what exactly happened inside of the hellspawn, a fight to the death was the option after everything that had happened so far.

Terry stood still, watching his foe in the same way that his foe was watching him. Terry had the element of surprise and the Left Hand of Thomalus with whatever it could do. All he needed to do was use it.

After being silent for a few seconds, Terry looked at Ryan who continued to burn which meant that he was at least alive which set Terry a bit at ease.

Noticing the distraction in its opponent, the dragon readied instead of normal fire breath, a laser of compressed heat that would tear through anything and everything in its path.

“I see… so that’s your answer. I didn’t want to kill you, but as you attacked first and your level and heart are incredibly valuable, I have no choice,” Terry said as he raised his plack hands. His body was covered in the black, skin armor as he held not a single item save for his armband. The only weapon Terry had to fight with… was himself.

“Let’s see what you can do now,” said the dragon as he shot forth a steady stream of pressurized flame that appeared as a red laser that burned a deep hole into the wall of the room before switching to a scar across the wall as Terry dodged the lightning fast attack and circled around the dragon.

The dragon followed Terry at incredible speeds as was obvious with how Terry needed to run with all his might while the dragon merely needed to turn his neck to rend him into two.

Sh*t, Terry thought. This dude is fast and I can’t seem to use any special abilities of any kind even after merging with such an apparently powerful weapon. Since I merged with it in the moment of creation I can’t even figure out what it does as it’s part of my body rather than a weapon anymore. Hmm…

Terry, I think I got an idea, remember how Heckel was saying all that stuff about souls? Din suggested.

Tch! I could sense something from the corpses, but still, I can understand taking from the living, but the dead… Terry started.

Understand one thing, whatever you do you will have me by your side. But even so, do you wish to die for simple ideals? Din asked.

I don’t have enough time to even make a proper answer. Heh, I should’ve lost my humanity long ago, well, I guess it was high time to show just how brutal I can be without just relying upon you, Terry replied.

Terry’s speeding legs came to a halt spraying dust everywhere as the laser of flame came into direct contact with his left breast.

Whoosh!

Out of nowhere, Terry appeared from directly against the edge of the room to atop one his dead serpent, right behind the dragon.

Terry’s eyes were completely black just like the rest of his body which was in perfect contrast to how he looked before. The chilling and crazy vampire was gone, instead, a calculative assassin stood, covered in an aura of death.

[Souls Absorbed]

Terry looked upon the dragon before him as it looked around in bewilderment at the disappearance of its new foe. Acidic saliva dripped from Terry’s fangs as they began to form. A terrifying smile appeared across Terry’s face as he launched himself upon his foe.

[Activating Spur]

[Left Hand of Thomalus produced]

Terry reached his foe in a split second and his left hand switched from being smooth black skin to pure blade of darkened purple. The five daggers had become Terry’s new fingers and overlapped with the black skin of the void to make a new shade of purple that shined beautifully.

Slash!

[Activating Raise Ghouls]

Blood spilled out of the dragon’s right wing as Terry ripped a half of it off before his skin slowly swallowed the wing into itself, removing the bloody piece from sight.

“Graah!!” The dragon roared before swinging its tail and wings in an attempt to knock Terry off of its back but to no avail as Terry wrapped his dagger/fingers around the bulk of the wings.

Rrip! Tear! Shink!

Terry held himself tightly upon the back of the dragon and attempted to bite into the thick, red scales of the dragon but was unsuccessful as the scales weren’t even scratched by Terry’s measly attacks.

“You fool,” said the dragon with a laugh before becoming still for a split second.

Fwoosh!

Flame erupted from the entire body of the dragon and it was engulfed in powerful flames.

[Activating Flame Resistance]

Terry’s body began to ignite as he became like a log in a roaring fire.

[Activating Demon King Aura]

The dragon’s flame flickered for a split second as it froze for a moment. The dragon was overwhelmed with surprise at the sudden burst of energy and pure, controlled rage. The Dragon continued to flinch for a few simple seconds but that was all Terry would need.

[Activating Overwhelming Strength]

[Activating Appraisal]

[Elder Dragon weaknesses=Underneath scales, water, lightning, ice, and the core of the dragon]

Terry used the few seconds he had bought and tensed his left hand made up of blades to tear a small hole deep under the scales into the flesh before Terry pushed himself deeper into a pool of rushing, boiling flesh and blood.

[Soul consumed]

Terry’s body began to melt in contact with the intense heat of the insides of the dragon. Even with all of his strength, he had no form of genuine defense. But even so, while blood was dangerous, it was also an incredible healent to vampires. To die drinking blood was quite literally impossible no matter what conditions were placed.

As Terry’s very body was breaking down, he continued to drink and his skin also began to absorb the crimson blood in order to heal as fast as the body was destroyed.

[Activating Blood Regeneration]

[Activating Blood Empowerment]

[Activating Alchemic Blood]

Crash! Smash! Crack! Bang!

“Roar!!!!!!” cried the dragon as its body attempted to swing around utilizing its paralyzed body while using its arms to dig Terry out.

Slash! Crack! Bang!

Broken, bloody bodies of numerous monsters from the room surrounded the dragon with weapons and began to strike fiercely. In an attempt to protect itself, the dragon began to weakly breath fire in an uncontrolled panic but was stopped by the mangled, charred body of the massive hellspawn heart as it absorbed the weak blast and reflected it back upon the dragon.

Terry, slowly venturing deeper into the dragon, absorbed the powerful blood of the creature all while raising his resistance and healing himself incredibly as the dragon struggled against the onslaught of ghouls.

The insides of the dragon continued to boil and the temperature rose higher and higher for Terry but he continued to drink and ravage the dragon’s insides before finally reaching the heart.

The dragon struggled as best it could in order to remove Terry from its body but was too late as it felt the sharp blades of Terry’s left hand masterfully wrap around each and every vein surrounding the heart…

Slice! Slice!

The dragon heard the quiet sound of the blades removing its heart from its body as Terry tore another hole to escape, before finally losing most movement in its body.

[Obtained Hells Forge’s Flame Core=Able to use Hell’s Forge’s Flames at will so long as the required magic, skills, and/or affinity is present.

Terry held a large red gem of red that was covered in blood as Terry held it tightly with his right arm and moved to where Ryan’s body stood, now charred and collapsed.

“Wait…” said a strong voice weakly behind Terry.

Terry slowly turned to face the dragon as its head lay turned towards him. Terry simply stared at his foe in the last moments with empty black eyes, merely reacting to stimuli and nothing else.

“I see, that’s what you have become. Even so, I ask that you take my child out of this wretched dungeon and show it a life of freedom unlike mine,” said the dragon before finally its entire body became still and its jaw hit the ground.

“I had offered you the chance, but in the spirit of how foolish all creatures are, unable to understand each other, this world has lost words and relies solely on the unconditional slaughter of the weak and strong. Don’t worry, as that child can help me to further my own goals, I will honor your request,” Terry said with no emotion nor expression.

Terry continued over to Ryan with a still blank stare and slow walk, not caring for the outcome no matter what would happen.

[Level Up! 96/100]

[Soul Absorbed; Fire Blast ability gained]

Hmm, I've almost maxed out. Although considering how the dragon was much stronger than me and I only reached level 94, I feel like I have much more room to grow, Terry thought.

Of course you do, the cap of 100 is just a limit to be broken. Once reached, you grow exponentially stronger, Din replied.

Gonna tell me how you know so much? Terry asked.

Sorry, but I actually can't since I don't know, Din replied sadly.

Huh, Terry thought. Well, whatever, I'm almost there anyway.

Terry continued to walk slowly to Ryan, the gem in his arms. The gem measured a little bigger than a human fist and produced a powerful aura of flame and entranced Terry with its incredible beauty and power.

Ryan lay across the floor of the room in a corner surrounded by ash. Not a single monster stood around him as all the bodies had been either incinerated or were tearing the dragon apart in order to harvest the valuable parts and heart. What Terry held, wasn’t in fact the heart of the terrifying beast. Instead, Terry held what lay deep inside the heart as a power source of sorts.

Terry finally reached Ryan’s charred body that had been broken down quite a bit from the flame but was still in one piece due to the armor that had been damaged brutally but remained intact. But still, now that it had served its purpose, the armor was of no further significance and Terry simply used his his left hand to gently tear a hole into the the armor and then deep into Ryan’s chest where Terry skillfully inserted the gem while also being sure to suck out any leftover blood from entering somewhere dangerous. Then, Terry merely left the hole in Ryan’s chest as flames began to engulf his chest and flesh appeared underneath almost instantly. The flames began to rage all across Ryan's body, healing any and all damages.

Terry turned back to the egg in the corner that remained undamaged and walked to pick it up before his vision became blurry and he collapsed.

Terry, take a rest, the soul of a dragon will take quite a while to control. Even though most of the energy is concentrated into your left arm no, you can’t afford to push too hard. You’ve won, so be content, at least for now, Din said with no response.

Terry remained on the floor, his black skin pressed against the burned rock from the massive fight.

Heh, I know vampires don’t sleep but still, make sure to stay down for at least a while, Din said in a lighthearted voice.

Din, what do we do now? Terry asked.

What? Well we should first rest but afterwards, I guess we should slaughter the miniboss. Of course, only after looting everything from the dragon’s room. I mean, that stuff was seriously valuable. Even if it was just a bunch of crystals and money. The actual equipment was probably taken by the army but since we can pick and choose, we’ll get plenty, Din replied happily.

Good, cuz then I’m going to use everything to slaughter the miniboss and then move on to doing the same with all of Dinstorm, Terry replied strongly before forcing his body up from the ground.

I hope that you don’t end up rushing us to our death by thinking that success will last forever. I agree with facing the miniboss but the actual dungeon boss I don’t recommend going near, Din mentioned concernedly.

Duly noted, I’ll head to the dragon’s mound soon and prepare, Terry said before turning from the egg to face his harvesting ghouls and the dragon corpse.

[Activating Raise Ghouls]

“Take the egg and Ryan to the lair. I’ll be waiting. Oh, and remember, only remove the wing parts and horns, the rest is important,” Terry said.

[Activating Spur]

Damn, there's thousands of gold and platinum coins, Terry thought. Heh, this money could buy me a country. It's a shame that the items were taken by the army but I have all the money... as well as these things.

[Obtained Scroll of Ultimate Flame=Incinerate all in your path]

[Obtained Dragon King Fang=Material]

[Obtained Scroll of Teleportation (Fjulmoir Mountains)]

[Obtained Skill Chest (Elder Dragon)=Grants a random skill or ability to the opener. Only able to be opened by one who contains a relative Dragon’s Core.]

[Obtained Blemien=Uses blood to work; 6798 Damage]

[Obtained Dragon Spine Chestwraps=4780 Defense; 4142 Damage; High resilience; high elemental resist]

[Obtained Elder Scale Shield=6000 Defense; High elemental Resist]

This stuff is very valuable and shall aid me well, Terry said as he looked upon the items gathered before him while waiting for the money to be stored into his armband that now had more than double the capacity after being merged.

The blade known as Blemien especially had Terry’s attention as he stared in awe upon the massive blade although a better way to explain the blade perfectly was one compound word. Chainsaw. Yes, Terry had just received a chainsaw. Fashioned seemingly with a massive dragon’s horn as the framework and several fangs as the blades, the chainsaw was much larger than that of a normal one and was also impossible for Terry to lift as it was around 5 times the size of his entire body. Even so, as Terry already had an incredibly strong, irreversible weapon in the form of his left hand, his only choice for the remaining right was the shield of dragon scales. Both reasonable in size with a meter for the diameter and a half inch for thickness, the shield was incredibly easy to use and strong which made it a perfect item for Terry.

Much of the items were held inside chests without keys, probably shut tightly with magic of some kind and then released once a certain condition was met. Whatever the condition may have been, Terry had gotten possibly the best equipment which surpassed all of his stolen goods from Gilian which were just for survival and majority rather than true power.

[Equipped Dragon Spine Chestwraps]

[Equipped Elder Scale Shield]

[Equipped Weightless Feet]

[Equipped Terrifying Mask]

Terry equipped the best item for his legs and feet which was light and strong along with a mask to help with his demon king skill and then continued to rest while waiting for loot of the dragon to be stored.

Terry was now covered with a black mask of tentacles that wrapped grossly around his face but for sure, while it didn’t look pretty and in fact terrified all who gazed upon it, that was the point.

Similarly, a long, clean, white spine similar to that of a human, wrapped tightly around Terry’s chest, covering all of the black skin easily with how long and thick it was. The inside was smooth while the outside had several protruding spikes as was normal with a spine.

Finally was the radiant, red shield of the same color to what covered the dragon. The armor covered Terry perfectly and was perfect to stack the defense of Terry, further protecting him.

[Items stored]

[2 Item(s) unable to be stored]

Terry frowned as he stared at what he still held tightly in his hands.

Damn, and these were the strongest items too, Terry thought.

Oh come now, you can't store items of such power in a spacial storage item no matter what. Still, you're actually pretty lucky that those were the items. Especially the teleportation scroll to those mountains. While the land is barren and worthless, it could help serve as a place to run away to. Even if scrolls can only be used by one person before being consumed, Din replied.

Just tell me Din, you're the guy who knows everything so spill it, I'll need something to serve as my nuke, Terry replied.

Heh, while I don't know what a 'nuke' is, I understand your meaning and don't intend to for you to simply have to carry such treasures. Simply merge with them, after all, they are made of skin, even if it isn't human. Which makes it quite easy to merge with, and it can never be taken until death, Din replied.

Terry's armor began to squirm, leaving to open slits on each arm which Terry slid two items inside for safekeeping as he watched his ghouls bring back Ryan and the egg while the dead dragon led the way. The horns and wings had been completely ripped off and were carried by the other ghouls.

Surprisingly, the ghouls had begun to regenerate over time and lasted much longer than normal. A few had fallen but such was definitely the power of Terry’s new hand. The power of souls was frightening indeed to let him kill an elder dragon in the first place.

“I would take this time to further grow and such but since ghouls only last for a certain while, I can’t exactly wait. Bring Ryan here,” Terry told his ghouls as Ryan, looking very well considering the banged up armor he wore, was brought before his master.

Slap!

“Ow~ who the f*ck did-”

Slap!

“-please, I-I’m sorry boss. I didn’t know, please forgive me,” Ryan said calmly in a genuine apologetic tone while he also starred in fear at Terry’s mask.

“Here,” Terry said as he handed the last, unopened chest to Ryan as Ryan continued to recover from his sleepiness and adjusted to his surroundings.

Ryan looked around and jumped in surprise at the surrounding monsters but noticing the several holes and pools of blood about the creatures, he could tell that they were ghouls and calmed himself for a moment.

[Open Skill Chest (Elder Dragon)? Yes/No]

Ryan told Terry he had seen the message but Terry merely nodded his head and Ryan selected.

[Yes has been selected]

Choosing Result…

As you have an acceptable amount of magic for a dragon, skill=Flame Dragon Boxer has been granted; you now have the ability to completely change your body to have the properties of a dragon (scales, tail, wings, horns, etc), making your body able to perform far stronger. Notice, devouring dragon flesh of any kind from now on will cause permanent change to your body while also increasing the effects of this skill.

Ryan stared at the message before him in surprise and shock. Then, the feelings changed to spilling tears of happiness along with disgust which Terry immediately took note of.

[Activating Read Minds]

No way, this skill seems like a direct upgrade of my current class. The skill can apparently let me gain dragon features and in doing so make me insanely strong. The fact that I can control flame to start with is already a plus. But still, I can become even stronger to start by devouring dragon flesh, and there’s a dragon right there. Oh man… I want to vomit so badly but do I have to eat it? Well, maybe it can help a lot more as it is. Sure, there would be awesome benefits of having a living asset but still…

“I’ve heard enough,” Terry said coldly.

“What do you mean boss?” Ryan said weakly while he also shook nervously in fear that Terry had predicted his thoughts.

Terry glared directly at Ryan, his eyes were still pure black and the mask of tentacles which Ryan had still not yet gotten over. Terry wasn’t in the mood for games, and as Ryan was his slave, Terry saw no need to be nice as it was of no benefit to him.

Ryan stared terrified into Terry’s eyes but couldn’t bring himself to look away. Something was different, but Ryan trusted Terry regardless. After all, Terry was able to read minds, right?

“Ghouls, rip the dragon apart and bring Ryan the pieces. Since the dragon is very hot to begin with, I doubt you’ll get sick from eating. Anyway, eat as much as you can without vomiting,” Terry said as he sat down upon the heap of dragon treasure below him.

The dragon ghoul slumped down to the ground as Terry removed his ability from the creature and the remaining ghouls began ripping all of the remaining scales in order to retrieve the meat. The other ghouls just transported the parts to Terry and Ryan who either devoured or stored respectively.

Ryan eyed the dragon in disgust. Due to the fact that the dragon could use powerful flame and was therefore resistant, cooking the beast was out of the question but eating the beast raw was disgusting. But even so, his loyalty had no bounds and Ryan began to take a bite out of the molten flesh he had been handed. Thanks to how he could withstand literally burning alive, Ryan was fine and continued to eat slowly even though the flavor was rancid and tough.

“Use your skill,” Terry barked without explanation at the sight of Ryan’s sad expression and slow chewing speed.

Ryan became relaxed for a moment before a burst of aura pulsed forth from his body and he lowered his mouth into the food with larger teeth of some kind.

Chomp! Tear! Rip! Chomp! Chomp! Slash! Bite! Crunch! Bite!

Damn, Terry thought. He’s eating so much that not even the fattest dude back on Earth could compare. I doubt that even the world eating competition could produce such an appetite.

“Wait, how exactly do I eat such a big creature so quickly. I feel hungry, but how can I eat a whole dragon?” Ryan asked as he lifted his mouth dripping with blood and flesh, from the large piece.

“Take your time getting used to this new power of yours while eating. You have massive power now that is valuable except with how you harm yourself more than others. You can train, eat, and sleep all in this room since there’s so much space,” Terry explained.

“Wai wha!? (wait what!?)” Ryan asked as he continued to feast upon the dragon piece with great hunger.

“You stay here while I clear out the dungeon. Anybody comes here, kill or spare as you see fit and I’ll be back when I feel like it after I’m done,” Terry said simply as he watched his ghouls working hard to pull the several scales off of the dragon.

Ryan reluctantly forced his drooling mouth away from the flesh he had originally been disgusted by and began to talk, revealing that his teeth had indeed become much sharper although Terry didn’t care much.

“Seriously?!” Ryan cried in total surprise.

“I need to survey this place and you need to train. If you came with me, you would die,” Terry said coldly.

Ryan shivered at Terry’s words but understood them well. Ryan knew that as he was valuable to Terry but uncontrollable, the plan was very efficient.

“I apologize,” Ryan said as he lowered his head. He understood Terry’s wishes and knew that Terry wouldn’t have given an impossible task. Ryan also knew that if he was to survive that he needed to listen to Terry who was very experienced and whom Ryan owed his life.

Terry smiled at the look of understanding in Ryan’s eyes.

"Just make sure to not destroy the egg since it's more valuable than you," Terry added.

He’s grown, Terry thought as he waited a few more seconds before heading out.

[Items Stored]

[Activating Spur]

Terry ran through the dungeon, exploring all of the paths he hadn’t recognized and used monsters to lead him to the remaining leaders. Among the leaders, there was a massive magma slime which led a bunch of little magma slimes and elementals of flame, a giant coal creature that spit out suicidal bombs and had cannons all over his body to fire explosive parts, and finally a massive, hairy, tarantula queen with hundreds of children.

Among the several leaders, the explosive leader was easy enough as its whole body was alive and with each and every explosion, Terry got a boost of soul, giving him the strength to shoot a beam of flame at the cost of a few hundred souls which ended up igniting the entire creature, giving Terry a few level ups and plenty of soul.

The tarantula leader was very weak with how it lived in a lava proof chamber deep into the dungeon. The fact that Terry could burn through the tarantulas easily made the trip very worthwhile with plenty of soul and such.

The slime however, was very tough. Terry had a difficult time with how the slime had several hundred slimes at a time to attack as well as defend and constantly made more but once Terry had used his Demon King Aura, the slimes were frozen in place, allowing him to obliterate them with ease.

Terry had finally finished searching through all the worthwhile parts of the dungeon but even though the soul was very worthwhile, as well as the few level-ups that he was given to reach level 100 where he was stuck waiting for more experience to finally level up. There was no equipment at all as the army probably killed the monsters and took the stuff while leaving a few to reproduce.

Even with all of the negatives, Terry knew that exterminating everything inside the dungeon was the right call in order to cripple Dinstorm. There were plenty of more monsters inside the dungeon but as they were rabble, Terry saw no need to fight. The monsters also kept to themselves and Terry wasn’t the type who went out of his way just to kill unless he needed to.

Since Terry had finished, possibly after a few weeks he imagined, he had no reason to search further and followed his way back to Ryan to see the results of the training if any for Ryan.

On the way back to Ryan, Terry began to wonder about the location of the remaining refugees as he had seen the ones he had spared with several missing but was unable to find any signs of the ones of actual value.

After about a few days of running straight back to Ryan, Terry spotted a pool of blood that remained of the dragon whose flesh was nowhere to be seen and a neat pile of bones and scales that Terry had intended for Ryan to collect along with the now nullified ghouls, and finally Ryan as he stood massive. He had easily grown more than double his size, such that the growth was astonishing. Ryan had grown nearly 8 feet taller and 2 feet wider.

Terry saw the large egg in the corner of his eye and was glad that it hadn't been destroyed like the rest of the room.

Ryan’s rough brown skin had become a shade of maroon as several lines appeared across his skin. His teeth had become bigger and he had even grown 2 large horns atop his head. What was funnier, a long, sharp, maroon tail poked its way out of Ryan’s back near the end of his spine. Ryan’s hands had also become much larger and his fingers became sharper and stronger into the form of claws.

The clear differences signified that Ryan was now a dragon of sorts. After devouring such a beast, Ryan had to be undoubtedly stronger as he was much bigger even if he was much smaller than the actual creature.

Ryan saw Terry and blinked a few times in order to make sure that Terry was before him before walking toward him.

[Activating Mental Control]

Terry was very surprised at the growth of Ryan but forced himself to calm down and process the growth fast. Terry had witnessed more surprising things before, such as betrayal… so Terry was able to stay cool and walk towards Ryan as well.

Slash!

Terry clawed upon Ryan’s massive, scaly chest as he stood, attempting to understand his new power.

“Wha-” Ryan said startled as he realized that he felt barely any pain from the strike. In fact, only a few thin scratches remained on Ryan’s smooth, scaly stomach to see.

Terry grinned. He hadn’t used any skills or ability of any kind and at Ryan’s low level, to have such strength was incredible. Ryan had a high chance of survival at the very least. Terry had decided, he had to fight Ryan and measure his power.

Ryan stared at Terry with a beaming smile but Terry ignored him and spoke coldly.

“Attack me,” Terry said.

“C’mon boss, not even a hello or anything?” Ryan asked pitifully before noticing Terry’s cold glare and numbing his feelings even though the two had just met after such a long time.

Terry looked at the area surrounding Ryan before grinning. There were several claw marks and burns which had not been there before.

“We can talk once we get out of here, after we fight and test each other” Terry said as he stood firmly before Ryan even though Ryan stood much larger than him. “Either damage me until I’m satisfied, knock me into one of the walls in this room, or ready yourself for a direct attack from me aimed at your chest. You have a full minute before I strike so get read-”

Fwoosh! Smash! Bang! Wham!

“-y, well, good job,” Terry said after Ryan struck 3 mighty blows, each one sending a powerful flame upon Terry.

Unlike the previous attacks where Ryan was literally burning alive and being able to deal massive damage as a side effect, Ryan was now able to have a steady aura of flame produced by his scales of protection, dealing no damage to Ryan while making him incredibly protected and dangerous. But even so…

“Haven’t even moved me a single inch. I guess that you really do wanna get my hand to tear a hole into your stomach,” Terry said from beneath the shield on his right hand. Smoke flowed slightly off the shield but not even a scratch had damaged the surface.

Terry stood perfectly fine underneath the shield as moved his neck in circles in boredom.

Ryan continued attacking Terry in fear and anxiousness. Ryan knew that Terry wasn’t lying about attacking him as Terry wasn’t the type to lie. Especially about murder.

Ryan had only one chance, he knew he couldn’t deal any proper damage as he had just seen and as Terry had killed the dragon of which Ryan was a cheap knockoff, Ryan had to focus all of his energy into a single blast to force Terry back. After all, Terry was able to hold off a full few hundred enemies at once for a few minutes and Ryan had no time to waste.

Ryan stood firmly, breathing calmly without a single missed breath. The flames around Ryan began to stabilize and grow consistently with each breath. Then, all signs of uncontrolled heat left Ryan’s body. The flames across his scales subsided and all flame was concentrated into a small point on his chest.

Good, Terry thought.

You shouldn’t push him too hard Terry, Din said.

Did I ask you?! Terry snapped.

Don’t lose yourself, remember, I am the vampire. A human such as yourself shouldn’t become heartless, Din responded calmly.

Funny coming from someone without a heart in the first place. Don’t worry, I can kill my emotions for the suffering and let them loose during the celebration, Terry replied coldly.

Damn, I never expected to have such a human as a vessel. Just remember, you always have my shoulder to lean upon, Din said warmly.

“Time’s up,” Terry said as he lowered his shield and instantly pushed forth his left hand.

“Now!” Ryan called as he exhaled with great strength and Terry was even slightly pushed back by the incredible amount of force of a simple exhalation but what came next was truly astounding.

A glimpse of a flash appeared to Terry before a wave of flame erupted from Ryan’s mouth. The flame wasn’t of normal power either, rather than typical orange flame, the flame was of the same color of Ryan’s darker dragon scales.

Terry, unable to defend himself in time, was forced to continue forward with his attack and in doing so, took the full blast of the devastating attack.

Flame spread throughout the massive room in a massive blast of maroon.

“Cough! Cough! Cough!” Ryan said as he stared into the flame to see where Terry was while also attempting to recover from his massive attack.

“Damn, you haven’t made a single scratch on even my armor. You have much room to grow,” Terry said in disappointment. “Still, at least you can survive whatever could happen next.”

Ryan stared straight toward the voice as the flame began to dissipate and he saw Terry in his powerful armor as it bore not a single singe nor scar.

Terry stood still and shook slightly before straightening.

Damn, how did he get stronger?! Terry wondered. His level shouldn’t be more than maybe 50 but why does he hit like the actual dragon? That thing was like at 100 to be that strong yet at such a low-level Ryan was able to just barely match it with some concentration.

Probably because he has eaten it and the core resides inside his chest. While the effect is low, there is plenty of experience given from such a process. In fact, eating in general directly increases levels while drinking blood increases stats. Humans have a much more efficient method but vampires have a more lasting method. It makes good sense when understanding the system of things here, Din said.

Still, in order to make him feel weak, I had to take the full brunt of the attack. Well, it doesn’t matter much with how much blood I drank, Terry replied.

[Activating Blood Regeneration]

“So what now boss?” Ryan asked fearfully.

“As I said, that was just a test to make sure that you could survive moving forward. Since you can, we’re fighting this ‘Coliseum Kingsman,’” Terry said.

“But one thing Boss, where do you think that the other refugees are? If you don’t mind me asking,” Ryan asked respectfully.

Heh, Terry thought, just one order and he’s finally acting like a decent subordinate for me. Well, I guess I should also be nice and direct with him as a reward, Terry thought.

“Dead,” Terry said coldly.

“I see…” Ryan responded. Ryan didn’t wish to pry since he knew Terry cared a lot about the refugees and prying would possibly anger him.

Terry walked over to the large pile of parts Ryan had organized and sat down in order to easily regenerate while also storing the items. With the amount and rarity of the dragon parts, Terry imagined that he would have to wait around half an hour or so similar to the entire mound of treasure that he had taken from the now digested dragon.

Ryan had an angry look in his eyes as he paced around the room. Flames of great power erupted from his body similar to the dragon as Terry watched with a smile.

“You’ll never control it that way, just sit and focus on your breathing like before. I was honestly impressed. Even though you couldn’t damage me, I am much stronger than most. What matters is that you can take any weight off my shoulders,” Terry said encouragingly.

Ryan stared at Terry and his flames changed from running rampant on patches of his scales to all over his body. Ryan must’ve been really happy but then began to calm down and the flames dissipated.

“Sorry Boss, and thanks, I really appreciate your support,” Ryan said warmly with a bow.

Damn, I really hate these moments of genuine gratitude, Terry thought as he almost began to grin but stopped himself.

Don’t try so hard, even most vampires don’t desire the slaughter of all humans or submission into livestock. Everybody has those that they hate and those they care for and those who simply exist, Din explained.

Tch, I hate how you can read my thoughts so easily while I got nothing on you. Well, we are similar. You say all that from your understanding of me. Honestly, I’m just trying to process everything like a normal person, Terry responded.

Don’t worry, as people who have been betrayed. You know you can trust me because the very reason we are connected is because we are the same, Din said.

Heh, it’s nice to talk for no reason with someone I can trust, thanks Din, Terry said.

Anytime, Din responded.

Terry watched Ryan intently as he continued to train his breathing. From what Terry saw around the room, Ryan was merely pushing past his limits and getting used to his power to deal incredible damage but as he needed more control and concentrated power, his controlled breathing was the next step.

“Urk! Uwoagh!” coughed Ryan after around 2 minutes.

Well, I didn’t expect this to be easy, Terry thought. Eh, only he can manage that power since he’s the one who uses flame to start with, besides, with his loyalty and resolve, he should be able to accomplish something big later if not now.

[Items Stored]

Terry finally stood up and stretched his body until he felt ease of movement.

“Alright, Ryan, we have to face the boss sometime and as you have finished your dragon meat, I assume that now would be a good time,” Terry called out to Ryan who was taking deep breaths in order to stay calm and control his flames.

“Alright Boss,” Ryan said shakily in fear as he continued to calm himself with his breathing.

Terry decided that Ryan was ready due to the aura of calm that Ryan gave off even though there was so much flame rampaging inside his body. Ryan had gained immense control over his flames not to perfection, but more than enough.

The two men grabbed the dragon egg before walking steadily to a higher area of the room where the dragon once held its pile of treasure before Terry had taken it, leaving a large patch of shining, golden writing upon the floor.

Terry saw Ryan shaking, trying very hard to calm his breathing, and patted his lower back fiercely in reassurance.

Ryan looked down to Terry and bowed his head in thanks which Terry responded by taking off his mask for a moment and grinned, showing his fangs as he readied for a fierce battle, before stepping onto the large patch of writing.

[Enter Magma Monarch Coliseum? Yes/No]

[Yes has been selected]