<h4>Chapter 612 Blood Droplets In The Night. </h4>


    "You really... didn''t bring him anything?" Vasilissa mumbled, staring at Alcott from the side of her eyes.


    "As a dragon, Arad doesn''t need magic items of money from me," Alcott replied, staring forth, "He''ll find more use to skills, training, and guidance. I''ll show him how to hunt monsters he never hunted. How to take down those stronger than him and survive in this world."


    "That''s something you''ll do," She smiled.


    As they talked, Merida stood in the back, ring at the busy living room with a slightly sore face. She sat on a chair, staring in silence.


    Ae approached her, "You can go sleep if you''re exhausted. It''s been a long day for you."


    Merida stared at the sword Alcott gave her, "I appreciate the gift, but I would have taken a night of silence." She leaned the de on the wall, sighing.


    "I feel some bloodlust on me," Alcott mumbled with a worried smile, "Did I do something wrong?"


    "Who knows." Vasilissa whispered back to him, "She''s ring at us,"


    ****


    Arad walked into the garden, staring at the night sky slowly shifting as dawn approached. With Alcott here, they barely got any sleep. It wasn''t a problem for him, but he wasn''t sure about the girls. Especially Merida, she seemed a bit agitated.


    The girls were already waiting down the hills, ready to ride the carriage. Arad took a step, his eyes glowing with a bright purple light. The dragons awaiting around the area moved, shifting their heads and staring toward him. They could sense the magic shifting as Arad was about to transform, the mana twisting and twirling as his void excited the very existence of the void in the matter of the whole area.


    "A dominant dragon, ruling over thend not just with might, but with the magic released from his body." The red dragon''s general smiled, "He would''ve made a great conqueror,"


    Arad''s steps left a burning purple me in the ground that quickly faded, leaving no trace as the magic dissipated into the air. The stars in the sky trembled, and veins of purple magic shed across his arms, sending a quiet hum into the air like an engine revving up.


    His body started expanding as his scales sucked the mana from the air, showing up as dark purple patches on his face and arms.


    CLICK! A woman stared out of a window, yawning as she rubbed one eye, staring at Arad with the other, "It''s Baron Arad,"


    Arad''s body shifted, his arms extending and wings growing out of his back as he leaned forward, transforming into his draconic form as his tail whipped into the sky, crackling with magic. As he sat up like a cat, staring into the night sky, his scales emitted a faint purple light, blending his shape into the endless space as the woman stared from the vige, looking up toward him.


    "Is everything all right?" Ae asked, standing beside his ws.


    "I''m checking through the animals. We''ll leave as soon as I make sure everything is okay." Arad replied, opening his wings.


    The wings had a faint light to them, showing a shimmering star pattern that blended into the sky. The wings amplified Arad''s magic, extending the range of his dominance over the forest''s animals.


    "The ce is clear, but there is a pack of monsters trying to move into the eastern side." Arad stood, pping his wings and flying into the night sky.


    Vasilissa stared at him take off. ^Those aren''t any monsters. They look like vampire familiers, probably that one I killed wasn''t the only loyal blood-sucking fiend outside d''s kingdom. They do choose the worst time to attack.^


    "I got a bad feeling," Alcott looked into the sky, "I smell blood," He pulled a sword, "I''ll go after him,"


    "Let him go," Vasilissa held him by the shoulder, "Arad can handle them," She smiled, "I can smell them from here, vampire familiers with a high vampire. I would say around level 90."


    "Level 90," Alcott looked into the forest, "Depending on how experienced they are, he might have a problem."


    "You''re right," Vasilissa nodded, "Level merely shows how advanced you got into your sses. It only means you have more skills and higher base stats, but not necessarily how you use those skills."


    Merlin approached, "Since by level twenty, any mage has the potential of learning ninth-tier spells and cast them if he has the mana, it means any development after that is how to use the powerful magic."


    "Level isn''t a measure of power. It''s a measure of option, how many styles a person could use in a fight." Zephyr sat on Merlin''s head, "Fight as a mage, pull a sword and charge then summon the power of nature like a druid."


    Alcott looked at her, "As a high-level being, how does it feel?"


    "Like using tools," She replied.


    ****


    Aradnded, ring forward as the horde of monsters appeared. Shadow-engulfed wolves, snakes, bats, and hawks burning in a dark-red eldritch me surrounded him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You!" A man growled, "You''re that ursed dragon who sted our kingdom," He walked out of the darkness, enraged with blood magic boiling out of his skin. "How dare you!"


    "How dare me?" Arad looked at him, Prowling around and forcing the monsters to evade his massive ws. To him, they were no more than the grass on the ground.


    "d killed a city behind my back," Arad said, his jaw pping like a bear trap, his opal teeth reflecting the moonlight, lusting for blood. "Since when was it wise to insult a dragon?"


    "Humans live to be our food," The vampire growled, "The same for you dragons. You eat them, don''t you lie!" The vampire sniffed the air, "And you''re a vampire as well. You must know, how blood tastes, and how worthless the lives of those holding it are."


    Two vampire women appeared from behind him, "A dragon you might be, but a vampire going against the blood lord is a sin," One of them said.


    Arad nodded, shifting back to his humanoid form. "I see what you mean," He smiled, fixing his hair, "Then, when will you give me your blood?"


    Suddenly, one of the women''s heads burst, burning into ash as a sh of light illuminated the trees. Her corpse fell down, and even her vampire regeneration was unable to keep up for some reason.


    The remaining two vampires gasped as lightning shed from Arad''s back, linking to his chest.


    "I got a wedding to attend, don''t waste my time with mind control blood magic," Arad looked at them, only his eyes glowing with a bright purple sh. "You always pick the worst time."