The way of the dragon?

The meeting between the patriarch of the dragon clan, and the matriarch of the azure flame clan continued smoothly.

However, as the topic of their conversation gradually veered into the direction of the inner work-ins of politics and the political affairs of the neighboring kingdoms Alan eventually lost interest and decided to leave.

The political situation of the neighboring kingdoms didn't interest him after all. As he walked through the corridors of the dragon clan, he couldn't help but think back to the topic of his mother's political engagement.

If his mother had actually agreed to go along with the engagement then even if he didn't approve of it there wouldn't be anything he could do but, as long as she wished not to marry into the flashing sword clan then he would make sure things wouldn't head into that direction.

'The problem is how am I going to get them to call off the marriage proposal?' Alan frowned, as he was lost in the sea of thoughts. The one who originally proposed the marriage was the flashing sword clan but, since they have the backing of the black demon oblivion clan the azure flame clan refused to provoke them.

Although Alan wasn't aware of the real strength of the black demon oblivion clan, judging from how stern their expressions were he could fairly guess they were really powerful.

Also... If the azure flame clan, of the most prideful clans in the kingdom of Aslis would rather not provoke them their strength must be truly formidable!

'Not to mentioned he also spoke about a demon sword, didn't he?' Alan's eyes narrowed slightly as he pondered to himself. In the past he had faced a very strong swordsman who wielded a demon sword, 'Are they talking about the same sword? Nah it couldn't be.' He shook his head.

"... I think I should avoid the black demon oblivion clan for the time being... Instead, I should turn my sights onto the flashing sword clan." He mumbled with his hands against his lips.

[I agree~ it's also the perfect opportunity!] Akane's excited voice resounded.

At her words Alan raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about, what opportunity?"

[It's the perfect opportunity for us to grow stronger! If you are going to face the flashing sword clan, please allow me to have a taste of their essence blood!] She replied, cheerfully. Her voice was laced with excitement.

Alan's expression contorted into confusion as he tilted his head, "How would draining their essence blood help us grow stronger?" He inquired in a curious tone.

Although he knew Akane could absorb the blood of all existence, this was the first time he had heard about using that ability to increase their power.

The essence blood of an individual is basically their life essence.

The difference between the essence blood and regular blood is that the essence blood was able to absorb the spiritual energy that exists within the soul.

All existence had spiritual energies within them as it is an energy that only exists within the soul, as such the body is overflowing with an abundance of spiritual energy.

This can cause the blood to be affected by the spiritual energy which caused it to mutate and become what is known as "essence blood" as it is connected to spiritual energy, having it directly absorbed is no different from having one's life energy absorbed.

[Umu, if I can get a large quantity of essence blood my recovery will increase drastically!] Akane explained.

"Oh, if that's the case why didn't you mentioned this sooner? I could have hunted bandits inside the forest to use as your nourishment." Alan said grumpily.

[Hmph, you want to offer this goddess low quality essence blood. I'm a divine spirit, show some respect will you!]

"I think you are just being greedy." Alan interjected bluntly.

[Tsk, I dare you to say that again!] An angry yelled resounded inside his head, causing him to grimace slightly.

"Anyway, how much essence blood do you need?" He asked, changing the subject. As though guessing his intentions Akane decided to let him off this time with a slight huff and continued.

[Hmm... About two hundred.]

"..." Alan didn't respond when he heard that, but his expression was clearly saying, 'So greedy!' For some reason Akane became irritated.

[You're the one who is always using my abilities. Do you think blood manipulation is an ability that requires low energy?]

"Hmm... Good point." Alan placed his hand beneath his chin as he responded, his head nodding in understanding. Soon, his lips curved upwards into a mocking smirk. "Very well, I'm sure there must be a lot of strong warriors and mages inside the flashing sword clan we can use as our nourishment. This could also be a good opportunity to get them to take back their proposal."

[Oh, it has been a while since I last saw that arrogant and confident look on your face. I can tell you have a plan up your sleeve, do tell this young miss?] Akane's interest was pique.

Alan smiled as he swipes his slightly long silver hair to the side of his face and said nonchalantly, "It's nothing special, I just decided I want to have a nice chat with the heir of the flashing sword clan."

Akane rolled her eyes when she heard this as she knew what he had in mind wasn't necessarily sitting down and having a pleasant conversation but quite the opposite.

'Really, I pity him.' She thought inwardly. But at the same time, she was eager to have a taste of their essence blood as she licked her lips in what seemed to be a seductive manner.

As Alan walked through the passage of the corridors he stopped in his tracks as his eyes reflected a door that connected to the room which housed the many different techniques of the dragon clan.

"It's about time I learn some more of their techniques." He whispers to himself and hurriedly made his way towards the door. Standing by at the front door was an elderly man with black hair who seemed to be in his mid to late forties dressed in a white robe.

The man was one of the elders of the dragon clan possessing great status.

Once his eyes reflected Alan's small figure, he promptly bowed his head respectfully and said with a faint smile, "Why if it isn't the young master, what bring you here to this place today?"

"I want to learn one of our clans' techniques, can I?" He inquired.

"Of course, the young master is the youngest son of the former patriarch after all. But I do recommend you be careful while choosing, some of those techniques are very dangerous if you are not given the necessary training." He said, his expression contorted into full seriousness as he said that.

"I understand, I shall abide by your warning." Alan replied humbly before stepping inside the dark room. The spacious room was faintly lit with an artificial lighting from a red magical crystal that was embedded on the ceiling walls.

The room was filled with countless bookshelves that contained books with all shapes and sizes. Some were small, while others were large. Some were thick, while others were thin.

Alan didn't take a book right away, instead he did some snooping around trying to find anything that might catch his eyes, Alan was someone who followed his natural instinct after all.

He allowed his intuition to lead him around and as he reaches a shelve that was roughly thirty meters tall Akane's voice suddenly resounded inside his head.

[Master, wait!]

Alan's feet subconsciously stopped as her voice reached his ear. He furrowed his brow as he felt the deep sense of urgency and well-hidden excitement in her voice which left him perplexed.

"Is something wrong?" He asked curiously.

[On the top shelf, there is a black book, take it!] She replied.

Alan raised his head upwards and gaze at the shelf. Many different books of various kinds reflected within his emerald, green eyes as he reached out his hand towards the only black book at the top of the shelf.

Alan was still fairly short, as he was currently only 6 feet tall so reaching the book was rather difficult. Eventually after much effort his hand finally felt the rough texture of the book.

When Alan saw the covers of the book, he narrowed his eyes. "Divine dragons' heart" was written on the covers.

Soon, Akane materialize into her physical form and stood next to him, her beautiful sapphire like eyes shone as she asked, "What kind of technique is it?"

Alan promptly opened the book and read the contents written inside.

"The way of the dragon..." He mumbled in a nearly inaudible voice, however, Akane's strong hearing allowed her to hear him amid his mumbles. "The way of the dragon? What does the technique do?" She questioned further.

"It seems to be an advanced technique that not only sharpens the mind but the physical body as well... Also, whoever learns this technique goes through a metamorphosis and change their constitution, as it said the user will literally have their body made similar to that of a dragon." Alan explained.

"Eh, are you saying anyone who learns this technique will actually have their race change to that of a dragon, or at least something similar?" Akane gasps. She had never heard of such a technique before.

Alan was also incredulous about this technique. What does a dragon have that made them superior to that of a human, besides having a stronger physical body in general, their magical energy is far greater in both quality and quantity.

If he learns this technique Alan predicts his overall strength will improve drastically. 'I may be able to face a demigod if I can learn this technique.' He thought.

"... I've made my decision; I'll learn this technique." He said. Akane wasn't surprised by his choice as this technique was very useful in many ways. "However, we should look for defensive type techniques too, don't you think?" She suddenly said as she gazes at him with a serious expression etched on her face.

"Eh, defensive type techniques, what about my blood walls?"

"No! You depend on my blood manipulation too much, it's time you learn something else." Akane responded, her expression was serious as she gave her logical reasoning.

He naturally won't be able to depend on her blood manipulation all the time, especially now that he had to hide his abilities from the dragon clan that had seen him use it on the battlefield.

"Having multiple cards up your sleeve would help you in dire situations... If we had an attack capable of breaking spatial barriers of a sealed space back then when we were trapped by the goddess of death, we could have avoided your death in the first place." Akane's slender shoulder fell as she thought back to that time.

Back then their situation was truly dire, with the space sealed by the minions of the goddess of death there really wasn't anyway for them to escape. Not to mention their communication with Udea was also cut off while they were within the barrier.

That incident had left a deep mark in her heart, the feelings of helplessness knowing she couldn't do anything to help the one she wanted to help the most, along with the reluctance knowing that the only fate that awaited them was the cold depressive imminent feeling of death.

Akane gritted her teeth as her small delicate hands clenched into a fist. 'Never again!' She thought. Seeing her like that brought a small smile to Alan's lips. "You have nothing to worry about... I swear it, I, no we will not die, not again." He declared.

His bright eyes resembling that of emerald shone with a light of determination and unwavering resolves. 'I won't make the same mistakes, just like before we shall cut down all that wish to impede our path moving forward!'

With that thought Alan send his spiritual energy inside the book to start the process of which the technique had inscribed. "Argh!" A loud painful grunt left his mouth as a strange energy from within the black book suddenly entered his body.

Alan's emerald eyes gradually became like that of amethyst as his pupils split in a small vertical line.

Before Alan blanked out, he didn't know if it was just his imagination but, for an instant he saw a creature that seem to resemble a large dragon with purple scales covering its entire body.