Rax's face was stoic as the pain of the advancement assaulted him, the Chaotic Core had already reached for the purest part of his blood and brought it inside itself, beginning the assimilation process. Thanks to his work on atavism, the bloodline had reached rank 4.
His body continued growing until it reached a height of 4 meters, it had a muscular complexion and the amount of brute power it carried was huge, his scales started to fall but immediately they were replaced for others that were made of a metal-like material of obsidian color. The last part was particularly painful and puddles of blood form at his feet.
"Excellent! his heritage is linked to the metallic dragons, I have always found them annoying, but they are innately loyal and wise, although they are also very talkative and stubborn sometimes," Zatiel was very happy with the bloodline that Rax had obtained.
Although your bloodline and race don't define you, it certainly generates an effect on your habits and customs, just like a demon having a predisposition to being violent and evil, metallic dragons tend to care for their people, especially the young ones and loathe any act of betrayal.
The body transformation was ending but the final part of his assimilation was about to begin as the severing of the connection to his origin started.
Sophia and Ezequiel become solemn at this part, although the feeling of the bloodline that Rax had assimilated in his core was inferior to their own, it was still plenty powerful, but unlike the great battle they were waiting, the connection was broken immediately without any problems or the need of assistance. This greatly shocked the two, they did not underestimate the will of the kobold but being able to overcome the resistance of a rank 4 bloodline was not something it could happen so easily.
"His bloodline may have reached rank 4, but that was thanks to atavism, it was originally that of a kobold, and that connection is so insignificant that it can be broken automatically," Zatiel explained to the two after seeing their futile intent to understand what was happening.
When Rax finally ended his advancement to rank 1, he stood up with his gigantic 4-meter tall burly body and dark metallic scales that looked like an armor; he was by all standards, a fighting machine, but in his eyes was the wisdom, characteristic of all metallic dragons making an interesting contrast between body and mind. He walked to Zatiel and when he was in front of him, he got down on one knee.
"Rax, Neo-Demon of the kobold race, greets the Ancestor," his face was full of respect and dignity as he bowed to Zatiel.
Although the atmosphere was serious, Zatiel could not help but find it a little funny, the old kobold was so huge that even when he kneeled, his head still ends up a little taller than him. Still, Zatiel nodded and helped him to stand up.
"Well done, actually with your changes you can call yourself a dragon if you wish, and no longer need to refer to yourself as a kobold."
"No, I was born a kobold and no matter how strong I became or how much my bloodline changes, I will always be a kobold," his face was determined and prideful as he said those words.
"Kobold it is then. Ok, now the important part, we have to discuss what we are going to do with the rest of your race," Zatiel was serious as he evaluated the options.
"I can guarantee that we are grateful to your benevolence and none will dare to betray you, if someone were to even harbor that though, then they are betraying our race and deserve to die!" Rax's voice was filled with determination, although he loves the members of his tribe, if someone were to act at the back of the race and try to sell information of Zatiel for their selfish interest, then he has no problem applying the maximum punishment.
"It's good to hear those words, but I refer to another subject. There are two paths right now for the rest of the kobolds, first one, I give you a path technique that can work in conjunction with Burning Blood and help them advance in the ranks, if they chose this one, they would have to swear allegiance to me forever, but besides that, they will be free to do whatever they want. And the second, I transform all of them into Neo-Demons, but if I do this then, besides a selected few, everyone will have to remain in this place until I allow them to leave, because with the help of the Chaotic Core, the advancement to rank 1 and enhancement in their bloodlines will be pretty easy, and I can't allow hundreds of dragon coming out of nowhere flying through Wasteland. Although the second option is tempting and the lifespan of a rank 1 Neo-Demon is around 600 years old, the time that they will have to remain isolated could reach hundreds of years, so think well before you choose," Zatiel had no problem in transforming them all into Neo-Demons as the race was created in a beginning to be the perfect soldiers under his command, but due to his power not being enough, it will be extremely dangerous if someone manages to connect them to him, so they will have to remain hidden.
Rax knows that no matter what path techniques Zatiel gives them, it could not compare to the power of Neo-Demon, but the idea of being in this place for hundreds of years without seeing the surface was something that made this decision very difficult.
"Ancestor, can I discuss this with the rest of my race?"
"You can, but don't give them any concrete information about anything related to Neo-Demons," just like with Ezequiel and Sophia, Zatiel had used his Primordial-Core to engrave the command of never revealing information about the Chaotic Core to anyone.
Rax nodded and without wasting time he left to discuss with the rest of the kobolds.
"Are you really going to convert more than one hundred kobolds into Neo-Demons," Sophia knows that the only reason he and Ezequiel were transformed was the absolute loyalty they had shown to Zatiel, and also know that the information of their race was one of his greatest secrets.
"If they are willing to remain in this cave for hundreds of years, yes. Within that time, their loyalty will be probed and since the need for bloodlines is taken care of by themselves, I just have to wait and see how things will result. Of course, I will put a minuscule amount of my consciousness into every core, and if anyone has even the most insignificant treacherous thought, it will be detected and the core will explode, killing them," when he reached the end, Zatiel's eyes were cold.
Even if it was just a thought, he would kill them without hesitation.
Ezequiel and Sophia were not surprised at this contingency, as they already knew that Zatiel would never let things go to luck.
"You are not wondering if the same alteration was made to your cores?" Zatiel wanted to see the reaction of the two, but what he got was just a smile from both.
"We are never going to betray you, so whether the alteration was made or not, it doesn't matter," Sophia said with a prideful tone when she saw his reaction, and Ezequiel nodded.
Zatiel was truly surprised. Logically, the idea of having something inside you that could kill you just for having an incorrect thought will be infuriating, but for them both, it didn't matter. Their absolute trust and loyalty for him made him feel warmth in his heart and he started to laugh.
"Well, there is nothing, after all, it was only when I reached rank 1 that my consciousness was able to leave my body."
The three started to meditate and go through their path techniques as they waited for Rax and the rest of the kobolds.
After a couple of hours, Rax came back and with him were all the kobolds, from the youngest to the oldest, approaching the three.
They came in front of Zatiel and all the kobolds together with Rax kneeled before speaking in unison.
"PLEASE ACCEPT OUR LOYALTY, ANCESTOR!"
In the eyes of every kobold was a great resolution, the determination to remain hidden without seeing the exterior for a lifetime, all for the possibility of gaining the power so their race can finally rise to the sky and live a glorious life.
The will of the kobold truly surprised Zatiel, proving to him that when a race is at the brink of extinction, either they succumb to their fate or they rise through pure willpower. As he was seeing the kobolds, he heard two other people kneel; they were Ezequiel and Sophia.
In his past life, the number of creatures who knelt before him was millions and their power was enough to destroy Middle-Worlds with ease, but unlike them, the ones in front of him didn't look at him with hate or fear, there was no greed or backstabbing schemes, all he could see in these hundreds of kobolds and two humans was respect, love, and the desire of following him.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
As Zatiel laughed from the bottom of his heart, he started to rise into the sky and the golden fire covered him as he stood on a surface made of dark flames, making him look like a sun raised from the darkness.
"From this day on, you are my race, we will force fate to bow before us, we will sculpt our name in the universe until every intelligent being knows us and any existence that dares to challenge us will feel the wrath of the Neo-Demons as we slaughter them. Rise in the name of your ancestor, Zatiel Daybreak!"
"ANCESTOR!!!"
.....
End of volume 1- "The rise of the strongest race."
