Training

Chapter 8

Currently, Ethan was walking past the huge hallway of the castle. On the walls, various red dragon sculptures could be seen. They were present in all of the hallways.

Strange red beast crystals could be seen etched on the ceiling from which light brightened the castles.

The hallway was filled with numerous servants, both male and female, in red silk attire with a huge dragon head on their chest.

Ethan walked down the hallway, the servants by his side, with his head held high.

Someone recently told him to never keep his head down, as that is a sign of weakness. Great men always keep their heads held high, regardless of the situation, and it gives them a confident appearance, at least according to Rowena.

"Look at him, acting all mighty." The servants mumbled to each other when they walked past him a few meters. But they forgot the dragons had sensitive hearing.

Ethan saw Kane coming toward him with a large arrogant smile across his face. He made brief eye contact with him and lifted his gaze upward, as though Kane was not worthy in his eyes.

Kane halted his step and turned back. His hands trembled violently, and a speck of flame whirled around it.

"Smile all you want, bastard. I will soon send you back to the grave," Kane mumbled to himself, hitting a female servant against the wall as he walked away.

A woman about 50 years old sat elegantly at a tea table. She stood at 5'5. She wore an arrogant look, sipping her tea slowly.

A female servant soon walked through the door with her head down.

"My lady, the princes are here," the female servant said, with a shaky voice.

Shortly later, two handsome young men who were identical to each other walked in.

Liam and Lewis saw that their mother wasn't in a good mood, and they knew the reason.

"Sit," she said, but it sounded more like an order. They sat in the empty seats.

"Why is that boy still alive?" she asked in a slightly enraged tone.

"We don't know. We all saw him fall off the cliff," Liam answered.

"So he survived, huh?" she murmured. "You guys need to find a way to get rid of him. If not, he will soon come seeking revenge on you guys."

"Mother, don't worry; brother Kane has already formulated a plan for him," Liam said confidently.

"Yes, rest assured we will get rid of him."

Inside a gigantic training hall with several spectator seats on the side, Ethan could be seen standing in the middle on an octagon-shaped elevated platform.

Soon, a transparent dome slowly rose and soon covered the entire fighting platform.

He stomped his foot on a square-looking carving on the surface, then, a humanoid dragon puppet with black scales running through his body with sixteen-inch long horns protruding out of his head.

The dragon puppet stood about 7 feet tall.

Ethan took a fighting stance, and so did the dragon puppet.

The dragon made his first move as he rushed towards Ethan, baring his claws.

Ethan dashed forward as well. He couldn't help but feel excited and the adrenaline pumping through his body.

He knew he shouldn't be this excited because any mistake here could lead to his dismissal, but he couldn't help himself.

*BANG

The two fists collided, and Ethan moved back a few steps, but the dragon puppet was still rooted in the same spot.

Ethan went for another punch, but the dragon puppet ducked and punched him in his lower abdomen.

The puppet dragon was now barraging punches after punches toward Ethan.

* Bang* Bang*

Ethan was presently on the defensive.

"This is getting harder than I thought," he muttered, with gritted teeth.

A kick soon sent Ethan crashing to the dome wall.

"Aghhhhh," he growled.

"Time for another approach. I can't just get my ass kicked like this."

He held his abdomen, trying to suppress the pain with his hands. He could see the dragon puppet charging towards him yet again, with his horns pointed out.

When the humanoid dragon puppet was close to him, he ducked to the side, as if he was dodging a bull.

The dragon puppet's horn collides with the dome wall.

Before he could stand up, Ethan coated his legs with flame and blasted the dragon puppet with a kick, making it crash into the dome again.

And this time, small cracks appeared.

"Now this is more like it." Ethan halted when he saw the dragon puppet standing up abruptly.

The dragon's entire body was now covered with flames, and he now looked frightening.

"Sh*t, what made me choose a noble-ranked puppet when I just reached the noble rank?" Ethan shook his head.

The dragon puppet started making fireballs the size of soccer balls.

"Now I think I am too cocky," Ethan muttered again.

And right now, only one thing came to his mind.

[Partial transformation activated]

His tattoo flowed furiously, and the red scales ran through his body He sprouted horns and large red wings that ripped through his skin and protruded from his back.

The dragon puppet opened his mouth beyond normal human capacity and spit large energy flames around the platform, and a ring of flame appeared.

Ethan made two fireballs and hurled them towards the dragon puppet, but the latter casually dispelled them with a flame of his own.

Ethan was now exchanging fireballs with the dragon puppet, but it wouldn't take long for anyone to know that Ethan was on the receiving end.

"Make a feint to his chest, then stack his eyes," he heard the familiar voice he had almost forgotten due to his present situation.

He did as advised, and when the dragon puppet tried to shield his chest, Ethan made a slash with his sharp, elongated claws coated with flame.

*Screech

The claw connected and blinded his left eye. When the dragon was growling in pain, Ethan went further and stabbed his other eyes, but a message flashed in front of him.

[5 seconds left of the transformation]

"I need to finish this."

Ethan coated his hands with a large volume of flames, and his claw extended further, and he stabbed the puppet deeply, right into its stomach.

[transformation duration over]

Ethan lay on his back with trails of sweat running down his forehead.

*Clap*, *Clap*, *Clap*, *Clap*

A hand clap suddenly echoed inside the hall.

And the dome went down as Aldric walked in.

He helped Ethan stand up and patted his back.

"Congratulations, kid. I see you have finally reached the noble rank."