" General Zest, Captain Ravan has gained about 50 km^2 land and a fort on planet Maralago. He has broken the age-old deadlock". A Titus clan soldier reported to Zest who read the report with a big smile on his face.
" This boy, he has something special inside him.
He has that fire inside him that I've lost with my mana circuit.
Make sure he gets the maximum merit points for his achievements. I don't need a single merit point for recommending him to that post.
Just give everything to him ". Zest said as he took pride in Max's achievements.
—--------
( Meanwhile Major Ratty )
" I told you, these small planets are useless for someone like Ravan. That boy was destined for tough battlefields like Maralago.
I remember that day like it was yesterday that Ravan came into my office distressed wanting advice if he should go to Maralago or if it's career suicide and I told him
That GO!
There is no greater honor than serving the Titus clan at the front lines.
Now see, today because of my guidance the boy is a rising star". Ratty flexed at a civilian banquet where he was the chief guest of honor.
—---------
( Meanwhile at Zandar, the capital planet of the Titus clan )
" Ravan you say? Hmmm, good kid, impressive military background, if he continues to shine like he does at the moment he will become a 1 star general someday " A two star general at the upper echelons of the military hierarchy said as he assessed Max's current achievements.
" Should we promote him to Major? " A bureaucrat asked the general, however the god just shook his head and refused the idea.
" He is only tier 3 at the moment is what I understand. He needs to be at least tier4 to be declared a major.
Even Though his combat ability may surpass his tier, his promotion can only be handed out to him when he has the qualifications to support it.
That or he wins us enough land that nobody can question his contributions to be awarded promotion.
50 kilometres square is good, but not enough ". The tier 6 two star general said as he placed the report aside.
—-----------
( Meanwhile the vampire population)
[ Newspaper headlines - Decades old Deadlock in Maralago broken by Titus Clan Rising-Star!
Read here his genius strategy to conquer enemy lands when everyone else failed ]
" Wow, this Ravan kid is something else, he broke the deadlock at Maralago! " A netizen reading the paper commented.
" The new generation is making waves, the Titus clan sure are lucky to find this good seed ".
" Bah, it's just a small achievement, I could have done it with my eyes closed, don't know what the fuss is all about ".
" What is the background of this Ravan kid? It says he was a Garrison Commander not long ago, just how did he become Captain so fast? "
" Serves those barbarians right! Maralago is ours you savage cunts "
—-------------
( Meanwhile Marcus Aurelius )
" NO! NO! MOTHERFUCKER! YOU COCKSUCKING BASTARD!
HOW DARE YOU!
HOW DARE YOU!
NOOOOOOOO !!!!! ".
Marcus completely lost his mind upon reading about Max's success as even in his exile he could not tolerate the success of his foe.
—-------------
( Meanwhile Regus Aurelius )
" My king, he is the kid responsible for derailing Marcus. Should we let the matter slide or should we finish him as you instructed? " Marcus's ex-security asked Regus as he had just received orders from the monarch to kill the man responsible for derailing Marcus's growth under the blanket.
" He's too popular at the moment, his death will raise questions from the Titus clan.
Let him be for the time being, we will kill him when his hype dies " Regus said as he dismissed the matter for the time being, realising that it was not the best opportunity to kill Max.
—-----------
( Meanwhile Max )
Max's name was spreading like a wildfire amongst the vampire community post his victory.
Thousands of congratulatory letters and love confessions reached the northern fort as everyone wanted to get to know the hero who broke the age-old deadlock better.
Max himself did not consider this achievement something to write home about as his job at the planet had only but started. However, he had hoped that after his achievements he would be either promoted or alloted more troops, both of which did not happen.
For some reason, Max was never allocated extra troops to man the new territory he had conquered and had to thin out his existing forces between Fort Sven and the northern fortress.
This arrangement made it so that Max had little to no mobile forces left for day-to-day operations or future war efforts as his future ambitions seemed to fall flat.
While the vampire Kingdom hailed him as a hero and a rising star, his own immediate higher ups did not approve of his application for sending 10,000 additional troops under his command from other areas that did not need them.
It was now that Max finally felt the effects of clashing with Marcus as although he had came out of the confrontation unscathed he had definitely lost favour of the higher ups for hurting the vampire kings son and now he was left to bleed out without support.
Under these circumstances Max's ambition of conquering the southern fort seemed like nothing but a pipedream as it would be impossible for him to take it down with the meagre forces he had left at his own disposal after the death of about 600 men and the new duties entrusted to him for controlling the northern fortress.
It was like Max's military career had been put under an invisible boundary which would not allow Max to spread his wings anymore, however, despite the adversity Max was not ready to give up on his dream.
Max knew he needed to win the Southern fortress and gain merit under his name, now that the higher ups had shown their true face against him, the best way to slap them down was to win the fort and then publish an article in the newspapers about how he did it despite having no internal support in the military.