Arteta had observed Max's routine for 20 days now, and he was extremely dissapointed in the boy.
Max did not train daily with the soldiers, he rarely excercised his body, never bothered with levelling up or practicing his moveset.
The only thing he seemed to do was paperwork and staying inside his office all day as Arteta began to seriously doubt if such a boy could ever be the hero of the frontline battlefield.
Arteta had seen many exceptional men throughout his life and while all those men had some unique quality, they were all extremely disciplined and dedicated towards perfecting their craft.
They trained like a madman day and night to be at the heights they aimed to achieve, and even when they did achieve those heights they continued to train harder for even higher peaks.
However, Max did none of that which casted clouds of doubt in Arteta's mind about the legitimacy of his status as a hero.
" Kids these days, they are not tough like us, I grew up with real men who worked till their back gave out, these children stop working when the first drop of sweat appears on their forehead.
*Spat*.
Shame what the vampire clan has come to" Arteta said as he began mixing the poison laced drink he planned on giving Max later on.
Arteta had chosen to kill Max by poisoning because the man hardly ever left his office and whenever he did leave it, he was usually accompanied by his close friends and guarded by Titus clan soldiers.
Under such circumstances, it was difficult for Arteta to catch him alone, which is why he decided to kill him using a colourless and odorless poison, by mixing it with the blood supplies he drank daily.
Through his master assassin skills, Arteta had already figured out a way to mix the poisoned bottle of blood amongst the supplies bound for Max's room.
Through daily monitoring, he knew exactly the shelf where Max's supplies were stored and when nobody was around, he snuck into the ice storage facility and poisoned Max's drink for the day before sneakily going out.
All Arteta had to do now was to wait for Max to drink the blood and die in his office alone as pandemonium spread throughout the rebel camp at the death of their leader.
**************
( Meanwhile at the Kingsman clan territory)
" Brother, these generals are using you, if you sign on these documents you will effectively give the army a free reign over the royal treasury
We can't have them loot everything that father left for us in the name of national security " Keane Kingsman said as he addressed his elder brother Roy.
" We have to Keane, WE HAVE TO, do you not see it? Since day one that bitch Asiva and the hound have been after us.
Whether it was school, or back in our territory.
We have been humiliated by them time and time again, and even lost one of our balls to them " Roy said as he adjusted his pants feeling uncomfortable recalling that uncomfortable sensation.
" Father built this wealth for both of us, and I wont have it squandered to buy anti battleship weapons.
If the army wants to purchase something, they can respectfully send you the bill and after reviewing it you can approve it.
Giving them a free reign of the treasury is plain stupid " Keane said as he tried to talk some much needed sense into his brother.
" Don't argue with me on this brother, I'm the Lord now, and my decision is final.
I've lost everything to those bastards, my pride, my ball, my father.
I won't lose my territory to them too…
These are trying times and we need to prepare for war, we will refill our coffers when we win it
But if we lose all this wealth our father has built will be nothing but free loot for the enemies " Roy said as he reminded his brother that he was the lord now and his word was law.
Keane wanted to argue, but his brother hastily signed the documents and gave the army the approval to have a free reign over the royal treasury.
Roy had effectively opened his biggest asset and generational wealth to greedy generals and warmongers.
It was a decision that was going to come biting him in the ass in the future.
***************
( Meanwhile Max )
Max was working in his office trying to figure out if capturing the four planets was feasible, when he heard knock on his door as his meal arrived.
Max put his work aside as he thanked the delivery boy for his iced vampire blood, which was delivered to him at exactly 10°C, the temperature he felt perfect to drink.
Every glass of vampire blood costed Max about 20 gold coins, however, he did not mind this expense at all as the freshness it brought him was worth every penny.
Max smelled his drink and let the rich aroma of the blood wasp into his nostrils as he bared his fangs and hissed.
Max could not smell the poison at all and could only smell the fresh blood as he did not think much before drinking it.
For the first few gulps Max felt nothing, however, when he stopped for a second to breathe some air Max started to feel a burning sensation in his throat.
Confused, Max took another small sip of the blood as although it tasted well, it has an acidity to it that burnt Max's tongue.
Max immediately spat the blood out, before poking fingers down his own throat to forcefully make himself vomit the drink he had already drunk.
Max's stomach convoluted violently as he vomitted the blood he had drunk out as he got a large amount of the poison dose out of his body alongside the vomit, but eventhough he was quick to react he felt his head starting to become dizzy as his vision started to blur.
Max felt like he was spinning although he was sprawled on the floor not moving at all, as his head hurt like hell.
He started to crawl towards the door, trying to reach it and push it open before crying for help, however he felt his muscles betray him as they stopped responding to his neural commands.
' Fuck, I'm poisoned by some strong shit ' Max thought as black spots started to appear in his vision.