Angakok watched patiently as he saw Max devour a phoenix's blood.
After living for over 5000 years, Angakok rarely got excited or startled by anything but today was one of those days where he felt his heart pumping slightly faster than usual.
As a tier6 god, he had the opportunity to fight against a Nirvana Phoenix once and he still remembered the burn marks left over his body as he suffered under the beast's attacks all for trying to get a single feather from its back.
He had greatly improved in strength since and that experience was but a distant memory of the past, but even to this day it was vividly imprinted in his brain which was why he could appreciate the feat Max had achieved today candidly.
Angakok had expected the boy's stamina and endurance to improve in the harsh atmosphere of the Pits Of Fire, which was why he chose this planet for his training over other options in the universe as it not only helped him gain levels but also work towards his stat maximisation in the process.
What he did not expect however was for Max to devour a phoenix's blood straight from its body, permanently improving his understanding of the element of fire and reaching stat maximisation for two of his stats namely Vitality and Constitution.
Currently the boy had not only reached the level goal that he set for him way before the deadline but had also partly completed the next phase of the training which was stat maximisation.
Now that his endurance stat was half-way to the maximum for his tier and his vitality and constitution was already fully maximised, the only stats left for him to focus on were Intelligence, Agility and Dexterity.
Since Angakok did promise him that he would help the boy speed up the process by 50% should he complete his levelling within the set deadline, Angakok expected to guide Max to reach the maximum potential for this tier in the next 30 days.
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( Meanwhile Julian Caesar )
" Sir, Patriarch Vega has recalled the border troops patrolling the outer planets of the Titus clan, this is an opportunity for us to attack and capture two of them.
If you give the signal sir, we shall deliver them for you within the next 2 days " The commander in chief of the Caesar clan's military said as he awaited Julian's instructions for attacking the Titus clan planets.
There was a long-standing conflict between the Titus and Caesar clan and the sudden retreat of the Titus clan troops from the border plants gave the Caesar clan a unique opportunity to seize them without much resistance, which was why the commander in chief personally requested a meeting with Julian to obtain the permission to go on with the raid.
" No, there will be no attacks on the Titus clan in the near future. Leave them alone, leave their merchants alone.
Don't antagonise them in any way commander " Julian said with a sigh as his commander was greatly shocked by this stance of his patriarch.
The commander waited a full minute in silence for Julian to offer an explanation but there was none so he saluted the man and took his leave as a dignified military officer.
His job was to give the patriarch relevant suggestions and present the facts, however, the ultimate decision did lie in the hands of the patriarch himself.
It was not like Julian did not want to jump at this opportunity himself, however, there was a profound reason behind why he did not.
King Regus Aurelius had sent a letter to all the lord's of vampire monarchy informing them about an upcoming great war.
The explicit instructions from the king were that except for the lord's and the prime minister's the information was to be passed on to no ordinary civilian or government official.
All the clans were given a years time to boost their military recruitment and stock up on food reserves and weapons before the news about the great war were made public and panic gripped the common citizens.
The reason behind Vega recalling his border troops was also most likely connected to the letter Regus Aurelius had sent, and although Julian wanted nothing more than to snatch a few Titus clan planets from under his nose, he also understood and respected the seriousness of the times which demanded that petty internal squabbles be set aside till the danger of the greater war was over.
Albeit petty and eccentric, when it came to the greater good of the vampire society, Julian was an honourable lord.
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( Meanwhile Asiva )
Asiva was not in a good mood ever since Max left, his absence weighing heavily on her as she poured all her free time into work, trying to stay busy as an alternative to not miss him too much.
She was a little cranky and had grown a slight temper that made subordinates fearful of approaching her, however, her demeanour changed ever since she read the sealed letter sent by king Regus Aurelius.
The contents of the letter were deeply disturbing and depicted a picture of a nasty conflict that would soon embroil the entire universe.
In the letter Regus had stated that all lords and their bannermen would be summoned and deployed to the frontlines and had to be prepared to fight and die with their full might in a year's time.
He had given suggestions about how to stabilise the economy and prepare industries in advance to sustain the economic pressure that the war was about to generate, which put immense pressure on Asiva who was trying her best to grow the Bloodfall clan holistically and with an eye for the longer future and not the immediate one.
The details of the letter gnawed on her mind, however, the only other person who she was in liberty to discuss the contents of the letter with was absent indefinitely, leaving her to deal with all the mess alone.
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/// A/N - This bonus sponsored by patron Cervantez91, please thank him in the comments for this one.
ραпdα -n૦νe| , c૦m Also, a clarification since some of you guys were rooting for Max to get a phoenix pet.
Max already has a pet in Mira and cannot get another one ///