Max came out of his tier promotion and found himself still biting onto that weird herb at the bottom of the lake.
He took a moment to steady his breathing and then swam towards the lake's surface.
" Hmm, a massive improvement I see, your agility and constitution stat have even crossed the double digits, that's about what most god's have too.
Congratulations boy, you might not be slaughtered if you fight against a god in an instant now. You might be able to at least hang in there for a couple of minutes. That's quite a feat for a mortal " Angakok said as he assessed Max's current state and was quite pleased with how things turned out.
Not only did Max get a 2.5X multiplier for exceeding the SSS rating limit, but also chose skills that Angakok did not already possess, which meant that Angakok would have new skills at his disposal when he took over Max's body.
This was a great development for the blood shaman god who was feeling ecstatic looking at his future vessel developing so nicely.
" If you think I did a good job, then you have to reward me with one thing that I ask you for " Max said, knowing full well that this was his chance to strike while the iron was still hot.
" Oh, do tell boy, let me amuse you a bit" Angakok said as he looked intrigued as to what Max might request him for.
" In the promotion test rewards there was a move that was offered to me, one of your signature moves the ' Rise Of The Horde ', I passed it up for Elemental Convergence, but I want to learn it.
I've worked hard these last months, I deserve it " Max said, boldly asserting his claim to the move although he knew his demand was flimsy at best.
Angakok scoffed, Rise Of The Horde was one of his self created moves, it was something that took him decades to perfect and undoubtedly one of his strongest moves.
Had it been anyone but Max who requested it, Angakok would have instantly denied it, but he was in a good mood today and was feeling generous enough to reward the boy with it.
" Very well, I shall give you a memory packet about the move. Consider it to be your lucky day boy, close your eyes " Angakok said as he placed his thumb between Max's eyebrows and shared the memory packet as to how to precisely use Rise Of The Horde.
Max reviewed the memory fragment and after 20 minutes of comprehending it he heard a system notification telling him that he had learnt that move to basic mastery.
" Thankyou- " Max said as he felt grateful for having been given such valuable knowledge for free.
Angakok only smiled smugly in response as he took off alongside Max in his space bubble once more.
Once again Max had no idea about their destination or what Angakok's true intentions were, but by now he knew better than to worry about things he could not control.
It did not matter that he was now tier5, in front of Angakok he was still an ant who could not lift a finger. Although he was incomparably stronger than he was just a day ago, it all came to nothing if it meant rebelling against the blood shaman.
Whether for the worse or for the best, the next destination of the duo was a location that Max would have probably never found out about on his own. It was the planet where the third and final piece of the Agni-Astra was and Angakok was taking Max there first to claim the last piece and complete the Agni-Astra to gain perfect mastery over the element of fire before he could be brought finally to the time chamber where his training in the other elements would finally begin.
************
( Meanwhile Regus Aurelius )
Regus's aura was leaking slightly, making the subordinates in the room feel a suffocating pressure as he read about the latest developments on the border.
Apparently, the Savage King had lost his damn mind and decided to pivot towards the dark faction to support them in the upcoming war.
With his conversion, the proxy territory between his vampire monarchy and the dark faction territory of Satan was completely abolished, making him a part of the frontier battle lines for the light faction.
Although the battle had not boiled over at the two frontier planets where the vampires still shared custody with the Barbarians after Maralago fell with Ravan's's heroics, it was only a matter of time before it did and Regus had a strong gut feeling that the dastardly werewolves clan would willingly come to the forefront to make matters difficult.
Before things got out of control, he needed to reinforce the two border planets sufficiently enough so that when the fighting got worse, his side would not be caught unprepared.
" Damn it we need more time! " Regus muttered under his breath in frustration as the timeline of things was moving much faster than he anticipated.
He wanted to be able to build his forces in peace, but with him suddenly being exposed to the dark faction directly, border patrol, and border planet security needed to be strengthened immediately.
" Your orders my king? " Asked the Aurelius clan commander as Regus sighed deeply before once again assuming his powerful emotionless face as he said " Send an order to all clans to increase their mandatory border security quota by 20%.
Revoke the BloodFall clan's 1.5 year period where they don't need to pitch in soldiers and ask them to send 150,000 troops under ' Extraordinary Circumstances '
Put tier6 god's in every destroyer ship on border patrol and arm the frontier planets to the teeth sparing no expense.
When the bloody werewolves finally do dare to come for our blood, they will once again feel the wrath of the vampire society befall them ".
**********
( Meanwhile Asiva )
Asiva had just completed her tier4 promotion test and was returning to the palace for her routine duties.
To cope-up with Max's absence she had deliberately absorbed herself with work and training as she knew that war was inevitable in the coming times and she could not turn up to a fight as weak as she currently was.
Sebastian was off to some adventure, while Anna was back at vanaheim to train her archery and prepare to promote to tier5 as fast as possible.
Severus was helping reduce her workload by pitching in as much as he could, but even then he was finding the time to train in-between and was slowly closing in on reaching the level Max for tier4 which he had been stuck on for the last 5 years.
The Bloodfall clan alchemical department was booming now and with the new master alchemist mass producing the formulas they had retrieved from the ancient magi ruins the Bloodfall clan was making a killing in this potion starved market.
The clan was raking in roughly about 3 billion in alchemy sales a month and could increase it to 5 in the coming three months.
After the cut of the Alchemist and the costs it was still giving the state about 1.2 billion in gold coins a month which helped alleviate a lot of financial pressures for Asiva.
The military expansion was moving smoothly and DarkSorrow was really whipping the new recruits into shape with hellish 6 week training regimes that transformed tier 1 trainees into true soldiers with knowledge of formations, how to properly advance and retreat and how to minimise casualties in war.
With every clan suddenly focusing on military expansion, the demand for armour, alchemical products and manpower had suddenly surged which made it difficult for Bloodfall clan to poach talents, but thankfully Ravan's image as a rising star and his legendary battle stories alongside the higher wages that the Bloodfall clan offered rather than the industry standard made it the first choice for many young talents.
Jathi was also doing quite well, his information network had penetrated all corners of society deeply and with state backing now he had became more confident in how he operated which made his system more efficient because even if he did end up losing some informants, it would not be as if his life would be in danger inside dombivli and he did not need to fear state extradition because of his contract with Ravan.
He had provided timely critical news to Asiva about various topics which helped in better policy formulation and had helped her stop a merchant strike before it happened saving the clan millions in losses.
The only problem now was that the absence of Ravan Bloodfall from his throne was starting to be noticed.
Many were asking about his eventual return date and updates of his excursion alongside Sebastian.
For now Asiva was able to tackle these questions brilliantly but she was sure that it would get more and more difficult with every passing month.
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/// A/N - Unbelievable milestone guys we have finally reached the 500 chapter mark.
Thank You all who have supported this journey from the start, I'm truly overwhelmed at times from the love you guys have shown to my work.
Cheers, to 500
Hopefully many more to come.
Also I've cut down some parts of the stats pannel and added it to the AN below as usual, so check it if you want to guys. ///