Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 78: A Rival to Defeat

The group left together, helping each other as they moved along the treacherous jungle path.

Damion took the Fox corpses into his storage, and he couldn’t help but grin when he thought of what he could make from the Cores he had earned.

’Five Cores,’ he thought. ’Just enough to make a pair of Pauldrons, Boots and Gauntlets.’

***

An hour later back in a base far away from Damion’s, nine students could be seen standing at attention before an armored individual, each having terror written all over their faces.

The armored man oozed so much pressure some students almost buckled to their knees, but they dared not to. Their bloodied and battered bodies didn’t move the armored man enough to let them rest for a couple minutes, so they stood, as straight as poles.

"Each and every single one of you lost," the armored man uttered through his helmet, his voice reverberating deeply in the compound. "Why? Were they too strong?"

Silence. None of them dared make a noise.

"You would be denied your Dinner, Breakfast and Lunch, and only when you complete six laps from the base to the Round River and back, would you be allowed to eat," the armored man said loudly. "Have I made myself clear?"

The students flinched simultaneously, before chorusing in unison. "Yes, Captain Shodan."

***

Captain Shodan inspected the Roses in the hands of Damion, Kenzo, Matilda and Lyra casually. He neither touched nor gave the Roses more than a single glance during the inspection, but he was done.

"You passed, now get back to your rooms, you have earned them," Captain Shodan ordered and walked away.

The group of four exchanged glances, shrugged their shoulders and left.

Damion frowned slightly when he noticed everyone following him to his room, directly ignoring theirs. He was just about to speak up when Nyx said something to him telepathically, and he visibly calmed down.

"Can we meet up later? I need to do some things," Damion said, and they obliged, dispersing to do their own thing.

"Dragon’s Authority huh?" Damion mused to himself.

"Yes," Nyx butted in. "You have influenced them with your Dragon’s Authority, making them follow you subconsciously."

"It might be annoying at first, but you’ll come to see its usefulness in the long run."

"Whatever," Damion waved his hand and walked into his room.

He took off his torn MCU and changed to a new one, sat on his bed and smiled.

"I’ve gone through the information you sent to me, and I found quite a few interesting things," Damion said.

"Oh, what caught your interest?" Nyx asked.

"The fact that you’re a living weapon."

Nyx paused, raising a brow and staring at Damion. "That’s basically the power of our race, and that’s what interests you?"

"Yes," Damion pulled out the Tang Dao and O-Katana from his storage and presented them to Nyx. "Do your thing."

Nyx stared at Damion for a second, his brow still raised. "I can’t guarantee that you’ll retain all the skills the weapons have."

"No problem," Damion replied with a smile.

Nyx moved forward after the confirmation from Damion, and his metallic body rippled like a body of water’s surface experiencing a disturbance. The next moment, he turned into a mass of swirling liquid and circled the weapons.

His eyes closed, and his body lit up with purple lines. There was a flood of energy pouring out of his body as he coated the weapons, covering every inch of it.

Before Damion could let go to watch the show, Nyx turned back to normal and opened his eyes.

"You lost every skill except Recall. Additionally, I’m not considered a weapon by the Jaws of Ophidia, so I’m only a Lower Rank weapon, meaning that I won’t provide the same boost as your previous Middle Rank weapon," Nyx said casually, with each bomb that he dropped making Damion’s jaw drop more.

"Why.. why didn’t you say this earlier!" Damion asked, his eyes widening slightly.

"I did, you probably didn’t go through all the info I sent to you because you were too excited," Nyx said as a matter of fact.

Damion’s face turned red the slightest bit with frustration, and he pulled at his hair. "So you’re saying I just lost half the skills on my Tang Dao, and the only skill in the O-Katana?"

Nyx shrugged, or at least he tried to. "Like I said, I’m akin to a Lower Rank weapon. I can only provide basic enhancements and Recall."

Damion’s eyes narrowed. "You’re not helping."

Nyx chuckled. "Sorry, sorry." He turned around and flew to the window. A thought came into his mind, and he floated back to Damion. "I can still turn into any weapon of your choosing, I only devoured the weapons to gain their energy and skills."

Damion’s eyes lit up, an idea forming in his head. "I can use the skills in any weapon form, right?" he asked.

"Yes."

Damion nodded his head, his smile widening. "Then I need to train myself," he began, his motivation resparking. "I need to master different weapons and their perks, weaknesses and their uniqueness, to make me more diverse and less predictable in fights."

"Your friend, Kenzo, can help with that," Nyx suggested. "He’s very skilled from what I’ve seen, and he..."

Damion nodded his head for a second, before he practically flew out of his room and walked briskly towards Kenzo’s, ignoring Nyx’s next words.

Nyx naturally followed him, but he grumbled silently at Damion’s nonchalance for his words.

One loud knock later, Damion was let into the room, and he found Kenzo laying down on his bed, and Matilda standing by his side.

"Uhh... hope I’m not disturbing?" He asked.

Kenzo’s eyes narrowed, and he stood to his feet. "I’m sensing strong battle intent from you... you want to spar?"

Damion smirked. "Exactly!"

Matilda sighed. "Your body still isn’t in good shape, are you sure you should be doing this?" Matilda chimed in from the side before the two hotheads would charge at each other and scatter the room.

"I’ll be fine, Matty," Kenzo said with a laugh. "He’s never beaten me before, what makes you think this would be any different."

Damion’s smile dropped, and he caught Matilda sputtering with laughter for a split second before she folded her lips.

"Kenzo, out, now," Damion said and walked away, grabbing Nyx violently out of the air and holding him under his armpit like a soccer ball. ’I’ll teach him a lesson!’ Damion screamed internally.

Meanwhile...

"Let go of me!" Nyx yelled, but his words fell on deaf ears, Damion was in the zone.

He had a rival to defeat.