Domineering

After becoming a Silver Ghoul, the body of Lucien was completely overpowered, the 500 Strength was not just for show, he hadn't managed to adjust to the increase in power yet, it was too great of a boost for an instant adjustment, so the moment his tried to walk forward and his foot landed the whole valley shook. Another crater was added while Lucien fell in it.

'Holy...'

'I'll adjust first shouldn't take more than a second or two.'

Soon he climbed out of the crater and decided to do a little test.

Lucien looked at the rocks that he placed at the entrance of the valley to close it off and ran towards them at full speed.

When he reached them, he didn't punch or kick them, he just crashed into them with his body. The valley shook for a second time and all the rocks were sent flying, some of them broke into small pieces while other disintegrated completely.

Lucien stood outside of the valley, the rocks didn't even obstruct him, it was as if he went through cotton.

'The increase in power is addicting, I understand why Practitioners want to go further, even if Immortality might be out of their reach, just this feeling and the status is worth the trouble.'

Lucien didn't stroll back while absorbing soil, he rushed at full speed, he already had everything he needed and was even late for his return at this point.

Once he reached the gates of the capital he was stopped by a guard.

"Stop, show your identification, with the things heating up at the border, we can't let any suspicious individuals inside the capital."

Lucien looked at the guard with cold eyes.

"Hmph."

"You don't have the qualifications to stand in my way."

The guard was a bit stunned, if someone had the guts to talk like this, he was either a powerhouse or an idiot. But powerhouses normally were dressed impressive and had insignia on their clothes, displaying the family or clan they came from.

"Brothers, this one is causing trouble."

Lucien looked at these Rank 0 ants, and didn't want to bother himself to even talk. He just used Soul Pressure, that was enough to keep them awake, while forcing them to kneel.

"I'll give you another chance, this one is going to be the last."

The guards were now completely and ghastly white, they had kicked an iron wall, even if he killed them, someone with this amount of power wouldn't be accused of anything.

"I'm sorry, benevolent lord, please spare my brothers, I was the one who didn't have eyes to see your majesty."

"That is better, but... There is always a price for me to give a second chance, so leave behind an arm."

The guards didn't hesitate to take their blades and cut off the less important arm, the one they didn't use to hold a weapon.

'I would love to kill and take their corpses, but I'll spare them, I don't need anyone looking into this identity of mine.'

Lucien didn't even glace at them again, he just walked inside the city and headed for an inn.

When he got inside, he contacted Elena and told her to bring him the blood, he mentioned that she should be part of the delivery team, it has been 8 months, he needed to have some fun.

It was unknown, if it was the second order that obviously had an underlying meaning got her excited or just because she had been preparing for this call for a while, but she got to the hotel incredibly fast and she was alone with a bag on her back.

Lucien decided to tease her a little bit.

"You came incredibly fast, it seems you want some really bad."

Elena first blushed intensely and the burst into a laugh.

"Pfft. I didn't know you knew how to tease. And you are right, but first business. Here, your blood."

Lucien was shocked at how open she had become over these years.

'If I didn't have my goals and my ambitions, maybe I could trust a mortal and live my days like that.'

'But that is not going to happen, my will can't be crumbled by beauty.'

He took over the bag and looked inside, it was full of bloody red crystals, they were the size of a fingernail and numbered in the hundreds.

Elena didn't wait for the questing and started speaking.

"This is a blood crystal, it's condensed from 1 liter of Rank 1 human blood. It's a technique of the family, I had to ask for help from an elder of the family to condense them. Over the last 8 months, from the 8 Rank 1 Vitality based slaves, we got over 500 of these crystals."

"It's plenty, you can sell the slaves and invest the money back into the business, you are doing pretty well, but don't forget your strength."

"I've been focusing on that for the past 8 months, I'm already high Rank 1 in Soul and mid Rank 1 in Vitality. With the resources provided by the family, this is as fast as it can go."

"Divert some of the resources from the business and speed it up, you have to be Rank 2 before 40. So that gives you 17 years."

Lucien knew how hard the breakthrough was, and she was not even as balanced, after all Elena had only one path.

The investment was already paying off so he didn't mind trying taking it even further, but that would require a stronger subordinate controlling it, so either Elena gets to Rank 2 and obtains that qualification or Lucien would prefer to replace her, he didn't need useless subordinates.

Unknown how, after the actually business talk finished, it grew into a heated battle on the bed, where eight months worth of urges were released, it continued longer than the final battle of Dorian and would probably be much more interesting to watch as well.

After Elena left almost a day later, Lucien sat down in the middle of the room and prepared to practice.

Before she left she had given him some news that shocked him a bit.

Apparently some beast had massacred some of the border villages in a short period of time and were still not caught, the Empire had taken this as planned attack from the Beast, which was a provocation to the great Humans.

They wouldn't mobilize the imperial army for this kind of event, but there was a notice that a makeshift army was being assembled, and the rewards for Beast heads were astounding, even some of the noble families would send people to participate.

The Royal Family also send 2 of the imperial army Rank 3 The Thousand Men Commanders to command the makeshift army, it was another 3 months until the deadline for applications, which lasted one year in total. After that there would be a combat practice as a squad, unit and battalion that would take another half a year. Once they were ready, the army would set off towards the outskirts of the Myriad Beast Mountain Range and respond in kind towards the actions of the Beasts.

'This was an unexpected outcome from my actions, if I get to Rank 2 Vampire before they set off I might join, I can't even imagine the amount of Souls that I can take in those battles.'