22 Mark's Training

Now that Mark had the car he had wanted, he drove away from the apartment toward his house. He wondered what Runeas and Rias had been up to or why Rias wanted to go with her.

He turned over to Grimnar who was acting like a regular dog. He reached out and scratched the dog behind the ears. This made the big dog make a cute face of contentment. It was funny to think that such a nice dog around him was a brutal Hellhound Dragon hybrid.

Mark grinned as he wanted to make this car along with his pickup special. He would have to find a way to place runes or some other magic on the cars as he had taken a liking to both of them.

When Mark finally arrived at his house he saw parked his new car next to his pickup truck. He got out with Grimnar and closed the door behind him. Mark walked toward the front door and opened it.

"I am home."

When Mark stepped inside he was hit with a very nice smell. Even Grimnar began to drool at the smell which made them both walk to the kitchen. He knew Runeas could not cook for shit as the last time she tried she started a fire.

When he walked into the kitchen he saw Runeas with a notepad watching as Rias cooked some curry. Runeas wanted to know how to cook as she had seen on the internet that men liked it when their women cooked for them.

Her stealing food to feed Mark was not the same so she wanted to do the same for him.

"Wait, so what I have been doing wrong is adding random things I find in the fridge?"

Rias looked over to Runeas to tell her that was wrong but noticed Mark and Grimnar.

"Oh, Mark, welcome home. I decided to make something for the both of you."

Grimnar barked drawing attention to himself. Rias smiled as she pet the big dog who could be friendly if you were not an enemy of his master.

"I meant three of you."

Runeas rushed into Mark's arms which was something she loved to do. Her favorite thing to do was to hug him which he liked as well. Mark looked over to Rias with a polite smile.

"I appreciate it, to feed ourselves Runeas just steals the food of people all over the city as she can't cook and I spend most of my time training."

Runeas turned to Rias while still being held by Mark.

"He is not lying about the second part. Most of his time is spent in training as he is constantly trying to mature his bloodline."

Rias was curious about that.

"How did you go from a human to a partial dragon if you don't mind me asking? And why have none of the other Red Dragon Emperors done that?"

Ddraig answered that question.

[Simple, Mark is the first to try. He infused his heart with so much Dragon Aura and Mana that his heart mutated into a Dragon one. That kick-started to process and an unlucky encounter with a god paid off in the end. Now, Mark just needs time to grow.]

Rias felt it was interesting.

"I see, well the food is ready."

Mark nodded as he walked toward the table. He sat down and removed his sunglasses along with his leather gloves. He set them next to him while Runeas sat to his right.

As for Grimnar, Rias set a bowl for him on the floor with some of the curry. Rias brought the big pot to the table and served everyone a big plate of it. Then she took her seat to Mark's left and waited for him to try it.

Mark with his fork took a bite of the beef curry and rice and was pleasantly surprised.

"Wow, now that is good food. Better than the good we steal. You are a good cook Rias."

She smiled at the praise.

"Thank you, I have enjoyed cooking since I was little. And I spend most of the school year in Japan where I have some free time."

Runeas looked over at Rias with a funny smile. She pointed at Mark and then at Rias which made Rias turn a tiny bit red. Rias shook her head, but Runeas nodded. They had talked more than just about food as Rias was curious about Mark.

Mark acted like he could not see anything until Runeas convinced Rias to go ahead with their small plan. Rias sighed and rested her head on his big shoulder. She closed her eyes wondering what Mark thought of this until she got the courage to look up at him.

She saw Mark's black eyes looking at her with a small smile.

"So, what did you two talk about?"

Runeas smiled as she rested her head on his other arm.

"I was talking to Rias and found out she is engaged to a guy named Riser Phenex from the Phenex clan. Rias hates him with a passion and she is trying to break off their engagement so she is trying to gather a strong group of Evil Pieces to beat Riser."

Mark hummed.

"I see, how strong is Riser?"

Rias shook her head.

"He is a High-Class Devil, but in reality, he is not too strong. My brother has been training me to control the Energy of Destruction that will counter his healing, but Rating games are not just decided by power. Numbers and tricks also matter so I am slumped a bit. At the moment I don't have too many followers in my peerage."

Mark thought of a solution to this trouble before he got an idea. One only a dragon would think off.

"Just ignore him and if he comes calling just say you have a boyfriend. I won't fight a Rating Game with him, but as a Dragon, I will defend my mates to the death. If he comes looking for me, I will kill him, easy as that."

Runeas laughed while Rias thought that was something only a dragon would think of. As Mark was not a Devil, he was not bound by their rules even if he married Runeas. If she did act like she was in a relationship with Mark, that would work great.

"You would let me do that?"

She raised her head off his shoulder while Mark nodded.

"I don't mind one bit. Let me tell you something about Red Dragons. Our bloodlines react strongly to treasures which can be precious jewels, gold, metals, artifacts, and mates. My instinct tells me you are a treasure, and I can't give treasure away."

Rias blushed a bit at being called treasure by a dragon was the highest honor one could have. As for Runeas, she could not stop laughing.

"That is one way to break the ice. Getting a dragon to call you treasure is a great compliment."

Rias liked being called treasure. All the noble youths just wanted to marry her for her looks and her connection to her family. Here, Mark already had that through Runeas and he honestly could not care about politics.

He was perfect, but she did not want to make him think she was using him.

"But that sounds like I am using you for my benefit. I don't want to trouble you."

Mark reached out and pulled Runeas and Rias into a big hug. It was just a hug that had no deeper meaning.

"Don't worry about it. Aren't we Red Dragons supposed to steal the princess? Just live your life and treat this Riser as dirt. That is all he is to me after all."

Mark was not lying about this as the nymphs before were hot, but his bloodline did not think they were a treasure. They were too weak and not special while Rias screamed treasure. She was very talented, beautiful, and sweet-spoken, and got along with Runeas.

Something that drew his attention to her, but he was still in control of his instincts. They just helped him find real treasure among potential mates and his hoard. Rias and Runeas both seemed to enjoy his hug, but he let them go.

"So, don't worry about causing me trouble."

Runeas saw that Rias already was looking up at Mark with a different light in her eyes. It was not love, but it was something like fascination. Runeas was much older and stronger yet she had also fallen for Mark quite fast. That was just how good Mark was at it and how strong his aura was.

They all ended up enjoying the food Rias cooked for them until nothing was left of it. Once they finished, they all cleaned their plate as Mark was not going to make them clean others' dishes. Once this was done Mark put back his gloves and glasses.

It was time for him to enter seclusion as he had a lot of treasures that would speed up his training speed. He turned to Rias and Runeas to let them know.

"I will be spending some time in seclusion so if you want to train as well, go ahead. I will be making a special Bounded Field where the time goes by faster and where I can speed up my training. You can use it as well as long as you stay far from where I will be training. It will get dangerous for you."

Rias felt that would be perfect for her and her peerage.

"I would appreciate the chance."

Mark first teleported the four of them into his Blazing Palace where Runeas placed his Time and Mana formation. Once he was in this training room, he drew Backbitter and sent his Dragon Mana through the blade. He stabbed it into the ground and used it as a catalyst to make a large Bounded Field inside the separate space.

Here, time was 12 times faster than the outside, and when he used the Time and Mana formation it would work together to make 60 hours just 1 hour in the real world, a perfect place to train for him.

He placed the black sword back in its sheath and looked at Rias and Runeas.

"Runeas, I think it will be better for you for the moment to train Rias than me. All, I need at the moment is time to make use of my resources. If I need to spar, I will call my friend Ares who will be better for the kind of training I need."

Runeas nodded as her style of combat did not suit Mark's Draconic Fighting style.

"That is a great idea. I can tell that Rias got not only my bloodline ability but also the Energy of Destruction which are working together well. She just needs a bit of help mastering both which she is already working on. When will you start?"

Mark thought about it as he looked at Grimnar.

"In a bit."

Mark looked at the rings on his middle and ring fingers. He pulled out a vial of red burning blood which made Grimnar perk up. It smelled like his dad.

"This is a gift from your father, don't let it go to waste."

Mark kneeled and opened the vial for Grimnar. The power of Cerberus was shown as even this much radiated a power that drove Rias back. Runeas just squinted her eyes as Mark poured the blood down Grimnar's mouth.

When the dog drank the blood he instantly began to float in the air. Mark's Dragon Mana surged into his body like a tidal wave. Once more a thick egg-like cocoon of Dragon Mana surrounded Grimnar which made Mark sigh.

"Of course, he goes through another evolution. Hope he gets three heads?"

Mark waved his hand and placed the cacoon somewhere he would not be bothered. Once that was done he walked toward his time formation and sat down. He looked to Rias and Runeas.

"I will probably be quite busy for a while. You can bring your peerage here if you want and use it to train, but I won't be available for a time."

Rias nodded.

"That is fine, we have school so we can only come after that or on weekends."

Runeas felt that was plenty.

"Well, we got time, now come on. I want to see how good you are at using our ability."

Once the two of them flew off, Mark activated the Formation with some Dragon Mana feeling magic gather around him and time get faster.

'Alright Ddraig, what comes first?'

[We have plenty of treasures to make you and your bloodline stronger. The first thing is you need to eat the Apple that you were given by Hades. They are called Apples of Torment, and they grow in the garden of Nyx. The only thing that grows in Tarturus.

Tarturus is not a nice place, a place where the beings inside are tortured forever. The air is acidic, the water is toxic, and the ground is corrupted. These apples are famous for the energy of Tartarus they contain.

They torture the body, mind, and soul of those who eat them, but they also are full of powerful energies. Once you pass this hurdle, you will need to train to make use of the full power of apple.

Get Ares to spar with you after this, which will go into the next part. After this, you will begin to use the Pure Styx water to give yourself a Black Dragon's acid abilities. You already have black scales like one so use their abilities.

Once you use all of the vials, you can begin to eat the pomegranates from Persephone as they are full of life energy to make the energies in your body harmonize. The second to last step will be for you to eat my scale which will have more gentle energy than my blood, but will still feel like torture.

Once this is done, you will finally transform your soul into a Dragon Soul. If your bloodline, body, and soul are strong enough, it will be time to absorb my blood. At this point, you will need to master the Scail Mail to make your subspecies to go along with it.

And only then can you focus on mastering the Juggernaut Drive. Are you ready?]

"That was a lot of things to go over, but I got it."

Mark pulled out the glowing apple which hurt his hands to just hold it. Even through his gloves.

"Ready."

[Then eat.]

(Image here)