'thing'

As the guards looked at Lucas, or rather the 'thing' in front of them, and heard his cold words that felt as if they came from the depths of hell itself, almost all fell to their knees out of primal fear. Only three of the grandmaster stage managed to stand, yet even they were trembling with their entire bodies.

Gazing at the 'thing' in front of them, all they felt was as if death itself was standing before them. The 'thing's eyes were glowing bright red, and now his entire body was shrouded with black and red energy, going wild and chaotic over his body.

They felt as if they were just mere ants—no, less than ants. An ant might have had the primal instinct to run away as fast as it could, but to them, all they could do was freeze. They didn't dare to blink, to breathe, to scream, or to move.

Just as they felt they were about to die, they heard a voice that felt as if an angel had descended upon them.

"Enough," King Michael spoke, and in an instant, the atmosphere in the room returned to normal, and Lucas could be seen again with his white hair and blood-red eyes, wearing black clothes.

Raphael and Sylv breathed loudly out of relief. Queen Amara, Prince Raphael, and Princess Sylviette were all spared from the pressure because of King Michael shielding them, but that didn't mean that they felt safe as they gazed at that form of Lucas.

"Looks like we all got a little heated and carried away. Lucas Nightstar, I apologize for offending you. It's just that as a King and father, I sometimes can't help but think in a more cruel way, though that is no excuse for how I was treating you."

Seeing and hearing King Michael's genuine tone of being apologetic, Lucas sighed.

"It is fine, King Michael. It looks like I went a little bit overboard as well, so I apologize for being rude inside your castle."

"It is fine. I was the one who started this. Please stay here as long as you would like, and I hope that you continue to be friends with my daughter."

"Mm, don't worry. I won't let something as insignificant as this get in between the people I care about."

Hearing his genuine tone, King Michael released a small smile.

'My daughter, looks like you have found a good person as your friend. Though...'

He narrowed his eyes when Lucas wasn't looking at him anymore but at his daughter with an apologetic smile.

'What was that form of his? He definitely isn't human...'

********

After that incident with King Michael, Sylviette and Lucas were now sitting in a room on a luxurious comfy couch, surrounded by white decor. Raphael was also there with them. Queen Amara had to stay behind as they were going to discuss how to deal with the dark elves.

'I wonder why everything is white with elves?'

Sylv was for some reason sitting at Lucas's side while Raphael was sitting in front of them. A small table was in the middle with some snacks on it as they ate.

'Damn, it is awkward... they must be scared of me, but then why would they follow me into the same room? And why is Sylv sitting next to them instead of his brother? If she is scared.'

"Lucas Nightstar," suddenly they heard Raphael's voice as he stood up with a kind smile.

"I believe I haven't introduced myself. My name is Raphael Velariah. I am the prince of the elf kingdom and the brother of Sylviette," he said, stretching his right hand out towards Lucas.

"I'd like to apologize for my father's behavior. You see, he is actually a kind, loving man who is just overprotective. It took me a lot of effort to calm him down when he heard about the attack; he was about to go to the dark elf territory and wipe them all out himself."

Lucas decided to stand up, grasping Raphael's hand and shaking it. He said with a small smile of his own, "You don't need to worry about your father. I already forgot about it." Lucas wasn't lying; the moment King Michael apologized and sensing him not lying, he let it go. He was still a father of his friend and well, a king; it would be troublesome if he made an enemy of him right now.

As both introduced themselves and sat back down, dispelling the awkward atmosphere they had between them, Sylv finally decided to talk.

"Lucas! What was that form? You looked really scary, you know? I genuinely thought you were going to be able to kill all of them."

All the guards there were a minimum of the master stage, with three of them being grandmasters, and yet no one doubted Lucas's words that he would actually kill them all.

"Huh. Are you not scared, Sylv? Of me?" Lucas honestly thought she would be scared of him now.

Instead, all he saw was her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she gazed at him, anticipating an answer.

"Huh, of course not! Besides, the guards were the ones in the wrong, and Father was as well! But more importantly, answer me: What was that?" she asked.

Seeing her, he grinned and answered, "That's a secret~."

Seeing him not sharing what the form was, she pouted and turned her face away, as Raphael just stared wide-eyed at his sister who was so close to Lucas.

That form of his was one he discovered in his travels. When he tried to learn more about his own race, he managed to find out he could actually transform into his half-dragon form. Though it is still incomplete, it still grants him a huge boost in power. However, since he has no control over it and can harm his human body a lot if used for a long time, he didn't use the form back when fighting the dark elf. But since his pride was hurt and if needed to fight the king of the elves, he was ready to go all out; that's why he used that form.

His half-dragon form is special; Lucas thinks if any other half dragons before him existed, they wouldn't have the same form as him. Because his form was a mix of the half-dragon and Chaos. At first, his form was that of Lucas with just white scales on his torso, legs, and arms, and a little on his face. After that, he discovered he could use the chaos element and integrate it with his half-dragon form, them becoming one. Resulting in what was seen of him earlier with King Michael.

His form was still incomplete; when he becomes stronger, he believes this form of his would finally be complete and become something that could make him fight grandmasters with ease.

Yet Lucas wasn't satisfied with it. He felt when entering that form that something was missing that hadn't to do with the half-dragon form itself but his entire being down to his soul.

He knew what the problem was... He was a 'half' dragon. Not a full dragon. Lucas knew it but didn't know what he should do to finally become a full dragon, and if he did, would he really be ready to give up his humanity?

He didn't know yet; that still scared him, knowing that in the future, he would have to make a choice about keeping his humanity or filling the empty hole inside of him...