Chapter 56: Chapter 56: First Clash With The Bandits

Progenitor Dragon Physique (Stage 1)

Effects:

★ +30 attribute points per level (Total 80)

★ Half-Draconification: Upon activation, Health, Strength, Agility, and Defense increase by 2 times.

Consumes 10 Ether per second.

(Upgrade physique for full transformation and above)

★ Primordial Draconic Aura: Forces weaker Dragon bloodlines to submit, or can be used to intimidate others.

After looking through the stats, Adonis felt his blood freeze.

The Progenitor Dragon Heart proved to be too useful.

Alongside the increased attribute points, he could also transform into a true Dragon.

And this made him overjoyed.

After all, who wouldn’t like to be a dragon, soaring through the sky and crushing enemies with elemental roars?

Opposite him, Mariana also looked transformed.

Reddish draconic scales, a tail, two blazing wings appeared on her soft features, making her far more intimidating.

Her wings were fiery red while Adonis’s were chaotic violet.

Yet both of them looked very majestic. And undeniably strong.

These two half-transformed dragons stared at each other with momentary speechlessness.

Mariana clenched her clawed hands, and the very atmosphere turned heated because of the fire from her scales and wings.

“I feel incredible, Adonis! I never imagined one day I would be part of the Apex race. Thank you,” she said, looking extremely touched.

He pinched his nose. “I know. Now, shall we go and capture those bandits?”

She flapped her newborn wings once, nodding excitedly. “Yes. Let’s go.”

In order to keep their draconic powers a secret, both of them transformed back to their original human forms, then headed toward the volcanic mountain on foot.

They could not use that form to fly yet, as they were still inexperienced and lacked the Ether to sustain flight for a long time.

That being said, they were very confident about taking the bandits down.

Adonis and Mariana approached the volcanic mountain under cover of dusk. The ground grew warmer.

Cracks in the rock glowed faintly orange, releasing thin plumes of sulfur-scented steam.

The bandits’ camp sat in a wide caldera halfway up the slope, ringed by crude wooden barricades, flickering torches, and roughly thirty tents of patched leather and stolen goods.

From their vantage behind a jagged outcrop, they counted heads and found out approximately forty-seven bandits total.

Most of them wore mismatched leather armor, chain scraps, stolen knight plates.

In the name of weapons, thye have several rusty swords, crossbows and crude fire-lances.

Some bandits patrolled the perimeter in pairs, looking bored but alert enough.

At the camp’s center stood a large bonfire.

From it, sounds of sizzling meat reached their ears, alongside their laughter:

“Haha, did you see that old man’s face when we pulled the cow? She was practically weeping on the floor saying it was her only livelihood.”

“How pathetic! You just robbed a cow from an old woman, while today I killed a family and snatched their gold. It was very fun.”

“Hey, I also killed a woman today, and she was pregnant. Who’s more ruthless now?”

A burly ugly man clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, you call that ruthless? Yesterday, I raped a little girl in the woods while she was gathering firewood. It’s a pity she committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree.”

Hearing them, even Adonis’s blood boiled. Mariana’s eyes became cloudy with unshed tears.

She couldn’t help but imagine how much pain and suffering those victims had endured at these bandits’ hands.

“This is so cruel… I won’t let them breathe in my Kingdom a second longer. I will kill them with my own hands.”

Finished saying, she stood up to attack.

However, Adonis stopped her by grabbing her hand.

“Let’s prepare a plan, Maria. They might be weak, but charging amidst forty-seven people is reckless. I also want to kill them, but wait until we get an opening. Also, we haven’t found the bandit leader yet.”

“Heh heh, I’m here, pretty boy.”

All of a sudden, a chilling voice echoed, and Adonis felt a chill on his neck.

“From behind.”

Listening on his instincts, Adonis tried to dodge by ducking his neck forward, but—

“Slice!”

“Spurt!”

Despite his best effort, a thin cut landed on the back of his neck, spraying red blood into the air.

“Adonis!” Mariana screamed, eyes spitting fire.

She immediately slashed down with her Astral Dominion Sword.

“Booom!”

With just a single slash, her silver sword created an explosion.

The bandit leader’s dark eyes flickered with surprise, then he barely dodged the terrifying Sword Art from the Stars.

Like its name suggested, Mariana could literally summon the power of the stars and use them as destructive star force.

Her Sword Art: “Radiant Explosion!” left no room for mercy.

Even the extremely tough rocky surface of the mountain scorched and formed a crater twenty meters in diameter.

It felt as though a fallen meteor had struck the area just now.

The bandits nearby felt cold sweat on their backs.

“What the hell! Who is this girl?”

They looked at the furious pink-haired beauty with bafflement as she secured Adonis in her arms.

“Adonis, are you okay?” she asked nervously.

“Yes, I’m fine. This much cut is nothing.”

Adonis clutched the back of his neck, where blood was still dripping.

But after forcing his body to stitch together, the wound vanished miraculously.

Nonetheless, the pain was real. Splitting, burning pain.

It felt as though he had just broken out from the jaws of death.

“Oh ho, what is this? A special constitution?” the bandit leader, still wrapped in shadow and tattered clothes, muttered with cruel amusement in his eyes.

His gaze turned to Mariana with greater interest.

“And did you just use Star Force, little beauty? To my knowledge, there’s only one family that has the legacy Swords of Stars.”

Mariana let out a cold snort.

“Yes. You guessed it right. I am a Princess of this Kingdom. And today, for hurting my beloved you’re going to die.”

Whoosh…

With that she charged, her body turning into a streak of silver and pink.

Boom!

When the bandit leader’s shadow sword clashed with her Astral Sword’s destructive might, another explosion happened and he flew away like a sack of potatoes, crashing into the mountain’s base.

Even Adonis had to blink once or twice to process her combat might.

She was definitely not playing around when she said she would kill the bandit leader.

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