"Kai, father has tried calling for you several times during the month but you weren't available."

Natsumi told Kai while eating. Kai swallowed his food and looked up for a second before answering.

"I see, I'll head over there later. Must be about the underground, their activities have increased drastically over the past few months. I guess they've become too much to handle."

Right now, only Kai, Erina, Amelia, Aya, Yoko, Angelina, and Natsumi were gathered around a buffet table celebrating Angelina's recovery. It took an entire month for her to fully recover, that was how drastic her injuries were.

Erina covered her mouth which was chewing food then swallowed before talking.

"Kai, I've been meaning to ask you since I can't get any real information from Angie, what was that transformation she did? Amelia told me to ask you since she doesn't really have a grasp about it and none of the books in the study have any information."

«Draco», the transformation that Angelina used to turn her some of her body parts into that of dragon's and take on their quality. The drawback was that her body wasn't enough to handle it and she had to get hospitalized.

"Erina, do you know why she has Dragon Slayer Arts which are like magic but aren't really magic?"

"Aren't they like the Noble Sword?"

"Close, that's a fighting style. An art is more like a magic technique but it doesn't use mana, it uses something else. It can use stamina or some other power source from inside the body as well."

Kai stood up and walked a few meters away.

"I'll use a simple art. Beast Art: Tiger's Claw."

Kai swiped down with his hand formed like a paw.

Though it didn't really happen, Erina saw the figure of a tiger emerging from Kai and mixing into him, the hand that Kai swiped down with looked as if it was a real tiger's paw slamming down and his eyes even changed, the air around Kai became ferocious but only for the short instant that the attack was used. Quickly, it all came back to normal.

"That was one of the simple arts, mimicking a beast. It uses stamina but gives the power of a tiger, I don't use arts much because I have a lot of mana but there are some special arts like Dragon Slayer Art which take something else to use- a dragon's core."

With Kai's words, Angelina who had finished eating earlier stood up, walked next to Kai then closed her eyes. A faint image of a dragon formed behind her as if it was guarding her.

"A dragon's core can be acquired by simply killing a dragon and extracting it. The core's essence would then need to be mixed into the body by using mana to guide it."

Kai took out a blue orb from his pendant and gave it to Angelina.

"Having a different colored orb to your attribute will also allow you to use their attributes."

Kai added while Angelina took the core with both her hands and slowly, the blue from the orb began fading and soon, the orb shattered as if it was a normal crystal ball that fell on the floor. The faint image of a dragon behind Angelina began to grow clearer and larger, the air around Angelina became totally that of a dragon's.

"Draco, is a Dragon Slayer Art which I classify as forbidden because it transforms the user's body into that of a dragon temporarily, the amount of dragonification will be decided by how much dragon core essence the user had. At that time, Angelina had only a core's worth of essence and so only had minor changes but you could see the increase in her power. Transformations have different effects but most of them improve the physical body or grant a skill."

Kai hurriedly added information.

"Ah, but don't get me wrong, while the cores allow you to use the dragon's attributes, it doesn't mean you're restricted to them. You can make your own techniques to counter the core, this is why it's called a Dragon Slayer Art, because I created the arts designed to slay dragons using the dragon's power themselves."

The new revelation caused Erina to be mind-boggled.

"So there was actually another way to fight against magic other than with itself and runes... Ah, since that's the case, Kai, don't you also have an insanely strong transformation? You could've used it instead of that move, judging by the power I can tell that the move you used was a lot stronger than Angelina's."

"...None, I have no transformations. I also forgot to tell you but there are also types of cores that are incompatible with some. In my case, I can't use any core that can transform me but I can use them. I created Draco without fully experiencing it so the drawback is insane."

Erina thought there were a few holes in that but each time she answered a question, Kai would skillfully avoid it. Erina looked to Amelia.

"What about you? Do you have any transformations?"

"Well, I have a natural transformation so I can't transform into anything incompatible with me, I'm sure that vampires and dragons are compatible though, they are both long-lived races and have strong affinity so if I try, I can do the same as Angelina- or rather, even farther. A human and a dragon are barely compatible. But, I don't want to experience my skin cracking, I take good care of my skin, you know?"

Erina paused for a moment.

"Do you by any chance... bathe in blood?"

"Hm? Well, I used to back at home. I was but a child at the time and blood was provided to me anytime I wanted so bathing in blood was common there. I stopped once I reached my teenage years though."

Teenage years? I heard she was 300 years old or something so maybe like 50?

Meanwhile, Amelia had her eyes narrowed.

"You're thinking something rude, aren't you? It was over 300 years ago and by teenage years, I'm talking about human terms. I was about fifteen when I stopped because I realized that blood came from humans who took nearly the same shape as us, it became gross. Drinking blood and bathing in blood is very different."

So she really is over 300 years old...

Erina thought.

"So natural transformation meant that you turn into a full-fledged vampire?"

"Hm? I'm already a full-fledged vampire but you're not entirely wrong, it depends on what you define as 'full-fledged'. I won't tell you though."

...Is it hideous or something?

Natsumi continued sipping her tea as she thought of that. At some point, all of them had finished eating and began to talk.

Once Kai finished his explanations, he left Angelina's place with Natsumi. Right now, he was known around the kingdom as the captain of the third princess' royal guard, being seen with Natsumi in public was no longer a problem. Another reason why Kai and Erina's relationship wasn't publicized was also because of this, a married man going almost everywhere with the princess would definitely spark some rumors.

"Kai, when are you going back to school though? We fabricated the excuse that you left because of family matters but when you return, you'll be going back as Kenji and not Kai, right?"

"As long as you will use your disguise then I will do so as well. Although you have already told your identity to some, I doubt they'd spread it, just in case I also issued a gag order. I have no reason to use that personality anymore since Erina and Yoko know so I'll be a lot more free, I'll just try and match my personality with his."

"...True, you are normally very apathetic but Kenji was very outgoing. Anyone would notice the change because of the lack of tone in your voice, even when you try to joke you'd just use a blank tone so everybody tries to take you seriously. By the way, Kai, how come nobody figured out it was me in school? My face was surely seen by almost everyone during your speech..."

"The power of suggestion is frightening indeed."

"...Suggestion?"

Kai smiled and continued to walk.

"That side of you is really annoying, brushing off questions with a smile..."

It's really better you don't know, though. With your mind filled with kindness and compassion, I don't think you could stomach the fact that I manipulated everyone's memories in school and casted transformation magic on you.

Kai wanted to tell her but couldn't.

(A/N: Transformation magic and the transformation that comes from the arts are different. As many should recall, when Kenji transformed back into Kai, he grew taller and his features changed but that didn't improve his strength at all.)

Royal Palace

"I see, so those small time organizations think that just because the kingdom isn't doing anything about them, they can just rule over the slums? Alright, I'll go take care of them."

The king closed his eyes and rubbed his nose bridge.

"...Kai, no killing."

"Ah, right. Okay, I'll go ahead and scare them so badly that they won't be able to sleep at night without cuddling with each other beside a light."

This time, Natsumi's expression cramped.

"Kai, couldn't you just scare them using your mana?"

"...I guess."

"Sheesh, this is why you're not fit for operations such as these. Too bad that the captain and vice-captain are busy."

"Alright, I'll go and bring a squad."

Kai formed a sign with his hand, his index and middle finger were stuck together and pointed upwards then he swiped down.

"10... 9... 8..."

Kai counted for a minute and when he reached 8 seconds, sounds began to be heard in the halls.

BANG CRASH KLANG DING THUMP

"Squad 3, reporting for duty, captain!"

A knight wearing no helmet saluted to Kai with 8 people behind him.

"Too slow, all of you will do a thousand push-ups with twenty thousand pounds on your backs as punishment! [Body Enhancement] isn't allowed, this will be done immediately after the operation!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

They didn't dare complain, the last time they did they were forced to do ten times the amount of push-ups. It was well-known among the knights that Kai was a demon instructor.

"Now, we set off!"

"Yes, sir!"

Seeing the knights moving in uniform with despair looming over their backs, Natsumi felt sorry for them.