Cassius gazed at the updated notifications on his status panel.
[The comprehensive strength of the NPC faction you founded, Cinder Nest, has reached the required threshold.]
[Cinder Nest has gained a modest degree of renown throughout the Great Anzetta Waste. Situated in Giant Valley, its sphere of influence encompasses half of Storm Heights. Rumors say it is the lair of the red dragon Cassius, known as 'Flying Flame,' and the graveyard of the Northwind Eagle Guard. Countless ferocious monsters, including ogres, wyverns, and chimeras, gather here to serve their wicked lord, poised to unleash an insatiable lust for conquest...]
[You may now create a unique faction subclass.]
A faction subclass was a specialized career path exclusive to a particular faction.
For players, advancing into one required accumulating a certain amount of faction contribution and meeting specific class prerequisites.
Take House Lakeman's Northwind Eagle Guard, for instance. It demanded absolute loyalty to the house and proficiency in 'Giant Eagle Riding.' In his past life, quite a few players had joined Northwind Keep specifically for that path.
Many faction subclasses were formidable. Notable examples included the Lionheart Knights of House Bosque, the Corrosive Druids of the Gloomy Swamp, and the Time Soul Sorcerers of the Tower of Time.
Cassius had taken the trouble to subdue Alger precisely because he valued the unit's mobility; they made exceptional scouts and airborne combatants.
He intended to use the Northwind Eagle Guard as a foundation to establish Cinder Nest's proprietary subclass.
Alger would serve as his first test subject.
In the future, Alger would become akin to a 'class trainer,' luring even more players into joining Cinder Nest.
[Note: Granting a subclass requires the target to be a vassal of your faction.]
[Target Alger is currently your vassal.]
[Preparing to construct the subclass—]
Within the spacious, sealed cavern, Alger and his giant eagle sat inside a deep pit as Cassius had instructed.
"Close your eyes," Cassius commanded.
Having already become a sworn vassal, Alger obeyed naturally and shut his eyes.
The giant eagle ruffled its feathers discontentedly, but Alger firmly clamped a hand over its eyes.
"Begin."
The red dragon nodded slightly.
He sliced open his palm, and a drop of searing dragon blood welled forth.
"Bloodline Boon."
"Half-dragon transformation—"
Cassius chanted silently in his mind.
This was an even more potent bloodline bestowal, capable of granting a humanoid the half-dragon template. Such draconic bloodlines could even be passed down to future generations.
Yet for a humanoid, only those whose bodies had been thoroughly tempered and honed—exceptionally powerful humans, like the warrior before him—could successfully survive the ordeal.
As though an extension of his own limbs, the blood slowly floated up and drifted into Alger's mouth.
"Ugh..."
Alger let out a muffled groan.
Still, the resolute warrior gritted his teeth and held back a scream.
As the scalding blood, teeming with wild elemental energy, surged down his throat and into his esophagus, the skin across Alger's entire body flushed red. Plumes of white steam rose from his flesh, and sweat poured profusely from his brow.
The blood churned in his stomach like a lake of molten magma.
"Ngh—ah!"
Alger squeezed his eyes shut and knitted his brows, clamping his jaws together to stifle his cries.
Yet his back buckled involuntarily, curling him into a tight ball on the ground.
The dragon blood forced its way violently into his veins, pumped to every corner of his body by his violently pounding heart.
Alger's skin darkened to a deep crimson, hissing with scalding vapor until he looked nothing like a normal human.
"Aaaargh!"
He could no longer hold it in and threw his head back in a frenzied roar.
The agony was far worse than being sliced apart by a thousand blades; it was the torment of having his entire body, bones and all, ground to dust and reshaped anew.
Beneath his skin, the joints at his elbows, knees, and spine swelled wildly, bursting straight through the flesh to form jagged, hooked bone spurs. And the moment his skin tore open, emerging scales pried the wounds apart with brute force.
His frame stretched until he was nearly two meters tall.
His flesh and blood were radically altered by chaotic elemental energy, sprouting countless fine, tough vessels—the basal conduits unique to dragons for channeling elemental power.
The transformation of his face was the most grotesque.
Scales split his skin, and the bones around his mouth jutted forward, splitting into distinct upper and lower jaws. Needle-sharp fangs sprouted along his gums. His eyes rolled back until only the whites showed before being replaced by slitted reptilian pupils. His entire skull was forcefully twisted and reshaped into something resembling the head of a dragon.
The process for the giant eagle beside him was much simpler.
It was merely an ordinary Bloodline Boon.
Sharp fangs grew from the beak of the giant eagle, hard scales sprouted beneath its plumage, and its frame expanded substantially, its wingspan stretching to nearly ten meters until it became a hybrid dragonhawk.
When the swirling clouds of scalding steam finally dispersed, Alger opened his eyes once more, revealing a pair of golden, slitted pupils.
He now looked far more like a dragonborn than a human.
"This is..."
His field of vision felt immensely broad. Dark corners he previously could not discern now appeared as sharp black-and-white images, thanks to a specialized reflective tapetum.
Lying on the ground, Alger experimentally moved his arms, finding that his strength far exceeded what it had once been.
This robust, two-meter-tall frame was not only bursting with physical power, but also hummed with searing magical energy.
Power—the most intoxicating substance in existence.
No matter how much agony it cost, it was worth it.
As long as he had power, he could atone for everything he had done.
Alger awkwardly pushed himself up from the ground and knelt before Cassius.
Now, his submission was far more than a formal gesture. A heavy pressure welled up from the depths of his bloodline, leaving him entirely incapable of harboring any thought of defiance; even with his willpower, he could barely suppress the instinctual urge to obey.
*Have I become a dragon's pawn...?*
*This feeling...*
*Isn't so bad after all.*
Alger remained prostrated on the ground, his face toward the stone, thinking to himself.
"Master, thank you for bestowing this strength upon me."
"I will unleash it upon the battlefield and strike terror into the hearts of your enemies."
His words were utterly sincere.
Cassius could sense Alger's thoughts, but he merely said:
"Familiarize yourself with this body. I need you to forge a new army for me."
The notifications on the status panel updated once more.
[Faction prestige subclass construction complete.]
[Subclass Prerequisites:]
[Join the Cinder Nest faction.]
[Become a vassal of faction leader Red Dragon Cassius.]
[Hold a Base Warrior level of 3 or higher, with a Riding proficiency bonus of +4 or greater.]
[Possess a Large or larger creature of draconic bloodline as a mount, and possess draconic bloodline to a certain degree.]
[Please name your faction subclass—]
Cassius looked down at Alger, who knelt like a devout worshiper, his face clad in crimson scales that appeared exceptionally ferocious.
[Name: Redscale Conqueror]
Chapter 56