Tamsin, Merrick, and Gwen made their way to the training room. It was a place specially made for them—the ones considered anomalies among the base.
Alex was the only person outside their Bloodline who trained with them.
When they arrived, all the equipment was ready, neatly stacked in position.
Someone else was already in the room, using one of the machines.
"Alex?" Gwen called out.
Merrick groaned. "Now, would you look at that? He's in here throwing punches like he didn't almost die out there. Meanwhile, I'm just trying to figure out how to survive the punishment Peter dumped on us."
After leaving Peter's office, Alex had come straight to the training room.
At that moment, he was hammering a punching bag using his Buster Technique. He bounced around like a seasoned boxer, throwing punches from every direction. His hands blurred as the rhythm built.
Despite the force packed in each strike, the punching bag barely swung.
It was top-level paragon training equipment, and to make it move, Alex would need far more power in his punches than he currently had.
"Hey — how was the report?" Alex asked, bouncing off the punching bag during a break.
"Thanks to you, we get punished for using our Bloodline," Tamsin said, walking past Alex to set up for training.
Alex stopped mid-bounce.
"But… I thought Stan unbanned it," he said.
"Yeah," Merrick answered as he hauled gear. "But that was after we used it. You broke the rule before Stan legalised it."
Tamsin finished tying his gloves and turned to Alex.
"How did you even get out of the place I told you to stay?" he asked flatly.
Alex blinked, caught off guard.
"I mean, you were supposed to obey the order and stay back," Tamsin continued. "Even if you wanted to join the fight."
"Oh — about that," Alex said, a slow realization spreading. "I didn't join you on the fight. I went somewhere else. I didn't disobey; I just found a way around it."
Tamsin looked at Merrick, then at Gwen.
"Don't look at me," Gwen said. "It's totally possible. We do the same when we need to dodge an elder's order."
Alex rubbed the back of his neck. 'They'll never let this go easy,' he thought, and tightened his stance before launching another round of punches.
In the Dragon Roar Clan, no one became a full member without undergoing the ritual that granted them access to the Pendragon System. It wasn't just a formality—it was a binding oath.
Once the system was installed and loyalty sworn, betrayal became impossible. Trying to break that loyalty could trigger one of two fates: instant death… or pain so deep it could make a man beg for death.
The Pendragon System also came with a chain of command. Anyone of the Pendragon bloodline could issue a direct order—and the receiver would obey without hesitation.
The only exceptions were if a higher-ranked bloodline member, like one of the elders or the Key Breaker, nullified the command.
But there were always loopholes. Every command had its cracks, tiny flaws one could exploit if they were clever enough.
Tamsin and his siblings knew this better than anyone—they'd bent their uncle's orders before, twisting them just enough to get away with things he'd never approve of.
Still, something about Alex made Tamsin uneasy. The boy didn't move like someone who could disobey. There was a tension in him, a pull—as if the system itself held him on a leash too tight to slip.
Before he could think further, the door to the training room swung open.
A tall, muscular man stepped in. His hair was short and curled, his dark skin gleaming under the lights. He wore a sleeveless vest and military-style pants, the kind that made him look perpetually ready for war. Theron.
"Ahh, man, couldn't you take a little longer?" Merrick grumbled, already knowing what was coming.
Theron's gaze swept across the room, silent and sharp. "Get ready. All of you are about to fight." His voice was low and firm—no wasted words, no mercy in tone.
Tamsin groaned under his breath. Gwen just smirked. Merrick stretched his shoulders like a condemned man loosening up before the gallows.
Theron turned his head toward Alex, eyes narrowing slightly. "Do you want to join the fight?"
Alex caught the uneasy look on the others' faces and knew exactly what they were thinking.
"Nah…" he said, lifting his hands slightly. "I have a feeling this is way out of my training level."
Before anyone could protest, he bolted for the door.
Merrick sighed and muttered, "Of course he runs away."
Theron didn't react. His cold eyes swept across the remaining three. "I have one command," he said, voice steady as steel. "Attack me with everything you've got—except your Bloodline power."
The air tightened immediately. Their bodies moved before their minds even caught up. The command was absolute.
Tamsin clenched his fists. Gwen's pupils flared faintly with light. Merrick cracked his neck and grumbled under his breath, but none of them hesitated. Once the order was given, resistance wasn't even an option.
---
Meanwhile, Alex had already left the training hall behind. He wasn't running out of fear—at least, that's what he told himself. He just didn't want to die by accident.
He made his way down one of the long corridors until he reached another section of the base—a restricted one. The sign on the door read: "Authorized Tech Forgers Only."
Behind that door was Caspian's territory.
Caspian's lab was infamous among the clan. It was where he buried himself in experiments—working on Paragon tech, supernatural weapons, and gadgets that looked like they'd been stolen straight from the future.
Alex found the place easily. The faint hum of machinery gave it away before he even entered.
When he pushed the door open, his jaw dropped.
The lab was massive. Every inch of it screamed chaos and genius mixed together. Tables lined with half-built weapons, glowing crystals, and energy cells littered the space. A section on the left was filled with tubes and bottles, bubbling with different colored liquids.
Overhead, a robotic arm moved smoothly from one station to another, lifting containers, pouring them together, or setting them into place with precise motions.
A large digital screen dominated the far wall, displaying graphs, readings, and streams of data that shifted every few seconds.
Alex took a slow step inside, eyes wide.
'Man… this place looks like it could blow up the whole base if someone sneezed wrong,' he thought.
At the far end of the lab, Alex spotted another section—one that looked more like a junkyard than a workspace.
Piles of broken materials were stacked everywhere: cracked gun barrels, shattered qi cannons, and half-melted pieces of metal.
A lot of the equipment was so advanced Alex couldn't even guess what it used to be.
Above the mess, several robotic arms extended from the ceiling, quietly moving like metal spiders.
They picked through the scraps, sorting pieces and carrying them off to other corners of the lab Alex couldn't see. Every movement was smooth, efficient—almost too alive.
Then his eyes caught sight of Caspian.
He stood in a clear space near the back. The area was covered in paper—blueprints, diagrams, and sketches scattered across a massive table and pinned along the walls.
Every page was filled with rough lines and precise notes, designs for weapons, armor, gadgets—some that looked impossible to build.
"Are you done gawking at my lab?" Caspian's voice cut through the hum of machines.
Alex flinched, turning quickly. Caspian didn't even look up from the console in front of him. His tone was calm, but there was an edge to it.
Oddly enough, he always seemed more serious here, like the lab flipped a switch inside him.
"Ah—sorry for sneaking in," Alex stammered. "I just wanted to, uh… collect my suit."
Caspian finally turned his head, raising a brow.
"You mean your battle suit? The one you barely scratched?"
Alex tried to grin. "Yeah, well… you never know when something might pop up outside."
Caspian let out a small hum and crossed his arms.
"You do realize your suit can be sent directly through your system storage, right? So I'm guessing that's not the real reason you came here."
Alex froze for a moment, scratching the back of his head. His eyes darted around the lab before he finally sighed.
"Yeah… you got me."
He reached into his system storage, light flaring briefly around his hand—and pulled something out.
"I took this tablet after I killed Varkov," Alex said, lifting the small metal slate for Caspian to see. The screen flickered faintly, still stained with dust and dried blood from the battle.
Caspian's face hardened the instant he saw it. His usual calm vanished, replaced by a sharp, wary look.