Power. That was what Uehara was currently feeling. The moment he had injected his fire chakra into his chakra network, he resisted the desire to control it. With the recommendation of his father, all he did was continuously supply fire chakra and let his body handle the rest.

The result was almost instantaneous. Instead of gold, his body slowly started to emanate red aura, replacing the previous black aura. His draconic features receded while his hair spiked up just slightly and turned red.

Different from before, his aura was calm. There was only a tinge of red aura that manifested around him. The other difference is that the shadows of his eyes were red, almost like someone put makeup on them.

With his eyes closed, he gave off a very peaceful presence. Although he was shirtless, his body didn’t have any overt changes. Although he was slightly muscular due to his training, the sage transformation didn’t affect his physical form aside from his skin glowing slightly. This was due to his chakra channels widening because of the sage chakra coursing through his body.

But although his physical appearance didn’t change much, Uehara was currently very powerful, far more powerful than when he was in his imperfect flame sage transformation.

Opening his eyes, they were bright red. On top of the abilities of his dragon eyes to see energy, he could now also see the temperature of anything. Unlike before, he had to focus in order to use the thermal ocular ability when he was in his imperfect sage transformation. But now, it became a passive skill.

Another ability he had that he was never able to consciously activate was the ability to see blood. It was an added ability to his dragon eyes that was gained through his vampiric nature. He could never access it unless there was a stimulant, which was either the sight or scent of blood, or hunger.

But now, this vampiric ability of his was available and he felt he could even turn it off and on. Overwhelmed by the new feeling of power, there was a feeling of euphoria.

[Amazing…]

Volkarin couldn’t help but smile when he saw his son’s ever-neutral expression crumble and was replaced by wonder and awe.

“How do you feel?”

Uehara stood up. Glancing at his father, his expression reverted back to neutral.

“Amazing.”

Volkarin inwardly smirked. He knew his son was just a hair’s breadth away from jumping into the air.

“And? Tell me everything you’re feeling.”

Uehara looked at his hands.

“I feel so…calm. I feel so peaceful that I could just-”

“Sleep?”

Uehara nodded.

“Yes father. I feel like I really want to sleep. Why is that?”

Volkarin smiled as he grabbed his son’s shoulder.

“It’s about time. You have been awake for far too long. You’ve never slept properly for two decades.”

Uehara looked at his father in evident confusion.

“I’m not understanding, father.”

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Volkarin sighed.

“Don’t compare yourself to humans. As old as your mind may seem, your body is still that of an infant and that state will last for just about another eight decades. One thing all infants need to do is sleep. The minimum sleep a surin infant requires is around four months every year. The only reason you’re still standing right now is that dragons have a strong physique.”

“But then why now, father?”

Volkarin explained.

“Because your body has finally begun to relax. Your body is like a muscle that was finally allowed to put down the heavy weights. With you now having finally managed to properly channel sage chakra, your body is experiencing the soothing feeling of proper sage chakra travelling through the chakra network. It’s like the sound changing from war drums to a zither. It induced your body’s need to sleep.”

A look of realisation dawned on Uehara’s face.

[It’s like running a long distance. Once you stop moving, it’s almost impossible to continue running without resting first.]

Uehara understood his father’s explanation.

“I understand father. As soon as I settle everything, I will rest.”

“Settle what? Rest is a very important aspect for your right now.”

“Do not worry father. All I’m doing is tying up loose ends since I killed a human cultivator before.”

Volkarin looked down in contemplation.

“I see. Just don’t underestimate cultivators. Even if the inhabitants of this world are weak by my standards, they may exist entities that can harm you.”

Uehara thought about his father’s statement for a while.

[Indeed. I have been getting too relaxed lately and that it is slowly turning into arrogance. My recent actions at the capital with Shikibu and at Nara during the auction are such examples.]

His mind was set.

“Thank you father for your advice. I will commit it to heart.”

Offering a light bow as he slowly vanished, he had already decided on his next course of action.

“I should check on Sakura and Chizuki. I will also aid them personally.”

…

Regaining consciousness, he first released a sonar wave of chakra to quickly get his bearings.

[?]

There were many places Uehara expected to wake up in. He wouldn’t even put it past his clones to place his sleeping body in a brothel as a joke. But the last thing he expected was to wake up in the hands of Shikibu, who seemed to be cooking something over the stove. After all, last time he checked, she didn’t like him very much. Although he doesn’t care about how a person feels about him, it still surprised him a bit.

[Enough about such mundane thoughts. I should-]

It was then that he noticed it. His body was clinging onto Shikibu like it was hanging on for dear life.

[This is…surprising. Does this mean that I trust her on an instinctual level or is this just an effect of being in close proximity with a fellow demon? I will ponder on this later.]

Shikibu felt the chakra Uehara was using to cling to her decrease. Looking down, she was about to coo at him when she noticed how his eyes were open.

She smiled gently at him.

“You finally woke up Aoki-sama. Did you rest well?”

Uehara just stared her dumbfoundedly.

“This is the first time I have seen you smile.”

Shikibu stopped stirring the pot as she looked at Uehara.

“Really? But I smile a lot.”

Uehara frowned a bit. He really didn’t see the need to play these sorts of compliment games. He knew Shikibu was smart enough to know what he meant.

Either way, he still hadn’t forgotten about Chizuki and Sakura. Vanishing from her arms, he appeared just a few steps away from her on all fours. Black mist covered his body and when it dissipated, he was back in his humanoid form.

His hair still reached his knees and he was no taller than a five-year old boy. But there was one change that had Shikibu staring at him with a questioning gaze.

“What?”

“A strand of your hair is red Aoki-sama.”

“Oh?”

Quickly running his chakra through his hair, he was able to find the abnormal strand.

“I see.”

Not getting any more information than that, Shikibu decided to change the topic.

“Are you interested in having a meal, Aoki-sama?”

“Not interested. Cooked food has no appeal to me.”

Shikibu relented.

“I can go and catch something for you if you want?”

Uehara replied in his normal monotone voice.

“No need. I only eat what Chizuki gives me.”

And that was when Shikibu knew she lost.

“I understand Aoki-sama.”

But before Uehara could leave, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Forgive me Aoki-sama but I have to ask. I’m fairly confident in my ability to handle food. So what is it that she can do that I can’t?”

“Uehara replied instantly.

“You don’t have her heart.”

With that, Uehara vanished in a swirl of darkness, leaving a confused Shikibu behind.

“Heart? What does he mean?”

Meanwhile, Uehara had quickly followed the soul link he had with Shikibu. Appearing where the soul-link was, he expected to see Shikibu in front of him. Instead, all around were the ruins of a building and most concerning of all, a massive inscription circle underneath him.

It didn’t take him long to figure out that this was a trap especially made for him.