"What next part?" Alex asked.

Kael said nothing until he got up from his chair, he surveyed the room and turned back to the table. "You are going to a new dormitory," Kael gestured. "As you can see this is not suitable for skills learning."

Stallus nodded. "You could have burned it all down then."

Although Stallus didn’t say more than that, Azaroth could hear the hidden words in it, "you could have burned us all," she seemed to say.

Kael heard it too because he raised his finger. "You don’t get it, do you? I have mastery over fire....at least to the degree where I can choose what to burn and not."

"Wow! That is so cool! Will I be able to do that with lightning too?" Alex asked.

"You better be able to. There is no use for a weapon that can’t control its power. That weapon is considered a rabid dog, and we all know what happens to mad Hounds," Kael said hotly.

Alex swallowed and avoided looking at Kael.

Azaroth frowned, looking thoughtfully at Kael. "Why did you destroy the room then? Since you can control what you destroy."

Kael shrugged. "Even the dragon hunts with all its might."

Azaroth raised his brows, his red eyes glinting. "Even if it hunts a wolf?"

"Ah... haven’t you heard the tale? Where a wolf eats one heart of a dragon." Kael paused. "The wolf was a god though. A god." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Azaroth smirked. Interesting. Was Kael telling him to be a wolf god? Azaroth just might.

Stallus snorted. "Enough about what the dragon eats. I want to know how many of my body parts I can cover with essence now."

"Me too! Can I produce lightning now?" Alex asked.

"Take your weapons and follow me," Kael Hound said.

They did as Kael told them. Each picked their weapons on the rack, slinging it around their waist, and followed Kael. Kael led out through the door and into the evening.

This was the second time Azaroth had stepped out since he came to Inferno Legion. The first time was when he entered the crypt months ago, and now the second time.

The sun was going to sleep in the sky and it almost made the evening like any other Azaroth had had in his father’s outpost. Buildings were cast in the gentle last light of the day and people moved unhurriedly around.

It would have been almost the same if the people moving around weren’t wearing black and red and wore solid black masks that covered their faces.

Some of the Hounds stared at them as they passed, their attention mostly on Kael Hound than the others. Azaroth noticed the way they flinched back and hunched their backs as Kael strolled forward.

Azaroth didn’t know how one became a captain but since he was deep in one of the Inferno Legion territories, he could bet it involved blood. And power.

Kael and the other captains must be powerful enough to stand above thousands of Hounds there to become captain. They must have climbed on them.

It hit Azaroth then, the Hounds were cowering before Kael but the air was also soaked with something bitter and sour. Hatred and jealousy.

Azaroth could feel it, their gaze through the mask like starved wolves looking at their Alpha eat. Any weakness and they would pounce.

Azaroth smiled his wolf smile. He wished those looks were directed at him. The feeling when they recognized your power and hated you for it, their hatred might even boil over someday. Then you would have a good excuse to rip out throats.

A disturbance in the air made the Hounds hurry, walking away from their group as fast as they could. Azaroth thought Kael had responded to their hating gaze but when he looked in his direction, Kael had stopped.

In front of Kael Hound was another captain. Another of the three captains, the woman who had intimidated them during the first test.

"Zephyra Hound," Kael said, his voice frosty.

"Kael Hound." The woman said with the same tone. The woman was dressed in black fitted cloth with a cloak, a black mask with a red flame pattern, and around her hip coiled a whip with a bladed tip. "I’m surprised to see you here. Have your students finally advanced?"

"They have, not long ago even," Kael said stiffly.

Azaroth didn’t fully understand what was going on but it looked like captain politics to him. Kael Hound was close to Commander Apex and seemed to be in the Commander’s favor, naturally, the other captains might resent him.

From what Azaroth had managed to piece together, the East Haven Yama project was split into two groups. One group was given to one of the two captains, Kael Hound and Zephyra Hound.

And only one group would have the name Yama of East Haven.

Which meant an indirect competition between Kael and Zephyra.

"Took them long enough, mine was three weeks ago," Zephyra said, and Azaroth could picture the smile twisting her lips.

"There is time for everything, Captain Zephyra," Kael said.

"Not for advancing!" Zephyra snapped.

"They weren’t ready three weeks ago to have pressure on their cores. They were ready today," Kael said.

"They are Hounds, Kael. We are Hounds and they are to take the Yama name." Zephyra took a step forward. "Not some academy or sect students."

"The Inferno Legion is very particular about how its weapons turn out, more so now with this Yama project," Kael said calmly.

"They will turn out just fine! I wonder why the Commander allows you to do as you wish sometimes," Zephyra said coldly.

Kael shrugged. "We were both given two groups to teach, we were given full independence on how to do the teaching. Why are you bothered?"

Zephyra snorted and looked at Azaroth and the others, the disgust rolled off her in waves. "I’m not bothered with how your students turn out, Kael Hound. I’m simply worried that they would fail to provide suitable killing meat for my students."

"Zephyra Hound." Kael bit out. Red energy bloomed around him, and Zephyra answered with her own.

The air grew hot as the two captains faced each other.