Samael woke up in the darkest part of the forest. His body felt thoroughly beaten.
If he didn't know any better, just from the pain alone, he would have thought he was on the verge of evolving.
But he checked his age and stats and knew that he had just seriously gotten his ass handed to him.
"You are awake." A voice said in English.
"I am." Sam replied without thinking then stopped.
He turned around and sitting across from him was a smaller version of the dragon he fought.
The dragon was now the same size as an elephant from his soul's previous world.
Sam tried to ready one of hid skill but the effort alone made him violently begin coughing blood.
"Be at ease, Vampire, we cannot fight each other now. You are severely wounded but healing and I...well...I suffer from more serious injuries." The dragon was speaking morosely.
"Where did you learn English?" Sam asked.
"Your mind. You have very little protections against superior beings. There is a lot of information in there but worry not. I was only able to read the surface of your mind." The dragon spoke as though he had said something normal.
"Superior?" Sam wanted to tell this annoying lizard that he was the one who created this world but refrained and instead asked, "What do you want?" Sam's tone was drenched in annoyance.
"How rude! I guard your body while you recover and this is the thanks I get? You provoke me for my blood, fight me, drain some of my magic then have the audacity to ask what I want?" The words sounded angry but the dragon's tone was indifferent.
"You beat me to a pulp!" Sam shouted. His voice was raspy.
"So what of it?" The dragon stated. "We fought. I won. This is nothing to be ashamed of."
"I'm not ashamed! I am furious!"
"Did you not expect this outcome?" The dragon looked at Sam.
It was true. Sam only wanted the blood of this dragon.He had know at the beginning that he could not fight it head on.
"My name is Bashe but this was the name given to me by my father who has cast me out. This name will cease to grant me power now that I have no ties to my family, which is why I want to make a deal with you."
Samael was stunned.
"What kind of deal?" He asked.
"A pact of brotherhood, little old man. An alliance. You want my blood to become stronger. This is a treasure to you and I am willing to trade it to you for your support a thousand years from today when I return home to reclaim my position and your promise to continue getting stronger until that day."
Sam's wings had finished healing. He had recovered quite well but now he was tense for a whole other reason.
"Your offer is tempting but I am not a fool. Your blood is precious to me, yes but you are not the only dragon, you've said this yourself.
"You have siblings and parents. Why would I get your blood and risk my life to support you in a matter that clearly you could not handle yourself. Even in your weakened state, you were stronger than me yet you want me to offer my abilities in a fight that injured a healthier version of you?
"The benefit is too little compared to the cost. What use is your blood to increase my current power when I will forfeit my life a thousand years from now?"
The dragon understood Samael's words. He was asking for too much and offering too little.
"You wish to consume my blood. I am a direct descendant of the first dragon. My blood can heal and grant vitality and strength that you could not imagine and is only lesser to my father's in closeness to purity of the dragon progenitor's blood.
"My siblings and I were not made equal but should you attack them they will fight you with the power of the entire hoard and you will not win. Take my offer. It is the best you will receive because negotiating with a dragon even among dragons is not advisable if you have do not have the power to back it up. I suppose I could also teach you how to use magic, this is the real reason you lost but that is only because of how far I have fallen." Bashe sighed.
Sam smiled. He had a conversation with Enoch and came to a happy conclusion to accept offer.
"How strong should I become to help you fight your father?"
"No, you will not help me fight my father. Duma is my quarrel and therefore my prey." The dragon spoke calmly. "It is my grandfather that I fear. I doubt he will idly sit and stay silent while we kill his first and only child. So in terms of strength, the question should be how strong can you become in a thousand years?"
In terms of power San had classified Bashe as a middle level boss existence compared to his powerful father and supreme granddaddy.
Sam wanted to back out and if he had been offered this deal by Bashe before they had fought, he would have refused and walked as far away from the dragons as quickly as he could but after fighting Bashe, he knew he was too weak.
He had to get stronger. This was his life now and he would not run. He was no longer a human. Three hundred years was equivalent to a nap for him. He fought monsters that wanted to tear him apart and drank their blood to grow and sustain himself.
He had to stop thinking like his old self and think like the primordial he was. Back on earth, mythology was full of Titans and gods fighting for supremacy.
He was tired of being strategic in his hunting, in his levelling and tired of feeling alone.
He wanted fellow vampires to share his long life with but what use was immortality if his life could be ended those stronger than him.
If he died, it would be on his own terms. If he was tired of life in a thousand years then he would go all out and should he die then so be it.
"I will accept your offer, Bashe." Sam agreed, "But tell me more about magic. Is that how you defeated me?"