2 and a half months ter……

  It was currently the month of July, the middle of summer in Orario.

  The sun shone brightly above the almost cloudless sky, and the weather was quite hot this particur year.

  Despite the almost cloudless sky and the intense heat, the residents of Orario tio go about their daily lives, unfazed by the seasonal ge.

  Within the bustling city, the members of the Bahamut Familia were taking a break from their ventures in the dungeon, preparing for a major event on the horizon.

  While not much had ged within Orario over the past two months, the Bahamut Familia had undergone some signifit developments.

  Spsh !!

  Draco, leaned ba the bathtub filled with cool, refreshing water, causing it to spsh gently around him.

  "So the time is almost near, huh?" he mused aloud, his mind rag with thoughts of the impendius meeting at the end of the week.

  Bahamut, the familia's patron goddess, had informed him of the uping gathering, and the young captaihat it would be a pivotal moment for his familia.

  Throughout the four months they had resided in Orario, they had maintained a low profile, but now, things were about to ge, and the chaos was about to unfold.

  Each member of the Bahamut Familia had reached and even surpassed the minimum threshold Draco had set for them to level up.

  Cir, Michalis, Eleni, Nikoos, Dimitra, Vasileios, and Vasiliki each had individual feats they o aplish in order to asd to the level, a decision Draco had made with great deliberation.

  Normally, a group feat would have been suffit, but Draco believed that individual aplishments would yield higher-grade excelia for each of them.

  He had carefully phe challehey would face, ensuring that each member would front a mohat would normally be impossible for them to defeat alone.

  Draself had also reached the threshold to level up again, but he had chosen to hold off on his own adva, fog instead on helping the rind oh and 12th floors of the dungeon.

  He had felt the desperation in their as, their desire not to fall too far behind him, so for their sake, Draco decided to keep himself within their rail they were mentally mature enough to overe that mentality.

  "I don't want to pressure them too much, they are still quite young" Draurmured, his eyes closed as the cool water washed over his body.

  He khat too much pressure could lead to any one of them doing something drastic.

  They were his everything and he wasn’t prepared to lose any of what little remained of his family.

  During this time, Draco had also re-evaluated each of his familia members, sidering the possibility of appointing a vice-captain.

  He had a didate in mind, but he chose to wait a few more months before making a decision, wanting to observe their growth and development further.

  As Draind wandered, he couldn't help but pohe potential reas of other familias.

  ‘Which familia will be the first to attack us?’ he wondered.

  Draew that as the news of the Bahamut’s familia rapid progress spread– him gaining two levels ihan four months and all the other members leveling up in the same timeframe – spread, it was clear that this remarkable achievement would not go unnoticed.

  Larger and more iial families withiy were bound to take notice, driven by a desire to bolster their own ranks and secure a petitive advantage.

  The options before these powerful fas were twofold: they could either attempt to poach the members of the rising Bahamut familia, luring its member away with the promise of greater resources and opportunities, or if that proved unsuccessful, they would resort to the best course of a – the systematic dismantling aru of this upstart familia.

  There was also the problems that would follow when the news about him being a Dragon kin, a creature long presumed to be extinct spread.

  Bahamut had assured him that he need not worry about any hostile gods suddenly disiing him on the spot.

  However, this assuranly applied to the gods themselves, not the children of their familia.

  While their uping level up would allow Drad his familia to deter smaller and weaker familias and their patron gods, the bigger and more powerful ones remained a signifit .

  Over the months, Draco had made some effort te closer ties with the Astraea familia, believing they could be valuable allies, despite finding their current members a bit annoying to deal with.

  Sadly, not much had ged iionship betweewo familias.

  The quickest way to solidify their alliance would have been tanize joint patrols around the city, demonstrating to the Astraea familia that he and his group were on their side.

  However, within the Bahamut familia, none of the members had the time or energy to spare for sudeavors.

  They were all heavily engaged in daily grinding, leaving them utterly exhausted upon their return.

  Additionally, the Bahamut familia members were all at level one, while Draself was only at level two, making them of little practical use to the more established Astraea familia.

  Draco had also tried his luck with the Ganesha familia, hoping to get closer to Ardi, the sister of the captain, as he believed this would be the shortest path to gaining the Ganesha familia as allies.

  Bahamut had indicated that Ganesha was on their side, but had not revealed much else to Draco, leaving him to temporarily abandon his inal pns in this regard.

  The situation was plex, with Drad his familia fag the challenge of navigating the intricate web of alliances and power dynamics withiy.

  The news of his Dragon kin status would be an added extra yer of plexity in jun with their rapid progress.

  He and his familia had to tend with the potential threat of hostile gods and rger, more established familias.

  Draco's efforts te strategic alliances had met with mixed success, but he remained determio find a way to ehe security and prosperity of his familia.

  Draew that the oute of the upius meeting would be a crucial moment, not only for his familia but for the entire power structure of Orario.

  As he pted the various sarios that could unfold, Draind drifted to the challenges his familia would face during their uping dungeon dive.

  He had carefully selected the mohey would front, but he khat even with his meticulous pnning, there were no guarantees.

  “We've e too far to back down now," Draurmured, his brow furrowing with determination.

  ‘I ’t let anything stand in our way. Not the other familias, not the dungeon, not even the gods themselves. We will bee the greatest familia Orario has ever seen, sy the bck dragon and we'll do it together.’ he decred.

  With that resolve firmly in pce, Draco opened his eyes.

  Soon his thoughts drifted to other problems awaiting his attention.

  Draco let out another weary sigh as he pted the challenge he had to fabsp;

  Bahamut had informed him long ago about the growth phases of his race, a process that was both necessary and daunting.

  Retly, the dragon goddess had reminded him of this impending transition, and upon searg his memories, Draco recalled the details she had shared.

  Bahamut had specuted that either by reag level 3 or 4, he would reach the threshold to transition from a hatg to a juvenile of his kind.

  However, this process would e at a cost – intense pain.

  Draco could still vividly remember the anguish he felt when he had previously tried to forcefully break his limits.

  Apparently, this uping transformation would be even more excruciating, as it would fually alter his body.

  'So many problems to handle,' Draco thought, stepping out of the tub and grabbing a spoo scrub the gaps between the scales on his tail.

  After a thh sing and a quick rinse, he ed a towel around himself and made his way to his room.

  As he entered, his mind drifted to the matter of the Hermes Familia.

  Ever since his level-up, Drace of dete had increased slightly, and he had noticed someone sneaking around their group.

  It didn't take long for him to identify the culprit – Asfi, the future captain of the Hermes Familia, with her distinctive blue hair, eyes, and gsses.

  At first, Draco was surprised to discover that Asfi had been keeping tabs on his familia, but he ultimately decided to ignore her presenbsp;

  She maintained a respectful distanever attempting to make tact, and Draco guessed that Hermes was already aware of his existenbsp;

  The fact that his identity had not been revealed to the general public suggested that Hermes was iionally cealing it, though Draco could not fathom the reason.

  Shaking off these troubling thoughts, Draco donned a fresh set of clothes and headed to the kit to assist Bahamut in preparing lunch.

  He could feel his head ag from w about things that had yet to happen.

  So he decided to focus on the immediate tasks at hand and address the problems that y before him, oep at a time.