Chapter 8: A Monster's True Death.
Once awake, Constantine placed a hand over his chest where his new Divine Dragon Heart was. Even now, the organ continued to put a severe strain on his body as it was far stronger than any mortal or Demigod heart.
It pumped his blood with such power that he could feel how his blood flowed through his body. Every time he breathed, his lungs burned like he had breathed in pure smoke.
He could even feel parts of his body feel like they were on fire as the raw mana he breathed was taken in by his lungs before being combined with the Divine Dragon Mana in his heart.
Which then Oxygenated and Manatized his blood causing the feelings he was feeling. The new blood that was saturated with oxygen infused with mana and Divine Dragon Mana then flowed through his body.
It was painful slightly when that energized blood reached his organs, brain, and eyes, and every inch of him felt tender. His nerves were firing without much control and his muscles felt like they were expanding with new power.
More strength was flowing through his body and with each circulation of his blood it increased. He could also feel that his godly inheritances were synchronizing with the Draconic Abillities he was gaining.
As he was now, nearly no Demigod would be able to pose a danger to him, but if he stayed as he was, the gods would come for him. The Sisters of Fate should be able to feel the changes as when they had weaved his thread if he had one, they could see the end.
His actions now with Vritra effectively made him like the dragons.
"Vritra, how long until this discomfort leaves me?"
Vritra emerged from his body before materializing. He slinked over before scanning Constantine.
"I would say about 5 days. It is a damn good thing you were a Demigod and always trained as that heart is pumping enough mana to vaporize a mortal man's veins."
"I can wait that long."
As he was lying down, his door opened and his dad walked in. Vritra quickly returned to a soul state making him invisible. When Max walked inside, he saw Constantine was awake he felt relieved.
"You don't sleep in often, son. What happened?"
"Hey Dad, touch my head."
Max walked over and did as he was told and he was surprised. His son was burning to the touch which had never happened before. Constantine was a Demigod, no mortal diseases could get him sick.
"I need to call my grandfather, he should know wha-"
Constantine raised a hand.
"I am not sick, it is the result of a magic ritual I learned in one of my mom's spell books. It is an upgrade to my heart."
Hearing that he got less worried.
"When I open those books I just see gibberish. What ritual was this?"
"The ritual of the Dragon Heart. It allows you to double the strength and resilience of your heart to not tire or gain fatigue. This is just the adaptation period."
He wasn't even lying as one of the rituals in the spell books Hecate left for him did just that, though it was called The Lion Heart, not Dragon. Max nodded.
"Can I use it?"
"No, you're too old, hehe, ouch, hurts to laugh. If you want, I can make a new ritual for you."
Max chuckled as he patted Constantine on the head.
"I would like that. Recover first and I will tell Carmen you caught a cold."
"You do that, I will stay in bed and watch TV."
Max smiled as he got up and walked out. He did tell his girlfriend to keep an eye on Constantine as he was 'sick'. She instantly decided to make him some Mexican Caldo De Pollo(Chicken Stew) with plenty of spices and herbs.
He was thankful as it reminded him of his Mexican roots and his love for his people's food. Carmen took extra attention to care for him while he was weak, which he was grateful for.
The next five days, he took it easy, and despite not doing anything he was growing stronger. Even Solomon was benefiting from the new Divine Dragon Mana in his pact making his muscles, bones, and soul stronger.
It even made him smarter than he already was and more beautiful which Max started to notice. He knew that Solomon was his son's familiar so he suspected it had something to do with that.
However, when a week passed by, Constantine finally got passed the adaptation period. His body had adapted to his new organ fully and he had even gained more muscle, bone density, and height.
Carmen noticed he was bigger, but since he was not too much bigger she ignored it. Seven days after he gained his Divine Dragon Heart he returned to his usual schedule.
By that time, his dad had already butchered the deer he had hunted and Carmen had used it in the stews she made for him. When he stepped outside his new sight allowed him to not just see magic in the air, but the souls of people when he tried.
He could see Carmen was a regular woman, but his dad was special thanks to his Legacy nature. He wouldn't gain Dementia, Cancer, Diabetes, or any other diseases that old men tended to gain later in life.
Constantine took a deep breath of the air which was oxygen and other gasses infused with mana. He felt invigorated with each heartbeat of his mighty magical organ. Even Vritra felt far happier as he was receiving Divine Energy which made him stronger which made Constantine stronger.
"Today is a wonderful day."
Max who was out in the pasture with the cows smiled as his son was back and better than before. He would admit he was jealous of being able to get a new better heart with magic. As he was distracted, Hank his 6-year-old Breeding Bull came up behind him and shoved him out of the way just for a single dandelion he was standing over.
"Damn brisket, keep that up and I eat you for Christmas."
"YOU BETTER NOT!"
He flinched as he saw Constantine jump the fence. Instantly, Hank ran over to his side and hid behind him like a small baby. He lowered his head behind Constantine asking to be protected.
"Damn it all, animals just love you."
"Duh, I am me."
With a shake of his head, Max and Constantine worked throughout the day on the ranch. Feeding the horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, chickens, cows, and the barn cats. They didn't have livestock guardian dogs as that is what the donkeys were for.
However, when it was nighttime, Constantine left home before teleporting away to the woods around the ranch. He brought Solomon with him since the horse liked coming with him.
When they arrived at his secret 'gym' Constantine ripped off his shirt revealing a a muscular physique similar to Mash from Mashle. For his age, he was ripped as fuck and he loved it. Solomon watched as he waved his hand and pulled over the workout equipment he had made from stone and magic.
"Before I gained my Dragon Heart I could bench half 2 tons without mana reinforcement. Now, let us see how five tons feel."
He walked over to the stone weights before he placed his hand on the runes for weight. At the moment it was set at a ton so he changed it to the 2.5 tons per stone weight making five tons.
While he did that, Vritra emerged from his back before he took physical form. The Dragon wrapped himself around some of the trees as he watched Constantine bend down and grab the smooth bar of stone.
He held on before he took a deep breath and lifted it over his head. He had no issue holding it up at all. He even did a few squats and it was effortless.
'Draconic Strength enhanced by Ares' and Nike's inheritances.'
He suddenly doubled the weight reaching ten tons and while he buckled a bit it was not much. He started to do more squats as he tested his strength while Vritra and Solomon watched.
The giant horse lied down on the ground as he watched his master test himself. Constantine kept increasing their weight after finishing 2 sets of 100 reps of squats with 15 tons of weight.
It was only when he reached 25 tons that he needed to start enhancing his abillities actively with mana. At that point, he stopped and set his weight down before he tested his speed. He ran through the woods at just the speed of his nerves and muscles and with the passive enhancement from his Divine Dragon Mana, he would achieve speeds of up to Mach 5(3,836 MPH).
After a few more tests, he concluded that he had nothing more to fear from Demigods unless they were blessed by the gods. He still had Ancient gods, Monsters, Giants, and other Pantheons to worry about so even this strength was barely acceptable.
Matching Zeus who could lift an entire mountain range to crush Typhon, or send lightning 'that made Nukes seem like Firecrackers' was still a ways away. He wasn't all that worried just yet as he could defend himself if need be.
When he stopped his tests he returned to his equipment before wiping his forehead. Just as he was taking a breather he heard heavy footsteps walking behind him. He smiled as he turned around and saw a large Cyclops walking toward him.
"Well, about time one of you showed up."
"Demigod get in the belly."
He walked toward Constantine with open hands, but all Constantine did was open his hand calling his sword his Black Sword. When the Black Adamantium Sword appeared in his hands, the Molecular Disruption Field roared to life.
The Field was fused with Vritra's Dark Cursed Flames making it a deadly weapon. After a decade of Vritra always keeping it close, it had enhanced the work The Emperor of Mankind did to the blade in its construction. A fusion of Warp Craft and Magic in the hands of a deadly swordsman like him.
The Cyclopes felt fear at the sight of the weapon as it confused the black metal for Stygian Iron. With a single swing, he cleaved the creature in half. Rather than return to Tarturus to reform, the flames burned up the Cyclops' essence giving it a true death.
As a result, the monster's corpse didn't turn to dust and remained where it fell. He deactivated the Matter Disruption Field before walking toward the now-dead Cyclops.
"Could be useful."
From his shadow, 12 dragon heads and necks emerged. With open mouths, they bit down on the corpse and began to drain it of blood and any magic it still had. Through the 'Absorption' ability of Vritra, he plundered the essence of the Cyclops.
Through the teachings of Vrirta, he could remove the useful aspects of a creature's Essence, Blood, or Magic, and for Cyclopses that was their resilience and immunity to fire. Even some talent for Blacksmithing.
As a Dragon host, he didn't need to worry about that, but regardless it could come in handy. With the essence of the corpse drained the Dragon heads returned to his shadow. He smiled to himself as he walked toward the corpse. He pulled his knife before he started butchering the creature.
Its organs could be used in potions or rituals, its bones could be used in crafting and its skin could make armor. He placed all of what he harvested in jars he kept in his Space Expansion Backpack before he burned the rest.
Vritra nodded proudly above in his tree.
"Cylops are idiots no matter the world. Good use of Absorption is just one of my powers. This was just a Cyclops, wait till we get a god."
Constantine raised his thumb to Vritra who grinned in return. Solomon grinned too, but for a horse to grin it looked derpy. That got the attention of Vritra and Constantine. Constantine looked up at Vritra.
"Hey, can we give Solomon a Dragon Heart too? It would make him much stronger as he started as just a mortal horse."
Vritra hummed as if that was a good idea.
"If he is to be your steed when you rise to power, he needs to match you. Very well, let us prepare."
Solomon gasped as Vritra and Constantine prepared to cast the Dragon Heart ritual again. However, he did not resist as gaining more power would only benefit him. If he was to make it in the future wars of god slaying, he had to evolve with his master.
(Next Chapter, Constantine finally leaves on his own. He will start recruiting others who hate gods. Those they have cursed, killed, or wronged in some way. I will ask this question though, could HP exist within the Percy Jackson universe?
Or Jujutsu Kaisen. Not a guarantee for either, just asking out of curiosity.)
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone