Virion Leywin
(Four Months Later)
I have been living in Elenoir now for four months, I turn five in a couple weeks. It will be my first birthday away from my family, but everyone here has treated me great. Tessia has been aiding me in my assimilation process, and Elder Virion was helping me unlock its abilities. Elder Virion talked about how I could receive pain in my core from fighting the Sea Serpent's Will, but I never had any. It was most likely because I started the assimilation as soon as possible.
I wonder how my family was doing, I'm sure they are fine without me. The only person that probably misses me is my mom. Ellie is in her glory having her own room.
With all of the mana I absorbed, my mana core skipped all the way to dark yellow. I was out of the orange core stage at the age of four basically five. I was farther along than Arthur, but it didn't matter. He still would whoop me in a straight up fight. I believe my knowledge of this world and starting mana rotation so early, helped me get ahead of him.
And once I fully bond with the Sea Serpent's power, I believe there is a chance I will get to light yellow before I turn six. That means when the war starts, I should be able to use my core strength as a reason of why I should be fighting.
I should be allowed to fight in dungeons, I could handle a mana beast now. Now hordes of mana beast, I couldn't, but I would be with a team so it would fine. Hopefully, with Tessia's team with Darvus, Stannard, and Caria.
"Veer, let's go." Tessia called out to me from down the hall. "We need to start your training before Grandfather returns." I quickly picked up my pace as I was walking down the hall. "He will get mad at me for not starting on time."
"My bad, I was tired, and couldn't get out of bed." With all the training and assimilation, my body was always in a constant state of fatigue. This was the hardest training I have been through; I was constantly fighting for control over my core as I was learning how to actually use it.
"Let's just hurry up." Tessia said with a smile as we walked side by side. "How's your core? Any pain today?"
"No, same as usual, I'm just tired."
"That's good, today is a normal day, Grandfather wants you to meditate with the Serpent's Will for an hour." It was usually an hour in the morning and an hour at night. Sometimes in between we had a sparring session, but it was a more relaxed spar. We didn't use a lot of mana; it was just to keep our bodies going.
"Okay, sounds good, where is he?" I asked, Elder Virion seemed busy all the time. He was an elder, so it made sense, and Tessia was old enough to train me. She was older than Arthur by a year, which made her ten at the moment.
That also means that the two of them will be attending Xyrus Academy soon, in like three years, so I guess not soon. Arthur and Nico will be meeting each other at some point in the next two years. The three reincarnate's bodies will be close together, Tessia's whole thing is a little different from them, but she is the legacy's vessel.
As we entered into the training area and knife came flying at my face, but I was ready this time. I caught the blade, not even reacting to it, and held it in my hand as Elder Virion walked out of the shadows.
"Grandfather, I thought you weren't going to be here today." Tessia spoke up, looking both shocked and angry at Elder Virion.
"Change of plans." Elder Virion spoke. "I decided that it was time to see if Virion was ready for the next step." What was the next step? I thought I needed to completely bond with the Sea Serpent first. "I want to have you activate your phase one of your Beast Will, Virion." My phase one, no way. I was down to try already. I didn't need any convincing.
"Doesn't he need to have full control over it first? We haven't finished the assimilation." Tessia seemed worried about my safety, which felt nice.
"No, as long as he has bonded with it slightly. Virion should be able to activate his phase one. He'll need to have full control for phase two, or he'll lose control over his core when he activates it." That's slightly alarming, but I trust Elder Virion.
I thought back to the novel, didn't Tessia have trouble with the Elderwood Guardian's Will. She lost control of it multiple times I believe.
Oh shit!
No, no, I'm fine. What are the chances of that? There is no way that I have one. No need to think about it.
"I'm game." I said out loud. "I trust that you think i'm ready, Elder Virion."
"Jeez, just call me gramps at this point. Arthur did it on his own, but I'm giving you permission as well." He shot me a sly smile, and I nodded. "Okay, let's do this. Tessia, you should probably move away, we don't know what will happen."
"Okay." Tessia slowly backed away. "You got this Veer!" She smiled at me; I hope she's right.
"Virion, all you have to do is activate your Will, and focus on only letting out a small amount of the Serpent's power, then, you'll keep going until your phase one activates."
"That seems easy enough." After I said this Elder Virion started to back away from me as well. "Why are you moving back?"
"I don't know what will happen, just go on, don't worry about me." He kept his composed face on as he stopped, maybe twenty yards from me now. "After you activate it, don't do anything, just remember what the power feels like."
I nodded my head and closed my eyes. I let the Serpent's Will start to take over, I felt the energy in my body grow enormously. The mana inside of me felt different, in a good way, like I was getting stronger.
The urge to kill that rose up while I connected to the Will, grew inside of me.
That's when I felt it, the water mana all around me was speaking to me, not really, but it was like I was being drawn to it. I opened my eyes and looked at Elder Virion. I let a little more of the Serpent's Will out and like I knew what to do, the power came to me.
I steadied my breathing and made sure to keep control over everything. I didn't want to do anything that would make Elder Virion angry. This power though, enhanced my senses toward water mana.
I didn't need to see it in the air, I just knew it was there, and where it was. I raised my hand out straight and let water slowly form and circle around my arm. It was easy to control the mana, way easier than normal. I stopped here and closed off the Serpent's power from getting any stronger.
I just let the water dance around me, my control over it was complete and utterly off of instincts. To Elder Virion and Tessia, it probably looked like I was focusing on controlling the water, but in reality, I wasn't even thinking about it, it was just doing what I wanted. My water helix spell formed on its own, and water started to swirl all around me like a shield.
"I told you not to perform spells." Elder Virion called out.
"I'm not!" I shouted through the water. "It just formed on its own, I didn't even activate the spell."
"Release it."
Listening to him, I quickly released the water helix and the water dropped to the ground and disappeared. I still felt the power coursing through me, and I really wanted to try Blood magic. I could not, and will not, use it on any of the royal family members. If I did, and something happened, I would get in serious trouble.
"How do you feel?" Elder Virion asked me.
"Amazing!" I looked around and could sense the water everywhere still. I could even sense it inside of their bodies, which I couldn't do without concentrating really hard before. "All it did was increase my senses and manipulation over water mana." That was all I wanted it to do; I wonder if phase two will make me even stronger.
"That makes sense, but is that really all?" Elder Virion asked, and I nodded my head. "I don't want you to go overboard, but hearing its power, I think you may be able to control it already." He paused and walked up. "Show me your control over water mana in phase one."
"You sure?"
"I'll stop you, if the Serpent starts to take over." I shrugged, alright, let's see what I can do with this power.
I conjured water in the air and started to control it, by moving it from location to location. It was easy, I then proceeded to acitvate, "Water Helix." Water formed around me as I kept control over the water in the air simultaneously. My mana levels seemed normal still, like I barely used any. This was incredible, I started to play with the water, forming things like arrows, spears, and just any weapon I could launch at someone.
In a snap of my fingers, the water was gone, and I was looking at Virion. He seemed not impressed by what I did, I guess he has seen Arthur before, so this amount of power doesn't surprise him.
I pushed away the Serpent's Will and I went back to normal.
"Not bad." Elder Virion said smugly. "Your mana manipulation was above par, and it seemed like you didn't have any issues with staying focused."
Tessia ran up to me. "You did great Veer." She had a huge smile on her face. "Your family would be proud." I wasn't even thinking about what my family would think of this.
"Thanks, Tess." I smiled
I really did want to tell someone about my Blood Deviant powers, so that I could test it out somehow. My face must have shown something to Tessia and Elder Virion, because Tessia asked me. "What's wrong? Is your core hurting?"
"No, my core is fine." I paused and thought about it. Tessia can't know, but Elder Virion should know since he was willing to let me stay here. I just don't know what his reaction will be, would he be freaked out or just shocked. There were so many possibilities, people's reactions can't be predicted. "Elder Vi." I paused. "Gramps, could I talk to you alone." I looked at him with a serious expression.
He tilted his head at me, examining what might be wrong, then he looked at Tessia. "Tessia, do you mind going inside."
Tessia turned to me. "Are you alright?" She asked with a worried expression.
"Yeah, I just want to speak with gramps here alone, if that alright."
"Oh, okay." Tessia walked away, giving me one last smile.
I turned to gramps. "What is it boy?" He said in a serious tone. "I can tell something is on your mind, you have the same face as your brother when you're contemplating something."
"Haha." I laughed. "You know us Leywin boys well, it seems." I ran my hand through my hair. "Gramps, what I'm about to tell you is something that no one knows, and I would like it to stay between you and me for now."
He looked at me with his eyes squinting, his expression not changing at all. "Did you kill someone?" I just stared at him, not understanding how he got to that question.
"What?!" I shook my head. "No, why even ask that?"
"Because that means I don't have to tell anyone what you said." Oh, so if I did kill someone, he would have thrown me under the bus. That's nice to know.
"I did not kill anyone." I said again, with my voice lanced with a joking tone.
"Then spit it out, what do you want me to know?" He said nonchalantly, and I composed myself after his sudden question.
"I know what I'm too tell you seems impossible, but it's true." I paused and got ready to let it out. "I believe I am the first ever Blood Deviant." His normal calm demeanor completely vanished. His face showed me that he was both shocked and that he didn't believe me.
"You are joking, right?" He approached me. "Being able to control someone's blood is impossible."
"And yet, I can."
He shook his head at me. "Prove it."
"How? I'm not risking using it again?"
"What do you mean again?"
I thought back to Sebastian. "Let's just say the first time I actually attempted to use it, I blew up a guys arm off from the inside, completely leaving him with nothing." The old man's eyes grew even larger.
"How though? You say his arm blew up? How?" He asked very quickly, insisting that I explain myself.
"I was able to stop his arm from being able to move, but eventually I lost control and I think I pulled the blood out of his arm, causing it to explode." That was the best explanation I had for that event.
"Test it on me." Elder Virion said.
"No way."
"I need to see if you are telling the truth or not, if you are actually a Blood Deviant. That would be historical, your power would make you one of the most feared humans to exist." He still couldn't believe me.
"That's why I kept it a secret, if people knew, they would be scared of me." I turned toward the ground. "That's why I'm afraid to use it, I don't want to hurt anyone."
"I need to see it before I say anything else about it." Elder Virion lifted his hand. "You said you could control their arms, correct." I nodded. "Then don't let me lower my arm."
I didn't have any water mana in him, I couldn't. Well, if I activated phase one, I probably could. "Hold on." I said and he lowered his arm. "Let me explain to you how it works."
"Fine."
"When I was training, any wound that I got, I infused water mana into my blood so that I could understand what it felt like. After my core got stronger, I was able to control the blood inside of me or feel it really. I figured out that if I infused water mana into someone's blood, I was able to control it."
"You need to infuse water mana into me? Oh." He looked at me with a sharp gaze now. "Your Beast Will, that's why you seemed a little off, it enhanced your ability to sense water mana, which then made you think that you could control blood without infusing water mana into someone."
"Yeah, that's right." I said hesitantly, surprised that he figured that out on his own.
"Well, I know you just learned how to activate it, but I need to see this power in action. Go into your phase one and test it out on me." He wants me to test a blood magic spell on a famous king.
"Hell no, what if I hurt you."
"Don't, now activate it."
I took a deep breath and got ready. I let the Serpent's Will out, and I let the power grow to where it was before. My sense of water increased, and I steadied my breath and tried to stay calm. I was about to test something that would change everything for me.
"You ready?" I nodded my head, even though I thought this was a dumb idea. He lifted arm. "Don't let me drop it, tell me when to go." He said as he examined me closely.
I focused on his arm, and the water mana inside of it, the water mana that flowed through his blood in it. I concentrated on what I felt with Sebastian when I first used it, and how I was able to connect with the blood and it did what I wanted.
"Go ahead." I told him, as I held his arm in place, concentrating to make sure I didn't lose control over it.
He started moving his arm slowly, as I held it in place. I could see the shock and realization in his face, when he couldn't move any further. "You weren't joking." My phase one gave me access to blood manipulation! I was just as surprised as him, I had no clue if it would work or not. I released the spell, scared that I would lose control. "You are a Blood Deviant, the only one ever."
"So, it appears like it, the Serpent's Will gives me access to everyone's blood, I don't even know what else I can do." He started to pace. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I thought that your phase one was weak, but this, this is not weak." Elder Virion stopped and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You were right not to tell anyone, Virion. This power alone could cause chaos among the people, but you should learn to master it. I know you said you didn't want to hurt people with it, however, you can't win a battle if you don't fight at all."
"You say that, but how do I practice this magic without showing anyone. I'm not going to experiment on you, that's for sure, and I can fight battles with other classifications of magic." My voice was not angry, but it showed that I was hesitant toward the topic.
"Don't you worry, I'll figure out something." He smirked at me. "I have an idea already."
"I just told you I didn't want to master it." I snapped at him.
"Listen brat, you can't just possess this power and not use it." I turned away from him and started to walk away. "What if we do it safely? Like I said, I have an idea on how you can master it."
I turned back. "Already? You just learned about it five minutes ago."
"Yes, already. You came here to master your Beast Will correct."
"Yeah."
"Well, you're almost done with it. Instead of going home when you finish, how about you stay here with me, and we figure this out together. I understand that you fear what this power can do, but Virion, come on. If you don't use it, you are wasting so much potential." I closed my eyes, thinking about his proposal. "Don't you want to protect your family?"
"Of course." I sighed.
"Then you must master it." He shot me an actual smile. "I thought you Leywin boys couldn't surprise anymore, but I was drastically wrong."
"Fine, gramps. If you are willing to help, and the way you want to do it is safe. I'll do it, I'll master my Blood Deviant powers." He was now wearing a happy face, that basically looked like his normal face.
Learning Blood Magic was my ultimate goal when coming to this world, but I'm scared of what it will do to me. The things that it gives me access to are all the things I wanted. The power to change everything came from Blood Magic, I needed it, I just couldn't accept it. I had to though, Elder Virion was right unfortunately.
"Virion." Elder Virion called me. "You don't like killing or hurting people but let me ask you this. What happens if you and your family need to fight to survive? Would you just coward behind them, or would you stand up and fight? I'm not saying it's alright to kill people or hurt them for no reason, but if your family is on the line, you do what you have to protect them."
"I know." I sighed, little does he know that a war is about to break out in a couple of years, three to be exact.
Alacryans will be here to slaughter us, and to conquer the continent. They won't accept mercy from us, I need to man up. Jeez, why am I such a pussy. Arthur is going to be risking his life for us, why can't I do the same? Is it because I'm scared? Is not being able to kill my excuse for not learning Blood Magic or not fighting in the war.
"You can trust me, Virion. We will figure it out together, and I will not tell anyone, you have my word." I shot a wearily smile at him. I already trusted him; I might as well continue to do so.
It's decided, I'm going to master Blood Magic, and I will protect my family. I need to realize this isn't my old life, I've been here for almost five years now. No matter what, in the future I was going to be faced with a choice where I needed to kill to survive. Possibly not having blood magic could cost me my life, and my family's, I couldn't let that happen.
The Serpent's phase one gave me the power I desired.
A name for it came to my mind, huh, that's not too bad.
I'll call it, "Blood Oath."