(Six Months Later)
I've been living in Elenoir for around a year and a half now, and I am now six years old. My mana core has progressed yet again to the solid yellow stage, I needed to get into silver by the time the war started. I was training twice as hard, but I was making sure to spend time having fun while I could. Tessia and I have truly bonded, and she was actually my first friend outside of my family, if you didn't count Lilia.
I have mastered my Serpent's Will and can now access both of the phases, since I needed to have"Blood Oath" activated to control people's blood. It felt like while I was training, I always had it on. It took quite some time to master phase two, but with the help of Elder Virion and Tessia I finally did.
Elder Virion and I still were messing with my Blood Magic. So far, we discovered that I could control anything with blood in it, disrupt mana, rip blood out of bodies, and the last and most recent thing we discovered is that I can heal people with my magic. This could be huge because I would be able to heal myself and others in battle.
I was walking to the training area with Elder Virion at the moment, Tessia was already there waiting for us. "I think today is the day." He spoke up and I turned to him. "I think you are strong enough to use your Blood Deviant powers on others." He was right, I had control over my power now. The year of training and my Serpent's Will helped a lot.
"Okay, but do you really think testing it out on Tessia or you, would be a great idea? I would rather go into a dungeon or something." I could probably survive on the first floor of a dungeon; it couldn't be that hard.
"No, you'll be fine." Elder Virion said calmly. "You were training for a reason, now it's time to see if it payed off or not. The only thing I wouldn't do is disrupt mana flow; we don't know exactly what happens to the core."
"I wasn't planning on it." I wasn't going to test that out on Tessia, it might have worked on a beast, but a person could be different. "I'm only going to use blood control, nothing else today if you insist on me using it."
"That's fine." We turned down the last hallway that led to the training area.
"What about Tessia? I don't want her to know about my magic." I told him, if I used something like that in front of her, she'll assume something is up.
"I think it's time she knows, but that is it." Elder Virion was always so composed, the confidence he exerted was tremendous.
I shook my head. "Gramps, I don't want her knowing."
"Then don't explain it." We exited into the training area. "Just say it comes with your Beast Will, you don't need to tell her about how you do it."
"That works." Tessia was sitting on a rock waiting for us.
"Finally, you guys show up." She stood up and walked towards us. "What are we doing today, Grandfather? Are we going to spar?"
"Yes, but against me." Of course, he wants me to test it on him. "It will be you two against me, anything goes."
"I can use my sword?" I asked, I could only use it during special training sessions where he gave me permission.
"No." He pulled a sword out and pointed it at Tessia and me. "I want you to attack me head on, Tessia. Virion, you stay back and support her." I was about to pull out my sword but stopped when he said that.
"Shouldn't I have a sword?" He just wanted me to use blood magic.
"You don't need one." He turned to Tessia. "You do, though."
A sword appeared on her side, and she drew it. "We got this, Veer. You get my back and I'll take him down." She smiled at me as she got ready to attack, I activated "Blood Oath" and got ready to protect her.
Since Elder Virion was a silver core mage, I don't think I'll be able to control his whole body. So, I'm going to stick to just limbs, and control them at the right moments. I would disrupt his mana flow, but like we talked about earlier, terrible idea.
Elder Virion disappeared in front of us and appeared instantly behind me, using my blood magic I sensed a sword coming for my head. I quickly fell to the ground, and Tessia launched herself over me to attack Elder Virion.
"What the hell?!" I shouted as the two exchanged blows. "I would have brought out my sword if you told me you were going to come straight for me!"
"You never know when you'll have a sword in battle, what would happen if you dropped it and had to fight without it." Elder Virion questioned me as he was defending himself easily against Tessia's attacks. Her plant magic wasn't strong enough, she needed the Elderwood Guardian's powers.
As Elder Virion lifted his sword to block Tessia's, I stopped his arm from moving. Tessia's blade got by, and he quickly moved out of the way with his whole body and gave me a wink as he vanished and appeared in front of me.
I condensed my fist with fire and threw a punch at him as I simultaneously stopped his hands from moving with the sword in it. A vine from Tessia locked on to his foot, and as I was getting close to his stomach, he lifted his other leg. His knee was heading for my gut, so I used wind magic to propel myself over him, instead of trading blows. I didn't feel like getting hit by a knee. I was too tired for it.
Tessia continued her attack sending vines at Elder Virion as she swung her sword at him, but he was way too fast for her and for me. I couldn't keep up with his movements visually, but I was able to sense them with blood magic.
I used my spell"Water Helix" to protect myself and as Elder Virion lifted his blade I locked his arms above his head, and Tessia brought a vine to his gut that knocked him back, but not to the ground. Tessia continued to bombard him, as I would restrict his movements as she did. We still couldn't land a decent blow.
I needed to get more involved, I took a step toward them and raised my hand, through an opening in my "Water Helix" spell I shot a fire ball at Elder Virion from the side. He used wind to deflect the attack and his sword to stop Tessia. I then decided to shoot wind blades at him from both sides, so they collided with his body.
He quickly vanished again and appeared in front of me, my wind completely missed, and Tessia wasn't near me. Elder Virion jabbed his sword toward my chest, and my "Water Helix" stopped his attack, then I reinforced my fist with mana and fire, and threw another punch toward him.
Smiling, Elder Virion activated phase two of his Beast Will and disappeared. Tessia was now standing next to me looking around for her Grandfather. "Stay here." I said as I expanded my "Water Helix"Â spell around the both of us. Elder Virion was hiding and waiting for the right time to attack, and with his panther abilities he'll be able to do it silently.
Using blood magic, I tried to find him, I sensed him in the distance watching us. "What should we do?" Tessia asked as she spun around, waiting for him to show himself.
"Nothing." I pointed in the direction he was. "He is over there, let him attack us though." In instance he appeared in front of the helix, and I shot water out of it at him. He dodged each attack and got through the barrier. Tessia met him head on and swung her sword at him. Elder Virion was in his panther phase and was now no longer holding his sword, he had claws on his hands and feet.
It was time to go for his legs, I reached for the blood in his legs, and held them still, so that Tessia could have slight advantage. As they clashed, I released my "Water Helix" spell and launched myself at Elder Virion.
Using mana to reinforce my legs and wind mana to guide me, I appeared next to Elder Virion as Tessia was attacking him. "I know you said to stay back, but you never know when their support might join the front lines." I said mockingly, referring back to my sword. I swung my coalesced fist of fire at his face as Tessia brought a sword to his rib cage.
Even in his Panther's phase two he still couldn't stop my blood magic from holding him still. Wind exploded out of him, sending both Tessia and I away from him, using wind magic of my own, I landed on my feet and raised my hand and shot a fire ball at him. The attack did nothing, because I lost concentration and released his legs when I got hit by his wind. He was already in front of me, after I sent the spell.
He launched a shadow claw at my face, it stopped right as it was about to hit me, because I took control of his arm. "Close one." I smiled as I shot an icicle at his chest, and he shattered it with his other claw.
Tessia's sent a vine at him as she ran towards us, spinning around Elder Virion kicked the vine using his claws and it was shredded apart. I shot another icicle at his back, and he simply stepped away from it.
"Enough!" Elder Virion shouted, and he released his Panther's Will. Tessia stopped running and stared at him. I then proceeded to release my Serpent's Will. "That was great work you two." He winked at me, probably for my blood magic. "Let's take a break." Elder Virion walked over to a stone and sat on it.
Tessia and I followed him and did the same. "Veer, you were great back there, I don't know how you were able to dodge some of his attacks." Tessia exclaimed as we sat next to each other.
"Elder Virion is just too slow." I said jokingly. "You fought well too, Tessia. You are really getting good with a sword."
"Thanks, nowhere close to Arthur and you though." That's true, when we spar with swords, I usually beat her.
"I'm nowhere close to Arthur, so we both have to get stronger." I told her. "Are you ready for the academy, you're probably going to be the strongest person there besides Arthur." She's one of the strongest, I know that.
"I still have a long way to go." Tessia said. "I need to catch up to Arthur."
"Well, I want to catch up to him as well." I told her honestly; I was already catching up to him in magic. My core was stronger than Arthur's, but his techniques were better. However, with me now being able to use blood magic on people, it's a game changer.
"Virion, you most defiantly will." Elder Virion turned to me. "You are only going to get stronger from here on out." He then turned to Tessia. "You're also going to get stronger; you just need some more time."
"Thanks, Grandfather." She smiled as she looked at him.
"Now, I want you two to fight, and Veer no sword." I swung my head at him and went to speak but he spoke first. "Tessia use your sword, but you can only reinforce yourself with mana." We both stood up and separated from each other. There was no need to argue with him.
I augmented my body with fire, surrounding my upper body completely. Tessia got into a fighting stance and launched herself at me. I activated "Blood Oath."
Tessia swung her sword at my chest, as I stood still and sensed for the blood in her arms. I quickly took control of them and made her drop her sword. Her eyes went wide as she watched the sword fall from her hands. She stood there confused, staring at me as I didn't move, then I brought a flaming fist to her chest, but stopped right before hitting her.
"Why did you drop your sword?" I asked, knowing the answer already. I released my Serpent's Will.
She still had a confused look on her face. "I-I don't know." She bent down and picked it up. Elder Virion walked over and winked at me. "It just slipped out of my hands."
"Maybe we should call it here today." Elder Virion spoke up.
"Yeah." I agreed.
"Tessia go wash up, while I speak with Virion." Elder Virion looked at me.
"Okay, I'll see you later." She smiled and walked away. I spent a lot of time with Elder Virion alone, so Tessia never questions when he wants to talk to me.
"It seems like you used your blood magic pretty well." He gave me a serious look. "I think you now have the ability to use it in fights, what you did to Tessia was an example. It seems like my training method worked out."
"I think it did, and I thank you." I smiled at him, but he was still wearing a serious look.
"Do you still fear the power?"
"Of course." I answered right away. "I would be stupid not to."
"You would be this power you have is dangerous." It was like he was staring into my soul. "That's why I wanted you to train with it, instead of just letting it go. Now that you can control it, you don't need to fear what you can do with it as much."
"Thanks again for keeping it a secret." He was still the only person that knew about it.
"No problem, but sooner or later you are going to have to tell everyone." I knew that when the war started, I was going to have to, so I was waiting until then.
"I know, I'm waiting." I smiled and his serious expression disappeared.
"Alright." He paused and started to walk into the palace. I followed next to him. "It seems like you can track people using blood magic."
"Yeah, once I knew what your blood felt like, I was able to keep track of you." I still couldn't keep up with him.
"That could come in handy." He started to rub his chin. "I still can't believe that you're a Blood Deviant."
"Blood Deviant?" Tessia said questionably from around a corner, as she looked at us. My eyes went wide, and Elder Virion and I stopped walking. "Did I hear that right?"
I turned to Elder Virion who happened to announce it in the hallway, we weren't outside anymore, people could hear things easier inside the palace. "No, what are you talking about little on?"
"I heard it, you said Veer was a Blood Deviant." Tessia was pointing at me. "Don't lie to me."
"Tess, Blood Deviant's aren't even a thing." I told her, trying to lie.
"You are lying, I can tell." She was now standing within three yards of us. "I won't tell anyone if you are trying to keep it a secret but tell me the truth."
I sighed. "Fine, Elder Virion thanks for saying it out loud in the hall." I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Tess, I am a Blood Deviant, but please keep it to yourself for now."
"I'm sorry." Elder Virion said to me, and his expression actually seemed like he was.
"That's incredible!" Tessia exclaimed. "Did you use it on me today? Is that how I dropped my sword?" I nodded my head. "That explains it, I didn't think it slipped out of my hands."
"Yeah, I took control of your arms and made you drop it." I ran a hand through my hair. "I'm sorry I hid it from you as well."
"That's fine, I understand why you did." Tessia was super excited about her discovery.
"I'm going to leave now." Elder Virion quickly walked away from me, knowing that he exposed me to Tessia.
"What else can you do?" Tessia asked as we started to walk the halls.
"I can track and disrupt mana." No need to keep it a secret from her anymore.
"Disrupt mana?"
"I locate all the blood around the core of something and use the blood to block off mana from entering and leaving, making it so they can't keep using magic."
"How is that even possible?" She had a lot of questions, but I understood. This was a power she didn't think existed.
"I don't know, but it is." I stopped in front of the dining room. I was hungry and needed something to eat. "I can explain it to you, if you are hungry." I pointed at the table.
"Please."
After a nice meal, and conversation with Tessia, she now knew everything. It was nice to tell her, but I wanted to wait to tell anyone else. So, I told her that Arthur and my family don't know, and that she couldn't tell them if she ever met them. Which I know she will in the future, that's why I phrased it like I did.
"I can't believe you can control people's blood." Tessia said as we exited the dining room. I looked around the hallway to make sure there wasn't anyone there.
"Keep it down, Tess." I told her as I laughed. "You are lucky there isn't a guard here, or a maid."
"My bad, I forgot." She giggled. "It's just hard not to be impressed and amazed by it."
"I know, just don't shout about it."
"I think we should ban it from training, or you are going to win every time now." We continued to laugh.
"How is that fair? I should be able to use whatever magic I want."
"Hahaha." We stopped in front of two hallways that lead in different directions. "I need to go see my mother; I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yes, see you later, Tess." I smiled as we separated down two different hallways.
As I walked to my room, I started to think about the attack that's coming to Xyrus. Tessia is going to get brutally beat up, and many more will die. Should I intervene, I can't, this is how everyone learns that Alacrya isn't friendly.
I guess I'll do nothing, but even if I wanted to, there wasn't much I could do. An attack at that scale, I couldn't help them all. There would even be a Retainer there, not that I could kill him yet.
It happens in two in a half years, right before Arthur's thirteenth birthday and my ninth. That's when the war and everything else will start to go down. I would love to spend some time with my family before it does.