Chapter 20- The Sister

Professor Caligan had seen a lot in his life. He was a respected scholar who had studied the properties of blood and how it behaves class by class. Of course his studies didn't have much information on the multiclass, but for this group he had accurate theories on how blood worked. He published books and had been outdone by his rival, the A/S class teacher Ilvário Menezes.

Now, ahead of him was something that was speeding up the gears in his head. An F rank, considered to be a Bloodless was fighting ingeniously against an entire class. Even though they were D rank, that was impressive on many levels. The boy was able to use skills from several classes. He had seen the speed of a thief, the strength of a warrior, and the basic spells of a magician. Even if they were of an immensely lower level than that of an original class, it was still an impressive feat.

"So that's what Selize said... in fact this might speed up my old studies..."

Kaito pointed the bow at Hakon and concentrated on making the flames take the shape of an arrow. It was something difficult that his father had taught him. Since he could only use the basic aspects of the elements and put them into weapons, he had no way to shoot elements through his hands like a real mage would. The solution of the bow had been ingenious. If he concentrated the energy and used the physical aspect of the weapon he could fire his spells.

Hakon stood up completely irritated. Kaito could see in his eyes that he was a moment away from losing control, and usually that was the warrior class's greatest weakness, as they opened their defenses in favor of a huge attack.

"Come on, barbarian... come running to me..."

Hakon closed his fists and his eyes glowed in a different way. It was not the usual light red of warriors, but a red like blood that became stronger and more violent. His muscles grew larger and larger and his skin took on a reddish, glowing hue, as if it were solid.

The barbarian took the axe in one hand and raised it as if it were weightless. It was at this moment that Kaito realized that something was wrong. What he saw was unusual, and at the same instant a thought crossed his mind.

"His blood runs faster than a warrior's... like an explosion..."

Hakon roared like an animal and shot with enormous speed at Kaito, who fired an arrow of fire at the barbarian in hopes of stopping him. The flames hit Hakon's right foot, but this time he was not knocked down. In fact it was as if he had suffered no damage at all.

"I WILL KILL YOU!"

Kaito created another arrow, now a lightning bolt, and immediately shot it into the barbarian's chest. He received the damage, it was clear that he had been injured, but he still kept moving forward. The F Rank began to feel a fear grow in him. It was as if the enemy in front of him was a wild beast that could crush him fiercely. If he didn't think fast he would be reached in an instant.

"Let's hope it works out..."

Kaito aimed at the ground just ahead of him and prayed that the quick calculations he made would work. He fired an ice arrow that made a small slippery floor, and to his luck Hakon, one step away from lowering the axe towards him, stepped on the ice and lost his balance, narrowly missing and hitting the ground beside him.

Kaito jumped to the right as best he could, and upon seeing the ground realized that the barbarian's strength was no joke. The axe had broken through some of the ground and gone in half. That ground could be him. He should eliminate that enemy as fast as possible, because if he took a little longer he would lose for sure.

"Combine..."

The generalist took a deep breath and felt his blood working as he wanted it to. First he needed the strength of a warrior and the weight for a perfect blow. The strength would be aided by a rogue's speed, increasing the power and finally he needed the ice to increase the hardness of his fist and the impact. But the main thing above all this, he should attack unarmed, and for this he had the answer.

Kaito closed his fist and felt his blood weigh, rush and agitate to create the ice in his fist and the strength in his body. In a single motion he made his blood explode all at once, just as Opame would.

"Polar Ascendant Fist!"

The punch hit the chin of the barbarian, who was irrationally trying to withdraw his axe and was almost succeeding. The force of the hook was so great that Hakon was hurled through the sky along with the axe that was stuck in the ground.

Everyone there saw the barbarian rise high into the air and fall at once about ten meters away from Kaito. The generalist turned to the barbarian expecting something worse, and as predicted Hakon stood up to face him in pure hatred, but as he stepped forward he collapsed at once, like a tired beast.

The few who remained on the D class side were overcome with fear and wonder. They have never seen anything like that, and in that moment they didn't want to have to face Kaito head on.

Gradually many of them dropped their weapons and raised their hands in a clear sign of giving up, leaving only three of them armed and facing Kaito. Saphyra still faced the generalist with doubt and seriousness, Theo had his katana at his waist, and upon seeing what had occurred just sat down on the ground and shrugged.

"I never made a point of that fight...(yawn)...really."

Lastly came the cleric who had provoked Kaito. She stared at the boy as if he were a target, a prey to be slaughtered. With a calm gait she approached Kaito and as she stood facing the boy she looked directly into his glazed eyes and gave a clever smile.

"My name is Erika Blane, and I am very interested in you, bro."

Erika turned to Professor Caligan and raised her hand, getting his attention.

"I quit! And I think everyone else here has given up too!" she said facing Saphyra and challenging her with her gaze "haven't you, skinny?"

Saphyra didn't answer right away. She looked at Kaito once more and saw him standing there staring at them all. But she knew what had happened. She had seen it before. When someone uses all their energy at once they usually faint, but just like her mother years ago, Kaito was standing with only his determination. If she stayed in the fight, she would win, but there was no way she could do that.

"I give up. To tell you the truth this is all meaningless. Kaito proved that he was right and that he is the one deserving of the victory."

Professor Caligan stood up, put his book away and walked over to Kaito, eyeing him warily.

"What's up, did he die, Caligan?" asked Erika watching Kaito curiously.

"No, my dear. Mr. Arturis just expended more energy than his body can handle. And please, I beg you not to call me that." replied the professor feeling Kaito's cold skin on his fingers.

"He needs to go to the infirmary soon. If he doesn't rest it could be worse." warned Saphyra approaching.

"Indeed, Miss Vizzora. We don't want certain accidents to happen again..." agreed Caligan looking at the mage sympathetically "don't we?"

Saphyra stared at the professor for a moment and agreed, though her expression hardened. She touched Kaito's cold hand and watched his grayish eyes for a moment. That steady, obestined eyes reminded her of her mother. It made her smile.

"It's over. You are now the representative of class D. You win." she said with a whisper close to Kaito's ear.

In the next instant Kaito's eyes closed quietly and his body collapsed, being greeted by Saphyra, who hugged him gently in her arms and comforted him in that moment.

"What now...Saphy? What do we do?" asked Theo, who was approaching in a casual manner.

Saphyra felt Kaito's skin on hers and replied with a brief smile.

"First we will listen to our leader. Then... we need to get stronger." she turned to Theo and showed a look taken with confidence "I feel that with him we can win."

* * *

Training at home and having some time to prepare for the Phoenix Academy, Kaito ran and exercised as much as he could. The first day it was six kilometers of running, the second day it was seven, and each day he increased more and more.

To get stronger he ate as well as he could, even though there were very few studies about how food influenced the body, because the statements were always that food did not matter, but only blood generated results.

In the end, after two months he could use more skills together, but only for a short time. If before he could use one skill for two minutes, now he could do it for eight. And if he could hold two skills for a few seconds, now he could do it for a minute. But there was still something that was troubling. When he used three or more skills, he could only do one action, and this didn't change with his training.

All his parents' friends taught him as best they could, but everyone also saw that the effort for Kaito to overcome an ordinary class was enormous. His spells were weaker, his attacks had less power, and his blessings made almost no difference. That was why he chose to fight as smartly as possible.

Now, lying in the infirmary bed, he woke up with all this in mind. His sleep had not been something restful, because of all memories of his weaknesses. So much effort and yet he would pass out when he used his maximum.

"I thought you weren't going to wake up this time, Kaikai. I was almost worried."

The voice was Amara's, who was sitting next to him checking something on her cell phone and sucking on a lollipop. She looked at the boy and flashed a brief smile.

"Be careful when you push yourself like that...it can be dangerous."

Kaito had never seen Amara act like that. It was as if she was sad and shaken. He sat up in bed and felt dizzy, putting his hand on his head and taking a deep breath to keep from throwing up.

"You're the one who told me to fight like this. Remember? Now I'm fighting."

"I know what I said, sweetie. But there's still a limit to how hard and how dumb you can be." she replied, grabbing a glass of water and handing it to him.

"There's not much I can do. If I don't fight like this I'm going to lose."

"That's a shitty excuse."

The last line came from the door, which was opened at that moment and revealed Erika, who approached with a certain confident walk.

"So you're telling me you can't fight any other way because you have no power? Is that it?"

"I have powers. It's just that they make me very tired. You saw that."

"I guarantee I can do more than you without any attack power."

"I'd love to see that."

"Both of you stop barking!" scolded Amara.

"But Mom...I just wanted to say there's another way to get strong!" said Erika.

"There are other ways to say it, you knucklehead!" stated Amara.

Kaito stood for a moment without really understanding. It was as if those sayings made no sense to him. The first moment he denied it. The second he denied it again, laughing this time, and the third time reality seemed to crash into him.

"Wait! You're a mother?! I mean... are you her daughter?!"

Amara stared at the boy for a moment and drew Erika close, slipping his arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, I never told you, did I? This is Erika, my adopted daughter. I hope you two can get along!" said Amara with a docile smile.

Erika stood facing Kaito and gave her hand for him to shake, showing a confident smile.

"Yo, little brother! I'm Erika and I came to this damn academy to drive over everyone. If you're the leader, then I'm going to help you kick every high rank butt that stand in our way!"