25 Bonds and Bloodlines

"Are you sure it's him?" a mature feminine voice said from across the phone.

"I'm certain, he's alive," a male voice responded.

"So he didn't die after all?" the feminine voice replied, surprise evident in her voice.

---

In the expansive halls of Limitless Academy, two figures could be seen sweating heavily. Smiles adorned their faces as their eyes met.

"I'm done going easy on you," a boy said, his brown eyes gazing intently at his rival.

Lightning crackled around his body, making his dark charcoal hair stand on end. His spear let out a flurry of strikes; the strikes moved at a speed so fast that they seemed inconceivable too normal people.

Though it seems the figure forgot he was just a supporting character as Felix, the main character, deftly dodged the strikes.

Not relenting, the figure thrust one more time, this time increasing his speed as lightning covered his spear, causing him to graze Felix's shoulder.

Blood dripped from the wound, causing a smile to form on his face.

"I guess it's time I got serious too," Felix said, his eyes staring deeply at Julius.

The temperature around them immediately dropped, causing the ground to freeze.

Thousands of ice projectiles appeared in the air, as they each shot at Julius with deadly precision.

Julius, having seen this move before, reacted quickly.

Lightning enveloped his legs, causing him to move at an almost godly speed, though even his speed was not fast enough to dodge thousands of projectiles.

An icicle embedded itself into his leg, forcing a pained grunt to leave his mouth, though that would not stop him.

Ignoring the pain, Julius ran closer, concentrating lightning on the tip of his spear, and using almost half his mana reserves, Julius used one of the most powerful attacks in his arsenal.

"Breath of Zeus."

The lightning, which had been blue, changed into a glowing orange as all the lightning focused on the tip of his spear.

Felix not having enough time to dodge was forced to parry the attack using his sword, though it seemed that wasn't enough.

The attack was powerful causing Felix's body to go flying through the air, blood flowed from his mouth as he did a backflip regaining his balance.

"You really have gotten stronger, but it's still not enough," Felix said, a smirk etched on his face.

A dark red hue covered his body as he dashed at Julius, covering the distance within the span of a second.

Julius, being a spear user, immediately tried to create some distance, channeling lightning into his legs he quickly tried to escape, but his body was too slow as Felix arrived in front of him.

The red hue which had previously covered his body now focused on his sword, a destructive slash followed as Julius, who blocked using his spear, was sent flying back, sustaining a serious injury and losing consciousness.

Seeing Julius unconscious, Felix immediately collapsed on the floor as sweat dripped from his face.

Taking a high-grade mana potion from his storage ring, Felix immediately gulped it down, causing his mana reserves to quickly fill.

Walking towards Julius, Felix saw as he slowly started gaining consciousness.

"Did you have to go that far?" Julius said as he drank a high-grade health potion, causing his wounds to close at a rapid pace.

"You're the one who said no holding back" Felix said, shrugging his shoulders.

Knowing his rival, Julius ignored him as he stood up.

*Grrrrwwwll*

"You never change, do you? Let's just go eat, you pig," Julius said, hearing Felix's stomach growl.

"Maybe if you ate as much as me, you might actually win for once," Felix said, quickly retorting.

While their friendly banter continued, on another side of the Academy, Bellator could be seen groggily getting up.

Checking the time, Bellator realized he had napped for 3 hours, although still tired Bellator got up.

'I still need to go to the library.'

Although he had knowledge from the novel and he acquired the old Bellator's memory, there was still a lot that Bellator lacked, and that was knowledge: knowledge of this world's history, knowledge of how to unlock the abilities of his bloodline and traits.

Quickly leaving his dormitory, he made his way to the library. Bellator had made sure to memorize the layout of the academy, and with his photographic memory, it was an easy task.

As he walked, murmurs could be heard around him; upon walking, all eyes were on him.

"That's the Arctic family's bastard child," a guy whispered to his friend, pointing at Bellator.

"He really looks a lot like Lucius," his friend responded, looking at Bellator.

"I heard he's also the last-ranked student," the guy said as he continued gossiping.

It seems rumors traveled fast as all the students talked about Bellator's identity.

'Annoying,' Bellator thought, listening to the rumors. Being a poor kid and the bastard child of such an influential man, he had already braced himself for all the unsavory attention he would garner.

Fastening his pace, he quickly arrived at the library.

The enormous library stretched upon multiple floors; its shelves filled with a variety of books from classic literature to contemporary works—a treasure trove of knowledge unveiled itself as Bellator walked.

At the reception, the librarian could be seen; her gray hair and frail appearance stood as proof of her age. She wore glasses, adding a hint of elegance to her appearance, and she sat reading a book.

After a quick exchange, although surprised to see another first-year student in the library on the first day, the librarian quickly directed him to the books he was looking for.

Arriving in the Southern Wing of the enormous library, Bellator looked at what seemed like thousands of books stacked neatly on their shelves.

'Finding a book will take forever,' he thought as he started looking through the books one by one.

Though an easier idea quickly came to mind.

Using his Inspect skill, Bellator quickly scanned through the books until he finally found one which seemed useful.

[Complete History of Terra]

As he finally got a hold of the book, dust covered its pages proof of how long it had been waiting.

Carrying the thick book in his hand, Bellator headed to the Northern Wing, where he repeated the process until he found another book which seemed useful.

[Everything to Know about Traits and Bloodlines]

Satisfied with his find, Bellator quickly headed to find somewhere to be seated.

As he went to the lounging area, in the distance, a lone figure could be seen reading.

'Wow, what a bookworm who goes to the library on the first day.'Bellator thought chuckling

Getting closer, a familiar face came into view, her large horn-rimmed glasses stood neatly on her face as her rough green hair flower gracefully, black bags could be seen under her eyes as a gloomy aura surrounded her.

'The novel mentioned how she liked to hide from her siblings in the library, but seriously it's only the first day of academy,' Bellator thought, feeling sorry for Felicta.

He had wanted to save her; although she was a villain, she did not deserve her fate. She, along with Umbrux Lux and a few other villains, had a right to want to burn the world after how it treated them.

'No person can carry the weight of the world alone'; after hearing these words from his father, Bellator had planned to get some allies — people who could assist him in preventing the end of the world. And who better than villains? Well, not villains exactly, but people who would become villains in the future. I mean, they were incredibly talented and powerful, as no weak people could fight against the main characters. And Bellator knew how to win over most of them, starting with his own classmate.

Seating himself near Felicta, she noticed his presence but quickly ignored him as she continued reading. Without talking to her, Bellator also started reading, and a peaceful silence permeated the air.

As he read the book on bloodlines and traits, two crucial points stood out about bloodlines, something the novel had failed to mention. Since Felix had already possessed his bloodline ability since the novel started.

'How could I forget about this?' Bellator thought, reading a page from the book, an idea formulating in his head.

'A Bond.' Bonds were mythical creatures that contracted with humans, ranging from dragons to ponies. Contracting with them allowed humans to harness their bloodline abilities. But Bonds were extremely rare, making the price of getting one astronomical. Also, Bonds could refuse your attempt; it was said that Bonds only contracted with those they deemed worthy and chose their contractors carefully.

Though Bellator, equipped with the novel's knowledge, had another way to get a bond. The only downside was he couldn't choose his bond, so it could either end up being a Dragon or a snail based on his luck.

Unlike him , the main characters being the center of the world all acquired overpowered Bonds, though that's only in the future.

'Even if I get a bond, I still need to find a way to unlock my own bloodline.'

*Haaah*

'So the only way I can unlock my bloodline ability is either through a near-death experience where my emotions are extremely heightened, leading to it unlocking itself or naturally.'

Knowing he couldn't wait to unlock it naturally, as he might have to wait years or never unlock it, that meant he had to go through a near-death event.

'Well, that shouldn't be too hard, after all, I'm in the main character's class,' Bellator thought, chuckling to himself.

'I'll finish the other book tomorrow,' Bellator thought, stretching his tired body.

Leaving the library, a pair of green eyes stared at his retreating figure.