9 09: Lifeblood
"What are you doing? Put your clothes back on!" Rowan almost shrieked like a girl, his head turned to the side while his face was now the color of blood.
"What's wrong, darling?"
"It's nothing. Just… just quickly put your clothes on." It was the first time that he met a girl like her. Though he wanted to reprimand her for such bold actions, he restrained himself. He could only shut his eyes tightly.
"It's done. Come on now. Let's go to sleep."
Rowan sighed a breath of relief. He slowly turned around and saw Kalliste already on bed. Despite the simple clothes, she still looked divine. A supreme goddess that was lost into the mortal world. Not even a tiny flaw could be seen.
"Darling, what are you waiting for? Come here."
He was only brought back to reality when he heard her melodious voice. Something that he could not resist. However, before he could be lost into paradise, he shook his head and quickly get into bed.
"Good night, darling. Sleep tight."
Rowan's heart almost jumped out of its ribcage, and his whole body froze when she suddenly kissed him on his forehead. Her lips felt so soft against his skin. He did not expected something like this.
For what seemed to be an eternity, he layed on the bed, unmoving.
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"Darling, I can't sleep. Could you tell me something interesting about this place?"
Rowan, who at the moment was trying to sleep, opened his eyes. "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know about magic!"
Rowan chuckled as soon as he saw her expression. At that moment, she looked and acted like her age.
"Alright. I would explain it to the best of my ability so you must be attentive."
When she nodded, Rowan adjusted his position. They were now facing each other.
"In our world, all humans was born with an energy called, lifeblood. Our main life source. It was divided into three parts, but my knowledge was still lacking so I could only tell you what I learned from my studies."
This got Kalliste's attention. The book only mentioned two, not three. She stared at the boy attentively.
"The first was known as, mana. The Physical embodiment of the elemental forces of nature, in which all of the Mages used to bring about their abilities into reality. However, only a selected few have the capabilities to use mana. When a child reached a certain age, he or she must undergo a series of tests in order to know in which he or she belongs to. If a child was born with mana, then he or she must enroll into the Mage Academy where the gifted children learned to use their certain types of elements. However, there were some special cases wherein a child was born with dual abilities. The first known person who possessed such greatness was the founder, and first Emperor of this Empire. Emperor Mallus Bassilius Credia. Not only that, but he also reached the 12th inner circles. The apex of mana users. A thousand years passed by, but none of his descendants inherited this ability."
Rowan paused for a few moment as he stared at the girl in front of him. Even the freckles on her face could not hide her heavenly beauty. Looking at her, he knew that he had to do something. He quickly sprung up before speaking.
"Come. Let me show you something," he said as he held her hands to help her up. He then stretched his palms. Not a second later, he felt a powerful energy that passed through his veins.
Much to Kalliste's surprise, a mixture of black and red flames suddenly engulfed Rowan's hands. It grew bigger and bigger until it was half her size. However, it disappeared before it grew even more.
Meanwhile, Rowan huffed as he catch his breath. Though his energy dropped low, the smile on her face made it all worth it.
"Darling? Are you alright?" Seeing the pale face of the boy, Kalliste almost panicked. She quickly held on to him.
"I am fine. Do not worry." Though Rowan was on the verge of collapse, he fought through. He gently patted the girl's head before taking a deep breath.
"I only demonstrated it for you to see. Do not worry about it. Now where was I? Mana required great concentration and focus in order to generate and manipulate the forces of nature. But this type might leave the user with low energy, or worse, die due to mana depletion. Only with years of intense training and experience would a mana user last in battle. The great wizards who reached the apex are also able to transfer their mana into someone else. Though it was possible to learn the other elements outside of the natural born one, it required tens of years of intense training. This was the reason why most of the mages only focused on mastering their own elements as well as increasing their inner circles."
"You kept saying inner circles. What's that?" Kalliste could not help, but asked. Her brows met at center, and her face contorted in confusion.
"Inner circles referred to the mana rings that circulated around a mage's heart. The higher number of circles meant the stronger the mage. In this generation, the blue tower master was known to be the most powerful. He had reached the 9th inner circle and mastered two types of elements," Rowan paused. Seeing the drowsy face of the girl, he smiled.
"This would be all for now. It's time to sleep." With that, Rowan suddenly patted her hair gently.
Kalliste noticed that Rowan was whispering something in the air, however, she could not understand anything. It took a few moments before she suddenly felt a strange energy that suddenly erupted inside her. Though it was not painful, her eyes suddenly felt heavy. She blinked a few times, trying to stay awake, but her small body was a traitor. Before her visions darkened, she still heard the words that Rowan whispered.
"Sleep now, my Kally. You would understand tomorrow when you wake up." Rowan slowly layed her down before sleeping next to her with him holding her hands tightly.
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The next morning, Kalliste woke up feeling something strange on her body. Another thing, she was trapped in a tight hug from Rowan which almost suffocated her. After a few struggles, she finally got out and slowly made her way out of the room. She was welcomed by an amazing smell of grilled meat which she inhaled deeply.
"Hmm. It had been far too long since I smelled something like this. I almost forgot its taste."
"Oh, you are already awake… oh my."
Kalliste's brows furrowed slightly when Amy suddenly stopped midway.
"What is it, Lady Amy? Is something the matter?"
"I guess you should visit the mirror first for you to find out." Amy giggled as she pointed to the small mirror on the wall.
Out of curiosity, Kalliste walked towards the corner. When saw her reflection, she spaced out for a bit. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw a young boy, about her age and size. The boy's hair reminded her of an aged mahogany. Rich and deep, yet with the subtle hues of gold and auburn. With each stride, the strands danced with the wind's choreography. Meanwhile, his light, green eyes speaks to the heart of nature. The promise of spring. Of fresh wands of grasses, and the gentleness of nascent buds.
"Who are you? Stop it! Hey!" she tried to yell at the reflection, only to be yelled back at. A sense of dejavu suddenly washed upon her.
"I think you better ask your brother. He might have something to do about it. How sweet," Amy said as whe stared at Kalliste with an almost sparkling eyes.
Kalliste, on the other hand, quickly ran upstairs and barged into the room. She found Rowan readying himself for the day. She did not have to say anything and just stared at him.
"Did you like your new look?" Rowan asked with a grin on his face.
Kalliste did not answer. Instead, she contemplated. She goes back to the mirror again and stared at her new looks.
"But why brunet and green eyes? I hate brown." Kalliste frowned. From where she stood, she saw the reflection of Rowan. He still had that grin on his face as he looked at her.
"I think it suited you really well. Well then, would you like to go for a walk?"
As soon as Kalliste heard that, her spirits suddenly perked up. She quickly turned around and walked towards the door while looking at Rowan.
"Sure! Let's go now, darling."
Seeing her reaction, Rowan chuckled before standing. He held her hands tightly as they walked down the stairs.
"Come on, kids. It's time for breakfast."
The two saw Amy and Mazzak already on the table.
"I apologise. I do not know what you humans usually eat so I had Mazzak grilled some wild alligator's meat. There were also some loquats if you liked fruits."
As soon as the words escaped her lips, Rowan felt his stomach suddenly turned upside down. His hands instantly covered his mouth as he forcefully stopped the bile from coming out of his mouth.
Meanwhile, Kalliste was frozen from where she stood. Her face paled at what Amy said. During the war, food and water was scarce that they only survived through eating whatever was available. However, she had never eaten an Alligator's meat. Nor she wanted to try it in this life.
"What's wrong? Was the food not to your liking?" Seeing their expressions, Amy could not help, but asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, lady Amy. Thank you for the food, but we're not really that hungry, right, brother?" Kalliste stated, and slightly nudged the boy besides her.
"Oh, if you say so. But at least have a bite. Gator's meat is really juicy and tender. You might like them. Come on. Just one bite."
Their faces grew even paler when they saw Amy walked towards them with a plate of meat.
"I apologise, lady Amy. But we really are not that hungry yet. Plus we already made plans to explore this place if that's alright with you?" Kalliste stepped forward in order to block Rowan from the view. Being mentally very old, she often forgot that she was now a child.
"Oh. Is that so? Alright. But do not go to the woods. There are a lot of wild animals in there."
"I would keep it in mind. We should go now. Come on, brother."
Amy could only sigh as she watched the children ran towards the door.
"Do not worry about it, Amy. Maybe human children just don't eat these types of meat. I would hunt something better for our dinner tonight," Mazzak stated while hugging his mate from the back.
"You're right. I just missed our son. I hope that he is doing fine right now."
Mazzak only nodded without responding as they watched the children disappeared in a distance.
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As the two walked around the village, Kalliste could not help, but admired the place even more. The village looked graceful. The houses either had tatchet, yew or willow wood rooftops.
In the middle of the village stood an old, vibrant tree which looked almost magical. It was surrounded by a small pond, as well as fences.
'This place was really a paradise!'
According to the book, this lost paradise used to be an extended part of the Macaram Mountain. A village that was surrounded by dense thickets, and titan mountains that pierced through the sky.
However, after this place suffered destruction twice in a row during the first great war, it suddenly vanished without a trace.
'A place like this ought to have a lot of hidden tunnels which they probably used for emergency exits, as well as great ambush positions.'
Kalliste carefully scanned the whole area. She could not help it. During the first year of the war, the survivors found a haven in a small hidden valley near the foot of a mountain. However, they were too preoccupied with terror that they forgot one important detail. They only realised it too late when the machines cornered all of them.
It was a huge mistake that claimed the lives of all the survivors.
Kalliste sighed at her own memories. That event was the turning point of her life. The beginning of her bloody journey.
She sighed. 'It was all in the past. I had a new life now.'
Kalliste was only brought back to reality when Rowan's grip tightened. She immediately turned towards him, but was met with a smile.
Even without opening his mouth, she instantly understood what the boy wanted to say.
"I'm fine. I'm just appreciating the beauty of this place," she stated. Forcing to hide the strong emotions that began to build within her.
"Look, Kally. The villagers!"
She was taken aback when Rowan suddenly gasped. Looking towards the direction of Rowan's pointed fingers, she saw a lot of the villager beastmen.
They were now standing in front of a busy marketplace. The whole street was stuffed with different species of beastmen. Some had bunny ears, others had tails and cat ears. There were also those with elephant ears. Some could even transform into a hawk, eagle or an owl. Their numbers made the street narrow.
She was left speechless and in awe as she stared at them.
She also noticed the shops of different kinds that stood on either side of the street. All of their doors were opened for the vendors knew that it would only be destroyed by the impatient, and violent beastmen that literally climed on top of each other while yelling and shouting wildly like mindless beasts brawling for a prey.
On the further end of the street parked some tattered wagons that were full of either fruits or vegetables.
The loud clanging of metals and iron got her attention. That was when she noticed a few smithy shops on the other side of the street. Though the place was not packed, it did not diminished its prestige within the village.
"Come. We still had a lot to see."
She only nodded when Rowan gently guided her out of there.
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After a while, the two finally reached the end of the village. From there, Kalliste gasped at the enthralling scene in front of them. In a distance, she saw a castle, the main attraction of Feral Sanctum Village. Its rooftop was already galvanised steel. The stone veneer walls had huge holes and was almost pulverised, while it was surrounded by a murky and bleak atmosphere.
'So this was the mystical palace.' In the past, everytime she read the book, she always tried to imagine what this castle looked like. 'Who would have thought that I would see it in my own eyes!'
Baston Citadel. It served as the symbol of the village from a distant past. It was said that Chief Davey, the strongest beastman to ever live, built it in order to protect all beastmen during the purge to kill their race. Though it was already ruined, that place would be the safest place to be when the war broke out in the near future.
Kalliste gave out a tired sigh. 'War,' she thought, 'I am already too old for this.' She knew that only her body changed, but not her mentally.
"Would I once again witness the horrors of war in this second life?"
"What was that? Did you say something, my Kally?"
"Oh, it's…" She suddenly stopped midway when a loud sound of bell suddenly echoed all over the area. Next thing they knew, they noticed that all the beastmen were suddenly running hurriedly in one direction.
"What's going on?" Kalliste asked herself as she turned to Rowan.
Rowan, in return, just shrugged. "Come. Let's find out." With that, he grabbed her hands as they ran with the others.
They soon saw a large group of beastmen who gathered near the gate. As they were only children, they had to fight their way towards the front. Having a small body, Kalliste was almost overwhelmed by the crowd, however, Rowan did not let go of her hand and guided her towards the front.
"Is what you said the truth?"
It was the first thing that they heard upon stepping out of the crowd. Standing in the middle was a beastman with black feathers attached to his shoulders.
"You thought I am lying? Why don't you go outside and see it for yourself, then?" he shouted.
Kalliste narrowed her eyes. His expression was one of panic and fear. His body trembled and his breath was heavy.
"What is going on here?"
Suddenly, an old man with a sharp, onyx eyes interrupted. The crowd suddenly make way for him.
Kalliste stared at the old, bearded man, however, her heart almost jumped out of her ribs as soon as she heard what the man with feathers said.
"I am telling the truth, chief Elduin. Not only was an enormous size of the mountain was destroyed, it was now a massive graveyard of a thousand monsters!"
