Bloodlines

"I assume you're here for the Academy?" Fate asked, sipping a cup of hot tea.

Samantha had ordered a cup for each of them, something to whet their throats as they conversed and brainstormed ideas on how to remove themselves from this predicament.

"I am," Samantha nodded. "Same as you. But I'm a second-year." Fate had worn his robes today, which he assumed was how the lady at the ticket booth could tell he was an Academy student.

"I'm not surprised that that old man was right about you having a Facet. It was either that or you were a Vamag, but seeing as how your father never showed such signs, a Facet was more likely."

A Vamag was a human with that wasn't born with a Facet, but obtained some Blood Skills from their ancestors, like scales or fire breath.

This was less common than having a Facet on Ziobrun, as most bloodlines cannibalize their Blood Skills as catalysts for a Mage Seed at the birth of a child, which has infinitely more potential.

Then there were Sorcerers, who were rarer than both Mages and Vamags. A Sorcerer had the best of both worlds, gaining the Blood Skills of their non-human ancestors and a Facet.

All Mages could theoretically use their Facet as a framework to reestablish their lost Blood Skills, something it was rumored Arch-Mages often did to progress much later in the Stage, but only Sorcerers had such traits from birth.

But despite this, Sorcerers were extraordinarily rare, so much so that censuses only counted a few dozen in the entire world. Why?

It was simple. To be considered a Sorcerer or Vamag, one first needed to be classified as a human. To be human meant having at least 70% human blood, a large majority.

This was where the problem lay. The amount of Magical Beast blood needed to manifest Blood Skills and physical traits varied from beast to beast, but most required at least 50% to make themselves known.

This meant that for practically every human under the sun, being a Vamag or Sorcerer should be impossible.

And yet, they were alive, to the utter bafflement of scientists everywhere.

Many theorized that this was due to a rare mutation that allowed the two opposing bloodlines to merge, thus allowing for a human to wield Blood Skills or even a Facet along with those Blood Skills.

This theory was one that many Health Mages often spent time on, trying to pin down the source of such a paradox.

The best example of a Sorcerer was Cait, who as a kitsubus with a Facet had at least 80% human blood flowing through her veins.

Demons were special cases as always, particularly kitsubi and imps. While aesh and the fregog were more than capable of mating with their respective species, kitsubi and imps required another species to keep their race alive.

As a coping method, the blood of kitsubi and imps were much stronger than normal. As mentioned before, a kitsubus often had at least 60% kitsubus blood even after several thousand generations of interspecies mating.

Not only this, but the requirement for their Blood Skills and physical traits was also much lower than a typical Magical Beast. The strongest bloodlines had a recorded low of 10% kitsubus blood, but often it was around 20-30%.

And in such cases, their child could still be born with average kitsubus blood purity of 60% or higher!

Because of this tyrannical blood of theirs, kitsubi Vamags were the most common form of Vamag, along with them making up all but one of Ziobrun's Sorcerers.

At the same time, kitsubi and imps were the only species in the world that had the capability of being classified as both human and demon at once.

Since only 10% demon blood was necessary to birth of full-blooded demon, how could they not be considered demons themselves? And since they met the minimum 70% bloodline mark for being human, of course they would be considered humans as well.

They still preferred to go by demon, however. It was a mixture of pride in their heritage and their distaste for humans.

All this went to say, the chances of Fate being a Vamag were zero. His mother had no such Blood Skills or things like scales or a tail, and neither did his father, so even if they had the blood within them, there was no way he'd inherit enough for a Blood Skill.

Though he had met Samantha after his mother had passed, he had often told her about the first person to ever give a shit about him, and she knew from those stories that his mother likewise had no Blood Skills, or at least none that Fate knew of.

"He's always been strangely perceptive for a Metal Mage," Fate chuckled. "He can just look into my eyes to know what I'm thinking and feeling. Similar to what you're doing now, but he can go much deeper than the surface you're skimming."

Samantha coughed awkwardly, averting her eyes from Fate's for a second before chiding herself and refocusing on those dark orbs.

"I apologize. It's become a habit of mine when I'm with you."

"I noticed."

She always had a fascination with his eyes, which often meant direct eye contact every time they talked, like now. Partly to reassure Fate that she wasn't scared of them, but also so she could peer into his mental state.

He didn't mind back then, and he didn't care right now. He felt nothing for her or her opinion. Whatever she saw in him, he could care less. The same went for however she could meet his gaze again after her little slip.

He still had no idea how Samantha and Travis could do such a thing, though. Even his mother couldn't do so. He suspected it was less about himself and more about them. Perhaps they were just naturally born with such skills.

"What Facet do you have, if you don't mind me asking?" Samantha asked.

"You first."

"All right. I have Temperature," she said, surprisingly forthcoming. "Now, what's yours?"

"Negativity," Fate said just as swiftly, returning the favor.

"Negativity? I haven't heard of that one before," Samantha frowned.

Fate shrugged. "Neither has the Academy. Makes it difficult to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do. But back on topic, how do you plan on getting your father to agree to this?"