The very first thing Eiran remembered was soothing cold water touching his tongue, and in response, his throat moved and swallowed it.
It was a fresh memory, so vivid that he might never forget it. Those few drops reawakened his dormant body, and the next thing was seeing.
It was also the first time he saw the sky—it was dark, but lit with sprinkles of light dots and a massive light disc.
He didn't know when he asked what those were. As they served to light his mind, to feel the world and allow unknown feelings of darkness to be lifted off him.
Stars. He still remembered the name. It was beautiful both in sound and sight.
Eiran's intelligence came from his blood. He somehow knew things, felt and gained general knowledge about them.
But that wasn't all. He could still remember before the drop of water. It was a dark, gloomy cave, made from blood coral. He knew it because he could feel them, and they kept him alive.
Taking him from that place was actually harmful to him, but giving him the drop of water was what saved him.
Eiran didn't want to remember more; before that was darker, bleaker, and more dangerous. But he had to. He could still recall it without suffering much.
"Live!"
A word came to his mind. He frowned. The voice was mental, spoken into his brain, but it resonated with his blood and he began to cry.
Waa. Waa. Waa.
The doctors ran to him, checking their screens, trying to understand how the baby even resisted the sedative and woke up.
They added more dose in his feed, but he didn't stop until he grew tired and fell asleep.
"Strange. What caused him to cry?" Doctor Kael felt an ominous feeling about this. But he just sent the report and waited.
Eiran did fall asleep, but the moment he woke up hours later, he went deep into his memory. He needed to know what it was.
It was a place like this, but more natural. He had no mask, no machines. A long umbilical cord connected him to something vast and alive.
A heartbeat thundered above him—rapid, anxious, trembling.
He understood now. It was his mother. And he was still inside her.
Had he gone too far back in his memories? He tried to pull away—but then came the chaos.
Power surged within his fetus body. Pure, overwhelming. He couldn't comprehend it then, but now he knew—he had been full of Celestial Blood Essence. Not droplets. Not fragments. It was his very blood.
His vitality had been so potent, it didn't just keep him alive—it sustained the womb.
But then, it started to drain. First slowly, then violently, as if something was ripping him apart.
The woman—his mother—fought back. He remembered. She resisted with every shred of life.
And then the voice.
"Bitch, stay dead!"
A cold, venomous voice tore through the womb. It wasn't just sound—it was an invasion. Eiran trembled, panic seizing his tiny heart. Blood leaked from his nose, his ears, his eyes. His body teetered on the edge of rupture.
Electric pain followed. A jolt from the cord, sharp and unnatural. Darkness swallowed him whole.
---
It had been a month. Eiran woke up with a tremor in his body. The assigned doctor watched to see if the boy was misbehaving so he could zap him, but he wasn't.
'Another drop of essence,' Eiran thought. His skin and body could recall things that had happened, and in the past month he had woken up many times, almost exploding due to anger.
But now, with the aid of the Celestial Blood Essence, his rage had been quenched.
He recalled why. He even recalled what had happened.
The woman went silent, but another dangerous energy sneaked inside. His fetus halo protected them all, which made her make a move.
Eiran understood that at one fated moment, when the owner of that vile voice was less in control after a clash, she ruptured her stomach and launched him away from them.
Eiran as a fetus still had half of his essence, but the powers and forces outside the womb, outside the protection of the vile man, were hazardous. His body instinctively used the essence to survive.
He also saw her, the woman, his supposed mother. Like him, half her limbs were missing, and worse than him, she had no head.
Her body was naked, crimson red, surrounded by glass forged from his own blood.
The vile man sprang to catch him, but his enemy intercepted him.
Eiran didn't need an explanation. He was a source of power to the vile man, and now he was free.
Having that understanding, his blood trembled, but he held himself fast before he was zapped. Numerous people had come to Mama Thorne, and he had felt danger from them. The last one was especially dangerous.
His eyes opened, and his gaze landed on the doctor. He was being watched 24 hours, and he kind of knew all of them by now.
There were four doctors: Dr. Kael, Dr. Miranda, Dr. Shino, and Dr. Gerard. This one was Doctor Shino.
'They will be here. The vile one will send his people for me.'
Eiran could feel it. He knew it. And he had an inkling Mama Thorne understood something was amiss, which was why she sent him here.
As if doused with cold water, he felt it—something dangerous nearby. It wasn't new; it was like a poking that he had neglected, and now that he acknowledged it, it became a stabbing sensation.
Eiran's intelligence flared, and he observed himself. His talent informed him of what he could do.
SSS Rank Potential
Talent: Celestial Blood
Borne Trait: Essence Vessels
He cared not about the potential now but the talent itself. He understood intuitively there was a hierarchy of blood in the world, and Celestial Blood was among the top.
He couldn't infer if it was the top or not, but it was definitely not low. This he knew because every human he met had blood that was definitely of a low rank.
Rank isn't important; what was important was that his talent gave him the ability to control all blood from Celestial and things below that.
He hadn't met any blood that he couldn't control. Though control came with range and talent energy consumption.
The second thing that his talent gave him was Blood Creation. He could just make blood with a thought; it would be indistinguishable from the real one. And he could make it disappear or make remains permanent as if someone was cut and spilled it.
The created blood could also be controlled at will. In fact, it was just like a second limb to him.
His talent also gave him the ability to heal wounds through blood. This one came instinctively, but as Eiran was analyzing it now, he understood some mechanics behind it.
His control over blood was fundamental—every cell and any liquid attached to the blood. He could rejuvenate them to influence healing of wounds, diseases, venom, and the rest.
If the wound or disease was strong, blood would be created with immunity or the influence required to facilitate the healing.
But healing was a passive ability of his, born from a desire to help that man who gave him his name.
Mama Thorne recognized that her nannies and babies, as well as other children, were all getting better the moment Eiran was in the house, and she had smartly tested it by cutting herself and holding the boy.
Eiran understood: if he could heal, he could do the reverse. He felt a foul taste on his tongue. 'I won't do that.'
He himself was Celestial Blood; survival instinct had made him able to reanimate a dead corpse. Through instinct, he had chosen a woman and hidden inside her, knowing or comprehending they might take their dead with them.
While inside, his raw vitality made her flesh come to life. Inside she was liquified with blood venom; her bones were like jelly, but his presence kick-started her body, and she came alive.
'Is she really alive?' Eiran didn't know. His actions were like the actions of a life form that had built-in knowledge without truly understanding every facet.
That's why he spoke to her, knowing... feeling she was alive.
Eiran's eyes drooped. He was tired from all the thinking. The good thing was the Celestial Blood Essence in him made him a bit stronger, but that didn't change the fact he was still a baby.
'Even my intelligence came from instinct,' Eiran mused as he drifted into a deep sleep.
A tremor passed through him—another drop was made. He then went back to sleep before waking up quickly and gazing below him.
Unknown doctor. An hour ago, Doctor Kael went out, and this one came in. This one had been staring at him, pressing his ring that flashed with light.
Eiran reached forward with his talent to feel the man's blood, and he recoiled. Inside, it was filled with that vile man's essence.
'He managed to come here.'
The location Eiran and the rest of the patients were in was the most guarded place in all the establishment. Only authorized personnel could come.
The man had spent months trying to reach here until now. A message reached him:
"Incapacitate him. He is dangerous!"
The man pulled out a steel canister and was about to open it when a soft, celestial-like voice echoed in his mind.
"I can turn you into an Immortal," Eiran said.
"Kneel, and you will be!"