"Fangs are nothing without instinct.
And instinct is worthless without discipline."
— Iserath Martial Code
The manor's training hall had no warmth, no mercy.
Only black stone, cracked tiles, and the clinging scent of old blood.
It was here that Julius learned to kill.
Not like a beast.
But like a predatory prince, forged to survive the courts of empires.
"Again."
The command cracked like a whip.
The weapons master—an ancient vampire, dry as his voice—watched with unblinking amber eyes and skin like charred leather.
Julius—eight years old, body coiled, claws out—rose silently.
Before him stood a rune-covered training golem. An artificial enemy... but one strong enough to snap bone.
There was no room for error.
Clack!
Leap.
Spin.
A lateral strike charged with mana.
The golem staggered back. Thin fractures etched its chest.
But it still wasn't enough.
"Too slow."
A moment later, the master appeared behind him.
Julius tried to react—
—but a cold pressure landed on his neck.
Just a single finger.
"Nobility won't save you, Julius.
Birth won't either."
"I know."
He clenched his teeth and returned to position.
Silent. Resolute.
The nights passed.
Longer. Harsher.
And with every passing night, Julius laid another stone in his foundation.
Claws, footwork, breath.
But above all: blood control.
In a smaller chamber lined with black mirrors, he meditated.
With trembling fingers, he lifted drops of his own blood from beneath his skin.
Then, with fierce will, he shaped the blood into tiny blades—into needles, into glyphs.
A red dagger hovered above his palm.
"Sanguinomorphosis… a weapon, but also a key."
His body was not yet perfect.
But his mind… was advancing at a terrifying pace.
One night, sitting alone before the manor's grand window, Julius wrote in his personal journal:
"At eight years old, I'm stronger than many heirs at fifteen.
But it's not enough."
"My claw is a tool.
My blood, a library.
My will… a blade without a sheath."
He closed the notebook.
And stared at the black moon, hanging above the towers of Iserath.
"In two years… I will leave for the Academy.
And when I return—
this world will have changed its shape."