Dravos met some high noble students in a dark room. He told them that the empire sent Silvane to contain the Blood Demon. His presence was menacing. Suddenly a noble asked.
"What if she failed?"
Dravos smiled and said. "She won't, she's already in our control." Dravos became serious. "Even if she failed, it would be her last mission."
Another student asked him. "But how are you going to control him. Sir Dravos"
"Information. It's a very crucial thing, Sherry. If you want to win a war you should have information about enemies. And if you want to control someone, you should have information about his past and I have that information."
"What information Sir Dravos." Sherry asked him.
"You don't have to know, just do what I say." Dravos turned away from them. "Once the empire fears him. Even Seraphina's protection will crumble."
Everyone was laughing really hard. Because they were thinking to control someone from that even 'The Broken' fears.
That night Arin was feeling uneasy. So he went to the roof of the academy. He was looking at the crack like he could see beyond that. He was just sitting there with his katana.
{"That woman's pendant… I can feel a fragment of our kind in it. It's a dragon scale. I think she shouldn't have that."}
"Everyone thinks that dragons are dead. Or maybe someone wants me to believe they aren't." Arin looked at his katana. "Are they really alive?"
{"I don't know brother but my dragon instinct always tells me that they are closer than they look."}
"My blood now has dragon blood. Do you also see their mana within me?" He was checking his arm.
{"I can see it. It's more than your aura."}
"What do you mean."
{"You shouldn't have to know. As I already told you when your sister is with you. You don't have to fear from anything."}
"You know sis, I think you are hiding too much from me." Arin grabbed his katana tightly.
{"it's for your own good. Don't you trust your sister."}
"I do that's why I am holding you." Arin stood up and when he was about to leave he saw Silvane, she was looking at him with her silver eyes. Arin looked towards her then vanished.
"Intresting." Silvane said.
After Silvane interrogation academy went on a silent curfew. The courtyard was flickering with torches.
Arin was standing in a sealed training yard once used for mutation study. This yard was known as moon light garden.
{"You've been too quiet lately, Arin. I know the storm's coming. But this silence can't save you from that."}
"I know that's why I'm not training for me tonight. I'm training for her."
Arin looked toward the approaching footsteps.
Tak tak tak tak
Lara, the shy noble girl who was traumatized after the dungeon raid, clutching her mana stone. She still blamed herself for being weak and forcing Arin to risk his life. She stopped in front of Arin, her eyes were looking at his feet. Her head down not with embarrassment but with guilt that she was feeling after that dungeon raid.
"You finally recovered." Arin said but Lara didn't replied. Arin sighed and came closer to her and lifted her head by her chin. He calmly said. "You froze that day, but freezing doesn't make you weak Lara. It makes you human. What you do after it decides what you become."
"I don't deserve training from you. That day you saved me… I…I was useless." Lara was trembling.
Arin kneeled in front of her, showing a faint smile. "Then let's make sure you're never useless again."
His katana hummed faintly, crimson runes were glowing along the blade's surface — even his big sister seemed approving of this.
"I will teach you something that will make you powerful." Aein said.
He told her about 'Blood Vision' an illusion-based combat training that allows the trainee to confront their fear in a mental realm shaped by their own subconscious.
"It won't hurt your body. But if your mind is able to break it… you'll wish it did."
Arin activated his blood illusion field, a spell that he discovered through his dragon mutation. Suddenly a crimson dome expanded around them, it was shifting reality.
The surroundings melt into a surreal dreamscape: a crimson desert filled with mirrors reflecting different versions of Lara — scared, crying, desperate.
"Face yourself, not your fear Lara. The moment you see the difference, you'll awaken." Arin's voice echoed.
"You're just a weak noble girl hiding behind heroes!" Lara's illusions taunt her.
She began to cry, her mana was destabilizing but Arin's presence stabilized her from behind, crimson light flowing from his hands into her chest.
"Strength isn't about bloodline. It's about the choice to rise again." Arin said.
Suddenly, Lara's mana exploded outward. It was not blue like before, but crimson-pink. It was resonating faintly with Arin's aura. And for a split second, ethereal crimson wings shimmered behind her — translucent, delicate, resembling a hybrid between mana and dragon energy.
{"That resonance… She shares our bloodline frequency. Or maybe… your soul imprint."}
"So, it's true… the bond spreads." Arin said.
Suddenly the illusion broke, returning them to reality. Lara collapsed, she was unconscious but her face now it was peaceful, glowing faintly with red light around her back where wings appeared.
suddenly Naira arrived, she was breathless and anxious.
"Master Arin! What are you doing here? If the contractors see you using forbidden techniques—"
She noticed Lara on the ground glowing faint red. "By the heavens… what did you do to her?"
"I unlocked her potential. She needed to stop fearing the blood that she saw that day." Arin explains briefly.
"Her mana pulse… it's synchronized with yours master." Naira kneels beside Lara, sensing her mana pulse.
"Listen, don't tell anyone. Especially Seraphina." Arin looked away.
Naira smirked softly. "Understood, Master. But now you owe me one."
"Fine." Arin said. "Now pick her up."
To be continued...