(Three Week Later)
It's been a nice three weeks, everyone was surprised that I managed to get into white core so soon, and at the age I was out. I have been getting used to the change of power going on inside of me.
Speaking of age, Ellie and I turn eleven in two months, and in two months, Arthur should return. Hopefully, I get to go into the dungeons again, before he gets back. I would love to see the scene of him sitting atop the corpses of mana beast. Of course, you know, when I slaughter mana beast, I don't sit on them, so who's really crazy, I do laugh though.
I was walking towards the training hall, today was the day I got to fight Lance Varay. Even walking felt different, I was used to it, but I felt lighter. I knew that my mana control has gotten a lot better, I've been practicing, doing light spells, and some intense ones.
I didn't know who was going to be there, but if I had to guess, the council was going to want to see how strong I was now. Honestly, I may be able to just end the fight using blood magic, I won't, I don't want to hurt Lance Varay permanently.
When I arrived, Elder Virion was standing in the doorway, waiting for me I suppose. "Gramps, how are you?" I asked as I walked up to him.
"I'm good, Virion, are you ready?" I nodded my head at him as we walked into the training hall, inside was Varay, in her white armor. "I still can't believe you got to white core all by yourself."
"I've been hearing that a lot." I smiled at him, I noticed that behind a mana barrier against the wall, was King Glayder, King Eralith, Queen Eralith, Lance Bairon and Lance Mica. That was a Lance I haven't seen in a while, she was interrogated, but like I told them, she is with us.
"Virion." Lance Varay said as I stood in front of her.
"Lance Varay, it's good to see you again." I smiled at her as I activated "Blood Oath."
"Don't kill each other." Elder Virion shot over his shoulder as he made his way to the mana barrier protecting everyone.
"Don't worry." Lance Varay told him as she backed away from me. "Are you all good with core?"
"Yep, everything is fine, I've gotten used to it over the last three weeks." I backed up as well. "Lance Varay, don't make this too easy on me, I want a real challenge."
She didn't say anything, just stared as I stood still, standing twenty yards apart now. I took a giant breath, pulled out three tubes of blood, and then had it start to float around me, like a stream of water, but red.
A sword appeared in her right hand, made of ice, and her body encased itself in ice. I knew that spell enhanced her speed and power, it's a spell that I can do, but don't usually because I don't have to.
To match this, I activated "Blood Acceleration" and I felt the increase in my speed. I formed a blood sword in my hand, and then spun it around. I finally get to see what I could do with my white core; how much easier it was to perform spells.
"You ready?" Lance Varay asked me, and I nodded my head, ice swords grew from the ground in an instance, and I maneuvered through them toward the Lance. I dodged a sword, broke another, and appeared before her.
I swung my blood sword, she brought up her own sword, my sword liquified instantly as it hit hers, then reformed as it got past it. Lance Varay quickly dodged it, I reached into her core, and disrupted it, causing all her spells to disappear, even her ice armor melted away.
I could see it in her eyes, she was confused, I didn't have this access to her core the last time we fought. I continued my approach, swinging my sword at her, and all she could do was dodge as best she could.
Her core was still under my control, being in white core was amazing, the Lance couldn't use magic against me if I didn't want her to. I swung my blade at her head, the Lance ducked, and rolled away, but I was faster than her, since she wasn't using mana to increase her speed.
I spun in the air, and sent a kick into her stomach, sending her backwards and into the ground. The Lance gasped and her magic returned to her, I couldn't hold any longer, it was hard to control someone's core when they were strong for this long.
Noticing this, Lance Varay summoned her armor again, and grew an ice sword again in her right hand. Ice blades grew at me as I stood there, and I sent my blood blade through each one, shattering them with ease.
I shot at her again, swinging my sword, she brought hers up in defense, and my blade shattered hers, then as she backed up from the shards coming at her, she grew another. Wind mana began to form under my feet, and I moved myself backwards.
Water scythes appeared above my head, and I formed blood needles in front of my body, aiming both spells at the Lance. She raised an ice wall, seeing as I was about to attack her with a great force.
I sent the spells at her, and they collided with her wall of ice, breaking it down with ease, causing her to summon another, and another, until the spells stopped their attack, and I pulled the blood back to me that I sent at her, and it floated around me again.
Lance Varay sent ice up into the atmosphere, which I sensed, she was going to form her ice dragon, but I had other plans. I dug back into her core, disrupting the flow of mana, causing the dragon that was starting to appear, to dissolve into nothing.
However, her ice sword and ice armor were still on her as she looked at me in aww. I pushed fire mana up into the air and shaped it into my own dragon, a blue flames dragon, which emitted a heat that I could feel from on the ground. There was an ice sword below it, that started to melt away as the dragon flew above.
The Lance was struggling to believe that I was able to control her magic usage, not all the time, but I still could. My dragon started to fly toward her, and as her mana opened back up to her, she conjured her own dragon as fast she could that met mine head on.
The two collided causing a quake in the room, and I shot myself underneath them, right at the Lance, swinging my sword at her. She ducked, and sent an attack of her own, but I froze her arm in the air, stopping it from completing the swing. I sent an elbow into her gut, and knocked the wind out of her, she fell to a knee.
The Lance wasn't giving up though, she conjured a shield in between us as my sword hit it, she flew up away from me, and into the air. I stared up at her as she flew and looked down at me. She was still catching her breath from my elbow; our dragons were still fighting with each other. They were both falling apart, but reforming as we each sent more mana to them to keep them going.
I flew up into the air, trying to keep myself stable, I was still trying to get used to this. I was now across from the Lance. "It looks like you are getting the hang of flying."
"I'm struggling slightly, but yeah." I shrugged, I couldn't make her fall to the ground, but I don't want to hurt her like that. Instead, I reached into her control of mana, and stopped the flow toward the dragon, so it slowly fell apart as mine ate at it.
The Lance launched herself at me in the air, swung her sword, I brought mine up, deflected it, and spun and sent a kick. Varay blocked the attack with her arm, then conjured multiple ice lances around her body, and shot them at me one after another as I flew back from her.
My dragon came flying in and at the lances, melting them down to nothing, then it attacked the Lance. She shot ice at the dragon, and formed a coat around the flames, this caused the dragon to fall to the ground and shatter.
I dodged a swing of Varay's sword, then swung my own at her, it liquified as it her sword, and reformed and the point of the blade stretched like a snake to her armor as she backed away. The blade chipped her armor as I pulled it back to me. If I pushed it further, the Lance would have been injured.
I decided to keep on attacking, flying toward her as fast as I could, which wasn't as fast as when I was on the ground. The Lance dodged my attack, and sent a sword to my chest, the blade shattered as it approached me. I stopped the mana she was controlling to form it, spun in the air, and set a kick to her head.
Varay swatted my foot away, and I flew backward. "I can't fight up here yet, Lance Varay, let's bring this to the ground." I flew to the ground as the Lance stayed in the air, and then disrupted her core to make her fall, she regained her mana as she got closer to the ground. As she landed, I felt the mana she was controlling reinforce her legs, and she was okay.
"It appears you have more access to my core, now that you are in white core." Lance Varay said to me. "If we fought to kill, I don't think I would stand a chance."
"You would, Lance Varay." The blood sword deformed and floated around me, joining the stream already there. "Even without mana, you managed to dodge my attacks."
She shot a sword at me; it was blocked by a shield of blood that formed unconsciously in front of me. I wasn't even using my full power, and the Lance was struggling, she probably wasn't either, but still.
I formed arrows of blood above my head and was about to send them at her but was stopped by a voice. "That's enough." We both turned to Elder Virion walking out with everyone towards us.
"Thank you, Lance Varay." I bowed to her; she was one of the few people I truly respected.
"I was the one that asked you, Virion." She said as she walked over to me, and I pulled the blood in the air back to me. I pulled at the tubes and placed the blood back in them, and then slipped the tubes into my mana ring. "I can see the difference in your strength."
"Yeah, I felt it." I told her as everyone gathered near us. "What did you think, gramps?"
"Probably the same thing everyone is thinking, your power as a white core mage is tremendous." Elder Virion nodded his head. "I know how your blood magic works, so it makes sense that you are now able to manipulate a Lance's blood."
"Can you manipulate multiple Lance's blood?" Surprisingly, Lance Bairon was the one that asked this question.
I shrugged, not knowing, but I could sense all of their blood. "Maybe."
"Try." Mica stepped up. "Make Mica hit Bairon."
"I was thinking more like raising an arm, you can do that, right?" Lance Bairon stepped away from Mica.
I started to feel for each one's blood, I already had a connection to Varay's, I connected to Bairon's easily too, but I never tried controlling Mica's, so it took a second, but not that long. I then raised each one of their arms with ease. "There." I said, as I released the grip I had on them, and their arms fell. "But I am assuming that none of you tried to resist."
"Mica did not." She confirmed.
"Neither did I, but it's impressive." Lance Bairon shot me a nod; our relationship was actually not what I was expecting. I thought he was going to hate me for a while, like he did with Arthur, but lately, over the past year, this man has been nothing but, well, not nice, but not rude, he's just there.
"Thanks." I smiled a them all.
"That's why he's becoming a Lance." King Glayder spoke with confidence. "First ever Blood Deviant."
"Good job, Virion." King Eralith sent me a smile, and I nodded toward him.
"Can I get a moment with Virion alone." Elder Virion gave everyone a serious look, and they all listened and left, some sent me a smile or a head tilt as they did.
"What is it?" I asked him as we stood there together.
"How was your mental state?" He asked me, and my eyes widened, I didn't even have any thoughts of killing her, which sounds bad.
I deactivated "Blood Oath" and spoke up. "Actually, I didn't have any episodes, it was a normal fight for me." Was it because I was in white core, and I had more control over everything. "I had no urges."
"Are you sure? You felt nothing from your Will?" I shook my head no. "It's as I thought, with more power, the effects aren't as strong, but that means when you lose control, the urge will be stronger."