Luca and John looked excited as they finished scanning their new bodies. When Luca moved around he had trouble, with his new feet he had to adjust. He found that in his brain he instinctively knew how to coordinate his tale with his movements to gain balance. So, in no time he could walk normally. He also stared at his palm and with a thought, his retractable claws disappeared as they retracted back into his hands. He then took them back out and then back in as he was amazed by this.
John had also come across similar issues like Luca but was able to get comfortable using his wings and tail as he walked around the house. When John looked at Luca more closely he could vaguely sense the movement of the primordial energy flowing inside of him! John first thought was astonishment because he could actually sense the movement of primordial energy. His uncle couldn't do that! But he could! Then he remembered that the only way for primordial energy to flow towards someone was if they had open their core meridian!
"Luca! I think you just broke through your first core meridian!
Luca was stunned. Did he become a cultivator, just like that? He focused on himself and realized that he could feel the flow of primordial energy coursing through his body into the center of his body. He could only feel one big flow which meant that he had only opened his core meridian. Luca was at a lost for words! It seemed that his previous worry was unnecessary. He looked towards John closely and he could vaguely see the movement of primordial energy flowing towards him as well but it more intensely than his.
"John I can feel that you have more energy than I do!"
John seemed happy that his friend could also sense the movement of primordial energy. He then checked himself as he closed his eyes to feel the movement in his body. He felt one big flow and multiple smaller ones, about 5 of them! He was close to being at the early body refinement stage. Before he had only had his core, meridian opened now with his transformation he had open 5 meridians just like that!
Both the boys wore big grins on their faces. When suddenly Lucas felt that he was forgetting something important. He paced back in forth until John asked.
"What's wrong?"
"I feel like we're forgetting something important"
John stayed quiet as he started thinking. Then he heard Luca gasp.
"CRAP"
"What!?
"Look outside its midnight! My parent are going to kill me!"
"Damn, your right even worse, I can't just show up like this!" John spread his arms as he stared at himself.
The two started to have a panic attack as the realization dawned upon them. Luca face lost all color as John stated panicking. Luca mind went into overdrive as he tried to find a solution to this.
"I got it! John let's check the manual! We might find something!"
"Your right let's do it."
They didn't really know if they could find the solution there but they were out of options and desperate. Luca went to his manual as he flipped and skimmed through the unlocked pages for an answer. In the section labeled bloodline holder, there was a line that said that all high-bloods had two forms, their human form, and their evolved form. In your evolved form you could fight at your full potential but in your human form, you could only fight with 60% of your potential. There was also a semi-evolved from where you would be able to selectively use half your transformed parts be able to fight with 80% of your potential.
Luca felt relieved that he found a solution since he wasn't in a fight he didn't need to be in his evolved form. The book said that if you wanted to change between forms you would simply will it. Specifically, you would envision yourself as a human and will it to be. The same thing worked when reverting to your evolved form except for this time you would envision yourself transforming.
So, Luca did just that as he concentrated, it took him a minute before it worked. His fox-like features disappeared, his color changed back and so did his eyes, etc. Though he stayed muscular and tall, his defined figure stayed just his obvious features receded. Luca sighed with relief as he explained this information to John.
The two then hid their manual back in the book and tidied up everything before heading home. The one thing the two noticed when running was that they ran 3 times faster. They also didn't feel any fatigue running back home.
Luca waved to John as he made his way home. Luca was worried as he arrived at his door. He resolved himself and tried to quietly open the door and sneak into his room. In front of him was the living room with the couch facing the door. His two parents standing up from the coach had their arms crossed as they looked at him.
"Where have you been? Don't you see what time it is?!" His dad's voice was mixed between anger and concern.
His mom burst into tears before she ran to hug him. Seeing his wife, his dad cooled down and watched on. His dad wasn't a mean person. But his dad was just to overwhelmed to put his emotions in check. His parents had started to worry as night arrived. With Luca not being home, his dad immediately went to John's house but found out that the two where nowhere to be found.
This caused his dad to freak as he returned home. Had another hour passed by his dad would've left to search for him. Seeing his parent's reactions, he felt warmth.
He deeply apologized to his parents and told them that he wouldn't do it again. He said that he got lost with John and that's why it to him so long to get home. Seeing their child's sincere apology, they dropped it as they told him to get some sleep as the tired parents left to sleep. They were too tired to notice their sons increase in height and muscle mass. Luca would wear baggy clothes and say that he hit a growth spurt for the next following days.
Luca got to his room and closed the door. But he couldn't sleep as he stared at the ceiling. He put his hand in front of him and watched as his hand transformed back. He kept retracting his razor-sharp claws with a smile on his face. He still couldn't believe what happened to him. And like that he stayed awake till 5:00 o'clock.
When Luca was just getting a good sleep, his mom comes bargaining in at 6:00.
"Time to get up!"
Luca opened his bloodshot eyes and struggled to get out of bed. Yawning heavily he gets his tired self out of bed. He gets ready for the day; his parents owned a bakery. He was too poor to afford to attend a private school every year. There weren't many places to learn. There weren't any public schools. If you wanted to learn anything besides a trade like blacksmithing, baking, sewing, etc. then you either went to a private school or got accepted into the local cultivation sect, the fire sword sect.
Since Luca didn't go to school this year, he would help his parents in the shop till 4:00 pm.
Luca went to the counter and waited for the customers to come in. When a young girl called Mia ran into the shop. She had black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. She was humming and skipping to the bakery shop. She was 11 years old and a regular customer. She went into the shop and got some bread.
"Um, Luca why do you look like that?" Mia tilted her head to the side cutely.
"I didn't get enough sleep, that's all."
Satisfied with his answer she gave him a last look before she paid and left. When she left Lucas, face turned into astonishment. He hadn't noticed it before but when people where within 50 feet he could hear and smell them! He could hear that she was coming before she was even here. He thought he was imagining stuff but when it took her 1 minute to get to the shop. He came to the conclusion that he heard her coming from afar. When she got within 5 feet, he could hear that her heart was beating very fast, especially when she looks at him.
He knew he wasn't imagining stuff, he realized that even when he was in his human form, he still retained a part of his enhanced sense of smell and sound. It wasn't at the level of his evolved form, but it was beyond what a human could ever do. His vision was better but not at the insane level, it was about 10/10 vision. Also, when more people came in, he found out that each person has their own unique smell!
But one downside was when a female customer tried to secretly fart. A normal person wouldn't have been able to notice but to him was a like bomb assaulted his senses. He immediately wanted to throw up as he looked at the person in disgust. He cursed in his head as he tried to find ways to smell something else. Over the course of the day he was able to focus on certain smells which helped if he ever was assaulted by a strong smell again.
When the shop closed he ran to Johns house with a foolish grin on his face. He wanted to learn how to use spells and skills. He and John went to the abounded house. Their speed was fast, they could run at 40 miles an hour! They got there in no time.
They opened the box and took out the books and skill shards. Luca opened the manual first and went to the last section that was about cultivating the first stage. The book said that when he wanted to progress in his cultivation he had two options. The first was to collect enough primordial energy over time and open his supplementary meridians one at a time. This was what most cultivator would do. But since he was a high-blood he could open the first 30 supplementary meridians in 3 years.
The second options was unique to the azure demon fox. He could use the skill "drain" where he could steal the primordial energy of others. He could only use about 10% of the primordial energy that he takes from another. The reason is that he has to purify the energy and remove the influence of the cultivator from it. The requirement for this skill is that you can only drain someone that doesn't resist or is too weak to resist. So, if the opponent was weaker then you, you could drain them. If there stronger then you then you would have to catch them off guard and knock them out or they would have to be near death.
The plus side to drain was that it didn't have a cooldown. Since he knew how to cultivate he then went to the skill shard. He picked it up with his hands shaking in excitement, he put it on his forehead and directed the primordial energy to enter it. His conscious was sent to a plain where there was a field of lush green grass that stretched infinitely in every direction. The skies were a deep baby blue with a small yellow sun. It was like its own little world. He then noticed a black and blue fox. It had the body of a wolf and the head of a fox. The fox stared at him curiously as it sized him up.
It suddenly started speaking to him!
"So I guess you're the one who inherited my blood essence, damn this going to be a lot of work."
Luca was dazed and didn't respond. Seeing this the fox sighed.
"Hey wake up! I don't want to be some babysitter, get your ass over here."
Luca without question went towards the fox till he was a few feet away.
"Good! As you know I'm the azure demon fox but specifically, i'm a soul fragment put into the shard. Unlike lesser skill shards that only contain memories, your skill shard is special" The fox lifted its head in an imposing manner with a hint of pride.
Waking up from his daze Luca looked at the fox respectfully.
"Hi, I'm Luca!" Luca waved his hand excitedly with a sweet smile
When the fox saw this he sighed even harder, knowing that this was going to be a pain in the ass. The kid was to naively and kindhearted.
"Stop! Don't talk anymore unless you're confused when I'm teaching"
When Luca look at its intense glare he lowered his head. The fox didn't want to keep going at it so he started teaching.
"I will teach you my magic, beast arts, movement skills, and some blade skills"
Luca looked at the fox as he asked,
"What's beast arts?"
"Good that's more like it, it's the martial arts that we beast use. It takes into account our unique physiology. Since you're now a bloodline holder ordinary martial art would be waste of your potential."
Luca nods his head in acknowledgment as his hunger to learn increased.
"First off our clan has an elemental affinity for shadow and lighting magic. The spells we use are unique and can only be used by us. We have magic spells for shadow magic and for lighting magic, for stage 1 cultivators."
"But from what I can see you aren't at the early stage of body refinement yet. So, you can only cast about 2 spells before you get tired. I'll teach you 1 shadow magic spell and our innate drain skill"
The fox then looked in a direction and a tall tree grew from the ground. The side of the tree was casting a shadow.
"The first spell is called "shadow merge", it allows you to merge to any shadow that's bigger than your hand. It will erase your presence and merge you into the shadow. You will disappear but you can still be hurt if found. This is best used for sneak attacks, espionage, and if need survival. To use it, you walk into or on the shadow. You send primordial energy to both palms while having both hands clasping each other. If you walk out of the shadow or attack, then your presence will no longer be hidden. Now start practicing"
Luca walked in the shadow and then started sending primordial energy as he performed shadow merge. On the first try, he used too little energy causing the spell to fail. The second time he used too much, even though he was able to perform it. He was exhausted as he walked out of the shadow.
"You need to work on your energy control. You used way too much on the second try. But overall since these spells are created by us for us then they're easier to learn. Now it's time to learn drain".
What the fox didn't express was his astonishment on how fast Luca had learned it! In his mind, "This kid has potential but he's too naïve which will cost him his life. What to do, teaching is harder then I thought" The fox looked towards the sky for a moment before he refocused his vision on Luca
While Luca and John were training, thousands of miles away, at the heart of the continent was an enormous city that spanned out for 200 miles in every direction. Each building was beautifully crafted in elegant pure white stone, with a symbol of 6 angel wings, 3 on each side, with a halo on top crafted from gold and silver. This symbol was on every house. The city walls were 600 meters tall and 300 meters thick. The walls completely surround the city in a square where each side had 15 towers and a gate that was made from a mysterious metal with Salvon words engraved in the metal. The name of this city was Taitos
In the center of the city was a castle that was on top of a 1000 meter tall and 1500 meter wide mountain. The top of the mountain was completely flat and straight. The castle was 800 meters long, 400 meters wide, and 300 meters tall. The 300-meter tall castle walls surrounded the castle in a rectangle. There are 4 layers of walls that protect the castle.
In the throne room sits a 7-foot tall man. He has blonde hair and golden eyes. His pearl white skin has a slight holy glow to it. His face is so handsome that one could mistake him for a god. His symmetrical body is the perfect combination of a toned athlete and a bodybuilder. His clothes can barely contain his powerful muscles. Behind his back are 6 beautiful and strong white feathered wings. Three on each side, fully extended they reach 5 meters long. This is the Emperor of the Holy Alas Empire. His name is Sanctus Vita Alas.
An old man walks into the throne room with a report in his right hand, as he gets on one knee respectfully with his left hand on his chest.
"My emperor, last night we sensed a devil bloodline ritual. It came from the unexplored forested area southwest, at the border of our empire. The problem is that the energy the devil gave off was equivalent to a high-blood. We're not sure if this a plot from the devil king or if a fool did a ritual without any space seals. If the energy from the ritual was leaked out accidentally or intentionally is unknown."
The Emperor put his hand on his chin, with a contemplating expression.
"Either way it's a filthy devil, so I want you to send archangel Renzo and his blood angle squad. Tell him to scout the area, if he finds the high-blood alone kill it. If it's a trap set up by Septimus then gather as much info and retreat back to the border."
The emperor's voice was enchanting and powerful. With a calm demeanor the whole time. But this was irreverent to the old man whose face was drained of blood as he lost his composure, a hint of fear in his eyes. With his back drenched in cold sweat when the name Renzo was mentioned. He didn't even notice that the emperor had finished talking.
Sanctus wasn't surprised by this and simply blew some breath towards the old man who fell backwards from the buff of air.
"Sorry my emperor, ill get it done immediately!"
The old man was embarrassed as he walked out passing down the order so fast that many were surprised that the old man could still be this fast.