I regret my decision.
I will probably die today.
The moment a saw Marian exit his room with huge eyebags and a case full of vials filled with the same transparent liquid as the one I drank two days ago.
Yes, my idea was to bombard me with Vlad's killing intent until I can consciously release my purple flame…or at least feel it.
Well, even resisting Vlad's killing intent would be very good.
When I arrived at the training grounds Marian and Vlad were already there.
"Well, good luck!" – Said Marian giving me a flask.
"Thanks!" – I downed it.
I waited for a minute and then ran towards Vlad!
[…]
My muscles stopped working midway. He also ran towards me and I blacked out.
I didn't notice it at all by Marian said that my flame activated though.
[…]
The third time I didn't move but only tried to remain rational and conscious while Vlad was slowly advancing towards me.
He was like death itself.
[…]
The tenth attempt was better. I managed to persist for ten whole steps and in the end, I felt something inside of me.
A spark? The Flame? Spasm of vomiting? I wasn't sure but it was better than nothing.
[…]
The twentieth dive into killing intent went super well. I managed to persist for fourteen steps and I clearly sensed the origin of the flame.
Unfortunately, I lost my consciousness immediately after.
[…]
The origin was right in my heart. This confirmed Marian's hypothesis the purple fruit altering my body and bloodline.
During every attempt after the twentieth, I tried to meditate under the pressure from Vlad's fourteenth step.
[…]
On the fortieth try, I managed to persist for a few minutes under the pressure and killing intent.
[…]
All the further attempts I wasn't able to persist more than one step.
"You reached your limit. Now you must rest. Meditate." – Told me Marian.
Vlad told me that I did very well. He was paler than usual. Probably it was slightly straining even for him to continuously release killing intent and pressuring the enemy around fifty times.
But the gains were huge.
First, I survived.
Second, I felt the flame inside my body.
Third, I can now resist a lot of killing intent and pressure.
Fourth, my mind is still intact.
I think that my chances during the upcoming competitions are slowly rising up.
[…]
I took some books from Marian's room today.
A bit of fiction, some legends, and something about history.
//From "History of Astria."//
- By general convention, the year 0 corresponds to the year when Krizard von Alten established the first kingdom on the continent. The period before that date is generally named "Chaos Age".
*Now is the year 3159.
-Krizard was half-human, half-dragon. He lived for 300 years and managed to expand his domain covering nearly all the continent. He had no descendants.
*Probably because he had the same fertility of dragons: very low.
- After his death, in the year 306, the kingdom was divided by his generals: Zareb Mortis took control of the western Astria, Kaliose, The Frozen King, took the northern mountains, Maria Gillinham suppressed the southern lands, and the Crimson Lord took control of the eastern deserts.
- In 317 Zareb attacked Maria's domain. A year later Kaliose also entered the strife. In early 318 Crimson Lord closed completely his domain and never again participated in the wars of Astria.
- The conflict went on for thirty-seven years. In 354 Kaliose and Maria killed each other in the battle of Gremward. Zareb quickly took control of their territories and founded the Mortis Empire.
- The Empire reigned until 739. Through some records, it was confirmed that Zareb Mortis found a way to possess the bodies of his descendants, so it would be wrong to say that ever existed a Mortis Dynasty, since every ruler was possessed by Zareb in person.
- In 739 the Empire ended because of unknown causes and in 743 was founded the Radiant Dominion controlled by a council of Elders.
- In 798 the council of Elders was destroyed by Rodrigo Esarda, a young general of the dominion. In 800 he founded the Radiant Empire with him as the first emperor.
At this point, I grew bored and stopped reading history for today. There was another book that I curious about.
//From "Legends and Epics. Chapter X."
The day Crisangerjom was born Astria itself trembled in pain. Gods descended leading their mighty armies. They felt that it would be the first and last chance to destroy the Son of Scorched Earth.
Almighty Ze launched his strongest weapon, the Spear of Down.
God of Death Demetri summoned his Divine Avatar to extinguish Crisangerjom's soul and live itself.
Elemental Kings launched natural disasters of apocalyptic proportions.
Arrows fell like a tempest.
God of Sun and Moon God fused, and the Burning Moon fell on Astria to crush the Devourer of Deities.
But nothing worked.
He was born from Astria, corrupted by the Scorched Earth. Nothing could kill him.
Spear of Down was broken.
Divine Avatar of Death God was crushed.
Elemental Kings exhausted.
Sun and Moon sacrificed.
Then the hope was no more, finally, the High God Aleros made his move. He absorbed the powers of all the fallen deities and tore Crisangerjom into infinite pieces. Every piece was remodeled and sealed with the powers of all gods.
Aleros sacrificed himself.
From the Devourer of Deities pieces all the known races were born, and Astria as we know it now appeared.
I closed the book. 'So, the idea is that every race started from the same point and same ancestors?'
'Must be pretty cool to have some latent godly powers in you…well, I'm from another world so I guess this doesn't matter to me anyway.'
At this point the exhaustion overpowered me.
For a second I thought about meditating for a bit, but as I closed my eyes, I immediately fell asleep.