As soon as Lev and Titania entered the Council Headquarters, his body instinctively stopped short as if some greater force was telling him not to enter. No matter how hard he tried to step inside, his legs were frozen in place. 'What's going on?' Lev asked himself, staring at Titania who had been grabbing the edge of his shirt all this time. She was meekly following behind Lev, not wanting to trust any people she met since she was that wary of the Main Earthers.
"Is something wrong, Lev? Are you all right?" Titania whispered behind him, not wanting to be overheard by others.
"Yes, I'm fine. My body froze up for a second back there. It usually does that when I'm in trouble... or if I'm about to encounter trouble... wait, how do I know that?" Lev asked himself, confused. In any case, after a few seconds of being frozen, he managed to take another step forward and they finally entered the Headquarters Council without much trouble.
Carl and Ivan, who had been tagging along right behind the two, were about to push Lev forward since he stopped moving. Who knows what he's plotting, stopping like that?
The reception area of the Council Headquarters resembled the grand ballroom of an ancient castle, with its grand stairs in the shape of a horseshoe, leading to the second floor with a balcony in its interior. Purple curtains royally draped in all corners of the first floor, covering the huge windows on the walls. In the middle of the stairs was where the receptionist was located, behind a counter made from fine mahogany wood, sanded and polished to perfection.
"Greetings, welcome to the Council Headquarters," The receptionist amicable greeted with a slight bow. Lev and Titania bowed in response.
'Even the customs from way back are still being applied today, huh.' Lev told himself.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp stinging pain in his back, followed by a throbbing headache that made him collapse on the counter. His vision dimmed, and he could feel his inner Carnage-Class emerging.
'What's going on?! Calm down, me!' Lev told himself, gritting his teeth to the point that they chattered violently. His eyes grew bloodshot, and an intense bloodthirst emanated from his body, causing the other people in the reception area to flinch and put some space between them and him. Lev couldn't understand why his Carnage-Class was acting up nor could he think up a reason why. 'Is this normal? Are there days when Carnage-class humans need to vent out their anger? Do I need to attack someone to satiate my violent side?
All those questions swam in Lev's head as Titania nervously hugged him from behind. She couldn't comprehend why the usual calm and collected Lev would go berserk in a public place. He didn't even go berserk during their stay in the spaceport and that had a hundred times more people compared to now. "Lev, calm down!" Titania growled, hugging him even tighter.
"Get away from me, Titania, I don't know what's going on." Lev hissed, his teeth still chattering as he tried to suppress the raging emotions that overwhelmed him inside.
"No, you have to calm down!" Titania didn't hear a single word Lev said, or maybe she was just trying to be decisive about it.
Crack!
At that moment, Lev felt like something in his mind cracked, causing him to lose consciousness in an instant.
Apparently, he overlooked a certain trait that Carnage-Class humans have. It's not because their class needs to vent out anger from time to time. Of course, there will be unavoidable times like that when anger got into a certain Carnage-Class human, but right now, such wasn't the case. Right now, something in Lev's head warned him not to take another step into the Council Headquarters. This triggered a chain reaction that led him to recall a fragment of memory he had lost as soon as he transmigrated.
.....
When Lev opened his eyes, he saw himself in a grayish room, well more like an opaque room where a blurry area was evident. He squinted his eyes to get a better view of the blurry part but his curiosity was soon answered when he saw himself as a teenager, holding a wooden sword in hand.
"Good form, channel your inner rage, don't let it control you." A man with a gray beard and white hair called out, balancing a Greatsword in hand and swinging it forward, matching the boy's training.
Of course, Lev immediately recognized who the boy was. Obviously, it looked exactly like him when he was a teenager. With a grunt, Lev swung the sword forward, but at that point, he let his anger get the better of him and the wooden sword dug to the ground, causing it to crack.
The crack branched out until a nearby tree was caught in its way. The tree then split in two and broke apart. With a resounding creaky noise, the tree then leaned forward ever so slowly as it got uprooted. Lev watched in horror as his actions caused the death of a tree.
"And there goes my favorite Cherry Blossom Tree." The man said, patting Lev on the head. "I know how hard it is to control your anger because both your classes are polar opposite. But trust me, son, you are gifted. Don't let that gift ruin you. instead, build up from it and become a better man than your grandfather."
"Can I really become— become someone like you, Grandfather?"
"Of course! In fact, in the ways of the sword and the elements, you're already way ahead of me. The only thing you're lacking is control... control yourself, control that emotion of yours, turn your power into strength, rein it in. I know you can do it."
"O-okay,"
"Honey, are you still training? It's already noon for Pete's sake!" A lady with white hair called out. Lev could only assume that she was his grandmother. "Come eat, I've already set the table... even though I asked of you to set it up while I was cooking." She continued, glaring at her husband.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Every time we train, Lev just keeps getting better and better. I can't really help it, you know." Lev's grandfather scratched his head.