Milas and Asher were silently walking through the hallways of the classroom block. Milas was still trying to understand what Master Sanim had meant and Asher didn't know what to say to help. The only thing he could do was to stay quiet and let Milas contemplate in peace.
"I have to leave for class but we can meet later." Asher said to Milas who only nodded and kept walking as Asher made a right turn. Milas heard the bell ringing and used the small arrow to head to the blood ability class. He was the first person to reach the massive hall so he leaned on a wall and continued thinking about what happened earlier.
'It can't be a coincidence that I got warned by both Deogratius and Master Sanim. I know that Deogratius doesn't say things directly so that I can figure them out myself. I don't know why Master Sanim would go out of his way to warn me but I don't trust him entirely. If he owes Deogratius then it makes sense but that could be a lie.
The chances of him being in cahoots with whoever is after me are high enough to not trust him. I still don't know who is after me so I guess I'll follow his advice and trust no one. I may be unprepared for whatever is to come but the one thing Deogratius taught me well was how to adapt to situations.
The best way to start would be to find out who sent those two third year students to attack me. And that would mean getting the information from the only survivor. I can't believe I'm crazy enough to think of hunting a third year student. I guess Deogratius has been influencing me more than I thought." Milas finally had a goal even though it was short term.
The door to the hall burst open and a steady stream of students flowed in. Milas caught everyone's attention as they had heard about what happened. Everyone honestly expected him to have been expelled for murder and it came as a shock to see him standing there like nothing happened. Someone else had also seen him and she was pushing people aside to reach him.
"It's good that you're here. I need beat you up to remind you that I'm superior even if you managed to kill a third year." Aileen looked more hyper than Step as she had already balled her fists.
"I won't fight you till I deem you worthy. I wouldn't want to accidentally destroy my punching bag." Milas replied and instantly jumped back to avoid the punch Aileen had thrown. A second punch was thrown and Step was the one who caught Aileen's hand. Milas didn't need protecting but he did appreciate having two girls fight because of him. It gave him a strange sense of achievement.
Miss Priscilla chose that moment to walk in. She was dressed in a black and red dress with long sleeves that exposed her back. She looked stunning and Milas would usually stare but something felt off about her. He shook his head slightly like he was chasing away drowsiness and his vision cleared. Miss Priscilla no longer looked as beautiful as she did a second ago.
Milas realized that he must have been charmed by her just like last time. Milas realized that the charm skill was really terrifying as he now saw that Miss Priscilla looked old enough to be his mother. He was disgusted by the fact that he had lewd thoughts about someone that much older than him. His charmed self didn't notice the age difference just like most of the students who were still staring at her. Not even the girls could resist the charm skill.
"It's nice to see that more of you managed to resist." Miss Priscilla said and everyone seemed to snap out of the daze they were in. "Today's lesson will be simple and relaxing but it is very important. You will be connecting with your blood crystal and learning how to actively circulate blood aura through your body."
Everyone perked up their ears as the use of blood abilities began with this single step. Milas was also curious and couldn't wait for Miss Priscilla to continue.
"I need you all to sit down crosslegged or just stay in the position you find most comfortable." Miss Priscilla paused and let everyone take their positions before she continued. "I know that all of you know that you don't have a heartbeat but I need you to focus on the pulsing. Visualize each pulse spreading energy through your veins. Then get into a rhythm with the pulsing and spreading of energy. The next step is to guide the spread throughout your body. Today's challenge will be to channel as much energy as possible to your eyes and stop when the pain becomes unbearable. Now get to it."
Milas was already crosslegged and he closed his eyes focusing on his pulsing blood crystal. It didn't take Milas a long time to sense the spread of energy and connect to the blood crystal. He had already done this before when he made the blood needle. He decided to form a much deeper connection by focusing more on the blood crystal instead of the spread of energy. He was deep in meditation when he heard a voice echoing in his head.
"This is good, it helps us communicate without me using my energy." The deep beast like voice was unmistakeably Van's. Milas didn't know how to talk to the phoenix without anyone else hearing.
"You don't have to worry about it since I can hear your thoughts when we're connected like this." Van lay Milas' worries to rest and continued. "I need you to find mana crystals soon because communicating like this won't be suitable during emergencies."
"I don't give two fucks about those mana crystals. You got me trouble and you think that I'm going to forget it just cause you helped me once. I'm being hunted by people I don't know because they want to avenge the guy that you killed. So don't complain about me not finding mana crystals." Milas said to Van who only seemed to care about some stupid mana crystals.
"I already told you that the fastest way to get stronger is to use mana crystals and getting stronger will help you survive whatever your enemies have planned." Van tried to reason with Milas since he didn't really have a choice.
"And where am I supposed to find mana crystals? Last time I checked the school doesn't own a mine." Milas knew that Van wouldn't stop pressuring him to find crystals so Milas was going to let him solve the problem of acquiring them.
"Just how stupid are you? Did you ever stop and observe your surroundings closely? The lights are made from mana crystals with runes inscribed on them. The runes turn them into lights by forcing the mana in the crystal to glow brightly but it also spends the mana faster than usual." Van had offered the perfect solution. Milas wanted him to shut up about the crystal stuff and he knew that no one would mind if a few lights went missing.
"Now that we're through with that, I'll teach you a little trick that can help with your charm skill." Van said and proceeded to explain the little trick. "It has been proven that it's easier for the charm skill to work on someone who is influenced by fear. Therefore this trick is good for implementing fear. Just do as you've been instructed by the teacher but I want you to focus the energy on your skin. Gather as much energy as you can and when it becomes unbearable you let it out. Don't let it return into your veins, make it leave through the pores on your skin."
Milas was sceptical at first but Van managed to convince him after a short back and forth. Milas was trying to concentrate the energy to his skin but he encountered a massive problem. His skin was spread evenly across his body and it was too thin to store energy. Van refused to assist him with this so that he could use his brain.
Milas tried so many methods. He would focus the energy on the skin of his torso but it would continue spreading through his veins when he focused on his lower body. The process was mentally taxing but he finally figured out a way to do it. He first gathered the energy into his blood crystal before releasing it with a powerful pulse. He then sent weaker but much faster pulses to push the first pulse to his skin. The effect was instant and felt like he had been standing in the sun for a couple of hours.
"Now!" Van suddenly yelled in Milas' mind. Milas forced the energy out through the pores on his skin. The process had to be forced at first but the energy began escaping on its own. Milas could hear audible gasps all around him and he was about to open his eyes but there was excess energy. He quickly guided it to his eyes before opening them as he stood up.
Aileen was staring at Milas just like everyone else in the hall. The teenager was surrounded by a thick red mist that could easily be mistaken for crimson flames. The mist had a dangerous aura of its own like it was a thin cover that hid a deadly threat. Aileen couldn't even see Milas' face through it and even his hair seemed to have become one with the mist. Two bright lights shone from where Milas' eyes would be and Aileen felt afraid. She was suddenly doubting her earlier decision of picking a fight with this devil.
The devil in question was listening to Van's fading voice. "Congratulations kid, you learned how to use blood mist."