A few weeks ago, a figure sat on a chair while sipping the wine in their hand in an unknown place. Suddenly, they clicked their tongue while crushing the stem of the wine glass. "It seems that minion of mine failed."
The figure then stood up while stepping on the glass they broke. The sound of broken glass being crushed resounded within the room. "Do I send more minions, or do I do it myself?"
After a while, the figure laughed loudly while palming its head. A large, insane smile appeared on their face. "Doing it myself… seems more fun! HAHAHA!"
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"But sometimes, you must be in a life or death situation before you realize your limitations."
Grace looked at Caspian coldly, causing him to shudder as his heartbeat quickened. He didn't expect his mom to just attack him like that.
"Caspian, in this type of situation, you must stay calm. Now, I'll be going at you at a faster pace."
With a sudden gust of wind, at speeds almost as fast as the speed of sound, Grace swung her arm at Caspian. Caspian hadn't realized what had happened and was instantly thrown to the side with pain overwhelming his gut.
"As you've been experiencing life as a normal person, despite having the blood of a supernatural within you, you're not able to see or even sense any incoming attack from a supernatural."
Caspian could barely kneel as the pain overwhelmed him, but Grace didn't bother as she launched herself at Caspian. Instantly, Caspian was once again thrown to the side.
"An attack from a supernatural is harmful to you as you're newly awakened. Not only will I help you gain control over the power that you can't control, but I'll also be helping you improve your healing factor. But this will hurt a lot, so clench your teeth."
Grace started beating Caspian nonstop. As he experienced the beating, Caspian wanted to puke due to the pain, but before that could even happen, Grace had already put a stop to his actions as she repeatedly attacked him.
In the end, Caspian was on the verge of death, his lips quivering as he trembled. He couldn't help but look at his mom with fear as he thought, 'So this… is the might of a supernatural being…?'
Grace then grabbed a bag of red liquid from her bag and poked a hole in it with a finger. She then positioned it on Caspian's mouth as she said, "Here, drink this."
The red liquid poured down at Caspian's mouth. At first, the liquid tasted metallic, causing Caspian to feel uncomfortable as he thought, 'T-this is blood!'
The thought of drinking blood disgusted Caspian, and he wanted to vomit, but his mother stopped it by pushing her hand onto his chest. Then finally, the discomfort he felt vanished as he had an ecstatic expression on his face.
His eyes slightly glowed red as he hungrily drank the blood. His body started healing, and all of the bruises and wounds slowly disappeared. The previous beaten Caspian disappeared as he looked incredibly vigorous.
As soon as he could move his arms, he instantly tried to grab the bag of blood, but Grace simply broke both of his arms, causing him to scream. "Blood addiction is no good to any vampire who wants to blend in with society."
Caspian started spasming as Grace held him down. She just frowned while gritting her teeth as she whispered, "I didn't want you to experience this. But since you want to help, you'll need to endure this pain."
Minutes passed by, and Caspian soon calmed down. He started breathing raggedly as he looked at his mom while saying in a weak voice, "What happened…?"
"You went into blood berserk, an occurrence when a vampire or a newly awakened dhampir consumes blood."
"I see…. I can't move my arms…?" Caspian weakly said as he tried moving.
"Wait for a moment. Your arms are still healing. I had to break them, or else you would've gone on a rampage."
"I didn't think being a supernatural would be this painful, haha," Caspian laughed weakly as he lay on the ground.
Grace just smiled bitterly as she said, "It wouldn't have been, but since you want to join my unit, you need to be able to control your powers immediately. After all, you only have a month and a half of time before you go back to help us in the investigation."
Caspian just smiled as his arms started to heal slowly but surely. After about an hour or two, he managed to regain control over his body's movement as he sat down. Grace just looked at him worriedly, but she didn't let that show. She needs Caspian to be tough, so he can face all the challenges laid out to him head-on.
"Now that you've recovered, time to start the training again. You have to be able to withstand this much. Make sure to use your five senses to track me. The moment your reaction speed becomes faster, your perception of time becomes slower. With that happening, you'll be able to have slight control over your vampire abilities. As a dhampir who is more accustomed to his human half, you need to be able to go beyond the limits to access it."
Caspian nodded at Grace's explanation. He then steeled himself and prepared for the worst. Seeing Caspian's high alert, Grace couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry; this time, you just need to try and track me. I won't hurt you… yet."
Caspian was skeptical, but he sighed in relief. He had never experienced this much pain in one day, and they weren't even finished! And somehow, he fully recovered despite his severe injuries. 'Being a supernatural… it feels unreal.'
He then closed his eyes as he focused. After a while, he opened his eyes and steadily stared at Grace, who started moving at quick speeds. At first, it was somewhat manageable, but she sped up more and more, and Caspian's stamina slowly depleted. He could barely see Grace's afterimage.
One hour passed, and Caspian had sweat pouring all over his face. Despite the temperature not being hot, the sheer amount of willpower he had to use to keep up with Grace's movements was immense.
Another hour had passed, and Caspian just couldn't keep up any longer as he collapsed due to an intense headache. Seeing that, Grace stopped as she approached Caspian. She then smiled while ruffling Caspian's hair. She then said in a quiet voice, "That was pretty good, Caspian. You managed to see my afterimages when going at the speed of sound."
She then carried him and brought him to his quarters to rest.
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Grace leaned against the chair in her office. She had just done a lot of paperwork after Caspian collapsed. Then suddenly, the door opened. Grace sharply looked at the door, but the sharp look soon disappeared as she spoke, "Sean, didn't I tell you to knock on the door before you entered?"
"Sorry, cap, hehe," Sean scratched his head while entering the room. He then sat down on one of the sofas while crossing his legs.
Noticing the silence, Grace spoke, "So, did your wife beat the shit out of you?"
"Yes, ma'am. And I absolutely loved every single second of it!" Sean laughed with happiness apparent in his voice. Grace just looked at him with disgust as she said, "Ah shit, I forgot you're an absolute fucking weirdo."
"A reliable weirdo, I presume?" Sean said as he extended his index finger and thumb, making a finger gun.
Grace sighed while saying, "That is true. So… did you find out anything about 'Fallen'?"
As Grace mentioned that particular word, Sean's face became solemn. He might be a jokester, but when it comes to his job, he's absolutely serious. He then sat properly as he said in a quiet tone while discreetly looking around, "They're a bigger organization than we anticipated. I think we need to inform the director about this."
"What do you mean by bigger?"
"They had armies of supernaturals lying dormant. When I took the identity of the informant, I found their agenda. Annihilating all of the humans."
Grace's face paled as she heard that. She then said, "I thought they were just a rough gang at first… but it seems they are even more dangerous. We need to inform the director immediately. I think it's time for all the units to cooperate once more.
Sean nodded his head. Just after that conversation, the tense atmosphere disappeared as Grace said, "So, how was Caspian?"
Sean leaned back as he gave a thumbs up. "The lad is a combat genius. Although his aim is pretty terrible for a member of our unit, his close-quarter combat skills are terrifying. Even as a combat expert for decades, I struggled to win my fight against him without using any abilities!"
Grace then smiled proudly as she said, "Of course, what did you expect? He's my son, after all."
"Okay, never mind that I have a new job for you."
"Is it infiltration?"
"Yes, I need you to infiltrate fallen once again and find why they're killing half-bloods. Caspian also gave me some info, and all of the victims seemed to have Rh-null as their blood type. Find their agenda."
Sean then smiled as he seemed to morph his appearance. "Roger that."
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After a while, Caspian woke up in a daze. As he tried to sit down, he felt as if the whole world descended on his head as a massive headache plagued him. His irises were slowly turning red as he felt immense pain covering him.
Caspian was forced to lie back down as he covered his eyes since he felt as if the light was blinding him. His throat also felt like it was burning. Despite the burning sensation within him, he felt chilly all over as he grabbed the blanket and covered his body.
"What the hell is going on…!" Caspian said in a fit of struggle. But the pain and heat got worse over time. He then forced himself to stand up. As he grabbed unto the ledge of the bed, he felt as if he had pulled something out.
As he turned to look, he saw a fragment of the bed's wood frame. It seems that he managed to just chip the frame with his grip. He then said in shock, "What the fuck…?"