"So this is how controlling bloodlust feels like…" Flynn said apathetically in an icy, spine-chilling cold voice.
"It's certainly an interesting experience…" Aiden replied, his lively emerald green eyes completely cold and devoid of all emotions.
Both brothers kept staring at each other for a while with completely emotionless eyes and without even a single word spoken between both of them, they immediately directed their bloodlust towards each other.
However, to their surprise, they felt nothing.
Both of them tried it once again and just like before, they felt nothing again.
"Huh…" Aiden voiced, his eyes still carrying its emotionless feel.
"Guess they cancel each other out" Flynn spoke, his tone of speech still laced with an icy feel too.
"Well, I guess we've found a way to mitigate master's bloodlust" Aiden spoke in a blank tone devoid of emotions.
"I guess we have" Flynn replied, his green aquamarine eyes carrying nothingness in them.
As Aiden and Flynn kept exploring the new experience they were having, the back door of the mansion opened to reveal Ivar walking casually towards both of them.
"Hey guys! Your mum asked if-"
Ivar was not even able to complete his statement because the moment he stepped onto the grassy field from the concrete pavement, he felt an inexplicable sense of dread crawl up his skin and was glued to the spot he stood in as his eyes made contact with Flynn and Aiden's apathetic eyes.
Aiden and Flynn upon realizing what they had done, blinked their eyes a few times and as soon as they did, color and life returned to their eyes. They then immediately stood up while rushing over to Ivar.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha…"
Ivar immediately collapsed to the floor while panting heavily and watched as both brothers ran up to him swiftly with very worried looks on their faces.
"Are you okay man?" Aiden immediately asked while supporting Ivar's weight on one arm while Flynn supported the other.
"We're so sorry about that Ivar. It was a mistake on our part" Flynn quickly apologized while moving Ivar over to the small stairs that led up to the concrete pavement along with Aiden and helping him sit down on the highest one.
After catching his breath and recomposing himself, Ivar asked carefully with a bit of apprehension.
"What- What was that?"
"That Ivar, is what Flynn and I have had to go through every day for the past five months" Aiden responded.
"You mean bloodlust?" Ivar questioned.
"Yeah. We just got the hang of it a few minutes ago and were exploring how it works. Sorry again for the sudden wave of bloodlust you must've felt man" Flynn replied.
"Wow… That's amazing… and also terrifying. Dreadfully terrifying!" Ivar said while wiping the beads of sweat away from his forehead before he then continued.
"It was way worse than the one Kai had released"
"Probably because you felt both of our bloodlust at the exact same time…" Flynn responded again.
"You guys should've seen your faces. It looked like you were completely emotionless and yet still felt so exceptionally dangerous. You looked exactly like Butler Frank when he's training you" Ivar said, his hands gesticulating slightly to explain what he had seen and experienced.
"That's actually quite worrying now that you say it like that but to be fair, Kai had also looked exactly like that when he emitted his too" Aiden replied with a thoughtful look after which he then immediately asked.
"That aside though, what exactly was it that you had come out to tell us before our wave of bloodlust had stopped you?"
"Yeah. You were saying something about our mum?" Flynn inquired further.
"Oh that! She asked if you wanted to play the piano with her?" Ivar responded casually.
"Piano? It's been ages since I heard her play it! Sure, we'd love to join her!" Aiden responded with a vibrant smile.
"It sure would be nice to know how to play it" Flynn replied with interest while getting up.
"But before that, we're gonna need to take a shower" he immediately added, to which Aiden gave a slight nod.
After heading back into the mansion and ensuring that Ivar was completely alright, both brothers headed to their respective rooms to freshen up.
Flynn however after freshening up and before going to meet his mum along with Aiden, decided to branch into the laboratory to check on Ivelia and just as he had expected, she was fast asleep.
The dark circles under her eyes had become even more prominent and her now short, shoulder-length hair, was messily scattered across her face.
She still had her lab coat on and her head was placed on her crossed arms which was on the workbench, a few health potions and other apparatuses just a few inches away from her.
Flynn just sighed at this and moved towards her to gently raise her up.
He then removed her scrunched up lab coat and began to carry her into her room, all while ensuring that he made as little noise as possible to prevent her from waking up.
After entering her room and placing her on the bed gently while covering her with her blanket, Flynn quietly said to her as he left the room, a bit of worry noticeable in his voice.
"You really should take better care of yourself Ivelia…"
After leaving Ivelia's room, Flynn headed straight for their mum's fairly large art studio and upon getting there, could hear his mum and Aiden seemingly having a conversation about which score they were going to play.
Upon opening the door, he asked curiously.
"So, which one have you settled on?"
"We're not sure just yet. Come sweetie, come sit here" Anna said while gesturing to her son to sit beside her by lightly tapping on the space beside her on the long, leathered piano stool.
***
Flynn sat down on the ground in a lotus position, his concentration levels completely at its maximum as he continued to slowly drip the mana from his surroundings into his veins.
He kept doing this for the next two hours and as he was about to reach the third hour mark, he suddenly felt a sensation he had never felt before.
Suddenly, the mana he had been slowly dripping into his veins like a tap, instantly began gushing forth in a torrential and unrestrained manner, cascading forth with an unyielding force and powerful intensity.
Flynn widened his eyes at this at the realization of what had just occurred.
He had finally completed the formation of his mana veins!!!
As a result, he was now currently experiencing an euphoric feeling that could only be described as being light as a feather or floating on the clouds.
Everything was so much clearer to him, his body so much lighter and his perception of his surroundings was so much brighter.
It was as if mana itself had taken a liking to him and was constantly flowing into almost every pore in his body and straight into his body's vessels.
But more than that, Flynn felt his core rank immediately reach and advance past mid-tier C-rank while rushing straight towards high-tier C-rank.
The circle around his core was getting so unbelievably thick as compared to the previously thin line that was surrounding it before and Flynn had realized that in maybe two to three months, he would advance to high-tier C-rank as opposed to the usual five to six months.
"What the hell?!!!" he muttered to himself in amazement.
It was around 11pm at night and even though he knew that everyone would probably be sleeping by now, Flynn immediately walked out of his room and headed straight to Aiden's room.
Flynn upon reaching his brother's room, didn't even knock on it or ask for permission and just immediately barged in.
He also was not particularly surprised to see that Aiden, just like him, was also awake and was about to remove his shirt, possibly to take a another bath or shower.
"Flynn?! What gives man!" Aiden immediately complained, his voice very silent even with the perplexed look on his face.
"I did it! I completed the mana vein formation!!!" Flynn immediately said while completely ignoring and disregarding his brother's complaint, his pitch slightly higher than normal due to his excitement.
Aiden who heard this, had his eyes widen in surprise at what Flynn had just told him and without even skipping a beat, he immediately asked in curiosity, his own immense excitement mirroring Flynn's.
"So, how does it feel?! Did you notice any major changes?! Gimme the deets man!!!"
"Oh there are some BIG changes alright!" Flynn responded excitedly.
Flynn then began to explain to Aiden just how he was feeling in detail and also explained that he had advanced by one more tier and would soon even break into the next tier in the next few months.
"Oh oh!!! This is so fascinating and exciting!" Aiden said while rubbing his palms together excitedly.
"I know right! Haha! I'm on cloud nine right now bro!" Flynn said with an even more excited face.
"I'm so happy for you man!" Aiden said with a wide grin on his face.
"Thanks. I appreciate it!" Flynn replied with a smile filled with gratitude.
"I have to say though, because I am quite curious…" Aiden muttered aloud with a thoughtful look that replaced his previously excited one.
"About what?" Flynn asked.
Why isn't mine done yet?" Aiden inquired curiously, his fingers placed on his chin.
"Ah, I see…" Flynn began after which he then replied casually.
"That's probably because I always keep doing the mana vein training until I'm completely spent"
Aiden suddenly frowned at this after which he then spoke in a scolding tone.
"You really should be careful you know. Something might have gone wrong if you so much as lost your concentration for even a single minute you know!"
"I know. I know" Flynn replied, after which he then immediately continued.
"But I have to catch up with you if I want to have any chance of making your future tribulations easier. I can't afford to take it easy" Flynn responded in a resolute voice.
"Haaaa… You're seriously reckless. You know that right?" Aiden sighed and said in resignation.
"I know" Flynn replied nonchalantly.
A brief silence was shared between both brothers but after a while, Aiden spoke up with another big smile.
"But damn! Those mana veins are crazy! Very soon man! I'll also be done with mine very soon too"
"I can't wait!" Flynn replied with a genuine smile.
After this, both brothers once again began to discuss how amazing the mana veins were and eventually, after one more hour conversing with each other, Flynn left Aiden's room upon realizing that they would still need a good night's rest considering their training sessions in the morning.
A week later, after Flynn completed the formation of his mana veins, Aiden also completed his, and just like Flynn, the effects had been immediately obvious as Aiden immediately advanced to high-tier B-rank.
However, it would still take a while for him to ascend to A-rank because it was the next level in mana core rank but nevertheless, Aiden had surmised that before the novel's plot eventually began in the next few months, he would be a low-tier A-ranker.