Aphrodite, who was on the side, squinted her eyes when the tattoo glowed. Her face lost all the playfulness and nonchalance.
"The Moon Curse!" She exclaimed under her breath. "How did he get it? I need to stop it, or it will kill him. He's my only hope."
She was about to move but abruptly stood still. Shocks could be seen written all over her face.
Blaze felt a cooling sensation flowing through his body. Suddenly, he became like a mana sponge. He absorbed mana at an insane rate as the tattoo glowed under the moonlight. Estimating the amount of mana he could feel flowing through his body, he concluded that he was absorbing mana three times his former rate.
'So, that's the use of the bloodline,' Blaze thought before resuming his mama absorption. However, before he continued, he said to Aphrodite, "Inform me if anybody is coming."
Aphrodite nodded, but her thoughts were disarrayed. Her eyes wandered to the blue marking that covered his arms and part of his chest. Numerous thoughts swam in her head.
Without wasting time, he focused on absorbing more mana. He could feel his strength rising, but he kept a calm heart not to be intoxicated by the new power. Three hours later, he felt pain in some of his veins.
"I guess I've reached my limit for tonight." He opened his eyes and gazed at the moon. Everybody has a time limit at which they can keep absorbing mana without a break. When the body receives the warning of pain from the veins, it's a sign of reaching the body's limit. It resets after the veins stop releasing pain. Most times six hours later.
Blaze stopped because he didn't know the side effects of foolishly trying to break the body's limit. Isabella taught them about the signs of the body reaching its limit but did not delve into the side effects. However, Blaze forgot that all the students started absorbing mana by the age of ten; although some started earlier. So, they have experienced the side effects of breaking the body's limits.
The glowing tattoos finally dimmed down, returning to their state of being unimpressive, common blue tattoos.
"One more thing before going to bed," Blaze said under his breath before sending mana from his core through his veins, to his hand. That was the last thing Isabella taught the class. To identify your awoken element. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult.
He kept staring at his open palm with high expectations. Moisture started condensing slowly in his palm. It started from a droplet before swelling. From the current reaction, he knew the element he had awoken, but he delusionally waited for a miracle to happen. The slow process took like forever before a water sphere, the size of a baseball, slowly formed in his palm. The blob of water sphere was bubbling steadily on his palm, almost dispersing.
The appearance of the water sphere made his face contort into a nasty grimace. His cheek kept twitching. He wanted to awaken the fire element: the king of destruction. Even ice is manageable.
"Water is not bad," Aphrodite said with a laugh that made him nearly slap her to death.
"I don't want to be a cook," Blaze muttered under his breath before dispersing the water. His insufficient mana made the process strenuous.
Aphrodite turned her head and stared at the moon hanging in the sky. "It's because you haven't seen the destructive power of water," she said with a space-out face. "Moreover, if you develop more control, you can convert it to ice or steam. Ice and water are the same, just different states. The various states of water made its application versatile."
Blaze thought and nodded in agreement. He was about to jump off the tree to sleep when a vortex of darkness formed around his palm. It made him halt his steps.
"Necromancy!" Aphrodite exclaimed before her lips morphed into a pleasant smile. "Looks like you're lucky. Dual awakening."
"Another problem. This school only teaches light magic. Dark magic is off the picture," Blaze said calmly without displaying any expression.
"I could teach you," Aphrodite offered while swinging her legs as she sat on a branch.
"What do you want?" Blaze asked her warily. The 'good Samaritan' is not part of his vocabulary. Free lunch is an illusion. He only knows one word–favor.
"What makes you think I'm doing this because I need something from you?" Aphrodite asked and peered at Blaze with interest while smiling.
"From my experience, nothing is free in life. Life is all about give and take. If somebody does something important for you, they take it either in secret or in the open, or they might use it as leverage against you," Blaze said while jumping off the tree.
Aphrodite disappeared and appeared next to him.
Aphrodite's eyes narrowed as she looked at Blaze skeptically. "You're just a kid," she said dismissively.
Blaze ignored her and continued walking.
"But your philosophy is intriguing," Aphrodite continued, her tone softening. "In a world of profit, nothing is free. I'll teach you for free, though," she said with a sweet smile.
Blaze did not spare her a glance. "That's your business," he said curtly. He climbed onto his bed and pulled the blanket up to his chin, turning away from Aphrodite. She could hear his breathing slow as he drifted off to sleep.
"The way he sleeps as soon as his head hits the pillow baffles me. His defensive posture while sleeping is fascinating. Anywhere I attack from, he could react quickly. He pretends to be careless around me, but he's always on guard. I wonder what he has experienced to develop his skills, demeanor, maturity, and composed character," Aphrodite muttered with a look of curiosity flashing past her eyes as she stared intently at the sleeping Blaze.
–––
Meanwhile, in the palace of the Tower Empire…
The king's voice was low and dangerous as he leaned forward on his throne. "What did you say happened to my son?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. The soldier felt the weight of the king's gaze, and his back became drenched with sweat. The silence in the throne room was thick, broken only by the sound of the king's breathing. The soldier swallowed nervously before finally answering, his voice shaking.
"He was killed by a boy who awoke his forbidden bloodline," the soldier who chased Blaze into the forest, said with his head bowed while kneeling. He quaked in his boots.
"What did you say?" the king roared, making the ground of the palace tremble fiercely. Mana swirled around him like the sea of stars surrounding the sun.
"He… he… was murdered by a—"
The king asked abruptly with impatience visible in his eyes, "Did you get him?"
"No. He—"
"Ahhh!" The earth surrounding the palace and beyond quaked with the yell of the king, breaking the serenity of the quiet night.
After dispelling some of his anger, the king calmed down. He stood up slowly and asked, "What about the fight that occurred in the village?"
"It's his elder sister. She got buried in flames with the general." The soldier assumed Blaze's relationship with Helen, so as not to anger the king for being ignorant. If he replies that he doesn't know about their relationship, maybe his head might roll.
"Go meet Arman to draw his face. I want to place the highest bounty on his head. If I don't do this, perhaps those nobles will think I've grown soft," the king said with squinted eyes and clenched teeth.
"My king, don't you think he would have been long gone," the soldier asked.
The king abruptly turned and peered at him deeply. The pressure surrounding the soldier suddenly increased twofold.
"I… I… His face was covered with mud," the soldier stuttered and confessed, knowing that if he lied currently, when the truth comes to light, he might be charged with being an accomplice.
"What can you accomplish?" The king's voice boomed through the throne room, his anger palpable. He tilted the heel of his left foot, and a cubic pillar of compacted rock erupted from the ground beneath the soldier. The force of the impact launched the soldier into the air like a missile, and he crashed into the hard ceiling of the palace before falling weakly to the ground. Blood spilled from his mouth, staining his armor, which was now badly dented. The soldier struggled to get to his feet, his movements wobbly and unsteady.
Anger made the chest of the king rapidly rise and down.
He calmed down after a while and asked again, "Do you know the outline of his face?"
"Ye… yes. He has long hair and a—"
"Tell that to Arman. Inform the scout guards to scour the Empire and look for that forbidden bloodline animal. Spread your search to the Dragon Empire and the rest empires," the king ordered without any expression on his face. Nobody will believe the king was furious and yelling, a moment ago.
"If we enter the next empire, they might mistake it as a sign of war," the soldier raised his head and advised with pleading eyes.
The king's smile was cold and cruel as he spoke. "If those bastard kings hear of a forbidden bloodline appearing, they would do anything to have him," he said, his voice dripping with malice. The king's eyes gleamed with a dangerous light as he leaned forward on his throne, his gaze fixed on the soldier. "Carry out the previous orders," he said, his words laced with venom. The soldier flinched, his face pale with fear, before nodding shakily and backing away.