Carmilla sat on her bed in silence debating the biggest decision of her life. What to do with her parents? Things were rapidly spiraling out of control. The guard she let escape was long gone, off to tell everyone what he had witnessed.

Her parents were also becoming a problem.Carmilla’s mother fainted at the first sign of blood when the vampire took the guard’s neck.There was no sense in letting the blood go to waste after all.

She looked mournfully at her parents. Her father knelt defensively over her mother, shielding her from her daughter. Carmilla felt a pang of sadness as she turned to leave the room.

Her father whispered, “What do you intend to do?”

Stopping but not willing to look at him, she said, “I am going to show them what I’m capable of. We will never have to fear them. They will fear me.”

Carmilla gently closed the bedroom door behind her and left the house.She sprinted down the path until she met the angry mob halfway to town.They had armed themselves as best they could.

She wasn’t sure where they got the farm equipment from but the villages rushed at her wielding hoes and pitchforks. They also brought fire. Lots of fire.

Unfortunately, not a single one of the townsfolk were awakened and Carmilla Shaw had managed to attain level 50 in her pursuit of blood. She didn’t know about levels at the time but she felt them going up when she slept.

Her blood-fueled body was faster, stronger, and more agile than the peasants she faced that day. Any chance they had of overwhelming her though sheer numbers was lost the instant she made the first victim bleed.

From that point on she used blood as her weapon to draw more blood. In the end, the final victims died in a sea of red under a moonlit night. The flames of their torches had long since been extinguished.

Standing unblemished in the middle of the carnage, Carmilla shivered as it sunk in that she had just intentionally taken life for the first time in her life. There was work to be done on the bodies but first, she wanted to check on her parents and let them know that they were safe.

The house was eerily quiet when she returned. The door to her room was still closed but there were no sounds from within, not even to Carmilla’s sensitive ears.

She stood shocked in the doorway when she pushed the door open. Her father had tucked her mother into the bed and cradled her in his arms. The vampire knew they weren’t asleep. There was far too much blood for that.

I woke up to roaring laughter from Quetzalcoatl. That was a twist ending. I didn’t expect the parents to off themselves.

Byakku chuffed in his usual manner. A tragic ending indeed.

While I was pleased to see the two guardians getting along for a change, the topic was slightly annoying. Kalli echoed my thoughts. We don’t need the two of you analyzing our dreams, thank you very much.

Since we didn’t have astronomy on Tuesdays, Kalli didn’t have class until later. She walked with me anyway, chatting about her plans for the day. Wendy and Stefanie are taking me to do something with my hair. They tell me that I can also get a massage there but I told them that I prefer yours.

My face reddened at the compliment and Kalli noticed. She kissed me on the cheek and nestled into my shoulder. It was hard to walk that way but I liked it.

That sounds like fun. Are you doing this after school?

She nodded and gave me a sidelong glance. There wasn’t anything you wanted to do after school, was there?

Smiling, I shook my head and told her about my plans.

I still need to infuse those ingots for Chogu.

Mr. Ramsey met me at the gates when I got to The Academy. I waved goodbye to Kalli and followed the headmaster to the conference room where we had our interview on the first day. Offering me a seat, he asked, “Does your technique with the mana channels require open space or any other precautions?”

Thinking back to the few times I had used my skills, the only dangerous part of opening mana channels was the blowback when I touched the host’s core.

I explained this to Mr. Ramsey. “I just need a little space to fall back at the end. It’s not rough or anything. The core just kicks me out after a while.”

Nodding thoughtfully, he explained the class to me. “We are going to start light. I’ve gathered five patrons of the academy and I’d like you to do what you can for them. Don’t worry about seeing them all. They will all wait patiently for their turn even if you don’t get to them today. All I must insist on is that you see them in the order that I present them to you in. That is unless you have a compelling reason why you need to take them out of order.”

The rules seemed fair enough, so I agreed. I had no idea what to expect from both the class and the people that the headmaster planned on presenting me with.

Something buzzed in his pocket and Mr. Ramsey asked, “Would you like to see them all at once or one at a time?”

I considered having him send them all in at once and getting a feel for them before I started but it was a rather moot point considering I had to see them in order no matter how I felt. Not wanting to tempt myself, I replied, “One at a time is fine.”

Mr. Ramsey made his way to a door in the back of the conference room and beckoned me to follow. “Come this way. There is a smaller room in the back that should suit your needs.”

Through the door was a small office space. It contained a desk at one end and a lounge area with a couch and television at the other. We didn’t stop there though. Mr. Ramsey led me through yet another door into a restroom.

I eyed the headmaster suspiciously and he laughed, “Not here, my boy. The room beyond this one is perfect.”

True to his word, we went through another door and emerged in a bedroom. I stared at the old man and he laughed, saying nothing and leaving me to sit on the bed.

Kalli, on the other hand, had plenty to say. What did you say you were teaching in this class? He had better not send a cute girl in there.

I laughed and she growled at me. Realizing she was jealous, I reminded her how I felt.

It won’t matter how cute they are. She will never be you.

Our connection flared with mixed emotions. Kalli was embarrassed but she was also pleased with me at the same time. Before she had a chance to answer, Mr. Mortimer returned with my first student.

A middle-aged woman sat gingerly on the other corner of the bed. With auburn hair and caked-on makeup, the rather robust woman looked like she was dressed for a date. I swallowed hard and looked to the headmaster for guidance.

The woman looked me up and down and spoke in a high nasally voice. “Mortimer, is this some kind of a joke? Do you expect this child to do something for me?”

“Give him a chance, Nicholette”, Mr. Ramsey soothed the woman, “I have tested his skill personally.”

Getting over the initial shock, Nicolette scooted closer to me on the bed, “Okay, little man. Show me what you can do.”

Mr. Ramsey turned and said, “Let me know when he’s finished with you so I can send in the next person.”

We sat there for a few moments while Mr. Ramsey closed the door gently. When I didn’t do anything she said, “Well? What now?”

Realizing that I was supposed to do something, I inspected the woman.

Name

Nicolette Godfrey

Class

Lobbyist

Level

7

Affection Level

Haughty

Skills

Traits

Twist Words

Wordsmith

Flatter

At a glance, I didn’t see any skills or traits worth absorbing. Her class also wasn’t something I had imagined an awakened person having. It reminded me of the level 5 president that Mrs. Hodgins told me about. Skilled people who were unawakened that had somehow managed to level up did exist in the world.

Nicolette was still looking at me expectantly. Getting impatient, she huffed, “Are you going to begin sometime today?”

Taking a deep breath I reached out for her hands. She pulled away from me and I said, “We need to be touching for this to work. I also need you to relax. Did he tell you what I’d be doing?”

She shook her head, suddenly seeming nervous. I went on. “Mr. Ramsey hired me because I have the ability to unlock the passages in your body that are used for mana. Once that’s done, it should greatly improve your mana circulation.”

Nicolette gasped and asked, “Do I have mana? I thought only the awakened had that.”

Suddenly unsure of myself, I admitted, “Actually, I’m not sure but I should be able to find out. I think you subconsciously use it when you use your skills.”

Nicolette looked even more taken aback. “I have skills?”

I couldn’t tell if she was messing with me. I nodded and reached out to take her hands again. This time she didn’t object. Once I had her pudgy digits in my grip, I closed my eyes and began to concentrate.

At first, she didn’t accept my mana. I felt it wash over her hands, causing her to shudder. With a little persistence, her outer barrier gave way. The difference in her channel was astounding. Where the mana channels I had explored in the past felt like a tunnel for my mana to pass through, Nicolette’s felt like trying to force mana through a string.

Slowly, I began to thread my mana into the tiny channel. Nicolette’s breathing became harsh as I used pressure to force open her channel with my mana. It took twice as long as it usually did to make my way to her core.

What I saw when I got there gave me the impression of a dead star. There didn’t appear to be any mana in the place where her core was supposed to be, just a semi-solid lump that didn’t move at all.

I was disappointed when I connected to it with my mana and nothing happened. The ball didn’t respond to me at all like the other cores I had touched.

Feeling the need to jumpstart her core, I sent a pulse of mana into it.

NOTHING HAPPENED

I changed the aspect of my mana to fire and tried again.

NOTHING HAPPENED

I fried water.

NOTHING HAPPENED

Finally, I chose to add an electrical current to the mana and use it as a defibrillator. She gasped the moment the mana touched her core. I opened my eyes in concern but quickly shut them again when I felt the reaction start to take place.

Nicolette’s core turned yellow and began to rotate, generating tiny sparks the arced off into the space around it like a plasma ball. After a few rotations, it began to regurgitate mana that slowly purged me from her channels as it worked its way through the woman.

I felt the static electricity push my hands off of hers as I opened my eyes once again.Nicolette was still out of breath, looking down at her hands in wonder.

The rotund woman beamed at me and said, “I can’t believe what you’ve done. I can feel the raw power running through my veins. This must be what it feels like to be awakened. Thank you.”

I stared at her as she sprang to her feet and left the room. Did I just awaken someone? It never occurred to me to try my skill out on someone who wasn’t awakened.

The next three people that Mr. Ramsey made me work on all felt like they were unawakened.Each was below level 10 and had small dead cores.My theory that I could jumpstart them with electricity proved to be wrong.Unawakened cores only seemed to respond to mana that they had an affinity with.

Fortunately, each one did respond to a different element. I produced water, earth, and dark mages that day. The thought that the dark mage might turn to evil did cross my mind.

When the last one left, Mr. Ramsey entered the room again, saying, “Those four were all sponsors of The Academy. Thank you for seeing them. As I suspected, you have some very special abilities.”

I stood up and stretched, asking, “Did I just awaken those people?”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before answering. “That is an interesting question. Those people were sort of in a halfway state of awakening. They managed to make it out of level 1 without having any active control over their traits or skills. Let’s say you gave them that little push they needed to get to the next stage of their evolution.”

Thinking about what he told me, I asked, “What would happen if I tried that on a level 1?”

Mr. Ramsey twirled his beard in his hand and replied, “To be completely honest, I’m not sure. I have never seen the need to deal with a core of the completely unawakened. I presume it would be possible. You would know best since you are the only one capable of such feats.”

I gaped at the headmaster. “I heard that cultivators from the far east do things like this all the time.”

The old man corrected me. “Actually, cultivators are few and far between. Especially the ones that are willing to share their knowledge with others. None of them have ever been able to do what you just did, activating a cold core.”

I sat back down to digest the information that was just given to me. Mr. Ramsey looked behind himself anxiously. “Do you think you can handle one more today?”

Shrugging at him, I said, “Sure. Why not. We still have time.”

He smiled and explained, “This last one should be easier. He is awakened. A bounty hunter I believe. He works for the guild.”

He was only gone for a few minutes when a familiar figure walked through the door. I jumped to my feet and summoned my mana blade. It was the man in red.