Julien Massarreli, the Throne Room, Versez; Kingdom of Eins, 610

Julien dropped to his knees as an overpowering pressure clamped down on his being. He furrowed his brows and twisted his face, trying hard to ignore the pain flaring up all over his body. In front of him stared a young, silver-haired man; his eyes showing an uncharacteristic focus and sharp gaze, and this man was the only person who stood steadily in the room.

The young man's blood stained his body, but the blood on the floor wasn't his. It was Julien's. Julien couldn't use those pools of blood. This has never happened before, even when he was edging life-or-death in the past. He didn't understand it fully, but his opponent seemed to have the answer.

Julien tried to stand up, only for his body to fail to do so. He chuckled to mock himself while his hand clutched his shoulders. He tried to recall when everything started to get out of hand.

He was considered a traitor, but that was only because the people didn't agree with him. He had to do actions that were considered treacherous, though he did so because he thought he was the only saving grace.

Contrary to what a lot of people thought, Julien isn't power-hungry. But the difference was he knew that power needed to be flexed, so that the people and the Kingdom is kept on their toes.

He was more loyal to the country than to the one who ruled, and when he realized that the King was growing old and weary, he decided to take things upon his own hands.

The power to change things is only given to the one in control, and he was ready to throw himself unto sin, so that there may be a better future for Eins. He lived the last few years believing this, and until the present moment he did so.

Because of that, Julien killed his King and his son, sacrificed people in a war against their own, and made an enemy of the nation.

He was ready to take the consequences, but he never thought that it was going to be this early.

The Blood Mage, as he was called, was an existence feared because of his nature. Only a few people knew who he was: the many who learned of him danced with his blood-magic, and all were already dead.

The more he put himself in peril, the more powerful his magic became. More importantly, blood is a perfect conduit for mana, making his spells naturally more efficient and deadly than other magics. He also exhibits extraordinary control. Of course, this type of magic can only be paid for by his blood.

The moment he uses his magic, blood continually flows out of the wounds on his body and its orifices, only stopping when he stops his magic. He literally, and at all times, fought with his life on the line; he has lost much blood throughout the war, but spilt many more in return.

Still, he chuckled. The battles that mages fought were always quick and bloody, but never in his battles has he ever lost this much blood. The peculiar thing was, he couldn't use his magic right now. As if his will isn't strong enough to be answered by his own blood.

"So... this is... your ability?" Julien coughed and grimaced at each hoarse sound that travels out of his throat, and those threw his body in discord and in more pain.

The Prince shook his head.

"The ability to release my large mana pool as pure magic without characteristics or inherent effects. A far cry from the powerful but exhausting power my lineage." the Prince then raised his arms and stared at them.

"Due to the peculiar way of my magic, I had to be able to master the use of my mana and increase my mana pool through training before it all made sense to me. It's as if my magic was telling me that if I didn't know who I was as a mage, I would never have been able to gain access to it." the Prince explained.

Julien slowly opened his eyes as the Prince explained his ability. The ability to release mana without a conduit or purpose is something that's never been heard before. But this doesn't explain the pressure. There's more to this ability, Julien thought.

The young man stepped forward, towards Julien.

"Through that realization, I understood who I am as a person. You wanted power so you could change things. I understand that, it's almost the same as me." The Prince grinned as he spoke.

"However, for me, all I wanted was to influence things around me. Allow as much freedom, but be able to throw myself into action when the situation warrants it. Believe me, Julien: I never wanted to return." The Prince stopped to take a look around the hall, sweeping his head, as if to address the few people left inside the Throne Room.

All of them were on their knees, like they were a part of this battle. Julien thought that maybe they were.

"Power was something I never thought I needed. I only needed control- and I needed that control because..." the Prince paused speaking.

The Prince's face was relaxed, and his irises looked as if they were trying to recall things that the Prince didn't want to remember. There was unspeakable sadness in his gaze.

The Prince took a deep breath, closing his eyes. His shoulders were slumped, his valiant fighting form from earlier gone. He then opened his eyes, staring daggers at Julien.

Julien swore as if his soul was being examined by those eyes, nitpicking every detail. Julien could almost feel a different kind of pressure was forced to face.

"Nevermind..." The Prince shook his head. "You don't need to know. We all have our own reasons for doing things. I'm sure you're not interested. Just know that I don't blame you for the death of my family. It was only because they were weak. They were losing influence. They were losing touch with reality."

Julien didn't react and he only watched the young man in front of him. Sure, he was a bit shocked but still, during the fight, he felt that he understood more about the young man than anyone from Eins ever did.

Julien knew that the man wasn't lying when he said he didn't blame him.

"From the weakness.. that you had.. back then.. and this feeling of helplessness that I feel from you now..." Julien began to reel control of his mana again, relaxing its almost chaotic state caused by the mana pressure exuded by the Prince.

Slowly, the heavy weight on his body was starting to disappear.

"You must've seen things... things that are more evil in nature... and it seems that you also understand... that the civil war that happened here-" Inside his head, Julien was glad.

"-it was just the people fighting for their beliefs."

Right now, he felt that he had more reasons to win this battle. He wanted to prove to himself that he had what it takes to lead this nation. That he had more ability and determination than what the young man had. He thought of the young man as a kid who knew nothing, but right now, he was determined to teach him a lesson he'll never forget.

Both men smiled, and suddenly Julien could feel power spring back to his legs. He stood up as his feel for his blood and magic back to him. He quickly used his eyes to look around, no one else was standing up.

It wasn't strange.

Julien knew that the others here can't overcome this pressure yet, but maybe that's because they weren't actually in the heat of battle. At least, the people still left in the Throne could see how everything unfolds.

Julien locked his eyes with Baldwin for a brief moment before turning back to the Prince.

The young man's brow raised, and he crossed his arms.

"Seems like you've gotten over the pressure. Hah, I never used to talk so much during a fight. I don't know. Maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic today." the Prince said.

The Prince then jumped back and summoned his weapons back. Julien knitted his brows. The pools of blood around the room, both from Julien and other people, started to boil and collect behind him: a thick, sticky ball of blood that hovered just above his head.

"Of course, I'm not dumb enough to suddenly approach you even though you're under the weight of my magic. You're the blood mage for reasons that I want no part of." the Prince revealed.

The Prince swung his weapon forward, and this time, set unto his stance. He spaced his feet apart and then placed his right foot a bit forward. He raised his left weapon close to his chest. The tip of the blade almost touched his chin, while the right blade stuck close to his stomach.

"Then, Aleuas, allow me to apologize for calling you a fool." Strength flew back to Julien's voice.

His magic felt more powerful now. It seems that overcoming that mana pressure once allows, maybe even forces you to be more intimate with your magic. Julien only noticed that even the Prince's blood was now under his control.

If the Prince wanted to influence Julien's magic, he will have to meet with the brute force of the feared blood magic. Julien raised his right arm and his chin. The pain around his body was still creeping on him, but he paid it no heed.

Now that he's overcome that pressure, he felt that he could overcome anything weaker.

"You are no fool... what you are though, is someone who stands in my way. As people recognized by the curse's oath, allow me to use your ideals as I conquer the continent!" Julien declared.

Julien's ball of blood started to gush towards the Prince in high speeds. The Prince's mana started to glow around him again as he sped to a run. The blood ravaged the ground where the Prince once stood, and flung debris in all directions. It then followed the fleeing Prince.

The blood traveled fast, but the Prince right now was faster. Julien closed right hand into a fist, then followed the Prince movements with his eyes.

Three tentacles of blood erupted out of the ball of crimson, extending like whips. The Prince stopped running and focused his attention to them. The Prince was forced to dodge each and every tentacle; each strike created fissures on the ground of the Throne Room.

The ball continued to approach, this time much slower, as the tentacles occupied the Prince's attention.

"Julien! You will not conquer this continent!" the Prince shouted.

The tentacles flung back before moving for another strike. The Prince got back to his stance as the mana around his body blurred the area around him, like heat escaping the ground during a hot summer day.

The Prince dodged the consecutive strikes of the tentacles in a hair's breadth by stepping to the sides, before running forward and cutting each of the tentacles in half as he avoided. With three powerful strikes, the tentacles lost its connection to the bloodball.

The Prince then pivoted his body towards Julien and ran towards him. Julien felt a distinct loss of mana after his tentacles got split in half.

He jutted his chin as he considered his options. A characteristic of Julien's magic was that mana stays within the blood that he uses, and only gets depleted as he uses more magic.

It seems that the Prince's power is more than just being able to exert pressure on his opponents. He calculated possibilities inside his head in a few quick moments,and remembered that the nature of one's magic translates to the personality of the user.

Influence.

Does this mean that the Prince can remove another's control over his mana?

Julien wanted to test this theory.

Julien waved his hands away from the Prince's direction. The ball of mana moved away from the approaching Prince while sucking back the remaining half of the tentacles.

Julien consciously tried to feel for the blood that was previously a part of the tentacles, and he felt a connection reestablish itself accompanied by a feeling of rejuvenation. He had his mana back in control.

The Prince dropped a weapon then aimed an open palm towards Julien. Julien buckled, again this pressure. But it wasn't as powerful as before.

Julien forced some mana from the ball of blood back into his body. A waterfall of blood flowed out of the bloodball towards the ground, shrinking it.

Julien felt the pressure weaken then disappear as his mana traveled back to him.

Due to his concentration, he didn't realize that the Prince was inching closer.

Julien directed the blood that flowed down to the floor into bloodblades and then let it home in on the Prince. The crimson blades traveled faster than the silver-haired man. The Prince didn't notice the attack as the first few bloodblades created deep cuts on his leg and waist.

The Prince twisted his body to face behind him, towards the remaining bloodblades.

As the remaining bloodblades neared, the Prince swung his blade in front of him. The crimson blades of blood started to lose life and rain down on the floor.

Julien was still a good five meters away. Julien darted forward towards the Prince, at the same time, he let his bloodball advance. Julien aimed for a pincer attack. Julien ignored his loss of control over the bloodblades, he didn't have time to concentrate on getting them back.

As both the ball and Julien got close, the Prince jumped high, and straight upwards. Julien couldn't enhance his body now that he was using his mana for blood magic, but he still wore a dangerous smile.

Julien stopped his run and raised his arms in anticipation, waiting to catch the ball. As soon as the ball of blood made contact with his hands, he threw it at a speed faster than before towards the Prince.

The ball hit the Prince squarely in his chest as a rocking sound echoed in the throne. The Prince's ribs might've broke, but Julien didn't rejoice and only stared wide eyed above him.

The Prince didn't get thrown out of whack through air even as the ball of blood hit him. Julien saw that the young man was grabbing the large ball with both his arms.

As the ball continued to travel upwards along with the grasping prince, the young man pushed against it. Using the whole weight of his body, he threw the ball back down.

Julien gulped as a concussive force plummeted on him, creating another crater that was drenched in blood. The bloodball shattered and was flung in different directions. Julien felt the bones in his body succumb to the weight of the ball and was forced to kneel in the middle of the crater due to the power.

The Prince was already in free-fall. Julien immediately tried to connect to his bloodmana, only to find that he could only control half the amount. It seemed that he lost a lot of mana during that exchange.

Julien stood back up. He formed spikes with the remaining blood just above where the Prince would land, aiming to impale the Prince as he dropped back down.

Was this victory?

He was going to smile and announce his win, but...

Julien could only bug out his eyes.

Before the Prince could drop down, he saw the Prince smiling as Julien lost control of his blood and mana rushed out the Prince's body.

It covered the spiked, crimson pitfall in a silver torrent of mana, and he saw the spikes caving in. Instead of the Prince dropping to a spiky death, the blood catched him and prevented even a simple fall to his death.

Julien still couldn't gain control of the mana.

The Prince got himself out of the blood that ironically saved him, and helped himself up. He was panting and heaving air through his lungs, pain visibly shaking his body as he clutched his chest. But he was still smiling.

Julien couldn't move his body, or even his mana. There was no pressure from before, but there was a feeling of dread.

His body was trembling and he felt surreal, like he was looking at a painting that spelt his death: his own blood floating over the Prince, grinning at him while it glimmered in a silver, hazy, light.

Instead of fear though, he felt admiration and intense feeling of peace. He could only stare, his jaw relaxed and mouth opened, his fingers without strength to even make a fist. The Prince dragged his feet towards Julien.

Julien's blood moved along with the young man, subservient to the silver mana.

"This ability of mine allows me to inva...invade and influence the magic of others... as long as I use more than twice the mana they used." The Prince labored his breath as he explained, and he limped his feet while careful in his steps.

"Even then, I cannot fully control their magic... only influence it to exhibit a few changes.. all at the same time battling with the will of my target..." The Prince coughed up blood, wincing his face.

"The amount of change I can exert is dependent on how quickly I can take over... and how much strength and mana is left of my enemy. It is also largely dependent on how powerful... the original caster is..." The Prince spoke slowly and with a weak tone.

During this time, Julien still tried to take control, but his mana wouldn't speak to him anymore. He felt like a normal person.

"This is the reason... why I have a large mana capacity... and why you can't control your blood anymore..." the Prince concluded.

Julien now understood. The reason why the spikes disappeared, the reason why the Prince was able to cut and release the tentacles, and why he was able to throw back the bloodball.

The more Julien used his magic, the more that the Prince was able to influence it. During the last few seconds when the ball of mana raptured his chest, the Prince was finally able to exert full control.

"Of course, I can't use magic... that I don't naturally have. Only existing.. magic surrounding me..." the young man added.

The Prince's ability isn't omnipotent it seemed. The Prince has to put himself in harm's way before he could exert control. Sure, for mage's weaker than Julien, the Prince might be able to almost immediately seize some of their magic.

Though, from what Julien could glean, for other mages, especially with larger amounts of mana and greater control, the Prince naturally had to drain them of their reserves. Any change he might be able to force at the early stages of the battle won't be much.

The reality of the matter is, Julien right now, used up more magic than the Prince and lost a lot of mana. The Prince stuck to just enhancing his body, only trying to force influence Julien's magic in small units at a time.

The Prince already had a natural reserve maybe six times larger than Julien.

Julien didn't have as large a capacity in the first place, though the Prince had trouble simply because Julien's mana had strong connection to his blood, and he and his magic was innately powerful.

Julien then remembered the time when the Prince was suddenly able to exert that pressure. That was when Julien used a large portion of his mana to bind the Prince and tried to squeeze him.

That's when the Prince's counter-attack could begin.

Had Julien been able to finish off the Prince early, he might've won. But the Prince was resilient.

He must've gone through many other grueling battles, strengthening his body and endurance. The Prince grabbed Julien's neck and raised him up. Julien felt strength from the grip.

"I am thankful Julien Massarreli. Your death means more... to this Kingdom than it does for me. In many ways though, it also... is a great help to me."

Julien didn't try to struggle. He was resigned. Still, his throat fought through the tightening grip that the Prince had on his neck.

"I... only lost... but I... was... not wrong!" Julien struggled to convey.

He saw the Prince smile. Strangely, it wasn't a mocking smile. It was a smile that agreed, a smile that will now carry the blood and sin that Julien had.

"All your sin... will be mine..." the Prince declared.

The blood behind the Prince started to coagulate and form a large spike, its ends pointing at Julien's heart.

"You will not be the one... who conquers this continent..."

The spike plunged deep into his heart, and Julien felt that the life his body had was starting to dwindle away. Julien felt no pain, though. He only looked at the Prince, tears clouding his vision as he realized his failure.

"I am the one who will." The Prince told him in a whisper.

Julien wanted to chuckle, but he couldn't even control his body anymore. Like he forgot how to. The edges of his eyes slowly went darker, and he spied one last look at the Prince and Baldwin. Baldiwn was already on his feet and was smiling.

You knew, huh, Baldwin?... that it was the end of the line for me...

The last thought that he had gave Julien reprieve as his vision was robbed of him.

Carry this country, Aleuas Eins!