Malachi Talgan’s POV.

This was…not what I envisioned.

I never believed I would find someone in that tournament who could slice my strengthened bones in half. I truly thought that I could have bested the Dragonslayer if it came down to it, but that was never my goal. I honestly was here just to have some fun and see how the younger generation of this continent stacked up against what I knew.

During minor battles, I rarely strengthened the flesh and muscle and only focused on my bones, which allowed them to cut into me. It gave my opponents the false sense of security that they were hurting me, which helped me lure them in. It was a simple task that fooled countless individuals. Many non-Vampires could not grasp what it meant to recover even a grievous wound in a matter of seconds. But having bone separated took more time than it was worth.

I’ve been fighting and killing Inquisitors and holy men who invaded our lands for decades, and only the strongest of them could wound me. And only the rare Paladin that got sent on a suicide mission for punishment would be able to separate a limb…

But only those at the pinnacle on Amoth could cut me in half with a single blow that was so fast I could barely track it. Judging by our initial encounters, this princess should not be able to wield such power, even if her father is the Berserker King. Yet that sword…it’s different. I can smell it.

Well, no matter. This is going to be an opportune time to test my Blood Beast form in a slightly safe environment, even if it means drawing some…unwanted attention.

I activated the transformation lying dormant within my blood, and with a flash of burning ecstasy, I felt the changes begin. My blood was hot like boiling water, yet it felt better than it ever had as it coursed through my veins, warming my entire being to the core. I felt my bones strengthen and grow, my muscles stretched and pulsed with power as I ripped out of my armor and clothes.

And my senses become heightened to an unbelievable degree. I could hear the thunderous downpour of water, pick out the silent muffles of the baffled crowd, and even hear the heartbeat of the princess. I was suddenly blasted with an intense feeling of hunger. I felt like I could ravish an entire squad of unfortunates.

But no…I must control myself. This is not the time nor place to be giving in to such carnal desire.

I stared across the platform and through the purple crystals at the stunned Arene. I’m sure it was quite shocking to witness someone morph in front of their very eyes. Either way, I was thankful she gave me that moment of respite, and as a reward, I decided to attack first.

With hot blood coursing through my body, I shot off like an arrow, dodging between the small crystals and directly into the crystal in front of me, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. I barreled through the next, then the next, until I was right before Arene.

She had no choice but to swing at a larger chunk of crystal flying toward her, and I used that opportunity to strike. My hand was nearly upon her and ready to push her broken nose into her skull, but I recoiled out of instinct just in time to watch some of my fingers disappear in a spray of blood.

That’s once.

I kicked a crystal chunk at the retreating princess like a ball, but she slipped through one of her larger crystal pieces like a Phantom. I gave chase, crushing the crystal and grabbing a chunk with my hand, forcing it straight into the path of the white sword.

Instead, her sword cut through crystal and flesh alike, splitting my hand down the middle all the way to my wrist. I forced strength into my legs and backed off, allowing my wound to heal again.

That’s twice.

If this was a typical opponent or if she wasn’t using that damn weapon, I would have dealt a crippling or fatal blow twice. But if she were more skilled, like an elite from the Order of Light, then I would be the one who was dead twice. I was frustrated, knowing that would be the case.

Arene retreated further into her crystal maze as the final pieces of skin regrew at my fingertips. I looked around at the roaring crowd. When it was silent right after my transformation, it wasn’t so bad. But now, with the noise from the swarm of people around us and the storm bouncing off the crystals, it felt like an annoying and persistent sound mage was attacking me.

I felt myself gritting my teeth in frustration as I heard her take another deep breath of that mist. The feeling that sword gave off whenever she did that sent shivers up my spine. It was dangerous, incredibly so.

This battle was going nowhere, but at the same time, I had to wonder how long she could keep all of that up. Was the power of that sword infinite? Could she continue to use that weird mist ability with no repercussions? If she could, that weapon would be on the level of a Holy Relic, and I had serious doubts if that was the case.

Does that mean I just need to bleed her dry? Is that really what I should do…

No, it’s not what I should do at all. That wouldn’t work against a stronger opponent. I must find another path.

I licked my lips and shot forth once more. This time, I saved my strength and rounded the crystals at top speed instead of wasting time breaking them. Arene was attempting to hide amongst them, but I could easily smell her blood.

I pretended to swing at the bait crystal that she splattered her blood across, and the moment she stepped out from another, I kicked backward. I had seen right through her little trick as I could tell the difference between fresh blood and the blood smeared across some magical crystal. I thought I could make a difference, but…

That’s the third time.

I was expecting to crush her ribs with my foot, but the only thing I felt was pain. I ignored the wound and spun around like a top and slashed Arene’s cheek using my one good foot. She had managed to cut my foot off below the knee and retreat before I could retaliate properly. But that was fine because I planned on that.

I sped the healing of my leg up to the cost of more of my dwindling blood reserve. As I hit the ground, I put tension on the muscles of my good leg and what was left of my mangled one and launched myself forward like an arrow, leaving a bow. She was slower than before and was still in the middle of a recovery swing.

I pounced on top of her, fully prepared to crush her with a downright strike, but as I raised my hands, I was impaled through the chest, not by a sword but by a purple crystal. I gurgled and swallowed the blood in my throat as I was lifted high in the air. If I were an average person, I’d be dead.

And that makes it four times…

I gnashed my teeth and shattered the crystal with a punch, dropping me to the platform below. Once again, Ren had retreated further away and was close to the arena's edge now.

I broke a crystal in half with a leg kick and sat down on it like a tree stump. I took a few pained deep pants as my internal organs regenerated and my ribs forced themselves back into place.

Will I run out of blood at this point? How long has it been since that happened? Twenty? Thirty years?

This is truly embarrassing. I’m glad the others aren’t here to witness this.

“I apologize, Princess Arene, but I won’t be playing your game as I do believe that winning is fun. I’m not like those other fools that would be so easily goaded, as I know you want to knock me out of balance,” I said in her general direction, my voice bouncing off the purple crystals and echoing back to me.

Of course, she made no moves actually to reveal herself. But I knew of a way to provoke her. It was relatively simple, really.

“I wonder how long I can sit here before the crowd demands my head? This incessant rain is quite awful, you know,” I said with a growl.

In truth, I wouldn’t waste my time just sitting here for the sake of a petty win in a tournament I didn’t care about. But she didn’t know that. And she was the princess here. A princess couldn’t keep her people waiting, now could she?

I grinned to myself and licked my lips clean of my own blood. With my wounds healed completely, I focused my senses. I knew exactly where she was as she moved around the arena to come toward me. But I could hear something else. Her footsteps were more sluggish, her breathing more ragged, and her heart…it sounded ready to explode.

Is it time? Is this a now-or-never situation? I’ll give it all I’ve got. If she can stop this, then I need to rethink my strategy for the future.

I forced the warm blood to course through my body, and I circulated the crimson liquid over and over again. Then I commanded it and let it rush straight toward my brain. I felt the spike of power, but I knew that Blood Burn, my final trump card, could not be used indefinitely. I would either succeed or fail here.

As Arene made her move, I did as well. I gripped a pile of crystal and stone and slung it forward with all my might. I moved so quickly that I nearly caught up to the projectiles I had thrown. I could see the fatigue and pain in her blue eyes, but I did not see hesitation. Once again, she unsheathed that white sword and cut down the obstacles that came her way.

With my speed twice what it was before I could finally track her sword. Or was it because she was tired? I couldn’t tell, and it didn’t matter. I let her swing and successfully dodged it by the thinnest margin. But she was not done.

I watched in awe as she slid her feet forward. It was a new type of swing, one that I had yet to see. Despite its beauty, the deadly blade came back down, fully intent on ending me, but I strengthened my flesh and bones to the maximum and sacrificed an entire arm, shoulder, and all to block it.

I could smell the blood in the air as I shot my hand out, ready to impale her through the chest and out to her spine. But that never came, either. For some reason, my vision was going down, and I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

I looked up just in time to see Arene’s leg impact my face and send me flying. I arced through the air, looking up at the dark sky, rain pelting my face. It was serene in a way.

Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. My uncle did this exact thing to me many years ago when I was being a spoiled brat. How nostalgic.

My healing was slower now that my Blood Burn had consumed what was left of my reserves. I hit the ground and rolled a few times, hitting the arena wall as the crowd roared over the rain.

To think she would cut me in half then kick me away like a mutt…what an exciting day.

—

Kaladin Shadowheart’s POV.

I raced down into the stadium depths with Sylvia in tow. Ren had collapsed to the floor after a mind-boggling win over Malachi, and that in of itself was a whole can of worms.

Sylvia confirmed that Malachi used not only Blood Burn but a minor form of Blood Sorcery. That was something that could be dealt with later, as I had to see Ren immediately. I had seen Ren’s sword and her sword techniques before, but I had never witnessed what her sword could actually do.

And it was far beyond anything I had yet to witness in this world.

Standing at the Forward University medical area's door were Captain Fairchild and a large squad of Praetorian Guards. They hesitated to let us through, but Captain Fairchild waved us in, where we found Ren propped up in a bed with her family, minus her brother. Thankfully, she was conscious, but she looked worse for wear, to put it lightly.

But why is War God Vasquez here and not Xander? Well, whatever.

“Kaladin…” King Maxwell mumbled with a worried expression.

I looked down at Ren, who was bandaged up despite having her external and internal wounds healed with light magic. She gave me a weak and tired smile, but I already knew what the problem was as I had witnessed it with my own eyes.

“Sylvia, please heal her to the best of your abilities if it’s even possible,” I requested.

Sylvia nodded, and although they gave worried looks, they still let her pass. Sylvia wasted no time and sank her fangs into Ren’s arm. She winced slightly, but within a few moments, a small amount of color returned to her face. It couldn’t be said that she was okay, but she looked and must have felt slightly better.

Sylvia can probably only treat the symptoms which means it really is Mana Sickness. But Sylvia’s treatment seems more potent, if only slightly.

Ren’s family took turns with looks of relief. The queen wiped her forehead and sighed to herself. King Maxwell just smiled, but the concern was still there in his eyes and the way he fidgeted slightly. If we were under better circumstances, it would have been a refreshing sight to see a new emotion from that ball of muscle, but one could hardly find any enjoyment in seeing a friend and daughter injured,

“Thank you, Sylvia,” Ren said with a weak smile.

“Yes! Truly, thank you, Sylvia,” King Maxwell said with a hearty but somehow far weaker-than-normal chuckle.

Lauren and Queen Maxwell echoed their own sincere thanks, and I turned my attention to Ren once more.

“Ren, do you understand what you are doing with that sword?” I asked curiously.

“Not entirely…no,” she answered.

“What about Master Maran or my grandfather? Did they ever mention something about it?” I questioned.

Ren slowly shook her head in response. “Wait, does this mean you know what that sword can do, Kaladin? Not even I could figure it out, even back in the day,” King Maxwell said with his arms crossed.

“Yes…I believe I have a rough idea of what that sword does. I think it lets Ren absorb external mana from her surroundingssoundings. Even to the detriment of her own health,” I said carefully.

I could feel the intense gazes in the room turn to me, especially from War God Vasquez and King Maxwell. But what I said was what I believed to be the truth, even though it should have been impossible.

But this was the second time…I think, way back when I escaped the dungeon with Sylvia, I also absorbed external mana into my body. Although this is a similar case, I believe they are still different.

Common knowledge was that mana could not be artificially recharged, so to speak. One could use conduits like dungeon core shards or expensive materials like Myhtril and Cobalt to lessen the burden of mana usage. A person could also be gifted or highly skilled.

But at the end of the day, if a Grandmaster and Novice mage used their supply of mana, that was it. They were out until they got enough rest to recuperate their lost reserves.

From my experiences, there was also another exception to that rule, and that was Vampires. It seemed that if Vampires had an infinite source of blood, they could very well theoretically go on until their mental fatigue or ailments caught up to them. Sylvia could fight for hours until she needed to rest, not for her physical well-being but her mental one.

Yet somehow, Ren, who was not a Vampire or conquered a mysterious dungeon, was managing to absorb mana from the space around her using that sword as some kind of medium. The mist that appeared from her sword and was breathed in wasn’t just for show. It was pure mana.

And the consequences of doing that were drastic. Her soul, the source of her life and mana, could be seen as some type of vessel that sat in the center of her body. And when that pure mana was breathed in that pure mana repeatedly, then expelled it in a violent burst of power, it put a form of strain on her vessel as it overfilled with power beyond her capacity.

“Kaladin, is that really the truth? Are you positive about that statement?” King Maxwell asked me, breaking the silence with his serious tone.

“Yes. Ren ended up taking in too much external mana, and that is what is causing her issue. I have no idea what would have happened if she continued to absorb more mana than she could handle. It could have very well crippled her or worse if she had gone any further,” I explained.

King Maxwell looked down at his daughter with a stern expression. His blue eyes held an intense power to them, and Ren shied away from his gaze.

“My daughter, you are forbidden from—”

“I don’t believe that is necessary,” I interrupted.

Sylvia stepped in front of me, and a slight flash of fear tickled my mind as King Maxwell glared at me. The man had never looked at me that way before, and I felt for the first time I truly angered the man. But I couldn’t let him arbitrarily ban Ren from using that sword. As it wasn’t a curse, it was a gift that was both good and meant a lot to her.

A gift that she just needed to learn how to use. Afterall, Ren’s not the first to use it.

I rested a hand on Sylvia’s shoulder and smiled at Bishop. “I’ll be blunt: Ren can learn to control the sword, and I can help her. I can see the amount of mana she is absorbing with my Dragon eye, and I believe I can help her regulate and control it.”

Bishop seemed unconvinced for a moment but shut his eyes. “I see…if it’s you, then maybe it could be possible.”

“Arene,” King Maxwell said in a fatherly tone.

She flinched slightly but looked up at her father. “Yes, Dad…?”

“You have two years to learn to control that sword. If you don’t, I’ll be taking it from you. And if you fall victim to its power again, I swear I will throw it into the sea without hesitation. Does that work for you, Dear?” King Maxwell said as he looked toward the queen.

Queen Maxwell sighed again but nodded as she looked at her daughter. “I understand how much that sword means to you, Arene. But if it can kill you just by using it…I don’t want that to happen. You understand that, right?”

Ren looked at her parents. Despite being shy just a moment ago, the firm resolve that I had seen on her face many times flared back to life.

“Yes, Mom and Dad. I understand, and I’m worried as well. I don’t think I’m worthy to wield my master’s sword, but I still want to try. He left it to me for a reason. If you let me, I will learn to control it. With Kaladin’s help,” Ren said confidently.

“Kaladin, will you teach her?” King Maxwell asked.

“As I always have. I will continue to do my best as long as she is willing. Not that I doubt her in the slightest. Ren is one of my most loyal students,” I said with a grin.

The Maxwell family let out a collective sigh, and I caught a glimpse of War God Vasquez with his back against the wall, and I swore I could see a faint smile on that usually bearded, stoic face. With that, Sylvia and I left to let the family be together and promised to visit Ren at the villa when she was feeling better. As I imagined, the only thing she needed was time.

“You made it sound simple back there, but it’s actually going to be difficult to learn to control that weapon, isn’t it?” Sylvia said from beside me as we walked down the empty hallway.

“Naturally. It goes against her own body to use that sword, and just because I know what happens when she uses it, it doesn’t mean there won’t be side effects. Ren might have to give up eventually, but I think not trying is a mistake. And…a little sad,” I said honestly.

“You really are too kind for your own good,” Sylvia said as she slipped her fingers in between mine. “But that’s one of the reasons why I love you so much.”