He followed Lady Night out of the ancient building, stopping briefly at the stairs leading outside. Standing behind Katerina, he glanced upward at the visible exterior of the house and then into the distance, his view greatly shortened by the night.
It was dark out, and the moon was in the middle of the sky, gracing the world with pale silver light. A myriad of twinkling diamonds was scattered in the vast expanse of the sky—countless stars that shone endlessly.
Taking a deep breath of the cool night air, Katerina continued forward, stopping just a little way from the beginning of the stairs; then she gestured to Star.
He took a few cautious steps forward and soon found himself standing right next to her. She lightly gripped his shoulder and then pointed to the stars above.
"Isn't it a great night to be alive?"
Star glanced at where she was pointing without a particular expression on his face.
"It is... I guess."
He couldn't really explain what it was about her enthralling nature, but Katerina was perhaps the only person he felt... safe around. She was rather honest, having made her motives transparent from the start while making her reasons for needing him alive clear.
And that was the catch; she needed him alive. If a powerful Blood Demon like her wanted him to see another day, then it was not just guaranteed; it was a condition.
She turned and glanced at him. Then she chuckled slightly, and after that, her expression turned solemn.
"I understand your apprehension, and your compliance has been quite remarkable. However, if you're going to be of proper use once we are within the Nameless Ruins, then it is imperative that you learn how to wield the energy you possess properly."
Star stared at her, not sure what to say. In the end, he gestured with a simple nod.
She smiled and moved slightly away from him, then she gently clenched her right fist and raised it, and with the ring finger of her left hand, made a slight cut on her palm. Then she allowed the blood to gradually drip from the wound onto the sandy ground.
But before they could reach the ground, the crimson drops stopped, and then they began to merge together, moving as if they were alive. In due time, a ball of blood half the size of her fist was formed.
It flowed upwards, compressing, before slowly beginning to change shape, from a simple crimson dagger to every weapon he could imagine and shapes he didn't even know about. Her control of blood was subtle and refined, showing years of experience.
After a while, the ball of blood returned to its original shape, levitating in the air.
Katerina gestured to him.
"To understand your body you must first understand your soul... Try shaping this into whatever you desire."
Staring at the blood, he knew precisely what he needed to do, but it was the practical aspect of things that would prove to be rather difficult.
Every ability and affinity tied back to Firmament and Lifebond—or rather—Aether and Vital Force, though many mundane humans still referred to it as internal and external energy.
Lifebond was internal energy that stored the power contained within people. It was the basis for a person's ability, determined generally by their bloodline and magical heritage. In other words, it was the magical gene code for all biological existence.
However, Firmament was the ambient energy of existence present in all that was nature, or rather, the foundation that held all that was nature together, and the medium through which affinities existed.
In other words, Firmament was the foundation required for the use of one's ability.
And what all this meant was that for him to properly manipulate the ball of crimson liquid floating before him, he needed a grasp on both energies. Although it sounded easy, it would soon prove to be rather difficult.
Closing his eyes, stretching out his palms, and concentrating, he willed the ball of blood to float toward him. It did, moving slowly and stopping just slightly before his palms; then it moved further upward and levitated above them.
He opened his eyes, a mild smile appearing on his face. He was slightly pleased with his progress thus far, but the real challenge would be what came next.
And there was something strange happening to him, though a bit faint. The moment he willed the ball of blood to float toward him, it felt like the blood inside his body had suddenly gone, all surging to his hands.
'I guess this is another trait of Blood Demons... bloodlust.'
But he didn't have time to dwell on such a trivial thought; he was now a Blood Demon and was going to have to accept everything that came with it.
Closing his eyes once again, he concentrated on the ball and then tried to will it into his desired shape. It didn't instantly change like back when Katerina had done it; instead, it wobbled for a moment and then assumed an unrefined and weird shape.
His control was awfully lacking compared to hers, and after a few minutes of trying, he opened his eyes and sighed. Before him, the ball levitated above his palms, but it now looked like an oversized egg that possessed unnatural bumps on it.
The malformed mass quivered in the air, its surface rippling unevenly as if struggling to hold itself together. Star stared at it in silence, irritation creeping in beneath his calm exterior. No matter how hard he tried, the blood refused to obey him fully.
There was something missing, and he couldn't just feel it; he knew it. It was a distinct energy his system had mentioned and was still there for him to see: it was Soul Radiance.
While he did possess a divine soul, it was still only dormant and would awaken on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Nightveil, a.k.a. Halloween.
Soul Radiance mattered because it was the expression of one's ability. If Lifebond was the basis of one's ability and Firmament was the foundation through which it could be expressed, then Soul Radiance was what determined how much one could express at a time.
It seemed Katerina had understood his predicament as well.
She glanced over at him and thoughtfully rubbed her chin. Her voice resounded, losing its usual playful tone.
"I see."
Then she quickly returned to her usual demeanor, her sly smile returning.
"I was hoping you would have already awakened, but it does not matter."
She turned away and gazed at the starlit sky with an unreadable expression on her face, while Star stared at his palms with a faint hint of frustration. Had he followed the original script, then he would probably be training with the Main Character around this time, awaiting the day of their awakening so they could finally join the academy.
But now, here he was, turned into a mere tool for a woman obsessed with an unreachable goal.
Well, almost unreachable.
*******
He headed inside a few minutes later, and there, Kate filled him in on the basics of what they would be doing. She even provided him with a nice, warm, and fitting outfit.
It was black attire: black denim pants that reached his ankles, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a black cloak that was quite stylish, with an extensive collar and hood.
A few hours after he was done getting dressed, he descended the weathered stone stairs of the house and found himself standing outside once again; however, he wasn't alone with Katerina this time. Every other member of the group was present, dressed in the same outfit as him.
It was time for them to leave for the Nameless ruins.
As soon as they were all out, the gloomy man, who looked not much different from what he looked like earlier, crouched down and turned to the other four.
"You might want to step back."
As soon as he spoke, dark shadows moved from under his palms and began to spread across the floor of the desert. They continued to grow wider, and then the shadows began rising, almost as if they were becoming tangible.
But after staring at it for a while, Star realized that his guess was wrong. The shadows weren't rising; rather, something was rising through them, and after a few more seconds, it finally came into view.
The creature was so dark that under the pale moonlight, all he could see was its silhouette. The creature remained still for a moment, and then two shadows rose from either side of its body, moving in a fluid flapping motion.
They were wings!
Star's eyes widened as he gazed at the magnificent shadow in awe.
"Is that... a dragon?!"