10 Learning About Blood

'Scarlet Strings Of Destiny.'

Night Ten...

An Unknown Age In The Past...

"Looks like... The war is finally over..." A young beat up man who stood upon a grey and dead battle field could be seen. He was wearing mostly broken down armor that seemed to be formed from fragments of bones and seemed to be badly banged up but still managed to stay standing. In his hands he held a massive curved great sword with the number two written across the blade. Next to him a small black dog looking creature could be seen on all fours. It was a small dog that looked almost like a mini wolf with black fur, and six glowing red eyes on its head.

All around the man large white looking creatures that resembled giant bears covered in black scales could be seen, all of them having apparently been slain by him. The Mares. The beasts that hunt humanity down... The natural enemies of Imps... The floor was made out of small grains of what appeared to be sand, but in actuality were the dusted down remains of bones from those who didn't make it. The entire area just seemed to be a wasteland of death. The sky itself seemed to be grey and dead.

"Maybe now..." The man said quietly as he slowly closed his eyes. A small drop of rain fell from the sky splashing against his face as it began to rain. "Maybe now... We can finally have peace... Here I stand all alone in a field of endless death... My Bright eyes did nothing." The man's eyes opened again and this time they had changed. The iris in both his eyes had grown larger and seemed to be a solid gold ring around them. White flame like aura came out of both his eyes as the man looked around and saw wisps of color. Things no human should see. He could even see sound? The man stopped as a strange feeling went through his body making his eyes go wide as he spotted some kind of aura in the ground!

It was large and black. It seemed to form into some kind of massive shadowy monster who's entire face formed together into a massive sneer as it made its way out of the ground.

He turned his head just in time to see a large part of the ground rip open as what appeared to be a massive black snake covered in black armor that was melded to its flesh rose from the ground. That strange scary aura was coming from it. A crackling red energy spewed out of its mouth as the creature began to expand getting bigger and bigger its stomach inflating like a balloon that was being filled with to much air.

The energy got bigger as cracks began to develop along the creatures body and it let out a loud cry!

"Shit! One's still alive. Damn it's trying to self destruct-"

Before the man could finish the beast erupted into a massive explosion enveloping the land in seconds...

A blast that split the world in two...

A blast that could create a whole new story...

Of course this was all a legend.

No way something like this could actually happen right?

Strange Beasts, that some would even label as Monsters... Vast wealth, and all the gold you can carry... Treasures long since buried and forgotten by the world... Evil Ghosts, and Foul Devils... Unexplored lands, filled with uncharted territory. Vast Quests and all the world's Mysteries. Those who find themselves determined enough to go through the trials of hell and discover all the secrets this world holds, and the true secrets of the Aura go by a single title...

They are called...

Wakes!

A species of humans hold the title of Imps. A type of human who was chosen by God himself. These Imps, have access to a substance known as Aura, a light that holds the secrets to a thing known as the Equation Of Life, a mathematical formula that determines how the world itself works. Imps are the prey of creatures known as Mares, powerful monsters that devour humans for fun, and devour Imps, for food.

However Imps when it comes down to it are still humans, and if their is one thing they're good at, it's fighting back against threats to them. That was were the Wakes come in. Powerful warriors who serve God and slay the Mares. They protect men, women, children, and Imps, alike.

"Do you think you get it?" Cliff Williams asked frowning.

"Uh..." Brave scratched her chin awkwardly. "I guess... But I don't see the point in telling me about that weird bone armor guy. Also an armor of bones? That sounds heavy... And unpracticable."

The train ride was nearly silent save for the conversation the man tried to bring her into. Brave rested in her chair, with her head bowed. In front of her 'he' rested. The man named Cliff Williams. The two of them were both pretty beat up still. Her head was wrapped up with a bandage and his back was covered in many bandages as well.

After the battle he had taken her, and her family to the station they used to board the train. She wasn't as shocked as she should have been when he pulled out several keys and placed them in the door opening it and showing off a large stone train station. After everything that happened she found it hard to care about such wonders.

That was where they were now. Simply sitting down on the seats of a train as it began to roar down the tracks. She had no idea where they were going, or where they were even at anymore.

'Brothers Wicked...'

Those had been his words but he gave no hint at what the hell that was.

Finally once the silence got to a point she could stand anymore Brave found herself asking her first question as she bowed her head. "Hey..." She asked softly.

"You can address me as Professor Williams. My name is not hey." The man said not turning to look down at her. He instead dusted some of the snow, and blood, off of his expensive looking jacket as he began to read a book.

"Right... Professor Williams... I just... I don't get what's going on." Brave sighed shaking her head.

"We're heading to a place to get you ready for the test. Brothers Wicked. It has things you could use that way we can increase your chances of getting into Heaven. See there are plenty of Wake Schools, but Heaven is the best of the best and the one I work at. One of the greatest ones in the world. But they don't let just anyone in. After all we want soldiers, and people who would just drop dead instantly in a battle would just be a waste of effort to try and mold. As such getting in can be a pain in the ass. Only about 30 to 40% of the people who take the test can pass them all..."

"All... So theres more than one?"

"Typically there will be about three... Maybe four... Though my friend Harrison Black tries to claim he had to take ten tests to get in... Either way all students will be required to take these tests to try and get in. This is especially bad what with the war."

"The war? You mean the third world war that might break out? I've heard about it. Most of the men from my village were called away for it."

"Chances are it'll be breaking out sometime soon... Maybe within the next five years or even sooner... See the rest of the world doesn't know about the supernatural elements that exist and we'd like to keep it away. Its better than having to deal with them. A Mare can only be harmed by people with aura anyways, and can only be seen by people with aura, so even if normal humans knew they couldn't do anything about it, then theres the back lash to it... Many people in a high place of power are Imps. Like the President and his whole family... These world wars, having been men fighting men. Thats part of it, but its really been Imps fighting Imps..."

"B... But why? The Mares exist right? Why would Imps be fighting each other?"

Williams gave a hum. "Why does a war ever break out. Its never quiet so simple. The first ever world war broke out due to blame though."

"Blame?"

"There are four Nations. Red, White, Blue, and Green. The four Nations of the world. Heaven is sided with the Red Nation and must listen to the Red President. The Ten Wake Squads of the Red Nation are the soldiers of this Nation. Well back in the day there didn't used to be Wakes. Just threat of them came from somewhere else... Or rather they were brought from somewhere else... The issue was... Nobody knows which Nation did it... Just that one of the four Nations must have been behind it... Maybe it was an accident or maybe it was done on purpose nobody knows, but one of the Leaders of the Four Nations set loose the Mares upon our world. And so the blame card came and it got passed around. And... Well Imps are still humans and if there is one thing humans are the best at its blaming each other for issues and escalating things. Didn't take long for the first world war to break out..."

"Seriously... Wait. So the President is a New Blood also?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"Oh right... You don't know..." William hummed for a moment. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a white board and a black marker.

"Do you just have those on you?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"S... Sorry."

"Now. As I was trying to explain." He pressed the marker to the white board and began to write. He drew four stick figures and began to write above them. "There are four kinds of Imps. The first is what you are. A New Blood. You were born a human but later on awakened aura. New Blood can be born from Common Bloods, or humans as well. A Common Blood is second. A Common Blood is what I am. They're someone born with aura from day one. A Common Blood can only be born from a New Blood, or another Common Blood. Also when a Common Blood has a kid they're very likely to be either a Common Blood, or a Human who will have a 99% chance of becoming a New Blood. Though sometimes there is that rare 1% where their child will never awaken aura and will remain a human. Lastly is the Royal Blood. Royal Bloods are the elites and are basically your typical assholes... Think any royal family that exist today. They're a Royal Blood and are all Imps. When they have kids their blood is so pure their children will have a 100% chance of being born with Aura. To be a Royal Blood you must be part of a Royal Family. Royal Bloods are basically a bunch of rich assholes, Common Bloods, are the guys that are at rock bottom, and most people hate New Bloods." He then began to draw random stuff on the board giving the stick figures cat ears for some reason. "Do you think you get it?"

"...Those drawings are terrible-"

'Smack!'

Williams smacked Brave over the head as he set the board down and picked up a book and began to read it.

"...W... What about the forth..." Brave hissed rubbing the bump on her head.

"What?"

"You said there are four blood types? What's the forth?" She asked. "New Blood, Common Blood, and Royal Blood. Thats three right?"

Williams gave an uncomfortable look for a moment as he seemed to mule the answer over. "W... Well... We... We normally don't talk about the forth but..." He looked around for a bit biting his lower lip. "We... We call them Steel Bloods..." He said shuddering.

"Like? Iron Blood? Steel as in the metal?"

"Yes..." Williams looked up for a moment and crossed his fingers over his heart saying a prayer for a moment. Whatever it was he was really uncomfortable talking about it. "You see Brave... A Steel Blood is... Well... If Royal Bloods don't like New Bloods, than they hate Steel Bloods."

"What? Really? How come?"

"Hmm..." Williams seemed to think for a few more moments. "It was a project that was created a while back... A little bit before the first world war... About thirty years ago actually... This... Project was created."

"Project?"

Williams looked uncomfortable. "Affinity is... An act that many Imps can do and something Wakes are required. I won't go into to much detail about it as you'll learn about it more during Heaven but basically an Affinity is a power that, that Imp can use. Their secret power, as it is sometimes called. An ability they make. And many Imps can create powers that summon something... Well. The laws of reality state that something can't come from nothing. It was discovered that when you create something out of nothing its actually using pure Aura. I told you aura was in everything right. Be it people, plants, animals, or even chairs, clothes, and random objects, aura makes up the tiniest bit of matter and makes up the entire universe. When someone creates something they use that aura. And it was discovered by a man named Zen Stand that this shifted part of the universe itself as you were taking pieces of it. Some of these broken pieces would form into the Blanks. After studying humans they would sort of mimic them. So... This lead to an idea. What if you could use pure aura to crate a person... It had been done before actually. Going back to an Affinity its a persons superpower of sorts. Some do have powers that can create people. So what if you could mass produce something. And thus... The Steel Bloods were born. Built up from the ground up cell by cell, aura by aura."

"B... But why are they so hated?" Brave frowned at the description. She didn't really get it other then that they were people built rather than born. "Whats wrong with that?"

"Well... Normally you're right. That wouldn't be enough for them to be so hated... But... As I said plenty of times. Humans can be idiots. It broke out into a back lash on rather Steel Bloods should be allowed to be created. Many people saw them useful as a weapon. Others though saw them as abominations to God. No better than the Mares. It didn't help that many Steel Bloods wanted freedom and to not be treated as weapons which led to backlash and most of the Royal Bloods freaking out by claiming they were dangerous and killing many of them off. Even after all that though I still think peace could come for them... If not for one aspect."

"Hmm?"

"Thirteen years ago a woman by the name of Lilith Black began research into a new form of Steel Bloods. This project was called the Eyes of the False Lord. A Way to mimic a power similar to God... And it also just so happened to involve the first Steel Blood that was born a normal way... This... This broke everything about our religion and was an affront to God himself... Or at least it had been... Thankfully now what with the war many Steel Bloods are getting some rights, as long as they fight in the war and become a Wake. It seems the need for their power out weighs the hatred for their creation."

"I... I guess I see why people don't like them..." Brave nodded.

"Don't get the wrong idea from me... I don't hate them. Two people I care for deeply happen to be Steel Bloods. That said... The way they're made... Creeps me the hell out. You don't even know the half of it and if you're lucky it'll stay that way."

"I think I'd rather meet one though. They sound like they could be strong... And Eyes of the False Lord... Mimicking God huh..." Before she could ask more though the train pulled to a stop in front of a large metal station. She looked out the window and saw a massive metal city, covered in a massive metal wall. "Whoa..." She said with wide eyes.

"Looks like we've arrived..." Williams mused. "Welcome to Brothers Wicked. Or as some people call it... Hell on Earth."