Chapter 11 - Upgrades

Late at night, after the Shidous left, Thomas got in his bed when he saw Mars standing on his nightstand, seemly waiting for him. The whole day, the snake made himself invisible watching his human friend from the shadows, not wanting to disturb him as he played with his girlfriend.

In the last couple of days prior to Thomas's birthday, Mars took his time thinking and weighing something that might lead little Thomas on a path of no return, a path that he once walked before his friend and rival banished him in this pitiful form.

Now after almost an entire week of weighing the consequences as well as the benefits, Mars decided to ask Thomas for his opinion as well as his approval. No matter how desperate he was to get his revenge on his rival, there was no point in even thinking about that right now since he was in no position to even threaten him. Once his human friend lay on his bed, Mars approached him, stopping on his chest.

"Thomas, I have something important to ask you."

"Mars? What happened? Did mom or dad say anything to you?"

"Listen here, Thomas. I can't reveal everything to you right now since neither one of us is strong enough to face the consequences, but you deserve to know a little bit about me and what I truly am."

"I had once a friend, my first friend if I dare to say, but years after we become friends, he started to be corrupted by his own power, making him believe that I was bound to become a monster that would destroy the world. We fought every dawn and every time I lose, he becomes more sure of that prophecy. It didn't help that his priests and followers were aiding him while my own followers were all being killed for being heretics. In the end, my rival alongside his entourage of priests cursed me for an eternity to live my life as a cobra, banished from my own lands with no hope of ever returning to my home ever again."

Thomas knew that his friend wasn't normal, after all, no normal snake would simply do what Mars has done in the past weeks. However, that didn't matter for Thomas, not even a little bit. Mars was with him from the first day he had become a wizard and even now, every time he needs someone to watch and help him with his training, Mars was always there giving him tips and even teaching him how to properly harness his powers so that he could achieve perfect control over them once he gets his own wand.

"It doesn't matter to me, Mars. You are my friend and I promise you that I will never hate you no matter how bad your past was."

"You are still young, Thomas. However, I do hope that when you eventually find the truth about me you will still remain a friend. Nevertheless, that's not all I wanted to ask and say to you. I want to give you a gift for your ninth birthday if you accept it of course. It's a ritual, a once-in-a-lifetime ritual that would help you greatly, but there's one problem that I do hope you will forgive me for asking you to do. In order for this ritual to work, I will have to give you some of my blood, which in exchange would put your body through a lot of stress, pain, and suffering until everything is done. I do not wish to harm you, especially after you took me as your friend and until now stood by my side, asking me for help every time you need it."

For the first time since Mars become his friend, Thomas didn't know how to respond to him. Should he agree or should he refuse? On one hand, Mars hadn't done anything to hurt him until now, but on the other hand from what he could understand this ritual could be quite painful and dangerous. After a few minutes of silence, Thomas turns his head towards Mars, his eyes showing determination making the snake proud of his choice.

"Very well, Thomas. I want you to listen to me carefully and follow my words to the best of your ability. I want you to draw a circle of blood in the middle of your room. Don't worry about the amount of blood used, I have prepared myself for this moment, you will only have to give me just a little bit of your blood so that a connection can be made. Then I want you to stand within the circle and let me do the rest."

Without wasting any time, Thomas quickly grabbed a jar of blood that Mars had managed to hide for this very moment. As he said before, Mars made a small wound on Thomas's finger letting some of his blood fall into the jar before he urged the boy to draw a circle with the blood making it large enough for him to sit inside the circle without a problem. Once the circle was complete, Thomas walk inside it and sits on the floor, preparing himself for what was going to happen to him. Seeing that Thomas took his sit, Mars made his way beside the circle and start drawing some strange symbols with his tails.

In total, he drew twenty-seven symbols each resembling some sort of hieroglyph making the boy wonder what in god's name was has his friend gotten him into? As soon as he drew the last symbol, Mars distance himself from the circle before he start the ritual.

"Thomas, I want you to repeat my words, without a mistake."

[By blood alone, I ask for guidance. By blood alone, I shall not take a step back. By blood alone, I accept this gift and pledge my life to protect the weak, as this is my duty. I accept the blood and forfeit my humanity in exchange for guidance. I will accept all of thy sins as mine until the day I drew my last breath. By blood alone, I shall live and die!]

Once the last word was spoken, the circle of blood moved towards Thomas, and the hieroglyphs that Mars had drawn levitated in the air, surrounding the young boy. Thomas felt his blood burning in his veins as he curled up in pain trying as much as he could to stop himself from screaming. Sadly, for the young boy, this was just the beginning.

Soon after the initial suffering ended, Thomas felt the pain come back again this time thought it was worse than before. His entire body was beginning to reform into something better. The bones in his body were being strengthened by the ritual as well as his own magical powers making him sturdier than before, while at the same his muscles twitched and damaged themselves as they repaired themselves after tearing again and again each time growing denser.

The symbols hover around him before disappearing as if it was just nothing but an illusion and with them so did the pain. As soon as the pain left him, Thomas dragged his tired body towards his bed before leaning against it, locking towards Mars, who until now watched everything without moving even a bit.

"Congratulations Thomas, you have just become a low-class wizard in terms of magical prowess. I have to be honest with you here about one thing. I wouldn't have thought that you would bypass the normal barrier and jump right to the low class with this one ritual. You,my friend impressed me."

"W-what does … that even mean?"

"It means that you are stronger than before. Much stronger, in fact, you are almost as strong that the exorcist woman, which in my opinion is quite good, considering that you haven't even started using a wand. However, that's not all, if my memory serves me right, you will now be able to cast some of the easier charms and spells without needing a medium. Anyways, it's already late, you should wash before sleeping after all tomorrow is the day you get your own wand, my friend."

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