I Play With My Blood

[Back to Mordred]

"Curious."

I said while observing the rippling blob of my blood hovering over my fingertip.

I focused on the blob with an image in my head. It rippled and morphed into a small knife. I held it in my hand. The blood knife felt quite solid.

I aimed and threw it at my huge sliding window. The knife splattered on the clear glass and dripped onto the carpet.

I will have to clean that up later.

I looked at the cut on my hand I made with a piece of glass from my broken alarm and concentrated. The cut closed up and healed.

"Very curious."

I am kind of glad. Mordred may have a weak body but his ardor control is amazing.

Ah yes, Ardor. Where should I begin?

It is the energy that is found everywhere and in everything. According to scholars who are called scientists, there are even stars made up of this stuff.

Anyway, ardor is an energy capable of bending reality. So it is the same as the magic of my previous life but much more powerful.

All living beings have ardor and use it in a wide variety of ways. People who manipulate ardor to do astonishing things like controlling fire and lightning are called Warlocks.

Ardor is divided into Strands based on the types of elements it can control. Currently, there are ten strands.

Ignis controls fire, Aqua controls water, Aeris controls air, Fulgur controls electricity, and Terra controls earth.

Lux controls light, Tenebris controls darkness, Chronos controls time, Locus controls space and Haema controls blood.

Each strand further branches out into sub-strands. A sub-strand is closely related to the strand it branches out from.

For example, Ice is a sub-strand of Aqua, Magnetism is a sub-strand of Fulgur, Plant is a sub-strand of Terra and Shadow is a sub-strand of Tenebris.

A warlock must first master their strand before even beginning to use the sub-strand.

I am quite impressed by this system of classification and also amazed by the concepts of magnetism and the complexities of space and time. Modern knowledge sure is amazing.

Anyway.

Every warlock has at least one strand that they awaken at the age of 7. But some individuals awaken their strands at a younger age or awaken more than one strand or even both.

Such individuals are seen as prodigies.

Morgan, being a prodigy, awakened two strands, at the age of 4, and Gawain awakened at the age of 5. Even Elaine awakened her strand at the age of 6.

And Mordred?

He awakened his strand just one week ago.

Yeah. He is a very late bloomer.

Well, in my current circumstance, more like a too-late bloomer.

Looks like the three heirs insulting Morgause most likely triggered his strand, along with his rage. He had very good ardor control so it was easy to beat those fools up.

If you wondered how Mordred beat up three possibly stronger guys with his weak ass body. Now you know the answer. And I approve of it.

Anyway. Back to the topic of ardor.

Based on what Mordred learned, this world has a rather simple system of power classification.

The Ranking system.

It applies to all beings capable of controlling ardor, including ardor animals or ardimals, ardor plants or arlants, and warlocks.

There are nine ranks, ranging from F to X with F being the weakest rank and X being the strongest.

Warlocks are ranked according to the amount of ardor they can control. This is measured by how much area of ardor a warlock can control.

To put some perspective, my current self can manipulate the ardor in an area the size of my bed while my father can easily manipulate the ardor of an area encompassing half the planet.

And that too when he is feeling lazy.

Yeah. I am that weak.

If I could guess my current rank, it would be intermediate F-rank and F rankers are only slightly stronger than normal people.

No wonder Arthur doesn't even look at me. Even I am embarrassed by myself.

Each rank is further divided into beginner, intermediate, and master. There is a significant power gap between beginners and masters.

Rank progression gets increasingly difficult the higher a warlock evolves. For example , evolving from master E rank to beginner D rank is harder than reaching master E rank from the beginner phase.

As they evolve, the wall to cross becomes higher and higher.

So most warlocks stop progressing when they reach A-rank and they face the wall beyond that is nigh impossible to cross.

But some continue to progress along the thorny path, pushing their bodies and minds to the limit and breaking into S-rank which is considered the limit of the growth of an ardor being. 

Beyond that is X-rank which is the realm of the gods and only a select few, chosen by Fate can enter that divine realm.

X-ranked warlocks are regarded as divine beings on par with the gods and are immensely powerful. They are called Crowns, the rulers of the world.

Currently, there are only three X rankers in the world, and Arthur Pendragon, my father is the most powerful among them.

Some scientists have even theorized the existence of Rank Z ardor beings that are vastly more powerful than Rank X.

But so far, no being has ever achieved that level.

I sifted through Mordred's memories. I must admit, the kid was a genius and studied hard.

He spent most of his time in the Dawn Palace library, reading and re-reading books of history, ardor theory for beginners, and scientific books.

What else is there?

Ah, this is interesting.

There are three main classes among warlocks: Spikers, Coders, and Linkers.

Warlocks who use ardor to enhance their bodies and boost their physical abilities are Spikers. They are also capable of imbuing their weapons or bodies with their respective strands.

Most weapon users are Spikers but there are also Spikers whose bodies are their weapons.

Coders are warlocks who specialize in manipulating and releasing ardor using different Codes.

They are capable of amazing feats like shooting fireballs and lightning, taming powerful ardimals, summoning spirits, healing, and other cool stuff.

Healers, enchanters, summoners, and tamers all come under Coders.

Hmm. So the Merlin and Morgan Lefay of my past life would be Coders in this world.

Interesting.

And finally, the Linkers. Just as their name suggests, they are warlocks who enhance their bodies with ardor and also use codes.

Becoming a Linker is difficult compared to becoming a Spiker or a Coder as one has to learn the fundamentals and methods of the two classes.

But this doesn't mean that Linkers are rare. One out of ten warlocks is a Linker.

A warlock is free to choose the class they feel to be best in usually by the end of their secondary ardor education.

From what I can infer from Mordred's memories, King Arthur is a Linker, the strongest in the world, Queen Guinevere is a powerful Coder, and my mother was one of the strongest Spikers.

Morgan chose to be a Linker, Gawain chose to be a Spiker, and a good one at that, and Elaine recently chose to be a Coder.

And Mordred?

Well, he never went to school so he still hasn't chosen his class. So it is up to me.

I sat up and thought about it. I have good ardor control but a weak body. Even if I use ardor to enhance my body, I would still be weak.

Sorry mum. Looks like I cannot become a Spiker. I can become one but it will take a long time. And time is not something I have at the moment.

As for being a Coder...

I am very intelligent and can memorize many codes but I just awakened my strand, and strand control is very important for a Coder. I can learn to control Haema but like with the case of being a Spiker, I need time.

I sighed. Looks like Linker it is.

Sure, becoming one is difficult but I just need to learn the basics of a Spiker and Coder for the time being. Plus I feel like it is more balanced.

I can compensate for my weak body with codes and maintain control over Haema with a weapon and my precise ardor control.

Also, I was a genius in my previous life and that seems to be the case in this world too. After all, most Linkers are considered to be geniuses.

And how am I to accomplish this when I am going to a deadly battlefield? Well, there is something called an idiom that states, 'Every cloud has a silver lining.'

If I manage to not die brutally for three years, I will be able to train my body and acquire experience. I should probably get myself a code book and learn some basic codes.

And besides, I was previously a Knight of the Round Table and have my past memories and knowledge. So becoming a Linker will not be a hassle for me.

I hope so.

I sat on my bed and closed my eyes. All the new information I received upon waking up in this world has settled and my soul has fully assimilated into this body. Now I just need to get used to this modern society.

Oh yeah. I should start packing. Merlin notified me on my smartphone that she would come to pick me up soon.

Man, smartphones are the best. I can't believe such a thing could exist. All the knowledge of the world is at my fingertips.

If the people of my previous world heard about this, they would regard it as magic. Merlin will probably drool over it and Morgan Le Fay would chase me around to get her hands on it.

I have little time left. Since all the servants in the Dawn Palace were taken away for interrogation by the Phantom Knights, there is no one to pack my stuff.

I sighed. Morgan made things difficult by trying to help me.

I searched all over my room for a suitcase but didn't find even one. I stood up after looking under my bed. Perhaps luggage bags and suitcases are kept in a separate room?

I looked at the doors of my room. The Dawn Palace is huge, according to my new memories. Will I be able to find a suitcase and pack my things by the time Merlin arrives?

I made up my mind. Suitcase hunting it is.

I went over to my door and was about to open it when I heard someone running outside.

As soon as I opened it, I saw a flash of gold and someone crashed into me.

I was taken by surprise and both of us tumbled into my room.

"Ow. Look where you're going.", I grumbled, and when I looked at how it was, my mood worsened.

Another nuisance has appeared.

"Oh, it's you, Elaine."