Arc Energy

Andres woke up from his dream, yet he remained still; his eyes closed with tears slowly flowing out of it.

"Ya good mate?" Aksel asked Andres after sensing the tears that slowly flowed out of his eyes and the sudden movements in Andres's conciousness that signified that his awake.

Andres slowly opened his eyes and spoke solemnly clearly still bothered by the fact that he is no longer human. "Yeah.."

Aksel knew Andres was lying but he decided that it will be better if they don't talk about it for now.

"Aight, if ya say so.."

"By the way, Lila sent ya a letter."

Aksel spoke as he stood up and stretch whilst pulling out a yellowish envelope and putting it unto Andres's chest. He then left the room so that Andres could have sometime alone.

Andres slowly sat up and began opening the envelope. Inside was a dagger that belonged to Lila; the one that she used when they were still young hunters in their village. And a letter for him.

Andres pulled out the dagger first and noticed that it was attached to a lace. Since the dagger was used when they were around 9 years old; it was quite small as it was the size for a child. Seeing that the dagger was meant to be worn as a necklace, Andres lightly smiled and wore the dagger.

He then pulled out the letter and slowly opened it.

'Dear Andres,

It had been a week already since the incident. And it has already been 12 years since we became friends! It's both pur birthday today isn't it? Well it is our birthday at this moment Im writing this letter. How are you? I believe that this is the first time we'll be seperated for a long period of time. I've heard that it'll be a year before we can meet again, I look forward to it! Oh and by the way, I manged to pass the entrance exam for the Divine Feathers Faction! It's Ms. Ciel and Mr. Aksel's Faction, turns out their boyh Captain and vice captains of the sparrow squad or Squad 0. I'm in their squad as well, It's really cozy and cold here, brings back memories, just like back in our village... Oh and we were also assigned to a mission already, we would probably be already at the mission by the time you recieve this letter. It's about Rakshan, we'll be hunting him down, but do not worry about me the 7th squad is with us their captain is an GrandElder Archive! He can erase an entire city as big as the captial on his own! That's all, I wish I can tell you more than this but I still need to prepare. Goodbye!

Your Dearest,

Lila Antares'

"Happy Birthday Lila.." Andres mumbled to himself as he took a deep breath with a gentle smile. His mood a lot better; Andres then stood up and began stretching. He stored the letter in a drawer next to his bed before leaving the room.

He then decidef to explore the entire mansion that he stayed at. It was spacious and could easily be occupied by a hundred people and still have some spare rooms. Yet it was suspicously empty with the only people he encountered except Aksel and the Master being a a maid and a butler named Teressa and Antonio.

After a while of exploring the house, he found a room filled with books, Andres immediately entered the room in excitement due to the amount of books within the room that seemed infinite. 'It's a library!' Andres eagerly thought to himself as he stroll through bookshelves; picking up books about history, Archives, arcs, and a book Titled 'Jester's Blade'.

But the moment Andres tried leaving the room, the master suddenly appeared out of nowhere blocking the exit.

"Out of all the book in this library.." Master Zaver spoke while shaking his head. The books then began floating out of Andres's hand and began circling around in air. "I— I'm sorry, but are these books not allowed to be read by others?" Andres asked whilst pointing at the books.

"They are allowed to be read but this book." Zaver spoke while the red book titled Jester's blade flew unto his hand.

"I'm sorry but why?" Andres asked dumbfoundedly.

"It's not just a book boy. It contains the knowledge of a man that could defeat anyone in the world despite the lack of arc."

"You talk highly of this man Master Zaver. May I know why?" Andres asked.

"I don't know maybe if you prove yourself worthy of this book."

"But how will I do that?"

"I'll give you a year. Master your arc and reach the rank of Master Archive and only then you may know the contents of this book and the reason why I talk highly of a man."

"But even Aksel hasn't reached that rank yet!"

"Wrong, He had already reached that rank a long time ago, but the seal restricts his Arc down one rank each time."

"Wait, does that mean I'm only a 3rd grade right now?"

"You've already reached the rank of Elite Archive a few days ago, but The seal restricts you thats why you're only at the Awakened Archive."

"I see.. but can I atleast take the other books?"

"Yes you may."

Andres then smiled and took 3 books; Mastering Arc, Becoming an Archive, and finally The Great Holy War. These three books were chosen by Andres as it attracted him the most. Zaver had already left when He was about to leave. He wanted to ask if the books he chose were allowed but since Zaver had already left he decided to just take it and went back to his room.

He then store the books along side the letter and went outside the mansion where he saw Aksel practicing his blood manipulation.

"Aksel!"

"Hmm?" Aksel turned around to look at Andres whom looked alot better than earlier.

"Sup mate?" Aksel spoke to Andres with a smile.

"So Lila had joined your squad I heard?" Andres spoke.

"Ah yes, She had joined the squad a few days ago. Ya know ya were asleep for two weeks since the fight right?" Aksel answered before asking aswell.

"Two weeks?! There's no way right!" Andres was baffled by the amount of slept he had taken. 'The Ethereal State sure do use alot of energy huh.' He thought to himself.

"Yeah mate, So what brought ya here? But before ya Answer that, how's the place?" Aksel asked .

"It's great but it feels a little empty.. Oh! And Master Zaver and I had a conversation about a book and had a bet."

"Ya what?! Ya made a bet with Master?!"

"Y—yeah is it bad?"

"No not really.. It just baffles me that he talked to you and even made a bet while he barely talks to me."

"Don't tell me your jealous?" Andres asked jokingly.

"Nah.. He might have his reasons. After all his around a million years old or more.. I think.. So he is a sage that I can't read."

"What?"

"What do ya mean what?"

"He's a million years old?! How the fuck can you be so calm despite that fact?!"

"What? Is there a reason for a true vampire to not live that long?"

"A true vampire? Can you tell me all what you know about him?"

"Yeah sure, What I know is that he's one of the true vampires that lurked a million years ago. He is one of the first vampires. He met me when I was an infant and I was turned into a vampire by him because I was dying. He's basically my father. Oh and he also has a lot of connections and is feared by many."

"That's it?"

"Yeah he's pretty mysterious."

"By the way ya wanna learn blood manipulation already?"

"Oh yeah sure!"

Aksel then lead Andres to an area filled with Arc iron training dummies.

"First ya have to extract yer own blood like this!" Aksel spoke before opening his palms; A thread of blood then began seeping out of his finger tips and began forming a ball.

"But how do i do that exactly?" Andres asked.

"Open yer palms and imagined pulling out a thorn out of it slowly. But think the thorn as yer blood!" Aksel explained.

Andres immediately followed his instructions and began doing so with eyes closed. He felt tingles in his hands like something is being pulled out, He decided to open his eyes and found a thin and small amount of blood threads coming out of his finger tips. Aksel then suddenly spoke. "Now try imagining that those thread of bloods are yer limbs and command it to form a ball."

Andres followed the instruction and began curling the blood into a ball. "Infuse it with Arc Energy and shoot it at the dummies."

Andres began gather Arc Energy around the small blood of ball and aimed it at the dummies while Aksel sneezed. He shot the ball of blood but it evaporated before it could even reach the dummies.

"You covered it with too much Arc Energy mate, But you did well except that part." Aksel explained while showing the amount of arc energy one must infuse.