-Chapter 22- Concerning Futures

Tessia Crestless P.O.V.

Several years have passed since I had learned the truth from Uncle Zanshu I am now twelve. During that time I learned about asuras, and how the Indrath clan had unrightfully banished the leader of the Vritra clan, Agrona Vritra. They had a few battles against each other since then but had now been unable to attack each other due to the treaty.

That's where I am supposed to come in, I am being trained to help take down Dicathen and hand it over to Alacrya. My training has gone well, I was now a Dark Yellow stage conjurer. Uncle Zanshus's training has helped me become a real powerful mage, I am sure I can take on Kai now.

Today Uncle Zanshu said he has more specialized training for me once he gets back from getting what he needed. He didn't tell me what he was getting so I have no idea when he will return.

I decide to now waste my time laying around my room, so I go outside to the training platform and train using my plant magic. I had become more skilled with plant magic ever since Uncle Zanshu started training me, I had grown so much with it that somehow I managed to gain a new ability using plant magic. I choose to call it Corrosive Vines, I activate corrosive vines, and the vines I had made slowly turn a lifeless gray color, they almost look dead. I launch the vines at a nearby tree and I watch their ability activate. It had begun to take away the life energy of the tree and began to perish, with the leaves falling off and the bark dying. After it had died the tree began to collapse and break from the vines.

I have no clue how I had managed to gain this skill with plant magic but my theory is that it happened because of the mana from that sovereign I absorbed. Whatever it did to my body that day, it has been causing strange things to happen to me. I get rid of the vines and take a moment to sit down, I look at my long hair and sort of play with the strands of hair at the end. Looking at the change of color from how it was before that day.

"My my, Is the little prodigy having second thoughts?" A familiar voice asks, I look over agitated, I already know who it was just from the voice. It was Kai, that bastard.

"Shut up Kai, why are you even here, don't you have business at Xryus academy," I ask.

"That's actually why sir Zanshu brought me here, what did he not tell you?" He smirks and chuckles a bit.

"Wait he is back? When did he get home?" I get up and go inside, I see Uncle Zanshu just entering through the front door.

"Oh, were you waiting for me?" He asks.

"Why is Kai here?" He clearly knows I dislike Kai.

"Don't worry, he is here because he is important for your upcoming training." Zanshu says, "For now, take this." He tosses over a small item he had taken out of his coat pocket.

I catch it in my hands and look at it, sitting in my palms is a small beast core. This looked different from the last one, unlike before it wasn't just pitch black in color, It shines a light purple and black color. It radiated a powerful aura that nearly made my skin crawl.

"Absorb that, it will help with the beginning of your training," Zanshu states before walking away.

Excited that I finally got another one of these artificial beast cores I ran to my room so I could begin to absorb it. The last time I had gotten one of these it boosted my growth a lot, I had gone up to stages in such a short amount of time.

I sat down on my bed and began to meditate with the beast core in my hand. I began to absorb the contents and the mana flowed into my mana veins to my mana core as if on its own. The process this time was way easier than the first beast core. The mana moved into my body as if it were sentient.

But it doesn't last long, suddenly the mana supply ends, and I sense no remaining mana left in the beast core. How? Did the people who made it not put enough mana into the artificial core?

Surprised by this I looked into the beast core again, I had to be mistaken. I still feel a strong presence from the core so I look inside. I look around and suddenly I feel a monstrous presence within the core. It scares me to the point I drop the beast core severing my connection.

A beast will?

I quickly pick back up the beast core and look inside again, I find the source of the presence, it takes on the appearance of a large giant serpent, no, rather a basilisk. I feel the power radiating off of it. I began to absorb the beast's will, it didn't try fighting back at all but rather let itself be absorbed into my core.

After a short bit of time, the beast will be now in my core. I can feel its power coursing through me as if it were my own. Is this what Uncle Zanshu wanted me to find?

I leave my room and go to try and find Uncle Zanshu, it doesn't take long because I find him sitting on the couch with Kai next to him. He notices me and tells me to sit down, I do so and wait for him to begin speaking.

"I see you have found the gift they have bestowed upon you. Good, now we can begin the second phase of your training." Zanshu says in a calculating tone.

"What is the second phase?" I ask, are they gonna train me to use the beast will?

"First, we will repeat the process that we did when we first started your training, you will absorb another one of those horns. Then we can start with the assimilation of the beast will. We expect you to be able to use phase one before you leave for school."

"Wait- school? Why would I need to leave for school? Can't you just train me?"

"This isn't about training, you are receiving your first mission from the higher-ups. You are to infiltrate Xyrus academy in the next school year and help Kai and- Sir Draneeve." Zanshu says he didn't like to refer to Draneeve as Sir or any form of the title since Zanshu was older.

I am obviously unhappy that I will be working with Kai, but this was my first mission. I couldn't let them down. "I am happy to receive such a responsibility. Thank you."

Uncle Zanshu leads me to the underground tunnels and brings me back to the same room I was in those years back. I sit down and he leaves to get a large box, he sits it down on the table and opens it. He reaches in and takes out a vial and hands it to me to drink, I do so and I suddenly feel a pain in my core. Did the beast will not like this elixir?

Zanshu takes out a large horn from the box, it is shaped like a curved knife, extending out to a sharp point. He hands it to me to absorb, I begin the absorbing process. A huge feeling of energy hits me like some kind of drug.

***

*Long Time Ago In Alacrya*

??? P.O.V.

Gripping my weapon I look forward to the battlefield. Ahead of us is an army of Indrath soldiers coming to attack our new land. 'Those dragons, they really are trying to kill us aren't they?'

Lord Agrona had sent us to fight off the oncoming Indrath army. Though I knew he was planning something else, the way he was acting. Perhaps he was leaving to try and meet someone. But who?

I stopped thinking about it and returned my mind to the battlefield. It was time for us to begin the fight with the enemy Indraths. I was part of the front lines thanks to my skills so I went charging in with my comrades.

I used my decay mana-arts to summon soul fire around me and concentrate it into my blade. I cut down and stabbed members of the Indrath clan who had tried to attack us. Behind me, someone had tried to go for a sneak attack so I had a black spike come up from the ground to pierce them in the chest killing them. Most of my comrades on the front lines have died so far, I was one of the few left.

I suddenly hear a loud explosion from behind me, it had come from the Vritra soldiers.'Did they launch a large attack? I'm still out here, it's gonna-' In my moment of distraction I was stabbed through the back by an Indrath soldier, I fell to the ground. I try to get up and move before the attack reaches the battlefield, but my legs don't have the strength to pick me up. I began to crawl away, but I knew I was too late when suddenly a large explosion expanded outwards towards me, and soon enough I was engulfed by the bright flash of light.

*Dicathen, Present Day*

Tessia Crestless P.O.V.

When I began to absorb the mana from the horn, memories of a fallen soldier rushed into my mind. It felt like I was in that battle, I couldn't move my own body. It felt like I was trapped in the memory. All the pain they felt I felt, enough pain to cause me to scream in pain while sitting in the chair.

I wanted to stop absorbing the horns' mana but I couldn't because it wouldn't let me. As if I were triggering something in my mind, the pain forced out some kind of magic spell that I didn't know. It was like an emergency life or death response, when suddenly black flames filled the room, had my body believed it was dying from the memory?

It didn't take long for me to pass out from stress.

I woke up later in my bed, I sit up and look around. I feel a pain from my mana core, it must have been from using mana back in that room for that weirdly colored fire. What was that fire ability? I thought elves cant use fire?

I get up and leave to the living room to find Kai and Uncle Zanshu waiting for me. "Good, you're awake, how are you feeling," Zanshu asks.

"Fine, just a bit of pain from the beast will."

"That's ok, we will solve that problem soon enough. It appears that the appearance change has been completed. You truly do look like her now. Well besides the ears." Zanshu says.

'Wait what' I run to the nearest mirror and look at myself. My appearance changed again! Why do they keep doing this? Can they not just choose a single appearance for me???

My hair was fully silver again, and my eyes were gray this time. 'What the hell??'

Uncle Zanshu walks up and says. "You are truly beginning to look like her now."

After hearing him say that I immediately know who he was talking about, that girl from the memory. She had the same exact features as I do now. Was I somehow becoming like her?

"Now that we finished this we will begin your assimilation to the beast will," Zanshu says.

***

Zanshu P.O.V.

Tessia had left not too long ago, she was exhausted from the appearance change. I see Kai walk up and sit down near me.

"So are you not gonna tell her?" Kai asks.

"No, I can't, she won't understand."

"So your not gonna tell her the process will change her personality? How devious of you." Kai continues asking.

"She won't even notice the change, her personality will slowly change to match that of the dead Sovereign." I sigh in worry.

"What are you worried about, this was the plan... Right?" Kai asks.

"Yes it was the plan, but that specifics Sovereigns personality, its concerning."

"Concerning how?" he asks.

I have no idea how to respond to that question, it's not exactly something I put into words. So I just get up and go pour myself a drink.

"That bad huh?" Kai says.