Chapter 4; The Awakening of Mana Core; Talented!!?

***

'Everyone is asleep?' Alucard perked his ears up, listening for any signs of movement.

Zzz…

He heard roughly three low breaths from inside the house.

'I have 20-25 minutes left.' Alucard checked his mana core. It's time for it to be completed, and stopping the awakening now, is impossible.

With every structure completed, remaining parts mimic their forms, and the mana network illuminates like thousands of fireflies.

'It's time to head out.' Alucard slipped out of bed, leaving the room through the window without making a sound.

He sprinted towards the direction where he didn't find any short of intelligent life form.

The speed he was running was shocking. Alucard was covering a large distance in matters of minutes, his figure appearing almost blurry, and the night hiding him in darkness.

The clouds covered the moon, creating a magnificent night.

In the darkness, only faint footsteps could be heard as he ran, and the cold wind grazed his cheek.

After careful consideration, Alucard chose a vacant location near the mountains, where people would rarely roam around, even less during the night.

The town they lived in had a bare minimum population, so it wasn't surprising to find such an isolated location.

Some creatures were out, but suddenly went into hiding.

Something was about to happen soon…

***

Upon reaching the rugged terrain, Alucard settled, sitting cross-legged on the grass.

'Let's finish this,' he thought, perceiving his mana core, and began hastening the last pieces, completing the Mana Core.

After over three long years, the moment was at hand. Alucard is about to awaken.

'And here it comes.' Alucard thought, as he finished the core.

For a moment it went dormant seemingly failing, all the glowing mana Particles dimmed.

Whooosh~ whooooooooosh~

The very next second, a large amount of mana was drawn towards Alucard's small figure, his mana core sucked the mana from every direction like a black hole.

The 'central node' inside his mana core lit up, and following it, nearby mana nodes also began to show a faint glow.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM~

The latent mana stored within the core erupted, caused, an tremendous explosion that reverberated through the night like a bomb detonating, shaking the ground beneath.

Following the blast, everything within the vicinity disintegrated into pure mana – not even Alucard's was left, his body was obliterated.

His body shattered into thousands of fragments, reduced to mush with no trace of bones remaining.

All that remained was an eerie dark, mana core that floated at the centre.

Massive mana was pouring out from it, creating a transparent layer that covered the explosion area.

Strangely, no sound escaped from the location.

In less than a second, tentacle-like formations of black substance emerged from the core.

Simultaneously, a pitch-black, gooey substance with a red hue rose from the depths of the ground, gradually floating towards the direction of the mana core.

The pure mana, formed through pulverisation, rushed back into the core from all directions, greedily sucked back into the ominous mana core.

Shortly after, the eerie, gooey substance reached the core.

It intertwined with the tentacles emanating from the mana core, slowly consuming and merging with it.

As the tentacles and gooey substance fused, something began to take shape.

Flesh materialised, originating from the torso where the core was situated.

The eerie black tentacles wriggled like thousands of small snakes, while other body parts formed from the black substance.

Finally, Alucard's small figure was reformed, he floated in the air defying gravity.

His clothes remained intact, unscathed by the blast.

Swooooooooooooosh~

swooooooooooooosh~

His small frame absorbed an abyssal amount of mana, visible to the naked eye at the moment.

Air cracked, and simultaneously, another weird spectacle occurred, mana was also slowly getting emitted from his body.

A phenomenon never known before, when a mana core awakens, the individual either becomes a conjurer or an augmenter.

Augmenters, when they first awaken, form a sort of repelling force around the barrier, signifying that they have dominant mana channels in their body.

Conjurers, on the other hand, form a vacuum of mana around them, which means that their mana veins are much more dominant.

Of course the degrees of the pushing force and vacuuming force depends on their talent in either category.

And Alucard seems to have both of them. A barrier translucent yet solid was around him, while vacuum was forming, both if this force at first tried to dominate each other.

But as minutes pass by, a unique force surrounds Alucard.

Who floated in the air for minutes.

…

…

…

25-40 minutes passed…

Alucard slowly opened his eyes while still floating in the air.

In front of him a large crater formed, the ground below disappearing completely, along with everything that was within the radius of 600 metres.

Nothing was left, as if the void had consumed the land itself.

'Strange,' Alucard thought, observing the vibrant colours of the mana particles away from him.

At the centre of radius where he floats, very little mana was present in the air.

Alucard surveyed the aftermath, beholding the destruction he had caused.

'I thought the magnitude would be a bit larger, but I also never thought that the mana within my core, would even obliterate me.' Alucard mused after analysing the explosion caused by him and comparing it with Arthur's.

He calculated such a situation may arise, and, more than that, the explosion would be more destructive upon awakening, though it didn't surprise him.

He was neither a mana expert or a user, all of this remained speculation.

'Lets go.' He thought, departing from the place. Along the way, he noticed a substantial increase in his speed.

While previously covering 1 km in 3 minutes, he could now travel in just 2 minutes and 20 seconds

'1800 metres… no 2250.' He roughly calculated his hearing capabilities.

However, the most significant improvement Alucard experienced was in his senses, notably his heightened vision.

With his improved vision, he could see much clearer than before, even spotting the smallest movements of a rabbit from a distance of 1700 metres.

But that wasn't his limit, he can perceive much further.

…

…

…

Getting back inside his home, Alucard slept as if nothing had happened.

***

Morning arrived, and everyone awoke, each engrossed in their daily routines, while Alucard remained in bed, as he always did, waking up late.

Consequently, nobody paid attention to him, all absorbed in their own tasks.

Reynold dedicated himself to training, Alice prepared breakfast for her children, and Arthur immersed himself in reading within the study room.

Amidst all of this, Alucard, still on his bed, inspected his mana core, feeling the ability to control it at will.

His mana core appeared in a dark red hue, with many red nodes glowing like LEDs.

Upon closer look, the red became darker where the mana was more compressed.

At the centre was a complete crimson, impossible to see with normal eyes.

In the structure there were many hellicals structures which could be seen which were connected through channels and grids could be seen.

Alucard observed that the structures he created functioned smoothly, with nodes absorbing mana from the outside and pushing it towards the channels, enhancing his mana channels and veins.

Normally, mana cores start black due to the blood and impurities mixed with mana particles. Yet, Alucard has skipped the Black-Mana core stage, and simply went to the Red stage.

The mana core becomes pure, as the impurities are filtered out over time.

But given Alucard hard work and precision, while creating his mana core, he managed to purity enough to form Dark red mana core.

He could have skipped more stages, but impurities were added due to creation of many nodes and network formation.

The Order for the lighter goes like this;

[ • Black → Red → Orange → Yellow → Silver → White]

The lighter the mana core, the purer and more powerful it is. Each stage is split into three shades: Dark, Solid, and Light.

Alucard is currently at the Dark-Red Stage.

…

After the inspection, Alucard decided to get up early today.

Crawling out of bed, he ventured outside, where he found Alice busy cooking breakfast.

"You're up early today, Alu?' she asked, looking at her just-awoken son.

"There's still some time before breakfast is done. Why not go out or play with Art, okay?" She suggested with a charming smile.

He nodded and, walking outside of the house, decided to experiment with his mana, testing its impact on his already enhanced body.

In the yard, Reynold executed various moves while chanting spells.

"Did you come here to see yours, Dada?" Reynold paused, noticing his sleepyhead son was up early today, Alu looking at him with interest(?).

He flexed his muscles, with a smile brimming on his face. However the smile was broken in the midst of it, he sensed something different about his son, not the look.

But something he knows, but couldn't put it together.

"Hahaha.." he uttered, suddenly he let out a broken laugh.

"Not you too, it's… impossible…" A defeated look crossed his face, but he smiled proudly.

"Alucard, My Son, you have awakened your mana core, ahahahaha~~~." Reynold dashed towards him, spinning him around in pride.

He felt extremely proud of both his talented sons awakening at such a young age.

"HONEY!!! Look at him." He shouted, running inside the house, while holding Alucard, he had emitted a small amount of mana to notify Rey that he had awakened.

"WHAT DID YO—" Alice shouted in anger, worried if Rey had done something to Alucard. She stormed out from the kitchen, clutching a pan, her expression visible fury and worry.

"Alucard is awakened. Can you believe it? Besides Art, he also awakened his core hahahahaha~" Reynold couldn't stop laughing.

"What?" Alice gasped, instead of asking Rey, it's true. She took Alucard in her embrace, glaring at Rey then at Alu, seeing if he had been hurt anywhere.

"Did you awaken your mana core, baby?" Finally after checking him, she asked with concern, fearing it might be a false sense.

To her surprise, Alucard emitted a small amount of mana.

"See, I told you, my son's are geniuses." Rey said, leaving Alice in stunned surprise, covering her mouth, she couldn't utter any words.

Arthur suddenly emerged from the study room, drawn by the loud commotion.

Hearing what they were about, he sensed the mana emitted by Alucard's mana core.

'He is a natural genius.' He looked at his brother, generally mana core awakened at early adolescence to late teenage years, and it's chance to awaken are at 1 in 100 children.

Arthur apparently was surprised, he was able to form the mana core due to the magic system complements the ki-system that was used in his previous life.

Even then, It took Arthur nearly 2 years of constant gathering of mana particles to form his core, yet he doesn't feel envy or jealousy, just simply proud of his brother.

'But there wasn't any sound of explosion or blast when he awakened.' Arthur pondered, his eyes fixed on Alucard, who was getting squished by Alice's tight embrace, and Rey eager expression to hold him.

'Maybe there are exceptions too.' He shook his head, smiled at his family.

"Art, what are you doing there? Your brother is now mage too. It's time for celebration." Reynold looked over at his son, the proud smile on his lips never leaving.

"Yes, I will make Alu's favourite dish." with determination Alice said.

"Then let me help you." Reynold interjected, wanting to help her.

"No, I want this to be a surprise," Alice insisted, shaking her head. She has something in mind which she wants to try.

Rey appeared momentarily dejected, but then his gaze shifted to Alucard, and a spark ignited in his eyes.

"Alu, come, let me teach you the basics of Mana Manipulation." Taking Alucard with him, Rey dashed outside, he looked excited.

"Art, you want to join in helping Alu, right? Off you go," Alice urged, shooing him outside too.

Arthur, who was planning to teach his brother, left, with excitement.

…

[Outside]

"Alu, you already know about theoretical knowledge about Mana Manipulation and Augmentation." Rey said, as he stood tall, acting as a strict instructor.

He looked at Alucard for a moment and then suddenly to Arthur.

"Art, my little champ, prepare your sword." Rey with enthusiasm, looked at Art, who deadpan stared at the sword in his hand.

"Remember what I taught you. Just like your heart or lungs, the mana core is another organ..." Rey began the explanation, arms crossed, a stick in his hand.

Arthur glanced at his brother, who stared at them. Art felt embarrassed for some reason seeing his brother gazing at them.

'Alu probably won't understand how Rey is explaining, what could they expect from a 4-year-old.' Arthur thought, soon interrupted by Rey.

"Alu, see us and learn from it." Reynold turns towards Alucard, before focusing on Arthur, not noticing strange expressions of Arthur.

Rey sat down to reach the same height level as him, his arms open to catch him.

'So be it.' Art took a last glance at his brother, and took a deep breath, his eyes sharp, and focused on his opponent, his own father.

Taking a stance, Arthur swiftly closed the distance, his wooden sword cutting through the air with a series of swift slashes.

Rey effortlessly countered each move with his stick. A pleased smile graced Rey's face as he relished the opportunity to teach both of his sons.

They engaged in a clash, although it felt more like Reynold toying with Arthur.

On the other hand, Arthur, seeing not being able to hit to do anything, made distance between them, closing his eyes.

A blue glow appeared on his body, Alucard noticed this with interest as he watched the spar between father and son.

Arthur used Mana Augmentation to strengthen his body, opened his eyes, and a serious expression crossed his face.

And at that moment, he almost disappeared from his spot, slashing directly towards Rey who held the stick, yet as soon as the wooden sword touched the stick, it was cut clean in half.

A shocked expression could be seen on Reynold's face, Arthur turned, his gaze landing on his brother Alucard, who stood with closed eyes.

And at that moment, Arthur sensed a substantial surge of mana emanating from his brother's body, which left him astonished.

'This output is excessive, I need to lower it,' Alucard thought, feeling the mana he was expending more mana than necessary, and a significant portion was going to waste.

Slowly, he lowered the output, to reach his level.

Alu nodded his head in satisfaction, he easily sensed the enhancements in his strength, agility, and heightened senses. His defence now increased several fold.

"A..lu?" Rey's jaw dropped in amazement as he watched his son effortlessly manipulate mana, a mixture of astonishment and shock spreading across his face.

Just after witnessing Arthur's display of his proficiency in mana and sword.

Rey was astonished that even his other son could use mana augmentation with such ease, more importantly on his first try.

He was already shocked to see Arthur being able to do it, but did not expect this from Alucard.

Arthur sensed the raw surge of mana during Alucard's attempt to enhance his body.

The ease with which Alucard emitted such a substantial amount of mana was unmistakable and shocking.

Alucard effortlessly controlled the mana output, reaching a level where its utilisation appeared as if he has trained for years.

'An terrifying genius,' Arthur's perception of Alucard changed from someone top standard genius to a monster. Yet he felt excitement for some reason.

"You both can go, the food might be ready." Rey muttered absent-mindedly, his mind overlapping the feat both of his sons had achieved.

…

…

…

Inside the dining room, only sounds of cutlery could be heard, eating the food that was specially created for Alucard.

Reynold glanced at his sons. Arthur was playing while eating the specially created food for Alucard.

Alucard, on the other hand, ate silently, Rey was unable to erase the image of what both of them had done.

"Honey, I think it's time to get both of them a proper mentor." After thinking about it, he spoke calmly.

*Clang*

As the words escaped Rey's mouth, Alice dropped her fork into the plate, as the silence took over the table.

"What? Reynolds! Arthur and Alucard aren't even four yet! Besides, Alucard only awakened yesterday. You said if any of our sons turn out to be an augmenter, you'd be able to teach them! And now, both of them are Augumeters!" Alice spoke, almost screaming, in her voice with desperation was evident.

"Exactly, I also never expected them to be this much of a prodigy in mana manipulation. Who has ever heard of an awakening at the age of three?" Rey responded a lot more calmly.

"But that means both of them have to leave home! Reynolds, they aren't even four yet! We can't have our baby leave home at such an early age!"

"You don't get it. When I observed Arthur's body while he meditated, I couldn't help but feel that all of this was natural to him."

"And, Alucard, you underestimate his talent. With a single glance, he learned Mana Augmentation."

"His control is frightening, that even I haven't seen anyone doing what Alucard has done, Alice honey, I'm holding them back by trying to teach something they can do in their sleep."

Thus began the parents' quarrel.

Alucard, bored with food, quietly left. Leaving Arthur to deal with this.

Alucard had been thinking about the next course of action, which was about to happen soon.

…

Back to the dining room.

"I'm not having my child leaving hundreds of miles away!" Alice remained firm to her belief, without any sign of backing off.

"Xyrus isn't just some city, and I'll make sure my friend takes care of him." Reynold also didn't back down, it's about the future of their children.

They went back and forth, basically repeating their initial points; Alice kept saying that both of them were too young, and Alucard doesn't fit into a city.

And Reynold said that they shouldn't hold them back from reaching their full potential, and so on it continued, until they looked at Alucard and Arthur, not surprised that Alucard left.

So all the questions were targeted to Arthur, well even if Alucard were present, he won't have a reply for this.

Alucard was their little baby boy, he won't deny any of them.

Arthur stared at them with deadpan expression, and finally told them to go together as a family of four. And that's how their journey for Xyrus was about to begin.

***

To be continued…

***

[Word Count]: 3108

***

Give me Blessings through Powerstones…

***

A/N: If you found Alucard getting blasted weird and his lack of reaction, it's my fault. I added that scene after writing and thinking, like, "What if?" So it just happened.

This is the final image of his current Mana core, though it will work like a normal core with a more advanced version. {Image}

Also, Alucard doesn't fear death. If he dies, he will accept that he died.

Regarding the rush to the Xyrus city, I was thinking of writing one more chapter—some filler—some bullshit and extra stuff—but whatever, I don't want to increase the word count. It's already more than enough.

Then there's, Alucard being talented, and his Mana control and Augumetation skill, well they are what they are... While other need practice to constantly Augument their body, Alucard can do it with this with ease.

Also, something was about to happen soon.

***

Let's meet again next week…