Chapter 35: 33 - Bloodlust
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Chapter 35: Chapter 33 - Bloodlust
"Allow your deepest and darkest emotions, preferably one of immense hatred or anger, to grab a hold of you while still maintaining a phenomenal level of control over it"
"Channel that feeling, that violent sensation, and embrace it. Then, use it to converse with the mana in the air to release that feeling, either over a wide range or towards a specific person. That is how you release a wave of bloodlust"
"Considering both of you can already use mana sense quite well, releasing the emotions you're feeling over a wide range or towards a specific person won't be an issue..."
"However, you need to be very careful though because finding a very deep and dark emotion that you can actually control may prove to be a big challenge..."
"You might just get stuck in that infinite dark void for a while which is usually caused by mana when you begin to converse with it if you're not able to control the emotion you're feeling..."
"That being said, once you're able to successfully use it even once, you won't need to go through the entire process of doing it all over again just the use it. It would instantly become like a switch that you can flip on and off whenever you want"
Those were the words Leopold had told his sons about using bloodlust when both of them had asked a month and a week ago, after he had demonstrated the forms of their family's weapon art to them.
"It's been a month and a week since then and yet, we seem to be making no progress at all" Aiden said while lying down on his bed and looking at the white-colored but ornately designed ceiling in his room in his room, the late morning suns' rays spilling through the open windows to brighten up his room.
"Just like dad had said, finding a very deep and dark emotion that we can control is proving to be very challenging"
"No matter how much we try, we keep sinking into that endless dark void space that gives us an unspeakable feeling of dread..."
This was a task that was easier said than done for both brothers, especially because they had a lot of dark emotions to draw from, both from their previous lives and their lives before they had realized that they were reincarnators.
Looking at it from another perspective, Aiden and Flynn should have had an advantage and an edge in understanding and using bloodlust considering the amount of dark emotions they had, but deep down, both of them had realized why they had been stuck in that space.
He and Flynn had just finished their usual training sessions with Frank and had gone back to their rooms for a bath.
"I should just go and bathe for now..."
As Aiden decided to head for his bathroom while rising up from the soft mattress, his expression changed into a pained wince as he tried to flex his arms. His muscles were absolutely aching him due to the training from earlier in the morning.
'It's a pity we can't use healing potions...' he inwardly said to himself.
Frank had told them not to use any healing potions for the entirety of their training period until the day they had finally stopped training. The reason for this, as he had told them, was to increase their pain tolerance.
-Knock knock!
Suddenly, Aiden heard a knock on his door and immediately went to check who it was.
Upon opening the door, he met Ivelia who was standing there patiently with what seemed to be two small transparent sachets in her hands.
Her waist long orange hair had also been cut and she was now rocking a pretty, smooth-rounded bob hairstyle with bangs.
"Hey Ivelia. Love the new look by the way. What's up?" Aiden commented and asked.
"Hi Aiden. Thanks for the compliment!" Ivelia responded with a smile, after which she then continued.
"I actually came here to give you this before you start your mana core training" she said while placing one of the transparent sachets containing small, light green pills in Aiden's hands.
"And what exactly are these?" Aiden asked in curiosity and Ivelia immediately responded.
"They're pain relievers. Potent ones. Use them before going to bed and it should ensure that you wake up without a single muscle ache. They're lemon-flavored too!"
"Really! Thanks Ivelia! We're always so sore when we wake up every morning so this is a godsend especially since we're not permitted to use healing potions" Aiden replied, his tone laced with gratitude.
"You're welcome. Now, off to Flynn! You guys do have a tight schedule afterall" Ivelia said, immediately moving towards Flynn's room which was just down the corridor.
Aiden and Flynn had quite the strict schedule they had been following for the past five and a half months.
After waking up in the morning at about 5am, they would head straight to their training grounds after consuming a snack and a healthy drink from the kitchen.
They would then do a few warm-ups, especially the basic workouts or train their mana sense with the twins if they were available until Frank came along to train them.
Once the morning training sessions were over, both of them would come back to take their baths and eat breakfast, after which they would then use the rest of the morning and early afternoon to train their mana cores.
By mid-afternoon, they would eat lunch and after doing that, they would head back to the field to train their combat art.
Once late afternoon came, they would go back to take a shower again, eat a few snacks here and there along with a sports drink and immediately go back to begin their evening training sessions with Frank.
By the time late evening came around, they would once again take a shower and eat dinner along with everyone when night came.
Usually, after dinner, everyone would disperse into their rooms to sleep. That was also what everyone else thought both brothers would also do but Aiden and Flynn would still stay up for three to four more hours to do their mana vein training.
After that, they would then take a shower or a bathe one more time before finally heading to bed.
Ivelia who quickly walked over to Flynn's room so as to reach him before he started his core training, knocked on the door three times.
-Knock knock knock!
"Coming!" Flynn responded from the other side of the door, the sound of his footsteps moving towards it.
Ivelia calmly waited for a few seconds until the door swung open. However, what she saw as the door swung open made her swallow hard.
There Flynn was, in all his glory, with only a towel covering his waist down to his knees, his ripped body full of bruises and marks from the past five months of training.
His body was practically glistening and his silver hair with green streaks which had grown a bit longer over the past few months was parted messily and covered one of his eye, indicating that he had just come out of the bathroom as beads of water trickled down the tips of his hair and his finely-toned abs.
"Ivelia you pervert" Flynn said mischievously as Ivelia kept staring at his body.
"Wha-! No! I didn't mean to!" Ivelia responded while flailing her hands, her face completely red like a tomato.
"Hmmm... You were staring so hard though" Flynn replied with an amused smile.
Ivelia who realized that she had been caught red-handed tried to avert her gaze away but could not help but sneak in a few more peeks.
Flynn who was seemingly enjoying her reactions spoke once again., his face inching close to hers.
"I have to say though Ivelia, you are one gorgeous young lady. Really digging your new hairstyle" Flynn said, tucking a few strands of Ivelia's hair behind her ear.
"It tickles..." Ivelia meekly said, her cheeks blushing at Flynn's compliment.
"It's supposed to tickle" Flynn responded with a smile.
'He's always doing things like this' Ivelia inwardly said to herself as she watched Flynn's hands slightly graze her ear that was tinged with red after tucking away a few strands of her hair.
Flynn seemingly having enjoyed the reaction he got from her, asked with a little more seriousness in his voice.
"So, what's up?"
"Nothing really. I just came to give you this" Ivelia replied, her hands placing another sachet that contained the pain-relieving pills into Flynn's hands, but this time, the pills had a red color to them.
She then explained, just as she had done when Aiden had asked but this time, before taking her leave and heading down to the lab, she leaned in closely to Flynn's ear and quietly said.
"It's strawberry-flavored. I also tried to mitigate the slight sourness as much as I could while still keeping it extremely sweet. I hope you like it"
After saying this, she immediately turned around and began to move towards the staircase that led up, into the lab.
Flynn who had been surprised by the extra effort she had put into meeting his preference, especially considering the insane amount of time she dedicated to perfecting the healing potion, slightly chuckled to himself and moved back into his room to dress up properly.
...
...
...
...
...
...
Aiden and Flynn were sitting in the lotus position and facing each other while taking deep breaths, their eyes closed and the evening sun slowly painting the sky in a dull overcast shade of orange.
As they were about to begin yet again another attempt to get to use bloodlust, Flynn spoke up.
"Aiden..."
"Yeah..." Aiden responded with his eyes still closed.
"I think we're both scared to really face our emotions..."
Aiden finally opened his eyes to see a very serious look on Flynn's face.
"And by 'our', I mean from both of our lives..."
"Why do you say that?" Aiden asked, even though his tone of speech gave away the fact that he knew that his brother was right.
"First off, no matter which dark emotion we draw from, we're always losing control once we get into that dark endless void but it's not really us losing control. We're just scared to experience those traumatic memories again. We might be in a good place right now but our trauma runs deep..." Flynn began.
"You and I both know that we kept a lot of our emotions suppressed for the longest time, way before we even reincarnated to prevent ourselves from doing something irresponsibly dangerous"
"Even the emotions from before the time I tried to commit suicide are no different"
"I think we're trying to run away instead of really facing them, more because of our trauma than that infinite dark void filled with an unexplainable and an even more terrifying sense of dread"
"As a result, we lose our control over our emotions and are unable to manifest bloodlust" Flynn explained lengthily.
"..."
-Sigh...
"Yes... You're right Flynn. It's been a month-plus and we're still stuck in that dreadful space. At this point, I already also had a feeling that we were the ones holding ourselves back..." Aiden said with a sigh after a brief pause.
"But if we really want to be able to use bloodlust, won't we need to eventually face our fears. That horrible memory especially would be the most suitable..." Flynn replied in response to his brother's response.
"You do realize that void space makes those memories seem a vivid as possible. Do we really have to relive that particular memory though?" Aiden said and asked with a deep frown, knowing fully well the answer Flynn was going to give.
"That is our deepest and darkest emotion afterall..." Flynn replied once again.
After a short pause, both brothers let out slow deep breaths and began to touch on and relive their most traumatic memory.
Their thoughts, as if in sync, immediately went back to when their parents had both died.
Not even a week later and their relatives had begun to mess with them in an effort to make them submit to their whims but both brothers had held out, far longer than any of their relatives could've expected.
However, just a few years later, they had watched as they all suddenly began to come to their house and without warning, started throwing all of their stuff out.
They had even broken Ken's electric wheelchair and Liam upon realizing that he might not have the money to buy a new one, began to beg their uncles and aunts to at least pay the expenses for that.
However, all that a young and na?ve Liam had gotten from them was a good thrashing.
Aiden also remembered how Ken's amputated legs had crashed into the jagged pavement violently along with the electric wheelchair when it was thrown. nove/Lb/1n
This caused a deep gash to form on his amputated legs, revealing the fleshy white skin underneath which eventually began to bleed profusely but despite this, his brother did not cry, even though tears were threatening to spill out of his eyes.
Flynn however remembered how Liam had completely prostrated in a kow-tow motion to ask for their help with his wheelchair.
Yet, instead of showing mercy, Liam had gotten beaten black and blue from it by his so-called uncles and aunts who had kept punching, kicking and slapping his only brother, leaving one of his eyes swollen for weeks on end.
But even then, all they had both felt was immense sadness at the way they were being treated.
However, what really caused that emotion to morph into a deep-seated hatred was the smiling faces of their uncles, aunts and their kids, all of them completely taking in their misery as if it was a fun spectacle to watch.
Liam who was thirteen at the time had felt something almost snap inside of him but Ken's groans as he struggled to keep his mouth shut from the pain of his seriously injured amputated leg along with his white shorts that were now completely painted in scarlet red by the profuse bleeding, had snapped Liam back to sanity.
He had then immediately rushed over to him even with his own battered body and tore his own shirt to use as a makeshift bandage for the deep wound on his brother's amputated leg.
He also then carried him on his back and rushed him to the nearest hospital but before he did, he and Ken looked at the faces of all their relatives with a burning, seething and intense malevolent hatred in their eyes.
By now, Flynn and Aiden had been stuck in the black void for twenty minutes caused by mana as they tried to stay in control of their rampaging feelings of hatred.
But this time, because they were aware of the fact that if they didn't face a past that they had completely buried in the deepest parts of their soul, they would never achieve their goals.
So, they both held on, and slowly, they began to embrace that feeling, their control over their emotions a string away from slipping out of their control.
After about ten more minutes of staying in the void, they felt their control coming back to them and their current emotions, although still immensely full of intense hatred for their relatives in their previous lives, was far more controlled and restrained.
To currently describe the way their emotions were, it felt like a ridiculously sharpened sword, whose edge was ready to cut anything that so much as challenged it or stepped in it's vicinity.
Both of them then slowly opened their eyes, and just like the expression Butler Frank usually had when he was training them, their eyes were completely cold, carrying no emotions whatsoever and a terrifying sense of dread was directed towards the entirety of their surroundings.
Aiden and Flynn had finally learned how to use bloodlust.
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Chapter 35: Chapter 33 - Bloodlust
"Allow your deepest and darkest emotions, preferably one of immense hatred or anger, to grab a hold of you while still maintaining a phenomenal level of control over it"
"Channel that feeling, that violent sensation, and embrace it. Then, use it to converse with the mana in the air to release that feeling, either over a wide range or towards a specific person. That is how you release a wave of bloodlust"
"Considering both of you can already use mana sense quite well, releasing the emotions you're feeling over a wide range or towards a specific person won't be an issue..."
"However, you need to be very careful though because finding a very deep and dark emotion that you can actually control may prove to be a big challenge..."
"You might just get stuck in that infinite dark void for a while which is usually caused by mana when you begin to converse with it if you're not able to control the emotion you're feeling..."
"That being said, once you're able to successfully use it even once, you won't need to go through the entire process of doing it all over again just the use it. It would instantly become like a switch that you can flip on and off whenever you want"
Those were the words Leopold had told his sons about using bloodlust when both of them had asked a month and a week ago, after he had demonstrated the forms of their family's weapon art to them.
"It's been a month and a week since then and yet, we seem to be making no progress at all" Aiden said while lying down on his bed and looking at the white-colored but ornately designed ceiling in his room in his room, the late morning suns' rays spilling through the open windows to brighten up his room.
"Just like dad had said, finding a very deep and dark emotion that we can control is proving to be very challenging"
"No matter how much we try, we keep sinking into that endless dark void space that gives us an unspeakable feeling of dread..."
This was a task that was easier said than done for both brothers, especially because they had a lot of dark emotions to draw from, both from their previous lives and their lives before they had realized that they were reincarnators.
Looking at it from another perspective, Aiden and Flynn should have had an advantage and an edge in understanding and using bloodlust considering the amount of dark emotions they had, but deep down, both of them had realized why they had been stuck in that space.
He and Flynn had just finished their usual training sessions with Frank and had gone back to their rooms for a bath.
"I should just go and bathe for now..."
As Aiden decided to head for his bathroom while rising up from the soft mattress, his expression changed into a pained wince as he tried to flex his arms. His muscles were absolutely aching him due to the training from earlier in the morning.
'It's a pity we can't use healing potions...' he inwardly said to himself.
Frank had told them not to use any healing potions for the entirety of their training period until the day they had finally stopped training. The reason for this, as he had told them, was to increase their pain tolerance.
-Knock knock!
Suddenly, Aiden heard a knock on his door and immediately went to check who it was.
Upon opening the door, he met Ivelia who was standing there patiently with what seemed to be two small transparent sachets in her hands.
Her waist long orange hair had also been cut and she was now rocking a pretty, smooth-rounded bob hairstyle with bangs.
"Hey Ivelia. Love the new look by the way. What's up?" Aiden commented and asked.
"Hi Aiden. Thanks for the compliment!" Ivelia responded with a smile, after which she then continued.
"I actually came here to give you this before you start your mana core training" she said while placing one of the transparent sachets containing small, light green pills in Aiden's hands.
"And what exactly are these?" Aiden asked in curiosity and Ivelia immediately responded.
"They're pain relievers. Potent ones. Use them before going to bed and it should ensure that you wake up without a single muscle ache. They're lemon-flavored too!"
"Really! Thanks Ivelia! We're always so sore when we wake up every morning so this is a godsend especially since we're not permitted to use healing potions" Aiden replied, his tone laced with gratitude.
"You're welcome. Now, off to Flynn! You guys do have a tight schedule afterall" Ivelia said, immediately moving towards Flynn's room which was just down the corridor.
Aiden and Flynn had quite the strict schedule they had been following for the past five and a half months.
After waking up in the morning at about 5am, they would head straight to their training grounds after consuming a snack and a healthy drink from the kitchen.
They would then do a few warm-ups, especially the basic workouts or train their mana sense with the twins if they were available until Frank came along to train them.
Once the morning training sessions were over, both of them would come back to take their baths and eat breakfast, after which they would then use the rest of the morning and early afternoon to train their mana cores.
By mid-afternoon, they would eat lunch and after doing that, they would head back to the field to train their combat art.
Once late afternoon came, they would go back to take a shower again, eat a few snacks here and there along with a sports drink and immediately go back to begin their evening training sessions with Frank.
By the time late evening came around, they would once again take a shower and eat dinner along with everyone when night came.
Usually, after dinner, everyone would disperse into their rooms to sleep. That was also what everyone else thought both brothers would also do but Aiden and Flynn would still stay up for three to four more hours to do their mana vein training.
After that, they would then take a shower or a bathe one more time before finally heading to bed.
Ivelia who quickly walked over to Flynn's room so as to reach him before he started his core training, knocked on the door three times.
-Knock knock knock!
"Coming!" Flynn responded from the other side of the door, the sound of his footsteps moving towards it.
Ivelia calmly waited for a few seconds until the door swung open. However, what she saw as the door swung open made her swallow hard.
There Flynn was, in all his glory, with only a towel covering his waist down to his knees, his ripped body full of bruises and marks from the past five months of training.
His body was practically glistening and his silver hair with green streaks which had grown a bit longer over the past few months was parted messily and covered one of his eye, indicating that he had just come out of the bathroom as beads of water trickled down the tips of his hair and his finely-toned abs.
"Ivelia you pervert" Flynn said mischievously as Ivelia kept staring at his body.
"Wha-! No! I didn't mean to!" Ivelia responded while flailing her hands, her face completely red like a tomato.
"Hmmm... You were staring so hard though" Flynn replied with an amused smile.
Ivelia who realized that she had been caught red-handed tried to avert her gaze away but could not help but sneak in a few more peeks.
Flynn who was seemingly enjoying her reactions spoke once again., his face inching close to hers.
"I have to say though Ivelia, you are one gorgeous young lady. Really digging your new hairstyle" Flynn said, tucking a few strands of Ivelia's hair behind her ear.
"It tickles..." Ivelia meekly said, her cheeks blushing at Flynn's compliment.
"It's supposed to tickle" Flynn responded with a smile.
'He's always doing things like this' Ivelia inwardly said to herself as she watched Flynn's hands slightly graze her ear that was tinged with red after tucking away a few strands of her hair.
Flynn seemingly having enjoyed the reaction he got from her, asked with a little more seriousness in his voice.
"So, what's up?"
"Nothing really. I just came to give you this" Ivelia replied, her hands placing another sachet that contained the pain-relieving pills into Flynn's hands, but this time, the pills had a red color to them.
She then explained, just as she had done when Aiden had asked but this time, before taking her leave and heading down to the lab, she leaned in closely to Flynn's ear and quietly said.
"It's strawberry-flavored. I also tried to mitigate the slight sourness as much as I could while still keeping it extremely sweet. I hope you like it"
After saying this, she immediately turned around and began to move towards the staircase that led up, into the lab.
Flynn who had been surprised by the extra effort she had put into meeting his preference, especially considering the insane amount of time she dedicated to perfecting the healing potion, slightly chuckled to himself and moved back into his room to dress up properly.
...
...
...
...
...
...
Aiden and Flynn were sitting in the lotus position and facing each other while taking deep breaths, their eyes closed and the evening sun slowly painting the sky in a dull overcast shade of orange.
As they were about to begin yet again another attempt to get to use bloodlust, Flynn spoke up.
"Aiden..."
"Yeah..." Aiden responded with his eyes still closed.
"I think we're both scared to really face our emotions..."
Aiden finally opened his eyes to see a very serious look on Flynn's face.
"And by 'our', I mean from both of our lives..."
"Why do you say that?" Aiden asked, even though his tone of speech gave away the fact that he knew that his brother was right.
"First off, no matter which dark emotion we draw from, we're always losing control once we get into that dark endless void but it's not really us losing control. We're just scared to experience those traumatic memories again. We might be in a good place right now but our trauma runs deep..." Flynn began.
"You and I both know that we kept a lot of our emotions suppressed for the longest time, way before we even reincarnated to prevent ourselves from doing something irresponsibly dangerous"
"Even the emotions from before the time I tried to commit suicide are no different"
"I think we're trying to run away instead of really facing them, more because of our trauma than that infinite dark void filled with an unexplainable and an even more terrifying sense of dread"
"As a result, we lose our control over our emotions and are unable to manifest bloodlust" Flynn explained lengthily.
"..."
-Sigh...
"Yes... You're right Flynn. It's been a month-plus and we're still stuck in that dreadful space. At this point, I already also had a feeling that we were the ones holding ourselves back..." Aiden said with a sigh after a brief pause.
"But if we really want to be able to use bloodlust, won't we need to eventually face our fears. That horrible memory especially would be the most suitable..." Flynn replied in response to his brother's response.
"You do realize that void space makes those memories seem a vivid as possible. Do we really have to relive that particular memory though?" Aiden said and asked with a deep frown, knowing fully well the answer Flynn was going to give.
"That is our deepest and darkest emotion afterall..." Flynn replied once again.
After a short pause, both brothers let out slow deep breaths and began to touch on and relive their most traumatic memory.
Their thoughts, as if in sync, immediately went back to when their parents had both died.
Not even a week later and their relatives had begun to mess with them in an effort to make them submit to their whims but both brothers had held out, far longer than any of their relatives could've expected.
However, just a few years later, they had watched as they all suddenly began to come to their house and without warning, started throwing all of their stuff out.
They had even broken Ken's electric wheelchair and Liam upon realizing that he might not have the money to buy a new one, began to beg their uncles and aunts to at least pay the expenses for that.
However, all that a young and na?ve Liam had gotten from them was a good thrashing.
Aiden also remembered how Ken's amputated legs had crashed into the jagged pavement violently along with the electric wheelchair when it was thrown. nove/Lb/1n
This caused a deep gash to form on his amputated legs, revealing the fleshy white skin underneath which eventually began to bleed profusely but despite this, his brother did not cry, even though tears were threatening to spill out of his eyes.
Flynn however remembered how Liam had completely prostrated in a kow-tow motion to ask for their help with his wheelchair.
Yet, instead of showing mercy, Liam had gotten beaten black and blue from it by his so-called uncles and aunts who had kept punching, kicking and slapping his only brother, leaving one of his eyes swollen for weeks on end.
But even then, all they had both felt was immense sadness at the way they were being treated.
However, what really caused that emotion to morph into a deep-seated hatred was the smiling faces of their uncles, aunts and their kids, all of them completely taking in their misery as if it was a fun spectacle to watch.
Liam who was thirteen at the time had felt something almost snap inside of him but Ken's groans as he struggled to keep his mouth shut from the pain of his seriously injured amputated leg along with his white shorts that were now completely painted in scarlet red by the profuse bleeding, had snapped Liam back to sanity.
He had then immediately rushed over to him even with his own battered body and tore his own shirt to use as a makeshift bandage for the deep wound on his brother's amputated leg.
He also then carried him on his back and rushed him to the nearest hospital but before he did, he and Ken looked at the faces of all their relatives with a burning, seething and intense malevolent hatred in their eyes.
By now, Flynn and Aiden had been stuck in the black void for twenty minutes caused by mana as they tried to stay in control of their rampaging feelings of hatred.
But this time, because they were aware of the fact that if they didn't face a past that they had completely buried in the deepest parts of their soul, they would never achieve their goals.
So, they both held on, and slowly, they began to embrace that feeling, their control over their emotions a string away from slipping out of their control.
After about ten more minutes of staying in the void, they felt their control coming back to them and their current emotions, although still immensely full of intense hatred for their relatives in their previous lives, was far more controlled and restrained.
To currently describe the way their emotions were, it felt like a ridiculously sharpened sword, whose edge was ready to cut anything that so much as challenged it or stepped in it's vicinity.
Both of them then slowly opened their eyes, and just like the expression Butler Frank usually had when he was training them, their eyes were completely cold, carrying no emotions whatsoever and a terrifying sense of dread was directed towards the entirety of their surroundings.
Aiden and Flynn had finally learned how to use bloodlust.
Chapter 35: Chapter 33 - Bloodlust "Allow your deepest and darkest emotions, preferably one of immense hatred or anger, to grab a hold of you while still maintaining a phenomenal level of control over it" "Channel that feeling, that violent sensation, and embrace it. Then, use it to converse with the mana in the air to release that feeling, either over a wide range or towards a specific person. That is how you release a wave of bloodlust" "Considering both of you can already use mana sense quite well, releasing the emotions you're feeling over a wide range or towards a specific person won't be an issue..." "However, you need to be very careful though because finding a very deep and dark emotion that you can actually control may prove to be a big challenge..." "You might just get stuck in that infinite dark void for a while which is usually caused by mana when you begin to converse with it if you're not able to control the emotion you're feeling..." "That being said, once you're able to successfully use it even once, you won't need to go through the entire process of doing it all over again just the use it. It would instantly become like a switch that you can flip on and off whenever you want" Those were the words Leopold had told his sons about using bloodlust when both of them had asked a month and a week ago, after he had demonstrated the forms of their family's weapon art to them. "It's been a month and a week since then and yet, we seem to be making no progress at all" Aiden said while lying down on his bed and looking at the white-colored but ornately designed ceiling in his room in his room, the late morning suns' rays spilling through the open windows to brighten up his room. "Just like dad had said, finding a very deep and dark emotion that we can control is proving to be very challenging" "No matter how much we try, we keep sinking into that endless dark void space that gives us an unspeakable feeling of dread..." This was a task that was easier said than done for both brothers, especially because they had a lot of dark emotions to draw from, both from their previous lives and their lives before they had realized that they were reincarnators. Looking at it from another perspective, Aiden and Flynn should have had an advantage and an edge in understanding and using bloodlust considering the amount of dark emotions they had, but deep down, both of them had realized why they had been stuck in that space. He and Flynn had just finished their usual training sessions with Frank and had gone back to their rooms for a bath. "I should just go and bathe for now..." As Aiden decided to head for his bathroom while rising up from the soft mattress, his expression changed into a pained wince as he tried to flex his arms. His muscles were absolutely aching him due to the training from earlier in the morning. 'It's a pity we can't use healing potions...' he inwardly said to himself. Frank had told them not to use any healing potions for the entirety of their training period until the day they had finally stopped training. The reason for this, as he had told them, was to increase their pain tolerance. -Knock knock! Suddenly, Aiden heard a knock on his door and immediately went to check who it was. Upon opening the door, he met Ivelia who was standing there patiently with what seemed to be two small transparent sachets in her hands. Her waist long orange hair had also been cut and she was now rocking a pretty, smooth-rounded bob hairstyle with bangs. "Hey Ivelia. Love the new look by the way. What's up?" Aiden commented and asked. "Hi Aiden. Thanks for the compliment!" Ivelia responded with a smile, after which she then continued. "I actually came here to give you this before you start your mana core training" she said while placing one of the transparent sachets containing small, light green pills in Aiden's hands. "And what exactly are these?" Aiden asked in curiosity and Ivelia immediately responded. "They're pain relievers. Potent ones. Use them before going to bed and it should ensure that you wake up without a single muscle ache. They're lemon-flavored too!" "Really! Thanks Ivelia! We're always so sore when we wake up every morning so this is a godsend especially since we're not permitted to use healing potions" Aiden replied, his tone laced with gratitude. "You're welcome. Now, off to Flynn! You guys do have a tight schedule afterall" Ivelia said, immediately moving towards Flynn's room which was just down the corridor. Aiden and Flynn had quite the strict schedule they had been following for the past five and a half months. After waking up in the morning at about 5am, they would head straight to their training grounds after consuming a snack and a healthy drink from the kitchen. They would then do a few warm-ups, especially the basic workouts or train their mana sense with the twins if they were available until Frank came along to train them. Once the morning training sessions were over, both of them would come back to take their baths and eat breakfast, after which they would then use the rest of the morning and early afternoon to train their mana cores. By mid-afternoon, they would eat lunch and after doing that, they would head back to the field to train their combat art. Once late afternoon came, they would go back to take a shower again, eat a few snacks here and there along with a sports drink and immediately go back to begin their evening training sessions with Frank. By the time late evening came around, they would once again take a shower and eat dinner along with everyone when night came. Usually, after dinner, everyone would disperse into their rooms to sleep. That was also what everyone else thought both brothers would also do but Aiden and Flynn would still stay up for three to four more hours to do their mana vein training. After that, they would then take a shower or a bathe one more time before finally heading to bed. Ivelia who quickly walked over to Flynn's room so as to reach him before he started his core training, knocked on the door three times. -Knock knock knock! "Coming!" Flynn responded from the other side of the door, the sound of his footsteps moving towards it. Ivelia calmly waited for a few seconds until the door swung open. However, what she saw as the door swung open made her swallow hard. There Flynn was, in all his glory, with only a towel covering his waist down to his knees, his ripped body full of bruises and marks from the past five months of training. His body was practically glistening and his silver hair with green streaks which had grown a bit longer over the past few months was parted messily and covered one of his eye, indicating that he had just come out of the bathroom as beads of water trickled down the tips of his hair and his finely-toned abs. "Ivelia you pervert" Flynn said mischievously as Ivelia kept staring at his body. "Wha-! No! I didn't mean to!" Ivelia responded while flailing her hands, her face completely red like a tomato. "Hmmm... You were staring so hard though" Flynn replied with an amused smile. Ivelia who realized that she had been caught red-handed tried to avert her gaze away but could not help but sneak in a few more peeks. Flynn who was seemingly enjoying her reactions spoke once again., his face inching close to hers. "I have to say though Ivelia, you are one gorgeous young lady. Really digging your new hairstyle" Flynn said, tucking a few strands of Ivelia's hair behind her ear. "It tickles..." Ivelia meekly said, her cheeks blushing at Flynn's compliment. "It's supposed to tickle" Flynn responded with a smile. 'He's always doing things like this' Ivelia inwardly said to herself as she watched Flynn's hands slightly graze her ear that was tinged with red after tucking away a few strands of her hair. Flynn seemingly having enjoyed the reaction he got from her, asked with a little more seriousness in his voice. "So, what's up?" "Nothing really. I just came to give you this" Ivelia replied, her hands placing another sachet that contained the pain-relieving pills into Flynn's hands, but this time, the pills had a red color to them. She then explained, just as she had done when Aiden had asked but this time, before taking her leave and heading down to the lab, she leaned in closely to Flynn's ear and quietly said. "It's strawberry-flavored. I also tried to mitigate the slight sourness as much as I could while still keeping it extremely sweet. I hope you like it" After saying this, she immediately turned around and began to move towards the staircase that led up, into the lab. Flynn who had been surprised by the extra effort she had put into meeting his preference, especially considering the insane amount of time she dedicated to perfecting the healing potion, slightly chuckled to himself and moved back into his room to dress up properly. ... ... ... ... ... ... Aiden and Flynn were sitting in the lotus position and facing each other while taking deep breaths, their eyes closed and the evening sun slowly painting the sky in a dull overcast shade of orange. As they were about to begin yet again another attempt to get to use bloodlust, Flynn spoke up. "Aiden..." "Yeah..." Aiden responded with his eyes still closed. "I think we're both scared to really face our emotions..." Aiden finally opened his eyes to see a very serious look on Flynn's face. "And by 'our', I mean from both of our lives..." "Why do you say that?" Aiden asked, even though his tone of speech gave away the fact that he knew that his brother was right. "First off, no matter which dark emotion we draw from, we're always losing control once we get into that dark endless void but it's not really us losing control. We're just scared to experience those traumatic memories again. We might be in a good place right now but our trauma runs deep..." Flynn began. "You and I both know that we kept a lot of our emotions suppressed for the longest time, way before we even reincarnated to prevent ourselves from doing something irresponsibly dangerous" "Even the emotions from before the time I tried to commit suicide are no different" "I think we're trying to run away instead of really facing them, more because of our trauma than that infinite dark void filled with an unexplainable and an even more terrifying sense of dread" "As a result, we lose our control over our emotions and are unable to manifest bloodlust" Flynn explained lengthily. "..." -Sigh... "Yes... You're right Flynn. It's been a month-plus and we're still stuck in that dreadful space. At this point, I already also had a feeling that we were the ones holding ourselves back..." Aiden said with a sigh after a brief pause. "But if we really want to be able to use bloodlust, won't we need to eventually face our fears. That horrible memory especially would be the most suitable..." Flynn replied in response to his brother's response. "You do realize that void space makes those memories seem a vivid as possible. Do we really have to relive that particular memory though?" Aiden said and asked with a deep frown, knowing fully well the answer Flynn was going to give. "That is our deepest and darkest emotion afterall..." Flynn replied once again. After a short pause, both brothers let out slow deep breaths and began to touch on and relive their most traumatic memory. Their thoughts, as if in sync, immediately went back to when their parents had both died. Not even a week later and their relatives had begun to mess with them in an effort to make them submit to their whims but both brothers had held out, far longer than any of their relatives could've expected. However, just a few years later, they had watched as they all suddenly began to come to their house and without warning, started throwing all of their stuff out. They had even broken Ken's electric wheelchair and Liam upon realizing that he might not have the money to buy a new one, began to beg their uncles and aunts to at least pay the expenses for that. However, all that a young and na?ve Liam had gotten from them was a good thrashing. Aiden also remembered how Ken's amputated legs had crashed into the jagged pavement violently along with the electric wheelchair when it was thrown. nove/Lb/1nThis caused a deep gash to form on his amputated legs, revealing the fleshy white skin underneath which eventually began to bleed profusely but despite this, his brother did not cry, even though tears were threatening to spill out of his eyes. Flynn however remembered how Liam had completely prostrated in a kow-tow motion to ask for their help with his wheelchair. Yet, instead of showing mercy, Liam had gotten beaten black and blue from it by his so-called uncles and aunts who had kept punching, kicking and slapping his only brother, leaving one of his eyes swollen for weeks on end. But even then, all they had both felt was immense sadness at the way they were being treated. However, what really caused that emotion to morph into a deep-seated hatred was the smiling faces of their uncles, aunts and their kids, all of them completely taking in their misery as if it was a fun spectacle to watch. Liam who was thirteen at the time had felt something almost snap inside of him but Ken's groans as he struggled to keep his mouth shut from the pain of his seriously injured amputated leg along with his white shorts that were now completely painted in scarlet red by the profuse bleeding, had snapped Liam back to sanity. He had then immediately rushed over to him even with his own battered body and tore his own shirt to use as a makeshift bandage for the deep wound on his brother's amputated leg. He also then carried him on his back and rushed him to the nearest hospital but before he did, he and Ken looked at the faces of all their relatives with a burning, seething and intense malevolent hatred in their eyes. By now, Flynn and Aiden had been stuck in the black void for twenty minutes caused by mana as they tried to stay in control of their rampaging feelings of hatred. But this time, because they were aware of the fact that if they didn't face a past that they had completely buried in the deepest parts of their soul, they would never achieve their goals. So, they both held on, and slowly, they began to embrace that feeling, their control over their emotions a string away from slipping out of their control. After about ten more minutes of staying in the void, they felt their control coming back to them and their current emotions, although still immensely full of intense hatred for their relatives in their previous lives, was far more controlled and restrained. To currently describe the way their emotions were, it felt like a ridiculously sharpened sword, whose edge was ready to cut anything that so much as challenged it or stepped in it's vicinity. Both of them then slowly opened their eyes, and just like the expression Butler Frank usually had when he was training them, their eyes were completely cold, carrying no emotions whatsoever and a terrifying sense of dread was directed towards the entirety of their surroundings. Aiden and Flynn had finally learned how to use bloodlust.
