By The Blood

Karl was awakened by the clicking noises—so annoying. He awoke with a rub against his temples, feeling the headache that had already subsided. His vision blurred into focus—quickly centering on the man seated at the desk, dressed in kefna, brown hair covering a single eye. He had a thoughtful look.

That man? Karl composed himself, gave a glance, then looked away. His tongue was bitter. He hadn't brushed in a while; years even. The closest thing to cleaning his mouth he had done was using the salt from the farms to scrub. But he hadn't done that since coming to Canen. He felt dirty—disgusted.

The man's eyes remained locked on him. Won't he look away? Karl paid him no more attention and simply summoned the face of the soul. He didn't know how he could do that, but ever since killing Anderson, it felt so familiar, as if he were simply raising a hand or breathing.

He glossed through the starlight, hoping to see the indication of the white flame components. He hoped that by waking up, something else might have changed. But after a couple of seconds of searching, he did not find anything. In consequence, he nearly sighed but held it back, seeing that he had a silent watcher.

He recalled the flames—the heat, the destructiveness. He loved it but had also lost it. How would I get it back? he thought but also knew the answer. Killing, destruction. These were what had given him power in the first place.

But now, with more clarity due to just waking up, Karl felt that every time he did those things, he was becoming more similar...to that man in the memories. Whoever he was.

The power to do anything... What am I willing to do for that power? He thought these things but soon dismissed them. It was not a question, as it already had an answer. Though he still struggled to adapt to the recent state of having unmuted emotions, which seemed to come and go at any time, Karl knew he had a chance of getting all that power and still being himself—if he could just stay calm in all situations.

Calmness was what he needed to resist whatever those memories were. Of course, this was merely a guess, but based on what he had noticed, the memories carried a certain emotion: rage. So shouldn’t adopting the opposite of that be the best way to avoid it? But how would he avoid it? How could he deal with the changes in these emotions? He wasn’t really some kind of stoic. If anything, his current personality was simply a result of a harsh world and stifled emotions. Remove one of them... and the foundation crumbles.

He searched for anything—his mind racing, analyzing faster than before. Perhaps cogitation was the better choice of the two... He shook internally. What’s the use of brains when raw power can destroy it?

The Mason Hotel? They should have their own thugs, right? And considering the leadership, that should mean that each leader has some level of freedom to decide what they do... as long as it doesn't harm the main structure of the gang.

Heinrich and Galf are planning on stealing from the ministry. What exactly they want is unknown. It might be money, which would be typical for a gang, but not necessarily so, considering that Tyro wants Galf dead so he wouldn’t use something from their faction.

Karl suddenly felt as if a link existed within everything that had happened to him since coming to Canen. What is the outcome?

Killing Galf will be hard, the same for killing Tyro. Both cannot be done unless I'm strong. There's also a chance that one of the so-called families that support me might be willing to take up the commission. But doing so might seem like weakness, plus, they might all think that I'm incompetent—so much so that I can’t even handle my own enemies. His thoughts kicked off again.

I could use the thugs of the Mason Hotel. After that show, they should be willing to bow to me... right? Karl wondered whether he would have to kill a few to get the rest in line. But again, he hadn’t met them, so perhaps there would be no such reason. How should I make use of them?

I need to be in more extreme situations... Kill more people, but do so in a calm manner. Maybe I might even take some steps to make Frederick feel like I'm passionate about overthrowing the empire. Perhaps, destroying a noble house?

Having spent years at Tobias's farm, Karl naturally did not have a favorable view of the nobles. So destroying a few didn’t seem like an issue, and who knows, he might even get some kind of reward from it, other than the power-up, of course.

Say I want to do that, which one would I even go for? He lingered in thought. Ah, outside of the Andronicus and Adeiheid, I don’t know any other ones. So learning about them should be the next course for me. Learn about them, pick the weakest, and do what... destroy them? No, that would be wasteful. Shouldn’t attacking them bit by bit, allowing them to build more defenses, making it harder and more extreme, be the best approach?

That seems like the best thing. And it would also make whoever is my supporter think that I'm making strides to take down the empire. What to do now? Oh, yes, the gathering... What would I need there? Perhaps I can buy a bullet to use for the gun? But it’s supposedly something new, and only a few people know about it. Would some collection of sanguines, unconnected, know? Likely not, but that does not mean they cannot be useful. As Tyron said, I can give commissions, and though I doubt any commission to kill Tyro or Galf will be submitted, much less accepted, other types might be. Maybe one or two might want to help destroy a noble family.

But aside from that, what else can I use the gathering for? His thoughts clicked. Knowledge, of course! Knowledge of the branches, and what powers the 19 standard ones have. Perhaps the powers of Tyro and Galf are there. And according to Frederick, no power is omnipotent and should have some kind of weakness. What I need to find are all their weaknesses. He looked down at his fingers.

He was subtly counting with his fingers, just to see how fast he could think. It was 9 seconds! All that thought was merely nine seconds!

Yes, he could not regulate or even sense what this mana was, but he got the sense that by thinking more about something, his mind would simply work faster. He glanced at the man, who still watched, scrutinizing.

He could no longer allow the watch. "What?" Karl simply said.

The man perked up, as if tensing. "Aurelian is my name."

He's telling me his name? "Good morning, Aurelian," Karl said.

Aurelian smiled, but it seemed strangely forced. "Good morning to you, too," he said.

Karl remained watching, then stood up from the bed, stretching his sore bones. The more free he seemed, the more bizarre he would appear, thus restricting the opponent from attempting anything.

However, Karl had to pause at the next words spoken. "I want to join you," Aurelian said.

Not this again. Karl eyed him. "Who are you?" He had not asked in Jean's case, but now, he believed he needed to. He could not accept people into his life without having some knowledge of them. Knowledge that could be exploited if the situation called for it. If he did not do the exploiting, it would be done to him.

Aurelian remained silent for a while, thinking. Maybe he did not want to reveal his secrets, which to Karl simply meant there was something there to use—to keep this man in check. He was not against accepting him. No, he needed as much fodder as possible, and when they brought themselves straight to his feet, why would he say no?

"I was a legionnaire of the Black Sand, a regiment in the Chaos Hunter Legion," Aurelian said, a bit hesitantly.

Karl winced in his mind. He was standing, bare feet away from the enemy; the person that dedicated their life to the empire, and he, who was said to be destined to bring it down. Again with the coincidence. But then, Karl grasped something. Didn't he say 'was'?

"What happened?" Karl asked, his tone flat. He made sure not to show true interest in the reason.

Aurelian looked at him, his brown eyes seeming to burrow into a person's thoughts. Karl returned with a cold, disinterested gaze. This must have worked, as Aurelian began talking.

"I served in the regiment for years, but was betrayed by our Archon... Putray is his name. He led my squad into a trap, just to see how strong the enemy was—in full, he wanted to know how fast we would die. No backup, no reinforcement... nothing. He lied, and I lost my friends."

And you survived. Karl thought. A good reason for revenge, but on my part, I don't see anything wrong with the Archon's tactics. Eye of the beholder, I suppose. "So you want revenge?"

"Yes," Aurelian said through gritted teeth. The emotion seemed genuine enough.

But that doesn't answer my question, Karl thought, and he said, "Who are you? Or more like, how do you know me, and why do you think following me will help with this revenge of yours?" It was good to know the channels through which people could find him. If these could find him, what was stopping the empire?

"I..." Aurelian paused. Hesitant? Perhaps. Then, he continued. "I had a dream."

Fuck that! Karl kept his expressions neutral, but inside he was bubbling. How can people just be having dreams about me? Forget that, if someone has a dream, wouldn't they typically just ignore it? Or are dreams treated specially in this world? Karl had never heard such things. Well, not exactly. The Ministry of the Midnight Goddess places some emphasis on dreams. Was he a devotee of that goddess?

Karl eyed him, finally sighing outwardly, enough for Aurelian to hear. "Can't you find a better lie?" Karl recalled something. "I can sense when someone is lying to me, you know."

Aurelian froze. His face showed the emotion like a blazing lamp. "Ah..." He opened his mouth but closed it. "I'm sorry."

"Then tell me the truth," Karl asked, his tone flat. He was doing that intentionally, to confuse Aurelian about his true emotions or thoughts on the matter.

Aurelian remained silent for a while, his eyes widening for a moment, almost as if he realized something. What did he realize? With that, he said, "I was on the path to getting my rev—confession, when something happened and I was thrown into the... Astra." He paused, then continued. "There, I saw you—glowing in white radiance."

True, Karl noted.

"That alone was enough to convince me of your power. That is also the reason why I saved you and that woman. After that, I had thoughts of entering your memories to find out what you were, but I was blocked."

Karl recalled the corresponding feelings and situations.

"I realized your power, and further knew you must belong to some faction, which is why you got so strong. And together with that man... woman." He seemed confused. "That man, I came to the conclusion of your backing and decided to join it, gain strength from it, and then take my revenge on Putray."

A reasonable cause, Karl thought. From his perspective, what Aurelian had said seemed highly plausible, and a drive for revenge and power often made people do many things. This was good. This was exploitable.

"I suppose you are right," Karl said. "But joining my faction isn't something you can simply do. There are... waiting periods where you will be given tasks to assure your allegiance... cooperation. During that time, you will be assigned to me since you came to me directly."

"I understand," Aurelian simply said.