The Empires Rise

After I have received favors and made promises, I return to the manor. Muiress is not too far behind, not wanting to be dragged into his current residence. As we walk, I examine the materials needed to build his residence.

- Building Menu:

Basic Sleeping Pond Level 1 - Basic housing for amphibious species. It comes with a place to sleep based on who claims the pond and a small personal chest. 3 meters X 3 meters, 40 units of Tier 1 Stone -

I turn and mention what kind of place it is since he is currently in a crowded standard hut.

Thinking about the issue of everyone being crowded in the limited number of housing I have made, I decided to finish dealing with everyone's housing situation once we were done with the attack.

"That is fine. Can you put it somewhere far away from her? Maybe somewhere near the enchanting house?"

"I don't see any issue with that," I agree. I placed it near the enchanting hut but not too close to allow expansion.

"When will it be done?" He asks.

"First, I must return to the manor and collect one of the tokens to apply it. Then you will have your own space. So, in maybe ten minutes, you will have your place," I respond.

"That works. I will head there and wait for it to be finished."

With that, he runs off since Vranjaya isn't anywhere in sight.

Breathing out like I just finished running a marathon, my walk to the manor. Inside, waiting for me, is my family, ready to help.

"Good job today, Drake," Is the first thing I hear from my father. "Taking your first step in leadership is always the hardest."

"But I was leading my group from the moment I summoned them," I countered.

"Leading larger groups of people is different than a small group. While some skills apply to both, they aren't the same. I wanted you to know that I am glad you could take that step."

Smiling at him, I continue inside. "Has anyone seen where the chests were placed?" I ask.

"I saw them appearing near the front door, so I brought them over to the meeting room," my mother answers.

I see there are 42 chests. "It looks like it will be a while before I can head to bed," I sigh.

"Yes, but at least it was a good haul overall," Xelyphe says.

"True. Can you all help me get this mess sorted out?" I ask.

After getting everything sorted into the correct piles, I ended up with the following:

Population:

1 Tiny Wooden Box

6 Small Wooden Box

5 Medium Wooden Box

4 Large Wooden Box

2 Extra Large Wooden Box

1 Gigantic Wooden Box

Resources:

1 Small Wooden Box

1 Medium Wooden Box

2 Large Wooden Box

1 Extra Large Wooden Box

2 Gigantic Wooden Box

Tokens:

2 Tiny Wooden Box

1 Medium Wooden Box

1 Large Wooden Box

1 Extra Large Wooden Box

1 Gigantic Wooden Box

Blueprints:

1 Tiny Wooden Box

1 Medium Wooden Box

2 Large Wooden Box

2 Gigantic Wooden Box

Looking at these numbers, they don't add up. I recount and see there are four missing boxes. "How many boxes were in this room when I got here?" I ask my mother.

"There were 42 boxes in total," She replies.

"I counted only 38 people in the room. Where did the other four go?"

"I figured you wanted to keep things organized, so I put the odd-ball boxes all together in a corner," she says while pointing to the corner behind me.

"How did- Why are- When?" Not being able to finish a coherent question.

"Oh honey," She says, "When your father told you about bloodlines, we have all decided not to hide them as much anymore. Sorry." She says, but I can tell she isn't apologetic.

With a look of betrayal, I turn to the rest of my family. "Am I the only one that doesn't have an active bloodline?" In hopes that I am not going insane.

"Duh," Xelyphe says, "We were controlling our bloodlines so as not to make you feel inadequate, but since you can do magic, we decided to stretch ourselves a bit more."

"GODS..." I start to shout in frustration as I finally snap, and my blood starts to heat up in frustration. "I come from a family that has active bloodlines, and I was stuck getting surgeries done for my heart! How am I supposed to cope with this all of a sudden!" I'm getting more worked up about it.

"Drake," my father steps in, trying to calm me down, "We all hoped you would awaken your bloodline. We couldn't have predicted-"

"NO!" I turn to him, "You have seen families, for hundreds of years, have members not awaken their bloodline,"

I can feel my blood heating up further. "Why was I the one that was summoned first? Why not someone like you?" I point to him.

The heat in my veins increased even more, so my mana veins became aggravated. "Or you?" I pointed to Xelyphe. You are both more successful than me, but it was me." I spit out.

At this point, my blood and mana are circulating faster and faster. I can feel the mana being drawn in. "My whole world was a lie. Nothing about it was real."

"Drake," my mother tries to step forward but is blocked by my father, but I don't see it. I am in pain. So much pain.

"Was the only thing real about where I came from my heart?" I clutch at my chest, my fingers digging in. Was this 'Thing' the only thing I know is true?" I am gasping for breath; all I see is red.

I can feel my mana pushing into my legs and hitting a wall. More is coming in than my body can handle, but my blood is boiling, allowing my mana veins to swell without bursting.

- Laxreal's POV -

Having left the gatehouse alone, I head to the mage tower to think about what Drake and I learned about this world and its rules for learning magic and leveling up skills. Upon entering the building, I grab a book and head over to sit at one of the desks.

Skimming the book about fundamentals, I proceeded with my thoughts, hoping the book would give me a hint about some more of these unknown rules.

Time passes, and I feel a pull on the mana in the area. I don't think anything of it until several minutes later, the door is slammed open.

"Thank Death's cold embrace."

I turn to the door and see Eleanor standing there, and Ritotorous is on her shoulder.

"How can-" I don't even get my question out before she grabs me by my robes and tries to pull me out the door.

"Drake is in trouble."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble could he be in while in the settlement?" I hear panic in her voice, which is odd as the Blood Flight clan is known for being calm in almost any situation.

"I don't know, and neither does she," I hear a voice in my head. My soul flame almost extinguishes hearing that voice.

"H-H-How can th-th-that b-b-be?" I stutter out, looking at him briefly before lowering my gaze.

"It doesn't matter now. What we need is your expertise." He again speaks to me.

"B-B-But I am a failed scholar. I-I-I couldn't p-p-possibly h-h-help." I feel a pressure building on me.

"It is either you or no one. Eleanor knows magic but can't explain it to anyone. You are the only one here with any information about how it works. Don't think I haven't noticed what you have been working on since you came here. We both know you don't need to sleep; it is just a luxury for when you want it." I can hear the smirk in his voice.

"Yes, right away." Even though I say the words, my body doesn't listen to the command to move. It is so bad that Eleanor picks me up and starts running.

"How can you be so heavy? You're just a set of bones." She complains but doesn't put me down, knowing it will be faster this way.

I look up into the sky and notice a swirl of mana developing, and some of the more mana-sensitive people are stepping out and looking toward the manor.

- Ilpheus's POV -

I have to stop Madoka from approaching him. I can tell something is happening to his body by the black blood oozing out of his eyes. This isn't the first time seeing it happen to someone, but it is when I don't know the cause. Centuries of experience, and I can't help my son now.

I want to say it is his bloodline, but I can smell that it isn't, at least not yet. Something else is awakening inside of him. The transformation has been going on for only five minutes when I hear the front door burst open. Then I hear the clack of heels on the wooden floor.

Not long after, there is a knock on the door. It is oddly polite, considering they just burst through the main door. I chuckle. Opening the door, in front of me are Laxreal, Eleanor, and Ritotorous.

"How is he?" Eleanor is the first to ask.

Ritotorous flies in and finds a spot near Drake to land.

"He isn't well, but it's not bad yet," I answer.

"What do you mean yet?" Laxreal questions, wanting to get close to Drake, but I stop him.

"Whoa there, I mean to say that he is still breathing, which is more than I can say based on my experience dealing with how aggressive bloodlines can be."

Laxreal looks me dead in the eyes after taking a quick look at Drake, "This has nothing to do with his bloodline. It should have something to do with his mana heart and veins."

"And how do you know it isn't bloodline related?" I ask.

"Your world seems to be familiar with how to handle bloodlines but has no idea about mana. Is that correct?" He retorts.

"That would be correct."

"Then you don't know the signs of a mana heart's activation."

"I wouldn't, but again, how do you know it is that?"

"There is no way of telling without me getting close to him."

As we talk, I see Drake has become more aggressive due to the pain. Lashing out, his arms, torso, neck, and head have all started to shine golden and green. Magic is discharging off his body, and I can see the mana stopping at the top of his legs.

"Is this going to hurt him?" Madoka asks.

"It shouldn't be hurting him." Laxreal says, "There must be something wrong. I know he was clearing his veins, but I didn't hear if there were any problems." He starts to inspect Drake from a distance as best he can and sees the same thing as I do.

"How are his veins holding that much mana inside of them?" He is flabbergasted at what he sees.

"What do we need to do?" I ask, slightly panicked.

"At the very least, we need to hold him down; from there, we have two options." He explains, "We can either have someone channel mana into his system and try to manipulate it so it clears his veins, or we have to go a bloodier route..."

"We would have to forcefully draw along his veins with a knife or use a needle at major points and shock the veins clear," Eleanor states with no hint of remorse.

Laxreal looks at her and takes back over. "Both ways will hurt him. The easiest way is to guide the mana through his systems since we can feel where it must go. It will take more time but harm him less. The more complicated way is what Eleanor explained, forcing the veins to clear by damaging them and hoping he can heal himself through the turmoil of having his system ravaged by mana as if flowing through."

"Is there any benefit to going with the second route?" I ask, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Drake cast a spell toward Xelyphe. He misses by a large margin, but our time for conversation is running short.

Laxreal, seeing the same things, quickly explains, "With the damage done and persistent healing, it can cause the veins to become more sturdy and handle more mana as it flows through his body. We can typically do this process when the patient is unconscious."

Another spell comes towards me, and I dodge quickly.

"Seems like we are out of time," I say as Ritotorous takes a green spell to the chest, knocking him down and out for the count in this fight.

Since we are in the meeting room, there isn't much room for him to try and take cover; the chests are still in here, making it an even smaller space. Xelyphe, being the first to get attacked, has already approached Drake in hopes of restraining him, but right before she can grab him, he casts his shielding spell on himself.

Swearing under my breath, I unsheathed my sword and charged at him. I swung and hit his shield for 6 points of damage. It shuddered under the force but held steady. I raise my arm to swing again when the ground becomes covered in vines covered in thorns. Having seen this spell, I know it is in my best interest not to move. However, this doesn't leave many options for everyone else in the room.

Xelyphe starts to hack at the vines covering the ground, trying to clear an area so we can wrestle him to the floor.

Laxreal hits his shield with dispel, and I rush to drop my sword and grab him. He ducks under my arms and goes around me. Madoka and Xelyphe attempt to hold him as well but fail. I feared he would get another shield up, making this harder again when Eleanor finally snuck behind him, grabbed his arms, and brought him down.

As he falls, he takes one last look at Laxreal and casts his Arcane shot.

I hear a clatter of bones behind me. Laxreal has fallen apart, and I can't see his soul flames anymore.