My Blood Legacy: Bloodlines

Carmilla and Scarlet watched the training field from a side balcony of the mansion, far enough away not to interfere, but close enough to follow every strike. Victor had been repeating the same movement for hours, advancing with Lilith in a short, direct line while Yu Jin Cheon corrected his posture using methods that could hardly be called gentle. Whenever Victor’s foot moved a few centimeters out of place, the Heavenly Demon struck his leg. When his shoulder rose before the cut, he dislocated the joint with two fingers. If Victor tried to compensate for a mistake with strength or speed, he was thrown against the floor before completing the attack.

Yu Jin Cheon was not merely beating Victor. Between one correction and another, he showed him ways to adapt the Executioner’s Step to his body. He taught him how to use regeneration without accepting unnecessary injuries, how to keep his circulation accelerated without revealing the next movement, and how to turn Lilith’s flexibility into an advantage without constantly depending on changes of form. The problem was that every lesson came with a strike demonstrating exactly what would happen if Victor made that mistake in a real battle.

Victor advanced again. Yu Jin Cheon touched his knee with the tip of his foot, removed the balance from his base, and made him fall face-first onto the floor. Before Victor could rise, the old man pointed out the flaw in his weight distribution and ordered him to repeat it.

Carmilla watched everything without changing her expression.

"Having a good master is an important foundation," she said. "However, that man is more dangerous than Serafall."

Scarlet leaned against the railing with her chin resting over her crossed arms. Her fox ears followed the sounds of the training, moving whenever one of Victor’s bones broke or whenever Yu Jin Cheon began another criticism.

"That is difficult to believe."

"Serafall loves Victor too much to destroy his confidence that way. She could break every bone in his body, but afterward she would find some reason to praise him." Carmilla watched Yu Jin Cheon knock Victor down again. "That man does not appear to feel any need to preserve anyone’s pride."

"Maybe that is good." Scarlet watched Victor stand using Lilith for support. "Victor is arrogant."

"He has reasons."

"He is still arrogant."

Victor returned to the starting point. Blood ran from an opening on his forehead, but the wound closed before he assumed the stance again. Yu Jin Cheon adjusted his elbow, said something, and then struck his abdomen when Victor tried to answer.

Scarlet smiled.

"Now we have time to absorb the power of his blood while he is occupied."

Carmilla looked at her from the side.

"You already started?"

"Since I woke up."

Scarlet raised one hand. A small sphere of blood appeared over her palm, rotating slowly while dark threads crossed its surface. The blood belonged to Victor, but it was already being mixed with her essence, separated into increasingly smaller parts, and absorbed by her demi-human body.

"He left enough blood inside me for weeks of refinement," Scarlet continued. "Every time I absorb a portion, my energy becomes more stable."

Carmilla agreed and looked at her own hand. She closed her fingers tightly, feeling the blood circulate through her muscles. No aura was released, but the stone railing beneath her other hand cracked merely from the involuntary pressure.

"My power is still at twenty-five percent."

Scarlet moved slightly away from the railing.

"You just broke stone without noticing."

"That does not mean much."

"Mother, do not exaggerate."

Carmilla opened her hand and examined her fingers. Her recovery had been happening faster since she began drinking Victor’s blood regularly. Parts of her essence that had previously remained inert were beginning to respond again, and old abilities reorganized themselves within her body as though awakened by a familiar presence.

"Even at twenty-five percent, I can probably already defeat almost every vampire in this world."

Scarlet made an unconvinced expression.

"Almost every one?"

"Serafall, Chysis, Rakshasa, and a few ancient elders would still be problems. The rest would not."

"That still sounds like arrogance."

"It is an assessment."

Scarlet looked again at the sphere over her hand. Victor’s essence was absorbed and disappeared between her fingers.

"His blood really does have something special. I am not as strong as you, but I have already recovered sixty percent of my original power."

Carmilla turned her attention toward Victor. He had just received a strike to the chest and was kneeling, trying to make the second refinement ring return to its normal rhythm. Yu Jin Cheon was saying something in front of him, probably criticizing the way he had used his circulation during the attack.

"I think we need to discover what Serafall used during the insemination to produce this result."

Scarlet turned her face toward her.

"Did she not say she stole it and had herself inseminated? You do not trust her words?"

"I cannot say... it is very strange." Carmilla rested her arms on the railing. "I do not know whether she told the whole story, but clearly, he is something special that I cannot even measure. His blood is almost divine, and its properties are extremely unusual for a vampire."

"You think he is not a vampire?"

"No, he is clearly a vampire." Carmilla narrowed her eyes slightly. "I simply do not know what kind of vampire he is. His Blood Adaptation Level is simply out of this world..."

Scarlet became serious.

"Is his adaptation level truly that high?"

"Higher than Vlad’s own."

Scarlet’s tails stopped moving for several seconds. The comparison was not a small one, and Carmilla would not make it without being certain.

"Our husband is a ticking time bomb," Carmilla said. "I do not want anything bad to happen to Victor. He is a good man, despite all the idiotic decisions he makes. But if he continues forcing his evolution this way, we may run into problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"His body may learn something it still cannot endure. Or it may begin reacting to a threat before his mind notices, as happened when he faced the old man. His blood production tripled because he refused to accept the difference in power." Carmilla watched Victor be thrown again. "Today it was adaptation. Tomorrow it may be a mutation that even his regeneration cannot undo."

Scarlet watched Victor for several seconds. Despite all the criticism, he was already standing again. He did not look happy, but he showed no intention of stopping either.

"Are our treasures still in that place?"

Carmilla immediately understood what she was asking. Her eyes remained on Victor, but a small smile appeared on her lips.

"But of course."

"Perhaps it is time to retrieve them."

"Perhaps." Carmilla stepped away from the railing. "First, let us discover how far his training will take him."

On the field, Victor assumed the stance for the countless time. Lilith remained simple in his hand, without any element covering the blade. He advanced, aligned his foot, conducted the force through his hip, and executed the cut.

Yu Jin Cheon dodged with a small movement of his head.

"Your wrist rotated too early."

Victor stopped the blade and took a deep breath.

"I corrected my shoulder."

"And created another mistake in your wrist."

"My step was correct."

"It was too long."

"My breathing was controlled."

"You released the air before impact."

Victor closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, the irritation was already clear.

"I must have done something right. It is not possible that everything is wrong."

Yu Jin Cheon remained silent, analyzing Victor from head to toe. The young man waited, almost expecting the old man to finally acknowledge something positive in his posture, his determination, or at least the speed with which he absorbed the corrections.

The Heavenly Demon placed his hands behind his back.

"You seduced my little girl."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

Yu Jin Cheon continued with the same serious expression.

"Other than that, you are a failure."

Victor stared at him.

"That does not even relate to swordsmanship."

"That is precisely why it was the only positive thing I found."

A vein appeared on Victor’s forehead.

From the balcony above, Scarlet began laughing. Carmilla covered her mouth with one hand, but could not completely hide her smile.

Victor returned to the starting point with heavy steps.

"Again," Yu Jin Cheon ordered.

"I will still make you draw that sword."

"With that posture?"

Victor tightened his grip on Lilith.

Yu Jin Cheon pointed toward his hand.

"You are holding the handle too tightly."

Victor released a low growl.

Victor released a low growl, loosened his fingers around the handle, and assumed the stance again. The irritation remained, but he tried not to let it alter the next movement. Yu Jin Cheon watched in silence while Victor adjusted his feet, relaxed his shoulders, and chose a simple line in front of him.

He advanced.

Lilith cut through the air toward the old man’s neck without any element covering the blade. Yu Jin Cheon leaned his body backward and allowed the edge to pass a few centimeters from his face. Victor did not interrupt the movement. He rotated his wrist, repositioned his foot, and tried to transform the cut into a thrust toward the chest.

Yu Jin Cheon touched the side of the sword with two fingers.

Lilith left its line and passed through the space beside him.

"You became satisfied because the first cut came close," the Heavenly Demon said. "Your mind abandoned the second movement before you even executed it."

Victor retreated and returned to his guard.

"I was not satisfied."

"You were."

"You do not know what I am thinking."

"Your body knows, and it talks too much."

Victor took a deep breath, but Yu Jin Cheon pointed toward his chest before he could try again.

"Breath too deep. You are consciously trying to calm yourself, so your enemy would know exactly when you intend to attack."

"Even breathing is wrong?"

"When you do it incorrectly, yes."

Scarlet began laughing again from the balcony. Victor raised his eyes for a moment and found both women watching the training. Carmilla still maintained a controlled expression, but the subtle movement of her shoulders revealed that she was enjoying herself too.

Victor pointed Lilith toward them.

"Do you not have anything better to do?"

"We do," Scarlet replied. "But this is interesting."

"Keep training, darling," Carmilla added. "You are improving."

Yu Jin Cheon looked at her.

"He is not."

Carmilla remained silent for a moment.

"I was trying to motivate him."

"False praise creates weak warriors."

Victor lowered the sword.

"You can even criticize people who are not training."

"I can criticize anyone who is wrong."

Scarlet covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing louder. Carmilla gave the Heavenly Demon a look, but decided not to argue and moved away from the railing. Scarlet remained for a few more seconds, waved at Victor with one of her tails, and followed her mother inside the mansion.

Victor returned his attention to the old man.

"Now we can continue without an audience."

"The audience was not the problem."

"I know. I am the problem."

Yu Jin Cheon nodded.

"You finally understood something."

Victor clenched his teeth, but controlled the strength around the handle. He assumed the stance again, this time without trying to correct every error at once. He chose only to keep his shoulders relaxed and allow the step to guide the cut.

He advanced.

His foot touched the floor, his hip followed, and Lilith moved along a short line. Yu Jin Cheon dodged, but needed to move his right foot a few centimeters to the side.

Victor saw it.

The old man also realized he had seen it.

A small smile began appearing on Victor’s face.

Yu Jin Cheon struck his abdomen with an open palm.

Victor was thrown against the floor, lost his breath, and felt several organs compress at the same time. Before he could rise, the Heavenly Demon placed one foot on his back.

"I moved one foot," Yu Jin Cheon said. "That does not mean you won."

Victor spat blood and smiled anyway.

"But you moved."

Yu Jin Cheon increased the pressure, making the floor crack beneath Victor’s body.

"Nine thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven repetitions remaining."

Victor placed his hands on the floor and began rising against the weight.

"Then you had better prepare more tea."

Yu Jin Cheon watched the effort for several seconds before removing his foot.

"First learn how to stand without looking like a cripple."

Victor rose, wiped the blood from his mouth, and returned to the starting point.

This time, his smile did not disappear.