Chapter 2. Mystery.

Chapter 9. Final preparations.

It had been a week since my encounter with Dracula. I decided to put this matter aside to focus more on training Esteban, Leyla and Cecilia before the tournament, which was approaching quickly.

I noticed that during the training sessions, Gastella kept a much closer eye on my group; I found this concerning since Dracula somewhat threatened the three of them during my brief conversation.

It wouldn't be far-fetched for Dracula to have ordered her to exploit an opportunity to harm them which I cannot allow to happen.

Speaking of which, there was one thing which made me think, and that was what Dracula told me…that I was not his primary reason for his visit.

I knew in time all would be revealed…

Now there we were just over a week left until the tournament I decided it was time to get serious with training, up until now I had trained them in basic magic, swordsmanship and unarmed combat to the point where they could barely stand for the past few weeks and I must say I saw great progress from the three of them now it was time to take it to the next level.

“Listen up you three,” I called them together.

Leyla, Cecilia and Esteban stood in front of me.

“What is it?” Esteban asked eagerly.

“Don't tell us you want more intense training,” Cecilia said with an exhausted voice mixed with slight anxiety.

It was unexpected to see Cecilia, who usually had this tough expression and personality, would be the first one to crumble to crack under my training.

Nevertheless, all of them did phenomenally.

“I'm afraid so,” I replied.

All of them couldn't believe what I just said.

“You must be joking,” Leyla hoped that it was the case.

“If your training so far was only the beginning…” Esteban was unable to complete his sentence.

I admit that I was rough on them but I only did this to ensure they were ready for the tournament.

“Before you three become completely unmotivated the next steps are all based on you individually,” I told them.

The three of them had confusing looks on their faces.

“Let me break it down. Leyla, you have a strong mind perfect for mind domain; you have successfully used it against Randol. Now I will train you to use it more effectively,” I told Leyla.

I then turned to Esteban.

“Esteban, your magic eyes of disintegration is a powerful ability which you held back for a long time. I will teach you how to control them. Let me tell you this…not many people have this ability; it's an ability which is sought after,” I told Esteban.

And finally, it was Cecilia's turn.

“Cecilia, over the past few weeks, I have noticed that your regeneration ability is far higher than the average Vampire, and that's because you reproduce new blood at five times the speed of the average Vampire,” I told Cecilia.

Cecilia seemed not to fully understand what I was talking about.

“Cecilia, this means you can use your blood in battle,” As I said, I created a sphere of my blood in the palm of my hands to demonstrate something special.

“Pay close attention,” I told Cecilia.

Cecilia paid full attention.

I formed multiple crimson swords out of my blood; in an instant, I then turned those swords into crimson spears and quickly changed them all back to a sphere of my blood.

The three of them were stunned to see this.

“What did you just…?” Cecilia mumbled in astonishment.

“I read about vampires of the past being able to bend their blood to form certain objects and weapons,” Leyla remarked.

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“But this skill hasn't been seen in thousands of years…Who are you, Ilyas?” Esteban asked suspiciously.

I forgot to tell him my true identity because I was busy dealing with too many surprises as of late.

I better tell him soon to avoid any confusion down the line.

“This is a very ancient technique and a powerful one at that. Only vampires with high blood regeneration can learn this technique, and you, Cecilia…you have that high blood regeneration. I will teach you how to use it,” I told her.

This lit up a fire in her and I could see it on her face that she was eager to learn this technique.

“Now then you three let's begin,”

We left the Colosseum and went to a secluded place deep inside the forest where we wouldn't draw attention from other students but, more importantly, out of Gastella’s view.

“Now that we are alone I want you three to split up,” I told them this because it helps them to focus since they each have different training methods.

“Alright,” The three of them replied, and they split up, occupying different areas of the forest.

I had to teach them all at the same time to be as efficient as possible.

I cast duplos duplication magic which allows the caster to create duplicates of objects and even people if proficient enough.

Two duplicates appear in front of me.

I looked at the one on the right.

“You will teach Esteban,”

The duplicate left and headed for Esteban.

The one on the left I instructed to teach Cecilia.

I would teach Leyla.

With that said, I headed for Leyla, who waited for me patiently.

“Took you long enough,” She said with a smile.

I chuckled.

“My apologies. Now I hope you are ready to master mind domain,”

Leyla clenched her fist, and with a determined look on her face, she said: “I am!”

I was glad to see her determined to learn. I hoped my teaching skills would be able to match that.

“Great Leyla,”

I walked closer to her.

“Please position yourself in the lotus position for meditation,” I kindly instructed her.

She nodded and followed my instructions and got into the lotus position.

I did the same and we faced each other eye to eye.

“Now breathe and empty your mind from thought,”

Lelya took deep breaths from her nose and out her mouth with her eyes closed.

“With each breath, you feel more and more magic surrounding you, and your mind becomes empty,” I whispered to her.

With each breath, she became more and more focused on her meditation with magic surrounding her.

“Now that your mind is empty, picture a grand flame,” I whispered to her.

This is the power of the mind domain, which is the ability to create your own reality in your mind, trapping your enemies inside.

Her empty domain was filled with sparks after sparks, which ignited flames.

I was surprised by how fast she was able to learn the basics.

“Good Leyla, now wash away the flames with water,” I whispered gently.

She focused, and following my instructions, small droplets of water appeared in her mind domain, which turned into a ginormous flood extinguishing the flames.

“Very good, let's keep practising,”

With Esteban.

My clone was with Esteban teaching him how to control the eyes of disintegration.

“Esteban, your eyes are powerful but also dangerous. You know first-hand how dangerous those eyes can become,” I told him, reminding him of what happened when he was a child.

Esteban looked upset but I had to remind him to ensure that he would take this seriously.

“Don't look so upset. I will teach you how to control them so something like this won't happen,” My clone told him.

“The eyes are magic which means that you can control the intensity and magic power you put in them,” My clone informed Esteban.

Esteban paid full attention and understood what he meant.

“I want you to pour the slightest amount of magic into your eyes,”

Esteban nodded anxiously.

“Don't worry Esteban, there is no one around you can hurt,”

It was understandable that he was hesitant, given what happened the last time those eyes were used by him.

Esteban closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He then opened them and poured a small amount of magic into his eyes.

Small beams of magic shot toward a large rock breaking it down on a sub-atomic scale.

“Very good keep that up,”

Esteban continued breaking down the rock.

“Now pour even less magic into your eyes so that you only hit the rock without damaging it,” This was to ensure he could use these eyes without causing subatomic damage to a target.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” Esteban screamed in pain.

In an instant the small beams grew in width, erasing the boulder and several trees ahead.

“What have I done?” Esteban asked with a shaky voice and with tears covering his crimson eyes.

The pain and fear he felt from himself was immense. Something no one should go through especially a kid like him.

“Esteban, we fail in life because we learn. Without failing, learning is impossible,” My clone to,d him.

“Learn? Learn what? How to cause mass destruction?!,” He said, pointing at the destroyed landscape with tears.

“Let that failure now fuel your eagerness to learn to do right the next time,”

Esteban knew my clone's words were right.

He wiped away his tears and had a new look of determination in his eyes.

“Let's try again,” He eagerly said.

With Cecilia.

My second clone was instructing Cecilia how to bend her blood.

“The ability to manipulate blood requires immense concentration,” My clone said, transforming his small pool of blood into a dagger.

Cecilia also paid close attention.

Cecilia then focused greatly on the drop of blood in her hand.

“Now visualise what you want this drop of blood to turn into,”

Cecilia tried her hardest, but nothing happened.

“I can't!” She said with frustration at herself.

“Cecilia, remember that you can't make something big from a small droplet, remember that to make bigger objects using your blood requires more of your blood in the first place,”

Cecilia was too fixated on turning her small drop of blood into a sword and other too-big objects.

“I understand,” Cecilia muttered in disappointment.

Cecilia closed her eyes and took deep breaths in her nose and out of her mouth.

She focused for minutes on the small droplet of blood in her hand.

Then something happened…The drop of blood into a spike for a brief moment, turning back into a droplet quickly after.

“Good,” My clone said.

“I-I got it…” Cecilia said in disbelief.

“You did, now we need to keep at it,” My clone said.

For the past 3 weeks every day for hours on end they each practiced their unique magic until 3 weeks flew by and the day of the tournament was only one day away.

We were inside the class.

Gastella was at the front desk making an announcement.

“Listen up class! We are leaving Transylvania,”