March 02, 1408

Ray woke up to his knocking on his door.

“Hey, get up, we have to get ready for training.” He heard Eda voice behind the door.

After getting ready and eating they both went out the door and headed to the back of the cottage. The backyard had a small monastic garden, growing different kinds of vegetables. Ray noticed the top of the mountain was covered in mist. They turned their heads towards Charles who was sitting on a wooden log a couple feet away from them. He seem to be reading the same book from yesterday. The both of them walked towards him, until they were in front of him.

Charles closed the book and put it on his side. “Alright, so I have two years to whip you two into shape. I really don’t have much knowledge on how to make your mark appear, but according to what Miss Senya told me in her letter, when you get to a certain amount of strength it will appear. Or going through emotional trauma.” Charles informed them.

“Emotional trauma?” Eda asked.

“I don’t really know the specifics, but that is what Miss Senya said in her letter.” Charles repeated.

“Do you know why hybrids get marks?” Ray asked him.

“No, I just know the stronger a hybrid becomes, the more their mark spreads across their body. So you can kind of tell how strong a hybrid is by examining their marks, if you get a chance. For example, wait where did you two get turned?” Charles asked.

After telling Charles where Senya injected them, showing where they were turned, Charles continued where he left off.

“Ok, Ray, since you were turned on the back of your hand, your mark will appear there, a black line about an inch in width, and it will probably spread to your wrist if you do manage to get it. Same for Eda, but since she was turned in her neck it will be more difficult to know where the mark will go. Also do you two know what a blessed knight is?”

“Kind of? They are knights who receive the blessings of Sez, and the ones able to kill strong hybrids.” Ray said, as they both rub where they got injected, trying to imagine a mark appearing on their body.

“Correct, unlike hybrids, blessed knights have a single lie spreading all over their body. That line can shine different colors from what I saw.”

“How do the knights get their blessings?” Eda asked.

“The most common way a knight gets its blessing is by praying on the church of one of the three pillars.” Charles told them.

Ray, and Eda, look at him with a confused look on their faces.

“When knights finish their basic training, they head to one of the grand churches of Sez and pray by the altar. If they’re lucky they get their blessing, when they do I heard they can feel themselves flowing with power, like i said if they do receive it.”

“But not everyone gets it like that right?” Eda asked.

“What I mean is, by chance nobody knows the deciding factor as to who gets the blessing to who isn’t. Like the most faithful to Sez won’t receive the blessing, or the strongest of the knights won’t get it either. I have seen knights who were considered weak, received it, or the ones who lacked faith got blessed as well. I even stood before the altar of the grand church of Adruil, but I never received it. Like I said, until the church finds that factor, we won’t really know who gets it, or who doesn’t.”

“So getting stronger doesn’t matter?” Ray asked.

“Can’t say for sure, after all I was just a regular knight. We don’t really get access to information we want. As I was saying from what I know hybrids are stronger the more their marks spread across their body, whil for blessed knights their lines shine a certain color based on their strength.” Charles said.

“Their lines shine a certain color?” Eda repeated.

“Yes, whenever a knight is blessed the first color they get is red, after red is orange, yellow, and green. I don’t know anything else beyond that after all I have never personally met someone who changed their line to shine green, Though when a knight is blessed it takes a great amount of effort to fully maintain it, and control it. That is why the church makes newl blessed knights face mission to force themselves to fully master their new found power.” Charles revealed.

“Isn’t that risky? Sending their newly blessed to just die?” Eda asked.

“Not really, after all the best way to grow stronger is to face death and overcome it. Hybrids are the same in that category. So, if either one of you meets a knight who can fully summon their line without struggling, run away, or you will be instantly killed. The training I will give you two should be enough to face a knight who is barely able to summon their line, but if you do managed to awaken your mar, you should be even stronger than most knights who can maintain their line.” Charles continued.

“How much does our mark need to spread for us to be able to take someone with orange lines?” Ray asked.

“Hmm, I don’t really know for certain, but Miss Senya told me how you two have to spread your mark about thirty percent, if you do manage that, you should be able to face a knight with yellow lines.” Charles said.

“So that is why the church considered the hybrids to be enemies? Because of how strong they can be?” Ray asked.

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“The main reason the church goes after your kind is because of how unnatural hybrids are to regular humans. Unlike the blessing of Sez, the mark of the hybrids causes humans to undergo some kind of transformation, they appear to be human, but after someone becomes a full hybrid they change. Like your blood, lifespan, childless, and of course the most important being how some people reject the blood, but in doing become enraged, or as they say it become a berserker-'' Charles added before he was interrupted.

“Wait! I’m sorry, did you say childless?” Ray asked in disbelief.

“Yes, it been known hybrids can’t have children.” Charles repeated.

“What do you mean we can’t have kids? Master Senya never told us that!” Ray said, his voice rising.

“Ray enough!” Eda told him.

“Eda! You can’t really be ok with this?”

“I’m not, but there is nothing we can do about it now, and you really want to bring a kid into this?” Eda asked him.

“I!...I guess not.” Ray grumbles to himself, realizing the future he once imagined was now gone forever.

“As I was saying they could become berserkers causing damage to everyone around them. I have only seen reports about them, I have never seen one in person, but I heard only a knight who has awakened their blessing to yellow can take them down. That is why you two should never turn to another human, until you two become stronger.” Charles warned them.

“Yeah, Miss Senya was clear we are never supposed to turn another person into a hybrid without her permission, but she did say that we weren’t able to, even if we wanted?” Eda said, recounting what Senya told them.

“Oh, she must mean how the two of you aren’t able to produce enough black blood to turn another person into a hybrid.” Charles said.

“What do you mean?” Eda asked.

“Well to turn someone into a hybrid they must either swallowed, or be injected with pure black blood that a hybrid produces. About two ounces I believe is enough to turn a human into a hybrid. But I can’t really say for sure, there haven't been many experiments about it that I know of.” Charles informed them.

“...So Master Senya must be pretty strong to be able to take on the both of us, in case the both of us reject the blood.” Ray said, hoping to change the subject.

“Yes, Miss Senya is strong, despite how she looks.” Charles said.

“How old is she anyway?” Ray asked.

“Yeah, I’m not answering that even if I knew that, I only met her once, but if she knew I told you anything that she told me, she will come back here and give me a beating.” Charles revealed.

{Sounds about right.} Ray thought to himself. “So do you know why some people become berserkers?” He asked.

Charles looked at him with a confused look on his face. “Sorry I thought Miss Senya had already told you two already. A berserker is just someone who goes crazy trying to reject the blood but can’t, and in the process they will attack everything they see. It has been known that they will even eat regular humans. That’s where the rumor about hybrids being man-eating monsters comes from.”

“So there isn’t a chance, regular hybrids become berserkers later on in their lives?” Eda asked.

“Well, I don’t think so, but I heard stories but I’m not sure how accurate they are. I heard how a hybrid can get so consumed by their energy that they lose themselves, but like I said, I am not sure.”

“So there might be a chance we might go crazy?” Eda asked.

“Who knows, I doubt since the two of you are just starting, right now the both of you aren’t a threat to me.” Charles said, with confidence.

“Well that is great to hear.” Ray sarcastically said.

“That’s enough Ray,” Eda interrupted him. She looked at Charles. “I have a question if you don’t mind me asking Charles.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you helping us?”

“That…Sorry but that is something I rather not talk about, now that’s enough talking, let’ go train.” Charles said as he stood up, and started walking towards the woods.

Eda, and Ray looked at each other confused, but they stood up, and followed Charles.

“Where are we going to train?” Ray asked.

“We will be traveling to the middle part of the mountain. There is an open space that would work for you two, and it is far from the village, nobody rarely comes this far. Be sure to pay attention where we are going, I won’t be able to take you two all the time, so be sure to memorize it.”

It took an hour to reach their destination, Charles pointed to landmarks so they would remember which way to go. As they got closer to the mountain a low mist was by their feet.

“What with the mist?” Ray asked, looking at his feet the mist reached to his ankles, the mist seemed to be getting more thicker as they made their way up.

“It is the last remaining part of winter. You will see when winter comes back around how the mist covered the top of mountain, it should be fine today. But careful they are days that the mist can get really bad and you can get lost up here until the mist disperses, sometimes I seen it reach the cottage, at the based of the mountain.” Charles told them as he kept walking.

“Is it me, or are the trees even bigger here?” Eda said, looking at the top of the trees.

“The trees here are bigger, more studier. I believed it because of how the mountain is shaped, or located, it has better growing conditions than those at the base of the mountain, now then we are here.”

Charles walked in front of some trees, and into a clearing. The clearing was surrounded by trees, they were even bigger than the size of those near the cottage, the sound of a waterfall could be heard, as well the huge amounts of birds in the area that were singing. They walked to the middle of the clearing.

“Ok, stay there.” Charles told them, he walked until he was a couple of feet in front of them and turned to face them. “Now then, show me what you two can do.” He said with both of his arms extended.

Ray looked at Eda who just shrugged her shoulders, and ran towards Charles, her fist raised ready to punch him, Ray followed afterwards trying to keep up with Eda. Eda threw her punch, but Charles sidestepped away, Eda tumbled on her force hitting the ground. Ray tried to punch him, but Charles simply grabbed his fist, then pulled him closer grabbing his arm, before Ray knew it Charles threw him over himself and towards Eda, who was barely getting up.

Charles let out a chuckle. “Man, I do have my work cut out for me. I’m going to need to work the both of you all the way from the bottom, come over here.”

They both groan, gasping for air, Eda pushed Ray off her legs where he landed.

“It’s hard to breathe.” Ray said, as he was on his hands and knees taking in shallow breaths.

“Of course, we are in the middle of a mountain after all, the top of it is even worse. That’s why you will train here.” Charles told them.