From the new fountain of knowledge in my brain, I was able to find out a few interesting things.

Increased blood flow in the body can improve performance.

An increased blood flow increases the amount of oxygen to the different parts of the body. This can improve performance.

With Haema, I may be able to increase my blood flow without exerting my body anytime I want.

It can increase my performance and further enhance my senses.

With this, I will be able to prolong the transcendent state.

And if I stream Ardor throughout my body like a Spiker, My strength and durability will increase.

Maintaining transcendence, controlling Haema, and constantly streaming ardor throughout my body.

I have to do all of them simultaneously to have a chance against the daemons.

Fantastic.

Heh. A walk in the park for a genius like me.

I hope so. Otherwise, I am so fucking screwed.

I took a deep breath and calmed down. I then grabbed my daggers.

My movements from my new perspective are so slow! Oh Incarni!

Maintaining my transcendental breathing technique, I first activated Haema and focused. I closed my eyes and closed off all the voices around me.

I concentrated hard and tried to feel the blood in my body. I tried to hear the sound of blood flowing in my blood vessels. I focused on my beating heart, pumping blood all over my body.

Normally, an increased heartbeat increases blood flow along with the widening of the blood vessels by vasodilation.

What I am trying to do is increase the flow of the blood itself. Just like how I can manipulate blood outside my body, I may be able to manipulate the blood flowing in my body.

I focused on the blood flowing in my vessels and willed it to speed up.

That went terrific.

I doubled over and coughed out blood.

Too much speed. That caused some of my blood vessels and capillaries to rupture and now I am bleeding internally.

My transcendent state was broken as I collapsed on the floor wincing in pain and becoming nauseous.

I gritted my teeth and used Haema to heal every single rupture. After about ten minutes of agony, the pain subsided and I started feeling better.

After about twenty minutes of lying on the floor and cursing myself, I slowly got up and shook my head.

The healing caused by Haema sure is amazing.

I rubbed my head and sighed. I should've enhanced my body with ardor before trying to accelerate my blood.

Bloody idiot. I was too hasty.

I looked outside the window. It has become night time and the blizzard is still growing strong. I will be fighting daemons in this weather.

I shuddered at the thought.

Okay. Let's think of the order of things to do.

First body enhancement, then blood acceleration, and finally transcendence.

Let's do this.

I took a deep breath and controlled the ardor entering my body. I closed my eyes and visualized it covering my entire body and a part of it seeping into my muscles and focused.

A cool and refreshing sensation went over my skin as ardor moved through my body, enhancing and strengthening my muscles, vessels, organs, and senses.

I slowly opened my eyes and was surprised by the result. In just a minute, my body is covered in ardor.

I whistled as I saw the faint glimmer of ardor on my hand like a second skin over my body. I feel stronger.

I'm impressed.

The ardor control of this body is phenomenal. It is way higher than most B-ranked warlocks. With proper training along with his genius-level intellect, the previous Mordred would've become a formidable Linker.

If he hadn't been treated the way he was, who knows where he could've reached? He had some latent talent that surfaced rather late.

It would've been a waste if I hadn't taken over after his death.

I clenched my fist. Don't worry kid. I'll make sure to fully unlock this body's potential.

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I picked up my daggers from the floor. They felt incredibly light. I held the one in my right hand in reverse grip and activated Haema.

This time, I was careful.

I slowly increased the speed of the blood flow until it was just slow enough for the exchange of substances to occur.

I can feel my mind sharpening along with my senses. My previous nausea and any fatigue I accumulated today vanished. I feel refreshed. My blood vessels bulged as the blood flow increased and I smiled.

So far so good. Even if a problem arises, I can use my strand to heal myself.

I chuckled. The previous Mordred had awakened his strand only a week ago and yet the control is this good.

Just how was he so weak?

Okay. Now for the final part.

I entered transcendence using my breathing technique and everything slowed. My eyes fell on the daggers in my hands.

Moment of truth.

I did a vertical slash upwards with my right arm and to my delight, it worked. In this slowed-down world, I can move quickly.

A wide grin appeared on my face and I followed with a thrust with the left dagger. I was caught up in the revelry and I did a few dagger swings with glee.

Soon I was dancing around my room with the white daggers, doing every single movement I learned in my past life. I felt amazing and a hearty laugh escaped my mouth.

The next minute I am lying on the floor on my face.

"Ow.", I groaned, turning over and clutching my nose. My mind feels tired and I can sense a headache blooming in my skull.

Looks like I can't have all three simultaneously for a long period. My body enhancement and blood acceleration are still active but transcendence leaves a rather heavy toll on my body and mind.

Mostly my mind.

Five minutes.

That's how long the current me can use all three of them together.

My survival rate against the daemons is starting to become rather questionable. My old friend Dread started to creep up on me.

I shook my head. Not to worry. There is one more thing I can do.

In my past life, I was able to quickly activate and deactivate transcendence during battles. Transcendence utilizes the mind and the senses so I could activate it at certain intervals during the battle.

I stopped streaming ardor throughout my body and slowed down my blood flow. Immediately, fatigue hit me like a battering ram.

I struggled to get up and dragged my tired body to the bed. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I was out.

And I had a weird and terrifying dream of a daemon chasing me with a massive goose-shaped hammer.

I was almost thankful for the daemon alarm that woke me up.

I snapped awake and the first thing I saw was the blinking light on my bracelet.

Ah, shit. I'm about to be teleported. I looked out the window. It was almost dawn and the blizzard had passed.

The light was blinking faster as the alarm blared around me. I quickly grabbed my white daggers and straightened my crumpled uniform.

Here goes. I hope I will survive.

"This is going to hurt.", I said as a bright green light enveloped me.

*******

I am starting to hate Minerva.

Why am I getting mad at the Shield AI?

Where do I begin?

Oh yeah. She just plopped me right at the vanguard of the newbie unit of the Deathwalker army.

So the first I see in the morning is the dark, gaping, swirling maw of the Tear.

What a way to start the day.

Just perfect.

"Alright, New blood! To kill a daemon, you go for the heart or whatever there is in that swirling wretched chest of theirs."

The captain of the newbie squad, a young woman in her early twenties told the assembled Deatwalker recruits and newbies.

She sat on a mechanima that looked like a supersized tiger. Its blue metallic plates with yellow stripes shifted as it prowled back and forth with its owner giving instructions.

Everyone in the newbie unit was looking at her and her mount. After all, she's the only one in the newbie unit with a mechanima.

I can see that the Shield received brand new recruits in two days.

Where are they even getting the manpower?

I noticed the terrified and nervous looks on the faces of most of the fresh newbies. I also noticed the much calmer faces of others in the newbie unit.

They seem to be the newbies who survived previous battles or even fresh blood confident in their abilities and skills.

Or maybe both.

The captain was still speaking, "And after striking the hearts. Get far away from the daemons you killed unless you want to die a horrible death."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

She looked at all of us. Her eyes lingered a bit longer on me, "Any questions? We don't have much time."

In the distance, the darkness of the Tear began to ripple. She's right, the daemons are almost out.

"Captain!", the young man next to me raised his hand, almost startling me.

He is tall, slim, and quite a handsome lad. He had a sword and he had an air of elegance on him. Probably a noble.

"Yes, newbie?", the captain said, looking in our direction.

"Why is there a kid here?", the young man asked, glancing at me.

Seriously? That is your doubt?

Previously, only a few were stealing glances at me. Now every eye in the newbie unit is on me. They all looked at me in confusion and wonder, probably wondering the same thing

'What is a little kid doing in this blood-soaked battlefield?'

I just gave them an innocent smile and a cheerful wave. I was not all bothered by this sudden attention I was receiving. In fact, I am quite used to it.

I used to be a king after all.

The captain's eyes were also on me. Perhaps she received information about me because she looked at the young man beside me and said.

"He is a special case."

But before she could say anything else, bells rang and echoed all over the valley.

"Here they come! Ready weapons!", she yelled and got ready for battle.

I saw the first wave of daemons emerging from the Tear. An unnatural chill passed over me and I shuddered, those faceless visages were already giving me some bad memories.

I shook my head to clear unwanted and distracting thoughts, I gripped my daggers, enhanced my body, and activated Haema for blood acceleration.

I must survive. It doesn't matter what I have to do.

And so my second dance with death begins.