CHAPTER 26

"As expected of a chief's son," his middle-aged secretary beside him commented respectfully.

"He should be able to handle more than one element. Send someone to Savio and make him give the child abilities as soon as possible," the old man ordered while caressing his beard.

He removed his eyes from Hirayon and looked at a hologram screen that was only visible to him.

The floating screen showed every Familia's code name, the children they chose for their candidate, and the bet they had set before the first test. At the very top was a name shining in gold.

Aurelius OWS59 Q200,000

'Betting 100,000 quea is the right choice.'

The man waved his hand.

"Yes, my lord?" his secretary dutifully asked.

"Investigate Venerico's candidate. I was able to beat him this time because my bet was larger, but if I let him be, he will definitely bite," the old man said while staring darkly at Venerico's name under his on the list.

The White Arena Torneo is not only for children. In fact, the games were mainly established for the Familia members to have the chance to rule the entire White Arena, the Familia itself. In order to be a candidate for the Governor, the highest position in the Familia, they have to choose a candidate out of all the children, and their selected candidate needs to be included in the top 10 after all the games are finished.

During the 50 games, they will be betting money on their candidates every game and select the rank they think their chosen child will place. If they guessed it correctly, their bet would be doubled and be saved on their accounts specifically for the Torneo, and if they got it wrong, they would lose their bet entirely. That rule applies on every rank other than the first place wherein if the child ranked first and the Familia guessed it correctly, the bet will be tripled.

After the ten candidates were chosen, their bets on their accounts during the 50 games would be added, and the Familia member who had the largest amount of money will be the Governor.

'Good thing I trusted my instinct,' the old man thought. His initial bet was 100,000 quea, and because he was able to guess Hirayon's rank correctly, his bet doubled. He beat Venerico, who bet Q50,000 to his candidate, and now has Q150,000 because he was able to guess correctly that his candidate would be ranked first.

"I should invest more in the child so he'll get stronger," the old man said while thinking about what he should gift Hirayon in the next game.

"How about an Opod, my lord?" the secretary suggested.

"Hmm, Yeah. Order one now," he said and stood up, buttoning his blazer.

Back in Hirayon's room, the child was resting on the floor after eating his food. He didn't dare to use the soft bed as he only had a bad memory of it.

He looked to his right and stared at five different-sized boxes wrapped nicely in decorated paper.

"Should I open them?" he asked himself, unsure what to do. They said they were gifts, but Hirayon was doubtful, especially after experiencing a painful experiment. If one of the boxes contained a substance, he was sure that Savio would use it on him.

While contemplating, his room's door slid open, revealing Savio and FORT685, with the former wearing a wide grin.

"You ranked second. Congratulations," he said, but Hirayon remained looking at him with contempt.

"Looks like you weren't satisfied with your rank," Savio commented.

He wasn't wrong, but Hirayon had a different reason for looking at Savio with so much hatred. Whenever the man appeared, Hirayon couldn't help but dread what would happen next.

"Don't worry. In the next few days, you will become stronger and have a chance to get the first rank. By the way, have you seen your benefactors present?" Savio asked and looked at the space where the gifts were located.

Hirayon just glared at him and then at the boxes.

"You should open them now because it will help you in your training," Savio said, making Hirayon feel a little curious and less doubtful.

With that, FORT685 helped Hirayon open the boxes. They opened the smallest first, and it revealed a box full of Aura stones. The next box contained snacks and drinks that the children liked, and the next two boxes were a set of clothes and shoes. When they opened the largest gift, Hirayon's eyes widened.

Surprised to see the books, Hirayon immediately read the titles. When he realized he hadn't read them before, he got excited, and a smile broke on his face.

"Can't believe I will be able to see a child who was happy to receive books," Savio said, looking curiously at the gifts, particularly the bloody red Aura Stones.

'Seems like he wanted Hirayon to use the Blood Element,' Savio thought and remembered the muscled old man that he had met. At first, he didn't know he was Hirayon's benefactor, but then the man told him to make Hirayon the strongest, making him realize that the old man was the Familia who chose Hirayon as his candidate.

"You have a generous benefactor," Savio commented meaningfully.

He had known that Familia member since before, but he knew nothing about him aside from the fact that he was a member. He rarely bets, but when he does, the children he puts his money on usually end up in the top 10.

Hirayon ignored Savio and focused on the book. He wanted to read it immediately, but Savio clapped once, getting his attention.

"You can read that later, but for now, we have to start the second experiment," Savio said seriously, which made Hirayon's eyes widen in fear.

His instinct kicked in, and he was about to run towards the far-away corner of the room, but he was blocked by a bed.

The bed hit Hirayon's face, and before he could even react, the metal band appeared, trapping him completely in the bed.

"Let me go!" He said in a muffled voice, but all he felt next was the bed moving and stopping the next second. He paled and wiggled more when he saw the table full of injections and substances on the side.

"It doesn't really matter if you are facing the front or not, so let's just continue," Savio said while removing the air on a deep blood-red substance.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Since your benefactor sent you some Elemental Stones, you might as well use it," he added, pushing the needle into Hirayon's arm and injecting the substance.

When the tube was emptied, he removed the needle and stepped back to watch Hirayon, who stopped moving.

Hirayon's eyes widened as he felt his whole body throb. It starts slowly but fastens with every passing second as an unexplainable heat spreads from his arm throughout his body.

The throbbing stopped after a minute but was replaced with electrifying pain. Hirayon could feel every fiber of his body being pierced by continuous sharp pain that lasted only for a millisecond. But because there were too many of them, the pain was excruciating, different than in his first experiment.

"Ahh! Stop it!" Hirayon shouted with a grunt.

"It'll be over in a few more minutes, so just hang on," Savio said with his eyes glowing brightly. He was using his ability to watch how the substance worked inside the child's body.

"It's truly fascinating," he muttered as the red substance slowly mixed into the Hirayon's blood. Different from what Hirayon was feeling, the substance was only traveling through his bloodstream, and the one responsible for making Hirayon feel electrified was his own Water Aura embedded in his body that was trying to fight the Blood Element.

'His Water Element was too strong and stubborn,' Savio said as he concluded that even though Hirayon's body is compatible with several elements, it will be difficult and more painful for him to receive other elemental abilities because of his Water Element.

Five more minutes of Hirayon yelling and grumbling until the pain subsided, leaving the child breathing hard. FORT685 turned Hirayon's body to help him breathe easier, revealing his bloodied nose that had redder and darker blood.

"It worked," Savio said, wiping some blood off for him to experiment.

"Observe him for now. He should be feeling better after a few minutes. Call me if something strange happens," Savio said before leaving Hirayon's room with the blood sample.

FORT685 bowed, and after the door closed shut, he went to the wall and clicked on the hologram. A small portion of the wall slid open, revealing clothes, blankets, pillows, and towels, all in white.

He pulled two towels and clicked another button in the hologram, opening another door near the hidden closet that leads to a wide, spotlessly clean bathroom.

After filling the small basin with water, FORT685 repositioned the bed to make Hirayon lie down properly before wiping the child's blood and sweat to make Hirayon feel better.

"What happened?" Hirayon asked when he regained consciousness while FORT685 was drying him with another towel.

"The experiment was successful, master," he said and helped Hirayon change into clean clothes.

When it was all done, Hirayon weakly raised his arm as he felt something tickling his skin.

Looking at it with blurry eyes, he did not notice it at first, but the longer he looked, the clearer his eyesight became, showing a thin red thread wriggling and moving around.

"What's that?" He asked weakly and realized that the thread was connected to his arm.

He tried to remove it with his hand, but when he pulled it, the thread got longer, as if he had a bunch of thread in his arm.

"What's happening?!" he exclaimed, panicked as the thread he was holding was moving and resisting in his hold.

"Wow, you're already using it!" FORT685 exclaimed after seeing the long thread Hirayon was holding connected to his arm.

Hirayon looked at his servant. His eyes were asking about the red thread.

"That is your Blood Elemental Ability, Hirayon. I heard from trainer Savio that the ability he injected allows you to control your blood however you want." FORT685 happily said, confusing Hirayon.

'Can I really use the Blood Element now?' he asked himself as he watched the red thread that was apparently his blood.

He can't believe he can now wield another ability in a different element after the injection and the pain he felt.

Still reluctant to believe FORT685, Hirayon stopped pulling the thread and concentrated his Aura on it to try and control his blood.

However, the blood only wriggled more, slapping Hirayon's face as it moved erratically.

"That stings," Hirayon mumbled with a frown as he held the blood once again to stop it from hitting his face.

'Why is it not working? Are they just fooling me?' he thought and pondered while looking at the thread that almost seemed like mad.

"Did you try to control it?" FORT685 asked as he watched his master getting slapped once again. It was a funny sight, especially since the child looked at the thread with annoyance.

"Yeah, but it didn't work," Hirayon admitted.

"Did you try to use your Blood Aura?"

"I have Blood Aura?" Hirayon asked, dumbfounded at what FORT685 said.

"Yes, when the ability was injected into you, it also contained some Blood Aura, or else the experiment wouldn't work. The fact that you can pull your blood like a thread is proof that you already have it, only a little, though. You have to consume Blood Aura from Aura Stones or Aura Cores to increase it until it becomes natural for your body to make the Aura as well," FORT685 explained.

Hirayon remembered what he had read in a book. It was said there that when oddities gain another element, the body will also create that element's Aura. The more the oddity was able to master an ability from that element, the more his Aura will increase, and his body will grow more accustomed to making that Aura.

"How do I do that?" Hirayon asked.

"You have to feel the difference between the Auras that you have and only use the Blood Aura."

Hirayon frowned as he had never really tried to feel his Water Aura. Now he needs to differentiate it.

'It's still worth a try,' he said as he watched the still wriggling thread.

Hirayon closed his eyes and tried to feel the Aura in his body. He felt nothing at first, but the longer he focused, the more he could hear a silent stream of flowing water.

'Is that my Aura?'

The child concentrated more, and when the sound became more apparent, Hirayon was suddenly engulfed by a slightly cold Aura surrounding his whole body. He could finally feel every bit of it and how it flowed like calm spring water.

'This is my Water Aura. But where is the Blood one?'

Hirayon tried to find the Blood Aura, but no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn't feel it anywhere.

When he got tired, he opened his eyes and was met with Savio's grinning face.

"Have you found it?" he asked as if he had been watching Hirayon since earlier.

Remembering how Savio injected the substance, Hirayon glared at the man.

"Looks like you didn't. But that was no surprise as there was none," Savio revealed.

"Huh?"

"Your Blood Aura. It was mixed in your Water Aura," Savio stated.

"That's not possible," Hirayon said, as the Aura of different elements can never combine.

"I know, but your body did it. Because your Water Aura was extremely stubborn, it didn't let the Blood Aura stay in your system and devoured it. Really, you never fail to surprise me. I'm excited to know more about your body Hirayon," Savio said with a maniac grin. The things he needed to research increased as he must find out if only Hirayon's body, particularly his Water Aura, could devour another element or if it is also possible for others.

Hirayon ignored the man and wondered on his own. 'If that was true, then why can't I control my blood?'

"Are you thinking of how to control your blood?" Savio asked as if he could read Hirayon's mind.

The child scowled at him for a moment, but when he realized he would need Savio's knowledge, he nodded and waited for an answer.

Savio let out a satisfied grin, "You simply need to use your Water Aura."

Hirayon gave him a disappointed look, "It didn't work."

"Really? Is it really impossible... or is it because you don't have enough Aura?" Savio trailed teasingly, annoying Hirayon.

He was about to refute that he put enough Aura on it when he remembered what FORT685 said. 'It was a Regal Ability.'

When Savio saw Hirayon's expression, he nodded. "That's right. It didn't work because you don't have enough Aura for it."

Hirayon frowned. He knew that it was more difficult to control an ability that was different from his element and would also require more Aura to use because of compatibility.

"So what's the use of injecting it into me if I can't use it?" He asked, feeling mad at Savio for making him feel that pain for something useless.

"We can provide you with thousands of stones, and you'll be able to use the ability, but that's not the goal. After all, you can still use it inside your body. The objective is not for you to control it outside but inside. We want the ability to help your body heal faster and fix on its own, especially since the more experiments we make, the more your body will strain. You will still need to increase your Aura capacity, but it won't require you too much time and resources," Savio passionately explained while reading the result of his test on Hirayon's blood.

Not only did his Blood become darker and redder, but it could now flow faster in the child's bloodstream and help the body heal itself. 'If Hirayon learned to control it himself, he would be able to do operations on his own,' Savio thought.

"Let me experiment with this one as well," Savio said, cutting the red thread connected to Hirayon's skin. After cutting, it was still moving and trying to hit Savio. Although it was as thin as a thread, it still stings when hit.

"Even your blood is stubborn," Savio commented with fascination.

R E H I L I Y A