CHAPTER 27

"Use this," Savio said, giving Hirayon the small box full of Blood Aura Stones. "There won't be enough, so we'll check the store here in the facility," he added.

"There's an Aura Stone store here?" Hirayon asked.

"Not only Aura Stones, but there are also Cores, weapons, pills, medicines, and much more. That's where you will spend your award points," Savio answered.

"They don't accept money?" Hirayon asked.

"Not really. The currency here is award points, so if you want to live here comfortably, you must earn many points," Savio said, as no one uses real money in the facility besides the Familia members.

Hirayon nodded. "Is the Torneo the only way I can earn them?"

Savio looked at FORT685, ordering the latter with his eyes to answer Hirayon's questions as he didn't want to explain anymore. "For children, yes. For us employees, award points are our salary. There are also non-employees like hunters here who take missions and get award points in return," FORT685 stated.

"Hunters? What kind of mission do they do?" Hirayon asked curiously. He knew hunters in every territory received various missions, from slaying monsters to guarding people, doing errands, and more.

'They must not be doing normal missions,' Hirayon thought.

"There are different missions like hunting different types of monsters, searching for materials, digging Aura Stones, and a lot more," FORT685 said with his usual smile, not saying the primary task hunters receive.

Hirayon's brow raised as he felt like something was amiss but still nodded as he thought that was all FORT685 was allowed to say.

Savio, who noticed that the servant skipped some information, smirked and said, "They also steal and kidnap children."

FORT685's smile twitched as he didn't want the child to know that, but he only swallowed his objection as he could not refute it.

"So the one who kidnapped me was a hunter?" Hirayon asked with a cold gaze.

When FORT685 nodded, Hirayon fell into thought. 'Their hunters must be skilled if they were able to infiltrate the mansion. I didn't even feel anything when I was kidnapped. That shows how weak I am compared to them.'

Hirayon's eyes glimmered with so much fervor to become strong. To be a person who wouldn't be kidnapped or defeated and a child that won't need protection.

'Right now, I must bear their experimentations and train myself secretly to become strong. I should also buy Water Aura Stones and train more so I can enter my Core Space and train there.'

"How many Blood Stones do we need, and how much are they? I only have 450 award points," Hirayon said. Although he wasn't pleased with Savio for experimenting with his body. He also wants to see if he can really wield the Blood Ability, as it could help him get stronger.

"Don't worry about it. I will pay for now. I have a lot of award points because I'm not using them," Savio confessed while typing in a hologram.

"Then where did you get your materials?" Hirayon asked as he remembered the number of substances on the table. He is sure that they're expensive.

"That's provided by the Facility. As long as I list what I need and what it is for, they will give it, other than Aura Stones. They can't give that for free, so I need to purchase it in the Facility store."

Savio went to where the box of Aura Stones was, "I think there are about 50 here. FORT685, buy 100 pieces of Blood Stone in the store. I will send you my account," Savio said before leaving to experiment with the thread.

"I will leave first, master," FORT685 said before going to the store.

Hirayon held one of the stones and sucked out the Aura until the red stone turned grey and crumbled. He did that repeatedly until FORT685 returned with Blood Stones.

"Was it expensive?" Hirayon asked. He didn't want to owe Savio anything, so he planned to pay the man when he had enough award points.

"A little bit. It was 50 award points per piece," FORT685 answered.

'A little bit? That's too expensive. If the maximum award points I could get on the next games would be 500, then I won't be able to repay him even if I get the first rank.'

"That's too expensive. Are all the Aura Stones priced the same?" The child asked. He is concerned that the Water Aura Stones were expensive as well.

"No, there are some which were cheaper. It still depends on the demand and the supply," FORT685 said while opening the box full of Blood Aura Stones.

"How much can I gain from the games? Are the maximum points only 500?" Hirayon asked, still worried about his plans.

"It depends on the game, actually. They sometimes provide 500, 1000, and there was even a time that the first rank earned 3,000 award points."

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Hirayon felt at ease after hearing that. 'I should really do well so I could earn a lot of award points,' he thought.

FORT685 gave Hirayon a stone, and the child continued to suck the Aura. Every time a stone crumbles, he can feel the Aura in his body increasing.

Although his body wont be able to retain all the Aura he is sucking from the stones, he could at least increase his capacity by making his body accustomed to it and practicing the ability. It seems like a waste at first, but it was one of the fastest ways oddities do to save time from training for a long time.

After sucking all the Aura from the stones, Hirayon felt so powerful.

'How long will it take for me to have this much Aura without using the stones?' He wondered as he could hear the loud gush of Water Aura like waterfalls, vastly different from the calm stream he heard before.

"Let's wait for trainer Savio first. He might have figured out something about your Blood Ability that might be useful," FORT685 suggested. Even though Hirayon didn't like the idea, he knew that his servant was right and that it would save them more Aura.

While waiting, Hirayon read one of the books from the gifts he received. He felt like it had been a long time since he read one and was excited to the point that he was reading fast.

'He reads really quickly. Does he have a basic ability related to speed?' FORT685 wondered as he watched the pages turning every two minutes.

He was told by Savio that there is a possibility that Hirayon can already use Water Abilities and has gained a title, but they still weren't able to confirm it as the child never used it.

He also didn't dare to ask the child, as he wasn't qualified because he was only a mere servant.

'But looking at his confidence while doing the tests, I think he can already use Water Abilities,' FORT685 thought as he remembered Hirayon's performance in the Torneo.

A delighted smile spread on his lips, 'I'm lucky to serve such an outstanding master.'

Hirayon just finished the first book he was reading and was opening his second book when the door to his room slid open, and Savio entered with a glass container in his hand. Inside was Hirayon's blood thread which was no longer moving.

"Seems like you're done drawing Aura from the stones, as you have time to read now," Savio pointed.

"What have you learned?" Hirayon asked directly without removing his gaze from the book.

Savio smirked at the child's attitude, "Nothing much, I was able to develop a few theories, but I need you to confirm it. Hold this," Savio said and gave Hirayon the glass jar.

Reluctant, Hirayon returned the book to the box and held the jar.

"Now, give a little bit of Aura on it. Just enough for it to move," Savio instructed.

When Hirayon did what he was told, the thread moved erratically once again.

Savio gave more instructions to Hirayon, and after two hours of trying everything on Savio's list of theories, they finally came up with a conclusion.

Hirayon's Blood Ability allows him to control his blood inside and out. It is easier to handle it within the body, while it requires Hirayon so much Aura just to make it stop moving outside. If cut, the Blood Ability will stay as a string and continue moving until the Aura on it is all used.

"You will need more practice to use it to heal your body, but you can control them as strings on your bloodstream. We also confirmed that you can use it as a weapon, but that is far in the future, as you will need more than fifty times of Aura that you have now. The best of all, you can stop your wounds from bleeding and pouring out so you won't lose blood and get weak in your future games."

Hirayon stilled on what Savio said. "Why would I be wounded in the games?" He asked in bewilderment.

"Simple. The games are 100% deadly," Savio said like nothing.

Hirayon's eyes widened. He never really wondered what kind of games they were going to compete in, but now that Savio said it was deadly and considering the tests they did, he was sure that it was not child's play.

'Is that the reason why they kept on kidnapping children? Because they kept dying in the games? What do they think we are? Disposable pieces for their entertainment?!'

Hirayon felt so much anger arise from within. All of his bottled contempt and frustrations, from being kidnapped to being subject to an experiment the past few days, were bursting and consuming his entire being.

His blood was boiling from all his emotions, making his skin look red.

"What... what are you doing?" Savio asked when he saw Hirayon's body getting redder by the second.

The child was huffing and breathing hard. His bluish-violet eyes were bloodshot and livid, as if he was possessed and was losing his mind.

"Whatever you are doing, stop it!" Savio yelled as he heard alarms in his mind.

'Something's wrong. My instinct is telling me that something terrible will happen if I don't stop the child now,' Savio thought and tried to call Hirayon again. But no matter what he said, Hirayon didn't respond and just glared at Savio as if he had lost all his senses.

"FORT685, do something!" Savio yelled to the stiffened servant.

When FORT685 heard Savio's panicked voice, he tried to compose himself and approached Hirayon. He was about to hold the child but stopped midway and looked at Savio confusedly.

"He's burning..."

"What do you mean he's burning?" Savio asked, flabbergasted, as FORT685 was a Rock Oddity and was incapable of feeling heat or cold unless it was too much. It was a basic ability that most Rock Oddities have.

Alarmed at what was happening, Savio held Hirayon's arm to confirm what FORT685 said, but the moment he touched the child, he was flung to the other side of the room, hitting the wall and falling on the floor. All he sensed next was numb pain in his back, the smell of metal, and a wet sensation flowing to his face.

"Trainer!" FORT685 screamed in horror after realizing what Hirayon had done.

He left the child, who was completely still and went to Savio, who was too stunned to speak and move.

"You're bleeding. We need a recovery pill. Where is it?" FORT685 asked hurriedly at Savio's bloodied face, who was only looking at Hirayon in shock.

When Hirayon met his gaze, a cold chill ran down Savio's body as he felt he was looking at his death. He could feel that the child was watching him and that if he moved slightly, Hirayon would end his life with no regard.

Contrary to Savio's plan, his body jolted forward as he coughed blood, an action that caused him excruciating pain, but his only concern was the child.

When he looked up and saw Hirayon slowly walking toward him, he lost all hope as if he was already on a dead end.

He was already shaking in the looming death when Hirayon stopped and suddenly lost consciousness, falling to the hard white floor.

"W-what?" Savio asked in a quiet, shaky voice.

"I think he lost consciousness," FORT685 said, leaving Savio to confirm his master's state. When he saw that Hirayon was breathing normally like he was asleep, he looked at Savio with concern, who was staring at him with dread in his eyes.

"He's asleep," FORT685 informed.

Savio looked at him with doubtful eyes, but when he moved his gaze to Hirayon, who was no longer red, he slowly let out a crazy grin.

"Ha... Haha... Hahahaha," he laughed maniacally like he had lost his mind. He even ignored the pain that was getting worse every time he breathed and laughed.

FORT685 watched the crazed Savio with concern. The man was still bleeding too much, and he knew that if he did not do anything, Savio might die.

"Where is the recovery pill?" FORT685 asked Savio after quickly laying Hirayon on the bed.

"Shelf. On my lab," he said weakly while grunting in pain.

When FORT685 left, Savio once again let out a deranged laugh.

"Damn, you never fail to surprise me."

R E H I L I Y A