The moment the blood rope he sent underground touched something that looked like a mirror shard in the form of an ‘S’, the blood rope he weaved broke down and was turned into a stream of blood that kept being absorbed by the mirror shard.

Kron felt the unusual sensation of his blood leaving him but that at some point it ceased being under his control as if it had entered a black hole.

…and it seemed he couldn’t stop the absorption. Whatever was drinking his blood was more thirsty than any vampire he had ever met, himself included.

Imagine that only a drop of his immortal blood could evolve a simple vampire thrall into a weak vampire king, but a vampire king nonetheless.

More than one drop and even a Vampire Duke would have to explode on the spot.

And here was something that had already drunk a liter of his blood and kept drinking more.

¨Oi! Anlow, your so-called treasure might kill me. Are you sure you felt it correctly? My blood is precious and irreplaceable, might I add. Are you sure I am not bringing a gluttonous Chosen to life? ¨ Kron said as cold sweat poured out of him for the first time in his life. A true death was looming on the horizon, and he didn’t like the thought of it, especially after he had just gained a new lease on life.

¨I am the only Gluttonous Pseudo-chosen created by your great mind. I am sure you can create any kind of Chosen given your dominion over bloodlines. Keep feeding it your immortal blood, I can feel the treasure’s delight. It should be over soon, master.¨ Anlow said, as calmly as he could hoping to calm his master as well.

Kron seemed desiccated at a glance and the spread of desiccation was covering his body converging towards his heart.

It seemed he had no more blood to give.

The ‘S’ shaped mirror shard seemed to understand and stopped drinking more of his blood.

As if ethereal the mirror shard came out of the ground as if passing through it and hovered before his weary eyes.

¨I… can sense, the Law of Reincarnation in it, master. There are other laws as well, they are attached to each other, I just do not know what they represent. But I can tell that it has chosen you as its master, so it shouldn’t hurt you.¨ Anlow said before he added, ¨Alright, master, you should take care in the next few months as I won’t be able to maintain the telepathic link while in Hyper Speed on my way to your planet…but I’ll take a few breaks on the way, we’ll talk then.¨

Kron was lightheaded and confused and had not heard Anlow’s words.

He had been that way the moment he laid eyes on the ‘S’ shaped mirror shard.

He was now blind to his current surroundings and with his immortal blood almost gone, to heal him up quickly seemed to be an arduous task. Never had he stooped so low in his life as a vampire. Even when he previously died, he had died knowing he would survive certain death and left a mocking smile behind to mock his enemies and leave doubt into their hearts, which would birth mental demons.

The shard started spinning counter clockwise so fast that a circular mirror could now be seen. The surface looked like a mirror, but nothing was reflected in it.

And then out of the blue exploded into a stream of light that entered Kron’s left eye.

Kron convulsed for a while and then fainted.

***

¨Where am I? Anlow are you here?¨Kron found himself surrounded by darkness. He felt that he had no body, just his consciousness.

He didn’t have to wait long and he could finally see himself, in a room lit by candlelight, looking at the ceiling.

He could feel his body being held up by a wrinkly had on the back and his feet tightly held by another hand.

His immediate thought was that he had been captured by a giant, until the hand holding his back let go and his upper body made a plunge downward. The next second, a fierce slap landed on his back, which prompted his new body to scream like a …newborn?

¨Oh my! What have I got myself into?¨ Those were his inner thought as his powerless infant body registered the pain and kept screaming.

¨That mirror shard must be the culprit behind this. For how long must I be part of this farce? What even is this whole situation supposed to be?¨ Kron complained.

He seemed to be a mere passenger. He wasn’t in control of the new body.

He figured that he had to wait and understand what was happening first, before he thought of anything else.

¨That stupid shard will eventually run out of juice. All my precious blood…haah. I just hope I will still be alive after this charade. Let’s not jump to any conclusion, and spectate since it’s all I can do so far.¨

Before long, his twin brother was born, and all the midwives celebrated for the successful birth of the crown prince and second prince of the Kezia Kingdom.

The two boys lived a carefree life until they turned three and their father, the only Paladin of the family, arrived from a three year long conquest.

Before that day, the host of Kron spent his days crawling around the castle, and it became easier once he started to walk.

He would, 'by accident,' find himself in the library where he would spend his time reading the many books there. He took precautions by concentrating on books with more pictures than words. That way, anyone would think that he was mesmerized by the images and liked them instead of his true goal, which according to Kron was to learn more about this world.

Kron had long known that the soul that housed his host was that of an old timer like himself, maybe younger, but definitely not the new soul of a newborn.

The Kuz family had existed for thousands of years, propagating worldwide in hundreds of small branches. As long as the main family remained in power, it wasn't hard for the rest of the family to strive and continue developing.

The father, however was the only Paladin of the family after the death of the grandfather.

It turned out that this royal family, like many other prominent families, had a way to pass down the paladin gene to an heir, ensuring the family's continued prosperity.

There was a price however, the procedure would, in many cases, kill or cripple the giver.

…but for these families, it was a small price to pay to ensure that their descendants wouldn't be bullied.

Fortunately, the father didn't have to go through that.

As it turned out, the other twin had suffered from radiation from me while in the womb.

From the Purple Phoenix's own words, with such proximity, the twin brother was bound to either become a mage or a paladin, depending on how his body dealt with the radiation.

The twin brother Jake would then later awakened the Purple Fire, an element of a lesser tier than Purple Lightning.

He became a mage.

Ah…the Purple Phoenix.

Kron found her…peculiar.

The meeting between the crown prince and the Purple Phoenix was an accident and had never been planned.

It turned out that as she died, she was so badly battered that her soul couldn't properly choose the target of her reincarnation. She didn't have any energy to reincarnate on the spot, which would have been a dangerous move as she would be weakened for quite a while before reaching her peak. Her enemy would just kill her again, and there was a chance that she would die for good if she didn't have enough energy to reincarnate into another body.

So, it turned out that as she fell on a random planet, her energy reserves were dwindling gradually, rendering her unable to keep her form, only to remain as pure Purple Lightning. She fell on the first human that was in her trajectory.

She would've liked it if I happened to be a girl…but she had no choice.

To make matters worse, the lightning obliterated the young man’s body, but their two souls fused.

That situation allowed them both to keep their memories as they reincarnated as a normal human in some other Universe.

All of this was said to Jack by the Purple phoenix with Kron remaining undetected as he listened in.

Her name is Eve. Just Eve. She never mentioned her last name to Jack, no matter how often he asked.

"Hello, Jack." Eve's voice reverberated a few months after Jack’s fourth anniversary.

"Who are you?" Jack asked.

"Huhu…look at you. Acting cool and all. Are you not afraid?" Eve seemed amused.

"Not really. At least, even if I end up dying, I know I'll reincarnate. I'll take my chances elsewhere." As Jack said that, Kron had a thought, "It seems they can’t see me¨¨

When he got into his mind-space, he found a huge Purple bird stood there—at least fifteen meters in height.

"I've never seen a bird like you. What kind of bird are you?¨ Jack asked.

Kron too knew of a phoenix and it also happened to be a Chosen he was especially wary of since her elusive nature of hiding by reincarnating randomly rendered her almost unkillable.

"Are you not asking what I am doing in your body?" Eve asked as her bird form shifted into that of a beautiful woman wearing a purple dress.

It seemed that both Kron and Jack could swear that they have never seen a woman as beautiful as her. Both were mesmerized momentarily. Jack asked, "Are you the one who made me reincarnate? Would I have died for good if it weren't for you?"

"I just fused our souls before our death; that's all I did. But it seems we broke some rule, so the underworld of that Universe rejected us, but this one accepted us for some reason. That was my first time dying, and I didn't have any prior education into how a Lightning Phoenix reincarnates as I was the only one that has ever existed." Eve said.

Universe…

That word again…

Perhaps Kron was starting to understand that he not in his home Universe and a theory he had long shelved started resurfacing in his mind.

The Origin of the Chosen who had a clear purpose to realize but had no memories of who they themselves were or were they came from.

{So my Multiverse theory was real all along?}

Kron couldn’t be more ecstatic. A new horizon had been shown to him and he couldn’t wait to know more.

"Since you fused our souls, will I become like you? A Lightning Phoenix?" Jack decided to ask the obvious.

"I don't know how the laws of this universe will manage it, but yes, you will turn into a Phoenix. That I know. Your body has already started the mutation." Eve said.

"Why don't I feel any different? There's just this purple light coming out of me that only I can see, but other than that, I do not feel stronger, nor do I have any feathers. Just my senses are slightly stronger.” Jack said.

"That's because I have been suppressing and sealing any surplus energy ever since you were in your mother's womb." She said.

"Why?" Jack asked.

"Because you have a twin brother and a mother. I had to do it so that they do not become an aberration because of the energy radiating out of you. But even with all my efforts, your brother was still affected. He will awaken the lesser element of lightning-like fire…but it will stop there. He will just have incredible talent in the fire element for a human." She said.

"Alright, I understand. Now, please give me back that power. This world is too dangerous. The more I learn about it, the more I fear leaving my room. I had to suffer two assassination attempts so far when I went sightseeing in the city with my mother. Fortunately, there were knights following us and even more shadowing us. But they are just normal humans; what if the one to come to assassinate us is like my father…a paladin or a mage? I know they are rare, but I still can't rule out the possibility of it happening." Jack pleaded.

But upon hearing the request, she gently shook her head, "I still think that a lightning phoenix is rare even in this universe. We do not know how strong the inhabitants of this universe are, so we must tread carefully. The reason I died was that some God wanted to use me as an ingredient in his alchemy. He couldn't dare to hunt a Fire Phoenix as the entire race would hunt him forever, so he decided on an outcast like me. I managed to wound him before I died. So you understand that I was as strong as a God when I was alive. Do you want to experience the same thing in this universe? Being hunted by Gods? Especially now that we still have at least fifty years to reach that level, we would still be in danger because there is a possibility that the Gods of this universe, wherever we are, are stronger than the previous one."

"So what can I do? There's no way I am waiting fifty years to live my life fully. I will be an old man by then, even more so mentally than physically." Jack said, a bit angry that she had a say in how he would live his life.

"Lightning isn't my only power. I have learned many supportive abilities over time. Use those for the next fifty years. I will seal the Purple Phoenix bloodline and energy until it has accumulated power fifty years later when we can then instantly become a Purple Phoenix God. At least, then, we will have the strength to try and protect ourselves from anything." She waved her hands, and six different symbols appeared in the space between us.

"What are these?" Jack asked.

"My Ability Runes. I tried using the spells I learned in the previous universe, but they didn't work in this universe. I have thousands of spells, so it was a huge blow for me. But when I tried these Runes, I found that they resonated with the laws of this universe. They work. So, I surmised that Runes are a universal language and can be used in any Universe. I just don't know if there are any variations between the same Elemental Rune." She said.

Jack looked at the six 'Runes' between us and then asked, "I know spells need mana as a power source to work. I read in the library that spells must be comprehended by that mage alone by using his affinity with his element. The higher the affinity, the more spells one can comprehend. And no spells are alike between two mages of the same element; there's always a variation."

"But I know nothing about Runes. What are they?" Jack asked.

"Runes are a higher form of power. Once inscribed on something, let's say a body or an object, they get the same properties as that elemental rune. In short, you can turn a non-magic user into a magic user and a normal object into an elemental object. Not only will his body mutate to fit the elemental rune, but he will also gain every spell used to create that Rune. He can only improve his mana and wouldn't be able to add any spells to that Rune; that's the only drawback." Eve said; she stopped for a moment and then added, "Once I reached a threshold in the comprehension of several spells of an element, I would have an epiphany, and the result would be the creation of a rune. You fail almost every time you have that epiphany, but once you succeed, the rune you create is more or less stable. Unstable runes are best discarded as they are a headache to the user. Imagine you want to send a wind blade with a wind rune but a harmless gust of wind instead because the rune was unstable…"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Just explain to me what these runes can do and if I can take them all," Jack asked, still a bit disappointed, but Kron who was in possession of the ‘Soul blood Glyph’ finally understood that the Glyph that had pushed him to true immortality was one of these so called Runes.

…And as Kron tried to memorize the Runes that were being presented to him incognito, he finally understood the reason of him being there.

What he was seeing wasn’t some kind of play, it was real events that he could use for his own advantage for when he leaves. Like stealing these Runes for himself.

"This rune is one of the reasons I could attach myself to you. I call it the [soul parasite] rune. It can let you leave a part of your soul into something or someone and parasitize it. Basically, you can slowly gain control of your target. If you are strong enough, the possession process can be done instantly. If you will it, the target can become your temporary incarnation. If you want to make the target your main body, then you have to leave the current body behind and put your entire soul in your incarnation; that way, there is no time limit to the possession. Do you understand what I am saying? I can't make it simpler than this." Eve said.

"How strong must the target be for the parasite to become obsolete?" Jack asked.

"Hehe…you are thinking too small. Don't forget that this is a rune we are talking about and not a common spell. Even a god can be possessed… it's just that it would take longer for it to happen. Of course, the target can fight back…" there was a hint of mockery in her eyes.

Another question bugged Jack, "What is the difference between those two states you mentioned, {control} and {possess}?"

"For you to possess the target, you need complete control over it. {control} means that the parasite has rendered the target unable to see you as an enemy and completely worships you like a zealot." Eve said.

Such a power…in the wrong hands…can do a lot of damage.

As interesting as it was, Kron also found it creepy. Imagine being made into an enslaved person against your will…oh, how frustrating it would be…but since it happened without your knowledge, would you have the energy to care?

But who could say no to an army that could never betray the master?

"One last thing. Can I decide how far the control goes, and is it irreversible?" Jack asked.

"Yes, you can decide how far your relationship will go. As for reversing the effects…the target will still have his memories of your previous entanglement. Not understanding the loss of such feelings will devastate them…but that is if you went too far in your possession. "she said with a lewd look.

What 'relationship'? What 'entanglement'? And that lewd look to top it all…

"What are you afraid of, Kid? Don’t look at me like that. Your soul is twenty-three years old in terms of memories…and who knows how many times you have reincarnated?" she said, looking at me seriously.

"Okay. Please brand it on my body." To sum it up in a few words: I couldn't wait.

…It was just the first rune—five more to go.

"We still have time for you to discover the next ones first, you can sit down" Eve said, materializing a chair next to Jack with the flick of a finger. She, too, was sitting on a chaise longue, looking comfortable as if she had forgotten she was in Jack’s Soul.

"The next one is the [summoning] rune. It allows you to peer into the many dimensions of the multiverse and sign a contract with the beings living there. Most of the time, they want to become stronger, and they look for summoners with power and resources. Those beings become stronger by learning our version of magic…by plundering runes…, and by feeding on some of the beings of our multiverse. In exchange, they become our servants for a while, and their contract ends when they die. For example, selling a single rune to them can make some of them serve you until your death or for a thousand years…but you should understand now that if there comes a time that they stand to gain nothing from being associated with you, they'll find a way to terminate the contract themselves." Eve said.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Kron could already imagine being backstabbed by the summon, but Jack helped and asked, "If the contract ends with their deaths, how do they get to keep whatever they hoarded during their time with the summoner?"

"Because they are not stupid. They just send a clone in our multiverse to sign a contract. And when that clone dies, all its memories and amassed energy return to the main body… that's how they get stronger without lifting a finger."

"Alright. What's the third one?"

"The [contract weaving] rune. This rune is almost universally known by all magical beings in the multiverse and different dimensions." Eve said, refusing to elaborate anymore.

"I get it. It prevents one from getting swindled in deals, especially when there is a huge disparity in strength." Jack said with a grin.

"You know…for a previous non-magical being, you're a fast learner." She said as a cup appeared in her hand. The cup filled itself with a white milky liquid…, and she drank it all in one gulp.

"What is that?"

"Liquefied mana," she said. Nonchalantly.

Mana?

Kron couldn’t understand why a so called God would still use mana as a PowerSource or was it that his universe was special to be able to produce the higher ranked Origin Energy?

“I knew that there was only gaseous mana from the records I had read in the library. Where was this liquefied mana coming from? "A higher grade of mana?" Jack asked.

"Yes."

A cup floated towards me, and I swiftly drank it, curious why it gave her such a blissful look.

"The fourth rune. Please."

"You're going to like this one. It's the [darkness] rune."

Finally. An element.

After a short pause, she continued, "Listen carefully because I won't repeat myself. This one is by far the one with the most abilities, and while even I haven't mastered them all, you should just give yourself some time to understand how to use it better."

She said, "During the night or as long as there is no direct sunlight, like under a shadow, you become stronger. As for how strong your human body will become without the sealed purple phoenix bloodline, it is a mystery. Even I do not know. There is an upper limit…a cap. It depends on how much mana you will squander to get there. Your body has gaseous mana so far. That Liquid mana you just drank opened your mana sea. My mana sea is liquid, and you can't access it, so I recommend you to come back here every day to drink some or else the only mana you'll be able to attract from the surroundings is gaseous….and I know how ambitious you are so gaseous mana won't keep up with you. So use the liquefied mana that gods use from now on."

"So, like I said, As long as you are under the covers of shadows, you're unkillable. You have enhanced [dark healing], [dark empowerment] and [shadow manipulation]. The last one allows you to turn into a shadow or cover a certain space with the dark element, blocking any light from entering. Know that with gaseous mana, the most you could cover would be a mere hundred meters…, but with liquefied mana as a powersource, you could cover the whole planet if that is your wish. There are other abilities, but we'll come to that when we see the other two."

"The last two are Time and Space."

Kron froze in place.

Oh god!

"I was born with those two for some reason…and I couldn't use them for my entire life; they just activated themselves when we died and probably brought us here."

"Right now, all ten runes are inscribed on your current body from the day our souls entered your body…but the [time] and [space] ones are unresponsive like in my previous life…but I still suppressed the other eight to allow you to have a calm childhood. I know how much 'family' means to you, so I waited until now to appear."

There was one detail that was alarming, though, "Eight? Ten? Just how many runes do you have? You said six earlier, and you showed me six..."

Four new runes that looked like the [darkness] rune but at the same time not, appeared.

There were some similarities, but in essence, they weren't the same.

"Could these be the so-called variations you talked about?"

"Yes. Variations are obtained when there is a fusion of multiple runes; the more compatible they are with each other, the more useful the result of their fusion, which is why never before seen runes are so attractive to many if not all magical beings."

She continued' "Of these new four runes; the first is the [shadow step]. It allows you to teleport from one shadow to another. It is the fusion between the [darkness] rune and the [space] rune.

" The second is the [dark lands] rune. It allows the opening of a portal between this multiverse and the shadow dimension. It is the fusion of the [darkness] rune, the [Space] rune, and the [time] rune."

"The third is known as the [dark corrosion] rune. It allows you to erode the mind and body of someone, turning them into a {dark minion}. The target receives some of the [darkness] rune-related abilities, varying from one to the other. Some {dark minions} will even awaken abilities you do not know of…so I strongly recommend you to learn from them when the time comes. Essentially, you can farm countless different darkness attributed runes. As you must have guessed, it is a fusion between the [darkness] rune and the [soul parasite] rune."

"And lastly, the fourth one. The [dark contract] rune. It's a weird one. I don't even understand how the fusion happened. I got it from fusing the [darkness] rune with the [contract weaving] rune."

Jack asked, "Does it allow you to cheat on a contract? Hence its name, I assume…"

Kron did his best to memorize every rune, feeling excited each time a new rune was presented.

"No…and yes. It is more of a pledge against yourself. A contract against yourself."

"The reason I said yes is that you are cheating with yourself, and it is also very dangerous."

"Let's say you want to unlock more potential from your body. You could do it… and the potential you gain is proportional to your pledge against yourself."

"Let's say you say that you'll never drink alcohol again, and if you somehow succumb to your desires and end up drinking even a drop of it, even by accident, you'll die."

"Who would do such a brainless thing?" I said, not believing what I was hearing.

"But that's what the [dark contract] wants. And it delivers on its promises…almost as if it was alive…" Eve said with a smile that wasn't a smile.

Maybe she had suffered because of it in the past.

I said, "Imagine if you were the most avid alcoholic in the entire world, and then you made that pledge… wouldn't you become the most powerful person in the world after that?"

"Indeed. I just hope you won't kill us before these fifty years are over. The only reason I'm at ease is that I know you can make good decisions for yourself. You have lived a life full of misery previously, and the life of a magical being is more exciting to you because it is just like a life that comes out of a fairytale."

"So, live well."

After that short meeting with Eve, Jack returned to his room with a heavy mind.

The enemies of the Kuz family were numerous to count, and they were itchy to assassinate John Kuz's heirs.

Suffice it to say that a paladin of the space element was a huge deterrent for them.

Paladins, unlike mages only controlled the most destructive aspect of their element. They had no control over that element…just unleashed pure power.

Because their bodies were tempered by their element, it allowed them to imbue their attacks with destructive force without care for being injured, especially if it was coupled with adequate martial arts.

Mages weren't so lucky. Their bodies were soft, and they had to fine-tune their output of power to the minimum or the bearable amount…or they could see themselves being heavily injured, sometimes even resulting in death.

That was for mages whose abilities were short-range ones like gravity.

For others, like fire mages, as long as they sent their attack away from their bodies, they were fine.

Knock! Knock!

"Yes?" I answered.

"The King calls for you, Your Highness." A gentle voice said.

It was Elia. Jack’s maid. She was someone who seemed to care a lot about his well-being. She seemed to go above and beyond to ensure that his life was as comfortable as possible.

"Wait for me for five minutes. I'll be there."

"Do you want any help getting ready, Your Highness?" She asked.

"No. Just go tell him that I'm taking a quick shower and that I'll be there in five minutes."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Once Jack turned three, he felt he had to stop these servants from attending to him.

The parents were shocked at his maturity when the little twin brother had yet to stop breastfeeding.

My showers were quick. In five minutes, I was already neatly clothed.

He opened the door and then began the short walk towards his father's study.

When he got there, he saw that his mother and brother were already there, as well as an old man with a kind smile.

'A mage? Or Paladin?' I could see the invisible turbulent fire around him. In Kron’s eyes, he looked like a man on fire from his fiery aura radiating out of him.

'The fire element, no doubt about it.' Kron said.

Jack said nothing when he arrived because he knew everyone in the room was watching him, curious to know what his mouth would utter that would amaze them.

The little four-year-old brother could feel the tension in the room as well. He could feel his innocent eyes looking at him…lost. Jake was probably asking himself why someone his age, someone who even looked like him, his only friend, was so distant and cold to him.

Jack knew his little heart couldn't handle it…but he had no time to play with him when an assassination was just around the corner for the both of them.

John nodded and then said, "Jack. Jake. This man will be your teacher from now on. He is called Alucard Firestorm. A B-rank fire, Mage."

"Honey, you know they have no idea what ranks are." Melissa chipped in from the side.

Jack frowned at the waste of time this would be for two non magic beings to have a mage as a teacher so early in our life.

"Us two brothers don't know or have magic. What is he going to teach us?" Jack asked, tentatively as so far he hadn’t shown any talent in magic.

Alucard seemed shocked at his flawless demeanor.

"About that…we waited until you arrived so that we could break the news to you, Jack, and Mr. Firestorm," John said seriously.

Melissa stood up and then walked to Jake. She held his hands and said, "Don't worry about anything, Jake. Show me again what you showed me last time."

Jake shook his head and said, "No, mommy, it's dangerous. I don't want to hurt you again."

"It's okay, honey. Mr. Firestorm, here is a mage. A high-ranking fire mage. He can do something if you can't control it like last time." Melissa coaxed.

"O…okay."

A gentle purple flame then materialized itself above Jake's palm.

Kron thought, “Figures…that damn phoenix appeared last night for the first time to prepare Jack for this. But why didn't it say more, such as how this runt could already open a mana sea and knows how to burn mana to manifest his element?”

This Alucard Firestorm was more than he let on.

When he saw Jake's flame, he appeared pleased for a second but hid it immediately to show the same surprised look as the parents.

"It's okay, Jake. You can stop now." John Kuz said as he turned to Alucard Firestorm.

"A variant fire. And it's of a higher grade than even my own. Several grades higher, I think. This is so bizarre. I've never heard of purple fire in the records of the entire Colossal Continent or even Danan planet." Alucard Firestorm said. He then deeply looked into the eyes of John Kuz and asked, "Anything you're hiding from me, old friend?"

John just shook his head, "I wish. I'm just as shocked as everyone else."

"What about the firstborn? Anything?" Alucard's greedy face appeared for a moment as he looked at the frowning Jack again.

"Anything you want to tell us 'little man'?" That was the nickname John Kuz used when he was talking to me now, as it was obvious that I acted like a grown-up despite trying to hide it.

He had huge expectations for him, this 'smart' crown prince. There was no way the stupider one would awaken a mana sea coupled with a never-before-seen variant fire, while the smartest remained a normal human.

Was life about to deal unfavorable cards to his heir?

He wouldn't have it. A succession war was the last thing he wanted to see in his life.

Of course, even if Jack had no magic, he'd still help him become a paladin of the space element through the inheritance ritual. It would be the last gift he would leave him.

"No. I have no magic. Sorry." I answered.

Alucard nodded. He probably didn't mind another shock, but one was enough for that day.

Alucard then said, "I will be taking him to Solusluna Academy now. The sooner he is taught to control this power, the better he can protect himself when spellcasting."

Kron knew that look all too well, “ What a lousy excuse. He can't wait to dissect Jack to learn his secrets.

What could it be if there were no secrets hidden when a four-year-old awakened a never-before-seen element when the average age for awakening was around the age of twelve?

At the time, the parents believed in the good intentions of their friend, the Vice Dean of Solusluna Academy, and probably thought that he'd have the answers that surpassed their humble minds.

"Okay then," Alucard suddenly said. He then closed his eyes and started mumbling while shaking his head.

"Sorry, John…" Before his words finished, an explosion was heard as a fireball had been sent onto the defenseless mother.

With such proximity, Kron could already see her death. By the time Jack’s skin registered the suffocating heat, everything had been over… more or less.

Alucard Firestorm seemed to count on the father teleporting in front of his wife to block the fireball. It all happened like so.

John took the full burnt of the vicious attack and then laid there. It was unknown if he was alive or not.

Melissa just stood there trembling from head to toe, not knowing what to do in this situation.

Her facial expression showed Jack that she saw no way out for them.

Jake was the more agitated and soon fainted.

…only Jack was left there, sitting calmly, looking as if everything had nothing to do with him.

…and Kron was curious to know how Jack would handle it.

The aftermath of the short altercation had blown the ceiling to smithereens. You could hear clanging sounds of armor hitting each other and coming closer…surely the palace knights had heard the commotion.

"Sorry, kid. But I cannot let such a small kingdom have such a precious fire. It must belong to our academy, who can better protect it against covetous eyes."

Jack ignored him and heard him swallow his next words abruptly as he turned to touch his mother's hand.

[Dark Healing] was activated, and visible hair-like tendrils of a dark element escaped his hand and then touched his mother.

Her eyes drooped, and then she fell asleep.

Then the father was next.

The [Dark Healing] primal function was to heal, but to achieve that; it had to eat from your vitality…your soul energy. The patient would just sleep it off to recover the lost soul energy, and the sleeping time depends on the quantity of vitality eaten.

After he was done, he could hear a boisterous roar of laughter behind himself.

As Jack looked at the crazed tears of joy coming out of Alucard's eyes, he almost had the urge to vomit…the latter had also finally set his sights on Jack.

Well, he had already activated [Dark Empowerment], but all he could feel and hear were some crazed murmurs in his head. Jack could feel like things were going off-script somehow.

Then he too blacked out.

He once again found himself before the gorgeous purple-dressed woman.

Kron who could see what was happening in the real world was laughing like a madman.

“To think you can have this much power relying on just that pitiful liquid mana. If I use the dark empowerment rune with origin energy, what will I become?” Kron said.

"What's happening? I shouldn't be here." Jack said to the bird.

"At least now you'll understand why I forbid you to awaken with my bloodline and power so early. With such an unstable mind, you'll be the death of this world." She said as she kept her eyes closed while lying on the chaise longue.

"What do you mean? Goddamnit, explain!" Jack angrily said, as time was of the essence.

"Look for yourself." She waved her hand, and a screen appeared before Jack.

On it, I saw the battered state of Alucard Firestorm with flaming wings. He was bleeding and covered with wounds all over his body.

His armor was dented everywhere and almost unrepairable.

His surroundings were a heavy black fog, but he could tell that he was in the sky somewhere.

"What is this? Who is doing this to him?” "It can't be me. I am here…"

"You were unstable mentally, with such a perturbation when using a rune, it won't go as you expect. The [Dark empowerment] and [Dark corrosion] runes fused temporarily, and it may become permanent if you do not go back soon." She said casually.

"Goddamnit, what now? What is a [dark minion] doing in this equation? I didn't call for it." Jack said.” I knew that [dark corrosion] was the fusion of the [darkness] rune and the [soul parasite] rune and can create [dark minions]…so how could I parasitize myself? Is it possible? If yes, Am I somehow stupid and did it unknowingly?”

She then finally opened her eyes and looked at me, "Any thought of yours can activate a rune without you knowing it. Any feeling of powerlessness could have activated the [dark corrosion] rune because you were unsure your strength was insufficient and needed someone or something stronger to do the job…. that's what I can guess happened…now go back and take control of your body…somehow…hehehe."

With that, she flicked her finger at Jack, and then…

He opened my eyes to a pitch-black place. Kron was also spectating nearby.

While it was pitch black, Kron could still discern one new rune of the darkness element.

Jack beckoned at it, and then the rune entered him just in time for Kron to memorize it.

Every dark minion would get to awaken one darkness-related rune.

…and this particular rune, Jack called it [weaving Darkness]...the ability to transform darkness into anything, solid, liquid, or gaseous.

Kron could already see myself sending hundreds of solid swords made of the darkness element into the bodies of his enemies, or he could transform into various things and not be limited to the gaseous form the [shadow manipulation ] already gave him.

Alucard Firestorm lay in the crater in the middle of the mountain, his condition unknown.

"'Took your sweet time coming back, huh! I already finished the job." Jack heard a voice inside of him, while Kron marveled at the magical sight. A single rune had created a sentient creature. The possibilities were endless.

A bundle of dark elements leave Jack’s three-meter bodybuilder giant-style body, only for another three-meter tall giant to materialize out of it. The giant seemed to be made of black obsidian

Kron found it amusing that Jack had managed to copy himself while also enslaving himself at the same time.

Jack could feel that this dark minion would never betray him as their souls were interlinked.

"Quite lucky that I awakened the [Darkness transmutation] rune. Or else I wouldn't be able to take form outside our body." Jake 2 said with a grin.

"Oh? I call it [Weaving Darkness]. We're the same person, yet we had a different naming sense. Yours sounds much better, though. Let's keep it." Jack said

Hence, [weaving darkness] turned into [darkness transmutation].

"So, this what [Dark Empowerment] does, huh!"

From the crater, a man covered in flames flew out. He was so battered that even the closest kin wouldn't recognize him.

The blood that flowed out of his body was burned to cinders by the fire covering him.

Jack was thinking about what he should do with this Alucard. Should he kill him? Or enslave him?

"Let's just kill this bastard." Jack 2 said.

Jack nodded.

For Alucard to fly, he had to burn the air around him and even used wings made of flames to move.

He looked shocked that there were now two of them.

He didn't look their way for long as he turned around and fled.

Then they chased.

Jack 2 was faster somehow and reached Alucard, who had no choice but to turn around and send a torrential fire towards the clone, who went through it without a care. When he emerged on the other side, the clone's right arm turned into a blade that impaled the terrorized Alucard, whose eyes bulged out from the sheer shock.

I think he never imagined that he would die so easily.

It seemed that Jack’s clone could've killed him a long time ago, but was just taking his sweet time waiting for him to come out.

As Jack 2 yanked out his blade, a river of blood could be seen coming out of the pierced heart. Alucard's eyes then lost their luster as he just fell from the sky.

When his body collided with the hard ground, he had turned into meat paste from the impact.

Jack turned off the [dark empowerment] and then felt his body exploding in a puff of black smoke that reconverged into his four-year-old self.

"Just like that?" he said as I looked all over his body, looking for anything unusual. Nothing abnormal was seen.

Kron laughed at their inexperience and couldn’t wait to have a go at it when he went back.

"Now that it is over, how do you plan to explain your absence? I don't know about our father, but our mother should have woken up by now. She'll lose her mind if she doesn't see you around." Jack 2said.

"I already know how we're going to explain everything. With you in the equation, it becomes easy. I can dump all the credit on you, and none will be the wiser." Jack said with a grin.

"Oh? Do tell…" He said with the same grin. He was no longer a three-meter tall mini giant. Instead, he had taken some random adult man's form and had made a cloak made of the dark elements. Suffice it to say that his black obsidian body color would attract much attention. Not that anyone would care, as mages were known for their weird behavior.

Jack explained, "When we arrive, you'll just say that you were commissioned to kill Alucard Firestorm by someone whom you cannot divulge the name. You'll say you're an up-and-coming Assassin who caters to the most powerful. As the chief of the Dark Guild, your target range is from C rank to A rank magicians and Paladins. In the end, you'll ask for a reward for rescuing me. That's all."

The clone looked like he was pondering something, "There's just one thing… for what reason would Alucard kidnap you when he was only interested in our brother?"

Yes, for what reason, indeed.

Jack’s mind worked on overdrive as he searched for a believable lie that wouldn't expose his wielding of the dark element that his supposed savior had. Even from up close, despite all the clone did to be inconspicuous, he still exuded darkness around himself.

If Jack also said that I had the same unheard-of element, it would raise many eyebrows.

"You still have a rune that can be shown to the world without any repercussions, but that is still rare enough to arouse the curiosity of Alucard…your [summoning] rune." the clone said.

"Yes. Let's use that for now."

For a while now, ever since Jack learned how dangerous this world was, he wanted a force he could call his own, working in the shadows, feeding him intelligence about his enemies, and performing assassinations when necessary.

When he got the [Darkness] rune, it was as if everything was fitting into place. That element suited his goals.

In that way, he was similar with the current Kron’s plans

Not only could they now enslave others with [Dark Corrosion] and awaken a new [darkness] variant rune into their slaves, but they could also ensure their complete loyalty.

When Jack 2 brought the original Jack home, both parents were already awake.

In the hour Jack went 'missing,' his father had called for his entire royal army.

His maddened face showed so much hatred that Jack shivered just seeing it.

"Duke Kuz, I presume." Jack 2 entered his acting role as he put Jack on the ground while the former remained floating in the air.

"To whom do I have the pleasure of…" John Kuz said.

"Davis Black…but that's not my real name, though." Jack 2 said with a grin.

In the meantime, Jack slowly walked toward his father.

As John saw that his son was alright, Jack used that time to try and end the conversation right there, "Father, this man saved us…saved me from M. Alucard Firestorm, who is now dead a few dozen kilometers away from here."

But John stopped me, "He can speak for himself." he then looked at the obsidian-skinned clone with radiant eyes.

"Ahem…well…That man was a target of mine that I've been tailing for a while now. When I saw him going crazy, I felt compelled to act." Davis Black said.

John put two and two together and then asked, "Did someone pay you to kill him, or was it a personal vendetta?"

"I was paid to kill him, yes. I can't tell you from whom, though…I hope you can understand." Davis Black said with his enigmatic smile.

Davis Black waved his hand in a parting gesture as he conjured a black marble made of dark elements. He threw the marble towards John, saying, "If you are ever in need of our services, the Dark Guild will be at your service…for a price, of course. Just crush that marble, and I'll know to come and meet you."

With that, he turned into black smoke that drifted away, but no one saw his soul entering Jack’s head at the same time.

John just stood there unmoving. I could imagine him having a mountain's worth of questions that he'll never get an answer to.

Ultimately, he sighed and then had Jack recount everything that happened in detail from the moment he fainted.

Jack 'confessed' that Alucard saw him attempt to summon some otherworldly creature unsuccessfully, and then he forgot his twin brother and set his sights on Jack. He grabbed me and flew away until he was ambushed by the bizarre obsidian man who made quick work of him.

Jack emphasized how a B-rank fire mage died in mere minutes from the onslaught of the obsidian man to make the latter mysterious enough in his father's mind. He wanted his father to respect him as well as fear him.

As for the revelation of Jack’s summoning talents and how rare they were…rare would be an understatement because normal summoners caught their beasts in the real world and then signed contracts with them. The reason Alucard was 'apparently so crazy' was because he could feel a new world from his summoning circle. Jack had to make it so that his father understood it as such from his limited words.

"Can you summon something for me to see?" were my father's words after a lengthy explanation.

"But I have no idea if it will work; it didn't work earlier," I said, trying to distance myself from the task.

"Maybe you were trying to summon something beyond your current capabilities. You are just a child, so try something smaller, like a house cat for example." He said with his ever-present stoic face.

Jack admired him for his intellect. Kron was curious what would come out as he could almost read Jack’s thoughts, he knew that Jack didn't want to summon something that would ultimately plot his death behind his back because I could not sustain its appetite. So, if he wanted a house cat…then a house cat he would get.

Surely, there must be housecats in the other dimensions. Right?

Kron could feel the change in the air…it seemed that his time in this world was ending, but he still wanted to see what Jack would end summoning…for research purposes, of course, he wasn’t that bored that he’d stay behind just to see what a trans dimensional house cat looked like.