Van woke up with a start, another day another dream of one of his past lives. They came less frequently than before, and while he was used to having nothing but nightmares every few months, now he had dreams, or to be more accurate visions of his past lives. Such as a dream when he was homeless and living under a bridge, or a poor man living in a dystopian society, a dream of an asteroid miner saving up to own his own ship, and a dream about living in a world with nothing but sky islands where he could fly wherever he wished.
Van rubbed the sleep from his eyes and got up to meet the new day by stretching his muscles. It had been 3 years since the soul test and he had gone through the blood and body awakening rituals, making him feel stronger than ever. The blood awakening, he surmised, worked like epigenetics, it pushed to the forefront all the best his genetics had to offer, whether that be increased intelligence, eyesight, looks, or other things that his genetics can affect. Body awakening worked to make it so that if you trained your body you wouldn't become all roided out, allowing your muscles and body to become efficient to the point that someone slim looking can lift a boulder by training his body and allowing it to be pushed further than a normal body would.
Going to the mat in front of his bed, he sat down to do his morning meditation. Something he learned from his father and Lorenzo to help him practice with his soul realm. He still couldn't enter his soul realm on his own but was told that he would not need the help of a magic circle for much longer. Van worked diligently since the soul test, getting any pieces that he could to congregate towards the core of his soul realm. Something that wasn’t easy since he couldn't enter it yet, but he had gotten good at over the years despite that. His father said that one could control what happens in their soul realm without the need to mediate, once they have practiced enough.
He meditated for what felt like a few minutes but was actually an hour, as he waited for the knock on his door that would conclude that it's time for breakfast. He didn't need to wait long as the maid came at the same time, as usual, to pick him up. As he followed her to the dining room, he still couldn't get past the fact that he still wasn’t allowed to leave his room on his own. It made him feel trapped, but all his father would say is that it wasn’t time yet for him.
Once in the dining room, Van wondered what his schedule would be today since he didn’t have a say in it. Sitting down in his chair he greeted his father and mother who were already there.
His mother, Lillia, has taken to seeing him more often, no doubt to reconcile with him. For Van, it still felt a little weird, he still appreciated the thought and didn’t really fault her for her previous attitude. He probably wouldn't know what to do if he had a child that may not be his, spiritually speaking of course. Babies are to be born with blank slates, not with the memories of an old man, or dozens, or hundreds of them. Thankfully, Van was largely himself, he was grateful that he had a few memories that seemed reliable, that he could use to better himself. Especially when he got out of Lorenzo’s math classes early, because of it.
“What are you thinking about?” a soft and gentle voice asked, bringing Van’s head up from the empty plate that he was staring at as he waited for the maids to bring the meal. He made eye contact with his mother who was across from him and did his best to give a noncommittal smile.
“Nothing really, just a little nervous since I'll be going through the race awakening test today” Van replied.
Lillia nodded “ I can see why you would be nervous, but you have taken very well to all the previous awakenings and this is just a test, so I am sure that this will be no problem for you,” she said looking at Van in a reassuring manner.
“Thank you,” Van said. After that an awkward pause took the table as the both of them didn’t know how else to continue the conversation. Alvaroz looked between the two, wishing to say something but uncertain as to what.
Just then the maids came out with the food. Baked rolls, plates of butter, eggs, sausages, fruits, and more were stacked up on the table. Van eyed the food greedily. Since his body awakening, his hunger had grown alongside his body and he piled his plate with food. His father chuckled at how much he put on his plate, though he was no better with the amount of food he put on his. Lillia filled her plate with a small portion, and ate it daintily, enjoying the meal unlike the other two who seemed content to shove food in their mouths. “Like father like son,” she thought with a small smile looking at the two.
It was moments like these that made her feel relief and regret about the way she treated her son in the beginning. Relief because it seemed that the memories her son was plagued with didn’t seem to change him much and that he and her husband seemed to share a strong bond. Regret because of her actions since his birth, and not being able to share in that bond.
Once they finished their meals Van noticed his mother's sad expression. But he had no idea what to do to fix it. He too wished they could be a proper family, but at the moment neither of them knew what to do. He, because he was still a little hurt from being neglected, and her because she felt like she missed her chance and didn’t know him well enough to fix it.
Not wanting this to end in another awkward pause Van turned to his father. “ Umm, dad, when am I going to be allowed to walk around the castle on my own. All I ever do is just stay stuck in my room, I only leave when a maid comes to take me to do a task, but the second I'm done, I'm stuck back in my room! ” he tried not letting the hurt show in his voice, but it was hard. Van truly wished to be allowed some freedom.
Alvaroz had a complicated expression. He wanted to give his son the freedom he desired but there were reasons as to why he couldn’t do that yet. It was Lillia who answered, surprising the both of them.
“I know how you must feel,” she said gently, “No other child has probably been treated like you have, trapped or caged in their rooms. and it will still be a few years before you're allowed to roam out as you wish. But. don’t think we do this out of malice, you are a very special child if something were to happen to you, me and your father wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. Your unique position means that even if everything seems to be going well, it can all come to an end before anyone is aware what happened.”
“Van, we love you very dearly, you mean everything to us and we don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” She paused, as a wave of emotions rushed through her. “I’m sorry that I was never clear about it, but you really do mean everything to me. I shouldn’t have avoided you. I’m sorry.”
Van was touched. He didn’t know what to say, so he said what he thought he should. “ I love you too mom...” he replied. A little hurt that he couldn’t put more feeling into it.
Another awkward silence followed, both wanting to say more, but not. Alvaroz then interjected to bring it to an end.
“Van,” Alvaroz began. “until your soul realm has properly stabilized, you are at risk of... well... something bad happening, It could be anything, something no one is prepared for. But you're right... It isn’t fair to lock you up in your room for all these years. I’ll have a maid wait by your door from now on, and you can go wherever you wish to go, so long as it's in the castle.”
“Really!” Van’s eyes filled with excitement at finally being able to move about, even if it's just in the castle.
“Really,” Alvaroz said with a smile. “There are some areas that you will not be allowed to enter, but for the most part you will be given free reign of the castle.”
“Thank you!” Van was practically giddy with these turn of events. “Maybe I can finally go to the library, I've already read all the books in my room.”
“You're welcome,” Alvaroz said, truly enjoying making his son happy. “Don’t forget that you still have to go to Lorenzo’s study for your awakening test. You can explore the castle tomorrow.” then a thoughtful expression passed through his face. “It will still take some time, but I think I can get you a few personal maids as well. Then you could go almost anywhere.”
“Actually…” Alvaroz eyes narrowed in deep thought, then widened as an idea came to him. “Perhaps your own maid’s are exactly what you need,” he muttered under his breath.
“Dad? What do you mean?” Van asked, concerned by his father’s sudden absent-mindedness.
With a small start, Alvaroz came to “hmm!? Oh. yes. Don’t worry about me I just came down with a wonderful idea that I think me, your mother, and Lorenzo should go over. It will still take some time to make it work, but if it does, I think everyone involved will be very happy.” he said with a smile.
“What is it?” Van couldn’t help but ask in curiosity.
“Nothing you need to worry about now, besides, it's time you go to meet Lorenzo about your awakening.” he turned and gave a nod to his personal maid who in turn walked up to Van, gave a small bow, and asked him to follow her.
Van, still a little curious, didn’t want to leave, but the maid didn’t seem to care and was leaving without him, forcing him to go with her. The last thing he saw before leaving the room was his father and mother talking in hushed whispers. His father, seemingly excited about something, and his mother, genuinely interested in whatever his father was saying with a thoughtful expression.
After leaving it didn’t take long for them to reach Lorenzo's study. They didn’t have to go to the basement again after the first soul test, nor did they until he had to go through the soul awakening. So all the prior awakenings were done in Lorenzo’s study, where he has most of his magical circles and other things magical in.
The maid knocked on the door and a muffled “come in” was heard. The maid then opened the door for Van to enter.
Van was always impressed whenever he got a chance to enter Lorenzo’s study. It was filled with moldy tomes, grimoires, and many other magical items. There was a rustic feeling to the room.
Lorenzo turned around to see who it was. “Ah. Good, you're here. I was beginning to think you would never come. Are my studies that boring for you?” he said with a mirthful look on his face.
“Not at all,” Van said “it’s just that I was held up by mom and dad. They're finally going to let me out of my room! I mean so long as I'm accompanied by a maid. But still!” Van said, still a little excited from before.
“Ho Ho! That's wonderful to hear! Maybe now you come by to visit me more.” Lorenzo said, genuinely happy for Van.
Van was going to say something else, but then a question popped in his head, and he couldn’t help but ask. “Hey, Lorenzo? My father said that he’s going to get me some personal maids, that he’s going to talk about it with you. Do you know why?”
“Oh?” Lorenzo furrowed his brow. “None that I can think of. But I'm sure it isn’t something to be worried about. Now, are you ready for your race awakening test?” Then pulling a rod from thin air, he turned and cast mana into the magic circle behind him, making it glow. A look of satisfaction on his face when everything seemed to be going correctly “Alright then hop in.”
Van did so, used to doing this plenty of times already. “You know, I get all the other awakenings, but why race awakening? What is so special about it, can’t we just skip it?”
Lorenzo chuckled “ while it is true that for some a race awakening may not be seen as useful as the other ones, in your case it can be very useful. Besides it's just a test to see what races you can awaken inside yourself. Not to mention, you don’t need to awaken other races inside yourself, you can awaken the hidden potential of your own race. And finally, it's sometimes necessary for those who want to go through an ‘evolution', so to speak.”
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“An evolution?” Van had a tickling sensation at the back of his head when he heard that word.
Lorenzo paused what he was doing. “ well, I suppose I can spare some time to explain.” he said, letting the glow of the magic circle fade.
“You know of those maids that are goblins? There are also hob-goblins working in this castle correct?” Van nodded for him to continue. “ Well, how do you think a goblin becomes a hob-goblin?"
“I don’t know?” Van said with confusion “don’t they just grow up?.”
Lorenzo chuckled. “ well you see, a goblin only lives a few decades at most before dying, but a hob-goblin lives for a few decades more. So most goblins wish to be hob-goblins, but not all of them can. This is because there are certain requirements to be met in order to evolve, stage up, tier up, rank up, and so on and so forth. There are many ways to call it, but it's really a transition from a weaker form into a stronger one. Are you following so far?
“ I think so,” Van said.
“ well, when a goblin reaches those requirements they begin a process where their bodies change over the course of either a few days or even a few months to their next stage, becoming stronger and living longer. But sometimes” Lorenzo pointed at the magic circle Van was standing on “ you need a little help or push to meet those requirements. That's what a race awakening is for. It compensates for what you are lacking, and helps push you into the next stage.”
“Is it just goblins” Van asked “ or can any creature go through this evolution?
Lorenzo approved of Van’s question, happy that he was paying attention. “ yes, most can evolve into a higher form than before, not just goblins. For example, think of someone in a similar position such as yourself such as a half-elf. They usually have two races, one being elf, the other being, well, let's say, human. When a half-elf is born they are not fully elf or human, instead, they are at the stage of lesser human, and lesser elf. They have two races, but! They are both lesser of both of their parent races.”
“Or should I say, three races? As half-elf is also its own race, in a way. So you would have the race of half-elf, then lesser elf, and lesser human. Think of it like your half-elf race is the main race, and the thing that defines you and elf and human are sub-races with any other races you might awaken being tertiary races.”
Lorenzo used his rod to make a picture of two people, a human, and an elf, having a child. “When the child grows up they can unlock the evolution of both their parents, and gain the benefits of both without the drawbacks of neither. In that way, the race of half-elf acts as some sort of modifier for the other races it's composed of. Of course, if you don’t have the race and only its potential, you need to awaken it first, that is where race awakening comes in. Now, an elf lives longer than a human, so what if a half-elf evolves his elf side? Simple, he gains the lifespan of both the elf lifespan, on top of his lesser human lifespan. Or the aggregate of both, I'm not entirely sure. But you can see why evolving other races in you isn’t a bad thing, since it not only increases your power but also your lifespan!”
Van’s eyes widened. “Wait, if that's true, how long am I going to live for if I awaken my bloodlines?”
Lorenzo saw the look on Van’s face and nodded “ I see you figured it out. Yes with this you will live far longer than most. Considering your father is a vampire, it really shouldn't come as much as a surprise now should it? You Van, are a dhampir, that means you don’t have to worry about any of the drawbacks a regular vampire will have to face. While still being able to evolve your vampire bloodline. Not to mention you are an aasimar, from your mother's side. Can you guess what that means?”
“That I’m a dhampir? And… that I'm a lesser vampire and lesser aasimar?” Van replied a little uncertainly.
Lorenzo beamed “ very good, and we are here to see what other races you might have in you, you are not at the point where we can push you to the next level of your evolution, but we can see what other hidden bloodlines you might have that can also be unlocked. Making you even stronger!”
Lorenzo went silent “ sadly, many people do not like those with too many races or bloodlines in them, and it's not just because of the racism. Having too many bloodlines in you, if your body isn’t prepared for it, can lead to mutations of the body. We believe that you have more bloodlines than just the two you should have been born with. I think you know why.”
Van looked down on his body as he realized what he meant.
“Not that that's a bad thing” Lorenzo interjected seeing Van’s downcast eyes “ if anything you came out very well, considering what could have happened. You're going to be just as handsome as your father if not more so.” then quietly “Not that that’s a good thing.”
“Huh?” Van Asked
“Nothing. Well then, are you ready?”
Van wanted to ask what that last part was but decided to save it for later. “ yes, I'm ready.”
“Good.” Lorenzo then began to chant in a smooth and melodious voice with incomprehensible words. The circle began to glow once more and as he raised his rod up, his eyes half-glazed in a trance of the spell.
Van felt the tell-tale signs of magic flowing through him. He always hated this part, the feeling of every nook and cranny being inspected, usually followed by pain as something inside of him was forced open. Thankfully the pain never came, as it did seem that Lorenzo was telling the truth about only testing him instead of awakening him. It still felt uncomfortable though and it showed a little on his face.
After about half an hour Lorenzo finished, and the glow of the magic circle began to fade, much to Van’s relief that nothing more happened and that they were done.
Many balls of lights glowed in front of Lorenzo, each a different color, and each in different states of chaos and order. He used the floating magic circles that inspected them, Tapping here and there to see new perspectives on the lights as he studied them, using them like some sort of panel interface.
Van walked up to see what Lorenzo was doing and asked “what are they?”
Lorenzo looked up “ these are the representations of your bloodlines. What races you may have. These are the bloodlines in your body, the ones you are most likely to unlock or the ones you already have.”
He pointed to the one to his farthest left “that one, is your dhampir/lesser vampire race, the smaller blacker orb being your lesser vampire race specifically.”
Van looked at the orb Lorenzo was pointing at. It was a black and grey swirl with flecks of light that spun around like stars in the orb. Every so often, an inky black ball would emerge from it, to spin around the orb like a moon in orbit before returning back from whence it came.
Then Lorenzo pointed to the one next in line. “This one is your Aasimar race.” The orb was a bright gold and white swirl. No other color blemished it, it revolved around the previous orb slowly. “You can see how this race influenced your vampire race, turning it into the dhampir variant that you now have.” drawing the parallel between the white light of his aasimar race and the flecks of light in his dhampir race. He then waited for Van to confirm that he understood, when he received it he moved on back to the aasimar race orb.
“Your mother isn’t just an aasimar but one from an angel-kin bloodline, this means that you have the prospect of your racial orb here, splitting into a celestial, and or a lesser angel-kin. Should you be able to meet the requirements for its evolution of cours.”
“Wait. my race can split? Van asked
“ An aasimar is unique, if you were born without your mother having an angel-kin bloodline, then no. but since you do, you have the chance of gaining two races should you evolve your aasimar race.”
“Does that mean that my mother can be an angel?”
“Of course, if she meets the requirements. Now let's move on” not giving Van the chance to ask more questions.
He then pointed to the orb in the middle that was smaller than the first two. It was black, with white streaks, with red and purple undertones that seemed to fight one and other. Every so often it would split into two, never truly separating and colliding violently as if fighting for dominance over the other colors as it spun around.
“It seems you have a demon-kin bloodline in you. Not just one but two. They are fighting for dominance. This is because both of them are variant types.” he pointed to the part that had black and white. “This is a very rare one, nobility for the demons, the heavenly demon bloodline” then he pointed to the part with the black and purple with red undertones. “ This one is also very rare, also considered nobility, though not as high as the heavenly demon, the succubus, or in your case incubus bloodline.” then pausing to say under his breath very quietly “you poor child”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.” Lorenzo said before sighing and rubbing his temple, “ I’m going to have to teach you about the goddess one day, but hopefully not anytime soon until then, do not talk to anyone about having the potential to be an incubus, absolutely no one! ” he said seriously.
Van looked at Lorenzo in complete confusion but again he was cut off before he could say anything as Lorenzo began to talk once more as if nothing happened.
“Let's get back on topic. Now how do I say this…?” he said rubbing his chin. “You can’t be a human human, or a elf elf, you can be a elfhuman, which makes you a half-elf but…” he tried to look for the words “let's say you have the human bloodline and it was a white orb, and then you had another human one, they would both fuse together since there is nothing that is distinct about them, they are both the same. But these two are also the same, and yet they are not.” pointing at the demon orb. “There is a very high chance that you would lose one or the other given enough time.”
Lorenzo paused as a thought came to him. “Or you can have both, but it can have disastrous effects on both your mind and body. But… then again.” he rubbed his beard again “You can also have both if they mutated. That would make you very powerful indeed, as you would have both the powers of a heavenly demon and an incubus. Or you can just get rid of your incubus bloodline in favor of your heavenly demon one. Either way, it doesn't matter since they haven’t been awakened yet.” he shrugged.
“ Do I have the heavenly demon bloodline thanks to my mother as well?” Van asked.
“Your aasimar blood had some to do with you gaining that unique bloodline, yes. But it also could be because of your condition, perhaps it did something to your bloodlines?” he said with a thoughtful expression before shaking it off. “now let's move on now shall we?” Lorenzo said, turning to an even smaller orb that was next in line.
This one was black, green, red, purple, and a bunch of other little colors that weren’t as prominent. All of them swirling around. Van got a sense of something primal from it.
“This one I was definitely not expecting,” Lorenzo said “It is of the dragon bloodline, thought for the life of me I can't figure out where it came from?” you shouldn't have any dragon in you unless you being half soul awakened had something to do with it. Which is possible. Other than that there isn’t much else to say. You have some dragon in you, congratulations.”
For some reason Van thought Lorenzo was being sarcastic, but couldn’t understand why. “ Is being a dragon bad?”
“What? Oh no, nothing like that... Sorry if it sounded like that, I'm just getting tired of all the little surprises. It has nothing to do with you. I apologize.” Van wasn’t sure but it did seem that Lorenzo was sincere. Van just realized that Lorenzo did look a little tired so decided to keep any questions he might have for later.
The next one in line was an orb with many exploding colors with a black and blue swirl to it. “This one means chimera. You have the potential for the chimera race, probably due to all the other races you have the potential to have. Most don’t take kindly to the chimera race. It usually doesn’t show up unless you have three or more awakened races, which you only have two of. Them being your dhampir and aasimar race. The other races you have such as the dragon, the demon, and such are unawakened. Keep that in mind.” he then moved on.
They both turned to the last orb in line. Thought it wasn’t so much an orb but a gold and white flickering light that would sputter out before reigniting from nothing, only to repeat the process. Despite how small or weak it looked, Van got an impression of holiness from it.
“This one, well… I’m not sure what this one is, so you don’t need to worry about it for now.
Van looked up. “I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.” he thought. Giving Lorenzo an incredulous look.
Lorenzo noticed it “Trust me on this. There is definitely nothing to worry about on this one.” he said with such surety that it surprised Van.
“Alright… I will” Van said.
“Thank you” Lorenzo then clapped his hands “since we are done here why don’t you move along to your next destination. I need to run these through some more experiments before they dissipate.”
Van was a little hurt by the sudden dismissal but agreed anyway “okay...” he said then walked towards the door. Lorenzo called out to him.
“Ah before I forget, your father is cooking up some sort of surprise for you within the next few days. You're going to meet someone very special” he said.
Van paused, hand on the doorknob looking back at Lorenzo “Is that it? Does it have anything to do with the personal maid thing?”
“Maybe. I also hear you're going to be moving. Have fun with that.”
That definitely piqued Van’s interest, but before he could ask anything more Lorenzo had already turned around to go back to studying the orbs, making Van’s questions die without being heard. Sighing, he opened to the door and left Lorenzo to his work. Lorenzo can be a great teacher, but sometimes he can be a little too into what he is studying, which makes him a little rude sometimes, but he didn’t really fault him for that.
Once Lorenzo felt that Van had left, he refocused on the last orb of the flickering gold and white light. He stared hard at it, whether it was in anger or wonder was hard to tell. “Poor child. The gods are at play. Or perhaps it's just luck? Or fate. Either way, you are either the luckiest or the unluckiest person I have ever met, and I have met a lot of people.”
He looked up, almost in silent prayer. “Please let this just be nothing, the boy has already been through enough.”
The light flickered and spluttered and died once more.