Eric awoke but he felt.... different. He weakly opened his eye lids as he looked around. Yet, the boy couldn't see anything. Eric could feel something about him had changed, something about his body.
Eric tried to open his mouth but couldn't, he tried to talk but he couldn't, he tried to feel but he just couldn't. Something painful kept him from thinking straight. Eric succumbed to sleep until a blinding light seemed to penetrate the darkness.
Eric realized he was covered in dense black chains, the burns on his face burned like nonthin he'd ever experienced. The light pulled him and the chains cracked the closer he got to the door of light, the better he felt.
As he was about to enter, eric looked over his shoulder and he saw red eyes glaring at him from the darkness. Faintly, Eric heard a chuckle as he was pulled towards the door of light.
Eric woke with a start as he practically jumped up. The room a mess as Rudolph's sweaty and exhausted figure came into eye shot.
"Listen kid, you owe me big and I got shit I need from you." The old man didn't seem as distant, he looked at Eric with flames in his eyes.
'What the hell even happened. What could I even give this guy, plus... Where the hell are my weapons.' About to say something stupid, Eric saw the door swing open with the old man's son holding a boiling pot.
Eric's stomach growled as the old man smiled. "You're going to eat with us and then clean this fuck up of a mess."
"For what? I didn't even----" Eric tried to remember what happened but he could only remember the pain. His head searing the more he tried to delve into it.
"Don't go frying your noggin kid. Ain't gonna do you much good. Just remember we got a deal of sorts now." The old man's son set before him a large pot filled with a seafood soup. The man moved with precision as he quickly scooped and plated his father's food. He reached at his side and brought out a loaf of bread. Throwing it in the air lightly, the man cut it in half with a kitchen knife.
Eric's stomach roared at the presence of food. Embarrassed, Eric coughed lightly. The man catching Eric's meaning rolled his eyes before setting a plate and bread before the two. Joining them, the man started to eat with them. Eric could feel the nourishment in his body from the soup.
Struggling to keep a proper appearance while eating, Eric inhaled the soup the best he could.
'This soup is savory, nutty, and salty. Oh, the bread, the bread. It's lightly crunchy with a buttery taste. Why is this guy such a good cook?' Eating the entire bowl of soup as well as the bread Eric sat there in confusion.
'I want to ask him about my weapons but I feel like I shouldn't. This is an important time. Mom always said that meals bring people together. Yet, I have so many questions. Why did this man help me, when am I getting my weapons back, and most importantly. HOW CAN I GET MORE SOUP?'
Eric eyed the pot as though about to commit the greatest robbery in history. Finally, the old man bellowed, "Can't you stop looking like a starved wolf for 5mins?! I ain't giving you anymore. This is my favorite soup that I made from precious ingredients. Plus, it may do you well to cultivate so you don't explode."
"Explode, what are you--"
Eric's gut grumbled but the boy was too busy looking inside his dantian where the dwelling for his Mountain Cloud Guardian bloodline sat. Yet, below it sat another bloodline on the totem pole.
Eric could barely register this when an insane amount of energy was seething in his belly. Eric dropped into criss cross position and started to run his cultivation technique.
[Heavenly Warrior's Cultivation] A thrum and that energy was converted. Running it through his dantian in cycles, the energy seemed to gather and expand his meridians. Eric felt pain as he looked at his first bloodline calmly absorbing and giving back energy.
His second bloodline siphoned energy quickly but nothing was given back, only pain. As the pain grew, Eric refused to stop his cultivation technique. HIs eyes were closed but blood ran down them, more and more trails of the bright red liquid.
Eric's burns flashed red as though some type of ancient and forgotten tongue was branded on him. The boy screamed as his eyes changed from a light brown and orange to an orange red.
'I can't see straight, what the hell is going on?' Rudolph stared into Eric's eyes, sadness diffused from him and into the very room itself. He stopped gobbling down his food, "Kid.... who the hell were your parents to leave you so unprepared in life?"
Eric face scrunched at the question. "I don't care who you are, how old you are, or what your motives are. You keep my parent's name out your filthy mouth."
The man's son stood at Eric's retort, his demeanor indicating violence. "Magdy Smith, sit down. No violence allowed." Smith looked at his father and sat down with a heavy thump as he went back to eating.
"Magdy, an odd name for a man like this." The old man laughed at the comment while Smith stared daggers at Eric.
"It's a name related to his star kid, hopefully you'll be able to connect with yours."
"How do you know I haven't connected with my star yet?"
Rudolph shook his head, "You are far too young to know the multitude of methods that I can use. However, I would say it's because you're weak."
Eric's scowled at the comment, "Who said I'm weak." Smith and Rudolph kept eating as they finished off the soup and bread.
'BURP, BURP, BUUUUUUURRRPRPPP."
Rudolph rubbed his stomach gently while taking a toothpick and picked at his teeth.
"I take it that you don't know what it means to connect with a star right?"
Eric fidgeted uncomfortably, 'This man knows my secrets as well as the fact that I'm naive and inexperienced. Great, I think he'll probably end up screwing me over in a deal.'
"Well since we'll be working together. I might as well school you, so you don't get screwed over by anyone else. That's bad business."
"What do you mean working together, you're as crazy as a wolf badger old man. I haven't even agreed. And what do you mean by anyone else??!!"
"One question at a time cupcake." Rudolph scratched his ass and sniffed it while Smith closed his eyes as though he were in the middle of meditation.
"Well, you should know that the legacies of all races has been left in the stars. That is where information, legacy, and wisdom is imparted. Heros, Villains, innovators, and professionals of all fields leave their legacy in the stars."
Rudolph held out his hand and on top of it was some kind of symbol that Eric couldn't make out.
"Don't bother straining those ugly holes you call eyes. This is a rune which is the language of power, the sister of hand signs. This rune is a symbol of my dwarven bloodline, it means strength. I could amplify my strength to heights you couldn't dream of."
"My son Smith here has the dwarven and giant bloodline. It's why he's tall even though he has a dwarf for a father. By awakening inherent or gained bloodlines, you can reach out to the stars where God gave the races achieves."
"You dear boy are an interesting case."
"Why do you say that?"
"Your bloodline hides secrets, the type I'm interested in." Chills down his spine, Eric looked for an exit. Rudolph sneered in aggravation.
"You troglodyte! I'm not a pedo you ignorant child. You have a demon's bloodline in you."
Eric reaction volatile, anger bubbled inside him like a volcano ready to burst. "Shut the hell up old man. I do not have a forbidden bloodline, you speak heresy."
Rudolph giggled like a schoolgirl, but his eyes bore deep into Eric's. Eric felt an uncertainty rise in him.
'This old man is so sure. How? Ma and Pa were tight lipped about family and cultivation but there's no way they wouldn't tell me I have a demon's bloodline.'
"My speculation is that your bloodline is from a clan, which one? I wouldn't know. However, I have a vested interest in history." Pulling out a token that looked like a book, Eric's eyebrows lifted in surprise.
"You, You're a Keeper?!"
"For someone who knows jack shit about much, I'm surprised to see you recognize this."
'How couldn't I. Dad and mom each had one similar to his.'
"Now that you know about stars let's talk about the exchange between you and me. I have vested interest in the demons and you my dear boy, is key."
Once more looking at the badge lying casually on the table Eric grew pensive.
"For what purpose do you seek information on the demons out. Plus, how would I be able to help you?"
"Listen carefully kid. Life isn't always how it seems. A lot of people bury history because knowledge is the difference between power and subjugation. You seem to have a mixed bloodline from a snake and monkey. Those are two very xenophobic races. The same way a human and demon's bloodline mingling would cause outrage among both sides."
The old man lifted a cigar from his pocket and lit it using the tip of his finger. "The human race originally survived because they preserved knowledge and utilized bloodline fusion to a high degree of proficiency. You see Eric, I want to know some of the black smithing techniques from the demons. I also want.... a very specific demon."
Eric felt it for not more than a second, an intense and murderous aura that surrounded Smith. Eric wasn't even sure if he was hallucinating.
"So kid, you wanna work out a deal of sorts?"
"Eh, you old fart don't go moving the conversation along. You need to make me my weapons and you still haven't told me anything about the second bloodline in me."