After that brief but very informative sparring match against Lionel, many things began to change. Lionel decided that my foundation was not yet strong enough. So he began to take an active role in my training. From dawn till dusk, he pushed my body to its limits. My superior regeneration made my life slightly easier, at least that's what I thought. Until Lionel began taking that into account and pushing me even further. Every night when I returned to my room, I was an absolute wreck. But even then, I did not relent. Lionel handled my physical training. But I was responsible for my source. The act of strengthening the source was a slow and arduous process. Where you slowly drew in more prana and, like a muscle, incrementally stretched the source to hold more energy. Due to the limitation of my sickness, this was made even slower.
I even devised a point system to quantify how much prana my body could hold. To my surprise, the system picked up on my research, and when I opened my status, it was proudly displayed for me.
[ Name: Drakus El Drakkar
[ Name: Drakus El Drakkar
Race: Half Elf (Stage 1)
Bloodline: Will of Conquest - Purity 12%
Affinities: Greater Affinity of Space
Middling Affinity of Lightning
Middling Affinity of Blood
Stats:
Prana - 12
Mana - 9
Aura - 7
Skills: Blink lvl 1, Lightning bolt lvl 1, Blood Drinker lvl 1]
Pride swelled up in my heart as I watched my progress so far. When I started, my prana was only at 10 points. But in the last week, I managed to raise it by two points. Neither my mana nor my aura had grown in this time. The interesting thing was when the change appeared in my status; at the time, I had not even known what the energies were truly called. I already had some ideas on how to improve them, but that would have to wait until I got my source to a comfortable size. With that, I closed my status as my break was about to end. Before Lionel had to force me, I began a measured jog through the woods. Following the path Lionel had devised on my second day of training. I had to jump over rocks and fallen logs.
There was no denying that my stamina had grown significantly since I began this training. Even when I was still in the palace, I could not be considered a slouch. I trained every day in hopes of combating my weakness. But this, this was on a whole other level in comparison. A fear-filled scream shocked me out of my thoughts. Indecision gnawed at me for a split second before I changed course towards the scream. What I saw made me happy that I did. A little girl who could not be older than ten. Had fallen down, blood flowing from the wound on her knee where it grazed a rock. A basket filled with various mushrooms was haphazardly flung to the side. A growl came from behind the crying girl, clutching her knee.
Reacting on the instincts Lionel had drilled into me from countless painful sparring lessons, I blinked forward. Appearing behind the girl, mana already coursing through my arm. Sparks appeared on my fingertips as I channeled Lightning bolt directly towards the shadow, leaping closer. A pained yelp escaped the beast's lips as it fell to the ground. The smell of burnt hair wafted through the air. Looking at the beast had me slightly taken aback. It looked like a twisted incarnation of a wolf. Its face was consumed by many rows of razor-sharp teeth. It had piercing yellow eyes and a patchwork of fur, making it look sickly. To my surprise, my observation of the beast brought forth a screen in front of my vision.
[Warg - Stage 1 Beast]
I cursed the system, as the information was completely useless to me. A quiet whimper came from the little girl behind me. I knew I had to end this quickly; my limited mana did not allow for drawn-out battles. Blinking behind the warg, I tried something new. The lightning bolt was held at the ready, but I did not release it yet. Instead, I stabbed my clawed fingers into the thick hide on the back of its neck. Only then did I release the lightning bolt directly into its brain. The stench of charred flesh was pungent, but luckily it was enough. Fortune favored me, as it was only a weak beast. If there had been any more of them, I would have been fucked. Shaking my head to remove such morbid thoughts, I approached the little girl.
She was completely bawling her eyes out at this point. It was slightly annoying, but I tried to be understanding as I soothed her. "What is your name, girl?" I asked with my most comforting voice. Standing in front of her to block her view of the charred corpse behind me.
She tried to answer, but she struggled to fight her tears. Realizing that I would not get any answers anytime soon, I changed my approach. "Do you want me to take you home?" She responded with a nod of her head, still clutching her knee. As gently as I possibly could, I picked up the little brunette girl in a prince's carry as well as her basket filled with mushrooms. She held onto me with all her strength, clearly shaken by the beast encounter. With a soothing nod of my head, I began the short trek back to the village. Halfway back, the girl managed to compose herself enough for me to ask some questions. Turns out her name is Emily. She had been busy picking mushrooms for her mother like she always did, when the warg appeared.
I knew a little bit about these so-called wargs. They were pack animals; they rarely ever came alone. It was a guarantee that where there was one, there would be more. Once we got closer to the village, I let the girl walk on her own. I did not need any misunderstandings of what happened. "Go to your mother," I nudged her forward. She looked at me as if unsure what to do. "Thank you, mister." She smiled at me, showcasing some of her missing teeth, before running through the cobbled street with a basket in hand.
With the girl back to safety, my mind returned to the problem at hand. The appearance of the warg meant that a new wild shard had appeared close to the village. If it was not dealt with swiftly, then more and more beasts would exit the shard. Threatening the safety of the village as a whole. While walking towards the town hall, I spotted a familiar face; it was the stick-like man from the council. "Hey, Gerard!" I called the man who was busy haggling with a merchant selling spice. He turned to me in confusion before recognition kicked in.
"Ah, lord Drakkus. How can I be of assistance on this fine day?" He took out a handkerchief to dab at the sweat on his forehead. I snorted at his change of attitude but mentioned nothing of it.
"Head to the town hall. We have something important to discuss. Oh, and bring the old man, I'll go fetch Ivan." Without even giving the man a chance to reply, I was already walking again.