As Luka continues to train in the Demon Arts in the future, the boy would require additional infusions of blood essence from Bel. Otherwise, Luka would only become an amateur practitioner.
The deranged boy continued to chase after the rabbit without success until Luka's blue skin returned to normal. At that point, Luka regained his mental clarity and lost his bloodthirstiness. As he stumbled and fell in physical exhaustion, the boy muttered, "What am I doing?" He felt his body completely drenched in sweat as if Luka had run a marathon! Before Luka landed on the ground, the boy twisted his body around and tumbled on his back.
"Huff, huff, huff." Luka couldn't understand what just happened. The last thing he remembered was receiving blood from Bel. Then his mind turned blank. The next thing he knew, Luka laid on the ground feeling completely exhausted. When the boy regained his breath, he blurted out, "Bel, what happened to me?"
The rabbit slowly appeared in front of Luka's face. [I gave you a headbutt, and you chased me all over the place.] Bel explained in an innocent tone of voice.
"Huh," Luka replied in a doubtful tone. "How come I can't remember any of this? Is my memory loss related to my infusion of your blood?" he asked.
Bel's ears twitched. [Considering your age, it's possible. My blood essence is quite thick, and your body probably couldn't handle five drops in one go.] The familiar admitted openly.
"Is it alright for me to lay down for a while? I can't move my body," the boy requested with shame.
[Of course, lad! You recovered from a coma not too long ago. Your body is still too weak. I shouldn't have infused my blood with you so soon.]
"No, I'm equally to blame." Luka shook his head. "If I switch over to spatial training now, I shouldn't need to move my body," he suggested.
[That's true! Let me know when you're ready to resume your Demon Arts training.]
"I will!" The boy stared at the hazy gray sky and reached out to touch the horizon. But he didn't attempt to move his body to the other side. Luka managed to improve his odds of success from 1-in-5 to 1-in-2. He suspected that the higher success rate was due to his unlocking of spatial law. Luka practiced his magic until he exhausted his mental strength and fell asleep.
Bel quietly hopped over and stared at the boy. When Luka finishes his magic apprenticeship, the boy will reach fifteen years of age and adulthood as recognized by society. At that time, Luka should be powerful enough to protect himself. If not, Bel would intervene as the boy's familiar.
Unfortunately, it would take a long time before Bel unlocks his proper form as a demon king. Thus, Luka must learn a Demonic Art ASAP. After some thought, Bel finally settled on a beginner technique: Enragement!
Bel allowed his master to rest for eight hours. When the period expired, the rabbit hopped on Luka's chest!
"Poof!" A gust of air exploded from the boy's lungs! Luka immediately sat up. He clenched his fist and threw a punch at the bastard!
The rabbit snorted. With a small hop and perfect timing, Bel dodged the punch. In one smooth motion, the animal twisted his hips and threw his ass at the attacker's face! Headbutt!
Luka frantically spat out some saliva and fur. "Why did you do that?" he yelled angrily.
[It's been eight hours already. You had more than enough rest.] Bel answered in a nonplussed tone of voice.
"You're just looking for an excuse to headbutt me!" the boy harrumphed and wiped the saliva off his mouth.
[I don't need any excuse to headbutt you.] The familiar smirked. [Pay attention, lad. I'm going to teach you a Demon Art: Enragement.]
"What does it do? Turn me into a raging hulk?" Luka asked with interest.
[Not exactly. This technique provides a 5% boost in all your physical attributes at the first rank, including health, power, agility, toughness, etc. Enragement is the foundation of the Demonic Arts, and its boost can stack with other skills.] Bel explained patiently.
The boy's eyes lit up as he began to appreciate the implication. In a fight, even a minuscule 1% boost could make the difference. An enormous 5% boost is simply a godly skill! "Teach me!" he urged fervently.
Bel snorted. [Hold your horses! I haven't mentioned this technique's most significant weakness: an equal loss of intelligence and wisdom! In other words, Enragement will turn you into a mindless berserker!] He cautioned.
Luka shook his head. "I would be worried if it doesn't come with any drawbacks. How do I activate Enragement? And how long does it last?"
[Activation is simple. You simply incite the drops of demon blood essence inside your body. Your enraged state will last for one minute at the first tier, and there is a ten-minute cool down afterward.] The familiar explained.
"Just one minute?" The boy's eyes dimmed with disappointment upon hearing this.
Bel snorted. [Kid, one minute is an eternity in a battle. Once you fight enough of them, you will understand what I mean. Now close your eyes and focus on inciting your demon blood essence!]
The student obediently closed his eyes. With his mind's eyes, Luka searched for the droplets of demon blood floating inside his body. He found one each in his brain and heart. The remaining three droplets flowed freely throughout his body like tourists visiting a foreign land.
Luka focused on maintaining psychic contact with the demon's blood. At first, he experienced difficulty connecting with all five droplets. But the boy persevered and finally accomplished this task. Then Luka began to incite those droplets. To his dismay, Enragement drained plenty of stamina.
Bel followed Luka's progress through their familiar link. [If it's too challenging to incite all the droplets of blood, then you could focus on provoking just one instead. Each droplet provides a 1% boost in your physical abilities.]
"Okay," the boy nodded in a hoarse voice. His body was too exhausted to continue with Demon Arts training right now.
[Take another break.] Bel ordered.
Luka did not answer him. Instead, the boy promptly curled up on the ground like a kitten, and he immediately fell asleep.
While the child was unconscious, Bel bit his paw. The rabbit dripped another five drops of his precious blood essence into Luka's forehead. Bel watched with satisfaction as the boy accepted the droplets without any sign of rejection. Once the demon blood successfully entered Luka's body, Bel sighed with relief.
Under standard procedure, the recipient gets additional droplets of blood after the passage of several weeks. The biggest problem in a transfusion was the target body's rejection of foreign blood. However, this risk would lessen significantly if the recipient was young because a growing child's body could adapt to such changes more readily than an adult. Thus, Bel gambled that Luka's body would accept the demon blood without any side effects appearing.
When the new blood essence entered the child's forehead, Luka's skin slowly turned blue! His body temperature rose, and the boy began to sweat profusely. Fortunately, this outbreak lasted merely several minutes before the symptoms abated.
[Good!] Bel nodded to himself. He felt extremely pleased with Luka's ability to absorb Bel's blood essence. Since Bel was a demon king, albeit a sealed one, his bloodline was thousands of times more potent than any existing demon on Zaleron. Thus, an average human would explode if his body could not refine the demon king's blood essence.
However, Bel expected Luka to succeed for two reasons. First, the two established a special relationship as familiar and its master. This bond connected both parties via their lifelines and fates; this unique relationship negated approximately half of the danger to Luka from absorbing Bel's blood essence.
Second, the child's inheritance of the Divine Summoner bloodline meant that the divine essence of Altima herself passed through the boy's veins. While Bel's demon king's lineage was robust compared to a human, it was still one hundred times inferior to Altima's divine heritage. Thus, Bel became confident that Luka would absorb the demonic essence without harming the boy's body.
A quarter-hour later, Luka awoke on his own. As he slowly sat up, t
he boy felt strange. His breathing became more rapid, and power flowed through his limbs. Additionally, Luka felt a burning sensation at the spot between his eyebrows. Luka soon realized what happened. He looked at the rabbit who was acting innocent and asked, "How many drops did you give me this time?"
[What do you mean?] Bel expressed his denial.
"My body feels weird, and my forehead burns. I know you transfused more of your blood essence while I was unconscious," the boy pressed forward with his inquiry in a calm manner.
[Oh, that! I granted you five more drops. Be thankful, lass!] Bel harrumphed shamelessly.
Luka stared at his familiar. The boy couldn't believe Bel's reaction. After all, the demon used an underhanded method to transfer his blood essence while Luka couldn't decline. However, Luka didn't want to waste his time pursuing this matter. Thus, the child pushed aside his anger and changed the topic. "Can I start using the Enragement skill now?" he asked.
[Yup!]
Luka stood up and closed his eyes. He took a moment to recall how to activate this ability. The practitioner needed to incite the droplets of demon blood essence. Luka focused his inner sight on the free-flowing foreign blood in his body. He discovered that the new additions became free floaters, meaning Luka would have an easier time activating the technique with them. His mind locked onto those five droplets of demon blood, and Luka concentrated his willpower to provoke them!
At first, the droplets ignored Luka's intentions. But after a few minutes of incitation, they began to vibrate and smash against each other! This excited state created a burst of demonic energy, which quickly spread to every part of Luka's body!
[Start punching!] Bel urged. [Your body needs to release this energy, or else your bones will shatter!]
Luka obeyed his instructor and began to throw punches like a boxer. However, his mind remained calm while Enragement stayed in effect. After he made a dozen attacks, Luka started mixing in kicks and elbow throws as well. He practiced continuously without ever losing control of his mind until his skill effect ended.
Afterward, Luka's body felt like a marionette losing its strings. The boy abruptly dropped to his hands and knees.
[Concentrate on breathing and restoring your body's energy.] Bel advised gently.
Without a care for his image, Luka flopped on the ground and closed his eyes. He focused on taking deep breaths and regaining his energy. When Luka finally felt better, the boy asked, "Is this the backlash of the Enragement skill?"
[Yes. But the more you use it, the lesser the backlash. Here's our motto: no pain, no gain. The residual effect becomes ameliorated for body refiners. Later on, I will teach you a breathing technique to help you recover faster.] Bel promised.
"Thank you," Luka replied. The boy rested until his body regained sufficient energy. He opened his eyes and asked, "Tell me more about body refinement and the process involved."
[Body refinement follows the theory that the body is the ultimate weapon, indestructible and powerful beyond belief. The two ways of refining the body are internal and external. By inner, we mean heritage such as bloodline. The external method is via absorption of flesh and blood of powerful entities.]
[Now, let me expound further. Recently, I have injected my blood essence into your body. In doing so, I have modified your bloodline slightly. I cannot change your heritage entirely because that would make you lose your humanity, and you will turn into a demon. Nobody wants that to happen because a possible consequence is the loss of your divine summoner bloodline.]
[As for the external method, demons traditionally hunt powerful animals and ingest their raw flesh and blood. This practice helps the hunter grow stronger over time. Unfortunately, this method is highly inefficient. Even if we use a top-tier existence as food, the absorption rate is 50% at best. Compared to that, our transfer of blood essence was 100% effective due to our compatibility. Thus, transfusion of blood essence between a cooperating donor and recipient is the ideal body refinement method.]
"So that's why you've been passing your blood essence to me every chance you get," Luka remarked.
Bel snorted without denying the claim.
"Will you provide more of your blood now?" the boy asked out of curiosity.
The rabbit stomped his feet on the ground. [Hmph! Are you trying to bleed me dry? My current body is a rabbit! How can I carry excess demon blood essence in this body?] Bel complained. The animal suddenly launched a headbutt!
The blow knocked the victim back a few steps before Luka regained his footing. "Why you!" the boy growled before his fists started flying at his assailant.
Bel nonchalantly dodged the blows with little effort.
The boy's anger grew until he couldn't resist invoking the Enragement skill.
The sudden burst of power and speed alarmed Bel, and the rabbit almost missed his timing to avoid the incoming punches. The evil creature retaliated by unleashing his claws at Luka's fists. Soon, razor-thin scratches appeared on the child's knuckles and hands as Luka began to bleed from these wounds. However, the human attacker could not feel pain in his berserk mental state.
Bel saw this was a golden opportunity to mark his pupil. He scratched the boy's neck, chest, and limbs. However, the familiar avoided cutting Luka's face so that the boy would not have facial scars. The marks were as thin as papercuts, but they bled continuously. The dried blood began to cling to the deranged child's white clothing and created ugly splotches on his garments.
When the skill effect ceased a minute later, Bel alertly appeared behind Luka and dropped the boy with a blow to the back of Luka's neck.
When Luka regained consciousness a half-hour later, he immediately sensed his body's extraordinary fatigue. Luka soon remembered what happened, and he realized that this condition was a side effect of Enragement. Also, Luka discovered dried blood on his clothes. "Why did you cut me up?" he asked.
[Why do you think?]
"You were angry and sought to teach me a good lesson," Luka replied.
[I'm not that petty!] The familiar snorted.
"Why else would you make me bleed all over?" the boy pointed out.
Bel laughed. [I did it to help refine your body.]
"Huh?" Luka was confused.
[Bleeding promotes healing. The more your body bleeds, the more it will naturally heal. Every instance of healing will upgrade your body's characteristics and make use of your blood essence to do so.]
"In other words, my body will continually refine as I get beat up by you?" the boy groaned.
[Exactly!] The evil demon king chuckled with delight. [Prepare yourself for round two!] Bel mercilessly turned Luka into a punching bag.
Chapter 11
Five Years of Training
The God of Magic, Alectos, stepped into a stunning garden. The place was full of flowers and trees composed of twinkling stars. A starry river flowed by and granted this celestial garden a feeling of lasting for an eon or two. Above this oasis was a night sky containing galaxies that continuously formed and disappeared, revealing blackholes that eventually joined the eternal void.
The newcomer looked around until Alectos discovered his quarry. The deity slowly approached the owner of this brilliant nursery until he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her.
"It's been almost five years since my blessed child entered your care, Alectos," the goddess remarked.
"Indeed, time flies fast, Altima. Five years is merely a blink of an eye for gods like us, but a large portion of a mortal's lifespan."
"So what has Luka been learning from you?" she inquired while staring at the scenery.
"The boy unlocked spatial magic and spent this period learning its myriad applications. He also learned a bit of body refinement and Demonic Arts from his familiar," Alectos answered.
Altima nodded her satisfaction. When she noticed that Bel's dimensional prison began to crumble, the goddess was too lazy to create a new jail for the demon king. On a lark, Altima sealed B
el and sent him to Luka as a playmate. Juliette was overprotective of Luka and didn't provide the boy with an opportunity to make friends. Therefore, Altima hoped Bel would serve this much-needed role.
Since Luka was the Godson of Altima and possessed her divine aura, the deity was confident that Bel wouldn't harm the child. Instead, the demon king wouldn't be able to resist the lure of forming a pact with a naive human. And sure enough, Bel fell into her trap!
"Are you concerned that Belphesto would be a bad influence on Luka?" she asked.
"Not at all. Luka has a somewhat passive personality, while Bel has a mischievous nature, and he tries to push the boy out of his shell. Additionally, there are no other lifeforms inside my magic realm. Bel provides Luka with much-needed companionship. Besides, the Demon Arts would help Luka become less reliant on magic; this, in turn, offers my pupil another valuable skill set and help him survive," Alectos explained. "After all, there are several proficient users of antimagic on Zaleron," he noted.
"So tell me why you came all this way to see me? Are you seeking my intimate companionship again?" Altima teased and giggled lightly.
"Perhaps," Alectos teased back as he took her hand and kissed it.
Altima blushed as she felt his hot breath on her skin. "If I didn't understand your character, those words would make my maiden heart flutter," she replied in a light tone of voice.
The God of Magic's face turned somber. "I seek permission to teach Luka light magic," he requested.
Her brows rose at the unexpected request. "I am the Goddess of Light, and light magic is under my providence. Normally, my Divine Church should provide Luka with this training during his future apprenticeship with them. But then again, you are more than qualified to teach Luka as the God of Magic. And since he is currently under your care, it's simpler for the child to learn from you instead. Please teach Luka well, or else my Godson will embarrass both of us with his incompetence," she warned sternly.
"I will, Altima," Alectos promised. He felt relieved that Altima readily granted permission. In the past, they had a conflict over his ability to use her magic against her. But it seemed Altima had matured in these last few decades. Or perhaps the goddess was taking her role as Luka's patron more seriously. In the end, Alectos attained her permission to teach Luka her magic, and this was the most pressing issue for him.
The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima Page 9