King

CHAPTER VI

It felt like my head wanted to burst as random flashes of my memories came rushing in. I was trying my best to process every picture that was passing through my head but it was so hard. Everything was so fast and vague that I couldn't decipher anything. I clenched my hair and screamed in pain hoping that it could at least help me lessen the pain but it didn’t help me at all.

“Ellesmeire!” I heard Yuriko yell in panic and I knew why. I was probably losing control of my powers. I forced myself to keep calm and take control of my powers. I was breathing hard and I was fighting the urge to faint.

“It’s a dark witch! You better be careful!” I heard voices around me but I couldn’t see what was happening. Everything was a blur. I kept on turning around in an attempt to see something clearly but the pain in my head was making it hard to focus and my blurry eyes weren’t helping.

“Kill the fairy before you approach the dark witch,” I heard someone command. I spun around and when I saw a man’s silhouette I took a deep breath.

“Yuriko, fly up,” I said and counted from one to three before releasing all of my magic. I fell on the ground after doing so but when I looked around I saw people lying on the ground. There was blood everywhere and I knew that I was the cause of it.

“You still haven’t lost your touch,” She said and landed in front of me but just as her feet touched the ground blood flew towards me.

My eyes went wide when Yuriko fell in front of me. I could feel my breathing becoming heavier by the minute. “You bastard!” I screamed at the retreating man and stood up. I was seething in anger that everything became red. I created a bow and arrow and shot the retreating man.

“Yuriko,” I said and held her up. “Please, hold on for a while. I'll just search for a safe place.” I whispered while looking at her. I saw her eyebrows twitched and it made me feel relieved.

“You need to leave before the AMF send reinforcements,” She said and I nodded. Now isn't the time to argue with her.

I took her to a hidden place to heal her before walking around the forest to make sure that I can leave a barrier before going back to the chateau. I made sure that the barrier was complete before I left the fairy realm and teleported back.

“Thank goodness I had enough magic to teleport,” I whispered to myself when I arrived in my room. I could smell the stench of blood on me so I walked to the bathroom and took a shower before taking a bath. I can’t have them noticing that something happened. Alystair might not allow me to train Zynrick or punish me again.

The next day arrived rather quickly and we were summoned to the lab by Alystair. When we arrived there we didn’t go inside the lab instead, we headed to a wide field.

“Is this where we’re going to train?” I asked as I scan the area. It was a plain field that was covered in grass. There wasn't anything around. No trees, no flowers, no animals, nothing.

“That’s right. This place was built especially for Zynrick. This dome will restrain any magic from escaping while providing a wide space for you to train.” He said before leaving us in the dome.

“So, how are we going to start?” He asked and I looked at him. I didn’t say anything but I had lances behind him. It seems like he was able to sense it so he turned around but instead of activating his powers he ran away which made me drop my jaw.

“What are you doing?” I asked when he just continued running around. He stopped and looked at me. It was obvious that he was tired of trying to escape. He was panting and there was a bead of sweat dripping from his chin when he looked at me.

“Well, you were chasing me with your lances,” He said stating the obvious.

“A progenitor wouldn’t run when faced with such a thing,” I said and walked towards him. He looked at me and without warning; I used my knee to hit his stomach making him fall on the ground.

“You have zero strength in physical combat as well. It looks like we’re going to have to start from basics.” I said while looking down at him.

I had hope that he'd at least know how to fight. He had such a good body build that I thought he was capable of physical combat. I didn't expect him to on the ground with just one strike.

“Stand up,” I commanded and even though he was having difficulties standing up he still obeyed. He was staggering and it annoyed me seeing how weak he actually is.

I immediately kicked his head when he was able to stand up. I kept on hitting him hoping he’d reciprocate or dodge but he just kept on receiving the hits. I realized that this method of teaching him wasn’t helping so I held my hand out and helped him stand up.

“Rest for a bit and I’ll teach you the basics,” I said and turned my back on him. I won't heal him during his train. He needs to absorb all of the pain and bury it in his head. I want him to remember how painful it is to be beaten up so he'd have at least a small will to learn how to fight for himself.

“You could’ve done that before hitting me mercilessly.” I heard him whisper so I turned around and raised an eyebrow at him, “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” He whispered and avoided my gaze. He sat in a corner and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. I knew his injuries would be painful so I left him alone for a while.

I went to the chateau to have a snack so I could give him time to rest. I knew that if I stayed there I would just stare at him and end up forcing him to train without proper rest.

“Food in this era tastes good. I should be cautious not to get fat though,” I whispered while walking back to where he was.

I arrived and saw that he was sleeping on the ground so I decided to form an array on beneath him. The array released a strong blast of magic that threw him in the air. “s**t!” I heard him yell when he was falling to the ground.

“Learn how to land on your feet,” I yelled but he was probably too panicked to hear so he landed on the ground with his face hitting the ground first. I winced as I imagine the pain but it was part of learning. Besides, he's a progenitor. He won't die just from accumulating a few injuries.

“I told you to land on your feet,” I said and walked to him to look down on him. He raised his head and he was bleeding. Blood was dripping from his chin and it made me sigh.

“I’m not a cat,” He said while glaring at me so I was crotched down and flicked his forehead.

“I know that but you need to learn how to land on your feet. You can’t just fall from the sky and hit your head on the ground when you’re fighting your enemies.” I said and he stood up. Blood was still dripping from his head so he wiped it off. I stood up as well and attempted to heal his wound. I wasn't supposed to help him but seeing the injuries he has, I couldn't help it.

“I need to become strong so don’t help me. My body can heal on its own according to Alystair so just hit me with everything you’ve got.” He said which surprised me.

“I’m relieved that you feel that way. Now, I won’t hold back,” I said and stomped on the ground sending a magical force to the ground which was released under Zynrick. He was sent flying to the sky and I could see how hard he was trying to make sure to land properly. But he still fell on the ground with his body landing with a loud thud.

“Go again,” He said after standing up and so I did. We repeated the same thing and he was already badly injured so I stopped on the tenth try.

“Let’s rest for now,” I said when I saw how bad his injuries were but he shook his head.

“Let’s go for another one. This time I’ll make sure to land properly.” He said with determination but I shook my head. He isn’t used to being injured and his body was taking it’s time to heal. I know that a progenitor wouldn’t die easily but his injuries were already really bad and I didn’t want to push him until he couldn’t stand anymore.

“No, your body won’t be able to take it,” I said but he shook his head. He was so stubborn so I just released a sigh before nodding.

“Fine, but after this one, you’ll let me heal you before we go back to training,” I said and he answered with a nod. He prepared himself and stood straight in front of me before taking a deep breath.

I threw him up into the air and took a gulp. I had my fingers crossed that he would land on his feet. I looking at him hoping he’d succeed but when he couldn’t balance himself I closed my eyes. As much as I wanted to make him descend slowly it was his choice to be thrown into the air.

“Alright! I did it!” I heard him yell so I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was standing on the ground with blood dripping on his shirt but he was really happy from being able to land properly that he was jumping around like he didn't have any injuries.

“Sit down and let me treat you so we can continue,” I commanded and he nodded. As I was healing him I couldn’t understand why he had a smile on his face despite the wounds he had.

“It’s just landing. You still have a long way to go,” I said and he nodded with the smile on his face. “I know but I’m glad I was able to do that.”

I ignored what he said and when he was fully healed I stood a few feet away from him and did my fighting stance. “Make sure you can block me,” I said and started to kick him. I first did a forty-five-degree kick and he was able to block with his arm. I followed with a roundhouse kick and he managed to block. I kept on exchanging between a forty-five-degree kick and a roundhouse. When he was steadily blocking me I decided to do a turning roundhouse that landed on his face.

“Ouch!” I heard him say but I didn’t stop. I followed with an ax kick but he dodged by moving to the side. I kept on attacking him but he would just dodge me.

“You should learn how to attack,” I said while attacking. “But I don’t hit girls,” He answered making me clench my jaw. I quickened my pace and landed a punch on his philtrum which made his nose bleed.

“You should learn how to fight women. Your chivalry would be useless during battle. A fight is a fight. It doesn’t matter who you’re fighting because your life and the life of people you want to protect are on the line. So, there isn’t room for hesitation.” I said and kicked him once again. I went back to attacking him but this time he wasn’t just blocking and dodging. He was already trying his best to attack me but his attempts failed.

“You’re too slow! Try to move faster,” I said and he did but his movements still seemed sluggish. After three hours our exchanging punches and kicks he fell on the ground and raised his arms in surrender.

“I don’t want to continue,” He said while catching his breath. He was sitting on the floor and blood was dripping from his nose. I stood in front of him and tried to even my breathing. That was exhausting.

“Do you think that if you asked your enemy for a break they’d let you catch your breath?” I asked and he answered by shaking his head. As much as I wanted to continue training him I was already too tired to continue. I guess it was another side effect of being asleep. “We’ll continue tomorrow then,” I said and walked into the chateau.

I took a shower and went downstairs to wait for Alystair. I couldn't help but think about what Yuriko told me. I was bothered by the idea of having familiars. Having familiars is such a huge deal that my mind couldn’t rest without confirming anything with Alystair.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be resting?” I asked when I saw Zynrick in the kitchen. He had a coffee cup in front of him and he seemed like he was thinking about something.

He raised his head and looked at me. He gave me a small smile before sipping something from his cup. “I just wanted to have a drink,” He said and washed the cup. The liquid that dripped on the sink didn’t escape my eyes.

“You were drinking blood, weren't you?” I asked and leaned on the table. His head quickly snapped towards me but he didn’t look straight into my eyes. Instead, he lowered his gaze and looked at the ground.

“Yeah,” He answered almost inaudibly. Seeing a vampire drink blood isn’t new but what made me wonder was the fact that he was drinking blood from a cup. Athaeas used to have a harem of women ready to have their blood sucked but as I think about it I don’t think I’ve ever seen Zynrick suck someone’s blood.

“Why are you drinking blood from a cup?” I asked making him shift his gaze. I could see that he was uncomfortable with the conversation but I just wanted to know.

“I don’t feel comfortable sucking people’s blood,” He answered and finished washing his cup. “I’ll go to sleep. Good night,” He said and attempted to leave but I stopped him by grabbing his wrist. He turned and looked at his wrist before looking at my eyes.

“That wasn’t human blood was it?” I asked while holding onto his wrist. “I don’t want to talk about this,” He whispered but I still didn’t let go. I wanted to know what’s wrong with him. Why isn’t he drinking any human blood? I decided to press on the topic so instead of letting him go I tightened my grip around his wrist.

“You should have a first blood companion. Where’s she or he?” I asked. As I think about it now, I've never been introduced to anyone else. We haven't talked about him having any blood companions either.

I thought he would answer but I was shocked when he pulled his wrist away and twisted my arm. He pulled me towards him so my back was now against his chest. He then placed his hand around my neck as if to warn me that he’s ready to strangle me.

I saw how his eyes turned red and his fangs sharpened but I didn’t flinch. I was used to being threatened. This was nothing new to me. “I said I don’t want to talk about it so stop asking,” He said in my ear through gritted teeth. I could feel his chest heaving heavily behind me. I could tell that he was mad.

I didn't want to let go of the topic but he was still unstable and I don't know what might happen if he loses control. As strong as I am, I haven't fully recovered my powers. In addition to that, he just finished drinking blood that makes him stronger than he was before. “Fine,” I answered not wanting to anger him any more. He released me and turned his back on me. I watched him leave the kitchen and walk to his room.

The way he reacted to my question made me wonder about his past even more. I don’t even know mine but I was thinking about another person’s. But as I look back at the information Erin told me, I think his attitude has something to do with Alystair’s family. Now, this made me want to investigate.

I prepared myself a cup of tea and sat on the living room couch pondering about Zynrick’s past as I wait for Alystair. I don’t know how long I’ve been thinking but I jolted when I heard the door open.

I waited for him to walk into the kitchen and when he saw me he had his eyebrows furrowed while looking at me. “You seem like you were waiting for me,” He said and sat on the chair in front of me.

“I went to the fairy realm yesterday,” I said making him squint his eyes at me.

“How did you know where it is? As far as I know, there aren't many people who know about it.” He asked while looking at me intently.

“I don’t know. I just snapped my finger while thinking of the fairy realm and I was automatically teleported there,” I answered but he didn’t seem to believe me. Luckily, I didn’t care because it’s not the reason why I waited for him.

“That’s beside the point. I waited because Yuriko told me that I used to have familiars,” I said making him furrow his eyebrows.

"Yuriko? Who is that?" He asked with suspicion on his face. Shouldn't he know who she is? He seems like someone knowledgeable about the other races.

"I think she's the head of the fairy realm," I answered with uncertainty. Alystair sighed and leaned back on his chair. He ran his hands over his face in frustration and asked, "Is she someone you can trust?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and said, "Yeah, she showed me her memories. Besides, my intuition is telling me to believe her,"

He sighed and said, "You shouldn't trust anyone easily especially since you don't have your memories,"

I scoffed and responded with, "I shouldn't be trusting you then because as far as I can remember, you're a stranger to me,"

I could see the visible frustration in his face. I wanted to laugh at him but I don't want to piss him off and make him leave. I still need information about my familiars.

"Back to what I wanted to ask, do you know if I have familiars?" I asked. I can't let the chance of asking him to pass by.

“What type of familiars?” He asked while leaning on the chair with his arms and legs crossed.

“I don’t know,” I answered. I heard him release a sigh so I turned to look at him. He was massaging his temples and he seemed stressed out.

“Is that all the information you know?” He asked and looked at me. I contemplated whether to tell him what Yuriko showed me and what happened in the fairy realm. I wanted to tell him but he’ll surely get mad and he’ll probably give me that magic canceling bracelet again.

“That’s all I know,” I answered. “Well, the AMF sent out a team to eradicate any living fairies at the fairy realm,” He said while eyeing me.

“They did what?” I asked pretending not to know what had happened. I could feel my heart pounding as he stares at me meaningly.

“Don’t act dumb. I’m sure you have something to do with it,” He said accusingly. I took a deep breath and glared at him. I need to up my acting game.

“What made you think I was involved?” I asked in anger. I didn’t want to be constricted by the bracelet again so acting like I’m ignorant about the incident seems to be the best way to go.

“The people went there couldn’t be tracked and a new type of barrier was erected which made it difficult to identify the whereabouts of the fairy realm.” He answered, “And since you told me that you were there I’m sure that you were involved.” He said confidently. I was about to say something but stopped when he spoke.

“I’ll overlook this incident since what you did was clean. They couldn’t figure out who did what and they don’t have enough evidence to accuse us. But if you do something that would harm us I wouldn’t even think twice about killing you.” He said and stood up. He was about to leave but I stopped him.

“What about my familiars? Do you know anything about that?” I asked and he shook his head.

“As far as I know we don’t have any records about you having familiars but I’ll make sure to look into it. It’ll prove to be useful to you. Also, how was training with Zynrick?” He asked and I sighed.

“It’ll take us a long time before I could bring him to his full potential,” I answered honestly. His face turned sour at what I said.

“Well, you better train him fast. The government is slowly siding with the AMF and if we can’t find Athaeas by then we won’t be able to find out what had happened to him.” He said in a serious tone.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” I answered and let him go. Something bad might have happened for him to act that way.

I looked at Zynrick’s room and took a deep breath. It seems that using his past against him might be the only way to bring out his strength. I thought so I went out and headed towards the laboratory to look for information about him.