Chapter 97: Changes

[ I told you she has a special physique.]

'She didn't act weirdly at all. Her heartbeat went up for a while, but that was it. She controlled it afterwards.' Keith thought.

[We need to give her two flowers from now on to see how she will react.]

'I told you. We are doing this in a safe manner and I won't give her more than one flower. Even if she doesn't feel anything, it's still risky. And the flowers will run out soon. We can't just pluck all the flowers out of the tree.' Keith objected to the system's idea.

Creak! 

"Young master! You didn't sleep last night?" Rena walked inside with a glass of blood.

She looked more cheerful with an incredible fettle, with an aura of confidence around her.

"I don't need sleep, don't you know? By the way, how do you feel? I can see your body is in excellent condition." Keith inquired.

"I ate that flower as you said and after I woke up, my entire body was brimming with energy. What is this magical flower? I've never felt better as I do right now. I can run through the entire Ennes castle and won't break a sweat." Rena replied nonchalantly.

"Do you feel anything except that?" Keith asked carefully.

"Not particularly. There was that odd sensation after consuming the flower but I immediately suppressed it or I would've made a fool  out of myself." Rena replied shyly.

"Then there is nothing wrong. It appears you have a special body and somehow you can absorb more life energy than regular humans. Did something like this ever happen to you in the Ennes castle?" 

Rena thought long and hard about her time at the castle, but nothing came to her mind. 

"I am an orphan and don't know much about my parents. I was raised in Ennes castle and I have no recollection of something extraordinary happening to me. My entire life has been simple and repetitive." Rena replied with a thoughtful gaze.

"Maybe, you haven't been exposed to this kind of energy before. There is nothing else except for blood-qi in our region. These kinds of exotic plants are a rarity even in the capital." 

Keith didn't know why Rena was different from other humans, but it was evident that she didn't encounter any extraordinary events in her life. She was raised in the Ennes castle and then she became a maid when she turned thirteen. Coincidently, nobody wanted such a flimsy and weak human as a maid, so she was assigned to Keith as a result.

"Rena, I want you to consume one flower each day and tell me the results the next morning. I need to confirm this. If you have a special physique I have to figure it out somehow." Keith said.

"You are going to give me these flowers indefinitely? Are they not rare?" Rena asked with a concerned face.

She thought it was kind of a one-off thing that she consumed for a day or two. To use these precious flowers every day, she wondered where Keith brought them from.

"Don't worry. I found them in the forest. I have a limited supply, probably enough for around three weeks. By then, your physique would be brimming with energy." 

"Young master, when I become strong enough, I can protect you right?" Rena looked at Keith enthusiastically.

"Umm... If you can become as strong as me then sure... I don't have to worry about your safety all the time. Maybe you can tag along with me to the blood forest." Keith casually said.

Reaching the same level as Keith was almost impossible for a human. Humans didn't have any means to store life energy within their body, unlike vampires who acquire the blood-qi from birth.

The plant also had limited life energy that could increase the life energy inside her to the level of the seventh or eighth stage of blood condensing, which in the academy didn't mean much. Even barons were commonplace on the campus so a slightly strong human was not eye-catching.

Also, he didn't know if he could find more plants like this one. It was planted several decades ago and didn't even reach the height of his pinky. So finding such a rare plant was harder than finding bloodstones.

"Don't think about that now. It will only stress you out. Our strength differs by a lot and to reach my stage you would need thousands of flowers like this." Keith reminded her.

"I haven't seen the blood forest my entire life, I would love to take a stroll with you. How can I not imagine? I don't have much to do these days except run around the place. I know it's too much to ask for humans, but I wish to explore the world as you do." Rena blurted out.

"You don't seem to realize how dangerous the blood forest and the outside world are. The beasts living there can kill you in seconds. It's hard for barons to contain them. If it was not for the academy guarding the beasts, we would be swarmed by wild beasts by now."

"It's the reality… Humans are too weak to do anything outside their safe space. It's a slaughterhouse outside. You know why humans stay in restricted zones. Because if a vampire sees them outside they will hunt them down. Keeping them in one place and guarding them, saves them from outsiders.

"Here, you are under me like the servants brought by other students. You are safe because you are associated with us. If you take one step outside the academy, no one would recognize you. Well, technically, getting out of the residential place is enough to put you in danger." Keith explained.

"But I can get stronger, won't I? At least enough to not hinder your actions." Rena said hopefully.

"Maybe... Someday. Not now though. You are like a fly to the vampires."

"I know my place. I was just expressing my hopes for the future. You don't have to think so hard about me. It's alright, I have always found peace by your side. As long as you don't abandon me, I am happy." 

"Oh… Okay, I might have to leave you in Ennes castle for better protection." Keith added sarcastically.

"Young master!" Rena almost teared up.

"I was kidding…. It was a joke." Keith coughed.

"Then I will ask Master Ennes to send you vials of my blood after I offer myself to be turned into your personal blood bank," Rena replied seriously.

"…" Keith stared at her with panic.

"What? I can't joke?" Rena wiped the slight tears from her eyes and pouted.

"That seemed a bit serious to be a joke," Keith said.

"Well, I don't have anything better to do and contribute to you, so…" 

"Alright, let's forget about that discussion. I need to go to the training facility. You go back to your room and finish what you have to do." 

Keith walked outside of his room with Rena. She went back to her room and Keith headed to the training facility. 

It was still morning, and he didn't receive any messages regarding the blood summoning class. He thought about practicing with the duo in the training facility before going to the blood summoning class.

He arrived at the usual spot where they used to practice and the duo was still there. Sen was quietly watching Garion, who was practicing his warrior frame and displaying his superior martial arts synergy. 

"You guys were here the entire night?" Keith asked.

"No, we left for a short break but returned around two in the morning. And what about the night? Students usually don't leave the training center for days. Rarely anyone stays at their place at night. You are in your first year, so you haven't gotten used to it yet." Garion appeared in front of Keith and explained.  He was dripping with sweat after the intense practice. 

"That's why I don't find any students in my residential building most of the time. Still, I like to go back to my room to condense in peace." Keith shrugged.

As he looked at Garion, he noticed that his warrior frame is perfectly implemented and his output has increased a lot. Because of that, he could take his martial arts to the next level. Before this, his speed was very slow due to the wrong implementation.

Now, however, he could get much better speed with the revised warrior frame. His efficiency went up significantly. With better implementation, Garion could increase his speed with that explosive strength, which was holding him back.

He glanced at Sen who was looking at him expectantly.  Kieth took out the scroll from his chest pocket and threw it to him.

"It's all here. Try it now and see the difference." Keith pointed to the scroll.

Before Keith could finish, Sen tore the sealing and opened the scroll. He read through the instructions and the revised blood warrior frame and immediately closed his eyes. He calmed his mind and focused seriously on his warrior frame.

He looked for the places where warrior frame joints were supposed to be and started condensing blood-qi to create new joints. He followed the instructions written on the scroll step by step and in an hour, he fixed most of his empty joints.

Keith and Garion watched the transformation of Sen as his blood-qi rose to the peak of middle stage baron. Only Keith could see what exactly was going on inside Sen's body.