Chapter 98: A Madman

Chapter 98: A Madman

Chapter 98

A Madman

Derrek sat in silence, his mind adrift. There were voices that he kept at bay. Words that he purposefully shut out from his mind. His heart astir, he wanted to crawl into his bed, cover himself with a tidy blanket, and forget. Forget what he had just been told. Forget what he had just witnessed. Cracking his head forward, he saw Sylas stare at him quizzically. An ordinary-looking man. Who just informed him... he had created a Way. And not just that, but how he created the way.

Though Derrek knew for a while now that Sylas had decent compatibility with the Cosmic Divinity, as even upon just being taught, he seemed familiar with it, there was a huge difference between decent compatibility and the ability to rewrite the codes of reality. Furthermore, how he went about rewriting them was what struck Derrek like a bolt of thunder.

The way of becoming a Bloodstone Knight, though trial-ridden, wasnt necessarily hard; it was about using energy to create a dam of sorts within the veins, temporarily stopping the blood flow. Bit by bit, it was about acclimating the body to the sensation until the dam could be built permanently. The next step was building a series of these dams to reverse the flow of blood, bit by bit.

It was a process that took decades at minimum due to the fact that it redefined the base body structure. After all, changing the nature of ones body wasnt only beyond difficult, it was always life-threatening. There was a reason for the things to be the way they were, and altering them always bore that chance of lethal outcome.

And yet, Derrek was still stunned. Even just accomplishing that within the few months would have sent him on a downward spiral of doubt. But Sylas didnt accomplish just that. In fact, he did something that shouldnt be possible--coating the entirety of his blood in energy and halting that blood inside the veins. He wasnt building dams to artificially stop the blood flow... he was taking every single drop of blood and individually stopping its movement.

Of course, Derrek bitterly mused. Of course he would create a new Way. It would be stranger if he didnt. Nobody was mad or crazed or resilient enough to even toy with the idea. The very notion of using energy--an inherently volatile substance that could go off at the slightest misstep--to manipulate body in any grand way beyond the basic enhancements was unheard of. It would be like purposefully shooting poison directly into ones heart--and just a drop or two, but an entire bowl of it.

Way of Madness... it was a suitable name. No, theres perhaps no other name it could bear. As only the mad and the crazed would entertain the idea. No, Derrek shook his head. This went beyond that. Even people crazy enough to try had the instinctual, survival instinct that would prevent them from pushing it much further than the initial stages. After all, the certainty of death was absolute. At least, all of Derreks lifelong experiences told him so. And yet, they were defied. Defied by a strange man who could barely use magic a few months ago.

Yo, world to Derrek, you there? Sylas called him out, but Derrek didnt know how to respond. This was beyond him.

He was just a student of a Way--someone blessed by the minutia of talent that allowed him to transcend ordinary humanity, but that was it. He wasnt anybody special, anybody outlandish, and certainly not anybody who defied the laws of nature. To him, magic was means of survival, means of affording himself a slight edge against the ever-growing aspects of death. It wasnt a way for him to carve out a name in histories, and certainly not means of becoming something impossible.

To freeze ones blood, drop by drop, through magic... shouldnt be possible. And yet, Derrek witnessed it. Sylas showed it to him. He showed him seeps of energy spread out throughout the veins, the tiny canals that should blow up upon the touch of energy. He saw the tendrils of it wrap around the blood that should vaporize upon the touch of energy. Yet, all his expectations were defied. None of that happened. It was the opposite.

Fuck off! Derrek, for the first time in many, many, many years cursed, instinctively so. The very notion that hed want to do anything close to what Sylas did... was insane. Yes, insane.

Eh? Did I stir some fire in you? Nice, nice, Sylas nodded with a smile. But seriously... haah. And I swore to myself Id be smarter. And yet... I just continued doing the same thing. Stubbornly hitting the wall without asking questions. You know, I thought I was just a talentless hack, and what came naturally to other people was beyond difficult for me. Thats why I kept trying. Even when the shit fried my blood--literally--I figured, hey, others probably knew how to control it. Im just stupid. Magic doesnt come naturally to me. So, I kept banging my head against the wall, time and again.

...

In a way, I suppose, he continued. I really am the only one who could develop it. Ah, shit, that came out super condescending. I didnt mean it like that.

May as well, Derrek said. Because I can echo that statement. Nobody else could develop it. No, forget that--nobody would even entertain the idea. Any body modifications through magic are very limited. We mostly augment our armor and weapons, using them to strengthen the bodies. Applying magic directly... perhaps only the Bloodard Tattoos compare. But even they are extremely risky with very limited effects.

Well, I guess, the next thing would be reversing my blood flow, Sylas continued. And play around with it since I can coat my blood with energy in its entirety. Maybe split it in half, or puncture wounds to use my blood like bullets, or something like that?

... the... the end-goal of every Bloodstone Knight, Derrek said. Is condensing a Blood Heart.

A Blood Heart?

Hm, he nodded. Its the final transformation I talked to you about--taking every ounce of your blood and ripping it out of your body and surviving. The Knight, then, condenses that blood into a Blood Heart before injecting it back into their body. This, for instance, on the base level gives you another source of blood when you are wounded so you dont bleed out. It also increases your bodys natural regeneration. Furthermore, you can then try condensing extra Hearts. The most Ive heard anyones done is four. It was a leader of the Order at one point, know by his title only--the Immortal. Supposedly, he lived to be two hundred and forty-four years old and the only reason he died... is because he killed himself. He cut his throat and hung himself upside down, bleeding for four days and nights straight before finally running out of blood and dying.

... Wait, isnt that really fucking bad for me? Sylas frowned. He actually prided himself on the fact that he could end his life fairly quickly. But, if each time he wanted to reset the loop, he had to hang himself upside down with cut throat and bleed for days...

Of course, this was a long time ago, so chances are that some parts of it are greatly exaggerated, Derrek added. But, nonetheless, it is true that the more Blood Hearts you have, the harder it is to kill you. Naturally, beheadings and such still easily do you in, but things like stabs and cuts and general battle wounds tend to be much easier to endure. Bloodstone Knights in the Order arent treated as Knights--but like war soldiers. In fact, most of them are directly under the King himself in his personal Legion, and are one of the spearheads of our army should we ever go to war.

... it doesnt hurt to experiment, Sylas sighed, looking at the palm of his hand. Immortality, though, is one thing I dont lack. But... well see. Aye. Well see. Im not a Bloodstone Knight, after all. Apparently... Im a Madman.