Chapter 251

After shaking the Headmaster’s hand firmly, Cynrik stepped back and turned to speak with Doctor Oswurn, but when he did, the man was no longer sitting and had seemingly vanished into thin air, making him open his eyes wide in confusion.

“Did he just…huh?” looking around the room for any sign of the Doctor, Cynrik eventually faced the Headmaster with eyes full of confusion, only to find Geralt smiling and fighting back laughter.

“You see, he does that from time to time. If you think the Head Dean is impatient, you’ve got another thing coming when it deals with Doctor Oswurn. I’ve known the man for decades, and I still have no idea how he can just up and vanish like that.

“Fuck, that’s creepy, he can’t do that around me too many times, or I’ll start believing I have schizophrenia.” Shrugging his shoulders and activating [Mana Sight] just in case, Cynrik casually glanced around the room before saying what was on his mind.

“HAHAHA! There is no need to be so paranoid young Ivar; once he pulls that vanishing act, Doctor Oswurn usually returns to his office, where he non-stop reads the latest published psychology papers online.” Letting out a strained laugh, Headmaster Rivia leaned down, picked up the documents he had received before the meeting, and began sifting through them.

“Now that it’s just the two of us give me a full report of all your findings.” Dividing all the files into orderly piles based on who the subject was, Headmaster Rivia pushed their previous conversation aside and wanted to know everything Cynrik knew.

—

Meanwhile, as the third portion of the meeting was going on, Brance was still out cold, sprawled out on his back in the training room with sweat soaking through his workout clothes. Every few seconds, his eyes would stir restlessly under his eyelids, giving the image that he was having a nightmare.

GASP

Suddenly, he inhaled a sharp breath and shot forward, sitting upright with wide-open eyes. However, unlike his usual natural violet color, Brance’s iris were currently a brilliant shade of gold, all while being unfocused. His jet black hair with aqua and tan highlights was pure white. Delicate golden markings in different slash-like shapes were scattered across his entire face accenting his high cheekbones and sharp jawline, while his skin had tanned slightly and radiated in a pale white light. The last two physical feature alterations were just behind Brance’s shoulder blades: a pair of glowing golden, feathered Mana Wings.

Although Brance had never shown Cynrik this sight before, what he was manifesting now were the two unique skills he had acquired after his bloodline increased post Evolution to Tier-1 and Tier-2. Similar to how Cynrik has his Húðflúr and now Æsir Mode, Brance had unlocked facial markings in the form of an ancient language of the Seraphim, called Enochian, which glowed in golden light.

The name of this skill was in said language, but once deciphered by [Language Proficiency], the strange stick-like letters formed the words “Nephilim Crest.” At first, the markings only showed up under his eyes and along his cheekbones, but now, after reaching 10% in his Lightbringer bloodline, they had extended down across his face, neck, and to his collar bones.

As a result of his bloodline increase after the Tier-2 Evolution, Brance had developed a second unique ability that, once translated from Enochian, was called [Nephilim Mode]. When activated, his eyes changed color; his skin glowed, and he sprouted two transparent, feathery appendages on his back.

However, unlike Cynrik, who by this point could pretty much control his two bloodline skills, Brance had a serious problem. It had a lot to do with the mysterious voice in his head. Whenever Brance activated his Nephilim Crest, the voice became furious as if on stimulants and tried to force him to do its bidding, such as killing Benny and Gabby and even attacking Cynrik, who the voice seemed to view as an abomination because of his Dark Affinity.

Yet, after deactivating the strange golden markings, the mysterious voice would fall silent as if it had fallen asleep. For a while, this was how Brance had controlled this thing in his head. Whenever he found it too annoying or distracting, by simply activating his [Nephilim Crest], the voice would effectively power it down for a while.

Unfortunately, this was only temporary, as when it “woke up,” the Divinity Spirit would not shut up for hours on end. Things only got worse with the addition of [Nephilim Mode].

Brance suddenly came to, sitting up and looking down at his hands in sadness. From his glowing skin to the unmistakable weight on his back and the fact that he could see Mana particles without using [Mana Sight], Brance realized that both his bloodline skills had forcefully awakened. At the same time, he was unconscious, a sign that he was steadily losing control of his own body when he slept.

‘Tobs, how long was I out for?’ Taking a deep breath, Brance withdrew his two skills and returned to his usual self while closing his eyes.

-In total, four and a half hours. You were unconscious for 2 hours and asleep for 1, the remaining hour and a half, you were in a half-awake state.-

‘Let me guess, during that semi-conscious/half-awake state; I had my Crest and [Nephilim Mode] active. Benny or Cynrik didn’t see me, did they?’ Brance could feel his heart rate accelerate at the thought of being found out after hiding his bloodline skills for so long.

-Correct on the first point, and as for being found out, neither Host Cynrik nor Benjamin Sanford found you. Host Cynrik woke up, showered, made some coffee, and left promptly at 6:30 Am before you had even activated your bloodline skills.-

Releasing a sigh of relief, Brance got up and stretched his sore muscles. Sleeping on the ground, no matter how soft the padding in the training room was, hurt. Not only was his whole body stiff from sleeping on the floor, but it was also a side effect of his inability to control his two skills. The [Nephilim Mode] constantly drained Stamina but, in return, boosted his STR, AGI, and DEX by 35% so long as it was active. In contrast, his Crest would steadily drain his MP for an increase in INT and Mana Control.

When he first learned what these two skills could do, Brance was ecstatic; the increase to basically all his stats was a good thing, but the adverse effects and the increased activity of the Divinity Spirit made the two skills virtually unusable for Brance.

This was evident by the fact that the few times he had willingly activated his [Nephilim Mode], his mind blanked out, and he found himself in Benny’s room, standing over his sleeping friend when he came to. After discussing it with Tobs, Brance came to realize that whenever he activated the skill, the Divinity Spirit would temporarily have partial control over his body. Finding out what was happening forced Brance to seal the skills and never willingly use them unless it was a last resort kind of situation. Which made him sad because it felt like he was underperforming. In contrast, Cynrik and the others could all use the full extent of their abilities.

‘Tobs, if it happens again, is there any way for you to, I don’t know, shock me awake or something?’ Brance asked as he put away the training equipment and Combat Droid back into their storage lockers.

-Negative, the only option available would be to have Host Cynrik or another member of your Party wake you up forcefully.-

Hearing her words, Brance sighed and looked up at the training room’s ceiling aimlessly.

‘Hey, Tobs, I know you probably will say what I don’t want to hear, but do you have any opinions on what I should do?’

★Give in, let your true nature take hold of you, and fulfill the destiny bestowed upon you by our Lord, the God of Light.★

‘Should I just stop being stubborn and fill Cyn in on what is happening? I know he would probably kick my ass and pout for a bit, but if anyone can figure this shit out, it would be him.’

★The tainted Dark Affinity Æsir boy knows not; this is YOUR path, not his. How dare you defy our Lord when his words are law that you must always follow. Cease this insolence and give in; come to light and be who you were born to be.★

Ignoring the deep and angelic voice ringing in his ears, Brance squinted while clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles popped loudly. He desperately wanted to scream or thrash about, but knowing it wouldn’t stop the voice from harassing him, Brance gritted his teeth and went to take a shower instead.

As he had expected, Tobs remained silent and didn’t respond to his questions, leaving his mind a chaotic mess of anger and anguish. But unfortunately, now wasn’t the time for him to dwell on these problems. When Brance arrived in his bedroom, he checked the clock on his nightstand beside his bed and saw that there were only around 30 minutes until he had to wake up Benny and call the girls to come over so that they could do their morning workouts.

Fortunately, one of those things didn’t have to happen because when Brance finished showering and changed into a silver tank-top and white joggers, he found Benny already awake and drinking freshly brewed coffee in the living room with the Holo-Tv on.

“Morning, Brance; how long have you been up?” Making a gesture towards the kitchen to indicate there was plenty of coffee left, Benny asked.

“Not long, maybe 10-15 minutes; I took a quick shower since I woke up late. Did you call the girls yet, or am I doing it?” Noticing that Benny was already dressed in similar clothes to his own but in blue, Brance hurried to the kitchen and poured himself a mug of coffee before joining his roommate in the living room.

“Yeah, not happening; between my little sister, and that demon woman Selene, I would rather not have my ears bleed so early in the morning. I don’t have a free pass like you since you’re dating one of them.” Rolling his eyes, Benny flipped through the channels on the Holo-Tv while Brance sighed heavily and pulled up Gabby’s contact information on his Watcet.

It took him over ten calls to finally wake up Gabby and tell her to get ready for morning workouts, but when he was finished, he leaned back on the couch and looked at Benny, who was snickering at his expense. As someone who knows Gabby the best, Benny was well aware of how difficult a task Brance had just completed was, and when he finished his coffee, Benny got up, went to the kitchen, and returned with the whole pot to fill up Brance’s cup without being asked.

“Oi, I don’t know why it’s so funny to you, Benny; she’s YOUR little sister; shouldn’t you have broken her of the habit of sleeping like a rock when she was little?” Brance said with a scowl.

“That may be true, but the time a brother spends with his little sister is nothing compared to that of her future husband, my dear future brother-in-law.” Benny retorted sarcastically.

“Oh ho ho, it looks like you’re growing a pair on yah; how bout you give Melly a call and have her join us for morning workouts?” Suddenly coming up with an idea to get back at Benny, Brance wiggled his eyebrows and elbowed him in the ribs, making Benny nearly spit out a mouth full of hot coffee all over the carpet.

“That…um wwh…why would I invite Melody over? I’m sure she’s busy studying or helping her Mom at the waffle stand.” Studdering his sentence and shakily raising his coffee cup to his lips, Benny tried to make excuses. Still, as he did, Brance caught his left arm, punched in the correct keycode, and swiftly dialed Melody’s phone number leaving Benny an uncomfortable mess.

When a sleepy and cute girl’s voice answered the call, Benny froze and shot a scared look at Brance, who mouthed the words, “serves you right for teasing me, good luck.”

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