"What do we have here?"
Drenvar asked as he loomed over Vacuse, a red aura rippling around them, sending their robes fluttering.
Vacuse stared up at his father and wanted to jump and bury his sword in the man's throat. But he held himself back because he would be dead before he even reached the man.
He had mistakenly let his bloodlust loose the other time, and Drenvar had reacted quite sharply to it.
He bowed his head. "My name is Vacuse, Your Grace."
Drenvar stared at him for a while, and the pressure coming from him increased. The air turned thick and heavy, coiling around Vacuse's limbs like a weight.
"Vacuse, why are you still standing?"
Vacuse blinked in surprise; he didn't understand what Drenvar was saying. He thought the man had found out about his bloodlust intent earlier, but he was asking a completely different question. "Why am I still standing?"
"Yes, you are a child, and yet you are withstanding the aura pressure. You are standing the domination from a Soulbearer!" Drenvar's eyes glittered as if he'd suddenly found a gem among trash.
Vacuse wasn't even thinking about that. How much pressure and dominance had he withstood in his past life? And after going back and restarting his life, death seemed to have increased his mental attributes to a higher level.
Drenvar straightened, and the aura around him vanished. He looked around. On one side of the room appeared children that seemed to have been beaten to near death; there were even sword marks on some of their bodies.
And on the other side were children that were kneeling, their swords discarded in a heap.
"What happened here?" Drenvar asked again.
The head servant hurried forward, his hands twisting together. He fell to his knees. "Your Grace! It's, it's that child! Vacuse, he fought all of the children this morning and maimed more than half of them and made the others surrender to him!"
"Ah?" Drenvar said, and his eyes turned back to Vacuse. "You did this?"
Vacuse's face was calm and composed, and he nodded. "I did."
Drenvar grinned, an ugly grin, and the energy around him turned chaotic. His aura pressure appeared once more, but much stronger and potent. It surged toward Vacuse and stabbed into him like dozens of swords.
Vacuse froze.
His eyes went wide.
He tried to resist it, but it was more powerful than he could handle, and he fell to his knees, his face blank and his muscles slack.
Drenvar took a step forward and loomed over him once more. "Look at this bastard; he's still holding on to his sword."
He withdrew his aura, and his hand went down to grip Vacuse's hair, lifting him up with it until they were eye to eye.
They stared at each other.
Red against red.
Vacuse's heart began to beat fast; the pain from his head made his hand twitch, and he nearly brought his hand up in a slash.
Drenvar narrowed his eyes. "Are you looking for my attention, boy? Is that why you did it? Disrupting my rules because you want to show off?"
The veins on Vacuse's head were throbbing, and the flesh pulled taut; it was so painful, but he gritted his teeth to show no pain. And he answered the question. "I did it because I could. They were too weak to fight me."
Drenvar's hand tightened, and Vacuse bit back a wince of pain. "About the rules, I only follow the law of the Vorrakyn. Once the day breaks, the rite of the Blood Hearts already starts."
Drenvar stared at Vacuse for a long time.
Vacuse could barely breathe.
Drenvar wanted to find someone that would carry on his dream, but only someone he could control. He'd killed talents that seemed troublesome to him. He's a selfish bastard like that.
Vacuse's heart was beating fast because Drenvar might just kill him because he behaved in a rebellious manner.
His hand tightened on his hair as if he was seconds away from ripping it from his head.
Eventually, he snorted and threw him away, snorting. "It seems we have an attention-seeking whore here."
Vacuse gripped his head; warm, red liquid trickled down his scalp, and some of his hair had come loose. He lowered his head to hide the hatred that bubbled in his eyes.
"One day, one day, Drenvar, and I'll have your head in my hand."
Drenvar looked around and scowled. "The rest of them will become the servants of the House. Pick some good ones among them to be trained as guards. They can't even make it to the rite."
Then he looked at Vacuse. "Hummm, you, boy. Come with me."
Kragthar was the ancient city of the Vorrakyn; it was where their territory began and where they built their power back in the day. And now it's the only city that's under their direct control.
All the other towns they have are slowly being taken over by others.
The city was big and sprawled like a sleeping beast curling around its treasure, the Kragthar Castle. It was built in the center of the city.
A majestic castle with tall pillars and the intimidating statues of dragons and their kin decorating the whole place. Knights stood at attention at all corners, ready for action.
"Go on, eat up," Drenvar said.
Inside the castle in the dining area, Drenvar sat at the head of the table, and beside him sat his two children, also six, and on the other end sat Vacuse.
On the other side sat Skya and some of the other members, including the mother of the twins, Drenvar's wife.
Vacuse stared at the food and tried to determine if it was poisoned, but he soon gave up as his mouth watered, and he dug in, eating without restraint.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked up with his mouth full.
Everyone was looking at him, and most of their faces were filled with disgust.
"An animal is sitting at our table."