Tides from the Deep - Blood Devourer

Talia and Keanu carved out a space in Elder Krakatoa’s large arena-like classroom.

Talia eyed Keanu’s two small daggers, then glanced at her own unwieldy glaive.

Despite having grown stronger and leveled up, she still struggled to swing the weapon with ease.

She reasoned that in a real fight, Keanu would probably stab her before she could even realize it.

For now, rogues were definitely the biggest threat to her in battle since she couldn’t easily wield the heavy, metallic glaive.

Keanu put his hands on his sheathed twin dagger pommels.

“Have you ever tried channeling Mana into your glaive?” Keanu asked.

Talia shook her head.

“Not really. I’ve used my blood magic with it, but that’s different.”

Keanu frowned.

“You’re the Kraken Slayer’s daughter, and you don’t know how to coat your weapon with Mana?”

Talia shrugged.

“I’ve never even met my mother.”

“Oh, I’m really sorry,” Keanu said, raising his hands. “But it’s not hard. Here, I can show you.”

He unsheathed a dagger and held it in front of him.

“Once you know how to control your Mana, just imagine it flowing from your navel through your arm and into the weapon. The better you can visualize this process, the more Mana you can discharge onto the blade. Once the Mana is on the blade, the second step is to keep it there and shape it.”

Keanu cut himself off as a deep red Mana coating appeared on Talia’s glaive blade.

“Wait, were you actually making fun of me?” Keanu asked, slightly upset.

Talia didn’t look at him, focusing instead on the coalescing Mana on the blade.

In seconds, the Mana shaped itself over the blade, making it slightly longer and somehow even sharper.

“This is the first time I’ve done it,” Talia said, examining the blade. “Is this it? I’ve done this with my own blood already. I didn’t know you could do it with just Mana.”

Keanu’s mouth hung open. “Is this it? Are you joking? Did you really just learn how to do that?”

Talia nodded.

“Let me be clear. Did you actually just learn how to coalesce Mana onto your blade and pull it off just like that?” Keanu clarified.

Talia nodded again.

“I’m good at Mana control,” Talia shrugged.

“Good?” Keanu said, bringing a hand to his forehead. “You call that good?”

“Okay, I’m pretty good,” Talia laughed. “I’m sorry. What do you want me to say?”

“It’s fine,” Keanu said, almost irritated. “It’s infuriating how good you’re at it.”

He continued, “Anyway, the third step, which I didn’t think I’d have to mention, is making the Mana denser. Monsters have naturally stronger resistance to weapons the higher their level, and of course, based on their species. The squids we faced had very low defense but higher regeneration. Some monsters, especially dungeon bosses, will have incredible resistance. Most Water Riders can’t even injure a boss at their level.”

Talia thought of Lani and how she hadn’t been able to inflict any wounds on the Abyssal Scuttler boss.

“Yeah,” she replied, looking at her glaive. “How do you make it denser?”

“This is more complicated,” Keanu said, scratching his head. “Density is created by essentially pressurizing the Mana, but also circulating it along its natural patterns until it becomes crystallized. Every Affinity has different patterns, though. You have a blood Affinity, right?”

“Yeah,” Talia replied.

“Well, I have a rare Affinity myself,” Keanu said, showing the vibrant yellowy light over his dagger. “Rare affinities are usually the ones we know the least about when it comes to control. I can’t really help you with Blood Water. All I can say is look at the flow of your magic over the blade and try to channel more Mana along the paths you’re able to see. Once you master Mana Crystallization, you’ll be able to slash through pretty much any monster at the Novice Rank.”

Unbeknownst to Keanu, while he had been explaining things, Talia had activated both [Eyes of the Abyss] and [Crimson Wisdom].

She could now see how her magic was creating little vortices and currents over the blade.

They were faint, but she could clearly make them out thanks to the skill.

She tried to channel more Mana into the blade, imagining it following those directions.

Suddenly, the Mana shrank, adhering much more tightly to the blade as if the steel had been coated in a fine layer of rubies.

“You must be joking,” Keanu said, half laughing, half crying. “Are you sure you’re not making fun of me?”

“I have a skill that helps me see Mana,” Talia explained. “It’s… complicated.”

Keanu grinned.

“I wish I had that kind of ‘complicated’ in my life.”

“I’m not sure you would like it,” Talia replied with a grimace.

“Anyway, do you mind me asking what your Affinity is?” she continued.

“Luminescent Water,” he explained. “Watch this.”

With a flick of his wrist, Keanu slashed at the air.

The glowing blade left a trail of light in its wake, and Talia could hear a faint hum as if the blade was cutting through more than just air.

“Is that a weapon-enhancing Affinity?” Talia asked.

Keanu shook his head.

“That’s just a part of what it does. The rest, well, if we ever go on a mission together, I’ll show you. I don’t want to reveal all my secrets, you know?”

Talia shrugged.

“Whatever suits you,” she said.

They looked around and realized that everyone else was still struggling to coalesce Mana over their blades, with a few exceptions, like Lilo and Nami, who had the same crystal-like Mana coating their blades that Talia had just summoned over her glaive.

“Well, we’re done for today,” Keanu said. “It looks like it.”

“Do you mind me asking,” Keanu continued, “your mother was the Kraken Slayer, right? How come you don’t have her Affinity? Usually, such a strong Affinity would be passed down directly. Even if you had multiple affinities, you’d still show at least the lowest level of your mother’s Affinity. Or do you have Star Water but don’t use it?”

“I only have Blood Water,” Talia replied. “I don’t know why I didn’t inherit my mother’s Affinity.”

Keanu realized he had touched on a sensitive topic.

“I didn’t mean to pry,” he said. “You’ve really never met your mother?”

Talia shook her head.

“I never have. I’ve dreamed of her as if she could appear to me in visions, but nothing more than that.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Keanu said. “And what about your father?”

“Never met him,” Talia replied without missing a beat.

“Must have been hard,” Keanu shrugged and continued. “I haven’t met my parents either. I was raised by some friends of my family, and everyone in my little village pitched in.”

“Well, you could say something similar happened to me,” Talia replied, almost laughing out loud at the thought of describing the villagers as ‘pitching in and helping.’

But she didn’t want to dwell on her negative emotions.

“What about your eyes?” Keanu asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What about them?” Talia replied.

“They’re quite unique,” he pointed out. “Do you know why?”

“I don’t know—they’ve always been like this,” Talia replied. “I’ve… always had them? I don’t really know what else to say.”

Keanu gave her a smile and raised his hands.

“I don’t want to pry too much. It’s just, you’re a very interesting person. I was just curious.”

“Don’t worry,” Talia said, “it’s all right. In fact, you really helped us with Professor Iakopo’s test. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to pass it.”

“I don’t think I did the heavy lifting. It was all you and your swordsman friend,” Keanu replied modestly.

“Well, you still helped,” Talia said. “And Elder Krakatoa asked me if I’d like to bring someone to take the School’s test. I’m thinking I might join Elder Krakatoa’s School, so would you be interested?”

Keanu smiled widely and nodded enthusiastically.

“I’d love to. I don’t really have any ties here, and I’d take all the help I can get.”

Talia felt good about herself for offering Keanu the opportunity.

Even though he wasn’t Fiora or Takai, whom she still had to invite, he was a more familiar face than the rest.

The fight aboard Professor Iakopo’s ship and the subsequent days they spent together before arriving at the Academy had forged a bond between them.

After a while, Talia saw Takai taking a break from his sparring partner and approached him.

But before she could reach him, she saw Lilo, with a reddish hue on her cheeks, approach the scrawny guy, who was sitting alone on a wooden bench, toweling off his sweat with his shirt.

“Hey,” Lilo said, addressing Takai.

Takai looked up, his eyes widening as he froze.

He didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry for breaking your sword,” Lilo said.

Takai spasmed, almost not believing that such a beautiful girl, the heir of a Great Family and a promised Kraken Slayer, was talking to him and actually bothering to apologize for damaging a random sword he’d gotten on Solara and which was probably less expensive than Lilo’s hairpin.

Takai, not knowing what to do with his hands, just flailed them around and said, “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

Talia stopped in her tracks, watching the surreal scene and not knowing whether to laugh out loud or go over and help Takai in this interaction.

Before she could decide, Lilo spoke again.

“Your stance was actually very good. Have you ever been taught by your father?”

Takai shook his head.

“My mother taught me. I don’t really remember my father. I was very little when he left.”

Lilo nodded.

“Well, you look like you have a lot of talent, and you are the Sword Demon’s son. I think you would do well if you tried taking the entrance test for Elder Krakatoa’s School. I can vouch for you.”

Talia’s jaw almost hit the floor.

What is happening? she thought. Does Lilo have an interest in Takai?

But before she could process what was happening, Takai refused.

“Oh, that’s really nice of you. But I’ve already joined another school. I’m really sorry.”

Lilo, who probably thought Takai would be over the moon because of her offer, frowned.

“You’ve joined another school? What minor School have you joined? You can still leave them and come to Elder Krakatoa’s School.”

Takai smiled apologetically.

“I’m really, really sorry. I joined Elder Principal Kaimana’s School.”

Lilo stared at Takai, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly, not knowing what to say.

“He invited me personally,” Takai continued. “I’m going to his study in a bit to accept the offer formally. I think I already did, though. I’m really sorry.”

Lilo looked at Takai again.

This time, she nodded, almost satisfied with his response.

Without saying another word, she turned on her heel, giving Takai one last look over her shoulder as she walked away.

“What was that?” Talia said, laughing as she approached Takai.

“I don’t know,” Takai replied. “I really have no idea.”

Before they could continue, Elder Krakatoa’s voice boomed.

“This will be all for today. Please, practice your Mana coating. I will review your progress in our next lesson.”

Soon, all the students left Elder Krakatoa’s classroom.

Talia still had [Eyes of the Abyss] activated when something in one of the corners of the Class caught her attention.

“Talia!” She heard Nami's voice calling from across the room. “Lilo and I were thinking we could show you around the—”

But Talia's attention was fully on a statue that she hadn’t even noticed before, a woman holding a glaive.

There were many statues of figures holding different weapons and this one didn’t seem particularly out of place—or wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for Talia’s [Eyes of the Abyss].

What drew her eyes, though, wasn't the statue's appearance but the way it pulsed with Mana.

Unlike the flowing, ever-changing patterns of living beings, the statue's Mana was like a complex runic diagram etched in light.

It bristled with power, far stronger than any inanimate object should possess.

Drawn by a curiosity she couldn't quite explain, Talia found herself moving toward the statue.

Distantly, she was aware of Nami calling her name a few more times, but it seemed unimportant compared to this.

As she approached, the Mana patterns became clearer.

They formed swirling designs across the statue's surface.

Without thinking, Talia reached out, her fingers tracing one of the glowing patterns.

The moment her skin made contact, the world around her lurched.

The training room, her classmates, and everything else blinked out of existence in an instant.

There was a sensation of falling, of being pulled in every direction at once, and then—

Talia stumbled, nearly losing her balance as her feet suddenly met solid ground again.

She blinked, trying to orient herself in this new space.

She found herself in a vast, circular chamber.

The walls were adorned with the same intricate Mana patterns she'd seen on the statue, now glowing with a soft, pulsating light.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed through the chamber.

Acting on instinct, she ducked behind one of the massive stone columns that ringed the room.

The footsteps grew louder, accompanied by a strange, wet scraping sound.

Talia held her breath, willing herself to be as silent as possible.

After a moment, she summoned the courage to peer around the edge of the column.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

Professor Iakopo was striding across the chamber floor.

But it wasn't the professor's presence that shocked Talia – it was what he was dragging behind him.

A humanoid creature thrashed weakly on the ground, leaving a trail of dark, viscous liquid in its wake.

Its skin was a mottled gray green, covered in patches of what looked like barnacles or coral.

Where its arms and legs should have been, there were only ragged stumps, as if the limbs had been violently torn off.

Talia clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp.

She didn’t look long enough to see its tag, but she knew it was an Abyssal Creature.

She had never seen one like this, though, mutilated and seemingly powerless and so… humanoid.

Professor Iakopo paid no heed to the creature's struggles.

As Talia peeked a few more times, wide-eyed and trembling, Professor Iakopo began to mutter something under his breath.

“You better have the damn answer.”

Then, he walked up to another column, fished something from his pocket, and touched an inscription on the stone with it.

And just as quickly as he had appeared, he dematerialized.

But in the millisecond before the man disappeared completely, Talia got the impression that he had seen her from the corner of his eye.

Talia pressed herself harder against the column.

She heard the renewed silence and slowly peeked from behind the column again.

The Professor wasn’t there anymore.

But what had he been doing there?

It was right then that a connection was formed in Talia’s mind.

She suddenly remembered Akua mentioning someone who would have met her at the Academy — the same someone the now-dead merchant had wanted to introduce Talia to.

Naturally, Talia hadn’t understood whom Akua was talking about at the time.

She had only figured it out after she had involuntarily killed her.

The They referred to other Cultists like Akua.

The Cultist had infiltrated the Academy.

And if Akua could be around Abyssal Creatures without getting attacked, seeing Professor Iakopo dragging an Abyssal Creature through whatever secret passage she had stumbled into made him a prime suspect.

Akua had hated her mother, and Iakopo seemed to hate her all the same.

Maybe Professor Iakopo is a Cultist…

Talia’s blood went cold when she heard someone else step into the secret passage.