The Destiny of Nexus

Chapter-18

                    I thought of doing two things before entering the vampire territory. The first one was to cast a protection spell on myself. I recited inaudibly,

                    "Elements of Sun, Elements of day,

                      Please come this way.

                      Powers of night and day I summon thee,

                      I call upon thee, to protect me!"

           The second thing was I delivered a message "I am the son of Augustus Weisman," to everyone inside. I don't know if that was successful. Even if it isn't I had a protection spell. I took a deep breath and entered. The moment I stepped in, he gave me a wicked smile, I didn't want to deduce its meaning. Escort me; I said being a cool as possible. All the other vampires started to gather around me. It's like they were all waiting for someone's order to pounce upon me. I kept walking as if I wasn't afraid of vampires. But inside I am scared to death. We walked for a minute, the boundary now seemed far. Even if I try to escape, they would easily outrun me. Since I'm new to Arcana form, my first instinct would be to run.  The vampire who was escorting me stopped suddenly. Any problem? I asked. He kept both his hands in the air and screamed "Feast." All the vampires rushed towards me in all directions. Running seemed useless now. I am not sure if the protection spell would work against those many Vampires. Honestly, I don't even know how the protection spell works. The only way I could escape is to either stop them with my mind or to teleport out of their territory. I was a newbie at this mind thing, so I need to focus to make it happen. But I couldn't focus given the circumstances. I was frozen with fear. My heart raced like a race horse. I didn't even blink. One of the vampires came so close to my neck and he stopped right before biting me. He receded slowly. Stop, he yelled. Every vampire stopped. I looked at his eyes and he seemed puzzled. Step back, a voice came from the castle. He is our guest, bring him inside, he said. I went inside the castle, it was all dark and there were candles here and there. I could see someone standing in the shadow. He slowly stepped outside, ah! Son of Augustus, he said. Yeah, I'm Steve Weisman. Welcome to The Tomb of Blood, kid. My name is Cassius Black, Leader of the Vampire race. You are a brave boy indeed, not even the king of Nexus wouldn't dare to enter the territory. Well, I have bigger things to worry about, I said.

                         So, my father convinced all the species for unification. I am carrying his vision forward now. So tell me what he promised you back then that you accepted his idea. Before I tell you that, I want to share something with you, he said. In the beginning, I was human too. We were the weakest species of all. We were hunted down for fun, sacrifices for rituals, etc., etc. I had principles, values, and morals but no power. We were just pawns. Then one day, a miracle happened. A witch named Cassandra took pity on us and wanted to help us. She turned us into these abominations so that we could defend ourselves. She was later executed for this. And one day, witches came to our houses to grab some people to offer them as sacrifices to one of their f*****g rituals. But what they didn't know was, we weren't that pathetic humans anymore. We turned into something whose thought gives you nightmares. We slaughtered the entire witches that came that day. On that day we understood that we have blood lust. The hunger inside us can only be satiated by blood. We became ruthless, our feelings of love and affection minimized. Power and hunger are the only things that mattered. So the other species considered us as a threat and confined us with a boundary spell. Your father understood our agony. He promised us freedom. I don't know what he had planned. But he gave his word that Vampires can roam freely out of their territory. That was what your father offered. The only way that vampires would be harmless is if I could find a way to eliminate their thirst for blood, I thought in mind. Fine, I offer you the same as what my father did. Freedom. But I require a vial of your blood, I asked. It's funny; your father asked me the same. Saying that, he came closer to me and smelled me. We have two things in common, he said. You are a part human and a part vampire too. What the heck? I am Arcana and Human, that's it. He smiled and said, you are a vampire too. A connecting link to all species, I guess. He then bit his wrist and handed me his blood. I shook hands with him and left. On the way out, I asked the vampire, why did he stop? I felt like you were our kind, he said. I don't know why but I became so confident now. Being alone surrounded by vampires didn't scare me anymore. I felt like I was ready for anything. I then teleported back to my room in the Citadel after a successful negotiation with the Vampires.

                I did it, Luther, I made vampires agree to our proposal. He jumped in joy. Like father, like son, he said. I wished if my parents would be here to see me. It was 2 am then. The taste of success is so good. Who's next? I asked Luther. Slow down, Steve. You did a great job. No doubt in that. Baby steps, okay? He said.

                May I enter, a voice came. We turned around to see who it was. It was Charlie Hardwell. Mr. Hardwell, why are you here at this time? Everything alright? I asked. Yes, kid, everything is good. I just heard about your visit to Vampire territory. I must say, you are indeed a brave person. Unlike the king, this guy seemed good. I came here to inform you that there's a test for all the Arcana students. Lord Archie wants you to participate in that. He then came closer to my ears and said, he wants to make fun of you, don't let it happen. Thanks for the heads up, Mr. Hardwell. I will do miracles, just wait and watch.

                Luther woke me up at 5 a.m. It's time to train, he said.

‘What training?’ I asked.

‘True Arcana is the one who masters the physical arts too.’

‘So you'll give me physical training?’

‘Yes, now get up.’

I got up and he gave me a wooden stick which was similar to the staff. He blindfolded me. As I was already excelled in martial arts, the blindfold didn't scare me.

‘Now I am going to teach you the "Spirit Style." The Arcana's had to learn how to fight because it's difficult to use minds for every task. Physical reflexes are necessary in times of sudden attacks. So our elders invited this style to prepare us for any battle. What makes it so special is when your body is in complete sync with your mind, you'll be able to anticipate the next move of your enemy in advance. Only a few in our history could do it. I achieved the sync only once till now.’

 I listened to what he said carefully. He then taught me some moves and techniques that would overwhelm my opponents.     

                        Finally, the time for the test has come. There were ten participants along with me. We were all standing in a circle and there was a stone in the centre.  Charlie Hardwell was standing on the dais. Good Morning to every citizen of The Citadel. Today you are going to witness Steve Weisman, son of Augustus Weisman, performing in a test along with the other students. The test is simple; one who holds the stone for 10 seconds in their hands is the winner. The one who falls out of the circle is eliminated. The test starts in 3... 2... 1..... Start. Everyone started rushing towards the stone; I slowly recited the levitation spell, “Wingardium Leviosa,” and the stone rose and is now floating at an altitude. The only way it could come down is if I stop the spell. No one understood who did that. They tried with their minds to bring it down but in vain. The students didn't have the power to levitate using the mind. So, participants started to fight with each other to knock them out of the circle. A female came to fight with me. I kept defending and she kept on going aggressive. I wanted to fight her with the martial arts I know but I waited. While she was landing punches over me, some other guy knocked her out. But now I got to fight with him instead. He kicked me hard in the stomach and I fell to the ground. Watch your new king, Archie shouted and laughed. I became furious. f**k Spirit Style, it’s time to show my Earthly skills. I got up. He tried to punch me, I dodged. He tried again. I dodged. I am standing at the end of the circle. He was now frustrated and just wanted to shove me out of the circle. He jumped at me; I counter-attacked and pushed him out of the circle. The crowd was amazed. No one understood what I did. All the other participants stopped fighting among themselves and teamed up against me. Its 8 vs 1 now. The odds were against me but I loved it. I fought them without even giving a single chance to hit me. During the fight, I realized why Arcana had to improve their physical reflexes. The fight was so spontaneous that we cannot think, we just go with the flow. I knocked off everyone with ease. I then walked to the centre and kept the hand forward. The stone came and down and landed in my palm. The entire crowd who is spectating, stood up and started shouting "Champion, Champion." It gave me Goosebumps. Silence, I said. I may be young, but I can handle the realm better than anyone. I guarantee you that, people. I'll train every single Arcana in such a way that one Arcana can fight with 10 people with ease. I still have 29 days left to prove my worthiness. I shall show you how a true king would be. Saying this, I went back to my room. I could hear the crowd cheering my name up to my room. I felt like I achieved something.

                      Luther came to the room and said, you are indeed a prodigy. You are doing miracles every day. I never said this to anyone, but I feel you are better than your father and my gut tells me, you are definitely going to achieve something. So, Luther, who should I pay a visit to next? Pay a visit to werewolves, said Charlie from behind. You met vampires and they would be furious if you don't meet them. Vampires and Werewolves are natural enemies. They live in the forests called Sarman. It's Werewolves territory. It's a full moon tonight, said Luther. Then you better finish the job quickly, Charlie said. By the way, great job down there. Lord Archie's plan failed and he is so exasperated. I don't know why, but Charlie was helping me. It's nice to have loyal advisors, I thought.