"You need to be able to control your power. It will help you a lot later."
Noah arrived in a place of bright white light, nothing as far as Noah's eyes could see ahead and around him. The distinctive voice of an old man spoke to him, echoing and slightly hoarse.
"Grandpa? Is that you?" Noah continued turning his body to take in the surrounding area, taking a few steps to find the voice's origin. However, again, Noah only found an empty, deserted white land.
"The gem has been destroyed, and your previously sealed power has been released. You should be able to use it wisely, only for the justice of mankind."
.
Noah's eyes opened wide as he watched the white space slowly turn black until it reached his feet. His head felt dizzy with a blurry vision, making it impossible for Noah to see the circumstances around him.
"W-Where am I?" asked Noah.
As time passed, Noah's clarity of vision returned to normal. He saw the environment around him, precisely in the room where he was lying.
Luxurious furniture, white porcelain walls, a soft bed, thick warm blankets, and a fairly spacious room area —Noah's room at home was not as spacious as it was now. From the situation, Noah concluded that he must be in someone else's house.
"What the hell is going on?" Noah was still confused by everything that was happening right now. The last memory he knew was that he saw a vampire beast clawing at his body, and then his ruby gem shattered and created an orb of magic power before Noah who was drooping limply.
"W-Wait! That monster has—"
Without thinking, Noah immediately lifted up his sleeping shirt and found three scratches above his chest. What surprised Noah even more was that the scratches had disappeared and left only scars, even though Noah believed the scratches from the beast were deep and severe.
"W-Why did it heal? Did someone save me?" asked Noah, continuing to feel the scratch marks, which felt hollowed out, typical of the scratch of a wild animal, such as a bear or tiger.
As Noah was contemplating trying to remember what had happened, the door to the room where Noah was lying opened. Noah was drawn to the bedroom door, where a maid came in carrying a tray with a bowl and a dry cloth.
"H-Hello," greeted Noah with a slight smile.
The maid gasped in surprise, dropping the tray and breaking the glass bowl of warm water. Noah gasped as he rose from his seat on the bed, about to step towards the maid.
"Miss Natasha! He's awake!" The maid left the room, leaving Noah alone and confused. Noah sighed with both hands clasped around his waist, trying to remember if any of his friends were named Natasha.
"Who exactly is she?" asked Noah, crouching down to clean up the mess the woman had made, picking up broken glass from a broken bowl.
The bedroom door opened again, and Noah, busy taking care of the broken glass, turned his attention to the front of the room. He saw a woman in a white shirt and red coat; her looks startled Noah.
"T-That outfit—"
"Do you remember what happened to you earlier?" Natasha asked.
The woman with black braided hair stood with her arms folded in front of her breast and continued to watch Noah's face. Both of Natasha's pupils were sea-blue in color with pure, snow-white skin.
"You're a member of The Legion?!" cried Noah, shocked.
"You didn't answer my question."
"About that, I only remember when I faced off against a beast and when my hand touched the magic ball of my split ruby gem." Noah got up and let the maid continue to clean up the broken glass. After finishing, the maid went to say goodbye and left the room.
"So, you don't know what powers you have, huh?" Natasha asked.
Hearing this question certainly confused Noah, his head tilted in response to Natasha's question. The woman in front of Noah had expected this, considering Noah had fainted before the individual system appeared before her.
"Come with me," Natasha pleaded, Noah said yes.
The young man was honored to meet one of the 12 members of The Legion. The Legion was a special team of Beast Slayers with extraordinary abilities, and each member who succeeded in becoming the Legion gained many benefits and rewards.
Noah could only dream that one day, he would become a member of The Legion, although his hopes were low as Noah had no significant powers, whether in elemental magic or talents.
The two walked in the corridors of Natasha's mansion. One of the benefits of being in The Legion was getting the best mansion with luxurious facilities and protection from Beast Slayer soldiers.
It is said that one member of The Legion is equal to 1000 trained Beast Slayer soldiers. That made the strength of The Legion members invaluable in facing the beasts.
The door to Natasha's study opened; the room was much more spacious than where Noah was lying. Noah saw two people in the room sitting on the couch, drinking wine.
"Oh, so he's the young man you're referring to?" asked one of the men, wearing the same shirt and coat as Natasha.
"Great strength often makes his body very sweet. Can I taste it?" asked one of the women sitting on the couch ahead of the man.
"Before you do, you must remember he is mine," Natasha replied, walking behind her desk as she removed the coat she continued to wear.
Noah stood near the two couches, facing straight ahead where three Legions were sitting before him. The man was Theo, and the woman was Charlotte. What differentiated the three of them were the titles behind their names.
Theo was titled Dionysus, and Charlotte was Aphrodite. Noah knew all their titles by heart because they were taken from the names of Greek Goddesses. They believed that putting the title of a Greek Goddess after a Legion member's name would bring victory and glory.
And Natasha herself was Artemis. The three Legions gathered in front of Noah, making Noah tremble with fear.
"So, what will you do with him?" asked Theo, asking Natasha.
"I have no idea. But his powers are unique. He can control blood," announced Natasha, startling Theo and Charlotte.
"Blood?" asked Noah, equally surprised with wide-open eyes.
"If you want to know, you'll have to open your individual system panel," Natasha replied, pointing at Noah.
Noah nodded. Almost all cadets in his class had already gotten their individual systems. Individual systems would be given along with the talent. For Noah, he had just gotten the talent, and automatically, his individual system had also just appeared.
The young man closed the fingers of his right hand and swung it from top to bottom. Noah was surprised that menu items appeared with different names, ranging from profile, quest, abilities, and talent to maps and friends.
Noah needed to press the talent menu on the menu panel to view the talent details.
[Talent Menu]
[Name: Noah Quill]
[Age: 18]
[Title: -]
[Talent: Blood Manipulation]
"Woah, I got my talent," Noah replied, gasping happily as he realized his section of the talent panel was filled.
Theo and Charlotte shifted their seating positions slightly, paying close attention to Noah's talent panel screen. Their attention was distracted when they realized Noah's last name was Quill.
"Quill? Is that a given name from your family?" asked Charlotte, narrowing her eyes.
"Yes. My grandpa gave it to me so I could have the same name as him," Noah replied.
"Oh, man." Theo shook his head as he patted his face in shock. Charlotte fell silent, her lips folded inward, realizing Noah was no random person.
"Wh-What is it?" asked Noah.
Theo and Charlotte immediately turned their attention away, not continuing to stare at Noah's individual system panel but instead looking at Natasha's face, which was sitting on her desk chair.
"Are you sure you'll care for him?" asked Charlotte.
"His talents are hard to come by; he might be able to control the blood of beasts. That would help us," Natasha replied.
"Don't forget the possibility that he could also control our blood. What if he uses his power to explode all the blood in our bodies?" Theo emphasized.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Noah got scared again after realizing the tense situation in Natasha's study. Natasha got up from her seat and stepped forward, approaching Noah.
Natasha was now fully facing Noah, and Natasha's eyes stared ahead. "Do you want to know the story of Aaron Quill?"
"That's my grandpa's name," Noah replied.
"That's right. He was your grandpa and the previous title holder of Hades," Natasha replied, crossing her arms, "Right before the 10th Legion hunted and killed him."
"Y-You killed my grandpa?" asked Noah, shocked.
"It happened fifteen years ago. We weren't Legion yet," replied Theo.
"Why did you kill him? Did he do anything wrong?" asked Noah, curious.
"He killed the previous Zeus title holder with his blood talent."
"There's no way grandpa would do something like that." Noah was shocked when Natasha explained everything to him, especially about the truth of Aaron's death.Natasha did not hesitate to tell Noah everything, hoping that he could use his blood manipulation abilities wisely. Noah looked at Theo and Charlotte, Natasha's two Legion friends, who agreed with the explanation."But I'm pretty sure grandpa died because he was surrounded by thousands of beasts in the forbidden district," Noah explained."That's something we keep hidden from the public. Only the Legion knows the reason for Aaron the Hades' death," Natasha revealed.Aaron died when Noah was just two years old. At that time, Aaron was 57 years old and gave Noah a ruby necklace where Aaron had sealed Noah's and his powers in the necklace."You should thank Sam the Zeus. He was the one who decided to hide the reason for Aaron's death from the public," Theo replied, glaring at Noah."He just didn't want to cause chaos in the Beast S
Everyone was surprised as Natasha the Artemis arrived with Noah Quill. Now, Natasha clearly said that Noah was much stronger than the other cadets at the academy."I doubt that, Miss Natasha. Didn't mean to impugn your judgment." Mathias smiled as he tried to clarify Natasha's statement."In my opinion, the other cadets are also strong and capable of winning against beasts. In fact, they probably wouldn't have been injured as badly as Noah was," Mathias retorted."It's up to you. When the graduation exam ends, you'll all know why I called Noah that." Natasha didn't have much time to talk about the obvious. She left the classroom after dropping Noah off. Mathias loudly told Noah to come in."Thank Miss Natasha. If it wasn't for her request, you would have been expelled from this academy," Mathias revealed, pointing roughly ahead at Noah."I understand. I'll behave myself," Noah replied, returning to his table, ready to receive a lesson from Mathias.Mathias no longer cared about the tr
Two academy instructors arrived, Mathias and Misa. 60 cadets were in the arena, sitting in a circle with two cadets in the center to fight each other later."Hey, Noah. You might need this!" insulted Caleb, the best cadet in the class who constantly bullied Noah.Caleb threw a wooden sword at Noah, which Noah immediately grabbed with his right hand. All the cadets laughed loudly; they couldn't wait to see Noah fight with the wooden sword."Since Noah has arrived, how about the first battle between Noah and Talon?" Mathias suggested.Misa couldn't argue because Mathias would be the referee in this sparring match. A fight that Misa didn't think was fair, the weakest against the strongest. Noah, known as the weakest cadet in the academy, is against Talon, who is known as the strongest cadet and the future successor to Ares in The Legion's Elite Unit."Talon will destroy him in one strike!"Noah had expected it. The 58 cadets in the arena fully supported Talon. Not a single one wanted to
Noah opened his eyes slowly. The pain in his stomach was still there right when Natasha hit him in the solar plexus.The young man got up immediately and cast his eyes around the surrounding area. He was in the infirmary, and no one seemed to be near him. The bed he lay was surrounded by closed white curtains, so Noah couldn't see his surroundings."The bleeding hasn't stopped. I've only seen something like this. It seems Noah is the only one who knows how to stop it.""Really? Unfortunately, Noah is still unconscious.""I'm here," Noah announced, drawing the attention of the two women talking.The curtain to the right of Noah's bed opened, and Instructor Misa arrived with one of the doctors in the infirmary. Misa smiled to see Noah was fine. The crushing blow from Natasha didn't seem to significantly impact Noah."Thank goodness you woke up fast. Are you alright?" asked Misa, looking worried."I'm fine. It's just my stomach still hurts," Noah explained, pointing at the solar plexus w
***The next day.Noah found it peaceful at the academy. He found no intimidation or bullying from his cadet classmates. Not only were they not bullying Noah, but none dared to approach Noah.Although Noah was avoided because of his talent, Freya still wanted to be friends with Noah. The girl thought Noah's powers were unique, and she wanted to know more about Noah's talents.At lunchtime, Noah and Freya went to the academy's backyard to eat their lunch peacefully —the cafeteria was noisy."Susan is a good girl. Her talent is Cloning; it allows her to create clones that look like her." Freya sat on a garden chair with her legs crossed, her hands no longer holding a sandwich but a packed lunch of fruits and boiled potatoes."She seems to have a problem with me," Noah revealed, raising his head to look at the sky above the garden."I don't know about that. Why don't you try talking to her?" Freya asked, suggesting."I've tried, but she's so rude. I'm at a loss when it comes to talking t
Dr. Nana finished making warm porridge for Kira. Kira accepted the porridge and ate it with gusto. Noah was happy to see her eating the porridge happily."So, you're in the same group for the Final Exam?" Dr. Nana pulled out one of the chairs and sat to the right of the bed where Kira was still lying. Kira was still busy with her food, Noah had to answer Nana's question."Right, with another girl named Susan," Noah said."I always remember those Final Exams, full of suspense and pain," Nana replied.Noah squinted when he heard Nana's statement. None of the three in the group knew exactly what the final exams looked like, especially the suspense and pain Nana had described.The young man only knew that he and his group members
***Two days later.London Cadet Academy."Hey, you already lost against us. You have to keep your word!" Kira sternly spoke to Susan while the class was on lunch break. Noah just watched and didn't help Kira force Susan.Noah was confused. What exactly made her hate him and Kira? Noah didn't feel like he had done anything wrong, intentional or not, to Susan. Kira didn't seem to either —considering Kira's quiet nature."What a noise! Can't you see I'm busy?" Susan asked, showing Kira a book."What's the need to learn that book if you're not training to be strong?!" snapped Kira, trying to snatch it out of Susan's hand.The book Susan was holding was a beast encyclopedia. The 500-page volume contained hundreds of beasts with different characteristics, which had been recorded before.According to Susan, a trainee cadet needs to know the characteristics of the beasts they will fight later. Only a fool would continue to train hard without knowing the weaknesses of the beasts they would fa
***Three days later.London Cadet Academy.Since the night incident, Susan began participating in preparation exercises with Noah and Kira. Not only that, but Susan also participated in explaining about various ordinary-level beasts that she had remembered through the beast encyclopedia.According to Susan, the beasts appearing during the exam would undoubtedly be ordinary-level beasts. The Beast Slayer's higher-ups must have arranged precautions so the cadet candidates would not encounter dangerous level beasts.That day was the last day Noah and his team members practised. Since yesterday, the other teams have stopped training and are fully rested for tomorrow's Final Exam.Noah, Kira, and Susan were forced to use their rest time to practice, especially attack and defense combo exercises. Susan apologized that her attitude the other day was causing Kira and Noah trouble at the moment, Noah and Kira didn't mind at all.The three sat on the arena floor, their bodies covered in sweat.