The training field still bore deep scars from the physical massacre Victor had inflicted over the past few days.
The black ground was shattered in several places, cracks spreading like enormous scars across the reinforced stone, while various areas had simply been pulverized by repeated impacts.
So side columns showed grotesque deformations, as if sothing absurdly heavy had been hurled against them dozens of tis in succession.
The air also felt different... Heavier... Denser.
The blood energy scattered throughout the environnt still lingered in the walls like an invisible mist, a direct consequence of the absurd amount of power constantly released in that place.
Victor sat on one of the broken stones near the center of the arena, holding a towel over his shoulders while distractedly observing his own arm. Small currents of crimson energy coursed through his skin in gentle pulses, much more stable than before.
His entire body seed absurdly more efficient now.
Each muscle responded almost instantly to her own thoughts, as if her body had finally reached a state where it ceased to be an obstacle to its own strength.
Serafall watched this while leaning against one of the partially destroyed columns of the field. Her arms were crossed below her breasts while a small smile rested on her lips.
"Well..." she began slowly, tilting her head slightly as she analyzed his aura. "I think your training can now be considered complete."
Victor looked away from his arm and glanced at her without much apparent interest.
"Is that so?"
"Uh-huh."
She pushed her body against the column and walked slowly to the center of the arena, her heels echoing softly off the shattered stone as she observed the damage around her.
"Do you feel anything different?"
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"Are you talking about my strength?"
"Maybe."
He shrugged casually before replying without much ceremony.
"I’ve beco much stronger."
There was no arrogance in the answer.
Just a statent of fact.
And honestly... Serafall could perfectly understand that.
His growth in recent months simply didn’t make sense.
She had seen geniuses before.
She had trained monsters.
She had witnessed absurd prodigies erge within the Valentine family over thousands of years.
But Victor... Victor seed to break logic after logic without even realizing it.
He simply absorbed everything.
Learned everything.
Adapted too quickly.
Serafall let out a small, amused sigh before shaking her head negatively.
"That’s not what I asked."
Victor seed slightly confused. "Then what?"
She slowly raised one hand, and small bluish lines began to appear around her fingers. The air around them imdiately grew colder, while tiny, invisible cuts silently appeared on the nearby stone from the minimal release of that energy. "A unique ability," she explained calmly. "Sothing personal. A characteristic of your blood."
Victor observed the invisible cuts appearing around her for a few seconds before replying. "No."
Serafall tilted her head slightly.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary."
She narrowed her eyes slightly as she observed his blood energy more closely.
This was strange... Very strange...
Extrely talented vampires usually awakened specific characteristics even before the Blood Ascension Ritual. So abilities appeared early depending on blood affinity, lineage, or simply individual talent.
Her dinsional cuts had appeared very early.
Charlotte had developed absurd biological manipulation at a young age.
Even Jake had awakened his obsessive offensive adaptation before the ritual.
But Victor... Nothing... At least apparently.
"Hm..." Serafall murmured thoughtfully. "I thought maybe you would awaken sothing now."
Victor let out a small, tired sigh. "Like what?"
"Grace awakened ice manipulation even before the Ritual." The na finally seed to elicit a genuine reaction from him.
Victor frowned slightly. "Who?"
Serafall blinked a few tis before realizing sothing.
"...Ah." She brought a finger to her face while letting out a small, awkward laugh. "I forgot I never really talked properly about the other prodigies of this generation."
Victor just stared at her in silence.
Serafall then began to walk slowly around him as she spoke.
"The Blood Kings call you ’Great Prodigies.’ The five most absurd monsters of this generation who will participate in the Ascension Ritual."
Victor seed completely indifferent to it. "The na is kind of silly."
"It’s an old-fashioned na," she replied, amused. "The Valentine family likes dramatic things like that."
Victor made a small, uninterested nasal sound.
Serafall continued.
"Grace Valentine is currently considered the First Great Prodigy of this generation."
Victor remained silent.
No reaction.
No curiosity.
No real interest.
Serafall observed this for a few seconds before smiling amusedly.
"You really don’t care, do you?"
Victor shrugged.
"Whatever."
She let out a small laugh.
"What a terrible answer."
Victor rested his elbows on his knees as he distractedly observed the destroyed floor.
"You spoke as if I should care."
Serafall sighed dramatically.
"She is considered possibly the greatest genius the Valentine family has produced in the last thousand years."
Finally, that seed to have so effect. Small.
But it produced sothing.
Victor slowly raised his eyes to her.
"The greatest?"
"Possibly."
Serafall then began to explain in a more casual tone.
"She awakened ice manipulation absurdly early. Her control over blood energy already surpasses much older vampires. And the worst part..." She smiled slightly. "She’s disciplined."
Victor frowned slightly.
"Disciplined?"
"She trains obsessively. She’s not unstable like the others. She simply..." Serafall made a small gesture with her hand. "Trains. Non-stop."
Victor was silent for a few seconds before replying in an extrely dry manner.
"Sounds boring."
Serafall’s eyes widened slightly before she laughed.
"You just called the greatest prodigy of the last thousand years boring?"
"You literally described a person who only trains."
"That’s absurd coming from you."
Victor completely ignored the comnt.
Serafall then crossed her arms again before continuing.
"She’s also a disciple of your grandmother."
That finally made Victor show real surprise.
Small.
But genuine.
"...Of the old woman?"
Serafall imdiately narrowed her eyes.
"Don’t call Chrysis that, she’d kill you."
Victor completely ignored the reprimand.
But his expression had truly changed now.
He knew very well the absurd level of his own grandmother.
Even though he spent little ti with her, it was enough to rember the hellish training he had suffered as a child to understand one thing:
Chrysis Valentine simply didn’t recognize weak people.
She despised incompetence in an almost offensive way.
If that woman had accepted soone as a disciple...
Then that person must truly be monstrous.
Victor ran a hand through his hair before speaking.
"So she must be strong."
Serafall nodded imdiately.
"Very."
A small, amused smile appeared on her lips soon after.
"And honestly? I hope you two get along."
Victor gave her a suspicious look.
"The way you said that sounds suspicious."
"Because it is."
She smiled shalessly.
"I really want you to beat her up."
Victor remained silent for a few seconds, looking at Serafall as if trying to understand if she was joking.
Unfortunately... She seed completely serious.
"...You just said that smiling."
"Because it would be fun."
Victor sighed wearily.
"You’re strange."
"And you haven’t heard the best part yet." She moved closer to him again, smiling dangerously amusedly. "I know her mother very well."
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
Serafall rested her face on her hand, staring at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"And I’d love to beat that woman again through my son."
Victor imdiately understood.
"...So this is personal."
"Extrely personal."
She replied without any sha.
Victor let out a small, tired sigh before leaning back against the shattered stone.
"Vampire families are annoying."
Serafall chuckled softly at that.
"You haven’t seen anything yet."
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