Shadow Slave: Bloodborne

Madoc stared at Ragna, dumbfounded, his eyes widened and his brows furrowed. His expression reflected one of disbelief, because of the absurdity of Ragna's question.

"Awakened Ragna, I'm not certain if you know what you are asking right now. While not mandatory, creating a legacy clan often needs to least meet one of these requirements. You either need to be the ruler of a Citadel, have many followers, a Aspect legacy or your family having a rich historic background. Having connections with a great clan is also helpful, something you now actually do. I don't want to sound rude, but I doubt that you meet any of these."

'I think it's time to tell him about some of my secrets. Hmm, but it could also be dangerous. If i tell him about my legacy relic, he might torture me till I give it to him. But I don't think he'll do that because he's scared of me, of my potential. He knows that if I would somehow escape, that they would have me as their enemy.'

"Mr. Madoc, I have already obtained my Aspect legacy as a sleeper, when I was still in the Dream Real . I might not meet the requirements of ruling over or citadel or having many followers, but I also have two really strong friends. You might still doubt

If I have the power to rule over a clan, so let me tell you another thing. I have gotten a True Name in my First Nightmare. It's Bled into Existence."

Madoc's face transformed into even more shock, as he heard what Ragna had said. He had already guessed that Ragna was more special than he let on, and he had thought that Ragna had maybe gotten a True Name after Awakening, but what he now knew was on a whole different Level.

Valor already had Nephis in their ranks, someone who had obtained a True Name in their first Nightmare. So now him seeing someone with the same potential, he could definitely not let the chance fall from his grasp.

"If what you say is true, we can definitely arrange something. But having a clan of your own is something very hard. Are you sure you want to bear the strain ?"

Ragna thought about it for a bit. He had a lot of things to do and if he know even had to take care of a clan, it would maybe become too much.

"Not yet. Maybe in the future. I just wanted to now if it could be arranged. Well then, Mr. Madoc, I think we are done here now. Or is there something you still want to discuss ?"

Madoc leaned back on his chair, the revelation of Ragna's true might still settling into his mind. His expression shifted from one of shock to a calculated one.

"There is … actually one more thing, Ragna.", Madoc said, his voice low and thoughtful. "Your strength, or rather the potential I see in you- it's definitely undeniable. But under the wrong circumstances, even the strongest flower can die. You need the right place to evolve, a place that can truly challenge you. And I don't think that place will be in the Dream World, especially here in Bastion."

Ragna stayed quiet for a while, wondering what Madoc meant with what he had just said.

"Your point ?"

"I'm sure you've already heard of the Antarctica campaign. Valor will send troops there in a few months. So how do you find the idea of you going there too ? It will be dangerous … but maybe exactly what you need."

'Antarctica … I've definitely thought about that place a lot after Effie told me about it. But going there myself ? I might die, see horrors i never wanted to, but it is also the perfect place to get stronger. I could fight so many creatures, spill so much blood. And if it gets dangerous, i can always just run away or in the worst case sacrifice someone.'

"I'll think about it. It's a big choice to make, something I can't do on the fly."

"That's alright. Well then, Ragna, I hope that you won't disappoint me. Should I show you the way to the gateway ?"

"Yea, that would be nice."

***

After Madoc had shown him the way to the gateway, they parted ways. When Ragna touched it, his soul got attached to it, meaning that when Ragna would fall asleep, he would land here in Bastion.

Now, back in the waking world, Ragna called another uber to bring him back to the house of Effie's Friend.

To his annoyance though, Effie was either not home or still in the Dream World. And since Ragna had no keys, he couldn't get inside.

He now had multiple options. He could either just wait or do something in the meantime. Of course, he could visit his parents or Rain, but he didn't know how to look at them right now, he needed to prepare emotionally first. So he did the only other thing that came into his mind, going to the libary and learning something new.

He had been there a lot of times, when he was still going to the school, but this time he would be there to get stronger, to know how to use his powers more efficiently.

So he made his way to the large, local library. Since he already knew the library pretty well, he didn't need to ask any worker where specific kind of books were.

He instantly made his way to the biology section, having the intend to learn more about the human body, especially wanting to learn some mean spots he could take advantage of with his ability to stop bloodflow.

He was never really interested in biology, preferring subjects like math and physics. So he still had a lot to learn.

Things he quickly found out were that blood was a very important factor of your body, since it transported oxygen and nutrients to pretty much every organ of your body. This meant that Ragna, if he could stop the bloodflow to the particular organ long enough, could basically disable any important function of the human body.

But he also wanted to learn which parts suffered the most without blood. And the probably three most important organs that needed a lot of blood were the liver, the heart and the brain.

He had already tested out playing with the blood around the heart when he spared with Effie, so he decided to look at something else first, the brain.

And then he found something called cerebral hypoxia, which damages the brain by killing off cells. Cerebral hypoxia is something that occurs when not enough oxygen and nutrients are going towards the brain. It can lead to stuff like uncoordinated movements or speech disorders. In even stronger cases it can lead to not being able to breath your eyes not reacting to the light the take in, it can even lead to a coma.

He didn't know if this would also work with Nightmare Creatures, but if he fought against other humans, in life and death scenarios, this would definitely be helpful.

He could do the same to the liver, but the symptoms would be less severe, since the time he needed to stop the bloodflow was way longer than what he needed for the brain.

He then studied a bit more about the general functions of the body, wanting to know how to heal an injury for example if he or one of of his comrades would get injured.

Strengthening ones body was definitely useful, but he shouldn't neglect his knowledge.Knowing how to survive in certain situations was definitely something very useful.

He then remembered what Madoc had asked him before his departure, his invitation to go to Antarctica.

'I should probably learn what to do in the cold, learn how to keep yourself warm and all.'

And that's what he did. There were a lot of book, especially from the time before the Nightmare Spell descended on earth, that described the cold temperatures of winter and what to do.

He was already preparing for Antarctica, because deep down he knew, that he wanted to go, feel the thrill of being close to death, and at the end come out stronger than ever.

——-Author's Notes——-

Words: 1386

The whole section with Madoc was probably slightly rushed but it should be fine, I think.

I'm pretty sure that I will do a few months timeskip next chapter, but I still need to think about it, so I'm not sure when I'll release the next chapter. Could be tomorrow but also only in 4 days.