Chapter 151: Do you want to go back?
At first, fighting with two swords was a bit difficult and awkward, as he had to use his non-dominant hand as well while simultaneously wielding two weapons against a monster like her.
But after a few hours had passed, he had already become familiar with handling a sword in his right hand, and his movements had once again become smoother.
Even so, it still couldn’t compare to his left hand, forcing him to use the blade in his other hand mostly for support.
And during this time, the training ground around them had started resembling a place of death, the air thick with the smell of blood… and severed limbs scattered across the ground.
Not a single drop of blood was Valentina’s, which was both frustrating and incredibly annoying.
As for the scattered body parts littering the battlefield… they all belonged to Lucian.
“Stop defending yourself too much!” Valentina’s voice echoed throughout the forest as she pressed forward, moving with unnatural speed.
Lucian swiftly tilted his body and once again blocked the attack with his blade, the impact forcing him to stumble a step back under her overwhelming strength.
The difference in their strength still remained absurd.
Despite fighting for so long, a single strike from her was still enough to slice a crack into the ground, which was both horrifying and fascinating to witness.
“You are a vampire—”
But before she could say anything further, Lucian suddenly cut her off and spoke over her.
“Losing one or two limbs won’t matter… right?”
A smile slowly crept across his face.
Valentina’s expression froze, her slightly parted lips halting mid-sentence for a brief moment.
But instead of enjoying the rare expression on her beautiful face, he chose to attack.
His body blurred forward, and he slashed his sword directly toward her—
Only to notice Valentina’s eyes slowly shift toward him, almost as if she were watching a snail crawl in her direction.
And in the next second—
Slash—!
His left arm, which had been moving toward her, suddenly flew into the air, cleanly severed from his body.
“Tch.”
Lucian clicked his tongue and immediately retreated, wanting to avoid getting his head sliced off as well.
Valentina didn’t chase him back.
“Just fight with your right hand from now on,” she said instead.
Lucian still relied too heavily on his dominant hand, and though he was getting better at fighting with his non-dominant hand, he was still clumsy with it and barely used it, mostly relying on it for support or defense.
And that was not satisfying enough for her.
Lucian didn’t argue.
He nodded without questioning her, as he fully believed she might have a reason—even if she sometimes asked him to do impossible things in the middle of a fight.
With his remaining hand, he grabbed the sword that had belonged to his severed arm.
The weapon instantly vanished from his grasp.
Valentina was still a bit intrigued by that ability, but she didn’t show any outward reaction.
Meanwhile, his missing arm began reconstructing itself.
Bones emerged from the severed stump before muscles formed like tendrils, wrapping around them completely.
Finally, skin spread over it all, and within moments, his arm was whole once again.
Lucian lowered his gaze and flexed his fingers, clenching and unclenching his hand once.
But…
Even after a few seconds, Lucian didn’t move from his position.
“What happened?” Valentina asked calmly as she began walking toward him.
He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he bent down and picked up his severed arm, which was still lying on the ground.
It felt a little strange holding his own severed limb in his hands, but he didn’t show much discomfort.
Not that he felt much anymore after having his body torn apart again and again by his sadistic teacher.
‘I do have Blood Affinity, right?’ he inwardly asked himself, thinking about the affinity he possessed.
Yet unlike his Fire Affinity, he hadn’t even thought about using it—or more accurately, he simply hadn’t been able to until now.
But at this moment, as he observed the blood flowing from his severed arm through his blood sense, he felt a faint sensation from it—
A subtle, almost imperceptible connection.
His crimson eyes suddenly began glowing faintly, and in the next second—
The severed arm in his hand trembled.
The blood leaking from the severed wound began flowing toward his hand—the crimson liquid seeping into his skin.
Valentina froze mid-step.
“Blood…” she muttered, a trace of amazement appearing on her face as one brow rose slightly.
An excited smile spread across her lips, and she immediately approached, stopping beside him.
She watched curiously as the severed limb gradually shriveled up, drying out completely as every drop of blood was absorbed into Lucian’s body.
‘It looks similar to Devour…’
Lucian thought as he observed the process, feeling a small portion of his fatigue fade away.
“So… a new affinity?”
Valentina’s voice suddenly came from right beside his ear, enough to make him stiffen slightly.
Slowly, he turned his head, only to find her staring directly at him, her golden eyes sparkling with visible excitement as she looked at him.
“Yes.”
He answered simply.
Valentina’s face immediately fell, and the excitement in her eyes slowly drained away at his vague answer.
For a second, Lucian felt the urge to pinch her cheeks, finding her reactions cute. But he knew his arms would be separated from his body before he could even try any of that.
So, restraining himself, he took a deep breath.
Then—
His grip around the sword tightened, and at that exact moment, he slashed horizontally, aiming directly at Valentina.
The attack was fast and abrupt, a perfect opportunity to catch her off guard.
Unfortunately—
The opponent was Valentina.
Rather than reaching her skin, the attack was effortlessly intercepted as Valentina casually raised her sword.
Clang—!
The collision of steel rang throughout the forest, and Lucian felt his arm tremble faintly from the impact, unable to properly pressure her—as using his non-dominant hand still felt somewhat awkward.
“Attacking me when I was talking… that’s cheating, isn’t it?”
Valentina said as she pushed his blade away, and in the next moment, both of them moved toward each other once again.
“You were the one who told me to use any kind of trick when I’m on the weaker side,” Lucian replied instantly.
Valentina’s lips curled slightly as she saw him remember those words she had casually said during one of their fights.
They moved across the forest, their blades colliding repeatedly, even using the trees around them for support or to redirect their attacks—
Valentina was simply observing him while fighting, correcting his mistakes whenever they appeared. She didn’t even stop him from using the cheapest methods to try and overpower her—from throwing rocks at her to kicking dirt in her direction.
She herself knew such things were useless against her, but that wasn’t the point.
Combat wasn’t just about weapons and one’s own body; it relied on the surroundings as well.
And most of all, she wanted him to use his brain—to make use of everything around him rather than relying solely on the blade in his hands.
After a few more hours, when Lucian began feeling a little too dizzy and the endless repetition started dulling his mind, Valentina finally called for a stop.
Lucian let out a deep breath as the forest fell silent once again after so many hours of clashing.
But rather than sitting on the ground, he walked forward and cut down a tree, cleanly severing its trunk—
THUD—!
—followed by a loud thud as it crashed onto the ground.
Using the severed trunk, he quickly sliced it multiple times and turned it into a makeshift chair—crude, but good enough to sit on without looking like a begger.
Though in truth, it looked more like a stool than an actual chair.
Valentina looked at his actions with an amused expression as he pulled the piece of wood a short distance away from her throne.
And after placing it down, he finally slumped onto it, the exhaustion in his muscles finally setting in.
His mana had been depleted to almost a third of its capacity, and despite his regeneration, he was still fatigued to death.
Yet he had still gone out of his way to strain his muscles by cutting down a tree and making a seat for himself.
Why?
Because he no longer felt any interest in sitting on the ground anymore.
Not while Valentina sat before him like a queen looking down upon her servant.
And as if understanding what he was thinking, Valentina chuckled softly, her melodious voice ringing in his ears.
A peaceful silence fell over the forest while Lucian took his time to steady both his breathing and his mind.
Valentina didn’t say anything either and simply continued looking at him for a long while.
Lucian could feel her stare, but he didn’t pay it much mind.
If anything, he felt a little pleased, seeing her attention focused solely on him.
But after several more minutes had passed—
“How many days have passed since we came here?”
Lucian suddenly asked, and Valentina shifted her attention completely toward him.
“Why do you want to know that?”
“It’s been such a long time since we came here, and I don’t even know how much time has passed.”
Valentina didn’t quite understand his way of thinking, as even months felt like fleeting moments to an old vampire like her.
And she didn’t have any habit of counting days, as that was pretty much a useless thing.
“I don’t remember—” she stopped midsentence.
Her eyes immediately narrowed as she saw Lucian suddenly bend forward, his hand clutching at his throat.
“Ugh…!”
A strained groan escaped his lips, his fingers tightening as he felt the familiar dryness spreading through his throat.
“Bloodlust.”
“Bloodlust…”
Both of them muttered at the same time, their voices resonating simultaneously.
And seeing his crimson eyes glowing so brightly, Valentina was even more sure.
Lucian gritted his teeth as he felt that violent urge.
His gaze shifted toward Valentina sitting before him, and immediately he was able to see the blood flowing through her body, and his instincts began screaming with the urge to jump onto her, bite her neck and drink her blood.
“Haa…”
Yet he remained seated, not moving despite the violent urge, gritting his teeth and enduring it through sheer willpower.
And watching that, Valentina’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
“So… do you want to go back?” she asked as she casually leaned back on her throne, causing Lucian’s expression to still.
He could feel the small, almost fleeting connection coming from Lia, stretched across a distance so vast it felt almost unimaginable.
But only after a brief second of thinking—
“No.” Lucian shook his head faintly.
He missed his mother and sister, he truly did…
But right now, he wanted to focus on becoming stronger—so that nothing would be able to separate him from them afterward.
And while doing that, he could also use this time to get accustomed to his bloodlust.
Hearing his answer, Valentina’s smile widened—beautiful, yet faintly distorted.
