The clash of weapons filled the field as the youths fought nonstop. Combat Conditioning lasted from 6:00 to 7:30, an hour and thirty minutes of pure fighting. There were no breaks. No rest.
The instructors hadn’t banned the use of vita or blood, and many of the youths used it, ramping up the intensity of the fights.
Malakai and Renlo were no exception.
Though the results of their match remained consistent, with Malakai always winning, Renlo had proven to be a decent opponent.
After that abrupt change, he stopped trembling… stopped talking entirely. He moved with purpose and, at times, even countered Malakai’s strikes.
Renlo was already in the node formation stage and should’ve been stronger than Malakai. But for some strange reason, he’d formed his first node in his stomach, something Malakai found both baffling and oddly fitting, considering how he had perceived the boy.
While it gave Renlo more vita, it did little to improve his overall power. Still, he didn’t fight like someone useless anymore.
Malakai hadn’t just focused on Renlo though. He’d also made sure to watch the other Veins fight. As expected, they each overwhelmed their opponents, especially Julius, who more than once landed attacks that were clearly non lethal… but clearly meant to inflict pain.
Eventually, the time passed, and class ended. The youths dropped to the ground, panting, exhausted from the prolonged battle.
One hour and thirty minutes of live combat had drained them dry.
But Malakai’s breathing remained calm and utterly steady. There was not even a single pant.
He returned his scythe to its hilt, unmoved. He had trained himself to exhaustion more times than he could count and had survived in the wild for days on end.
This was nothing.
As he turned, he caught sight of Renlo getting up to leave. The boy didn’t say a word to him or anyone else.
His face was still cold and stoic. He didn’t glance back and simply walked off, leaving the scene.
As Malakai watched him go, only one thought came to his head.
‘What a kid.’
“You’re one to talk,” Valentine muttered.
Malakai narrowed his eyes slightly. ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’
Valentine cleared his throat but didn’t say anything else.
Malakai only shook his head and sent a glance across the field again.
‘They’re resting. The next discipline is in thirty minutes.’
From the book Grinner had given him, he knew the next discipline was Blood Arts Training.
Because of how strenuous the Combat Conditioning class was, there was always a thirty minute break scheduled between them.
Malakai found a quiet spot and lowered himself onto the grass, choosing to use the time to meditate, going over both his fight with Grinner and his unexpected battle with Renlo.
The thirty minutes passed quickly. When Malakai opened his eyes, he noticed the youths around him still hadn’t moved. They were talking amongst themselves casually.
‘They won’t go to the next class?’
Just as he thought this, he noticed a woman approaching from the far end of the field. A female instructor. The moment the students caught sight of her, they stood at once. Malakai followed their lead.
She had a dark, heavy aura to her, gloomy and cold. She didn’t waste time.
“We will begin with the Sanguine Creed.”
The creed was recited in unison once more. Afterward, she turned toward Malakai and bowed slightly.
“Welcome to the advanced class, Ninth Vein.”
A new wave of murmurs erupted from the students. Another one? He was in the advanced class for this discipline too?
The instructor began without delay. While the Blood Meditation class in the morning focused on understanding the flow of vita and blood, this discipline was about it utilization.
Here, the focus was on how to harden blood, how to make it pump harder, how to manipulate it in real time combat, and many other practical applications.
Though the topics weren’t unfamiliar to Malakai, he listened and participated fully. They were each required to wear regulators, ensuring they only used their own blood throughout the session.
The class lasted two hours, and by the end of it, Malakai followed the other students back to the hall used earlier, for the Darkness Theory discipline.
This was another theoretical session, and just like the first, Malakai absorbed everything with ease. Much of the content though, he already knew.
Afterwards came a one hour break, which Malakai spent meditating inside the hall.
Sitting still amidst the low murmur of voices, he focused inward.
‘Three more courses left.’
He didn’t feel tired, but the number of disciplines left still annoyed him.
Time passed and the next was the Live Combat Simulation Training. It was similar to Combat Conditioning, except this time, they were pitted directly against instructors. And unlike before, the instructors were allowed to attack.
Injuries piled up fast. And Malakai hadn’t escaped untouched. He had been hit numerous times. It was one of the few sessions where even veins weren’t spared.
After that came another thirty minute break.
And then after that, one of the hardest disciplines of all for many students, the Darkness Creature Hunt.
The youths had gathered at the edge of a forest, far west of the main building, peering into its darkened depths with grim expressions.
This discipline was one of the most dreaded for a simple reason, it forced them to come face to face with darkness creatures directly.
Many were visibly rattled. Only the veins held their calm, composed demeanors as they waited for the instructor’s arrival.
As direct descendants, their parents, the pulses, had made sure to prepare them accordingly. Most had already encountered darkness creatures more than once despite their young age and had somehow grown used to it.
Regardless, amongst all of them, Malakai remained the most unfazed.
At this point, he lived and breathed darkness creatures.
A figure soon emerged from the thick foliage of trees, dragging behind him a large, covered cart.
He was bald, with wide crimson eyes and bushy beards, his frame broad and stocky like a reinforced wall of muscle.
At his appearance, the unease of the youths visibly intensified.
But while the others were focused on the man, Malakai’s eyes were fixed elsewhere, on the cart.
He could feel it. That sensation creeping along his spine. A cold he was very familiar with.
A chill.
‘Darkness creatures…’