The Way Forward

Regius sat back on the couch and reached into his mana space and pulled out a satchel. He had created it as a test one day but had kept it for whatever reason. It typically sat in a corner of his main mana space but he was able to store the bag because of that fact and whatever was in it would be transported with it in and out of his mana space. It was only a normal bag with not that much space in it but it was perfect for where Regius kept his cigarettes and wallet and other small items.

He had never quite given up smoking and now that he was of age he smoked a blend of mana-infused tobacco that Macarthur grew in the backyard of the shop. It was calming for him; it allowed him to take a break from the world and simply sit, so with Merlin sitting in front of him he lit the cigarette with trembling hands and took a single long drag.

He exhaled and focused as the smoke became shapes and pictures. His siblings swinging him between them, his father practicing, the Valkyries teaching him things but no matter how hard he tried he just could remember his mother's face. Had she taken his memories to protect him? He still had so many questions but now his vengeance had grown to a point where the family leaders were like ants compared to what he would have to face. How could he reach that point and save the only family he had left.

Merlin had materialized an ashtray and Regius used it after almost half the cigarette had burned away. Link popped out of his mana space and soared into the library before coming to a wind-stirring stop right above Regius and roaring into his face. He lightly landed behind Merlin and stretched his head so that his eyes could stare directly into Regius' own. No words were needed between the two of them the look in his eyes communicated it all. Regius finished the cigarette and put it out with a now steady hand and Link nodded in affirmation before diving back into Regius' chest.

Regius looked at Merlin, who had been studying Link before he went back into his mana space. "So then why does it matter if I'm not fully human what is going to happen to me other than the obvious which will be the further ostracization of myself and the name of my family further being dragged through the mud." Merlin looked at Regius with sadness in his eyes, he was still only a child and this was only the beginning. Merlin scratched at his beard before answering

"Humans are special because when Earth was making our kind she took from each other race, mashed them together, and then did her best to balance them out but why don't we look like monsters or some gross mixture of races? It was because in our final moments of creation before the first man was born Earth stripped the majority of the defining characteristics and buried them deep within us and in return she gifted us with the potential to grow past any other race but because of this when a human is mixed with another race it awakens the parts of us that Earth suppressed amplifying the person past what a human would be capable of giving them the potential of a human and the characteristics of whatever other race they are.

To be honest as the first cross between a demon and a human your mother may have been the only person who could give you info on it but your mother has laid that part of you dormant or so it seems because you have no outward characteristics of a demon other than when you and your dragon fused. Those wings other than the golden dragon eyes on them looked much like your mother's. She was alive when the celestial race was split but her father protected her so the only effect was that the pure white wings she had as a celestial became the black ones that you now share.

Your spirit seems linked to your bloodline but I know of no way to awaken the blood that slumbers in you so in that aspect you are on your own not to say that that hasn't helped your already unnatural talent but I can't fully speak on that without further testing." Regius raised an eyebrow at Merlin and the old man coughed embarrassedly.

"I wished to tell you of your mother because I owed you that at least but that is not the reason that I brought you here. Earth needs a new champion and though there are several people in the rankings the planet has not chosen at this time a new generation is rising and with it I can almost feel that our world Is almost ready to pick a champion." Regius seemed to ponder what Merlin said before asking a question of his own.

"Why does the earth need a champion? Is it only to protect itself from the other 9 races?" Merlin grinned from ear to ear at the question and for a moment his eyes flared with so much mana that they were like miniature suns.

"No Regius, Earth has hidden for eons to allow humans to grow into their potential and so the world wants a champion so that it can show the other prime worlds that It is not to be trifled with It wants to stand next to its siblings and show them that Humans can be as great as the other 9 races. Earth wants a conqueror."