The first thing Vacuse did was harvest all eight fruits and arrange them in front of him, and then he began to eat.
The first taste of it was something Vacuse couldn't accurately describe. The blood fruits tasted sweet and bitter with a sharpness he couldn't put his hand on.
He ate two of them immediately.
"Huh? Isn't this supposed to work and expand my soul space somehow?"
He sat there cross-legged with the fruits in front of him, contemplating what he might have done wrong since it was the first time he was eating them in both lives.
"Maybe I'm missing something or!"
Suddenly, a fire pit opened up inside him, and lightning replaced his blood. He jerked as all his muscles locked up. His pores seemed to be opened as light poured out from his body. His eyes blazed.
Energy overflowed his body, condensing inside him and forming into a core that developed into his soul space.
Sweat ran down his body like water. "This, this is incredible!"
Vacuse shouted, and then he ate more of the fruits, swallowing one in a single bite, and he was eating another one when someone staggered into the clearing.
"Huh?"
"So, you're here already, Vacuse," Lyra said. Her white robe was covered in blood, and she was limping, her sword still dripping as she dragged it across.
The construct didn't attack her.
Vacuse nodded and continued to eat his fruit; he ignored her. The fruit slid down his throat, and soon a burst of energy happened around him again.
He'd eaten four blood fruits now.
He sighed and picked up another one.
"You know, the more you eat, the less effect it will have on your body."
Vacuse blinked as he munched on another one. "Is that true?"
He didn't know anything about that. It's not like the Vorrakyn shared the secret of the blood fruits with the bastards. And now that he thought about it, if the blood fruits worked in accordance with how much was eaten, then Drenvar would have devoured the whole tree during his time and bound a dragon.
Maybe, it's not like soul space is the only thing needed to bind a beast.
Soul space is something a person is born with, and it can only be expanded little by little through the years. So those who are born with a small soul space are already low on the food chain.
Vacuse shrugged. "If I eat everything, then it'll still help a little, right?"
Lyra twitched. "Right, but you shouldn't. You should give me one."
Vacuse looked at her. "I don't see any reason to give you one of my blood fruits."
She took a deep breath and smiled bitterly. "I saw my brother's body."
"And? Do you want to avenge him, or do you want to guilt-trip me into giving you a fruit? Which one will it be?"
Her face showed surprise, and then it went calm.
Vacuse watched her and couldn't read any expression on her face. Just six years old, and she was already plotting; no wonder she was a big mover in the future.
She bowed her head. "I can't manipulate you like my brother. So how's this? I will deal with you in truth only and be your ally. You want to be the Dragon Lord, right? The Family Head.
"I am smart, intelligent. I understand that I won't be able to defeat and oppose you. You are stronger than me. So make use of me."
Vacuse watched her silently. He didn't trust her, not at all, but she was intriguing. Even in his past life, Vacuse regarded her as one of the only reasonable Vorrakyn.
She understood her place, but that doesn't mean she won't reach far above it in the future.
Vacuse played with the three fruits and asked a question in return. "What do you want?"
Vacuse didn't trust those who do not want something in return. They are the most deadly.
"The Vorrakyns, Father thinks that we need overwhelming power to claim our place in the Empire, but I disagree. We need those who can think and maneuver politics. We are declining because we focus only on brute strength, and when the Empire shifted from its warring era, we were left behind."
Vacuse raised his brows. That's a perspective he'd never thought about before. He was interested. After all, one of his goals was to raise the Vorrakyn's house.
He picked up an apple and raised it to her. "Give me one strategy, a plan, something you would have done right now if you were the Family Head."
Her eyes glowed. She didn't look like a six-year-old at all, more like a learned scholar. "End squabbles with the barbarians and start exporting deeper west. Form a company to provide safe passage through the wilderness."
Vacuse smiled. "Well, I wasn't expecting that. You will be useful, Lyra Vorrakyn, so I will invest in you."
He threw her a fruit.
"Just don't forget to live. The end is always full of regrets."
She opened her mouth, probably to question him about his quick change of subject. But just then, something whooshed through the air, a cutting sound that was familiar.
Someone was throwing a weapon!
Lyra dodged to the side, but her limp got in the way, and she couldn't move fast enough. A sword that shot like an arrow slammed into her left shoulder with a solid twang!
She was thrown forward with a painful scream on her lips, the fruit in her hands falling to the ground.
Vacuse raised his head. "Now, that's a familiar sound."
Lyra struggled to flip herself over, tears running down her cheeks and her body shuddering from the pain, but her right hand went to the fruit, and she began to eat, using it as a scream stopper.
Children of Dragons.
Vicious children.
A boy came into the clearing; he carried up to eight swords with him. The weight didn't seem to hold him down at all as he dragged them with a strip of torn cloth.
Behind him, more children also appeared.
Red eyes glowing everywhere.