Failure

Conall caught it, tightening his grip on his own sword. "I am not going to go easy on you, old man!"

Winfield glanced at the long, dark sword forming in his hand and said, "Of course, that's what I want."

I just stood by the sidelines looking at both father and son; the air around them felt like it was about to explode.

I tried to follow Conall with my eyes, but his movements were a blur. He moved towards Winfield; his movements accelerated until I couldn't follow them at all, and he vanished from my sight.

Then he appeared in front of Winfield, and a clash rang out; it sounded like one, but the impact felt like hundreds of swords clashing at once.

Conall attacked Winfield at the same moment from different directions, but Winfield didn't even move and just blocked all the attacks with his sword. The expression on Winfield's face did not change during this whole encounter.

Sensing that Winfield wasn't being entirely serious, Conall seized the opportunity, and then orbs of blood formed around him as he dashed around his father.

Then, in one stab that was going to be blocked by Winfield, the orbs emerged with the sword in the momentum, making Conall's blade black.

And in that moment, the long sword Winfield was holding broke into shards that spread across the whole training ground.

Conall didn't wait or change expressions, taking that chance to attack Winfield directly; however, the moment he did so, a shard flew in their direction, blocking Conall's sword.

Winfield then looked at Conall for a few seconds before saying, "Okay, we can stop now."

Conall's body listened, and it became relaxed in an instant. "I did well; you can't lie! Better than last time, at least."

Winfield put his hand on his son's shoulder, his expression as cold as ever. "Good job; however, you still rely on your speed too much. Infusing your blood with your sword while attacking is something unexpected, which is smart. Keep improving."

Conall then let out a smile and nodded. Winfield then started walking towards the garden.

I walked up to Conall, who was still standing still. "You were insane! I am surprised that your father is stronger than that."

Conall smiled while throwing his sword away. "It's nothing that you have to worry about. If you keep training, you will be at this level one day."

"That's easy to say for a vampire who lived a long time." I joked. "You looked like you were actually trying to kill him."

Conall put his hand behind his back. "If I didn't put up a convincing fight, the entity would grow suspicious, wouldn't it? He's keeping me inside, so the entity probably knows he's just trying to make sure I am not super strong, so looking like I was struggling was the only way."

Looking? He was only making it look like he was going all out? I was a bit surprised; Conall knows how to act around the entity. I guess it makes sense; he misses his father, so he's doing his best against this entity.

Just thinking about it fired me up again to become stronger. So after taking a short break, I and Conall continued training.

As time continued passing in this place, I started to realize I had gotten attached to the scenery. Like a home, nobody could realize where it could form; however, it also made me a bit sad.

Life will drive a person away; no matter what happens, a person will have to keep moving; a home will never be forever.

After being done, I and Conall separated, and I took myself into the mansion's library; it was quiet and huge.

The best place to gain info on the runes—I needed to draw one, so I can't really ruin it by doing something halfheartedly.

I took one of the books and stood at a table. From what I've gained so far, runes are something different from normal magic; while yes, the origin seems to be the same, how it works and what it does is different.

It doesn't use mana, but it sucks the mana out of the area around it. Making it a nullified area in which logic and reason won't make sense.

Then it uses the runes drawn on it, which seem to be an ancient language. That language activates it using that nullified area to activate whatever it needs.

I held the copy of the rune that Conall gave me to the side while reading. Ars Notoria seems to be a collection of runes from a long time ago. However, it reacting with me or the ring doesn't make any sense; none of the books have any information on it.

"Anti-possession rune?" A voice behind me called. Instantly, I covered the drawing of the rune and looked to see Mars, who had multiple books in his hand.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"People rarely come here, and when I saw you, I was interested," Mars replied with a smile.

"Thank you for your interest, and now you see what I am doing; can you leave me alone?"

"..." Mars looked at the book in front of me and said, "The oldest language known in existence is still a mystery; however, some keywords were deciphered. Or at least lead to some sort of a spell; the one you had was calling out to possession somehow. Good luck with your learning, Taro."

Mars didn't continue talking and left the library with a few books in hand.

"What's with him?" I couldn't help but let out. Then I looked back at the rune in my hand.

And I continued doing this routine for the next few days. During the day, I trained with Conall, chatted a bit with Lilith, and learned stuff in the library about the history of the world and magic.

At night, I would go out with the scent-nullification clothes and draw the runes. After the first incident, nothing major happened.

I met with Lord Winfield sometimes, but he didn't bother with me or anything. I was training my swordsmanship with Conall on a rainy day since he said, "Training in a harsh environment will make you better!"

In the middle of the spar, he stopped randomly.

Then a big smile was drawn on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Eden is back!" Conall replied in a cheerful tone. I quietly followed him outside the training ground.

A beautiful young woman was walking in through the gate, her black dress making her appear elegant.

"Eden! How was the mission?" Conall said.

However, Eden didn't reply as she looked down, her hair wet from the rain. "I failed. Just leave it."

She moved past Conall, her expression unreadable. Then, she noticed me, and her eyes started glowing.

I couldn't react, and then my vision was filled with her bronze hair. Her fangs deep into my throat.

It didn't hurt; it was like before in the forest. A warm feeling, a weak sting.

I felt her tears as she kept taking my blood away. Just what had happened?

She quickly pulled herself back, stepping back from me. Her eyes were moving fast while looking at me. 'I-I am sorry.'

Looking away, Eden started walking towards the mansion.

"What happened to her?" I asked Conall while looking at Eden's back.

"If she fails a mission, Father won't be happy. While yes, he is kind, he doesn't tolerate not following the contract. I guess she's just..." Conall didn't continue.

My eyes were still locked behind Eden. I heard the rain hitting the stone floor, making a steady rhythm.

Each of Eden's slow footsteps broke it. As she was walking slowly. I am starting to realize it; even if the entity is gone, this is what Eden and maybe even Conall have to deal with. Even before the possession?

Maybe I don't understand or know how, but the fear in Eden's eyes. It was something that made my heart beat a lot faster.