Chapter 244: Yggdrasil’s Blessing (Part.I)

Inside Rowena’s ring, time seemed to have lost much of its importance.

In the outside world, Victor remained in a coma, his physical body motionless while it slowly recovered the absurd amount of energy he had burned during the explosion at the Palace. His consciousness, however, was perfectly awake. Sitting in the lotus position within the white infinity of that mental world, he kept his eyes closed and his hands resting on his knees, taking advantage of the time to do something he normally would not have enough patience to spend so many consecutive hours doing: studying his own blood.

Small red droplets floated in front of him, separated from one another and subjected to different kinds of manipulation. Some were heated, others frozen, others compressed until they nearly crystallized. Victor passed small amounts of Black Lightning through one of them while trying to surround another with White Fire, observing how his essence reacted to each change. He was not trying to create a new ability. This time, he wanted to understand what he already possessed. His blood had been doing strange things for far too long to keep being summarized as merely an ability to adapt.

"Again," Victor murmured, slightly opening one hand.

A sphere of blood appeared above his palm and immediately divided into nine smaller ones. Victor moved his fingers and began working on each one separately. The first crystallized, the second stretched until it took the form of a small blade, the third received electricity and remained stable, while the fourth froze without any problem. When he tried to wrap the fifth in White Fire, however, it immediately disappeared.

"Shit," he muttered, opening one eye to look at the empty spot where the sphere had been.

His blood learned. That was the best definition Victor had managed to find.

When it came into contact with an inferior essence, it simply consumed it and took advantage of whatever it could use. When it encountered something more powerful or too complex to be directly devoured, its behavior changed. The blood seemed to study that structure, adapt to the contact, and attempt to incorporate useful properties without necessarily reproducing the entire essence.

That explained much of what had happened during his training, his absurd compatibility with different powers, and perhaps even what was happening to Natasha after drinking his blood.

Behind him, Rowena remained quiet.

That was strange enough for Victor to notice even without looking.

Normally, whenever he spent too much time training in that world, Rowena started complaining. She would say he was incapable of resting, that turning a coma into a training opportunity was some kind of mental illness, or she would simply start bothering him until he gave her attention.

That day, however, she had been sitting there for nearly an hour without saying a single word.

Her eyes remained fixed on Victor’s back.

More specifically, on the way the energy around him reacted.

Rowena had first noticed it by accident. A small current of Natural Energy existing within that inner world had approached Victor some time earlier and, instead of being repelled by his vampiric nature, had simply disappeared into his circulation.

The first time, she thought she was mistaken.

The second, she started paying attention.

The third, she became worried.

"Who is your father?" she finally asked.

Victor did not open his eyes.

"I don’t have one."

Rowena frowned.

"That is biologically impossible."

"My mother says she took genetic material from some random man and used it for artificial insemination," Victor replied, moving two fingers while another drop of blood rotated in front of his face. "I never met the guy. I don’t know his name, what he looks like, what race he is, or even whether he’s still alive. So for all practical purposes, I don’t have a father."

Rowena continued staring at him for several seconds.

"Some random man?"

"According to her."

"Serafall Valentine decided to have a child and simply chose the genetic material of some random man?"

"That’s what I was told."

Rowena narrowed her eyes, clearly dissatisfied.

Victor noticed the silence and opened one eye.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That was a ’something is very wrong’ voice."

"Because something is," Rowena replied, standing.

Victor followed her with his gaze as she walked over and sat directly behind him. Without explaining anything else, Rowena placed both palms between his shoulder blades.

"I’m going to inject my Natural Energy into you," she said. "Don’t reject it. Just let it enter and circulate."

Victor slightly turned his head.

"Why?"

"I want to confirm something."

"You could start by telling me what you’re trying to confirm."

"Later."

Victor remained silent for a moment.

"These experiments with you usually end with me exploding."

"You’re already in a coma," Rowena replied without emotion. "What’s going to happen? You’ll fall into a coma inside your coma?"

Victor remained silent for several seconds.

"Surprisingly good argument."

"I know."

He closed his eyes again and relaxed his shoulders.

"Go ahead."

Rowena took a deep breath and focused.

An extremely gentle green energy began emerging between her fingers.

Natural Energy.

Victor had felt that essence several times before, mainly during fights against werewolves or when Rowena demonstrated some technique. Even so, this was the first time he deliberately allowed Natural Energy to enter his body directly.

It did not possess the aggression of demonic mana. Nor did it carry the hot, predatory weight of vampiric blood energy. It was clean, vast, and in a way difficult to explain, felt closer to breathing inside a forest than receiving energy from another person.

Rowena started slowly.

The first current entered through Victor’s back.

He waited for pain.

Nothing.

He waited for his blood to react violently.

Nothing again.

The energy passed through muscle, vessels, and tissue until it finally reached his bloodstream.

To Victor, the sensation was surprisingly comfortable, like cool water being poured into a river that already existed.

Rowena, however, became completely rigid.

"No..." she murmured.

Victor kept his eyes closed.

"What?"

"Quiet."

She increased the flow.

More Natural Energy entered.

Rowena searched for resistance.

That was what she should have found.

Vampiric energy was among the most aggressive essences in existence. Its fundamental principle involved consumption, domination, and transformation through blood. When foreign energy entered a vampire’s body, especially an incompatible essence, their circulation should react immediately.

Devour.

Corrupt.

Destroy.

Or simply expel it.

Any of those responses would have been normal.

Victor’s blood did something completely different.

It accepted it.

The Natural Energy entered his circulation and, instead of being attacked, was simply incorporated into the blood flow.

Rowena’s eyes widened.

She increased the amount again, this time paying attention to every change.

The green essence entered through Victor’s back, passed through the tissues refined by the Divine Blood Body Refinement Method, and reached his vampiric energy. The moment the two touched, Victor’s blood moved.

Rowena felt it clearly.

It swallowed the Natural Energy.

But it did not destroy it.

What came out the other side was still Natural Energy.

Rowena immediately removed her hands.

Victor opened his eyes.

"What happened?"

She stared at her own palms as though she had just touched something that should not exist.

"You’re not a vampire."

Victor slowly turned his head.

"What?"

Rowena stood.

"You’re not a vampire," she repeated.

"I have fangs, drink blood, use blood energy, and my mother is a vampire."

"I know what I’m seeing."

Victor stood as well.

"Then explain it better, because your conclusion is shit."

Rowena started walking around him.

"Biologically, you are a vampire. That’s obvious. Your primary essence is also vampiric. The problem is that your existence does not completely belong to the nature of vampires."

Victor remained quiet.

Rowena stopped in front of him.

"Or at the very least... you are a vampire with a direct connection to the World Tree."

Victor’s expression finally changed.

"Yggdrasil?"

"Yes."

Rowena grabbed his wrist and closed her eyes again. A small amount of Natural Energy passed through her hand and entered Victor. Just like before, there was no resistance.

"It’s strong," she murmured.

"What is?"

"The bond."

Rowena released his arm and stepped back.

"I’ve put Natural Energy inside vampires before. I know exactly what should happen."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Why have you done that before?"

"I’ve lived a long and unpleasant life."

"That definitely sounds like a story."

"Later."

She pointed toward his chest.

"When Natural Energy enters the body of a normal vampire, the reaction is immediate. The two essences conflict. The blood tries to destroy what it considers foreign, and the Natural Energy resists. Inside the vampire’s own body, the vampire usually wins because it has the advantage."

Victor nodded.

"My blood absorbed yours."

"Exactly."

"That isn’t new."

"Yes, it is."

Rowena became more serious.

"Because it shouldn’t be able to do that."

Victor frowned.

"My blood adapts."

"Not to Natural Energy."

"You can’t know that for sure."

"I can."

Rowena stepped closer and looked directly at Victor.

"Victor, Natural Energy is immutable."

It took him a moment to answer.

"Immutable how?"

"It cannot be converted into another essence."

Victor crossed his arms.

"Mana can."

"Yes."

"Demonic energy too."

"Under certain conditions."

"And blood energy can consume both."

"Yes."

"Then why would Natural Energy be different?"

Rowena pointed toward the ground.

"Because it isn’t simply another form of energy created by an organism. It exists as part of the natural structure of the world itself. It can be dispersed, conducted, stored, or absorbed by compatible beings, but it remains Natural Energy. You cannot take that essence and simply turn it into mana, demonic energy, or blood."

Victor remained thoughtful for several seconds.

"Then what did my blood do?"

"It didn’t transform it."

"You just said it swallowed it."

"It swallowed it because you allowed it."

Victor frowned even more.

Rowena sighed and tried explaining another way.

"When something absorbs Natural Energy without being compatible, the energy resists or simply disperses. When you absorbed mine, it remained perfectly stable inside your body. Your blood merely started moving it together with your own circulation."

"As if it were mine."

"Exactly."

Victor went quiet.

Rowena placed her palm against his chest.

"It entered you almost lovingly."

Victor blinked.

"Lovingly?"

"That was the best word I could find."

"It’s still a strange word."

"Because your mind is filthy."

"I only asked."

Rowena rolled her eyes.

"When Natural Energy accepts an organism, it does not enter like an invader. It accompanies it. It circulates following what the body already does. That is exactly what happened with you."

Her hand remained on his chest.

"It entered as though it already knew you."

Victor’s smile disappeared completely.

"That only happens with beings connected to Yggdrasil," Rowena continued, stepping away again. "All life in the world has some distant relationship with the World Tree, but only two races can spontaneously manipulate Natural Energy."

Victor could already guess one.

"Werewolves."

"And elves."

Rowena nodded.

"Elves possess an even deeper connection. They were not merely blessed by Yggdrasil. Their race emerged directly from the influence of the World Tree, which is why their bodies naturally interact with the surrounding energy from birth."

"And werewolves?"

"We are different."

Rowena sat again, crossing her legs as she organized her explanation.

"We were blessed by Yggdrasil. We were not born directly from it like the elves, but we received the right to use its energy. That is precisely why werewolves can absorb Natural Energy to strengthen muscles, bones, senses, regeneration, and transformation."

Victor sat in front of her.

"But you have a lifespan limit."

"Yes."

"Nine hundred years."

"Around that," Rowena confirmed. "Some die much earlier. Others can exceed it slightly depending on bloodline, but there is a natural limit close to that age."

Victor rested his arms on his knees.

"I always thought that was strange. You can develop strength very quickly for a race that lives so little."

"That’s precisely why."

Victor looked up.

Rowena continued:

"Elves live for thousands of years and possess a much more stable connection to Yggdrasil. Their growth is normally slower. Werewolves use Natural Energy much more aggressively to strengthen their own bodies."

"So you burn your own lives."

"In a way."

Victor remained silent for a few moments, remembering everything Rowena had told him about werewolves, their bloodlines, and the aggressive way they strengthened their bodies.

"And vampires are on the opposite side."

"Now you’re understanding."

Rowena drew an imaginary line on the ground between them.

"There is a kind of balance. I’m not talking about good and evil, because that would be an extremely childish way of interpreting it."

"Positive and negative?"

"Closer."

She pointed to one side of the line.

"Natural Energy represents growth, continuity, vitality, creation, and integration with the world. Werewolves and elves are connected to that side."

Then she pointed to the other.

"Vampires occupy a practically opposite nature. Consumption, blood, death, transformation through devouring, and an extended existence that defies the natural cycle."

Victor made an uncomfortable expression.

"So you’re saying I’m an abomination of nature."

"Yes."

"Thanks."

"It wasn’t an insult."

"It sounded like one."

Rowena shrugged.

"Werewolves also possess characteristics that defy some natural rules. The difference is that we are connected to the other side of the balance."

She pointed directly at him.

"You should be completely over here."

"On the negative side."

"Yes."

Victor looked at the line.

"But I’m not."

Rowena remained silent for several seconds before answering.

"No."

She looked at Victor seriously.

"You’re being accepted by both."

Victor remained quiet.

That conclusion carried far more weight than it seemed to at first.

His blood.

His ability to adapt.

The way he absorbed different properties.

The fact that Natasha was undergoing a transformation after drinking his essence.

The possibility Chysis had raised that Victor might be the Progenitor of an entirely new bloodline.

His unknown origin.

And now Yggdrasil.