“The very next day after Gornorax received the documents for the ‘Rays of Hope,’ he sent me a message through Rogan: everything was ready for the children’s return. I couldn’t imagine he would manage it so quickly. And at the same time… it once again proved to me that I entrusted the orphanages to the right hands.”

  “Right after that, I contacted the Jester. Without wasting any time, he transported all the children to Heinrich’s estate, from where I was supposed to pick them up. Rogan and Eleria offered to help, and I didn’t object — in fact, I was glad they would be with me. The Jester, for his part, asked Heinrich to join us, and in the end we had a small company of four.”

  “We visited each ‘Ray of Hope’ one by one, returning the children to the places where they had lived before. Their faces were glowing with joy — they were home again. The orphanage staff thanked us for the care and warm escort, and even the usually strict caretakers didn’t hide their smiles.”

  “I thought we’d finish much faster, but the children… During the short time they lived together under one roof at the Jester’s, they had already grown close and didn’t want to part quickly. I understood them, so I waited patiently. Sometimes I even joined their games — they stayed near me all the time and didn’t seem eager to let me go.”

  “Only toward evening did we finish the final return — to the Morven ‘Ray of Hope.’ We all breathed out with relief. Heinrich said goodbye to us and returned to his estate, Rogan left to join his father, who happened to be at that last orphanage, and Eleria and I headed back to the Academy.”

  “Adam… It had already been three days since he last appeared in our room. And not only there — he hadn’t attended classes either. I want to believe the potion worked, and that he’s simply spending every minute with his mother now, the mother he hadn’t seen in so many years.”

  “Ever since my argument with Elizabeth, she hadn’t contacted me once. Even when it was her turn to hold a training session for our raid group, Krul came instead. It felt like she was avoiding me. And… I can understand why. She, as always, wanted to help, and I… I ruined everything. I was the first to raise my voice, pushing her into anger.”

  “I admit it — I’m selfish. There’s no other word for it. I simply can’t be otherwise. Or rather… I can, but… I’m afraid. This realization came to me suddenly, like lightning, though the hints had been there on the surface all along. I just stubbornly ignored them because it was easier. But after the last conversation with Elizabeth — I stopped.”

  “Sirena and I came to the conclusion that I had to face this fear. Otherwise it would consume me. Fear of loss is the most dangerous enemy, and using it as a shield means losing. A simple truth, but only now did it truly reach me.”

  Alex smiled nervously, lying on his bed.

  “Looks like with all this training and all these raids, I’ve gone completely dull if I now need so much time to reach such obvious conclusions,” he muttered aloud.

  “That’s not true,” Sirena replied calmly in his head. “Everyone reaches certain conclusions in their own way and in their own time.”

  “Are you making fun of me right now?” he asked, pouting.

  “No,” she answered in the same steady tone. “On the contrary — I’m proud of you. From the moment we returned to the past, I repeated that you needed to rely more on those around you. And Elizabeth’s words only helped complete this process. I’m glad you made the right choice.”

  Alex exhaled heavily.

  “I hope it really is the right one…”

  And at that moment, someone knocked on the room door.

  “Come in,” Alex said.

  The door slowly opened, and Elizabeth walked inside at an unhurried pace. The boy immediately sat up on the bed, crossed his legs, and fixed his gaze on her.

  “May I sit?” she asked with a hint of uncertainty, glancing at the edge of his bed.

  Alex nodded. Elizabeth carefully approached and sat down. The room fell silent: his gaze drifted to the door, hers remained on the floor.

  Alex opened his mouth to speak, but she was faster.

  “Forgive me,” she said quietly, lifting her eyes to him. “It was my fault that I snapped that day. I let myself raise a hand at you… at my only nephew. And for what? Because you were trying to protect me.” Her lips curved in an unsure smile. “Not a very good aunt, am I?”

  “The only one who should apologize right now is me,” Alex said, trying to keep his voice steady. “Your words about my selfishness were true. They… hit me hard, and that’s why I lashed out. I’m sorry. You’re the best aunt.”

  “Really?” she whispered, and tears glimmered at the corners of her eyes.

  “Really,” Alex smiled and hugged her. At first, surprise flashed across her face, but soon it softened into calm. She rested her head on his shoulder, allowing herself to enjoy the moment. And Alex felt relief — the thing he had worried about these past few days was finally behind him.

  When the boy let her go, she wiped her tears and looked toward Adam’s empty bed.

  “He still hasn’t returned?”

  “No.”

  “I see…” she murmured softly, then asked, “When will you meet the Jester again?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow,” she repeated under her breath. She fell silent for a moment, then sighed heavily. “When I first learned that you’d allied with the Jester, it worried me greatly. Even if he tries to earn your trust now, it’s hard for me to believe in the sincerity of his actions… especially after everything you said about the war and its victims. I’m afraid he might manipulate you and lead you astray. That’s what I wanted to tell you back then, but… the conversation went in a completely different direction. And it ended… the way it ended.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “I’m not a little boy anymore,” Alex tried to reassure her. “I know what I’m doing. If you can’t trust him — trust me.” He took her hands in his. “Believe in me. I know what I’m doing. And I have a plan B if anything happens. So there’s no need to worry.”

  Elizabeth smiled softly.

  “You do realize that after the words ‘there’s no need to worry,’ I will definitely not worry less?” Warm notes appeared in her voice. “But I trust you. And I’ll support you if you believe it’s the right thing to do.”

  “Thank you,” Alex replied sincerely.

  She pulled him closer and hugged him tightly this time. Alex again felt lightness and calm. In moments like this he clearly understood — everything he’d done hadn’t been in vain.

  Alex and the Jester sat in the man’s garden, each in their own chair. The air was quiet and fresh, and a light breeze rustled the leaves on the trees. The Jester spoke first:

  “Since our last meeting, I’ve been thinking carefully about your performance in the fight against that monster in the dungeon, and during our short but quite informative duel. And here’s what I realized: you can’t control blood and darkness at the same time. Am I right?”

  “Yes,” Alex confirmed without hesitation.

  “In that case,” the Jester leaned forward, “my first suggestion is not to focus on endurance, but to try learning how to combine them.”

  Alex raised a brow.

  “Is that even possible?”

  In response, the Jester only smiled faintly.

  “You’ve already done something I once believed impossible. You are a pure-blood vampire, yet you managed to wield darkness. And that, as far as I knew, was possible only for pure-blood and half-blood demons. So at the very least, it’s worth trying. If nothing works out — we’ll forget this idea and return to endurance training. What do you say?”

  “If you’re so sure it’s possible… why not? If it works, I’ll become even stronger,” Alex replied.

  “I’m glad you like the idea,” the Jester said with an easy smile. “Then let’s begin.”

  He leaned back in his chair and nodded.

  “In your right hand, focus a bit of blood. In your left — darkness.”

  Alex nodded and extended his palms. A thin stream of blood burst from his right wrist and quickly gathered into a dense sphere in his hand. In his left, a dark magic circle appeared, from which a small lump of darkness rose.

  “And now… merge them,” the Jester said.

  Alex shot him a doubtful glance.

  “Will there be any more specific instructions?”

  “For now, just try to make them fuse. Let’s see what happens,” he replied calmly.

  “All right,” Alex sighed, about to act — but the Jester suddenly raised his hand.

  “Wait.”

  He stood up, took his chair, and moved several dozen meters away. When he stopped, he waved his hand.

  “Now you may.”

  “And why did you move away?” Alex asked suspiciously.

  “Just do as I said,” the Jester waved dismissively.

  Another deep breath — and Alex turned his gaze to the two masses in his hands. “So, what, just smash them together? Or something more delicate?.. Fine, I have to try something at least.”

  He began bringing the spheres closer. The air between them grew noticeably heavier, and cold sweat broke across his skin. The closer they came, the harder the masses pushed away from each other.

  Darkness twisted into a spiral, trying to slip through his fingers, while the blood surged forward, hurling itself at the black lump like a predator at its prey.

  Alex tried to force them together, directing mana evenly into both palms.

  For a moment, it seemed to him that a thin thread was forming in the center — something that could bind the two elements.

  But within a fraction of a second, that thread turned into a crack, from which something else burst out — wild and uncontrollable.

  Blood magic and dark magic clashed violently, creating a bright flash in deep red and violet-black hues. A dull boom slammed into his ears, and the shockwave, like the blow of a hammer, threw Alex backward. The chair beneath him toppled, and the ground at the point of impact crackled for several seconds from the leftover energy.

  When Alex found himself on his back, a faint metallic smell lingered in his nose, and shadows danced before his eyes after the blinding flash.

  In his head, Sirena’s worried voice rang suddenly:

  “My Lord! Are you all right? What happened?!”

  He lay still for several more seconds until the world stopped spinning. Then Alex slowly sat up on the ground, resting his head on his hand, trying to steady his breathing.

  “It’s… fine,” he rasped, feeling adrenaline slowly fade.

  He lowered his gaze to his palms. Thin cuts had appeared on his skin, seeping dark drops of blood. The faint sting reminded him of the recent failed experiment. Without delay, Alex summoned healing magic: light-green circles flared above his hands, and a warm flow of mana gently wrapped around them. Within seconds, his skin was smooth again, as if nothing had happened.

  The ringing in his ears gradually faded, and only then did he hear approaching footsteps. The Jester was walking toward him, laughing loudly as if he’d just heard the best joke of his life.

  “Do you treat all your students like this, or am I special?” Alex asked with a crooked smile.

  “Special,” the Jester replied, barely holding back his laughter. “Because you’re my first student.”

  “With that approach, probably the last,” Alex muttered.

  “Oh, don’t be so grumpy,” the Jester squinted slyly. “At least now you know that if you try to brute-force two different racial magics together, the result will be… well, you saw it yourself.”

  Alex nodded ironically.

  “Thank you for the priceless lesson. But if you had warned me, I would’ve taken your word for it.”

  “And I thought you’d want to see for yourself,” he smiled.

  Alex got to his feet, irritation rising within him.

  “If you’ve laughed enough, maybe it’s time to give some concrete instructions, like normal teachers do?”

  “Normal teachers?” The Jester smiled faintly. “This may come as a surprise, but I’m not going to be that kind of teacher. Even if I wanted to give you precise advice… I can’t. I have no idea how to combine two racial magics.”

  Alex squinted in disbelief.

  “You’re joking? How do you not know? Then why start this at all?”

  “Calm down,” the Jester raised his hand. A magic circle flared on his palm, and two light tendrils emerged from it. They grabbed the chairs they had sat on earlier and gently pulled them closer. Once both were seated again, he continued:

  “If it were impossible, I wouldn’t have suggested it. I have a colleague who managed to combine light and blood. Granted, she’s half-angel, half-vampire, so she was able to achieve it for that reason. And you, as I said earlier, are a pure-blood vampire who learned to wield darkness. Which means, theoretically, you should be capable of merging blood and darkness. However, how exactly to do it — I don’t know. That colleague refused to share her experience, insisting that everyone must walk this path alone, without hints. So you’ll have to experiment.”

  Alex exhaled heavily.

  “And how long did it take your colleague to combine blood and light?”

  “Four months. But she trained only twice a week. You, on the other hand, are a fanatic who dedicates far more time to training, so you should manage faster.”

  “I hope so.”

  The Jester stood up, slapped his knees lightly, and smiled.

  “That’s all for today — our first lesson is over. The next one we’ll have once you’ve learned to combine blood and darkness.”

  Alex decided not to argue. He stood up as well and said briefly:

  “See you.”

  They shook hands.

  “I’ll be waiting for results,” the Jester said with a faint smile.

  Alex replied with a short nod. A magic circle flared beneath his feet, and in an instant he disappeared, leaving the Jester alone in the quiet garden.