Transmigration Into The Beginning After The End

Chapter 23 - Ceremony

CHAPTER 23 - CEREMONY

ARTHUR LEYWIN

On the training field, I was now able to become a true beast tamer...

Or how Grandpa Virion put it yesterday and when he saw me in the morning.

Continuing on, Grandpa Virion explained, "Art, my first phase doesn't really make me that much faster, but I'm able to erase a bit of my presence and blend myself into the shadows. You haven't seen my second phase, right? Watch carefully. It took me over ten years for me to make a breakthrough into this phase."

Feeling a powerful surge of mana surrounding his body, I couldn't help but involuntarily cringe. All of a sudden, the mana surrounding his body seeped back into him and my eyes widened.

Grandpa's skin turns pitch black. Even the whites of his eyes became black while his irises turned sharp and glowed yellowed. His tied white hair became unbound and was also a shiny black color. That aura that surrounded him makes me shudder and take a step back.

"This is the integration phase. I'm going to sneak up behind you. Pay attention," He growled, his voice much raspier than before.

Was it really sneaking up if he told me... was what I was thinking when he disappeared from my vision. I couldn't feel his presence at all but when I looked behind me as I had been told to do, his finger was already pressed against my jugular as he looked down at me with his glowing yellow eyes.

Fast. It seemed like instant teleportation but I knew it wasn't by the skid mark from his initial position. It was a speed that even I couldn't keep up with. Not even close. No. The scary part wasn't even his insane speed. It was his lack of presence. Even directly behind me, I couldn't sense where he was.

He turned back to normal, his face slightly flushed as Tessia began clapping as if this was a show.

"Whew! Using that form always takes a toll on me. After training for a couple of decades, I'm able to keep the form on for a bit less than an hour. During my Acquire phase, I am simply channeling a small portion of my beast will and I'm able to borrow the speed and stealth of the shadow panther. However, with my Integrate phase, not only did my speed and stealth rise, so did my senses to keep up." I nodded in agreement.

"Good! Let's begin the ceremony," he replied, clasping his hands together.

We stood face to face, only an arm's length apart. Tess was now leaning forwards in excitement, as we were about to start.

"Just let your mana come out freely. Don't try to control anything. I'll restrain you if necessary so it's crucial that you keep a relaxed state of mind and rouse the particles of mana you assimilated all these years," he instructed.

After a nod in response, he then began exerting mana into my core, flooding my core with his mana along with mine.

Instantly, I began feeling a warm sensation, like a hot gust of air was flowing in and out of my pores.

As I felt my body reaching its limit, a loud explosion startled me out of my concentration, only for me to see Gramps getting thrown back and Tess falling back on her chair and rolling back as well.

An unbearable pain immediately surges from my body, as if my very skeleton was trying to crawl out of my skin. As the surges and pain continued, a distinct but familiar voice came through the unbearable pain.

"I got you old friend."

Without even the strength to scream my vision darkened. I welcomed the darkness because I knew it would relieve me of my pain.