Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Despite looking for Madame Zara at the original spot where they met her a month ago, the streets appeared different, with more stalls related to alchemy and spirit engineering than before.

Nikolai noticed several vendors with different arms and tentacles speaking about different beliefs regarding the soul. In such a short time, the atmosphere changed.

"Selene... isn't it a little different..."

"Mm, there's something wrong for sure."

There seemed to be a conflict between two different clans of Djinn, but normally, these issues would be dealt with in private, yet here, dozens of Djinn from two different clans or beliefs were preaching and trying to win people over in public.

"I can't seem to find Madame—where is she?" Selene's eyes narrowed. She grasped Nikolai's hand and pulled him softly in another direction. He noticed various books similar to the one Zara had given him but without her notes. "Nikolai..."

"I know."

While the pair moved through the crowds, both of them could feel someone following along, pairs of eyes drifting from their current business and watching the couple. Though it might seem normal, they didn't stop following and sneaking around the backstreets, creating an eerie and slightly itchy sensation for Nikolai.

'I can detect and feel the gazes of people now I am stronger...'

"Did this happen last time?" His low voice, like a mouse's whisper, caught Selene off guard. His lips brushed against her ear, tickling her.

"Ahh.... n-no... only when we met with Madame Zara directly, and she gave you that book."

Selene's cheeks flushed deep red.

The effects of Luna and Selene working together for once seemed to amplify her sense of shame as she grasped his fingers tighter and pulled him through the busy crowds.

Nikolai enjoyed this place because of the scent of cooked meats, the people talking and shouting, and the shouting of their product or method of cooking. It reminded him of the old wives who would chat amongst themselves in the past while he trained.

'They'd ask me to take some eggs or kimchi... even though we don't eat it, but it was good sometimes... ah, they once saw me naked and didn't speak for a week!'

[Those old women did?]

'Yeah... they would start talking about their daughters with me after that... or that my future wife would be very happy.'

[Those damned rotten women!]

Another benefit of Elizabeth learning about alchemy and spirit engineering was her increased active time. Although he didn't test this, he theorised she could speak and communicate with him when she was in the tower in the future.

"We're here."

Nikolai found himself standing in front of an alleyway, with the sign above covered in grime and dust from years of neglect.

"Are you sure...?"

Selene's eyes shone bright, and her nose lifted into the air as if seeking praise. At first, Nikolai almost made a joke, but then he saw the familiar pink flesh peeking from the door as a loud bolt snapped open. She cracked the door and revealed her beautiful face, waving with her several tendrils.

"Oh my, if it isn't my young werewolf hybrid apprentice, " she said in a mocking voice before gesturing the two in.

Nikolai bowed his head. She had given him so much knowledge in one book alone that his ability regarding the soul and his mother's situation. Not to mention how to develop those skills in the past month. "Madame Zara!"

"Fufu~ call me Zara, or Sister... handsome you've really grown big since I last saw you." Whenever she spoke to Nikolai, he noticed her pupils would shine pink, the colour of Madame Zara's soul power. "It seems you are here too... oh? what's this?! Intersting... who are you?"

The moment Madame Zara looked into Selene's eyes, her body seemed to emit huge amounts of energy as she rushed forward and dragged the pair into the dirty hut covered in grime, slamming the door, only to reveal a high-tech and amazingly sci-fi interior that shocked Nikolai to his core.

'Woah... there's a scanner.... and is that a...'

Before Nikolai could finish admiring the technology in Madame Zara's home, she slammed a crystal onto her desk filled with papers. With the swipe of her tendrils, the papers and various pieces of work tumbled onto the ground with a thud. But her focus remained on the two visitors—she narrowed her gaze and watched Nikolai and Selene...

"Why is there so much of your aura and energy inside her..." A question that caused Selene's face to turn bright red instantly while Nikolai tilted his head and asked.

"What do you mean?"

Madame Zara tapped the crystal on her desk, her tendrils tapping the walls and ceiling around her. She looked at him with wide eyes and her mouth wide open, confused by his question. "I am asking why her abdomen, mouth, throat and stomach are radiating your aura..."

"Ahem... that's a personal question..." Selene's eyes shone red as she covered her mouth and made several fake coughs. "We're not here for that..."

"How can it be... such an amount, this isn't normal..." Madame Zara entered her little world, looking at the pair before she seemed to conclude, "Oh... I see, you swallowed his..."

"!!!!"

THUD—!

Selene's two eyes glowed as she launched a metal block at Madame Zara. The Djinn dodged it, and the steel smashed into the wall, shaking the entire hut.

Her actions were so fast Nikolai didn't even realise. "Woah!"

"S-Selene?! Are you alright!?"

"It's nothing... just a woman's battle."

"Hahaha~ you never change, but it's amazing to see that the cold and heartless vampire princess finally fell in love... and even the stranger inside you, how did I never notice her before... a little dark and with an explosive personality."

'What is happening!?'

After her strange muttering, the sound of rummaging through the cupboard sounded out. She returned with a syringe filled with black ink and a quill before sitting at her desk and starting to write. She mentioned Selene's name several times, "Souls joined... same body... miracle, maybe a curse?"

"What? How did she know..."

She grasped the crystal and threw it at Nikolai. When it landed in his palm, the image of his soul was displayed.

"Oh my... the soul of an evil one..." Madame Zara kept writing, but her tentacles all held a quill. She wrote on six pages at the same time while her eyes focused on Selene's eyes.

'What's going on...' Nikolai wanted to know, but his mother's voice calmed him.

[She's a seer, able to see the souls and past of a person just using their souls. I believe that after you met, she accepted some kind of inheritance, which is part of the reason the streets felt so strange.]

'Why?'

As Madame Zara scribbled, drew and muttered to herself, Elizabeth made things clearer.

[There are two branches of the Djinn: the seers, who are more like priests and priestesses who believe in their god, an existence that created their bloodline before the world split apart and follow an assigned Saintess.]

[Then there are the supremacists, those with powerful magical might who don't believe in those things and are led by the imperial family.]

A slight pause followed the silence. It seemed Zara was thinking about something important. That feeling lasted several seconds. 'Mother?'

The warm sensation of her hugging him washed over his mind behind him.

His mother's purple soul force was now strong enough to create a sensation of touch. It was not quite identical to that of a normal human, but the slight tingle let him know she was there with him at that moment, which relieved him.

[I believe that Madame Zara is a Saintess candidate... and that through meeting you, she reached some kind of epiphany, awakening her abilities to this level.]

'Then what is she doing now...?'

[Likely a prophecy, or she saw something upon looking into Selene's eyes... Though it must be something important for a saintess to be affected.]

Zara paused, put her quill down and closed her eyes before muttering, "Your fate... is dark, clouded by many unseen threads and knots..."

'Threads...? Is she talking about...'

Nikolai glanced at Selene, who stared at him and gave a bitter smile. The words spoken to them were fractured and incomplete, but because oracles and prophecies were this way by nature, he could only feel a little helpless.

"Soon, a great enemy will approach you... fight hard, and endure you must." Her eyes gazed not at Selene but at Nikolai, a shimmer of golden light in the depths of her pupils. "Remember the goddess of the ocean, for her spouse will be the key to victory."

'Goddess of the ocean... Spouse?'

His mind raced, wondering who or what it could mean; he would fight someone strong soon... a great enemy, and the one who would bring him victory was... 'Wait... Scrylla... daughter of the goddess... Alexei?'

He immediately felt happy that Alexei allowed him to meet his beloved wife. If Nikolai didn't know that part of Alex, he might suffer or face this great enemy alone in the future.

"Good. Those eyes are clear, filled with pure and honest intentions. The darkness in your heart and shame you felt have faded. My apprentice, I am happy to see your progress."

Somehow, he wondered if Madame Zara could really tell the truth.

His heavy and dark feelings about lying to Nikita and Selene had faded, but when he met her, and in the past, Nikolai endured immense guilt.

'It seems that she is legitimate, or has a good information network.'

"Nikolai, beware of an old friend's betrayal..." Madame Zara's eyes suddenly faded, becoming dull after she spoke those words, causing Nikolai's heart to race. He suddenly felt a reminder of Ryan's father and the future.

Would Ryan help his dad?

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