Orange sector dormitory
Namer Academy
Academia City, Namer Island
8th September, 2285 A.G.M
Eighteen years after the Hailey Incident
Eren found himself in the single room assigned to him, arranging his things in his new room, happy for the privacy that he finally had yet resentful that he did not have a whole mansion like Ash had. Hours had passed since Ayden had shown them around the Orange sector dormitory for the first years. First, he had taken them to a part of the area that had mansions lined up, each of these Mansions were three stories high, looking so beautiful and extravagant. Each of the top five had been given a mansion to themselves, while the rest of them had been taken to a tall building where Eren had learned something extra. It turned out that the hundred students who had ended up in the forests were first years who had been selected as candidates to become Hunters. While the rest of the first years Eren had come across in the dorms were Scholar candidates-students who were here to study the secrets of Mana and Magic. Just like the Hunter Candidates with their top five rankers, Scholar candidates also had their own top five rankers and their evaluation was taken from the entrance exam that had been given to them. it turned out that Belle Satou was the number one Scholar candidate- turns out you can both be Hunter and Scholar- and she had been given her own mansion. Now Eren was the only one who had to stay in this single room with the rest of the other students. Eren didn't complain much as even this situation was a much better improvement from the Orphanage where he had shared a room with Ash. After packing his stuff and putting them way, Eren was on the floor, in a lotus position, examining his Essence core. On the floor in front of him was his black grimoire.
In a space filled with darkness, submerged in what looked like a large ocean, Eren was floating towards the bottom. When he had first gotten here, he had been surprised to find himself under water and at first he had panicked, trying to hold his breathe. But surprisingly enough, he didn't need to hold his breathe as he could breathe just fine. And then he felt a force push him towards the bottom. Eren decided to not fight the force and let it guide him. As he floated down, he had come to the conclusion that where he was might just be his Soul room. Ash had explained it to him before. The Soul room was the mental representation of his soul within his body. While it was a mental space, it also existed as a physical space within the body and was the first starting point of one's Mana circuit. As Eren got to the bottom of the darkness, he began to see a light and soon enough the light got so bright that Eren had to close his eyes. When he opened his eyes, Eren found himself in a crimson colored hallway. There were columns supporting the ceiling only there was no ceiling but an open space that showed a sky of luminescent light. Within these nebula colored sky was a giant sphere of light. It was like a star, burning bright with blue colored flames spewing out of it. When Eren looked closer at it even with how bright it was, it was then that he discovered that there were actually four of those spheres, rotating close to each other. Eren realized that those spheres were his essence core. He didn't know that there were four of them. The cores moved in a circle, rotating slowly as they drew in energy within themselves. When Eren focused and concentrated on the cores movement, he felt it pull in more of the energy that surrounded his body, saturating the inner membrane of the core with essence.
One cultivates by meditating and cycling their cores. But it seems my core can passively cycle itself without me having to meditate. Eren summarized. Is that because he was an Irregular. Eren had no idea what being an Irregular entailed. All he knew was that he was different from the average Mage or Mana artist. As Eren thought of what it meant to be an irregular, something in the corner of the hallway, in front of him caught his attention. He had been so occupied by his sphere that Eren had missed what was in front of him. It was a throne. Wait...was it really a throne? Eren thought. The structure in front of him was a huge beast shaped skull, it's mouth opened wide with large fangs extending out of it. Within it's maw was an ivory chair with beast like skull for the arm, crimson colored seat that looked like blood was flowing down. And forming the backrest was a darkness...no...it was a void, more like some kind of line that divided the space from within the true darkness and the space Eren was currently occupying. Eren felt like something was within that void...something beckoning to him. He didn't know how but he had gotten closer to the throne, tiny whispers echoing in his ears, a desire to sit upon this weird throne. As Eren was about to touch the arm, something grabbed his hand.
"NO....NOT TODAY" Eren turned around to see a dark blue glowing being push him away from the throne and he was forced out of his Soul room and into the living world. Eren was shocked and surprised, caught off guard by what the hell had happened. There were too many things about himself that Eren didn't understand. As he opened his eyes, he saw a wisp of dark blue orb in front of him. He stretched out his hands and caught the orb and then he felt the orb change shape, forming a blue metal ring around his middle finger of his right arm.
[Awakening of Enchanted blade at forty-one percent] The voice spoke in Eren's mind. Again, Eren was surprise to find out that even the legendary grade Enchanted blade that he had was barely at it's full strength. What would the blade be like when it awakened? He thought of the power that the enchanted blade had displayed in the past, and wondered if he should have used it in his fight with Reo. No. Eren shook his head. The Enchanted ring blade consumed too much Mana for Eren to use it. And besides going overbroad would have gotten him into trouble.
In the end, I'll have to somehow master using the Enchanted blade. Eren came to a simple realization. He picked up his grimoire from the ground, examining it. No matter how Eren tried to use his Internal senses to examine the book, it was like he was examining himself. That was the feeling the book gave him. What kind of grimoire are you? Where did you come from, and how did I manifest you? Eren could sense that same weird feeling from the throne within the book itself. Which meant that the grimoire must be connected somehow to that throne within his soul. He opened the grimoire to the unknown runes that were written across the pages. Eren could hardly read it, let alone understand or comprehend it. He went to the part that had the common tongue in it. There was a section of the grimoire dedicated to being a Battle art manual, with instructions on the right movements and forms one had to take to use the Battle art. But Eren didn't focus on it as he had already read and mastered the basics of the Battle art. Eren's Mana fortification was already coming along nicely. Instead, he went to a section of the book that he had had his eyes on for some time.
[ Dissect & Severance]
[An ability factor that allows one to release invisible slashes of blades to deconstruct them into tiny particles. A slashing attack that deals lethal damage point blank or long range.]
[S Rank Ability Factor] This ability factor had once belonged to Alastor Kinsway. Eren remembered how his grimoire had released a mist of darkness that had consumed Alastor's enchanted blade. From what Eren had gleaned from the little he had read from the grimoire, his grimoire seemed able to consume the essence of others and assimilate that essence into the grimoire, taking their ability Factor, spells, or battle arts within as part of its power. It was why the grimoire was called the Tome of Devourer.
"So does this mean I have to devour other people to get stronger?" Eren said mostly to himself. He wasn't sure if he liked that idea. He would rather grow stronger on his own strength than rely on stealing the power from others. On the other hand, this grimoire was his. It was his Magic. If devouring was what his Magic allowed him to do, and refusing to do it, then wasn't he limiting himself? He turned a page to see what else there was, and he was surprised to see there was another section that he could read.
[Basilisk Heart]
[After devouring the heart of an Intermediate Realm Basilisk with a Mythical physique, Devourer has gained the bloodline and physique of the Mythical serpent race.-
"Wait a minute...When did I-" As Eren's finger brushed across the page, he felt a shock of electricity brush against his spine, hitting his brainstem, and he blacked out.
~
"Forgive me," She whispered to his ear. But before he could do anything, she shoved her hand through his chest, cutting off any response from him. Eren fell on the ground, bleeding as the Hunter tried to take the ring from him. His sight was blurry, he was losing hold of his hearing, the darkness surrounding his peripheral vision. He couldn't even sense his weapon, instead what he felt was a hollowing pit of pure darkness that laid bare within his soul. And from that hole in his chest, the darkness poured out. The Hunter, Rey Greyron, jumped away, leaving a huge space between her and the boy. She felt a stinging sensation in her palm, blood dripping out of it. It was the exact spot where her hand had touched the ring. The entire cave was shaking from the pressure of the darkness that was pouring out of the boy. Eren's consciousness was gone, replaced by something that Rey could not discern. What the hell was happening? Was the question that plagued the Hunter. And just then, the ground shook as the head of a Basilisk, a Mythical grade Mana beast, broke out of it. Eren's immense Mana had drawn the creature out of its nest, and the beast roared at the source of its disturbance. But Eren didn't blink or say anything. The Black mass of energy that was pouring out of the hole in his chest instead moved according to whatever will that was behind its existence. The Black mass shot out in the form of sharp tendrils that looked like a set of fangs, cutting through the hardened armor of the Mana beast, decapitating it in one shot, like it was nothing. And then the Black mass moved to then consume the heart and core of the Mana beast, taking in the energy from the creature and assimilate it into it's body.
"Not yet...Not yet...It's not time yet..." The Black mass whispered in Eren's consciousness.
~
Eren's eyes opened, memories of events that he did not remember finally pouring into his mind. If it were not for the fact that Eren's mental fortitude was strong, he would have fallen from the despair and coldness at the thought that he had been so close to death. That Hunter woman had lied to him. He had been the one to defeat the Mythical beast not her. No...No...it wasn't him....but... Eren glanced at the Grimoire. That was the third time this thing had saved his life. The first one was his fight against Onyanko. The second time was the incident with the Roach Maleficant. And now, it had responded by devouring a Mythical beast to save him. He touched his chest, anger boiling underneath for what Rey had nearly taken from him. His desire to grow stronger burnt so bright. He stretched his hands again and this time Eren focused his mind as he began the process of acquiring the Basilisk and Alastor's abilities.
The process of one learning from a grimoire was a rigorous process. One just didn't read and memorize the spell from a grimoire. A Mage would have to engrave the spell within their Mana circuit if they wanted to acquire and master the spells from grimoires. And that was what Eren was doing now. He had done it once by engraving the Battle art he had gotten from the grimoire within his Mana circuit and he remembered how painful it had been. The second time was no different. In fact, Eren felt it was even more painful than the first time. He focused his Internal senses on the page with the information and he felt his Mental force, the power that allowed him to project and expand his physical senses, interact with the grimoire. He felt the knowledge transfer from the book and unto his mind and then his Mental force began the process of engraving the runes within his Mana circuit. Eren felt his insides being scorched, like lava was flowing inside him. The pain was beyond anything he had felt, his blood boiled followed by the Mana that was within his circuit. He could feel the Mana nodes, the connecting points of his Mana circuits begin to open up, his Mana circuit expanding as more of it begin to form within his body. This time Eren was learning more than one skill so the pain was beyond what he could handle. After a while, he lost to the pain falling unconscious.