The Wrath family, as stated before, had a history from way before the eruption.
They were a family that had thrived through history and watched many other families rise and fall.
They were one of the great families with the longest history. Yes, they had survived this long because of their battle skill but there had been families with greater battle skills and had still gone extinct.
"The reason we survived this long is because of our unique bloodline ability," Caine took a small pause, looking directly at the grown Marcus "the berserker’s wrath."
It had been three years now since Marcus found himself living this mory, dream or illusion and he had achieved a lot more than his eighteen-year-old self.
He was at a point where all this felt real to him and everything else, him joining the military, being part of Team 7, and even his death felt like nothing but a dream.
But in a certain corner of his mind, he knew it was not. He knew that whatever was happening right now was not real, but that corner was fading fast.
"You, young Marcus have proved yourself to be better than even offsprings of the Wrath family" Caine continued, snapping Marcus out of his thoughts "and therefore, you have earned the privilege to learn this skill."
The tone of Caine’s voice was that of a proud father speaking to his son, a tone only a few had heard from the family head.
This was to be expected, after all, in just three years, Marcus had gone from barely being able to deliver a proper punch to fighting toe to toe with the battle squad leader.
One had to keep in mind that the battle squad leader, Matthias, was a lot older and more experienced than the thirteen-year-old Marcus but even he admitted to not being able to be at the kid without the family’s bloodline ability.
It was like the kid was born to be the perfect warrior even with his relatively smaller build compared to the rest of the side families.
Or at least, that’s how Caine saw it anyway. But to Marcus, this was just him regaining muscle mory.
While he hadn’t trained with the main family in the world where he had died, his teacher was nonetheless terrifying.
He had made sure to drill every combat form created or taught by both the branches and the main family.
Who was he? Marcus had no idea. All he knew was that he was from the main family and was just passing by when he randomly took an interest in Marcus.
So all the praise was a result of nothing but eight years of grueling training with a monster.
But the one thing Marcus couldn’t learn from his master was the family’s bloodline ability,
Berserker’s wrath.
Without the master’s permission, it was forbidden to teach this ability to anyone that is not part of the main family.
Marcus knew his master for breaking the family rules, like when he taught Marcus the family martial arts, so he was sure that his master would teach him the ability.
But all that confidence disappeared when his master disappeared without a trace. At first, Marcus thought his master was out on an assignnt for the family.
But the days quickly turned into weeks and then into months which beca several years.
He even tried asking around for his master, even to the few mbers of the family’s battle squad but apparently, no one knew him.
Not even the people who watched Marcus train with him. They claim to have never witnessed Marcus undergoing training with anyone from the main family.
It was almost as if everyone else’s mory of his master was suddenly erased, leading them to think he was only hallucinating, but he knew better.
So, Marcus had lost any hope of ever learning the family’s bloodline ability, but all that was about to change right now.
Illusion or not, dream or reality, he was about to learn the skill and that was all that mattered.
"Before we begin," Caine broke him out of his thoughts "you first need to know the history of this ability."
They were both currently in an extrely huge training room that was traditionally decorated with wooden doors and walls instead of high-tech materials.
Both Caine and Marcus were sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing each other.
"Our ancestor, Leon Wrath, was the first to ever use this ability in a battle over a thousand years ago" Caine started
"no one knew how, when or where he gained the ability but it made an even stronger force to be reckoned with."
"So speculate that we’ve always had this ability dormant in our bloodline while others believed that the ability was granted to us by the battle god due to how impressed he was with us."
"But no matter the origin, both friends and foes agree that the ability was terrifying." Caine paused before asking "Now, do you know the actual origin of our bloodline ability?"
Marcus shook his head in reply since he didn’t know the answer.
"A core" Caine’s answer ca, which surprised Marcus.
One had to rember, this was before the eruption, therefore before the age of primal, forged-beasts and forge masters, so how was it possible that he discovered a core during that era?
"According to his journal," Caine continued "Leon Wrath, during one of his expeditions, had co across a circular glowing marble with red energy swirling within."
"Curious enough, he tried touching it," he said "and that’s when it happened, the marble exploded, releasing all its energy into the surprised Leon."
"For the next few weeks, Leon struggled for his life, constantly flickering between life and death as his body absorbed the energy."
"But on the one-month mark, everything stopped, all the pain just disappeared leaving behind a Leon who was full of energy" Caine took another small pause, making sure Marcus was following the explanation.
"Where the core ca from? No nobody knows, but after that incident, Leon Wrath had gained the ability to gain power through rage,"
"Berserker’s Wrath?" Marcus muttered in question.
"Exactly, or at least Berserker’s Wrath is a watered-down version of it" Caine answered
"and since Leon wanted this power to be passed down in his family, ensuring their stand as one of, if not the strongest, he created a way to unlock it."
"You see, anyone from the Wrath bloodline had a trace of this core’s energy but throughout the years, it has been greatly diluted."
Marcus took a thinking pose, it made sense that the core’s energy was in their bloodlines since it seed to have completely rged with Leon.
But it also made sense that it has been greatly diluted with ti, but if that was the case, how could they activate the ability, even if it was a weaker version.
Caine could see the question in Marcus’ eyes and knew exactly what the kid wanted to ask, so he replied.
"The technique that our ancestor, Leon, ca up with ensures that even the slightest trace of core energy in our body would be drawn out" he explained.
"Therefore, no matter how small the core energy in our bodies, as long as it’s there we can activate the technique" Caine finished.
"I see" Marcus answered with a nod.
"Great, since you understand the history of the ability, it’s finally ti for you to learn it" his words caused Marcus to straighten his back.
There was an extre amount of excitent bubbling inside of him, causing him to almost break out a grin but he held it back.
mory or not, he didn’t want to embarrass himself, not in front of the family head anyway.
Seeing how much composure Marcus showed, the family head let a pleased smile slip and if any lady was around, young or old, they would have been completely chard by the old man’s smile.
"Good," he said, slowly standing up "Then let’s begin."
Marcus followed suit, rising to his feet. His muscles tensed in anticipation, every fiber of his being focused on what was about to co.
This was it—the mont he had waited for years.
Caine took a deep breath before letting out his aura. A crimson glow surrounded him, causing the room to let out occasional trembles at the power that radiated from it.
Marcus’ eyes continued to gleam in anticipation, he could feel it getting closer by the second.
"The first step," Caine began in a voice steady, "is to awaken the dormant energy within you. This will not be pleasant."
Marcus had expected as much. Power never ca without a price.
Caine continued, "Berserker’s Wrath is fueled by emotion, primarily rage. However, uncontrolled rage is aningless. You must harness it, shape it into a weapon, or it will consu you."
Marcus nodded. "So, what do I need to do?"
Caine stepped forward and, without warning, struck Marcus in the chest with the back of his hand.
The force sent Marcus flying backward, crashing into the wooden walls of the training hall.
The air was completely knocked out of Marcus and he almost imdiately blacked out, only able to stay awake due to his willpower.
"This is your test," Caine said, his voice cold and detached. "I will beat you down until you either awaken the Wrath or fall."
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