*** Catherine Nixon POV ***

I couldn't believe my own eyes. I couldn't even fathom what was happening.

Everything seemed to come to a standstill, and even the wind stopped blowing. However any mage could discern the mana disturbance in the atmosphere. And the source was none other than Kayn!

Mana constantly flowed and rushed towards Kayn as if it finally found a long lost home.

And the amount of mana involved was no joke!

I couldn't help but worry. No child could survive such a hefty amount of mana- wait no child should even be able to absorb mana at this frightening rate! This is unheard of even in the royal family!

I didn't even know if this was a blessing or curse...

I tried to forcefully absorb the mana multiples times, but it didn't even seem to react. It was as if the world completely disregarded everything else and only directed its attention towards Kayn. However, it was also then that I noticed something. He wasn't just attracting mana from the atmosphere, but even my mana was being syphoned!

At this rate, not only would my mana reserves be sucked dry but even the mana in the local area would dry out if such a thing is even possible! However, that wasn't all. It had most likely caught the attention of all mages in the area and even experts may come to do something about this abnormality.

"Mommy... are you okey? You seem kinda pale..." Kayn asked worried.

"Yes, but we have to do something about-"

Before I could finish my sentence I suddenly lost strength in my body. My vision also seemed to slightly blur as I got dizzy.

Kayn also seemed to notice my condition as he looked at me with worried eyes.

"Mom, what exactly is happening to you!?"

"Kayn I don't know how long I can hold out. For some reason you're currently absorbing mana at a frightening rate. I don't know how or why, but if it doesn't stop soon bad things may happen. Even though you don't feel any discomfort I won't believe that you can absorb without limits and I don't wanna find out!

"Is this any time to worry about me!? Look at you, you're pale as a ghost- Don't tell me..."

"Am I taking you're mana as well?"

I smiled.

"You've really grown smart Kayn, but don't worry, your mom can handle it. I'm strong..."

As those words left my mouth I suddenly lost control of my body. I felt awfully weak as my vision darkened

"K-Kayn... don't worry about me. You must survive... I know you are strong, I know you can do this. Stay strong I believe in y-"

*thud*

As my body fell to the ground I couldn't help but regret my life desicions.

If only I hadn't left that place... or maybe if I had returned after giving birth to Kayn. They might have accepted it. They could have helped him, nurtured him and gave him a proper childhood without this toxic environment. After all he still carries the blood of...

I couldn't even finish my thoughts as even more mana left my body and my consciousness drifted away to slumber.

*** Kayn Gaillon POV ***

"Nooooo!"

"No, no, no, no, no, this can't be happening!"

"I just swore to protect you! To keep you safe! Why is this happening!?"

I tried to calm myself, I tried to keep my composure. I knew that a cool head was needed to assess the situation and handle it properly, but my body and brain would listen.

My body was trembling, I felt cold and an influx of multiple emotions got the better of me. Anger, grief, sadness and regret.

Before I even knew it I had spaced out. Multiple images, scenes and memories of my past life ran through my head. Tears poured down my cheeks as I clutched my head in pain gasping for air between my ragged breaths.

"N-No! Not again! P-please not again!"

"AAHGH"

As I relived the memories of my past life it got hard to differentiate between reality and consciousness.

My hands was now soaked in blood and the smell of iron was so strong I wanted to cover my nose.

However something else had caught my attention. I stared with eyes wide as the dripping blood from my hands directed my sight towards a trail of blood.

My heartbeat only fastened and my anxiety was about to reach its peak as I lost my breath following the blood trail.

"N-no how, how, how is this p-possible. It c-c-can't be..."

At the end of the blood trail was what could only be described as a slaughter. In a pit og blood was a woman in her late 30s with a relative slender build. She had cuts and stab wounds all over her body. Even her face was a bloody mess. She was beyond recognizable.

Her hair had completely soaked up all the blood leaving only a few strands and patches of blonde hair. Her clothes was in the same condition. Completely dyed in red.

Her eyes had a beautiful ocean blue color, however they carried no light. They were dull and just as lifeless as her body.

As I looked into those eyes my heart couldn't help but ache. It hurt, and I wanted to scream, to shout, and wail. This agony, this scene, this particularly memory was something I never wanted to remember or experience again. But, not a sound left my mouth. My body had long since been deprived of oxygen as I my ability to breath was lost.

"Miss M. I didn't mean it. P-please forgive me. I really d-didn't mean it. Please come back to me."

I started begging as the agony caused by those memories increased even more. But again, no words left my mouth and my body would soon collapse due to the lack of oxygen.

My vision blurred, and my body felt especially weak and cold. My eyelids felt heavy and I would soon lose my strength to keep them up.

I kept begging and pleading inwardly, hoping for this torture to stop. Wishing that Miss M would come back to me, but it was then that I heard.

"Survive."

"Be happy. I believe in you..."

The voice was weak and nearly inaudible, but somehow that weak, but nostalgic and sweet voice caught my attention. As I looked in direction of the source I noticed.

The corpse was smiling.

Despite, the gory scene, despite the stench, despite the blood, that single smile seemed to pull me back to reality.

The blood was gone, and in place of the lifeless corpse was now my mother. Catherine Nixon. She was unconscious and got paler by the second, but she was smiling and occasionally she would mumble muffled words.

However I understood what she said.

"Survive."

And it was then that I really woke up.

As I remembered the words that started it all and as I thought of the promise I didn't manage to keep my mind cleared up.

"This isn't the time to grief about the past. I couldn't keep my promise to Miss M, but I was granted a new chance. If I don't do anything soon that chance will be wasted!"

I hurriedly recollected what mom said just before she passed out.

She said I was absorbing mana at a frightening rate, and not just from the surroundings, but also from her. Considering that she keeps getting worse I can only conclude that I won't stop anytime soon, and just like she said, there's no guarantee that my body won't experience any side effects if it keeps going.

I got to do something quick, but what?

It's not like I have any useful knowledge about mana other than the basics of basics.

If I remember correctly mages absorb mana to cultivate and strengthen themselves. This is only possible by using their mana core. The mana core is what allows mages to utilize and manipulate mana. Thus, its considered the most important part of a mages body. In fact its even considered a sacred organ among mages. The stronger the mana core, the more powerful the mage is. 

However, to be considered a mage is the same as being able to wield mana at will and that's only possible after forming a mana core. From what I've understood, how fast one forms a mana core largely depends on talent, or more particularly mana affinity and absorption rate.

That makes me wonder though. What exactly is happening to all the mana entering my body without me having a mana core? 

Could I perhaps find a way to utilize or exploit the extreme amount of mana I'm absorbing to forcefully hasten the forming process of my mana core?

I tried to remember if there was any way to forcefully form a mana core, but no idea came to mind. I only now realized how hopeless it was considering my knowledge was only gained through the span of 2 years.

However, it was then that I understood. If I don't know a method I got to create one. If I don't have the knowledge then I got to use what I already know!

In my previous life humans used something called life force to strengthen themselves and achieve inhuman feats, and when I first think about it, it's quite similar to mana in many ways.

As that realization hit me, I went into a meditative state. I sat down with my legs crossed in a lotus pose. In addition I had my right hand rest on my right leg with my palm facing up. As for my left hand, I positioned it around my solar plexus with two fingers facing up.

This was how I found it most comfortable and efficient to absorb life force in my previous life.

As I closed my eyes a nostalgic feeling hit me. I couldn't help but reminisce about the past and how I started off with this exact pose on my journey to conquer.

Shortly after I drifted away into my consciousness and what I saw baffled my eyes.

Thousands of fragments was constantly floating around in a black space as they violently got pulled towards a singular point.

The fragments was constantly crashing against each other in an uncontrollably manner.

No wonder... I thought

All the mana I'm absorbing is pushing for the fragments to form the mana core. However, there's too much force which ultimately destroys the attraction point for the mana core causing the mana fragments to act in this wild manner.

It's as if a a wild wave or powerful stream of water is constantly surging in causing a flood in the space. There's no way to form a mana core if it keeps going like this...

I could see, or rather I could feel where the fragments wanted to fuse. That point acted like a magnet trying to attract all the mana fragments. I dubbed this as the attraction point.

If I could somehow control all this mana to lead the fragments towards this point instead of wildly pushing them, maybe then would they be able to fuse and create a mana core.

First things first I need to stop the mana from pushing the fragments, however that may be too difficult. Instead I should try to redirect the mana in way that I can path a way for the fragments so they can delicately enter the attraction point.

I slowly started to conceive a picture. I imagined the constant flow of mana to be a stream of water. With my utmost concentration I willed it to circle quite far away from the attraction point.

Now it may seem simple, but it really took an intense amount of focus to do this. I felt like I would lose control of the mana stream at any time, and this was only the start.

As soon as I completed the first circle I had the stream of mana circle around once more.

The plan was to ultimately create a vortex around the attraction point. That way every fragment would follow the stream like small pebbles or leaves on water and at last end up in the attraction point.

However, for this to work the vortex had to be insanely large. If it was too small or too close the stream would just crash into the attraction point and destroy the balance.

Thus, I started the water stream far away, and after who knows how many laps I finally noticed that the force had weakened to an acceptable degree just a little away from the attraction point.

That way the fragments could naturally be pulled towards each other without a too strong external force.

I noticed my mind wavering as I completed the last circle and I could feel my consciousness fading away, but I forced myself to see this through.

Now that the mana fragments had a proper path I could already see my core forming. Slowly but surely a sphere was forming in the middle of the vortex. Endless small fragments came one after another as they attached to each other and mended together to form a sphere.

I wanted to celebrate and praise myself but it took all my concentration to keep the vortex intact. Even when it was completed I still had to keep the picture "alive". If I lost concentration for even a second everything would be ruined and I would have to start from scratch as the mana pressure would most likely destroy my barely forming core.

However, after what seemed like an eternity the core had finally completed. The vortex fell apart and what followed after would be remembered as a legend.

The world once again fell silent as the youngest mage in history was born.