Blood Ties [Germany, Closed]

The days of researching had begun and Freyleif found herself surrounded in medical books and the experiments of both offense and defense Blut. The Queen would share her knowledge with Erek whenever they got together to speak and would practice some of the Nordic customs of her people; that is, mostly their old traditional customs on spells of protection but this had no tie to the Blut ideas, and she would have to delve in deeper in the libraries and the specific kinds of her Clan - there was also the inkling thought just who were making the records the old monarchy collected. She never thought to research on her family bloodline or ask her grandfather - it was mostly her curiosity to read about spells and further her knowledge in getting stronger.

Days after the Nordic customs and traditional research were then reading in her room on more medical researches on cells, the anatomy, and Blut again. Some days she tirelessly studying only to fall asleep in her bed, the library or the garden she spent her times at to relax.Most of the guards, upon seeing this, would call her the Queen of Books since she was seen asleep surrounded by stacked books. Freyleif found herself eating like a Jotun when so absorbed in her books and forgetting to eat so often - maids had to be issued to follow her about and make sure she got proper rest and food.

The teen found it difficult to practice when it came to using Blut - feeling the sensation of reishi flowing through the blood and consciously wondering if it would bother the babies if reishi got into them too. She didn’t want to risk a trial by error and her babies be harmed or coming out like mutants (which she read too many comic books before going to bed). She decided to just focus on one area; her left arm to use the Blut Vene and see how long she could hold it there. It only took her a few minutes to start feeling exhausted before she finally released the technique. Sighing irritably, Freyleif decided one morning to try maintaining the reishi through her veins while walking down the hall towards the kitchens. Drowsy overtook her and she cursed herself for letting this pregnancy make her become weak and dull around the edges - and for not practicing this more to become more second nature.

With eyebrows furrowed and lips curved in a frown, the blonde ate slowly in the kitchens before trudging her way to the training halls still with that grump face. Many of the guards stayed away upon seeing her in such a mood and knew not to piss her off or be put in their asses.

The teen let out a yawn then placed her hand on the door to brush it open then entered into the training yard wearing her casual t-shirt and blue pants. Her hair laid a mess and she did not bother to move the fringes that kept getting in her face -- had enough trouble keeping it in braids too and was starting to get knots. “Ugh should've had the maids do my hair.” she thought holding a piece of hair over between her eyes before letting it go. Noticing Erek ahead only in his pants it took awhile t register her tired mind that he was half naked and stared bewildered a moment. He seemed to be at work with whatever he was doing - she was too busy staring at his back to notice - and gave out a cough to announce her grand presence with cheeks turning red.

“Hallo’, how’s it going?” she greeted before moving up to the man and quickly trying to calm her mind and heart racing. “Sorry for the delay I--” a yawn escaped and she couldn’t help but cover her mouth before continuing. “Having a bad day.”

Looking around quickly she tried to find a place to take a seat, seeing one too far ahead she decided to sit down on the ground to rest her tired legs and aching back. “So achy today,” she complained in her native tongue. “I never read so much in my life and I think my mind is going to explode with overload.” she joked lastly and then grinned up to the Erek. A growl and rumble announced her stomach and she placed her hands on the bulge muttering something about “Just had eaten” and other complaints about being hungry all the time. She just wanted to lay back and return to rest but she knew that Erek would scold her for her lack of caring for herself or being careless; not like she didn’t care about her well being but that she got all caught up in exciting learning and controlling blut as a second nature without queasiness or worrying about the twins.

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Freyleif was, to put it politely-- a mess.

"I'm fine, unlike you, it would appear," he would reply with a dry tone.

Erek's brow arched as he glanced over his shoulder at the young woman as she slumped down and would comment on how she was aching, her hair was a mess, and she clearly was hungry-- causing a slow breath to release from his lips as he moved outside the training room to instead pull a passing maid aside with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, sir?"

"When you get a moment, I'd like you to bring a tray of food for the Queen-- if you could find someone with a spare moment to do her hair, I'd appreciate it as well," he explained lightly, tucking his hands behind his back briefly afterward as the maid blinked a few times before nodding in understanding.

"Certainly, give me just a moment sir."

"Thank you," he stated with a sigh, before glancing back at the downed young woman as he wandered back toward her before he would fall and sit on his heels beside her-- resting his chin in his palm. She really was just a girl, she probably got too excited trying to learn as much as possible and got herself swallowed up in her work forgetting her health in the process. He briefly wondered when she had last slept if she was already aching this early in the morning, letting out a slight sigh before he would pet her head lightly.

"Puffin, I told you to take care of yourself during this," he stated bluntly as he eyed her, his fingers trailing along knotted braids and strands of hair that clearly needed some tender love and care. Sadly he had no experience in it or he'd offer-- he'd always had short hair, and any women he spent extended time with always did her own hair, kept it short and simple, or always had it in a pony tail and left it at that. As the door opened to the training room he allowed his hand to fall before he would grunt and fall back, sitting across from her as the maid placed down the tray of food with a curtsy-- before glancing at her hair.

"Uhm-- I'm supposed to assist the Queen with her hair as well?" she asked, glancing to Frey first to make sure it was fine, Erek would glance at Frey-- not wanting to force her but figuring he'd make something clear.

"For now we won't be moving around, so it won't get in the way-- and it'll help you feel a bit better," he commented as he offered the blonde a slight smile, before he would then motion to the food for her to eat as he would watch her for a brief moment, debating where to start.

"Is one arm still your limit?" The question was blunt, but it was serious-- he needed to know where she was currently in order for him to gauge what he needed to do to help her. He wasn't even entirely sure he was the best teacher, considering his skill was mostly natural aptitude and not lessons-- but if nothing else he was determined to help her as much as he could, no matter how limited that may be.

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Of course, he would be in better condition than her. She gave a huff and tried to get up but it felt like weights were strapped around her belly and her back ached like Hel. An eyebrow rose when Erek summoned a maid to help her and scrunched up her nose and folded her arms then puffed out her cheeks. When he turned around and sit on his heels to examine her, Freyleif quickly relaxed and smiled tiredly at him.

Her nose wrinkled again when he called her ‘Puffin’ and resisted rolling her eyes in response to his lecture. “Jotun, I’m trying my best.~” she said in a sing-songy tone, it wasn’t to mock him for calling her a Puffin. She blinked as his hand came near her and trailed a finger along her braids and winced a bit out of habit but allowed him to touch. His close proximity was making her heart race again and resisted from staring into his eyes for too long.

“Yes, please do my hair.” she replied back to the maid, thanking the heavens she spoke up before her cheeks turned a volcano red. Emerald eyes trailed down to the food being gestured and quickly began to dig in humming all the while.

When he asked of her limit, she pondered a bit and shook her head replying, “I’m scared I might harm the babies doing this.” she hated sounding so weak or confident in her abilities, but lately her mind was on the twins and their state of health - every little thing made her self-doubt or halt her progress. “I can’t help it,” she pouted while taking in a mouthful of food and letting the maid get to work on her hair. “I’m usually stronger than this.”

The maid spread the blonde’s hair about trying to figure out where to start or the less amount of pain when brushing. The maid tsked and suggested maybe getting the teen a shower and putting some conditioner in her hair first which Freyleif agreed to. It would just be a pain with the mess of the state her hair was in and sheathed brushing her hair this dry and knotted up, and only someone with a strong head could handle a comb going through their dry scalp.

“I should be able to do it just fine but get tired quickly or maybe it’s my own mental block,” her cheeks redden in embarrassment. “It’s hard not to look weak in front of others especially when you’re a Queen of an entire race - sorry I’m just rambling out my thoughts.” she waved her hand.

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436+810=1246

Erek would simply lean back, snorting as he was called "Jotun" with a shake of his head, trying her best, huh-- he somehow doubted that. The girl was ruled by her emotions and anxieties-- he had little doubt she had tried certainly, but trying her best would mean that she wouldn't be nearly as tired. He noticed her wince and arched a brow, removing his hand smoothly without further notice-- making a mental note that it appeared she didn't like her hair touched too much. Perhaps a bad memory from childhood or something-- it was none of his business, it just meant he shouldn't do it.

"You're not trying your best-- or you wouldn't be this run down, Frey," he stated simply, his smile slight-- but earnest, "You're not so weak willed that your "best" would only go this far."

With that, pulling no punches as per usual-- he would then allow his gaze to shift toward the young woman as the maid went about trying to work with the mess on top of the young woman's hair-- and as the mention of a shower and conditioning happened he would contemplate that, briefly considering when would be best-- before or after the training? It was a difficult call, but in the end he settled on afterward.

"Taking a long bath after training would probably feel good-- and it would give her plenty of time to work while you soaked," he commented simply, before his gaze would settle on her as she began to explain why she wasn't progressing with her blut-- and brought up an understandable concern, but it seemed entirely illogical from the point of view of someone with even basic understanding of the spiritual elements. Though perhaps by now he had much more than basic knowledge? It was hard to say-- he had done quite a bit of reading, so perhaps he had more knowledge than the average spiritually aware individual. Either way, it didn't quite make sense, and from the way she was talking-- fear seemed to be the primary issue. She was mentally suppressing her own abilities out of worry most likely-- holding back due to the idea that she may harm the twins.

Letting out a light breath, he would watch her blush form as she admitted to her insecurity that he already knew-- she didn't want to look weak. It was understandable, that was the pressure of absolute control, and why often a council or republic setting was much better-- but, that was a discussion for another time entirely when he had a better understanding of everything. Instead, he had a more immediate problem to address.

"I understand you're scared, and I can understand the slim logic since they're connected to your body-- however, there are quite a few basic laws of spiritual energy that you seem to be forgetting, the main one being that blut utilizes reishi-- not reiryoku," as he stated this he would lift a finger, "If infants, children, or fetuses in the womb at any stage were sensitive to pure overwhelming amounts of reishi-- every child in Karakura would be doomed, but they're just fine. Remember what you first told me? Reishi is an element of life and nature itself-- it encourages growth and life, if anything," with this he would raise the second finger.

"Second, even if reishi did somehow affect the twins negatively-- they're currently connected to your circulatory system, meaning from a scientific perspective-- you could theoretically even protect them utilizing your blut in the case of an emergency, such as you falling, or someone attacking your belly, and so forth. Tying into that is the third reason," the third finger lifted, "They're constantly exposed to your reiatsu-- your raw spiritual pressure is literally constantly wrapped around them twenty-four seven if that doesn't harm them, very little will when it comes to raw spiritual energy. It would have to overwhelm your own reiatsu-- and then afterward be potent enough to affect them," after a moment he let her process this, before he lowered his fingers and smiled softly-- her fear appeared to have affected her logic, but that was just part of being pregnant he would imagine-- worry for one's children tended to push people to odd mental states, especially mothers generally.

"In summary-- they're perfectly fine, and in fact-- they would be safer if you managed to perfect your blut, because it would protect them as well inside you." With that he would then glance at the food, stealing a strawberry and letting it hover by his lips briefly before he added as an afterthought.

"Also-- I understand not wanting to appear weak, but sometimes you have to express your fears and insecurities in order for others to help you grow-- as much as I encourage you saying you're strong, no one is perfect. Asking other people for help is ok-- appearing weak with the goal to remove that weakness, is an acceptable and responsible action-- and will earn the respect of any competent soldier underneath their leader." With that little afterthought added, he would then pop the strawberry into his lips lightly, munching on it as he examined her-- hoping his logic would at least put her a bit at ease, or this really never would get done, not till the little ones were born, at least.

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She wanted to say ‘but you don’t understand’ but he would probably see past that too and lecture her to the ground. But, he was indeed right; she wasn’t doing her best and just got tired of the fear gripping her mind and heart.

The maid meanwhile agreed that taking a bath or shower after training would be better as the young Queen would be sweating anyway though recommended some hair products for the blonde to try when she was ready to hit the showers.Freyleif nodded to the both of them. A nice bath did sound good and would probably be less achy in warm water.

The Queen began to listen more intently when Erek explained that reishi was unnecessary to worry about her babies being harmed. Her mentality refused to jump over that brick and she was seriously worried about exerting so much energy would cause some chain reaction - though being a new mother made sense and she constantly kept her focus on them like a mother bear over her own cubs. She was slapped back with her own words; that reishi was spiritual life around nature - even then she had control over her reishi and displayed it into many art forms. Freyleif perked up when he got to his second explanation: she could extend the Blut to protect around her babies’ too and not worry if a spiritual attack came or mundane to harm them. She honestly wanted to beat herself up mentally now because how stupid her worry was. Her head was too wrapped up in flawed things she filled her mind with and she was a powerhouse swirling with so much spiritual energy that she overlooked that too. Gods she wanted to slap herself now.

She eyed him as he took a strawberry then narrowed her eyes as the sacred fruit landed into his mouth and chewed. “That was mineeee!” she mentally growled, moved to snatch the last strawberry before he could think about taking that one too.

“I only say this because I’ve been haunted by a Hollow who made my life a living Hel by going after me and my friends. I wasn’t powerful enough to stop him from giving me these scars other than my tattoos.” she pointed to her right eye and then pulled up her sleeves to show him her shoulders that still had wounds mending from being ripped apart. “If it wasn’t for my guardian, Angeni, I think I would have been crippled physically and mentally - still a bit traumatized by those events.” an exhale escaped her lips and she let Erek observe the Hollow marks a while before pulling down her sleeves. “Anyway, you’re right about these things,” normally she would be stubborn and deny such things but what he was saying actually made more sense. “But enough of my moaning about being weak and all that jazz! I can do this and I won’t let a little bit of fear try to block the most logical solution to improve myself.” she nodded firmly then scooted a bit closer to Erek to wrap her arms around his neck and giggled. "I wish I had more smart friends like you. I don't know why or I just haven't thought too deeply about why these fears drag me down. Let's get started, aye?" she beamed before letting him go and slowly stood up then waddled her way towards the training area with the maid trailing behind them.

"Let's start by spreading Blut Vene through my system fully then wrap around my babies to strengthen the walls, right?" she rose a brow and began to focus the spiritual energy towards her body, the light blue particles dancing and surrounding her in a mass of cluster aura of blueness before absorbing into her skin. Taking a deep breath to clear her mind, the teen flowed the reishi into her veins to reinforce them and then the network blue lines began to spread out along her arms, legs, and slowly up to her head. She watched Erek - keeping her mind free from any fears to grip - and smiled as it completed.

"I'm not feeling so tired...hmm." she waved her right arm about but didn't feel any restraint with the Blut activated. "Yay! I did it!" she almost jumped for joy but quickly restrained herself once again from excitement.

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724/1246=1970

He could tell she wanted to argue-- but to his pleasant surprise, she didn't. Instead, she accepted his words, something they both knew was true-- and went silent, he could appreciate that growth. He wasn't so certain the young woman would have responded so submissively when they had first met if he was helping her mature even a bit that was a good sign. The pleasant surprises continued, as the young woman would listen to his explanation on the twins-- as well as the facts regarding how blut would do nothing to them with surprising quiet. Not once did she argue, or refute his words-- instead, she considered them, acknowledged his logic, and moved forward.

Erek was proud of her-- though he blinked a bit, slightly jerking when she hugged him-- not exactly a sensation he was used to by any means. At least not out of left field like this-- with a confused expression, he would lightly pet the girls head in response, and she would quickly release him. He watched as she hopped up-- as best she could-- before moving forward and asking him about the usage of her blut, and would nod a bit at her question. He watched her, carefully examining the way her reiatsu fluctuated-- before it stabilized and she began to absorb the reishi into her body. Starting with her limbs, and then slowly spreading it through her form.

A slight smile played at his lips, fingers intertwining as he watched her-- nodding his head slightly as her veins pulsed with a soft blue light, making sure she had no issues. Then, after a moment she commented on not being tired-- and would nod a bit.

"That was more than likely your own subconscious trying to ensure you didn't use it, if I had a guess-- the mind is a tricky thing," as he stated this he would push himself up fully before he moved forward, hands clasping behind his back in his usual posture before he would examine her carefully, noting the way the energy effortlessly pulsed through her with a slight smile.

"A natural indeed-- you're funneling just as much energy as I do when I use it, Frey," he commented before he would curiously lean forward-- and then fall to sit on his heels. Now came the far more difficult part, he had little doubt once she got past the initial fear for her children that she would suffer no difficulties in bluts general usage-- as she had said, she was a natural in the usage of reishi. Blut was, effectively, just a specialized form of reishi control-- it made sense she would rapidly get a grasp on the ability itself.

Lowering his hand lightly, he placed a hand on her belly-- the reishi pulsed under his fingertips, but it wasn't deep inside her, as he had anticipated. His eyes trailed up to her before he straightened and would offer a slight smile.

"Well done-- but, I think we both know that we can't leave it like this. That fear of yours is still clinging to the back of your skull, no?" his finger raised, tapping his own eye that aligned with Frey's scar's decorating her face.

"That fear that's trapping your heart, and weakening you. Fear can be a good thing-- but only when controlled. It can keep you sharp, keep you fast-- but it can also overwhelm you, and just pushing it back isn't enough. You need to completely dominate it." He allowed his gaze to trail back to her belly, before focusing on her eyes as he arched a brow slightly.

"Did you read the medical books? I want you to focus on the umbilical cord-- and the veins that travel along it, to the placenta-- the little bag that's wrapped around them, protecting them. Feel the veins flowing through it all, focus on them." This was going to be the hardest part, he was sure-- it was one thing pushing her fear back and filling her body with reishi. He was now trying to get her to directly fight against her fear head on-- and that wasn't an easy thing to do for yourself, let alone thinking-- even if incorrectly thinking-- that it may negatively impact another: especially your children.

He was trying to make her specifically cover her children in reishi, in blut vene. For one-- it would let her break past the fear that was likely still lingering in her heart, and for another-- such minute control of reishi was something even he couldn't do yet. He knew he needed to do so-- but it was delicate, careful reishi control. Targeting specific organs alone was difficult-- but if she managed to do this with the children, then it would prove her ability far beyond anything else in the skill.

Erek wasn't concerned about a backlash-- if anything Frey would likely pour in far too little reishi, not too much, and even if she did-- her own body would absorb the excess. It wasn't like she was a newbie like he was. There was no risk here, the issue was getting Frey to see that-- and to push herself into doing it.

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The reishi coursed through her blood vessels naturally without the faint feeling of wanting to puke. Maybe it was just the excitement and the food she had devoured when jumping right into training or the initial mental fear of one of her veins exploding from overuse. “I can do this! I shouldn’t be afraid.” the teen encouraged herself mentally and put up a big grin to her own accomplishments in not holding herself back. A fluttering butterfly effect in her belly made her giggle as Erek placed his hand upon her belly and reached out to clasp her hands around his for a moment and smiled down at him

“I still need to keep breaking down that mental block, it’ll do no good if I suddenly freeze up in the middle of battle.” she agreed and released his hand. The Blut Vene came easily enough; perhaps with all the training she could match a full blooded Quincy’s expertise - but did blood purity really matter - or did Quincy subconsciously doubt being half-blood they wouldn’t be as great as a Pure-blooded Quincy? Pure-breeding had a disgusting ring to it; more so, it sounded more like a cattle thing in finding the most pedigree horse or farm animal to produce the best offspring and leaving the flaws for mix bloods or low-bloods. She was glad she wasn't forced into that arrange marriage crap and was allowed to fall in love with who she wanted and have as many kids she wanted.

Snapping away from her thoughts, Freyleif looked back down at Erek’s eyes and listened to him speak about more medical knowledge; this time on the umbilical cord and placenta - things she recalled reading back on and her cheeks redden as she nearly forgotten about that. He wanted her to focus the reishi into those parts and everything that surrounded the life of her babies. She bit her tongue - the words entered her ears and mind but she looked blanked out a moment.

“What if I mess up and he’s wrong?” she thought and placed her hands on the sides of her hippo belly. She focused on her spiritual senses and delved deep in reaching the twins pulses. Each one pinged back like blips in a radar that they were still thriving - then she quickly enveloped further on their emotional status; in her mind's eye, she could see oranges and blues flashes to what she could summaries as a sensation of uneasiness and feeling of delight. The Queen focused on the uneasiness of the one twin that caught her attention and a frown settled on her lips and furrowed her brow in thoughtfulness.

Carefully she drew the reishi towards the umbilical cord, through the clothes she wore the veins grew brighter with the Blut crawling and shifting about her body towards one place: the life line and bags of the placenta that also shielded the twins. Little by little her veins became more pronounced around her belly button as the technique pushed further to cover that area where the blood circulate and reinforced - it came naturally as did her control over reishi - then began to spread to the sacs covering the twins. Freyleif still channeled through her spiritual senses to try and figure out why..there was distress? Uneasiness? Or other such concerning sensation coming from that baby. She wanted to - wished to- cover that baby in her comfort and let the baby know it was okay and mommy was there for him or her. Hands rubbed tenderly along her bulged stomach and looked off distantly and tears began to stream out unannounced and silently, no wails or any kind of sound came from her lips as they quivered.

“Please don’t worry, mommy is here.” no matter how much she mentally tried to tell herself everything was going to be okay the sensations grew stronger with her own anxiety picking up. She looked down at Erek with tears streaming down her cheeks and shook her head trying to wash the negativity out. It started to consume her the more she focused on that sad little pulse and found herself gasping for air and wiped away the tears.

“I-” she croaked but then stopped herself. She had to focus on the task at hand and Erek being near her gave her some ease - even the orange sensation grew stronger and brighter as if trying to comfort both of the frantic and unease stress building in them. Freyleif let out a breath and giggled some as this was all so silly as her worry over the baby had her grow anxious, too, and she had to snap herself out of it before it clouded her own sensations. The reishi slowly paced through the placenta of one twin in spidery web glow and slowly moved out towards the second sac. Freyleif gulped and took Erek’s hand and squeezed it with both of hers and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll pull through.” she nodded and had to pull herself away and disconnect her line to the distressed baby to concentrate on the reishi going to cover its placenta like a velvety comfort softness, even if that didn’t ease the baby’s problem she still pushed aside her emotions to complete her training.

“Nnnggh nearly got it!” she exclaimed and slumped to wrap her arms around Erek in a hug and hoped he didn’t mind being a wall for her to lean on while she pushed herself. At least, with a bit more concentration and determination, the technique had even encompassed even to protect her baby’s as she felt through the reishi even a nasty attack wouldn’t break through its walls. She panted and slowly released herself from Erek unless he continued to hold and comfort her though she didn’t look really tired from the process - just straining here and there.

970/1970=2940

Saying she could do it was all well and good-- but he knew life rarely allowed things to be so simple. It was a much deeper step than she had done before, and it wasn't exactly something that she was going to just magically manage he was sure. As she stated she needed to break down the mental block, he would nod slightly in agreement-- it was more than that, but it was a way to put it in order for it to be understood if nothing else. Lightly he would interlace his fingers behind his back once more, watching her as the energy began to bend and flow around her, clearly trying to find a deeper focus than previously.

Then, of course, he saw the near instantaneous changes-- the way the young woman began to tear up, her hands on her belly-- she was clearly terrified for her children. Though he wasn't certain on the exact details, he would remain quiet due to this-- knowing it was a fear that she had to get past on her own. Offering her his help was one thing, trying to baby-step her through every little process was only going to make it that much more difficult on her. She was rubbing at her eyes, trying to get control of herself, and still, he remained silent as he watched her-- making sure she didn't push herself too far if nothing else.

At the moment she wasn't hysterical, or blubbering-- but she was starting to approach her limit.

Then, he heard her try to speak, and he was about to tell her not to-- when to his pleasant surprise, the young woman reigned herself in on her own. The briefest of smiles formed on his harsh features, before it faded so that she didn't think he was laughing at her-- instead, she grabbed his hand, squeezing it-- he gave her a slight squeeze in return. He wasn't the most "touchy" of people beyond the occasional hand shake, shoulder pat, or head pat-- but he saw no reason to deny her this. Especially at the moment when she was clearly in an unstable state of mind and emotion-- he watched as she struggled, trying to force the emotions from her so that she could focus, and as she stated she would pull through he simply offered a smile.

"I know you will," he stated simply-- and his tone was not mocking, nor was it uncertain. He said it as a fact, holding a total belief that the young Queen was much stronger emotionally than she gave herself credit for, she just needed the right pushes in the right directions. She explained nearly having it, and grunted as she wrapped him in a bear hug, his face amused but he didn't comment on it, instead, he would simply pet her head in encouragement as she shivered and struggled through the ordeal. He doubted it was easy, fighting against your own maternal instincts to protect your child-- but if she wanted to progress then she had to reign in her instincts and emotions she had come to rely on so heavily, and realize logic had its place as well.

Usually-- at least in his experience-- it had its place far more actively than instinct did. He waited, remaining calm-- a simple wall for her to lean on for support-- a pillar. She didn't appear tired, just strained, and that meant that even if she didn't manage it now she had already made remarkable progress. Still-- he couldn't help but feel this wasn't her limit, getting over this fear, and obtaining a refined level of control over her blut and reishi meant that far more doors would open up to her. That fear of her's was the only thing hindering her hand-- and all that had to be done was to crush it underfoot.

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Before she paid attention her body was shaking from under the strain and mentally exhausted over the worry of one baby. Her eyes lingered on Erek a moment in her lost thoughts and her limbs felt noodly - every time she would break away from the link she dived back in to re-establish the link to check on her babies again like a watchful hawk. Her cheeks redden when she noticed her staring for too long.

“S-sorry,” she sheepishly said and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “T-thank for your help.” a smile forcefully graced her lips. It took her awhile to steel her nerves and stop shaking like a newborn lamb. There wasn’t much she could do about the distressed baby - getting more stressed about it would cause them discomfort too with emotions clashing like titans.

“Guess I can’t stop worrying over my babies so much...There’s one feeling sad or distress and I can’t do anything about it to make it happy.” she finally admitted and explained the situation. “I guess I’m a big worry wart, huh?” her eyes averted elsewhere - mostly towards the maid before glancing to the empty tray she held. She shook her head and looked for a place to sit at, she then found the benches against the wall in the training area and hobbled over there to take a seat.

If things like this kept cropping up with her fears she wondered if she’d get anywhere - even when opening up so much to this recruit it left her a tad paranoid even if he had no ill intentions nor secret agendas. She had been reading of the Quincy she happen to be with and tried to peel their surface plans if they did really care to band together or remain a lone wolf, and no matter how much she put up her mask the other’s, unlike Amelia or Aodh, closed their hearts to the young teen. In a world where the Quincy was still collapsing over infighting and councils, it still wasn’t enough to set out her orders to bring them in - some resisted or attacked Shinigami on sight. She would need to get a firmer hand, a steel beak to reinforce her punishment, and much charismatic golden voice for people to be inspired and to follow under her mighty draconic wings.

“Do I become the Lindworm trapped in Yggdrasil or the mighty and wisdom eastern dragon?” she thought out loud while cradling her stomach. “I’ve let my wings become weak and my mind - yet I still don’t understand why I can’t get over this block..” her voice grown weak and eyes giving a downcast gaze. Iko’s influence still had her trapped in a cage of self-doubt in her own abilities -- even with Angeni being there for her and the many friends that surrounded her, she still felt lost in the dark and grew distant from her own heart to understand anymore. “I’m sorry, I’m being moppy.” she looked up towards Erek in apology as she got talking to herself again and he needn’t have to baby her.

“I’m really fucked up,” she laughed bitterly and frowned. “Though I have to admit I resisted against the ill norns even after my cursed birth and crappy upbringing, so I guess It’s not all that bad. I know you do not believe in the supernatural entities or my Pagan beliefs, but I wonder if I’m being tested. Anyway, enough of my rambling and depressing thoughts.” she continued to let the Blut course through her body as long as she could maintain it for the next few minutes until the blue lines started to fade away. A moment later she stood up and moved towards a training dummy and took in a big breath and exhaled, repeating this process over a few times until she drew the reishi in again through her arms - this time the veins glowing red. She curled her hands into first then reeled her right fist back before aiming towards the dummy's head and slammed into it causing the head to fly pull back and fling off its body causing both parts to fly into the wall. She grinned sanctified in her control of Blut Arterie and fist pumped while still keeping the technique active.

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"Ah," Erek would comment idly as she explained the reason for her fears-- as he had expected, it was related to her little ones. Though, the fact she could read their emotions so plainly was intriguing-- he didn't think that was normal. He'd heard of mothers having "gut reactions" to their children, but this didn't sound like the same thing-- she was saying it with absolute certainty after all. The smile she formed was forced, and clearly wasn't earnest at all-- so used to putting up a mask for others he doubted the girl even realized her own actions. Lightly, he would place his chin back into his palm once more as she averted her eyes downward and mumbled things that before his research would have been gibberish.

Thankfully, he had been studying Nordic mythology and culture. So she was concerned she would become trapped in her own fears, gnawing at them, unable to break away-- or become a dragon, and shatter her fears away hm? She was clearly mopping and clearly allowing it to get to her far too much. Then she would continue-- saying she was fucked up, and that she was somehow born cursed, and brought up crappily-- it was all things he had heard before. Kids that had joined the marines because they had "nothing better to use their lives on" because their past was shit, their parents were shit, their psychological disorders were shit-- the list went on and on. This was nothing new, and he knew how he had always addressed it.

He remained silent, watching her switch to blut arterie-- and deliver quite the powerful-- if sloppy-- punch, before he would speak, finally as she grinned and punched into the air.

"Excuses," he stated bluntly to the young woman, but his tone was not cruel, angry, or harsh. As usual, he was simply stating facts as he watched the young woman-- figuring that alone would get her attention, when she focused on him, he would grunt and push himself up slowly.

"Abandoned at birth by both parents. Beaten and abused most of my youth. Violent tendencies that nearly killed multiple children-- even a teacher. Wanted by no one, hated by most, tolerated by few." As he began to spoke he would place his hands behind his back as he eyed the girl calmly, before he continued.

"Good for nothing but fighting and occasionally stitching other people up so they don't die. Can't cook. Can barely clean, I hate change, I can't adapt well to normal life, I do terribly in normal social situations. The only thing I'm good at is killing. Twenty years slaughtering-- babies, children, adults, terrorists, innocents, guilty-- it didn't matter in the end." Despite speaking of these trauma's, things that most people would wince at, or show obvious guilt, Erek showed a cool control-- not that he didn't feel guilt. He simply knew it was too late for such things-- he had made his choice. It was time for Freyleif to make hers.

"You're correct, I don't believe in faith, or gods, or fate, or whatever else you want to call it-- but I know that life itself, owes us nothing. Everything we do is our own choice. Right now you're at an impasse-- you can keep falling back on your trauma's, on your failures, on your weaknesses, on those that betrayed you-- and become exactly what you fear. A little worm pretending to be a dragon, gnawing on the bar's of your cage for the rest of your life, blaming your past experiences, calling yourself fucked up, or cursed-- or you can do what you need to do." As he finished this he would look right into the young Queen's eyes, and state something that likely no knight-- or even Sternritter would say with good conscious.

"Suck it up, Frey." The words had a bit of harshness to them for the first time-- because the girl needed a kick in the ass. His tone softened a bit as he watched her, his expression easing with it. "We all have our demons. No one is weak, or strong-- we're all as strong as we allow ourselves to be, period. Drop your past, and move on to fix yourself. Every time you try to say you're fucked up, or think about how your past made you this way-- stop. That won't do a damn thing for you but keep you the way you are." With his small speech done, he would glance toward the dummy she had decimated-- before his gaze focused on her. She may be angry with him, for being so blunt, for not holding back-- but what she wanted was to break out of her bad habits, to grow as a person and become more.

That wasn't easy-- and nor was it painless. Sometimes you get told things you don't want to hear-- because it makes you more conscious of your own failings, and so you're able to more accurately correct those failings. She was locked in the bubble that so many teenagers often were: "My life sucks, no one has suffered like this-- and if they have I don't think about them."

He was going to shatter that glass wall she had erected around herself, and the shards falling were going to hurt. But then she'd have access to everything outside that wall she built-- being willing to break that wall, and push forward, was the first step to growing from a child and into an adult. Spiritually empowered, demon, angel, whatever the hell you wanted to call yourself-- in the end, all teenagers had similar algorithms, all people had similar issues and struggles. Comparing them was impossible-- no individual handled pain the same.

But one thing that was the same was that no matter how you handled trauma and pain-- you still had to handle it.

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Excuses? She quickly eyed him - trying to rack her brain on why he said that when he then went on. His words flowed out calmly and she furrowed her brows when searching out with her spiritual sense if he was trying to hold back - they were truthful words and not of malice but cold hard facts. Her eyes widen as she listened to the things he listed off in his war time, he even went far to kill babies and children alike. Not even the innocents were spared in his line of duty.

Her eyes met his when he went on; naming away her flaws and fears she revealed and told her to suck it up. Eyes narrowed and lips twitched as he dared speak up in such a way - again being lectured to stop thinking about the past and just gnaw through those roots without fear. Her lips quivered as his words stung her nerves and his intimidating yet calm words made her blood boil, here she just wanted someone to listen but instead of being passive he told the truth of the situation.

A sound crawled up her throat a mix of a growl and hmph as she had no words to refute back or argue, just this blood boiling that made her frustrated as she wanted to flail around and stomp her feet. Like a screaming child. She couldn’t find a way for a come back to throw a temper tantrum or find the words to curse him because he was right -- and that pissed her off. Just like how she met Erasmus and was told to prove him wrong and that no one would listen to a squabbling baby monarch who had issues they couldn’t progress from: she could only move forward and break that wall of glass she kept stacking higher and higher.

She stood there frozen a moment before turning her head away with a ‘tch’ response and did not dare look into the man’s eyes anymore. Her focus then moved to the other unharmed dummies and stomped towards them with her hair bouncing and flowing behind. The maid looked between the two but did not butt in the conversation or offered a word of advice as she too believed the Queen was trapping herself and filling the Yggdrasil's roots with new water to regrow them around her and be forever trapped.

The teenager gritted her teeth as she faced down the dummy before her. Concentrating spiritual energy around her hands as they formed into claws of a reptile and slashed at the dummy relentlessly and without holding back her spiritual energy as it burst out like a flame around her in a form of a dusty rose glow.

The maid watched in shock as the teenie Queenie rendered the dummy into pieces like it was butter, the girl’s grunts echoing out and growling made the maid look towards Erek with a look of worry and confusion.

“I give up, you win!” the blonde shouted out.”You’re right Erasmus I’m nothing but a quivering baby. I’m tired of feeling sick and weak with this damn curse!” she threw a punch, albeit sloppily, and cut the last pieces of the next dummy down. Panting and heaving as she expelled so much energy on the two dummies to vent on before turning towards Erek and let out an exhale and calmed down her spiritual energy until it went out like a flame.

“You’re right too,” she huffed out. “I need to suck it up than continue this shitty path.” with that she moved over towards the benches to cool off.

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Her reaction was predictable-- anger. But-- she didn't throw a tantrum. She didn't try to lie and say he was wrong, she didn't stomp her feet and scream at him, or cry and try to get his pity. Instead, the anger was not directed at him, but at her situation-- and likely at herself. She lashed out at the dummies, energy whirling around them as he winced-- raising a hand against the waves of raw pressure, of the energy slamming into him like powerful buffets of wind, it was like he was underwater while a propeller was releasing blasts of pressure at him again, and again. Still, he did not budge-- what sort of role model, or lecturer would he be if he let her anger just bowl him over?

He held his ground, despite how difficult that was for him-- and when her anger finally reached its end, dummies lying about in scattered chunks around her-- she screamed at the sky-- addressing someone named Erasmus. A quivering baby, was it? Erek wasn't certain he'd go that far-- she was simply a scared, traumatized teenager that had too much responsibility and no adult figure or mentor to lean on for help. The feelings that she had bottled up were only natural-- the fact no one had helped her with them simply spoke volumes on those that surrounded her. The final punch scattered the leftovers of the training dummies to the winds-- and she stood there, heaving, panting-- and he allowed a slight smile to form on his lips.

Beyond all else-- that alone showed that something had broken past that barrier of fear. She had no only released her energy, but she had allowed her power to truly lash out-- anger wasn't the best replacement for fear, they both had their drawbacks-- but at least the drawbacks of anger were short lived. Fear could rule you forever. Remaining silent, he would lower his hand as the pressure died down and she finally turned to face him-- admitting that he was right-- moving toward the benches to cool her head as she commented on sucking it up.

Calmly, he would wait beside the maid-- patient as ever, until he felt she'd had enough time to level out her head. Only then did he move forward once more and finally come to stand in front of her-- before falling to sit down next to her on the bench as he would allow his hands to rest in his lap, fingers intertwined-- gaze upward.

"Well done, Puffin." He stated simply as he glanced down at her, and offered a simple, sincere smile. He was proud of her-- coming to terms with that hadn't been easy, that much was clear-- and many people would have refused it, pushing it off, tried to flail and deny the truth even when it was spelled out for them. Perhaps a few days later after thinking about it, they'd apologize, admit he was right and ask for his help in moving past it-- but here Frey was, proving his words that she could be strong when she wanted to. Here she was-- admitting he was right, admitting she was caging herself, and trying to fight it. It was far more progress than he ever could have hoped for her to make.

With this he would allow his gaze to drift upward-- and wait, knowing that she'd want to speak first-- that she'd have questions, concerns, things she wanted to say-- whether he needed to hear them or not didn't really matter. What mattered was getting her to talk, getting her to think about herself and what she had been doing up to this point-- and how to move beyond it. What was holding her back from her blut, from her training, from her charisma, from being a true leader-- was nothing but fear. Breaking that fear wouldn't happen overnight, but he had little doubt that if he could encourage her here, in this key moment-- that she could begin making the progress she needed to in order to help herself grow.

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Puffin. Out of that chaos, he had called her Puffin again. She wasn’t sure to laugh or cry at such a statement and just looked at him with a quirked brow and huffed out a breath again to calm her nerves. “You’re mean, Jotun,” she said bluntly. “But you’re wiser than any of the giants.” despite that, he still smiled at her after letting her steam let loose and let her break one wall to her fears one by one. “I have to be a Queen of confidence, why the fuck do I keep falling like this every time? Ughhh grow up Frey.” she berated herself mentally and grumbled outwardly. “Just reach out and grab your damn goals!”

“Thanks, no really! I needed that - far too much I do this because..of my lack of confidence.” she didn’t get angry with him and yet she felt a weight slowly unchain itself from her shoulders. For this she wanted to kiss him, eyes locked on him with twinkles in her emerald orbs but quickly shut down her thoughts before they went too far. He remained silent for her and she let out another exhale before glancing up at the ceiling for awhile.

“I’ve been scared since childhood, it was on that day I met a salamander Hollow that came crashing into our bakery - just me and my mom,” she explained and brushed some hair out of her face. “Sadly I never met with that Hollow again and it’s been a thorn in my side because I keep telling myself I was weak and couldn’t save my mother. That little girl is still inside me fussing and blaming while my adult self is worried over my children..worried I’m going to be placed in the same fate as my mother; unable to protect my chicks,” her arms cradled underneath her stomach and sighed out dejectedly. “If my mom didn’t hide so many things - like the cross that I now wear. Maybe I would have trained secretly or begged my mom to tell me more about the Quincy but she really kept stuff vague and cryptic for my sake. If we weren't excommunicated from our own clan maybe things would have been different too. This was when the stupid blood purity was still a thing and I never got to see who my father was until six years later my grandfather shows me a picture and told me he was removed by some other Quincy organization,” she shrugged not too concerned about her father’s death as he hadn’t been a prominent figure in her life anyway. “I don’t really hate what my grandfather did in the end and I’m sure he had a lot of pressure from the council - it’s why I hate why we can’t just band together than be broken up into smaller factions or clans. But I suppose it’s better for their safety, I don’t know.”

She wondered if he was getting bored of her little story and moved on to something else because it was starting to pick at her nerves again. “Let’s just move on in training with Blut.” she said glowering and pushed herself up from the seat even if her legs felt a bit weak from over exerting herself. Her back cracked some when she stretched out her arms overhead and looked towards Erek before speaking again. "Should I start punching you next?" a playful grin formed and she waved her hand in jest. There was no sense in beating up someone who could get flatten by a mere punch.

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As she called him mean, he chuckled softly and let his gaze lift up-- wise and cruel, hm?

"I think that's called being jaded and old," he stated idly-- obviously not put off by her earlier anger in the slightest, though as she thanked him, he glanced down at her as she commented on her lack of confidence-- remaining silent, encouraging her to talk with his eyes as he gave her his attention. Sure enough, she began-- a Hollow attack at a young age, and a bloodline problem-- he'd briefly gone over it in the history, the Quincy had been obsessed with "pure blood" due to their close ties with religion, as well as a desperation for power-- since purebloods tended to be "naturals".

He didn't see any proof of that considering himself and Frey-- but ancient customs rarely held much logic in the modern day. He supposed this subject was no different-- still, this explained a bit about her temperament as well as he fears, worrying over her children due to what happened with her own mother was an honest thing. But he also knew that, whether she liked it or not-- death was going to come to those children at some point. Hopefully, she would have plenty of time with them before that happened-- but she was the strongest Quincy. There would be many people after her head-- and the little one's heads.

However he didn't mention this-- it was clear she already knew it, or she wouldn't be so worried. He allowed his gaze to slide upward, and would contemplate her primary concern-- the clans and wanting a perfect unity. After a few brief moments, he would shake his head.

"It's against human nature to work as a perfectly functional colony-- think of it this way, unaware humans have forged countries and existed for tens of thousands of years-- we've-- well, they've-- made tremendous strides in technology, diplomacy, art, the list goes on and on. But-- despite all of that, the most we'll ever agree to work toward is a "World Congress" or a "World Republic"-- something where each world leader-- most of which would also be voted into power to some degree-- votes on a council to dictate decisions for the entire race." His eyes trailed down toward Frey, offering a slight smile.

"Not that Monarchy doesn't have its place-- especially when combined with republic based beliefs-- but it goes against human nature to allow a singular leader that rules everyone and thing. If you want the entire race to be united-- then you have to work on a way to make sure they can keep their own decisions to being separate from the standard monarchy-- but still have enough power so that their own choices and desires also feel validated, and not like throwing darts at a wall with a blindfold on." As he stated this his legs would stretch out, glancing at the ceiling briefly for a moment as he contemplated the options.

"Perhaps a Republic and Monarchy combined-- where the Monarch's vote is worth two or three and has emergency powers where they can completely take over for a limited time-- but otherwise they have to go through the proper channels with votes from the other council members?" It was just an idle thought, but that could certainly work-- but, it would take away the diplomatic power of the crown as well. He shrugged, it was something for Frey to think about. Instead, he would focus on her next statement regarding blut training-- and as she joked about punching him he smirked.

"No-- give me three months, and then we'll see-- after the little ones are out, you're recovered, and I've had time to get my abilities under control," he chuckled a bit-- before he would then haul himself up slowly and instead would clap to get her attention back to him.

"But, that said-- I think you need to try switching between the two forms of blut for now-- as quickly as you can to get used to the pinpoint control. Then, you need to focus on working on channeling the reishi into specific organs-- do you recall what I did when you threw the knives? I had vene activated, of course-- but when you got more serious I focused more reishi from the other areas of my body into the areas you targeted in order to amplify their natural effects." As he explained this, he would point to her arms.

"We'll start with the limbs for that-- and then from there work toward more specific internal locations like your liver, lungs, heart, things like that-- that way you can build up pinpoint focus." It was something even he couldn't do yet-- focusing it into his organs specifically, he could do it to his limbs but that was it. But Frey wasn't him-- she had far more precise reishi control, and getting her used to this would mean one less complication when it came to her doing something as complex as coating the twins in her blut to protect them-- he was fairly sure that would be the greatest milestone for her to tackle in this training-- before they moved on to the study of the healing ability and its creation.

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“I wonder if Aitrus is right in saying I needed his help, too,“ she sighed out and shook her head in disbelief. “I kinda wished he stuck around even if I had to put up with his grumpiness. Anyway, people don’t band together until there is a threat and humanity has been babied long enough. It sucks the unfortunate ones have to stay unaware and guarded by us, but if everyone was aware then there would be more wars against other humans and petty things.”

When he mentioned about a Republic and Monarchy having a little power she did not comment right away but tuck it away to think about later. The Order had already gone through many changes and it would look bad to make hasty decisions that could further damage relations or make the place look like a joke.


His clap brought her attention to him and rose a brow and listened to his explanation. “Three months, huh? You don’t think this Viking is physically strong after having babies?” she laughed and jabbed him in the side with a finger.

He then went on about focusing on specific areas of her organs to strengthen with Vene and she nodded in agreement. “I don’t think it should be that hard and I’d worry less about my babies in those areas…” she trailed off and sighed still thinking over the worry of accidentally rupturing her organs. “Let’s try my arms then.” again she agreed that would be the most logical point and started thinking how quickly she could flow the reishi into her veins without getting caught up in her mental block.

Freyleif let out an exhale and closed her eyes; ignored using her spiritual sense in reliance in keeping a note on the twins health and emotional state and focused on sensing the spiritual energy in the circulation system of her arms and listening to her heart beats. The blue energy seeped into her skin and into her veins until the Blut spread out through both of her arms without too much thought or complications. She tried to ignore the phantom pains - one Iko had inflicted her when ripping her arms off - and strengthen the structure there. Slowly her eyes open to look at her arms and veins as they glowed with a faint blue hue she then pushed the reishi to coat around her heart and enter its blood streams. She kept her mind clear of noises that would disrupt her concentration and worked slowly in pushing the technique to her lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys. The progress was a bit slow as she flowed the reishi to each organ without rushing and moved to the next system her arteries and veins traveled to. Ten minutes passed until her body was once again covered in Blut Vene but she didn’t look happy that it took so much time working on each organ with the mastery she had over reishi.

“I got it...but that was too slow in trying to work on every organ,” she said with a sigh. “I really need to work on this technique more.” shoulders rose and fell with a shrug and she couldn’t help but frown at the disappointed it took to work on each part of her body - there was just too many things to focus on and it made her brain fry. "What do you think so far? Is it good enough?" she inquired without looking tired at least.

577/4847=5424

As she poked at him, he allowed a brief smile to play at his lips as unnatural as it appeared there-- before he would arch a brow down at her.

"I think that if I don't try to push myself by making that promise I'll move much slower-- if I can make you have a nice surprised expression at my growth, that'll be more than enough for me as a first step." A chuckle of amusement left his lips-- her mention of her being a "Viking" made him chuckle.

"I'm going to imagine you in a horned helmet smacking your shield with an ax getting high on mushrooms if you're not careful," he threatened with a surprisingly playful tone-- before he would allow his attention to turn toward the situation at hand, specifically her reishi control for her blut. Watching carefully as she would make note that she wouldn't have to worry as much about the babies if she had better control, and he nodded his head in agreement showing that due to that reasoning it was a key aim for her. If he could get her to comfortably infuse her other organs with it-- it would greatly ease her worries he didn't doubt.

Erek had no way to sense the energy unlike Frey-- he was forced to rely on her own sensory and his judgment of when she was lying-- he appeared to have quite a talent in that regard, being able to see right through her. Thankfully he doubted he would need that "ability" of his since she was so eagerly trying to change and improve herself. He waited patiently, noting the pull of the reishi around him and feeling the barest of shifts-- but beyond that lacking any official way to truly keep up with the changes as he was instead forced to simply wait and hope that she was successful in her endeavors.

Thankfully, it would appear his judgment had been accurate-- as she would finally speak up, though she didn't sound very pleased with her progress. He would nod a bit as she explained that it had taken her so long to do it before he would raise a finger and allow the reishi around them to channel toward him-- focusing into a point on his finger as he examined the blue glow around it.

"You know, a week ago this was an immense struggle-- the first time you taught me, covering my whole body felt natural. But when I focused the reishi into specifically my arms-- it was basically a whim that I got lucky with, and it wasn't nearly as complex as an organ. But now, after a week-- things like this come easily." The reishi shifted from his fingertip to flow along his arm, shifting upward to coat his entire arm instead, before shifting again and spreading over his entire body so that his entire bare torso pulsed with blue light. Flexing his hands as the sections around his abdomen and chest was pulsing with far more energy-- as if using it to guard against a lethal blow.

"Now it's simple. The same applies to you-- I don't expect you to just magically manage it flawlessly the first time, and you shouldn't expect that either," as he stated this, the blue glow faded as he cut it off, his eyes examining the young woman quickly before he smiled gently.

"Keep practicing it. It's not like there's a time limit on this, the more you practice, the faster you'll be able to do it-- until eventually, it becomes second nature. The fact you were able to do it consciously-- even if it took time-- already speaks volumes on our difference in ability. It will probably take me several more weeks to manage the ability to coat my organs-- and who knows how long before it comes naturally to me. But at the rate you're going, a few days seems incredibly likely." It helped that likely due to her innate skill in gathering reishi, she wasn't getting tired at all now-- in fact, she was apparently effortlessly maintaining it. The only thing she appeared to be even slightly struggling with was her ability to regulate that energy in a focused area.

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The comment on the mushrooms made her smile somewhat but then rolled her eyes on the horned helmet bit and smacking a shield with an ax. At least she got a good chuckle and it had washed her worries away by a heart lighted joke. Thankfully she did not disappoint Erek with her success in managing to get reishi through each of her organs even if it took some time to get the reinforced blood cells through her circulation system.

“Kinda funny my basic knowledge had helped you, eh?” she chuckled in jest and rubbed the back of her head. If that bit of help was enough she was glad to help in any way, and they stuck together to work on this with two heads. “Being a chimera was not so bad now that I think about it.” she beamed.

Freyleif watched as he coated his body with Blut Vene with relatively ease without pause and smiled even brighter in pride to his completion. “This morning turned out great, I got to vent and work more on this technique with you.” she said moving up to him only to stop and then ponder a moment. A few seconds of staring at his bare abs she quickly went to hug him once again - careful not to smash her belly against him and more of a side hug.

“Don’t worry! I’ll keep practicing that even in my sleep the monster bugs won’t bite me.” she giggled before letting him go. “You’ll get there in no time with my help, too!” she nodded matter a factly. The young Queen then poked at his stomach and looked up at him with sparkling emeralds. “Erek, thank you for putting up with my moody self. For now on I won’t let fear stop me from achieving my goals and will become mature, I know this is just words but I have certainty I’ll pull through this time. This inner conflict has been going on too far and I always get depressed and can’t speak my mind. As they always say...actions have more weight than words, huh? I promised I wouldn’t hide behind a mask so please let me talk to you more.” she tilted her head a moment and then looked towards the maid who still stood there watching the exchange without interruptions.

“I can move onto advanced forms of Blut like this healing one, I just know we can do it together and I won't give up until I master my old clans tradition of this technique, too.” she grinned and gave Erek one final hug for the day, he was probably getting all confused with these affections and she loved getting a reaction out of him.

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Erek allowed a brief smile to play at his lips as she would laugh-- it seemed he had helped ease her just a bit with his attempt at a joke. That was good, half the time people just tended to get offended. Shaking his head a bit he would allow the thoughts to slip away before he would tuck his hands behind his back, examining the young woman as she commented that being a chimera wasn't so bad-- a smirk playing at his lips as he pondered which head he would be, and which Frey would be. A laugh would come from his lips as he would tuck his hands behind his back once more at the realization.

"I suppose you're the dragon due to your emotions-- would I be the goat due to my stubbornness, or the lion due to my pride I wonder?" as he glanced up at the sky, pondering this he would blink when she would comment that the morning hadn't been bad-- and he had to agree all things considered. Frey had made considerable progress, and she had managed to make quite a bit of emotional steps as well-- this was proved when she-- to his surprise-- hugged him from the side and thanked him. Causing him to chuckle lightly, and raise a hand to pet her head lightly.

"You're welcome, Puffin." He stated simply with a smile before he would release her when she did so, his hands placing behind his back as he listened to her explanation-- and the surprisingly strong determination in her voice, that she wanted to change. She wanted to grow. He'd already known that, but perhaps now she had the courage necessary to actually act on those thoughts. The first step was always the hardest-- no matter what it was in, putting guilt behind you, accepting your choices, enduring the pain, trying to make amends, training, accepting another's opinion-- none of these were easy things to deal with. But if you could find the energy to push yourself past that first major barrier, then you could move on to far greater actions.

As she commented on the healing blut, he would nod his head slightly with a smile-- blinking as he was hugged a final time and pat her head, he wasn't a hugger. But this was an important moment for her so he'd allow it for now. Finally, releasing a soft breath as she seemed content he would allow his body and posture to return to its neutral state.

"Well then, under that premise, I think more practice is called-- for both of us. How about throwing some knives with reishi-- while maintaining the blut? The dual-focus will be good for you-- like training with weights on, but for your mind." He doubted that it was much different from any other form of concentration exercise-- and the more that they could pour into this the better. What he wanted to practice however was utilizing his Blut Vene, along with this other regenerative ability at the same time. Blinking, he tilted his head.

"I suppose I should name this ability of mine as well," he added as an afterthought, lifting a hand and clutching his chin as he debated the thought quietly to himself for a few brief moments-- most Quincy abilities were named in German, should he then do so as well?

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