The Ancient Genes

"Huff!"

Max released a heavy breath as he fell on the ground. It has only been three days and yet he felt so odd, missing a few days of training.

"Here…"

Max raised his head to see Andriel with a towel in her hand.

"Thanks…." Max accepted it with a smile and slowly got back onto his feet as he began to walk towards a designated place nearby the waterfall.

There was a small hut built near the place and Max walked towards it before pushing the door open.

The place was simple with a roughly made bed and a couple stool to sit around. There were two people in the room.

"Welcome, Young Master…" The one two speak was a lady who seemed older than Max by a couple of years and younger than Andriel by the same. She was much on the cuter side. She didn't have those lethal weapons but her short-tied light blue hair showcasing that gorgeous nape was enough to make people draw in a long breath. Besides, her flatness only further enhanced her cuteness.

As for who she was, it was a bit shocking but….she was the Queen of Water, Leviathan.

The Lady whom she was looking after on the bed was her Master and Max's mother, Lithiya.

"How is she?" Max asked as he approached her.

"Her health hasn't shown any change…."

At least it was good, that it hadn't deteriorated.

"It's time for today's session, Max." Andriel showed a pleasant smile as Max's face twitched and sweat rolled down his forehead.

To understand the situation better let's go one day back in time….

Max got up from the bed after four hour, he finally had gotten control of his body but he was still feeling weak.

He didn't know what time it was but the rest of the guys had fallen asleep except for one.

Max tilted his head to look at the new face in the room. If he was correct, she was the spirit whom he had rescued from the scythe.

"Is my mother safe?" Max asked, he remembered it was her voice which had guided him the previous time.

"Yes, for now…." Her answer was vague but it still made Max relax a bit.

Max stood up from the bed planning to go out, but he staggered as his feet gave in. As he was about to fall, a tender hand caught him.

Max felt something soft touching him but he wasn't in the position to concentrate on that for now.

"You want to see her?" She asked and Max replied with a nod.

The lady didn't ask anything else as she supported Max and walked by his side taking him out.

"What is your name?" Max suddenly asked and to his surprise, the lady stopped in her tracks.

"You sure about it, there will be no going back…." 

Max tilted his head only to see a playful and charming smile on her face. It was only for a second but Max felt he should probably avoid asking, but then again, they would probably have a connection from now on….not knowing the name….it seemed odd after all….

"I am the Maiden of Anguish, Andriel…."

In the end, she didn't wait for Max to reply and went ahead with it. It didn't seem she would have cared for Max's reply in the first place.

"Sorry, you must have been through a lot….ending up with that guy…." Max said with a remorseful look as they once again continued to walk.

Andriel shook her head as she spoke with a smile, "If it meant meeting you, it was a small price to pay….."

Max didn't know how to take that, this lady didn't seem to be holding back at all. Now this was a bit…..

"Do you belong to the fairy race?" Max asked planning to divert the conversation. Sera was a fairy, so he wondered if it was the same for others too.

Andriel stopped once again as she replied in a sweet voice, "Do you prefer fairies?"

Max looked at her face, 'I probably should not answer that….'

"I was just wondering…."

"Fairies are not that of a good creature. They only appear to be good in the stories….I personally know one, she is a sadist…." Andriel replied with an honest face.

Max didn't know if it was true or not, but the fairy he knew was the cutest and the most loving one….

"We, Succubus, are far better than them…" 

'Succubus, I see...' Max nodded in his head trying to remember if there were any stories about a succubus. After all, it wasn't necessary that all these creatures stories still existed…..but….

Max suddenly turned his head toward her. 'Did she just say succubus?'

Hell, the stories did exist….

Max shook his head, it was too early to judge. Just like she said about fairies, it wasn't necessary that they had to be the way the stories portrayed them to be.

At this moment, they reached the hut by the waterfall.

Max entered the room and saw another unfamiliar lady but he didn't have time for her because his mother was lying there and her complexion didn't look good. He could feel that her condition was very weak.

Andriel brought Max to the stool before standing behind with Leviathan by her side as well.

"He looks like her…." Leviathan mumbled as she stared at Max.

Max on the head took Lithiya's hand in his own. Only when things seemed to be going right…..this had to happen…..

Sadness, anger, anguish, helplessness… several emotions were flashing past Max's eyes.

After 30 minutes….

Max finally turned around and looked at the two….it was time to know what had happened.

Max turned his gaze towards the new face and she seemed to have understood his intention.

"I am the Queen of Water, Leviathan. The person behind you is my contractor. I am thankful for what you have done…."

"You don't need to….." Max spoke, interrupting her. He then turned towards Andriel, there was something important he needed to ask her.

"You said there was a way to help her if I survived, right?" Max asked.

Andriel nodded, "I have already begun it, that's the reason you have been feeling so tired…"

"Huh?" Max thought that it was because he used the power of Defiance.

"Didn't I say, I can suck out life force?" Andriel aske with a smile and Max nodded. 

"I saved you by providing the life force I sucked from that human to that little girl who seemed to be your contracted spirit….then I helped her to pass it onto you…." Andrield replied explaining the situation.

"Is that the reason, I met him in my subconscious mind…." Max asked, remembering his encounter with the Grand Elder.

"It's possible, it seems he was accomplished enough to have his consciousness imprinted on his life force…" Andriel nodded in reply confirming Max's suspicion.

"I am currently using the same thing here, sucking out life force from you and providing it to Levi, who can then pass it to her contractor…." Andriel further spoke.

Leviathan seemed a bit upset at the nickname but she glanced at Max once and didn't say anything.

"You do seem to have infinite Life force, it keeps regenerating at a rapid rate…." Andriel said with a surprised look.

"I see…." Max knew it was a good idea. He could maintain his life force after all and regenerate as long as he had a single breath left. Though it would take time….

"Why don't you directly transfer it?" Max suddenly asked.

"It's impossible for an uncontracted spirit to interfere with someone who already bonded a spirit…..it will instead do harm then help…after all, life force is a very delicate thing…."

"That is what I have been meaning to ask, how are you extracting life force from him when he already have that little girl contracted….you can't possibly be using the little girl as medium right?" Leviathan asked with a worried look.

"How can I? I am well aware how painful it is to have life force extracted….I can't possibly do that to a little girl…." Andriel spoke as she shook her head.

"Then how?" 

"Even if I can't use indirect means of using my spirit energy on him, I just have to use the traditional approach…" Andriel replied.

"Traditional Approach?" Leviathan spoke in confusion.

Andriel smiled as she leaned closer to Leviathan and whispered something in her ears.

Leviathan's face turned red like a tomato as her gaze seemed to be digging into the ground.

Max looked at them, he was a bit surprised by the fact that he had missed it. Even his godly ears couldn't catch her words. It seems spirits were very tricky.

"What? You want to know?" Andriel as if guessing Max's thought spoke with a playful smile.

"I will pass…. " Max knew that nothing good would come after knowing that. He quietly turned his head and finally appeared embarrassed. Even he couldn't help but let his thoughts run wild a bit…..he needed to calm down a bit before continuing this conversation.