The morning sun was blocked completely by the thick black curtains in Luna's apartment. It might have been ten in the morning or three in the afternoon—Renan couldn't tell. Time seemed to blur in this place, that Luna made hidden.
When he opened his eyes, Luna was already awake, standing in the middle of the room again, her body now wrapped in a dark robe embroidered with red runes that pulsed with faint magical light just like the rest of the runes in the room.
"Drink," she said throwing at him a blood bag, her voice was calm, yet firm.
"Huh? Is this really blood?" Renan rubbed his eyes after holding the bag and got up from the floor stretching his body and trying to get himself warmed up. "What time it is?"
"It's morning, during the days vampires aren't as powerful, so it's perfect for us to train without you destroying the whole building."
Renan remembered how easily he had destroyed walls before in his first fight.
"Are we going to start with spells or punching things?" he asked, half-joking.
The girl giggled softly hearing that.
"Both," Luna replied. "But first, let me explain something. Vampiric magic isn't like witchcraft. It doesn't come from rituals or incantations. It comes from within your blood, emotion, and instinct."
"Blood..." He said looking down at the blood bag and bit on it ripping the plastic.
The boy drank the blood. It was good, though not nearly as delicious as the vampire's blood. Without even realizing it, he had finished the entire blood bag in a matter of moments, leaving him feeling full for the moment.
She made a movement with her hand while saying something in a tongue the boy could not comprehend.
The air in the room shifted. The candles flickered wildly, and the sigil on the floor began to glow with a deep red light.
What appeared to be a copy of Renan himself emerged—a pitch-black silhouette that stood motionless for a moment, like a statue.
"Attack with everything you've got. This shadow doesn't feel pain or emotions, but it has the same power level as you do right now," Luna explained calmly.
Renan nodded and gave a confident smile. Without hesitation, he moved toward the shadow and landed a direct punch to its face. The impact echoed slightly, but the shadow didn't flinch. it simply slid back a few steps, its head slowly turning to face him again.
This time, the shadow tried to do the same, launching a mirrored attack, but Renan dodged instinctively. As if his body moved on its own, he countered with a swift kick. The motion felt oddly familiar. It was the exact same move Damian had used against him in their fight.
"Huh," Luna muttered, visibly surprised before a sly smile formed on her lips. "I think... by drinking Damian's blood, you may have absorbed part of him—maybe even some of his abilities."
"Absorbed part of him?" Renan brought a hand to his chin, deep in thought. "Huh... So maybe that's why that girl feels drawn to me..."
"That girl?!" Luna raised an eyebrow, her tone suddenly sharper and her expression clearly bothered by the comment.
Renan shivered slightly, realizing just how jealous Luna could be. He quickly tried to justify himself, explaining what had happened back at the college.
"He had a siren... I didn't see that coming," Luna muttered, letting out a frustrated sigh as she placed a hand on her hip. "But I should have expected it. Even an idiot like him would eventually try to gather others with magical abilities."
She paused, clearly annoyed, before continuing with a more calculating tone.
"We can use her for our plan. Her ability to see the future is likely far more refined than my vague visions of the future," she admitted, though the bitterness in her voice showed just how much it bothered her to say that.
"But let's test the theory that you really did absorb some of Damian's combat abilities," Luna said as she once again used the enchantment from the book to summon more shadowy copies of Renan.
Three shadow clones formed in front of him, each one standing still like statues, identical in size and build.
"Bring on!" he replied with a grin, clearly excited even if not long ago he would have been the first to run away from any kind of conflict.