Chapter 3
Fun quote for the readers out there: "Why do they put a suicide watch on certain death row prisoners? Why would you care if a man you're planning to kill kills himself? Does it spoil the fun? I also think about the death row prisoner in Texas who, on the day before his execution, managed to take a drug overdose. They rushed him to the hospital, saved his life, then brought him back to prison and killed him. Apparently, just to piss him off."- George Carlin.
Disclaimer: I don't own this, nor do I own my disclaimers…
Tsukune and Mizore ran across the ice bridge in an attempt to get to, what was more than likely Moka who was screaming for help. The ice bridge Mizore had quickly and so finely crafted wasn't melting, which Tsukune figured was because of the lack of heat the sun gives off. Making a mental note to find out what else he could do with ice abilities like this, Tsukune and Mizore finally made it to the end of the ice bridge and hopped off. The end was in the forest, and more precisely a small clearing with Moka and Saizou there.
The grass was withered and dead, the trees were barren, and Moka was leaning against one, battered and covered in what Tsukune hoped was saliva… and not the other sticky white thing it could have been. She noticed their arrival. "Tsukune! Please help me!"
Tsukune didn't need another moment to think. Saizou was in his true form, which was that of some sort of amalgamation that was easily ten feet tall and was bulging with muscles. When Moka called out to Tsukune, Saizou whirled around and darkly laughed at the Dhampyr and Snow Woman.
"What, going to come here and help this bitch? Well I'm sorry, but she's mine." Saizou chuckled some more.
Tsukune dashed towards Saizou with no small amount of killing intent. He aimed a punch for Saizou's face, which hit. The punch was effective, but it only served to bruise the strange monster.
Saizou growled and grabbed Tsukune by his arm, which was still outstretched, and threw him across the clearing. Tsukune hit the tree and got up after a short struggle.
The short struggle was enough time for Saizou to get over to him to lift him back into the air and slam him into the ground. Tsukune coughed up blood, which made him feel a little weaker from the blood loss. Saizou chuckled again. "Go on punk; stand up so we can continue." Tsukune did just that, after all it was only polite to take such a generous offer like that.
Tsukune, now standing, punched Saizou in the gut, which apparently surprised the stupid monster and caused him to double over in pain. Using this opening, Tsukune gave him a nice uppercut to the chin and sent Saizou reeling. Saizou quickly recovered and spit out blood of his own in response.
Tsukune could smell the blood and leapt at the large monster and grabbed his arm. Biting in, Tsukune started to drain his blood, and he felt himself get more energy with each passing second. Saizou panicked and ripped Tsukune away from his arm, which served Tsukune as it left a great rip where the fangs were. Tsukune growled at having been separated from his meal, though it didn't taste very good.
"My fucking arm! You'll pay for that you son of a bitch!" Saizou howled in pain.
Tsukune and Saizou redoubled their efforts, it changing from a fight for the safety of a girl to a brawl with every attack holding the intent on maiming and injuring the other to the best of their abilities… and Tsukune was pretty good at that it seemed.
Mizore and Moka were not just standing there and dawdling during the fight, well I hope so at least. Mizore ran over to Moka, who began to question who she was.
"It's okay, I'm a friend." Mizore said softly albeit quickly. "My name's Mizore."
"Thanks for the help Mizore-san." Moka quickly bowed her head in appreciation.
"What's going on with Tsukune-kun? He's fighting like a beast." Mizore noted, seeing Tsukune and Saizou brawl. They both gasped when they saw Tsukune bit into Saizou's arm, only to be ripped away, taking a large chunk of the arm with him.
"… Tsukune's fighting on instinct. The vampire part of him is controlling his actions right now, and Tsukune might end up killing Saizou if this keeps up…" Moka said as she watched Tsukune mercilessly deliver Saizou a beating, though it was also returned in kind. "Mizore-san, can you do something to help him?"
"Not from here, not while he's so close to that Outcast either." Mizore answered as she watched her crush fight like a demon. "What about you?"
"My rosary is sealing my powers away…" Moka said sadly. Mizore looked alarmed at that. There were only a few beings that could be sealed like that, and the only one that could even potentially be a pleasant individual was…
"Are you a… vampire?" Mizore asked. Moka nodded as she watched Tsukune. Mizore was torn right now… Moka could very well trump her, as Moka would be able to live as long as Tsukune, whereas…
The fight took a turn for the worst for the Dhampyr. As each moment passed, Tsukune felt more and more of his youki drain as he had little control over it. When he bled, and it happened quite a bit right now, he felt even more of his youki leave him. Eventually, Tsukune was weak enough that Saizou was able to get in a good hit on him. Tsukune was sent flying towards Moka and Mizore, and rolled on the ground to come to rest between them.
"Tsukune!" Both girls yelled, in their fear they dropped the honorific.
"No, stay back." Tsukune said softly but firmly. "I have to be the one to beat him… It's my job." Tsukune struggled to get up, but the two girls were struggling against him, trying to assure him that Mizore could easily beat this guy. During the struggle, Tsukune found something to hold onto and tried to pull on it to get up. It came off with a *clink*.
"Oh no, my rosary!" Moka said, fearing for Tsukune's life when her other self gained control. "Tsukune, ru-…" Her warning was cut off when she felt herself sleep, and the Inner part of her took control.
Her pink hair shifted to silver, her eyes turned into the color of rubies and the pupils slit into a more reptilian shape. Her figure matured over the span of seconds, and a deadly aura erupted from her.
"Ah, now I feel rather nice." Inner Moka grinned with her fangs showing. She eyed the Dhampyr, but instead of showing hatred or even anything remotely close to fear she was looking at him with curiosity. "You know, you're a lot different than the Dhampyrs of legend… and not quite as strong as I would have expected."
Tsukune's consciousness was fading quickly, but he managed to say, "No control over power… I need to… to…" He fell back, and was no longer conscious.
"I suppose that would make a little more sense than him just being weak." Inner Moka smirked. She stood up to fight the Outcast that was Saizou, who was trembling in fear and trying to pep talk himself into fighting someone like her. "And you… you think that you could make a claim on me? You could barely defeat an untrained Dhampyr… you stand no chance against me."
Saizou growled and ran towards Moka with his arm outstretched. Moka caught it with a bored expression on her face. "Really now, he must have been having an off day to fall unconscious fighting you. Know your place!" She yelled, kicking Saizou in the head.
Saizou flew into the trees and lost consciousness.
Inner Moka turned towards Tsukune, who was still unconscious. She smiled as she approached him, and he began to stir. Mizore stood in front of him defensively, but Moka held up one hand. "I'm not going to hurt him, he intrigues me." She passed the stunned Mizore and crouched down to be eye level with the Dhampyr.
When Tsukune woke up, he saw a pair of ruby red eyes with reptilian pupils staring into his own eyes. When he blinked and got a better view of the one in front of him, he noticed that while she looked exactly like Moka, she had silver hair, the aforementioned red eyes, and fangs visible as she smirked at him. "Huh, so this is what a vampire looks like…" He murmured.
"Indeed. Do me a favor Dhampyr… watch over the other me. But remember this; I've got my eye on you." Inner Moka growled after that last part. Tsukune nodded and moved his arm up to hand her the rosary, and Moka took it. She clipped the rosary on and fell into him, unconscious.
Tsukune lost consciousness again immediately after.
Tsukune woke up in the large, pristine white room in a bed with a bad headache. "Ugh, I feel like someone threw me into a tree… wait a minute…" Tsukune almost laughed because someone did throw him into a tree.
"Tsukune-kun!" Two female voices called from right next to him. When his vision finally cleared he saw that the voices belonged to Moka and Mizore.
"Oh, hey girls… did we win?" He asked with a rueful smile. He was promptly hugged by both girls, and he blushed deeply at the affection. They both quickly let go of him, apparently embarrassed themselves.
"Yeah… my Inner Self woke up and beat him after you passed out…" Moka said nervously.
"Inner Self? So are you two different people?" Tsukune asked with apparent confusion. Moka nodded in response.
"I thought she was going to kill you for a second there…" Mizore admitted. Moka nodded again, but this time in agreement.
Tsukune sighed as he looked around for his stuff. "How long am I supposed to be in here?" He asked conversationally.
"The doctor said that you should rest here for another day, and then you can leave and go back to school tomorrow." Moka answered.
"What'cha looking for?" Mizore asked.
"I had a book on magic, you know the one Mizore-chan… I want to skim the contents while I'm in here…" He answered as he spotted his bag. "Could you grab it for me?" Mizore nodded and walked over to it. She pulled the book out and handed it to him. Tsukune smiled as he wanted to dip into the world of magic ASAP, but until he got the chance he'd chat with Moka and Mizore, as they looked worried about him.
Moka visibly flinched when he called Mizore Mizore-chan. She wanted him to call her by that honorific too, but how to ask that without sounding weird… She didn't want to lose Tsukune as a friend.
Mizore smirked as she did not let the flinch go unnoticed. She had an edge over the vampire, for now at least, and she knew that it bothered the pinkette. With any luck, she'd be able to make her claim on Tsukune by the end of the first semester… and that's if it went badly.
Visiting hours were ending soon, luckily for the eager Dhampyr, and after an hour of idle chitchat the girls had to say goodbye and head out for the night. Moka was injured by the ordeal, but her vampiric healing factor was far greater than his Dhampiric healing factor.
After the two girls were gone, and he was certain that he was alone, he opened the book and looked at the table of contents.
There were a lot of forms of magic, and some of them were badass just by name alone… though some, like 'love magic' seemed kind of lame… What kind of power could love grant the wielder?
In the far future, Tsukune might just be looking back at his younger and more naïve self. If he is, he's probably shaking his head at the younger Tsukune for overlooking one of the most powerful forces in the universe.
Tsukune, the uh current Tsukune saw a little line that caught his interest, thanks to his vampire heritage.
Blood Magic
'Oh boy… I could only wonder what Blood Magic might be able to do for me…' Tsukune thought with relish. He saw the page number that it was on and flipped to it. The information went mostly like this.
Blood Magic is one of the most complex yet simplistic forms of magic out there. It's also the most dangerous form and commonly claims the lives of the wielders. Used correctly and efficiently, however, and Blood Magic Rituals can perform wondrous feats that only a witch or warlock would be able to scoff at.
The appeal of Blood Magic is that nearly anyone can use it… the only required component for it is… Well the component is blood of course.
There are a few paths within Blood Magic that a Blood Mage can specialize in:
Blood Arms is the simplest, the most practical, and almost never used by the Blood Mages of today. Blood Arms allows the Mage to summon armor and weapons made of their blood, the Blood Armory, as it is called, is solidified blood and is almost unbreakable. Most Mages these days refuse to specialize in this path, as they'd rather not fight up close.
Blood Potency is common amongst half-breed Youkai, as it allows them to make use of their Youkai heritage without any special training from a Youkai of that race. This is arguably the most useless though, as there are always beings out there that might be willing to train you.
This is unless you're unlucky enough to be a Half-Dragon, or a Dhampyr… in which case I the author pity you.
The last and sadly the most common among Mages is Blood Requiem… While the name isn't all that fitting, the end-goal of Blood Requiem is to turn a Youkai, or a human, into the most dangerous practitioners of anything blood related…
Vampires.
Yes, Blood Requiem can eventually turn you into a vampire, and while it is the one most commonly used, it also requires the assistance of a real vampire… with an injection of blood that is. Sadly, this path rarely gives success, as one mishap or mistake in the endgame ritual will turn the Mage into a Ghoul or just kill them outright.
Blood Magic is very precise, and while there are the specializations, the best and most powerful of abilities can be used via a ritual, and therefore by any Mage. Rituals are usually performed with a special knife, created through a special process that will not be discussed in this book here, and it involves spilling your own blood to make the symbol needed.
In simpler terms, it requires you to cut yourself. You must then make a complex magic circle with precise symbols created within with your blood and you have to let the blood flow constantly. So yes, you have to drain yourself of blood while drawing something complex… do you understand why this is so bad now?
The more powerful the ritual, the more complex the shape, meaning the more time it takes to draw it, and that means more time for you to bleed out and potentially die. And the best part is that if you mess up the circle or pentagram or whatever, then you have to start all over again! Luckily for you, you can stop the blood flow now… if you're still alive that is.
If this humble, or possibly not so, reader still wishes to follow this path, then I wish him or her luck. A word of caution though…
There's a reason they call this form of magic: The School of Suicide. Only 1% of Blood Mages have ever been able to live for one decade after committing themselves to learning Blood Magic. The rest bled out and died during a ritual.
I hope I have satiated your curiosity, and convinced you to give up this fool's errand… if not, then the world does not need a baka like you around anyway.
Tsukune closed the book, thoroughly amused by the last little paragraph, if you could call it that, and scratched his chin. 'I really want to check this out further with some research… I'll check for a book specifically about Blood Magic tomorrow.'
Then again, he should probably check the book for more information on the other types of magic… Blood Magic sounded nice and powerful, but it might be more dangerous than it's worth.
Although… It's not like Tsukune wants to live forever.
With that thought in mind he pulled up the white blanket on his bed and went to sleep, filled with dreams of endless potential and breaking boundaries never broken before…
Moka and Mizore decided to introduce themselves to each other formally after they left Tsukune in the infirmary. Mizore was pleasantly surprised by how kind Moka was, despite being a vampire.
She was even happier at the fact that Moka had insulted Tsukune when she first met him, and the second time she saw him as well. 'With that in mind, she might not even be much competition for his heart.' Mizore thought mirthfully.
With Moka, she was slightly concerned about Mizore's motives, but she didn't want to say anything to offend her. 'Why does she want to be his friend, I wonder? I already knew that he was pretty nice, but she barely knows anything about him… Then again, I barely know anything about him either…'
Both resolved to do the same thing. 'I'm going to keep an eye on her though…'
"Well it was nice meeting you Mizore-san, see you tomorrow?" Moka chirped.
"Only if you see Tsukune-kun tomorrow." Mizore smiled at her potential rival. Moka on her part was slightly caught off guard by this, and her eye twitched in annoyance.
The pair walked off to their respective rooms, contemplating on the other, though for very different reasons.
A/N: Done at last, done at last! Thank you all for the supportive and positive reviews, and I have just a little to say next.
My first serious fight scene, I hope I did good so please let me know...
I want to, I really want to make Tsukune a Blood Mage among other things, and I even have a whole vision for what his full 'arsenal' would be… But at the same time, if I include Blood Magic, then I'd have to change the rating to M for obviously adult content.
Again at the same time, I don't want to include something like this that might, I don't know… offend a bunch people out there.
So please, let me know if I should go ahead with the original plan or come up with a few different ideas.
Have a nice day.