"Now lay in the pentagram."

"Well fuck, he's serious," Killua mumbled as he stepped into the pentagram of salt in the middle of the living room. The Awakening ritual had finally been fully set up, and the couches and chairs had been pushed against the walls to make room for an enormous pentagram and an army of candles. The blinds were drawn and the candles were the only light source in the now-eerie living room.

This was like some Demon summoning shit.

And it technically was.

"This ritual will not be pleasant, as it is enhancing and changing the properties of your aura," Wing said as he made rounds around the room with incense burning in his hand. The smoke smelled like blood and was making Killua's eyes water. Zushi was dragging a giant gong out of the kitchen and setting it up on the south side of the pentagram.

This shit was really starting to weird Killua out.

"You're not put off by any of this?" the Valkyrie asked Gon as the hybrid laid himself down in the center of the satanic shape.

"Nope!" he chirped, looking far too happy for someone laying in a pentagram.

The silver haired boy scoffed as he awkwardly lowered himself to the ground. "We're doing a DIY summoning ritual and you're not even the slightest bit unnerved?" he retorted.

"This will make us stronger, Killua! This is a whole new set of training! I'm excited, and I'll do anything to reach my goal," those amber eyes burned with excitement, enough to make Killua's stomach flip.

With an exasperated shake of his head, the assassin laid down beside Gon. He followed Wing and Zushi with his eyes. "What are we gonna do?"

"First off," Wing said as he blew out the incense. "I am going to inject this symbol with my Hatsu. I will be conducting a special type of spell, meant especially for the awakening of Blood Magic in others. The pentagram will begin to glow, and strange things will happen, but do not be alarmed. You will feel a tingling sensation, but just go along with the ritual. Messing up or taking too long will cost you your lives."

Killua frowned.

I hate how casual he sounds about this.

And he hasn't even told us what we're gonna have to do!

Just that we'll be led along by his spell.

"Are you ready to begin?" the Vampire-hybrid asked.

"Yes!" Gon cheered.

Ready as I'll ever be to participate in a fucking Demonic ritual, I suppose.

"Wonderful! Zushi, begin the ringing of the gong. Make sure to keep a steady pace."

"Osu!" the dog-boy responded before he gave the gong a hearty swing. The sound was deep and all encompassing, it shook Killua's ribcage. Zushi rang it every couple of seconds, sounding like the slow beeping of a heart monitor. The candle flames shivered with each strike of the gong, which Killua found a little creepy. But that was most definitely not going to be the only creepy thing to happen.

Wing took a deep breath, and a shiver ran up Killua's spine.

He heard Gon gasp, and watched as the pentagram of salt began to glow a white-hot red. The glowing branched out from Wing, who's eyes were closed and hands extended. Killua's assassin sense was telling him to run the fuck away, but no, he was laying in the center of the fucking pentagram.

The Valkyrie shivered and swallowed hard, ignoring his every instinct telling him that this was dangerous and wrong.

Demon shit isn't shit you mess with. And what am I doing?

Demon shit!

Now that the pentagram was glowing, the sound of the gong changed. The noise was now echoey and eerie. It made Killua's ears feel tickly, and messed with his vestibular system. The wavering noise never trickled off, only continued surrounding the room, Killua could physically hear the ups and downs of the sound waves as they assaulted his ears. Zushi continued striking the gong every couple of seconds, upsetting the rhythm of the sound and making Killua incredibly uncomfortable.

The candle light changed colors, from orange to white. The flames jumped high, sparking up like sparklers and flinging embers in every direction. Wing moved his arms in a circle, and then thrust his palms in the direction of the pentagram. He was clearly using some sort of power, and Killua couldn't see it at all.

He could feel it though.

He could feel its demonic presence.

It prickled against his aura glands in a most unsettling manner.

It felt like someone was licking the back of his neck, but he knew that no one was there.

The salt pentagram started glowing brighter, and now it was giving off heat. The candle flames rose all the way to the ceiling, forming a cage of glowing pillars around the two boys in the center of the satanic symbol. Killua's heart was racing, and he heard Gon laughing beside him.

Stupid adrenaline junky.

He better stop having so much fun!

Killua's wings spasmed against their bindings as he saw something out the corner of his eye. It was Demonic writing. Symbols and runes were appearing on the floor in rings of varying thickness, surrounding the pentagram and the candle cage. They spread up the walls, over the pushed furniture, and met in the ceiling creating a chilling pattern directly above the center of the pentagram.

Killua looked out the corner of his eye, and saw similar symbols floating about in the fizzing flames of the candles. A warning whine of a growl formed in his throat when he saw pairs of eyes peeking at him through the flames. Holy fucking shit! This thing was forming a semi-portal!

Gods fucking dammit, this was not good!

Killua met one of the pairs of eyes, and he was so close to pissing himself that he couldn't even manage to be embarrassed about it. The eyes crinkled up at the sides, clearly laughing at him, and then disappeared back to wherever they had been.

His wings were flailing about, and he could feel the skin on his back tingling. Killua's Valkyrie retreat instincts were in high gear, but his wings were unable to fly him away on autopilot. Killua also found that he couldn't move.

No. He was literally glued to the spot.

The assassin tried not to hyperventilate when he looked down at himself and found those runes glowing all over his body. They burned where they appeared on his skin and seeped that awful Demonic aura.

Wing started chanting some weird shit, and his eyes started glowing the same white hot color as the pentagram and the candles. A wind whipped around him and the room, playing with the boys' clothes and rustling their hair. Killua looked over at Gon, and found that his eyes were starting to glow as well, which meant Killua's were doing the same.

All of a sudden, Wing flung his arms into the air, and a horrendous pressure was pushing Killua into the floor. If he hadn't been able to move before, he definitely wasn't able to move now. He couldn't contain the whine in his throat, and Gon had stopped laughing.

The runes burned, and Killua felt his aura.

He fucking felt it!

The hell?!

This wasn't how aura worked! Why the FUCK could he feel it?!

It felt… gods fucking dammit, he couldn't even begin to identify what it felt like because his aura glands weren't supposed to work this way.

The Valkyrie felt tears gathering in his eyes, and his breathing was out of control as they slipped down his cheeks. The pressure on top of him was suffocating, and it felt like he couldn't breathe even though he knew he was breathing. It felt like his heart had stopped in his chest, even though its beating was all he could hear.

Gods, his wings were being torn at by the thorns of the barrier, and fuck, he felt a corner of one actually slip out before being tugged back in. The tattoos tugged at his wings, and shifted across his skin. The twisting bed of thorns swirled and moved about, looking like rolling waves over Killua's skin. The tattoos crept from his neck to his face, and stretched all over his body in an attempt to keep his wings under control. Killua felt Gon's wondering eyes on his skin as the hybrid watched his tattoos struggle to contain his wings.

Leave it to Gon to focus on me instead of the Demonic ritual.

Killua gave a hysterical laugh.

What the fuck, Gon!

The pressure increased suddenly, and Killua couldn't help but cry out. He was in so much pain, and small objects were being picked up by the whirlwind that was Wing and his strange power. The Valkyrie bit back a cry when his eyes burst into white colored flames, literally. There was so much pressure on his chest that it felt like his ribs were about to crack. The glowing runes all around were so bright that Killua could see them against his eyelids when he blinked, and he was so incredibly overstimulated.

His entire body felt… wrong. He was tingling all over like a carbonated drink, and he knew that feeling was coming from his aura glands even though he had never physically felt them before.

Suddenly, he was lifted off the ground.

Gon and Killua floated upwards in the air, the wind from Wing's power whipping around them and lifting them up on a bed of empty air. The glowing from the pentagram, runes, and candles started pulsing, and Wing entered the pentagram.

The two floating boys were slowly adjusted into an upright position, and were floating in the air as if they were treading water. Wing stood behind them, his strange feeling presence making Killua sob in fear.

The Sorcerer continued his chanting in whatever Demon language he was using, and Killua felt a heat growing from where Wing was standing. The runes on his skin were still burning, and now that they were floating the pressure was coming from all directions instead of just pushing them down.

Gon was silent at his side, and that scared Killua more than hearing him scream would have.

All of a sudden, Wing yelled a word in the common tongue: "Awaken!"

He thrust his arms through the center of Gon and Killua's chests, and the two boys screamed when a white hot fire spread from Wing's arms to their now empty chest cavities. Strings of white hot power flew in every direction, and they were coming from Gon and Killua! The Valkyrie's eyes were still literally on fire, but suddenly he could see a bunch of weird stuff!

It looked like a viscous liquid was coating Gon and Killua's entire bodies, and with each shiver of its surface Killua's aura glands reverberated.

Seeing all these strange things along with looking at Wing's arms stuck directly through his and Gon's chests, Killua's mind was crawling in discomfort. He felt like he was having a panic attack, but at the same time just wanted to shoot himself in the head. Gods, his mind felt so unstable.

Wing ripped his arms out of the two boys' chests, and they gagged at the horrendous sensation. The runes, pentagram, flames, and strange power floating around the room rose to the highest brightness yet. The ringing of the Demonic gong got louder than ever. Killua could see nothing but white, and he felt his eardrums begin to bleed.

Then there was nothing at all.

Gon and Killua collapsed to the floor, panting and trembling all over.

With all of that choking stimulation suddenly gone, existence felt… empty. Killua looked over at Gon, finding himself more concerned with how the other boy was doing than anything else. He was laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes, and was bleeding from the nose and ears. Another thing Killua noticed was that–

He was still covered in that viscous liquid.

Killua looked down at his own hands, to find that he was covered in it as well. Also, there was no gaping hole in his chest? No blood or anything! Damn it, Killua hated Demon shit so much. The Valkyrie peeked out the corner of his eye at Zushi, who was picking up the random objects that had been thrown all over the room. Killua's body was still too tired to move.

Wing was leaned over with his hands on his knees, sucking down air. "That never gets any easier," he complained before straightening and reopening the blinds. Wing and Zushi cleaned up and reordered the living room, before sitting on the couch and patiently waiting for Gon and Killua to recover.

"Don't push yourselves," Wing scolded when Gon tried to force himself to a sitting position. "Allow your bodies to naturally adjust. You just put yourselves through a lot of strain."

Killua glared up at the Vampire-hybrid, spitting a mouthful of nose blood onto the carpet. "Ya think?" he retorted. "You said we'd feel 'discomfort!' Is that what you call discomfort?!"

"Well if I'd told you that you would experience excruciating pain, would you have cooperated as well as you did?" Wing responded patiently.

"If I could flip you off right now I would, but I can't move my fucking arms," the Valkyrie growled.

Gon giggled.

"What's so funny, huh Gon? Tell me! I'd really like to know!" Killua snapped, really pissed off. That had been fucking horrible! An accurate warning would have been nice! Wing had punched through their chests! How was that 'discomfort?!'

"It's just that," the hybrid sighed, not at all disheartened by Killua's pissy tone. "I've never done anything like that before!"

"Yeah, I'd hope not!" the Valkyrie snarled. "And you better not start doing Demon rituals for fun! This isn't shit we mess with! Why do you think other humanoids stay away from the Demons? This is fucking why!" I still don't agree with Demons being classified as "humanoids" in the first place. I mean, I get the whole "if all Aliens are humanoids, then Demons are humanoids too" thing. They do come from another planet just like the alien species and the Chimera Ants, but even the people who do the official species and hierarchy classifications agree that Demons are just different. They're not on the aura ranking scale, and don't even have an official place in the hierarchy. Demons can be strong if they want or weak if they want… and their powers are weird as fuck.

I just don't like it.

They keep to their home planet for the most part, and I like it that way. But that doesn't stop some of them from leaving Underworld. And their portals and junk are super unnatural if you ask me. The day I run into a demon face to face will not be a happy day.

"It's not just the ritual part, Killua," Gon explained, shaking the Valkyrie from his thoughts. "I'm having a ton of fun because I haven't gotten to do anything like this in forever! It's training, and improving my body. Sure, it hurt a whole lot, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm getting better."

Those amber eyes had a strange light in them, and Killua was about to ask what he meant by "better," when Wing distracted both of them.

"You should be able to sit up by now," the Sorcerer said.

With a wince, Killua forced himself to sit up. Gon seemed to sit up without issue, was it just him? Well… he supposed that made sense. His tattoos had returned to normal, but whenever they moved around like that or his wings slipped in and out his body would be sore for a couple days.

"What's this stuff all over us?" Gon asked, inspecting the liquid shit all over his hands.

"That, is your Ren," Wing said matter-of-factly. "Your Ten is working on autopilot, and without any effort from the two of you Blood Magic will always seep out of you no matter what. I'm sure you notice a strange prickling sensation coming from your aura glands. That is your aura being transformed into Magic."

"So do Ten and Ren work together or something then?" Gon asked, sounding lost.

"That is correct… to an extent," Wing explained. "When left unsupervised, your Ten will store up power and release it immediately, the releasing just happens to be Ren. So when your Ten is being used in this way, yes the Ten and Ren are happening in tandem."

"But it's not supposed to do that," Killua said, a stated fact more than a question.

"Correct, this is not a safe way to use Blood Magic," the dark haired man confirmed with a nod.

Gon frowned. "This is bad?"

"Yes, Blood Magic does not only use aura, you know. It may use Blood as a fuel and aura as a conduit, but in reality your body's energy and life force is a main ingredient. That is how Ten, Ren, Zetsu, and some forms of Hatsu are able to be conducted without Bloodletting."

"What's Bloodletting?" the hybrid asked, sounding defeated by all this learning.

"Bloodletting is the process of offering up blood to be converted to higher level power. A Sorcerer either uses another's blood from any container they so choose, or cuts themself open to access their own supply."

"So Bloodletting is like going to the gas station," Killua said, half for himself and half for Gon.

"Oh!" the hybrid exclaimed, a lightbulb clearly going off in his head.

"That's a… crude way to put it," Zushi sighed. Wing chuckled.

"Do you use your own blood or stolen blood?" Killua asked Wing and Zushi, genuinely curious.

"I haven't gotten to any Bloodletting yet!" Zushi said. "Since Master only teaches the basics, he does not teach anything with Bloodletting. Your second stage Sorcery Master will teach you those things."

Wing nodded along. "Yes, exactly. I, on the other hand, use a combination of both. While I am half Vampire, even without the human blood diluting it I do not have much power. If I am conducting lower level and less complicated spells I will use my own blood." The older man pushed up his left sleeve, displaying a crisscrossing network of scars all over his forearm and wrist. "However, for higher level and more complicated spells, I always carry a stash on me." He pulled a small vial of blue Chimera Blood out of his pocket.

Killua whistled. "That's some powerful shit." Everyone held respect for the power higher ranking blood held, just now Killua knew what that blood power was used for in the first place.

Wing nodded again, slipping the vial back into his pocket. "The higher ranked the ranking of the blood, the more power it will bring you. As a Dragonite Valkyrie, you will not need to use any blood other than your own, Killua. Gon, based on the chilling aura your blood gives off, I assume the same for you. It never hurts to carry blood on you, however, because in a heated Sorcerer's battle blood loss happens all the faster."

Gon blinked. "Sorcerer fights sound super violent, if we fling blood everywhere I mean."

"That is unfortunately true," Wing said. "If you happen to get into a heated battle involving any Bloodletting, it will get quite gruesome. Statistically speaking, the majority of injuries on fully trained Sorcerers come from their own Bloodletting rather than their enemy's hand."

"Knov was so sneaky about it," Killua observed, trying to think of a time Knov threw any blood around and failed. "I never saw or smelled any blood on him at all."

"There are methods for concealing visible spells, as well as the Bloodletting itself," Wing explained. "I will be teaching you these abilities while you are under my tutelage. It will become crucial for your 300s battles in the Arena."

"So, we'll be able to see what Hisoka is doing now?" Gon asked.

"That is correct," Wing said with a smile.

"He was just using Ren, wasn't he?" Killua added with a frown. It was kind of annoying that Hisoka stopped them so badly using a power that Gon and Killua had unlocked right off the bat. They hadn't learned how to actually use it, sure, but still.

"That is also correct," Wing answered.

"Blood Magic is a whole lot more powerful than I thought," Gon commented, looking at the Ren covering his body like a second skin. "This doesn't look very powerful at all!"

"The basics truly are a snake in the grass," Wing said. "As the two of you will soon find out, Ren alone coming from a high ranking humanoid is enough to combat the most complicated of Hatsu abilities."

"It's funny," Killua observed. "All this was made as a way to get around the social hierarchy, and the humanoids that are more powerful just because of blood. But even in Blood Magic the higher ranked still have an edge."

"Such is the nature of our world," Wing said serenely. "But do not underestimate the power of hard work. Even your natural talent will not be enough to hold out against the most powerful of Sorcerers. As such, I would advise against fighting Hisoka or a Floor Master all out. Keep any fights with a clearly skillful opponent as leashed as possible. There are rules in the Code preventing fully trained Sorcerers from using their full power against trainees, but those precautions will only get you so far."

Killua gave an almost evil snicker. "I bet it's really freaking annoying! Imagine being the most powerful Sorcerer ever, but being forced to hold back and lose to a higher blood ranked rookie cause of some dumb rules!"

"The Sorcerer's Code is controversial for that reason, but rules are required to avoid a second set of Blood Wars," Wing replied. "The Zodiacs are around to keep the peace, so just be aware that a breach of the rules will result in a very unsatisfactory confrontation."

Gon and Killua nodded, no one wanted to go toe to toe with the Zodiacs.

"Now then, we must get started with your training. There are only 20 hours remaining before the deadline, and we need to prepare you for confronting Hisoka as fast as possible," Wing declared.

"But we're Awakened now," Gon said, confused. "Hisoka said we just have to be able to see what he's doing. We can see Blood Magic now, so can't we just hurry up and go?"

Wing frowned. "I'm sure you are antsy to finish this up, but there is a lot more to this than Hisoka is letting on. Based on his behavior, he will not stop at just you seeing his Ren. He will not relent unless the two of you can walk through the barrier of his Ren. In order to do this, you must get your Ten under control and learn how to defend yourselves using Ren."

"Oh," Gon pouted.

Killua slapped him upside the head. "As if the clown would let us off easy? Come on, Gon, you know better~"

"If the two of you are prepared, I would like to get started as soon as possible," the older man said as he stood up from the couch, Zushi following suit. Killua grumbled as he heaved himself to his feet, and helped Gon up after him. His cheeks got a little warm from touching Gon's hand, but he ignored it. Now was definitely not the time.

"We're ready whenever you are!" the hybrid exclaimed.


AN: everybody do the foreshadowing dance!