Disclaimer: No I do not own the rules of Yugioh, though Magic Battles are my creation, along with the Life Deck concept. I also own Temarocia, and all the stuff in it.

Song of Temarocia

Chapter 5: The Frozen Killer

Journal of Alita Meijer

The power of a Grafter is incredible. I know the legends said that they were one of the rare legendary classes of Adventurer, but even with that in mind I never thought that it was this amazing. Because for as long as it was remembered there was never a person born that had no magic, I didn't think it was possible for a Grafter to exist. Yet Jason proved me wrong.

I chose Stonequill from amongst the limited Prize Cards we hadn't already sold because of its rather relaxed nature and heavy defense abilities, and it seems that choice has paid off. Thanks to the defensive skills that Stonequill possesses, he's become capable of withstanding the attacks of things as strong as Golems.

When those Stone Golems attacked him it seemed he was in defense mode, which means that his ability is just like that of a Stonequill…if he is attacked while in defense mode and the opposing monster's attack is weaker than his defense then that monster is destroyed after battle completes. I can't even begin to imagine what other kinds of powers he has in this form.

Plus he looks so cool! Ever since I was little girl I had been told stories about some of the legendary classes, and the Grafter, a combination of human and monster, was the one that sounded the coolest. And it's true, even when combined with a brutish creature like a Stonequill, Jason looks so…

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"Hey," Jason muttered as he watched Alita nearly trip on a rock and hurt herself while writing in a large leather-bound book. "What the heck are you writing?"

"Oh!" Stumbling over the piece of debris, the blond-haired girl dropped the book and fell face-first to the ground. "Ummm…" Sitting up, she grabbed the heavy tomb and closed it swiftly. "Nothing at all!"

"…." Shrugging, Jason turned and continued his slow walk towards the location of the smoke in the sky while drawing another card from his deck, making the number of cards in his hand six. ("I've got the feeling that someone is plotting against me. It's probably whoever this creep is.")

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Asdei screamed in frustration and drew another card from his deck, the six cards now in his hand showing that he didn't have anything that could easily counter this newcomer's abilities. ("A Grafter. I didn't realize it at first, but that man is a Grafter! That's fine though, because Grafter's are easy to counter once you know what creature they are spiritually bonded with.")

A slow sneer crossed his face as he recalled the name of the creature. ("Stonequill, an omnivore from outside this country that is known for its docile cow-like nature when not irritated. Such a harmless monster makes a pitiful defensive combination when used in a Grafter, if that man's skills were any indication.")

He could easily use the cards in his hand to set such a weak and close-range monster type up for defeat. "Come, mysterious fool, and meet your end against my magic."

Flair, deep in his meditative trance, continued the slow process of breaking the Magic Plague that was preventing him from accessing his full power. ("Alita, please still be alive when I awaken. I am no good to you as I am at this moment, so I have no choice but to hope that you got away safely.")

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"How did you suddenly learn to summon a Carrier like that?" Alita skipped in front of Jason and turned so she was looking him in the face while walking backwards.

"I just did, I can't explain it because I don't understand how I know it either." He lifted up his right arm and ran the fingers of his left hand over the spikes emerging from his arms. "All I know is that this is my power now."

"Is that so?" She sighed sadly and turned around so she was no longer facing him. Her arms went up over her head. "You know, Jason, if you want to be a member of an Adventurer Party like ours then you have to possess a certain level of knowledge about your own skills. Regardless of how powerful you are at the moment, if you don't understand how your abilities work then your overall strength is at the very least halved."

"Yeah, I get that." He rested a hand over the opposite shoulder and started stretching the arm attached to that joint out calmly. "Except I don't intend to join your crew."

"You don't?" She smiled slyly. "I see, so you intend to go out on your own in the world and try to be your own man?"

"Psh, that just sounds retarded." He cracked his neck one direction, and then the other. "I'm going with you guys, but you're becoming part of my crew…not the other way around."

"…" Alita's right eye twitched in a fashion similar to how his had acted once before. "You want to lead us? Do you think I'm just going to step down as leader for you?"

"Nope," He smiled coldly, one of his fangs glittering in the reddish light that was bathing the silent town. "You're more than welcome to fight me over it, but I don't bow my head to anybody I don't respect. While I owe ya for what I've got up to this point, that ain't enough to earn my respect."

"You're stupid," she commented before looking away from him and breaking into a cold sweat. ("He wants to fight me? There's no way I could win against a Grafter!")

A playful smile crossed his face and he walked past her briskly. "I can smell your fear. Relax, I don't intend to fight you unless you really would have wanted it."

"Who said I was worried?" Alita silently thanked the heavens right before the smell of smoke filled her nostrils. "We're here."

"Yup." Walking out onto the main street of the town, Jason's tail dragged behind him on the ground as he walked towards the shattered town gate and Asdei, who was sitting atop the shoulder of one of the Strength Golems. "So you're the guy?"

"That I am." The red-eyed magician sneered at the young Grafter. "It's surprising to run into a legendary class Adventurer here, but it doesn't matter now. My strategy to defeat you is complete. Are you ready?"

"Sure," Jason returned the sneer with one of his own. "For you to beat the Ass it means you're pretty strong…"

"Strong doesn't even begin to describe my power!" Asdei grabbed a card from his hand and pointed up at the third and final of his Seeker Ravens, which was circling in the sky high above. "I sacrifice this creature to summon my Unlock Golem!" A strangely angular metal humanoid appeared behind his two Strength Golems. (1300/1300) "When this monster is summoned I may sacrifice a monster on my field to force all monsters on your field into attack mode. They cannot switch back to defense mode, so your defensive strategy is now useless!"

"Like I give a damn." Jason glanced back at Alita. "Go drag the Ass out of the way, I'll cover you." His green eyes turned to meet the bloody red ones of Asdei. "Alright then insignificance, let's see what you've got." (1500/3000)

"With pleasure, annoying fool!" Asdei pointed at him. "Go now, my Strength Golems. Crush him with your might!" The two fleshy creatures bellowed and charged as he leapt off the shoulder of the one he had been riding on. (2000/2000)x2

Asdei- 3700/2400

Jason- 6300/4500

Jason sneered at the two monsters. "These kinds of things don't mean much to me! From my hand I activate the technique card Rock Grave at the cost of 400 magic points!" The card he was holding disappeared and his tail struck the ground with enough force to create a tear in the earth directly beneath one of the charging Golems, pulling it out sight. "This card activates when you attack, allowing me to destroy that attacking monster!"

Asdei- 3700/2400

Jason- 6300/4100

"What a waste of effort and time." Asdei snapped his fingers and the hole his Golem had fallen into erupted upwards into a torrent of dust as the creature emerged. "Once per game I may cut the original attack of a Strength Golem in half to save it from destruction!" (1000/2000)

"Not half bad of a save, but so what?" Jason snapped up another card as the second Golem reached him. "I activate the technique card Rock Hurl at the cost of 300 magic points!" The selected card disappeared and he pushed his free hand into the ground, pulling out a boulder from underneath the ground nearly as big as himself. "One monster on the field switches modes and you take 500 points of damage!"

"I pay 400 magic points to negate the physical damage!" Then Asdei was sliding backwards as a barrier appeared in front of him and stopped the approach of his Strength Golem, which had taken the boulder to the chest and had been sent back to him.

Asdei- 3200/2000

Jason- 6300/3800

"I'm not beaten yet!" Stepping past his fallen monster, Asdei grabbed two cards from his hand and they burned away. "I discard two cards to bring myself to this battle, since you seem so focused on defeating me personally!" (1200/1200) "For every Golem in play under my control my attack rises by 500 points!" (2700/1200)

Alita stood up with the unconscious Flair still resting on her shoulder while keeping her eyes on the battle. ("This is amazing…this battle is something beyond what I could have imagined I'd ever see.")

Asdei held up his free hand, which was burning with crackling bolts of red fire and lightning. "Are you ready to die, fool?"

Still sneering, Jason cracked his knuckles and waited patiently for his opponent to attack. "Come on then, come and get me."

Asdei whispered a few words to himself and an explosion of fire and lightning shot from his hand, roaring across the street towards Jason rapidly. "This battle is beyond your experience and your skill level, boy!"

Jason's face scrunched up a little. "Another guy that likes to call me boy…damn it, I guess I can't play around too much or else you'll be calling me that for the rest of your soon-to-be-ended life." Then he took the blast of magical power to the chest, sliding backwards rapidly as the flames and lightning seared his flesh and darkened the spines on his arms.

Asdei- 3200/2000

Jason- 5100/3300

("He didn't expend magic points to protect himself from the actual damage?") Asdei's sneer grew. "What a foolish choice. What good will those magic points do you if you're dead, boy!" Then one of the cards in his hand was flipped up into the air, where it dissolved away. "At the cost of 500 magic points I activate the technique card that is my ultimate attack spell, Dry Lightning! It will raise my attack power by 1500 for the turn and let me attack once more!"

Asdei- 3200/1500

Jason- 5100/3300

Jason slid back rapidly as he took a torrent of red lightning and flames to the chest, the stream of magical power coming from Asdei's hand growing stronger and stronger as the technique card took effect. His teeth were ground together, and his tail was trying to keep him supported by pushing itself roughly into the earth.

Asdei- 3200/1500

Jason- 2400/2900

"Jason!" Alita, hiding at the edge of an alley with Flair on the ground behind her, stared in fear as she watched the lightning clear away to reveal the new Grafter badly burned and smoldering all over because of the damage from the Magician's attack. ("That kind of spell is a combination of both flame and lightning, two very destructive elements that do not normally combine with effective results…so for this man to combine them means that he is very skilled.") Could Jason win this fight, especially after sustaining such heavy damage?

Asdei threw back his head and started laughing wildly. "You actually took my Dry Lightning directly without using your magic power to guard against it? That mistake just ended this battle! Did you actually think that you could take my attack and not suffer because of it? What a fool you are!"

Jason's arms dangled limply at his sides, his body wavering back and forth slowly with smoke rising from the blackened section of skin that was most of the front of his chest.

"Shut up!" Alita shouted at the top of her lungs. "You're far more of a fool then anyone else here! How could you serve someone like Kyris the Hell willingly? Don't you know of the list of atrocities such an evil man has committed?"

"Of course I know." Asdei continued to laugh. "That's why I serve him! The Hell is a plague he created which increases the power of those who receive it at the cost of their sanity, though the results do tend to vary. For those with strong wills, like myself, there is almost no loss whatsoever. Remember that lesson well, little girl. Power is what makes this world turn, and that determines who rules over whom, it is a fact of life!"

"You're wrong!" Her hands clenched tightly around the shaft of her staff, the green crystal at the end of it pulsing with energy. "Power isn't everything!"

"If you've got that kind of outlook, Alita," Jason whispered out, his shoulders heaving slowly as he struggled to draw in air. "Then I'm not so sure that I want to make you a member of my crew. Power is what makes the world turn, that's not an issue up to debate."

"What are you talking about?" She couldn't believe that such words were coming from this man, who had just saved her too…

"It's nice to see at least one of you has some measure of common sense." Asdei held up his right hand to show off the pulsing aura of red lightning and fire that surrounded it. "Those with power rule with an iron fist, and cannot be opposed…who would want to be anything else?"

"You're just as full of crap as she is though," Jason brushed his fur back and popped his back, the damage from his wounds ignored. "Power is merely a means to an end. Those who have it and those who don't have it don't matter if they don't put it to good use. That's why you're an insignificant piece of trash I need to clean up."

Asdei's face contorted in rage at being called that insulting word again. "Even now you continue to spout that word! I've badly injured you as well, so how dare you call me insignificant!"

"It's not my fault that what makes you mad happens to also be the truth," Jason's cracked his knuckles, a calm and rather emotionless look on his face. "I'll show you right now that difference between you and me."

"You're injured by my attacks and from the looks of it you won't be able to fight properly. Combining that with the fact that your defensive power is sealed just what can you do?" Asdei looked like ready to snap, his anger at its fullest. "What insanity do you possess that would make you think you can oppose me?"

"It's called common sense and a pair of stones, something you lack." He drew from his Life Deck and held up a different card. "At the cost of 500 magic points I activate Graft Metamorphosis, discarding all cards in my hand and then removing all techniques of one element from my deck and graveyard from the game. I choose Earth." A lack series of cards disappeared from the deck. "Then I shuffle my graveyard back into my deck and draw a number of cards equal to the number I had in my hand." Four cards left his deck.

Asdei- 3200/1500

Jason- 2400/2400

"You removed all Earth techniques from your graveyard…why?" Asdei didn't see the tactical advantage in doing such a thing. "Your Graft is with an earth creature, therefore by removing all of your earth element techniques you've merely weakened yourself!"

"I just wanted to change things up a bit…and show you my resolve to defeat you." Jason smiled savagely and disappeared within a pulsing blast of blue energy.

Alita stared at the swirling aura in front of her with complete awe. ("That energy could only be…")

"Another Graft? That's impossible, Grafters are supposed to have only one spiritual fusion!" Asdei's eyes widened as the aura dropped to reveal his new opponent.

Jason's hair had turned a shade of icy blue-white, his eyes changing to a similar color as well. His body up to his neck was covered by a skin-tight blue and white streaked layer of something similar to leather, except it was extremely shiny. A pair of curved blades emerged from his forearms, and his now much-paler face had a pair of strange fang-shaped marks on its cheeks. (1600/900)

("He…changed Grafts?") Asdei had never seen a Grafter before, but for such a thing to be possible…it shouldn't have been.

Jason lifted up one hand slowly, looking at the shiny material that covered him now. "I don't know why you seem so surprised, Alita." He turned to look at her coolly, his voice deathly calm now. "Or did you forget that you gave me five cards?"

("That's right,") She thought. ("And that form could only be the representation of the power of the killer of the depths…") Stonequill had been a fairly docile creature, but this one was another matter entirely.

"It doesn't matter whether or not you changed forms, I'll still defeat you!" Asdei grabbed a card from his hand. "Those arm-blades of yours can't reach me before I use this, my second killer card, to wipe you out!"

"Arm-blades?" Jason's head tilted just enough so that one ice-blue eye could look at the red-eyed magician. "These are fins, dork." His left hand lifted up slowly, a card pinched in his grasp. "That's not this form fights." The card shattered like a pane of glass as a pulsing blue-white bullet of energy exploded from his palm and covered the distance between them almost instantly.

Asdei screamed in surprise and pain as the bullet slammed into his hand that was holding all of his cards and encased it in a hunk of ice which instantly replaced all feeling there with a freezing numbness.

Sweat still dripping down her forehead, Alita could only tremble in excitement and fear at the sight of this form. ("The Subzero Shark, a deadly predator of the icy world of Temarocia that produces a powerful poison which can instantly freeze anything it comes in contact with…") That was a card she had received as a payment for a mission, so she had never encountered the creature on her own. After that little demonstration though she understood why sailors were afraid to aggravate such creatures when they sailed the frozen areas of the world.

Jason coldly watched as Asdei attempted to melt the ice with the fire and lightning coming from his other hand. "It's useless. I activated the spell card Cold Drift which remains in play and prevents you from activating cards from your hand during my turn."

Asdei- 3200/1500

Jason- 2400/2000

("Terrifying…it's terrifying how cold he is acting…") Alita wanted to say something to get his attention, to ask him if he was alright. However every time she tried it felt as if she was about to perform suicide. ("It's because of how he is acting. A Subzero Shark is a dangerous creature because they are known to kill first and think about their actions later…if I get his attention I may wind up dead.")

Asdei hissed in pain as the numbness started to creep up his arm. ("Damn him, I will kill him!")

"I activate the spell card Flow of the Ocean's Waters." The air around them both grew rather cold. "While this card remains in play we each draw two cards during our opponent's standby phases."

Asdei- 3200/1500

Jason- 2400/1800

Jason grabbed another of his cards without hesitation, his movement fluid now. "I activate the technique card Cold Poison Mist, which allows me to attack all monsters on your field except that all damage I deal during this turn is zero." The card froze and shattered while the air around the street grew murky as a white mist formed.

"What's the point…" Asdei bit back another scream as the numbing pain spread farther up his arm. "If your attacks deal zero damage then you're just wasting your time!"

"Am I really?" The icy predator fusion motioned to the Golems, all of which suddenly stopped moving and started icing over. "Any monster I attack and do not destroy gains a Cold Poison Counter, which prevents it from attacking or switching modes. Also, when it is targeted by any of the opponent's effects or attackers it is automatically destroyed."

Asdei could no longer move, his body completely frosted over. A few puffs of hot air came from his open mouth, and his enraged blood-red eyes locked onto the Grafter as if to say that he would be dead very soon.

Asdei- 3200/1500

Jason- 2400/1500

Jason held up the last card in his hand. "And now the last effect of my killing combination. I activate the technique card Cold Touch. This card lets me first select one card in play, after which other effects may activate during this card's selection moment. If that selected card still remains in play after the open moment, then that card is given a Cold Poison Counter and is sealed. If the card is no longer in play then I select a new target."

"A new target…" Alita realized why that card actually existed. ("Subzero Sharks are said to fire their poison through the water and even through air to freeze it solid and then shatter the prey with a swipe of their tails, after which they consume the icy pieces.")

Asdei could only continue his bloody glare as Jason calmly walked up to the first of the three Golems and punched it, the creature shattering instantly. Like some kind of chain reaction the other two Golems followed, leaving him alone on the field. (1200/1200)

Jason stopped right in front of the frozen magician and cocked back his fist. "Three successful destructions, let's see if we can go for four." Then he threw his whole body into the strike and sent Asdei hurtling into the ruined remains of the town gate, the icy exterior cracking around his body and freeing him instantly. "Nope, I guess you got to survive because of your ability as an Avatar…a shame."

Asdei- 3200/1100

Jason- 2400/1400

"That's right, foolish boy," Asdei slowly stumbled to his feet and sneered weakly. "I cannot be defeated that easily!"

"And now for the battle phase…" Jason faded away and appeared behind the magician, landing a crushing sidekick to his skull and sending him flying into nearest building.

Asdei- 2800/300

Jason- 2400/1400

"I suppose I'll end it there." Jason didn't sound happy or confident, all there was to his voice was the same icy cold that his cards had created in the surroundings.

Alita shivered and hugged her cloak closer around her body. ("Is it the Shark or is it Jason that is so calm? Wouldn't he be acting all high and mighty like he was before?")

Asdei stumbled out of the remains of the building, blood dripping down his still-sneering face. "I want you to die so badly right now. In fact, I'm willing to risk it all to make sure you are killed." He drew from his deck at the same time that Jason drew two cards. "That damn card effect of yours won't matter when I'm done! I activate this, the most dangerous and powerful technique that Kyris gives only his highest officers!" The card disappeared and his body suddenly exploded in a violent blast of bloody energy, wounds tearing open across his flesh. "This is the power of The Hell's Chosen, which lets me sacrifice all but one life point and convert it to my magic points!"

Asdei- 1/3099

Jason- 2400/1400

"And with it," He grabbed another card and it disappeared. "I can activate Restrictive Bonding!" Lightning exploded around Jason's body, forming a pulsing network of electric strands. "At the cost of a number of magic points equal to the target's attack I can prevent that target from doing anything…in other words you are completely sealed!"

Asdei- 1/1499

Jason- 2400/1400

Jason did not move at all, his face still as still as death.

"And that's not all either!" The blood pooling at his feet didn't matter anymore. Asdei was ready to end this with his killer spell. "I activate the spell card Dry Lightning Storm, which can activate if I'm in play! For every card in my graveyard you take 200 points of damage! I have twenty in my grave, so this is the end!" An aura of crackling electricity powered up around his ravaged body.

"Jason!" Alita stood up, her fear forgotten. If he was defeated by a member of Kyris the Hell's group then he would become infected with The Hell, and would turn into a madman like Asdei. "You can't lose here! Fight!"

"It's useless, I've sealed his movements!" Throwing back his head, the red-eyed magician drank in the delicious feeling that would come with the defeat of this insolent fool. "Legendary Grafter or not, he cannot oppose me if he cannot move!"

"You said," Jason's jaw slowly moved as he spoke, sounding as if he was forcing himself to talk. "That you would risk your life on defeating me…"

"That's right," Asdei sneered through the bloody wounds that covered him from head to toe. "I will put it all on the line to crush my enemies!"

"Then you and I share one thing in common." Suddenly the lightning around him fizzled away. "We both gamble our lives to win our battles."

"That cannot be possible…you…you…" Arms trembling, Asdei looked like his dwindling sanity was about to disappear. "How are you able to move?"

"From my hand I activated the technique card Hunter Scan, which negated your spell card in counter." Jason turned to completely face the magician. "The big difference between you and me though is that I actually have the strength to back up my words, while you…" The remaining card in his hand disappeared and the mist around them grew much deeper, completely stealing all sight of them.

A roaring scream echoed through the thick white cloud and a giant icy tail could be seen thrashing from the top of the mist before disappearing from sight. Jason emerged from the mist a minute later, his expression still deathly peaceful. "…are dead."

Asdei- 0/699

Jason- 2400/100

The mist parted slowly to reveal a large snake-shaped block of blood-red ice where Asdei had been, a few pieces of torn cloth trapped within the unclear crimson surface of the sculpture.

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Far away…

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Insane laughter filtered through the ruined throneroom of Kyris the Hell. "I never knew that Grafters were so artistic too!" The voice's laughter grew stronger and sounded even more mentally unstable. "I wonder if I can recruit somebody like that to my service."

"It would be a mere matter of defeating him with one of our other men. Asdei was a fool for trying to take on such an opponent." The other voice was far more cultured, and much older than the first. "Master Kyris, would you like me to send some of our men?"

"Are you crazy?" The shadowed form of Kyris waved his arms in the air excitedly. "That would be so absolutely boring! No, send that really strong guy we recruited a couple of days ago."

"Him?" The elder voice sounded a bit worried now. "But Master Kyris, that one is extremely violent and dangerous…can we trust him to get the job done?"

"Oh yeah," Kyris sounded perfectly content. "That guy was pretty wimpy until you beat him, but when you took him down he suddenly became really strong. I want to see what he can do, so definitely send him out!"

"As you wish, Master Kyris."

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Floors below…

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A scream of rage shook the dungeon and a series of craters appeared in a stone wall rather rapidly. "I'll kill you all! Send me home now!" A pair of blood-red eyes lit up in the darkness of the lightless area. "Do you hear me?" The sound of blood dripping could be heard.

To be continued…