Nero bled from his nose, eyes, and mouth. The blood that rained fed the thirsty ground. Pain forced stubborn grunts from his mouth, but he did not cry out. Jefferson condoned trying new methods and this was a new method. No one before him had tried to contain demonic fire with their celestial warrior. His hand radiated golden light and cupped a black spark. Alien flames pushed against his hands and streamed from his fingers. Cracks appeared across the protection coating his skin.
Before he began this method of training he thought about concepts and what made demons and angels. What made something holy and what made something demonic? It was only a hypothesis but what if the foundation of demonic and holy constructs was an ideology. When constructing the celestial warrior, he followed the instructions and pictured in his head a warrior that could protect him. To summon black flare, he needed only desire for destruction. Without a desire to destroy, corrupt, and burn black flare was weak. That was his hypothesis of the nature of these forces.
The golden warrior raged against the black and red flames. Terrible heat blasted between Nero's fingers threatening to burn them to ash. Only the golden light of the celestial warrior kept his hands from burning to ash. Still the concept was young and could only handle so much.
It was his second hypothesis that lead to this method of training. Protection was a weaker concept than destruction. The celestial warrior had its limits. At its barest bones the concept was meant to protect its creator. Later once the concept is stronger it can protect others, objects, or other concepts. What the celestial warrior could protect was explored, theorized, and tested by multiple sources. That was his second hypothesis. Concepts can be made stronger through argumentation. Was that true?
Nero thought Black Flare was a concept that believed that everything should be destroyed through fire. It was a powerful skill plundered from a demon who could have regained its godhood. By pitting it against his celestial warrior an argument was taking place. Black Flare believed that everything should be destroyed and theoretically Celestial Warrior believed that Nero should not be destroyed. Would this make either concept stronger?
Nero couldn't tell if what he was doing was stupidly dangerous or dangerously stupid. On one hand he could burn down a lot of the school but on the other hand he was getting some mad gains. After listening to Memnock's revelation, it made him think. How could he trust a tool to fight against something it had no contact with? It was like raising a hellhound to be a guard dog without ever training it. Instincts would help but that paled in comparison to training. The celestial warrior was a tool against demonic threats. It was a concept he built a foundation forged from his prayer and empowered with mana. The Taoist texts described it as a soul coating. A weapon for his own soul to wield and defend itself with.
He wasn't sure if a soul existed, if the Taoist writing were translated poorly, or if they were bent towards a western mindset. The celestial warrior was a part of him. When the golden hard light of the construct cracked Nero felt a crack in his brain. When Nero healed the golden light healed. Still the constant damage was becoming too much for his healing factor.
Black Flare was a demonic skill. When it sensed weakness, it attacked those spots. Nero withdrew protection to let the flames leak through his fingers but that had limits. He let the flames follow the path of least resistance, but they weren't satisfied. He felt them, they wanted to obliterate the celestial warrior and burn Nero to ash.
The alarm on his slate went off and he shut the mana supply for the black flames off. The celestial warrior sensed the weakness and smashed down on its dying adversary. The last of the flames were smother and the celestial warrior began rapidly healing. The superficial cracks closed but the celestial warrior would take time to heal.
His blood stopped falling and he felt the concept grow a little stronger while it healed. Nero looked at the time on his slate. Only an hour had passed but already he felt exhausted. He was connected to his celestial warrior.
Nero stood up and the world wouldn't stop shaking. He looked around and noticed it wasn't the world shaking it was him. It was no wonder the test warned about damage to the celestial warrior. Nero spat out a wad of bloody flam before resting against the tree behind him.
Finally, he decided it was stupidly dangerous. Pitting two arch enemies against each other for training was asking for trouble. If he was a normal student, he'd be dead. Mystical Regeneration was truly an overpowered skill.
It was still a little while before he needed to meet Kevin and prepare for the demon summoning. The campus general store was open at all hours. It was basically a mall. He found his way to Taoist supply and looked around.
Different prayer beads lined the shelves. One particular set was made with white mantra crystal shavings in every bead. They were also covered with much more Sanskrit than the rest of the beads. The price of a single set was over 100,000usd.
"Do you need something?" An accented voice asked from behind him. Nero turned around to see an Asian teen a few years older than him. Her celestial warrior stood behind her strong tall with heavy fists.
She held her wand out to the side lazily in her hand. Golden light surrounded the girl. Nero wondered if he could turn the wand from her hand before the warrior defended her. If he led with a black flare beam would the celestial warrior get distracted by it? Could he use that distraction to snap the wand and deal a killing blow?
"Are you done plotting my death?" The girl asked. Nero blinked and felt embarrassed.
"I'm sorry it's an old habit. Do you trade in raw materials?" Nero asked. "Is this the best set of prayer beads you have?"
"No, we don't. Your spirit is pathetically weak. At your age you should have begun manifesting its skeleton. Worse it's still attached to you. There are places where it was damaged and still healing and it could be decades before it fully recovers." She let out a sigh. "Those prayer beads won't help it. You need these."
She placed a set of shell carved prayer beads and ones made from bone. "What possessed you to challenge a demon of fire with such a weak warrior?" She asked.
"My names Nero, I thought it would make my warrior stronger." He grumbled.
"Wang Li, and you did the equivalent of sending an infant to war thinking it will help it grow up. The damage should be permanent. Its healing." She tapped her perky lips and stared at him. "It must be your warrior's ability. Still buy these."
"Well with that kind of argument how can I refuse. How much?" Nero asked.
"2000usd for both. If you don't have the money, we give loans." A predatory smile appeared on the woman's face. "What raw materials do you have for collateral?" Wang Li asked.
Nero tapped his slate and payed her the 2000 and snatched the beads off the table. After slipping them on his wrists, he noticed the effect. The speed of his celestial warrior's recovery improved greatly.
"You should study more. Any novice should have known not to strain their warrior before they're fully formed." Wang Li said.
"Maybe, but I learned the art yesterday. And I'm in a hurry to bring out its true form. Do you have any tips?" Nero asked.
"Don't use any prayers but your own. The source of a guardian's prayers is who the guardian will protect. Higher ideals come later." Wang Li said.
"What if I had a madra crystal?" Nero asked.
"Did you sell a few of your organs for it?" Wang Li asked.
She sighed and took on a pensive look. "You're still in the foundation stage so a few grams should hasten your progress. Too much crystal can damage your body worse than meth. Black madra crystals are harsher on the body but yield greater results. A few milligrams are worse on the body than a decade on meth." Nero had a baseball sized chunk of black madra in his messenger bag.
He covered the bag with Greek runes to hold the crystal's aura back. If not for that fact he would probably have had to kill a few students by now.
His path was obvious. Nero was going to abuse his mystical regeneration to its fullest and snort a few lines of black mantra. Golden light surrounded his body from his guardians returning strength.
"Thank you for your time, you've been a big help." Nero said.
"I know what you're going to do. I've seen what happens. Don't, it isn't worth it. There is a price to pay for increasing a guardian's power beyond its natural limits." Nero froze for a second and thought about. The tension left him after a simple comparison between his body and a normal human. He survived a car bombing with no damage, and he was stronger now than he was.
"I'll be fine. I'm stronger than anyone you've ever met." Nero said.
"Should I write that on your tomb stone?" Wang Li said.
Nero stuck his tongue out at her and retreated from the store. The second he left the store he decided to invest a lot of time in the library potion and alchemy section. Just because he had a strong body didn't mean there wouldn't be adverse effects. He was many things, but full hardy wasn't one of them. Snapping the pistons on a tank's engine might kill just as quickly as a car.
Big surprise the meeting place was the summoning hall. Unlike the other buildings this one was squat, with heavy concrete and steel walls, and plastered with runes and talismans. Yet more arts he needed to learn. His minor knowledge of Greek runes was lacking, and he knew next to nothing about talismans. From the outside the smell of disinfectant was powerful. Black smog flowed out of a single massive vent atop the building. If he ever wanted to kill everyone inside, he'd simply clog the vent.
After dialing his way in the door shut behind him and pressurized before letting him through the next set of doors. Inside the hallway was well lit. It could have been mistaken for the hallway in a hospital or research lab. Only runes covered every wall and door.
Of the few Greek runes he recognized, their functions alluded him. Obviously, they kept demons from escaping.
He found the room assigned to them and stepped inside.
Within the room was a macabre black church. Three black iron cages hung from chains in the center. Spikes stained with old blood lined the inside of the cage and a set of cattle prods leaned against a nearby desk. A black book hovered on an alter contained with golden chains. The air reeked of sex and blood. Beds lined the alter covered in rips, stains, and shredded sheets.
Nero decided the cleanest place was the wall and stood on it to meditate. Not ten minutes after reaching his meditative state the door was flung open. A naked girl his age walked in carrying two back packs and a black robe with Jefferson stitched on the sleeve.
He stared at her skin paler than freshly fallen snow, lips the color of fresh blood, and her slightly glowing blue eyes. Two tiny fangs peeked from her lips when she stared at him. Slowly, she placed the bags on the ground and the robe atop them instead of on the filthy bed and scaled the wall. She placed one white hand against it then another in moments she was up the wall and beside him. Her bare rear wiggled, and she threw her weight against him.
Slowly, his eyes opened. "Kevin sent me."
"Are you supposed to be a bribe?" Nero asked.
"That depends, am I a tempting bribe?" For the first time since being born in this world, he felt himself blush.
"Sure whatever." Nero muttered.
"Why aren't you naked?" She asked.
"My name's Nero."
"Annette Lois Garcia, I'm a vampire." He stared at the fangs poking out from between her lips and the blood red lips.
"I knew that already." Nero said.
"How, did Kevin tell you?" Annette asked.
"Why are you naked?" He asked.
"For the ritual. Didn't you read the email on your slate?" Nero pulled his slate from his messenger bag and found the email.
'Hey guys we are summoning Lilithids today, so no clothes or you'll be kicked out of the ritual.'
Nero sighed and tossed his clothes off. "The other bag and the robe is yours. Welcome to the Demon Summoning club." She turned her head to the side. "You really are new here huh." Annette said.
"Why do you say that?"
"You haven't had your dick alchemically changed into a horse's sheath yet." Annette said.
"Is that common?" Nero asked.
"Yes, still not bad." Annettel said. Girls his age shouldn't be sexually active. It made him feel concerned.
"Are you really my age?" Nero asked.
"I might be a few months older." That didn't answer anything, and she was a vampire so did she age.
"Were you turned recently?" Nero cringed internally.
"Nope I'm a pure." Annette said.
"What does that mean?"
"When two vampires really tolerate each other, the male puts his penis in the female's vagina and two years later I was born." Nero blinked once then twice.
"I need to read up in vampire physiology." Nero muttered. She bumped into him again.
"Your pretty solid. Can I have a sip of your blood?" He opened his mouth to either warn her or reject her. "It won't hurt much, and I'll only take a little. Consider it bonding over our new friendship."
"When are the others going to get here?" Nero muttered. She continued to plead at him with wide puppy dog eyes. He was certain her eyes were a little larger than humanly possible.
"We only just met isn't that a little personal?" Nero asked.
"You've already seen me naked and mom always said to get every pleasure you can out of your mortal friends. They are never around long enough and turning them leads to misery." Annette said. Nero checked the time on his slate under Annette's glare.
"My skin is nearly impenetrable." Nero declared.
"That won't be a problem." Annette chirped.
"My blood is poisonous." Nero added.
"With my recovery factor and undead nature, it won't be a problem." Annette gushed.
"Don't you think it's a little too intimate?" Nero asked.
"Nero, I'm the girl. That means I get to decide how fast we're going." Annette licked some of the dry blood left on his face and her pupils dialated.
"Shit!" Her mouth opened wide and her tongue stretched to an inhuman length. She ducked into a predatory position and pounced.
With a cry of hunger, she bit down on his neck. Annette's arms wrapped around him with crushing force. Fangs more like hypodermic needles than teeth punched down and incised. Hooked claws scraped his skin with all the grace of a fish scaler. Her legs tied around him and squeezed him with constricting force. A clawing, biting, and hungry female had locked on to him with all the control of bull in a china shop.
"Stop it." Nero said. She continued to struggle against him. Annette's mouth clamped over his throat like a Pitbull's to a burglar.
Her hips slammed into his and she groaned. A warm wetness bathed his crotch while she slammed him with her own. Annette's grip tightened around him growing stronger. He felt a stirring in his own loins, and she wasted no time claiming it.
She took him into her warm wet tightness. The girl opened her mouth and shrieked at him biting, clawing, and smashing her hips against hers.
"Stop it, no!" Nero said once more. The pleasure was sickly sweet as the rhythm of their pounding hips gently pulled his higher brain functions from his grasp.
"I said no!" Nero shouted and threw her off of him. Clawed talons quickly gripped the concrete floor. She opened her mouth and looked less than human. A long tongue stuck out of her mouth and she lowered it to her own opening.
"Such strength, blood I want it." She crawled on all fours digging into the concrete with her clawed fingertips.
"This isn't you, cut it out!" The door opened and some of the club members filed in naked. Annette turned to them and hissed.
"Mine." She growled before backing up to him. At this point, he realized that all higher brain functions had left her.
"Dude, what did you do to her? She's normally so chill." One of the club members asked.
"Hey, I'm Nero I just started yesterday and have no experience with vampires." Nero yelled.
"Dave don't get too close she's in guard mode. I've read about this. We might not be able to do the ritual tonight." Another club member said.
"Nero's your name, right?" Dave asked. He nodded. "In her bag are some blood packs. Give her one and she should come out of it." Nero did as he was told and found a cold bag of blood and handed it to Annette. The vampire stared at the bag in her hand quizzically before Nero pulled out a bendy straw and slammed it into the bag. Light appeared in Annette's eyes and she began to drink from the pouch.
He watched her go from feral to blissfully sucking on a bendy straw in seconds. Once the bag was empty, she opened her mouth and let out an unladylike burb. She quickly covered her mouth and looked around in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry I caused you trouble Nero. I'll understand if you no longer want to be friends." Annette said. She stared at the floor.
Nero sighed. "Are you ok?" She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I hit you pretty hard to get you off. A normal human would be broken."
She crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks out. "I'm a pure vampire a little tap won't do me any real harm." He'd tried to use only enough strength to get her off of him. Still it was some impressive durability.
Nero turned his head and couldn't help but stare. Annette hadn't lied. Every guy had a horse sheeth instead of the normal human equipment. A few were a little taller than normal. They each had washboard abs and extremely built physiques. Compared to the partially golem liches on campus they weren't that weird. That reminded him, golem craft was another subject he'd need to explore.
"See all she needed was a little sippie sippie. Now the sacrifices won't have been prepared for nothing." Dave said.
"You did it Dave. You're a god damn genius." One of the guys said.
"Nero its good to see you are unharmed. Please position yourself with the group while I go over tonight's ritual." A few of the members groaned but no one protested much.
"I'd like to introduce our newest member Nero. He was handpicked by Dr. Memnock himself and is the reason we have three black madra crystals to play with. Before anyone asks Dr. Memnock is busy tonight and won't make an appearance. Since we have a new member and he hasn't learned to check his email." Kevin made a point to stare at Nero's pile of clothes in a corner. A few club members snickered. "I'll illuminate everyone on the nature of this ritual." The entire club groaned.
"The goal of tonight's ritual is to summon a single Lilithid with the least amount of materials. Some of the more expensive materials have been substituted to determine a more resource efficient method of summoning. By acquiring the black madra crystals for us you've saved the club well over 300,000usd. Do you have any question?" Kevin asked.
"What can Lilithids do for us?" His words were greeted by snorts of derision.
"Hey calm down. He's here to learn." Kevin coughed once before focusing. "Demon summoning is a conglomeration of various studies. It is recommended that you take courses in necrotic arts, flesh puppetry, and soul binding to name a few. To that end the Lilithids are a valuable demon. They're old but almost forgotten. Each feed from the sour teats of Lilith but none hold a candle to her power. That makes them flexible but manageable. Can you guess what demons are used for in the arts of golem craft, necromancy, and flesh puppetry?" He was getting a picture though it was fuzzy. "Yeah, that's right. Demons are the brain boxes. Lilithids can rig a lot of flesh." Kevin said.
"And the goal of tonight is to run a series of experiments to summon Lilithids cheaply." Nero said.
Kevin pointed his finger at Nero. "You got it. See he's bright, Dr. Memnock wouldn't make a mistake."
He wasn't fooled by Kevin's finger pointing at the professor. Nero knew that Memnock had nothing to do with this initially. Kevin wanted the crystals and was willing to send a greenhorn into the scrap yard. Even getting his dick wet barely put him in a good enough mood to spare Kevin. Outright beating Kevin to death didn't seem too viable. He might have to do the same with the rest of the crowd. Then there was Annette.
The vampire shoved her cool body against his. Naked flesh against naked flesh awoke some feelings he thought he'd left behind. He was right to throw her off. It was only after searching his feelings that he thought giving their relationship a chance wasn't a bad idea. He reached for her only for the young woman to dance out of reach. Her fangs poked out from between her lips in a predatory smile.
Three women were dragged in on iron chains naked as the assembly. Nero made to step forward only for a hand to grasp his own.
"Please, I want to go home!" One of the women cried. A hard yank of the chain took the blonde off her feet. She scraped her knees against the hard rune covered floor. Blood began to drip out of the torn skin. The cold hand in his kept him from moving.
Why didn't he act when nothing could stop him? This vampire couldn't do a thing to stop him. The concrete below his feet might as well have been paper and the flesh sacs around him would burst. His rage would only cool when their blood and broken bodies lay at his feet. That would be his cheap summoning resource. But no the meat sacs weren't burst, and the blonde continued to scream and cry all the way to the cage.
"Explain, why shouldn't I kill my way to free the sacrifices?" Nero asked in a harsh whisper.
"This was their choice. We don't need to coerce or fool innocents into the iron cages. They wanted to get high and destroy themselves. Everything was explained before they signed the contracts. After all their going to die with a high that few humans ever reach." Annette said.
"I don't understand. They have their whole lives ahead of them." Nero said.
"Its like what your blood did to me. I lost myself to the beast for time. You made me hungrier, hornier, and more desperate than I've ever been. It was worse than a turned fresh out of their grave." Annette said quietly. "To some that primal feeling becomes addictive. They are forever left chasing that original high."
"Will you be ok?" Nero asked.
"I'm a pure." She let out a sigh. "It's difficult to stray too far away from you. I've never wanted someone's blood like I want yours."
A projector turned on. Documents and a driver's license were displayed. It was irrefutable. Various forms told a tale of moments where she could have gotten off this path. This was her choice and she was going to pay for it. Was that wrong? Should he guard people from their own choices?
This was the ugly face of freedom. People could destroy their bodies and sell themselves to be used. In this world of Jefferson freedom was balanced with consequences. No limits, laws, or taboos so long as profit, prestige, and progress were furthered.
A man catcher was latched around her neck. The projector slide changed to show the first concoction. Nero waited while the club members held their breaths. The concoction was injected into the woman before she was placed in the cage.
Black veins covered her body and she clawed at her skin. Long tares appeared across her body before the concoction traveled through her blood stream. The woman's eyes turned black and she wailed for the last time. Lights dimmed while runes lit up the cage.
A team closest to the cage began to chant. Nero felt demonic mana creep over his shoulder and gather in towards the cage. He pulled Annette closer and slowly flowed through his mantras. Something was coming and Nero could sense its power.
"The cage will hold." Annette said.
The runes glowed a soft orange like cooling embers. In the cage the blonde woman opened her mouth revealing blackening teeth. They cracked and fell through the cage. Black tears fell down the blonde woman's face. Every tear gripped at his heart as her face withered. Hair fell off of her head in clumps. Arms and legs atrophied before his eyes becoming paper thin. This was the price of using the black madra crystals. Even milligrams were like a decade of meth all at once.
"I can't heal from that." Nero muttered.
"Don't shed a tear or give her life in your head. She had every opportunity to save herself. At least in this way her life has some value. Her children are better off now." Annette said.
"Who was she?" Nero asked.
"All test subjects are acquired out of state. The collection teams rarely give us their biography. I don't know who she is, but I know what she wasn't sober, married, or responsible. None who reach us are worth the blood in their veins." Annette said.
"What will become of her?" Nero asked.
"The demonic spirit will be bound to her nervous system, the brain and spine will be removed, and she'll be preserved until the club sells her. What profit we make will be used to restock resources, pay the club stipend, and pay the reservation on this room.