AN: Yo, sorry for the wait. A few readers commented on how they didn't feel like Fleur was improving much, as well as that Jin didn't seem so tough, so I tried to show exactly what the two are actually capable of in the scale of the HP Universe. Some more progress on the Patronus, some political changes, and the next ritual.
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To everyone who voted on the Charms, thanks! I'll keep tallying up votes until I reach the point where Jin gets the new tomes, many of you have made wonderful arguments and shared ideas for which charm should be chosen.
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Enjoy the chap and let me know what you think.
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Disclaimer: I own no source material.
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5.10: Sirius Changes and the Second Ritual.
Claws glinting in the dim glow of ghostly blue flames tore through flesh and bone as an Acromantula screeched in agony.
Piercing black limbs came from above, only to meet a flare of blue fire and back off from the heat.
Jin twisted his heel and swung his claws with a snarl as they tore limbs from the spider's body in a flash.
A blob of venom came flying from the side. His eyes zeroed in on the oncoming projectile, and he slammed a palm against the ground as a wall of earth grew directly upwards to block the hit.
One palm lit up in seconds as he swiped his off hand claws through the earthen wall and severed its base, only for the prepared hand to slam into it with a combination of hardening and banishing.
The slab of hardened earth flew forward and smashed a trio of oncoming Acromantula like the club of a giant.
His ears twitched at the near silent tang of a taught string, and he backflipped out of the way of salivating fangs descending from above.
A growl escaped his lungs as he held a palm forward and cast a spell in the blink of an eye, the new bones in his hands channeling mana in a quarter of the time it took before as a spinning drill of blue fire left his hands to slam into the Acromantula's face. The burning gouging charm piercing its hide as the charm did its work to dig through its innards.
A trio of spiders came at him from different directions, and he had seconds to act as he raised a new earth wall to one side, banished the axe on his waist to a second, and met a third in close combat as his claws tore through its hide with little resistance.
A flailing claw slashed open a gash on his back, and Jin growled louder as the flames on his clothes flash fried the limb.
He hissed through clenched teeth as the pain hit, but had no time to worry about it as more foes were on him. An open palm summoned back his axe, and he banished it toward another foe as he spun back into the fray, always keeping at least one route open to retreat to so he didn't get boxed in.
His palms lit up with a blue light as water was created in a mist all around him, only for the spells to change as he cast the freezing charm and banishing charm in unison, sending a wave of frozen ice shards into the charging spiders.
Most shattered on impact, but many found their vulnerable eyes and open mouths.
Jin fell to a knee and panted as he took stock of the field around him. 'The third layer is nothing like the second. You kill one back there, you might get five at once at the worst. I killed one here and summoned twenty. This is ridiculous.' His eyes caught a twitch of movement and focused on a spider rapidly climbing a tree to sound the alarm. 'Shit.'
His palm lit up in a bare second as he launched his spell at long range, and just before the spider hit the web above, it slammed into the tree by its side and made the creature screech at the brightly blue-colored bark.
In the seconds it was distracted, he took off in a sprint and launched a combination of the seize and pull charm with the banishing charm to create a harpoon-styled rope launcher to slam into the tree and reel him in at high speeds.
The spider had only just turned its head to look when it caught sight of Jin coming at it like a rocket with his claws posed, climbing up the bark like a flat surface, before he slammed into it and knocked it off the tree.
Spider and man thrashed in the air, but Jin's claws found purchase and speared through its underbelly, where he cast a drought charm and sucked every last drop of moisture out of the creature. It shriveled like a mummy before it even hit the ground.
A softening charm on the landing zone gave him a nice cushion to land on without injury as he shook off the corpse and distastefully eyed what was left of his jacket. 'I need better materials.'
No clothes meant no flames, and no flames meant his attacks lacked that final oomph to kill his enemies. The fire on his clothes did nothing to defend him, but it sure as hell made any attacker think twice when he could ramp up the heat on any part of the flames in seconds.
He looked around the quiet field and idly cast a mending charm as his torn jacket repaired itself. 'This is my limit right now.' He flexed his hands and watched as the blood and grime slid off, the filth being repelled by the qualities of his bones.
A sigh left his lips as he cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, wincing at the torn gashes on his back and a bleeding wound on his leg. 'The claws gave me a weapon I was desperately needing, not to mention the increased spell casting speed, but my body can't keep up with it. This is the eighth day in a row I'm walking away with injuries.'
Ever since the first ritual two weeks earlier, he had been pushing the limits of his combat potential and found that the second layer of the spider nest held no challenge for him any longer. But while he had the blade that could handle the third layer, his body was falling behind. 'That settles it, the second ritual is going to be health regen.'
With nothing around to distract him, he closed his eyes and focused inward to slowly cast the mending charm on his wounds. The wounds weren't deep, but the charm was never meant for healing purposes, and he had to clench his teeth as the flesh slowly nit back together. 'I can't keep doing this; the mending charm is leaving too much scar tissue and irregularities inside my body. Why the fuck is finding a real healing charm so hard?' He clicked his tongue at the still bleeding skin and tapped on his watch to bring out a Blood Replenishing potion.
"Bron."
His most questionably sane elf appeared in a pop with a salute. "Yes boss?"
Jin flicked his chin to the side. "Gather the fangs would you? I need to get back and stitch myself up."
Bron excitedly looked at the corpses and pulled out a meat cleaver from….wherever he kept his stuff. "Want me to help boss?"
Jin walked past him without looking back. "Not a chance buddy. One lightning bolt stitch job was enough for me."
"Aw, but I improved!"
"Do I want to ask what you practiced with?"
"Well, there was…."
"It was a rhetorical question man, just get the fangs please."
"Aye, aye boss!"
Bron dove into his work with a smile that would make a mad scientist proud as Jin walked off shaking his head. 'If he didn't really love working for me, I would be more worried about that one.'
He idly summoned back his axe, only for the wooden shaft alone to fly into his palm. His brow twitched at the sight as he tossed it behind him. 'That makes eight. Come on Gorluff, where is that goblin smith.' It wasn't that the centaurs made bad weapons, but combining the weapon with charm work put the durability to the test.
His feet carried him forward in the dark and near silent spider's nest. The eerie and unnatural atmosphere doing nothing to his mind after months spent in the terrain. His training had long since made his steps silent whenever he was in the field, and his form shimmered from the dim flames that clung to his clothes. Prolonged exposure to using them making it natural to keep the flames active at a low setting to conserve mana, always ready and primed to act at a moment's thought.
As he walked, his hands would flash as he passed ancient trees and cast severing charms at their base, where they stayed upright thanks to the strength of the web above. 'I'll have to mark this path off later.'
At the edge of the nest, he spotted a lone figure collapsed on a raised bench and chuckled. "Have fun out there Sparkles?"
Fleur flipped him off without bothering to look up. "Non, how you find this activity fun is beyond me."
Jin laughed and idly carved a large X mark into the tree at the edge of the nest. "Don't be like that, I thought you found it therapeutic." He walked over to her side and plopped down on the ground to lean against the bench.
She snorted and looked up at the blue sky. "A bit. But they are a nightmare to take down without my fire. It's my strongest weapon."
He hummed at that and rested his head back against her stomach as her arm wrapped around his neck like two puzzle pieces coming together. "I can understand that. It was hard to adjust knowing I couldn't use the most suitable charms. Can't tell you how many times I just wanted to spam exploding charms. Are the blue flames not working for you?"
"They work just fine, but I don't like them. My mana sings to call on my inner fire. It's uncomfortable to suppress my instinct."
"Yeah, suppressing them feels unnatural, but I find it important to know what my mind wants, and what my instincts want, and choose which I prefer. My instincts just want to rip and tear and make them suffer for my own amusement."
"And mine hate being suppressed. My flame wants to shine, soar, be free, and burn what is hostile to me to ash."
Jin turned his head to look toward her face, only to be blocked by her bust. "I thought yours wanted to suck me dry?"
She chuckled and started running her hands through his hair. "That too. Different aspects to my spirit I guess. Do you not feel them outside of combat?"
Jin hummed and enjoyed the way her nails ran over his scalp. "Sometimes. I get possessive and defensive of what I consider mine. It gets hard to resist when I feel challenged. And I'm oddly attracted to taking naps in warm spots under the sun."
A giggle escaped her lips. "Exactly. I don't think you're as in tune with your spirit as I am with mine, so just imagine those instincts magnified."
He winced. "Oof, that must be rough."
"Very, but either way, the nest is a wonderful training ground for the skills I earned rather than was given by my bloodline."
"True. You will be all the more deadly when you combine them together."
"Exactly, and I'm not the only one."
"Hm?"
Fleur lifted her head to raise a brow at him. "Jin, you are fighting giant XXXXX-rated magical creatures. It can take up to half a dozen wizards to take a single one down, and you fight dozens at a time. They resist the brunt of your charms and you can't use their natural weakness's to fire or light. I fear for whatever tries to harm you without that resistance. A magicals best weapon is the stunning charm, as in most cases, even a veteran wizard will go down with a single clean hit."
Jin blinked. "I guess I've been fighting the spiders too much. Their magic resistance kept forcing me to combine charms so my mind doesn't register a simple tickling charm as impressive."
"Don't forget you are fighting foes in the dark, silently and barely seen if you bothered to disillusion yourself."
"Theres no point, their web system makes being invisible pointless."
She poked a well-manicured finger at his cheek. "The point is that you're too used to fighting one type of enemy and have forgotten how much progress you have truly been making. If I didn't know I could bring you to heel with a word, even I would fear your hybrid form. It's very intimidating."
"Oh? You think I'm so easily cowed do you?"
"You really want to test that?"
"I don't know, I like playing with fire."
He smirked and cast a tickling charm through his contact with her stomach, and she twitched badly as she laughed and quickly countered it. "Jin! Don't make me laugh right now; I'm sore." She curled her body around his head while idly expanding the shape of her bench with a tap of her wand.
A smile was in her eyes as she stared at him, and he couldn't resist the desire to kiss her. "I worry about you being out there alone you know?"
She chuckled and pressed his head into her chest. "Welcome to my world. I had to focus on my studies for months while knowing you were out here fighting."
He took in her scent with a peaceful expression. "How did you deal with it?"
She hummed and resumed playing with his hair. "I had faith. It's not easy, and the worry is always there. But I believe you will return to me, I believe in you Jin, and you never let me down so far. A Veela is loyal to a fault, remember?"
His amber eyes opened, and he stared into her blue ones as a ray of sunlight broke through the canopy to shine down on them. "I do. I'll come back to you Sparkles, always."
A melancholic air passed between them before Fleur broke the mood and pushed him away. "Enough sappy stuff. Carry me home will you? My legs are killing me."
Jin scoffed from the ground and pushed himself back up. "Those bastards. That's my job!"
She rolled her eyes in amusement and eyed his body language with a sigh as he favored one leg. "I'm not sure I enjoy fighting for the sake of fighting. And you're injured again, aren't you?"
He ignored her second question and raised a brow in silent question of the first.
She blew a loose strand of hair out of her face and got up on her own shaky legs while throwing one of his arms around her shoulders. "I loved the adventure of the night I came to retrieve you. The thrill of the hunt, not knowing what was around every corner, the danger, it was all exciting. But just fighting isn't the same. And stop it with the macho act, will you? You need to stop using the mending charm in place of healing."
He waved a hand lazily and winced as she pulled on the skin of his back. "Maybe later, I'm just getting used to stuff. So you prefer having a goal? Or is it searching for something?"
"The ladder I think. Its part of why I always wanted to be a curse breaker. I was always fascinated with stories of magicals and goblins delving into ancient tombs for buried treasure. The thrill of overcoming challenges with your life on the line and coming out on top."
Jin smiled wryly. "I got my own little Lara Croft in the making here."
"Who?"
"Just a story from a different world. I'll tell you about her later."
"You better."
He chuckled and kissed the side of her head. "I'll tell you tonight. But it's important to keep training in combat. You told me you wanted to push your racial abilities, and that won't happen in a safe environment. Not to mention your other skills."
"I know, I know, that's why I'm still out here every weekend with you."
"How far did you get today?"
"Ugh, just barely reached the second layer. It's so frustrating not carving a path of flames."
"It would probably be more frustrating being chased by hundreds of them, so please keep the bright fire, light, and explosions to a minimum."
"Yes maman, should I brush my teeth in circles as well?"
"I don't think I can pull off that natural sex appeal your mother has. She's got that oomph in her every step."
She playfully slapped his chest with a laugh. "You're terrible. Stop being attracted to my mother."
"You brought it up first, and telling me that is like telling a starving man not to eat a five star meal. She could make a gay guy straight with less than ten words."
"I'll admit she has done that a few times for fun, but my point still stands. I'm the only Veela you can fantasize about."
She pulled him into a kiss as he laughed. "But you are. I look at her and imagine what you would look like in twenty years."
"I knew I kept you for a reason."
"Is that the only one?"
The two shared a laugh as they walked and enjoyed the peaceful moment of close contact with the sounds of the forest around them. "Did you remember to mark the path you took?"
Fleur hummed in agreement from where she was supporting his weight. "Oui, I cut the trees like you asked as well. Not that it made a difference, the web is holding them up."
"One or two won't change anything. There are thousands of trees connected to the web."
"Then why do it?"
A wild smirk grew on his face as he walked. "Because my dear Sparkles, we're setting the stage for the grand finale."
She snorted and pinched his side as he yelped. "Don't be so dramatic. Come on, I'll stich you up when we get back."
"As long as it's not another lightning bolt." Fleur tripped as she laughed at the memory of Bron's stitch work.
Meanwhile, deep in the spider's nest, the cut trees began to tilt ever so slightly.
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Jin's amber eyes fixated on the small object on his wooden table.
A locket no bigger than his palm in black and green coloring with a stylized 'S' sat innocently on an iron plate no more than a foot away from where he was seated.
Fleur worriedly stood a dozen feet away. "Are you sure about this?"
He waved a hand without looking back. "I got this sparkles. Gol, you ready?"
His trusty head house elf nodded from where he stood on the table. "Certainly, sir." He raised a small vial of basilisk venom with a thumbs up, and Jin took a deep breath to steady himself.
Three weeks had passed since the banquet, and in that time, Fleur had contacted her father and quickly got the green light from the man to proceed. Harry was contacted, he contacted Sirius, and Sirius was put through on a call with her father. From there, the two hashed out a deal for him to turn himself into their custody and be port-keyed to France, but before Sirius left, he had Kreacher deliver the locket as half the payment upfront. He left the message that as long as he was freed, he would uphold the rest of the agreement.
A subtle way of threatening Jin that he would get nothing else if it was all a trap.
Kreacher was assured the item would be destroyed and that his previous master's final wish was fulfilled. The old house elf accepted it when he was shown the destroyed diadem as proof.
Thankfully, the recent newspapers had blown up with Sirius Black being given amnesty by the French for conducting a trial under Veritaserum. The British were up in arms about it, but Fleur had spoken the truth about her father, as he publicly went out to give a speech that he would not stand for an innocent man being given an unjust ruling. He demanded the trial records from the British Ministry, and when nothing was given, the public's opinion began to sway.
At the current moment, the British ministry was under fire as their own citizens were demanding proof of a trial they couldn't give. How long they could last before Minister Fudge inevitably dumped the blame on someone else was irrelevant to Jin.
He upheld his side of the deal, and now he just had to wait on Sirius to be a free man in Britain for the rest of what he was owed.
But none of that mattered at the moment as he focused on the locket before him. 'I failed before because I pressured the soul shard up against the wall of the diadem. What if I attacked it from both sides?'
His palms came to both sides of the locket, and each lit up with a ball of silver light as he dual cast the Patronus charm. Further, he entered his hybrid mode to use his enhanced eyesight to focus on the locket.
A quick glance at Gol and a nod from the elf was all he needed before he pushed his palms forward and enveloped the locket from both sides.
Immediately, a change came over it as it began to glow in a dark light and push back against the light. An inhuman screech resounded through the cabin, and Jin felt his head ring as a mental compulsion hit him. Thankfully, heavy exposure to Fleur's allure made him used to undirected minor compulsions. The spirit of his tiger roared in insult to its pride as it tore apart the mental assault. Unless someone with advanced mental magic directly assaulted his mind through his eyes, he had nothing to fear.
Still, it wasn't comfortable. He growled and pumped more mana into his spell, and the locket began to tremble and flicker with light. The resistance increased a notch, and he began to sweat as he channeled even more mana.
The battle lasted minutes before a change happened when the surface of the locket began to crack under the strain.
'Shit! Come on, just a bit longer!'
The cracks began to spread, and he cursed. He couldn't afford to let the soul shard escape like Voldemort's shade at the end of Harry's first year. "Gol!"
The waiting house elf wasted no time and splashed the venom forward just as Jin moved his hands away.
The liquid splashed on the locket, and the unearthly wail reached a new high as the locket bled a black liquid and half melted as the soul shard and corrupted magic inside the locket were eroded.
"Damn it!" Jin smashed his fist on the table in annoyance as he stared at the destroyed locket. "I was so fucking close!"
A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and his head snapped to the side where calm blue eyes looked back at him. "Change back Jin."
A growl grew deep in his throat, but the longer he stared into her eyes, the more he felt his anger cool.
His eyes closed as he breathed out and turned back to his human form. "Sorry about that."
She stepped forward and wrapped around him from behind. "Don't be. I understand how overwhelming instincts can feel."
Her soothing tone was like a balm to his mind, and he released a chuckle. "Yeah, I try not to let things anger me. My tiger spirit doesn't take anger well."
"You'll have to work on that."
"I know."
She hummed and looked at the locket. "What went wrong? From where I was watching, it seemed you were winning."
Jin sighed and leaned back against her. "I took too long. The soul shard resists my efforts to purify the object of it's corruption, and while it resists, the material of the object takes the brunt of the damage."
"I thought you said it was unbreakable?"
"From physical and magical damage, but not spiritual damage. I believe the Patronus charm has a soul component to it, which is why it's the only charm I know of without a formula behind it. It uses the concept of positive emotion and mana to fight corrupted souls like Dementors and soul shards."
"So whats the issue?"
"The strength of the object for one, and the strength of my spell for another. I need to overwhelm and purify the soul shard without harming the enchantment on the object, and I need a way to improve the strength of my charm."
"Have you tried making a corporal Patronus?"
Jin winced. "I have. I can't tell what my issue is, I'm using my happiest memories." Fleur smiled and looked down at him with a soulful look that set his heart racing.
"The Patronus is a difficult charm for a reason. Not even I have made it happen."
He raised a playful brow at her. "Not even you? This is impossible then."
She snorted and stuck her tongue out at him. "We can brainstorm the issue, I'm sure you're just overlooking something."
Jin's eyes fell back on the half-destroyed locket. "I can only hope so. I want at least one of these ancient artifacts to be usable."
An idle mending charm returned it to its previous shape, but the fabled Slytherin locket had forever lost its magic.
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The following week, the British Ministry finally gave in as Minister Fudge held a press conference, and just like Jin guessed, the man blamed Barty Crouch for throwing Sirius Black in prison without a trial.
Crouch had seemingly locked himself away in his manor, where he hadn't been seen since in weeks, but he was formally stripped of his titles and government powers with or without him present.
Sirius had been admitted to a French hospital and was set to be released in a few days, where he would be returning to Britain to formally adopt his legal godson. Harry had taken the advice on lordship seriously and went to Gringotts to claim his title, and with it, the will of his parents that had been seemingly sealed away without being read.
The will led credence to Sirius's innocence as James Potter had written how Sirius was the distraction while Wormtail was the true secret keeper. A copy of the will was freely given by Harry to the press, and waves were made as the public learned the truth. The British Ministry was forced to remove Wormtail's honors and repay Sirius in monetary funds for the years of imprisonment. It was even worse when he revealed he was the legal head of house Black. Fudge damn near fainted, and Sirius's request of adoption for Harry was pushed through rapidly; even as the young man was magically a legal adult, he still became the adopted son of Sirius Orion Black in the eyes of the law, and was the heir apparent to House Black.
All of that was explained in a letter from Sirius, along with the man's promise to deliver the second object the day he arrived in London. The search for charms, however, would require Jin to accompany him as the man was adamant about not wanting to step into that library without backup.
Jin chuckled at that line. 'What the hell is so scary about a library? Maybe the man really did get a few screws loose during his time with the dementors.'
All of those pieces of news, however, were irrelevant to Jin as he went about his life as usual. A month had passed from the time of the first ritual, and he was once more in the hidden grotto as Magnie and her nature mages chanted around him.
Jin was told to strip and enter the water, where he stood in the cool crystal clear pool under the full moon. The light shined down and illuminated his naked torso, lined with crisscrossing scars from his months fighting the spiders with the mending charm used to improperly heal his internal wounds and stick his flesh back together where it healed naturally over time in ugly lines.
Fleur stood at the edge of the clearing with her journal out, taking notes as runes flashed by. A privilege the centaurs granted her as Jin's partner.
Magnie came up to the edge of the pool with a bowl in her hand. "Are you ready?"
Jin looked up at her and the oddly severe look on her face. "Whats with the face? I didn't take you to be a worrywart."
She snorted as some humor returned to her gaze. "You have courage lad; I'll give you that. Saya says you have stamina as well hahaha."
Jin's eye twitched at the reminder of where exactly he woke up the morning after the banquet. Fleur had fun, and Saya didn't seem to mind, but Jin wasn't exactly keen on a repeat performance. Magnie had been giving him shit for it for weeks.
"Yeah, yeah, let's get this over with. My body isn't exactly happy with me right now." The mending charm was never meant for internal healing, and the build-up of scar tissue was causing him daily discomfort.
Magnie let the humor fade and sat down by the pool. "Very well. Steel your mind, this will be much worse than the last one. We are altering your bloodline." She handed over the wooden bowl, and Jin took it with a raised brow.
The bowl was filled with a vicious reddish-black liquid. "Do I want to know what this is?"
"It's the heart blood from the queen you killed. Your desire for health regeneration is not a ritual easily performed, especially with the quality of your skin. I had to design something new based on bloodline healing rather than magical healing. Very few magical creatures contain regenerative qualities with a strong enough bloodline to be of use, but an Acromantula queen is one of them. Even the foot soldiers can regrow limbs with enough time. I'll only be able to harness one aspect of its bloodline, but it will be painful. You must stay awake as long as you can while I pull on it. The longer you stay conscious, the more I can pull from the bloodline, and it can only be done once."
Her no-nonsense and professional tone was a change from what Jin had seen so far, but it did little to sway him. His mind flashed once more to that lonely desk in Slytherin's chamber, and he felt his spirit rise at the challenge. A fierce smirk grew on his lips as he downed the blood without hesitation and threw away the bowl. "Bring it on."
Magnie was dumbfounded for the first time since she met him, but it didn't last as she laughed loudly and stood back up. "I knew I liked you for a reason stallion." She winked at him. "You earned a night in my tent for that brass pair on ya lad, I'll show you and that bird what only experience can teach ya."
She stepped back and removed a staff from her side before she stabbed it into the earth. The ground lit up with a green flash of neon light as the entire grove came alive.
The moss pulsed and writhed as runes took shape in layers of circles surrounding the pool at the center.
Jin watched in interest as roots and vines began sprouting around the pool and forming a thick cage that took the shape of an ogive as the apex remained open and facing the full moon.
The nature mages began to chant louder and channel their mana into the clearing as the moss and roots of the grotto lit up like flashing neon veins of electricity.
At the edge, Saya sighed in awe. "I have such a long way to go. Grandma is incredible."
Fleur was scribbling furiously in her journal as she half listened. "How much is she doing?"
Saya didn't tear her eyes away from the sight as she answered. "Almost everything. She's controlling all five layers of rune circles at once, changing the structure and symbols on the fly to fit the combination she is seeking. The rest of the mages are channeling their nature attributed mana into the moss and fueling her efforts."
"Then why do they chant?"
"Symbolism and intent. The voices call to the spirit of the forest, calling on the spirits of our ancestors who had conducted rituals here for millennia, and asking them for their support in their efforts. Asking mother magic to watch over and approve of their efforts."
Fleur's pen paused as she recalled what Magnie had once said. "Is that why you cannot perform rituals that go against natures wishes?"
Saya nodded. "Yeah. Using the natural elements of the world and enhancing qualities that are already there are all fine. But granting something that is fundamentally wrong to a species is against the wishes of nature. There is always a price that must be given from the one who will benefit from a ritual when something new is given."
"Is giving Jin a bloodline healing factor not against natures wishes?"
"Most species have a natural healing factor. It's just a matter of how enhanced it is. Jin proved himself in the eyes of magic by slaying a powerful magical creature, and now he is using what it had to enhance what he already has; we are not giving him what he did not have. The goblin silver was the same. The metal was birthed by nature, and applying it to his bones only enhanced what he already had. The rejection of filth was so minor it wasn't a big deal, but giving him the adaptability of the metal would have been a step too far, as he did not already possess such a quality. Grandma would never have accepted doing such a thing."
Fleur dutifully wrote down what she was being told. "So if I wanted to enhance my connection to my flames, that would be acceptable?"
Saya giggled and side-eyed her friend. "Perhaps if you slayed a beast of fire or gathered a natural element of the world, but such things are not so easily done, they must have a stronger connection than you currently do, and Veela are one the strongest races in connection with the element of fire. Now shush, grandma is starting."
She turned back to watch the ritual as Fleur's eyes flashed. She underlined what she had just written and closed her journal as an idea began forming in her mind. Although, her attention returned to Jin as she watched the cage of roots surrounding the pool grow brighter under the concentrating mana. 'Be safe Mon Tigre.'
Inside the cage, Jin stared up at the moon silently as he stood in the sole ray of moonlight illuminating his surroundings.
The roots pulsed in uncoordinated beats that rang in his ears, but his amber eyes were fixated on the moon far above, entrancing him while he stood in the waist-high water.
Magnie's eyes hardened as she opened her mouth as the runes settled and spoke once more in tune with nature itself. A sound like shifting bark and flowing wind left her lungs, and the clearing all pulsed as one.
Jin's pupils shrunk as the cage pulsed under a single beat, and his heart beat in tune.
Once, twice, three times, the cage pulsed, and a fire ignited in his blood as he bent over. The pulses increased in tempo, and the heat increased until his blood felt like it was boiling.
His heart pumped, and the heat began moving along his veins, scorching his nerves as it passed along. His skin began to turn a bright red as his temperature shot through the roof, and Jin felt like he had ignited his own blue flames inside his body.
Growls escaped his clenched teeth, but soon the heat became unbearable, and the first roar left his throat as he began thrashing in the water.
The liquid that was only cool to his touch earlier felt freezing now, and the water bubbled around him and steamed as his heat refused to be quenched.
Magnie narrowed her eyes from outside, and a second sound left her lungs. The steam inside the cage froze as one and turned back to water as the temperature rapidly dropped, with a layer of frost building from the rapid change.
Jin's claws flexed uncontrollably as he dug his fingers deep into the floor of the pool, but his mental faculties rapidly fled under the pain of the nerves connected to his arteries being scorched from the inside.
If it was only that, it might not have been as bad as his nerve endings would eventually go numb. But unfortunately for him, they began to heal under the power of the aspect of the blood Magnie was calling on, only to be burned again.
Jin was trapped in the spot of rawness between healthy and numb nerves, a place of agony as he roared his pain like a wounded animal. His head smashed into the cage as he tried to knock himself unconscious, but Magnie had prepared for that and channeled a quarter of the gathered mana of a dozen mages into reinforcing the cage. Not even Jin's claws could help him as two roots quickly regrew for every one he slashed through.
The process was not fast, and minutes passed with every second fueling his agony.
Magnie carefully watched over him during the process, and she winced along with everyone else in the clearing at the raw pain in his voice. But she didn't stop and continued to draw on the Acromantula queens' blood inside Jin's veins.
Five minutes in, and his heart was pumping new blood cells that began attacking the old cells as he slashed wildly at his cell to escape.
Magnie's voice drifted to his ears like a whisper in the wind. "Stay with us, don't give in."
Ten minutes in, and his body was glowing red as internal scar tissue was heated like molten iron and burned away as he screamed himself hoarse.
"Keep going."
Twelve minutes in, and black ooze poured out his pores as impurities and dead cells from inside his body were pushed out as he choked on freezing water, having fallen under.
"Just a bit more, don't close your eyes."
Fifteen minutes in, and his mind was finally at its limit as he fell to his knees and stared up at the full moon once more with blurry eyes.
Magnie's voice was softer than Jin ever heard before as it drifted in a final time. "Sleep Jin, be proud of lasting this long." She twirled her staff and slammed it down a third and final time as a new sound left her lungs.
The strongly beating clearing paused all as one, and it felt as if time froze for a single second before nature inhaled and the string was cut.
Saya had been forced to restrain Fleur minutes into the process as she tried to rush forward, and it was only the small logical part of her brain that kept Fleur from trying to burn her.
But the second the ritual ended, she shot forward, and a pillar of flames tore through the cage holding her lover as she charged inside. "Jin!"
She landed in the water directly in front of him and ignored the blood and sludge clinging to his skin to embrace him. "Jin! Speak to me!"
A hoarse sound left his throat. "S..a…l.."
"What?"
"Sp..a..r..s."
"Jin, I can't hear you." She leaned in close to hear, and a rough wheeze left his lungs.
"Sparkles….get….off….me….I'm….fine…"
Fleur blinked and looked down at his still steaming unblemished pink skin and rapidly pulled back. "Oh. Oh! I'm sorry!" She fluttered around him in concern while Magnie came up on them with exhaustion apparent on her face.
"Heh, lass, you're a bit impatient eh? No need to go and burn the cage."
Fleur shot her a heated look. "It was in my way."
Magnie laughed honestly and slapped her waist. "Aye, I guess it was. Leave Jin be, he's gonna be raw for a while and will need time to recover, let's take him back to the village." She looked down at the kneeling young man with new respect as he remained conscious and stared back at her. "I thought I told you to sleep."
A sorry excuse for a chuckle sounded from his throat. "That…hurt…"
The older woman shook her head wryly and flicked the younger man's forehead. The impact was the final nail in the coffin that sent him out like a light, only to be caught by Fleur. "I bet it did." She idly shook her cracked fingernail and spoke more to herself than others. "Damn hardheaded men. He's just like you, Daz."
Fleur supported Jin's deadweight and looked at her curiously. "Who's Daz?"
Magnie focused back on her. "The idiot who left me a widow many years ago. Don't worry about it, Saya will give you a ride." Magnie turned around before any more questions could be asked and signaled her granddaughter.
But as she walked away, she couldn't help but think over the ritual she just did. 'The only reason that took fifteen minutes was the accumulated damage inside his body, I didn't plan to make him suffer like that. Damn boy downplayed how bad his accumulated scar damage was, no wonder a novice could bloom in combat with those spiders in less than half a year. His insides were twisted like a fucking pretzel, stupid fool was killing himself with that shit healing of his. The only difference between what he just went through and a cruciatus victim was the lack of curse damage, that lad has a will of steel to be able to laugh after that.' She sighed and looked up at the full moon. 'He reminds me of you Daz, you noble hardheaded fool. You just had to run off to your death like that.' Her eyes flashed as long suppressed rage surfaced briefly. 'Rest well, I won't be long off, but I'll make sure to take a pound of flesh before I go.'
An almost unnoticeable limp accompanied her steps as she left the grotto.
End.
AN: Thoughts?
Response to Reviews:
/: Brown Optometrist, shinigami101505, Guest - Thanks for the love! Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think if you like/dislike anything or got questions.
/: mr ducking – lol sorry about that, working on it now. I'll try to keep things moving.
/: llmatteo, JustRonan – No point to really link anything as FF will deny it. the reason I use /: for stuff is cuz its one of the only things this site doesn't blacklist. For people who are unfamiliar with QQ, the best advice I can give is to google search 'Curiosity44'. When you get to my profile, go to the tab 'Information' and then click on 'Find All Threads by Curiosity44'. You will see all my posted stories on QQ.
/: HughJasz – Never worry my friend. I 100% understand that chapter 1 was cut and dry for many, but it was important to set the stage. You can always go back to re-read it, and if I didn't answer your question in that chapter, I'm happy to answer it now.
For sure, I have plans for how I'll work the Hunter power system, and it will connect to his current abilities smoothly.
Hope you enjoyed the chap!