"I think we're good as is," you state. "Kahlua?"
"Hmmm... yes, I think we can manage for the moment. Thank you anyway, Tatsu."
Tatsu the guard makes a short nod and a nonverbal noise of acknowledgement.
As you resume the advance, you consider trying to place that sound-
Click-ick-clack.
-or ask if anyone else recognizes it. You decide not to bother with the former course of action; you've got several lifetimes' worth of memories in your head, and you'd rather not be lost in recollection when something inevitably pops up to attack the group, particularly not when you're in one of the lead positions. On the other hand, just asking about the noise-
Click-ick-clack.
-seems like a perfectly valid approach... except that nobody else has commented on the sound, not even the vampires whose senses ought to be at least as good as yours.
Do they not hear it? Or do they recognize the sound and think it's nothing to worry about? Because there's enough of a gap between those two extremes to make you uncertain about speaking up. If the noise is somehow escaping the Shuzen girls' notice, you probably ought to bring it to their attention, but if it's something they don't feel is worth commenting on, you'd look a bit silly for doing so.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
And on the other, other hand, whatever's causing the noise appears to have found companions.
You're about to speak up when spots of red light appear in the darkness beyond your mage-light.
"Well, finally," Kahlua mutters. "I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to- eeep!"
Click-ick-clack.
Ah. So THAT's why that noise sounded familiar.
A fleshless skeleton has just stepped into the circle of your light, bones clicking and sharp teeth chattering in an eternal grin as the dull crimson glows in the shadows of its otherwise empty eyesockets stare at you. In each hand, it clutches a short, rusty-looking sword - as do its companions, now moving into the light behind it, clicking and clacking and chattering as they come. None is more than four feet tall, but a quick, er, head-count puts their number at five.
Stalchildren, or something close enough to the lesser undead warriors of Ganondorf's legions as to make no real difference.
"Ha!"
Your first ki blast, launched from a fist closed in a forward jab and carrying about as much power, takes the lead skeleton square in the head. The skull rocks back and to one side, momentarily stopping the skeleton where it stands, but the undead creature doesn't appear meaningfully inconvenienced by the strike, let alone truly harmed.
Your second ki blast, which takes it under the elevated chin, has about the same degree of impact. It's enough to rock the skeleton back on its bony heels, but again, you get the distinct impression that you're just not causing any real damage - and by this point, the other skeletons have caught up to their point-man and begun moving around it. Two remain on the dry path, working their way past their companion as it sorts out its head, while the second pair hop into the shallow stream and begin splashing forward.
Right. Since the ki blasts do not appear to be cutting it, you draw your sword and channel ki and additional spiritual power into the blade. You know that undead skeletons are either animated by lingering spiritual essence or outright magic, and that interfering with the animating force is often the most productive means of getting rid of such creatures. Certain spells of Necromancy would be the most direct way of doing so, but you've already used up a lot of mana this morning, so you're more comfortable relying on the inherent blessed nature of your weapon and some additional life- and spirit-based energy, which will hopefully prove antithetical enough to the power driving these bone-bags to be a worthwhile investment.
As you channel energy into your weapon, however, all of the skeletons turn their heads sharply, their glowing red eyes locked onto your blade and shining just a bit brighter. Their jaws snap open and shut rapidly, teeth chattering in what you can't help but feel is excitement.
The skeletons rush forward, weapons raised. You have a slight reach advantage over them, and make full use of it, taking one step forward to meet the charge and then bringing your blade around in a two-handed blow, sweeping from right to left. Your hope is that if you hit the skeleton on the far right hard enough, you'll be able to force it over and into its neighbor, and perhaps force them both off the dry path and into the duo in the water.
Gained Crowd Control E
Gained Sword Training D (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Your on-the-spot plan isn't entirely successful. Light as they are without any meat on their bones, skeletons do still have some mass, and they're perfectly capable of using their unnatural strength to resist yours. Even so, you do manage to smash the first skeleton aside - one of its swords ringing in a failed attempt to block yours, which strikes the arm and rib-cage beyond with an ear-grating but viscerally-satisfying crunch - and into its partner. The tangled, stumbling mess of bones staggers halfway off the dry floor and into the stream, blocking the third skeleton directly and forcing the one at the far left to work its way past the sudden roadblock before it can come at your group.
This gives the guard in the second row time to move past Moka and into the stream to intercept the incoming assailant, and also for Kahlua to get over her shock - or was it fright? - at seeing the skeletons.
"You know, I really don't like skeletons!" the birthday girl announces, as she hits the two tangled boneheads with enough force to send them flying a good ten feet back down the tunnel. You definitely hear a few bones crack in the process, but somehow, the flying heap manages to miss the skeleton that had been hanging back, sorting its balance out after you rang its bony bell a couple times.
The skeleton in question comes straight at you, weapons weaving through the air. Mindful of the danger in getting far enough ahead of the group for the enemy to swarm you, you hold your ground, parrying the skeleton's blades and waiting for an opening. Out of the corner of your left eye, you can see Kahlua intercepting the other skeleton that was in the stream, moving carefully to avoid its dripping wet feet as much as its jagged swords - and behind your opponent, the other two skeletons have untangled themselves and are getting back up.
As before, the walking dead appear focused on you and your shining, life-charged sword as they advance, weapons raised and teeth clacking away.
You may have made a tactical error...
All this unexpected attention is a bit overwhelming, particularly the part where the skeletons appear to want to express their interest by introducing you to their sharp and pointy little friends. Feeling crowded in a way that has nothing to do with being underground, you mentally cast about for a way to get a little breathing room - even as you parry two more blows from the skeleton directly ahead of you.
Gained Weapon Defense E (Plus) (Plus)
The two skeletons beyond the one before you are coming down the middle of the tunnel, one on the dry path, the other splashing through the stream. Kahlua has just kicked the fourth skeleton in the ribcage, hard enough to smash it into the cave wall on the far side of the water, and from the splashing, crashing, and crunching behind you and to your left, that guard has the fifth skeleton in hand.
If you move quickly, then, heading in THAT direction... yes, that should do.
You gather and focus your ki, and the world slows down.
Taking an accelerated moment to smash the blade in your current opponent's left hand aside, you step to your right - as close to the cave wall as you can get while still having room to move - and then break into a dash, passing the lone skeleton and then, several steps later, its two compatriots.
Their skulls turn to follow you and their weapon rise in preparation for a very pointed set of greetings, but it's like they're moving through molasses. The undead monsters' glowing red eyes almost seem to leave ruddy trails in the air as they track your passage, and your own mage-light momentarily becomes a radiant comet, blazing into the darkness.
As you move, you try to get off some ki blasts to disorient the skeletons. Unfortunately, given the speed you're moving at and your lack of practice at engaging other ki techniques in the middle of a Body Flicker, you only manage to get off one such shot. Having learned from your previous attempts, you forego blasting at the skeleton's empty head and instead aim for its legs.
The blast of compressed air has barely taken shape when you find yourself keeping pace with it as it flies towards its target.
Gained Ki Blast E (Plus) (Plus)
Then you're past the boneheads - though still able to hear an impact and a skeletal rattle - and a good distance down the tunnel besides, slowing, stopping, and half-spinning around as your perception of time returns to normal.
As it happens, there's a small "room" here, a recessed space in the cave wall maybe ten feet deep and as many wide, littered with broken bits of wood, torn cloth, and a few scattered fragments of metal that gleam dully in your conjured light. Nothing that looks like it's going to spring to life and attack you, so you feel safe-ish about turning your back to it and confronting the skeletons once again.
For their part, the three undead who aren't currently directly engaged have all turned about to come at you, clicking and clacking and chattering away. The pair closest to you are slightly out of step with one another, the one on your left - closest to the wall on the dry side of the passage - having fallen behind its partner by a stride or two. Evidently your ki blast wasn't entirely ineffective, even if it did once again fail to cause any meaningful damage.
Off in the "back," the skeleton which you were dueling just a moment earlier suddenly goes down with a crunch of breaking bones and a clatter of steel striking stone. The collapse reveals a scowling Moka, who lifts one leg up very high-
"Know your place!"
-and then brings it down hard enough to shatter the skeleton's skull and send bone shards and a small cloud of dust flying in all directions.
"And stay there!"
The second guard, meanwhile, has moved up to assist his compatriot, neither of them appearing remotely bothered about the water splashing on their suits. The skeleton that the first guard was fighting has been more or less disassembled - if not so thoroughly shattered as the one Moka just took out - and they've turned their attention to the one Kahlua kicked into the wall. From the pronounced angle at which the upper body of the skeleton in question is hanging, it would seem Kahlua managed to break its spine. The awkward dangle of the left arm suggests a busted shoulder as well, though unlike a living creature, the walking dead thing is still perfectly able to hold and wield the blade in that hand.
This proves no particular impediment to the guards, who smash aside one sword each and then bull rush the skeleton back into the wall with literally bone-breaking force.
With that enemy occupied, Kahlua is coming up behind the last two skeletons, already reaching out to grab the one standing on dry ground while its attention is on you and its ally is ahead of it, out of position to aid against whatever she chooses to do next.
Seeing as how the Shuzen girls have already taken advantage of the opening you provided, you skip what you were planning to say and focus your attention on the soon-to-be last skeleton, splashing its way towards you without care for the fate of its companions.
You're curious about something, and as the rest of the party is no longer in obvious peril (however minor), you decide to take this opportunity to indulge your interest.
The last skeleton's eyes glow brighter as you pour more ki into your sword, enough that the energy flares out from the blade to form a heat-wave-like ripple in the air.
It's a minor confirmation that yes, these walking dead really like that energy for some reason - which is odd, because in all your dream-recollections of such critters, you don't specifically recall them displaying such behavior. Moving to kill any non-evil living thing that got near, yes, but fixating on a source of manifested life-energy, to the extent of ignoring a bunch of clear and present threats? You can't recall anything of the like ever happening to Link. True, he was almost always alone, so the Stalfos and other undead would have focused on him regardless - but you're pretty sure they never got fascinated like this when the boy charged up his own Sword Beam.
You could be wrong, of course. You don't have ALL of Ganondorf's memories in your head - not even all the memories of one of his multiple lifetimes - and it's not like the man spent every waking moment watching his nemesis from afar, like some kind of creepy stalker. After all, a Demon King has a very full schedule: nations to conquer; huddled masses to oppress; royalty, Sages, and Great Fairies to hunt down, imprison, curse, and/or kill; legions of fractious minions to keep in line; mighty magic to work; awesome throne rooms to lounge around in; and there are only so many hours in the day. So it's possible, in one of the many, many moments when Ganondorf's attention was elsewhere, that Link might have encountered an undead foe with this kind of obsessive attraction to life-force.
On the other hand, it's entirely possible that this sort of behavior was never seen in Hyrule, because that nation and its neighbors didn't have nearly as developed an understanding of ki as you currently do. It could be that if a ki adept at your level of skill had picked a fight with Stalchildren, they might have reacted as this one is now.
While you don't currently have a Stalchild available to test this theory out on, your grasp of Necromancy is sufficient that you DO know what one would look like under mage-sight. And so, you wake that sense up, along with your spiritual perception, to take a look at this skeleton and see what about it is different from Hyrule's most common walking dead, and what is the same.
Oh, that's interesting.
Gained Necrology F
Common undead skeletons are devoid of spiritual energy. They're not truly restless dead like ghosts or revenants, they're just bodies animated by some necromancer as cannon fodder and forced to obey simple, limited sets of commands. Kind of like low-tech magical robots, although golems probably fit that description better...
Anyway, the skeleton you're looking at right now actually DOES contain spiritual energy, enough of it to account for one small, mean, fixated soul.
Truth be told, under mage-sight and spiritual sight, the thing looks even MORE like a Stalchild than before, but there are differences, too. Stalchildren, Stalfos, and their ilk are created as the result of various curses that fall on living beings, and it gives them a magical signature distinct from ordinary bones that have been raised by a necromancer's efforts. This skeleton lacks that obvious curse-essence clinging to its bones, even as the precise shape of the necrotic aura holding it together and giving it strength makes it clear that a living mind was involved in this creature's reanimation.
There's something else about this skeleton's aura that nags at you, but it's gotten too close for you to spend any more time calmly examining it. Metal rings against metal as you deflect its blades with your own. One, two, three times you block, before an opening presents itself, and you're able to bring your sword down hard on one of the bony arms with a loud crack.
Several seconds pass, in which you sidestep one blow, parry two more, and then CRACK, this time to the other arm.
"Um-" Sokka begins behind you, before he's quickly shushed.
"Hold on a minute," you call back to the group, while dodging a thrust of the skeleton's right-handed blade. "There's something odd about this skeleton that I'd like to investigate."
Having said so, you raise your ki, enhancing your body for greater speed and striking power.
You were expecting some kind of reaction from your evidently life-sensing opponent, so it comes as no surprise when the points of crimson light that serve as the skeleton's eyes well up, becoming both brighter and larger than a moment earlier. Its jaw opens wider than you've yet seen it, and...
...huh. There's something strange going on with those decayed teeth. Necromantic energy courses over the rotted enamel, occasionally shooting across the gaping maw like tiny lightning bolts - only the "lightning" is dark and soundless and would probably feel just a bit cold to the touch, if you were so foolish as to let any part of your body come into contact with it.
Setting aside your studious intentions for the moment, you focus on putting the skeleton down so that it'll be a reasonable safe research specimen.
This takes a bit of doing. Nonlethally subduing an enemy bent on killing you, while you're using a lethal weapon yourself, is far from an easy task, and it only gets harder when you're dealing with one of the undead, to whom pain and fatigue are as nothing. Still, smashing the skeleton's limbs will at least immobilize it and rob it of its primary method of attack. You just have to pay attention to what you, and it, are doing, and be sure to hit hard when you see an opening.
Gained Battle Awareness F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Reflexes F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Strength D (Plus)
In the end, the skeleton is really no match for you in terms of skill or raw power - at least, not now that you've upped your game - nor is it anywhere near clever enough to play tricks. You manage to break its right arm off at the elbow on your third blow, and with only one short sword left to it, the skeleton's defense takes a major hit. It takes five more strikes for you to disable its left arm - echoing Kahlua's earlier "mistake" with the goblin, you smash the skeleton just above the wrist, causing its hand to fall off and go still on the floor - but you land those blows in barely any more time than it took you to make the three that took out the right arm. Disarmed in the literal sense as well as the figurative, the skeleton nonetheless lunges at you, jaw open to bite.
You sidestep into the water-covered half of the tunnel, whirl around behind the bonehead, and deliver a two-handed sidelong blow that slides beneath its ribcage and smashes into the spine with a gunshot-like crack. The skeleton's upper half promptly sinks forward, not severed from its lower body, but most definitely having difficulties.
One more good, strong blow ends the fight, leaving a set of hip-bones and legs to fall inert upon the stones, while the torso and head also come crashing down, only to flop about like a landed fish.
You sheathe your blade and kneel next to the still-animate skeleton, easily immobilizing it now that it has no limbs. The head leans in your direction, biting at empty air with a most annoying clacking of teeth, but you've been careful to keep your hands on the skeleton's back, well away from anywhere it could possibly bite.
"So," Sokka says. "What is it about this thing that caught your attention? Besides the whole walking pile of bones thing, I mean."
You glance up. The party has come forward into a crowd, filling up both sides of the passage in order to get a good look at you. The Shuzen sisters are on the dry side, of course, with Lu-sensei and Ambrose behind them, while the Water Tribe siblings are standing in the stream, utterly untroubled by their feet getting wet. One of the guards is behind them, while the other, and Altria, are in the middle of walking past you - looking curiously at the downed skeleton as they go - to take up watchful positions between your back and the rest of the cave. Briar, meanwhile, has fluttered over to your position and is now hovering above you, regarding the down skeleton with an air of reluctant interest.
"For starters, it's got an animating spirit," you reply. "But the real interesting thing is how the magic allowing it to move seems to focus around the mouth..."
Redirecting your ki into your brain to help focus your thoughts and heighten your senses, you focus the mage-sight and spirit sight that you never really let down during the fight on the gnashing skull and the power within it.
Well, now. That is just... neat.
And also a bit concerning.
Gained Necrology F (Plus)
Gained Necromancy D (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Scholar's Soul E (Plus)
Gained Spiritual Knowledge E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
"Was anybody bitten by the others?" you ask aloud.
"No," Kahlua replies. "I take it that would have been a bad thing, beyond the physical damage?"
"Yeah, the way this thing's been designed, it would... kind of EAT bits and pieces of your ki if it managed to get its teeth into you. Mostly the physical energy, which would make the wounds harder to heal, more prone to infection... and decay."
"Ewww." That's most of the girls, and Sokka.
"That's... vile." That comes from Katara. And she sounds both disgusted and very angry.
"Here's the hundred-pound question, lad," Ambrose says. "To extend your chosen metaphor, would the skeleton have DIGESTED what it ate? Or simply... STORED it?"
You consider the shape of the necromantic spell woven into the skull. "The latter," you decide.
"So instead of a predator, however unnatural," the wizard concludes sourly, "it was a tool and a slave for someone with a necromantic bent."
"Sounds about right," you agree.
Then, reversing your grip on your sword and surging your ki into a quick burst of raw power, you bring the pommel of your Blessed Blade down on the undead's skull.
It shatters obligingly, if not quite as spectacularly as Moka's did earlier. You didn't sense anything odd when the other skeletons were destroyed, but this time, you're close enough that you can sense the soul moaning in relief as it escapes, disappearing from this world to... wherever it was supposed to go.
Gained Shadow Affinity F (Plus)
"Mr. Ambrose," Kahlua says then. "How powerful would someone have to create something like this skeleton?"
Ambrose considers it. "Basic skeletons aren't too difficult to animate. It's not the basic of basics when it comes to Necromancy, but it's not too far off, either. Binding souls to them, though, and giving them the ability to directly attack the life-force, even on a minor level... that's a fair bit more impressive."
You might be able to do it, you think to yourself, but do not say aloud. Necromancy isn't your strongest suit, but as Ambrose said, raising skeletons is pretty standard fare, and even the more advanced versions aren't that difficult to create. True, you might have to go ritual-style to produce something like these skeletons, but it's still within your abilities - especially now that you've stopped to analyze one of them in some detail.
You decide to keep your thoughts about your own capacity for Necromancy to yourself. The ability to raise and command the dead as loyal, shambling minions is a questionable one at the best of times, and while you're of the opinion that it's one more card in your hand, and one it's better to have as an option than to NOT have - especially when you live in corpse-vampire central, or if a zombie apocalypse were ever to break out - you'll admit that the current situation is not one that would be meaningfully improved by the revelation of your skills in that particular branch of magic.
Tucking away the details of the destroyed skeleton's interesting and potentially useful ki-stealing enchantment for later consideration, you focus on the matter at hand.
"Do you think whoever did this might have riled up those goblins from before?" you speculate. "Or maybe threatened them into it, with... this?" You gesture at the remains of the skeletons.
Ambrose and Kahlua look at you.
"That's a nasty possibility I hadn't considered," the wizard admits, before turning his attention to the skeletons. After a moment, he adds, "And now that I take a closer look, these DO look like goblin skeletons."
"How can you tell?" Lu-sensei wonders. He sounds honestly curious, if morbidly so.
"The shape of the skull and its size in relation to the rest of the body are good indicators," Ambrose replies. "Not many monsters have skeletons this close to human AND with adult proportions at these heights. The fact that they have - well, HAD - four digits to each hand and foot is just more evidence in favor of goblins."
You look at the nearest arm you hacked off of the last skeleton. Yep, three fingers and a thumb, currently wrapped limply around the sword they previously held firmly.
Your gaze trails to the blade in question, and you give serious thought to claiming it and the other nine swords the undead were carrying as spoils of battle. However, the blade radiates no magic beyond a hint of Necromancy, and that not of the sort that suggests even a minor enchantment, but more like a mystical fingerprint left behind by its previous owner. Combined with the rusty state of the blade and its small size, you can't see them having much, if any, resale value. Of course, you could easily restore them with a Spell of Mending - or if push came to shove, a Spell to Make Whole - and, like knowledge of Necromancy, ten combat-worthy short swords are something it's better to have than to not have, if and when the need for them arises.
Which, in Sunnydale, it probably will. And sooner, rather than later.
While there is some appeal to the idea of setting up your own armory, you have to admit that you could do better in terms of starting gear than these poorly-maintained weapons. To say nothing of the fact that close to a dozen swords, all of which had been wielded by the undead long enough to pick up a bit of their animating necrotic energy, are not the sort of thing you should be bringing onto the Hellmouth. It'd be Uncle Rory's taxidermy collection all over again, only with blades.
You leave the skeletons' swords where they lie, opting to save your dimensional pocket-space for a better grade of plunder.
"In response to the lad's earlier question," Ambrose says then, "goblins normally aren't given to care about the disposal of their remains. Some tribes bury or burn their dead, others leave them where they drop or pitch them into the nearest refuse heap, and quite a few engage in cannibalism."
"Ewww." That was Sokka, although the twisted expression of nausea is showing on most of the faces around you. Even Lu-sensei and one of the guards (who have been pretty stone-faced up 'til now) aren't trying to hide their disgust.
"Yes, quite. And then, of course, there's the tendency of tribal shamans and random superstitious tribe members preserving some part of a respected leader or skilled warrior as a keepsake or totem..." Ambrose trails off and then shakes his head, as if realizing he'd been rambling. "But putting all of that aside, however little concern they show for the fate of their bodies after death, goblins are VERY concerned with the fate of their souls - and as Alex has so helpfully informed us, these skeletons DID have souls bound to them. That's the kind of threat that would have a bunch of goblins either cowering in abject submission towards the necromancer in question, or going berserk and trying to rip him and his creations to pieces."
"That's... quite a range of responses," Lu-sensei notes.
"Yes, it tends to hinge on how powerful the necromancer appears to be: how many undead he has; how well they stack up against the tribe's warriors; how scary, painful, or downright deadly his spells seem to be; and so on." Ambrose pokes the remains of the nearest skeleton with the butt of his staff. "These would have been a close match for the average goblin, one-on-one. If their creator WAS affiliated with that hunting party we ran into, I'd say he'd need three times this many skeletons in order to sleep at night, or else be good enough of an actor to make up the difference. And that's assuming there aren't any more goblins running around the Shuzen estate that he needs to keep in check."
"There had better not be," Moka mutters, earning a scowl and nod of agreement from Kokoa. Kahlua just looks thoughtful.
You think on that. Ambrose's estimate puts the necromancer's undead forces at fifteen skeletons, prior to your pulverizing this group. Based on your knowledge of magic, a third-circle practitioner of Necromancy could raise and control that many ordinary skeletons - and a few more besides - but creating undead with the, ah, "special features" that this lot had would take at least a fourth-circle spellcaster, and such a spellcaster could control twice as many of his creations as Ambrose has suggested, assuming he hadn't called up and bound anything stronger. On top of that, fourth-circle Necromancy is where some of the school's genuinely NASTY spells start becoming available. Curses, disease, energy drain, terror spells... not the sort of thing you particularly want to expose your friends to. Certainly not without warning them.
There was never any question about whether or not you were going to speak up and let the rest of the party hear your thoughts on this situation. The only uncertainty was how you were going to frame your thoughts: as a lead-up to an argument for your group to be getting the heck out of Dodge? Or as a breakdown of your unseen enemy's capabilities, so that everyone has a good idea what to expect when you forge ahead?
The smart thing to do in this situation is, undoubtedly, to make for Castle Shuzen, let the lord and ladies of the house know what you've found, and leave the matter in their very capable hands. You suppose it's possible that the elder vampires had a hand in arranging the presence of the goblins and this as-yet unidentified necromancer on their territory, but you're having a hard time seeing them do so as a "present" for Kahlua. A test, maybe, to see how she handles leadership, group combat, and unknown, potentially deadly opponents, but if that were the case, you can't help but think that the Shuzens would have arranged things so they'd be a bit more directly in control of the situation and able to intervene if things went poorly, rather than leaving it in the hands of unaffiliated individuals like Lu-sensei and Ambrose. That said, it's just as likely that the Shuzens had no part in this, in which case putting a premature end to the adventure would not only be smart, but also the polite thing to do, so your hosts can get their domain into order without their guests being in the line of fire.
And there probably WILL be fire involved in this mess, at some point. There almost always is, when people set out to purge a necromancer.
But as much as abandoning your little quest might be the smart thing to do, it's also a course of action that suggests... a lack of confidence in your abilities, and those of your companions. Fear, however sensible. Weakness, even.
And really, you've done some dumb things in the past that worked out fairly well for you, particularly where busting heads was involved. Who's to say this won't be more of the same? Especially when you've got all this backup?
Gained Totem of the Raging Boar C (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Warrior Born D (Plus) (Plus)
Your decision colors your tone as you state your opinion of the skeletons, and what their capabilities say about the threat level of their creator. Even as you acknowledge the danger present in the situation, there is no hint of "we should run away now" in your words, only a calm, confident sense that "we can handle this." It appears to resonate with the younger, non-human members of the group, prompting fierce smirks, a certain straightening of spines, and an air of eagerness. Even the two guards give off a sense of anticipatory approval.
Gained Elder King E
Gained King of Monsters E (Plus)
Lu-sensei, Ambrose, and Briar are not quite so positive in their response. Fortunately, you have more to say.
"If we're going on, I'd recommend that we take some precautions first."
"Magical precautions?" Kahlua guesses.
"We have pretty good evidence that someone capable of at least fourth-circle Necromancy is involved in this," you reply. "It's not exactly a NICE school of magic, but that's the level where it starts to get REALLY nasty."
Sokka frowns. "How nasty is REALLY nasty?"
"Inflicting permanent curses or debilitating, potentially fatal diseases with a touch," you reply bluntly. "Splintering every bone in one person's body or causing blind panic in a dozen people with a few words and a gesture. Black energy rays that wither parts of the target's soul on contact."
"...right. REALLY nasty. Got it." The Water Tribe boy shivers. "Well, I'm all in favor of magical precautions. Katara?"
"Prevention is the best medicine," his sister agrees.
"Yeah," Tatsuki adds. "I've had enough people messing with my soul to last me a lifetime."
"You're welcome," Ambrose says, cheerfully.
"Don't think I won't hit you just 'cause you're old."
"If it comes to that," Altria says, addressing Tatsuki, "go for his shins."
The dark haired girl blinks, and then grins at the blonde. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
Ambrose scowls at Altria. "Traitor."
"How about we hold off on abusing the wizard?" you suggest politely. "At least until he's made himself useful and cast a few protection spells?"
"Oh, I see how it is," Ambrose grumbles. "Blackmail the elderly, eh?"
"You did agree to come along on this trip as a chaperone," you point out.
"Time for me to be responsible, is what you're saying? By that reasoning, I should teleport the lot of you back to the castle."
"There's being responsible, and then there's chickening out." You raise an eyebrow at Ambrose.
"I could turn you INTO a chicken, you know." Ambrose frowns unexpectedly. "And yet I suddenly have the strangest feeling that such a course of action would be a catastrophically bad idea..."
Everyone else gives him a VERY odd look at that, but you picture yourself as a small, clucking, ANGRY fowl...
You have to let out a snort of amusement at that image - and from the sudden outburst of fairy giggles, Briar has just imagined you as a Cucco as well, and what it would mean for Ambrose.
Aaaand now everybody is looking weirdly at the two of you, as well.
You clear your throat and face Ambrose. "Defensive spells, Ambrose. Do you have any?"
"What did you have in mind, exactly?"
"Well, since we've already run into the Evil Dead, how about a Spell of Protection from Evil?"
"Ah, a classic. And completely doable."
He punctuates this statement by thumping his staff on the floor of the cave. You bring your mage sight up in time to see the Abjuration magic spread out like a silent shockwave, passing over, around, and through the members of your party. The Shuzen sisters, Briar, Tatsuki, Katara, and Lu-sensei all visibly react to the touch of the magic; Altria rather pointedly does NOT react, even though you can see the spell affected her just fine. This leaves Sokka and the guards looking around at the rest of you, a bit puzzled by everyone else's reactions to Ambrose's antics.
You give the spell now clinging to your aura a brief inspection. The only real difference between Ambrose's casting of the ubiquitous magic and how you would have done it was that he cast it on multiple creatures at range, all at once - and even that isn't terribly noteworthy. You're familiar with other "Mass" spells, and you can see how Ambrose modified the normally single-target Spell of Protection From Evil into something much more team-oriented.
"Also," you add, lowering your hands, "given the whole life-draining thing, how are you for Death Wards or Protection From Negative Energy?"
"More classics," Ambrose replies. "And also... not so doable. That sort of thing tends to fall into the realm of priests and gods, and, well, the gods and I have never really seen eye-to-eye."
You are utterly unsurprised by this.
"I'm afraid the best I can offer in that respect are some general boosts to physical fortitude and mental resilience," the wizard continues, before his staff pulses again, releasing more magic. This time, the school is Augmentation, and once again, you recognize the matrix of the spell - make that spells - involved.
"Bear's Endurance and Owl's Wisdom?"
"Yes to both, and also-"
This time, the energy that erupts from the staff carries the hues of the school of Enchantment. It's also powerful enough that it overloads your mage sight, forcing you to look away with a wince.
"Sorry about that," Ambrose notes, in a tone that really isn't.
"What was that one?"
"Are you familiar with the Spell of Heroism, by any chance?"
"Yes..."
"How about its greater counterpart?"
"That one, too."
"Well, take the latter, and make it a Mass spell."
You boggle at that. Mass spells are generally three to four circles above their basic form, and the Spell of Greater Heroism is already a sixth-circle spell. The old man just fired off a ninth-circle spell like it was nothing.
...it's the staff, right? It has to be the staff. Probably channels ambient mana to supplement the owner's reserves. Although if Ambrose can cast such high-end magic so effortlessly, why doesn't he just fake a Death Ward...?
Oh, right. Most spellcasters don't have the raw Power that allows you to cast divine spells as overpriced arcane spells, and even the ones who have the skill to make up the difference still have to make a significant sacrifice of reagents in the process. Diamonds are the reagent of choice for spells of that nature, and whether Ambrose tried to cast a "Mass Death Ward" or just spammed the basic Spell of Death Warding, there'd be a pretty hefty pricetag attached.
You can understand how he might be reluctant to go that far.
"That... should be pretty good," you say. "Um... thanks."
Ambrose smiles cheerfully. "Glad to be of service."
...he is SUCH a troll.
"Now, unless there's anything else, we should probably get moving. Those spells won't last forever, and I'd prefer not to have to recast them too many times."
"A-ah, yes," Kahlua murmurs. "Um... this way, then."
She seems a bit nervous, compared to a moment earlier. Maybe you weren't the only one to be surprised by Ambrose's casual display of archmagery?
You fall in, resuming your original place in the marching order. It occurs to you that you could fairly easily restore one of the skeletons' blades for Lu-sensei's use, in case he'd prefer to have a weapon on hand as a precaution against more life-draining opponents, but when you turn to make this offer to your teacher, you notice that he's got the Enlightenment Stick in hand.
You promptly close your mouth, face forward, and dismiss your idea of arming your master. As far as you're concerned, he doesn't NEED any other weapon but that one.
You do, however, go ahead and cast a Spell of Mage Armor, spending the extra mana necessary to cover the entire group. It's not much compared to Ambrose's work, but it's another layer of protection, and one you're willing to take a moderate hit to mana to provide.
Some of your companions glance at you, prompting a quick explanation. Nobody objects to the extra defense.
Less than two minutes on, your magelight reveals a three-way split in the tunnel. The central passage is more of what you've already seen, one half under water, the other out of it. The path to the right is dry, narrower than the one you're currently traversing, but still wide enough for your group to move two abreast - though without the option for someone to quickly move up or down the line by getting their feet wet. Finally, there is a completely-flooded chamber on the left side of the tunnel. From the way the flowing water echoes within, the watery cave is quite large.
"Which way are we supposed to go?" you inquire of Kahlua.
"The right hand path is the usual route we use to reach the viewing cave," she replies. "But it's no wider than that all the way through, and actually gets narrower in a couple of places. Considering our uninvited visitors... well."
You nod.
"The central route also leads to the cave we want, but it takes longer."
"How much longer?"
"Twenty minutes or so at this pace, compared to the ten or twelve for the right-hand route. Is that going to be a problem?"
"Most of the spells Ambrose cast will have run down after twenty minutes," you admit.
"Bother."
You glance to the left. "For the sake of thoroughness, what's that way?"
"Hmmm? Oh." Kahlua scowls at the cave opening across the stream. "That way leads to the cavern as well - there's a small waterfall and a fairly deep pool there, which I'll admit do add to the effect of the sun and the crystals. Some of the guards have explored it, and apparently it's the most direct route, not much more than six or seven minutes, but... well." She gestures at the water.
A quick look around with mage sight and spiritual sight doesn't reveal any obvious signs that the undead have been through here. You suppose you could try a Spell to Detect Undead for thoroughness' sake, but with all this rock in the way, you'd be limited to line-of-sight.
"Any preferences?" Kahlua asks.
"Well," you say, "all things considered, I'd like to get the end of the cave well before these spells are in danger of running out."
Kahlua nods slowly. "I can agree with that."
"Okay. Then as far as I'm concerned, the right path is... well, the right path. I mean, it's shorter, more familiar to you, and while the narrow passages might keep us from using our numbers freely, that applies to any more skeletons we run into as well."
Kahlua nods again, following your reasoning.
"Although that said," you continue, "we should probably rearrange our lines a bit."
"Oh?"
"Well, leaving the adults aside, you and I account for a pretty large part of our combat power between us. Plus it's your show. So I think we should stay in the lead."
Kahlua smiles.
"But there's a chance we may run into the guy who created the skeletons while we're passing through a tight spot," you admit. "In which case, I'd kind of like to have Ambrose and Lu-sensei right behind us, so they can take over as quickly as possible - even if the two of us have to hit the floor to make room for them to get by."
The vampire girl winces at that, but nods. "I can agree with that, too."
"I'm not sure that I do, miss," the guard behind you - Tatsu - interrupts. "And I'm fairly certain your parents would have... concerns."
"I'm sure they would, but they're not here at the moment, so hush."
Tatsu sighs, but nods. "Where would I be in this plan of yours, Mister Harris?"
"I was thinking second row from the back," you reply, "with Altria and Moka in the last row, in case any skeletons come up behind us."
"And if the necromancer we think is lurking down here happens to be with that group of skeletons?" Tatsu inquires mildly. "What then?"
Um. You... hadn't considered that. Mainly because evil sorcerers who have established lairs don't normally go wandering around outside said strongholds, particularly when they have minions to patrol and raid in their place.
"Perhaps, instead, we could leave the wizard in the back, and bring your master up front," Tatsu suggests. "That would keep a reasonable amount of magic at both ends of the line, and put the adults best-equipped to deal with a necromancer in place to do so."
...that could work, too. Evidently, the Shuzen guards aren't just hired for brute strength.
Kahlua seems to be considering this new option.
The guard's suggestions make sense, and when you voice your support for the modifications, Kahlua agrees readily. As such, when you reach the junction where the right-hand passage connects to the main tunnel, there's a quick general explanation and rearranging of the lines, before the group proceeds down the passage.
On a side note, having Lu-sensei at your back with the Enlightenment Stick in hand proves to be both a comfort and rather unsettling. You keep tensing in anticipation of being thumped.
When this trek is over, maybe you should talk to your teacher about post-Enlightenment stress, or something?
The close, rough stone walls of this part of the cave cause the echoes of your group's passage to echo in a rather different manner than the wider section you've left behind. The lack of flowing water plays a part as well, as does the layout of the route - where the previous part of the cave was largely straight and level, this one curves about irregularly, and always on a slight but noticeable downward incline. You also come across one of those narrow places Kahlua mentioned before - after a brief discussion, Lu-sensei and Tatsu take the lead here, to Kahlua's visible reluctance.
She cheers up a bit when nothing happens, and the two of you are able to reclaim the lead.
At last, perhaps four minutes on from the intersection, you hear a familiar sound:
Click-ick-clack.
It's coming from up ahead, where the cave curves off to your left, gradually enough that you can see fifteen, maybe twenty feet ahead of your current position before the bend in the stone blocks your sight. The place where you're currently standing is only wide enough for two people to stand side-by-side, but the passage gets a bit wider up ahead even as it twists out of sight.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
If you were to move forward ten feet or so, you'd be able to have Lu-sensei or Tatsu move up to the front row. If you moved ahead fifteen feet, you'd also be able to keep the incoming batch of skeletons from entering the wider area of the tunnel, forcing them to come at your front line two at a time - a slight advantage in numbers, but a completely worthwhile one.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
And you can just make out the red eye-socket glow of a skeleton coming 'round the bend. If you're going to take the small chamber, now is the time.
Kahlua appears to have reached a similar conclusion, as she is speed-walking ahead. Tatsu is already moving to follow her.
You pick up your pace, moving to catch Kahlua and Tatsu as they enter the chamber. While Kahlua sticks more or less to the center of the room, the guard moves to the far left as he advances to flank her, leaving the left side to you.
As you move into position, you note that Kahlua's attention is fixed on the obvious threat - you can make out four skeletons, now, the leading pair close enough to be in your circle of mage-light, although by the sound of things there are more of them still out of sight - while Tatsu's is split between the advancing undead and his employers' eldest child. That in mind, you take a moment to sweep the chamber for traps. Nothing mechanical obviously presents itself, and there are no recessed slots or unusually clean areas suggesting hidden devices. Magically-
-oh, hell.
Gained Mage Sense B
Gained Trap Sense E (Plus)
"Kahlua, FREEZE!"
The vampire girl stops in mid-stride, one foot raised. In an excellent display of balance and muscle control, she doesn't even wobble, despite the speed at which she was moving.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
"Put your foot back down where it was," you say quickly, "and back up. Don't look at the floor - you either, Mister Tatsu."
"Alex?" Lu-sensei asks from behind you.
"Don't look at the floor, Sensei," you say urgently. "Nobody look! There's a magic aura radiating from the stone."
It's only because of that aura that you noticed at all, let alone in time to stop Kahlua from stepping on or over whatever the trap is - and there's no doubt in your mind that it IS a trap, because this is a perfect place for such a thing. It neatly explains why the skeletons clattering down the tunnel ahead weren't stationed in this room. By putting his minions farther back, their creator ensured that any intruder would have to get close enough to this chamber to be alerted to its tactical value, right around the same time that he became aware of the undead or they became aware of him. Some would try to advance clear across the chamber, as you were about to, in order to secure the tunnel entrance at the far side. Others would try to fill the near half of the room, and yet others would stick to the passageway where they started, reinforcing their position as best they could and making the skeletons come at them two at a time.
And any of those courses of action would be a deadly mistake, because as soon as someone or something crossed that aura - Necromancy is foremost, but there's a twist of Divination to it that whispers "trigger mechanism" to your mind, before you force yourself to stop thinking on it too hard and risk tripping it - the trap would be sprung. And if this magic is what you think it is, one of the notorious Symbols that are magic's answer to landmines, then the only way not to get hit by it would be to be a good sixty feet back the way you'd come. Maybe forty feet, with all the stone in the way, but no closer.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
The boneheads are emerging from the tunnel. You can count five in the light, now, and at least three more coming up from behind.
"Alex," Kahlua hisses with a quick sidelong glance and a sharp nod at the floor, urging you to do SOMETHING, and QUICKLY.
Considering that Ganondorf himself would have trouble disarming certain Symbols using only his mundane - if masterful - thieving skills, and that the rest of your group has effectively bottlenecked the passage you came down, there's really only one course of action, and that's to cast a spell.
But which spell?
Attempting to destroy the Symbol physically is out, as that would set it off. Dispelling the Symbol could work, but if you fail, it'll activate in response. These things sometimes have passwords to allow safe passage, but any Divination spell you cast to learn the password would use the Symbol itself as a focus - and again, set it off. The only other method you can think of that might work is to cast a Spell of Earth Elementalism, and try to enclose the Symbol under a dome of rock. These things need to be uncovered to activate properly.
Or you suppose you could not cast a spell at the dangerous little carved figure whose imbued mana is thrumming steadily against your senses, and instead trust that the protection spells Ambrose wove over everyone will be able to take whatever it throws at you.
Taking a deep breath, you offer up a wordless prayer for luck before dropping to one knee, placing your empty left hand on the floor, and casting the Spell to Shape Stone. You pour some extra mana into the matrix, amplifying its range so that you're able to reach across the short distance between your fingers and the dangerous concentration of magical energy on the floor ahead of Kahlua.
While being very careful NOT to allow your power to come into contact with that of the as-yet-unseen necromancer, you will the rough, rocky floor of the cave to change. There is a slithering rumble as stone flows upwards from the ground to form a rough circle around the Symbol, and then piles on top of itself in the shape of a small dome, perhaps a foot across. Although technically hollow - so that the Symbol isn't physically disturbed - the dome is several inches thick, which should give it plenty of structural integrity, as long as nobody takes a maul or dynamite to it.
Gained Earth Elementalism C (D (Plus) (Plus) (Plus) without Heart of Fire)
Gained Transformation C
Although you're... fairly confident that this method of "covering" a Symbol won't trigger it, you find you can't avoid holding your breath as the dome takes shape. It's only when the stone bowl has snapped shut, without any nasty consequences, that you let yourself relax a bit.
Gained Arcanology D (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Mana Concealment C (Plus)
One of the skeletons - which have collectively closed the distance between your group and theirs while you were making with the magic - promptly tries to take a little off the top. And just like that, you're not relaxed anymore.
Fortunately, breaking bones and shattering skulls is very therapeutic.
"The Symbol's covered! Just don't break the dome!"
Kahlua promptly punches the skeleton in front of her hard enough to send it flying ten feet backwards, taking the two undead that were clattering into position behind it down as well. Tatsu the Guard has already engaged the bonehead before him, and Lu-sensei has helpfully reached over your ducking form to introduce the skeleton that took a swing at you to the Enlightenment Stick.
The force of ENLIGHTENMENT causes the opportunistic ossified monster's head to EXPLODE.
The headless body stands still for a moment, and then collapses to the floor in a motionless heap, dead once more.
As the spiritual presence that was trapped within the undead vanishes into the afterlife, you swear you can hear a ghostly voice crying out, "OW!"
From your crouched position, you can see the skeleton in the second row moving up to take its companion's place - and it may just be your eyes playing tricks on you, but the skeleton appears to be moving very cautiously indeed, its glowing eye-motes fixed on your master and his Walking Stick of Doom. Out of the corner of your left eye, you glimpse Tatsu still dealing with his first skeleton, while Kahlua has moved ahead a step - standing next to your Symbol-defusing dome, rather than on it, you note - to start pummeling the skeleton in the rear left "corner" of the chamber into the wall. Moka has come up through the opening, her gaze fixed on the pile of skeletons trying to sort themselves out in the mouth of the tunnel at the back of the room.
That's one skeleton down, one advancing on the right side of the chamber, the two on the left side decidedly occupied, three more down in the back - and you can see three more skeletons beyond, filling up the tunnel. That... seems like a bit much for Moka to take on all at once, even if three of them are down. What you've seen of her fighting style indicated a preference for mobility, which is hard to come by in these close quarters.
Even with three of their number in a tangled pile and the close confines of the tunnel mouth preventing more than one of the others coming at her at once, you don't care for the idea of leaving Moka within sword's reach of half a dozen skeletons. Not when she doesn't have a weapon of her own to counter their reach advantage, short though it may be.
So you decide to even things up a bit.
Bony heads turn sharply as your ki surges to full power, right before you disappear into a Body Flicker.
Gained Body Flicker C (Plus)
Unfortunately, even with the accelerated movement and awareness this technique provides you, it proves remarkably difficult to navigate through this confined, crowded battlefield. Getting away from the skeleton that was standing in front of you isn't too hard, but moving around Moka is only possible because she's not particularly big as six- or seven-year-olds go - and also because she appears to sense you coming and sidesteps in her big sister's direction, even as you're shooting past on a surge of ki.
More proof, if you needed it, that S-class vampires are all kinds of broken, even when they're little.
That leaves the animate bones blocking the mouth of the tunnel ahead. You don't particularly care to try stepping on or over the three-body pileup Kahlua created, even at superspeed; just the idea of half a dozen swords positioned directly below you and within easy striking range makes your stomach clench. Besides, they're on the far side of the room from you. Better to focus your attention and energy on the closer target.
As such, when you come out of your Body Flicker, it's in a sword-assisted flying bodycheck aimed at the skeleton that was standing to the right of the bone-pile.
Much like Kahlua's blow earlier, your ki-enhanced and accelerated strike sends the fleshless target flying backwards into one of its compatriots, whose own mass isn't enough to withstand the momentum of the makeshift projectile. Both skeletons go tumbling backwards a good ten feet back the way they came.
This leaves you in the mouth of the tunnel, a pile of three skeletons at your left, one more skeleton on its feet about five feet behind the pile, and all of them with their glowing eyesockets fixed on you. Jagged blades and a couple of empty skeletal hands reach for you, dark magic radiating strongly from behind chattering teeth.
You take one step ahead, dodging a claw grasping at your foot and a sword-thrust aimed at your leg, parry a blow from the standing skeleton, and try to think. This is NOT an advantageous position to be in, and even with your training, weapon, and still-active Ki Enhancement, it's only the fact that three of the skeletons within striking distance of you are all tangled up together that's keeping you un-punctured.
You are in a tight spot, and you'd rather not be. The appropriate course of action, then, is to move. For the briefest moment, you consider projecting a Doppelganger down the tunnel as a distraction, but you dismiss that idea as quickly as it comes. For all that it's a ki technique, you doubt it would be convincing enough to make the vitality-eating skeletons turn their attention away from the feast your strong life-force and surging ki enhancement represent. Then, too, as fast as ki techniques are, you're not entirely convinced that you could get one off safely under these conditions.
What can you say? Swords make very convincing arguments.
Naturally, the skeletons don't want you to leave. The trio in the heap to your immediate left awkwardly claw, stab, and snap their teeth at you, all the while struggling to drag themselves along in pursuit; the skeleton standing behind them, meanwhile, has both an opportunity and the blades to exploit it.
You avoid the attempts at biting without trouble. Like most humanoids, goblins have fairly short necks, and though the transition into undeath has granted these former-goblin bodies several radical new features, telescoping necks aren't among them.
You evade the grasping claws with slightly more difficulty. One of them actually starts to close around your ankle before you kick your foot free, which has an unfortunate effect on your balance and stride.
As for the blades... you don't quite avoid those.
Oh, you aren't run through or slashed open or anything so dramatic as that. It's just that, as you're trying to recover from the almost-successful grab and keep moving forward, one of the skeletons in the pile manages to graze the side of your leg with the tip of the blade it still clutches.
You don't actually register the injury for a moment, because it really is just a graze, the very tip of the undead's weapon having cut through your pant leg and left a faint trail across your skin. Deep enough to break the skin and draw blood, but not to pierce the flesh beneath - really, except for the threat of tetanus, it's hardly enough to consider a wound at all.
That said, it's the first time an enemy has successfully spilled your blood, without the benefit of massive size (like Arrogante) or mighty magic (like the Hawaiian Sorcerer).
It's kind of chilling, to have such evidence that even small fry like these boneheads can, in fact, pose a threat to your life under the correct circumstances.
Yet it's also... oddly invigorating.
Gained Blooded E
Even as you're registering the minor hit to your leg and the rush of adrenaline it's kicked off, the bulk of your attention is firmly fixed on the skeleton standing behind the bone-heap. This one is upright, carrying both its weapons, and now, with your attempt at escape and evasion having turned into a stumbling struggle, it has a clear opportunity to attack.
And so it does.
The sword in its left hand swings around at stomach-level. You block it easily with your own weapon.
The skeleton's eyes appear to burn brighter, and it chatters in a way that almost sounds triumphant as it thrusts the blade in its right hand straight at you.
Your blade is out of position and occupied with the other sword anyway. You can't rely on it to block or redirect this strike.
So, you don't.
The stabbing sword was originally going for your stomach. Kicking hard against the floor with your next stride, twisting about, and sucking in your gut as far as you can, you manage to avoid being spitted like... like... oh, all right, like an unfortunate example of your totem.
Gained Reflexes E
But you don't escape the strike completely unharmed. The skeleton's sword tears through your shirt and left flank and then glances sharply off your ribs, leaving in its wake a bloody trail of rather more significance than the one on the outside of your left leg.
For a moment, it doesn't hurt at all.
And then, it does.
And you see...
GOLD.
The world takes on a golden hue as your aura, already running high from the battle-rush and your ki enhancement, explodes from your body on a wave of pain and anger. Dimly, you register yells from your allies, but most of your attention is given over to the sight of the skeleton in front of you being pushed back against the far wall of the tunnel by the sudden surge of Power. The unnatural creature's jaw hangs low and its glowing eye-lights have gone wide with what you'd swear is shock - and maybe a hint of fear?
That reaction is at once pleasing and infuriating to a certain deep, dark part of you, and for a moment, a wave of dark red seeps into your personal energy field.
Then you force those impulses aside, restraining them as you do your urge to drop from the burning pain in your side, or the primal instinct to lash out at the walking dead thing that hurt you.
You aren't going to collapse. That would be stupid, and potentially deadly.
You aren't going to lose yourself in rage. That would be even stupider, and potentially WORSE than deadly.
You aren't even going to take revenge on the skeleton - because really, it's your own damn fault that you were in a position where that bag of bones could even reach you, let alone carve you up.
What you ARE going to do is FIX this mess you've gotten yourself into.
Gained Aura of Power B
Gained Din's Favor C
Gained Ki Power E (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Mental Power E (Plus) (Plus)
...you know, just as soon as you do something about this bleeding gash in your side.
Din, that HURTS.
Raising one hand, you force your surging aura to calm, the gold hue of unleashed Power fading as you muster your magic towards a different purpose.
Briar isn't the only one here who can cast a Spell of Healing, if need be. And right now, there is definitely a need.
Your left hand is already pressed to the wound, so it's a simple matter to direct the magic to where you want it to go. Divination, to analyze the wound. Summoning, to remove any foreign matter that got stuck in it. Necromancy, to kill anything organic left over that might cause an infection. Transformation, to draw the wound back together. Conjuration, to replace the skin, flesh, blood, and other cells that were ripped out or truly killed by the skeleton's sword, and need replacing.
You don't stint on the mana, and when you draw your hand away, the wound is sealed - though there is a decided ache about it, a reminder that yes, you were definitely hurt there, and you should be more careful in the future.
Lowering your bloodstained left hand, you regard the world without the haze of angry golden energy or distracting pain.
And promptly dodge another thrust from the standing skeleton.
It seems that the undead has gotten over whatever surprise or uncertainty it felt in the face of your unleashed aura, and is once more intent on spilling your blood. Probably so you can't do that glowing, "push you against the wall without touching you" trick again.
With a bloodstained-sword-wielding bonehead back in your face, you decide that you need some space.
And so, reshaping your ki, you move to acquire it.
You don't move too far, just a few steps forward and to your left, turning about as you go that you're facing the standing skeleton, while its attention is still on the spot you just vacated. In passing, you notice that the two skeletons you bodychecked down the tunnel are back on their feet, and advancing; you make a mental note to be quick with your current opponent.
The undead in question isn't unaware that you've moved - you can see its eyes tracking you, slowly, as you blur past - but at this range and with that speed, its bones simply can't keep up. This leaves it horribly off-guard as your Blessed Sword comes down, hilt-first, driven not only by the ki-enhanced strength of two arms, but also by the last moments of the Body Flicker technique.
The skeleton's left shoulder doesn't explode under the force your blow, but there's a satisfying crack and pop as the bone of the upper arm comes loose. The whole limb falls to the floor, sword clanging loudly against stone on impact.
This doesn't stop the skeleton from bring the red-smeared weapon in its right hand around, but a sidelong sweep of your raised sword bashes that particularly aggravating weapon back the way it came, leaving you an opening to hack at the arm - which you take.
It requires two strikes to sunder the bones just below the elbow. That's honestly one strike too many; although you can see Moka, Kahlua, and Lu-sensei making short work of the three no-longer piled-up skeletons behind this one, you can also HEAR the clicking, clattering advance of the other two boneheads closing in on your unguarded rear.
Having absolutely ZERO interest in getting stabbed in the back, you call on the Body Flicker again, leaving your mostly-armless opponent where it stands, turning about, and rushing past the two advancing undead for the far end of the tunnel. Skidding to a halt about fifteen feet down the curving passage - just far enough to glimpse the mouth of a second room at the limits of your mage-light - you whirl back around, sword raised, ready to resume the fight.
*POW!*
*SHATTER!*
Or, you know, to witness Lu-sensei brushing the skeletons aside like so much graveyard dust - which is about all that's left of them after those strikes - as he advances on you. Your teacher gives you a once-over, eyes drawn directly to the bloody tear in your shirt.
His expression is... not happy. VERY not happy. In fact, you don't believe you've ever seen Lu-sensei this not-happy before.
"Alex," he says tersely, fingers tight around the Stick of Doom. "Are you still bleeding?"
Part of you wants to assure your master that you are, indeed, no longer injured. However, most of you fears greatly that if you do such a thing, he will act to remedy that lack.
You're about to reply when your leg twinges, reminding you that you were cut more than once, even if the first injury was hardly anything more than a scrape.
"Just give me a second to check, Sensei," you reply, before looking down at the tear in your pantleg. The angle is pretty awkward, though, and the material of your clothes doesn't exactly make it any easier to see. On the other hand, you don't see any obvious bloodstains, and the cut isn't burning or anything like that, so it's probably not that bad.
Still. No sense taking chances, right? That thought in mind, you straighten up to report to your still unhappy-looking teacher.
"I cast one of the strongest healing spells I can cast to clean and close the wound in my side, sir. I'm pretty sure it's as healed as it's going to get, at least without a few weeks of regular healing to finish up the job. I'd still like for Briar to take a look at it, though, and the cut on my leg, because they both still hurt a bit, and it's always possible I missed something. Those swords... aren't exactly well-maintained."
"...no, they're not," Lu-sensei agrees. He looks like he's about to say something more, but then there is a fairy.
A very bright, loud, ANGRY fairy.
"ALEX, YOU IDIOT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, CHARGING INTO A PACK OF SKELETONS AND GETTING YOURSELF ALL CUT TO PIECES?!"
You open your mouth to reply-
"Never mind!" Briar snaps, one hand raised. "I don't want to hear it. Just... stand there and be quiet while I make sure you don't bleed to death!"
-and close it, as instructed.
"Huh." You glance at Lu-sensei, who looks a bit surprised. "I actually heard some of that." And then, he smiles. "I'll just leave you with Miss Briar, then. She seems to have this well in hand for the moment - but we WILL be talking after she's given you a clean bill of health, lad."
You nod. "Before you go, Sensei, could you find any swords that have blood on them? I'd rather not leave any of it lying around."
He nods and walks back up the tunnel.
"You're not being quiet, Alex," Briar notes, from where she's inspecting your previously slashed side.
"No, but be fair, Briar. Would YOU want to leave your blood lying around somewhere known to have a necromancer hanging out? Even for a moment longer than absolutely necessary?"
"...no," she admits. "On that note, you'd better clean your clothes and scrub the floor around here before we leave."
"I was planning to. So," you continue, "how's my side holding up?"
"It looks... healed," Briar replies, slowly and with a note of great reluctance. "It's not cursed, and as far as I can tell, you managed to clean and disinfect the wound properly before you sealed it. No chance of it reopening on its own, either, which is good, since you're walking. You were kind of hamfisted about it, though; it's going to leave a scar."
"How big a scar?" you ask.
"Say, three inches long?"
Man, THAT'S going to be awkward to explain, if anybody back home sees you with your shirt off. Especially the folks. Maybe you'd better look into wetsuits or make sure to always keep a shirt on at the pool? Or perhaps it's time to investigate the more literally cosmetic applications of magic...?
While mulling the issue over, you have to wonder just how the heck that bonehead managed to cut you that badly, even through the defensive spells Ambrose set up earlier. That line of thought promptly has you investigating the state of said spells, out of concern that your brief outburst of Maximum Power may have worn them down as it's done to previous spells on your person.
You are relieved to discover that all the spells are still in place, though your Spell of Mage Armor seems worn down, as if it had been running for several hours. You've still got plenty of time left in the tank for that one, and the spells that Ambrose placed on you hardly seem like they've been affected at all. You're unable to say for certain whether that's due to them being someone else's power as opposed to your own, or because Ambrose is Just That Good when it comes to spell-weaving.
That still doesn't answer your question about the skeleton, though. There should have been almost no way for it to hit you, let alone hurt you... unless it, or its buddy that dinged your leg, hit you a lot harder than you thought...?
On the subject of your leg, Briar's assessment agrees with your own; for all that the blade responsible laid open your pantleg, the damage to your person was minor. Briar also has a few nasty things to say about the weapon in question, mostly revolving around happy subjects like tetanus and septic wounds. She goes on about these at some length, actually, describing what they look like, how the unfortunate victim feels, and what the consequences can be even with modern medicine or magical healing in your corner.
Eventually, however, the fairy proclaims you fit.
At which point, you find yourself facing Lu-sensei again, this time with a couple of swords in hand. One has a streak of blood along its edge, while the other does not appear stained at all.
"Thank you, Lu-sensei," you say with a bow.
Casting the simple cantrip is the work of but a moment, and its effects are immediate, the sticky smear of red along the jagged blade boiling away into the air and dispersing. It's not actually being destroyed, per se, but the scrubbing, the scattering of the various substances that make up the blood, the blending of them all into the dirt, rock, bone dust, and air of the cave, and the contamination of the magical signature - all these things render the blood useless for any real purpose, save perhaps to feed some cave-dwelling microbes.
Polishing the second sword goes even faster. You register a brief sense of resistance about the tip, where the weapon grazed you - hardly enough blood and torn skin cells to even see, but more than enough to be dangerous, were they left for any spellcaster of real ability to find, let alone a necromancer.
After that, you order the spell to scrub the floor and walls around the mouth of this tunnel. That should be sufficient to clear away any lingering traces of your spilled blood.
This done, you give your full attention to Lu-sensei. You make no effort to explain or excuse your previous actions. You screwed up, and now you'll take your lumps - proverbial as well as literal - like a man.
"All done?" he asks mildly.
"I have a cleaning spell going right now. It shouldn't take more than a minute or two."
"And Briar...?"
"She says I have a clean bill of health, Sensei."
"Good."
ENLIGHTENMENT!
Well, you totally saw that coming - even if you didn't actually see the Stick itself move - and hey, you even managed to brace yourself for the blow! Not that it... helped much... ow...
Gained Endurance D (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Pain Threshold D (Plus)
"Of all the reckless, unnecessary, ill-conceived, and dare I say it? BONEHEADED actions I have seen in my life, Alexander, this latest stunt of yours ranks somewhere in the top fifty. But of all the foolishness I have ever been there to see one of my STUDENTS get up to? It's easily in the top FIVE. Would you mind telling me what in the name of Grandmaster Wen made you think charging into melee with half a dozen armed enemies was a GOOD IDEA?"
If his tone and expression weren't clue enough, your teacher's invocation of the seldom-used name of the original founder of the School of Five Elements tells you that he's being very serious right now.
Dutifully, you provide your reasoning. Your concern at seeing young Moka charge down half a dozen dual-blade-wielding skeletons unarmed, while everybody else in the group was either busy or completely out of position to back her up. Your choice to do something about the impending situation, in this case by bull rushing two of the skeletons well out of striking range, and drawing the skeletons' attention to yourself, away from Moka - who would, you hoped, then have a clear shot at the trio that had gone down in a heap. Your subsequent choice to move out of reach of most of the enemy... and finally, how that didn't work out quite as well as you planned.
But for the slow blink of his eyelids, Lu-sensei is silent and still throughout your recounting, taking it all in without interruption. Then he takes a breath.
"I have no argument with your initial reasoning," he admits quietly. "What I have seen of the younger Miss Shuzen's fighting abilities does not give me confidence in her ability to face that many armed enemies and emerge unscathed. Any weapon capable of drawing blood is a threat to a living vampire, and that many of them, aimed at a child who prefers unarmed combat... well."
You don't relax yet. The old man's just getting started.
"Everything you did AFTER deciding that Miss Shuzen needed help, however, I find... questionable," your master continues. He pokes you in the chest with the tip of the Enlightenment Stick, and not overly gently. "I know YOUR capabilities as well, Alexander, much better than I do hers, and as events have just proven, when it comes to fighting with body, weapon, and basic ki, you are NOT yet skilled enough to take on four-to-one odds in melee all at once. Why, exactly, did you not cast a spell to disable those skeletons? Or ask me to step in and cover the young lady, when I was right behind you?"
He pauses, clearly expecting a reply.
With regards to not casting a spell...
"There were a few reasons why I decided not to cast a spell," you admit, thinking of the difficulties of casting in melee, the trouble in aiming certain spells so that they'll hit the enemy and not inconvenience your allies, and of course, the unpleasant reputation of Necromancy. "But the one that I was most concerned about was running low on mana before we caught up with the necromancer."
One of Lu-sensei's eyebrows arches.
"I mean, I know we have Ambrose with us, but there are enough of us here that he might not be able to keep track of everyone AND deal with a necromancer, all at the same time. It just... seemed to make sense to have a second spellcaster with enough power to make a meaningful contribution in that fight, just in case it was necessary."
Your teacher considers that.
"There is some merit in that argument," he agrees. "But there's little point in preparing yourself for next battle if your precautions end up costing you the battle you're currently IN."
"Yeah, well, as to that... I honestly thought I could take these guys up-close and personal. At least long enough for backup to get there."
Lu-sensei snorts and knocks you on the skull once with the Stick, not quite hard enough to bestow Enlightenment. "I'd say you thought wrong, hmmm?"
You nod and rub your increasingly-sore head.
"Why didn't you ask for help?" Lu-sensei repeats his earlier question,
"It honestly hadn't occurred to me TO ask," you answer.
Your master says nothing to that for a minute. Then he sighs.
"I've noticed a distinct pattern in your behavior, Alexander, and I must say, it's becoming deeply concerning. The fact that you called me after discovering that undead spy lurking by your family cabin last weekend shows that you're perfectly able and even willing to call for help under... well, RELATIVELY normal circumstances. But when it comes to a fight - and not a spar or a tournament match, but an honest, life-or-death struggle - you don't seem to consider seeking help or running away as valid options, even when they are and should be your first resort."
"Hey, I ran from the shadow giant," you point out.
"You'll forgive me if I don't consider you fleeing an entity capable of causing unnatural fear with a look to be a sign of any particular good judgement on your part," your teacher returns flatly. "Not with the giant squid, that rude fellow in Hawaii, everything that happened AROUND the tournament, and now this latest incident as indications to the contrary."
You wince. You'd LIKE to protest that this isn't a fair assessment of your judgement... but it kind of is.
"I think we are going to have to sit down for a long talk with both your parents in the near future, Alexander," Lu-sensei continues. "Your tendency towards... independent recklessness really cannot continue."
And again, you wince. You have an impulse to say something.
"As for this little adventure," your master adds.
Oh, wait, what?
You raise one hand, tentatively, and ask, "Sensei, can... I just say something here?"
He pauses, and nods.
"Thanks." You take a deep breath. "Okay. As much as I might like to argue the point, dress it up with nice words that make it sound better and everything, I have to admit that the fact remains." You sigh, and hang your head. "You are right. I DO have a tendency towards recklessness. And I get that telling my folks is the responsible adult thing to do."
"But...?" he says.
"But bringing my parents in on this is something I seriously don't want to do," you admit. "And yeah, some of that is me not wanting to get into trouble, but the rest of it? I love my folks, Sensei, and they love me, but I can honestly say that they aren't fighters. They don't understand it. I've told them and showed them what I can do, but I know it hasn't completely sunk in for them yet" - definitely not for your mother, although your father has a better idea after that whole thing with Uncle Rory's collection - "and when they look at me, they don't see a mage who can set corpse-vampires on fire or punch out grown men. They see a child, THEIR child, and they judge me by the measure of other children - as something naive, defenseless, and in need of constant protection. Plus, they're Sunnydalers. If they think there's a chance I may get into trouble, they won't stop to weigh possible benefits against potential risks; ANY risk would be unacceptable, and they'll do their best to keep me from it."
"That is part of a parent's responsibility, Alex," Lu-sensei points out.
"Yeah, but isn't it a parent's... I don't know, 'ultimate' responsibility, to get their kid ready to deal with the world on their own? If they start preventing me from testing my limits, from GROWING, it's going to cost me down the road. Traveling to other countries, to meet their best fighters and hone my skills against them? They'd forbid it, on the grounds that I might get hurt - and never mind that tournaments and private matches with a couple of masters watching are probably the closest thing to 'controlled' and 'safe' circumstances for that sort of thing. Practicing martial arts beyond the absolute basics may not even be in the cards, because it makes it too likely I'll run into the strange crowd again. And let's not even get started about the dangers of magic." You have to fight not to laugh at that. "And leaving all that aside, what about my friends, Sensei? My folks weren't completely thrilled that I was coming a vampire's birthday to start with, and if they find out I got seriously hurt, odds are I'm not going to even be allowed to write to Kahlua until I'm in college or something. What if they extend that to the rest? Half the people I met and really connected with over here aren't technically human, and, well, like I said, the folks are Sunnydalers. I love them, Sensei, but... whatever disciplinary action needs to be taken for this" - you gesture around at the cave and the twice-dead remains of your enemies that litter it - "I would much prefer if you handled it."
Lu-sensei doesn't respond for a minute. You decide to take a chance, and add a little compromise.
"But I get that, as a responsible adult and a teacher, you kind of HAVE to tell my folks that I got hurt," you say. "And I can admit they DO have a right to know. Just... maybe you could tone things down a bit when you tell them? So they don't freak out?"
The old man stares at you. "You were slashed open with a rusty sword by an undead goblin bound to a necromancer, Alex," he states in a dry tone. "How, exactly, does one 'tone that down?'"
"...well, the necromancer isn't actually HERE at the moment," you muse. "And the skeleton isn't really important anymore, right? So, maybe... just tell them there was a collection of swords and a bunch of kids, and stuff happened?"
"Stuff. Happened," he repeats, slowly.
"But no limbs were lost, medical aid and punishments were handed out as required, and it will never, ever happen again," you add, hopefully.
Lu-sensei doesn't look Not Happy anymore. Rather, he looks like he wants to facepalm.
"I will... consider what you've said, Alex. But for now? Please, stop making suggestions."
"...right. Sorry."
Gained Warrior Born D (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
"Um, not to be rude, Lu-sensei," you interrupt, "but shouldn't this decision be made by the group as a whole? Or at least among the adults?"
Your master pauses and considers that, then nods. "True enough. But when we adults reach a decision, whatever it may be, I expect you to heed it, my student. Understood?"
You half-bow. "Understood, Sensei. Whatever you decide is best."
He nods, and turns back to the group, with you following in his wake.
You've just reached the mouth of the tunnel when Kahlua steps forward, looking worried. "Alex, are you okay? I mean, Briar said you weren't hurt anymore, but..." She glances at the gash in your shirt, and while her skin tone makes it hard to tell, she appears to pale slightly. Certainly, her eyes widen.
You look down at the ripped, bloodstained fabric. It IS pretty ugly.
How do you answer?
"I'm fine, Kahlua, really. Magically-healed and fairy-approved, even."
You mentally redirect your still-active Spell of Cleaning while you're talking, ordering the magic to start scrubbing the blood out of your shirt. It's already destroyed the traces on those swords and the stones of the cave, so why not be thorough and get rid of the rest of the evidence? It would make no sense at all to leave a section of bloodstained cloth hanging around like that, after you'd made the effort to get rid of the rest of the stuff.
The fact that the absence of a bloody shirt will reduce the odds of your parents freaking out is just a happy bonus.
Really.
...
On that note, you decide to cast a Spell of Mending, too. You like this shirt well enough to want to at least try to keep it in wearable condition, and again, an undamaged article of clothing is much less likely to upset the folks when you go home.
Kahlua doesn't appear entirely reassured by your statement - actually, she looks rather distracted by the lingering evidence of your wound, although that passes quickly once your spells go to work.
"Ah... well then," Kahlua says, no longer looking at your side but also not making eye contact for some reason. "I'm glad that you're alright. Your reaction earlier made it seem... serious."
"That was shock and anger as much as anything else," you reply. "I really wasn't expecting to get stabbed today, and well..." You trail off, a bit embarrassed. "But it looked a lot worse than it was. Or at least, than it is NOW."
"Good. That's good." Kahlua pauses awkwardly.
You have a feeling you know why she's so... off right now, compared to before.
You regard Kahlua for a moment, look down at your increasingly-clean shirt, and then lift your gaze and ask dryly, "It's the blood, isn't it?"
"It is," she admits, hanging her head.
Yeah, that's what you figured. Vampires love the blood.
"I'm sorry, Alex," Kahlua apologizes. "It's just-"
"Instinct, right?" you wave one hand. "Then don't worry about it."
"But-"
"No, really, it's fine." You pause to get your thoughts in order. "You just saw or smelled what is, for you, the most important food in the world. Not only something you LIKE to eat, but something you NEED to survive. It's only natural that on some level, you'd WANT to drink it. The important thing here is, whatever your instincts were telling you, you chose not to act on them - which means I don't have anything to be upset with you about."
Kahlua considers that. "It... really doesn't bother you?"
"Well, being completely honest, the idea that I am on your menu in ANY capacity is disturbing," you admit without hesitation.
Kahlua's face falls.
"But like I said, even if your instincts are telling you that I'm lunch, you've chosen to make me your friend, instead. Which says a lot."
She dons a faint smile. "Thank you for being so understanding, then."
Gained King of Monsters E (Plus) (Plus)
You nod, and find you simply can't resist asking a rather morbid question. "So how did my blood smell, anyway?"
"Oh, delicious. I-" Kahlua breaks off, blushing furiously and glaring at you. "Alex!"
"What? Can't blame a guy for being curious, right?"
From the way she punches you in the shoulder before stalking away down the corridor behind you, red-faced and muttering under her breath, yes, she really can.
There were some other things you were going to ask about, but considering Kahlua's sudden shift in mood, you figure you should probably leave her be for a bit. Instead, you look around at the rest of the group. Moka and Kokoa appear fine, though they shoot you suspicious glances as they hurry past, following their elder sister down the curving tunnel - you make a mental note not to poke fun at any of the Shuzen sisters in the immediate future. The four adults, meanwhile, have clustered together a short way up the first tunnel, and are speaking together in low voices. Katara is - erk - sitting neatly on the stone dome you raised over the dangerous Symbol, and Altria stands nearby just inside the mouth of the upward passage; Briar hovers above the two girls, and all three of them appear to be talking quietly. That leaves Sokka and Tatsuki, who have moved to opposite sides of the small chamber to poke at the remains of the skeletons littering the rocky floor. Sokka is doing so literally, using his club, while Tatsuki has picked up one of the degraded swords and given it a cautious, testing swing.
"Um, Katara?"
The Water Tribe girl breaks off from her conversation with Altria and Briar - you heard something about fairies as you got closer - and looks up at you. "Yes, Alex?"
"Sorry to interrupt, and please don't take this the wrong way, but you're sitting on an improvised and potentially-unstable shield for a magical bomb, and it's freaking me out. And yes, Briar," you add with a quick upward glance, "I know I've got no room to talk about scaring people right now."
"Ah." Katara blushes. "This would be about that 'Symbol' thing you were shouting about before, right?"
You nod, slowly.
"It's fine. Mister Ambrose dispelled it."
"...oh."
"I was just going to sit on the floor while Sokka poked around," Katara says, "but Mister Ambrose said he wouldn't hear of a lady sitting in the dirt. It was... nice of him?" She's clearly not entirely convinced of that, and you don't blame her. Seriously, couldn't the wizard have just conjured her a chair or something?
"Okay, then." You let out a breath. "I was just... I mean, I was in a rush when I cast the spell that sealed off the Symbol, so I wasn't sure how stable the dome was, and then I saw you sitting on it..."
"You worried?" Katara guesses.
"I do not 'worry,'" you reply with an air of injured pride. "I experience abiding concern."
Katara scrunches up her face at your choice of words, and looks at her two companions. "That means worry, right?"
"Yep," Briar replies.
"Indeed," Altria agrees.
Traitors.
"Right then," Ambrose's voice calls out. Looking past Altria, you see that the four adults have finished their discussion. "Gather 'round, all you young folks. A consensus has been reached."
Sokka tosses a skull whose jaw he had been toying with back to the floor as he stands and turns about to face the adults. Tatsuki likewise discards the sword she'd been inspecting, albeit more quietly, and the Shuzen girls come back up the tunnel.
"While you've handled yourselves well enough on this trek - barring one or two glaring exceptions which don't really need recounting, right Alex?"
If there were any justice in the world, your glare would set Ambrose on fire.
"- recent events have shown this trek to be just a bit too risky. And before you all start blaming Mister Harris's reckless disregard for his own safety for this turn of events, I would call your attention to the magic Symbol he noticed and closed off right as this latest little scrum got started." Ambrose's cheerful tone sours. "The presence of such a thing is evidence enough that who or whatever is responsible for the existence of our skeletal playmates is rather more dangerous than we'd previously guessed, and better-prepared to defend him-, her-, or itself than we've seen thus far. It would be irresponsible in the extreme for us to permit the lot of you to wander into such danger, now that we're better-aware of its extent - and more to the point, your parents would murder the four of us for allowing it - so it is with some regret that I must inform you, the tunnel-crawl ends here."
The wizard punctuates that statement by bringing the butt of his staff down on the floor.
You look around. There is remarkably little dismay on the faces of your companions at this announcement, and a fair bit of relief - even Kahlua and her sisters don't appear terribly upset by the news that you're going back to the castle.
As for yourself... well. You really would have liked to find out what was going on here, but you gave Lu-sensei your word that you'd abide by whatever decision the adults reached.
So you say nothing as, with some awkwardness due to the confining space and more due to the disappointing end of the quest, your party rearranges positions and begins the march back up to the cave entrance.
You see no reason why you shouldn't end this cave-dive as you began it, and move back to the "front" of the group. Kokoa and Moka give you sidelong glances as you pass them, and you can feel Lu-sensei's and Briar's gazes as a tangible pressure against your turned back, but you do your best to ignore it all.
Kahlua looks at you, purses her lips, and looks away with a wordless sound of irritation.
You decide not to speak, instead raising your mage-light as you start back towards the surface, the rest of the party following in your wake.
As you move up the passageway, you take advantage of Kahlua's pointed silence to keep your eyes and other senses peeled for any further trouble. Perhaps it's just your paranoia and inherited memories of being a Dark Lord-type speaking, but if you were a necromancer hanging out in a cave with a bunch of undead goons, you'd have all your minions wired into a persistent Divination like the Spell of Status, so that you'd be roughly aware of their condition - and ideally, their positions - at all times. That way, if someone started picking off your guards, you'd be able to get over any surprise and start taking steps to counter them, before the would-be hero in question was busting into your sanctum sanctorum and stabbing you through the heart with his own Blessed Sword.
In theory, anyway. Ganondorf's track record on that front was... decidedly mixed. Monitoring Link's movements via sudden mass die-offs of the Legions of Evil? No problem. Following up on that by ordering All The Minions to converge on that point, teleporting in personally to spam death spells until the Hero finally ran out of restorative items and went down, or just collapsing the entire temple, ruin, castle, or underworld cave on that green-hatted head? Not so good. For some reason, Ganondorf only seemed to think bringing the house down was a good tactic AFTER he'd already been run through, at which point it was less a strategic decision and more a case of being a poor loser.
Either there's some obscure element of Demon King etiquette you just aren't getting here, or Ganondorf was even more overconfident than you recall.
In any case, it's not something to think on just now. Dismissing the puzzle from your mind, you return your focus to the stone floor and walls.
When the main route to the surface comes into sight several minutes later, you're glad of your caution, because you can detect another Necromantic aura radiating up from the floor, right in the middle of the intersection where the passage you're currently in and the flooded section of the caves join up with the central passage. You're also pretty sure you heard more of that bony clicking and clattering, though you can't say for certain where it was coming from or how many skeletons might be lurking out of sight in the tunnel.
"Kahlua," you murmur.
She ignores you. You sigh.
"Kahlua," you repeat, a bit louder and more firmly, "there's another Symbol up ahead."
She stops and turns, looking startled. "What?"
"And I'm pretty sure I heard more skeletons," you add.
Kahlua glances at the intersection, which is about twenty feet away from where you now stand, and says a word in Japanese that you hadn't heard before.
Gained Japanese C (Plus) (D (Plus) without Comprehend Languages)
"Language, child," Lu-sensei admonishes. His heart really isn't in the warning, though. "You're sure, Alex?"
"Sorry, Sensei, but I am."
"No need to apologize for this part, lad. But tell me; could you seal off this Symbol as you did the last one?"
You certainly have enough mana left for that, but the range is a bit of an issue. You'd have to dump more power into the Spell to Shape Stone to make it reach that far, and it'd be a little slower to take full effect. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but there's a chance that the necromancer may be lurking just out of sight behind the walls of the cave, and if he sensed you casting a spell in the direction of his Symbol, odds are he'd trigger it. The glyphs ignore their creators by default, so it's not like he'd be in any danger, and your group is close enough to get caught in the effect.
"I think it'd be better to ask Ambrose to disarm this one, Sensei," you reply quietly, before proceeding to explain your reasoning.
Lu-sensei listens patiently, and when you've finished, he nods in agreement. "Very well. You two stay put while I speak with the wizard and the other gentlemen."
You nod your acceptance of the order, and Kahlua acknowledges it with a soft, "Yes sir."
Your master then turns around and, murmuring requests and apologies to the rest of the group, makes his way down the passage to Ambrose and Tatsu's position at the rear, collecting the second guard - whose name you don't think you ever heard - along the way. There is some grumbling and scraping of feet on stone as everyone presses up against the walls to make way for the adults, and you quickly turn about to study the tunnel-junction, worried that the increased sound may have drawn attention.
One second becomes two, then three, then five, then ten, and when nothing happens, you relax slightly.
Then someone comes up behind you with the distinctive sound of sneakers on uneven stone.
"Hey," Tatsuki says quietly. "What's going on?"
"Alex spotted another magical trap," Kahlua replies.
"And there may also be more skeletons lurking just out of sight," you add.
"Huh." The spiky-haired girl pauses, and a quick glance over your shoulder reveals that she is peering past you and Kahlua and up the tunnel. Her eyes, you notice, are glowing slightly red. "Yeah," Tatsuki says a moment later, "there are definitely some skeletons. I can see three- no, four of them standing in the water in that flooded chamber we passed earlier."
You turn and squint, but it's twenty feet to the point where the tunnel you're currently in meets up with the main one, which is itself a good twenty feet across - that puts the far side of the main passage just on the edge of your mage-light. A few errant flickers of light dance across the surface of the flowing water, and you glimpse something that might be a bony leg or could just be a standing stone. Everything beyond that is darkness, impenetrable even to your ki-enhanced eyes.
Your mage-sight, on the other hand, registers the presence of four magic auras in that area, all close together and of similar strength. It takes you a few seconds of observation, but soon enough you're able to make out the distinctive signature of Necromancy that accompanies undeath.
"Definitely four more of those skeletons," you confirm. "And if they're up ahead, beyond a trap that I'll swear wasn't there when we came down this way-"
"-then they almost have to have friends waiting to hit us from both sides," Kahlua concludes.
And then, once again, you hear it: the clicking, clacking, clattering of animated skeletons on the move.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
Click-ick-clack.
That is a LOT of bones jangling about, you think to yourself, as the four skeletons advance into the reach of your mage-light.
"Sensei!" you shout back. "They're coming!"
Somebody back down the line swears, and an instant later, your mana sense registers a shaped mass of magical energy, pure Abjuration-aspected, as it goes shooting over your head and down the rocky corridor.
A moment later, the Symbol's magical signature vanishes from your awareness.
"Clear the way!" Lu-sensei calls out.
There is a great deal more noise this time, as three of the four adult members of your party make their way up the lines as fast as they can without falling. Tatsu appears to have opted to hang back at the end of the line - probably thinking that the necromancer might send something to hit your group from behind while your attention is focused on the obvious threat up ahead. Lu-sensei and the other guard pass you in short order, while Ambrose moves with a bit less haste - those fancy robes don't exactly lend themselves to freedom of movement.
The wizard has just passed you, and the first crunch of breaking bones and ring of steel on stone are echoing down the tunnel from the fight up ahead, when you hear a deep, grating snarl from near the back of the line.
"DEMON!" Tatsu shouts, over the sudden ring of Altria's sword and a high-pitched shriek from... someone.
Ambrose stops and whirls around, all hints of good humor absent from his expression. Riotously-colored robes or not, he looks the spitting image of a mighty wizard about to unleash great and terrible magic upon some poor bastard.
But he doesn't, and for an instant, you sense hesitation in the old man.
"Ambrose!" you shout. "You deal with the threat trapping us in here! I've got enough juice left to deal with one demon!"
He gives you a sharp glance, but you're already turning to face the demon...
...and suddenly, you're having a flashback to the World Tournament, specifically to that re-scheduled, post-bombing and -brawl match where Sakaki Shio's sister Reiko faced off against a warlock and his summoned demonic minion. The features between that demon and the one before you now are very similar: roughly humanoid proportions, albeit thin to the point of gauntness and covered in open sores and irregular patches of bristly fur; a goat's shaggy, horned head with a mouthful of needle-like fangs atop those deceptively slender shoulders; and in its hands, a long pole weapon, this time not an axe-headed halberd but a three-pronged blade, the outer arms too short to make it a trident.
If you were to be perfectly honest, this demon is probably just about the same size as the one Miss Sakaki defeated, but it looks considerably larger in the close confines of the cave, particularly with the tops of its curved horns threatening to scrape against the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Somewhat more troubling is that, where its predecessor was content to charge into close quarters, this demon hangs back, making full use of its reach advantange - and between its wiry arms and its weapon, which has to be twice as long as its master is tall, that's a CONSIDERABLE advantage - to harass Altria and Tatsu.
The blonde's draconic aura is up and running, but even with that boost to her capabilities, she's clearly having trouble keeping that gleaming tri-bladed weapon away from herself. Strength, reach, experience - the demon just has too many advantages over your friend. Tatsu, meanwhile, has produced a pair of nightsticks from somewhere - probably tonfa, given you're in Japan - and his previously professionally short and neat black hair has lengthened and shifted to a wild white mane, telling you that he's assumed his monstrous form for the enhanced strength and any other advantages it provides. Even so, the guard is faring only slightly better than Altria, mainly because the demon appears to be giving him the bulk of its attention.
Shaking off that brief sense of deja vu, you cast the Spell of Spider Climb, causing your hands to tingle strangely for a moment as they take on... decidedly unusual properties. Then you make like Spiderman, using a Body Flicker to surge up the cave wall and onto the ceiling, so you can get an uninterrupted view of the fight. As you move, you focus your mage-sight on the demon, trying to determine if any spells of Summoning bind it to this world, or if - by the absence of such things - it's more likely to be a native.
The demon's eyes - glowing a sickly yellow - glance up at you and narrow as its foam-flecked lips pull back in a snarl. Shifting its grasp on its weapon, the demon roars and makes a powerful sweeping motion from one side of the corridor to the other, forcing its two opponents to duck or risk getting smashed into one another and the stone wall beyond.
Even before it finishes the move, the demon has taken one hand off its polearm to point in your general direction.
Oh, crap.
Altria and Tatsu recover quickly and don't fail to take advantage of the sudden opening in their enemy's defenses, but the demon's last maneuver has left them both off-balance, providing enough time for it to get its spell off.
You're already scrambling for cover, of course, but rather than the expected death ray or explosion, a great cloud of thick grey mist suddenly fills the corridor. You wince, anticipating the burn of acid or intense heat, a supernatural chill, or some toxic, choking stench, but aside from a whiff of what you'd swear was eau de vomit, the mist appears almost harmless.
You say "almost," because the stuff is so thick that you can't see more than five feet in front of your face - and when you try moving, you suddenly feel like you're standing in the deep end of a swimming pool. Breathing is no issue, but the fog clings at you, weighing you down and resisting your passage. From the sudden chorus of alarmed outcries, you're far from the only one affected.
This is bad. Your Mage Sight can't pierce the fog, and while your Mage Sense is able to still get a reading on the demon's aura, the interference created by some forty or more feet of conjured magical fog is interfering with the results. More urgently, you KNOW that most of your allies don't share your sensory abilities, which means they're effectively blind to the monster's movements on top of being slowed by the fog.
You need to get rid of this stuff. NOW.
Already gathering and shaping mana in response to the demon's tactic, you call out, "Briar, grab onto something!"
You're not entirely sure - the fog muffles sound a bit - but you think you hear a certain someone say, "Oh, what now?" You definitely see the diffuse glow of a fairy light move through the cloud, heading downward.
Ignoring the commentary, you skitter back to the floor and launch directly into spellcasting. "Farore, I plead for your aid. Let your divine winds drive back this fog to reveal my foe! Gust of Wind!"
Gained Farore's Favor D (Plus) (Plus)
Wind roars forth from your position, tumbling leaf-like motes of energy whirling outward as a strong hint that the Goddess of Courage probably heard you. The resulting gust cuts through the fog like the proverbial hot knife through butter, but the bulk of the cloud remains intact - Gust of Wind only affects an area directly in front of the caster, more or less along a straight line out to a distance of sixty feet. Everything within two, two-and-a-half feet of that imaginary line is subject to the spell and the roaring wind it created, but anything beyond that is barely stirred.
You'd anticipated this problem, which is why you hit the floor before you made with the magic, and aimed the spell at a slight upwards angle. Say, thirty degrees?
There are shouts of surprise from your allies as the Gust of Wind sweeps over and past them, tearing the fog cloud to ragged shreds in its wake. Tatsuki, who is standing right in front of you, takes a stumbling step and has to catch herself against the tunnel wall to stay upright. Sokka and Katara are beyond her, and between them, they appear to have enough mass to stay firmly in place. Finally - and you offer a mental apology to Altria at this - there's Tatsu at the far end of the group, who seems unaffected but for the ruffling of his suit and mane.
You picked the adult as the "end target" of your spell because he's got a better chance of holding the demon off than Altria does. Also, this sort of thing is his job.
The Gust of Wind keeps going past Tatsu, howling down the tunnel and blowing wisps of heavy fog along before it. Looking over the heads of your shorter companions, and around the respective forms of Sokka, Katara, and Tatsu, you catch a glimpse of the demon's expression as it winces and raises one shaggy claw to shield its eyes against the ongoing gale-force wind.
Without the extra leverage to keep it upright, the demon's oversized polearm slumps noticeably downward.
AN OPENING, your instincts cry, as your mana surges again.
"YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!" you roar at the demon, as you cast the Wall of Force to lock it off from your group.
"I heard that, boy!" Ambrose yells from somewhere behind you.
Ignoring the wizard - and the sounds of bones being blown apart and pulverized - you focus on the outcome of your spell. Though the Wall itself is invisible to the naked eye, your mage sight reveals a translucent field of grey-tinted energy spread across the passageway, starting about knee-high to you and going almost clear up to the ceiling. The gaps at either end are to accomodate the demon's trident-like weapon, below, and the stalactites, above, so that they don't cross the plane of the Wall and disrupt it as it forms.
Your luck is in. With a distinctive, vaguely crystalline chime, the Wall of Force solidifies - and a moment later, energy ripples through in both the magical and visible spectrums, as the demon tries to raise its polearm, only for the weapon to catch on the lower edge of the Wall. Momentarily startled, the demon quickly realizes the problem and yanks its weapon back beyond the barrier, falling back a stride so it has room to attack the Wall full-force.
Your creation once again ripples into visibility under the assault, but gives no indication that it is going to buckle under the assault. Of course, you're well aware that a Wall of Force doesn't last very long - you'd guess somewhat less than a minute - so you immediately focus your mage sight on the demon again, ignoring the signatures of your companions, the lingering fog, and your barrier to lock in on your enemy's aura once more. You end up having to look down at its feet to get a proper reading; the Wall of Force is impermeable to most magical effects, which is just a little inconvenient.
"Alex," you hear Kahlua say from where she stands, still half-engulfed in the smothering fog. "What was-"
"Seriously, what the hell-" Tatsuki says at the same time, as she turns to face you with an irritated glare.
"Give me a minute, please," you answer both of them.
"Huh." Tatsuki blinks, stares at you for a moment, and then turns to Kahlua and gestures at you with one sharp-nailed thumb. "Are his eyes supposed to glow like that?"
"A pretty gold?"
"Yeah, kind of."
"Then yes, they are. Well, sometimes."
"My eyes are NOT pretty," you reflexively state.
Tatsuki smirks at you. "Hate to break it to you, Harris, but they really are."
You can sense a similar air of feminine smugness coming from your right.
It's times like this that you REALLY regret not having more male friends.
On the other side of the Wall, the demon has foregone stabbing at the barrier with its weapon and instead reared back, gaunt chest expanding sharply as it inhales, before unleashing a shattering roar. It reminds you of your own Shout spell, and the shift in the monster's aura indicates that it's essentially the same thing, which would normally be really bad news for your entire party. In this case, however, the Wall soaks the full eardrum-bursting, bone-wrenching, crystal-shattering intensity of the magic, and remains intact - if a bit dented.
The demon snarls in frustration, but it doesn't try to unleash another of those destructive roars. Perhaps it can't use that power more than once? Or at least, not in rapid succession? Instead, it draws its weapon up, assumes a guard stance, and... waits. Except for the thrashing of its tail - a long but slender serpentine thing you didn't notice before, and which is a feature you're pretty sure the demon Miss Sakaki fought DIDN'T have - and the misting of its breath in the cool, damp air of the cave, the demon could almost be a statue.
You get the distinct impression the beast has run into Walls of Force before, and is aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Having failed to break through on its own, the demon's chosen not to exhaust itself further, and is instead going to wait out the spell and come at you again when it falls.
It's not going to get the opportunity. Your mage-sight has finally penetrated the foul chaos of the demon's aura. Leaving aside the dark, twisted power that looks like the taint of the Hellmouth in super-concentrated form, there is a definite aura of Summoning - faintly intermingled with Necromancy - wrapped tightly about the creature, telling you clearer than words that it's not native to this world, but something the necromancer called up for his or her own purposes.
Which means that you can try to force the monster back to whatever hell-dimension it came from.
"Clear," an unfamiliar voice says from the intersection behind you.
"Clear," Lu-sensei replies.
"Foggy," Ambrose says then.
"What?" your teacher exclaims. "What are you- oh, what now?"
Or, you know, you could have everybody withdraw into the apparently-secured intersection, and let the adults deal with the demon.
"Sensei," you call out, "is the intersection clear?"
"It is."
"Okay, great! Everybody, please move AWAY from the big nasty goat demon! And quickly, because that Wall of Force is not going to last much longer."
You match actions to words by turning around and pushing your way through the five, ten, sheesh, nearly fifteen feet of fog behind you, largely untouched by your wind spell.
Emerging from the heavy vapors, you find yourself facing Ambrose almost directly, with Lu-sensei standing about fifteen feet farther down the passage and the other guard positioned a like distance towards the cave entrance. Broken bones litter the area like a calcareous carpet - at a guess, you'd say some fifteen or sixteen skeletons met their end here, most by physical violence, though a fair number appear at least partly dissolved. Ambrose's work, you guess. Maybe acid spells?
Speaking of the wizard, he gives you a look. "Wall of Force, you said?"
"The demon's stuck on the other side," you confirm, while moving towards the guard - and more importantly, the EXIT - to make room for Kahlua and the rest of the kids you can hear moving up awkwardly through the fog. "At least for another... twelve seconds? It's summoned, by the way. I was considering trying a Spell of Dismissal to get rid of it quickly."
Ambrose nods. "A fair opening gambit, at least with a non-native demon. Ladies," he adds, addressing not only Kahlua but also Tatsuki and Moka, who have just emerged from the mist-filled passage. "Move along, head for the exit, mind your step."
The girls spare a moment to take in the bone-strewn battlefield, both looking fairly impressed, before heeding Ambrose's instruction. Sokka, Katara, Kokoa, and Briar are visible through the fog - the littlest vampire carrying your fairy companion before her with both hands - and you can just make out Tatsu's larger form beyond them, as well as the non-visual sense of Altria's presence.
As for yourself...
You briefly consider offering to hang back with the adults and lend a Spell of Dismissal to the effort to get rid of the demon when it inevitably comes charging up the passageway in pursuit of your little band, but upon reflection, you have to admit that getting out of the adults' way is probably the most beneficial thing you could do to help in this situation.
If nothing else, it will save you some mana and put Lu-sensei and Briar a little more at ease than having you within eyeball range of a demon that's already demonstrated some magical abilities.
With a wordless nod to Ambrose and another to your master, you join the flow of kids and guards making for the mouth of Fang Cave. You've only gone a few steps when it occurs to you that there's another very good reason for you to head this way instead of staying behind to help with the demon, and that's the fact that the necromancer still hasn't turned up. You haven't sensed any Divination spells aimed at your party, but it's possible that the necromancer is skilled enough to have hidden them from you, or that he was getting decent enough information from his undead minions that he didn't need to resort to additional probes. If that's the case, he might have something in mind for you and the other kids, in which case it would be best if you were on hand to run interference.
"Not staying behind to help the old guys get rid of tall, bristly, and mean?" Sokka inquires.
"The old guys can handle it," you reply wryly. "Besides, there's a chance that we might run into the necromancer while they're busy."
There is a high-pitched whimper, and you turn to regard Sokka in surprise. That noise sounded a fair bit like a softer version of the scream you heard when the demon showed up earlier...
Shaking your head, you turn your attention to the cave, seeking more Symbols or auras of other magic lying in wait. Your mage sight doesn't reveal anything beyond the auras of your companions, but Kahlua and that other guard are a good fifteen feet ahead of you - if you spot something, any warning you raise may not reach them in time to prevent an incident.
You decide not to ask about the screaming. Even if it WAS Sokka, you can at least spare his pride by not accusing him of squealing like a little girl. Call it male solidarity, call it respect from one young warrior to another...
...call it paranoia and not wanting to let on to a potential imposter that you've tipped to their presence...
Enhance your supernatural senses as far as they can go without crossing the line into active scanning, you make a quick sweep of the party, comparing the auras you see and otherwise sense against those you recall from earlier.
...well, there's a faint residue of demonic taint from that fog, but that's burning away as you watch. As far as you can tell, everybody is who they should be underneath. Vampires are pretty distinctive, Altria's aura is unmistakeable, and you know Briar's presence too well to be fooled. Not to mention that everybody still has your and Ambrose's magic wrapped around them.
As you refocus your attention on searching for traps, you wonder where that sudden spike of unwarranted suspicion came from.
Maybe you need to lie down for a bit once you get back to the castle...?
The risks, you decide, aren't worth courting. Making a quick apology to Sokka and Katara, you step closer to the wall, reach out, and once again scale the stone like a certain brightly-colored arachnid superhero.
"What the-" Sokka begins.
"Alex, is this really the time?" Briar sighs.
"...weirdo," Kokoa notes.
Ignoring the commentary, you direct your ki for increased speed, and begin scuttling towards the head of the line. It doesn't take you long to catch up with Kahlua and the guard; the fact that most of the group has stopped advancing in order to stare at you was helpful in that regard.
"Alex?" Kahlua asks, craning her neck back to look at you. "What are you doing?"
"It occurred to me that there might be other magical traps ahead, and I wasn't in the best position to warn you if I spotted one," you reply, hopping down from the wall in front of her. You have to say, crawling along a vertical surface is a very odd experience, and the tricks gravity and orientation play on your balance and bloodflow are not easy to get used to.
"I see." Kahlua glances towards the stone floor ahead, and the glow of sunlight that lies off in the distance. "Is there anything like that?"
"Not that I can tell," you reply, after squinting at the stones for a long moment. "Still, best to be careful, right?"
"Yes, I think I've had my fill of surprises for one day."
A shout comes from the intersection you left behind. It sounds like Ambrose, and he doesn't sound like he's angry or in epic wizarding mode. If anything, he seems to be complaining about something.
You wonder what happened back there, but you've got a task that needs attending to already. You can always ask later.
The party resumes the advance towards the exit, the guard moving up just ahead of you while you fall into line next to Kahlua again. The two of them glance your way every so often to confirm that you haven't turned up any more magical surprises, and as it happens, you haven't; the only mana signatures you pick up other than those of your companions are the lingering hints of necromancy from that cubby-hole where the first bunch of skeletons attacked your group on the way in, and those are fading. The more distance you cover without incident, the fewer the questioning looks become, and a few minutes later, you've exited Fang Cave.
Almost immediately, the guard stops and holds out one hand, gesturing for the rest of you to halt.
"What is it, Kenta?" Kahlua asks.
"Just checking for footprints, miss," the guard answers, crouching to study the damp soil around the mouth of the cave.
"Are there any? Besides ours, I mean?"
"Not that I can see," he admits, straightening up.
You give the ground a passive sweep, but don't find any magical traces.
"Right," Kahlua says. "Well, then. We're out. I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone for how this little trip turned out."
"It's not your fault, Sister," Moka replies.
"Yeah," Kokoa adds. "The weirdo was the one who got hurt."
"Kokoa," Kahlua chides.
"Well, he DID..."
You shrug.
"Hey, these things happen. Good or ill, there will always be something we don't expect. Either way, it was interesting, and I learned a valuable lesson."
"Which would be...?" Sokka inquires, one eyebrow raised.
"'When he is in the enemy's hands, Mister Sword is no longer your friend,'" you paraphrase.
The other boy nods sagely. At the same time, you sense several pairs of female eyes rolling.
"Anyway," you continue, "it still wasn't as bad as the time with the giant electric demon squid, so no worries."
Nobody appears to have a response to that, and your group stands around in silence for a moment before Lu-sensei and Ambrose emerge from the cave. Where your master is at his inscrutable finest, the wizard is grumbling into his beard and appears distinctly annoyed.
"Problem, Ambrose?" Altria asks.
"The demon turned out to have more than a half a brain in its horned head," the old man gripes. "Rather than obligingly hang around to get banished or pulverized, it decided to withdraw into the deeper level of the cave. My guess is that the lot of you falling back through the fog tipped it off to who it'd be up against next. And this wet blanket" - he gestures at your teacher - "wouldn't let me go hunt it down."
"As you said earlier, we have a responsibility to see the young people safely back to the castle," Lu-sensei notes calmly.
Ambrose points one bony finger at Lu-sensei's face. "First, don't throw my own words back at me. It's annoying, and the sort of thing I turn people into adorably helpless little animals for. And secondly, getting rid of the demon WOULD make things safer!"
You trade glances with the rest of the group. There appears to be a consensus not to get in between the arguing old men, and as one, you turn and start the trek back to civilization. Kahlua gets out her phone again and, after a minute to check the reception, phones back to the castle. Whoever is on the other end soon hands off the call to one or more of the Shuzen adults, because Kahlua's tone - previously all "little miss checking in with the security minions" - takes on that distinctive note of child-and-parent interaction.
Mostly, she seems to be trying to reassure her father that she and her sisters are fine, the guests are okay - she glances at you as she says this - and there is a problem in Fang Cave that needs adult handling.
By the time you reach level ground, a small army of jeeps and other off-road vehicles is there waiting for you. Issa and Akasha are also present, looking relieved to see the girls - but you do not miss how they both shoot dark, dangerous glares in the direction of the cave.
In short order, your group is driven back to Castle Shuzen under the watchful eye of Akasha and what looks like two dozen guards, while Issa takes half that many guys in suits and a couple of less-bulky people with magical auras into the hills.
You could almost feel sorry for the necromancer and his demon.
Almost.
Upon your return, an early lunch is prepared, with Gyokuro sitting in Issa's usual place at the head of the table, and the other adults all in attendance. Kahlua spends a good part of the meal recounting the trek in detail. You feel the vampire matron's attention on you at a couple of points in the narrative, mainly when Kahlua is describing one of your feats of magic. When the girl gets around to describing your injury, Gyokuro actually turns her head your way. So do Akasha and the rest of the parents, forcing you to assure them that you're fine now, Briar has seen to the wound, and you have learned your lesson and won't be so reckless in the future.
Akkiko snorts at that.
Lu-sensei and Ambrose add their own thoughts on the expedition. You can't help but notice that not once does anybody so much as bat an eye at the part where your little band of pre-adolescents took down half a dozen goblins and their savage pets. Even Altria's parents merely nod in approval - her father - or smile brilliantly and reach out to ruffle her hair - her mother, something Altria endures with embarrassed squirming and hints that she doesn't mind quite as much as she makes it appear.
Lunch ends on a more or less positive note. Gyokuro makes her apologies and disappears, leaving the group under Akasha's care once again. Most of your peers gravitate towards their respective elders, but Kahlua approaches you and wonders if you'd be interested in a tour of the castle. She's already shown Tatsuki and the Water Tribe siblings around, before your arrival, but this is a good opportunity for you - and Altria, if she can be pulled away from her folks - to get the lay of the castle.
You can't think of anything else you'd prefer to be doing right this instant, so you accept Kahlua's offer for a tour of the castle. A brief discussion has Lu-sensei, Briar, Altria, and her parents accompanying you, and Sokka decides to tag along, leaving his sister - once again back in her wheelchair - with their folks. Kahlua's tutor, Ms. Hayashi, also pops up as you're leaving the dining room, joining the group as smoothly as if she'd been there from the start.
You notice her and Mr. Drake trading glances, similar to how he and Issa were glaring at each other earlier, but of a lower intensity. Suspicion, rather than overt hostility.
Then Lucia grabs the other woman's arm, and proceeds to chat up a storm that soon has the two of them oblivious to all but the foolishness of men, fashion, embarrassing stories of their respective girls - Altria and Kahlua cut in loudly SEVERAL times - and of course, the artistry of Castle Shuzen and its interior decor.
Trying her best to ignore the gossiping women, Kahlua delivers a fairly professional tour, her knowledge of and love for her home clearly shining through. Aside from providing you with the basic layout of the castle, she identifies every painting and tapestry you pass, revealing that not only is the extended Shuzen family well-represented - whether in portraits, in depictions of violence both glorious and terrible, or as artists - but various groups and individuals they've had dealings with over the years are also remembered.
The Hall of Enemies, as Kahlua names it, is a series of interconnected passages and rooms on the west side of the castle, three entire floors and a bit of a fourth where the walls are covered by what must be hundreds, even thousands of images of monsters, humans, and the odd demon. There are also numerous examples of statuary, a couple of which give you the eerie feeling they may have BEEN the enemies in question before turning to stone, clay, or other materials - which makes you wonder if the Shuzens have a gorgon on the payroll or something. The ceiling is likewise covered with images of battle, while the floor bears a tiled motif of fallen foes, face down and unidentified.
There is a VERY awkward moment when Kahlua earnestly apologizes to Mr. Drake for a lack of a portrait depicting him in the collection. She explains that while he certainly meets the requirements to have his image added to the gallery, it's customary not to do so until after the enemy in question is confirmed dead. Evidently the family has had to deal with too many embarrassing returns from beyond over the centuries.
Things get even MORE awkward when Lucia offers to do a painting of her husband on commission, "For the future."
As with any collection, there are certain works within the Hall that catch your eye more than others, enough that you're tempted to inquire about them.
"Kahlua?" you inquire.
"Yes, Alex?"
"Who's that?" You point at the image of the gentleman who you're pretty much sure HAS to be a vampire.
"Oh, that's Dracula."
There's a pause. She says it so casually...
"He's real, then?" you ask.
"Yes, but almost certainly not in the way you're thinking," Kahlua admits. "Mother and Father still say I'm too young for the whole story, but they did say that the villain in Stoker's novel was based on a particularly full-of-himself and annoyingly hard to kill demonspawn Dracula impersonator."
"...there are Dracula impersonators?" Altria inquires. She sounds as if she's not sure whether she wants to know the answer.
"Mother says they're like cockroaches," Kahlua confirms. "The real Dracula is quite a bit older and far more powerful than Stoker's fiction makes out - he's a Dark Lord, if you didn't know, and one that actually outranks Miss Akasha - and he doesn't have anything to do with Vlad the Impaler."
"He's also not dead," Mr. Drake puts in sourly. "At least not permanently."
Kahlua winces. "Yes, that's where the family got the rule about not adding an enemy's portrait to the Hall of Enemies until after they're dead from in the first place. But Dracula was already IN the gallery, and removing him would have been... rude."
"Speaking of that rule," Lu-sensei speaks up. "I take it Shang Tsung's portrait is also a 'legacy' piece from your collection?" He nods at the image of the ancient man in robes.
"Yes, it is. Although Father did say that he was dangerous enough to make an exception regardless."
Your master nods, apparently sharing the sentiment.
You inquire after several other images and objects as the tour of the Hall continues. The handsome Japanese man turns out to be Naraku, a spider-hanyou who caused a lot of problems for the Shuzens, and the divided nations of the Warring States Era in general. Although he, too, had a tendency to escape death by the skin of his teeth, he was very definitely destroyed by a mixed band of youkai, hanyou, and humans, all of whom he'd managed to mortally offend in one way or another.
The almost albino woman is one Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, an extremely powerful mage who died about two hundred years ago. Her family were - and remain - traditional enemies of vampires in general, and are renowned for their mastery of alchemy and the powerful homunculi warriors the mystical art allows them to create. Justeaze was the greatest of her lineage, bearing the rank of "archmage" - which, as Kahlua notes, is not something you get just by sitting around reading books. It seems that, during Issa's grandfather's day, several of his rivals for the position of Lord Shuzen ran into Justeaze on the hunt, and ceased to be rivals - or much of anything else, for that matter.
"Great-Grandfather apparently had a soft spot for her after that," Kahlua says. "Great-Grandmother swears that if Justeaze hadn't died when she did, he might have done something stupid, like try to court her."
When you inquire about the "statue" giving off a demonic aura, Kahlua confirms that it is indeed a demon, one which turned to stone when it was defeated by one of her great-aunts about a hundred and fifty years ago.
"We're not entirely sure that it's permanently dead," she admits. "But we've tried destroying it with magic, purifications, high explosives, and a lot of other things besides, and it's barely been scratched. Some of the family didn't like the idea of having a potentially live demon inside the wards and wanted to dispose of it somewhere off the grounds, but Great-Grandfather felt it was better to keep the thing somewhere nobody was likely to stumble across it and try to resurrect it."
"That happens a lot more than it should," Mr. Drake reluctantly admits.
The modern photo is of a woman named Nikki Wood, who was something called a Vampire Slayer, a title which is something of a boogeyman to the demonic denizens of the Moonlit World. As Kahlua explains it - with input from the adults, who all appear to be familiar with the tale - the Slayer is an otherwise human girl chosen by Powers unknown to receive supernatural strength, speed, fighting instincts, and visions of potential disaster. While the Slayer's primary purpose is to hunt the demonic breed of vampire, they tend to branch out into demon-hunting, monster-slaying, and low-end world-saving in general. For a variety of reasons, most Slayers don't live very long, but when one dies, another is called somewhere else in the world. There's also a secret society called the Watchers who act as trainers, repositories of demonic and occult lore, and mission-control for Slayers, but Kahlua doesn't have much to say about them beyond the fact that they exist and, apparently, are all stuffy, tweed-wearing Englishmen.
When everybody glances at Mr. Drake, he merely notes that he is Welsh, and has never in his life worn tweed.
Lucia adds she would have to kill him if he did. Tweed goes with NOTHING.
Leaving aside the general information about Slayers and Watchers (and demons, oh my!), the reason Nikki Wood's somewhat low-quality picture is in the gallery is because Gyokuro, of all people, insisted on it. Kahlua says that Slayers don't usually encounter living vampires, as the latter are quite rare and go to considerable lengths to ensure that their territories are free of corpse-vampires and other demonic trash. When such meetings do occur, they tend to be very brief, as the average Slayer just doesn't compare to the average S-class vampire. This makes Gyokuro's interest in Ms. Wood rather unusual.
To hear her mother tell it, Kahlua explains, Nikki Wood was a very atypical Slayer. For one thing, she'd survived no less than seven years in the role, when the average was a mere eighteen months, and accordingly, possessed a far greater level of skill, experience, and sheer good judgement than most Slayers ever managed to acquire. On top of that, Nikki was apparently a mother, something all but unheard of for Slayers, and had a very strong, almost familial relationship with her Watcher - something considered "unprofessional" and strongly discouraged by the higher ranks of the greater Watchers' organization. It was Nikki Wood's streak of independence, as much as her survival and success, that Gyokuro respected.
As to why she had a picture of the woman put in the Hall of Enemies...
"They did actually fight," Kahlua confirms. "Mother was living in New York at the time - this was before she and Father were married - and she was investigating a 'demon bar' when Ms. Wood showed up looking for a demonic master vampire she'd been tracking. Mother says the crowd was rowdy, drunk, and included members of at least four different competing factions, so when the Slayer appeared, a riot was pretty much inevitable. Mother stepped in to help restore order before the place got torn down, Ms. Wood took a swing, and Mother ended up throwing her out the door. Ms. Wood was smart enough not to come back in, and Mother had her hands full settling the crowd, so she wasn't able to follow up."
"The next day, though, Mother was looking into the cause of the incident, and when she heard about a powerful demonic vampire in HER town, she got angry and went looking for it. 'And the quickest way to do that,' she said, 'was to find the Slayer who was already looking for him and whose aura I knew, so she could lead me to him.' That led to another fight, and when Ms. Wood realized just how outmatched she was, she agreed to give up the information Mother wanted - and immediately afterwards, hit her with a vial of holy water and ran for it. Mother said she was really annoyed and kind of impressed by that."
"After getting rid of the trash, Mother did some research on Ms. Wood, and found out as much of her history as was known at the time. When she tracked the woman down to make it clear that she didn't appreciate being soaked with holy water, well, Ms. Wood had taken precautions."
"More holy water?" Altria guesses.
"And she had a proper sword, and she'd set up in an abandoned building - which she set fire to during the fight." Kahlua frowns. "Evidently, the sprinkler system was still working."
Knowing what you do about the weaknesses of Kahlua's type of vampire... that'd be an ouch.
"Mother admits she was in a bit of trouble at that point," Kahlua says, "but between the smoke and the steam and the hits she'd already taken, Ms. Wood wasn't doing much better. They were just getting to the good part when, of all the things that could have happened, the fire department showed up." She shakes her head. "Mother swears Ms. Wood was just as annoyed by that as she was. 'There we were, ready to kill each other and prove which of us was the better fighter, and we had to call it a draw because the mortal authorities had arrived and neither of us could afford to be identified. A whole night's fun, completely ruined.'"
Vampires, you mentally note, have strange ideas of "fun."
"Mother was occupied by business for the next two weeks after that," Kahlua goes on, with a note of conclusion entering her tone. "She'd set aside some time to face Ms. Wood again, she had it all worked out so that the two of them could have a proper fight without interruption... and then she found out that some corpse-vampire named Spike had already killed her."
"Spike?" Mr. Drake repeats, sounding incredulous. "Do you mean William the Bloody? Scion and paramour of Drusilla the Mad, once of the Scourge of Europe?"
"Yes, that one. Mother's been trying to find him and kill him ever since, but he's been extremely uncooperative about it. The fact that he usually travels with Drusilla, who's a seer, doesn't help at all."
That leaves the sword. Somewhat surprisingly, Kahlua proves not to know very much about this.
"Mother and Father say Miss Akasha put that there after she began living here," the girl says, eyeing the weapon. "Neither of them will admit to knowing why, and she doesn't like to talk about it. I asked her once, and all she said was that sword was a reminder of someone she hated, and something that should never have happened."
You look at the weapon again. It's not magical or demonic, and you don't sense any spiritual auras clinging to it. As far as you can tell, it's a perfectly ordinary old blade.
Gained Local Knowledge (Moonlit World) E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Leaving behind the curious old relics and portraits of your hosts' variously dead, mostly-dead, and very-much-alive foes and rivals, you follow Kahlua out of the Hall of Enemies and down a long, surprisingly artwork-free corridor, to its counterpart.
The Hall of Allies is pretty much the mirror image of the Hall you were just in. It stands on the east side of the castle, and while the artworks within are often just as violent in nature, the more peaceful portraits make up a larger percentage of the whole. Most of the figures depicted here are monsters, but there are some humans as well. No demons that you can see, though, whether in portrait form, photograph, or, uh, "preserved."
Lu-sensei looks around and inquires, "I take it the rules for this collection are a bit different?"
Kahlua nods. "A person doesn't have to be dead for their image to be added to the Hall of Allies, just maintain a strong positive association with the family for half a century or so. Though we don't add relatives or spouses - that's what the family galleries are for."
As before, a few particular works catch your eye, and you consider asking Kahlua about them.
"What's the story behind this claw?" you inquire, as you study the object in question. It's longer than your forearm, and at least twice as thick at the base - you say "at least," because the back end is all jagged and uneven, making you think that a portion of the claw was left behind when this part broke off. Possibly a significant portion.
"It's the claw of a dragon," Kahlua replies.
Ah. That explains why something so old could still give off an aura of power. A glance out of the corner of your eye shows that Altria is paying close attention to the relic and Kahlua's explanation, and also neatly explains that feeling of familiarity.
After a moment, you frown. It's not JUST familiarity. If you restrict your sense of Altria's aura to just the draconic element - and with a thought, you do just that - her presence is almost exactly the same as the energy lingering within this cast-off talon, just younger.
...you're not sure what that means.
"As to how we got it," Kahlua continues, a sheepish tone creeping into her voice, "I'm afraid your guess is as good as mine. I know five different versions of the story, and about the only thing they agree on is that it really is a dragon's claw. One tale says the original head of the family defeated the owner, sparing its life but keeping the claw as a trophy of the victory." She puts on a face. "I'm pretty sure that one's just family pride talking, because for the claw to be THIS big, the dragon would have had to be... well, colossal."
She may well be right. How's the line go? "My teeth are like swords, my claws, spears..."
"The slightly more likely explanation is that our ancestor was defeated by the dragon, but impressed it enough in the fight that it left the claw as a sign of approval - and an even more likely version is that our ancestor just found the claw, and lied about how he got it." Kahlua sighs. "Aside from that, there's the claim that we were originally the dragon's vassals, or the one that we're its descendants, but I don't think either of those is terribly likely."
Much farther along the Hall, you come to a portrait of a remarkably human-looking individual, almost ordinary except for his luminous eyes.
Kahlua identifies him as the avatar of Raiden, God of Thunder. She's never met him herself, but it seems that every quarter-century or so, he appears to test the latest generation of the family in personal combat. Exactly what the god is seeking in these trials, Kahlua doesn't know - apparently it's customary for all those who haven't gone through the test themselves to be kept ignorant, so as not to taint the outcome - but she is aware that when someone meets the Thunder God's criteria, they'll disappear with him for a few days, weeks, or months at a time. Some come back from these trips the same as when they left, while others grow as fighters and as individuals, occasionally to the point where their family hardly recognizes them.
And sometimes, they don't come back at all.
This is an ally?
The next object to catch your attention is a painting of a woman with Japanese features and clothes, but whose exotic coloration tell you she must have at least some non-human heritage. Kahlua identifies her as Lady Shiori, a matron of a clan of bat youkai who were among the first natives to ally with the Shuzens when they migrated from Europe. It was actually Shiori's father who first suggested the alliance - Kahlua points out a more traditional Japanese painting of a large, not entirely bad-looking bat-like creature silhouetted against the moon, and identifies him as "Tsukuyomaru" - after dragging one of the Shuzen ancestors from a shipwreck and traveling with him for several months, during which time they fought together against many enemies, human, youkai, and otherwise.
Tsukuyomaru's father, Lord Taigokumaru, was firmly against the idea of allying with foreigners, and drove the Shuzen in question out of his lands after forbidding his heir to have any further dealings with him. The Western vampire wandered the Warring States for several decades after that - thoroughly enjoying what Kahlua refers to as the "hospitality" of the natives - before hearing rumors that Taigokumaru had been slain. Curious to see if Tsukuyomaru might still be amenable to the idea of a mutual alliance, the Shuzen returned to the bat clan's territory, only to discover that his onetime friend had been murdered by his father, leaving behind a human mate and a hanyou daughter - Shiori. Out of respect for his fallen comrade, that Shuzen remained in the area, acting as a patron and protector for Shiori until she was old enough to stand on her own and rally the diminished bats under her leadership. Being half-human, Lady Shiori eventually passed away from old age, but one of her grandchildren is the current lord of the bat clan, and the bats as a whole are still closely allied with the Shuzens.
Incidentally, it was the Shuzens' alliance with the bat youkai which ultimately led to their association with another of Japan's great youkai - Sesshomaru, the Lord of the Western Lands, whose image is that of the aristocratic warrior in white with the furry... accessory you were glancing at. This alliance wasn't nearly as quick to develop as the one with the bats, as Sesshomaru is an inu-youkai, and thus has little to nothing in common with the vampires, outside of certain predatory and martial tendencies. There was a tangential connection through Shiori, however, as she was a close friend of the Western Lord's own hanyou half-brother, the warrior Inuyasha. By itself, that wouldn't have amounted to anything - at least, nothing GOOD - as the two brothers more or less hated each other, but Sesshomaru also had a human ward, whose education in "human affairs" was entrusted to certain residents of the human village Inuyasha chose to reside near and protect. Shiori and this girl met there and became friends, which led to Sesshomaru taking notice of the bat hanyou and her foreign guardian.
The result was a fight that leveled a small mountain, one Shuzen ancestor spending a week in recovery, and a less-than-immaculate Sesshomaru finding the whole meeting interesting enough to allow his ward to continue associating with Shiori. Formal alliance didn't follow until over a century later, after Lady Shiori had consolidated her control of the bat youkai, and the advantages of having European youkai as business partners had become apparent.
After all, the Tokugawa shogunate might have closed the borders of Japan to all foreigners, but that was a human matter. Youkai, as ever, did as they pleased - and having an effective monopoly on foreign trade and travel had evidently pleased the Lord of the Western Lands very much indeed.
The last portrait that really catches your eye is of a man that could be an ugly human or some kind of monster. As it turns out, he's kind of both.
"Frankenstein's real, too?" you muse aloud.
"He went by Adam," Kahlua corrects you. "And yes, he was. He was, um, 'born' about two centuries before Mary Shelley wrote about him, and he'd died of old age, or something like it, well over a century before she published her novel. Mother says she must have read writings left by Victor Frankenstein, because there are parts of the story that aren't wrong, exactly, but more like a madman's interpretation of what actually happened. And there are parts that Ms. Shelley must have just made up, for style."
"How do you mean?" Lucia inquires curiously.
"Well, for one thing, Adam never visited the Arctic. He didn't like the cold; it made his flesh even more numb than it already was, and frostbite was something he thought could be a serious danger, so he did his best to avoid any chance of it happening. He also didn't like the ocean, or any other body of deep water. The energy that kept him alive was prone to discharging if he got wet, and it reacted violently with salt water. The deaths of Frankenstein's family did happen, but Adam wasn't the one who killed them - that was just Frankenstein blaming a known monster for bad things. That's not to say that Adam didn't kill people, because he did - given his looks, the fact that he couldn't change shape, and his lack of familiarity with human culture or how fragile humans were compared to him, it was kind of unavoidable."
"So what did happen?"
"I haven't read the records, myself - something ELSE Father says I'm too young for - but Frankenstein DID create Adam and reject him because of his appearance, and Adam DID have to teach himself how to speak and read by observing humans at a distance. But given how big and ignorant of the world he was, he was seen, and word got around. Our family heard about a strange monster that was stalking people, sent someone to investigate, and found him." Kahlua pauses. "You have to understand, for older vampires, new experiences are important - and Adam was something that nobody had ever seen or heard of before, which made him very, very valuable to our elders. They took him in, taught him everything he could learn - and that turned out to be a LOT - and investigated what he knew of his own origins, tracking down both Victor Frankenstein and the lab he'd abandoned." The young vampire blushes. "They also, um, kind of kidnapped Victor Frankenstein and forced him to make another creature, just to see if he could do it. Adam didn't exactly object to the idea of having another of his kind around, but by then, he'd found philosophy and ethics, so he was upset with the elders over the whole 'kidnapping' thing. He actually tried to free Frankenstein, there was an argument, it got physical, and a fire started - which was when Frankenstein fled, thinking the second creature, 'the Bride,' had been destroyed."
"Had she?" Lu-sensei asks.
"No, she survived. Adam looked after her, taught her as he'd been taught, and between them, they eventually deciphered enough of their creator's notes to work out how to create others of their kind. Which they did, improving on the design and the methods used in creation over time. I think their descendants are up to the... tenth generation by now?" Kahlua glances at Ms. Hayashi.
"Ninth, actually," the tutor corrects. "But the tenth are in development. As I understand it, the Frankensteins are waiting until the Human Genome Project and that business with the cloned sheep are resolved, before deciding what, if any, of those projects they'll try to incorporate into their own efforts."
"Nine generations," Mr. Drake repeats. "In, what, four hundred years?"
"Roughly that," Ms. Hayashi agrees. "Frankensteins don't reproduce quickly or easily, and never in large numbers. Assembling and preserving the... materials... required is, as you might expect, both time-consuming and expensive. Particularly with all the necromancers and corpse-eaters running around."
"I imagine the relatives of the original owners of those bodies might have a thing or two to say, as well," the Welshman notes dryly.
"Yes, that was evidently an issue in the past," the woman agrees idly. "Which is one reason why the Frankensteins have always been major supporters of organ donation programs, people leaving their bodies to science, and similar practices. To say nothing of their involvement in modern mortuaries, and the associated technologies."
Okay, this conversation is going to creepy places, and you just ate lunch.
Perhaps it's the link you can sense between Altria and the dragon's claw, or the opportunity to learn about a couple of important-sounding movers and shakers in the politics of the Moonlit World's eastern regions. It may even be the awesomely creepy factor of the Frankensteins' origins and, um, reproductive practices that gets you.
Regardless, you find yourself curious enough about these various figures - and objects - to inquire more deeply.
With regards to the dragon claw, you are, unfortunately, stymied. Kahlua recounts the tales she mentioned, and as she mentioned before, about the only thing any of them agree on is that there was a dragon, and one of the Shuzen ancestors managed to acquire the broken-off end of one of its claws. You have no more luck figuring out which of the stories might be true than Kahlua, and you'd probably need a month in her family's library to even get started working out the truth.
Questions about Lord Raiden prove more fruitful, not the least because Mr. Drake, Lu-sensei, and Ms. Hayashi all have things to say about the god in question. He's something of an anomaly among major deities in that he actively looks out for mortals, even those who don't worship him, and not just as parts of the whole species and/or world he's responsible for. It's true that the Thunder God is most interested in warriors, because of their importance in a major tournament that happens once every generation, where some of the greatest champions of Earth are called to face the greatest warriors of the other realms. The prize in this tournament is nothing less than a wish, one whose power and potential surpasses that of similar magics worked by individual mortals, mighty genies, or even demon lords, and the competition is understandably fierce.
You wonder, idly, how this wish would stack up to the Triforce - whether "only" the Triforce of Power, or the complete relic.
As it happens, the latest Mortal Kombat took place before you were born, and it will be another decade or two before the next is held. The timing for the event is not as precise as the World Martial Arts Tournament, since it involves multiple realms of existence and must be held when their energies reach particular levels and alignments, opening the portals that allow the fighters to meet, and which will later channel the power of the victor's wish across all the realms, so that it can be properly realized.
Getting back to Raiden, though, warriors are far from the be-all, end-all of his interest in and involvement with mortals. He is known to interact with holy men and other philosophers, mages, scientists - especially those studying lightning and electricity, which you suppose should come as no surprise - the occasional politician or businessman, and quite often purely random individuals who appear to have no special talents or destiny at all, but who occasionally turn out to be more than expected somewhere down the road. Humans, youkai, and even a few of Earth's naturalized demons are all just as likely to draw Raiden's notice, and he pays attention to "foreign" demons as well - though in those cases, his involvement is mostly to redirect a passing champion to break some heads.
When he doesn't just make with the lightning directly, that is.
Kahlua has nice things to say about Lady Shiori, but to be honest, most of it doesn't strike you as particularly relevant. She was a good ally to the Shuzens in her time, she looked after her people - both her mother's human kin and neighbors and her father's youkai clan - and she was evidently something of a prodigy when it came to magic involving barriers. All of that was centuries ago, however, and she's long since passed away, giving the woman and everything about her a sense of unreality that you can't quite shake.
What you learn about Sesshomaru, on the other hand, seems very relevant - mainly because he is a pure-blooded youkai lord, still very much alive, and easily one of the most powerful beings residing in Japan today. And that's just counting his personal strength and mystical might; his political and financial influence are just as formidable, though they are, by necessity, wielded through a small army of intermediaries and deputies. Sesshomaru doesn't exactly like humans - to hear Kahlua and Ms. Hayashi tell it, the Lord of the West doesn't much like ANYBODY - but he's also not running around wiping out towns or killing everybody that walks past him. Mostly, Sesshomaru keeps to his own lands, great swathes of territory akin to the Shuzens' own pocket dimension, within which some of the ancient, untamed wilderness of Japan is preserved, free of the issues that modern civilization has unfortunately caused. Sesshomaru generally only appears in public a few times each year, as part of the duties that come with his title and authority, though every so often some poor fool will catch his attention by doing something so spectacularly stupid that word of it gets back to the Western Lands.
It tends to get... messy, after that.
And then, there's Adam Frankenstein and his "descendants."
The Frankensteins have undergone considerable refinements over the last three hundred years. The first two generations were all made in more or less the same manner, differing only in WHO created them - Victor Frankenstein had a gift for the work that his two creations needed decades of study and practice to truly duplicate. The third generation were the first to see genuine advancements in their design, being able to pass for large (and ugly) humans, while the fourth, created at the height of the Industrial Revolution, attempted to expand upon the capabilities of mere, reanimated flesh by introducing additional technological elements to their design. This led to a schism within the ranks of the Frankensteins, dividing them into one camp that preferred their established methods of improving upon (mostly) organic forms, another group that favored increasingly mechanical designs that would improve their capabilities and further distinguish them from their human forebears, and various offshoots of the two.
That rift defined the fifth generation of Frankensteins, and led to a number of fratricides among their ranks, something that had never occurred before. The murders appear to have shocked sense back into the race, as they collectively halted their experiments and spent over a decade debating the future of their kind, before combining the results of their research in the sixth generation. This batch of Frankensteins, while still mostly organic, incorporated modular design elements that permitted them to swap out limbs and even certain organs, whether temporarily or permanently. However, technological limitations of the time eventually saw a return to more traditional methods in the seventh generation, who are famous as the first Frankensteins able to pass as truly ordinary humans - sometimes even pretty ones. Their physical performance was diminished compared to most of their ancestors, however, a flaw that was corrected in the eighth generation with improved energy-storage and channeling implants, giving them the strength and resilience of earlier Frankenstein models without the bulk or inhuman aspect.
"They could also throw lightning," Ms. Hayashi notes with amusement. "Small bolts, mind you, and only one or two at a time, but enough to knock most humans and a fair number of monsters out."
As for the ninth generation, they were an attempt to use the advancements in miniaturization made during the 20th Century to incorporate the capabilities of older, more overtly mechanical Frankensteins into the greatly improved organic bodies of the eighth generation. The results were mixed, although the latest Nines apparently got some very interesting abilities out of it, before the existing plans for the tenth generation were derailed by recent developments in the field of genetics.
Gained Local Knowledge (Moonlit World) D
Gained Scholar's Soul E (Plus) (Plus)
Kahlua leads you out of the Hall of Allies as she talks.
The remainder of the tour is enjoyable. You visit the gardens - which, as they include a large number of night-blooming flowers for the preference of their masters, are kind of underwhelming by day - the library - VERY interesting, right up until Kahlua lets you know that they don't have any books of magic - and the game room - not a video game console in sight - and pass through a more or less endless progression of halls and rooms, which all have different names and purposes that don't mean a great deal to you. Kahlua also points out essentials like an easy route from the guest chambers to the kitchen, and where to find a bathroom if the need arises.
All told, you spend about ninety minutes on the tour, not counting the half-hour or so spent discussing faces, names, and events in the Hall of Enemies and the Hall of Allies. But even with all the walking, it's a pretty interesting afternoon.
And then, smiling brightly, Kahlua leads you to the sparring room, where you are completely unsurprised to see the other girls, and most of the adults, have already gathered.
"So, boys," Kahlua says cheerfully. "Who would like to go first?"
You glance at Lu-sensei, and see no objection. You glance at Sokka, who looks back at you warily. Then, even though you're pretty sure what the outcome is going to be, you speak up.
"I think the birthday girl should pick. Seems only right."
Kahlua's smile turns positively radiant. "In that case, Alex, I choose you."
As you nod, suspicions confirmed, a consoling hand comes down on your shoulder. You look over to find Sokka regarding you with respect and sorrow.
"You are a braver soul than I, Alexander. I shall sing songs of your courage and sacrifice."
Snorting, you brush off the Water Tribe boy's hand and follow Kahlua to the center of the room, aware of all the eyes that are on you.
"So, what are the house rules?" you inquire as you loosen up your limbs.
"We fight until pin, forfeiture, injury, or one of the adults says to stop," Kahlua replies. "Live blades and other weapons are allowed, as is magic, but only if both fighters agree."
...well. That shuts down the possibility of winning by a ring-out, but it also opens up some other interesting options.
"Is it okay with you if we stick to hand-to-hand and ki and youki manipulation?" you ask.
Kahlua blinks. "Wait, you're not going to use that golden magic aura?"
"Well, I could," you admit, "but the, uh, 'golden magic aura' is a major power drain, and after everything that happened this morning, my mana's down by about two-thirds. I could probably give you one good two-minute fight with what's left, but then I'd be out of gas and pretty much useless as far as magic goes for the next couple of days. Whereas if I conserve now, I'll recover a lot faster."
Kahlua frowns. "What about that spell you needed to borrow a pillow for- no?" she adds, as you shake your head.
"Sorry, but that's a once-a-week deal. Not really sure why, but it is."
"Oh." She considers the situation, then nods. "Well, if that's how it is, then that's how it is. And I suppose there's something to be said for the value of patience and anticipation."
"Indeed," Ms. Hayashi notes from the side of the room.
Ignoring her tutor, Kahlua points at you seriously. "But I definitely want to fight you at full strength before you leave, Alex. So be sure to rest up after this."
And that doesn't sound at all menacing. Really.
"If that is settled," Ms. Hayashi says, "are you both ready?"
"Ready!" Kahlua chirps.
"...ready," you reply, assuming a stance.
VAMPIRE PRINCESS: SHUZEN KAHLUA
Here you go again.
Although speed and mobility are not your greatest strengths, they are the ones that you feel will give you the best advantage against Kahula. Trying to match raw strength and endurance with a vampire, even in a friendly match, is just asking for full-body bruises and broken bones. Yes, you have Briar on hand in case of emergencies, but you've already HAD the one emergency today. Why worry your companions further if you don't have to? A speed-based mix of offense and defense is definitely the way to go for this match.
Though a little... "added insurance," would not hurt. You've never really tried to use your raw mental powers in a combat situation before, but as this is a controlled spar, now's surely an ideal opportunity to test out what applications, if any, the venue of the mind has to offer you.
Ms. Hayashi's hand rises, and then comes down sharply. "Begin!"
The pale aura of your ki snaps into place as, directly across from you, Kahlua's wild youki surges and for a brief moment, the two of you regard one another. You... don't sense anything of Kahlua's thoughts, though between your Ki Enhancement, the mental energy you're spending on top of it, and the active, aggressive state of her aura, you can definitely sense her presence.
Sensing nothing that would suggest a reason to change your plan, you move forward at speed, readying an attack-
!
-and duck to one side, feel the wind of a body going past you in the other direction, with the kind of "blink and you've missed it" speed only possible if Kahlua was been moving just as fast as you were.
You stop and spin to confront your opponent, and find that she's done exactly the same thing, right down to the fleeting expression of surprise on her face. Looks like you both had the same idea for an opening.
Thinking quickly, you unleash a barrage of Ki Shots, exploiting your advantage of ranged techniques, something you've yet to see Kahlua demonstrate even the most basic grasp of. You're not trying to do damage with this attack, just get her to move-
!
-you flicker in as Kahlua sidesteps to get out of the cone of the scatter-shot burst of aura, outrunning the last of your projectiles to land one, two, th- no, she turned the second hit and blocked the third-
!
-you weave out of the path of the strike and counter, only to be countered, forcing you back a step to avoid a gut-punch. You reply with a Ki Blast, point-blank and full power, hoping that it will be too close and too large for the extended vampire to dodge.
Direct hit!
...and now she's annoyed. Not visibly, but you can DEFINITELY feel it in her aura. Not full thoughts, not even the full range of emotions, but the strongest feelings Kahlua's currently experiencing - irritation, anticipation, a certain savage delight - are all right there for the reading, if you only look.
Gained Agility F (Plus)
Gained Battle Awareness E
Gained Hand-to-Hand E (Plus)
Gained Ki Shot F (Plus)
Gained Mental Sense E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
You rush in to attack once more. Kahlua sees you coming and blocks the blow - in passing, you take note that she has to make an effort to do so - before retaliating with a side-kick that you have to throw yourself backwards to avoid.
Gained Evasion D (Plus)
In the brief moment where you and Kahlua are both off-balance and recovering, you activate your Ki Sight, hoping that adding another layer of perception will improve your ability to predict the girl's moves. Kahlua and everything within a couple of inches of her is promptly covered by a dark haze: her golden hair turns to copper; her skin darkens almost to black; and her dress, previously pure white, turns red, red, red. For whatever reason, her eyes don't change, but it's still a pretty unsettling picture.
Shaking off your uneasiness, you push forward again. Kahlua blocks your attack again, and this time strikes back with one hand, which you dodge before responding in kind.
After several quick exchanges, you're forced to admit that, while your raw physical power might have improved enough since the Tournament to be a decent match for Kahlua's own - at least when you're boosting your efforts with ki - she appears to have the edge when it comes to unarmed combat technique. It makes sense; although you've not exactly neglected your training in the last few months, it's been focused more on development of your magic - and, since your trek through Navi's Silent Realm, your sword technique - than on pure hand-to-hand. And Kahlua was at least as good as you were to begin with.
Good thing you weren't intending to get into a slugging match, you think, before disappearing in another Body Flicker. You step to the side and turn, planning to come at Kahlua from the right, where she's currently very slightly extended in an attack, moving to recover - fast enough that even in the drawn-out instant of your technique, you can see her reacting to your blurred disappearance and repositioning.
Actually, wait. Is it just your imagination, or-
!
-no, you think, as your strike is awkwardly deflected with an elbow, Kahlua really did speed up just now. Only a bit, and only for the briefest instant, but the way her aura shifted...
Did she just copy your Body Flicker technique?
Well, even if she did, she's not as good at using it. It's not just about moving really damn fast; being able to stay in control is an important part of the ability, and from the way Kahlua's arm keeps going backwards until it's badly out of position, that's an element of the technique she didn't manage to pick up.
Taking the opening, you strike. The first blow provokes a surprised grunt, the second, a flinch, and the third the beginnings of a defensive curl. Vampire or no, she felt those hits, and while her superhuman constitution will doubtless recover in seconds, right at this moment, Kahlua is vulnerable.
Although you appear to have the strength advantage, it's not so extreme that you're confident about your odds of being able to pin Kahlua or trap her in a hold. Your skills in basic grappling just aren't very good.
Instead, you decide to keep on as you were, and press the attack... though you do make an effort to rein in your aura a bit, in the hope of hiding from Kahlua's equivalent of ki sense what it, and you, are going to do next.
Then you vanish into another Body Flicker, coming out of the move directly behind Kahlua, the worst possible spot for her to try and defend against you, one fist already flying.
Gained Body Flicker C (Plus) (Plus)
The results is mixed. Your first blow connects cleanly, clearly having caught Kahlua off-guard, and thereby hinting that your use of Ki Concealment was a success. On the other hand, the girl uses the momentum imparted by that strike to throw herself into a forward roll, which carries her out of reach of your second punch before it can do more than graze her hair.
As you were planning to put some distance between the two of you after that surprise attack, you opt not to pursue Kahlua as she breaks contact, instead assessing both her condition and your own. You're in good shape physically, having taken no real hits in this match, let alone a serious one. The state of your ki reserves is a bit more concerning - you've been spending energy pretty freely the entire fight, and are down to just over 47% of your maximum. That's, what? A full third of what you started with, gone in a minute of combat, maybe ninety seconds at the outside?
Meanwhile, for all that Kahlua's been taking the greater number of hits, she doesn't appear terribly inconvenienced by them. A moment's shock and pain does not an incapacitating injury make, especially when you're a vampire.
As evidence of this, when the blonde whirls around to confront you, her previously-interrupted breath has evened out, and that eager smile she's been wearing almost since you entered the room has gotten even wider.
"You've really improved since the Tournament, Alex," she congratulates you. "I didn't expect this much from your letters. Have you been hiding your training?" She affects a pout, which is spoiled by just how much she's clearly enjoying this surprise.
You consider how to reply.
"Sort of," you admit with a shrug, before charging in.
Kahlua weaves to dodge your first strike, and then the follow-up.
"That's good," she says, surprising you by not moving to retaliate, but instead reaching towards her right ear. "Then I won't feel bad about doing this."
She takes off the cross-shaped silver earring.
Released from a seal you hadn't even realized was THERE, Kahlua's aura hits you with the force of an exploding bomb - and this when she's right in front of you, while you have your ki sight active and augmented twice over. Without even thinking about it, you KNOW that it's only your efforts to keep your own aura restrained that prevent a vision from kicking in, and even that thin silver lining does nothing to prevent you from registering the impressions of Kahlua's aura.
RED. PREDATOR.
RED. TERROR.
RED. VIOLENCE.
RED. BLOOD.
RED. DEATH.
Stunned by the onslaught, your own aura compresses under the wave of unrestrained youki, turning faint and ragged. And then, you see... WHITE
Hardening your mind and spirit against the flood of psychic impressions coming from Kahlua's unsealed youki, you stabilize your own wavering aura, at first merely holding the red tide at bay, and then gradually pushing it back. As you do so, you notice that your ki, normally translucent except when you concentrate it into blasts and other particularly intense manifestations, is now visible as a mostly-white shell between you and the onslaught of vampiric life-force that now seems to fill the room. Bits of gold float through your aura, and you can catch brief flashes of other colors as your mood shifts.
You steadfastly ignore the color being generated where your aura and Kahlua's clash. It's just a trick of the eye, an optical delusion. Your ki is in no way pink.
Gained Cool C (Plus)
With your ki steadied, you firm up your stance, previously slackened by shock and awe. Kahlua hasn't moved while you were doing any of this, instead regarding you closely, her own guard raised, while she works to stabilize her youki.
"It's a new seal," she admits, after noticing your notice. "I'm still getting used to it."
"That makes two of us, then," you say, mentally gauging the current strength of the vampire girl's aura against what you recall. With the interference from that initial, overwhelming surge of suddenly-released stored-up energy now out of the way, Kahlua's aura settles at a level that is considerably higher than you're used to sensing from her - twenty, maybe twenty-five percent more powerful than what you've been picking up since your arrival, though now that you think back, her aura might have been a bit stronger even than this when you faced each other at the World Tournament.
You find yourself curious about those earrings.
Curiosity can wait. You're in the middle of a fight, and one that has just shifted against you. You need to regain your momentum, not ask after Kahlua's jewelry!
That in mind, you rush forward, Body Flicker engaging once more to move around behind Kahlua and strike-!
As you all but fly past your opponent, you notice that she's moving somewhat faster than before. Not by much, but enough to be noticeable. More importantly, you get the impression that she started moving at almost the same time that you engaged this technique. As such, you're disappointed but not terribly surprised when you come out of the brief burst of superspeed with your fist being blocked by Kahlua's upper arm. It's not a perfect defense, by any means, but it's a better outcome for her than being hit from behind.
Then Kahlua finishes her turn, bringing her other arm around in a youki-powered blow than you can hear coming, and you have to start dodging.
Gained Battle Awareness E+
Gained Hand-to-Hand E++
A couple of passes make it clear that, removed seal or no, you still retain the edge in speed over Kahlua, thanks to your Ki Enhancement. Power is another story. Previously, you were more or less matching her, but now you're at a distinct disadvantage, which plays directly into Kahlua's greater skill at pure hand-to-hand. Though your battle plan called for evasion over straight-up blocking, there are a few times when you're left with no choice but to block, and deflecting those tiny fists is like pushing aside piledrivers. Similarly, every time Kahlua blocks one of your strikes, you can't escape the impression that your hands are coming off second-best in the exchange.
It occurs to you that it wasn't nearly this hard for you to defend yourself against Kahlua's attacks back at the Tournament - but then, you were using Maximum Power at the time...
You set that thought aside for now, and focus on the matter before you.
It's clear that, as things stand, you're not going to win this spar. The evasive defense you've been maintaining is the only thing that's kept you from ending up as a mass of bruises - or perhaps a new wall ornament, given how hard Kahlua hits - and keeping it up has forced you to abandon a number of potential attacks. Not that you expect those extra shots would have helped much, as the blows you have managed to get off simply aren't dealing any meaningful damage.
Oh, what the heck. It's a sparring match, right? The goal isn't to defeat the other party, but to test your skills, improve them, and have some fun while doing so. And fighting on as you are would let you keep learning and improving as long as possible, with minimal risk of getting splattered - which wouldn't be fun at all - while still keeping things somewhat interesting for Kahlua.
Not as interesting as the full-power match she's stated to be after, but hopefully enough that she won't be disappointed.
So you grit your teeth, surge your ki in an unspoken challenge, and fight on.
Gained Strength D (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Warrior Born C
You last thirty-seven seconds - blocking half a dozen blows and dodging three times that many, while landing only four out of twenty hits of your own - before Kahlua connects with a punch to your midsection, and follows it up with a high kick. The force of each blow is pretty impressive, even through the natural reinforcement that comes part-and-parcel with your Ki Enhancement and the Mage Armor that you still had in place from this morning's expedition.
That lingering spell may TECHNICALLY count as a violation of your agreement not to use magic during this spar, but considering that Kahlua's punch STILL bent you over double, and that her kick sends you tumbling head over heels backwards and into a heap on the floor, you're just as happy you left it up. Your chest and chin ache something fierce from those blows, but only in the manner that presages a spectacular set of bruises - there's none of the sharp pain Lu-sensei has described as accompanying cracked or broken bones.
You shift your jaw and test your teeth with your tongue. Nothing appears to be loose, and you don't taste any blood. Lucky, you guess.
"Alex?" Kahlua inquires. "Are you alright?"
"Don't worry, nothing's broken. Just getting my bearings." You roll to your right to get your hands beneath you, and then push yourself up. "Thanks for waiting."
"It IS just a spar," she replies. "Are you ready to continue?"
By way of response, you charge again.
This time, you mix things up a bit, foregoing general strikes in favor of (theoretically) disabling shots at Kahlua's arms, particularly the joints. You try to feint while doing so, using expression and posture to deceive your opponent into thinking you're still going for strikes - and when she catches on, which you don't doubt she will, to attempt to misdirect her as to where, exactly, you're aiming.
It kind of works. The first couple of hits land cleanly, albeit to no real effect - you may be pulling your punches a bit TOO much, and try to correct, after which Kahlua definitely starts reacting to the hits. Even once she's actively defending against your new tactic, you're able to throw her off about half the time. It helps that the lingering pain of your earlier attacks is making her a bit slower, less precise, and more cautious. The problem is that her vampiric healing takes care of the effects of these attacks in a matter of seconds, rather than the minutes - or longer - a more mortal opponent would need to shake off the sting. Still, it's educational. You're getting a better idea of how much force is required to make a superhuman foe FEEL it, and a couple of your blows, landed more by luck than anything else, appear to be particularly effective.
Gained Sneak Attack F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Strength Control D
Your altered approach to offense is not the only change you make to your gameplan. Taking a note from Kahlua - specifically, how your blows lost a fair bit of bite after she let her aura out - you try to channel your ki to reinforce your body not for strength or speed, but direct defense. You get something out of the effort-
Gained Ki Armor F
-but the next time Kahlua hits you, it doesn't appear to have made a meaningful difference.
One more thing to work on, in your copious free time.
The fight lasts another minute, during which Kahlua knocks you down twice more, once by sweeping your legs out from under you, and then, at the end of the match, by throwing you halfway across the room - and not giving you time to recover before she's in your face, fist raised to strike.
"Match!" Ms. Hayashi calls immediately.
At once, Kahlua halts, her youki... not diminishing, not even relaxing, precisely, but easing up slightly.
"Getting bored, were we?" you guess, letting your ki relax and your enhancements fade.
"Maybe a little," Kahlua admits, as she puts her earring back on. The oppressive aura begins fading immediately. "And some of those shots you were taking really stung."
She offers you a hand up. All things considered, you accept it.
You follow Kahlua across the hall, towards the not-so-secret door and stair that lead up to the balcony.
"So what can you tell me about those earrings of yours?" you inquire.
Kahlua smirks and tilts her head in a coy pose. "Interested?"
"In the fact that they're powerful seals? Extremely. Even if they don't keep out environmental issues..." You pause.
She shakes her head. "Not really, no. They're supposedly protected against that sort of thing themselves, but they don't offer ME any special defense because I'm wearing them."
"Well, even so, I could really use something similar. Being able to hide my aura on the Hellmouth would be very helpful."
"I'm afraid I can't tell you much, Alex," Kahlua sighs as she pushes aside the wall-hanging and opens the door beyond. "I don't actually know HOW the seals work, and I'm not even sure who makes them or how much they cost - although I'm quite sure they must be expensive."
"That's understandable," you admit. "Honestly, though, I was more interested in studying them."
"I'm not sure if that would be a good idea," Kahlua says reluctantly. "They're supposed to be protected against examinations, for one thing, and even leaving that aside... I don't think my parents would be entirely happy with the idea."
She pauses to allow Moka and Kokoa to go past you in the other direction, at some speed.
Given that those two seemed perfectly comfortable with the less-than-glorious end of the morning's foray into the cave, you suspect that their enthusiasm now has less to do with some lingering, unsatisfied need for combat, and more to do with how watching you and their big sister fight got them fired up for another round.
You've said it before, but you'll say it again: vampires.
Interruption aside, you consider how to respond to Kahlua's statement.
When you reach the balcony, you have it in mind to ask Ambrose for a word later on. You're defeated in this - and kind of surprised, besides - due to the wizard's absence.
Thinking back, did you actually see the old man up here when you came in...?
You don't actually recall seeing him. Most everybody else was up here, except for Gyokuro and Issa, whose absences you'd already anticipated.
"Not to sound paranoid," you say to the crowd in general, "but where's Ambrose?"
"On his way back to Fang Cave," Akasha replies. "Issa called about fifteen minutes ago, and it seems his team found some things that the adepts were having trouble making sense of."
You nod, curious about what, exactly, said things might be, but-
"Nothing bad, I hope?" Lu-sensei inquires, beating you to the punch.
"More strange than bad, was the impression I got," Akasha admits. "Issa didn't go into detail, but he sounded like he was honestly curious about whatever it was."
As the adults talk, you turn to the remaining kids, and nod towards the younger Shuzen sisters as their auras rise up and they begin to battle. "Has anybody else decided to fight after these two?"
"Tatsuki has offered me an unarmed match next," Altria answers. "We decided not to plan too far ahead beyond that."
You turn to Sokka. "Care for a spar after them?"
"Sure," he agrees. "But can we not do the whole vampire-level glowing craziness thing? Because I already went through that dance like, a dozen times yesterday, and let me tell you, getting peeled off the walls gets old even faster than you'd think."
You nod at Kahlua, and let the matter drop.
"Would you object to a low-power use of ki?" you offer.
Sokka pauses. "How so?"
"There's a damage-absorption technique I'd like to test out."
"...okay, that sounds really handy."
"It could be," you admit, "but at the moment, I'm pretty sure a determined insect could get through it."
"So it needs work." Sokka mulls it over for a moment, and eyes you sidelong. "No crazy glowing super-strength or super-speed?"
"None."
"Okay then. I can work with that."
That issue settled, you turn your attention to the floor, while keeping your ears open for any interesting tidbits of conversation. There aren't many of the latter, at least none that don't refer to the spar in progress; Moka and Kokoa have been going at one another for about ten or fifteen seconds now, the younger sister with that unique brand of cheerful brutality found only in small children, the elder with a level of raw force not far shy of what Kahlua brought to bear, and an expression that might be considered bored if not for the tension around her eyes and jaw, or the very faint smile that keeps trying to creep into view before she hides it away again.
You get the feeling that Moka IS enjoying herself, but would be having a better time if she were sparring with someone whose fighting style she didn't know quite as well as she does her little sister's, or didn't have to hold back against as much.
Kokoa, on the other hand, is having an absolute blast, even when her big sister blocks every one of her attacks and sends her flying clear across the room in exchange.
Dipping into your enhanced senses, you study the Shuzen sisters for a bit, but eventually conclude that there are limits to what you can learn from these two. Even in a state of relative calm, youki carries a sense of wild aggression that most of the humans you've observed lack even when they're fighting. The only exceptions you can think of off the top of your head are some of the less-pleasant spellcasters you've met - which may be the result of their magic more than anything in them or their ki - that guy Berserker who lost to Altria and then just lost it, and the evil boss ninja Raidou. That limited pool of examples suggests that, for a human to emulate youkai in this particular manner, being evil and/or crazy may be a prerequisite.
You're not eager to test either option.
Aside from that, the way they girls are channeling their auras is visibly rough and unpracticed compared to what you've already seen from Kahlua, yet it's well ahead of the kind of efficiency you can manage. That natural aptitude for personal energy manipulation is something else you can't really copy, only mimic to a limited degree.
Naturally, you have every intention of doing just that.
Gained Ki Control C (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Moka is a good sport about this spar, but as the first minute ticks by, followed by the second, that little smile of hers appears less and less often. Towards the end of the third minute, it's becoming clear that she's getting a bit bored with the whole thing, even if Kokoa is still thoroughly enjoying herself despite being so effortlessly manhandled.
"I think that's enough for now, girls," Akasha calls out.
"Yes, Mother," Moka replies.
"Aw, but I wanted to keep going!" Kokoa protests.
"You can play again later, Kokoa. Just let some of the others have a turn first, alright?"
"...alright."
As Tatsuki and Altria excuse themselves, you turn to Kahlua, and nod towards her youngest sibling. "Is she like that with you, too?"
"Not really," the blonde admits with a sigh and a slightly sad look. "I don't really like fighting Kokoa. She's so little and cute and huggable that I'm always worried I'll actually hurt her. So I hold back, but she picks up on it and gets upset..."
You wonder if you should offer some advice.
"I get what you're saying," you admit. "If I hurt Zelda, even by accident, I don't think I could live with myself."
Kahlua nods. "Yes. Exactly."
"Still," you go on, "if sparring is what Kokoa really enjoys and most wants to do with you, is there some way for you to use that? Like, have you thought about setting little challenges for her in your matches?"
Red eyes blink, and a small furrow of puzzlement appears between them. "What sort of challenges?"
"Anything that would let you hold back without looking like you're holding back. I mean, if Kokoa's goal was to, oh, I don't know, tag your fist three times or force you to move from a particular spot... would that work?"
Kahlua considers that. "I have no idea," she finally admits. "Where did you even get a notion like this?"
"Well, Zelda's not old enough for anything like sparring, even if the folks would allow it, but games like Keep Away make her happy when she wins. I know Kokoa's older, but throwing in the sparring on top of that would be kind of the same thing, right?"
You probably could have finished that thought with a bit more certainty, but Kahlua is considering what you've said nonetheless.
"One thing, though," you add quickly, glancing at the stairwell to make sure Moka and Kokoa haven't gotten into earshot. "It might be good for you to have your mom set the challenges, just to head off the chance that your sister might think you're not taking her seriously. She'll take what your mother says better, right?"
Kahlua laughs suddenly, and to your ear, it sounds nervous. "Um, maybe...?" She looks away, and in a low voice that you're not sure you're supposed to hear, she adds to herself, "But how would MOTHER take it?"
The other two sisters rejoin the audience before you can say anything more, and the line of conversation is, by necessity, dropped. You refocus your attention on Altria and Tatsuki.
As it happens, the two girls are still in the warm-up phase of their match, circling one another, testing defenses and gauging attacks. Altria's aura is active, but at a lower setting than you've seen her use in most of her fights, while Tatsuki is showing a lot more patience and tactical thinking than you would have expected, based on how she fought during the trek to Fang Cave. Then again, Altria dosn't pose the same kind of threat that the goblins, sword-rats, or skeletons did.
"Are you two gonna fight, or what?" Tatsuki's mom abruptly calls out.
Both girls start at the interruption, but do not take their eyes off one another. Tatsuki, however, does allow herself a sigh.
"Really, now, Akkiko," Mrs. Drake chides her counterpart, in a somewhat less-carrying voice. "Don't distract the girls."
"But it's borin' like this, Lucy," Akkiko complains. "I wanna see my girl whup some ass."
Wondering when, exactly, the two matrons got to be on a first-name basis, you glance over and find them talking to one another from opposite sides of Miss Akasha, who looks a bit surprised by the sudden turn in conversation. She's also keeping a very close eye on a small clay dish - or maybe a very shallow bowl - that Akkiko has in one hand.
"First of all, it's 'Lucia.' 'Lu-ci-a,'" Altria's mother corrects pointedly. "Please don't address me by such a common name as 'Lucy.' And secondly, while I emphasize with your desire to see your child excel, there is no chance in Hell that she will beat my girl."
Near the back of the group, Lu-sensei silently facepalms.
Even if you weren't seeing it directly, Akkiko's leer is audible. "Wanna bet?"
"Name your terms, woman," Lucia replies.
"Dear-" Mr. Drake begins.
"Hush, love. I'm busy."
"Ha! Alright, then. Lemme think for a sec." Akkiko pauses to sip at whatever is in that bowl, rolling her eyes up towards the ceiling and humming to herself. "You mentioned earlier that you design dresses," Akkiko states slowly.
When was this?
"Among many other things, yes."
Must have been when you weren't around.
"But," Akkiko continues, raising one finger from beneath the dish, "you also said your little girl's a tomboy, so you have to fight to get her to wear a dress."
Altria, you note, has just gone very, very still, like any small animal suddenly sensing danger.
"Where are you going with this?" Lucia demands.
"I would like to know that, myself," Akasha admits. "Preferably before this gets entirely out of hand...?"
Akikko waves off the mild warning. "Well, as it happens, I got a similar problem with Tatsuki."
Now Tatsuki, too, is looking very nervous.
"So, what I'm thinking we bet on is this," Akkiko explains. "If your girl wins, you get to dress my daughter up in one outfit of your choice, which I will pay for."
"WHAT?!"
"Shaddup, Tatsuki! It's rude to interrupt when adults are talking!"
"I'll show you rude, you old-"
"And when my DISRESPECTFUL BRUTE of a daughter wins," Akkiko continues over said child's insulting threat, "I get to put your girl in a VERY nice kimono, at your expense."
Altria looks like she really, REALLY wants to protest, but is just a bit too well-mannered to follow Tatsuki's example. Instead, she casts a pleading look at her parents.
Her mother doesn't even see it, eyes sparkling as they are. "I will admit, I like those terms. However, I have one condition."
"Oh...?"
"Pictures," Lucia said flatly.
"NO!" Seems like Altria just gave up on manners.
"HELL NO!" Tatsuki says in complete agreement.
"HELL YES!" Akkiko laughs, before pulling another of those clay dishes and some kind of gourd out of nowhere in a burst of space-time magic. It doesn't look like a proper spell; must be something tied into the Arisawa oni heritage, you suppose.
"Let's drink on it!" the matron declares, handing the bowl to Lucia and pouring a clear liquid into it from the gourd, before raising her own drink in a toast. The two women tilt their heads and bowls back at the same time, drinking deeply of whatever sort of alcohol that is.
"And done!" Akkiko declares, lowering her bowl. She glances at the floor. "Well? Get to it, already!"
"And remember, loser wears a dress!" Lucia chimes in cheerfully.
There is a moment of silence in which Altria and Tatsuki trade looks of mutual suffering, fear, resolve, and almost sisterly regret.
Then Altria lights up like a Roman Candle, Tatsuki's own aura explodes as she seems to actually GROW a couple of inches, and the fight is ON.
Akkiko cackles. "That's more like it! Go, Tatsuki!"
"You can do it, Altria!"
"Are we supposed to cheer?" you hear Sokka wonder aloud. "'Cause I kind of want to."
A thought occurs to you, and the words slip out before you're fully aware of it.
"Hey, who wins if it's a draw?"
No sooner have you spoken than you sense all eyes momentarily on you.
Then Akkiko shrugs. "I say we stuff them both in cute outfits, take photos for future blackmail opportunities, and call it a day."
"That sounds about right," Lucia agrees.
...wow. Can you just take this opportunity to say that you are VERY glad that you don't have a mother like these two? And that you feel incredibly sorry for Altria and Tatsuki right now?
From some of the expressions going around, you can see that you are FAR from the only person entertaining such thoughts.
You decide to keep your mouth shut after that, and while you don't say anything to the rest of the kids on the subject of cheering, most of them seem willing to follow your lead.
Kokoa is the exception. Kahlua has to physically drag the younger girl back from the edge of the balcony, where she was literally hanging on each move in the fight, to the extent of falling over the side - or perhaps jumping over, and into it.
As for the fight itself, it's fast, brutal, and brilliant, not only in terms of all the energy being thrown around but for pure technique.
Tatsuki's skills at unarmed combat are clearly superior in terms of versatility, as you see her delivering strikes with almost every part of her arms and legs, attempting grapples, and even throwing her slightly-smaller opponent a couple of times. She goes for the throat, the stomach, the joints, the face - at one point, she grabs Altria's hair, and while she never tries to bite, you find the the idea that she might try it to be unsurprising. She's faster, stronger, and tougher than she was back in the tournament, and that savage edge you saw in her approach to combat has only gotten more pronounced.
You do note that Tatsuki isn't having nearly as much fun in this fight as she did in her match during the first round of the finals, though. You suppose the prospect of becoming Lucia's dress-up doll if she loses is getting in the way.
Altria's boxing-derived style hasn't changed from what you saw and faced back in the spring, but then, it doesn't really need to. Backed by the power of her dragon's soul, her blows are every bit as swift and strong as Tatsuki's, and they have the advantage of simplicity and well-practiced efficiency; where Tatsuki needs to be in a certain stance to use specific moves, Altria can just keep powering forward, and she doesn't need to think nearly as much about what to do at any given moment. A normal person using this method would get their head handed to them in short order, if they weren't knocked cold, but Altria is reacting to Tatsuki's attacks as fast as they come, evading them or deflecting the worst of their impact, and still keeping the pressure on, forcing the other girl to maneuver, to break off combinations to defend herself, to use energy that you don't think she has as much of to spare as Altria does.
You watch everything, your senses active and elevated to the point where you're catching glimpses of a ghostly red dragon over and around Altria, while a spiky-haired figure that's partly human, partly not, and clad in tattered shorts and a t-shirt swirls about Tatsuki in the same manner.
Neither specter turns in your direction, and they don't quite have the sense of Presence you've experienced in past aura-induced visions. Whether that's because they're distracted by something that isn't you, because you've improved your skills at aura-reading so much, or just because you're being careful, is open to question. Either way, practicing your "emissions control" can only be a good thing.
Especially as it helps you to make sense of these two girls, and the flow of the fight between them.
Gained Battle Awareness E (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Mental Control E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Mental Sight F
Gained Spiritual Control C
Gained Totemic Knowledge E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
The battle rages on for all of five minutes before, as you suspected might happen, Tatsuki's fighting spirit finally runs out of gas. Altria's in better shape, but only by comparison - between the face shots, the hair pulling, and the general brutality of Tatsuki's fighting style, the blonde actually looks more messed-up than you've ever seen her.
You won't SWEAR to it, but when Altria's spectral dragon lets out a silent roar of triumph over its defeated opponent, you think you see Tatsuki's totemic spirit make a rude gesture at the big lizard. They both disappear before you can be sure of it.
Gained Sign Language E (Plus)
"Oh, damn it," Akkiko grumbles.
"Look on the bright side," Lucia says, not bothering to hide her smug satisfaction. "Dresses and pictures."
Akkiko cheers up immediately.
Down on the floor, Tatsuki groans.
"I am so terribly sorry about this," Altria apologizes.
"Well," Sokka says, as he gets to his feet. "Looks like it's our turn, Alex."
"Looks like," you agree.
"Before we get started, though, there are two things I want to be sure of."
"Oh?"
"For one, we didn't decide on weapons."
You consider that.
"And the other thing?" you ask.
Rather than answer you, Sokka turns to his parents. "If anybody bets anything on the outcome of this match, I'm telling Gran-Gran when we get home."
Hakoda dons a look of wounded innocence that doesn't seem entirely genuine to you.
You glance at Lu-sensei. He wouldn't, would he?
"I'd rather stick with hand-to-hand, if it's all the same to you," you answer Sokka honestly. Part of the reason you're doing this is to test your new Ki Armor technique, after all, and doing that is going to require you to take a few hits. Given the option, you'd rather face a monster boy's fists than any weapons he might be holding.
Sokka nods. "Fair enough. I wasn't too keen on being on the sharp end of that sword of yours anyway."
You shake your head. What are you thinking? Of course Lu-sensei wouldn't wager on your match. It's just a friendly spar, after all. There's nothing to be gained except bragging rights, and your master has never been one to brag.
Also, unlike SOME adults, Lu-sensei doesn't have any deranged hobbies like dressing up his students in embarrassing outfits for his own amusement.
It does cross your mind to wonder if Briar might place a bet or two, but you dismiss the idea. For one thing, she doesn't have a lot TO wager, and you've never heard her speak of any interest in gambling.
You make your way down to the floor, Sokka following along behind you, stretching as he goes. You go through a few warm-ups yourself, though you save the bulk of it for once you have your feet on level ground.
"Altria, Tatsuki," you say, nodding at the girls as you pass them going the other way. "Nice fight."
"Thank you, Alex," Altria replies. "I look forward to your next match."
"Yeah, what she said."
"Don't expect TOO much," Sokka cautions. "We already agreed on no crazy glowy stuff, and no weapons."
"Even so."
A minute and some loosening up later, you and Sokka face off. You channel your ki, activating the simple defensive technique you've devised, but leaving everything else alone.
Sokka doesn't perform any fancy aura techniques, although you do sense his energy - an interesting mix of ki and youki, stronger than the former but less wild than the latter - settling into the heightened state of readiness that denotes at least some training and experience. You don't recognize the bent-kneed, slightly hunched stance the other boy is using, though given how it lowers his center of gravity, you'd venture it's meant to improve balance.
"Are you both ready?" Ms. Hayashi asks.
You nod.
Sokka nods.
MEAT AND SARCASM: SOKKA OF THE SOUTHERN WATER TRIBE
The woman's arm comes down. "Begin!"
There is a brief pause in which neither you nor Sokka move, just getting the measure of your opponent. Sensing that Sokka is in no hurry to leave his current position, and feeling a bit aggressive anyway after your expected but still not entirely welcome loss to Kahlua, you decide to take the initiative, stepping forward with a straight punch.
Sokka directs the blow away with his left hand, and slips his right under your extended arm, going for a quick shot to your stomach. You intercept easily with your free left hand, while bringing your right back across in a knife hand strike at Sokka's head - which he ducks.
Gained Hand-to-Hand E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
You're abruptly aware of the tension that Sokka's dodge has caused to build up in his legs, but without ki-boosted reflexes and speed, you're far too close to avoid it when he springs at you in a flying tackle, which hits you clean across the chest, below the arms-
Gained Ki Armor F (Plus)
-dragging you off-balance and over backwards onto the floor. You do manage to twist as you fall, so that you come down on one side with Sokka in front of you, rather than on your back with the other boy's weight on your chest, but that doesn't make the Shuzen's floor any softer.
Gained Pain Threshold D (Plus) (Plus)
Even before you hit the floor, you're struggling to break away from Sokka and put some distance between the two of you. For all that you've got the size advantage, you're not entirely confident in your ability to leverage it, particularly not against an opponent who appears to WANT to get into a grapple. Not only that, but you've gotten a rough idea of how strong Sokka is, and while he's certainly no vampire, he still seems to be able to muster more strength at a moment's notice than a normal human boy with his build could.
All in all, this puts you at a disadvantage, which you'd rather not deal with if you can help it. And so you try to escape Sokka's grip.
Emphasis on the word "try." He's only got two arms and ten fingers, but they exert the kind of hold you'd expect from something like an Octorok. You wrench free of one hand, only for the other to tighten. You go to work trying to break that hold, only for Sokka's other hand to grasp you by the arm - if anything, a better hold than he had a before! You force yourself off the floor, trying to put your weight to work more directly, and after releasing a WHOOF of breath, Sokka manages to get a foot in and flip you back to the stone, while still holding on and thus going along for the ride.
This results in the two of you rolling around on the floor. Which kind of stings, if not so badly as your previous fall.
Gained Ki Armor F (Plus) (Plus)
"Seriously," you growl in the midst of the tangle. "Are you... part squid or something?"
"Not squid," Sokka replies tersely. "But... Gran-Gran's Bear-Kin... on her father's side... hold still already!"
Gained Grappling F (Plus)
"How about... no?"
With that, you pull away as hard as you can.
Sokka definitely has the edge in terms of technique, but if he's stronger than you pound-for-pound thanks to his monstrous heritage, well, you've got more pounds.
You succeed in breaking free, and immediately roll away from your opponent, kicking away a hand that flashes out for your lower leg. A twist and another roll brings you back to your feet, in a half-crouch, facing Sokka-
-who's coming at you in another flying tackle.
You're already going to have a bruise across your chest where he hit you, and more where he was holding on. You don't want to get into another mess like that.
As Sokka closes in, time seems to slow down. For a brief instant, you worry that you've reflexively summoned up your ki enhancement - but no, though your energies are surging beneath the surface, they're still being held in check. This is just a regular old adrenaline rush.
Amidst the slow thump-thump of your heart, you let a bit of your mental and spiritual energy flow more freely, heightening your awareness of your opponent's thoughts and actions. You have an idea for how to handle this, and timing will be critical...
Gained Mental Sight F (Plus)
Heart pounding in your ears, you wait, holding your ground as if to directly intercept and counter the flying Water Tribesman, until at the last moment, you let yourself shift backwards into a roll, arms first breaking your fall and then providing extra leverage as you bring your legs up off the floor and align your feet with Sokka's chest.
The other boy's eyes widen as he realizes what you're about to do, but even if he has the ability to maneuver in mid-air, you've left him no time to call upon it.
As contact is made, you pull your feet towards your own chest, absorbing the shock and building energy for what's about to follow. Breath once again explodes from Sokka's lungs as he is momentarily bent double over your upraised feet, but even in his current state, he has the presence of mind to try and grab on to you. If his arms were a bit longer, you'd be worried about him getting a grip on your arms - or for that matter, were this a serious fight, a choke - but as it is, he has to settle for going for your legs.
Which promptly straighten up, releasing the energy of Sokka's flying tackle back into his body, tearing him away despite his attempts to hang on, and sending him flying once more.
"Not AGAAAA-"
Bringing your feet back down, you stand up, turn-
WHAM!
-and wince, as you see Sokka collide face- and chest-first with one of the walls of the chamber, splaying out like an unfortunate insect on a windshield. He hangs there for a beat.
"Match," Ms. Hayashi declares.
"Medic," Sokka wheezes, before peeling off the wall and falling to the floor in a heap.
Um. Well, you won.
You walk over to where Sokka lies on the floor, and crouch. "Feeling alright there, Sokka?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm just peachy." He scowls for a moment, and then sighs. "You know what's really sad, Alex?"
"What?"
"This was probably the LEAST painfully I've been slammed into a wall lately. Either that or I'm actually starting to get used to it."
"Scary thought," you agree, while giving him a once-over. You don't see any blood or obvious breakages, and from the way the other boy is shifting around and sitting up without gasping in pain or trying to avoid putting pressure on any specific body part, you'd guess that he's mostly just bruised. It's possible that his impromptu flight and, uh, "landing" may have rattled something deeper that you can't see, but that would take active magic or a medical expert's attention to confirm.
Tentatively, then, you give Sokka a clean bill of health, help him to his feet, and start back up to the balcony.
You don't pass anyone coming the other way this time, and it makes you curious. When you reach the second floor, you find Kahlua and Kokoa coming towards the stairs, both looking nervous - although Kahlua gives you a brief smile before passing into the staircase.
"What's up with them?" Sokka wonders.
You shake your head, uncertain.
"Welcome back, boys," Akasha greets you a moment later. "You'll be happy to know that no wagers took place in your absence."
"Not for lack of suggestions," Akkiko grumbles, before taking another drink from her bowl.
"...good to know?" Sokka replies after a moment's hesitation.
"We were also discussing the next few matches," your hostess continues. "Moka and Tatsuki have asked to go after Kahlua and Kokoa are finished, and Altria is hoping for a match with you after that, Alex. If that's alright by you?"
"I think I'm good for one more match, Miss Akasha," you say, while giving Altria a grin.
She returns it in kind, before you both turn your attention to the fight that's about to begin.
Kahlua appears to have taken your advice on how to deal with Kokoa, because rather than an all-out brawl, the two sisters spend the better part of four minutes in a high-speed, slightly violent game of tag, Kokoa trying to hit her oldest sister's upraised right hand while Kahlua does her best to prevent it. The first minute or so is relatively slow and awkward on both sides, that nervousness you saw earlier apparent in full force, but as they get used to the terms of the spar and calm down, the action speeds up. By the end of the second minute, Kokoa is once again grinning eagerly as she pursues her target all over the chamber, and as the third minute rolls past, you see Kahlua starting to smile.
You watch closely, of course, hoping to pick up further hints on aura manipulation, but Kahlua never removes her earring, and Kokoa doesn't show you anything you haven't already seen her sisters do better.
Finally, the match comes to an end when Kokoa manages to score a hit. Ms. Hayashi consults a wristwatch you hadn't noticed she was wearing, announces the time - three minutes and forty-one seconds, incidentally - and advises Kokoa to work on bringing that down the next time. The youngest Shuzen girl nods solemnly, and then proceeds to squawk and squirm in protest as her big sister gives her a congratulatory hug.
Moka has had a curious expression on her face throughout the entire match, and is sufficiently distracted by her sisters now that Tatsuki actually has to call her name twice to get her attention for their match.
There's another brief delay after the girls have started down the stairs - you faintly catch the sound of Kokoa's voice, raised in delight as she boasts of her "win."
You can't make out what is said after that, except that it's followed by a perfectly intelligible cry of, "You wanna go, brat?!" from Tatsuki.
Akkiko looks at Akasha. "The little one telling Tatsuki not to get beaten too badly by Big Sis?"
"Something like that," Akasha admits with a wry smile.
"Hmmm..." Akkiko takes a sip. "I don't suppose-"
"Moka already has a closet full of perfectly lovely dresses and kimono, thank you," Akasha replies. "And unlike some people, I have no need to force her into any of them."
The vampire lady doesn't QUITE smirk as she says that, but Lucia and Akkiko both shoot her dirty looks before draining their cups.
Kokoa and Kahlua return then, taking their usual places.
"I noticed you took my suggestion," you say to Kahlua as she sits down.
"And it worked very well, Alex," she answers with a smile. "Thank you."
You nod, as Ms. Hayashi announces the start of the next fight.
Tatsuki wastes no time in letting her inner oni out to play, her aura surging and her physique growing even as she charges in to the first exchange of blows. Moka fends off the opening attack, but a momentary flicker of surprise as fists cross and are deflected hint that she doesn't have nearly as much of a power advantage as she's used to. She compensates quickly, shifting her stance and going on the assault, only to let out an actual yelp as Tatsuki seizes her arm, drops into a reverse roll, and brings one leg up for leverage - more or less stealing the finishing move you used against Sokka to send Moka flying across the arena. The vampire handles her impromptu flight much better than the Water Tribe boy did, using her youki to shift about in mid-air in defiance of physics much like you saw Kahlua do back at the tournament-
Off to one side, Sokka protests, "That is SO unfair!"
-but Tatsuki doesn't appear the least bit upset about that. She just extends her original roll so that she comes back up to her feet, whirls around to face her airborne opponent, and charges, hands low and curled into claws. Moka has barely touched down when the Arisawa Express slams into her, sending them both down in a tangle.
Somewhere in the mess of arms and legs, Moka abruptly lets out a shriek. "Stop pulling my hair!"
"Make me!"
"Why, you little-"
"Oh, dear," Akasha sighs.
"She pulled Big Sister's HAIR?" Kokoa exclaims, looking and sounding absolutely shocked.
"S'what happens if you wear long hair to a fight, kiddo," Akkiko notes.
"But... we're not supposed to pull hair," Kokoa protests.
The Arisawa matron gives her a relatively serious look. "Were you told that in a fight, or out of it?"
"...out of it?"
"Ah. Well, no, you shouldn't pull somebody's hair outside of a fight. It hurts, and it's rude. But in a fight? It's just one more way to get a hold and apply leverage."
Kokoa considers that, and when she turns back to the fight in progress, you see that she looks... thoughtful.
Akasha shoots Akkiko a flatly unimpressed glare.
"What? Did I lie?"
On the floor, the now-furious Moka has managed to free her hair from Tatsuki's grip and is trying to pin the other girl down - or possibly just strangle her, it's a little unclear - but she's not having much luck. It makes sense; everything you've seen of Moka's approach to combat thus far has emphasized broad, sweeping power strikes and mobility, neither of which are any help in a grapple. She's still got her vampiric strength, of course, but you already saw that this wasn't as much of an advantage against Tatsuki as Moka expected it to be - and it proves the same way now, as Tatsuki, who's CLEARLY trained in this form of combat, gradually takes control of their little scrum.
Once again, you make notes, and this time, they're more helpful.
Gained Grappling F (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Ki Enhancement C (Plus)
Moka doesn't give up without a fight, but it's evident that she doesn't really know how to properly apply her strength at such close quarters, and in relatively short order, Tatsuki has her pinned. Not completely immobilized - vampire strength is good for something, and Moka seems to have really strong legs - and not without taking a beating in the process, but enough for Ms. Hayashi to declare the match over.
Moka stills for a moment, before red eyes glare up at dark brown. "Unhand me."
"Sure." Tatsuki lets go and pulls back, then holds out a hand.
Moka slaps it away with a snarl as she sits up.
"Moka!" Akasha says sharply.
The girl flinches, looking exactly like any other child her age caught in the middle of misbehaving. "Mother-"
"Manners, dear."
"But she-!"
Akasha's expression turns slightly stern, and you feel her aura ripple.
"...yes, Mother." Head bowed, Moka stands and turns towards Tatsuki. "I apologize, Miss Arisawa. That was... rude of me."
"I accept your apology, and I'm sorry about pulling your hair," Tatsuki replies. She seems a bit weirded out by the sudden formality, particularly her own use of it. "Um, listen. I could show you how to break a hold like that, if you want...?"
"...maybe later," Moka replies, before heading for the stairs.
Well. That kind of killed the mood.
You don't feel comfortable with the idea of sticking your nose into this particular bit of family business. Instead, you surreptitiously signal to Altria, and when you've got her attention, you nod towards the training floor, a questioning expression on your face.
She catches your meaning at once, nodding in turn and rising from her chair, sheathed sword in hand. The blonde pauses, then, studying her weapon for a moment before raising her eyes to you once more.
"Before we begin, Alex," she inquires, "would you happen to know a spell for making swords safe to use in sparring? Or should we ask our hosts for a loan of training blades?"
As it happens, you do know such a spell. The "Touch of Mercy," as it's called, is a second-circle spell that prevents the target from shedding blood, breaking bones, or otherwise inflicting potentially-fatal injury with any sort of weapon it wields for a short span of time - about a minute, if you were to cast it. That's not enough time for a proper match, unless Altria completely kicks your butt, but you can easily scale the spell up to third-circle and pour the extra power into extending its duration to compensate.
Of course, that begs the question of whether you want to spend another four percent of your mana on this. You do have to cast the spell twice, after all.
"I do know a spell that would work," you admit, "but if it's all the same to you, Altria, I'd rather go with training blades."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, like I said to Kahlua earlier, I'm pretty low on mana at the moment, and the more I spend, the longer it takes to recover."
Altria nods. "I see." Despite her apparent acceptance of your decision, however, she appears a bit disappointed.
"Also, there's the fact that my sword is already magical," you add. "I don't think using it in a spar would be entirely sportsmanlike."
The blonde considers your words. "There is something to that," she admits.
Miss Akasha has already signalled Ms. Hayashi, who walks towards the wall beneath the balcony. She disappears from sight, and a moment later, you hear a smooth, grating slither, as of stone on stone. Trading startled looks with most of the other kids, you lean over the railing and look down to see Ms. Hayashi examining a collection of weapons, hung in a cabinet that wasn't there the last time you looked.
You've said it before, and you'll say it again: VAMPIRES.
Shaking your head, you move to the stairs, Altria following close behind.
It takes a couple of minutes for the two of you to go through the mini-armory and find blunted blades that suit your personal preferences. This one's far too light, that one's too long and heavy, another one LOOKS good but proves not to have a comfortable balance once it's in hand...
Eventually, though, you and Altria face off, chosen weapons in hand. They are, incidentally, not made of wood, but rather, unsharpened steel. Due to this and the still very real possibility of injury, you've also donned a thickly-padded vest and helmet, pulled from a drawer within the weapons locker.
As you take your stance, you find yourself wondering if the lack of wooden or bamboo practice weaponry is because the materials in question can't hold up to vampiric strength, or because of the old "stake through the heart" business. You don't ask aloud, however, feeling that it would be rude to do so.
"Ready?" Ms. Hayashi asks.
"Ready," Altria replies calmly.
"Ready," you answer.
DRAGON-SOULED KNIGHT-IN-TRAINING: ALTRIA DRAKE
"Begin!"
Ms. Hayashi's arm has barely reached the bottom of its arc when Altria's aura explodes. You raise your ki to full strength as quickly as possible, but in the fraction of a second it requires for your senses and reflexes to kick into high gear, your opponent has crossed the all-too-short distance between your starting positions and unleashed a powerful, two-handed sidelong slash at you.
You haven't forgotten the massive force Altria can bring to bear in spite of her size, and you're aware that trying to directly block her opening strike will, at the very least, leave your arms numbed. So instead, you drop low - not quite to one knee - angling your blade to redirect her strike up and over your head.
The blunted steel of your two weapons rings out as clear as any impact of honed edges you can remember hearing across multiple lifetimes, as your sword flexes under the force of the blow. Then, as Altria's weapon goes hissing along the length of your own, you rise from your crouched position, pushing her sword higher and dragging Altria herself out of position and off-balance.
As you stand, you catch a glimpse of your opponent's face. Her expression is a mask, calm and collected, but her eyes are just slightly narrowed - not surprised that you're strong enough to match her, only considering the implications.
Then you drive the pommel of your sword down at her head, and Altria releases another burst of mana-rich ki, leaving you squinting slightly against the golden glare as she disengages, moving back just far enough to be beyond the reach of your blade - and by necessity, putting YOU beyond the reach of HERS. The practice blade in question doesn't seem quite as natural a match for Altria as the sword she's been carrying around since Ambrose called it up this morning, but it's still good quality as far as you can tell, and of similar design - balanced for use in one hand or two, sized for someone of her approximate (if not exact) height, and though not sharp, thin enough at the "edges" and "point" to imply that it's a double-edged blade with the option to stab. That's about the limit of your current knowledge, though.
Gained Knowledge (Swords) F (Plus) (Plus)
Contrary to her opening gambit, Altria spends the next little while circling you, testing your defenses with various attacks - some strong, some swift, others tricky. It soon becomes apparent to the both of you that, while your greater size, much-improved Ki Enhancement, and various other benefits are now just about even with Altria's dragon-fueled strength, she's got a distinct edge in speed and reaction time. Whose endurance is superior is still a big question mark, and as for technique... well, you knew coming into this that she was probably going to be better than you.
True, you weren't expecting QUITE this much of a gap between your skills, but on the bright side, at least you're learning!
Right, then. It's clear at this point that Altria has the edge in a contest of swords - and if you stick to fighting her this way, she's most likely to win. Fortunately, you've got other skills to draw on that may help you seize the advantage.
Time to go on the offensive.
Your ki ripples slightly as you draw deeper upon the purely mental aspect of your being, seeking to enhance your awareness and reaction times. Altria doesn't appear to notice any difference, and you're somewhat relieved to note that augmenting your brainmeat doesn't cause that dragon of hers to phase into view from the cast-off energy of her aura. Truth be told, you don't really "see" much difference when you look at your opponent this way, but Altria's mostly-impassive face does seem a bit more expressive.
Gained Mental Sight F (Plus) (Plus)
Certainly, she's surprised when your left hand lets go of your sword - at least until that same hand comes up in a blur of motion, fingers pointing forward, to unleash half a dozen Ki Shots in a quick burst.
Gained Ki Shot F (Plus) (Plus)
Altria makes no move to sidestep the attack, instead swinging her sword up, through, and then back across the path of the small projectiles, catching two, three, four of them in rapid succession. The last couple slip past her defense, but when they strike her chest and upper right arm, they don't have any obvious effect.
That's fine, because the distraction - brief as it was - gave you more than enough of an opening to flicker in, two-handed grip restored, and strike!
CLANG!
Steel rings out again as Altria's blade intercepts your own, deflecting the blow with roughly the same amount of effort that you used to divert her opening attack. The song of swords continues as you recover, divert a counter, attempt to strike again, are blocked once more-
-and then the hilt of your blade rises slightly, both hands still gripping it but with ki roiling around them, as you unleash a more focused, powerful blast right at Altria's face.
Gained Ki Blast E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Her head rocks back at the impact, more due to her surprise and the bright flash of the attack than the force involved, and once again, you seize the chance to land a blow!
CLANG!
Only for Altria to block you, AGAIN, and this time WITH HER EYES CLOSED.
Okay, that? Is both cool, and seriously NOT fair.
And then Altria opens her eyes - which flash with determined aggression - unleashes another surge of her aura, and begins a wildfire assault that takes every ounce of your skill to fend off. You push your skills with a blade to the limit and beyond, trying to hold back the flying, flashing length of unsharpened steel in her hands, but after just three blows, your hands are aching from the force of the exchanges, and within six blows, you can see the inevitable end of this sequence.
Gained Battle Awareness E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Sword Training C
Ki Armor or no, you're not particularly keen on getting smacked across the chest, and so you disappear in another Body Flicker, this time leaving a Doppelganger in your wake.
Altria's expression when her sword goes right through your illusory clone is one of shock, and it's accompanied by a general outburst of the same from the audience-
WHOOSH!
"Oh, come on!" you burst out, as the blonde girl twirls to her right, side-stepping the blow you made FROM HER BLIND SIDE, WHILE SHE WAS DISTRACTED.
Altria blinks, then grins. "As you like!"
And then, as requested, she comes on.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-!
You're in trouble. You're not used to sparring with a blade, let alone against an opponent who hits as fast, as hard, and as often as Altria does, and your defense - already weakened by your being off-guard at the start of the attack - is rapidly giving way. Each redirection takes a bit more effort for a bit less effectiveness, you're actually having to hard block some of these attacks, and Altria is pressing her advantage for all it's worth. You get off another Ki Blast, hoping to break her momentum, but Altria just wades straight into the attack and keeps coming.
Your arms are starting to hurt. Your grip is faltering. Your ki has plummeted, over twenty percent of your maximum spent in the last minute of combat alone, leaving you with a bit less than 17%, and while that's still more than enough for you to use any of your techniques, you don't have a lot left that Altria hasn't already seen.
SPANG!
And that last blow of hers has just wrenched your sword around, badly out of position. You won't be able to get it back into position in time to block her next attack.
She is definitely going to hit you.
Your arms ache. Your sword is badly out of position, useless for any defensive purpose, and Altria's blade is coming back across in a sidelong slash that is going to take you across the chest.
She is definitely going to hit you.
But that's fine.
Because you are definitely going to hit her HARDER.
Aura flaring, you put everything you have into a charge, crossing the distance between your starting point and Altria with a flash of light and a rush of displaced air.
Gained Speed D (Plus) (Plus)
This does nothing to stop her sword, but by closing the distance, you've put yourself inside Altria's strike zone. The base of her blade isn't moving as fast as the upper end, her arms are moving slower still, and neither are aimed as precisely as the business end of the weapon was; as a result, instead of being mock-slashed across the torso, you're thumped in the side by what feels like it might be one of Altria's elbows.
Gained Ki Armor F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
You could be wrong about what Altria hit you with; you're a bit too focused on rearing your head back to pay it proper mind.
As you bring your protective-gear-padded skull down, you catch a brief, Body Flicker-warped expression of surprise on Altria's face, as well as a not-so-slowly building glow of red-gold energy.
WHAM!
Gained Headbutt E
Gained Strength D (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Strength Control D (Plus)
You feel the collision even through the leather helmet, and from the way her stance falters, Altria felt it as well. That being said, the way that her aura keeps building in intensity tells you that the impact wasn't especially inconveniencing.
Well. That's disappointing.
You're standing at point-blank range with your opponent, who is a fraction of a second away from another explosion of magic-laced, dragon-flavored life-force. You can't tell if she's intending to re-open the distance between you so she has room to make proper use of her blade, take a page from your book and go for a high-speed collision, or just turn her aura on you directly - if she were to pull off something like your Ki Blast, you suspect it'd pack a respectable punch.
Think fast, magic boy.
Moving fast, you bring your right arm down and your left hand across your body, trapping Altria's arms against your side in the hope of keeping her from bringing her blade back into play. At the same moment, you push your defensive boosts as far as they'll go, and then activate your mana sight.
You have just enough time to register the sight of Altria's Dragon - still ghostly and not-quite-there, its presence muted, its jaws widely-parted as a MOLTEN GLOW surges up its VOLCANIC THROAT - before her aura goes off in your face, and there is a tremendous YANK on your side.
You had a plan, and even as the dragon-fire/mana-burst/aura-bomb hits you, you struggle to carry it out. You try to remember what it felt like, those months ago, when you drank the mana recovery potion. You strive to focus on the sensation of mana being drawn into your body from the environment, and fight to recreate it in some form. Even with the image of FIRE coming at you, you force yourself to clamp down on your aura, shut out the vision, and breathe.
It's too much. You're trying to do too many things in too short a span of time: trapping your opponent when she very much does not wish to BE trapped; reinforcing your ki, while at the same time, suppressing it; reading a rapidly-changing high-energy source of mana; surfing through your memories; and this attempt at a brand spanking new, just-conceived and completely untested method of mana recovery.
Your grip on Altria fails, her arms and sword tearing free and dragging you forward, badly off-balance, as she rides a wave of draconic power away from you. Your aura wavers, a combination of mental confusion and the sudden force of Altria's breakaway collapsing the enhancements you were using it to maintain.
Gained Ki Armor E
You are momentarily dazzled by the wave of bright, warm, reddish-gold energy that washes over you, and in that instant, you lose track of your recollections and the technique you were trying to build on them.
And then, having inhaled a fair-sized quantity of magically-charged life-force, you start gasping and coughing in a reflexive attempt to purge that foreign power from your system. The passage of Altria's energy leaves your mouth and throat feeling much like you'd just swallowed a piece of food that was slightly too hot for comfort, and when you force it back the way it came, they're scalded a second time. After that, you have to bow your head and focus on your breathing, shutting everything else out.
Your chest doesn't hurt.
But it does feel... tender.
Gained Mana Burn F
This... may have been a bad idea.
You become aware that there is a hand on your back, and several people standing nearby - but not so close as to crowd you.
"Are you alright, lad?" Lu-sensei asks.
"Getting there, Sensei," you cough. Slowly, you straighten up and take in the scene.
Lu-sensei is standing to your right, and Briar hovers to your left, wand out and the words of diagnostic spells falling from her lips in an ongoing stream. A rather shocked Altria stands several feet away with her mother's arm around her shoulders, and Ms. Hayashi is over to the right, regarding you intently but with no obvious concern. Everybody else is still upon the balcony, although no one appears to be standing.
"What happened?" your master inquires.
You take a moment to dry your eyes and cough one more time before answering your teacher.
"I was trying to recharge, Sensei. The spar had pretty much wiped out my ki, and when I closed with Altria and saw her glowing, I realized there was about to be a lot of energy in the air, some of it ki, some of it mana. I remembered how that mana potion I used after the Tournament tapped into environmental mana to get some of its power, and I thought I could recreate the effect, at least on a small scale, but between it being my first try, Altria's aura being a lot... well, HOTTER than I was expecting, and me losing my concentration because of that and everything else I was trying to do in the middle of a fight... it kind of blew up."
There is a small smack as Briar facepalms.
"As it happens, Alex," Lu-sensei says levelly, "there IS a technique for cycling ambient ki through the body to improve one's vitality and recovery. I don't know how or even IF it would work with regards to magic, and I don't teach it because it's the sort of thing you have to use CONSTANTLY to see any benefits from - and voluntarily taking in MORE of the Hellmouth's corruption is just an incredibly bad idea all around."
You nod, understanding your master's reasoning and sharing his concern-
"I'll have to ask you not to try that again," he adds.
-although perhaps not to the same extent.
All things considered, it's pretty clear that this match is over. Is there anything else you want to do before the group moves on?