Shinra, in a short amount of time, had metamorphosed into a completely different person. The most change had happened to his vision, and his ability to process data. Even now, as the dark Scimitar sliced towards him, his body was reacting to the output of Daemon prediction, while noticing that his core was brighter to his vampire eyes than the other Assassins were.He half turned to avoid the scimitar thrust, then bobbed and weaved to keep from losing his head to the quick horizontal slash the attack changed into.'This guy uses that huge sword like it is a fencing foil. I need to be careful.' He tried not to think about his wounded chest, his limp arm, or all the blood he'd lost. He jumped back into the hall, creating some space, but also letting the assassin out of the doorway where his swing was hampered.Shinra noticed that his free hand was still tracing signs in the air, and that his midsection kept getting brighter. 'What sort of spell affects someone's belly, and why cast
“Father!” Sardi then said out loud, perhaps too loudly. The vampires all looked at him as he looked from the General to Cardual and back.Eltast wore a grin that almost split his face, and Selena had a gentle smile, as if taking pity on him. Cardual looked at him blankly, and Mimi was still focused on Wintersbane. Mimi was very focused and Sardi could tell she was using high level spells, because he couldn’t see most of the weaves, just the lowest 3 levels.“She can use human magic!” Sardi needed to stop blurting his thoughts out loud. At this, Eltast roared with laughter, and even Cardual’s lips seemed to twitch.“Young member of the Imperial family, do not worry, General Mimi is a mage prodigy, your friend is in good hands.” Selena said to calm him down.“Well, I wouldn’t call him a friend, but Sheriff, I mean, Major Wintersbane is a good person.”“Quite powerful too. That venom attack would have killed most humans immediately,” Cardual offered. It seemed that no one was goin
Cardual was moving as soon as the bone bullet was fired at his daughter, but, somehow, the human moved faster! ‘How did he…?’ but Cardual realised it wasn’t speed he lost to, it was instinct. The human moved before he’d even known what he was doing.‘That boy is a warrior. A foolish one, because he has no sense of self preservation,’ Cardual thought. He was surprised again when the mage’s magic bullet blew the head off the skeleton warrior that had been hiding under the pile of zombies nearby. Then Cardual was beside the boy, and it was bad.“Eltast, secure the perimeter. Selena, check to make sure there are no more enemies biding their time in here. Mimi, you need to help this boy right away, it’s bad.”Eltast didn’t say anything, he’d already flashed away to the furthest breach in the Manor’s wall.“Yes, my Lord,” Selena said. She drew a symbol in the air and touched her eyes, and Cardual knew she was enhancing her vision with blood magic.Mimi turned from the Major to survey
Cardual was too late. He wasn’t sure what spell his daughter cast, but her lips glowed crimson, and she pressed them to the boy’s and then forced air into his lungs. She kept breathing into his mouth, steadily, like a heartbeat. Time seemed to hold still, and then she raised her head and smiled. At first Cardual couldn’t tell why, but then he noticed the slight rise and fall of Sardi’s chest. She had done it, somehow. That was the breathing of a living person, not a vampire.“What have you done, my dear?” Cardual had let his professional mask slip, utterly amazed by what she had done here. ‘Human magic is indeed powerful,’ it sent a shiver through his spine. His daughter was powerful, and dangerous.Mimi smiled up at him, a smile he hadn’t seen since she was a little girl. “I saved my betrothed. It was the least I could do, right?” Her head dipped a little after she spoke. She was drained of energy. Cardual knew that magic tired her, and she was injured earlier, and jus
[Magical brightness detected, abilities impacted] Shinra didn’t want to see the pop up from the system, but it didn’t surprise him. Just seeing how insubstantial his Shadow Strike was, he knew he was in trouble. ‘This is not a good match up for me. So much for taking them down one at a time,’ he thought. This showed a glaring weakness of Shadow Strike, because light and fire based armour wasn’t uncommon. They usually dealt damage to their assailants, and, apparently, nullified the effect of his Shadow Blades. ‘What kind of Assassin lights himself up like an Angel though?’ The shining scimitar sliced towards him, and he bent over backwards, falling back into the bed. He rolled out onto the far side. ‘Shit. The sword is stronger too.’ As it sliced over his chest, he felt the light and heat impact him. ‘Do I have any skills that will help?’ Truthfully, he was so excited about Shadow Strike, that he hadn’t considered anything else. His Vampire vision had faded before the bright
Shinra should have been fading fast, but now that the rush of battle had passed, he was feeling ok. He had gathered up the sheets from the bed and used them to rebandage himself. Basically he wadded some up against the wound, and then wrapped it tightly in place. He refused to look at the hole in his body, and knew he needed magical help. Perhaps adrenaline was still keeping him going? ‘What did you mean by Upgrade, System?’ [Quest Update: Assassin Guild Destruction] [Assassins killed: 23] [Assassins killed by Shinra: 15 [Assassins remaining in Akasooki: 14 (estimated)] [Hours Remaining: 36.5] [Experience Awarded: [Assassin Assassination: Captain Class x 3 | Lieutenant Class x 2] [Points Awarded: Captains: 2250 Lieutenants: 3000 Discovered Safe House: 1000 Infiltrated Base Undetected : 2000 Eliminated one cell without raising an alarm: 1000 Perfect Assassination x 1: 5000 Assassination without battle x 2: 5000 Assassination with battle x2: - 1000 Injured during A
[Rebooting][3…][2…][1…]Shinra sat up straight and braced for excruciating pain. His hands were already pressed against his temples to try and hold off the headache when he realised that, not only did his head not hurt, but he could move both arms.‘What the hell…’ he thought, and then pulled aside his makeshift bandage. Only smooth skin was visible beneath. Not even a scar. He looked around, and he was still in the blood soaked room he’d battled the Assassin in. ‘I guess a cleared base is as safe as anywhere to pass out,’ he thought. Was there less blood than he remembered? ‘That huge puddle must have leaked between the floorboards,’ he thought.“I’m alive… I’m alive! System? Am I ok?” He didn’t feel terrible before the upgrade, but he knew that was probably due to blood loss. Now he felt… better than ever? He jumped up from the floor, and he almost hit the ceiling before he landed silently on his feet. ‘Holy $hit!’ Even before, as his strength and speed stats had ste
“The secret to magical combat is…” the fat young man said, his mouth splitting wide in a grin. He looked like a roasted ham, glistening with fat and oils. His audience was a group of 3 well dressed ladies, and, somehow, they seemed very interested in what he had to say. “Being more powerful than everyone else!” He threw his head back in a laugh, then downed his drink. He made a rude motion to a passing waiter for another.The girls all tittered behind their gloved hands, looking both elegant and childish in the same instant.‘I guess he is someone important?’ Raisd hated the politics and intrigue of the palace, and couldn’t stand all the people constantly flouting their importance. He knew it was because he himself was so important, and he didn’t want to be. ‘The Emperor has let me hide in the background these last few years, but that is about to change. The second in line is going to get a burst of attention.’ He almost laughed at the thought. The Emperor’s successor changed