The armoured monster looked like a Mage Knight, except it was half again as big as most men, standing at least 8 feet tall. The armour was a swirled black and blue, with hints of silver shining through near the edges. The effect was like a painting of a galaxy… or a tarnished silver tea pot. It swung a 6 foot long broadsword through the air in front of it, as if testing its weight. Impressive, because it held it in one hand. The other hand held a small bronze rod, covered in dense runes. A dark velvet cape fluttered from its shoulders, obviously of high quality, but covered in the dirt of battles and the grave. ‘You could almost think it was just a regular knight,’ Selena thought, but then she looked into the visor of the Knight’s helm, and shuddered. ‘Those burning coal eyes are not human. Malevolent magic seeps out of them.’ If she focused her vision, she could partially see the weaves and auras that encircled the demon. Vampires lost the ability to work with magic the wa
Shinra awoke on a small cot in a nearly empty room, a faint glow coming from a spelled globe beside the bed. [Shinra gets up, practices Shadow strike, and notices that he can tell someone is outside with Vampire vision!] ‘I must be in one of the overnight rooms in the station,’ he thought. Shinra was a little embarrassed, ‘I really did pass out in front of the Captain. Maybe I’m still dealing with the effects of Selena’s attack.’ He needed to stop making a habit of dying. ‘I went through a lot. Just using Shadow Strike may have drained me.’ Thinking about his new ability made him sit up. He wanted to try it again. After all, he was all but unarmed. He didn’t know where the katana had gone, so he only had his folding knife. He looked at the dark windowless room and thought it was the perfect place to try it again. The globe casted more shadows than light here! “Shadow Strike,” he said quietly. The system flashed in his periphery, but he didn’t even notice it anymore. He wa
Eyes are immensely important, and do complicated things. The eyes of Vampires are even more impressive than the human equivalent, because they see in several spectrums. For all that, their structure is simple, the magic happens in the signal processing in the nerves and brain. Selena pulled her fingernails from her eyes, the jelly a little sticky on her fingertips. She squeezed her eyelids shut tight, and listened for the Death Knight, but it hadn’t moved. ‘Was it shocked by my self blinding, or is it preparing a finishing blow?’ she wondered. She could feel her eyes inflating under her eyelids. ‘Should be healed in a moment, I need to prepare.’ She tried not to imagine the Knight’s greatsword silently arcing towards her neck. Instead, she bit her lip, and, with the blood that welled out, she drew a rune on her forehead. She directed all of her attention to the rune, and felt her power concentrate there. Then the rune seeped into her skin, and the power penetrated her min
‘Come on, come on!’ She struggled and strained, but her body didn’t move. ‘This must be how someone with spinal cord damage feels. Mentally fighting, but their body doing nothing.’ She knew Selena was out there fighting close by, and it was maddening to be unable to help. The effect of Cardual’s blood was energising and paralysing. ‘How strong is he? You think I, of all people, would know.’ Cardual was a mystery to everyone, except maybe Selena who had known him for centuries. Mimi was in her 20s, and a born vampire. Born Vampires were extremely rare, and so they needed a lot of protection and care. Even now, Mimi still hadn’t grown into many of her gifts, but she had some advantages that regular vampires did not as well. For one, she had awakened several new gifts that were unknown to vampire kind before, and she felt, deep in her soul, that she had many more waiting to be unlocked. She was singularly focused as well. Some in their society said she was cold and emoti
Selena was suddenly frozen, as if she’d dipped into a nitrogen bath. Was that the icy touch of death chilling her down to her very soul? She didn’t know, but the oppressive pressure of that massive sword was splitting her scalp.Then it was gone, leaving a healing slice and a gout of blood that had frozen in her hair. ‘What the hell?’ she thought. Her mind and soul had not quite caught up to the fact that she was alive. Luckily her hands knew how to kill without her input, and they continued the deadly sweep of the blood scythe. It bit deep into the Necromancer, and sliced from the collar bone down past his solar plexus. It stopped there, impeded, finally by the spells and bone armour he’d used to stop her Katana so easily. She didn’t try to pull the scythe out of the pre-dead mage. Instead she let go, and made a weaving motion with both hands, and the scythe unknit itself and flowed back to her as a surge of red power. Selena looked noticeably healthier and stronger as she
Shinra had to figure out a lot of things. His new powers, how to deal with Crews, find Sardi and the vampires, and figure out if his dad was a mage murdering rebel. 'And when I find Sardi and the vampires, how do I mention that one of them killed me?'. Shinra wasn't totally sure how he felt about it himself. At the time, it seemed just like a sparring match that went too far, but that usually meant a black eye, or a minor fracture. She drained a lot of his blood, and poisoned him. Even now, his HP was still low.The important thing was, he was alive, and had to figure these powers out.‘Could I really see Crews through the wall? That is crazy!’ He remembered though, that he didn’t just get Shadow Strike, his Night Vision was upgraded to Vampire Vision. ‘So Vampires can do more than see in the dark, we are like giant glowing targets to them. What an amazing skill for a hunter… or an Assassin.’ He was starting to think about all the ways this enhanced vision could help, and his
Balaam fired two point blank pulses from his phased field shifter, and it seemed like the very air cracked around the young angel hybrid. She looked surprised as Balaam's spear easily pierced her armour, where her central regulator should be. Blue fluid spurted from the wound as her eyes rolled back and an electric discharge seemed to flee from them.'Fucking Angels, and their kin, harder to get rid of than [cockroaches]', Balaam thought. He surveyed the devasted battle ground, noting that both sides had pulled back to their bases to regroup. The Fallen had been on this forsaken rock for generations, guarding the Zero Well for the hope that it would bring to the Metaverse. Until a few weeks ago, Balaam would have said the Angels didn't even know about the prophecy.For sure it had been the most boring 10,000 years of his existence. He'd watched his Legion of Fallen carve out a life here, have families, grow old, die, and repeat the cycle. He actually commanded more troops now,
The thug whimpered, and Shinra thought he wet himself."Look man, it isn't even a secret, everyone knows where they are." He told Shinra the address and he was surprised. The assassin guild was in a very nice neighbourhood, right alongside minor nobles and rich merchants.He left Paulwry bleeding and ran. There was no sense in killing a useful snitch. Someone who dealt at the intersection of the underworld and the nobility was a good contact to have. 'I need a plan, but I should start with some reconnaissance. I have no idea what I'll find.'He ran fast, his stamina seemed limitless, and he wondered if it was the adrenaline rush still pushing through hIm, or had his improvements from the system accomplished this.When he reached the house, he really couldn't tell it apart from the other houses on the street. It had a nice red brick red exterior, white shutters on the windows, and ivy climbing gently up one side.He watched from the far side of the tree lined street, just between
In the middle of a fight is when Shinra felt most certain. He wasn’t thinking so much as assessing and deciding in real time. It was happening faster than thought, and it was addictive.He looked at the wand, death in a slim package, bearing down on him.‘I just need to be somewhere else,’ he decided. His vision highlighted vectors for diving, rolling, and jumping to avoid an attack originating at the sword tip and covering an area of 2 metres around it. He couldn’t just avoid the attack though, he had to finish this one off before the other 4 combatants got their shit together.He jumped, hard, into a forward twisting flip, easily clearing the guard. Even in Daemon time, he could see the surprise on the man’s face as a powerful green blast made a crater in the f
Shinra’s vision filled with the measurements, vectors, grids and critical strike paths that he basically associated with life, but now knew was his combat vision.[Ready?][Status: Shinra][Health 3000][Shinra: Death Stalker - Assassin: Tier 2, LvL 5 ][Shinra: Night Squire - — : Tier 0 ][Experience Points: 77,500 | Skill Points: 0][Stats][ Tier 2: Strength | Speed | Dexterity ][ Tier 0: Intelligence | Wisdom | Charisma | Magic ][Skills Status:][Tier 1][ Active: Fade | Sprint ][ Passive: Silence | Knife Mastery | Assassin Kata | Archery | Wall Climbing][Tier 2][Passive: Deadly Aim | Deception | Visual Reflexes][Hidden Path][Passive Skills: Critical Strike | Daemon Prediction ][Shadow Path][Active: Shadow Strike* | Shadow Meld* | Shadow Heal* ][Passive: Vampire Vision ]“Who the hell are you?” Loren was saying, even as her wand came up. Shinra knew she might be able to handle this all on her own, she was exceptional.The chains hit her face and torso, knocking the wa
Shinra was leary of all magic, so he almost bolted from his place as soon as he saw the glowing sphere hanging in the air. Well, he did bolt, but luckily he heard Loren’s message from the hall. He was still trying to wrap his head around what she said, even as he stood in front of her door. ‘Naori was here?’Shinra loved his sister, he never had any doubts about his feelings towards her. She was the kindest, most capable, and brilliant person he had ever known. And, though he spent every moment since his parents died trying to take care of her, he knew she had taken care of him even more. Being in the city without her had been difficult, but, if he was honest, he worried about her less after sending her his wages. ‘My life has been pretty complicated this last little while,’ he thought. He knew he was making excuses. He did believe her life would actually be better without him. She was more resourceful than he ever was, and the other villagers liked her much more than him.‘So why
The room was Pitch Black, so Raisd wasn't sure if his eyes were open or not at first, so he blinked a few times. ‘Definitely open.’ The fact that he was lying in a bed instead of bleeding in a gutter was a good sign, but he wasn't sure of anything else. He slowly moved his hands down his chest and body, feeling for any bandages or gaping wounds.‘Huh, not only am I naked, I seem to be in one piece.’ Which was amazing in and of itself, because the seven finger Gremlin counter attack is enough to kill most mages. Clearly he was both lucky and, maybe, tougher than he thought.He tried to stand, but that is when he noticed the weight across his legs. Not able to see, he reached down and realized the weight was a pair of legs draped across him. His fingers traced their way up those legs until he found their intersection. It was warm there, and his fingers were tickled by the fine hairs they brushed up against. ‘God I hope this is Mimi,’ was all he thought before the
“I promise, it is usually cleaner here,” Loren said as she rushed around trying to stuff books and scrolls back onto the shelves while gathering up a precarious pile of dishes. She definitely didn’t care what the place looked like when Naori’s brother broke in. Funny how something so random could lead to Loren trying to clean her place. She looked over her shoulder to see Naori just standing still, eyes widened by the mess, no doubt. ‘I need to distract her maybe? Where am I going to put all of this stuff!’ Loren was not used to caring what anyone thought about her, her space, or anything she did, really. “Wow. Just…. Wow,” was all Naori said, eyes still wide.‘Oh god, she thinks it is worse than living on the streets, she’s never seen anyone live like this… dammit!’, but what Loren said out loud was, “I just need a few more minutes. Why don’t you sit down over … “ except she hadn’t cleared any of the seating surfaces yet.“This is the most amazing home I’ve ever seen! It is
The office was surprisingly orderly for an assassin, Shinra thought. Tastefully arranged sofas, end tables with a high polish, and a full bookcase. He went straight to the desk though, to see if he could find what the assassin guild leader was talking about.‘Would it just be on top? Is that too easy?’ Shinra looked, but the few pieces of parchment on top of the desk were innocuous bills and tally of equipment. He opened the top drawer and only saw quills and inkstones. The larger drawer underneath was locked.“Why don’t I have lockpicking skills? I can do everything else…” He flexed his newly healed hand, still amazed at how whole and pain free they were, after the devastating burns he’d suffered. “Well, I’m strong enough to just rip it open,” he said, then gripped it tightly and pulled with all his strength.He felt the small release of power, ‘shit,’ he thought and then flung the drawer behind him as hard as he could. It was the right move, as the entire desk exploded in a sho
“Filthy blood slut," was all the lesser Earl of Clodven had said. It wasn't a nice thing to say about anyone, and Raisd had heard much worse. This time though, it was directed at his betrothed.To his credit, Raisd showed enormous restraint by only breaking the man's nose. The young lesser Earl and his friends didn't agree, and so now Raisd was in an honour bout.“The first to ten wins the bout,” one of the hangers-on was intoning, "and may request an honour payment." “I think I'll ask for one of Its fangs," the arrogant noble said.Raisd paid him no mind. ‘Foppish, useless nobles think life is a silly game. This bout is probably the highlight of his week’. He knew the type well. The lesser Earl’s father, or grandfather, had been useful to the Empire once upon a time, but then they produced entitled, talentless wastes of flesh like this. The patriarch of the family has probably all but disowned him.‘If I'd punched Shinra, he probably would have punched back and we'd be having a
Raisd was having a weird night. Actually, everyday had been weird since his betrothal. He couldn't get over the fact that suddenly people knew he was an active part of the imperial family. Well, maybe vampires didn't count as people, but they knew. If that was all that had changed, he could deal. After all he had been in military intelligence, and had infiltrated many places as part of his work, including the deputies office. Unfortunately he was quickly apprised of how different human and vampire customs were. Which was why he was lying in bed with General Mimi right now. Uncomfortably. Wrapped up in his own blanket and wearing a full set of clothes. He wasn't 100% certain, but he was pretty sure that she was naked under the thin sheet she had draped over herself. He made sure all the lights were off though and just laid there staring up at the ceiling in the dark. It had been like this for a few days now, ever since the rest of the vampire delegation went back to their capital
Shinra was surprised. ‘Shadow Heal isn’t one of the skills in the list. Does this mean they are all low level skills? Or are there a tonne of skills that the System just doesn’t show me?’Either way, this wasn’t what he was expecting. ‘Healing is high level magic… what does Shadow Healing mean? Am I a mage now?...’ He knew he wasn’t though. He looked around and did not see the primal flow of mana in the world. He was a zombie. One with interesting skills, but a zombie all the same.“Unless a Ninja is a different class of being?” The head Assassin said Ninja enough that it did make Shinra wonder. Not that he had time for that mystery right now. [Skills Status:][Skill Points: 20][Tier 1][ Active: Fade | Sprint ][ Passive: Silence | Knife Mastery | Assassin Kata | Archery | Wall Climbing][Tier 2][Passive: Deadly Aim][Hidden Path][Passive Skills: Critical Strike | Daemon Prediction ][Shadow Path][Active: Shadow Strike* | Shadow Meld* | Shadow Heal* ][Passive: Vampire