"Alright, you'll be sparring against first, hope you're ready," Grinned Colt, cracking his knuckles as he and Raven stepped out into the open.
"Uh, yeah, I think I am," Nodded Raven, a slightly tensed, nervous look on his face.
It was the following day, soti in the evening, and Raven was about to begin his training with The Irregulars in earnest.
"Relax, there's no reason to be so on edge. I'll be mostly on the defensive and slowly start attacking more and more the longer the fight goes on, I'm going to try to sharpen up your battle instincts and iron out any glaring weaknesses. After we're done with that, we'll start working on your Spellcasting...my Irregular Magic Class is Blood Magic, and to use it, I need to create a wound for the blood to co out of. While I can stop the bleeding, I can't actually heal myself, so my palms are usually permanently cut open. You'll be healing those cuts to improve your mastery over your Heal Spell. Unfortunately, until we get our hands on so Recovery Magic Grimmoires, there's not much else you can do to improve your Spellcasting," Explained Colt, as he began stretching and warming up.
"Your palms are always cut? Doesn't that hurt?" Raven asked him with a look of concern.
"Oh, don't worry about that, I'm used to it at this point. And besides, I, uh...I kinda like the pain," He replied with a sheepish smile.
"Huh? What's that supposed to an?" Wondered Raven in bemusent.
"By the way, is Heal the only Spell you can use? Or are you able to use any of the other Level 1 Recovery Magic Spells?" Colt inquired curiously.
"Yeah, I can all of them, though it's been a while since I used the other two," Nodded Raven in response.
There were only three Level 1 Recovery Magic Spells; Heal, Stamina Transfer and Mana Transfer. Recovery Magic was sowhat rare, so finding even a Level 1 Grimmoire in a small settlent like Ruby Village was sothing of a miracle.
"I see...alright, then, after we're done sparring, I'll have you use the other two Spells too. Stamina Transfer might be tough depending on how worn out your are afterwards, but given how much Magic Power you possess, Mana Transfer shouldn't be a problem. Now, then, let's get started...unleash your Aura and co at ," Instructed Colt, as he extended out tendrils of blood from his palms.
"Wait, why unleash my Aura?"
"Two reasons...the first being that it'll drain your stamina faster, and being able to fight effectively even when you're worn out is important. And second, it'll let see whether your Homunculus abilities, particularly your flas, lightning and eye beams, consu Mana or not. Since Tacitus's Magic didn't work on you when we attacked you, they probably don't, but we might as well conform it. Alright, whenever you're ready, attack ," Remarked Colt, as he took a defensive stance.
"Okay, then...here I co!" Exclaid Raven, unleashing his Aura and fully transforming, before he shot towards Colt and unleashed a blast of flas towards him.
A burst of red erupted in front of Colt as he ford a wide wall of blood in front of himself, a loud sizzle ringing out as Raven's flas crashed against the blood, a crimson mist bursting out upon impact as the flas evaporated the blood.
Raven then began to fly up, before a blood tendril ca shooting out towards him and grabbed his left leg, pulling him across the air as he let out a sharp yell, before the tendril let go of him and sent him hurtling towards a tree.
He quickly spread out his wings powerfully to cancel out the montum and halt himself, before zipping across as several narrow, sharp blood projectiles ca shooting towards him.
"I thought you said you'd start off on the defensive!?" Exclaid Raven, swerving across to evade the projectiles, grimacing as one struck his knee and pierced in.
He had fewer scales around his joints, making those areas more vulnerable than the rest of his body.
"Oh, right, I did say that...well, whatever, no point in easing up now!" Responded Colt, letting out a slight, sadistic chuckle, a smirk on his face.
"Damn it...[Heal]," Muttered Raven, as he pulled out the blood needle from his knee and healed himself, before his eyes began glowing as he locked his gaze onto Colt and fired out rapid, piercing beams towards him.
Colt raced across to evade the beams, before Raven swung open his jaws and unleashed a massive, blazing wave of purple flas towards him.
"You've got so serious firepower there...[Blood Wall]!" Exclaid Colt, a massive amount of blood bursting out of his palms and forming a tall, wide wall in front of himself, before he chanted as a slight dizziness hit him, "[Blood Recovery]."
The wall of blood extinguished the flas as they collided with a deafening sizzle, a massive cloud of red mist bursting out as the stench of blood filled the air.
"Where did he go? The sll of blood is keeping from tracking his scent, and I can sense his Mana all over the place...oh, right, these blood attacks are Spells, which ans that they're infused with Mana. Focus, his position should have the highest concentration of Mana, I just need to discern-...," Raven thought to himself as he looked around warily, before his train of thought was cut off as sothing whipped against his back with imnse force, sending him stumbling forward as trickles of blood ran down his back.
"Did you forget that my Combat Template is Assassin? Stealth is kinda my thing, my guy," Colt's voice echoed out smugly, before Raven sensed a stronger concentration of Mana a few ters to his right and fired his eye beams in that direction, cutting through the mist and shooting towards the concentrated Mana signature.
His eyes widened in surprise as his beams collided against sothing...a large blob of blood, which burst and splattered across the grass, before a sharp pain burst out across Raven's heels and he collapsed onto his knees.
He glanced up with a grimace as a blade of blood got pressed against the side of his neck, Colt standing beside him with a smirk.
"I see, you created that mass of blood to use my ability to sense Mana against ," Frowned Raven, the blood mist starting to fade.
"Mhm, that's right! To be fair, it only worked because you're still getting used to that ability...if you hone it and learn to use it with more precision, sneak attacks will be all but impossible against you," Colt inford him, before adding with a smirk, "Heh, that frustrated look on your face, it's priceless..."
"Your expression is kinda creepy."
"Heh, thanks. Ahem, anyway...before we get back to it, about those plasma-based attacks of yours. I was right, they don't consu Mana, they're more like physical abilities, just like with Monsters. Which ans, they probably consu stamina, your physical energy. Your breathing is already a bit labored, unleashing your Aura alone shouldn't be enough to wear your out this much in such a short amount of ti.
It's pretty lucky that you possess Recovery Magic...there's a Level 2 Spell called Stamina Recovery, which converts your Mana into physical energy. And since you have so much Mana, if you learn and master that Spell, you'll be able to offset the stamina consumption of your Homunculus abilities," Surmised Colt, as Raven got back onto his feet and dusted himself off.
"Yeah, I do feel a bit tired, now that you ntion it," Nodded Raven, as he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"Anyway, now that that's out of the way, let's get back to it, shall we? And this ti, see if you can put up a better fight," Smirked Colt tauntingly, as he backed away a few paced before raising his index finger towards Raven and chanting, "[Blood Bullet]."
A small but rapid blood projectile shot out of his fingertip with imnse speed, Raven quickly raised his right arm defensively, grimacing as it struck his forearm with a stinging impact, drawing out a thin trickle of blood before Raven spread out his wings and launched himself forward with a powerful flap, chasing after Colt.
As he closed in on Colt, Raven drove his right fist towards his chest, grimacing as Colt easily deflected his attempted punch by forming an angled slate of blood across the trajectory of Raven's fist, before he swiftly ford a dagger of blood and plunged it into Raven's right elbow joint, piercing through his skin and plunging slightly into his flesh.
"Wow, your flesh is pretty tough, even though I broke through your skin, I can't stab in all that deeply," Noted Colt thoughtfully, before swiftly raising his right index finger and firing out a spray of blood, splattering across Raven's eyes and blinding him.
Raven quickly coated his body in intense, crackling lightning, a slight cry of pain ringing out from Colt as he got zapped, before Raven quickly flew up to get so distance as he swiped the back of his left hand across his eyes to wipe the blood off.
"Crap, I kinda panicked and surrounded myself with more lightning that I should have, I hope I didn't hurt him too badly," Raven thought to himself, before calling down as he opened his eyes, "Sorry about that, are you ok-...huh?"
He stared down in bewildernt at the sight below him...Colt's right fist was badly burnt, his arm trembling in pain as his skin sizzled with a couple of thin wisps of smoke billowing out. But that wasn't what caught Raven's attention...no, it was the flushed expression on Colt's face, a wide, aroused smile on his face as he breathed heavily.
"Y-yeah, I'm just fine...mm, it hurts so good!" He responded as beads of sweat poured down his face.
"Ah, I think I get it now...this guy's a pervert," Surmised Raven, his impression of Colt souring sowhat...
...
...
"You, uh...you sure you're up for this? No offense, but you don't really look all that motivated to ," Remarked Raven, as his next sparring partner let out a weary yawn.
"Hm? Well, yeah, this seems like a lot of effort, I'm getting tired just thinking about it, and we haven't even started yet. Alright, get ward up...and while you're doing that, tell what you covered with Colt yesterday, it'd be a waste of effort if I ended up repeating the exact sa kind of training he gave you," Grumbled Tacitus, as he began stretching.
"Uh, okay...I sparred against him for about four hours, with a few short breaks in between. During those breaks, he'd point out any weaknesses and areas for improvent he noticed, and I'd try to correct those weaknesses once the break was over. And after the sparring, he made use the Spells I know over and over for about an hour," Recalled Raven, as he started to warm up as well.
He'd been completely and utterly exhausted by the ti his training session with the sadomasochistic Colt ca to an end, and his sparring partner's depraved personality proved to be almost as exhausting as the sparring itself.
"Okay, I see. Anything else?"
"Yeah, he told that my flas were more intense than when you guys attacked . He said that while my purple plasma-based attacks are a physical ability, it seems like the refinent of my Aura has a positive effect on those attacks. The more I refine my Aura, the stronger and more intense those plasma attacks beco," Replied Raven, before thinking to himself, "Weird, I'm sure Colt would've told the others about how my training with him went...well, it wouldn't surprise if this guy just didn't bother to pay attention. I have serious doubts whether he'll actually train properly, all signs are pointing to him half-assing this."
"Those plasma attacks are physical abilities, huh? I see, so that's why my Magic didn't affect you...my Irregular Magic Class is Nullification Magic, the na's self-explanatory, I can nullify the Magic of others. That said, it doesn't work on Monsters, since their attacks are physical abilities, and it would seem your Homunculus abilities fall under that category too. In other words while I can stop you from using your Recovery Magic, I can't stop you from using those purple attacks.
Okay, here's what we'll do...the training I'll be providing won't be anything complex, and I'm not going to bother giving you advice or whatever, I'll let the others handle the more intricate details. I'll attack you, and you'll evade, defend, and try to counter, if you can. Fair warning, I've never been good at holding back or pulling my punches, so you'll be in real danger, lose focus for even a mont and it won't be pretty...this should help hone and sharpen your battle instincts. Now, [Nullification Zone]...here I co," Remarked Tacitus, the ring on his finger glowing before a large hamr appeared in his right hand and he shot forward, Raven's eyes widening in alarm as he closed in on him with a single leap.
"Huh? No way...how the hell did he kick off the ground with so much force!?" Raven thought to himself, before ducking right in the nick of ti as Tacitus swung his hamr across with imnse force, generating a powerful gust of wind, Raven's hair whooshing across to the right as an intense shockwave burst out.
Before he could process what just happened, Tacitus drove his left knee up with imnse force, slamming onto the middle of Raven's face and breaking his nose, his head snapping back as he stumbled shakily, blood dripping out of his nostrils before he quickly flew up as Tacitus swung the hamr down towards him, a deafening crash erupting as the hamr slamd onto the ground, chunks of dirt and grass flying out upon impact as the ground broke apart.
Suddenly, he flung the hamr at Raven with a rapid spin, the large heavy weapon whooshing through the air with imnse force as Raven narrowly evaded it by flying up, before Tacticus leapt straight up towards him and grabbed his ankle before he could fly out of reach.
He swiftly tightened his grip and flung Raven down with all his strength, sending the young man hurtling down towards the ground, his back slamming against the dirt with a jarring impact, his vision blurring slightly as he let out a sharp gasp, his bones rattled and the wind knocked out of him.
Tacitus's ring began glowing again, before a large, rocky club ford in his hand, which he then gripped with both hands as he ca plumting down towards Raven, raising the weapon up high.
Raven hurriedly scrambled and rolled away in alarm, narrowing avoiding getting his chest caved in as the club slamd onto the ground where he'd been laying with a crushing impact, a shockwave bursting out and knocking Raven away, before he quickly and shakily got back onto his feet, stumbling slightly.
"H-he's...he's so strong. If my concentration falters and I don't react fast enough, he could end up killing !" Raven thought to himself in alarm, a chill running down his spine as Tacitus turned his gaze towards him and narrowed his eyes...
Reviews
All reviews (0)