The sound of the impact almost wanted to make me take a moment to stop and admire the durability of the structure here. I suppose it's to be expected when we're housed in what's basically a bunker in the middle of the Arctic. But, the guy didn't sink into the wall like I would expect. Oh, there was a dent, but he sort of….bounced off with a loud smack, landing on his head.
This left him to awkwardly push himself up off the ground with a menacing snarl on his face. And probably a concussion.
Now that I calmed down a smidgen, there was something about him that disgusted me beyond what he was doing to someone under my protection.
It's weird, I barely knew these B-Team people aside for a few days, yet…..I felt they were mine already. Well, not in the same way that I consider my girls mine, but they were still under my aegis. Was it my draconic nature that made me protective of them or something else?
Regardless, that settled down once I tossed him away, so I knew it wasn't that but something else that just utterly disgusted me about him.
Just his presence seemed to grate on an unconscious part of me and I couldn't pick what it was immediately. I was starting to wonder if he wasn't human either. Maybe some phantasmal hybrid like I am that doesn't mix well with my own parentage?
I'm usually good about picking up on other non-human heritages unless someone went to extreme lengths to hide theirs. However, I just couldn't call it out either way on this guy.
"Samuel." I turned to look at the man wincing in pain. I reached into my sleeve to pull out a Talisman and with a flare of my Magical Energy, I gently put it on his wrist.
Who knew that those slight of hand lessons for stage magic would have come in handy at a time like this? Instead of hiding a card up my sleeve, I had a plethora of Talismans available, and I can secretly replenish them with the stash in my ring to hide their existence for the moment.
"B-Boss…" He shuddered a little as the effects took hold. Probably was both surprising and mildly uncomfortable to have foreign power invading his body like this, even if it was for his benefit.
"Hey!" I heard the voice of that disgusting fellow, but I just ignored him.
"It's not amazing, but it'll provide some healing and relieve some pain." I took that moment to pulse some Magical Energy and Structural Grasp the spot where he was hurt. Normally difficult to do on another Magus, but he wasn't even qualified to be an amateur yet. The more I looked the more pissed off I become, because that guy intentionally nearly shattered his wrist. I could see several fractures, and even an ounce more of strength would have really fucked up the bone and shattered it.
"He just – "
"It's alright." I put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get you to Roman so he can take a look at that. Don't worry about any permanent damage, it should heal up fine." Though I wondered if that would be the case if I didn't walk back when I did.
"I said hey!" The other man snarled, walking up to us with heavy steps. "You got some nerve to ignore me when I'm talking to you."
I patted Samuel's shoulder again, giving him a small reassuring smile. "Pierre, Evelynn, please take Samuel here to Roman to get checked up." I said turning around to face the murderous intent directed towards me.
"You gun' be okay, boss?" Despite being in pain and probably completely out of his depth, Samuel was worried about my safety.
Then again, it might be a normal human reaction when someone was exuding so much bloodlust.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you guys have some company following soon." I waved them off nonchalantly.
I quickly swept my gaze at the remainder of my teammates who were standing behind me as the trio slowly made their way out of the room. And it momentarily pissed me off that the bystanders just watched on silently.
Honestly, they looked frightened, and I couldn't blame them. I would rather this not become a thorn in their hearts for later.
I didn't really want to get into conflict with someone this quickly, nor this messily. But I knew that Lev had a hand in whatever mess this was.
Even so….
I knew how to deal with this sort.
My own face twisted back into a sneer as I walked right up to him, my face getting close to his as he looked a little surprised at my sudden action. "My nerve? Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" I scoffed, getting more displeased by his aura up close. "I wonder, how many people you have killed to get that disgusting smell of blood so entrenched that it's this nauseating."
"Hoho." He almost giggled at my tone. "I lost count."
"Which is probably the point where you ran out of fingers to use.." He's one of those. Killed for shits n' giggles. "Regardless, I demand an explanation."
The momentary surprise from a moment ago died pretty quickly as his vicious grin was pulled back – reeled in to the vague facsimile of civility. "What explanation?" He held his arms up, shrugging exaggeratingly. "Isn't it my duty as their senior to give them some pointers? Not my fault they couldn't do something as simple as a basic Reinforcement." He held is head slightly above as if to look down on me. "Oh where are my manners." He said in a rather condescending tone. "Beryl Gut, member of A-Team. No need to thank me, I'm always happy to help out the cute little babies."
An A-Team member?
I suppose that made sense, but why the fuck would he willingly come find trouble. Well, the disgusting feeling I'm getting from him probably answered that question. I've been around people who reveled in bloodshed – Scáthach being a prime example, but this guy, he felt a lot different. His had a more malicious intent behind it.
"Some pointers? Aren't I your junior as well? Why don't you give me some of your pointers."
"Thought you'd never ask~" He replied cheerfully, but the flare of murderous intent cued me in on his true feelings. "Let ol' Beryl here teach you how the world really works, kiddo. Something to pass on to your adorable little team – if you survive." His lips pulled back in a maniacal grin.
….what a shitty personality he has.
"Don't worry, I'll be sure to past this important lesson on to them. Often times, the one postulating is the weakest." I snorted at his attempt to be intimidating. "What's the saying – The dog that barks the loudest –"
I wanted to say something in him snapped, but even with that malicious look about him, it didn't seem like he lost his rationality.
No, he was just a fucked up person, I could easily see that much. He was looking much too forward to hurting me, not out of some misplaced anger, but from the glee of causing pain. I could see that look in his eyes that screamed a childish happiness at the mere thought.
He made the first move, the wind between us burst forward as his hand was swinging downwards, I was momentarily taken by surprise.
Not for the speed at his movement, but for the he was using. "Fleshcraft?" I blurted out, seeing his hand become a claw of some animal.
Was he honestly trying to tear me to pieces infront of so many people? And no one was making a move to stop him….
Sometimes, I forget that I'm back among a bunch of Magi, and not the more… Civilized groups I have been working with for the past year.
Survival of the fittest wasn't just a saying in this neck of the words.
Well, credit where credit was due, his hand – claw cleaved out a good chunk of the ground, which was also saying something considering the materials this place was made out of.
I side stepped it with ease, spinning my body to the side as I followed up with an elbow in one motion. Maybe I used a little too much strength, because his body slumped forward as he was lifted up off his feet and sent hurling back right next to the dent where he had been launched previously.
He looked absolutely furious as he rose to his feet, spitting out some blood onto his hand. He then looked at me and slammed his palm against the ground, red marks circled around it. "Mallachd a' Phlaigh."
Was that Gaelic?
Roughly translates to – The curse of the Plague.
I looked to the side to see a blood-red mist escape from the ground where his 'claw' gouged out from before.
Huh, did he hide a spell in that movement, more props to him then. Not just some lunatic with a body count higher than he can probably count.
It spasmed until it took on the form of a skull, opening its massive jaw as if to consume me.
"A curse?" I scoffed. "Adorable." I flicked my hand, several Talismans coming from my sleeve. My Onmyoji excelled at dealing with curses. For something of this level, I didn't even need a full chant. My Talismans flung out into the form of a Pentagram as it formed infront of my hand. "Gods of the seven Seas, fend off the hundred demons and drive back the fierce disaster. – Order!" I actualized it as the curse itself was sucked into then Pentagram.
It tried to fight against my spell, but it did the equivalent of chomping down on the black magic and dispersed the ties that held it together.
"You….what did you do?" He grit out.
It's easy to forget how under the radar Eastern Magical Arts were for most Mages.
"My Country has been dispelling curses for thousands of years." I returned in an almost lazy tone. "But I'm waiting, where's this so-called tutelage you offered me, senpai."
Well, that did pissed him off.
Maybe more than I anticipated, because he dug into his opposite hand with the clawed version. He bared what looked like fangs, a clear wince of pain as blood seeped out.
….black blood.
Was he using his own blood as a catalyst to try and curse me?
I couldn't help but furrow my brow. It should be an ineffectual method….but then again, I'm not an absolute source on all Magecraft in the world. While thanks to Gramp's memories I had a passing knowledge on the majority of Magecraft fields, there were several that he, and by extension I, never gained an interest in. And I wouldn't call him an idiot exactly, he seemed competent in the Magecraft department.
The black blood seeped back into his arm, his wounds visibly healing as black marks jutted out in every direction along his arm.
"Cuir Air Ais. Bi nad Shiol Miann, Basiach agus till!" He chanted out the ten-word aria with a quick and practiced ease. It carried an invisible force targeting me.
I expect it to splash against my Magic Resistance harmlessly, reeling back my Aura as to not show that of, then I would proceed to beat him senseless. I had to atleast give him a shot or two, didn't want to make it too one sided. However, I didn't expect for it to not physically assault me in the slightest.
I felt something, which was strange. It tugged at me in a metaphysical sense, and this Beryl guy had a shit-eating-grin on his face like he had just won. As if he was waiting for a good show about to happen.
His silent laughter, and that maniacal grin and bated breaths of anticipation of his suddenly halted. Black blood began seeping from various holes on his face, down his ears, out his eyes, and even running down his nose. He spit out a mouthful of that black blood and it started dissolving the ground. "How!?" He growled out. "You…my curse. Not even Wodime could have stopped it like that!" His legs almost buckled underneath him as he struggled to keep standing.
"….you tried to curse, what, my future? My past? Or maybe did you try something stupid like trying to curse my fate, perhaps some causality twisting?" I mocked his failure, until I blinked in realization, recognizing the feeling that washed over me. I know a couple of spells form my Onmyoji arts that did something similar, or rather, made use of similar a concept. "You tried to curse my Karma. Hilarious."
Knowing the translations of his spell words, I could more or less guess what he attempted to do. I'm pretty sure he tried to shift my positive Karma into Negative Karma to use for another means. But the Curse failed halfway through for a couple simple reasons.
There was no way he had enough Magical Energy to overturn the amount of Positive Karma I've accumulated thus far.
That combined with the sheer weight behind my actual existence, it's no wonder it fizzled out and by the looks of it, rebounded viciously inside his own body.
But a Curse like that isn't something simple, and it's by no means easy to come by. And now that the pieces came together, I realize why he was giving me such an uneasy feeling. Fleshcraft falls under both Necromancy and Witchcraft primarily, but the Necromancy variety usually deals with dead materials. Combined with his noticeable aptitude in curses…..
I knew I felt something inhuman about him.
"You're a Witch." I declared making him momentarily startle at my proclamation. "No wonder you came off as an immediate piece of shit." A Witch isn't just a term used to call a female Magecraft users. They're basically another race than humans with their own….logic to accompany their Magical abilities.
There was one main point that separated them from Mages. It was their inability to coexist with the Human Order in its entirety. That's not to say they're vehemently denied by the ruthless will of Humanity, but they're basically outsiders, rejects from the Age of Gods. Even if their arts were exceedingly closer to the former era, they basically don't have a place to properly exist.
"Don't you dare – "
One of my Talisman's slammed right into his face, a minor sealing effect that just had the byproduct of stopping him from speaking. "Don't worry, the lesson is far from over." I wanted to reassure him of what was to come. That spell must have made a mess of his body, because he didn't even tear away the seal as quickly as he should have. It was persisting as he fell to the ground, his body looking very sluggish. "I feel like you have a lot more to teach me." I smiled innocently as I walked forward.
He slowly moved to remove the Talisman on his face but a little bit of force applied, a small kick, and he fell completely to the ground again.
"It's impressive how you can keep this Fleshcraft active in your state. And now that I think about it, it's also the hand you use to harm my team member." He looked up at me as I met his gaze. I raised my foot up and slammed it down, followed by a very loud crunch.
His scream was muffled under my Talisman.
"An Eye for an eye and all that. I'm a fairly firm believer in such depiction of justice." I hummed to myself, looking at his throbbing hand. I generally don't' start fights without a proper reason, but if someone under my protection was involved, I ended them. "Oh, woops, you hurt his wrist, let's correct that mistake."
I generally don't partake in this kind of behavior, but I really don't like when others touch my people like that. And this absolute piece of shit really pissed me off right from the start. I couldn't bring myself to gather an ounce of sympathy towards him.
I was curious how long it would take for one of the voyeurs to step in.
Well, let's find out then.
[***]
Beryl: Uses Karmic Curse
Wilhelm: Exists.
Beryl has fainted!
But yeah, Beryl gets his shit kicked in.
If you wnat to read 7 chapter ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone . Things just got explosive over here.