IHaveHidden
patreon
Bridge Chapter 5 (Blood in the air)
🕑 Added 2024-09-05 23:01:48 +0000 UTCThe feeling of speed and power coursing throughout my body was euphoric. The blood flying through the air hitting me felt warm and hot and it might even burn. There was something intoxicating about it, something that just drew my attention to it.
The first of my probably many many victims fell without their heart beating in their chest. The sound of the body hitting the floor broke the surrounding stupor around me. The child soldiers surrounding me blurred into their own motion trying to protect themselves. Perhaps for an average human being their speed would be impressive but to my new eyes, it was just so goddamn slow.
Objectively I knew that my newfound stats were far above the norm. Even if my only frame of reference was from The Gamer manga I was still leagues above human. As far as I was aware the standard for humans would be 10 in every stat. That might not sound that impressive when you consider my Dex was a measly 50. The issue that you're not accounting for is that every single stat point represents an exponential increase. It was not a matter of each point being worth the same but every further increase multiplying that stat. Still even with my current stat level 50 would not account for my rather explosive speed.
No the culprit for that was rather clear. Reinforcement Magic with something truly ludicrous. The concept behind the magic was not that impressive as it was just filling in the imperfections of a vessel with Prana. That in itself was not that impressive but filling in those imperfections increases the overall level of the object massively. The more imperfections you start to fill, the closer you become to a more idealized version of that object. This usually meant that an object would work far better than it worked before. Now you can imagine the type of boost you would have on the human body.
It was this magic that turned the average Mage Shirou Emiya Into something approaching legends. Sure Archer in comparison to the other servants is not punting out massive stats. But the man could approach myths and legends with a strictly human body. That was an aspect that was ignored in favor of his cool magic sword unlimited launching abilities.
Now that sort of Mastery of reinforcement magic does not happen with your average individuals. Archer may be a failure in most regards of magic but he managed to hone this relatively difficult magic into a truly extraordinary blade. The Immortal vampire troll that Zeltrech was did not approach that same level of mastery as his own inhuman status gave him more than enough strength. That is not to say that he was a rookie in reinforcement Magic.No that man had unlimited time and a perfectionist streak that would refuse to leave any sort of magic unmasted. The difference between Archer and him was that Archer pushed beyond mastery into a completely different realm.
So my already inhuman stats were pushed into a realm reaching into Legends and Myths. Servants with A levels of strength or dexterity created Sonic booms when attacking. No that may be an added effect for the animation quality but there is a fact that I do find interesting. It is noted that when a servant's stats reach A level a punch from them is equivalent to the strike of a C rank Noble Phantasm. In comparison, Frankenstein's Noble Phantasm brought down a strike of lightning upon her foes. Now that is not a very good comparison but those strikes of lightning left craters and crackling earth in their wake.
Now I didn't think I had that level of stats at the moment but God did I come close.
Even if I was not at those peaks I was far beyond what these children could handle. I could not recall the average stats of a genin but the feats from Naruto and his friends right out of the academy were pretty mid. Sure those feats increased massively as the series went on but the main character is no frame of reference for mobs.
The man currently engaged in combat with Mei may have referred to me as a lamb for the slaughter. Judging by the looks on the faces of the people surrounding me I was more akin to a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Even their modes of attack were not anything to write home about. They threw kunai at me as if the thrown knives came anywhere close to the speed of a bullet. Sure it was annoying having three sets of knives thrown at me but at my current speed, I just plucked them out of the air. Even knowing that their ranged attack was not working did not stop them from throwing more fucking kunai at me.
I started walking menacingly toward the nearest prey. Knives being belted at me but not affecting me in the slightest. I imagine I truly leaned into my vampiric instincts. Plucking knives out of the air and dodging the ones that I felt were annoying to deal with. A truly frightening sight for these soldiers judging from their shaking limbs. They were ready to slaughter and kill to their heart's content but now faced with their own mortality they fear their end.
My hand blew into motion and gripped upon the throat of my next victim. The steady thump of their heartbeat was felt vibrating from my palm. The feeling was both maddening and intoxicating for a moment I wanted nothing more than to sink my fangs into his neck. Then I was dragged away from that urge by a sudden bout of calmness. Instead of a more gruesome display, I simply snapped the neck of the poor fool in my hands.
The two remaining Ninja look at each other with resignation on their faces. A boy and a girl and judging by that fleeting glance between the both of them they felt a certain way about each other. I would almost feel bad for them facing a monster of my caliber when they had almost achieved victory. That sense of pity faded rather quickly when the variety of bodies around me attested to their malice. Young and old it does not matter all things come to die but if you deal with death you should expect it to come to your door.
They shared one last glance that seemed to convey some message to each other. Then the boy grew a determined look and started walking towards me gripping his kunai with his nervous energy. The girl on the other hand started going through hand signs and I knew she was casting some sort of ninjutsu. I just did not care as their current displays of resistance or rather lackluster. I was sure if they had any actual trump cards they would have used it instead of throwing fucking kunai at me. That was rather arrogant of me but the prey before me were clearly rattled.
Instead of approaching the boy I let him walk towards me. I kept an eye on the girl just in case she did actually have something impressive to show. But the rest of my intention was on the boy as he walked towards me.
“You're a fucking monster.” The boy let out with a quivering tremble as he took me in standing there. My eyes locked onto his and an amused smile bloomed on my face. He may be talking in a more metaphorical sense but he had struck closer to the truth than expected.
“Kettle meet pot he would like to tell you that you're black.” I let out with a soft chuckle. He can call me all the names that he wishes the fate of him and his companions were signed away the moment they chose to attack me. Prey should cover when facing predator not pelt them with minor annoyances.
The boy let off a scoff even if I was not sure if he really understood the reference I was making. He could at least recognize the derisive tone that I was using. The girl finally finished making her hand signs and instead of shouting out her Ninjutsu like I expected, she murmured it. Even if I was not able to hear her muttering I could certainly see the Mist becoming even thicker. Again an amused smile bloomed on my face.
I should have expected this trick from the foremost experts in assassinations. Then again it was such a pathetic display that I didn't even think it was worth mentioning. I could cast a variety of spells to hone in on human figures in these Mists. I did not have to do that in this case as the thump of their heartbeats sounded oh so very loud to me.
The girl was trying to retreat while the boy ran at me with everything he had the strange hissing coming from him. They may have experience hiding in these mists but I did not need that experience to find the girl. I blew into motion until I was right in front of her escape route. I was not sure what method of tracking they used in the Mist but it appeared to fail her as she ran at first into my chest.
She looked up at me quivering and shaking with a sense of dread about her. She had soft features about her too soft for the violence and malice that she was displaying before. It was a shame that these poor children have to die today but it had to happen. She closed her eyes resigned to what was about to happen so I spared her the pain of tearing her limb from limb. Instead, I did the classical thing and snapped her neck.
The loud sound of her neck snapping was soon accompanied by the roaring of an explosion. I raised an eyebrow at the direction the explosion was coming from. It appears the boy was far more determined than I expected from him. That strange hissing sound must have been the sound of an exploding talisman. Him charging at me in a final display of camaraderie or maybe it was a more loving tone. Either way, it was a display that only ended in his death. Hopefully, he took some solace in his suicidal charge and maybe he went to the Afterlife with the notion that he saved his companion.
With the death of the girl that casted the Jutsu the Mist started to fade again. I was able to catch sight of the battle happening between Mei and the man who sentenced me to die for simply stumbling upon the scene. Their bout was a lot more impressive than my own.
Clashing steel at speeds that I could barely recognize. It appeared that she was able to handle herself for the most part but it was also clear that she was not a front line fighter like the man was. From what I can recall about her she was a Ninjutsu expert that relied upon her two bloodlines. The man on the other hand seemed to live and breathe for the sword. His blade was not any of the legendary blades of this world but it was still a rather impressive display.
Mei was only able to handle her current situation by sacrificing minor cuts here and there. My own battle did not take that long but it was long enough for her body to be covered in minor nicks and scratches. She was bleeding from all over and the desperate action on her face spoke of her determination. The mocking smile on the man's face did not fade for a moment.
He knew enough about her to cage her in his death of a thousand cuts. The young girl cowering behind Mei was clearly important to her. Instead of striking at the weak link and taking care of that Clan member. The man would throw faints and strikes at the child in hopes of furthering Mei's death.
He did start to increase the speed of his strikes and the feints against the child because of me. Before he was playing with the Kage to be now he had to take this fight to look more seriously. Judging by his current speeds and Power I was not a match for him but if I teamed up with Mei we could certainly take care of him.
The guy could probably speed blitz me but that was only if I did not touch other fields of magic to set the field. Not that I was planning to leave Mei to fend for herself. She may not have gotten a lot of screen time in the anime but she was an interesting character. Someone with far more noble intentions than the man trying to slaughter children. Then again was I one want to talk? I just killed the child soldiers he sent at me.
“Do you perhaps need any help young lady? “I questioned with an amused lilt to my voice. The question caused the man to increase his attacks but the desperation was starting to become clear. Mei gritted her teeth at the sudden speed at which she was being assaulted and she had a flat look on her face but she could not look in my direction at the moment.
“You think?” Mei let out as another cut came close to cleaving her arm. The reply was rather sarcastic but she did ask for help so I was obliged. If only because she was stronger than me for the moment.
“Very well I'm not coming anywhere close to Mcstabby over there but I shall help.” I let out calmly as I started to chant out some spells. I could throw elemental effects at the man or cleave him with invisible blades. That brought about the risk of harming my new found companion and her Ward.No instead of messing about with flashy displays of magic a simpler solution would work just fine.
Runes and enchantments were laid upon the man. Increasing the gravity upon him, increasing the resistance of the air, and decreasing his reaction speeds. Curse after curse enchantment after enchantment laid upon him until he could barely move himself. I may not be able to handle his current feats of strength but magic is the great equalizer.
With his newfound vulnerability, Mei was able to finish the job rather quickly. She sunk the kunai in her hand into his throat as she tore a bloody hole into it he clutched that hole as the blood rushed out of him. The site was oh-so intoxicating. I felt my lips dry so I gave them a lick as Mei panted over the corpse at her feet with blood dripping from her frame.
Well, today has been rather interesting. I suppose it's time for meet and great
-------------
Mc was leaning far too heavily on his vampiric side and the old aristocratic vampire started to bleed through even if he did not realize that.
