The road was clear for the two but night time had fallen. They reached a neighboring city that was being touched by winter. Snowflakes fell from the heavens and covered the city as time marched on. The code on the map was a sequence of numbers. To most it would have just appeared as numbers. But they meant something. After some detective work and a huge bowl of dank he was able to figure it out. The code stood for something, ‘Redsnow in Dahlia.’ The peculiar thing was after figuring out the man was gone. It was as if he never existed. So something was really strange about all of it. It needed to be investigated, besides Shura needed to feed this rising sense of adventure.

He looked up from the map to make sure this was the right place. It looked exactly like the peddler told him it would. The huge difference was that it was snowing in Dahlia. At the beginning of October and autumn nonetheless. The thing that made Shura feel uneasy about the whole thing was it was quiet. He wasn’t quite into the city just yet. He was on the outskirts of town walking through the forest. There was something that put him on edge more than anything. Something so simple that most people would have overlooked. It was quiet, too quiet. It was evening and the sun had begun to set. So it wasn’t pitch black out but it was getting darker a lot quicker.

No one in the distance, the snowfall added no extra sound. The thing that was extremely off putting was the lack of wildlife. Something was wrong, even in winter animals had to find supplies and such before winter really slammed them. The snow was piled up to about ankle height so it wasn’t that much of a hinderance. Shura kept his wits about him. His weapon’s handle hung on his right side making the sword sit at a slant. This was so if need be he could quickly grasp the weapon from his back with no hesitation should it be called upon.

Chi was lagging behind, so Shura made sure to tread a bit slower than he usually would. Only the sounds of the crunching snow broke the silence. It was cold outside but Shura didn’t shiver. His body temperature was unnaturally high and the snowflakes melted on contact. Steam trailed off his body while he pressed onward. “Come on Chi! We gotta get into town before night time!” he yelled. After yelling that caused something to react. The sounds of snow crunching came loudly as if something was running around him. Shura stopped completely in his tracks placing him in the middle of a small field. Roughly ten meters in diameter and trees surrounded him.

His entire demeanor changed and Shura braced himself. Not unsheathing his word just yet. But his right hand was reaching at the weapon. He made no sudden movements, his eyes just scanned the area around him. He slowed his breathing down to keep himself from panicking. ‘Something is here.’ He thought to himself.

The sounds came again, this time followed by scratching and growling. It sounded big, but from the sounds of it. It was only one of whatever it was. Shura slid his right foot out making his legs shoulder width apart. The growling got closer and there it was. A large beast came from the shadow’s of the forest. Creeping out of the wood line directly in front of Shura. It could have easily attacked from behind by circling around. This was different, it came out into the open showing it wasn’t afraid with confrontation. This was a common practice of animals protecting their territory. By showing itself like this it was trying to assert dominance.

Shura heard rumors of monsters plaguing this area. This was the proof that the rumors held truth. Not just the ramblings of refugees from this city. Shura couldn’t help but feel like he was curious to see if the rumors were true. But this was unreal to him. As the beast came out it was bigger than any human he had ever seen. Shura was a big guy but the monster was even bigger. There was no telling how many there were but this could end up badly with one wrong step. Shura saw fit to challenge himself in this situation. He was going to take down the beast and climb a piece of it for himself. Nothing spoke louder than proof.

The monster stood up on it’s hind legs putting it at almost seven feet tall. This was the main similarity between this monster and humans. That it could stand up confidently like it did with no problem at all. He had seen nothing like it before, it left Shura in awe. But not stunned enough to keep him from taking the monster down.

It was a one on one scenario until Chi caught up. The beast let out a blood curling roar that reverberated throughout Shura’s body. This caused him to act and pull the large blade. He reached his left and grabbed the handle. While doing this he turned his left towards the beast. Pulling the sword from its sheath he pointed the large blade at the beast. This would be the first real fight the sword had participated in. So there was a bit of worry of what could happen.


The beast charged forward on all fours and lunged forward at him. Shura did not let the beast act alone. He moved to the right while angling the blade over his right shoulder making it flat so he could use it in a defensive manner. Doing this in one smooth motion let Shura slide by the attack and the sword take the initial attack. The beast’s claws grazed the flat side of the weapon as it passed by. The beast tumbled and quickly got back to it’s feet. Shura was already encroaching on the beast’s position. He was comin in with a horizontal swing that went from left to right. He was trying to split the beast in half at the waist. But that was a decoy for the real attack. Shura poured mana into the blade causing it to glow. The beast leaped backwards to dodge the attack but that left it open to another.

“Gotcha.”

Orbs fired out in a straight line, each one half a meter away from it. A trail of explosions fired off in a direct line, each one erupting from the orb created. The beast barely dodged the attack and lept to the left of the explosions. It did not escape unscathed from this. The beast lost its right arm in the process causing blood to gush out from where the arm used to be. The snow underneath its feet was stained with blood. As it came rushing out, at that rate the beast was going to die from blood loss alone. Severe burns covered the side of it’s body. It cried out in pain from the attack, holding where it’s arm used to be. It stumbled for a moment before the bleeding stopped. Shura wasn’t going to let this chance pass by. In the middle of it’s stumbling he stepped to the same side of the beast and dashed forward. He charged forward with the weapon, he used the blunt portion of the top of the weapon to slam it into the tree. This knocked the wind out of the beast, causing it to cough up blood. It flailed and clawed Shura in the process, Shura managed to dodge the initial swipe by ducking down. He didn’t account for the beast attacking downward over his back. It’s left arm came downward, it drove it’s claws into Shura’s back. Not extremely deep but enough to cause some internal and external bleeding. But this only infuriated Shura, the mark on his chase began to burn and his eyes began to give off a red glow. The demon of him was becoming relied up by the blood shed.

Pushing the beast with everything he had he slammed the beast into a tree. Shura with both arms he pulled the sword to his right and slashed to the left while stepping inward. The sword met the torso of the beast and cleaved right through. Sword grazed the tree leaving a massive gash in it. Blood fired outward and sprayed him and the surrounding area. The beast was taking it’s last few breaths, blood poured from it’s mouth and the life left it’s eyes. Shura took a step back and rested the sword on the ground. By now Chi would have seen all of this and her blood stained companion. Shura had unintentionally fulfilled the riddle left behind by the numbers and a unknown force.

300/500

Spoiler:

With a sniff, she managed to taste blood on her lips. She licked her lips, looked up as she experienced the full taste, and smiled innocently. With what appeared to be a single step forward, she moved miles into the direction she picked up upon. What she witnessed when she arrived there was a pleasant scene. It always satisfied her to see those mongrel beast breathe out last gasp of air in the cold winds of Dahlia. That beastly gasp which encompassed their realization of their mortality tasted much more delicious in combination with the fresh of air in these parts.

Valeria, along with the other ancestors, never really showed herself much. She even was referred to as a creature of legends to some because of this, and didn't mind that mysterious allure hanging around her. Even most of the Valyrian vampyres hadn't seen her. It made sense though. Her bloodline started decades ago, and some point when more and more vampyres got turned, they were will part of her household, but too far into the future to have even known her. Some prestigious, or to be more blunt promiscuous, members have seen her because they caught her eye.

As the lycan dropped on the ground, she made her presence clear. She stepped from behind a tree towards the middle ground where it happened, about twenty meters away from whoever had slain the lycan. "A hunter? Or someone who simply loves to slay lycans? With your looks, I'd have an opening for you if you were the latter." She chuckled innocently, doing the usual innuendos and appearing almost harmless, but her monstrous aura which she did not intend to hide would already give away that she was not someone to be taken lightly.

Covered in blood and out of breath. Shura’s back was bleeding from the claws puncturing it. His sword was resting in his hands with the bloodied end dripping blood. The beast had been defeated and he would be able to keep proof of what went down. The question was, what should he take from the beast? Something simple like the hand or the finger. The head would be a bit much to lug around. He wasn’t quite out of the woods just yet. The sounds of someone behind him came, and it couldn’t have been Chi. No, this was something different, yet so familiar. The aura that followed this individual was immense. He was even more on edge since the day he crossed paths with Finn.

Shura turned around to face the being. His sword was clenched tightly to stave off any jitters that came from feeling this individual approach. She was standing twenty meters away from him, nothing between the two but the snowfield. No trees to use as cover just the snow under foot. His eyes focused on this peculiar creature that radiated danger.

“I am no hunter miss, just a mage passing through. I was trying to discover the root of the riddle. Red Snow in Dahlia. From the looks of it I must have attracted some unwanted attention. If it paid well I would consider working for you. First I must ask, who or what are you?”

Shura spoke calmly to keep this from escalating quickly. He still kept his weapon in hands but he rested the weapon on the ground directly in front of him. Just the edge of the blade rested in the snow but both hands remained on the handle. Shura tried to keep things calm because he wasn’t stupid. The aura came as a warning and it's presence was threatening. He still prepared himself for the possibilities of this getting real ugly.

Interesting. Her innocent smile turned a bit nefarious when she sensed a deep malevolent source inside the young boy. A daemon, or nowadays referred to as a demon by the humans. His intentions were still a mystery to Valeria. A spy? With the current state of affairs, regardless of how young this boy appeared, she had to be sure. Without revealing any motions, or creating any sound, she moved at such immense speed that her body never seemed to have moved at all. Gently, she cut the boy's cheek causing some blood to pour out of it. As the thick red delicacy dripped from his cheek, she opened her mouth and revealed her fangs.

She had no intention of intimidating the boy, for her presence alone would have already ensured that. Instead, she wanted to taste his blood. The smear on her finger which she used to cut the boy's cheek would be enough. She placed her fingertip in front of her mouth and stared at the boy in front of her to let him know that he should not do anything foolish. As she licked the luscious blood from her fingertip, she waited for a second before saying anything. Who sent the boy here, she wondered. Azazel? Balthazar? Even the thought of Iblis making a move again crossed her mind. Nothing. He was affiliated with someone she did not know nor cared to know about.

"Seems you contracted yourself with someone else already, sugar. You seem new, you should be more careful around here. To vampyres, the blood of a demon is a delicacy around these parts. It seems you've already met the savage lycans, so I don't have to explain that to you. A shame, I would've loved to make you one of mine. Anyone turned directly by one of the ancestors reaps much more benefits from their bloodline."

Despite not being able to turn this person, she would not have much fun draining him of all his blood and leaving his lifeless body here after giving all those life lessons. Especially since he seemed to have manners. She loved a boy with manners. It would be a waste to break a toy just because she could not own it completely, but there were still other ways. She could play with the toy from time to time and let someone else worry about its condition. Unfortunately, her new toy had no chance of survival around these parts in his current condition. She pointed her bloody fingertip at the boy and smiled innocently once more.

"Draw your weapon, honey. Show me what you got and don't hold back cause if I sense you're holding back I will have your throat for dinner."

There was no warning, or the sound of shuffling. The snow exploded from her position and she was already in striking distance. Words could not describe the feeling at that very moment. Fear? Terror? No this was a bit more uplifting than that, a rush of adrenaline filled him to the point he was ready to burst. No one of this strength had revealed themselves to the world, and here he had encountered such a rare specimen. One that boasted the strength that his ancestors spoke of once before. He felt the sharp tipped finger of the female brush across his face. This caused a small cut to appear and blood dripped from it. He was motionless, not saying a word she stood arm’s reach from him. She spoke about a contract made with someone, this only solidified that the dream he had wasn’t a dream at all. ‘A demon?’ This answered several questions, all leading back to one conclusion. He wasn’t human anymore, it all made sense. He didn’t reply to her at first because he was wrapping mind around the information that was just presented to him.

She moved so she was standing directly in front of him. His sword was still pointed at the ground. The edge of the weapon was in the snow. She spoke once more this time, making threats he knew she could back up. Shura read this whole situation and one truth held true even if she did want to see what he could do. ‘I am no match for this.’ Did he have much of a choice, die if he didn’t indulge the woman or go down fighting. Shura had nothing to lose, so why not indulge her.

Being at weapon length she was a little bit over 1.5 meters away from Shura. Lifting the weapon, snow fell off the weapon. Raising the large blade caused the edge to now face the woman in question.


Those words signaled the beginning of this fight. He jumped backwards two meters before dashing forward. While turning his torso to the right to swing the weapon to the left. He needed to generate momentum due to the size of the weapon. He didn’t have the strength to go from a standing position to a full swing just yet. With both arms he swung the weapon aiming at her torso. He abandoned all sense of security cause she already showed that she could have killed him before he even moved. This clued Shura in that she had a bit of arrogance about her. She had no reason to dodge or block even, she wanted a taste of what he was capable was right? He put his momentum and strength into the swing. On top of it he added a bit of the special sauce. He let the weapon eat his mana to expel a spell should it make contact with the female. Should it hit the weapon would ignite for a nasty surprise. Shura could use the recoil of the weapon to dash opposite of the blast if it connected.

300/500

Spoiler:

"Excellent, keep coming at me."

She moved behind the boy and disappeared ten meters behind him. Speed was her domain and she had met no one faster than her. A playful smirk appeared on her face as she welcomed the boy's attack, all while looking at it from a distance to observe his movements. She kept her Nightingales sheeted and decided to only use her hands. She could hear the blood pulsate in his veins with every movement he made. His heart started to pump more vigorously. The thrill of the battle, to live life without any regards towards possible consequences while being aware of what he was up against made it more exciting for Valeria. She had found herself a good toy. Not many out there understood Valeria who compared a battle to a dance. Each movement similar to the stroke of a brush, blood as its paint, and their bodies and surroundings as a canvas. While being behind the boy as he forcefully exerted his strength into an explosive blow with a sword, she smiled.

"Learn how to breathe properly, it affects the passion of the strokes in your brush. Inhale, exhale, but do not focus on it, it should become a second nature. You'll learn it. I'm here honey, way behind you."

The swing met nothing but the air with no contact. The sword exploded the air only creating smoke in the area. This only meant she wasn’t as arrogant as he thought to take a free hit. Smart play by her, he couldn’t fault her dodging. In her position he would have done the same. To Shura it looked as if she never moved. But if time slowed down enough for him to see, he could have seen her move ten meters behind him. In any other case he could have altered the way he was swinging to put the blade in her way of movement, thus using her speed against her. This was a different level of speed, she was able to maneuver around his attack effortlessly and end up behind him. She was toying with him, this was the third time Shura felt that feeling.


The feeling that nothing could be done, the power gap was too great between them. She had other plans for him this much was clear. What those plans were? That was another question for another time to answer. With all hope gone it began to set in, no regards for one safety. He had a certain crazy look in his eye. One that was unique to the Ranzu lineage. The sign that something had snapped mentally. Shura was angry, three times he has been made a fool by the strong. He wanted to be like them, he dreamed of the day he could stand toe to toe with someone of this caliber. This was not that day. Before his emotions could completely overtake him her words served as a means of grounding him. As much as he wanted to ignore what she wanted to say or even curse her. She was right. He slowed his breathing, trying not to overexert himself more than he already has. Burning more mana on top of what he used on the Lycan only made the situation worse.

He turned to the woman with the weapon forward this time he knew to not use mana unless he had a guaranteed hit. With her speed he couldn’t waste any more stamina. She was ten meters behind him, he felt no need to speak only act. He ran forward at the woman moving at his top speed of 15 meters a second. So clearing the gap between the two was easy. During this dash he dragged the blade behind him. He did this for two reasons, this time he had a plan. Should the woman attack he could easily bring the weapon up for a moving shield and bash into her and ignite the weapon. Or he could slash upward with all of his might. Doing that could fling snow at the woman (not that it would do much) but Shura could bring the weapon down with all of his might on her.

200/500

"Better."

Valeria did not move at all, once again welcoming the boy's moves. What differed this time was that she did not appear behind the boy. He needed to learn. She automatically reacted to any threat without the need to acknowledge it. Her movements were elegant and almost indescribable to the eyes of mortals. With every movement the boy made, she simply stepped aside completely ignored it. In a blur, she danced around his attacks.

"Better!"

Her voice was ecstatic, invoking the boy to push further and go beyond whatever boundaries he ever imagined for himself. She completely disregarded everything coming at her as she weaved and danced all around the possible combinations of attacks presented at her. Excitement started to overwhelm her as well, not because she was facing a powerful foe, but because she could sense the boy growing with each attack that he made. Such a fancy toy.

"Cut! Slash! Paint!"

No other opponent would have ever presented this boy the opportunity to grow at such an extent. He had many openings and flaws, but Valeria did not expose them in a critical method to take him down. She wanted him to see, to learn, and to understand where he slipped up to grow from his mistakes. To keep him engaged, she would cut him from time to time playfully with her fingers all over his body. As his blood dripped out of his body, she could taste it. The luscious substance became more and more tasteful.

"Learn! Learn! I will eat your heart out if you don't learn!"

She could taste it clearly. What beautiful fragrance his blood left behind as it hit the ground. Still, it was not enough. For this short encounter, he had more to learn. Perhaps proper pain would make him understand how to battle more properly, she wondered as she kept avoiding all the boy's movements. His strokes became more eloquent, more sophisticated, and slowly hinted towards actual art. At no point during his bloodlust did she feel any personal grudge towards her, or towards vampyres. She only felt his need to be fed with the beauty of the art. In this moment, she witnessed an artist being born.

"You realize you will never touch me this way? Do something about it. Get what you want. Experience, acknowledge, and understand your most inner desire, boy. You want my blood as paint for this canvas? So come and get it. Cut me."

The weapon came down but still no dice. With his might he pulling the weapon up he brought the weapon up and to the right. With no luck on the rebound attack. Shura put everything in the next few attacks. Snow began to kick up like crazy from the repeated attack A strike from the left, then reversing grip and coming back to the right with full momentum. Each attack she was moving, hoping and back-stepping every attack. Each dodge only resulting in resetting to her original position. With each dodge she taunted him. The thing that aggravated him more than anything was the truth behind the words. Most individuals would have been embarrassed, except any competent person that saw the situation from the start.

Unable to connect a blow meant he was just tiring himself out with each repeated attack. It was a great workout though. He was completely unaffected by the snowfall and cold air. He radiated steam from his body due to the heat he was generating. He was unable to land a blow due to his lack of experience with the sword. He stepped back, out of breath with weapon in hand.

“We both know I was never going to land a blow, I never expected to win this. I just wanted to test myself. You would be the third thing to show me I am not even close to the peak. At this rate I will never make it there.”

His weapon was still drawn, he never lowered it. Ready to try and defend against attack. There was a huge emphasis on try to defend. He couldn’t even see her movement let alone defend against it. At this point he was waiting for the axe to drop and death’s sweet embrace. Shura did not fear death, all it meant was his journey ended here. He was quite aware of the seed he sowed, one day he knew he would be at the mercy of the reaper. Shura took a deep breath, and relaxed his body. He was waiting for her to make a move.

"Takes two to dance miss. Be rude of me to be in the spotlight for too much longer."

With that a grin came as a invitation, ready for what she was about to dish out. There was no point in pushing against the inevitable anymore.

In between the movements of the boy, Valeria lunged herself forward in between the gap created by the left arm and his torso. She leaned her left shoulder forward while rotating her right shoulder backwards to make herself as narrow as possible. The moment she set her first step with her left foot, placing her directly next to the boy, she lifted her right hand which was was behind her and grabbed the boy's bicep. With her second step, using her right feet, she placed herself halfway behind the boy's back while carving her fingers deep into his flesh, cutting right through his muscle tissues.

As she placed her following step to appear behind the boy, she twisted the boy's arm clean off his torso. She could hear the pleasing sound of skin, muscles, and bones letting loose of his torso and the blood gushing out. With three more steps, she stood directly in front of the boy again, all while he was still in the same motion of swinging his sword. Valeria grabbed the sword to halt the battle for moment, just for him to realize what had just happened. She burrowed her fingers into the left arm she was holding onto causing it to evaporate into a mist of blood.

"In this world, there are beings with power that you can not possibly imagine. The moment you contracted yourself, you became a participant of this world. Never forget this, this was the price you paid today, but any other day, any other person, it could have been your life."

After she shared her parting words of wisdom, she pushed aside the sword aside which she held with her left hand and lunged forward. She placed her left hand on the boy's chest to feel his heartbeat and sunk her teeth deep into his neck as she engorged herself with his blood. The moment her warm lips touched his cold neck, her left hand grabbed the boy's shirt tightly and pulled him closer to her, touching his entire body with hers to feel the flow of his blood all throughout her own body.

The fixation of feeding, even after centuries of doing it, would always feel magnificent to a vampyre. Her actions were not aimed towards finishing him off, for instead she wanted to save his life. The gushing blood started to clot at a fast pace and turning into new muscle and skin. She hoped this experience would spark something inside him and keep the artist within ignited to become better. When she finished, she pulled her head back from his neck while still holding onto his garments firmly with her left hand to prevent him from falling backwards.

"Shu- Shura? I like that name. It is too early for you to go into your eternal sleep. Grow. When you are older, tell me stories of the world you witnessed, and the world you created to leave behind."

Her right hand, which she previously used to rip his left arm off, slowly moved to her lips. She wiped the blood of her face while looking straight into his eyes. After that small palate tasting, she could taste his passion. The were interesting. Not comparable to the same mundane desires as most of the others she fed upon. In time, she hoped that she would meet this boy again and listen to his stories. Within a safe vicinity, she sensed another human nearing them at a slow pace. It was probably a friend or ally of the boy since the speed she sensed indicated anything but a chase. As the boy's eyes started to close after experiencing that much loss of blood, she let go out of his garments causing him to slowly drop onto the snow.

"Till next time, Shura." She said with an innocent smile on her face, quickly followed by a playful chuckle that echoed through the Aldenwald as she disappeared into the darkness.

This was the final curtain call for Shura. He could feel it the moment he finished those words. The air became thick with blood lust, and it was all aimed on him. He couldn’t move, or utter a word. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl, and at the last moment he saw it. Her movements became clear to him but the fact of the matter remained. He couldn’t react fast enough. He felt the jerking motion of his left arm being contorted behind him. Unable to hold the weapon it fell from his right hand. There was no exchange of words, just the image of scissors cutting through ribbon as if it was nothing. Shame the ribbon happened to be Shura’s arm.


It took a moment to just realized what just happened. A shocked and terrified expression crossed his face. The pain hadn’t settled in just yet, he had to watch his own arm be reduced to nothingness. It seemed as if it wasn’t real. Her words came as a warning, and as wisdom. It was only fair right? He killed a beast and she took his arm. This was a lesson that what goes around comes around. May not be then or later but sometime the bill is due. Instead of death, a limb and pain were the price to be paid.

The wave of pain came suddenly, he grasped where his arm used to be trying to stop the bleeding. If he couldn’t do that he would die from blood loss anyways. He bit down on his bottom lip to keep from screaming out in pain. Afterwards she pulled him close and pierced his neck with two fangs. She was feeding on him at that very moment. He could feel the blood leave his body and circulate throughout hers. Anger flooded into his mind, his eyes turning blood shot from the feeding, emotions and pain.

During the feeding, the bleeding in his arm began to clot and where his arm used to be began to seal rapidly. It did not remove the expression from his face. Biting down on his lip drew more blood and he listened very closely and committed it all too memory. Everything, her words, his feelings at that exact moment. This was to become the fuel he needed to push forward. Instead of death he was given another chance to change the world. Watching her lick her blood from her lips it only deepened his hate for this woman. At that very moment he vowed, to kill this woman. How he was going to get there only time could tell. With a few parting words she faded into the darkness only leaving laughter behind as a warning to anyone or anything watching.

He stopped biting his lip to let out every ounce of rage and anger. Screaming out into the heavens cursing the individual who took his arm. Afterwards he collapsed into the snow, laying there the snow felt cool to the touch, almost soothing to his body. Exhausted he struggled to get back up. He had to leave the forest quickly and find shelter. He was only able to crawl over to the closest tree on his belly for several meters. During the crawl the snow picked up again and the flakes began to fall.  He just sat there and stared at the sky, he didn’t speak just marveled at the snowflakes. He did everything his power not to pass out but he couldn't help it.

“I think I can rest here a bit.”