Vae victis an apocalypse.., p.31
Vae Victis: An Apocalypse LitRPG, page 31
That did not sound good. The human bowed his head. “May God preserve us and shelter us, if they got a Mask of their own,” he whispered, then met Herim’s eyes. “If the Great Mistake pulled a sleeping Ancient Vampire, then they would wake up hungry. Hungry and in a strange place, a new world. They would be confused and feel threatened. They would not be in their right mind. God, they wouldn’t have the frame of reference for so many things. Coming here was strange for me, but the current culture of Earth at least is filled with things that give me the ability to understand. We had postulated about the existence of other races, other worlds. We have stories about magic and …” He shook his head. “An Ancient Vampire who has been asleep for thousands of years would have none of it. If they woke up without any sense of self but the hunger? Then it is an Ancient Vampire controlled just by their thirst. Pure instinct and predator, with no human emotion to temper it, no compassion, no guilt, nothing.”
“How do I stop them?” Herim asked.
“Gather as many powerful people as you can,” Khalil said. “And silver, all the silver you can get.”
Herim narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know if he trusted the words that the human spoke. He couldn’t quite imagine any Exemplar could be that powerful. The response he was asking was equal to what would be required for the strongest Masked in the world. The world shakers who might as well be gods. But, he looked into the human’s eyes and saw true fear. And that, that he believed.
Through the Jungle
Ispent the next day learning more about Shadow’s school of being. We didn’t have the time for him to do more than just teach me the basics. Still, there was a lot to learn. The most important part was perhaps the three principles behind the Heart of Azure and Scarlet. We were having a short break, which I used to review the lesson with [A Lesson Remembered]. Even though I didn’t yet understand everything, I wanted to learn. The lesson flashed inside my mind, the skill helping me remember it in great detail.
“A way of life requires dedication,” Shadow said as he began his instruction. “All things that grant power do. You cannot gain anything great without showing the Last Intent your willingness to sacrifice.”
I listened attentively again. In the memory Saia was sitting on the ground next to me and doing the same.
“To master the Heart of Azure and Scarlet you must fully accept its tenets, you must live and breathe them, embrace them fully,” he said, reiterating what he had already told me.
I only nodded. I had already made the decision to follow this path.
“In order for you to be recognized as a follower of this way of life, you must abide by its core principles, of which there are three. The first principle is the tenets, what I have already shared with you:
“Ambition is the drive to achieve Greatness.
Emotion is the fuel that grants me Purpose.
Calm is the surrender to the will of Others.
Control is the shackle that robs me of Ambition.
I do not conceal my Ambition, I Relish.
I do not suppress my Emotion, I Embrace.”
He repeated the tenets. I still thought that they were somewhat tyrannical, but the more I thought about them, the more I could see a deeper meaning within them.
“The meaning of the words is for you alone to discover. How you understand them will shape your relationship with the Heart of Azure and Scarlet. The second principle is the rules, a sacrifice for the world. The Way, or perhaps the Grand Spell itself, recognizes when we make such offerings to the world. This is your personal sacrifice, and as such it should remain private. To give you an idea of what kind of a sacrifice I am talking about, it can be anything, from deciding that you will never again speak, to deciding that you will never again wear blue-colored clothes.”
I blinked; that sounded like a vow. “That seems, I don’t know, easy?”
Shadow shook his head. “Some sacrifices are greater than others, but do not mistake them for being easy. The Way knows your heart. How powerful the school of being you adopt ends up being will depend on your dedication to it. Let us use my previous idea as an example—you decide not to wear blue-colored clothes for the rest of your life as your rule, but you already hate the color blue. Well, then the world will recognize the depth of your sacrifice, and your connection to the Way and your school of being will reflect that. Obviously that was not a great sacrifice, and with such shallow rule you will never scratch more than the surface of the school of being with it.”
“How do I decide something like that?” I asked.
“You just make a decision and start doing it until it becomes second nature,” Shadow answered.
I nodded, trying to think about something deeper that I could do. I would need to think about it a bit.
“You need not decide now, nor do you need to start with a great rule. You can decide on something smaller and easier, then just add more rules as you go on,” Shadow said, interrupting my thoughts. “It will take you a long time to learn enough of the basics in order for the Way to recognize you as someone who follows the Heart of Azure and Scarlet.”
“Wait.” I tilted my head. “How is this going to help us survive, If it will take a long time for me to learn anything?”
“I am preparing you not just for surviving the coming days, but also for the return to your home. The truth is that you will need to teach yourself based on what you learn from me now. I am no Teacher, but I hope that your Student Ornament is enough to help you learn better. As far as helping us survive now, well, you are already very strong, you just don’t know how to effectively use what you have. Which brings us to the last principle of the Heart of Azure and Scarlet: the two combat styles, and what I will focus on teaching you.”
I came out of the lesson and shook my head. Shadow sat on the ground, his eyes closed, still napping. I had seen just how exhausted he had gotten from just a few hours of physical activity, so I decided to let him sleep. I took advantage of the time to mentally review the rest of his instructions the old fashioned way.
After his talk about the principles, the lesson had turned more practical. We had spent most of the last day practicing the two styles. Shadow had started by describing to me the Azure and the Scarlet styles of combat. Both were focused on channeling emotions and not suppressing instinct. Transforming feelings into a source of strength and trusting natural instincts. It was a stark contrast to what I knew from Earth, the teachings that said that I should always seek to be calm and master myself. In a way, what Shadow taught was liberating—his approach was one of validating emotions.
The Azure Moon Style was, like the symbolism of the moon above this world, rooted in ruthlessness, indifference, and solitude, drawing on the wielder’s emotions to fuel their power. Shadow created the Azure Moon Style in a way that was characterized by powerful, heavy counterstrikes and a solid defense, focusing on slow, deliberate, and highly controlled movements. It was based on fear as a natural instinct. Fear was an emotion that was experienced in response to a perceived threat, danger, or harm.
And as he described what it was meant to achieve, I could see how it could apply to me as well.
Fear was an innate response that was hardwired into our brains, and it triggered a range of physiological and behavioral responses that are designed to protect us from harm.
From an evolutionary perspective, fear played a crucial role in the survival of our ancestors. The ability to detect and respond to potential threats allowed them to avoid danger and increase their chances of survival. Fear helped our ancestors to recognize and respond to predators, avoid dangerous situations, and escape from harm.
Fear was also closely linked to the fight-or-flight response, which is a physiological response that prepares the body for action in response to a perceived threat. This response involves the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which increases heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure. This prepares the body to either fight the threat or flee from it.
True, a vampire’s response was slightly different. The thirst, or rather the sanguinium bacterium, was the one in charge. Its responses to threats had saved my life on numerous occasions. My sire had taught me that the thirst was something to be kept in check, always controlled. Yet … its purpose was to survive, the same as mine. Perhaps there was more to my own existence than I had previously believed.
Still, the Azure Moon Style relied on instinctual movement to draw the opponent out and force them to overextend, then ending the battle with a single powerful counterattack. It was brutal and efficient in a ruthlessly pragmatic way.
The Scarlet Moon Style was rooted in survival, fervor, and righteous fury. It emphasized the importance of channeling one’s emotions to enhance their combat prowess. The Scarlet Moon Style did not control or suppress emotions, but instead embraced and harnessed them, using those feelings to fuel a relentless aggression.
It relied on anger, and rather than focusing on defense, the Scarlet Moon Style aimed to dominate the battle by relentlessly attacking, wearing down adversaries, and exploiting any openings to inflict critical damage with no regard for defense.
I understood anger; you couldn’t live without knowing it, not in the place I had lived most of my life, having the life that I had. I’d seen its power, how motivating it could be, how it turned small villages forgotten by their governments into a force to be reckoned with. I saw how anger could be a catalyst for change, how it could motivate individuals to address the source of their frustration and injustice.
I had also seen the anger of others used by those who had seen the opportunity for their own gain.
Anger was a powerful emotion, one that I had experience with. I’d had anger overwhelm me before, and had acted without thinking. I felt the power it could give me. The now faint pain around my neck and the scar that would remain there perhaps forever was a constant reminder of what could happen when one just acted out of anger.
Yet, I couldn’t deny that anger was a big part of what motivated me now. I didn’t want to get rid of my anger, didn’t want to suppress it, I only wanted to learn how to channel it properly.
Shadow had gone through and showed me the basic stances along with the ways one had to move while practicing these styles. We had to adjust the styles, of course., Neither style was made for a vampire but a Tsu-gi, someone who had tails, and his center of balance was a lot different than mine was. And that wasn’t even accounting for the way that his Mask and skills differed from mine. He had developed the two styles when he had already been an established fighter, honing his skills to near perfection.
He had demonstrated only two techniques for me, one from each style, which had exhausted him so much. And even though, according to him, what he had showed me was not the full demonstration of what the Azure Moon and the Scarlet Moon Styles represented, I was … awed.
His skills allowed him to create illusions of mists, or even full copies of himself that were indiscernible from the original. Coupled with his natural ability to make anyone hallucinate, it was a terrifying combination.
But what truly impressed me was the way he was able to immediately adapt his styles to something that I could use. I didn’t have skills that allowed me to create illusions, but I was a vampire with near perfect coordination, incredible regeneration, and great physical control over my body. And Shadow had leaned into those aspects to devise a way for me to learn.
So, the Azure Moon Style, the more defensive one, based on using his illusions and pheromone tricks to draw an opponent out for a counterattack, became something else. Using my coordination and control, I too could trick my opponent by letting them win trades that were inconsequential to me. Instead of using illusions, I could just allow my opponent to wound me in places that I could heal from with ease, making them grow bolder and overextend in order to crush them when they made a mistake.
The Scarlet Moon Style relied on speed and attacks, creating illusions that constantly forced the opponent to back step, hammering in at their defenses and piercing through them through sheer overwhelming offense. Shadow relied on his copies to attack from several directions, and used his tricks to fool his opponents into misjudging his attacks. Again, the way that he adapted his style was based on my main strength, my regeneration. I could allow myself to disregard wounds and focus on offense, mimic what he accomplished with illusions.
In the end, the Azure Moon Style ended up being difficult for me to grasp. And while both styles had overwhelming the opponent as the ultimate goal, the Scarlet Moon Style was the one that suited me far more. The Scarlet Moon Style was a death by a thousand cuts, compared to the single monstrous strike of the Azure Moon Style.
Next to me, Shadow stirred, and I got ready to continue the lessons.
“That is looking good,” Shadow said as he walked around me then took a position directly across from me. “Your stance is passable. Now let me see what you have learned.”
I resisted the urge to glare at him and focused on the matter at hand. I had taken the opening form of the Scarlet Moon Style technique he was teaching me, the Veiled Mist Assault. My body leaned forward with most of my weight on my right leg, which was in front of the left, bent and with the knee hovering over my toes. My hands were crossed in front of my face, my fingers bent into claws. It was an aggressive position, and one that allowed me to leap into action in a moment.
The Veiled Mist Assault had three forms, or Katas. The first Kata, and the one I was in was called: From the Mist, Strike, was meant to be used when attacking from an ambush. It was designed to present a smaller profile, while still keeping your muscles tense and ready for action. The technique aimed to catch the opponent off guard and create a favorable advantage from the onset of the encounter. Of course, that wasn’t the case here, but I still executed it.
With a sudden movement, I leapt forward, lashing out at him with my claws in a one-two strike. He dashed back, evading, and I followed, moving into the second Kata, Tempest in the Mist. I never stopped moving as I entered the second form, letting my emotions guide my attacks, rapidly spinning and attacking from multiple angles, creating a flurry of attacks that carried explosive power and seamlessly chained multiple rapid strikes. With my physical attributes, that came easily to me. I let my instincts and emotions guide me, which made my body move in a wild manner that allowed me to unleash a torrent of devastating blows. It was meant to be a follow up to the first Kata, a devastating attack following the emergence from an obscured position, like a tempest appearing from the mist.
He didn’t block. Instead his body weaved, evading my strikes. I still couldn’t catch him, so I moved to the last Kata, Advance, Whirling Mist. I lashed out with my right hand, a spinning strike that Shadow moved to evade. Just before my strike finished its full range of movement, I threw myself at him and stepped. [Mist Step] turned me to mist, and my momentum carried me forward at an incredible speed, bridging the gap that Shadow’s evasion created. My step finished, and I re-formed in the same position as before. My attack finished its arc, with almost no time left for him to react. My claws swiped across his chest, and he dissolved into mist.
I caught myself and stopped, too surprised to do anything but glare as his body disappeared in front of my eyes.
“That was … passable,” Shadow said from behind me, and I whirled around to look at him. “Let’s go again,” he just said.
I opened my mouth, then promptly closed it. I ignored the beads of sweat on his brow and did as he said, settling again in the starting form of the technique.
We moved through the jungle at a quick pace. And I kept my eyes open for any threats from my position at the front. Which was how I saw the threat long before it noticed us. I knelt quickly behind a large root, taking cover and then gestured behind me. I looked ahead at the dark shape milling around the base of a tree. Its snout was low to the ground, sniffing, and then it stabbed its tusks into the root. It raised its head, breaking the root apart and making room to put its head beneath and retrieve whatever it was that it had found. I watched as it ate the mushroom-like plants, then slowly started meandering about. I gripped the glaive in my hand tightly and got ready just in case it noticed us. It sniffed around a few more times, and then, thankfully, wandered away.
I released a sigh as it left, then turned and glanced at Shadow. He was hiding just behind me, holding the serpent-tongue spear in his hands. The big trunk that contained most of his equipment and supplies was placed on the ground next to him, and his eyes were on the jungle around us. The animal was the same as the one that I had killed while consumed by the thirst. The animal itself wasn’t strong enough to really pose a threat. It was something that I was confident I could’ve handled, but we didn’t want to fight anything if we could help it. In fact, we had been avoiding most of the wildlife as we made our long trek through the jungle. Aside from the few hunts to gather blood for myself. And those consisted of mostly of me climbing through the trees looking for nests to grab birdlike creatures while they slept.
“Let’s go,” I said and he nodded, following after me. I knew that we couldn’t afford to stay in the same place for too long.
We set out again, moving as quickly as possible through the jungle, while also remaining as stealthy as possible. We wanted to avoid making a noise and drawing attention, or getting delayed by unnecessary obstacles. We had left the ruins days ago, after Shadow spent a week teaching me about his way of life. My Student Ornament had improved up to the Fifth Carving, though I haven’t gotten any new skills from it yet.
