Chapter Thirty Three: Corus vs Cinder

I worked with Black Tusk for many hours after our initial round of practice. My training was intense and without any breaks. They needed to be broken by the end of it. Broken and frustrated to no end. Only then could they learn how to control emotion and keep calm.

“Again!” I cried out the word that I could sense they now dreaded. But they did not give up and instead charged once more towards me, just as sharp as the first time. Perhaps even sharper.

With casual ease I dismantled their approach, moving through them like a light wind and striking with the force of the earth. I stayed true to my word and did not use magic. As good as this training was for Black Tusk it was also good for me. After every round I learned more about my body, more about how I could become better than I was before I died. The progress I was making was slow as I couldn't use my full strength against the women without seriously injuring them, but it was progress none the less.

“Again!” I shouted for the thirtieth time.

No sound met my words but the girls all arrayed themselves in front of me. They were exhausted, Leigh could barely lift her sword and Ada's grip on her bow was shaking. Bell's eyes were half closed and her grip on her axe and dagger was loose. The only one of the four that still seemed to be in fighting condition was Ursula. Despite her heavy panting she seemed to still have some stamina. The endurance of a wolf kind was quite remarkable, they could run for days before tiring. They were the perfect hunters in that respect. Abhor once told me he spent four weeks hunting a large bear into the Cold Shears. The abominable peaks, jagged rocks and bitter winds creating little challenge to a wolf kinds fur.

Ursula was getting better faster than the others. I didn't really understand why, but the wolf kind was desperate to learn, I could see it in her subtle movements, whenever I spoke of something that they needed to improve she would lean in and hold her breath, as if afraid to miss even a single word.

I was pleasantly surprised. I thought that the she-wolf hated me but that didn't seem to be the case. At least, not any more. She truly wanted to better herself but there was something more to it than that. I would get to the root of it when we eventually got around to one to one training.

“That's enough for today.” I said, relaxing my stance and spreading my hands to my side to let them know that this wasn't a trick.

Immediately all four of them fell to the ground with heavy thuds, releasing their grips on their various weapons.

“Well, thank fuck for that. I don't think I could've gone on for much longer.” Ada said, her words barely whispers past her heavy breaths.

The others released grunts of approval and just lay there for a second with their eyes closed, relaxing after the beating I had just delivered unto them.

“I have to say, you all improved significantly. Your teamwork has improved by leaps and bounds, this is a serious first step. Don't forget that.” I said, examining all of them with my enhanced vision individually, just in case they were wounded and I had to heal them. While Leigh was usually the group healer, she was at the point of complete exhaustion and reaching for magic at a time like that was dangerous. They all seemed to be fine however and none was needed, for which I was thankful.

“Wow, Father, you worked them all over rather hard didn't you. Even I wasn't this rough when I taught Bell.” The voice came from behind me and a smile appeared on my lips as I turned and looked at my daughter, approaching from the far entrance.

When Cinder wasn't in the throes of hunger she looked every bit a Queen, her long dress falling about her majestically. The only unconventional thing about her outfit was the lack of footwear, she had always hated wearing shoes.

As Black Tusk became aware of the entrance of the Vampire Queen they tried to stand but all failed, flopping back onto the floor in groans of pain.

“Please don't get up. I know how you must be feeling right now. Father taught me as he did you once upon a time. Although I was fighting foes that were already considered legends in Vita, so you should probably consider yourself lucky. Training with Abhor when I was a little girl was more than a little bit terrifying.”

Black Tusk shivered at her words and I laughed “As I remember it, it was Abhor who was afraid of training with you. You were quite the terror in combat, Cin.”

Cinder folded her arms and gave me a pointed look “What do you mean was? If anything I am much more terrifying in combat. You got lucky when you first arrived, Father. If I had been going at full strength, you wouldn't have stood a chance.”

I rolled my eyes at my daughter. I knew I was goading her but I couldn't help myself. It was a father's duty to embarrass his daughter at every opportunity, maybe bring her down a peg or two. “Sure, Cin, whatever you say.”

The Queen of the Vampires stamped her foot and pouted at me.

“Fight... fight... fight...” Ada said from her position of sitting on the ground “fight, fight, fight.”

Cinder looked at the girl with confusion for a few seconds before a clever smile appeared upon her lips. “Ah, I see.”

“No.” I said, the single word tired as it left my lips. I know what Ada was trying to do and I wouldn't have any of it. “We're not going to fight for your benefit, Ada. That's just silly.”

“I don't know, Father. Perhaps a little practice match is in order. I mean, you can't really be training as best you can against Bell and her companions. They're powerful, but you are beyond that. I might be one of only a few who can truly challenge you in battle. Don't you want to stretch your legs a bit. Cin replied with the grin of a shark, her eyes releasing a gentle red glow.

“It might be good to see it, your Majesty. It will allow us to see how much we need to improve.” Bell said quietly while at the same time winking at my daughter, who returned the gesture.

“Hey! I saw that!”

“What? Bell has a point, perhaps it would be good for your new students to see you truly battle one of your old ones.”

“Cinder, we're not going to fight. There's far too much at risk... like the city.” I said dryly. I wasn't exaggerating. The fight we had in the noble district was merely a skirmish. If Cinder was in complete control I would have to go all out and put everyone in the castle and the city below at risk.

“Perhaps you're right... but I'm going to do it anyway. You all better go up to that balcony. This is going to get... violent.” Cin said, the grin never leaving her face as I felt her begin to draw in mana. Just a trickle at first and then a flood. Small cuts appeared over her arms and blood drifted up from the wounds, surrounding her with a red mist. Her aura was dense and dark, suffocating the air around her.

“Oh shit” Leigh said and grabbed onto the wolf Ursula, urging her to her feet and through the door that Cinder had just walked through with Ada and Bell following swiftly behind.

I sighed “Really, Cinder? Do you just not listen to me any more?”

The Queen shrugged “Of course I do, Father. But this will be good for you and for me. Do you know how many trainers I've gone through? At least a couple of dozen. The only time I get to really train is when Faral or one of the others stops by for a visit. It's no fun when I'm guaranteed victory.”

I carefully examined my daughter for the briefest of seconds. “So be it. But if there is even a chance that the battle is going to leave this courtyard then I'm putting an end to it. Agreed?”

Cin nodded “As you say, Teacher. I will do as you command.”

“Fine. Begin!”

The word had barely left my lips before Cinder sprang forwards, the ground churning beneath her as she approached at speed. Long claws of crystallized blood appearing at the tips of her fingers as the glow in her eyes became greater ad much more noticeable.

I narrowed my eyes and drew Xolumbrandir with one smooth motion before springing forwards, Aspect of Air activating as I moved, followed swiftly by Aspect of Earth.

We collided with enough force to unleash a shock wave that shook the very foundations of the castle, Xolumbrandir catching one hand while I stopped the other in a deathly firm grip. Cin's smile didn't fade and she pushed off with her feet, cartwheeling in place. The hand that I was holding stayed where I held it, bone broke and blood flew as it twisted into a lump of useless flesh.

I was shocked that she would purposely injure herself and I felt my grip weaken on the now destroyed hand. It was a mistake however. The claws on Cin's other hand came down and left deep furrows in my face, causing me to bite down in pain but not to howl. I released my grip on her broken hand and spun Xolumbrandir. Pushing past my reservations to hurt Cin I sent the black blade forwards and it cut through her side, leaving a deep slash that sent more blood out onto the floor around us.

Cinder wasn't even fazed, throwing herself backwards where she landed on her one working hand and kicking me with both feet that sent me hurtling through the air. I collided with the far wall with a bang, the stone cracking under the impact before I sank to the ground.

It took but a moment for me to get my bearings but that moment was more than enough for Cinder, who was already running forwards, her broken hand healing itself almost instantly and the gash in her side closing, not leaving a single mark.

She splayed out both her hands and the temperature suddenly dropped dramatically, my breath freezing in mid air, frost beginning to appear on the ground as random lumps of ice began to appear in the air around her.

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I jumped to my feet and pushed more mana into Aspect of Air before I began to exude heat, my mana transforming itself into flame as I leapt forwards, hoping to close the distance before she managed to used any of the many ice projectiles she had created.

As I got closer I aimed my palm at her and unleashed Inferno, the word turning into a sea of fire as it left my palm with a desperation to be free.

I had underestimated Cinder and had completely forgotten that she could now use Aspect of Healing, a powerful weapon that could be used to heal from wounds instantly without the conscious thought of the caster. It was indeed potent, but dangerous as it could heal something in the wrong way. plus the amount of mana needed to maintain it was huge.

These thoughts ran though my mind as I focused on controlling the fire around me. I moved through it without worry, the flame separating before me.

After a moment of moving I finally saw a shadow within and I dove without hesitation, hoping to end this quickly and without having to cause too much damage to Cin.

What I got instead was a sudden burst of water as the moisture in the air concentrated at my daughters command, I emerged from the flame to see Cinder standing uninjured inside a large sphere of water, a grin on her lips as her white hair floated behind her, making her look almost ethereal.

“Shit.” I muttered, just before an explosion rocked the room. I slammed Xolumbrandir into the ground to keep myself in place as a tsunami rushed forwards and extinguished my flame. I opened my eyes while I was submerged in the water to see Cinder headed straight towards me, almost as if she was flying, the water taking her to my location at her command.

I grinned in response to her own. Causing her eyes to widen as she realised her mistake.

Mana filled me to the brim before I channelled it into lightning, sparks flew as it left my body in one blaze of pure light. I heard Cin's muffled screams from within the water as it suddenly became a weapon of my own design. Unfortunately, the lightning effected me as well but I grit my teeth as it coursed through my body, burning my flesh as I activated Aspect of Healing to get rid of the worst of it.

The water around us faded to nothing as Cin's control was pulled from her, the pain of the lightning infused water too much for her to bare.

When the water finally broke apart and returned to it's original form, there was a moment of respite. In which I noticed Black Tusk peering down at us from over the balcony, they were hidden behind the railing and I could only see the tops of four heads as they stared down at the battlefield that Cin and I had turned the training ground into.

“ha... that was tricky, Father.”

The words drew my attention back down to my daughter, who stood just a few metres ahead of me. Her dress was charred in places, but apart from that she was none the worse for wear. Of course, I expected her to be fine. Even if she didn't have the power of healing, that little lightning strike would do little to stop Cin.

I shrugged “You fell for that one before, I believe. It's an old one, but it's good.”

Cin matched the smile on my face, her face alive with joy at the challenge of worthy opponent.

“Thank the Gods you're back. I can't believe how much I missed this.”

“So, do you forfeit now, or would you like to continue... until I make you forfeit?” I asked brazenly, leaning casually against Xolumbrandir, the blade hissing at being used as a leaning post.

“Never. No surrender, as Heilvol used to say. I'll see this through to the end.” Cin said as mana began to rush into her body anew “I'm excited to see how you deal with my Blood Magic, if anyone can find a way to defeat it, it'll be you.”

Suddenly, the blood that had covered the ground, both my own and Cin's, began to rise into the air, separating into droplets that hung around the arena. I narrowed my eyes and took a step back. I have to admit that my heart was beginning to thump louder in excitement. I had not had a true challenge since Xolumbrandir in a long time. I was looking forward to going all out... well, as all out as I could without hurting anyone.

“Prepare.” Cin cried with a grin and suddenly threw out her hands as the small droplets suddenly shot towards me at a speed that caused me to do a double take.

I threw myself backwards through the air as the droplets hit the ground where I had been standing, causing the hardened earth to explode from the force.

Fuck, looks like she could manipulate it's density, turning even the smallest drop of blood into something akin to steel. This will be a challenge.

I continued to dodge as the projectiles attacked from all sides, but I wasn't fast enough to avoid them all and each one that connected punched a small hole into my body, from which seeped out more blood that drifted upwards into the air, adding to Cinder's arsenal. If I kept going like this it wouldn't be long until I was out of this fight. I couldn't directly attack Cin as that was where the greatest concentration of droplets resided, but perhaps I could do one better.

Aspect of Fire

My skin turned to living flame and the air around me began to ripple with the heat. The blood balls near me immediately evaporated, unable to get close to my body.

I grinned, a horrible sight in this form, my body was literally made of fire, my eyes merely points of blue flame amidst a sea of orange.

“Nice try, Cin, but there's always a weakness and, unfortunately, I'm a master of all magic.” I suddenly aimed my hands at her and the air began to pick up speed, becoming sharp as it whipped around Cinder causing the droplets of blood to move and sway as she struggled to maintain control.

Despite this however, the smile on her face did not fade and she made a movement with her hands, causing the blood to come together at speed, forming a larger sphere that stood directly in front of her.

“I picked up this one from Xolumbrandir, Father. I don't think you'll find this as easy as some drops of blood.”

The sphere of blood changed, it began to grow arms and legs, then a head. By the time the transformation was done a humanoid creature of blood stood on the ground, as tall as I am, it's body was constantly shifting as it maintained shape. A construct of blood.

I was immediately cautious and allowed the wind to die down, my grip on Xolumbrandir tightening as the creature began to make it's way forward clumsily.

Whatever it was, it wasn't sentient, the look of concentration on Cin's face was enough evidence of that. She was controlling this creature but I was unsure what her plan was. It was magic given form, but that didn't mean it was powerful enough to challenge me... but Cin never did anything without cause.

Suddenly, the creature moved towards me faster, as if all it's clumsy footwork before was just for show. It rocketed forwards, it's long blood arms suddenly growing hands as it attacked.

I stepped aside, the creature not fast enough to impede me, and I brought Xolumbrandir across it's chest. The blade went right through it, taking a small amount of blood with it, but otherwise causing not damage. The creature seemed to ripple mockingly before drawing back a fist and punching towards me, just before it connected, the fist turned into red crystal.

It slammed into my chest with a thunk, connecting with my flaming skin. There was too much blood for me to just evaporate and all of Cin's power seemed to be focused on making the beast as impervious as possible.

I didn't react to the strike, while it did hurt and quite a bit, I was more curious than anything else. I spun to the side and brought Xolumbrandir down on the blood constructs gem like hand, causing it to break to pieces. But even before it hit the ground the blood turned to liquid and flew back up to rejoin it's body. It was as I watched this that another of the beasts fist's connected with my head, turning to crystal a mere moment before impact.

This one I felt.

I gritted my teeth as I rocked backwards, slightly disorientated by the attack. It seems that Cinder has found a way to create a nearly impervious soldier, but it was far from perfect. She seemed to need constant concentration to make the beast work efficiently and it came at the expense of any defence she had arranged for herself. It seems that she couldn't impart a small piece of her aura into the beast and give it sentience, like Xolumbrandir did with it's constructs.

I looked to the beast in annoyance before grunting and moving forwards, I turned off Aspect of Fire and placed a hand against the slow moving creatures chest, my hand sinking into the blood as it suddenly stopped. Cinder was confused, she didn't know what I was doing.

Something I never told Cinder was how I stopped Xolumbrandir's constructs. Raw mana. Potent but incredibly dangerous, it was pure destructive energy that could destroy whole cities if a mage could gather enough of it. Of course, to gather enough of it you would need to be a God, or at least on one's level. Thoughts of Arcana drifted through my mind as I drew in and unleashed pure strength through my open palm.

For a second, all was silent and then the air rippled and the creature was gone, crushed by the unseen power I had just unleashed. Not a single drop of blood remained

Cin gave a gasp as she fell to her knee's. She had felt some of the power I had used through the link she had with the beast and it had caused her to lose concentration as the monster was destroyed. She shivered slightly “That's not fair, Father. You can't use raw mana, no one should be able to draw mana in it's pure from!”

I shrugged as I hefted Xolumbrandir and made my way over to the fallen Cinder to end the bout “I never said anything about playing fair. Besides, you can use Blood Magic and I can't. Should I have said you weren't able to use it, because I am unable? Our opponents may have an edge, but that doesn't mean that we are disadvantaged because of it. Find the weakness, fight smart. You know all this.”

Cin's shoulders slumped “ I know, I know. I was just surprised. You used it on me in the Noble District. It was part of the reason I knew it was you. But I've been working on that one for ages and I've almost got it right.”

I smiled at my daughter “I would hold off on using it in battle unless you can figure out a way to transfer it some aura, like the bastard sword that refuses to tell me anything. Otherwise, you would be defenceless. What if I had just ran straight past it and headed for you?”

Cin grinned like a beast “ Oh, if you had tried that, it would've exploded and burned your face off. That's something else I've been working on. Converting the blood into acid.”

I shivered at the look on my daughters face and helped her to her feet.

“What!? Are we not going to keep going?” Cin said, her face falling slightly.

I laughed “I would if I thought we could contain an escalation. You were holding back and thanks for that. But if we went full force it would destroy the castle, something I don't want and I know you don't.”

Cinder looked like she was seriously considering it.

I sighed “How about this, soon we'll head out into the forest and we can go crazy, that way no gets hurt.”

“Fine... but that's yet another promise, Father. I'll be collecting on them soon.”

I nodded and gave Cinder a hug to which she responded in kind.

“Cin! Where are.... Gods, what happened here?” A familiar voice came from the entrance, the voice of my daughter's steward, Palite. The woman walked forwards with her eyes wide open, annoyance clearly seen within. It seems this wasn't the first time that Cinder had destroyed something in the castle.

“Hey Palite! Father and I were just practising.” Cinder said with a smile at seeing the older woman..

Palite's eyes became gentle as she fell upon Cin and she just chuckled lightly.

“It's very strange to see you so happy, Cin. I never thought I would get to meet the great Rebel King... or realise that he was just like his daughter when it came to destructive appetites.” She gave me a pointed look.

I merely shrugged with a smile.

“So, what's up, Palite?”

“The Palton Ambassador apologizes for earlier, apparently there was some kind of development and he has asked to rearrange the meeting for first thing tomorrow morning if possible.”

Cinder shrugged “sure, whatever. Anything else.”

Palite nodded “The Knight Descendants are here and wish to see you, my lady. I have informed them that the welcoming Ball in their honour would be held in exactly one week, but they insisted on seeing you as soon as possible.”

“Ugh, why the Ball? You know how much I hate dancing.”

“It's tradition, Cinder. Something not even you can escape. The Knight Descendants are always celebrated thus.”

Cin sighed “Fine. Father's here so it should be easier.”

“I'll come with you to meet The Descendants, Cin. I think it is time to let them know about me before they do something stupid. No doubt they have heard what happened in the city and put two and two together. We need to get ahead of this.” I said as I returned Xolumbrandir to it's sheath.

“And you want to make sure I don't kill and eat Mahalis... right?” Cinder replied, giving me a sideways glance.

I smiled slyly “Right, that would be bad.”

“Fine, we'll do it your way, Father. Palite, give us an hour to get cleaned up and then show the Knight Descendants to the throne room. Father and I will greet them soon.”

“It shall be done, my Queen.”