Rin’s charm had a multitude of ways which it manifested. The first and currently weakest way was her presence’s innate ability to slowly charm those around her, influencing them to act in accordance to her will without them even realizing.
The second was to make eye contact with someone and through the amplification of her charm, which used her eyes as a medium, along with the authority and weight of her existence manifested via verbal command, she could directly corrupt the mind of another to do as she instructs without having to influence their emotions.
To a regular person, their mind’s would be immediately overwritten and they would not be able to put up any resistance as they themselves would fail to even realize the force affecting them. Those who possessed more powerful existences could resist, however the process of doing so was not just painful but it would turn into a battle against not just her will but the third method of her charm’s manifestation, that being lust…
Currently that aspect of her power was also under heavy restrictions, only manifesting when a person attempts to resist her command. Their attempts cancel the combined power of her charm and verbal command, leaving only the more potent manifestation of her ability bare.
The ability to imbue and enhance lust within others was just a deeper stage of her charm, however while intimately connected, it is also an extreme of the charm itself.
This made them different in the rules of mysticism since they are separated by a single layer, as a result of this both create similar but fundamentally different effects. Charm encouraged pure devotion and admiration, whilst her lust encouraged fanaticism and obsession, shifting into twisted love and an overflowing sense of bodily attraction.
Normally Rin could control which she used, however currently that was not the case, her charm and command was first, momentarily inseparable concepts, and what followed beyond that was the much more powerful lust.
Ciel’s guesses about the vampire's authority over the mind domain had been correct, however his views of her actual ability were flawed. The reason for this was simple; vampires only had the ability to affect the minds of others via domination, through the weight of both her existence and will.
That however was merely a side effect of her nature as a powerful aberration race, many other beings to her level had will which could influence lesser beings.
Rin’s actual authority was over a different domain, one intimately tied with the mind, that being emotions. Charm was the one which had the most effect, as it directly complimented her race’s ability to dominate over the wills of others, but in truth her touch could reach every emotion she wished to.
When added together, it led to the terrifying control which vampires seemed to command over the mind of others.
Of course, Rin currently had no desire to influence Ciel’s mind. Not that she would be able to do so easily, and yet, she had unleashed her command imbued with her charm towards him without any second thoughts.
It was to save him…
“Damn!”
Stop… Stop! How dare I not stop… Oh Rin… Is— Is that all you need of me?!
Ciel did not normally feel any emotions within his current state, however Rin’s dreadful power did not fail to spark a desire to obey, to become infatuated by everything about her, to desire her flesh to touch his, to ravage her but not do so without her love being first bestowed upon him.
This time around, with both her eyes having initiated the attack, the effect was far more powerful. It took Ciel a few seconds of struggling for him to at last regain clarity, however by then Rin had already shifted her gaze away, taking with its departure her insidious power.
When the surging desires disappeared, returning to an empty void, Ciel did not feel vengeful. He did not even feel angry, instead he immediately stood with the goal of eradicating a lingering threat. No deeper than that simple goal fueled his actions.
Before he could dash towards her, Rin’s voice echoed once again.
“T-The meal… D-Do not consume it.”
Ciel froze.
Rin’s horrid authority did not accompany her words this time around. He turned to stare down at his meal, finding no obvious problems.
“F-Forgive me. I-I merely did not know how to halt your actions in time.”
Due to his lack of any anger, Ciel was quick to forgive a harmful action taken for the sake of his aid.
“I see… What is wrong with it?”
He asked indifferently, his green eyes still examining the meal. Realizing that Ciel had no plans of hurting her, Rin dared to turn her neck once more to his direction. With her usual weak but sweet voice she explained.
“I-I smell corruption. It is faint, y-yet I smell it nonetheless.”
Do not tell me that vampires are the sniffer dogs of the supernatural.
Sparing a passing thought, Ciel recalled the meat shop where he bought the meal.
“I bought it at a meat shop not too far from here, could it be that the butcher is actually a monster?”
Ciel pondered out loud. Rin, though, disagreed with him.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“N-No… T-The corruption is faint, far so. I-It is more likely the case that the butcher is corrupted and is voluntarily or involuntarily spreading his acquired corruption.”
“Corruption huh…”
Ciel’s mind recalled that strange encounter within the slums. He then proceeded to examine the meal, searching for any hidden symbols. He found none.
When he was finished, he raised the same fork from before and asked,
“Rin, can you eat this? Would this help in your recuperation?”
“Hmm p-perhaps a little, h-however such an effect is far to miniscule to be of any real aid.”
Ciel walked closer to her, kneeled down to her level, then reached out his right arm. The fork his hand held hovered just an inch or two away from Rin’s charred lips.
“Eat it anyway.”
He said, then his voice suddenly turned even colder as he continued.
“Consider this the appetizer. I will get a full meal for you soon.”
Rin’s scarlet eyes met his, they carried an emotion which Ciel quickly identified as hesitation, one which was certainly not stemming from fear but rather from humiliation.
Soon Rin’s neck stretched out slightly, her chard lips parting to take a bite. Whilst doing so, Ciel once more witnessed her two sharp fangs. When she swallowed the piece of roasted lamb, Ciel’s lips curled into an eerie smile.
“Good dog.”
He said with a hint of mockery in his tone.
Of course, he did not feel joy mocking her either, his smile merely appearing for the purposes of further amplifying his insult.
*****
Ciel decided to forgo his initial plan to make first contact with the Red Tiger Gang. He had just stumbled into a golden opportunity after all. Having decided such, he waited for the night to truly come to life. Then after confirming that he was not feeling any intense fatigue, as well as finally cleaning himself with a shower, he ventured out.
He carried nothing with him, only changing into a full black shirt and pants. Those were the clothes which he had bought earlier on this day. Upon stepping outside, he was immediately met by the many pedestrians all adorned in various attires and eager to reach their destination of partying for the night.
Ciel incorporated himself with the passersby, casually closing the distance towards his own destination.
It was as he walked past the entrance of a strip club, one which had a live display of the inside performance playing right outside via a red hologram, that he suddenly heard a man’s voice bellow forth.
He, along with those around him, turned towards the direction of that voice.
It appeared that a scene was unfolding.
“Bitch! You think you're so pretty huh! You think that makes you better than me!”
A young man with a skin fade haircut, silver hair, wearing pure black leather clothing, and possessing arm tattoos which were of the luminescent type which only appeared dimly upon nightfall, was quickly identified as the source of the loud voice by the surrounding audience.
The man’s face was covered by wrinkles as he scowled deeply at a woman with straight short brown hair and blue eyes wearing a proper black suit clearly tailored to compliment her body perfectly. The woman’s own expression appeared mostly relaxed, with only a small hint of irritation finding its way onto her beautiful face.
She sighed.
“Listen buddy, It’s fine to approach me and shoot your shot, like I get it. However, when the woman says she is not interested, then drop it and scram.”
She gave the young man a cold glare, further emphasizing her point as she spoke calmly. The young man however, did not seem to understand. With unmasked rage he spat.
“Fuck off! I was only being nice ya hear! But you went and got all full of yourself! I hate whores like you!”
“What did you call me?!”
Just like so, the woman’s previous relaxed and somewhat composed state completely shattered. Replacing it now was pure unbridled anger.
Stomp
Stomp
She took two heavy steps towards the young man, her fists clenched tightly. However before she could reach him a hand suddenly grasped her shoulder.
“Lara calm down!”
Beside her, a new figure appeared, this one of a tall man with green eyes and neatly kept black hair. He wore the same style of suit as she did, signaling their connection.
Simultaneously, a friend of the young man stepped forth and took hold of him as well.
“Bro, leave the girl alone! You're making a damn scene!”
Lara’s blue eyes turned to her patrolling partner, Eric Stevens.
“But this bastard has the audacity to blame me when he approached me with some shitty pickup line like: ‘Hey sweet ass, I love clean girls like you the most, want a drink? My treat!’. I tried to be polite but he was too stupid to appreciate my tactfulness!”
Lara altered her speech upon quoting the young man’s previous words, adding the tone of an imbecile.
Eric appeared unamused by the entire situation.
What is the point of an act if you always point out that you are acting?
Lampooning such, he sighed.
“Yes, I get it but you shouldn’t lash out because of a few curses. How thin-skinned are you? Come on, aren’t you supposed to be the embodiment of womanly elegance? Prove it now and ignore him.”
Lara’s lips first opened to protest, however no words followed. After a short moment of her mouth hanging open she pursed her lips in frustration.
“Fine. Come on, let's go.”
Seeing her calm state, Eric released his grip and without any further words, the two began to walk away.
The young man, feeling even more enraged that the beautiful woman before him was about to dismiss their entire encounter, let out one final curse at her fleeing back.
“That's right, run away bitch!”
Both Lara and Eric froze simultaneously.
Eric let out a resigned sigh. Lara on the other hand first felt her body tremble vigorously from the sudden surge of rage, she then turned to face the young man once more.
That young man’s body instantly became paralyzed by fear upon meeting her vicious gaze.
Lara dashed forth, closed the distance within a second or two, then swung her right arm.
THUD!
In the next second, the young man’s jaw experienced a terrible shock before his vision went blank. His jaw was not only dislocated but his entire body, along with the friend which had been holding him, was violently sent flying back towards the ground.
Overcome with great satisfaction Lara unleashed a forearm jerk, using the same arm which she had punched him with. The friend of the young man, who had just managed to get his bearings and was holding the unconscious young man on the ground, shook in fear.
“Make sure to teach your friend some manners!”
Lara said cheerfully before turning around and rejoining with Eric a few steps away. The tall man was shaking his head, utterly defeated.
As the two walked away, their banter becoming fainter and fainter, the audience was left behind with many still captivated by what had unfolded.
Some of them chatted amongst themselves, shocked by the unexpected power the punch of the petite woman possessed. Others discussed their potential identities as NSRA officers. Some simply moved on, quickly dismissing the scene from their focus.
A few others could not contain their laughter, finding this moment too funny to not immediately record and upload to the network. The last bunch approached the unconscious man, seeing if he was okay.
Ciel meanwhile, only had a single thought emerge.
Esper…