บท 16: Goblin Sees Possibilities
Seeing everyone other than Evangeline standing around in a daze Jellal could only shake his head and sigh. He tried various methods to try to wake them from their stupor starting with simply waving his hand in front of their faces. Since motion didn't look like it would do the trick he moved on to using sound to try to bring them back. Snapping his fingers right next to their ears was also a resounding failure so he dug deeper into his bag of tricks.
When clapping his hands as hard as he could an inch away from their faces didn't work he gave up on being gentle about it. Grabbing Vincent's shoulder he shook him violently causing his head to jerk about, even though it managed to snap him out of it momentarily it was obvious that he was still scared just by looking at the dead shadow wolf.
As his annoyance reached a peak he gave up being subtle in favor of crude methods. Grabbing Vincent by the collar he began slapping his face back and forth until both his cheeks were bright red. The puffy faced Vincent wanted to protest about his treatment but immediately went quiet when he was glared at by Jellal who was reaching for the next person's collar.
He reared back his hand and was about to do the deed when he thought of another way to wake them up that wouldn't involve him touching so many incompetent fools. Releasing his almost victim he went straight to the kitchen. After locating a small bucket he filled it up at the sink. Carrying the bucket of water with him he returned to the dining hall where his victims were patiently waiting.
With one hand on the lip of the bucket and the other on the bottom he pulled it back as far as he could before swinging it forward. His aim was perfect as the water nailed Vincent in the face as he was standing there looking dumbfounded. He proceeded to hand the empty bucket over to the mumbling Vincent before sitting at a table to relax.
[Now that I've shown you the way, wake up the other two so they can get to work cleaning this thing off my floor which they should have started five minutes ago.]
Making a trip to the kitchen Vincent brought back a bucket of water and reluctantly threw if in Sia's face. She was naturally not thrilled about having someone throw water in her face and responded by putting the culprit in a chock hold. No matter how the poor guy tried to escape it was easily thwarted by her surprisingly exquisite technique and the overwhelming difference in strength. Even his attempts to tap out were ignored and he wasn't released until he was foaming at the mouth.
The depressed Vincent was glad that everything was over until he glanced around. His eyes landed on Jellal who was sitting at the table laughing his ass off. After noticing his gaze he did what any good leader would do, remind him that there was still a couple people left standing in a daze.
Vincent's face began twitching as he begrudgingly dragged his body to the kitchen to refill the bucket. Trying to ignore Sia's glare which is burning a hole through his back, he walked up to Beth and splashed her the same way he had splashed Sia.
When Beth came to she was glared at Vincent who was staring at her with a red face. Noticing his abnormal reaction she glanced down at herself causing her face to turn beet red. Unlike Sia, who is wearing leather armor, she's wearing normal clothes and now that they're wet they're sticking to her body emphasizing her form. Her only solace is that the fabric was thick and didn't become see-through.
Seeing the death glare that Beth was sending Vincent, Sia decided to volunteer to act as a moderator to fix the relationship between the two. Vincent happily agreed hoping she would be able to keep things from becoming awkward between them. Unfortunately he didn't realize that her so called moderation was him being put in another headlock while Beth repeatedly kicked him in the shin.
Everyone ignore Vincent's mumblings as he dragged himself back to the kitchen one last time. Remembering the magic Kira had used to get rid of the corpses previously he started feeling nervous about what kind of retaliation he would face when he splashed the mage. He swallowed nervously before appealing to Jellal with his eyes. The response he got was a thumbs up and a smile that said "you've put on a good show so far, keep it up". As he was about to splash her he shivered, hearing Sia and Beth discuss how they think Kira should torture him with magic.
The trembling Vincent managed to work up his courage and splashed the bucket of water on the dazed Kira. Immediately she started shaking in anger yet she refused to act. Thinking he would be spared from another round of unjust violence he couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his lips.
His smile froze when he saw the livid Kira look over at Jellal as if asking for permission to beat Vincent to death. When he appealed for help he was met with Jellal looking around whistling as if it had nothing to do with him. Suddenly he felt an immense killer intent leaking from Kira, backing away slowly he hoped he would be able to find a chance to make a run for it. Unfortunately a hand firmly grasped his shoulder from behind thwarting his plans. Turning his head jerkily as if he were a broken robot he looked over his shoulder at the eerily smiling Sia.
Sia and Beth each grabbed an arm as they dragged him forcibly toward the living quarters with Kira following just behind them. As they disappeared into the tunnel Vincent's declarations of innocence reverberated through the cave. For a few minutes various loud banging sounds mixed with screams could be heard coming from the living quarters.
When the noise finally stopped, the girls walked out of the tunnel while chatting happily. Eventually a slouching and disheveled Vincent warily returned to the dining hall as well. Apparently they were loud enough to reach Jellal's room since a sleepy Meredith stumbled into the dining hall while rubbing her eyes not long after the noise died down.
With everyone back to normal Jellal left taking care of the shadow wolf to Beth and Sia while Vincent was Meredith and Kira were tasked with cleaning up the mess that was made because of the fight.
Now that he had some free time Jellal brought Evangeline and the human blood bag, Vincent, to the living quarters out of everyone else's way. Since this would be his first time personally witnessing a vampire's blood magic and regeneration he was glowing with excitement. He was also slightly interested in what would happen when someone got their blood sucked.
As for the person who would be getting his blood sucked, he was quite nervous. Ever since waking up he had been repeatedly beaten down and when he thought about how awful hi luck had been up to this point he could already imagine being drained of all the blood in his body.
When it was finally time for the demonstration to begin Jellal maximized his focus so he wouldn't miss even the tiniest detail.
Using her fingernail Evangeline cut open the tip of her index finger. Blood began rushing from the scratch like would as if it were water being released from a faucet. The blood the flowed out from her finger never hit the ground; instead it floated in the air as if it were a floating stream.
Watching the performance Jellal was shocked at how easily Evangeline was able to control her own blood. Not only was she able to control how fast it flowed from her wound but she was also able to stop it or even return the blood back into her body through the cut. She could also change its shape at will allowing it to form a sword, followed by a shield, then a halberd and so on. The thing that truly astonished him wasn't just that she was able to control it so well but the speed at which she was able to manipulate the blood.
From his judicious observations he was able to tell that this wasn't something the average person could do. To be more precise, anyone who had adequate enough sensing ability could use blood magic, in fact he was positive he would be able to do it himself without much trouble, but no matter how skillful they were at manipulating their blood they would always pale in comparison to a true vampire. He reasoned that vampires are able to manipulate their blood so easily and to such an extent like it was second nature because their mana had at least partly fused with their blood and their body. In exchange for their huge advantage in blood manipulation and regeneration they would have a much harder time using any type of magic that didn't involve their blood or body.
He found such a concept truly fascinating to think about. There were immense advantages and drawbacks to having their mana fused in a certain state. Even though he had ridiculed Kira for being an amateur when it came to magic, right now he felt like he had truly underestimate how many different possibilities could be achieved with magic. After pondering on it a bit he felt that he should have at least considered the possibility of a being having partially fused mana, after all any elemental would operate using the same basic principle: trade restrictions to variety for unmatched ability in a specific area.
Since a whole new world of possibilities had opened up in front of him he had to ask Evangeline to temporarily pause the demonstration. The thing that occupied his thoughts the most was the gap in strength that would exist between a being who had partially fused mana and one who was normal.
'If I somehow end up facing off against an opponent that holds such an advantage over me would it be possible to overcome the innate difference in ability? Even if I was able to adapt to their speed of change I would still be on the defensive without much of a chance to actually counter attack. The only way I would be able to be certain of my victory would be if I was significantly stronger on the whole or if I was able keep up with them which isn't feasible, unless … Certain beings are able to naturally resonate with a particular type of mana and use magic of that type almost like second nature. Theoretically, if I was able to resonate with a type of mana with the same proficiency I would be able to use that type of magic just as easily, not only that, in theory it's possible to resonate with any type of mana so if one's skilled enough they should be able to use any type of magic to such a level. A normal, no an extremely talented person may not be able to do it but for a superior being such as myself it can only be seen as an interesting challenge, kekeke. I guess it's decided then, from now on I'll have to prioritize practicing resonating with various types of mana.'
After putting his thoughts in order and deciding on the direction of his training in the future he asked Evangeline to continue her demonstration. He watched with a discerning eye as she changed the blood into various shapes. She was even able to somewhat effect how soft or rigid it was. Even though she wasn't able to make it completely solid, the ability to change it between a liquid and semi-solid state at will could have terrifying implications. He could imagine how devastating it would be if she was able to change it from a solid to a liquid after it had penetrated someone's flesh and allowing it to slow through their blood stream. He couldn't help but shudder at the thought of her tearing someone apart from the inside and how much internal bleeding it could cause; it would almost certainly be fatal if only a miniscule amount her blood managed to get inside an opponent's body.
As she did her routine he started to look at her in a different light. If she was dead set on breaking out of this place it would be boarder line impossible to stop her.
When she finished her demonstration Jellal was left nodding in approval. Since she had used a lot of energy during the performance she needed to replenish. When she walked over to Vincent, Jellal could faintly here him mutter "please be gentle, it's my first time" under his breath. The only proper response he could make to such a comment was to hold his face in his hand while trying not to crack up.
Evangeline drew in close to him, gently brushing her hand down the side of his face. The blushing Vincent tightly closed his eyes unable to watch what was to come. Jellal, on the other hand, was watching curiously and was at enough of an angle that he could see the playful smile on Evangeline's face as she intentionally messed with the poor fool.
In the end, after she'd had enough of teasing him she simply rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and bit into his arm. For Jellal who was paying attention to how her body reacted to consuming blood it was an interesting watch, but if someone were to be expecting something from a visual stand point it could only be said to have been anticlimactic.
With her energy replenished it was time to move on to her showing off her regeneration ability. In order to properly demonstrate it she borrowed a throwing knife from Jellal and made a large incision down the length her arm. The cut ran from her elbow all the way down to her wrist and was quite painful to look at. In less than a second the wound had managed to close itself; if someone were to turn their head for a moment before she made the cut it's possible they wouldn't even realize she had injured herself since there was no evidence that it had actually happened.
After analyzing her regeneration ability he finally understood why she said she would need blood to replenish her energy if she used it lot. Even though the regeneration is quick it uses a lot of energy. It doesn't just draw upon the fused mana but also the raw energy of the body. Regardless of how fast the person is able to recover it's meaningless if they're so fatigued that they can't move. If it wasn't for the vampire's natural ability to convert blood into energy the regeneration would be more akin to a curse than a blessing.
Even though she had only healed a small cut Jellal could tell that Evangeline had used over five percent of her body's physical energy. Five percent may seem insignificant but little cuts can add up quickly, and there is still the matter of how much energy can you lose and still be able to fight effectively.
In the end Jellal decided it had its uses for emergency situations so he would add it to his long list of things to practice. More than anything else he was interested in exploring the concept of using mana to draw out the body's physical energy. While the way it's applied may be different, it evokes similarities to aura which mainly focuses on enhancing the body.
With the demonstrations finished the trio left the living quarters to join the others in the dining hall. Although not much time had passed the wreckage from last night's brawl had already been cleaned up. Due to the sheer size of the shadow wolf it would take a while longer before it was taken care of as well.
Since Meredith was free Jellal decide to take her back to his room so he could ask her which gems were worst for the item bag. When they got to his room he had her turn around while he took the gems out of the secret compartment. After she was asked which gem was the worst she tilted her head to the side before holding cutely her finger to her lip while thinking.
Even though he trusted Meredith a lot more than the rest of his subordinates due to her being an innocent child he still had her turn around when he put the excess gems back in the hidden compartment. In the end he even had her pinky promise to keep everything about the gems and item bags a secret.
He focused everything he had on sensing mana before putting the gem inside the bag. Once it was in the bag he put a drop of blood on both the gem and the bag causing them to resonate as the function of the item bag began to activate.
The process went off without a hitch and the gem managed to successfully open up a new sub space. Despite putting all his focus into sensing mana while the space was formed he was only barely able to feel an insignificant modicum amount of space mana. Since he knew when and where it would happen the only explanation he could think of for such a pathetic performance would be that he only has a smidgen of natural affinity for space magic. Naturally in his mind he wholeheartedly believes that he is a superior being and as such he could fix that in a jiffy so it didn't matter that much, especially since he had the bag which he could practice sensing and resonating with at any time.
Since he had taken care of what he came to his room to do he decided to head back to the dining hall. As he was about to leave his room he once again bumped into Evangeline wobbling through the tunnel.
His face started twitching when she walked past him and tried to blatantly enter his room without his permission. Grabbing the back of her dress he stopped her in her tracks only to see her look back over her shoulder teary eyed. After nearly a minute of complaining about unfair treatment and how hard she worked today she finally stopped her childish whining. In the end since he was in a good mood because of the various new ways he had learned to use magic and because he had an overall decent impression of her he decided to relent just this once and let her nap in the good bed during the day while he's busy brushing up on his magic someplace else.
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