Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification

  Chapter 34

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  Arc 2 - "The hunter and the beast"

  Chapter 18- "Heart of a beast."

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  The wolf stared at it's prey, not shying away. Of course it understood what the strange metal pipe was capable of. The remains of his once glorious pack was a testament to the effectiveness of this weapon. The enemy was so formidable, it had robbed him of hearing in one of his ears, causing him immense pain and bleeding. But it did not falter, it did not buckle or hide like dogs would. It stood tall and bore it's fangs. It won't ever be taken prisoner, It would rather die with it's fallen comrades. However, it wasn't fighting for them. It was fighting for itself alone.

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  1st May, 1886.

  Screaming woods

  Pridon.

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  04:39

  "Jordan, your hand.."

  'Veronica. It's really her. I'm.. holding her hands..and she's alive. Why am I more interested in the holding hands part? Shut up and get your act together! She just asked you a question, dumbass!'

  "What is it?" The words came out weakly. Damn my broken ribs!

  "It's warm."

  The two of them lay there like that for more than a minute, staring at each other. Jordan's face reddened, and he desperately hoped Veronica didn't notice through the all the blood.

  Then again, no matter how cringey it sounds, I wouldn't mind it if this moment lasted forever...

  Veronica suddenly smiled and wiped her tears. She slowly got up, though her hands didn't leave his.

  "Jordan." Veronica dragged him up to his feet.

  "Sorry. I should've beat the crap out of that thing. Now it's still inside of you and.."

  Veronica suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Jordan's heart nearly flew out of his chest.

  'What!?'

  Jordan trembled for a second, suddenly feeling the warmth of her body. He slowly placed his arms around her back too, almost expecting her to fight him or complain or something. But he got nothing.

  'What are we doing? Why are we doing this? I mean, I want to hug her, of course. But...'

  "I didn't spare your lives so that you could 'make out' in front of me. Leave my territory, now!" Prima ordered.

  The monkey's sharp tone and loud voice got both of their attention.

  Veronica would've let go of him, but before she could break off the hug completely, he held on to both of her hands, firmly. He would have noticed her slight frown if he was paying more attention, but Jordan wasn't staring at Veronica anymore. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the prima.

  "Why did you try to kill her?"

  "I couldn't care less about the life of your lady friend. I only tried to kill Necro-lich. Now if you don't want me to continue, you should take your leave immediately."

  Veronica had a troubled expression on her face, but she didn't say anything.

  "Thank you. I guess that's all I have to give you in return. Or would you rather want Power?"

  "I don't want anything from you."

  "Then why would you help me?"

  "Mage, have you ever heard of genuine altruism?"

  "That's bullshit."

  "I want you to offer up something for us to eat. Something we have been hoping to taste for a while. I would have asked directly, but I wanted to see if you really were a Mage. I've stumbled upon intel that you Mages are currently against each other."

  "Yes..."

  "We want William Sharpside. He's the offering we desire. Kill him and bring his corpse here. Then We shall feast on his flesh until nothing remains. In doing so, we shall experience the greatest pleasure we have felt in a while."

  "But you just told me I was weak. How could I fight him?"

  Prima shook his head.

  "That I do not know. But I know you already possess a quality that he lacks. Hunter might have power, but he lacks the level of heart you possess. It may not be worth anything, but I would like to see how far you go with that kind of heart."

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  The two of them had walked a mile away from there, heading towards the flames. Veronica was supporting Jordan's body.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "You know, since you saved me, you should be the one carrying me."

  "I didn't save you, Veronica. I only gave you a little push. You saved yourself..." Veronica's free hand connected with Jordan's cheek. It was gentle, but with the magnitude of injury Jordan had sustained, even a light breeze would hurt.

  "Ow. That...what was that for?"

  "You saved me, got it? Give yourself some credit. You got beat and broken for my sake."

  "You're pretty beat up yourself.."

  "It's regenerating. Incredibly quickly..." She stopped, and stared at him.

  "What?"

  "Thank you. I guess I was too busy crying my heart out to say it before."

  "It's okay. I'm glad you're okay."

  The two of them continued to walk in silence.

  "So...what now?"

  "I guess I owe you an explanation. I'm a Mage."

  "So is Lancaster. Already knew that."

  'How?'

  Jordan shook his head. It hurt.

  "I need to cast a spell to heal myself. But if I do it, I might be completely useless against Hunter."

  "You can't fight anybody like this."

  She had a point. Jordan knew he didn't stand a chance against William. But he wasn't planning on fighting him, yet.

  'Lancaster said I have to get back to the diagram he drew at the campfire and re-draw it. That's what I'm gonna do first. And I can't draw anything if I don't have an iota of Power left.'

  'I originally wanted to get to the camp, but I heard Veronica's voice and I had to take a detour. I don't regret it, but I'm in worse shape than before, and I've wasted time. Lancaster might be dead now...'

  'What I won't give for a magic-meter right now... I guess a little bit of rejuvination didn't hurt anyone.'

  "Jordan." They had stopped walking abruptly.

  "What, princess?"

  "We're as close to the fire as we can be. I'm feeling it scorching my skin."

  "Okay."

  Jordan rested on her shoulder.

  "Really, Jordan? The fact that you saved my life doesn't mean you could just cling to me like this. I know you like me, but..."

  "We can talk later. I want to think, it hurts to talk right now. Please."

  'Rejuvination? I have no idea exactly how much Power I have left. Do I have a plan? No. Let's see; I managed to get Veronica out of there. What do I do now? Power. I need Power. I have two pinky's...no.no. I have one. I can give the other one. Small sacrifice to pay if I manage to get rid of pieces of shit like Hunter.'

  Just thinking about him made his blood boil. The fact that he'd almost entirely forgotten about his adversary made veins almost pop out of his forehead.

  "Jordan. What's wrong? Your face..."

  "It's not like the person you remember. I know. I get that same feeling whenever I look in the mirror. And it's not because of a wound or a scar or two. It's because of the look in my eyes, isn't it? Something I've always had, twisted into something different. I know. Okay? I know. I had a hunch that Lancaster's newfound dickface wasn't some new year resolution. It was the book of magic. It changed him. It also changed me, Veronica."

  "Jordan.."

  A symbol scribbled with blood drew itself around Jordan's chest and lit up with a white hue. It glowed for a moment, and while it did, Jordan's wounds disappeared at an unprecedented rate. He collapsed into the ground, slipping from Veronica's hands. But the glow disappeared very quickly, even before the worst of his wounds were healed.

  "That's what magic looks like, V." Jordan forced a smile and tried to force his limbs up. They wobbled a bit. The young lady tried to help, but Jordan wormed out of her grasp.

  "Jordan, why did you save me?"

  "Because I wanted to. It was a selfish move I'm paying for right now, but I wouldn't have done it any other way." He managed to get up and turned his face to the flames.

  "You're stupid. You're about to risk your life again, aren't you?"

  "You got me. I am pretty stupid. Please, Veronica. Leave the woods. Go home. Get rest. I'll handle the rest of this shit-show."

  "No! You're not going anywhere! There's no way you.."

  "Shut up and get out." His voice was more angry and forceful than he wanted it to be.

  'Demon of desire. Hope. Whatever you call yourself. Take another one, and give me a huge load of Power.'

  Your language skills have gone rusty, broken Mage. You're sure about this?

  'Yes. Do it, now.'

  Jordan grit his teeth and took the pain. Another of his pinky fingers, gone forever. But he felt the surge of Power all around him. He nodded his head.

  "Elyas, I can't let you kill yourself. I'm coming with you, you'll have better chances with me."

  To him, she sounded just like Lloyd back at the hospital. Fighting him to come back. He wanted to. He really wanted to.

  "You've had enough of this nightmare, Veronica."

  "No, you have." She protested.

  'It's almost as if she's trying to make this difficult for me.'

  Constructio magica

  Artificium nota item.

  Vlad's Rapier.

  Writing the words for the chant inside the symbol has the same effect as saying them out loud when it comes to Quill's magic. He didn't need to waste his breath chanting. Instead, he activated Inscribe while holding the quill in his pocket for easier visualization.

  Several dozen magic circles were drawn at once. Metal weaved itself into existence from the centre of each of them until they all combined to form a sword. A rapier levitating a few inches away from Jordan's outstretched right hand. He took it by the handle.

  More circles appeared.

  "Why are you doing this?"

  "I'm getting geared up for a battle. Something tells me, Hunter would know exactly where I end up. You see, I've been thinking about what Prima said. This moment proves if he was right or not. If I have enough heart to take down Hunter. The person that shot you. And one of the bastards who conspired to kill Lisa."

  Jordan's clothing transformed. He now wore a black cloak-just like the one from before - along with leather armour underneath it and a belt with straps for a sword. He placed the rapier there.

  "Lisa?"

  "Yes. You know, I have an entire well of hatred in my heart for him and him alone. I'm sure, If that's all it takes, I'm ready."

  A newly formed pistol fell on floor. Jordan picked it up and strapped it to the side of the belt.

  'All I have to do is re-draw the diagram. All of this is only useful if my hunch is right..and I'm hoping it's wrong.'

  The steady beating of his heart. The cold chill he felt that made him shiver, even when he was inches away from the flames. The ever-present headache, earned from agonising over every detail of his predicament, finding no definite answer. It was almost intoxicating. Adrenaline. He felt as though he was drunk on it.

  Jordan started to run. He remembered the path they took, flying away earlier. Retracing that path would lead him back to the original campsite.

  Activating his flame shield was instant. The flames parted to let him cross. Veronica gave chase but was barred by the flames. Jordan's new flame shield was too small to let in anyone else.

  "Jordan! You're stupid! Stop acting like you're some kind of fool! You can't do this! Just come back!" Veronica screamed out at the top of her voice. She panted heavily after that. But it was futile.

  Jordan didn't respond.

  Instead, he sprinted across the flames for a few minutes. As he ran, all he saw was fire, smoke and ashes. He ignored everything and ran until he found the scorched-up remains of Lancaster's campsite. Complete with all the provisions and weapons.

  He tweaked the spell using Inscribe, elongating the radius of the barrier enough for him to see the entire clearing. He took in the ugly sight. For some reason, many trees were still standing tall, caught in flames, but not burning down.

  'How the heck is it not completely eradicated?'

  There was still small marks on the ground where the diagram once was. Jordan nodded his head and held his quill tightly. The diagram appeared to draw itself back to existence.

  "Crow's magic, performed by Quill. An evidence of your friendship." A man's voice could be heard. The voice was rough and not really pleasant to listen to.

  The man stood outside of Jordan's flame barrier, and was difficult to see through the perpetual flames. But the man came out, the fire parting to let him through.

  Their eyes met and then locked on to each other. His gaze was level and emotionless. Jordan's gaze was practically gushing with rage and hatred. His voice was even worse, each word sounding like a terrible insult.

  "William Sharpside."

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