User blog:Flamebiplane/Vampire Hunter Number Thirteen

It was another cool night in the Demon Realm of Wavedraw. Cries of lust and ecstasy echoed across the vast cityscape below the scenic purple sky. The forest on the outside was corrupted into different types of deformities. A normal person would flee at the sight of this debauchery, but for a person seeking adventure or a virgin desperate for love, it was a match made in heaven.

Valerie stood on one of the rooftops in the lower levels of the city. She had just finished her weekly spree of undergarment confiscation, and was now pondering what to do next. Her mother was currently in a heated debate with the governing administration at Nylund Castle, and she would likely use some of that pent up anger to berate her on a matter she deemed trivial if she returned home, so that was a no-go. Her favorite ice cream parlor just had all of its flavorful stock ransacked, so it would just be a waste of time. She could pay a visit to the manor to get an earful of Gahillo drama, but she would eventually get shooed off by some of the more psychic guards for acting like a peeper. Though she had acted as a free transport for General Mythria Gahillo's son several times, she was still for some odd reason forbidden from getting close to the manor, let alone entering it. The young vampire decided against it.

Then, she said aloud, "Eh, I'll go talk to Oceana, she's due for some chatting time."

Her feet dissipated into a thick black mist, and worked its way up her body until it reached her head, fully transforming her into an essence.

Valerie took off from the rooftop and darted in the direction of the forest. Her mist form zoomed along the trees, seeking that specific clearing when she found something down below that caused her to stop in flight. She descended into the woods, and returned to her mamono form. A small brown bottle was tied to one of the trees, and an enticing smell wafted from it, blood.

She approached the bottle in a stride. A hand was wrapped around it and she asked herself, "What kind of weirdo would leave his blood out in the middle of a forest?"

Valerie freed the bottle from its bindings and peeked inside. What she saw left her with a befuddled expression. What that bottle held was not blood, but a tiny rock, painted red, that smelled like the red liquid that vampires craved.

The distinct clicking sound of a bolt being fired caused Valerie to lean back, and the offending projectile pierced the tree. Valerie let the bottle slip from her fingers, and glanced in the direction of where the bolt originated. There was another click, and a second bolt zipped into view with the vampire as its target.

She sidestepped it, and it continued on it's trajectory until it struck another tree further up. A third bolt trailed after its brothers, hoping that the third time's the charm. It was poised to strike Valerie, and was no doubt quick on its course, but Valerie was quicker,  catching the bolt inches from her shoulder and giving it a once over. Iron tip, wooden shaft, a regular bolt. It was tossed away just as another bolt came at her, this time from a different direction. She hopped aside, just as the medieval assailant darted past her chest.

The attacker had yet to reveal himself or herself, so Valerie called out in the direction of the shooter, "I dodged four of your bolts, I don't think they're working!"

Footsteps moved closer to her position, and soon, the perpetrator was revealed from the cover of the forest.

It was a man who appeared to be a bit tall. His skin was a gentle shade of tan and had a brown goatee. He wore a black bandana and a dark green jacket accompanied by a purple vest. On his feet were a pair of leather boots that were of a high grade quality. His face held a smile of pure arrogance. In his hands was the suspected crossbow, with a quiver full of unfired bolts clinging to his back.

Valerie stared at the man with a bored expression and said, "You're one out of five people who have attacked me without announcing their presence.  Don't let that make you think you're special or anything."

The man shrugged and replied in a jubilant voice, "My lady, I never thought of myself as such.  I always saw myself as a normal man just doing his thing."

Valerie folded her arms and said, "So you don't think too highly of yourself, congrats."

"Thank you," the man said as he squatted and gestured to Valerie, "Now my lady, let's get down to business."

"You're a vampire hunter, here to capture me and to make some money off of it," Valerie answered, her face lacking any sign of being impressed. The man appeared taken aback by Valerie's seemingly psychic response, but he quickly recomposed himself and said, "Well my lady, you're not wrong."

"Who are you?" Valerie asked with an eyebrow raised. The man stood up straight and bowed in a regal manner, "I am Jagos Lucas, tailor by day, hunter of vampires by night."

As a display of pride, Jagos reached into his jacket and pulled out a shortsword. Valerie raised a hand toward the hunter and said, "Hold on hold on hold on, Jagos Lucas was it?"

"That is my name," Jagos responded with a nod. Valerie herself nodded her head and asked, "Would you happen to have two brothers named Karl and Eduardo?"

Jagos had a puzzled expression and replied, "Yes my lady, those were their names, and they're fellow hunters like myself.  You're not implying they...tried to do battle with you, are you?"

Valerie shook her head and said, "They did, though they were more like rookies than professionals."

A casual smirk appeared on the side of her lips as she continued, "I gave them wedgies, stripped them of their gear, and left them to dangle by their underwear from a pair of streetlights.  An Ogre came by and took one of them, a Ghoul took the other."

Jagos sighed and rolled his eyes, "Well, that explains why they never came home."

He stomped his foot on the ground and grunted, "Damn it, I told those buffoons not to go into a Demon Realm!"

Jagos shook his head and pointed his sword at Valerie in a heroic gesture, "Oh well, once I've dealt with you, I'll come back for them."

Valerie's smirk vanished and she returned to her casual stance. "You don't wanna fight me after you get your brothers back?  An Ogre and a Ghoul are quite a few steps below me," she advised him as she raised a hand in his direction.

Jagos slung his crossbow across his back and asked, "Better to get the strongest one out of the way first am I right my lady?"

An unsure hand from Valerie was waved at Jagos and she said, "Can't exactly disagree with your line of thinking, but I can't say if I agree with this being a smart decision either."

Then she gave her head a slight tilt and added, "Oh, and please stop calling me 'your lady', I'm not big on formalities, and prefer to just be called Valerie."

A toothy grin formed on Jagos's face as he raised his sword til it was equal level with his forehead. "Well, I shall try my best not to address you as such...Valerie," he replied with a little snarkiness to his voice.

He hopped to one side and lunged at her, his sword poised to strike. Valerie leaned back and let the sword harmlessly sail across. Jagos then lowered his sword and thrusted it toward her. The vampire sidestepped the attack and her opponent retracted his weapon, only to attempt a second stab. Valerie sidestepped in the opposite direction and once again, the blade missed its mark.

Jagos grimaced and withdrew his sword across his shoulder, going for a backhand slash against the vampire. Valerie ducked, and the sword flew right over her head. With an opening present, Valerie delivered a punch to Jagos's left leg.

The hit caused Jagos to stumble back with a pained grunt. He gritted his teeth as he stared at Valerie, but was soon smiling again. Valerie stood up, ready for the hunter's next assault.

He charged again, and swung his sword at Valerie once more with higher velocity. She backed away, and continued to evade Jagos's second flurry until another opening allowed Valerie to give him a hard kick to his ribs and send him into the grass flat on his back.

An irritated Jagos groaned and rose from the ground. His once proud smile had now eroded into a smirk and he reached into his jacket. From it he pulled out a vial with a blue liquid inside and drank it in one swig. He slipped the empty vial back into his jacket and raised his sword at Valerie once more. "This should put us on an even playing field," he said as he rushed at her, this time at the speed of lightning.

This move didn't actually surprise Valerie, but she did find herself having to try harder to avoid Jagos's vorpal slashes.

Jagos was relentless in his attacks, the potion he drank having boosted his confidence as well as his speed. Valerie was equally fluid in her evasion techniques, but she could feel those skills leaking as her opponent was slowly catching up to her in combat. Unlike the previous two times, Valerie couldn't find an effective opportunity to counterattack, as they were moving away too fast.

She darted against trees and leaped off of them as Jagos pursued her. Each natural wooden pillar that received the soles of her boots was met with the furious slash of the determined Hunter. Valerie attempted to juke behind Jagos, but felt something sharp scrape her knee as she dashed past him.

Both combatants paused, with Valerie checking her pants, and Jagos his sword. Valerie spotted a tear in the mid-section of her pants, and in that opening was a small horizontal cut across her knee, and a tiny amount of blood seeping from it.

She looked to Jagos and said in her usual casual voice, "Congratulations, you managed to hit me."

Jagos shrugged with a victorious grin and responded, "It was going to happen eventually my lady."

Valerie's face fell, and she moved toward him in a blur. Jagos tried to move, but it was too late. His eyes grew into dinner plates, the temporary aid of the speed potion had worn off a second earlier. Valerie's boot was planted firmly in his groin, and she had a brief frame of a smirk hidden away from him.

The crimson-tipped sword fell from Jagos's grip and into the tainted grass below. Valerie removed her underhanded strike from the impact area and cupped her victim's chin. She said in almost a whisper, "I told you not to call me 'your lady'."

Valerie released him, and he clutched his injured jewels. With a high-pitched whine, Jagos keeled over into the grass by his sword. Defeated and humiliated, the Hunter could only stare up at his victor as she circled him like a vulture, fully expecting her to perform the acts that mamono usually perform on men they defeat in combat.

The vampire checked her minor wound to see that new skin had taken its place. She grabbed the back of Jagos's jacket and said, "Let's see what you've got under here."

The first thing she tore off was the crossbow and quiver, tearing the sling that held them in the process. Next, she worked on removing his jacket, and he pleaded, "My la...err Valerie, please, that fine piece of cloth is very precious to me, I tailored it myself!"

"I'm the victor here pal," Valerie said with a scowl at almost being called a lady again as she took off Jagos's jacket and searched it, finding vials of holy water, a string of garlic, several fire bombs, a couple of daggers meant for throwing,  and a second potion of speed. She tossed the jacket aside and lowered his shirt collar, discovering a necklace with a white gem attached that she recognized as a masking device, blocking his spirit energy from being sensed by most mamono.

The gem was lifted to her face and she examined it further. The pulsating jewelry  cut off the scent of spirit energy entering Valerie's nose by a great amount. She could still sense a tiny snippet of Jagos's energy, but her detection abilities were otherwise dulled. That being said, he hadn't shown any signs of being affected by the Demon Realm's corruptive power of demonic energy thus far. Valerie grabbed both of Jagos's wrists and asked, "You wearing anything that's keeping you from going crazy in this realm?"

Jagos gave her a panicked nod and replied, "I have on me a small anklet that protects me from Demon Realm effects."

Valerie pulled off his boots and felt around his ankles. She could indeed feel the nubs of an anklet around one of them and looked Jagos right in his eyes. "I'll let you keep the anklet, but the necklace..."

The vampire clutched the necklace and with one strong pull broke the masking device off of Jagos and threw it away into the forest. The man's scent had now become stronger, almost overwhelming. Jagos sat up and looked around with a terrified expression. "My lady, what have you done!?" he gasped.

Valerie pat Jagos on his shoulder and said, "Relax, I only took the monster repellent off as I said."

She circled around to his back and adjusted his shirt adding, "Mamono are gonna come for you shortly, but I feel like I should decide where they should fight for you."

Jagos's head twisted to glance at Valerie and he asked, "R...really, you're not going to take my virginity...or my blood?"

His voice grew high-pitched at the end of his worried question.

Valerie shook her head and answered, "No, both the blood and the virginity you get to keep for now, mainly the blood unless the taker is another vampire."

A hesitant sigh escaped Jagos and he said, "Well, that's some good news at least."

"Also..." and Jagos let out a scream like grating metal as he was thrust into the air by his underwear, the intense pressure against his skin too much to bear. "That, was for calling me 'your lady'...again," Valerie put in as she dropped Jagos into the grass.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Jagos whimpered as he struggled to inch away from the vampire that had humiliated him. Valerie shook her head and picked up the disgraced hunter by his foot. "It's cool, just don't say it again next time," Valerie warned as she stared down into Jagos's pained and terrified face. "Uh...where are we going?" he uttered, almost petrified of the answer he was about to receive.

"I'm just going to drop you off at the docks, then we can go our separate ways," Valerie explained. Jagos's trembling stopped, and his lips puckered up. The top of her head began to dissipate into a thick black mist, causing Jagos's entire body to shake in terror once more. The mist continued to morph her entire body until her arm that was holding onto him remained.

Still dangling him by his underwear, Valerie took off in the direction of the seaport. Down below in the illuminated streets, passersby milled about many of them ignorant to the humorous sight above them, but a few civilians did take notice and either kept silent or laughed at the man's misfortune. The encumbering amount of shame prevented Jagos from uttering anything that resembled a protest.

Soon enough, the two reached the sea port. A few large vessels sat parked in the docks accompanied by the more numerous smaller variants. Activity on the walkways was winding down, save for a few night owls that stood ready to wave any new ships in and lead out any that were making a departure.

It didn't take long for Valerie to locate a vacant dock that was complete with a pole that had a lantern hanging from it. Valerie drifted towards it and her mist form materialized into the complete upper half of her body. She smirked as she set Jagos onto the pole and let him dangle from it with his underwear the only thing keeping him from falling. Jagos's head rose to meet Valerie and he asked with a defeated expression, "Why must you do this to me?"

Valerie folded her arms and replied, "It's what I did to every other vampire hunter that thought they could take me on, your brothers included."

She placed a gentle hand on his head and added, "That makes you number thirteen in case you were wondering."

Valerie's body dissolved back into its mist form and she took off from the scene, leaving Jagos at the mercy of whatever mamono would find him or, if he was lucky, someone who was kind enough to help him down from the pole.

Back across the city and over the forest she went, the sounds throughout all still the same. Past the forest was a large field that was the length of six city blocks. A Medusa near the edge of the field was perched against a felled tree trunk with her sight focused through the scope of a bolt-action rifle loaded with Demon Realm Silver bullets. Valerie landed behind her and rematerialized from her mist form. "Any luck?" she asked the gorgon. "Nope, either they're very elusive, or I'm as blind as a bat," the Medusa replied as she got up from her rifle and turned to face Valerie, her face soft, but tired.

"What's up?" she asked, her voice a telling sign that she was eager to get back to hunting. "Well Oceana, I just dealt with another vampire hunter.  Left him at the docks by his underwear," Valerie replied with a smirk. Oceana placed her hands on her hips and asked with an eyebrow raised, "Really, that's it?"

She grinned and flipped back to her rifle, staring through the scope with her finger stuck on the trigger. "You can tell me all about it as I hunt some game," she said as her finger inched the trigger inward.

Back at the docks, Jagos had made no attempt to get himself down from the pole. He simply hung there silently in contemplation until a bubbling in the water interrupted his thoughts. He watched as a strange triangular hat rose from the depths, followed by a woman's head. Jagos didn't take long to figure out who she was and his face held a fearful moniker.

The Kraken wore a perturbed expression as she stared at Jagos and asked, "Oh my, what cruel group of bullies did this to you?"

Jagos shook his head and moaned, "Don't worry about me ma'am, I'm trying to get out of this situation as best as I can."

He shifted his body to see if his underwear would tear loose, but the fabric proved too strong.

A carnal grin appeared on the Kraken and she cooed, "I'm going to help you down, and I'm going to get something out of it."

An octopus-like tentacle rose up out of the water and extended toward Jagos, who cried out in a panic, "Ma'am no, I don't really like the water, let alone being under it!  Ma'am, I appreciate your help, but please reconsider!"

Jagos's pleas fall on deaf ears as the Kraken's tentacle wraps around his body and plucks him free with a simple tug whilst tearing his underwear in the process. His panic was soon muffled as he was dragged underwater by the Kraken and to a deeper part of the sea.