30 Finally, MAGIC!...?
The rest of the night went as you'd expect, boys being boys... Plus the indoctrination to become murderous gangsters. Cliqs as usual formed, by my status as the ABB's third cape basically made me top-dog for all except the exceptionally stupid, case-and-point Kenji.
My time wasn't entirely wasted, however, as while Giji chittered ad nauseam in my ear I learned that his parents were rather high up on the ABB ladder. That wasn't in the respect, combat ability, or infamy though, instead, they were completely invested in property management, development, and trading.
After handing the boy some drinks and asking some surreptitious questions, I soon realised how useful a relationship with him would be. His parents, after all, had a finger on the ABB's territory and everything within it.
Outside of Nishihara, Lung, and some of their close colleagues hadn't had the misfortune to meet yet, Giji's parents would be the people most likely to know where Tieu could be.
Of course, the boy's infatuation with me just gave me an in, and soon we were 'great friends'. By the end of the night I had the kid's phone number and also his home address after dropping off the thoroughly shit-faced teen.
I didn't return to my apartment immediately, however, as I only needed a few more BP for my next upgrade. Alabaster's death, while not super profitable, was enough to boost me to a lower-ranked skill.
With how drunk most of the ABB was, the hunt would be all too easy.
-------------------------
POV Yuji :
The sound of rhymic thumping echoed through the thin-walled hotel. The cat's victory over the pale-nazi had prompted Lung-sama to pay for all expenses in ABB-owned establishments... This, of course, included prostitutes and brothels.
Yuji himself never indulged in such things since his brother caught HIV from a whore, and since he was a known ABB gangster he could beg Panacea to heal him of it... He'd not followed his prescription properly, and after another whore refused to take his money he got aggressive and got a knife for his trouble.
He died of an infection days later.
Yuji had told this story to his close friends many times, but they refused to listen and instead indulged to their heart's content, leaving him where he was now... Standing in a dingy hotel hallway waiting for his pals to 'finish'.
He lets out a sigh of relief when Karuga steps out, sweaty, red-faced, and looking thoroughly satisfied. "Got a smoke? Bitch took my last one, as if my money wasn't enough!" he laughs.
"Lung-sama paid for your 'dance', Karuga..." Yuji drawls but hands his friend a cig regardless. They both walk out back to the designated smoking area and sit on one of the provided benches, a low glass table under a hanging parasol.
"Lemme ask, Yuji... You still Dōtei?" Karuga asked with a smirk.
Yuji furrows his brows, "I've laid with women." he states, before adding "Never had to pay them for it though."
"Hey, I could get any girl I want!... How about this, we'll go down main street and you point out a chick, I'll take them home without issue!"
Yuji snorts, "Yes, your track record of whores, week-long relationships, and quiet obsession with girls who look like your sister lends credibility to you..."
"What-what about my sister!?"
"All the whores you pick? They shared a remarkable resemblance to her... One would think something rather disrespectful."
"Eh? Kuso baka yarō, I don't wanna fuck my sister!" he exclaims louder than intended, causing the duo to sit in uncomfortable silence, wondering if anyone had heard them. Karuga sighs, stands, and flicks his half-burned-out cig away. "Gonna take a piss."
"Or relieve yourself after all this talk about your sister..."
"You can hold my fucking cock if you want proof!" he retorts before walking away.
"Kuso..." Yuji sniffs and feels the drinks from earlier wearing off... It was all on Lung-sama's dime so he wasn't planning on going easy tonight. If he wasn't dying of a hangover tomorrow then he'd see it as a personal failure.
...
Hm, Karuga is taking a bit long... He'd only been joking about him masturbating, but if it goes on any longer it might be a possibility.
...
*Swuwuwuwuppp!*
"The hell...?" Yuji muttered as the sound of slow, quiet slurping hung in the air. Along with the faint trick of droplets hitting the ground...
He checks for the flip-knife in his pocket and makes his way over to the alleyway Karuga had entered. "Hey? Taking awfully long, Ruga!" he calls out and his breath hitches as the slurps cut off.
*Thud...*
"Karuga!" he shouts out a second time before peeking around the corner, soon spotting an unmoving body in the darkness. His heart pounds as he moves forward, every cell in his body all but demanding he turn and run.
He flips the body onto his back with his foot and sucks in a breath as Karuga's pale face, a huge wound across his neck seeping blood. He checks for a heartbeat but there isn't one!
"Shit!... Shit shit!" he grouses and reaches for his phone, knife still at the ready in his other hand. Good thing too as he hears something fast approaching... Above!
He slashes wildly above him, catching whatever it is in the side. Unfortunately, the small knife doesn't have nearly enough force to knock them away, allowing them to land directly on his shoulders.
"AAGH!" Yuji yells in agony as two clawed thumbs dig brutally into his eyes, far enough that they scratch the back of his eye sockets. His screams only get worse as the figure twists its digits, all but tearing the fragile ocular organ from his head.
He randomly flails his knife at his attacker, but a combination of pain, shock, terror, and Karuga's blood on his hands has him losing grip on his weapon.
"I've taken your eyes. If you don't want to die tell me every hidden ABB hangout you know... If I don't like what you have to say, well, you know what will happen." the hushed voice of the thing whispers into his ear after he falls to the ground, sitting against the alleyway wall.
"Y-y-y-you took my eyes! I-I'm FUCKING ruined!" he hoarsely shouts in response, but his rage peters out when claws fingers clasp his jugular, squeezing just enough to draw small rivulets of blood.
"This is your last chance. Tell me what you know."
...
"I-..." Yuji groans from the pulsing pain where his eyes used to be, "I DON'T KNOW! OKAY!? I DON'T-" He keeps shouting until something swipes his neck, he isn't able to say anything more but a wet burble...
His throat had been sliced, from one artery to the next, along with his windpipe. Yuji's eyeless, terrified expression worsens as the creature's mouth latches onto the wound and digs its sharp teeth further, turning what was a potentially fixable injury into a fatal one.
The last thing he sees is two harsh gold, almost glowing cat-like eyes staring at him.
-------------------------
POV Kieu :
Four men and two women, three of whom had been drained completely. No viable information but a good haul regardless... Lung and Nishihara will have a collective aneurysm tomorrow, which brings me more joy than you can imagine.
It was almost disconcerting how easy it was becoming to do this. Before it was all rage, wrath, and revenge. But now? I was enjoying the looks of shock on their faces as I ambushed them. Only two had actually recognised me for who I am, which only added another layer of fear to them.
Regardless, it was now time to reap the fruits of my labour. I fall asleep quickly and access the class trees, quickly locating two options...
First, I could take Nekoshou and upgrade my Yokai bloodline and gain all that entails... Or, I could take two lesser skills.
Curiouser and Magic Affinity, the first would allow me to transform into a mundane cat at will, and the other would grant me Shirou's magic circuits...
A tough decision... One would make me faster, more durable, more flexible, and slightly stronger... While the other may end up being useless until I properly learn how to utilise magical energy.
However, the ability to transform into a cat may just save my life. In this world where powers were hard-set, randomly being able to transform into a cat wouldn't strike anyone's mind. Not to mention how much easier it would make it to sneak out and hunt the ABB.
Yeah, I'll continue as I have. Survival above everything, after all, it doesn't matter how powerful I am if I'm dead.
With that thought in mind, I select Curiouser and Magic Affinity and wake up in the next moment. Lying in bed as a pure white cat with gold eyes...
Well, at least that ability works as expected... Now to figure out how to become human again.
*Thwerp!*
*Thud!*
"Ow..."
Okay, so when returning to human form my body will be in the same position as my cat form, leaving me on all fours in the middle of my bedroom. At least the transformation is almost instant, giving me some leeway with things.
"Alright, I've got the next day or two off, so let's try and figure out magic before I'm called out again.
-------------------------
Compared to Devil May Cry's magic system, I was far more familiar with Fate's version... Even if I had some holes in my knowledge.
The uncomfortable sensation of something foreign intruding inside my body was very, very apparent. The twenty-seven magic circuits of Shirou Emiya hadn't existed within me before, making it very easy to pinpoint them.
Of course, that just left activating them. Which wasn't all that difficult from what I recall? Essentially, you had to hypnotise yourself to do it, which I wasn't all that sure how to go about. Did it require meditation? Force of will?
All of this could be valid, but... I'd rather just do it the easy way. Since I already had access to magic thanks to my demon physiology, I simply pushed that through my circuits...
And voila-AAAHHHHHHHHHH!
I immediately fall to the ground and start seizing as the circuits go from bland vein-like obstructions in my body to burning sharps of molten glass... Or that's what it felt like at least! DEAR FUCKING GOD! IS THIS HOW IT FELT EVERY TIME A MAGUS ACTIVATED THEIR CIRCUITS!?
If so, FUCK THAT!
Half an hour of writhing on the ground later and my circuits had finally cooled to a manageable temperature... Shit, it wasn't just in my head either had huge burns that looked like circuitry were visible up and down my body, from feet to stomach to arms to my neck.
Thankfully, my regenerative abilities combined with Avalon healed me quicker than I could be harmed.
Why was my reaction to activating my circuits so bad? I don't recall anyone else having a reaction like that... I could only chalk it up to a weird interaction between my demonic energy and my magic circuits.
...
Okay, let's just test to make sure that won't happen every time I try this... I slowly push some demonic energy into a circuit going through my finger. A dull flash of blue that didn't have any perceivable effect later and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Sure, I was still sore... Whatever happened to my circuits hadn't just done physical damage, but spiritual as well judging by what they are.
Alright... Now, let's see if I can activate them the traditional way. Shirou imagined firing a gun, and Rin a knife coming down. But I think something more suited to my new Origin and Element would do.
Re-sitting in a meditative position, I close my eyes and imagine a blade being drawn. Not just any blade though, I visualize to the best of my ability Yamato, Vergil's weapon and the blade I hope to acquire one day, if only for how powerful it is.
