Alexander flinched as the intense flood of mana ravaged his senses like a cold plunge into a mountain stream.
Lunaris assisted Alexander in lowering his heart rate. The nanites allowed a greater connection to his mind and body that he could never have had without Lunaris. An ultimate predator with unmatched human reflexs.
Alexander scanned the vampire for weaknesses and strengths compared to the data of the strongest person he'd fought. His power was far too advanced for Alexander to over come and take on his own. So he looked to Geralt.
"You dared to call Me filthy. Allow me to bring you to my level and break some bones on your way down to a reall filthy level!" Lazzio's body elongated and stretched his skin over the dense muscle as his bones turned and broke. His finger tips sharpened to a needle point and his head became devoid of features like a mask.
Lazzio had become a true monster. He opened his mouth, a valley of teeth sharp as blades, and roared a wet and vicious growl. His transformation into a lesser vampire was complete with its bloodlust to match. There would be no talking to it at this stage as only a river of blood could bring Lazzio back from insanity.
Geralt stood firm before Alexander as his protective shield. His mass a buffer for the intense red wind swirling around like a bulwark. "A flashy show indeed. Much like a match right before it fizzles out. Delta! Teach this creature some manners."
The soldiers that until now neither moved nor flinched, nodded, drawing their swords at Geralts command. Their black tech armor regulated them and gleamed when their weapons were released. The swords they used shined bright like silver rays of moonlight as they attacked.
The glowing light caused the creatures' face to pale. Fear and confusion ravaging his face with no eyes to see it he could tell the blades meant death.
"You! You're supposed to be extinct," Lazzio's words were little more than spittle as one of the tech armored servants cut its chest open in a flashy right armed slash from the ground, landing behind it ready to strike again.
The muscle and skin around Lazzio's chest wound sizzled under the blades aura, causing noticeable damage to its red aura. The power of the blade somehow could cut the aura of other beings, something Alexander had never heard of.
Lazzio held his chest as the wound slowly closed, healing itself with its vampire healing. It clicked its tongue in disappointment, not reeling at all from the attack. "You really had me going there. I was nearly frightened by a bunch of mortals. What would my master have thought of me."
Lazzio's foot kicked off with speeds as fast as a jet at the nearest of Geralts underlings with suprising force. Throwing her into the three others that tried to catch her. The force collapsed the bookshelves they crashed into together.
"Pathetic!" Lazzio laughed, clawing at another armored male behind him. To his surprise, the man blocked his attacks skillfully. The blade chipped away at his elongated fingernail tips, making him spill blood around the library in large areas.
"You're different than the others I see. Couldn't deploy all your best for little Ole me? Let me hear you scream, so that I can savor your friends fear! Arrrgh!"
The man named Bjorn raised his longsword seadily, as Lazzio struck downward, his left hand aiming for Bjorns shoulder. flicked his sword upwards with little notice, parrying the creatures strong attack. Lazzio stumbled slightly, going for another attack.The man ducked under a right swing, cutting at the creatures legs that remained human-like. The strikes hit true wounding Lazzio deeply.
In a flurry of cuts, the others joined in after recovering from the previous attack. In synce with the other, Lazzio's arms were sliced, shredded, and his chest was impaled.
Lazzio's vampire vitality was great but he still struggled under the attack of the silver blades, buring him from the inside while constantly wearing down his stamina.
"How can you defend this human so savagely!? You are all the real monsters here, attack your own kind like this, using powers that once allied with the night!" He heavily coughed. His struggling became less and less meaningful against the bladed prison. Unable to lift his hands or neck, his legs trembled to hold his weight, making him kneel from effort.
"And the worst of all, you. You stand there like.. some Noblesse, lord, king. King of what, traitors? Haha! You are no wolf defending cubs. No you're just a collard mutt with a leash. Fat on the scraps of your Akamai masters!" Lazzio splurted out as the shadow armored Delta squad stood back and presented their capture to their master.
Geralt smirked and came to be In front of Lazzio. "You are right, I am just a mutt. happened to be a mutt my whole life. So I wont kill you, you have my word. A collard pet shouldnt kill another." His words confused the vampire even more as it was still weakening.
Alexander walked forward to stand in front of him. His core was bursting with mana thanks to Lazzio's foolish exuding of his aura. His nanites devoured as much energy as they could, hungrily. He placed his hands on Lazzio's head and silver veins soon appeared, branching from his hands through Lazzio's body.
Nanites swarmed through Lazzio's body, devouring every cell. They absorbed his mana, turning it into fuel for their host and for replication. It took a great deal of materials to keep them working, the better quality materials the better outcome of nanites that could be produced.
With their new upgrades, the nanites became more streamlined, instead of the gloop like substance they resembled tiny silver insects which where actully hundreds connected together.
Lazzio dissapated Into fine powder. Ironically totally drained of mana and nutrients.
The nanites returned to Alexander making him fell rejuvenated and full of energy. His nanites had upgraded themselves again. With every upgrade, Alexander felt his control get easier.
He turned to explain to Geralt who was talking to his subordinates, but he declined. Stating he also had secrets, and that if he wished it to be kept a secret, it was safe with him.
They discussed that he should expect a visit from Elder Kelani, as he heard about this and wanted to see him personally.
Before Geralt left, he had some advice to give Alexander, "Don't let that power you have consume you. The look on your face as you did whatever you did to that vampire, I've seen it many times from others. The hunger can take anyone if you don't learn to control yourself. It's flashy and very recognizable as non-Magic. You could use darkness to disguise its use. I've seen darkness spells do similar things. Be safe, master Mortem. Good job today."
Alexander nodded and said his goodbyes as they got into the dark SUV's. The others went to sleep thanks to s9me calming magic Gerwlt used. So Alexander had the lower rooms all to himself.
Standing alone in the hallway, Alexander thought about going to sleep but couldn't. The formations Geralt and his team placed around the library to keep the noise from escaping were still up, and he had an idea. With all the energy accumulating inside of him, he would try and focus it and expand his core.
'Better now, than never. Just breathe in and out like in training. In. Out.' Mana rose around Alexander, a mix of silver and green, waxing and waned for hours as he sat in the space of the library. His aura exuded strongly throughout the space until a stinging pain racked his body as his core reached its maximum.
Argh!
Searing pain shot through him like lava pouring down his mouth, flaring into his core as it circulated more and more mana. It expanded and flooded his body with mana, ravaging his insides by making pathways out through any way possible.
'What's happening to my stomach! Gods this hurts!'
The nanites reacted to the sudden change of environment, latching onto the new pathways and strengthening them by refining and adjusting them before they hardened. The result was a network of mana pathways coated in nanites, optimized to Alexander's body. His core was larger than ever and his body healed quickly with the abundance of mana.
However, the pain only increased. From every orifice a black substance spewed with every pulse of his core that pushed mana through his body, pressurized like a boiling pot. He had no control over himself as violent shivers ran through his body that the safety mode nanites couldn't calm down, resulting in a blackout as he passed out.
Later that morning..
"Alexander! Wake up. Curse the Gods, what's that smell?" Quin nearly gagged. He had come down stairs to see what the terrible smell fumigating the house. His search ended with his finding his brother in a pool of black liquid. He used basic darkness magic to clean up as much as possible, without getting to close or having it touch him.
"Is he still alive? Did the vampires come back?" Seraphina asked covering her nose in multiple masks.
Kelani had arrived an hour ahead of traffic and helped with the clean up. He looked at Alexander with a small bit of pride, as his teacher his student reaching D rank in such a short time had warmed his heart.
"No, little one. This is a cause to celebrate. Your brother has gone beyond his limit and reached the next plateau."
Alexander felt a sharp poke to his arm and ribs, murmuring incoherently as he tried to ignore it in his sleep. He jolted up in panic when a torrent of cold water doused his head.
"Wakey, Wakey!"