Chapter 12 - Preparations

Clad in black leather armor, tight leather pants, gloves, and knee high boots of the same color, Mary's long red dress was nowhere in sight as she danced around a giant swamp alligator, her movements a blur of shadows and metallic clangs. 

Utilizing her advantage of a lightweight physique and blinding, preternatural speed, the fully decked out vampire apprentice poked the slow creature all over its scaly body, the tips of her twin rapiers bouncing off its hardy defense harmlessly.

After convincing her to switch from the one dress wardrobe to the armored clothing he bought for her, Greem presented Mary with ideas on how best she could maximize her abilities.

They spoke on stealth, carriable supplies of blood, fighting techniques, and weapons. 

On the last one he suggested a rapier, commenting on how the ultralight weapon would mesh well with her Agility to a truly devastating effect.

She mulled over his words and found credence to them, the thought of leaving an enemy full of bloody holes enrapturing the fledgling bloodsucker.

So she went to the tower's resident supply of information and materials and returned to Greem's room with two, instead of one of the pointy swords.

At that point, Greem wondered why he bothered to be surprised. This girl never did anything in moderation. If she wanted something, she went all in, consequences be damned.

It was only his large, uncalled for presence in her life and occasional input that tempered her somewhat. 

In the short period that he'd given her counsel and left her to own devices though, she'd gone and returned with two swords instead of the one they discussed. 

'She makes it work though…' Greem thought to himself as he watched the vampire's excellent display of handling of the weapons.

At the end of the day, her path was her own. He could not and would not direct her on how to develop it, just offer guidance if she asked for it or when he felt it was necessary.

Unable to turn around fast enough or flick its massive tail to hit the bothersome apprentice, the Giant Alligator King ceased its useless movements and tapped into its elemental abilities, its tiny brain recalling that it possessed something of the sort.

Having been warned prior to the fight, Mary, who had grown frustrated at the failure of her newly acquired babies, jumped and took flight when a dirt-yellow halo flashed on the ground beneath her. 

A large pair of leathery wings erupted from the slim girl's back in a fiery red flash and flapped, the 2.5 meter wide appendages shooting her up into the air.

In this manner, she successfully dodged the quagmire that formed under the Alligator King. 

Not moving away from the battle, she maneuvered over to the wide back of dumb creature entrapped by its own spell and hovered a few inches above it, pondering. 

Greem asked her to kill this creature. 

By doing this, she'd get much needed practice with her weapons and abilities and also obtain potent blood, while he would get the meat, bones and most importantly, its core. 

Apart from warning her about the Quagmire spell, he offered no advice or plan on how to go about actually ending the creature's life. She also didn't ask, quickly agreeing before he assumed she was hesitating or worse… afraid.

Scowling at the thought of failing under Greem's watchful gaze, the determined vampire landed on the stationary creature's back and gripped her babies tighter.

Angling their tips downward and singling out a single scale on the creature's door-sized head, she kept her wings extended for balance and thrusted downwards, resuming her ineffective strategy. 

However this time, she concentrated all her effort on that one dark scale. Noisy clangs filled the surroundings as her arms blurred, her sword tips sparking against the creature. 

Greem stood not far away with his arms crossed behind him, his eyes trailing over Mary's intensely concentrating face and the writhing, and roaring creature beneath her.

His calm gaze morphed into a smile when the clangs died down and devolved into dull cracks and thuds, they too disappearing after just a few seconds. 

The Alligator's King's loud, enraged roars and increased struggles was the icing on the cake. 

A menacing smile gracing her fanged features, Mary kept up her high-speed movements and flicked pieces of scale and bone away, her nose twitching at the bloody scent wafting off the King's, exposed and bloodied brain.

Slowing down her movements, she flicked both hands and tossed her babies, catching them by their handles in reverse grips, their tips pointed straight down. 

Without much ceremony, she plunged them into the brain, removed them and did it again. Only on the third try did the creature grow still, its life signs no longer registering on her blood and spiritual senses. 

Demonstrating dexterity and control exceeding that of a master knife juggler, she found the untouched core right in the brain's center and dug it out, flicking the unearthed thing up with one of the swords. 

Two more taps with her babies to keep it airborne, she slapped it again and sent it towards the approaching Greem who caught it with a tendril of Spirit and dragged it close to his face.

He scanned and examined the yellow, egg-sized core, finding no scratches or dents anywhere on it. 

Mary had taken his words seriously and not damaged it in the slightest. For that alone, she deserved the appropriate praise. 

He stopped next to the downed creature, the Quagmire spell having failed at its death and restoring the ground to its normal consistency.

Boots thumped one after the other as Mary descended and met his gaze with her confident and assured one, her arms resting on the two poke sticks sheathed at her sides.

He flashed her a smile and gave the bloody, tennis ball sized hole in the alligator's head a brief glance. "Quick, clean, and perfect," he said, waving the core before her 'I told you so' eyes. "Great work." 

Maintaining her arrogant and haughty look, the triumphant vampiress harrumphed. "Great work… You thought I was going to lose didn't you?"

Greem shook his head. "No, I didn't. What makes you think that?"

"... Nothing."

Perhaps surprised or uncomfortable at being confronted on her insecurities, Mary just scowled, turned around and took to the air.

Her time was better spent killing stuff rather than facing parts of herself she wanted nothing to do with.

Watching her about to go hunt the watchful Scavenger Crows nearby, Greem was once again, glad for getting this girl on his side.

Even with his impressive abilities, he would be hard pressed to find and eliminate all the crows that set eyes on his endeavors.

After explaining the truth behind Hawkeye's abilities and the birds to her, Mary didn't even need convincing or complained at all when he asked her to go after them.

She did it freely, her detest for the bird controlling apprentice apparently eclipsing his own. He was 80 percent sure without his calming influence, the girl would've already ripped Hawkeye to shreds.

Anyways, he had more important things to worry about, such as the prime piece of highly nutritious magical meat and bones at his feet.

Jumping over the one meter tall corpse, he landed on its other side, picked a spot and crouched. 

Digging his fingers underneath its tough and leathery underside, he activated every muscle in his body, pushed them to and beyond their limits, and heaved.

The Giant Alligator King slowly rose and tilted, its one ton weight a perfect match from Greem's current Strength. Little by little, he held up and pushed the massive creature until it lay on its side. 

At that point, he ceased his actions and stood straight, a simple push completing the flip and dropping the body on its back. 

The ground trembled as the creature fell and kicked up a huge cloud of dust. He waved his huge hand around and dispersed it, his above human Agility making it a quick and simple effort. 

Reaching behind his waist for the short sword strapped there, he peered down and examined the dirt yellow underside of the Alligator King, Meat Vision revealing what was beneath and making his work easier.

Crouching next to the corpse, he started a lateral cut on its abdomen and thought to himself. 'Let's make this quick.'

 ☀☀☀

Like all other "weak" apprentices in the tower, Tony the barbarian was hard at work preparing for the mission ahead.

As a Beginner Apprentice, and one that liked to keep to himself at that, he'd had no other choice but to select an orange mission. The amount of danger that accompanied such a choice didn't need to be said. 

He more than likely wouldn't return, that's why he was busy scrounging up the knowledge, resources, and experience he'd gathered over his six year stay in the tower in order to improve his chances.

He needed whatever edge he would get to survive the upcoming tribulation. 

Why then was he being bothered at this point in time? Who was knocking on his door? Didn't the person have anything better to do?

Stifling a curse and letting his frown do all the talking, Tony dropped the bundle of roots back into his floorboard stash, covered it up, and moved to swing the door open.

The tall, hulking figure stuffed in his doorway blew away his displeasure and replaced it with a mix of fear, surprise, and a tiny dash of jealousy. 

Greem had been his partner on the inspections tasks for years. Though neither of them made the effort to befriend the other and deepen their relationship, they still held a modicum of respect for each other.

When Greem advanced and left him the dust over the years, the dynamic of this "we just know and tolerate each other" relationship changed. Mostly on his end.

He became more meek towards the former, lowering his head and controlling his voice when he spoke to him. Greem though didn't care. He just told him to "cut that shit out" once and ignored his attempts at being "respectful" from then on.

Hence, he knew for a fact Greem didn't dislike or hate him. 

So his impromptu visit wasn't the kind where one settled scores before departure. It was something else. 

That something being the bloodied sack that slammed into his chest after Greem grew tired of his gawking.

"In there you'll find the spine, tendons, and meat of the Giant Alligator King. If you return from your mission and you haven't become Advanced, don't come and see me."

Leaving those short words behind, Greem turned and continued on his journey. 

He had a few more stops to make.

As for Tony, the flabbergasted apprentice stood there and gawked at the sack's bloody contents for a good minute before coming to his senses. With the barest hints of smile, he rushed and shut his door, locking himself in his room again.

Back with Greem, he thought about what he just did and wondered if Tony would be able to surprise him. It was more out of curiosity than anything else.

The guy had a faint barbarian bloodline. He wanted to see what that was like if it was nurtured. That's all this was.

Stopping before another apprentice's room, he had another brief discussion and left with a dagger Mary had ordered.

The experience with her "babies" had awoken something in the girl. Her interest in weapons had been fully ignited.

She had obtained a pair of claws with a weak bleeding and recovery impairment effect, and now a dagger that served as another option for close combat.

Glad that she was taking her own life and things seriously, Greem continued his journey and made several more stops, buying and retrieving magic items, special materials and information all in preparation for the slowly approaching mission.

He and Mary gathered and created all they needed and trained. Her with the weapons she'd and he with the cores he'd collected and his technique ideas.

In this manner, the countdown dwindled to nothing and the day they were to set-off arrived.