The Fallen Vampire

If any of his wives or friends could see him now, they would undoubtedly be horrified.

His body that they were so fond of was now littered with bruises, claw marks, and bite wounds.

He wasn\'t sure how long he had been undergoing this surprise \'training\' with the beast god.

Time seemed to be meaningless here, and he could have been within this space from anywhere to one hour to one year.

"Come on, sword! The time of a god is precious!" Fenris chided.

Taira growled as he pushed his silver hair out of his eyes just in time to see the beast god running at him on all fours.

He barely had time to throw his arms up and block the blow before a large clawed foot came barreling into them; shattering his forearms like glass.

"No! Are you damned stupid?!" Fenris roared.

As Taira was sent skidding backwards, the beast god finally unfurled a lethal combination on his face.

It started with a hard and swift uppercut that was immediately followed by a right hook; both of which cracked teeth in Taira\'s mouth.

"You are a beast now, sword! Do you think two predators worry about protecting themselves in the midst of combat?!"

When Taira started to fall back from Fenris\' one-two punch, the beast god caught him by the wrist and pulled him back to his feet; allowing the momentum to carry him swiftly into his awaiting elbow.

"Of course not! Forget about tactics and forget about your defense, all you need is the desire to hurt me!!"

Just as Taira\'s knees started to give out from underneath him, a spinning heel kick to the jaw sent him flying face first into the ground.

He had never felt so thoroughly toyed with in his life.

The worst part about this ordeal was that Fenris was not even doing anything exaggerated.

There was no movement that Taira couldn\'t hope to follow, no power that was beyond his means to imitate.

The problem lie solely in the way that the beast god fought.

He was savage and unrelenting, and at the same time methodical in his attacks that were designed to establish superiority and make weaker prey feel even weaker.

It was grossly effective and left poor Taira in a pitiful state such as the one he was in now.

"You\'re embarrassing yourself, sword! To make matters worse, you\'re embarrassing those women you\'re so proud of as well!"

Taira\'s eyes immediately flashed open as he lie on top of the boundless ground.

He glared at the god with an expression of pure hatred as he started to claw his way back to his feet.

Because he liked the look in Taira\'s eyes, Fenris elected to push him just a step further in the hopes of achieving his desired result.

"Maybe they need a real man to keep them satisfied at night, since you clearly aren\'t-"

"I\'LL KILL YOU!"

Dropping onto all fours, dark blue flames sparked to life on Taira\'s claws and feet, and he ran at Fenris while snarling hatefully.

\'So, you\'ve properly awakened your fox fire. It took you long enough.\'

Fenris remained motionless as Taira rushed at him with a new and terrible speed.

His face was contorted into a horrible snarl as he attacked him with wild and ferocious swings of his claws.

However, Taira seemed to be incapable of damaging this god\'s vessel no matter how much he tried, just the same as he had been before.

Fenris was calmly sidestepping attacks at the last second to avoid them completely, all while studying and critiquing Taira\'s performance.

"The energy is good and the hate is certainly there… but there is just one problem."

Crack!

A swift chop to the back of the neck quieted Taira out of his frenzy and made his body tip over.

"You\'re too rabid, and rabid beasts get put down, sword."

Just before he could hit the ground, Fenris caught him with one hand and held him like a bag of groceries.

"But… it is nothing that cannot be improved upon. You aren\'t bad… I can certainly see why you are the one they picked."

-

When Taira\'s eyes fluttered back open, he was still in the same dark and dreary space as before, lying flat on his back.

He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly and he saw the beast god Fenris sitting on the ground a few feet away.

16:31

Although instead of being in his normal form, he instead looked like a giant white fox with nine large majestic tails.

Taira immediately remembered his last conversation with the beast god and he gnashed his teeth as he started trying to get back up.

"Oh please. You think I actually care about those women? I have no interest in the leftovers of another. I only indulge in unspoiled fruits." Fenris said with a snort.

\'So you\'re a purity nut? Wonderful.\' Taira didn\'t feel like he needed any more reasons to dislike Fenris, and yet he was steadily accumulating them.

"I slung those taunts your way in the hopes of awakening your hidden potential, and it worked! You should be thanking me!"

It was only for a moment, but Taira had finally showed the beast god what he was hoping to see.

Warriors and assassins, however powerful or talented they may be, still must follow an established pattern of attack that can make them seem rigid and predictable.

However, the same cannot be said for beasts.

Their moves are drastically less predictable due to their wild and savage attacks.

This can make them significantly more difficult to defend against, but the trade-off is that beasts tend to leave a great deal more openings because they are focused solely on attacking.

All of these reasons are why Fenris is so widely feared within the upper realm.

He alone had devised a method of combat that delicately tetered on the line between martial arts and animalistic savagery.

And now, he was trying to pass on that very same method onto Taira without explicitly saying what it was for.

However, such a thing appeared to be unnecessary.

Fenris\' sword had yet to ask any questions so far about what the purpose for all of this was, or why he had to do it.

And with that said one look inside of his eyes, Fenris knew instantly that his sword had understood his intentions.

\'Quite wonderful… there may be a place among us for you yet.\'

As he smiled proudly, Fenris\' vestige began to flicker and he realized the time on his technique was almost up.

"Hmm… I suppose we\'ve gotten enough done for today. I will visit you again in fourteen days time to resume our lessons."

"I don\'t suppose that I have any say in-"

"No."

Taira rolled his eyes as he watched all of his \'wounds\' and bodily fatigue finally begin to heal.

"Oh right. I need you to deliver a message for me, sword." Fenris suddenly said. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"You think me an errand boy?"

"It is not as though delivering this message will not benefit you as well.

Haven\'t you noticed that your body has different needs now that I\'ve changed you?

Deliver this message for me and resources you desperately need to survive will be in your rightful possession."

"…Let me hear this message then."

Taira listened carefully to everything that the beast god had to say, and when he heard who the message was for, he nearly let out a cry of indignation.

\'There\'s no way she\'s going to want to hear this shit.\'

got a haircut yesterday and my girl been treating me like bill Cosby just giving it to me whether I want it or not AnathaShesha