Crina stirred awake. Her eyes felt droopy, and her body felt weak. It was a strange sensation, as if the power she once had had been sapped dry. She didn't have the strength to even sit up.
Ah, this was the taste of defeat. She thought to herself. It wasn't as bitter as I thought.
She was content to lie on the bed for a bit longer, ruminating on her long life, as per usual when she was alone, and reflecting on her recent defeat.
Before she could, the door to her room creaked open.
Footsteps inched closer to her bed before they stopped. She looked up and saw the man who had defeated her. The human visage of Yusuke Iriki.
"You're up," he casually said, grabbing a chair from behind him and putting it beside the bed for him to sit. "I was wondering when you would wake up. It's already past noon," he continued with a small smile. A smile that he usually shared with people, but was tempered by his weary heart.
Crina chuckled, which caught the man by surprise. "Hah, that is rich, considering that you were the one who put me into this state," she remarked with a sly grin. She didn't try to sit up, but Yusuke propped her up anyway. It was more comfortable to talk while upright, anyway.
"Thank you," she said, her tone less proud. "In my long years, you were the first one who brought me to my knees in combat. That is an achievement you should be proud of," she continued. While her acknowledgment was understated, she was being sincere, admitting without pretense that she had lost.
Yusuke shook his head; his smile turned melancholic. "I don't take any pride in harming others, especially with my power." He then rubbed a fist with an open hand. "Still..." he trailed off, not saying anything further; his eyes turned downwards to his moving hands. Crina followed his line of sight and understood what wasn't said.
"You're a kind man, Yusuke Iriki. Too kind, in fact, to wield power," she told him. The vampire had met many kind men and women, but none had the destructive power like Yusuke. A part of her wondered about its origins, but that would be inconsiderate for her to ask right now.
However, as the sly vampire that she was, she was open to some mischief.
"Ah..." she moaned, swooning as she faked a dizziness spell. He caught her before she could hit the bed.
"Crina!? Are you okay!?" he exclaimed as he cradled her head in his arms. She smirked, and before he could react, bit his neck. Yusuke stiffened at the sudden act, feeling her long fangs prick his skin and the sensation of his blood being sucked from his body. "Hey, what are you...!?"
She regained some of her strength, and she used it to wrap her arms around him, to suck more of his blood. She was feeling greedy. His blood tasted too... alive for her to stop. It was full of vitality and charged with his innate Kervagta powers coursing through his veins. She couldn't have enough.
"Ah...!" she moaned again as she pulled back, this time in satisfaction. She licked her lips, clearing the rest of the blood sticking on them. "That's the payback for robbing me of all of my mana and strength. Oh, the audacity of you taking all of it, while I only showed you a fraction of my power."
"So you were holding back," he said, confirming his suspicions. The wound on his neck was already beginning to close. He felt faint after she sucked the blood out of him, but it quickly faded.
What she said moments before caught his attention. "Mana?"
The word sounded familiar to him. It could have come from some of the books he read when he visited libraries in the West. Or was it from a memory of his teenage years?
"Aye, mana. It's essentially fuel for magic," Crina said, sitting on the bed more upright, now that she had her strength back. She snapped her right fingers, and then, a small flame appeared on the tip of her index finger. She put it out as easily as she conjured it previously. "Some may refer to it as rune energy or aether, but they are all the same thing."
Curious on her feat, Yusuke snapped his fingers, putting his intention to repeat what she had done, but no dice. Not even a spark. "Huh?" he exclaimed in confusion. He repeated it several times, but no flame.
"Trying to imitate me, I see," Crina interjected, grinning at his attempts. It was rather cute, seeing him struggle with the simplest of magic. After she saw several more of his failed attempts, she decided to stop him. "Yusuke Iriki. While your failed attempts are cute, I think you are missing the point."
She conjured that small candle flame again on her finger. "Magic isn't just about creating something out of thin air. It's about channeling the mana pool within you and manifest it to the outside world."
She put out the flame again, her face in a softer facade. "You have immense destructive power, Yusuke Iriki. Magic shouldn't be much concern for a man such as yourself."
Yusuke nodded, but he replied with, "I just want to learn new stuff." Which made Crina raise an eyebrow.
Channeling my internal mana pool... what if I... he thought.
He focused his intention on the stone in his stomach, feeling its power flow from it to his arm. He felt his hand getting warmer, like when he charged his finishing kick. From Crina's point of view, she saw his eyes faintly glow red. Not unlike when he transformed, but his form stayed human.
Yusuke felt his hand becoming hot. Too hot to handle and be contained. His focus wavered in one moment, and a fireball came out of his palm.
"Whoa!?" he jumped in shock, and thankfully, that made the fireball vanish into thin air. "What was that!?"
Crina could only giggle at his shock. He was pretty cute when he wasn't fighting for his life. "That, Yusuke Iriki, my insect-fighter friend, is magic. And you have just cast a fireball spell in your very first attempt."