Wolf of the Blood Moon: A Blood Magic

Book 2: Chapter 51.4: Payback Part IV

Scarlet

Fuckin hell I mutter after landing on the ground before quickly climbing to my feet, wincing as my arm moves in ways it isnt supposed to. And when I reach my full height, I find Shifter staring at me from several meters away, a very faint frown on his face as he sniffs at the air.

We then just stare at each other for a few seconds, his gaze just running over me from head to toe before focusing on my injured arm, and lastly, my face.

You smell, he says, making my mouth drop open in shock.

Excuse me? I ask, hoping that I heard him wrong.

He takes a step forward while sniffing once and then repeating himself, You smell strange.

I hold myself back from sniffing myself. Barely.

Thankfully the man finally clarifies himself when he takes another step forward and says, You smell like trees and ash with a hint of metallic blood.

Oh.

What the fuck? Does this guy have Tier A perception or something?! Tar asks, sounding shocked.

Whats so wrong with smelling like blood? I use blood magic after all. So it makes sense.

Thats not what hes smelling, Tar says, sounding rushed, this guy is smelling the natural scent you give off as a half blood lycan!

Oh. Shit. Thats not good.

I dont think he will be able to link the two though, since hes never seen a blood lycan or smelled one before, Tar says, sounding like hes calming down again.

Thats good whats this about a scent again though? I think you mentioned it before.

Right, well every demon has a scent, just like a human has a scent, he says, which does make sense. But a demons scent is more of a magical thing tied to their planet, so only someone with incredibly high perception and a skill based on perception should be able to even notice it.

Interesting.

I smelled your scent almost the moment the tournament began, and its been the only thing on my mind for the entire tournament, he says in a rather creepy manner, simply staring at me without really expressing any emotion on his face. Not that Im one to talk about not expressing emotions. Its unique. And I like it.

He says this last bit while stepping forward again.

Okay, this is getting creepy.

Yeah, not really the type of reaction I was expecting when someone noticed it Tar mutters.

Well, the bright side is that him being creepy is saving me time for my arm to heal. Because it is starting to close up the worst of the wound. The parts where its quite literally detached from my torso.

Wait, arent we being broadcast for basically the whole world to hear? Wont people who have met blood lycans have heard his description of my scent?

Tar doesnt say anything for several seconds as the man in front of me just continues sniffing like a dog.

Then he mutters, Well, shit.

Thats not a good sign.

It shouldnt be too big a problem because the only ones who would know what a blood lycan smells like are those with a magical perception based skill that have fought against blood lycans, and Im pretty sure those only number amongst the Knights, Tar says, sounding only a little bit worried despite his initial reaction. And the Knights already know who and what you are thanks to your mother, so it shouldnt be a problem.

You dont sound very certain. Also, it makes sense that the other Knights would know about me since White is my mother and Blue my uncle. Not that Id ever call that psychopath that.

He almost killed me after all.

Suddenly Shifters eyes clear up and he narrows them at me as he says, Meet up with me outside of the tournament.

I raise a brow at that and ask, Why?

He doesnt say anything.

Ooookaaay I do remember hearing that Shifter was a very quiet and stoic guy who barely ever speaks, but this wow.

Judging by his mannerisms and rather emotionless voice, I dont think this is him having romantic interest in me thankfully. I honestly think he just likes my scent.

Which is kind of creepy.

Neither of us say anything for a few seconds before he suddenly flexes his bear claws and says, I will contact you after the tournament. Now get ready to fight.

Then he jumps towards me with his bear claw raised, making me almost stumble backwards from surprise. But I dont let the suddenness get to me and instead jump forwards after a very brief moment of pause, my own shifted right arm raised to strike back.

Good thing it was my non-dominant arm that was almost cut off.

The moment our claws clash though has me gritting my teeth as Im sent backwards, having lost the exchange by a little. He then grips onto my hand and sends a punch with his non-shifted fist straight at my face, knocking me back about a meter as blood begins to drip down my nose.

My eyes narrow as I look at his hand which is still gripping my own. But I quickly use blood sacrifice, feeling my exhaustion growing worse in the process thanks to my lack of blood from my wound. It gives me the push I need though and lets me tear my hand out of his before his follow-up punch arrives.

I jump back a couple of meters, wondering how the heck Im gonna beat him with my arm still this badly wounded and massive blood loss making fighting hard.

Looks like you might actually die for a first Tar mutters, sounding like its not the end of the world. Which kind of grates on my nerves, but I get hes just trying to break any arrogance I may have gotten. No, not really. You arent actually arrogant. Youre calm and analytical. What Im not fine with is how you came to accept your death those few times when you almost died when you shouldve continued fighting even if it was impossible. Because the System may just reward that. And Im hoping dying once here might remedy that a bit.

Huh. I didnt know the System might reward fighting to the bitter end thats rather interesting.

Shifter suddenly rushes towards me, his bear claw raised to strike again, and right when Im about to meet it with my own shifted claw, not sure what else to do with my other arm so badly injured, he vanishes without a trace. Then I hear an announcement echoing across the magical reality.

[The core belonging to team Ace and Spades from Aquatic Pride Guardians University has been shattered, thereby disqualifying the one remaining member of the team.]

My fist ends up hitting nothing as I stagger forward, all the force in my attack becoming useless in the process.

I stare in front of me at where the man was just standing, blinking once, then twice in confusion.

Huh.

I kind of forgot Emily was climbing the stairs to the fifth floor when Shifter arrived. Looks like she broke their core in our fight.

Now you just have to deal with him trying to contact you later, Tar says, reminding me of the problem Ive just gained.

Well, whatever. Its a problem for future me to deal with.

I collapse onto the ground flat on my back.

Now I can rest for a short while.

Just till Emily gets back down here.