Garden Of The Abyss

While in the midst of flying back through the air, he regained his composure, summoning his strength as he willed himself forward.

...Shadow Step! He thought.

Stopping his backward momentum, he dashed through the shadows, managing to catch the rough man off of his guard by his sudden reappearance.

Without a moment of hesitation, he dropped down to swing himself, curving a sharp kick to take out the vampire's legs.

"Wah--!" Leonid let out.

Falling into his rear with a thud onto the soft snow, Leonid held a surprised look as he sat there for a moment.

A moment was all he needed, using another step into the shadows to disappear before the scarlet eyes of the brutish vampire. Reappearing directly behind the fallen vampire of a light-brown complexion, he took advantage of his compromised position.

I'll get nowhere in a punch-out, so…! He thought.

Around the girthy neck of his foe, he wrapped his arms tightly before securing the grip by bringing his legs around the man's waist to completely lock his position.

"What the--?! 'Yer a slippery one!" Leonid roared out.

Coming to his senses, the abrasive, bristly-haired man stood up as if there wasn't an entire young man clinging to his back, frantically turning side-to-side in an attempt to look at the snowy-haired foe of his.

"Hey! What're 'ya doin' back there?!" He shouted.

He didn't answer with a single word, only focusing on tightening his hold around the man's neck as tightly as possible; squeezing with all of his strength, his one goal was to rid the vampire of blood traveling to the brain.

Fai called this one the 'Rear-Naked Spider Choke', a technique for taking out larger, stronger opponents by stopping their blood from flowing to their head! He thought.

The clench he held fervently compressed around the sides of Leonid's bulging, veiny neck that became strained, beginning to cause the giant to choke out.

Leonid gripped onto the arms stationed around his neck, alleviating the hold just slightly from a tug.

"...I see how it is. He-he…'yer a proper fight after all!" Leonid spoke hoarsely.

It was now a battle of attrition; Leonid gripped fervently onto the young man's arms, contesting his old. Though the difference in strength wasn't wide enough for the vampire-born man to pry his way out, his resistance was enough of a weapon.

As Leonid pulled on his arms, he gritted his teeth as he struggled with all of his might to keep them locked in place, squeezing either side of the vampire's neck.

He needed to outlast the persistent, vigorous man while his hold was tested, and Leonid needed to overcome the hold before he would pass out from his constricted blood flow.

Simply, it was a contest of who would give in first.

--However, that would only be the case normally.

Leonid was anything but the standard.

"...'Yer fun, brat. But, little tricks like this are meaningless before overwhelming power!"

The entirety of the man's body bulkened, taking a red, strained complexion as his vascularity peaked.

With his arms wrapped around Leonid's neck, he sensed the sudden warmth that radiated from his skin, quickly bubbling into a fiery heat.

Then he heard it.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

It was the heartbeat belonging to the vampire, growing not only in rapidity but volume as it resonated wildly.

Immediately, a change in the grip that wrapped around his arms was experienced; the fingertips of the rough, giant man clenching with strength that was felt against the marrow of his bones with an immense pressure.

This strength! He thought.

"Ha-ha-ha!" Leonid laughed boomingly.

With ease, the bulkened vampire pried the young man's arms from his neck before slamming him down against the plain of snow.

Even against the soft, cushiony blanket of cold white, he found all of the air in his lungs vanishing as his entire body ached from the sheer force of the slam. There was no bounciness to the snow, yet his body bounced from the ground harshly.

"...What the hell is that?"

It was right at that moment that his covered, foreign right-eye began to pulsate with a flaming pain once more, causing him to quickly cover it as he tried to hide the pain.

"Confused, are 'ya? Feast your eyes!" Leonid roared.

His laughter was bolstered by the monotonous, audible beating of his heart as his veins seemed to pulsate beneath his reddened complexion.

A complete shift in aura emitted from the large, bristly-haired vampire as he touted his new, bulkened form.

He's completely different...this is a whole nother level, he thought.

"...'Crimson System', it's a technique passed down to the Razrushitel clan's most gifted warriors. It lets me accelerate my heart rate, pumping my blood with the vigor of one-thousand Razrushitel warriors!" Leonid explained, slapping his bare chest.

"Razrushitel…?" He asked, finding his footing on the snow.

Wait, then did he increase his blood flow in order to prevent passing out from my chokehold? Man, that's unlucky, he thought.

He tried to draw out a conversation while allowing the sharp pain embedded in his eye settle down.

As he looked at the burly vampire, steam emitted from the man's body as the cold air carried by the snowy tide pushed forth.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The resonance of his accelerated heart continued to beat like a drum, sending a hum through the coating of snow they both stood on.

Okay, I think it's fine now, he thought.

Taking in a deep breath, he exhaled slowly a misty breath as he looked forward.

It sounded ridiculous to him; the strain of increasing one's heart to such a degree that it could be heard audibly would surely be fatal. However, he found the clear flaw in his thinking.

He's a vampire; it's safe to assume he's just built a bit differently than the rest of us, he thought.

Leonid cracked his neck side-to-side with a viscous smile, "The Razrushitel are the most feared clan in Vellochia kingdom, the homeland of vampires! We raid, we hunt, we kill--our prey are the weaklings of our race! Vampire blood: that's the good stuff!"

No further delay came; Leonid launched from his position with a speed that caused him to momentarily feel his feet sink against the ground like lead.

It was fear.

Such brutal, unstoppable strength hurling towards him with a beaming smile accompanying his boundless bloodlust--he only found himself composed at the very moment he had.

Snap out of it, Ren! It's do-or-die! Stop talking so damn big if you can't back it up with your very next step forward, you arrogant piece of shit! Win...Win! For them! He reprimanded himself.

Stomping forward, he reared his fist back, preparing to meet the giant fist of the steaming, reddened vampire head-on.

"That's the way, brat!" Leonid yelled out in joy.

Though just as they were about to collide, both bringing their boots down into the snow with a resounding thunderclap--he ducked beneath the hurling, mountainous fist.

Idiot, of course I won't challenge you in a bout of strength! He thought.

It was something that both Brahmi and Fai drilled into him during his training: the importance of stomping one's foot.

Bringing the sole of his foot down to the world below, he borrowed the strength of the ground beneath as he ducked down before lunging his palm up directly towards the vampire's unsuspecting chin.

With a swift, sharp motion, he brought the base of his palm directly against Leonid's chin with enough force to generate a thunderclap that spiraled the surrounding frost.

"Gruhhh--!" Leonid spit out.

The vampire's head was forced to an upward tilt as his mouth was forced violently shut by the impact.

Leonid stumbled back after receiving the unseen blow, shaking his head as a bit of drool coated his bottom lip from his temporary daze.

Holding his head, the vampire grinned wryly, chuckling, "Was a helluva blow 'ya just gave me, brat...no, Ren."

He had yet to move from his position post launching his counterattack, slowly lowering his palm that pointed towards the abyssal sky as he straightened himself out with a slight smile.

Despite all odds, he landed a meaningful blow; even if it didn't secure the victory, there was meaning in confirming the foe could be hurt.

"I've got more where that came from," he muttered, issuing a challenge.

The frost no longer held him in its abrasive embrace; the stiffness in his limbs vanished as he briefly shook them, letting out a misty breath between his lips as he eyed down his vampiric foe.

Even now, it was a terrible sight; the hulking, battle-loving man that smiled in utter joy at the prospect of a fight. He had no place in the serene frost, standing there as a red-skinned devil with his malice emitting from him in a hot air from his burdened complexion.

Without warning, the brutish vampire set off into thundering laughter as he launched his fists against the air repeatedly, in quick succession.

He recognized instantly what was coming: utilizing his seemingly boundless strength, Leonid hit the air to release massive volleys of viscous air pressure, howling towards the young man.

In an effort to evade the shrieking blasts of wind, he flipped himself while running, having to leap to avoid the booming shock waves that shoveled through the platform of snow.

Each time the wind blasted from Leonid's fist passed by, it yelled into his ear like a blade being jammed into his head.