Veins of Magic - Bloodbound Sorcery

Let the training begin

Olive heard the sound of a door slamming shut. She assumed this was Eli's doing. And she was correct as Ava shortly after entered the room

Olive, sitting on the couch, could sense the unresolved tension. She glanced at Ava, unsure of what to say or do in the aftermath of the confrontation. The air felt heavy with unspoken words, leaving an unsettling stillness in its wake.

After a lingering moment, Ava sighed, breaking the silence. "Let's give him some time," she said, her voice carrying a mix of frustration and concern. "He needs it."

The next three hours. Consisted of Olive and Zed talking with Ava pacing around the room with a sense of restless purpose. Olive and Zed's Conversation was rather uneventful. Olive attempted to ask Zed about the lines he resided at the meeting earlier. This was a big annoyance to Zed who quickly shut her down. Though there was a definitive reason why Zed knew those lines very well, he wasn't quite ready to share this with Olive yet. Mostly he was worried that she would get scared, and that would seriously hurt their attempt to protect her.

After the three hours had passed Eli re-entered the living room, he had a certainty in his step as he walked towards the couch. Ava stopped him.

"We need to talk," She said, her voice slightly shivering as she was in much emotional turmoil.

"Yes, we do...I'm sorry, I overreacted" He said and hugged her - she was very much surprised by this, as Eli rarely hugged her.

"I have, however, thought of something that might make the ball safer for Olive to be at - if she must go, we should train her. Teach her self-defense and attempt to get her to learn to use her powers. She should have a chance to even sort-of defend herself, should all hell break loose" He said.

Ava's gaze held a mix of relief and surprise, and she nodded in agreement. "You're right, But, Eli, she's not one of us. It might take time for her to grasp everything."

Eli looked at Olive, who sat with a thoughtful expression. "I understand," she said, her voice steady. "If it helps keep me safe, I'm willing to learn."

The decision settled in the room. Eli, Ava, Zed, and Olive began discussing a training regimen tailored to Olive's unique abilities. Ava, ever the strategist, outlined a plan that included both physical and magical aspects.

"Eli, I know you have a lot on your shoulders right now, but you are the one of us most trained in combat, do you think you could start the training? It's completely fine If you have other stuff to do, I'm just asking" Ava said, giving Eli a clear way to say no, in case he was still too bothered by the emotions that came with the kiss, to spend time alone with Olive.

"No, I can do it, makes sense for me to do it," he said, and everyone nodded

"We begin tomorrow morning Olive, so make sure you get some good sleep tonight"

Olive nodded once again, and the evening went on. Olive went early to bed, she couldn't help but feel a slight excitement about the training that would occur the next day.

She woke up early, a bit too early perhaps, but she decided to head into the living room after all, maybe someone would be awake. That's when the thought hit her, that she had never noticed the vampires sleep. Do they sleep? She thought quietly to herself. In the living room, Eli was sitting and reading a book. As Olive walked closer she could see that it was a very old book with no title on the front page.

"Hey, you're up early," Eli said and looked up from the book.

"Yeah I couldn't sleep any longer, I got too much on my mind," Olive said

"Know the feeling," Eli said and returned his gaze to the book

"What are you reading?" Olive asked curiously. For the first time since the kiss this felt like a normal conversation and wasn't awkward at all.

"It's an old book about hexweavers and magic. I thought I would benefit from reading up on it a bit. To be completely honest I don't know that much about it, even though I'm properly the one who knows the most about it out of me, Zed, and Ava - considering I'm the oldest" He said not taking his eyes off the book

"How old are you?" Olive asked carefully. She had not thought of this question considering they all appeared to be in their mid to late twenties. But multiple references to them being older than it would seem had come up the last couple of days, and now Olive was very curious. Eli chuckled a bit to himself.

"Why don't you guess?" he said looking back up at Olive.

"I don't know, I thought you were maybe like 27, but considering everything I'm assuming you're older"

Eli laughed again "I'm a bit older... 105, but I did stop ageing at 28 so you are not that far off. Ava is 98 and Zed is Only 66"

"Well... guess that's just more stuff I didn't know about vampires. Do you live forever?"

Eli put the book down "I mean we can technically, no vampire of Orn has ever died, some of the ones of Cao or Ral have lost some lesser vampires, but not of old age"

Olive sat down on the couch next to Eli, as close as she could, whilst still keeping the minimum respectful distance. But her odd placement on the couch was clearly noticed by Eli, who got up from the couch.

"I'm gonna go get something to drink, do you need some breakfast?" He asked, whilst walking towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, breakfast would be great," Olive said, slightly saddened by Eli leaving.

Eli returned with breakfast to Olive then sat himself on the other end of the couch and continued to read his book. After Olive finished eating her breakfast Eli suggested that they go down to the basement and start Olive's first training session. Olive thought this was a great idea and so they headed to the basement.

The basement was big, very big, and very dusty. It had clearly been used for training before as there was some different equipment, but it hadn't been cleaned in a while it would seem.

The training session began with basic stretches and warm-ups, with Eli guiding Olive through the movements with a watchful eye. He explained the importance of flexibility and agility in combat, emphasizing the need to be able to react swiftly to unexpected situations.

As the training progressed, Eli introduced Olive to various self-defense techniques, demonstrating the art of evasion and counterattacks. Olive, despite her initial apprehension, found herself getting into the rhythm of the exercises. Eli's instructions were clear, and his movements were precise, a testament to his centuries of experience.

During a particularly intricate maneuver, Eli's movements seemed to blur, leaving Olive momentarily stunned. She blinked, trying to catch up with the rapid sequence. It was then she realized that she was witnessing the true extent of a vampire's physical capabilities. Eli had instructed Olive to simply try and avoid him this time, but her reactions weren't fast enough. And in an instant Eli had her pinned against the wall.

Eli's eyes met hers, a fleeting moment of intensity that mirrored the encounter in the living room. The world seemed to slow, and Olive felt the familiar pull, the magnetic force that seemed to draw her closer to him. For an instant, their faces were mere inches apart. Then Eli abruptly let go of her and pulled away.

"We should take a break... actually I think I might be done for today, I'm pretty tired, I'll see if Ava wanna continue the training," he said