CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.62 'TIME TO DUEL!'

"Boy. Awake, we don't got all night." Ra said, parking himself on the grey, ruined steps of a broken house on the cul de sac in Andrei's mind space. The dragon's voice rumbled with nerves tense as Andrei sat up in the brown grass before him, opening his eyes to see the demon tapping his heel against the concrete ground beneath the steps impatiently.

Giving a huff of contempt, Andrei looked him over. "Something catch in your scales while you were stuck in this shithole? You know, you could tidy up while I'm awake." He said, glaring at Ra. This was a new way to see him, the demon in his head. He wasn't sure if Ra's nerves were something to be excited about, or scared of. It seemed that the demon understood this feeling though, seeing as the two shared a mind.

"That man. Those people... They used a sort of magic I am unfamiliar with. And I could smell it, the stench of that Asura on him." Ra's lips twisted into a grimace. "You... You aren't aware of the deeper workings of Magic, are you?"

Andrei frowned at the genuine tone of Ra's deep, gravelly voice, and he shook his head. "No. Haven't had much time to read up on it, on account of everything so far."

Closing his eyes, Ra blinked for a long stretch of time, then opened his eyelids to reveal the familiar pools of magma Andrei had grown too accustomed to. "Then I'll be brief. You're aware of the damage which occurs when you use my power, the black Fire?" Grumbling, he huffed smoke from his mouth, and watched as Andrei nodded. "Of course. It is because your body is not accustomed to my black Fire, even if you've made it your own. Think of Mana like a battery... to cast spells, it needs to be jump-started by something."

Andrei scratched his chin, still receptive to the lesson he had been dragged into. Perhaps it would give him an edge which would help him grow stronger for the coming fight. "So... even if we were to shock Shimoda with the right mana, he'd be able to cast Spells, but it'd double back and take a toll on him..."

Ra stewed over the thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I suppose you could think of it like that. Though you must know, Mana is something even the Chimera know little about, at least those strong enough to dwell on it." He snapped his fingers, then pointed to Andrei. "Magic, it's something which comes from the same realm I do. The four primal elements, you've seen them all. Fire, Water, Wind, and Lightning."

Blinking, Andrei raised his brow and his grip on his chin tightened, until he began to come to Ra's same conclusion. "So, things like Hirano's ice-based abilities, or that Locus..."

Ra nodded, closing his eyes in agreement as he finished Andrei's statement. "It's good to know you pick up much faster than my last student, though I suppose you're not entirely correct... ice is a derivative of your humane Water magic, which is different from Chimeric Water magic, just like my fire compared to that android's."

Nodding, Andrei soaked up the information, looking back up to Ra. "But Blood?"

"We Chimera don't bleed as your kind do... We function essentially the same, requiring an inner system, but we are more... creative." Ra gave a faint smile, as if he remembered something. "Your blood, it's something that should have a major drawback, if even possible at all, if you cast it. Using my wealth of knowledge... I can't tell you if I'd even be able to do such a thing, with or without a drawback."

Andrei flinched at that admission. It was nearly impossible for Ra to admit that he was wrong, so... just how serious was the situation? "Not even you...? Is it because you're not..."

"Human?" Ra asked. "Maybe. But it means either way, my wealth of knowledge will be worthless to both of us." The demon began to smile now, the realization finally dawning on him. "Whatever era we've found ourselves in, it is different from my first, or our first, prior to whatever brought us here."