Blood [#Wattys2016]

Section 7 : Magic and Snark

"Alright Milo," Persi says, ignoring Rick's squeals of pain, "did David say what exactly we're teaching these kids?"

Milo has to take a moment to suppress his laughter at Rick's pain. "No, I think he just wants us to teach them the basics."

Persi balks momentarily. "Well that's vague! The basics of what?"

"We can do a bit of everything." Milo offers.

"I guess so..." Persi says disappointedly. "How long do we have?"

"A little over half an hour."

"Okay," Persi says thoughtfully, "I know what we're going to do!"

Milo looks offended. "What makes you think I don't know what we should do?"

Persi pouts mockingly. "Do you? Do you Milo? Does the cute little Caligulan know what we should teach these aspiring mages?"

Milo frowns. I can't hear what he mumbles, but Persi chuckles, clearly content with her superiority.

"Alright, students!" Persi addresses Rick and I, "I am your teacher, Ms. Munne, and I will be teaching Magic 101 today." Milo clears his throat indignantly. "And this is my lovely teacher's assistant, Mr. Jakovich." Milo grumbles something again. "Are there any questions before I begin today's lesson?"

"Yes, Ms. Munne!" says Rick, perpetuating the joke.

"Go ahead, Richard."

"What did you call Milo just then?" Milo rolls his eyes and scowls.

Persi smirks. "Caligulan." She explains. "There are a lot of different kinds of vampires, the most common being the Lord vampires."

"Don't let the name fool you," Milo says, "Lord and Lady vampires are simply the vanilla of our kind. The most common, and most plain." His words sound pointed.

"Aw, he's insecure!" Persi says. "You see, each kind of vampire has tiers and levels to its development. As one becomes more proficient with the skills that come with their classification, more skills and abilities become usable."

"It's like this," Milo takes over, "your abilities, magical or vampiric, are like muscles. The more you use them, the stronger they become. Eventually, as these abilities grow more and more powerful, you're able to do new things with them that you weren't able to before. Take pyromancy; when you start, you may barely be able to snuff out a candle from a few feet away, but keep working at it and eventually you'll be able to set an entire building ablaze from a mile away!"

"That's quite a leap!" says Rick.

"Well, it doesn't happen all at once; it's like-"

"I'm sorry," I interrupt, "but what does this have to do with Persi calling you a Caligulan?" Milo let's out a long sigh. I think he's been trying to avoid the subject by steering the conversation towards magic.

"Vampiric abilities develop in much the same way." Persi explains. "When you use your vampiric powers, they grow stronger. Each kind of vampire develops differently and most have abilities unique to their strain. Take Rick for example;" I can hear Rick mumble a quiet 'Who, me?' as she says this, "he is what is known as a Sanguine vampire."

"I am?" Rick asks, sounding quite puzzled. Persi simply nods. "David said I wouldn't know for a few months!"

"You may not be able to, but we are."

"We can all identify other vampires and we can usually tell what kind they are," Milo says, "Persi here is particularly good at it."

"It's because I'm a Mordelo vampire." Persi clarifies. "My kind is known for their ability to detect, and evade."