Perfectly mistaken (yoonkook/sugakookie)

23: The little demon's hidden potential (part two)

Yoongi’s nails clench down into Jungkook’s delicate skin. All the electric energy buzzing through the air from his master's overpowered core feel too good to resist, and with the blood that’s drawn, the incubus is able to siphon some of it off. Yoongi violently rakes his nails across Jungkook’s sides, leaving behind bloody trails down his back.

Yoongi feels himself surge with energy as he jumps back, away from his master. His hands crackle with magical energy that is, just moments ago at Jungkook’s fingertips. Manipulating people is almost as much fun as manipulating magic. Yoongi spins the electrical charge of magic into an orb between his two hands, enjoying the way it sparkles with the burning bright glow from the heat and power of an untamed swirling mass of magic.

Exactly as ordered, Yoongi attacks, sending the volatile ball of electricity flying towards his master; assaulting him with the very same energy Yoongi had just stolen from him.

Jungkook yelps when Yoongi suddenly moves, much faster than he had expected him to be, and slips right under his guard, digging his nails into his sides. The demon’s gone before Jungkook can even think to retaliate, and then he’s diving out of the way, feeling the static and the wood shards scrape his skin when the tree behind him explodes. Despite the blood leaking from his skin and another crackling bolt aimed at his face, Jungkook laughs in delight, feeling extraordinarily glad that his familiar is actually much stronger than he looks.

From what Jungkook noted, Yoongi had seemed to be some sort of illusionist, or at least had a way of messing with people's perceptions which was the only explanation for both Jimin and Taehyung to blow past the fact that he had wings and horns and a tail. But if that last attack was an illusion, it’s the best Jungkook had ever seen, for it had perfectly replicated every detail, from the sudden scorching blast of heat to smell of ozone in the air. And what’s more interesting is that he could unmistakably feel his own magical signature in that bolt. To his surprise, the excess energy that always bubble violently under his skin is suddenly gone and with it, the steady burn from the choker around his neck.

Is Yoongi some kind of vampire?

That would explain the whole biting thing. Jungkook inwardly slumps in relief. A bloodsucker is probably much easier to handle than a demon with an appetite for human flesh. Nothing a couple of blood pills wouldn't take care of, anyway.

For the first time, Jungkook finally feels optimistic about this partnership.

But he still has several deadly bolts to contend with. For all Yoongi said about not wanting to hurt him, he’s being quite cavalier about lobbing those sizzling balls of death at him.

The young mage automatically slips into a cool, analytical mindset that Yoongi wouldn't have believed he’s capable of. Within seconds before the attack hit, he reaches, grasping onto the surrounding earth element and pulls, encasing himself in a protective dome that has the charges dissipating harmlessly against the shell and sinking into the ground. Then the dome bursts apart, showering Yoongi with bits of stone and dirt. However, another burst of wind element launches Jungkook backwards into the air until he lands a relatively safe distance away, smirking almost cockily with the claw marks on his torso already healing up.

"Is that the best you've got, Yoongi?" Jungkook teases in a good-natured kind of way, actually relaxing his stance. He doesn’t have any intention of going on the offensive; the point of the exercise is just to familiarize themselves with each other's techniques.

His master looks so pleased with him, despite having just tried to melt his face off with a burning ball of electrical magic. Well, if it’s destruction his master wants, Yoongi is happy to give him that.

"Of course not,” Yoongi says with an overconfident grin across his face. Using what is left of the static energy he'd siphoned off, Yoongi mounts his next attack. The power crackles at his fingertips but this time instead of aiming directly for Jungkook, he sends the ball of energy shooting straight into the clouds. Waves of electrical force spark through the atmosphere, quickly tainting the light overhead cloud coverage and turning them into heavy storm clouds.

The sky continues to darken as the little demon makes a circular gesture with his hand, still in control of the magic that’s starting to stir up a powerful storm. There isn't a single drop of rain that falls from the unnaturally formed clouds, but loud bursts of thunder begin to rumble from overhead.

"This is your magic I'm using, Master. So I suppose this is the best you've got." The arrogance in Yoongi’s voice is quickly drowned out by another deafening crack of thunder. With one quick swipe of his hand, a thick bolt of burning blue lightning headed for the ground, aims straight for Jungkook.

Jungkook watches with amazement at seeing how deftly Yoongi had made use of what little magic he had siphoned off of him; his spells are non-verbal and perfectly controlled, with not one bit of wasted energy. To be able to take control of and shape something as far away as the clouds, takes an inordinate amount of control; Jungkook himself had trouble consciously maintaining any sort of spell beyond 200 meters - not that he couldn't get around it by pumping enough magic into his spells until they were virtually self-sustaining.

This spell is definitely at least B-rank, just from the sheer concentration of magical energy, easily ten times stronger than the blue bolts Yoongi was throwing around earlier. Considering how much the storm cloud's natural charges seem to amplify the attack, Jungkook’s beginner's earthen shield will be obliterated within seconds.

But that is fine; Jungkook isn’t so good (he really sucks, actually) at defensive spells anyway. It really isn't his style. After all, he believes that the best defense is a good offense.

Hands sparkling with the same blue lightning, Jungkook lets out a fierce cry, responding back to Yoongi’s attack with a tremendous burst of raw magical power, and the two bolts collide midair with a deafening explosion, sending massive shockwaves rippling through the clearing, tearing the trees straight from their roots, and knocking Jungkook clean off his feet.

The white mage crashes through several old oak trees before finally tumbling to the ground in a bruised, motionless heap.

But before Yoongi can start to fret that his stupid, reckless master had killed himself during a friendly spar and Yoongi never even got to taste him, Jungkook groans and pushes himself to his feet. His clothing is in tatters and seems to be clinging to his body by sheer force of will. He has angry electrical burns in the form of lightning-patterned scars all over his arms where he’d been far too close to the discharge to get out unharmed.

But Jungkook has never looked more delighted, despite how close he had actually come to being killed, seemingly unbothered by sheer scale of destruction that the two had created within the span of minutes. If the training ground looked like a mess before, now it’s just a disaster, with almost all of the nearby trees upended, including the pathetic little sprouts that had been valiantly trying to grow in.