The Test of Liberty

It's funny, the difference between words and actions. You were more a talker than a fighter and that was never more clear, then when you stood in front of Hilde in her apartment, holding the sheathed sword of your father in your hand, as Hilde juggled coins in one hand, watching you shake at her intimidating allure. "Draw your sword. Hunter."

"I-I don't think... this is a good idea, Hilde." You stammered, watching the coins flip through the air, skilful, masterful, dangerous.

"It was your idea." She whispered. her eyes dark, and monsterous "You're smart, Charlie, I don't know anybody smarter. But I need a warrior, I need power on my side, we hunt monsters, charlie, and for every one of them, we have lost 3 score of our own. I need you to be strong, to take the pain that is about to come, to transform from a Boy to a Man of our Creed. Can You promise me that You will do that?"

You considered it, even as you hands vibrated "I'll try..." oh god this was gonna fucking suck wasn't it.

She nodded, catching her coins in her palm, the cold look in her eyes making you quiver further "Draw, your, sword."

Obeying your Mentors command, you carefully pulled Lugh from it's scabbard and jolted as the Orange blade burst into flames, the metal glowing with heat as you felt it's weight, holding it close.

Hilde began to stalk around in a circle, you following her with your paranoid eyes for her to strike.

"Did you know, that Achor has multiple purposes..." She whispered, her eyes watching, body relaxed as she flipped two coins between her fingers "It can be used to shield the spirit, to protect the Mind, but back in the 15th century, our ancestor known only as Draco pushed Anchor to new levels, he found a way to make Anchor outward, not inward, allowing him to manipulate the souls of the Monsters He killed, it takes years of practice but with it, He infused undead souls into the steel of his weapon, creating tools capable of matching the unrelenting **** of the Undead. Kin-Blades, Diana has Ymir: infused with the soul of the ancient Vampire-Lord Bruma, Your grandfather had the Bladed Gauntlets which he gave to me to match with my scythe-boots: Hermes, both infused with the souls of other master Vampires... but that sword that you hold in your hand, is the eldest Kin blade of them all. Named after the Celtic God of the Sun and the Storm, infused with a shard of his closest friend, and the Most powerful Vampire of them all... The One who burned with the fires of the Dragon..."

You paused, looking at the blade as she continued to circle around "Dracula!? this sword has a part of Dracula's soul in it!? Holy shit that's insane-AHH!"

Piercing through the air, Hilde shot a coin at you, which you only just managed to dodge, your eyes wide in fear as you looked at the coin embedded in the wall behind you "JESUS HILDE WHAT THE FUCK!?"

She frowned "Your Father went through Hell to obtain that sword, and as I breathe, only one worthy will ever wield it!"

*BAM BAM BAM* The Coins exploded towards you like bullets, the trio of silver flying through the air and threatening to cut through your flesh.

You were quick, however, sure-footed and by the skin of your teeth flew manically out of the way, feeling one of the coins just skim past your neck and plummet into the stone wall.

Dropping Lugh with a boiling terror you tried to march off "Nope! Nope! Fuck this... I am not gonna die over this, I am not a fighter, t-this is crazy, I'm just some guy I can't do thi-"

If you'd ever been hit by a truck before, you imagined in your immediate daze that Hilde appearing almost out of nowhere, cold wrath in her eyes and delivering a kick that felt damn close to cracking your ribs, would be pretty close.

Tumbling to the floor, you gasped, the air in your body **** out as You coughed and sputtered, pain rocketing through your entire Torso.

It was like your lungs had short-circuited, they refuse to take in air, and you lay there wheezing, stars flashing through your vision.

Hilde looked down at you coldly, before crouching at your level "I Love you, Nephew... more than anything in this world, that is why I punish you now... because while I adore every aspect you possess, I despise weakness. and as I breathe, as I walk with the strength of our ancestors, I will exercise the weakness from you like poison from a wound. Now get up, and draw your sword, Executioner."

"H-ugh... *Inhale* fff...cugh... I can't..." You muttered, barely able to breathe.

Her golden eyes narrowed darkly, challenging you with that glare "Roman would be turning in his grave if He could see this now. You are no son of his, writhing on the ground like a worm."

You grimaced at her, gripping the hilt of your father's sword and standing as you heart began to thunder. Blood rushed through your veins, the muscles coursing with strength as You invaded her space "My Father is proud of me, Your dead wrong." You growled, unfeeling of the pain, unfeeling of fear.

Hilde smiled like a knife, sharp, and dangerous as she muttered two little words in your face "Prove. it." she growled

Stepping back, still slightly shaking, but determined, you gripped Lugh's handle with all of your diminished might and readying for what was probably going to be the most pain few hours of your life.

Okay... maybe not the most painful hours of your life... that would be an inaccurate way of putting it. These few hours were that of pure unadulterated agony.

With every swing, every effort, you were punished for your weakness. Metal pierced the flesh, enough to wound, not kill. Those coins slashed you into ribbons and every time you tried to walk away, Hilde hit you like a truck... there was no quitting in this classroom.

"Do you think a Vampire will let you run away? can you run from a hurricane? an avalanche? you are a hunter, and a hunter does not run from prey." She growled.

You were on one knee, huffing, bleeding, barely able to breathe, the blade of Lugh's blazing blade propper to keep you steady, as you wiped the dripping blood from your jaws.

"This... is hell... I thought... you were going to teach me... how to fight... not crush me." You wheezed.

Hilde sighed with irritation, kneeling in front of you "I already told you. You already know how to fight, but you are cowardly, the flames inside you are dead and cold, You have no fight, no drive, no wrath. Hmmmm." She rubbed her chin, smearing it with your blood as she contemplated "You must reignite you fire... we must find a way." her whispers where slow and studied, but you just didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

"I... am not a fighter... I told you-Ugh I think you broke my ribs."

Her hand touched along your collar softly, wiping the blood from your lip as she stood. She moved over to that strange chemistry station again, carefully transferring the contents of the bubbling pot into a dark flask, taking a swig before spitting it back inside.

Your aunt resumed her place before you, offering the flask insidiously.

You eyed it "What is that?" You asked, still groaning in pain.

She smiled, shrugging.

Grumbling, you took the flask with shaking hands, wondering why the fuck it is that you ever bothered to trust this woman, swirling around the odd deep red contents before saying a prayer to god and sinking it in one gulp.

It tasted sweet, like sherbert, but.... also not like that at all. the aftertaste was horrible, like rotting apples and chocolate left to go stale in the fridge for to long "It tastes horrible."

She nodded thoughtfully "Well I Imagine it would... it's meant for Vampires."

Choaking you, glared "What!? what the hell is in it?"

Her shoulder lept into another shrug as she listed off "Kale... Green peas, Lentils..." This didn't sound too bad "...Also deadly nightshade, belladonna... a little bit of my Blood, and My spit. A Regeneration stimulant."

You grimaced "Ew... and how exactly do poisonous substances regenerate anyth-EUGH!" You cried out suddenly as a writhing pain smashed into your chest, pushing your insides around, as You gasped in agony.

"It's simple," Hilde explained lightly as You collapsed, clawing at your ribs, the sensation horrible in the way that it **** your ribs back together, sealing the internal damage slowly and harshly. "There is a concept known as the Law of Restoration, You take a base; in this case Kale, Peas, lentils, protein, and destroy it, utterly crush it in a crucible, in this case, Nightshade and Belladonna, but then just as it is shrivelled to it's last, on the broke of ****, you add a power source, in this case, The Blood of a descendant, our DNA is supercharged with darkness... this restores the Base tenfold, hell fifty fold. What you are feeling now are your white blood cells attacking every little bit of damage it can find, forcing an evolution, forcing... regeneration." She explained lightheartedly as Your claws dug into the concentrate floor.

"IT HURTS, IT BURNS." You screamed.

"Well I imagine it would, You're half-human, forcing this kind of thing isn't at all-natural for you, it's defying the laws of nature, chippy. Doing stuff like this is an affront to the fabric of reality, but... luckily for people like us, it's always temporary."

As if on cue. the Pain ended, immediately, and you puzzled, face flat on the ground, sighing in relief as You stood up, peering at the gashed on your arms as they closed promptly.

Hilde frowned, touching your eye that was still tender "Hmmm, not exactly perfect. Come on, I have some frozen peas in the fridge."

You flinched back as she tried to lead you on, shaking your head "If we're done... th-then I would like to go."

She contemplated you, looking forlorn for a moment before nodding "Of course. Go, we will continue on Monday."

This was... a lot... Remhilde knew this, it gave you comfort that even post-beating, she had her concerns.