Chapter 7

Did you know that alcohol is used in making ink? Well, neither did I until today. It took quite a while but I eventually managed to learn Projection Magecraft, or at least Shirou's version of it. 

Projection is, in essence, the materialization of objects, in accordance to the caster's imagination, through the use of magical energy. The concept is to shape magical energy into the material composition and design of an object that is being imagined by the caster.

The downside is that the projected object isn't permanent and will eventually fade. However, the better the image in the caster's imagination, the more stable and longer lasting the object will be, and it can be further improved by having technical knowledge of its construction. 

That's where Shirou's spin on it comes into play. I don't have his Reality Marble so I have to improvise. After numerous trials and errors, I finally managed a technique which ran my magic through an object before returning back to me as information. 

Shape, material, composition, age…all of that can be told from that. I was a bit inspired by the echolocation ability of bats. 

To summarize, I can now project white oak stakes whenever I want. Though, it got me thinking. 

I've been looking at my magic all wrong. So far I'd limited myself to what I'd seen in anime or movies, yet I was able to scrounge up this scanning technique to go with Projection Magecraft. 

Successfully, might I add. 

That means that it doesn't matter if I haven't seen it done somewhere. So long as I know the concept and have an understanding how a specific type of magic works, I can use it. 

That's something to think about and I'd thought quite a lot about it. 

That is what led to me sitting in the public library, a stack of textbooks beside me on the table, all of them on human biology and anatomy. They're advanced books but between that, the internet and my perfect memory, I'll manage. 

I have an idea that might get me one step closer to leveling the playing field. To achieve that, I will gladly skip classes. 

-[Stefan]-

Looking around the class, he and Elena found Nathan nowhere in sight. It was already the third period and the boy had yet to show up to school. 

That was worrying and he found himself even more worried that Damon might have done something already but he had no proof. 

In other news, Damon was right. The tomb vampires had escaped and were roaming around town. It would only be a matter of time before more 'animal attacks' started rolling in. 

That was his fault, he felt responsible for that. He and Damon were at fault for it and for the death of Sheila Bennett as well. 

The only reason she died was because the spell she used to lower the seal when he and Damon got stuck exhausted her too much. She was a powerful witch but even that had limits. 

All because he couldn't stop Damon from chasing after Katherine. The worst thing about it was that it was all for nothing. Katherine wasn't in the tomb so Sheila died for nothing. 

Not only that, the seal she tried to put back up didn't work and now the town was in danger. Bonnie would hate him but he understood that. 

The look she gave him when he dropped Elena off for the funeral told him enough despite her attempt to hide it before she left town. 

On top of that, Damon was slowly spiraling due to the information that Katherine apparently didn't care that he was waiting for her for over a century. 

He was unstable and an unstable Damon is a dangerous Damon…Well, a more dangerous Damon to be frank. 

His enhanced hearing picked up a whispered conversation on the other side of the classroom. 

"…eard you went out with the new guy. What's he like?"

Ah, girl drama. Looking around, he quickly traced the conversation to a female duo sitting next to each other. A dark skinned girl and another girl, Sarah, if he remembered correctly. 

Sometimes vamp hearing was good for his idle mind when he wasn't paying attention to class. 

"It was amazing. We talked a lot and he's really cool. I think he's interested in me too. I'm meeting him later today." The dark one whispered. 

"Someone's moving fast." Her friend, Sarah, teased. 

"It's either that or wait for someone else to swoop in." The first girl argued. 

"Oh please, you just want to choke yourself on hi-" Okay that's enough eavesdropping. At least now he knew that Nathan was probably going out with the girl. 

He could only hope that his brother doesn't do anything stupid. 

-[Nathan]-

In one afternoon I've learnt more about the human body than I did in the last few years of highschool. The prospect that it might be able to help me learn a new branch of magic was more than enough to keep me motivated. 

Maybe it's just me but someone really needs to fire some biology teachers. Tossing my bag onto the couch, I made a beeline for the fridge only to groan at its emptiness. 

To-do list for tomorrow. Item number one; buy groceries. Well, it looks like I'm ordering pizza tonight. 

Grabbing my phone to make the call, I pause upon hearing a knock at my door. Oh yeah, Aimee's coming over. I'm not expecting anyone so that should be her. 

There really is something with highschool students and romantic pacing that needs to be studied. 

The Wickery bridge sign is hidden under the rug under my bed until I can find a better place so there shouldn't be anything out of place here. 

Looking through the peephole, I don't see anyone there but I freeze just as I move back. I can smell it, my reinforced senses picked it up. 

The smell of blood. 

Projecting a wooden stake into my hand, I used a free limb to slowly open the door. Still, there was nobody there but the smell lingered, getting stronger. 

Only after pushing the door open completely did I see the cause of it. Aimee lay on the floor, her neck torn open, bleeding out and her eyes lifeless. Dead. 

Well this is a problem. A frown graces my face as I peer outside, seeing nobody around. With a sigh, I pull the body inside, using a spell to clean up the blood. 

Killing her and leaving her on my porch, this is a message. The problem is, I don't know who's sending it. 

The wound on her neck was caused by teeth. It's not a full moon so that leaves out werewolf. Besides why would a werewolf kill her and bring her here. 

This was a vampire, a vampire who's trying to figure me out. This is probably related to Vicki's return to life so that narrows down my list. 

Thinking over it properly, I already have my suspicions on who it is but that can come later. First, magic, then revenge. Besides, I see this as an opportunity. 

What better way to learn fleshcrafting than by experimenting on a fresh corpse?

-[Stefan]-

Damon was up to something. The satisfied smile on his face when he walked into the boarding house didn't sit well with him. 

He knew his brother wouldn't talk no matter how much he pressed him on it if he didn't want to so he could only wait. Well, wait and do some light prodding so see what he could get out of him. 

Watching him down a glass of bourbon, he really started hoping Damon didn't do anything stupid.