Chapter 421: Pepper Scarlett.
"Hahaha, don't worry about it, just sit down." Victor laughed at Pepper's misfortune, and dropped the subject.
Pepper put her hand on her head as if she had a headache and said:
"Ugh, really, Victor, you-."
"I'm handsome, I know."
"Noo! I mean, yes... But that's not what we're talking about!"
"Shouldn't you let me know when you're going to do something like this, at least email me? I don't know."
"Meh, you'll get used to it." Victor shrugged as if he had no choice.
"...Sigh." Pepper sighed visibly, and sat where she was again.
"..." Time passed, and the two just sat leaning against the tree.
At some point during Victor's caresses, Nero ended up sleeping on his chest with a calm, happy face.
Pepper, who was leaning against the tree trunk, unconsciously started to bring her body closer to Victor, and laid her head on his shoulder.
Victor didn't say anything, he didn't need to, despite being worried about Pepper's feelings, he wouldn't meddle in this matter if she didn't want to.
Therefore, he just kept silent, and when she laid her head on his shoulder, he began to stroke her red hair.
Some more time passed, and the two just enjoyed the silence and the cold breeze of this place.
Until Pepper broke the silence:
"You know? I've never been this far away from home for so long."
"...." Victor continued looking at the landscape.
"Unlike my older sisters who can live away from my mother for a while,"
"I cannot."
"My mother is my safe haven..." Memories she didn't want to remember started to pop into her mind.
A little red-haired girl was crying amidst the ruins of a Clan that was once very prestigious.
"Mommy...Daddy..."
The stench of burning bodies, the heat of the fire that was slowly approaching her.
The bodies of two loved ones who were brutally murdered.
An image that would traumatize any child.
A tragedy that scarred a little girl's little heart.
It all happened very suddenly, and to this day, she had no exact memories of what had happened.
She was sleeping with her parents until an explosion occurred, and before she knew anything, her parents got out of bed, and ran towards the noise.
And leaving her behind with a single order.
"Hide."
Even today, the faces of those two people who were her parents were not visible.
At first, she remembered the whole event, but as time passed, she slowly forgot...
Apparently, time healed all, and that may be true, as after nearly a century of time passed, she began to forget that night.
But even if you forget some parts, the trauma still remains.
The noise of screams and destruction, the noise of their Clan and home being destroyed.
And the burned bodies of your parents that were thrown towards you.
And a hateful word she will never forget.
"Hunters."
An extremist group that hates all Supernatural Beings, and exists for the sole purpose of killing them all.
And when that red-haired hunter searched her house for survivors,
Something changed...
The whole landscape turned white, it was as if winter had arrived in full force, everything had turned to ice.
The Hunters, her parents, her family, her clan.
And the only thing she remembered before she fell into the world of unconsciousness was the sound of someone's footsteps.
"I arrived too late..."
A woman's voice.
"Tch." The sound of something breaking into pieces.
"How did these worms manage to invade Nightingale? Is Alexios not doing his job?"
A cold tone that contained anger at someone's incompetence.
"At least I managed to save some survivors..."
Footsteps approached the room where she was, and she saw a woman with long red hair, wearing armor that seemed to only protect the vital points of her body.
With an indifferent face, and eyes glowing blood red, the strongest female Vampire stood in front of her.
Countess Scathach Scarlett.
"Oh?"
A surprised expression appeared on her face as she looked at the younger Pepper, was the last memory she had of that day.
"My Clan, in the past, was considered a powerful Clan, and due to our ability, some groups feared us." Pepper started talking while raising her hand, and a small ball of water began to be created.
"The most competent Vampires of my clan could cause tidal waves that destroyed countries easily."
"And because of that power, one fateful night, our Clan was hunted by extremist Hunters."
"…but thanks to my mother, some of us survived, and we managed to live under my mother's protection. And even one of my clan's survivors would become Ruby's father in the future."
"A former heir to a destroyed Clan, that's what I am." She spoke with obvious disdain to herself.
"...." Victor raised his eyes slightly when he heard that, but even so, he didn't say anything, and just kept stroking her head.
"The survivors of my Clan split up after this incident, and today they live peaceful lives in Scathach's territory."
"Sometimes I meet them, and we talk, they are good people."
"Do you hate the Hunters?"
"... It would be a lie for me to say no, but... My mother took revenge from me when she killed those Hunters and extinguished their entire department of extremists."
"You know her, she wouldn't stand by after what happened."
"Invading Nightingale during her shift and destroying a Vampire Clan that was close to her territory was a great offense to her honor as a General, and a Countess."
"...Is that the reason why you can't overcome this bottleneck?"
"…I don't know…Maybe? I think the most correct answer is that I am lonely?" Pepper spoke with a confused expression.
Despite having had a traumatic experience in the past, she got over it with her mother's strict training, and with time.
It's been over a century since this happened after all.
Her family also had a major point in this, her older sisters Lacus and Siena who had a similar past with hers.
Ruby was born much later, and quickly became her favorite.
A baby's innocent eyes can heal even a broken soul, that phrase wasn't wrong.
And later on, she found a hobby that made her forget about her problems.
The coming of Victor who can only be described as interesting, a man who had the guts to challenge her mother, and everything he did always seemed interesting.
"Lonely...?" Victor looked at Pepper.
"Yeah... That's just how I feel, I honestly don't know why I can't progress."
Her imagination was not low, as a woman who had consumed almost all anime and manga, she had many ways to improve her power.
... But she just couldn't.
It was as if there was an invisible wall blocking all her attempts to progress.
And that was extremely strange for her, she had never felt it in her entire life.
"Hmm~..." Victor put his chin on Pepper's head, and stroked the woman's long red hair.
'...He smells so good...' Pepper just realized what kind of position she was in, but she didn't particularly care.
Victor had something around him that made her feel safe: 'Is this what it feels like to have a big brother?'
Victor stopped petting Pepper, and removed his glove:
"I probably know what's going on with you."
"…Eh…?" She looked up curiously.
"You have reached the limit of the development of your power."
"...."
"You feel like a wall exists in front of you, right? An insurmountable wall."
"Yes..."
"A wall that no matter how much you develop your powers, it won't let you grow any further."
"Mmm..."
"I understand how it is, after all, I'm going through it right now."
"Is there any solution to this…?"
"Yes, there are two solutions."
"The simplest solution is to drink my blood, but I don't recommend it, it can lead to addiction if drunk in large amounts."
"..." Pepper didn't know whether to be disappointed or a little relieved by Victor's concern for her.
"And the second solution..."
"And a solution I recently discovered thanks to you." Victor smiled faintly.
"Fuweeh? Thanks to me?" She looked at Victor in shock.
"Yeah, your book idea was pretty interesting."
"O-Oh... Did you like my book?"
"Yeah." Victor responded with a kind, honest smile.
"I-I see... Good, I think." A smile that took Pepper by surprise, she lowered her face that was a little red:
'He liked my book, does that mean maybe I have talent? When I get back to the room, I'll try to write another one! ...Maybe I can show him again.'
"The answer I got was, control and refinement."
"Hmm?" She looked at Victor confused.
"Control?"
"Yes, if you can't increase your power, you must improve your control, and refine it."
"Something like this." Victor decided to show.
He pointed his pistol-shaped finger at the sky, specifically, a cloud.
A small ball of water appeared on his fingertip, and soon this ball of water started to spin, at first it was slow, but quickly the ball started to spin at high speed.
gulp.
Pepper noticed that that ball of water looked quite sharp, it seemed to be under high pressure.
Victor smiled slightly, and said:
"Bang."
FUSHHHHHHHHHHH.
The water ball flew at an absurd speed into the sky, and blew a hole in the clouds.
Pepper looked at this result with her mouth open, could her power be used that way too!?
And she was shocked by something else too, her Otaku brain couldn't help but compare what she'd just seen to a technique:
'Was that King Gan!? Damn, can I do King Gan too!? More importantly, he created something like King Gan without knowing anything about anime!?'
Pepper's eyes were shining with stars.
"Water under very great pressure can cut even a diamond, although it is extremely difficult to do what I did, after all, you need very good control over your powers, it is not impossible."
The principle of Victor's powers had always been control. From the beginning when he fully awakened as a Vampire, he was never able to control his powers efficiently, and because of that when he trained with Scathach, and later on alone, he always prioritized his powers' control and increase in power.
But it's only recently that he's tried to 'refine' that power, thinking of various ways to use his power efficiently.
And he instantly saw the result.
He felt that the wall blocking his progress was slowly being destroyed by himself.
If you can't overcome the wall, just destroy it with punches, if one punch is not enough, punch a hundred times. If a hundred punches is not enough, punch a thousand times. And if a thousand punches aren't enough, punch a million times.
Eventually, the wall will break, and your progress will bear fruit.
"And you know what else Pepper?"
"Hmm?" She looked at Victor.
"Everything in this world has water, the human body is no exception."
"What happens if you completely remove the liquids from a living being?"
"What happens if you control water from the air, and block a person's breath?"
"...." Victor's smile slowly grew.
"The answers to these questions are obvious, and you of all people know the danger of your power."
"...." Pepper's smile started to become like Victor.
"Indeed."
Seeing living proof that it was possible to develop her powers further in front of her, Pepper's mood began to rise.
"As my beloved Scathach once said:"
"You are limited only by yourself." Pepper and Victor said at the same time.
"...." A silence fell around them, and they both laughed a little.
"Her words now make sense to me..."
"Well, she managed to turn her ice power from what was just a mediocre power to what it is today with her training and imagination."
"... That's true." Pepper opened her eyes wide as she remembered this.
"Her words are not to be taken lightly." Victor smiled a little.
After Violet, Ruby, and Sasha, the person he understood the most was Scathach.
After all, they were alike, dedication to their training, and the will to get stronger was what motivated Victor to never stand still.
Always developing new techniques, always trying something new, always trying to learn something new.
He was a madman who was trying to learn everything at once, even though he was busy with everyday things.
And the best part of it all is that he could actually do it because of his Progenitor blood which gave him a tremendous increase in understanding, and talent.
Not to mention his stubborn personality helped a lot with that too.
Because of this, his desire to learn all the martial arts in the world was not without foundation, he actually had the talent for it.
But this was a task that would take hundreds of years.
Because of that, instead of training all martial arts like he was doing before, he decided to just focus on his Odachi.
This Odachi was the strongest weapon he currently had, and he wanted to master it.
Victor chuckled lightly, and got up from the floor, and leaned Nero's head on his shoulder, she was still sleeping.
"Come with me, let's train."
"…Will you teach me something?" she asked curiously.
"Don't tell your sisters, or they'll think I'm acting out of favoritism... Which is true." He laughed at the end.
"I will teach you the full version of your mother's martial arts."
"…Eh?"
"I think the current you is prepared to learn that."
"B-But, does my mom agree?"
"If I ask, she will agree." Victor flashed a small smile and kept walking.
"Oh..." Pepper just realized what kind of man was in front of her.
He was the man her mother loved most, and it was no exaggeration to say that if he made a request, she would agree.
Even if in the process, she complained, she would accept it, after all, it's Victor.
"And as I said before, your current self can learn this technique, unlike your sisters, you have reached the bottleneck, and you can only learn this technique if you reach the power-up bottleneck."
"...I see...Wait, so how did you learn this? I remember in the past you didn't have that bottleneck yet."
"..." Victor just smiled and said:
"I am built differently."
......
