2nd generation Guardian Tiger Slayer

Note 1: The bakenekos in this story and for the purpose of the magic are considered the first bakenekos or the most strongest since they are creations and instruments straight from death itself, at least for this story.

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The guardian tiger slayer by the name alone only tells a part of what the slayer is. As it is, their are two parts of this magic and slaying; the bakeneko and the tiger.

Now to understand why bakeneko is part of this larcima, one must go back in time to where the first bakeneko slayers appeared. It is hard to argue how long ago this was though, and it is also hard to determine where this happened, but regardless this was created in response to a threat similar to the creation of the dragon slayers, war. Except this war could have been considered with more at stake, or one that is a dwarf compared to the dragon war. This war was fought between the living and the dead, between those who called earthland home and the reaper itself. For whatever reason(it happened so long ago the reason how or why was lost), a reaper has descended on one region of the world, and had the intention of killing everything on it and claim the land for it’s own. However the reaper could only do so much on it’s own, so it created its servants to aid it, the bakenekos.

The bakenekos were excellent hunters and fighters, being able to ambush and quickly overwhelm it’s prey. What made it the most strongest though was it’s strengths against the spiritual and the dead. Simply put the bakenekos were strongest against these types, and had no issues with fighting these types of prey. This was also a problem, the most powerful of mages who could combat the reaper and it’s normal forms of magic were terribly disadvantaged when the bakenekos came along. And while yes, they were very few mages and fighters who could possibly fight both the reaper and it’s servants, the reaper was quick to deal with these mages and fighters, leaving the rest of the region in a desperate battle for survival. However, a group of people and mages formed a group in order to find a way to combat and perhaps defeat this reaper, and all able-bodied mages and fighters alike gathered under the group, the guardians. The guardians were in fact the group to come up with the idea that it would take a bakeneko in order to defeat another one, which could possibly lead to the defeat of the reaper. However, the actual capture of a live bakeneko was a long and strenuous process, and even when finally accomplished it was realized that a bakeneko could not be tamed, brainwashed, or otherwise help their cause while alive. They noticed it was caused because of their fierce loyalty to the reaper and their kin, and they could not shake this no matter what they tried.

After this a new idea was thought of, something more crazy but a possible answer, become a bakeneko, or rather somehow gain its powers and through this gain an upper advantage. After much discussion and theories, it was eventually decided the best way was to somehow condense the power, put it into a fighter or mage, and have them fight. This method eventually worked, and this behaved to how a second generation slayer works. The method worked on a fighter first, and with the fighter the results were staggering. The fighter was able to not only  match and out power a bakeneko when they fought, but they were also able to consume or eat some of the attacks that bakenekos made. And all the other servants of death(undead, spirits) were no match for the bakeneko slayer.

It was still a hard job to make more of these slayers, and by the time the bakeneko slayers were able to confront the reaper, only a small group was made(5 to 6 group made up of mages and fighters). It was then that more was revealed that a bakeneko slayer was possible of, for better or worse. The first bakeneko slayer in the group absorbed one attack from the reaper, and entered what slayers call today force. Except it was on such a bigger and grander scale. The bakeneko slayer had entered force on such a scale that no one could have expected, including the reaper. As it turned out, the first bakeneko slayer in force was all that was needed to defeat and consume the reaper itself. This is where the guardians and the people they swore to protect were ready to celebrate...until the first bakeneko slayer turned on the group. For you see, unlike force the bakeneko slayer did not leave force, and in fact became a more powerful bakeneko, enough for it to kill nearly all of the members of the group. Only one remained and escaped to tell the guardians what had happened at the fight against the reapers, in which they were in shock. Their efforts to save lives had resulted in a more brutal killer then the reaper, and the worst part was the first bakeneko slayer followed the reaper, so in reality they had helped their destroyed enemy.

After this, this was how the magic earned the name, “Guardian Tiger Slayer”.

When examining the details of the fight between the first bakeneko slayer and the reaper, it was concluded that if a bakeneko slayer absorbed enough power, they could enter a stage of incredible power that resembled the bakeneko itself(AKA slayer force). However they realized that since a bakeneko is so loyal to death, then entering this stage leads the user to become a bakeneko themselves and lose all control. While this was good to know now, it was also an issue since the new threat they faced required someone to go into force, which would lead to another threat. Much was debated and with so little time to spare as the new threat quickly continued to where the reaper had left off, many lives were lost as the region slowly turned to a desolate region, where no living nor dead walked. However, the time that was gained for the loss of lives proved valuable as eventually they were able to discover that by putting another spiritual essence with the bakeneko one could protect the bakeneko slayers from complete takeover.

And so with the aid of the necromancers, warlocks, clerics, and the guardian group, they were all able to make the guardian slayers, bakeneko slayers with a guardian spirit inside of them. These spirits however could vary, in fact the first three were the tortoise, the bear, and the falcon. Only three were made because of the looming threat, and it worked. The three guardian slayers were able to enter force against the first bakeneko slayer, and while their force were weaker than the one the first bakeneko slayer accomplished, the three combined efforts were enough to defeat the first bakeneko slayer. However, only one of the guardian slayers survived the battle, and while the land was finally free of the threat that plagued it so long, the land was left barren. And most of the members from the guardian group were killed, the few left scattered across the land. And the last guardian slayer lived his life out til the end. All of this however took place an immeasurable amount of years ago, and any chance their knowledge or even legend of this time is most likely forever lost.

But there will always be beings out there, beings who look to the past and seek the power that was lost in it. As such this was the case for von grand. Mr. Von grand was already a powerful mage in his time, enough proof of this was when he achieved the status of immortality. He  no longer needed to eat, drink, nor was he affected by natural disease. And with his prowess as a mage, it would be hard to say anyone could kill him. However while immortal, von grand still feared death. He, over the years, grew the paranoia that death itself would come for him. And for all of his power, von grand feared that the reaper would swipe it all away and his life with one move. So after a few years of being immortal, he searched out a way to defeat death itself. Such knowledge was not known though to actually fight death itself. So he resorted to his own gathering methods in folklores, archaeological sites, and forgotten ruins. And through centuries of his efforts he had uncovered so many forgotten magics, none though that would save him from death.

However he did manage to find the knowledge, after trading the knowledge he found to others he discovered a folklore, of how one time the reaper itself descended to rule the world, and how one group of people stopped it. Von grand obsessed over finding the source of this and eventually found it, the knowledge that their was once slayers meant to kill death. He found one of their tombs and the shattered remains of the guardian slayer larcima. With this he quickly found old research notes about how to make one, and with all this he was able to recreate the guardian slayer larcima infused with a tiger essence. He however grew more paranoid at this point, and left everything else of his possessions behind him as he went deep underground to isolate himself and embed himself with the magic. But when he arrived to his cavern deep underground, exhausted after fighting the creatures in the caves and other mages, a cave in happened and crushed von grand. Von grand, weakened by the lack of mana and his injuries, succumbed to his greatest fear. He did however protect the guardian slayer larcima with his corpse, and to this day it is said that it is still there, still able to be used. And it eventually was found and used by zecarayus.

Now, guardian tiger slayer magic is meant to slay death itself as it’s original purpose. This is done by the user gaining power similar to it’s own creation, a bakeneko. However because this is mixed with another entity, the user draws power similar to a combination of both. With this magic the user has still a very similar power to bakeneko since both bakeneko and tigers and not that different physically or how they attack/act. The most notable difference is that the user is better able to control the desires that the bakeneko would have normally brought.


Now normally because of this combination the user would be best in using the magic to weaken and hold targets while overwhelming them with physical force. But because of zecarayus’s own strategy and preference for combat, there's more emphasis on weakening and holding targets than to overwhelm with physical force. And it’s because of this also it has allowed him to be a harder target to sense while keeping up with other sneaky beings.

Strengths:
-Due to a lack of physical emphasis, zecarayus has been able to make this magic about hunting and ensaring others while being able to escape for himself
-The guardian slayer grows beneficial from death whether they caused it or are scavenging from it, this meaning that the guardian slayer is able to consume all forms of death related energies
-This magic was created in the response of a threat coming from death itself, meaning that the user of this magic is going to be better suited against soul or death related beings(whether by magic or type) and can even destroy death itself(please read weaknesses marked with *)
-A lot of spells in this magic comes in the forms of chains, these chains due to their type effect a target regardless of what their made of and once shackled they adjust to any size changes
-Even though their is a lack of physical emphasis, he still carries physical enhancements and primal instincts that when shown can be surprising to suddenly find out

Weaknesses:
-A lot of damage from this magic requires zecarayus to be able to set up his abilities and spells properly, using some of them for escape can be a waste of their potential
-Unlike other slayer magics the user has to be more careful than usual when engaging in slayer force. This is because the more times the user enters force without rest, then they change more closer into a bakeneko. This means if the user enters slayer force three times without a thread break in between(or a long time lapse), then the user will become a humanoid bakeneko, unable to turn back and wanting to kill anything in sight until defeated or killed. The closer the user enters the third time the more their appearance will alter.
-The natural source for the user to consume would be corpses and spirits of the dead, this can bring up moral problems if the user is not comfortable with being a cannibal or messing with the dead in general
-The user is only able to combat death related beings, this means other beings are normally fine, EX. celestial spirits are not countered since they do not classify as spirits of the dead usually.
-*Unknown to the original creators of the magic this slayer magic cannot slay the actual reaper or death. This means that the user can only destroy and consume death if it has stepped outside of its natural role(death that has offspring or taught/shared it’s power with another are considered outside of the natural role as an example)
-Unfortunately the physical and primal enhancements naturally given can make the user overestimate their own physical abilities, which can be dangerous as the magic is not for a physical fighter

10% Buff to physical stats(strength, speed etc)
10% Buff to senses(hearing, smell etc)
The ability to enter force after consuming enough of the element
The ability to consume their element to regain MP
A resistance to their element shown by the following chart:
2 ranks above: 0%
1 rank above: 10%
Same rank: 25%
1 rank below: 30%
2 ranks below: 50%

Appearance: Guardian slayers usually gain a appearance of a mix between the bakeneko and guardian animal within them. For the guardian tiger slayer they have the usually sharpened canines that all slayers have. In addition they adorn black stripes on their chest, arms, and legs. However the further from the center of the body the stripes grow lighter and lighter to the point to where they do not show on the user’s hands, wrists, ankles, or feet(stripes on the forearms and anterior or calf section of the legs are very faint). Finally if the user is not careful or thinking then they may instinctively act more primal in some cases.

The guardian slayer can eat all forms of death and energies revolving around it(spirits of once living beings, corpses, and undead) . The negative energy they carry is naturally dark. Deals double damage to spirits of the dead, undead, bakenekos, and (Itself and those related to) Death. However this damage does not apply to aspects of death that have stayed within their original role. The user is capable of entering force once they have consumed enough of their type, this is the same way second generation slayers enter force.