Solar Blood Masters

Raphael zipped through the trees like a dark blur. He could feel Kwan Yuu's rage burning behind him, that bloodlust, those potent pheromones, they were a haunting reminder of how close he was to becoming a midnight snack!

He glanced down, noticing a swampy clearing.

"Hmm? What's all that noise coming from that puddle?"

A gathering of Tianguin Gatoroids were seated around a makeshift table crafted from mud and roots. They were engrossed in a game of dominoes, slapping the muddy surface with their tails as they chattered about this game that only those of a higher mind than regular frogs could understand.

He winced, "Ah… Sorry!" as his passage had caused their game pieces to vanish and cause those playing to scramble and hissed complaints and threats against him who couldn't watch his clumsy wings.

"You, come back and apologize properly!" But their outrage faded when a much bigger threat zoomed right past the bull.

"Hissss!"

"Oh, god…"

Queen Kwan Yuu and her swarm barely registered the Tianguin Gatoroids. They blitzed across the clearing, blasting those that dared interrupt their dinner plans away with casual blasts of fire, shadow and venom.

The clearing became silent again! Such immense power!

"This, is why we don't pick fights with anything above our tiers, remember!" a shivering Gatoroid cautioned, and rightly so.

Kwan Yuu's fury had a terrifying intensity!

"Bull! Your juicy ass is MINE! I'm going to drink you DRY!" Her shout of anger and pride were a perfect combination for any predator of this ancient realm, for surely, wasn't Yama Yaguai ruled by those who dared take and consume?

"Damn, she's fast!" Raphael glance back and saw that dreaded proboscis descending like a meteor! Its tip glowed. It was about to skewer his hindquarters!

"No time to panic! I… I almost forgot about this!"

In that very moment, Raphael was reminded of a potent technique; one he had not been eager to test.

It was a gamble, yet one he'd embrace with delight now. After all, hadn't he consumed that Devil Star Fruit in a moment of sheer recklessness? His bravery had ensured his survival.

And so, he roared: "Nightcrawler!"

Just as Kwan Yuu's proboscis was centimeters from piercing his fat rump,

POOF!

Raphael vanished.

The queen's attack slammed harmlessly into the earth, sending up a shockwave that battered the trees.

"Huh, he vanished?" She was taken aback. "But HOW?! Where did that stinking Bull go?! Search EVERYWHERE!"

Her frustration and humiliation popped the bodies of a few Vampsquitoes. It even caused her most loyal blood-sucking servants to tremble. Her disappointment, those who knew, recognized her anger, they would feel her displeasure soon, if those fools couldn't find him. Such was Kwan Yuu's terror.

They began scanning with buzzing eagerness. But there was no trace! No scent! Even her own potent sensory perception was blinded.

Raphael was GONE!

Meanwhile…

Just out of their blind spot, Raphael's shadowy form darted from tree to tree, blending seamlessly with the darkness. His 'Nightcrawler' ability was a truly chaotic ride. Each blink he felt it; those shadows guiding him with an instinct.

"Whoa… WHOA…! SLOWER!" He cried but his new body paid him no heed.

And a few moments later, when the momentum finally stopped, Raphael carefully materialized. "Where… where am I?"

"CROAK?!"

A startled frog hopped away, clearly unhappy its dinner had been interrupted.

Raphael' eyes adjusted to what he assumed was safety, yet he still couldn't ignore how weird this ability made him feel.

He looked around.

"Kwan Yuu? Where… Hmm… it's seems I have lost her…" He had escaped that mosquito's clutches.

As soon as his hooves touched the mud that reeked, he remembered his primary objective. He would use this respite and solitude to find his target.

That treasure he so needed to refine his blood.

"Time to find that Almeez tree!"

"Perhaps my shadows can help…"

WHOOSH!

He stretched his massive black wings once more. And within seconds, 148 Shadow Bats materialized.

"Every shadow is my tool and they shall guide my path today."

"All for you Master!"

"Master's Will, It will be done!"

They awaited his command.

"Find Almeez!"

…

Sometime later…

"Solid ground! Finally!"

Raphael stepped out of the murky swamp and onto a patch of verdant grass. It was a welcome change after hours of trudging through mud, dodging lurking bloodsuckers, and encountering plants that hissed insults at his clumsy hooves.

"This is strange…"

He glanced around. These lush, green grasses were opposite to the decaying vegetation that surrounded them. It was as if he'd stepped into a hidden oasis within the heart of this desolate swamp.

"Could this mean… I'm getting close?"

Raphael followed the trail of vibrant green deeper and deeper into the Dark Swamp Gorge. The air grew heavy with a sweetness that reminded him of the candies he used to steal from the kitchens back in the Bloodthorne Estate.

"This place is… different." He paused, taking in the sights.

Ahead, a grove of trees materialized through the swirling mists. They had a strange aura, one that resonated deep within his essence. He instinctively understood what they were.

"Almeez trees! So many! But…"

As he drew closer, a sense of disappointment washed over him. These trees, though majestic with their silver bark and emerald leaves, were barren. Not a single fruit adorned their branches.

"What a waste! Could it be… that Zhu Jian was wrong?"

He couldn't give up now, not when he'd come so far!

He pressed onward, venturing deeper into the heart of the grove until he came across a sight that stole his breath away, and that lingering sense of despair vanished like shadows at dawn.

Before him stood a magnificent Almeez tree, unlike any he'd seen before. It towered above the others, its trunk thicker than ten bulls combined, its silver bark radiated ethereal light. Its leaves shimmered with a thousand shades of emerald. Golden vines, thick as his own legs, hung from the branches, swaying gently in an unseen breeze, teaming with life.

And nestled amongst those leaves…

"The 'Buddhist Pill Gourds!"

He saw them, a handful of magnificent fruits. They were larger than any he'd imagined and radiated a potent green luminescence that had him salivating! They were beckoning him closer.

"Yes! I've finally found you!"

Raphael gazed up at the tree, mesmerized by its beauty and that potent, intoxicating scent of sweet berries and ancient wood.

He flapped his wings and ascended like an angel. He was eager to claim his prize. Reaching for one of the plump, glowing gourds, he was about to pluck it when…

BOOM!

An invisible force slammed into him that threw him back to the swampy ground below! He landed with a thud that had the mud splashing as those fragrant grasses he'd admired moments before suddenly wilted.

"What the hell was THAT?!" Raphael roared in pain and confusion. "Such potent energy…"

"How DARE you attempt to pilfer my fruit without even a formal greeting?!"

He was baffled, for the words that came from above wasn't those insects he'd come to hate, it was a soothing, yet stern feminine voice that resonated with a power far exceeding anything he'd encountered except for those Emperor Calamities and that Void Emperor he'd never seen.

But from a tree?

He gazed upwards. Those eyes adjusted, and he saw it.

The tree itself hummed.

It glowed with an ethereal golden-white light that spread outwards with a terrifying pressure.

His entire being shuddered as his hooves found it hard to even twitch, and in those moments as his mighty golden body shrunk and his Solar Essence waned to something resembling those insects he'd grown fond of smashing.

He realized, he was now at the Buddhist Pill Stage!

"This… Is it trying to KILL ME?!"

His instincts screamed: "FLEE!"

He stumbled back and ran.

His hooves splashed through the swamp, desperately seeking refuge from those unseen forces. And then, as soon as he was outside the tree's glowing radius, a strange tingling sensation flowed across his hide. The weight lifted and his essence returned.

"Huff! Huff! I'm back to… 9th Layer Calamity Stage? That tree! It… IT suppressed my powers!" He then took a deep breath and gathered his courage.

He would not be deterred. Not after coming so far. Not when the item he sought was within reach.

"Alright, round two!"

He entered the tree's territory once more, and the moment he did, that pressure returned. He gritted his teeth as his essence dropped once more.

"Hmph. So you return, bull? A while ago, you ran with your tail between your legs. Have you finally come to beg forgiveness for your transgression?" The tree's voice dripped with amusement; mocking his weakness.

Feeling humiliated, Raphael yelled, "Look here, tree! I came a long way and survived a lot of shit to get to your fruit. Now HAND IT OVER!"

He tried again, leaping upwards towards a glowing gourd, but the result was the same as before.

BOOM!

He was flung back, hitting a tree trunk with a sickening crack!

"Hmph, brute force will get you nowhere, bull. I've seen your kind before. All brawn and no brains! Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"Hey! What did you SAY?!" Raphael roared. The insult stung! His hooves pawed the earth. "HELIOS SPHERE!"

He tried to charge it, but the energy dissipated before a single spark could form.

"Damn it! It's this territory. I can't utilize my full power here."

"I told you, bull, brute strength is useless here. Calm yourself."

"Fine!" Raphael growled, defeated. He lowered his head. "What do I have to do? To get one of your damn fruits?"

The tree, sensing a shift in the bull's demeanor and that desperation that he exuded, paused. It observed him for a moment. Its golden leaves rustled softly as if contemplating his fate before speaking.

"I am Almeez Krishna. I've reigned in these swamp lands for a thousand, thousand years. I am the tree of knowledge, the giver of wisdom, but also a stern punisher to those who offend my realm. And you bull, you have offended.

Now tell me, what is your name, and why do you seek my 'Buddhist Pill Gourds' so desperately?"

Raphael hesitated. He didn't trust this tree, not entirely. But he also knew that without its fruit, his journey towards blood refinement would be in jeopardy.

"My name… it's Raphael. And that fruit you guard… it is the key to my… my…" He couldn't reveal his true desires.

"My survival." He lied.

"Hmm. Interesting. You will earn them, Raphael. But not through brute force." Almeez Krishna's branches swayed as it revealed a challenge worthy of its ancient lineage.

"You will play my game. Answer my riddles, and if you succeed, I will bestow upon you ONE fruit. Fail… and you shall leave this place… empty handed."

"A game of riddles?"

The prospect of using his wits instead of his hooves was daunting. But what choice did he have?

"Fine! I'll play, but first, tell me the rules!"