Vampyre - Ch. 4

[MangaDex]

 

[Degernase]

I found it a bit odd how he could instantly destroy that much solid earth yet is incapable of dealing enough burst damage to bypass the homonculous' regeneration.

Also what's this vague "magic resistance"? Feels like it might become a recurring theme in order to make fights less one sided in favor of blood mages and explain why they're not just giving their enemies brain aneurysms.
Instead of doing it that way, I'd rather blood magic be a bit more limited so that magic resistance doesn't just pop up as a convenient plot device.

 

[LazyHaku]

@Degernase

Yo, thank you for checking out my manga. I really appreciate it.

What you said is exactly how I intended it to be. Blood mages can easily mess up normal people, just like what happened in the prologue, which also ties into the reason for their infamy.

Everyone else with an aura or a high energy level has a base magic resistance that limits stuff like blood magic so that it can't just one-shot them. Besides, magic resistance makes all spells and abilities of physical nature weaker, which is why drilling through solid earth is way easier, than damaging a homunculus whos magic resistance and regeneration abilities got boosted by a soul. ( All that stuff got hinted throughout chapter 2 and 3.)

 

[Degernase]

@LazyHaku
If it's an universal thing among magically gifted individuals (and presumably beasts) it does fit better and doesn't feel like characters pull kryptonite out of their ass when the plot demands it.

Also I interpreted the magic resistance as merely disrupting more direct manipulation of the victim's blood (he was able to draw it out of open wounds but it was clear his options were limited), which makes sense.

However I'm not completely sold on the idea of magic resistance improving physical defense.
When does an attack go from being physical in nature to magical? I'll buy that magical resistance helps you resist mental effects, body manipulation and force created with magical energy (such as fire or lightning).

But how is hardened blood not a purely physical object? Magical energy helped shape and propel it it, but it's not a conjured material and once it has been given force, it'll fly without needing further magical energy.
What about gravity magic, if the victim possesses magical resistance, is the damage from boulders slung with its assistance easier to negate than someone physically throwing them with identical force?


I'm mainly nitpicking because I think these things are both important and interesting to take into consideration when creating a system for magic.

 

[LazyHaku]

@Degernase

In your two examples, magic resistance wouldn't matter and the target gets full damage from the boulders and Dion's weapons, which are indeed a purely physical object.

It's like you already said. Mainly energy based attacks that would damage you physically get weakened through magic resistance.
Dion attacking with his blood in a fluid form would be a mix between energy based attack and a physical object, so it will still get a bit weakened.
That's why the homunculus was able to easily break out of Dion's restraining spell.

And when it comes to gravity magic, the way it got limited is that the homunculus was only able to levitate Dion for a short amount of time and pull him in his direction.
Rather than having full control of Dion's body and moving him freely around as he pleases, like he would be able with a normal person.

In this fight, the homunculus is a special enemy with a soul inside him. Dion won't be able to out damage his regeneration abilities with only physical objects,
hence why he's trying to gather a lot of blood to launch a big attack that might kill him.

 

[Degernase]

@LazyHaku
Alright, yeah those interactions all seem consistent to me.
The "fluid" blood could be a physical manifestation of a bladed whip and only be given force to move, but that's more me arguing semantics. Rather I'd pose the question, why does the MC not focus entirely on attacking with what is judged as physical attacks to bypass the magic resistance?

In this fight, the homunculus is a special enemy with a soul inside him. Dion won't be able to out damage his regeneration abilities with only physical objects,
hence why he's trying to gather a lot of blood to launch a big attack that might kill him.

First I figured that enough physical force to instantly destroy its brain would mean the homunculus becomes incapable of regenerating the damage, but now I recall that the core appears to be its true vitality, which only gains physical manifestation during critical conditions.

But what does destroying ~70% of the body entail? I mean, is decapitation destroying 90% or 10%?
The true vitality is its core so I assume the the largest amount of mass is what continues to be the homunculus? So regenerating a completely new head is only as cumbersome as the amount of missing mass? Or maybe the complexity of the part plays a role too (admittedly I'm moving into needless specificity).

The homunculus either has a human body or is mimicking its physiology and appears to require the body to "function" (as opposed to a magically animated skeleton or something), so disabling what would make a normal person able to live means that it's incapacitated until said part is regenerated? Depending on its regenerative speed, massive head trauma should prove quite effective in buying time for combo damage.


I enjoy writing fantasy stuff, so more in-depth world building and creature design like this fun to discuss since it might be thought out but never explicitly mentioned due to it causing excessive lore dumping or otherwise mess with the story pacing.

 

[LazyHaku]

@Degernase

I sometimes enjoy these in-depth talks too. However, I usually don't write that much, so this will be my last in-depth reply for now.

A normal homunculus is an artificial human created through alchemy. Depending on how well you perform the transmutation, it always gets as close to the human body as possible, with all its functions and mortality ( only the reproductive organ is missing). Created Homunculi never have a consciousness or mind of their own. In essence, they are a soulless husk, controlled like a puppet by the energy that the creator imbued into them.

There are a bunch of different versions of a homunculus, and Dion's opponent is one with a core. That homunculus has a magically modified body to specifically regenerate/heal back to the original state it got created. Furthermore, the body is designed to be completely in tune with the energy core and through that further enhances the homunculus, which enables its insane strength and regeneration abilities. The reason for that is that core can't produce any magic, and therefore completely focuses all its energy on enhancing the body. Vital parts like organs or complex body parts don't take longer to regenerate than the rest. So yeah, regenerating is as cumbersome as the amount of missing mass and decapitation would be 10%. The core always regenerates from the biggest mass of the body. Additionally, severed body parts would lose the core's energy and start melting away. Depending on how much energy the homunculus has, the regeneration speed varies. Usually, 1% of damage to the body, equals 5-10 second regeneration time. Losing vital parts that are needed for the body to function will incapacitate the homunculus until the core regenerates them. Though, for example, if the heart gets punctured by a blade and the blade stays inside the heart, the core would regenerate it in a way that the heart can still function even with the blade present.

Dion mentions in the beginning that the homunculus seems somehow different. That's why he decides to confirm some things before he goes all out.
After a while, he realizes that the homunculus has a human soul inside him and developed consciousness of his own, which is a big deal. So that's pretty much a unique situation Dion has to deal with.

Every other question like, why can't Dion out damage his opponent's regeneration abilities with his weapons? Why damaging vital parts of the homunculus doesn't amount to anything in his favor. Why can the homunculus use magic, and why does Dion do what he does pretty much gets explained or at least shown or hinted in the fight. (But maybe I was just bad at properly conveying those things.)

**Edit

There is one more thing I would like to mention, which wasn't really explained in my manga. Dion says after one of his weapons breaks:

"His aura further increased his magic resistance. I either need to use more blood or put more energy into my weapons to make them durable enough against him."

With that, I tried to imply that Dion can use less blood to create a weaker version of a weapon and imbue the object with his energy, making it stronger and more durable. So that it's on par with a properly created weapon. He usually does that when there isn't much blood available or when he tries to save up his blood for something else.

 

[Degernase]

@LazyHaku

I sometimes enjoy these in-depth talks too. However, I usually don't write that much, so this will be my last in-depth reply for now.

I'm happy knowing that there has been some thought put into the deeper workings of monsters and such rather than just being generic creatures. So thanks for that. I won't feel neglected even if you don't reply with an in depth answer to everything.

Why damaging vital parts of the homunculus doesn't amount to anything in his favor

Well no, I don't understand this, since you confirmed my suspicion that it'll remain non functioning if a vital part is damaged enough that it'd stop a regular person from acting (having your heart pierced doesn't meant instant death, but having your spine/head severed guarantees death or paralysis, you can move without a pulse but not with a severed spine.)

Crushing the brain would buy him ample time to deal more severe damage which would force the core to emerge.

and why does Dion do what he does pretty much gets explained or at least shown or hinted in the fight

I didn't feel like it was very clear that he was experimenting due to the odd circumstances, but maybe I misunderstood and regular homuncul(i?) don't possess an innate magic resistance (in this case caused by the magic soul?) which is what threw him off?

In hindsight that would make sense, but it doesn't feel like the most intuitive conclusion to a reader with minimal knowledge of the world.

Dion can use less blood to create a weaker version of a weapon and imbue the object with his energy, making it stronger and more durable.

The implication that he can directly strengthen a weapon by supplementing magical energy rather than blood was lost on me, rather I assumed that more blood meant more material to work with which would equal stronger weapons.

I'd imagine that using more magical energy to increase the force of the projectile weapons, or using more blood to create denser weapons (and more energy in the process of creation) would both improve the final damage potential. However using more magical energy to purely strengthen the physical form of the weapons (without more material) seems a bit iffy. I guess if compressing the blood so that the resulting weapon becomes more compact/durable it'd make sense, though sometimes a large, more fragile object is capable of dealing more damage than a sturdier, smaller one.

But another thing, the instant he pierces the homunculus' skin, he'd be able to draw blood from it despite the increased healing rate, meaning he should be able to continuously improve his offense without sacrificing his own blood. He can create blades that repeatedly cut rather than pierce, lodge and get lost.

 

[LazyHaku]

@Degernase

I didn't feel like it was very clear that he was experimenting due to the odd circumstances, but maybe I misunderstood and regular homuncul(i?) don't possess an innate magic resistance (in this case caused by the magic soul?) which is what threw him off?

Homunculi with a core do possess an innate magical resistance, though not as strong as one from a normal mage.

Well no, I don't understand this, since you confirmed my suspicion that it'll remain non functioning if a vital part is damaged enough that it'd stop a regular person from acting (having your heart pierced doesn't meant instant death, but having your spine/head severed guarantees death or paralysis, you can move without a pulse but not with a severed spine.)

That would be the case for a homunculus without a soul. I tried to put a lot of emphasis on how big of a deal it is that the homunculus has a soul inside him, which made his regeneration abilities quite overpowered and might have changed some of his functions. While being energy-efficient and trying to figure stuff out, Dion did damage some vital parts, like destroying a chunk of the homunculus brain or breaking his spine but with no real results. Besides, Dion was also busy reacting to a lot of stuff that the homunculus did, like the mist blood ability, gravity magic, or the insanity, while slowly reaching his limits. So things didn't go that well for him, and he wasn't able to test everything out.

(The "overloading my weapons with energy" part was another implication that Dion imbues his energy into his weapons.)

I'd imagine that using more magical energy to increase the force of the projectile weapons, or using more blood to create denser weapons (and more energy in the process of creation) would both improve the final damage potential

That is correct. Dion's weaker/less blood version of a weapon is comparable to a hollow object, and his energy fills the empty space to make it more durable. Dion uses this version to make his weapons explode.

But another thing, the instant he pierces the homunculus' skin, he'd be able to draw blood from it despite the increased healing rate, meaning he should be able to continuously improve his offense without sacrificing his own blood. He can create blades that repeatedly cut rather than pierce, lodge and get lost.

Check out my manga on webtoon or tapas. Chapter 5 is already finished and uploaded there. That might answer that point.