《Draconic Vampire: Curse of the Blood》


 Chapter 1: Purple Butterfly

    The road was endless as the car sped on the sparse highway. The surrounding scenery was enveloping the entire horizon, as the sunset was reminiscent of the spessartite. The family of four was enjoying the view in the national park through their semi-open windows.


    " Wow.. this is so awesome." A thirteen year old boy yelled out.


    " Yeah, wait till we get to the waterfall." Another sixteen year old who was sitting in the back seat commented.


    " Yeah.. yeah can''t wait for that.." The thirteen year old replied excitedly.


    The Bryer family was in the middle of their vacation in the Crimsonrock national park. The whole national park was around ten thousand square kilometers and there were many ecosystems that it encompassed.


    They drove for another two hours till they reached a cliffside. There was a small paved road that ran parallel to the cliff. They parked the car on the left of the road and placed their blanket on the open spot near the woods.


    " I wanna see the waterfall... Can we go? Can we go?" Austin, the thirteen year old boy, was really eager to see the waterfall.


    " Yeah honey, we will go there after we fix all our things, okay ?"


    " Okay.." The boy nodded quickly.


    " I am going for a walk," Drew, the sixteen year old boy, said to his mom.


    " Don''t go too far, there are plenty of swamps out there."


    " Yeah... yeah I won''t go that far."


    He walked towards the nearby forest. He looked around for some time when he saw a light flickering in the nearby bushes. He approached the bush and looked inside and saw a weird butterfly that gave off purple light.


    When he took a closer look, the butterfly flew away in a certain direction. He quickly took out his phone to take a photo but the butterfly was not staying still and moving around.


    He followed the butterfly for a minute and he didn''t notice where he was going. When the butterfly got to a tree trunk, he pulled out his phone and took a quick snap.


    When he looked at the image, he couldn''t see the butterfly. He looked back at the tree trunk and the butterfly was not there.


    " Where did it go ?" He looked around, but couldn''t see it anywhere.


    *Sigh*


    As he was turning around to leave, he started to feel drowsy, when he put his hand on his head something was stuck on his hands, he looked at his hands and there was purple liquid smeared all over his palms.


    He tried to wipe it on his pants but it didn''t go away. Meanwhile, his dizziness increased and his eyes turned blurry.


    He tried to keep his balance by leaning on the nearby tree but before he could reach the tree he lost consciousness.


    ..


    ..


    ..


    " HAAAH * *PANT* *PANT*


    He woke up and gasped for air. He remembered he was chasing the weird butterfly in the forest when he suddenly lost consciousness.


    " Keith, did you wake up?" He heard an unfamiliar voice.


    When he turned around to look, he saw an old man sitting in a chair. He was wearing a black tuxedo and holding a cane in his hands.


    " I guess the ritual worked." The old man mumbled.


    " Who are you? And where am I ?" As he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings, he didn''t know what to do. He directly asked the old man.


    " You lost your memories? Can''t you recognize me?"


    " I haven''t .." As he was speaking.. A sudden migraine stopped his train of thought.


    He was flooded with unknown memories of someone else he didn''t recognize. After all the memories were absorbed, he opened his eyes.


    "Grandpa Lex ?" He asked the old man.


    " Seems like you still have your memories." He got up from his chair and came to his side.


    " You get some rest now. I will send someone to bring you blood when you need it." He turned around and left the room.


    " And, don''t dwell on what happened in the past. It will do you no good."


    " ¡­ " He didn''t get a chance to say anything because the door slammed shut.


    He got up from the bed and skimmed through all the memories he just received. From what he could remember, he was in a vampire colony in the Reinez continent, which is ruled by the vampire race.


    He was a descendant of a vampire count and was supposed to inherit the title, but his weak body and lack of talent made him the laughing stock of the family.


    His uncle strongly rejected his claim and instead suggested passing on the title to his son Marvin, who was already at the seventh stage of the blood condensing phase. He was almost as strong as a baron at his age.


    He was talented and also had a great physique. Almost everyone agreed to hand him the title of the count, but the final decision rested on the elder of the family, his grandfather Lex.


    He was really fond of Keith but he also had to stay as impartial as possible for the inheritance. He didn''t want the family to break apart due to internal strife.


    Keith remembered that when he was walking in the castle corridor, Marvin made fun of him, but he ignored him until he talked about his father and how he left him because he was weak.


    This angered Keith and he turned around to hit him, but Marvin used his blood qi to pierce his stomach and left him there.


    " You shouldn''t exist in this world, loser." This was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.


    After he remembered that, he put his hand on his stomach, which was back to normal.


    " Grandpa must have done something to heal me."


    '' But why am I feeling so close to him? I barely know him. Is it because of these memories ?''


    He wanted to get back to his own world, to his family, but he didn''t know how. He sat down on his bed and thought about how he could get back to this world.


    " But first, I need to survive in this world."


    He got up and walked to the mirror; there he saw his face, standing at 5''10'''' he was a little scrawny but his face was quite pale and charming.


    The red eyes gave off a cold aura around him. He noticed something on his forehead, he lifted his dark brown hair on his forehead and saw a purple mark engraved on it.


    " Is that the butterfly blood ?"


    He came to this world due to the incident related to the weird purple butterfly, and now there was a mark on his forehead that was matching the blood of the butterfly. He didn''t know what was the reason he was brought here. But he wanted to get to the bottom of this.

 Chapter 2: Blood Qi

    Keith was looking at himself in the mirror when he heard a knock on the door.


    " Come in."


    A maid in her late teens brought a glass of blood for him.


    " Young master, here is your blood."


    "Put it on the table." Keith didn''t take the glass of blood from her.


    The maid placed the glass of blood on the nearby table and bowed.


    " Is there anything else you need ?" The maid asked Keith.


    " No, you can leave." He didn''t want anything, for now, he wanted to clear his mind and make sense of all this.


    The maid left his room and closed the doors. Seeing that she was gone, he sat down on his bed and closed his eyes. From the memories of the previous Keith, he learned about the various power levels in the vampire society.


    Every vampire was born with blood condensing phase one. When they evolve their blood condensing to the tenth phase they acquire the blood core.


    The blood cores are the essence of all the power the vampire possesses. The baron class blood core is the entry to the vampire power hierarchy. The next levels are Viscount, Count, Marquis, Duke, Archduke, and lastly the King,


    Each increment in the blood core equates to exponential power growth. So a Viscount is many times stronger than a baron and so on.


    The vampire king is someone who could destroy entire armies single-handedly. They are the pinnacle of power in the vampire society.


    The strength of vampires and their blood core don''t always match. Some inherit their titles without the required blood core if they have the means to retain it.


    Usually, there is a fight for the title if there is no uniform decision, such as the position of king, that is purely based on individual power and not by giving it to the next generation. So every vampire has a chance to become a vampire king, but very few have the chance to be so.


    The Thing is, the evolving process greatly depends on your blood concentration, that is how many original vampire genes you possess.


    The original vampires, who were the ancestors and true-bloods that created the vampire race were like gods to the ordinary vampires. According to history, the vampire ancestors occupied the continent 100 thousand years ago.


    The climate here was suitable for the vampires, as the sun didn''t show up all year round and the cold stayed throughout the year. The vampire settlement enslaved the humans in the continent and used them like cattle.


    But in recent years after the 15th king took power, he treated humans fairly. Even though there was a backlash from some families about this, in the end, they didn''t go against the decision of the king.


    Keith focused all his attention on his body, his blood concentration was very low, and also the weak body didn''t help him increase his blood condensing. He was born with a genetic disability that always gave him backlash every time the blood condensed in his body.


    This prevented the formation of the blood channeling path. He focused his mind on the blood condensing. When the blood qi flowed towards the center, he felt a sharp pain in his vessels.


    " This is worse than I thought."


    Keith was really trying to increase his blood condensing to the next phase. But every time he tried, he received backlash and the flow would disrupt.


    "I need to find a way to make my blood qi flow, or else Marvin will kill me after he gets the inheritance if not before."


    He remembered everything about his condition and tried to find a way to get through the obstacle. From what he could understand, the rate at which blood qi flows depends on the blood concentration.


    And the primary reason the blood qi doesn''t flow is that you don''t have the genes of a vampire.


    Nobody in this era figured that he might have mixed genes, they thought that his talent was low and he didn''t have the blood concentration to evolve further.


    But he could see that his flow of blood qi was normal, only it was not able to circulate inside his body.


    Digging deeper into his memories, he found out that mixed-bloods can circulate their blood qi, but they have the vampire side that dominates over the lower genes.


    " Does that mean the genes I have are as powerful as the vampires or even more than that?"


    He pondered about it deeply. If that was the case, then he needed to find a way to suppress the other gene so that the vampire gene could flourish.


    This time he focused his blood qi, not to make it flow but to scan the whole body to see the other dominant gene. He scanned his whole body but didn''t find anything. When he went upwards, the mark on his forehead started to glow.


    He scanned the mark with his blood qi, then a strange thing happened. Purple tendrils started stretching out and enveloped the blood qi. The tendrils moved downward and slithered into his palms. It created a weird mark on his right palm.


    When he scanned his right palm with his blood qi, he sensed nothing. But there was a new feeling in his body that he couldn''t feel before. He felt that the blood qi was not as restricted as before. He tried to channel the blood qi and it moved with no hassle.


    " What in the world? Is this because of those purple tendrils? What exactly are those ?"


    He was very intrigued about the purple mark and purple tendrils. The reason he transmigrated to this world was because of the purple butterfly, so what was the relationship between the purple butterfly and this world?


    " Forget it. I will think about that later. Now, I have to increase my blood-qi."


    He sat on his bed for six hours and focused all his energy on circulating blood-qi and condensing it in his heart. The blood-qi flow turned faster and he felt that his body was improving. His complexion turned better and his body started to look healthy.


    " If I keep this up, I can increase my blood condensation to phase two in one week.


    He was already twenty years old. To humans, it might be adulthood, but for vampires, 20 years was just like infancy. The powerful vampires like the king lived for thousands of years, so 20 years was like a fleeting moment.


    *KNOCK* *KNOCK*


    "Young master, I brought you dinner."


    " Uh¡­"


    He didn''t know what to do. Before today he was a human, and now he had to drink human blood. From the memories of past-Keith, he knew that it was essential for vampires to drink blood. They could drink the blood of other organisms, but that caused severe side effects and only human blood was ideal for them.


    Some vampires tried to experiment and create hybrid blood to increase the quality, but so far only pure human blood gave vampires the best results, so drinking human blood was the standard now.

 Chapter 3: Secrets

    He quickly got up and hid the glass under his bed. He didn''t want to make her suspicious about his behavior.


    " Yeah come in." After he put his glass under his bed, he told her to come inside.


    The maid entered his room and placed the cup on the table.


    " Young master, where is the cup I brought earlier? If you have finished it, I will take it away."


    " No need, you can go now." Keith didn''t want to bother making excuses, so he just dismissed her.


    Looking at the glass of blood, Keith''s heart was quite complicated. He was resisting the thirst, but the bodily instinct was compelling him to drink the blood. At last, he couldn''t stop the temptation and gulped down the blood at once.


    The blood felt quite refreshing and cooled down his head.


    "What the hell? I am feeling good after drinking human blood." He had an urge to vomit.


    " I can''t believe I have to consume this every day."


    He put the empty glass on the table and went back to condensing his blood qi.


    The blood-qi circulated in his body and moved slowly towards the center.


    Several hours later he improved his blood condensing level by a huge margin.


    He didn''t need to sleep like a vampire so he spent the whole night condensing blood qi.


    When the next day arrived, he looked at the window. The sun was always below the horizon, so the whole day stayed like morning.


    '' So the continent might be at a higher latitude on the planet.'' He thought.


    He put the curtains on the window and left his room. After walking in the corridor for some time he entered the inner garden.


    This garden was inside the castle and occupied a huge area. There were statues of previous leaders and famous figures in the garden.


    He sat on an empty bench and looked at the beautiful flowers in the garden.


    '' I miss home.''


    *sigh*


    '' I can''t go home if I can''t find out how I got here in the first place. For that, I need to become stronger.''


    He got up and walked to his room, but he found that a man was standing in the corridor.


    " How are you, Keith ?"


    "Oh.. uncle Brad, I am feeling good now, thank you" Keith answered. He was the second uncle of Keith as well as one of the strongest vampires in the Ennes family.


    " When I heard that Marvin almost killed you it really angered me, but seeing you are fine I feel at ease."


    '' Well, he did kill Keith," He was now in his body because of that.


    " Yeah, he said profanities towards my father, so I couldn''t control myself and attacked him. And you know what happened after that."


    " Ignorant kids don''t know how to respect their elders; my brother was the strongest vampire in the family when he was here. I never expected him to leave."


    He sighed and looked at Keith with sympathetic eyes.


    " I am very sorry that due to your physique, you can''t perform blood condensing."


    " It''s okay, uncle. I will figure out a way to get stronger."


    " Good, I like your optimism." He ruffled Keith''s hair.


    He left the garden area and came back to his room. There he saw the maid, waiting outside his door.


    " Young master, Master elder summoned you."


    " Grandpa Lex is looking for me? Okay, I will go there, you can leave."


    He walked towards the central part of the castle, where his grandfather lived. His room was so big and there were decorations all over the place.


    He knocked on the door.


    " Grandpa, I''m here."


    " Come in." A voice came from inside.


    He opened the door and entered. The room resembled a gothic style decoration, with paintings of different types hanging on the walls.


    " How are you feeling ?" Lex asked.


    " I am feeling good."


    " Hmm¡­ The situation is getting really stressful. The support for Marvin is very one-sided. I want you to leave the castle and go to another city. There is a family castle in the southern Bergzen territory. I want you to go there. If you don''t, you will be targeted by Mavin and his supporters. "


    " I don''t want to leave, and I will inherit the position of the count." Keith firmly said.


    " I know you want to, but you are not strong enough, nobody in the family will approve of this. Even if I give you the title, Marvin will challenge you to a duel, and most of the family will support him. Then you can''t retain your position."


    " I can practice blood condensing now grandpa, I can evolve now." Despite wanting to keep it a secret, he trusted his grandfather, so he told him that he can use blood condensing."


    " Is that true ?" The old man''s appearance suddenly changed and he turned young. His white hair turned black and all the wrinkles disappeared, he looked like a handsome young man in his late twenties.


    From the memories of previous Keith, he knew that his grandpa had the best shapeshifting ability in the family. And he always took the old man persona. He was the previous count and now the elder of the family.


    " Yes, grandpa. I don''t know how but after I woke up, I felt better and found that I can condense blood qi."


    " Then the blood ritual must have cured you, this is great news. If you could catch up to Marvin, then nobody will object if you become the count.


    " Come, follow me." Grandpa started walking in a direction. Keith didn''t understand his intention but followed him regardless.


    After walking in the corridor for ten minutes they reached a dead end. There was a wall with murals of ancient vampires of the family. Lex put his finger on a certain place and applied his blood qi. The wall suddenly divided in two and it opened a corridor.


    The corridor looked like it hadn''t been used for centuries, and was filled with dust and spiderwebs.


    " This chamber hasn''t been used since your father entered here."


    " So, what''s in there ?"


    " You see, we need pure blood to create blood qi, and the more you circulate blood qi, you condense more in your center. So when you break through the blood condensation phase, you create a blood core just below your heart.


    There is a blood pool here that helps you increase the rate of circulation by tenfold. You can easily become a baron after a year if you condense blood qi here."


    " Why didn''t you allow Mavin here ?"


    " This chamber is only for the direct descendants. If he becomes the count, he can enter here and so will his descendants in the future. But right now, you have that right."


    '' That''s unfair, but that''s what it is. Anyways I need all the leverage I could get.''


    Lex walked down the dimly lit corridor and entered a cave-like room. There was a pool full of blood.


    " Enter the blood pool and see how it affects your blood condensing."

 Chapter 4: Duel ( Part 1)

    Keith took off his shirt. His white skin was now fully exposed to the light. He was nervous but he didn''t think too much about it. He slowly entered the blood pool.


    After he was totally submerged in blood, he felt that his blood condensing was progressing very fast. The circulation of blood qi increased to such a level that he felt he could break through to the next stage right away.


    " How is it ?" His grandfather asked.


    " I can feel my blood condensing increasing faster and fast.."


    *DING*


    [ Absorbing life essence¡­.]


    [ Progress.. 1% ]


    [ Progress.. 2%]


    ..


    '' WHAAAT! , What is going on?''


    Keith was surprised by the sudden turn of events. A voice resounded in his head. There was a purple light in front of him, but it was faint.


    " What happened? Is everything alright?" Lex asked Keith after seeing him flustered.


    " Ah, I''m alright, It''s just a little surprising so.. Hehe"


    He closed his eyes and let the process finish.


    ..


    ..


    [ Progress complete ]


    [ Body detected : Vampire ??? Hybrid ]


    [ Path detected : Blood condensing ]


    [ Level detected : 0.2 ]


    '' Is this a system like RPG games ?''


    There was no answer.


    '' system''


    '' Status''


    '' Show me.. the level''


    ..


    ..


    Nothing happened as he called out many names.


    '' Man, what is this?''


    Suddenly his right palm started to shine with purple light. Inside the blood pool, his hand started sucking in all the blood-qi.


    [ Collecting blood qi ¡­]


    He felt his whole body was on fire. The blood qi that was in the pool was getting absorbed by his body by the purple tentacle-like marks in his hand.


    * ARGHHH*


    He yelled on top of his lungs. Lex, who saw this scene, hurriedly took him out of the blood pool.


    *HUFF* *HUFF*


    Keith was gasping for air. He looked at his hands and saw that the marks were not glowing.


    " What happened? Did you get another backlash?"


    " No, I think I evolved."


    He focused his mind on the mark on his forehead and then purple light appeared in front of his eyes. He looked at Lex, who seemed to not see the purple light.


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Baron ]


    [ Level 1.01 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    '' That''s too little information for a system. But if it was there before, why didn''t it activate?


    Does it need more life essence to unlock more features?''


    For now, he was overjoyed that he broke through and created a blood core. He was now in the baron class. It didn''t mean his actual fighting abilities increased, but he received great strength in his body.


    " Grandpa, I think I broke through the blood condensing phase and generated a blood core. I am a baron now."


    " Impossible. How?"


    Lex circulated his blood qi inside Keith and found that he indeed has a blood core. A vampire who was just a second level of blood condensing phase suddenly became a baron class.


    He couldn''t believe what he was seeing.


    " This.. is .." he looked at Keith with bewildered eyes.


    " Now, do you think Marvin can go up against me?"


    ********


    A meeting was called for all the family and all the important people gathered in a hall.


    Lex was sitting on a chair at the far end of a long table. Others quickly sat on their seats.


    " I called all of us here to declare the inheritance of the Ennes family."


    " Finally" A voice could be heard from the other side of the table.


    " I haven''t finished talking yet, Rufus."


    " Sorry, I was just a little excited."


    " Ennes family has a long history of leading the Bergzen territory for countless millennia. We need a leader that can show the same power and legacy as our ancestors. So after careful consideration, I want to appoint Keith as the next head of the family and bestow the title of count."


    " WHAT.. ? Are you out of your mind." Rufus, Marvin''s father, got up from his seat and yelled at Lex.


    " Keep your voice down Rufus!"


    " Why? Don''t you know that boy can''t even use blood condensing and will stay crippled for the rest of his life? You want to make him our leader instead of Marvin, who is a young genius and better than anyone of his age. He is already at the seventh phase of blood condensing, give him a couple of years, he can reach baron level easily."


    Rufus gave his opinion loudly to let everyone hear.


    " What is said is true about Marvin, but Keith is already a Baron. His disability has disappeared thanks to Marvin, and honestly, I have never seen such a talent in our family history." He praised Keith and pointed out Marvin''s misdoings with this statement.


    " That is not possible, I refuse to believe that runt can become a baron."


    " So, do you want proof ?"


    " Yes, let''s settle this right now."


    " Let''s do a duel then, if you don''t believe Keith has reached baron level, then Marvin can defeat him right."


    " Then, so be it." Rufus agreed to his words.


    Lex wanted to show them by letting them sense his blood core, but he wanted to put them in their place, so he suggested Rufus do this duel instead. Here he can show off Keith''s new power and get everyone to support him that way.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Half an hour later in the training chamber, there was a large stage arena. Every member of the family was sitting in the spectator''s area. All the seats were filled, as they heard the duel was going to determine who will become the family head.


    Keith was standing beside Lex as he saw Marvin enter the Arena. He was looking at him with bloodshot eyes.


    " Go teach him some manners," Lex said to Keith.


    He stepped inside the Arena and looked at Marvin.


    " You think, just because you have the support of that old man, you can be the leader. I will show you how worthless you are."


    " Yeah, me too." Keith gave him a soft smile.


    An elder who was overseeing the fight asked both of them if they were ready. They both nodded. Marvin took his fighting stance, but Keith stayed still.


    " Now, begin the fight." The elder said out loud.

 Chapter 5: Duel (2)

    Marvin was glaring at Keith from the moment he set foot in the arena. He couldn''t believe that the old man gave him the inheritance. From what he heard from his father, the old man claimed that Keith became a baron. So his father challenged his claim by setting up this duel.


    " What a joke. A cripple like you wants to get the position of the leader by the old man''s favour."


    Keith didn''t speak as Marvin spoke profanities at him. He smiled casually and didn''t move from his spot.


    "You have the gall to smirk at me. Did you forget that happened? How I crushed you. How I turned you into a pulp?"


    Marvin almost slipped his tongue but he changed his words at the last second. He did try to kill him back then, and he succeeded. But he didn''t know that the Keith in front of him was not the same as before.


    Marvin saw that Keith wasn''t responding to his provocations. He was so angry that his face turned red. He never thought that this cripple would be so brave.


    He decided to teach him a good lesson. After the overseer announced the start of the match, Marvin strode across the arena and ran straight toward Keith. It only took a couple of seconds for Marvin to reach Keith, who was standing still.


    Marvin swung his arm towards Keith''s face. As the accelerating hand approached Keith''s face, Marvin gave him a smirk. The fist was almost in front of his face, but suddenly something stopped the fist from moving forward.


    "What ?"


    Marvin looked at his arm that was grabbed by Keith''s left hand. He tried to shake it off, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn''t take his arm out of his grasp.


    " How can you have such strength?" Marvin asked in disbelief.


    " This is for yesterday" Keith didn''t want to waste his time with him, So he clenched his fist and punched Marvin in the abdomen.


    He didn''t use his full strength, but it wasn''t a light punch either. He used half of his strength in that punch. As the punch connected, Marvin was sent flying out of the arena and crashed into a nearby pillar.


    " WHAT?"


    " Noooooo"


    ..


    ..


    Shouts erupted as the spectators all watched the unbelievable scene in front of them. They couldn''t believe that a boy that was cripple a day ago and seriously injured, was able to defeat a seventh blood condensing stage vampire in a single punch. Everyone was looking at the arena with their eyes wide open.


    "You.. you tried to kill him in a friendly spar." Rufus immediately went to check on Marvin, who was lying unconscious with blood flowing out from his mouth.


    "Oops sorry. Forgot to control my strength. I just condensed a blood core, so my strength is not stable."


    Keith smirked as he said that to Rufus. This made Rufus really mad, as he attacked him immediately. Before he could reach Keith, Lex appeared in the middle and caught his hand.


    " Don''t go overboard, Rufus. He didn''t use his full strength. Or else you would''ve lost your son today." Lex pointed his hands towards Marvin.


    "Hmph" Rufus turned back and walked towards Marvin.


    " I don''t know what forbidden ritual you used, but you can''t keep that forever, I promise you."


    He picked up Marvin and left the arena. All the spectators watched as Rufus carried the unconscious body of Marvin and took his leave. The fight ended just like that.


    All the expectations were shattered. People who betted against Keith were angry beyond belief. They lost a good chunk of their savings because of this.


    "Damn.. that Marvin got his ass handed to him just like that. What a weakling."


    People started to berate Marvin for the loss, and how they lost their money because of it. There were some vampires that were on the side of Marvin, who accused Keith of using unfair methods.


    But nobody denied the fact that Keith indeed got a blood core. Every old member of the family checked with their own eyes. They couldn''t believe how Keith condensed a blood core so fast.


    Now that Lex has declared that Keith will inherit the Count title, nobody could do anything about it.


    Keith bowed to Lex and expressed his gratitude. If it wasn''t for him doing the ritual, he might not have gotten this body.


    If not for him, he wouldn''t have access to the blood pool, which accelerated his growth and helped him condense his blood core as he ascended to the rank of Baron.


    " Thank you, Grandpa.."


    He said with a look of gratitude shown on his face.


    " It''s alright, boy. I always felt that you had the potential, just like your father. I hope you take our family to more heights." Lex patted Keith''s shoulders.


    " I promise.." Keith didn''t know why he felt so much affection towards his grandpa, even though he met him yesterday for the first time.


    This was also true with his calmness after he arrived in this world. After the memories of Keith mixed with his own, the feelings, the closeness, everything assimilated. The previous Keith became a part of him. His memories, his ambitions were all transferred to him.


    Even though Keith''s memories affected him, it didn''t mean he disliked his ambitions. Even when he was on earth, he read novels about transmigration and he always wanted to travel to different worlds like that.


    But as he got older, he threw that wish to the back of his head. After he came to this world, his wish got fulfilled, and he wanted to explore the world and what better way to start this than being a vampire noble. Still, he missed his family.


    He did not consider leaving his family when he was on earth. But now it hit him hard when he remembered them. Only Lex, his grandpa was the closest person to him in this world. He felt deep respect and gratitude towards him, as well as a familial bond courtesy to the late Keith''s feelings.


    Hearing Keith''s resolute response, Lex nodded his head. He felt so proud at this moment that words could hardly describe.


    "Now go, rest for the day. I will explain to you about the inheritance tomorrow."


    Keith nodded his head and left the arena.


    While he was passing by the pillar, where Marvin crashed before, he felt his purple tendrils were trying to move him towards that place.


    '' What does it want?''


    He walked to the pillar and touched the place where Marvin hit his head. The blood was already dry. When he touched the spot, his purple tendrils moved to his fingertips and struck out like small tentacles. Keith looked around to see if anyone noticed, but they passed by him without noticing anything.


    '' Am I the only one who can see this?'' He wondered.


    While he was looking around, the purple tendrils sucked the blood out of the pillar and absorbed them.


    [ Bloom essence absorbed : 1 ]


    Suddenly, Keith saw a hologram in front of him.

 Chapter 6: Blood Essence

    As Keith watched the blood sucked up by the purple tendrils, he retracted his hands. The tendrils went back to the palm as if nothing happened.


    ''What was that all about ?''


    He looked around again to see if anyone noticed his behavior. Grandpa Lex was talking to other elders of the family and the spectators were all gone. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found that no one was looking at him suspiciously. He walked out of the arena and left for his room.


    As he was going to his room, many vampires were looking at him. As the upcoming leader of the family, everyone started to pay attention to him unlike before.


    He was amused by the behavior of the family members, as it took a little time to change their minds. He ignored all the stares and reached his room. After he entered his room and closed the door, he sat on his bed cross-legged.


    He focused his mind on the purple mark on the forehead. A hologram-like window popped in front of him.


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Baron ]


    [ Gene: Vampire ??? Hybrid ]


    [ Level 1.011 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    Keith looked at the status window and noticed that his level increased by one-thousandth of the level. After he consumed the blood of Marvin, the system notification told him that he absorbed one blood essence.


    '' What was that for ?''


    He remembered how the system absorbed all blood essence in the blood pool and evolved him further. And now, the blood of Marvin increased it ever so slightly.


    '' Does my level go up by absorbing blood essence?''


    He guessed correctly, but he didn''t know what blood essence was except it was a type of energy that flowed within the blood of living beings. The energy was found in all living beings but varied in amount and concentration.


    Unlike blood qi, blood essence didn''t circulate within the body, it was just a source of power like life essence. From what he could think of, blood essence might be a type of energy source within living beings.


    He concentrated his mind on the blood core, that was just condensed a day before. It was a mahogany color core, as he was just a baron. The core will turn into lighter shades of red as he evolved to the next stages. He circulated his blood qi inside his body. A warm feeling covered his whole body, the blood qi flowed in a rhythm and nourished every part of the body.


    ''So this is why vampires can live without eating? And the blood qi reinforces their organs and muscles. So they have superior physique than humans.''


    The fact that every vampire was born with blood qi flowing within them, made the vampires strong from the start. They consumed blood from other creatures, but at this day and age every vampire consumed human blood, as they provided with the best-concentrated blood essence which was of the best quality. So it was like a tradition to drink human blood, so nobody drank the blood of other creatures.


    Keith circulated the blood qi for hours, as his body relaxed and his heartbeat which was already very low, lowered to the extreme. He could sense every part of his body and everything around it. The whole room was visible to him, even when his eyes were closed.


    Vampires have a very low heartbeat the barely registers, and when a vampire with a blood core circulates blood qi, the heartbeat drops to almost zero. This allows them to extend their life force by multiple times. On top of the natural long life spans of vampires, the blood qi allows them to increase their life spans even more.


    ''What an amazing technique.'' Keith rejoiced.


    Now that he had an idea about how the blood qi worked within a vampire body, he wanted to test out his abilities. He also wanted to know more about blood essence and how it affected him.


    As he was thinking this, he heard a knock on the door.


    "May I come in young master?" Keith heard the voice of the young maid.


    " Yes," Keith replied in a stoic voice.


    The maid opened the door and walked in. There was a tray in her hands, which was holding one glass of fresh blood.


    " This is your meal for the night, young master" The maid placed the glass on the table beside the bed and bowed.


    As she was turning around to leave, Keith grabbed her hand from behind.


    "Young Master?" The maid panicked by the sudden behavior of Keith, who was staring at her wrist.


    Rena was a maid for the Ennes family for six years. During this time, she was the personal maid of Keith. As they were of the same age, Keith was quite open towards Rena. But after he took control of Keith''s body, They didn''t talk much. Rena didn''t show it on her face, but she was really sad inside. She knew Keith might''ve gone through a huge trauma, so she gave him time to recuperate.


    " Rena, I need your help with something." Keith looked into Rena''s eyes. The blood-red eyes reflected the figure of Rena in front of him.


    " What do you need young master? If I can help you with something, I am willing to do anything." Rena said with determinism.


    " I need your blood" Keith said to her.


    Rena looked at the glass of blood and then turned her head to look at Keith. There was a slight flush on her face. She didn''t know why Keith wanted her blood, but if this was his wish, she couldn''t refuse. As a human maid, raised in the Ennes family, she was among the upper level of humans that the Ennes family owned. There were the humans that were used for blood. They were the lowest level of humans whose life was that of a slave.


    Even after the new laws in favor of humans, they were still treated unfairly. The violence has dropped and there was no unnecessary bloodshed, but there were always exceptions to the rules. Humans stayed in bounded colonies and provided blood on a daily basis for the family''s survival. They were given food and other bare necessities to live their life but were not allowed to go outside their territory.


    " Don''t worry, It won''t be much," Keith said, as he cut her wrist slightly.


    Blood dripped down slowly and he touched it with his right hand. The purple tendrils crawled up and absorbed the drops falling from Rena''s palm.


    Rena didn''t know what was happening, but her blood disappeared inside Keith''s palm after it fell there. The pain was minimal as Keith cut her wrist with precision and it was not a big cut.


    After some drops of blood fell on his palm, there was no effect. He didn''t want to absorb too much blood as it would make Rena''s body weaker. He stopped after ten drops, as nothing was happening.


    ''Why is it not working?'' Keith thought to himself.


    He sighed and grabbed Rena''s wrist. He applied his blood qi on her small cut, and after a moment that cut disappeared from her wrist. This was a basic application of blood qi, which was taught to every vampire. This allowed the vampires to speed up the healing process by applying it to a wound. It also depended on how grave the wound was. In this case, Rena''s cut was pretty small with no visible stretch, so it healed almost in an instant without needing to apply much blood qi.


    "Thank you, Reina, it was really helpful." Keith let go of her hand.


    " I... It''s nothing, I am your maid and the servant of this family. I am supposed to do anything you ask of me."


    Keith felt guilty that he tried to test his hypothesis on her, as she was a good person. But he was so curious and desperate that he did it anyways, which in return didn''t bring any results. But at least he found out that not every blood provided him with blood essence.


    Keith opened his drawer and took out a gold-blood coin. In the vampire continent, Blood coins made by the royal treasury, also imprinted by them, were the primary currency circulated. It was strictly controlled and due to the royal imprints, these blood coins couldn''t be duplicated. There were three types of blood coins. Copper-blood coins which was the lowest unit of currency. Then there were silver-blood coins which were equivalent to 100 copper-blood coins. The highest unit, the gold-blood coins were equivalent to 100 silver-blood coins. Normal humans needed great effort to receive gold-blood coins. One gold-blood coin could cover their needs for months.


    Keith handed her the gold-blood coins, to which she became nervous.


    "Take it, you always served me with great care and always listened to me. So this is nothing much." Keith said to her as he placed the gold coin in her hands.


    " Forgive me young master, but.. but I don''t need it. I don''t have a family to take care of, and there is barely anything I need. The family provides all the things needed for me, so I don''t really need this much." She said with a flushed face as she returned the coin to Keith.


    Keith was taken aback by her response.

 Chapter 7: Vampire Settlement

    Keith looked at Rena with a surprised expression. He never thought that Rena was this selfless, even living under the harsh conditions, restricted and bound by the vampires. The resolve to keep herself from turning cold and selfish, in this cruel world was not something any ordinary individual could do.


    "What else do you need then? Tell me, if it is within my power, I will try to give it to you."


    Keith didn''t want to let her go empty-handed, so he asked her if she needed anything else.


    To his surprise, Rena didn''t say anything.


    ".. It''s just a few drops of blood, nothing much. You don''t need to compensate me. This is part of my servitude." Rena replied in a low voice.


    " That may be true for everyone else, but you''ve always taken care of me, so I want you to at least get good compensation for it. If you don''t eat well, how are you going to give me blood when I need some?" Keith smiled at her.


    He didn''t want her to go empty-handed. As his most loyal person in the castle, he needed to at least make her life better. He felt that he could trust her, and he didn''t want her to feel that he was using her as a source of food. Even though he said that he needed her blood, he actually wanted her to believe this and at least eat better. The price of meat was very high for humans, as vampires didn''t hunt them.


    Vampires only needed blood and they collected that from the humans. The humans only farmed their own land that was given to them. The scarcity of food also limited how much cattle they can domesticate. So the price of meat was really high. Normally, people ate bread and cooked vegetables for their meals. And that too, wasn''t enough most of the time, as they had to give their blood regularly to the vampires for consumption.


    Rena rarely had the chance to eat meat. The daily meal was the same every single day for all the maids, and only in a couple of months, they were given some cooked meat. As she never went out of the castle premises, she never knew what other delicacies were out there.


    When she heard that Keith need his blood in the future, it made sense that, she needed to get healthier. If she kept the same diet as now, she couldn''t provide him with more blood. And she knew, he didn''t want to take too much of her blood as it would make her weaker. He restrained himself when he saw that he took too much blood. She wanted to be able to provide as much assistance to him.


    " I will eat better from now, young master. Thank you for giving me a chance to assist you."


    She replied with a kind smile.


    " Yeah.." Keith gave her the coin, and this time she didn''t deny it.


    " You can go now.." Keith wanted to start channeling his blood qi so he wanted some isolation.


    Rena nodded her head and stood up and walked out of the room.


    After she left, Keith closed his eyes and sat cross-legged. He channeled his blood qi and circulated it throughout his body. He felt that his blood core was responding. He continued the circulation for hours and he could feel the blood core was absorbing the blood qi ever so slightly and accumulating in the core. He did this for the whole night; as the morning came his body felt light and refreshing. He opened his eyes and got up from his bed. Today, Lex was going to explain to him all the details about the inheritance process, but that was going to happen in the afternoon.


    He thought about going out of the castle to see the surrounding area. As the previous Keith was feeble and sick all the time due to his disability, he rarely went out of the castle. Keith opened his widow and looked outside. From the view up there, he could see that the castle was on top of a small hill.


    The rest of the colony was spread across the plain that surrounded the castle. Keith looked at the horizon, which was dimly lit. It felt like pre-dawn, as you could see the bright stars in the sky. The settlement was active all day because the vampires do not sleep most of the time. The only time they sleep is if they want to go on hibernation due to lack of blood. But here it never happened.


    The light of the settlement was shining in the dimly lit sky that felt like fireflies swarming the surrounding landscape. Keith got out of his window and jumped down twenty meters. He landed on the back garden of the castle. He walked through the exotic trees that were planted there for decoration. Carnivore trees were trying to grab his hands and legs, but he shook them off with no effort at all.


    He moved across the garden and reached a twenty-meter-high wall. It was coated with pitch-black paint and many inscriptions were carved on it. With his strength, he didn''t need to climb the wall. He thrusted his legs on the ground and propelled himself to the sky. He landed on top of the wall which was half a meter wide. He looked down and on the other side of the wall, there was a cliff. He estimated that it was two hundred meters high.


    Even though he was a baron, he couldn''t take the fall lightly. Falling from such height could break his bones. And if he didn''t get blood to regenerate, then it will be even troublesome.


    He looked down the cliff, used his hand to grab onto the wall. He circulated his blood qi in his hand and carved a small hole in the wall.


    ''Hmm, if I can hold onto something before reaching the bottom, it will be fine.''


    He let go of his hand and started falling down the cliff. Before he reached the bottom, he used his hand to grab onto something. The tree branches were not enough to stop the momentum, so he plunged his hand into the rock. He created a carving and as his hand gripped the stone, he stopped few meters above the ground.


    He jumped down and landed not the ground. There were many trees with blood-red leaves and black tree bark. The red leaves reflected the lights in a way that created hallucinations, but he didn''t feel the effects due to the blood qi that circulated in his eyes.


    If a normal human was here, he might lose the sense of direction and end up in a different place. He walked through the thees and after a while he saw a stone road at the end. He walked on the road to go down the slope. After he reached the end of the stone road, which was curved, there were many shops on both sides of the road.


    He looked around and saw that every shop had vampires. The shop owners and the customers were all vampires and it was quite lively. He looked at all the shops, as he walked down the stone pavement.


    There were many types of stores, such as clothing stores, jewellery stores, restaurants, and many others. He looked at the restaurants, that served many types of blood and on their menu, there were many types of dishes made from blood. Looking at them, he felt weird.


    As he was a human before, he has been to many places and tasted many cuisines, but here everything was made up of human blood, which was really uncanny.


    After looking around for a while, he came across a shop that really interested him. It was a shop that sold fresh human blood. He wanted to figure out how he absorbed the ''blood essence'' so this was a good place to test it out.


    Even though there was a part of him, that didn''t want to do this, his vampire instincts took over. After he became a baron, his mind has been quite calm and the vampire instinct suppressed his human side. He still felt that it was him within, but his body was different. He was not a human anymore.


    With that in mind, he walked into the store.

 Chapter 8: Blood Shop

    *Creak*


    As he opened the thick metal door, with the logo of the shop on it, he heard a blipping sound. A man wearing a black tuxedo approached him. He looked like he was in his thirties, but with vampires, age can be deceptive. So he didn''t take his appearance at face value.


    " How may I help you ?" The man said after giving a small bow.


    Keith looked around the shop, there were not many customers there. The interior was decorated in a gothic style, with tables prepared for guests. There was nothing off about the place upon first look.


    "There was a board saying that you sell fresh blood, is that true ?" Keith asked the man.


    Hearing Keith, the man''s face lit up.


    " Yes, sir. We provide the best delicacies among vampires in this place. You can get any type of blood you want. "


    "Can you bring me fifty glasses of blood, all from different sources ?"


    " Well, it can be done, but you have to wait for a while." The man said while stroking his chin.


    " It''s alright. I can wait. "


    " Then, please follow me, I will arrange a table for you."


    The man led Keith to an empty table in the hall and took out the chair to let him sit.


    " I will be back with the order. It will take about an hour." The man gave a small bow and left the hall.


    Keith looked around the hall and many tables were already pre-occupied. Many vampires were enjoying their glass of blood while chatting among themselves. While he was looking around, he spotted a young vampire sitting alone on a table. He looked to be in his late teens. Looking at the attire, he was wearing quite a luxurious outfit, with golden accents all over his suit. It was not too flashy, but the subtlety made it even more alluring. When he was looking at him, the young vampire noticed his gaze. He looked at him while sipping his glass, but looked away after a moment. Keith also retracted his gaze, as it would seem awkward.


    He waited for an hour while circulating his blood qi. He didn''t want to waste his time sitting still and doing nothing, so he practiced blood-qi channeling instead. After an hour, the man came back with five other vampires holding five trays, each containing ten glasses of blood. The waiters placed the glasses on his table one after another, and by the time the last one was placed, the table was full.


    " Enjoy your meal, sir," The man said while smiling at him.


    Keith found the smile quite uncanny, but he didn''t waste time thinking about that. He picked up a glass and dipped his index finger in the blood. As he expected the purple tendrils slithered down and extended from his fingertip. The blood level on the glass started to decrease. And eventually the purple tendrils absorbed all blood in that glass.


    ''Still, no response.''


    Keith picked up another glass, doing the same thing over and over again. After absorbing about half of the glasses, there was still no response. He continued the process until the 45th glass was finished. He heard a notification.


    [ Blood essence absorbed: 1 ]


    Keith sighed in relief. He calculated the blood amount, which was about 11 litres from his estimates. The glasses could hold 250 millilitres of blood each. This meant that he needed atlas two adult humans to absorb 1 blood essence. And he has to drain every last drop from their body at once. He can''t drink the blood to absorb the blood essence, as it would be digested by his body and turned into blood qi.


    He was not ready to kill humans just to get a slight increase in blood essence. He remembered that


    When he absorbed the blood of Marvin, he also got one blood essence, even though it was just a drop.


    He turned his head and noticed that the young vampire was looking at him in a peculiar way.


    He didn''t mind him and signaled the waiter. The waiter came to him and bowed.


    " Do you need anything else, sir?" The waiter asked.


    " Do you have the blood of another species, other than humans ?" Keith asked in a careful manner.


    The waiter took a second to register the question and replied aptly.


    " I will call the manager, please wait a moment." The waiter left the table in a hurry.


    After some time, the man in the black suit came to his table. Keith guessed that he was the manager of this shop.


    " Sir, I heard that you need special delicacies. I am more than happy to serve you the exotic blood, but first, you need to pay the remuneration for the first order." The manager gave a faint smile.


    '' Oh, so that''s why he didn''t stop me even when I ordered fifty glasses.''


    " How much for all these ?" Keith asked.


    " 5 gold-blood coins." The manager replied.


    Keith raised his eyebrows. He has seen many shops, that sold blood only for a couple of silver-blood coins. But there was no sign or menu showing the price of the blood.


    '' So, this was his plan all along. To make me consume more blood, and charge as much as he wanted.''


    Even though the blood was fresh, it would have cost more than two gold-blood coins. So charging double was their own upscaling. Still, Keith didn''t mind the extra, because he had enough to buy as many glasses as he wanted.


    He took out five gold-blood coins from his pocket and placed them on the left side of the table. Looking at the five coins, the manager had an amused expression. He picked up the five coins and bowed to him.


    " We are honored to receive you, sir. I would like to personally guide you to the VIP chambers."


    The manager bowed his head while speaking. He snapped his fingers and the waiter came and took all the empty glasses.


    " Come this way, sir." The manager then led Keith through the corridor. An extravagantly decorated corridor entered his vision, There were thirteen doors on each side of the large corridor.


    He walked as the manager led him to the door, numbered ''IX''. The manager opened the door and let him enter first. After Keith entered the VIP room, he saw the entire room was decorated with exotic paintings of women, sceneries, and different types of exotic places. The walls were painted in maroon color, but Keith had a guess that it was made from some kind of blood. The carpet was finely carved with many inscriptions. There were three wide couches around a huge table in the center. There was a shelf where many types of glasses were placed, with different designs.


    " Please, have a seat." The manager asked him politely while showing his hands towards the middle couch.


    Keith walked up to the center and sat on the couch, which was made from special leather. The softness was really comparable to the ones they had in the castle. The manager walked to the shelf and brought a leather pamphlet and handed it to Keith.


    Keith looked at the menu, and his eyebrows twitched. There were so many different types of blood and some were questionable, to say the least. He looked for vampire blood, which was the most expensive on the list. The cost of a single glass of vampire blood was hundred gold-blood coins. And there were no details about, which type of vampire they got it from.


    From what he could deduce, the higher the level of vampire blood, the more blood essence he got.


    But if the glass of blood is from a lower level vampire, like the third level of blood condensing stage. Then the price was not worth it. He would rather fight with Marvin again to get his blood than give 100 gold-blood coins for low-level blood.


    " I have a question. What level are the vampires that are providing the blood ?" Keith looked at the manager.


    " Sir, I have to agree that you have a rare taste in blood. But rest assured, this place is very discreet and nobody will know what transpires here. As for the vampire blood, it is extracted from vampires at the fifth level of the blood condensing stage, so you will find it to your liking." The manager replied with a confident smile.


    " Alright, bring me a glass." Keith put the pamphlet down and ordered the manager.


    " Right away sir." The manager left the room.


    After ten minutes, he returned with a beautiful waitress wearing a revealing outfit. The waitress was holding a tray with a single glass of blood. She walked to the table and placed the glass on the table while revealing her cleavage.


    Keith''s face turned red from the actions of the waitress. He was a man after all, and this type of blatant provocations was bound to make him tickle. Still, he was a resolute person, even before he came to this world. He was never swayed by his desires, as he was a smart kid from a young age. He befriended girls but didn''t fawn over them.


    He calmed his mind and cleared his throat. He didn''t look at the waitress anymore and focused his eyes on the glass.


    ''Time to find out how much blood essence this will give me.''


    He picked up the glass without averting his gaze. He felt that the waitress was still standing in front of the table.


    " Can I have some privacy ?" He said without looking at them.


    " ¡­ Yes, I will excuse myself." The waitress left the room after bowing her head again, but Keith didn''t notice that.


    " If you need anything, just tap the bell on the table." The manager said while pointing his hand to the corner of the table.


    " Sure.." Keith didn''t want to waste any more time.


    The manager gave Keith a last glance and left the room. After the door was closed, he picked the glass and dipped his finger in the blood. The purple tendrils quickly stretched out and started absorbing the blood.


    [ Blood essence absorbed: 1 ]


    [ Blood essence absorbed: 1]


    ¡­


    ¡­

 Chapter 9: Finding out More

    After the blood was emptied from the glass, the purple tendrils crawled back to their original position. Keith felt a cool feeling throughout his body. He looked at the notifications and calculated that he absorbed about 10 blood essence.


    From this, he had an idea about how much blood essence he can get from vampire blood. So if the vampire is at the 5th blood condensing stage, then he will get one blood essence per 25 milliliters of their blood. Vampires generally have thicker blood, so the total blood amount was around 3 to 4 liters. So if he completely absorbed the 5th blood condensing stage vampire, then he will get around 160 blood essence at best.


    Every unit of blood essence increased his level by one-thousandth point. So he needed to consume 6 to 7 grown vampires, with each of them at the 5th stage of blood condensing stage or above. Keith knew it was very hard to achieve, as the vampires on that level are usually heirs of families or at some important position. The old vampires who are stuck at this stage were his best option, as they tend to be the ones with less recognition.


    He knew that it was illegal to kill vampires, without a proper cause. The royal council will hunt down the vampires who go against the law. But, if there was no death, then there is no punishment because the vampires can heal almost any wound with proper rest. The only thing the assaulter has to pay is the compensation.


    He heard from his grandpa that the blood pool had the blood of countless humans over time. He never heard vampire blood being to increase blood qi. Oftentimes vampire blood could cause blood-qi poisoning for other vampires. So, it was forbidden and considered taboo to drink vampire blood. But, there were twisted people everywhere, as with the case with any society, there were vampires that liked to drink vampire blood even though it might become detrimental to their health.


    These vampires were designated as cannibals, just like any other species that consume their own kind.


    ''So the manager thought I was a cannibal ?''


    The good thing was that the purple tendrils helped him purify blood essence from even the vampire blood. From what he could deduce, Once he absorbed blood essence from the blood, the blood loses its energy. He tried it with the blood pool after he reached baron rank. There was no response from the blood pool after he entered it again.


    He heard from his grandfather that the pool was used to break through bottlenecks, and the blood is changed every year. From this, he figured that they collect blood from humans on a daily basis and fill the blood pool after it was used once. That required a huge blood reserve. Collecting it once was not possible, as it would require killing hundreds or even thousands of humans, which was not productive at all.


    The best way was to collect a certain amount of blood from the humans every day and collect that blood for a year. This way with even a hundred healthy humans, you can fill up the blood pool. The vampire population was relatively lower than the humans, as the vampires were not so fertile as humans. This was also a reason why it was not allowed to kill vampires without a reason. And it has to be approved by the local court.


    So if Keith wants to absorb vampire blood, he has to either buy it like in this blood shop or secretly hunt vampires. But, if he gets caught, then that would be the end of his freedom in this continent. He will be branded as a cannibal and traitor and executed, or worse become a test subject for the royal council.


    He looked at his level which had increased slightly. If he wanted to increase his power then he had to either slowly accumulate blood qi and condense it inside his blood core. In this process, it will take years, if not decades to reach the next stage.


    ''I can''t wait that long.'' As a human in his mind, he was not used to the time perception of vampires. What might be a small passage in time for vampires, it was more than his entire life.


    After thinking about it a lot, he thought of continuing the purchase of blood for now. He didn''t want to risk his position in the vampire society until he was strong enough to defend himself from anyone. He could become stronger quickly this way, but if a more powerful vampire tried to hunt him down, then he would have nowhere to go. Even his grandfather won''t be able to save him.


    After all this, his head started to heat up from all the thoughts. He put the glass down and rang the bell. After a couple of seconds, the waitress entered the room. Keith assumed that she was on the outside waiting for his call.


    " Bring me some human blood," Keith ordered the waitress.


    " Right away, sir." The waitress came near the table, took the empty glass, and left the room.


    Keith looked at his status in the meantime.


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Baron ]


    [ Body detected: Vampire ??? Hybrid ]


    [ Level 1.022 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    His level was increased by a little, but still, he felt the sensation. He put all the thoughts to the back of his head and waited for the next order to come.


    A little over three minutes had passed, and the waitress came back with two glasses of blood. She placed the two glasses on the table.


    Keith picked up a glass and sipped the blood little by little.


    " How is it, sir? Do you like the flavor?" The waitress asked smilingly.


    " What flavor? It tastes the same as always." Keith responded nonchalantly.


    " Sir, this is the exclusive blood of beautiful women. We specially raised them, so they are really beautiful and healthy. If you want, you can get these girls. You can do whatever with them." The waitress spoke provocatively.


    Keith choked on the blood he was drinking. He tried his best not to vomit all the blood he just drank.


    " No thank you, you can take them back. Don''t worry, I will pay for them. It would have been better if you didn''t tell me that."


    " What happened, sir? Didn''t you like the blood ?"


    " No, it''s not that. Just, I am not into that." Keith replied awkwardly.


    " Sir, if you want I can serve you." The waitress seductively said while bending over towards him.


    " Enough! I don''t want this kind of service." Keith pushed her away and firmly rejected the offer.


    " Oh my... Maybe you swing in the other direction. No matter.."


    Before the waitress could finish her words, Keith cut him short.


    " GET OUT" Keith was annoyed by her constant provocations.


    " And don''t come back. Notify the manager that I will be leaving, so he can collect the payment."


    Keith said in a serious voice.

 Chapter 10: Secret Colosseum

    The manager came back after a couple of minutes, after hearing that he wanted to leave.


    " Sir, is there anything not to your liking ?" Asked the manager.


    " No, I came here to taste blood, not women," Keith replied to the manager.


    " Then, I must apologize. I thought you might like the services here." The manager looked at him with a sorry face.


    " It''s fine, I got what I came here for anyway. Here..." Keith put 100 gold-blood coins on the table.


    " Sir, if you ever wish to come back, we will give you your desired blood, and your order will take priority over everyone else." The manager said enthusiastically.


    " Hmm¡­ Then, can you arrange baron level blood for me?"


    " ¡­ Err, this is out of our reach.."


    " Then it''s fine, I don''t want to waste my money on weakling vampire blood."


    " ¡­" The manager was silent for a moment.


    " If you want to get baron level blood, there is a place I can recommend to you." The manager said while hesitating.


    " And, that place is ?"


    " There is an underground colosseum that runs tournaments every fortnight. It is a place hidden from the royal court, but more like, a lot of high level supporters are backing it, so it hasn''t been seized yet. The tournaments typically don''t involve deathmatches, unless they are convicts, who are brought there for deathmatches. Some powerful person must be pulling strings to smuggle those convicts to the colosseum."


    " So it''s like entertainment for nobles."


    " Close enough. Here they train their private guards. They also keep the enemy in check. But the profits of that place are very high, as all the guests are really high-class nobles."


    " So how can I get the high-level vampire blood again ?" Keith asked the main point.


    " Sir, if you can win a match there, they will comply with your request, if that is equivalent to the winning prize. This is a gamble since most of them accept gold-blood coins as compensation instead."


    " Hmm, so If I beat a baron level vampire, I can ask for the blood."


    " Yes, most likely they will collect the blood from the defeated one. But you have to declare your compensation and let the opponent agree first. And, you can not take more than two glasses of blood. As any more will seriously weaken the vampire. " The manager nodded.


    " Hmm¡­ I see. Keith stroked his chin.


    " Good, I think I will have to visit that place. Do you know when the next tournament starts ?" Keith took out ten gold-blood coins and handed it to him. He got a great deal of information this time. It can really help him get the high level vampire blood.


    " It will be held in ten days, the location, well¡­ nobody really knows. Every participant is taken there with a blindfold on. The officials will come and fetch you from a certain place. You just have to be prepared and present at that place, at the given time."


    " Alright, I will come here later, so you better prepare everything for me."


    " Rest assured, sir. I will arrange everything."


    Keith nodded in satisfaction. After that, the manager led him outside to see him off. Keith left the shop and followed the way he came here. After reaching the curved road, he entered the blood forest and came back to the cliff.


    He used his legs to propel him upwards as he placed his hands in the broken rocks. He then repeated the move and hopped from one crack to another. After a while, he reached the top. He jumped from the other side and landed inside the garden. Going through the garden, he didn''t find anyone. He then jumped to his window and entered his room.


    *KYAAAA*


    Keith heard a loud voice. He turned his head and saw that Rena was standing inside the room holding a tray.


    " What are you doing here ?" Keith asked her unconsciously, later realizing what it was, after seeing the tray on her hand.


    " I¡­ I brought¡­"


    " Just put it on the table," Keith said to her.


    " Yes, young master." She put the glass of blood on the table and turned around to leave.


    " So you are eating properly right ?" Keith asked out of curiosity.


    " Mhmm¡­ I cooked meat yesterday. This was my first time cooking meat, still, it was good." She smiles while remembering her meal last night.


    " Good, keep it up. I don''t want you to stay weak. You will be the maid of the future count after all. You will have to do more in the future."


    " Yes, I want to be useful to you, young master. I am learning all the other chores diligently."


    She said enthusiastically.


    " Good to hear that you are taking this seriously."


    " Errr¡­ if young master prefers my blood, I am willing to.." Before she could finish her sentence, Keith cut her off.


    " You don''t have to worry about that. Just focus on your diet, I will call you when I need your blood. Now go."


    " ¡­Yes, young master." She bowed her head.


    After she left the room and closed the door, Keith sat on his bed. He absorbed the blood essence directly into his blood core, so he needed to circulate the blood qi to consolidate the entire system. The blood core suddenly got energy, but the rest of the body hasn''t circulated the energy.


    He focused his mind on the blood core and circulated his blood qi from his blood core to his entire body. Even though the power increased slightly, he could feel his muscles getting firmer. He circulated blood qi for several hours until he heard a knock.


    " Did grandpa summon me ?" Keith asked from inside.


    " Yes, young master," Rena replied from the outside.


    " Alright."


    Keith got up from his bed and wore a formal suit. He will be learning all about the responsibilities of the count, and many things. He knew that his grandpa wanted to tell him a lot of things before, but due to the final declaration, which was not passed, he kept it from him until now. After he officially received the count title, he was eligible to learn all about the family secrets. He wondered what could be so secretive that his grandpa didn''t tell him. Most of the things were common knowledge, so he was eager to find out what was in store for him.

 Chapter 11: The Past is Never Forgotten

    As he walked through the corridor, many eyes were on him. The family members were eager to get his attention, as he was going to be the next family leader. He walked across the corridor without paying them any heed and finally reached his grandfather''s room. He knocked on the door twice.


    "Come in."


    He opened the door and entered the room. Lex was sitting on a couch in the center reading a book.


    " I''m here grandpa."


    " Yeah, come sit," Lex replied with a smile as he placed the book on the table.


    Keith sat on the side couch facing Lex.


    " Did you rest properly ?" Lex asked Keith.


    " Yes, I slept all day, so I am feeling good now," Keith said with a smile.


    Lex looked at Keith with a serious gaze. He cleared his throat and started speaking.


    "First, I will start with some family history. The Ennes family has been governing the Bergzen territory for ten thousand years. You know that quite well. But what you don''t know is that we are actually one of the descendant families of the original vampire. To be exact, there are 72 families who are the descendants of the originals. They are scattered all over the continent, forming their own countries.


    "As you know, there are five vampire nations that share the continent. There is a central governing body that oversees the vampire society. These five countries were originally divided by the five original vampires who shared the continent, each having their own territory. The vampire council was created to oversee all the vampires and uphold the law of the vampire society.


    " But fifty thousand years ago, a civil war broke out after the originals went for eternal rest. The two sides fought to seize the other side, but in the end, it was a loss for both sides. Due to the stalemate, a treaty was formed. So, this kind of civil war never happens.


    " The treaty banned all the general public from learning advanced vampirical blood-qi techniques. Only the next leaders of 72 families were allowed to learn them."


    " So how do you learn them? There is no academy for that." Keith interjected.


    " Let me finish...


    "As you know most vampires learn blood qi circulation from their families, so depending upon how much their families know, and their legacy, their future is determined.


    " The 72 families are the top vampire families that have the legacies of the originals. Not all of them are on the same level, as the techniques vary from family to family. The Ennes family is ranked 68 among the other descendant families. The highest we''ve ever reached was 36th rank three thousand years ago, in the time of your great grandfather...


    "So we''re the last of the descendant families."


    " You could say that. Due to us being a descendant family, we have to uphold the laws of the council. Every family sends their nominated leaders to the Crimson Academy, where they are taught the various advanced blood-qi techniques. The nominated leader must be at least a baron level to enter the academy."


    " So, I have to go there to learn advanced techniques. Wait... So if I wasn''t a baron, you would have told me this later right? You said only by becoming a baron, we get in there." Keith said to his grandpa.


    " You are right, and it is also prohibited to talk about the academy unless you are the nominated heir. If Marvin was selected as the next leader, then he would''ve had to wait until he became a baron to know all this.


    " With that being said, you really broke all the norms, I never expected you to become a baron so suddenly, but I am really glad that you became the next heir and not Marvin."


    " Why do you hate Marvin so much? I mean I have all right to hate him, but he didn''t do anything to disgrace the family, and he was strong. You, as an elder, should have supported him instead of me. I know you, grandpa, feelings rarely get in your way when making family decisions."


    *Sigh*


    " It would be better to keep the shame of the family within wraps, never to be known again. I had great hopes for him, that boy. Alas, I never thought he and his father would be conspiring against the family."


    " What did they do?" Keith asked impatiently.


    " I never intended to let anyone know of this, but as the future leader, you have to know this. Rufus, your uncle made a deal with another family. That family will give him resources and help him become the next leader. It was not wrong to seek help from other families, but the deal from his end was to go under them and not be a direct descendant family."


    " Then¡­ what happened, how come he isn''t the head of the family then ?"


    " Because, even after getting help from them, he couldn''t catch up to your father."


    Lex looked straight into Keith''s eyes.


    " And, even now he is using their resources to help Marvin get the position. Marvin has used their blood pools more than you, every year."


    " Grandpa, why are you avoiding the subject of my father? What happened to him? Why is he treated like a traitor and forgotten like an insignificant servant? You always told me, he left this continent to pursue his dreams, but never told me why? And why did he leave me here? I want the truth grandpa." Keith said resolutely. He was tired of being in the dark. Everyone pretended like his father didn''t exist, and he wanted to know why they were being like this. What did his father do?


    *Sigh*


    " ¡­Damien, ¡­ your father, was the brightest vampire in the recent generations. He achieved his blood core at the age of sixteen. This was the earliest any descendant had ever reached the baron level. Even your great grandfather reached baron level when he was eighteen. So you can imagine the level of genius your father had.


    " As usual, I was really proud of him. I firmly believed that this was the time our family would get into the top ranks among the descendant families. He went on to attend the Crimson Academy and was among the top students. But after two years in the academy, he disappeared out of nowhere, and before the night he disappeared, he killed a descendant of another family, an archduke heir at that. The council declared him a traitor and put a bounty on his head. Due to the involvement of the academy, the council didn''t announce it publicly. Some tried to blame our family, but Damien¡­he didn''t have any contact with us, so the council didn''t press any charges against us. He was never seen after that incident, nor did he return to the family."


    " Then what about me? How did I get here ?"


    Keith wanted to know, where did he come from? Who was her mother? How he ended up in the family if his father wasn''t here.

 Chapter 12: Crimson Academy

    " I wish I knew. We found you at the castle front when you were around three months old. Someone placed you there. I don''t know if it was him who left you there. But when I looked at your eyes, it resembled Damien''s, so much so that I thought I was holding him when he was born."


    Lex said with a melancholic voice.


    " So¡­ nobody knows where he went¡­" Keith clenched his fists, sadness and anger mixed together erupted his hidden feelings. He was angry that his father left him alone and sad that he didn''t know where he was. He wanted to know what circumstances forced him to leave the family and his own son behind.


    " He was way ahead of everyone his age. I even believed that, given a couple of hundred years, he could''ve reached archduke level." Lex said while looking at Keith.


    " Grandpa, why does the vampire council restrict vampires from learning blood qi. Isn''t it making the whole vampire population weaker ?"


    " That may be true, but there is a reason for this restriction. You see, this continent has a cold and harsh environment. Even though it doesn''t affect the vampires much, due to the negligible sunlight, the humans can''t grow here because of the lack of fertile land.


    " If we allow every vampire to learn blood qi techniques, the demand for blood will increase greatly. And at that time, it will be harder to control all the hungry vampires. That is one of the reasons that only established vampire families possess the blood qi techniques, and the next leaders of the descendant families are allowed to learn advanced blood qi."


    " What''s the other reason ?" Keith asked in a curious manner.


    " The other reason¡­ Well, you could say, it has more to do with control than the wellbeing of vampires.


    " Those at the top don''t want any variables, so they gather all the future leaders and nurture them to serve the nation. The king is always elected from the top three descendant families. And all the positions are more or less pre-decided."


    " Then, what''s the point in going there, if they just want to control us?" Keith was furious after hearing how the vampire council controlled them.


    " It''s the way things are, moreover, if you keep up your progress, there is a chance you will be considered for the higher ranks. The academy evaluates your future potential and recommends where you will fit in the vampire hierarchy.


    " The Academy is not a place for education, but a training and evaluation center for future leaders. If you refuse to go there, then they might revoke your claim to become the next count, and give that to someone else like Marvin." Lex said with a despondent voice.


    "¡­" Keith was silent for some time.


    Before this, he often wondered why there were not that many blood qi users, and nobody used blood qi techniques. Now he knew the reason.


    " How long will I have to stay there ?" He asked lex.


    "If everything goes right, about ten years," Lex said while nodding his head.


    " What? That long." Keith said unconsciously.


    " It''s not that long if you know how much time it takes to rank up even once. They help you with all the resources and speed up your progress until you become a count. Ten years is nothing compared to the centuries of stagnation. You are still young so you don''t know how it feels after spending centuries or even millennia without being able to improve your strength.


    " The first hundred years are the growth period of a vampire, after that, it gets harder and harder to increase your blood core level. Do you understand ?" Lex looked at Keith.


    Keith nodded his head. He learned a great deal about vampire society today. The council, the Academy, and the 72 descendant families. Thinking about all the things, there was something that he wanted to confirm.


    " Grandpa, If someone goes to the Academy after they become a baron, then there will be different batches right? And if only the 72 students go there, the vampires that enter the academy at the same time will be very few."


    " That''s correct. The Academy takes in future leaders at different times, but they all stay in the same category. For example, if you join as a baron, you will be grouped with all the baron class vampires and so on. If your rank increases to viscount, then you will be transferred to the viscount group. If you can''t rank up even after all of your batchmates have left, then you will stay with the new barons that enter the academy.


    " So the only seniority in the academy is that of power levels, not the age."


    " So what happens if I reach count rank in a few years." Keith wanted to know how the academy would handle him, if he ranked up too fast.


    " Well, first they will assign you to the Marquis class, and if you rank up even higher, then Duke or even Archduke. Basically, you have to stay there for ten years. They will send you back after that, whatever your level may be. Even if you can''t level up, they will assign you the count position. But you have to be at least a higher viscount."


    " What happens if I rank up my blood core to the king level ?" The curiosity got the better of him.


    " King¡­ hahaha"


    Lex burst into laughter. The thought of someone achieving king level blood core before fifty years of age was really an impossible achievement.


    " No king in the history of vampires achieved king level blood core before fifty years of age, except for the original vampires, who were at that level from the start. If you reach king level before thirty, then the entire royal council might go crazy." Lex said while trying to contain his laughter.


    " Hey grandpa, don''t you believe in me? I can reach the king level in ten years." Keith said while looking at his palm.


    " It''s not about believing, boy. It''s about understanding the nature of evolution. Do you think I didn''t consider your progress? Even if you reach Archduke within a couple of years, reaching the king level is a hundred times harder. The amount of blood qi that needs to accumulate within your blood core is many times higher than that of the archduke level. I don''t know how long it takes, but you need to at least spend many decades condensing blood qi in your blood core."


    "Hmm¡­ let''s see then, how long it takes me to reach that level," Keith said while gripping his palm.

 Chapter 13: Out of the blue

    "It''s great that you have such ambition. I am proud of you even now, even if you don''t reach that level. Just don''t go missing like your father." Lex said with a melancholic voice.


    " Don''t worry grandpa, I will find out what happened to him. And about me, I don''t know what will happen in the future, I won''t leave without a good reason, or without telling you."


    Keith thought about how he could increase his strength rapidly. He was a human in mind, and to wait decades to reach the next stages, was just too inconceivable for him. The memory and personality of previous Keith were having some effect on his psyche as he felt a great closeness to his grandpa.


    ''Is that me or the previous Keith''s memories ?'' he asked to himself.


    Thinking about the Academy, which helped the next leaders to increase their ranks quickly, he felt that he could get way more resources there. And if he got access to a large blood pool, it would also help him increase his rank substantially.


    Regardless, the fact that he was forced to join the academy, and go under the royal council if he didn''t take advantage of that, it would be too much of a waste. He will be able to learn about various blood qi techniques, and if he was lucky, he might get his hands on some high level vampire blood.


    " So, when am I supposed to go there?"


    " You have a one year window, you can go right now, or you can go twelve months later. They give this time to let the vampires consolidate their core before entering the academy." Lex answered Keith.


    " So I can wait for a little bit. Hmm... Let''s see, I will join the academy in two months. What do you say?" Keith looked at Lex.


    " That should be fine. You should spend more time consolidating your core. Speeding up the process does give you instant power, but that can be detrimental if not properly regulated. Your body can''t keep up with your blood core level if you suddenly jump to a higher rank."


    " I will keep that in mind." Keith nodded his head.


    He didn''t know how the level ups were going to affect him, but somehow he didn''t feel anything out of place. His body absorbed all the energy without a hitch. The mysterious marks that helped him absorb the blood essence made it easier for him to condense blood qi, as he didn''t need to slowly accumulate it. Without the help of the purple marks, he wouldn''t be able to increase his blood core level as quickly as he was able to do it right now.


    " By the way, how is your consolidation? Are you able to channel the blood qi smoothly?" Lex asked in a hopeful manner.


    " I have gotten the hang of it, and there is no problem in circulation. If only I could use the blood pool once more, I think I could benefit greatly." Keith looked at Lex as if to see his reaction.


    " Hmm¡­ after you used the blood pool, there is barely any blood qi left. I checked and it is almost useless now. We have to fill it up again. If you want it urgently, I could gather some humans.."


    " No, that''s okay. I will take a break for now. I think I need a little more time to consolidate my blood core." Keith cut him short, as he stood up.


    " Alright then, you go have some rest. Newly evolved vampires need all the time they could find to consolidate. If you need something, then send the maid, I will arrange it for you." Lex said while crossing his fingers, and sitting back on the couch.


    " Mhmm, thanks, grandpa." Keith smiled at him and turned around to leave. As he closed the door after exiting the room, his face changed and the smile disappeared from his face. As he walked down the hallway, he was thinking about the implications of joining the Academy and how he could prepare for it.


    Honestly, he wanted to go there, as it would provide him more opportunities than staying here. And about finding high level vampire blood, he will try to collect them secretly if he could. But the most important thing was, he could compare his strength to the stronger vampires of his age. He wanted to gauge his strength and rank improvements as compared to the high level families. So he was looking forward to joining the academy.


    There was another thing he wanted to figure out, and that was related to his father''s disappearance. If he could get some clues about what happened then, and where he might have gone, that would be great. Overall, the academy was a good place to expand his knowledge and get more exposure.


    While he was walking, he noticed that Rena was waiting for him outside the central area. He walked up to her as she was looking at him.


    " What are you doing here?" Keith asked her in a curious manner.


    " Uh... I was waiting for you¡­, lord Rufus wanted to meet you at the courtyard, so he asked me to let you know."


    " Uncle¡­ What does he want from me?" He was puzzled by the request.


    He was at odds with Marvin and his uncle, so for them to talk to him was really not normal. After hearing from his grandpa, what they were up to, he was pretty suspicious about this invitation. Still, he couldn''t just deny him like that. He also wanted to know what they were scheming.


    " Alright, I will go there. You can go get some rest. Bring me the meal later."


    " Then, I will take my leave. Err.."


    As he wanted to walk aside, he noticed that Rena was trying to say something. He stopped and asked her,


    " What? Do you have anything else to say?" He asked her casually.


    " I¡­ I wanted to ask if you would like to drink my blood? I''ve been eating a lot of meat recently, so I think I won''t feel any weakness after drawing blood." She looked expectantly at him as if she was scared of rejection.


    " Hahaha" Keith laughed really hard after seeing her expression.

 Chapter 14: Malicious Intent

    " You are really dedicated as always. I know I said those words but didn''t I also tell you that, I will ask for you when I need your blood. You don''t need to give your blood right now. So just keep taking care of yourself for now. Make that your top priority. You understand?" Keith looked straight into her eyes.


    " Mhm¡­ but I want to be more useful to young master, so I¡­"


    " You are being useful all the time, what more do you want? I told you to improve your health, and that''s what you have to do for now." Keith said in a heavy tone.


    " Alright then, I will go eat something. And I will come to your room in the afternoon." She bowed her head and turned around to leave.


    " And, don''t stress yourself over this, I really want you to be healthier. I will need you later so don''t overthink it." Keith said as Rena was leaving.


    " Mhmmm¡­Understood, young master. I will try my best to improve my health."


    She left the corridor and headed to her place. All the maids have their servant quarters on the left side of the castle. The rooms that were given to the maids and the workers were not too big but they were big enough to live comfortably. Usually, those who lived in the castle area were given better treatment than humans that were used as blood banks.


    Keith looked at Rena''s leaving figure and sighed. He knew she had great affection towards him, but he was reluctant. He was not the same Keith as before, and he didn''t want her to get too attached to him. He won''t stay here for long anyway. He wanted her to get a better position here before he leaves this castle.


    She helped him on many occasions, so he wanted to repay her, to keep a stable and good life here. After all, he was a vampire. And there was no telling where he will be in the future. This place, ruled by vampires, was cruel and ruthless for weak humans like her. She could maintain a good life because she was in his family and her personal maid.


    And turning humans into vampires was very risky, as mostly they turned into mindless ghouls. There were rarely any humans that could maintain sanity after getting turned. For a successful turning, one had to be really lucky. So, the vampire council restricted turning humans, unless they needed ghouls.


    Mindless vampires, also called ghouls, were creatures that couldn''t control their hunger and lost their sense of self. They succumbed more to hunger and even consumed flesh, even though blood was enough for them to survive. Their mindless greed was uncontrollable as they killed anyone in their sight.


    Due to this, the vampire council banned the turnings thousands of years ago. The rogue ghouls were spread across the desolate forests and blood woods. They lived in those confines and consumed whatever they could find. Sometimes, they would come to the vampire cities, but they would be killed off by the hunters from the council.


    Although the council banned the turning of humans due to the uncertainty of being converted into a vampire, they allowed some families to keep ghouls for experimental purposes. Those families that did research on blood core and blood qi were allowed to keep them.


    His family also had ghouls locked up in the underground dungeon. They were used as experimental subjects. There were occasions when they were used as hunting dogs. But for that, they had to raise the ghouls from an early age.


    That''s why he didn''t want to take the risk to turn her into a vampire. He wanted her to live happily and peacefully as long as she was alive.


    '' I hope she can live a good life here.'' He turned around to leave the corridor and headed towards the courtyard.


    When he reached the courtyard, he found that there were two elders along with his uncle, talking to each other. As he approached them, their conversation stopped and their attention turned towards him.


    " I heard that you were looking for me?" Keith asked in a stoic manner.


    " Yes, I wanted to discuss something with you." Rufus turned towards him.


    " Sure, as long as it is not about giving up my position, then I''m all ears," Keith replied in a sarcastic tone.


    " That has been decided, and it can not be changed now. What I wanted to let you know is that I am very sorry for Marvin''s actions. He shouldn''t have injured you like that."


    " Well, I returned the favor, so there are no hard feelings," Keith replied casually.


    " Then, that''s good. I think you will be a great leader one day. "


    " Thanks for your kind words. '''' Keith replied while nodding his head.


    " If it''s not much, I would like to accompany us to a special gathering of nobles. You will meet so many other noble heirs there that you can interact with and build your connection." Rufus asked him.


    " Oh! A special gathering. When is it then?" Keith asked curiously.


    " Nine days from now. There will be a lot of entertaining events, I''m sure you''d like it."


    ''Nine days from now, a gathering¡­.''


    After hearing those words, something clicked in his mind.


    '' Are they talking about the tournament in the colosseum?''


    He wasn''t a hundred percent sure, but from what he could guess, there was a good chance that where his uncle wanted to take him was the same colosseum that the manager had told him about.


    '' If it''s the same, then great. I don''t have to worry about the pass either. Although I am suspicious of what they are trying to do, only by going there, I can find out about everything.''


    " Sure, I will free up some time to tag along," Keith replied.


    " Then, it''s decided. I will let you know when we will be leaving for the gathering. I''m sure you won''t be disappointed by the event." Rufus replied with a grin on his face.


    " Then, I''ll be off. I will be looking forward to the event." Keith turned around and walked off as he replied to his uncle.


    while he was walking out of the courtyard, the eyes of his uncle turned sharp, as he gnashed his teeth. Keith didn''t even bother to show proper courtesy to him. It was humiliating for him. But he had to endure that for now.

 Chapter 15: In a Good Mood

    Going back to his room, Keith closed the door and sat on his bed. He circulated the blood qi and looked at his blood core. He knew that his growth was fast, but he also remembered the words his grandfather had said.


    He didn''t know how it would affect his body if he absorbed too much blood essence at once. Still, he needed to get powerful, so he had to take the risk. For his freedom, he needed to be stronger than anyone.


    As for the count title, he wasn''t too worried about that. With his level of growth, there was no one who would be a nuisance to him. What he wanted to know was, more about his father, and the council. Firstly, the council was the greatest threat to him. From what he heard, they kept all the vampires in check.


    If he wanted to get strong, he needed vampire blood, which was forbidden on this continent. If he is found, the council will surely hunt him down. He wanted to know everything about the council, to prepare for possible retaliation.


    The more information he knew, the more countermeasures he could plan. In the end, he was already a cannibal. If this ever gets out, he will be investigated for sure. He needed to keep a low profile while collecting vampire blood.


    As he circulated his blood qi, his blood core responded and slowly absorbed the blood qi, and started condensing inside the core. The process was too slow, but it was essential to digest all the blood essence he got in one go.


    A moment of silence descended in his room, as he was fully immersed in condensing blood qi. Several hours later, he heard a knock on the door.


    " Come in." He said in a stoic voice.


    Rena opened the door and entered the room while holding a tray.


    "Here is your lunch, young master." Rena placed the glass on the table.


    " Alright," Keith replied casually while circulating blood qi.


    " Is there anything else you need ?" Rena asked while looking at him.


    " Nothing for now. You can go back." He was focused on his circulation so he didn''t notice her gaze.


    Rena stood there for some time without disturbing him. Looking at his calm face. Keith closed his eyes and focused on his circulation, but he still could feel her presence in the room. He didn''t know why she was there but didn''t say anything.


    One hour passed and Rena was still there, standing beside the table. Keith opened his eyes and looked at her.


    " Why are you standing there?" Keith asked.


    " Oh¡­ I was just looking at you, if you want me to leave, then I will excuse myself." Rena lowered her head.


    " You don''t have anything else to do?"


    " I finished all the work in the morning, and now that I am your maid, there is nothing much for me to do anyways. I rested as you instructed and ate a lot. I don''t have anything to do right now, so I was thinking of staying by your side." Rena said with a flushed face.


    '' This girl''


    " If you want to stay, then why don''t you sit here." Keith looked at the bed.


    Rena slowly walked to the bed and sat on the corner. Keith didn''t say anything as he went back to circulating his qi.


    " Young master, you''ve changed after that day. You have a different aura around you." Rena mumbled.


    His eyebrows twitched after hearing that. He was careful enough, but somehow Rena was able to guess that he was different. Even though she didn''t know that he was a completely different person, she picked up the different behavioral changes in him.


    He remembered how she was the one that spent the most time with him, They were close after all. After he came to this world, he kept a distance from her. This sudden change in behavior definitely aroused some suspicion from her. After thinking for a bit, he cleared his mind.


    " Well, you could say that. After I woke up, I felt completely different. My body felt new and my disability was gone." Keith replied to her.


    " When I heard that you were gravely injured, I was devastated. I took care of you when you were in here unconscious. I didn''t know if you were going to survive. Your wound was really deep. If it wasn''t for great elder I''m afraid you would''ve.."


    " Well, I am lucky to have survived that. And thanks to your care, I could stay alive for some time."


    " I couldn''t do anything. I was helpless." She burst into tears.


    " Don''t be like that. Nobody could have healed me aside from grandpa. You don''t have to feel bad. And that also cured my disability, so you could say that it was a blessing in disguise." Keith consoled her.


    " And besides, I am not weak anymore. So, no one will dare to go against me."


    " Mhmm¡­ I was really amazed by how you defeated him. Everyone is talking about it now."


    " That was nothing, I didn''t even use half of my power. If I did, he would''ve been dead." Keith said while swinging his arm.


    Rena giggled softly. The atmosphere turned lively after that.


    " Don''t worry, in this castle, aside from grandpa, no one can go against me."


    "I am glad that I became your maid young master." Rena gave a hearty smile.


    " Well, I am also lucky that I got such a caring maid. Hmm¡­ you look good, the new diet is taking effect, I see." Keith noticed that she looked healthier and her cheeks were more fluffy.


    " Really? I''m glad that young master likes my change. But won''t you hate me if I got too fat?" She pouted.


    " Yeah, I will double your workload, so it won''t be a problem. Exercise is also important after all." Keith grinned as he replied.


    " I am used to working hard, so I will see what kind of tasks you will give me. I am no pushover." She puffed her chest.


    " I see that you''ve more talkative¡­"


    Rena bit her lips with embarrassment after she realized how she was talking to him.


    " It''s fine, I like that you''re opening up more."


    " I should leave. If I stay here, you will keep getting distracted by me." Rena got up from the bed and hurriedly left the room.


    " I hope you stay like this, even if I am not here." He mumbled after she left the room.

 Chapter 16: Twenty More Glasses

    Keith focused on his blood qi and calmed his mind. There were a lot of things that needed to be done before he could relax. First of all, the tournament is nine days from now. He was confident enough about his strength if encountered a baron-level vampire, but if they were viscount or higher, it would be a big problem.


    He didn''t know how his strength fared against viscount-level vampires, but he was eager to find out. And before the tournament, he wanted to increase his blood core level as much as possible. That will help him stand his ground or even defeat more powerful opponents.


    He looked at the time and it was already evening. The sky was dark as the sun was already below the horizon. He got up from his bed and stretched his body. He felt that the blood essence had properly condensed inside his blood core.


    Now he wanted to get more vampire blood from the shop. Even though it was expensive he had to get it. He didn''t have any other way to get vampire blood. He opened his vault and took out all the gold-blood coins. This was all of his personal funds. If he wanted more, he would have to access the family vault. He couldn''t use that freely, as he wasn''t the leader yet. He was just nominated as the future leader.


    After taking out all the coins in his vault, he changed into a black suit. He jumped out of the window like before and passed through the outer garden. Just like before, he climbed down the cliff. Waking down the curved road, he passed the gate and entered the shop area.


    He walked towards the blood shop he visited before. After walking for some time, he reached the end of the road. The shop was around the end. There was a turn that went in the opposite direction. He entered the shop and a bell rang as he opened the metal door.


    " Welcome Sir, How may I help you?" A female receptionist approached him as he entered the shop. She was wearing a suit while her hair was neatly tied back into a knot.


    " Can I see the manager?" Keith said to the receptionist.


    " Well, he is busy attending to some guests.." The receptionist replied.


    " Tell him that I need some exotic blood. He will understand." He tossed her a silver blood coin.


    She caught the coin and nodded her head. After some time, the receptionist came back with the manager. After he looked at him, his expression brightened.


    " Sir, I didn''t expect to see you so soon. What a lucky day."


    ''Lucky, it is. You will be getting all my money after all.'' Keith sighed in his mind.


    " As you can see, I have grown to like your services. I need to taste the exquisite collection of yours." Keith went straight to the point.


    " Yes, of course. You are always welcome to our VIP lounge. We would love to serve you some exotic collections. Follow me."


    The manager led him to the same VIP room that he entered before. The room was even more decorated with various paintings and exotic arts.


    " We have renovated this room after you came here. We reserved this room for usage. What do you think?" The manager asked.


    " Not bad. I like the new look."


    " Glad you like it."


    " Mhm."


    " So you want the menu or .."


    " Just get me the usual, stage five or above." Keith sat on the couch.


    " Understood. I will send it right away."


    The manager left the room. Keith waited for a couple of minutes and the door opened again. The waitress was holding a tray with two glasses. She paced the glasses on the table and left the room.


    '' Seems like I don''t need to raise my voice again.''


    He put his index finger inside the glass without picking it up. The purple tendrils slithered out from the tip and entered the blood.


    [ Blood essence absorbed: 1 ]


    [ Blood essence absorbed: 1 ]


    ¡­


    After he finished the first glass, he got 10 blood essence from it. He repeated this again with the other glass. After that, he looked at his status window.


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Baron ]


    [ Body detected: Vampire ??? Hybrid ]


    [ Level 1.042 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    Looking at the level, he saw a jump in the level. It was not too big, but it was noticeable. He needed more blood to reach 1.1 level. He calculated how many glasses he could buy with the coins he had. He checked his coins, and it was around two thousand gold blood coins, his entire savings.


    '' I can get the money back, but time can''t be turned back. I need to get stronger, so this is nothing.''


    He rang the bell and the waitress entered the room.


    " Bring me twenty more glasses." He ordered without holding back.


    The waitress had a stunned look on her face after she heard him. Twenty glasses of vampire blood, that was around two thousand gold blood coins. She had never seen this amount of money in her entire career. It was rare to see someone spend hundred gold blood coins, that was why Keith was treated like a special guest. But for someone to spend two thousand gold blood coins, this was the highest anyone had ever spent on this establishment.


    " I will get them for you right away." She left the room in a hurry.


    Now that he has twenty glasses of vampire blood, his level will increase to 1.2 after he absorbs all the blood essence.


    He waited for the order to come. It took a little more than fifteen minutes and the waitress returned with two huge trays. Each of them had ten glasses of blood. The waitress put the tray on the table as she was trying to put them one by one, Keith signaled her to stop.


    " You can leave now."


    The waitress stopped and turned back, exiting the room without saying anything. From the previous visit, she learned that he didn''t like provocations. So she didn''t want to upset him more.


    After the waitress left the room, Keith put his finger inside the glasses one by one.

 Chapter 17: Little Stronger

    The glasses got emptied one by one, as the purple tendrils sucked the blood dry. Keith noticed that his body started to react, as the blood essence poured inside his blood core.


    ''So this is what it feels like to get power. '' he thought to himself.


    After finishing every glass, he looked at his status window.


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Baron ]


    [ Body detected: Vampire ??? Hybrid ]


    [ Level 1.242 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    His body felt hot like he just ran a marathon while sprinting. His blood core started to expand; the radius increased a little and the blood qi circulation hastened. His pale white face was red as if he was blushing but his eyes gave it away. He had a serious look on his face.


    He closed his eyes and focused his mind on the blood qi circulation. The sudden rise in blood essence enhanced his blood core, but it was too potent. Unlike human blood, which didn''t contain so much concentrated blood essence, vampire blood was essentially a distilled blood essence.


    After he focused his mind and gave his full concentration, he directed the blood qi that kept leaking out of the blood core throughout his body. The blood qi dissipated and started moving back towards the blood core. Now that the blood essence was diluted and turned into blood qi, it spread throughout the body.


    The function of the blood core was to condense blood qi and solidify them in the core. Basically, the blood core was condensed blood qi, but there was more to that. Just like emergence, it was more than the sum of its parts. While the blood essence was just blood-attribute energy.


    When the purple tendrils suck the blood, they clean the blood from its mark, or the unique attribute of vampires. That is why vampires can''t drink other vampires'' blood, as the other''s blood qi will interfere with their own. They didn''t have a way to separate the pure blood-attribute energy as blood essence from vampire blood.


    That''s where his purple tendrils come into play. They separate the individual attribute and give him pure blood essence. Which he then can turn into his very own blood qi. Then the blood qi will be condensed inside his blood core to strengthen it even more as well as increase its level.


    After some time his body cooled down as he diluted the blood qi and circulated it throughout the body. He felt as if his strength had increased twofold. He could feel his body brimming with energy and lighter than ever before.


    He opened his eyes and looked at his hand. After opening and closing it a couple of times, he could feel the surge of blood qi inside his vessels. Keith was very satisfied with this. All the blood coins spent were worth it if he could increase his strength like that.


    He rang the bell and the waitress entered the room. When she looked at the empty glasses, she had a surprised look on her face. It was common knowledge that vampire blood was potent and could poison another vampire if it was used carelessly.


    In this establishment, they served vampire blood to the cannibals who were willing to pay, but they didn''t care what happened to the clients. There were several occasions where some cannibals corrupted their blood qi and lost their power. But none of that mattered to them, they were selling this for profit, and that was all there was to it.


    And if some cannibals died while drinking too much vampire blood, the establishment would draw their blood to compensate for the loss. Usually, they got more blood in return as the blood the clients consumed was nothing compared to the several liters of blood in their bodies.


    When Keith ordered twenty glasses of blood, the waitress was skeptical about his survival. She thought he might drink it slowly and take a long time savoring the taste. But barely an hour had passed and he finished all the blood inside twenty glasses. It was a big shock for her.


    " Call the manager. I''m done with my business here, so I will take my leave." Keith said in a serious voice.


    " Yes... I will let him know right away." She left the room hastily and after a couple of minutes, the manager entered the VIP room.


    " Sir, I heard you are leaving so early. Wouldn''t you like to taste more delicacies?" The manager asked him.


    " I was only here for the vampire blood, so now that I''ve got what I wanted, I don''t want to stay here for long." Keith got up from his seat and placed the large pouch that contained two thousand gold blood coins.


    " I''m glad that we were able to satisfy you. We will be looking forward to your next visit." The manager bowed his head.


    " I also like this place, where I can get vampire blood without raising suspicions." Keith smiled as he walked out of the room.


    The manager walked along with him to see him off. After Keith exited the shop, the manager called the waitress.


    " Did you notice anything different with him? Any sign of erratic behavior?" The manager asked the waitress.


    " None, he was calm like always. I also wondered what he did with the vampire blood. He didn''t even look like he drank it. Should we send someone to follow him?" The waitress said to the manager.


    " No, he is already a baron. And from the wealth he spent here, he must be a noble for sure. Investigating him will be dangerous. We should leave him alone. And also don''t tell the other staff about his large order. We should keep it between us, you understand." The manager ordered the waitress.


    " Yes sir."


    ***


    After getting out of the shop, Keith went back to the castle by climbing the cliff. He entered his room through the window and looked around the room to see if Rena was there. After confirming that there was no one in the room, he sighed in relief. As he turned around to close the window, he saw Rena staring back at him.

 Chapter 18: Inner Feelings

    " What are you doing here? Keith asked in a surprised manner.


    He didn''t expect her to be lurking beside the window. It looked like she was holding her breath, which was why he didn''t feel her presence in an instant. As he was entering the room, he didn''t use his blood qi, as he was still digesting the blood essence. And while climbing the cliff, he used the blood qi, which was destabilizing his rhythm. So he canceled the blood qi to keep it from erupting.


    While he questioned Rena about her behavior and why she was here, Rena, who was holding her left hand over her mouth, let it fall back. She opened her mouth while looking at him with strange eyes.


    " I wish to ask the same question. You have been gone for more than two hours. I came here two hours ago, but couldn''t find you. I searched the whole castle by the next hour, but you were nowhere to be seen.


    " I returned to your room, looked around every corner again. Then I noticed the window was not properly closed. I looked outside but you weren''t even in the outer garden. Without knowing where you were, I just waited here, looking outside the window.


    " And suddenly, a figure popped up on the castle walls. I was scared when it sprang back up and jumped down. I looked carefully as the figure traversed through the outer garden and reached the floor below the room, looking up towards the castle.


    " I immediately jerked back and hid behind the window. " Rena blurted out.


    " Oh¡­ you must''ve been quite scared then." Keith scratched his back as he thought how his sneaking around would''ve made anyone alert.


    Looking at Rena''s puffy cheek, he sighed in his heart. She was really concerned about him, and he was sneaking around like a thief. While he was glad that she didn''t report it to his grandpa, as what he was doing was not legal. If he was found out to be sneaking around, going to the shop, with his grandpa''s influence, it was not hard for him to get the information about his visits.


    The manager might as well be forced to comply, which would jeopardize his position.


    " Damn, I should have worn a mask." He cursed himself for his stupidity.


    But he was there just to visit the shop, and drink human blood. He stumbled upon the vampire blood by accident, and his curiosity got the better of him, that he forgot the rules. As he already showed his face to the manager, it was irrelevant to go with a mask now, as he will recognize him easily.


    He looked at Rena, who was expecting his words eagerly. He cleared his throat,


    " I was just out for a walk. I felt cooped up inside the castle, so I thought about exploring the outer area." Keith answered half truthfully.


    His first intention was just that, to see how the vampire settlement operated. But he stumbled upon the blood shop and from there started his illegal activities.


    After hearing what he had to say, Rena was quite puzzled.


    " You wanted to visit the outer castle, but why didn''t you go through the main gate? Why were you going out sneakily without informing anyone?" Rena voiced her doubts.


    This put Keith in a difficult situation. He didn''t want her to know that he was out for drinking vampire blood. But to convince her of his acts, he also needed something that was believable.


    " As you know, I haven''t gone out of the castle much, maybe once or twice in my childhood. After my health got worse, I rarely even left my room. Now that I am strong enough, I wanted to explore on my own.


    " It might have been a little hasty of me, but I was curious about the outside. Also, I have explored the front side of the castle already. It was filled with statues, buildings, and paved roads. But the other side was unknown to me.


    "I didn''t want anyone keeping tabs on me, hence the sneaking around," Keith replied with his made up words.


    " Still, I''ve heard there is a huge cliff behind the castle wall. How did you get down in the first place? You didn''t hurt yourself, did you?" She checked his body from top to bottom.


    " You are asking too many questions for a maid? Is the new diet turning you into a nanny?" Keith blurted out.


    " Hmmm¡­" Rena, who was checking his body for any wound, looked back at him with squinted eyes.


    " If you think I am invading your privacy, then I am sorry. I already brought you two glasses of blood. You can freshen yourself up." She turned around with a gloomy face.


    " I didn''t mean that. You don''t have to apologize for this. I am glad, I have a maid like you looking after me all the time. I just don''t want you to get involved in complicated things." Keith said.


    Rena turned around with a puffy cheek.


    " Isn''t that also a part of being a subordinate? To share all the hardships of their master. If you have complicated things to do, I might be able to help you with some of that. You said you will give me harder tasks, to make me fit. You told me to eat properly to become healthy. I am doing all that but I have nothing else to do. I am just sitting around all day, waiting to deliver two meals a day. Occasionally, someone asks for you, then only I get to see you more than three times a day.


    " If you want my help, if you want to make good use of me, then why are you pushing me away? Why are you doing everything yourself and leaving me to do simple tasks? Why make my life easier? I want to stay by your side, even if it means sacrificing my health.


    " I was never concerned about my health in the first place. I did it for you and stayed away while taking good care of me. But, in the end, if I can''t help you or be of any use, why am I even indulging in these luxuries? I don''t want you to get hurt, while I enjoy my life." Rena let out all her thoughts in one go, as tears flowed down from her eyes.


    " I¡­ I didn''t think you felt this way." Keith was taken aback by her response.


    He didn''t think she had this much desire to be included in his life and help him with every difficult situation. While he did this to let her stabilize her position in the castle, and let her live a carefree life, Rena never wanted this to begin with. Her primary motive was to help him in any way possible, like letting him consume her blood, which is why she took good care of her health in the first place.

 Chapter 19: Hidden Trauma

    Keith looked at the tearful eyes of Rena. He was shocked by her outburst, as nothing like this ever happened. Before he got Keith''s body, Rena always stayed with him. She took care of him all the time and stayed by his side all day long.


    After he became Keith, he wasn''t dependent like before. He stayed in solitude and always pushed her away. He didn''t talk to her much. This type of sudden change must have scared Rena. First, she didn''t know what to do; she waited, thinking that it may be due to the trauma. But as more time passed, Keith became more isolated.


    " I didn''t know that you thought this way. I just wanted to keep you safe. You are the closest to me aside from grandpa, and you are a human too. I didn''t want you to be treated like other humans." Keith said in a sorrowful tone.


    " Young master¡­ we humans don''t live as long as you. We are weak and fragile. We are only needed for the blood that suits the vampires. You will stay the same decades later. But, I won''t be there for you. I want to serve you as long as I can, while I am capable. I am afraid that if I don''t stay by your side now, I will fade away in your memories." Rena said in a shaky voice.


    Keith couldn''t utter a word. What she said was true. He was a vampire and she was a human. If he considered their life span, he would outlive her and still be considered young by vampire standards. His attempt to make her life better was only for her well-being. He didn''t consider her feelings.


    " Rena¡­ you will always be in my heart. After all the things you did for me, I don''t think I can forget you¡­ ever. But trust me when I say this, I am doing something really important and risky. I can''t afford to involve you In this. The less you know the better." Keith said in a plain tone.


    Rena wiped her tears and nodded her head.


    " I''m sorry that I lashed out like that, but after that incident, I don''t want you to risk your life. I don''t want you to leave. Whenever I am not with you, I imagine if anything bad will happen to you. The vivid memories of that day come to my mind when I looked at your deep wound in your stomach. When I stayed by your side, while there was a faint sign of life inside you, that could vanish any moment." Rena said in a sad voice.


    " Rena¡­ Listen to me. I am not the same as before. I am sorry that you went through such a traumatic experience, but that won''t happen again. And you don''t need to keep reminding yourself that." Keith touched her cheeks and wiped the remaining tears.


    " I... I shouldn''t have said that, I am sorry young master. I¡­ I don''t know what came over me." She shook her head.


    " It''s alright. Don''t be so hard on yourself." Keith stroked her hair.


    Rena''s cheeks turned red from his touch. He withdrew his hand and walked to the bed.


    " The most important thing for me now is to increase my strength. I have already surpassed baron level. My blood qi also increased a lot. I want more time to condense my blood qi and to stabilize my core. If you feel lonely, you can stay here by my side." Keith sat on his bed and closed his eyes.


    "¡­ I won''t disturb you, young master. And I won''t let anyone interfere." She mumbled.


    Keith focused his mind on his blood core and started to circulate the blood qi. The tremendous amount of blood qi that he received from consuming so many glasses of vampire blood was brimming inside him.


    First of all, he needed to get the blood qi to circulate and condense inside the blood core.


    Slowly the blood qi accumulated inside the blood core and it condensed the blood qi. He stayed in that state for hours when he finished condensing twenty percent of the blood qi.


    The blood qi that he got from the blood essence was the starting phase of accumulation. For him to make the blood qi into his own, he needed to circulate the blood qi throughout his body and mark the attribute. When the blood qi circulates throughout his body, it absorbs his unique mark.


    Without the unique attribute, the blood qi won''t be able to condense inside the blood core. As long as there is a unique personal attribute to the blood qi, it can be condensed into the blood core or it will dissipate later after it stays stagnant in the body.


    That is why it is essential to circulate the blood qi in regular intervals to imbue it with your unique blood qi. Also, that is the reason other vampires can''t use other''s blood qi, as it disrupts their own.


    Every vampire has a unique attribute to the blood qi, that can be harmful to others. If one vampire intakes too much blood qi that is not his own, there is a risk of losing your own attribute or worse, losing your sanity and turning into ghouls.


    After Keith accumulated and condensed some of the blood qi that was brimming inside his body, he got up from the bed. He saw that Rena was sitting in a chair by the bed. She was looking at him with round eyes. There were two glasses on the table, which was probably brought by her.


    " You stayed here all this time. Did you eat anything or not?" Keith asked while cracking his arms.


    " Yes young master, I already ate my fill. I brought yours too. I didn''t disturb you since you were so focused in that state." Rena replied with a smile.


    " Hmm good. It''s late already, don''t you want to go back to your room?" Keith asked.


    " Ahh¡­ I totally forgot the time. Even though I don''t want to leave, it''s inappropriate to stay here at night." Rena placed her hand on her mouth.


    Keith knew that she wanted to stay near him. As the maid quarters were on the other side of the castle, she would have to go there in the middle of the night. His room was on the southern side of the castle, and he was given the entire hallway. There were dozens of rooms here unoccupied.


    The rooms were for his servants or guests. Usually, they were reserved for vampire servants and guests, as human quarters were in a different place. He thought about giving one room to Rena, as they were empty and collecting dust anyway. But he had to inform his grandpa about it too. Or the family members will be outraged if a maid stayed in the vampire''s quarters unannounced.


    " Rena, would you like to stay in a room adjacent to mine? I will tell grandpa tomorrow, I''m sure he will agree. This way you can stay near me." Keith suggested.


    " Can I? But what will the other lords and masters say? I don''t want to bring you any more trouble than you already have." Rena was hesitant about it.


    " There you go again. Nobody will say anything. This place is empty anyway, We have too much free space. Even if someone tries to talk back, they can''t go against grandpa or even me." Keith replied resolutely.

 Chapter 20: Against a Viscount

    Rena left the room after Keith finished drinking the two glasses of blood. He took a long breath and examined the changes in his body.


    After his level increased to 1.2 he felt the circulation of blood qi inside his body. He didn''t know the level at which he would evolve into a viscount but he was sure it wasn''t close.


    '' I have to hit level 2 to find out what happens afterward.'' Keith thought.


    The most noticeable thing was that his blood core was grown ever so slightly. it wasn''t noticeable right away but when he examined his body with blood qi, he came across it. For now, his primary goal was to reach level 2 as quickly as possible.


    The uncertainty of his win didn''t let him relax. Even though he was strong enough inside his family, there were many vampires that could decimate him in a heartbeat.


    In his family, his grandfather was known to be a count-level vampire. His uncle Brad was a high Viscount, the second strongest vampire. Apart from them barely anyone broke the viscount rank.


    His eldest uncle Rufus, was only a high baron, even after all the years he spent training with the sponsor family, he couldn''t break the viscount barrier. This showed how difficult it was to level up in the path of blood condense.


    If Keith didn''t have the unique refinement method of the purple tendrils, he would''ve had to do it the old-fashioned way. Now with the help of the marks, he could isolate the attribute from the blood qi and absorb the pure-blood essence. This was way more efficient than drinking gallons of human blood every day.


    As all these thoughts surfaced in his mind, he continued circulating the blood qi throughout the body. Several hours passed and he opened his eyes again. This time his blood qi calmed down quite a bit.


    The excess blood qi had been absorbed successfully and was marked with his very own attribute. The blood core absorbed the blood qi like a sponge and layers of condensed blood qi appeared on its surface.


    ''It''s quite stable for now.'' Keith got up from his bed and moved his limbs.


    *swish* *swish*


    The air split as he threw a light punch and kick, the end creating a small vortex.


    '' Not bad. The muscle strength has greatly improved after absorbing the blood qi, and now merging completely, the body feels much lighter.''


    After swinging his arm a couple of more times, he thought about testing his strength against other vampires.


    It was already dawn, but because the sun didn''t appear until way later, the outside looked as dark as midnight. he changed his clothes to a more comfortable pair of training suit. it was a mix of red and black textures with quite flexible materials. The family logo was stitched on the right side of the chest area.


    He headed to the training grounds, where he fought against Marvin. After getting there he noticed that there was someone still practicing this early. Sounds of air splitting were heard and sometimes sharp cracks.


    As he entered the training grounds he saw his second uncle Brad using a curved sword to perform flawless moves. The rhythm that he was in, swinging his sword, splitting the air, looked marvelous, to say the least.


    " Oh! it''s you Keith" His uncle peeked from the side, still swinging his sword flawlessly.


    " Yeah! I was just looking for a partner to test out my strength. I think my core is stabilized enough. I want to see how I fare against others." Keith replied.


    "You came at the right time. I was also tired of all the members who kept avoiding me in the arena. Father won''t fight anymore and everyone else is just meh." An unsatisfied expression appeared on his face.


    Looking at him swinging his sword flawlessly, Keith clenched his fists. he knew that his uncle was a viscount, far stronger than him. There was no way he could defeat him. Not yet anyway. Good thing was that Brad was always good to him, even when he was weak and frail.


    "Don''t be nervous, I will fight with you without my sword and use only one hand." He smirked at him.


    he stopped moving and Keith saw his ripped muscles as the tight grey half-shirt stuck to his body. The blood-red sword dimmed and he put it inside his sheath.


    "Now come here! show me everything you got." He gestured with his fingers.


    Keith walked towards the center of the arena and stood three meters away from him. Like brad had said, he put his right hand to the back and didn''t hold the sword.


    "Don''t just stand there, come at me. I am getting bored by looking at your nervous face."


    Keith took a deep breath and jumped straight with his fist aimed at his face. Due to his enhanced physique, he took a split second to reach his face. He was fast, way faster than before, but Brad didn''t move from the spot. His glowing red eyes looked straight at him as a slight smirk appeared on his face.


    Brad moved his head sideways and turned his shoulder. The punch missed his head, but Keith didn''t stop there. He threw a punch from the left hand and also moved his leg to strike him from below.


    " As a total newbie, your moves are quite predictable." Brad swiftly dodged his attacks without moving much.


    " You have never trained in your life, so it''s understandable that your moves are clumsy and full of openings."


    He grabbed Keith''s arm and turned him 360. Keith was overwhelmed by the strength, but he resisted with all his might, barely able to slip away.


    He landed on the ground hard and a slight tremor shook the arena.


    " Whoa! When did you reach the middle stage baron? Your strength is not bad..."


    Without letting his finish, Keith used a sweeping leg kick to put him out of balance. he put all his strength into his legs and veins popped on his head.


    *Thwack*


    He hit Brad''s legs with a loud crack, but what happened after was something outside of his expectations. Brad didn''t dodge at first, but when his leg was right next to his, one of his legs sprang up. The other leg collided with Keith''s but it didn''t budge from the position. The other leg that was up in the air pinned his leg as Brad turned sideways moving Keith along with him.


    Keith was dragged by the movement and as he turned half a circle, he let go of Keith''s legs. The momentum threw him away and he rolled over the floor, stopping after gripping the floor as he was moving.


    " Not bad, I see you can control your strength quite well. But in the real world, strength will only take you so far. You lack severely in fighting techniques and battle experience. Not to mention you can''t use blood-qi skills and techniques. I know you''ve just reached baron rank and couldn''t use blood condensing before, so getting all this strength would''ve made you feel quite powerful. But trust me when I say this, Physical strength only works when your opponent is way weaker than you. If a Baron with decent blood-qi techniques fights with you, you will see how important skills are."


    Keith got back up on his feet and processed everything his uncle was saying. he was new to the blood-qi techniques and didn''t know anything about it. he only knew how to condense blood-qi and that''s it.


    "Tell you what, fight with me every day, and I will teach you some basic blood-qi techniques. And if you can endure, I might teach you my advanced version of family martial arts."


    A smile appeared on Keith''s face as he opened his mouth.


    "Don''t underestimate me that much, I will catch up to you in no time." Kieth looked straight into Brad''s eyes.


    "Good, I would very much like that." A grin appeared on his face.

 Chapter 21: Four Disciplines ( Part 1)

    *boom *crack* *crack*


    cracking sounds could be heard throughout the arena as two figures exchanged blows. The tall figure looked calm, but there was a surprised look on his face.


    Keith, who was a couple of inches shorter than his uncle, bombarded him with all his attacks. Brad was giving him some pointers while he was throwing his punches and kicks.


    An hour had passed but both of them kept sparring without showing any sign of fatigue.


    While this was happening outside, something interesting was happening inside Keith as well.


    [ Analyzing opponent''s attack patterns ]


    [ The opponent is using an unknown martial art with the help of his blood-qi.]


    [Calculating Blood-qi level]


    This window popped up before him as he started fighting. Then as he kept sparring with him, the analysis bar was moving further and further.


    [ Analysis complete.]


    [ Blood-qi level : High Viscount]


    [ Blood core : Viscount ]


    [ Blood-qi usage : 34%]


    [ Martial arts recorded : unnamed martial arts(recorded for future reference)]


    He had to spar with him for an hour to get all the information regarding him. Even though Brad was holding back quite a bit.


    " You are adapting quite well. I didn''t know you had a knack for fighting."


    " Now that you have warmed up a bit, let me tell you more about Blood-qi. As you already know, blood-qi is the source of power for a vampire. It accumulates over time as you consume more blood. It helps you strengthen your body and create a blood core.


    The faster you condense blood-qi the quicker it accumulates and forms a blood core. However, that is not the most important usage of blood-qi. You see, blood-qi is not some static energy. It is a type of life energy that could be morphed into anything that you desire.


    But there is a catch. Whatever you convert your blood-qi into has to be deeply understood by your mind. For there is an infinite amount of things that could go wrong. And to keep the blood-qi in the same state requires tremendous concentration. "


    Brad took out his blood-red sword from the sheath. The shining edges gave off a chilling aura that Keith unconsciously raised his guard.


    "What do you think this is?" Brad said as he pointed the sword at Keith.


    " Don''t tell me.." Keith stared at the blade and then at his uncle.


    "Yes, it''s a weapon manifested by my will by shaping the blood-qi to my desire. A manifested blood-esper weapon."


    " Is that a fancy word for this kind of weapon?" Keith stared at the blade as it faded into thin air.


    " Yes and No. The term comes from the type of Blood-qi user that creates it. Let me tell you the four different types of blood-qi users you will encounter in the future. Father would''ve told you if he wasn''t busy, I guess I spoiled it for you."


    He extended his arm and a cloud of blood-qi appeared above his hand.


    " For tens of millennia, the vampires researched the blood-qi, trying to find out all its secrets. What started as ancient techniques evolved and became more refined. The originals only imparted 3 types of Knowledge, martial techniques, summoning techniques, and Blood rituals.


    But ten thousand years ago the 13th King discovered the fourth type of blood-qi manipulation. This was so hard to achieve that only a small number of vampires in history reached the pinnacle of it. We call them Blood Espers."


    " So you are one of those blood espers? Then why is grandpa giving the inheritance to me?" Keith was puzzled as to why his uncle wasn''t involved in the family decisions.


    " Because I refused him countless times. Now he doesn''t bother me about it." Brad shook his head.


    " When you enter the Crimson Academy, many advanced blood-qi users will come as well. From the top descendant families, who have learned the various advanced blood-qi techniques before setting foot in the academy. It is true that the academy is responsible for teaching the advanced techniques, but some top families who have connections with the council ignore it. Though they only teach the starting phases so as not to upset the council too much, the descendants get a lot of advantages in the academy.


    " You on the other hand just condensed your blood core. You don''t have any experience manipulating blood-qi."


    " Are the descendants that strong? They are just barons just like me." Keith asked.


    " You might think that you are plenty strong after achieving blood core so fast, but let me tell you


    The descendants of the top families are nothing to scoff at. I can guarantee you some of them even reached baron class before 13 years of age. There is a reason our family is at the bottom of the descendant families. We can''t compare ourselves to them, be it blood-qi techniques, resources, and connections." The blood-qi above Brad''s hand swirled and changed shapes. A humanoid figure wearing robes appeared above his hands.


    " What is that?" Keith questioned with curiosity.


    The hazy figure moved its hands and several symbols appeared on the air and the ground.


    " Blood ritualists! They are the brains of the vampire society. They design and create all the arrays and artifacts. They build complex structures throughout the continent. With limitless knowledge unrivaled in the continent The blood ritualists at the top are comparable to the King. Assisting the council with their experiments as well as managing the various rituals. The blood coins we use were made by them." Brad showed the various architectural marvels throughout the continent to Keith using his blood-qi.


    " So they must be the most influential vampires on the continent. How many blood ritualists are there?" Keith asked with a curious face.


    "Very few. After the blood Espers, they are the second rarest type of blood-qi users on the continent. I don''t know the exact number but there are only several hundred known ritualists. And ritualists at the stage of Archduke are rarer than Kings."


    Keith was really fascinated by the different blood-qi disciplines. A whole new domain opened up to him, as he was just starting out on this continent, more knowledge about the vampires and Blood-qi provided him a better understanding of the power structures.


    Before this, he only thought that only the blood-qi amount and blood core level decided the power structure but it was more complicated than that. With that in mind, he looked at his uncle who was changing his blood-qi and was about to explain the rest.


    The thick red smoke changed shape and two figures appeared. A humanoid and a weird-looking blob that was moving in different directions.

 Chapter 22: Four Disciplines( Part 2)

    " This is the third disciple, Blood summoning." The blob changed shape and turned into a beast two times larger than the other figure.


    " The vampires who specialize in this discipline are called blood summoners. They use their blood-qi to control beasts and turn them into their loyal servants. Then they slowly take control of their life force, feeding them with blood-qi. When it reaches a certain saturation point, the beast evolves into a blood-qi summon detached from the physical world, solely staying inside its master''s blood core. "


    " How do they do that?" Keith asked without hiding his impatience.


    " I wish I knew. It is also very hard to reach that level. Most summoners can''t get past this barrier. And even if I knew I couldn''t teach you without the council''s permission."


    " Blood summoners work as the hunting dogs of the council. They control a large force of summons and keep a lookout throughout the continent and country''s borders. If a war breaks out they are the ones that deploy their summons to fight the first wave.


    " As they are the third rarest discipline, they are considered quite influential if you could reach at least viscount level."


    " What is the final discipline? From the looks of it, this might be the most common across the continent." Keith figured out that this was a descending order of rarity so the last one was the least rare, so it was the most abundant.


    " Correct, last but not the least is the most common discipline of the blood-qi manipulators. The blood warriors. Although they are the majority, their strength shouldn''t be underestimated. They control the military, the council''s hunting squad and most elders on the council table are blood warriors.


    " And some of the strongest vampires on the continent are blood warriors. Plus they are the most versatile." Brad explained as he showed Keith different types of blood warriors using different weapons.


    "Are there vampires who learned all four disciplines?"


    " Oh you can try, but trust me it''s useless. Unless you are naturally talented, it is insanely hard to learn two disciplines at once. The blood-qi manipulation works differently for each discipline. You have to unlearn a lot of things to even attempt the other field.


    That is not to say there are no bi-disciplined vampires. quite the contrary. But most of them can''t reach the baron level. But when some of them get past that barrier, they become insanely strong.


    "Let me tell you a little secret, the king is both a blood warrior and an Esper. He is primarily an Esper at King level, but he practiced blood warrior discipline to the Archduke level as well. So you can imagine how strong he is, and this news is almost 100 years old."


    "If it''s 100 years ago, I can''t imagine how strong he will be at this moment." Keith sighed and tried to process all this information. It was like a whole new power scale that was introduced to him.


    "But you have to keep in mind that after someone reaches that kind of level, it is extremely hard to grow further. I''m sure he improved but I doubt it would be significant."


    Brad dispersed his blood-qi and materialized his sword.


    " Blood warriors can only use physical non-living objects attached to them, boosting their strength with blood-qi. They can''t conjure new weapons like espers or manipulate things that are detached from them. So they mostly use strengthening on their bodies."


    " Are you a blood warrior as well?" Keith knew he was holding back, without using his sword.


    Brad didn''t answer and smiled as he put the sword inside the sheath.


    " When I first heard that you reached baron level and created a blood core, I didn''t believe it. I thought the old man was messing with all of us. But after the fight with Marvin, I was convinced. But I was also curious to know how someone could reach this level so fast, given they didn''t have any means to practice blood condensation.


    I talked to father about this and found out that your physique changed after the blood ritual. But he also said there was something odd about your growth. You see it takes so many years to reach the baron level. The geniuses who reach this level at 12 or 13 years of age, start practicing blood condensation in their mother''s womb.


    You didn''t even know how to use blood-qi, and you reached baron level overnight. Father buried the assumption and told the family that you were secretly practicing and didn''t show anyone. he buried this deep for the sake of the family.


    It is only natural that the next heir shouldn''t be in the middle of a controversy. He didn''t want to think more about this. So he also instructed me to keep it under wraps. I don''t care too much about the family, but to see someone like you, an anomaly, my instincts can''t rest."


    Brad closed the gap between them and appeared in front of his face. His huge frame covered Keith from all directions.


    " What do you mean?" Keith took a defensive stance as his mind panicked. He got all this power thanks to the purple marks and the system. He didn''t want the others to be suspicious and interrogate him, worse send him to the council to become a guinea pig.


    " Don''t worry I won''t bite you. I was fascinated by your growth, so I want to know how far you can go. You are my beloved nephew. I don''t want to see your potential get wasted." Brad grabbed Keith''s right hand and a red aura covered him.


    Keith''s body froze in place. He could see and hear everything but he couldn''t move his body in the slightest. He couldn''t even utter a sound.


    ''What did he do to me?''


    " Now use your blood-qi to break my suppression." Brad said as he squinted his eyes.


    ''How do I do that? Aren''t I using my blood-qi all this time? How do I break the blood-qi suppression?'' Keith racked his brain to think of a solution.

 Chapter 23: Warrior Frame

    Keith''s whole body was frozen still; a red aura covering his entire body. He tried everything, from using his blood-qi to strengthening his muscles to expel the blood-qi that was surrounding him.


    Whatever he tried, turned out to be useless. Getting frustrated by the passing moment, he tried to focus on his blood core. The blood-qi circulating throughout his body calmed down.


    ''The Blood-qi surrounding me is above baron level. Even if I try to expel it, it won''t budge. The only thing I could do is use the purple tendrils.''


    He focused his mind on the mark on his right palm. it crawled out and touched the blood-qi layer surrounding him.


    *sap*


    Brad immediately let go of his hand and stared at him with interest.


    " As I suspected, you have a big secret. I didn''t even feel any change in your blood-qi but my blood-qi dipped quite fast. "


    ''Did he sense the tendrils?'' Keith was on full alert, but he tried to keep a straight face.


    "I also had a hypothesis that you had some kind of special ability that allowed you to get stronger fast. I won''t pry further but let me tell you one thing. Don''t let anyone get the wind of it. Even if you trust them, it is better to keep it to yourself.


    "And I advise you to get rid of everyone who already knows or will know. This is a grave issue, if a high-level council member learns there is such a skill, they will do anything to get it."


    " I don''t know what it is. Maybe it is my physique." Keith lied to alleviate the suspicion.


    " Seems like it. And from what I could observe, absorbing blood-qi from other sources, be it blood or direct blood-qi connection is your specialty. But normal vampires can''t exert blood-qi like this, and higher-level vampires will immediately know if their blood-qi is being absorbed. So you should use it as discreetly as possible."


    "I don''t have any other means to attack higher-level vampires than this. My blood-qi has gone up quite a bit but I don''t think without practicing blood-qi techniques I will fare any better. Unless I pin them and absorb their blood-qi." Keith contemplated.


    "But they could seal their blood-qi inside their body." Brad objected.


    "I c... can try right, I don''t have any other means." Keith cursed himself inside for almost spilling a major secret. He didn''t want to test if his uncle was for or against cannibalism. He was already annoyed that Brad figured out his special ability, but he was able to mask it as a physical trait.


    ''I need to be more careful from now on.''


    "Can''t you teach me blood-qi techniques? Without it, I can''t match Vampires above a baron. Unless.."


    "Alright, I suppose I can teach you some techniques. The council did put restrictions on what skills can be learned outside the academy, but when did I ever listen to anyone? " A grin appeared on Brad''s face.


    "Are you going to go against their rules?"


    " Not necessarily. I won''t teach you advanced blood-qi techniques but I could show you some unique skills that I created. They are not regulated by the council, not yet anyway."


    Brad created a red humanoid figure using his blood-qi.


    " When you start learning blood-qi techniques, you need to be at least baron level, or you can''t sustain the blood-qi for even a moment. It is absolutely essential to have a stabilized blood core, no matter how crude.


    "Now, watch closely. When you use blood condensation, you circulate your blood-qi throughout your body. It is extremely diluted and doesn''t have a fixed place to stay. What I am about to teach you is the basics of Blood warrior''s technique."


    "Firstly you have to think of your body as a collection of points. Every major joint, every major place that blood-qi branches out. Then you have to create a frame connecting every point throughout your body. This will take some time, but after you achieve it, it will work as a secondary frame for your body. Your power will multiply depending upon how solid the frame is."


    Keith listened carefully and looked at the figure as his uncle showed a sample of the frame. It ran across the bones but it was like a chain of countless small strands connected in a careful manner.


    The frame looked so geometrically appeasing that he wondered who came up with this technique. He looked carefully and tried to imprint the image in his mind.


    " Do you have any questions?" Brad asked.


    " Does the blood-qi frame stay permanently or does it fade after some time? And how long does it typically take to create such a frame?" Keith was worried that the frame couldn''t hold out during a fight.


    " Great question. it depends on how you create your frame. Usually, if you familiarize yourself with the frame, then changing from normal blood-qi to the frame takes just a second, or even less. As for the second question, it also entirely depends on your understanding.


    I achieved my first iteration of the frame about two months after I started practicing. I hope you can do it earlier. This will test your imagination. The frame you saw is the most basic one that was passed on by the originals. I also tweaked it a little bit after decades of practice to create a perfectly compatible frame. "


    When Keith was contemplating how he could make a blood-qi frame for himself before the competition, someone else entered the arena.


    " I see you''ve already taught him the technique. very well, I don''t have to worry about him for the time being. You can take care of his training from now on." Lex said as he stood across the two.


    " Hey! I am just a sparring partner, I will only show him the fundamentals. I don''t have any time to babysit." Brad rebuked.


    But he turned around to see Keith''s reaction, and there was no visible change in his face.


    "Besides, my nephew is old and strong enough to do as he wishes. He doesn''t need someone overlooking him every second of his life."


    Lex shook his head. He knew Brad''s personality; he always wanted to be free of responsibility and did everything on his own. Lex knew he would train Keith well, but he didn''t want to show that he was invested in it.


    " Alright, do as you wish. And Keith, I hope you prepare well before going to the academy. There will be a lot of obstacles for you and I won''t be there to save you."


    "Grandpa, can you help me with something? " Keith asked as Lex was about to turn around and leave.

 Chapter 24: Lets Spar Again

    Lex listened to Keith''s request, and a soft smile appeared on his face.


    " That won''t be much of a problem, but you should be careful. I know they can''t hurt you, but if they find out you have a soft spot for her, they will go after her." Lex warned before leaving the arena.


    Keith also knew it was dangerous for Rena if they thought she was important to him. Still, it was good that she would stay near him after this. This way he could better protect her.


    Brad was standing by the side immersed in his own thoughts. He didn''t think too much about Keith''s request, rather he was thinking about how to help Keith learn the blood-qi techniques.


    He was also fascinated by the new power of his nephew. He previously heard and seen many different types of unique abilities but this was the first time he encountered such an ability.


    "How about another spar?" Brad peeked Keith from the corner of his eyes.


    " Sure! I could definitely use some battle experience. Besides, I was itching to kick your ass after you said I was a baby." Keith cracked his hands.


    "Oh, I like that confidence. Hopefully, you won''t disappoint me like the first time." Brad tried to provoke Keith.


    Keith grinned as he sprinted straight towards him. The air split in half as he appeared in front of him.


    *boom* *crack*


    The whole arena shook as they engaged in the spar.


    After an hour both of them stopped as Keith was quite exhausted after fighting with all his strength.


    " You are adapting quite well, now go get some rest, we will spar tomorrow. In the meantime, try to create your own warrior frame."


    Keith talked a little more about the warrior frame and what else he needed to keep in mind before attempting the technique. Then he returned to his room.


    Upon entering his room, there was a glass of blood as usual placed on the table. He picked it up and gulped the blood in one breath.


    *hah*


    He looked around and didn''t see Rena. The room was cleaned well like any other day, so he knew she came here this morning.


    Sitting on his bed, he analyzed all the data he got from the spar. Focusing his mind on the mark, the status window popped up. He noticed a new red blinking mark in the corner.


    [ Martial arts recorded : unnamed ]


    [ Grade : Viscount ]


    [ Blood-qi usage : Viscount(55%) , Baron (95%) ]


    [ Blood warrior frame recorded : unnamed ]


    [ Grade : Count ]


    [ Blood-qi usage : Count (25%) ,Viscount(66%) ,Baron(insufficient) ]


    " Damn, I don''t have enough blood-qi to replicate the exact warrior frame."


    The warrior frame that he managed to copy into his system was a count-level frame. He needed way more blood-qi to start implementing this on his body. As for the martial art, he could practice it, as the blood-qi requirement was met.


    If he wanted to build a warrior frame before reaching viscount, he needed to make his very own. This won''t be the same as the count level frame, but it will boost his strength significantly.


    Circulating his blood-qi to recover his stamina, he sat there for some time thinking about the warrior frame. After he felt a little better, he got up and walked to the open space in his room.


    *swish* *swish*


    He followed the moves by looking at the system and followed the instructions. Getting familiarized with the rhythm he focused his mind and practiced every move. This also gave him some insight into his flawed moves earlier. He never learned propper martial arts but with the body of a baron, he was fast and strong. Every move he did was a result of his quick reflexes not because he practiced them.


    Not realizing how long he had been practicing he stopped after repeating a set of moves. The sky was not dark, the hazy light reflected like cloudy weather. It was already afternoon.


    Rena brought the lunch after a while.


    "Rena, I talked to grandpa and he approved of your stay in these quarters. Just move to the adjacent room. Bring all your belongings here and move as early as you can." Keith said as he sipped the blood.


    " Thank you, young master. I will move in right away." Rena was visibly happy after hearing this.


    As Keith instructed, Rena moved to the next room that day. Keith was busy practicing martial arts. He made a lot of progress after focusing on the exact moves instructed by the system.


    The next day arrived and Keith was already at the arena. He wanted to test out his progress by sparring with Brad. He was eager and wanted to see how he fared against him now. He knew he couldn''t defeat him right now, but he could at least see a frown on his face. This was his goal.


    He waited for ten minutes before Brad entered the arena.


    " You''re quite early. I didn''t know you were also a battle maniac like me." He approached the arena with small steps.


    " Don''t misunderstand, I am here to whoop your ass old man." Keith provoked him even further.


    " You seem to have forgotten yesterday''s beatings. very well, I will try to take it a little seriously."


    The air around him turned heavy as a red aura covered his body. Seeing him release his blood-qi, Keith also circulated his blood-qi in full force. He was able to block the aura and stood unaffected.


    "Now show me what you learned in a day." Brad gestured with his hand.


    Without saying anything Keith''s figure blurred and appeared in front of Brad. It was very fast for a regular observer below baron rank, but Brad could see his movements. Still, it surprised him that he was able to increase his speed quite a bit from yesterday.


    Brad used his left arm to block the incoming punch, but before the punch could hit him, Keith turned sideways and used his left leg to throw a kick from the other side. The full force of his blood-qi was used to throw that kick.


    ''... This'' Brad squinted his eyes after encountering such a move.


    ''His ability is unique, but it can''t help him learn my martial arts and mimic them this fast. That requires an absolute genius.'' Several thoughts came to his mind.


    The move did surprise him, but he was experienced enough to evade this attack. But the more they exchanged blows, the more perfected Keith''s moves became.

 Chapter 25: Joining a Hunt

    The awkward moves from yesterday seemed like a distant dream and the one fighting in front of him looked like a seasoned baron. The moves flowed perfectly in a rhythm too familiar to Brad, as he had been practicing them for all his life.


    '' Is that his ability as well or he is a hidden genius.'' Brad thought.


    As for Keith, he was performing all the complicated moves without batting an eye. His silhouette slashed forward and countered his uncle''s every attack. He knew Brad wasn''t going all out but his output had increased.


    '' He''s not even using direct blood-qi suppression. Most of his blood-qi is internalized. He is keeping his distance from my hand and solely using martial arts like me.''


    What he wanted was to force him to show more techniques, so he could study it, more precisely the system could record it. But he didn''t see any new techniques displayed by his uncle.


    '' I want to know how he created that sword, the Esper power is something I really need. I don''t know if I can practice that, well I won''t know until I try.'' Several thoughts ran in his head as he was fighting.


    His martial art model was getting perfect with each exchange of blows, but that was it. No new techniques were shown.


    "You are getting good at this! If nobody knew who you were, they would think you are some kind of genius." Blocking the attacks with his hands, Brad spoke up.


    " You overpraise me! I''m just curious about new things." Keith replied with a smile.


    " How is your frame creation going? Did you conceptualize a valid frame?"


    "Not yet, I think the blood-qi requirement is higher, so I need more time to generate a suitable warrior frame." Keith replied.


    " This will take time, so you need to be patient about it. I heard you will go to the academy after a couple of months. I hope you can create a good frame before that."


    " I will try my best. Can you tell me how you make that sword?" Keith asked suddenly.


    " I''m afraid I can''t. Not because I don''t want to, because you can''t use it now. Even though I will be violating the laws of the council, that is not my biggest concern. The Esper techniques require an innate affinity and more blood-qi requirement than blood-warriors. when you can''t even generate a warrior frame, it will be waste of time if you try to practice Esper techniques."


    " How about after I learn the warrior frame? Will you teach me the Esper technique?" Keith looked at Brad in anticipation.


    " If you can create a baron-level warrior frame, I will teach you the fundamentals of Blood-Esper discipline. How about that?" Brad raised his eyebrows with interest.


    " Sounds good to me."


    The spar continued for hours until Keith exhausted himself. He could still spar, but compared to Brad who was a battle monster, he was nowhere near with regards to stamina.


    After coming back to his room, he plopped down on his bed.


    ''Man, I am still short on blood-qi to create the viscount level warrior frame. I guess I have to settle with a baron-level frame for now. I wish I had more money. I could ask grandpa, but taking such a huge sum will surely arouse suspicion, and someone could look into it out of curiosity.'' Keith shook his head.


    Getting back up, he walked out of his room and entered Rena''s room. It was not noon yet, and the sky was relatively dark. When he entered the room he saw a clean shining space, which he couldn''t believe was empty for who knows how long. Rena was cleaning the windows with a short broom.


    She noticed the door open and turned around to see who had come. Her face lit up as she saw him standing inside the room.


    " Young master, welcome! Sorry if things are not set up properly, but I will finish everything up in an hour." Rena dusted off her dress which was a little dusty.


    " No, you did a great job, I think it looks very good. Especially when you consider the room was in shambles. I am surprised you could pull this off in one day." Keith admired the decoration as he looked around the room.


    " Oh! I was here to tell you that I will be out of the castle for today. So don''t go looking for me. And it''s not what you think, I won''t be in danger."


    " I will believe you. But anything unexpected can come up, so always be careful."


    " Alright, you stay here. Don''t go wandering around the castle."


    After assuring her, he left the castle and came to the plaza below the hill.


    He already spent all his money while leveling up his blood-qi. Now he was left with barely any blood coins. He wanted to find more ways in which he could acquire vampire blood without arousing any suspicions.


    He walked across the street covering his face with a hooded leather jacket. After looking around for some time he found a group looking at a wall. He approached the group and saw a poster for a hunt.


    It was for a group of humans who went missing a couple of days earlier. There have been sightings of low-level ghouls outside the city walls. Due to the vast blood forests outside the settlement, the city guards usually gave these tasks to mercenaries. The reward for eradicating ghouls was two gold-blood coins per ghoul.


    He saw his grandpa''s signature stamp on the bottom right corner of the poster. There was no serious requirement for the post except it wanted vampires above the 4th stage of blood-condensing phase.


    Especially when barons were rare in the society, it made sense that there were no barons in mercenary business, at least not in this settlement. So he didn''t mind giving it a go. He also wanted to test out another theory.


    '' Well, it''s a collective job for low-level vampires, so there won''t be any dangers anyway. And the rewards are not that bad for a simple hunt like this. But first I need to cover my face. I showed it to the manager of that blood shop, but from now on I will keep it hidden while doing these kinds of things.''


    He took out a mask that he bought earlier. It was a simple black-colored leather mask that was covering his face below the eyes. Then he walked towards the registration office which was around the corner.


    Several people were waiting there to be registered. He waited patiently for his turn and looked at all the mercenaries. They were all around the mid-stages of the blood condensing phase. The one doing the registration was at the 6th stage, wearing the uniform of the city guards.


    '' I was so immersed in fighting with a viscount that I forgot how I was already stronger than most of the vampires.''


    When his turn came he filled out the documents. He changed his name and other details. The recruiter read the form and stamped it. He handed Keith a metal tag.


    " Here you go, ah... Drew right?"


    " Yes," Keith replied.


    " Stay together and don''t wander around the blood forest." The recruiter warned before moving to the next applicant.


    ''Stay together, hah! Like I will purposefully lower my reward.'' A soft chuckle escaped Keith''s mouth inside the mask.

 Chapter 26: Ghoul Baron

    *krrr* *krrr*


    " Hey don''t go there! Stay with the team." A bulky man shouted towards the hooded man.


    ''We haven''t encountered a single life in an hour. Is the blood forest this lifeless?'' Keith looked at the red bushes, a rattling noise came from there.


    ''Forget it, I will leave the group if I encounter any ghouls.''


    As the group of ten mercenaries moved forward, the silence in the surrounding area increased. It was evident, they were moving away from the settlement. This group was one of many that ventured into the forest.


    *Grrr* *Grrr*


    A bizarre sound was heard from a distance away from the group. Everyone turned their heads in that direction. There it stood, a vicious-looking silhouette with its bright red eyes and big fangs. The body was behind a shadow, so they couldn''t see the whole body.


    "There it is, that damned ghoul. Everyone prepare for an attack." The bulky man instructed everyone.


    Clutching their weapons, they dashed forward behind the leader. The ghoul that was looking at them behind the shadow, moved forward as well. The leader clashed with his large metal club.


    *WHAM*


    The ghoul stepped back a few steps. It growled loudly and opened its mouth and a large tongue that was several feet long came out. It was blood red and dripping with bizarre saliva.


    '' 5th stage blood condensing. From the looks of it, it has no intelligence. But its blood-qi is way higher than the regular 5th stage blood condensing vampire.'' Keith silently examined the ghoul and its power.


    The ten people surrounded the ghoul from all sides. The leader was in the front with 3 vampires by his side. Others covered the ghoul''s remaining sides. Keith was standing on the left side of the monster. Looking at the best, It towered over 8 feet with dark red skin.


    " Attack it from all directions, don''t let it get away!" The leader shouted.


    Everyone started to attack the ghoul from all sides. Keith strengthened his fist blood-qi and punched its body.


    *Crack*


    The ghoul rolled over to the right, after getting hit by him. Its abdomen was caved in, but there was no open wound as the skin was really tough. Still, the cracking sound indicated that the rib cage was broken.


    ''Shit! It''s too weak. I didn''t even use half of my blood-qi. No wonder they were recruiting 4th stage vampires.''


    All the attention was now on him. He put the ghoul down with a single punch. Not that it was unheard of, but for vampires below baron level, it was not an easy task. Ghouls were really vicious and sturdy, immobilizing them required the cooperation of several vampires of its stage.


    ''Oh well, the cat is out of the bag. No point holding back.'' Keith kicked the ghoul in the head and its head was sent flying in the distance with the tongue fluttering like a cloth.


    " Amazing work young man, mind telling us which stage you are in? " The leader offered a handshake to Keith.


    "9th stage Blood-condensing," Keith replied to him without shaking his hand.


    " Ahhhah nice, I like your confidence. I have been at the 6th stage for several decades." The leader took back his hand in embarrassment.


    " I will count this as your individual hunt, as you dealt with it single-handedly. Now let''s mark this place on the map. We will collect the body after scouting the area."


    While everyone was getting ready to move out, Keith was looking at the dead ghoul from the corner of his eyes. Then he sensed a blood-qi signature from the other direction. The others haven''t sensed anything yet.


    " You guys go, I will catch up in a bit."


    " I know you are strong, but don''t stay here alone, other ghouls might be lurking here." The leader warned.


    Keith stayed back as they vanished into the forest.


    '' Now, time to find out if my little hypothesis is correct or not?'' He stretched his hand and touched the neck of the dead ghoul.


    [ Corrupted blood-qi detected.]


    [ Blood essence conversion will be lower due to chaotic energy.]


    [ Converting...]


    [ Blood essence absorbed: 1]


    [ Blood essence absorbed: 1]


    ...


    ...


    ''That''s it.'' Looking at the status window, he heaved a sigh, underwhelmed by the result.


    Only ten blood essence were absorbed from the ghoul. According to the system, the blood-qi was corrupted, and untangling the energy resulted in the loss of most of the blood-qi.


    He looked in the direction where he sensed the blood-qi, it was the same as this one. Without thinking further, he dashed in that direction with inhuman speed.


    *Grrrr* *Grrrr*


    Several bizarre sounds echoed as he approached that place.


    *swish*


    Stopping right before a large tree, he saw dozens of ghouls surrounding the tree trunk. When he looked up, he saw a giant ghoul with folded wings hanging upside down from the tree.


    The blood-qi emanating from it was subtle, probably because it was purposefully hiding its presence. But Keith could sense it. Without a doubt, it was a baron-level ghoul as he sensed a blood core inside. it was a mid-level baron blood core.


    '' That ghoul is probably resting, as it hasn''t noticed my presence yet. There is no spike in his blood-qi circulation.''


    Keith dashed forward to their herd of ghouls, circulating blood-qi throughout the body. He wanted to finish all the small fries before the ghoul baron woke up.


    *boom* *crack* *crack*


    He pierced the ghouls in their vulnerable spots, moving swiftly among them. Just in a couple of minutes, he finished half of the ghouls. The remaining ghouls started to gang up on him, but with his superior strength, they stood no chance.


    *BOOM*


    Blasting three ghouls at once, and then cracking the heads of the remaining ones, he stood below the giant tree. The corpses were littered all around the tree. It took him only a couple of minutes to finish them off. The martial art played a key role as it allowed him to move efficiently among the herd rather than using brute force to break their formation.


    Now the final ghoul remained, hanging ever so casually on the tree with the wings folded all around it. After all this commotion, it still hadn''t uncovered its wings.


    '' Good, stay like that. It will be easier if you stay motionless until I finish you off.''


    He circulated blood-qi in his legs and the ground cracked. He locked into the head of the ghoul and jolted up like a bullet.


    The ground cracked as he shot upwards, moving straight towards the ghoul. He extended his hands and channeled blood into the fingertips to make them harder. The frightening momentum coupled with the influx of blood-qi in his hands was enough to deal a lethal blow to the ghoul if it stayed still like that.


    Or so he thought.

 Chapter 27: No pain No Gain

    Before his hand could reach the ghoul''s head, it moved unnaturally and evaded his attack.


    *crack*


    He slashed through the tree branch and missed the ghoul''s body by a small margin. The ghoul extended its wings and flew upwards.


    ''Damn! Why did it have to wake up right now? Couldn''t it sleep for one more second?'' Keith cursed his luck or lack thereof.


    Now that the ghoul baron was up and awake, he had to fight with it using his full force. He had confidence in himself as he practiced martial arts with Brad. But the thing that worried him was the aerial maneuver of the ghoul. He couldn''t fight with the ghoul if it stayed in the air.


    ''I need to bring it down.'' Keith looked at the ghoul who was also looking at him.


    The red eyes glowing with viciousness, the menacing look on the face that was twisted and full of symmetrically wrinkled skin. The inner body was a lighter shade of red while the wings and outside were dark red, almost black.


    While Keith was getting ready to launch a second attack, the ghoul moved from its spot and circled the tree. Its gaze was locked on him.


    ''Yes, come to me''


    Keith stayed alert while maintaining his fighting stance. The ghoul stopped for a moment and darted towards him with great speed.


    *swish*


    The ghoul extended its arm and swung it as he approached him. The large claws almost scratched his face, but he moved back at the right time.


    He threw a punch to the side as he turned sideways. The punch connected to the wings, jolting the ghoul midair. Using the imbalance as a chance, he leaped forward with all his strength and delivered a powerful kick.


    *wham*


    The skin of the ghoul was really tough. Even after hitting him with all his blood-qi, there was barely a crack. But he was able to throw it off balance. Without wasting any more time, he launched a series of attacks that hit the ghoul''s body at point-blank range.


    *Grrrr* *Grrrr*


    The ghoul opened its mouth with annoyance, with a split jaw. A large tongue came out. The attacks were working as the ghoul couldn''t go away after getting tangled up by the kicks and punches.


    '' This ghoul is strong but it''s really stupid.'' Kieth came to this conclusion after fighting it.


    All he had to do now was to keep attacking it, as the damage piled up, it would eventually bring it down. His martial arts really helped him negate every attempt of the ghoul to catch his limbs.


    '' I can see why ghouls are no threat to the vampires. They are all brawns but no brains.''


    Attacking furiously without leaving any gap to let it stabilize its position, Keith struck its head from all directions. Concentrating his blood-qi on his hand he grabbed the tongue and pulled it hard.


    *GRRRRRR*


    A loud screech was heard as the tongue separated from the ghoul''s mouth. Blood started flowing from its mouth.


    ''Now comes the best part.'' Keith extended his hand in the mid-air, stuffing it inside the ghoul baron''s mouth. He circulated blood-qi to the entire arm to keep the hand stable and not let the ghoul maw it down.


    He instantly activated his purple mark and the purple tendrils extended and covered the entire severed tongue. They attacked themselves to the glands and slithered inwards.


    [ Blood essence absorbed : 1]


    [ Blood essence absorbed : 1 ]


    ...


    ...


    The ghoul was visibly weakening and it tried everything to shake his arm off. Keith didn''t let it use his arms. Using his legs and the other hand, he locked its limbs and pinned it down. The ghoul spiraled down the sky and crashed into the branch and dropped to the ground.


    Keith kept it pinned down without letting go. The blood essence was being absorbed each passing second and the ghoul''s body looked weaker and weaker. After struggling for a while it stopped and Keith loosened his grip.


    Looking at the status window, he found that he collected almost 400 blood essence. His body was starting to heat up. The overflowing level of blood-qi made him feel like he was inside a lava pool.


    ''Fuck'' He threw the ghoul away and rolled on the floor, trying to contain the blood-qi from erupting.


    ''Fuck fuck fuck fuck'' Banging his hands on the ground, he tried to calm this storm that was moving inside his body. It was similar to a brain breeze but much worse. If he wasn''t a vampire baron, this pain would have easily killed him.


    This was something he experienced earlier but on a much lower scale. When he absorbed the twenty glasses of vampire blood. That felt like a pinch to the hand compared to this. This was also partly because the ghoul blood was incredibly corrupt, full of violent disarray of energy.


    The blood-qi inside them is more potent than a regular vampire. It was a good thing he had the system to purify the blood-qi, but some of the potency was still left that was innate to their life energy.


    Keith tried to sit still, but the pain was really unbearable. He cracked the ground using his punches and two small craters formed where he was kneeling.


    ''Not good, if only I knew absorbing this much blood-qi will have this effect, damn.'' He cursed nonstop in his mind, while the blood-qi was circulating inside his body with breakneck speed.


    He clenched his teeth and focused his mind on his blood core, which was getting overloaded by the sudden influx of blood-qi. Still, most of the blood essence was yet to be converted into blood-qi. Focusing his mind on his blood core, he channeled the blood essence into it.


    Little by little the violent outburst stopped. He managed to condense the blood-qi and it slowly accumulated inside his blood core. The shade of the blood core changed slowly and became lighter as it absorbed more blood-qi.


    Now somewhat stabilized, he got up and looked at his status window. Panting heavily he was drenched in sweat. The violent outburst of blood-qi was really terrible. Looking at the window, a satisfied smile escaped his lips.


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Baron ]


    [ Body detected: Vampire ??? Hybrid ]


    [ Level 1.702 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    He gained almost 460 blood essence from the hunt alone. The ghoul baron gave him 450 blood essence and the normal ghoul gave him 10. There were thirty more ghouls lying dead. If he collected blood essence from each of them, he will definitely break through to the next stage.

 Chapter 28: Unknown Cave

    Keith was in a dilemma. On one hand, this was a great opportunity to break through to the next stage. But on the other hand, he would experience excruciation pain, maybe more than he felt right now.


    This was a tough decision to make, maybe because he knew he could get the remaining blood somehow. But this was a great opportunity as well. The thing that bothered him was that what if things didn''t go as he planned? What if the blood-qi erupted because of the influx?


    ''Maybe I should absorb the overflowing blood-qi that is already inside my body.'' Even though there was a chance he could contain it, he didn''t take the risk. He could always get more blood, but he couldn''t get a second life.


    Not only blood-qi eruption was more likely, but the chance of him turning into a ghoul was also there. While blood-qi eruption was not common in lower-level vampires, because the absorption of blood-qi was slower, the higher-level vampires had this problem while breaking through the next stage.


    The worst kind of blood-qi eruption could permanently make someone crippled, or in the extreme case, death. Keith wanted to avoid that. He initially thought that the system might handle everything for him, but as it turns out, it didn''t. He still had to bear the consequences.


    What the system offered him was a way to purify the blood and absorb it with efficiency. What happened to him afterward didn''t matter to the system? This was further proved by the current situation. From what he could feel, there was even more blood-qi left within the ghoul baron. If he didn''t retract his hands, he would''ve experienced a blood-qi eruption.


    ''I was this close to losing it all.'' Keith heaved a sigh of relief.


    Now, he had to absorb the blood-qi and condense it inside the blood core. Them only he could absorb more blood-qi without blowing himself up. He wasn''t an indestructible sponge after all. The growth he was having was already unheard of. He guessed that his physique had a role in this.


    The mark suppressed the other gene inside his body that was holding him back. That gene was way stronger than the vampire gene. Maybe that was the reason he could absorb this much blood-qi without killing himself. The amount of blood-qi required to go from baron to viscount required decades'' worth of hard work for an ordinary vampire.


    Keith looked at the corpses lying around the tree, trying to figure out what to do with those. He wanted to take them with him, but he knew it was unrealistic. He would immediately be spotted and arrested for smuggling ghouls. Sure, his grandpa could get him out, but the whole point was to keep his activities hidden.


    Making up his mind, he decided to give up, absorbing the blood essence from the ghouls. There was no point hiding them, either. The blood essence will dissipate into the surrounding after a while. That was why fresh blood has more concentration of blood essence.


    ''Might as well turn them in and get the rewards.'' Keith sighed as he looked at the pile of ghoul corpses.


    What was bothering him more was the fact that how he was going to explain to the authorities about the hunt. He killed over thirty ghouls and a ghoul baron. Unless he exposed his identity, they won''t let him go that easily. Someone this powerful going unnoticed will give the city guards a headache.


    ''Now that I stuffed myself, I don''t need coins anymore. Burying them here will be enough. Maybe I can still get some blood essence when I come back again.''


    Upon deciding this, he dug a large hole beside the tree. Filling the hole with all the ghoul bodies, he sealed it with a large rock and then some soil. Now the place looked normal as if nothing happened there.


    He still had one body count for the hunt, the first ghoul he killed. The entire group knew about this. Walking in the direction of the place where the first fight had occurred, he focused his mind on circulating the blood-qi and condensing it...


    The quicker he condensed all the blood-qi within his blood core, the earlier he could return here to absorb the rest. The overflowing blood-qi was still making him uncomfortable. Now he had to circulate the blood-qi all the time until he completely condensed it.


    Arriving at the place where the first ghoul was killed, he searched for the rest of the team. Expanding his senses, he located them using their scent. They were still scouting the area about a couple of miles from where he was.


    Keith followed their tracks and reached their location. They were near a large cave, preparing to enter inside. It was a downward slope, so they prepared for a while. When the leader noticed Keith''s presence, he approached him quickly.


    "Where have you been? I thought you encountered another ghoul." The bulky man said mockingly.


    "Fortunately, I didn''t. How about you? Any luck finding those monsters?" Keith asked while scanning the area.


    "Not yet. Somehow, they all disappeared into thin air. We checked the whole place but didn''t find a single one. The cave here has many footprints leading inside, but we are being cautious. To be honest, I was waiting for you to come back."


    "Is that so? I''m glad you waited for me." Keith patted his shoulder while moving towards the cave.


    "Well, you are the strongest among the group, so it was logical to wait for you before entering the cave." The leader followed Keith behind.


    "Did you sense something inside?" He asked.


    "No, but it''s awfully quiet inside. All I can sense is endless void." Keith replied as he squinted his eyes.


    What he sensed inside was something he never experienced before. Wherever he went, he could at least tell if there was some object or life present. Here, his senses were blind. He couldn''t even make out what the inside of the cave structure looked like.


    As he walked closer to the entrance of the cave, this eerie feeling solidified. He looked down from the side into the bottomless pit.


    "Was there such a big and deep cave in this area?" Keith asked.


    "Not that we knew of. Considering how many times the scouts came here, my guess is it appeared not too long ago." The leader replied.


    "Hmm... There is definitely something fishy going on here." Keith looked at the inner walls of the cave that were filled with weird marks he had never seen before.

 Chapter 29: Is that a Farm?

    Touching the inner wall of the cave, he found out that the marks were giving off very faint blood-qi signatures. It was so low in fact, he didn''t perceive it before touching the walls. This, combined with the fact that he couldn''t sense anything, suggested that it had something to do with vampires.


    It was also possible that some natural phenomena had occurred, but the presence of blood-qi suggested otherwise. It was most likely done by unnatural means. Looking at the complicated runes carved into the walls, he had a guess that it was related to that discipline.


    ''I know nothing about blood ritualists, so I can''t draw any conclusions yet. I need to investigate properly and gather more information.'' Keith thought to himself.


    "Are we going to enter the cave?" The leader asked.


    "Yes. Gather five of your strongest men and let the others guard the entrance." Keith said.


    Five vampires gathered along with the leader, standing behind Keith. He was inspecting the cave before diving in. When everyone gathered, Keith picked up a heavy stone and dropped it inside the cave. After a split second, a loud bang was heard.


    "It''s not too deep. I will count to three, everyone will jump at the same time, understood?" Keith said.


    Everyone nodded their heads.


    "Three.. two... one... Jump" Keith moved one foot forward and plunged into the darkness. Everyone else followed his lead.


    *BAM*


    A small crater formed as Keith landed on the cave floor. Looking around, he couldn''t see anything. He could only sense his body because of the flowing blood-qi. Several loud bangs resounded as the other six dropped to the ground.


    "Where is this place?"


    "Why can''t I see anything?"


    Two of them looked around warily. Keith could see others just fine, but everything else was shrouded in darkness.


    "Listen to me carefully. This cave is probably related to a blood ritual. I think that is the reason, the darkness is prevalent here. I can''t use my blood-qi to see outside the 5-meter range. Just follow me and don''t look anywhere else." Keith said as he walked forward.


    The seven silhouettes moved in the pitch-black darkness and entered deeper into the cave. There was no sign of any movement and life signatures. There was not even an echo of their voices that really sent a chill down their spine. The absolute silence creeped them out to no end.


    As they ventured deep inside the cave, lith finally sensed a faint blood-qi fluctuation. He hastened his pace and arrived at a large space. It was over a hundred meters wide and the ceiling was forty meters high. As he scanned the space, he found some disturbing things.


    "What are those?" The leader asked as he pointed his fingers towards hundreds of faintly glowing red balls on the walls.


    Everyone looked at the walls and spotted the weird-looking red balls. There was something inside the balls that could be seen through the transparent membrane.


    "I think those are ghouls." Keith declared his findings as he clenched his fists.


    "Ghouls! How can they be reproduced like this? Doesn''t it require a lot of.." One of the vampires spoke.


    "Yes... I think we found our missing humans." Keith said in a grave voice.


    "We should inform the count about this immediately. This is a serious threat to our vampire settlement." The leader spoke out, gnashing his teeth.


    "Oh, we will, definitely. But for now, we have to see what else is in store for us."


    Keith moved towards the red glowing balls that looked like cocoons. Upon arriving before them, he noticed a complicated symbol was carved into the membrane. It was also connected to the wall and each of these connected lines joined together in the center of the ceiling.


    A large mesh of runes was carved into the ceiling that was more condensed than the surrounding walls. Keith looked at the intricately designed runes that could be seen with the dim lights coming off from the red cocoons. He looked down and saw that someone was touching the red cocoons with his hand.


    "Keep your hands away! The whole cave is covered with ritual signs." Keith pushed him back.


    But something was already happening to the blood cocoon as it pulsed loudly. He stood in front of it and monitored the red ball. While inspecting the cocoon with his blood-qi, he noticed the ritual signs were getting brighter, and the blood-qi within them was increasing.


    ''What is happening?'' Keith pondered.


    The runes lit up and so did the lines connecting all the cocoons. The lit-up runes traversed the whole cave and crawled up to the ceiling. An ominous feeling came over him as he looked at the center rune on the ceiling.


    *Whoosh*


    When the illuminated runes connected at the center of the ceiling, a red mist spread around the cave. The red cocoons were not moving much except for the one that was touched.


    [ Corrupted blood-qi detected. ]


    ''Fuck! Not now when I am almost full.'' Keith cursed as he saw the notification.


    Looking at the others, who were visibly pale, by the corrupted blood-qi. The leader was the only one who was holding his ground and didn''t look that worn out. As for the others, they were losing their minds as the corrupt blood-qi entered their body.


    Keith focused his mind on the purple mark to contain the blood-qi purification and absorption as blood essence. This was a great place for leveling up, but right now it was the worst time. He was filled to the brim with blood essence, and getting anymore will cause a blood-qi eruption.


    He dug a hole below him and tossed the bulky man inside it. Then he jumped inside and closed the opening. The blood-qi concentration surrounding them was not gone, but it lessened quite a bit.


    "What was that?" The leader asked with a bloodshot face looking at Keith.


    "Beats me. I am as clueless as you are. But one thing is for sure, someone intentionally put the trap here to lure us in. My guess is their intention was to turn all the vampires into ghouls by exposing them to the corrupted blood-qi."


    He also knew that it was easy for high-ranking vampires to deflect the corrupted blood-qi. Only low-level vampires will fall for it as they don''t have the means to protect against foreign blood-qi. Especially those that are below baron level. As for Keith, he didn''t learn any blood-qi techniques and the absorption was mainly because of the system.

 Chapter 30: Time to get out

    Staying inside the hole proved to be somewhat useful as the penetration of corrupted blood-qi was lessened. Keith kept monitoring the outside using his blood-qi. The rest of the team was already corrupted and there was nothing he could do. If he gets out now, it won''t take much time for him to experience a blood-qi eruption.


    When he focused his mind on his blood core, he could see that it was sucking up the existing blood-essence at a rapid pace. Still, considering the amount of blood-essence he absorbed, it would take a lot of time to condense all the blood-essence completely.


    Creating a bigger space using his hands, he wondered how he could escape this place. One way was to dig a hole to the surface, which was his last bet. He could do that, but he wanted to observe the place a little more. If the corrupted blood-qi disappeared quickly, he could get out of this hole and possibly study the cocoons more.


    While thinking about that, he also pondered another possibility. That is to use this cave as his leveling farm. The red cocoons harboured ghouls, and he could technically absorb their blood-qi and turn them into blood essence. He wouldn''t have to worry about the time limit as he would kill as many as he needed.


    ''The question is, can I hide this place now?'' He thought.


    It was already known by the mercenary group, and they will tell everything they saw here. Sure, the ones that came with him probably won''t make it out alive. But the fact that such a place exists won''t be staying hidden for long. And the bulky man was also here with him. He looked panicked and was sweating profusely.


    This complicated things even more. On one hand, he wanted to report this place, and on the other, he wanted to keep it to himself. An hour had passed after the ritual, and there was no sign of the blood-mist slowing down. It was already early morning, from his estimates. He didn''t want to stay here any longer.


    ''I don''t know when it will go away or if at all. Then I can''t stay here anymore. I will come here later.'' Keith made up his mind to leave this cave for now...


    The leader was feeling better now and anxiously looking at him.


    "Don''t worry. We will get out of here now. I will dig a tunnel to the surface, just stay behind me."


    The bulky man nodded and followed him as Keith started to dig through the ground. He used blood-qi to enhance his hands, so it was easier for him to carve. He stayed just below the surface, and the carved soil and rocks buried their legs, but they had no problem going through them.


    ''I could use this tunnel to come back later. But..'' Keith looked from the corner of his eyes towards the leader.


    A sudden urge to leave him here came over him. He was conflicted, wrestling between two choices, about whether to leave him here or save him. After thinking a lot, he couldn''t bring himself to leave him here. Maybe if he was ruthless and cruel, he might have. Maybe it was his inner righteous ego telling him not to do it.


    ''Am I too righteous? Why can''t I bring myself to leave him here? Nobody will know anyway.'' He couldn''t figure out his rationale.


    Many conflicting thoughts popped up in his mind, but he couldn''t decide. He just dug through the tunnel and monitored the cave above. After digging for a while, he got out of the large open space and reached the place they had landed. He sensed that the corrupted blood-qi didn''t permeate this place.


    "I think we are out of the open space. There is no corrupted blood-qi here." Keith said.


    "Thank you for saving my life. I will remember your benevolence for the rest of my life. I know I''m weaker than you, but if you need any help from me afterwards, I will gladly help you with anything." The bulky man said with a grateful look...


    "Yeah, it was nothing. You were just close to me. I couldn''t even save the other." Keith put up a fake smile.


    "Honestly, I was surprised to know that someone of your caliber is unknown. I''ve worked in the mercenary guild for hundreds of years now. I never saw you there. Are you new to this city?" The man asked.


    Keith got up from the opening above him and extended his hands towards the man.


    "Something like that." Keith replied.


    As the man got up, he looked at the narrow passage leading to the open space and sighed. He lost five of his best men on this mission, with whom he spent well over several decades. He was a little sad, but he accepted the fact that they were already turned.


    Keith also looked at the narrow passageway in front of him. Something was blocking the blood-qi from getting out of the tunnel. He guessed it was the runes used for this ritual. As he was still clueless about the discipline, he didn''t understand how the runes worked and how they could block his senses. For that, he had to delve deeper into this discipline.


    "We have to inform the city guards and the count as soon as possible before it escalates further." The leader said.


    Keith kept silent and closed his eyes.


    "Can you do me a favour?" He asked.


    "Anything as long as it''s within my reach." The man replied.


    "Can you keep everything that happened here a secret? At least for a week."


    "As much as I want to help you, this is too much. Don''t you know the consequences of keeping this information a secret? This cave is a breeding place for ghouls. If we leave them be, they will attack the settlement sooner or later. I don''t understand why you would want to keep it a secret.?" The leader was puzzled in response to his weird request.


    "I want to destroy this place as much as you do, but I have something I need here. I promise I will destroy this place within a week. I will make sure that your comrades get eternal rest." Keith said resolutely.


    "What gives you such confidence? Are you sure you aren''t planning to kill yourself? This is beyond our expertise." The man warned Keith again.


    "I know, but I''m not suicidal and I have way more cards up my sleeve than you imagine." Keith said as he let go of his suppressed blood-qi.


    "This... Are you a baron?" The man said in awe.

 Chapter 31: Setting things up

    Lower-level vampires couldn''t detect blood cores. What they could detect was the overwhelming blood-qi that exuded out of higher-level vampires. This also meant that they couldn''t distinguish between a baron and viscount unless they experienced their full blood-qi.


    Now that Keith revealed his blood-qi in its entirety, the man could perceive his energy and roughly assumed his level.


    "So now you understand why I have that confidence. But to be honest, this is not the only reason that I''m so confident. Trust me, I know what I am doing." Keith assured him.


    "If you say so. I will trust you for now. But if something happens to you, I will tell the city guards immediately." The man said.


    "That will never happen," Keith said.


    "Alright." The man sighed.


    "Now we should get back to the surface. But before that¡­" Keith looked at a large rock on the side.


    He rolled the large rock and covered the entrance of the cavern. This necessarily didn''t make it safe, but it was to lessen the chance of corrupted blood-qi seeping out.


    "Let''s get out of here." Keith said.


    They climbed their way up to the surface. Upon reaching, the leader briefed his men about the incident. In his version of the lie, they encountered dozens of ghouls and, while fighting, the other five lost their lives.


    None of them were too upset about that. Quite the contrary, some of them were more than happy, as it meant they would get a bigger share of the rewards. Keith was standing on the side, lost in his own thoughts. This place was a good place for him to level up, but it was a risk as well. He didn''t know how the runes will react next time.


    ''I have to learn more about advanced blood techniques. I can''t just throw myself into an unknown situation without knowing anything. It''s one thing to accumulate blood-qi, and it''s another to actually manipulate it to your liking.''


    After listening to his uncle and seeing his techniques, he was convinced that blood-qi manipulation in its four disciplines is way more important than just advancing to higher cores. The former allowed the user to direct their blood-qi whichever manner they pleased, the latter was just a reserve of blood-qi without any direction.


    It lacked specialization and focus in one particular direction. A viscount with no specialization would fare terribly against a blood warrior or summoner of baron level. Their way of fighting would put the viscount in a disadvantageous position.


    And if you bring blood ritualists and Espers into the picture, who could channel blood-qi way more effectively than the other two disciplines, it would be a one-sided battle. Keith got firsthand experience on this. First, it was his uncle showing a third of his power, without even using his Esper abilities.


    Now, he saw the application of blood rituals. The users could invoke rituals even in their absence. They were capable of manipulating the surroundings with their runes. At a given moment, the number of attacks they could deliver entirely dependent on their knowledge of the runes.


    On top of that, they all had the same physique as the rest of the vampires. The blood warriors had the upper hand in terms of physique, but ritualists could easily solve this by wearing high-grade blood artifacts. And no one is foolish enough to fight with ritualists, as they make all the artifacts for the warriors.


    In a sense, blood ritualists were the hardest to deal with. Espers, on the other hand, were mysterious and unpredictable. There was not much information regarding their abilities. It was the most secretive out of all disciplines. Thanks to his uncle, he could at least get a glimpse.


    Turning around after his brainstorming session, he saw the leader talking to his subordinates. From what he could infer from the expressions of the mercenaries, the leader handled the situation well. No one was acting out of the ordinary, and all of them were quite calm.


    As he was looking their way, the leader also peeked at him. He dispersed his subordinates and approached Keith.


    "I''ve done what I could, now it''s all up to you." The leader said.


    "Don''t worry, I wouldn''t have asked you that if I didn''t have a plan." Keith replied.


    "By the way, we still haven''t introduced ourselves. I''m Jovan Catanach, leader of the Arian mercenary group." The man said.


    "Drew Bryer." Keith used the name he used to have on earth.


    "Bryer¡­ hmm, I don''t think I''ve heard that family name before. With that strength, I''m sure your family is not normal." Jovan said.


    Upon hearing this, Keith shot him a cold glare.


    "Alright, now that I''ve covered up the incident, how are we going to get the dozen or so ghoul bodies to show the city guard."


    "I will take care of that. You just have to make sure this stays between the two of us." Keith said.


    The rest of the team gathered and they prepared to go back to the city. They picked up the ghoul corpse and returned to the city wall. Jovan convinced his subordinates that everyone will get an equal share of the reward. He asked them to take the ghoul corpse first and come back later.


    They weren''t experienced mercenaries as all of them were lower than 6th level of the blood-condensing phase. No one wanted to defy his commands, as they were new.


    In the meantime, Keith brought a dozen of ghoul corpses that he killed from the first encounter. He put them just at the entrance of the cave. They were relatively weak ghouls at 6th level of the blood condensing phase. But to the regular vampires, they were considered powerful.


    After setting everything up, he went back to the entrance and made sure to cover the entrance of the cavern with more rocks and soil and properly buried it.


    "Now that looks better. Nobody will know what''s in there unless a higher viscount comes here. And uncle Brad is the only viscount in this area. Knowing him as I do, he won''t come here even if there were 100 lower-level ghouls."

 Chapter 32: Who are you?

    Going back to the city wall, he noticed a ruckus. A lot of injured vampires were lining up outside the city gate. He noticed Jovan was standing alongside a city guard.


    As he approached him, the city guard noticed his arrival and looked at him from head to toe.


    "Drew, you''re back. How did the scouting go? Did you find all the ghouls?" Jovan asked.


    "Yes, I''ve gathered all the ghoul corpses at the entrance of the cave. We have to do another round trip to get them." Keith replied.


    "Great job. Now, wait for me at the mercenary headquarters. I will go there after sorting things out here."


    "It''s okay. I have some important matters to attend to, so I will catch up with you later. Don''t forget your promise." Keith said as he walked inside the gate.


    "Who''s that kid?" asked the city guard.


    "Someone who just joined the guild. Don''t worry about him. He''s with me." Jovan replied as he looked at Keith.


    *******


    Meanwhile, in the castle, Rena was pouring blood for Keith''s breakfast. She woke up early and completed the decoration of her room. Then she went to the kitchen, where the daily supply of fresh blood was put inside a golden vessel. The golden vessel was used for generations for the purpose of storing blood.


    It was also enchanted and several blood rituals were carved inside it. Rena poured the blood into another golden glass embroidered with exquisite carvings. This was one of the glasses Keith used every day to drink.


    The glass was also enchanted to detect any harmful elements within the blood. All the enchantments ensured that the blood was of the best quality. As Rena poured blood into the glass, he thought about Keith.


    ''Should I¡­ No, young master will be angry if he finds out. Also, I don''t think my blood is as good as this.'' Several thoughts came to her mind as she looked at the glass.


    In the end, she decided against it. She didn''t want to experience another scolding from Keith. Holding the tray, she put two glasses on it. She walked out of the kitchen with a beaming smile and headed to Keith''s room. Unbeknown to her, someone was stalking her from the other side of the corridor.


    Inside Keith''s room, the windows opened, and a dark figure entered the room. Taking off his hoodie, Keith sat down on his bed. He was exhausted after all the ghoul hunting and absorbing blood essence. Now he wanted to stay put and consolidate his blood-qi.


    Phew!


    Cracking his hands and neck, he sat quietly, focusing his mind on the blood essence circulating throughout his body. He concentrated on his blood core and siphoned the blood essence to his blood core. The blood essence slowly entered the blood core and turned into blood-qi.


    Then the blood-qi was imbued with his own essence and circulated back to all his organs. He continued this process repeatedly and his focus was entirely on the blood-qi condensation. After converting the blood essence to blood-qi, the blood core condensed it as small layers on the outside.


    The blood core was slowly growing bigger with each cycle of refinement. Keith estimated that it would take him at least two days to fully convert all blood essence into blood-qi.


    "Young master! I''ve brought your breakfast." Rena entered his room.


    Seeing that there was no response, she figured he was busy with his cultivation. His eyes were closed and an intimidating aura covered him. She put the glasses on the table and walked closer to him. Her face was awfully close to his, as stared at his face with a pout.


    "What are you doing?" Keith asked without opening his eyes.


    "Ah! I just brought your breakfast. I happened to notice some dirt on your face, so I looked closely." She replied.


    "¡­." Keith didn''t know that some dried-up blood lingered on his face.


    "Don''t you have anything better to do?" He asked.


    "Not at the moment. Besides, what can be more important than looking after young master?" She said with a grin.


    "You''re hopeless." Keith closed his eyes and resumed his blood condensation.


    "Maybe¡­" Rena mumbled as she looked at him.


    She turned around and scanned the room. Even though the room was very clean, she noticed some dirt here and there. She picked up the broom and started cleaning the room.


    Several hours passed, and Keith opened his eyes. He heaved a sigh and examined his body. He condensed about one-fifth of the entire blood essence. He was quite happy with the progress, as it was faster than he anticipated.


    His blood core increased in size and his body was filled with energy. The blood-qi circulating inside his body doubled. Noticing the changes in his body, he got up and moved his body. A couple of punches and kicks later, he smiled.


    "Condensing this much blood essence gave me this much power. I wonder how strong I will be after absorbing all of it. Then there is the opportunity to break through the viscount stage."


    The thing he also recognized was that this was not the most important thing, even though it seemed that way. Gaining strength without the blood-qi techniques was like being a knight without a sword. He could gain strength and raise his level quickly, which was a good thing in the short term.


    But he wanted to gain the corresponding blood-qi techniques as well, which would allow him to utilize the full potential of his blood-qi.


    Now that he assimilated some of the blood essence, he took a stroll outside. After getting out of his room, he checked on Rena''s room. She was in her room, sleeping. He didn''t want to disturb her, so he quietly walked away.


    As he walked forward, he sensed a presence. Quickly moving in a blur, he appeared in front of the figure hiding behind the pillars.


    "Who are you? Why are you hiding near my chambers?" Keith asked in a threatening tone.


    "F-Forgive me! Young master. I was just checking why Rena was here. After she left her room, I couldn''t find her."


    A lady vampire looked at him with a tinge of fear peeking from her eyes half-closed. She was one foot shorter and quite petite. Her azure-colored eyes looked hypnotic with slender eyebrows. She was wearing a dark gothic dress that was covering her entire body.

 Chapter 33: Creating A Warrior Frame

    "Tell me, why do you want to know about Rena? Why are you stalking her? If I don''t like your answer, the consequences won''t be good." Keith expanded his aura and directed his killing intent.


    "I was her superior, so I was wondering what happened to her. There is nothing you should be concerned about." the lady vampire mumbled.


    ''What is this aura? He was supposed to be at the early stages of Baron. How did he get so powerful?'' She thought.


    "Supervisor, you say? She belongs to me, how can anyone else think they control her? Now she works directly under me, so you should keep your distance away from her." Keith said.


    "Yes, young master. I will remember that." The lady replied with a broken voice.


    " Now go back to your place. Unless it''s grandpa and Uncle Brad, no one is allowed to come to this side of the castle, you got that?" Keith withdrew his aura and turned back.


    " Yes, young master." She immediately ran away in the opposite direction from the corridor,


    Sigh!


    "I can''t be with her all the time. With all the people eyeing me it will be difficult for her too. They may not try anything against me, but she is an easy target. I can''t let anyone harm her. I won''t." He clenched his fist with resolve.


    She was the only friend and the closest person he had in this world. He didn''t want her to suffer, more so because of him. He wanted to protect her, not because she was his maid. But her presence in his life kept him sane from all the craziness from the world. Her warmth, compassion, and love, even though he didn''t reciprocate, filled his heart with some happiness.


    The world was cruel and no one really stood for one another. He was incredibly lucky that he got someone who deeply cared for him. He didn''t want her to get hurt because of him.


    Taking a stroll in the garden just outside the corridor, he imagined the warrior frame. He accumulated almost double the blood-qi after absorbing the ghoul blood. The level showed the increment in points, but it was not the correct measurement for the volume of blood-qi.


    He could feel his blood-qi brimming with more than twice the energy he had yesterday. He checked his status window to see if he met the requirements for building the warrior frame. The viscount threshold was 66% so he had a hunch it was above 90% for a baron.


    [ Blood warrior frame recorded: unnamed frame ]


    [ Grade : Count ]


    [ Blood-qi usage : Count(25%),Viscount(66%),Baron(97%)]


    And he was right on the money. The blood-qi usage for this warrior frame was 97% of his entire blood-qi. This didn''t mean it was easy to create after this mark. This was merely the minimum requirement for attempting its creation.


    The warrior frame was a type of enhancement blood-qi technique that allowed the vampires to create a spirit skeleton within them. It was a type of ethereal and physical construct that switched among several forms.


    The blood-qi was used to shape the warrior frame in its inception. It was the building block for the warrior frame. When the user imagines a warrior frame, it manifests inside the accurate points inside the body where the user envisioned them. Then, slowly, it solidifies the points and the connection between them.


    With continuous concentration and practice, the users build the warrior frame according to their conceptualization. Keith focused his mind on the purple mark, activating the warrior frame stored inside the system.


    The joints acted as the central points of the frame and blood-qi spread according to the pattern. The points connected themselves and created a hazy structure inside his body.


    [ Blood warrior frame initiated]


    [ Strengthening the connections]


    ..


    ..


    [ Blood warrior frame completed]


    [ Grade : Count ]


    Due to the support of the system, the initiation went without any hiccup. The frame was still in its early stages. As he was a baron, it took almost all of his blood-qi to create the blood frame and maintain it.


    Even though the frame was of count grade, he couldn''t use it to its fullest with his lower blood-qi. It used up all of his blood-qi just to maintain the frame. To use it to the fullest, he needed to lower the blood-qi requirement to keep the frame activated at all times without getting overwhelmed.


    As he examined the warrior frame, he noticed that it drew most of his blood-qi to stabilize itself. The frame itself resembled his skeleton, but it was more polished and refined. The points were joined through strings of blood-qi and created something akin to an exoskeleton for his bones.


    He moved around his hands, threw some kicks in the air.


    ''My body feels a little heavy.''


    When the warrior frame properly consolidated, the density of his body increased a little. It wasn''t too much as to completely immobilize him, but it was enough to slow down his reflexes.


    ''I need to practice with the warrior frame activated, so I can get the hang of it.'' He thought.


    Moving his hand and legs, he practiced the martial arts while keeping the blood warrior frame activated.


    Swish! Swish!


    He slowly got used to the warrior frame despite its heaviness. The smoothness of the movements increased after some time. But this also required his utmost concentration. His eyes were focused as he punched and swung his arms. and did the complicated leg movements.


    After an hour or so, he was comfortable with the warrior frame and felt that he could keep it activated unless he was injured severely to the degree that he had to withdraw the blood-qi from his warrior frame to heal his wounds.


    The system had provided him with the accurate warrior frame and helped him establish the points and consolidate them with complete accuracy. He only had to focus his blood-qi to flow inside the model that was provided by the system.


    The frame itself was at its early stages and needed more blood-qi to strengthen and solidify the structure. As Keith was still a baron, the lack of sufficient blood-qi resulted in a stagnation of the output of the warrior frame. Still, Keith wasn''t too worried about it. After all, getting more blood-qi wasn''t a problem for him. As long as he absorbed all the blood essence, he could get more.


    The only thing he needed to do was wait. He also predicted that he will reach the viscount stage before entering the academy. The blood-qi eruption was the reason he increased the time frame. He wanted to take it slow, even though it was in no way comparable to normal vampires.

 Chapter 34: A Little Surprise

    The next day, Keith stayed inside his room, absorbing the blood essence and condensing the blood-qi. His blood core increased in size as well. In the afternoon, he went to the open garden to practice martial arts while activating his warrior frame.


    On the third day, he noticed that he absorbed all the blood essence inside his body. His warrior frame solidified and brimmed with blood-qi. The blood core also increased in diameter, albeit a little. What was more remarkable was that, after the warrior frame was properly injected with sufficient blood-qi, its output increased dramatically.


    For comparison, when he first activated his warrior frame three days ago, it only gave him a thirty percent increase in power, according to his estimation. But with that came the weight, which negated 10-20% of the power boost.


    Now, however, the warrior frame boosted his strength up to eighty to a hundred percent after absorbing more blood-qi.


    ''I wonder how much of a boost I will get once I become viscount and provide the frame with more blood-qi.'' Keith thought.


    Regardless, he was happy that he created his warrior frame successfully without any problem. This meant he won the bet against his uncle, and now he could learn blood-esper techniques from him. As he was severely lacking in actual techniques while brimming with unused blood-qi, he wanted to get his hands on every technique he could find.


    The warrior frame itself was a great addition to his body. It gave him a solid base for body strengthening and tempered his muscles around it. As the flow of blood-qi was quite dense inside the warrior frame, it acted as a quasi-blood core, replenishing the surrounding muscles with blood-qi.


    While this was good for his overall body, the blood-qi limitation due to this didn''t allow him to use blood-qi externally simultaneously with the warrior frame. Even though he was technically stronger, his limited blood-qi, after activating warrior frame, constricted his blood-qi strengthening on the outside like coating his hands and aura shield.


    Keith clenched his fists and a sharp bang was heard as the air escaped his hand in an instant. He was ready to duel with his uncle again.


    He came back to his room after practicing the martial arts for hours. It was almost noon, and he didn''t have his breakfast. He looked at the table where four glasses of blood were placed. He picked them up one by one and drank the blood with large gulps.


    Haah!


    He wiped his mouth and plopped back on his bed. Thinking about the progress he had made, a beaming smile appeared on his face. He was quite satisfied with everything. The blood essence was absorbed without a hitch, and he created a count-level warrior frame and solidified it within three days.


    And he had his secret blood-qi reserve inside the underground cave. Nobody had found it out yet, and as promised to Jovan, he would take care of it within a week. He still had four days left, so he didn''t rush there to absorb the blood from the ghouls and the red cocoons.


    He rested for a while and channeled his blood-qi. Rena came to his room when it was time for the meal. Besides that, she didn''t bother him with anything else. She also noticed how focused he was in his cultivation, so she left him alone. This was also good for her as she didn''t have to worry about him.


    The next morning Keith arrived at the arena, prepared to have a sparring session with his uncle. He was early and warming up when Brad entered the arena. He shot Keith a curious gaze and inspected his blood core.


    "You''re still giving me surprises."


    "The real surprise isn''t even revealed yet?" Keith replied.


    "Oh! I can''t wait to see what it is." Brad walked inside the arena and faced Keith.


    Keith didn''t come to the arena for several days. Brad was wondering what he was doing for the past couple of days. The growth in martial arts techniques in a single day was remarkable. He was expecting his martial art skills to go up several levels as well.


    What he didn''t expect was that he also increased his blood core level to the final stage of baron. Still, it didn''t matter unless he learned the blood warrior frame. His power output won''t change much without it.


    Or so he thought.


    "Ready for another beatdown?" He taunted Keith.


    "You wish." Keith smiled at him.


    "Heh! You seem pretty confident, let''s see how long you can keep that up."


    Brad circulated his blood-qi and expanded his aura. The overwhelming aura surrounded the entire arena and a frown appeared on Keith''s face.


    "I won''t go easy on you now that you have shown so much potential?" Brad announced.


    "Neither am I."


    Keith knew that he couldn''t compare his blood-qi to his uncle. After he created his warrior frame, his external circulation was pretty much useless. He could only use it to create a thin coating of blood-qi.


    ''I need to get close to him, and not let him use his Esper powers.''


    Keith shot forward like a bullet, pouncing towards the terrifying concentration of blood-qi. He channeled his blood-qi instantly and swung his arm around Brad''s head.


    Kachik!


    His hand barely grazed the air around Brad''s hair, as his uncle swiftly avoided the attack. The next barrage of attacks that came from Keith was also swiftly avoided.


    Boom! Boom!


    The ground shook as they changed position quickly. Keith used his legs to repeatedly strike Brad''s lower torso, but his intricate and elaborate footwork dodged Keith''s every attempt.


    ''Hah! I thought after leveling up this much, I could hold a candle against him. But it doesn''t make a difference. Though I have to agree that he looks more focused and serious than before. So that''s a consolation.'' Keith thought to himself.


    He fastened his pace and revolved around Brad, attacking him from all directions. Then, one moment, he saw an opening. Without any thought, he struck Brad''s left abdomen.


    "Gotcha!"


    Brad moved his right arm from the side and grabbed Keith''s hand in an instant.


    "Oh yeah! I was also waiting for you to catch me."


    Keith turned around sharply and activated his warrior frame, which he was saving for this exact moment. He didn''t want Brad to be on guard against his warrior frame from the get-go, so he didn''t use it up until now.


    With this surprise, he hoped to do some damage, and with his guard down while they were locked in place, this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.


    !BOOM

 Chapter 35: Fierce

    ''How¡­?''


    This was the first thought that came to Brad''s mind. He couldn''t imagine someone who learned and implemented a blood warrior frame within a week, a count-level frame at that.


    This was incomprehensible to him, who practiced tirelessly for months to even grasp the fundamentals. What really surprised him, even more, was that he did it while condensing his blood core simultaneously.


    "What a monster?" He mumbled.


    Keith''s hand caved in Brad''s abdomen while he channeled a significant amount of blood-qi to avoid any further damage. He was using his full blood-qi throughout his body, but Keith''s punch was so powerful thanks to the blood warrior frame, that he needed to concentrate more blood-qi in that specific place to not get blown away.


    Because he covered his whole body with blood-qi, it was evenly distributed. It was vulnerable to this type of concentrated blood-qi attack. He also didn''t activate his very own warrior frame, as he was sure, Keith didn''t have one. Hence, he let his guard down.


    But the result wouldn''t have been much different with the warrior frame activated either. Consuming more blood-qi to activate the warrior frame would have resulted in an even thinner defense. So he still would''ve received the same amount of damage.


    He let his guard down. He looked down on him, as he was a newbie.


    Keith on the other hand had a satisfying smile on his face. He managed to injure him, even though it was a surprise, he achieved it with his own strength.


    Now, without letting this golden opportunity go, he adjusted his hands and pulled him towards him. He was locked with him, so fighting close quarters gave him the advantage, especially after the surprise.


    He also managed to break Brad''s focus. Swinging his legs and stroking his legs, he managed to trip him and made him lose balance.


    Brad recognized how bad he got caught up in this little scheme that he activated his warrior frame instantly. A sharp aura covered the entire arena and he balanced himself with one leg, quickly getting back up.


    Keith increased his attack speed looking at the changing aura around him. He needed to do more damage before Brad''s counter.


    Swish! Boom! Crack!


    The attacks moved with more ferocity, and Keith''s figure looked like it was three places at once, that''s how fast he was moving.


    "Enough of your surprise! I will show you what a real warrior frame is."


    Turning his body into a peculiar position, he emitted a sharp aura that felt like an invisible wall. He blocked Keith''s attack one after another without even looking. He was calm and there was no urgency in his face.


    Keith figured that Brad fully activated his warrior frame, and his external aura was lower, but the internal aura was dense and sharp.


    Brad started attacking back, now that he could block the attacks easily.


    !Bam !Bam


    Keith struggled to keep him at bay, but he didn''t back away. He had a lower level of blood-qi, but that didn''t mean he was completely powerless. He was now closer to a viscount, so he could hold him off, for some time.


    ''Shit, I need to figure out a way to catch him off guard.'' Keith thought.


    As he was getting overwhelmed, he shifted his body to the left and kicked Brad with both of his legs. The impact caused him to get away from him as he flung to the other direction.


    Now that he had some time to breathe, he planned his next move. When his strength was lower than the opponent, charging mindlessly was a foolish move. He knew he couldn''t overwhelm him, so he preferred guerilla warfare.


    Keith looked at him with a sharp gaze, trying to find out his weakness. Not surprisingly, he couldn''t make out any openings, which he was half expecting. What really concerned him though was the incredible high defense. The attack power also bumped up, but the aura emitted from him was akin to a fortress.


    ''What can I do at this point? I will lose if I engage in close-range combat. Staying away is also not going to work.''


    Even though it was not a life and death match, he wanted to test his limits. He wanted to show his uncle, he was not someone to be taken lightly.


    When he was looking around to find an opening, he remembered something. Warrior frames concentrate blood-qi within the body and as a result, the speed decreases, and reflexes get affected.


    If that was true, Brad was slower than he was a minute ago. Even though it was unnoticeable and useless for high power differences, he still had a respectable amount of blood-qi.


    Ready to test out his theory, he deactivated his warrior frame. It was a gamble, but he didn''t have a choice in the current situation. There was a great chance, it could fail. Hell, he believed it would fail.


    ''Let''s do this. I will lose, either way, so better try something before getting my ass whooped.''


    He channeled his blood-qi to its fullest and all of it came rushing out from inside of the frame to the outside. His body was filled with blood-qi and he felt lighter than before.


    The air suddenly moved and he appeared beside Brad.


    Swish! Swish!


    He swung his arms, and delivered repeated kicks, changing position several times and not stopping for a moment.


    ''I see you''re trying to overwhelm me with speed. I know you had no other options, but your assumption that I wouldn''t think of this problem is naive.''


    Brad moved swiftly and blocked Keith''s movements with an equal speed.


    "How can you maintain such speed with the warrior frame activated?" Keith was surprised, but his eyes were glowing.


    He thought activating the warrior frame would slow him down, even a little, which was clearly not the case. Not only did his speed not decrease, but he was also moving faster than before.


    A sudden barrage of punches threw Keith out of balance, moving him backwards a couple of feet. Then another punch hit him in the abdomen, out of nowhere.


    Boom!


    He was blown away to the end of the arena, but grabbed the floor and stopped his momentum. The floor cracked as his fingers dug into it. He was panting and sweating all over his face.


    ''Fuck! If I didn''t channel half of my blood-qi to my front, I would''ve passed out by that punch.''


    He looked at Brad with a grim face.

 Chapter 36: Blood Journal

    When he got back up, Keith examined his body and found that his blood-qi was erratic and disoriented. The sudden attack threw him off guard, to say the least.


    His blood-qi was unstable and his body was hot. There was no internal injury but the skin was bruised. He calmly channeled blood-qi throughout his body to stabilize it.


    "I''m really surprised that you were able to create your warrior frame within days. I wouldn''t have believed it if I didn''t see it with my own eyes." Brad said as he walked towards him.


    Keith prepared himself for another attack, which didn''t come. Brad walked slowly and stood in front of him with a big smile on his face.


    "I can''t wait to have a real spar with you."


    "Aren''t we having one now?" Keith was confused.


    "Hah! Even though it was fun, It was not up to that level. You are just starting out on this path. Seeing your growth, I''m sure you will get there soon enough. I greatly underestimated you."


    With a sigh, Brad looked at Keith with a new determination.


    "I''m just lucky I guess." Keith looked at his hands.


    "Luck is not something to be disregarded. It is an essential part of our journey to the top. A slight difference in luck could change your trajectory of life. So, think of it as a part of yourself."


    "I prefer things to go within my expectations. Speaking of which, you lost your bet." Keith reminded him of his promise.


    "I haven''t forgotten. You deserve to learn this technique. After the abnormal potential you have shown, I think you can master it. Make sure to keep it to yourself. "


    He leaned closer to Brad and whispered into his ears.


    "And it''s better if you leave no witnesses. This is only applicable before you enter the academy." Brad patted Keith''s shoulders and turned back.


    "So when are we starting?" Keith was eager to learn the new technique.


    "Patience kid, you just learned the warrior frame. If you learn the blood esper techniques now, you can allocate the blood-qi properly.


    "My suggestion is, you should practice the warrior frame for a week and get the hang of it."


    "Is that so? I think I adapted to the warrior frame pretty nicely." Keith replied.


    While his warrior frame was not viscount level yet, it was still the final stages of count. He also integrated it properly with his body. The only thing he lacked was blood-qi and more experience.


    "You don''t understand. Blood warrior frame has more applications than just boosting your strength. It also acts as a quasi blood-core. It is not efficient as a blood core, but it can store a lot of blood-qi within.


    Also, you can manipulate the warrior frame to take any shape you want, and adjust its hardness and intensity. How do you think I increased my speed even after activating warrior frame?"


    "You adjusted your blood-qi level of the warrior frame." Keith blurted out.


    "Not only that, I changed some of the structural elements of the frame that are better suited for speed. Mind you, this is still considered a basic application of the warrior frame." Brad said.


    "You are right. I need to catch up on a lot of things. I can barely maintain my warrior frame now, with my measly blood-qi, compared to you." Keith gave an awkward smile to Brad.


    "If you were to say this in front of any other vampire, they would choke on their blood." Brad said.


    Keith scratched his back. He was really fortunate in getting the system and the mark. They helped him grow stronger faster than any other genius.


    ''I wonder where this comes from?''


    His trailing thoughts came to a halt when Brad handed him a thin metal bar. It was a couple of millimeters thick and rectangle-shaped, incredibly light and sturdy.


    "What is it?" Keith looked at Brad dumbfounded.


    "It''s an artifact called blood journal. You can store any information here. Only those people who have been approved by the journal owner can open it."


    Brad touched the center of the journal and it folded like origami and was converted into a large book that was of the same weight, but it was thicker and filled with pages and bookmarks.


    Several glowing signs appeared on the cover of the book. His uncle''s name was on the center, written in blood-red ink. He saw his name getting printed on the corner.


    He opened the journal and saw that it was filled with various subjects. These were common observations and martial arts techniques, but there was a section about warrior frames, and below that, a single page for blood esper techniques.


    "It''s not what you think. I didn''t put anything important, just a little introduction. You can read it after going through the warrior frame section. I added some techniques for you to improve on and other applications. So, practice them well.


    We will start the blood esper techniques next week. In the meantime, you should practice these martial arts, as they will complement your current style."


    Brad pointed to the sections in the journal.


    "Can I ask you something? Is it made by a ritualist?" Keith said, looking at the journal.


    "Yes, I bought it from the capital 30 years ago. We don''t have any high-level ritualists here, so getting artifacts is expensive." Brad sighed.


    "What do you mean by high level? Is there not even a baron-level ritualist in our fief?" Keith asked.


    "Not even one. The highest level ritualist is unsurprisingly your grandpa. Well, the last time he said he was almost there. So I think he broke through the baron level ritualist." Brad pondered.


    "Anyways, he doesn''t do rituals often. He is a blood warrior after all. Rituals are kind of his hobby."


    "Can he teach me about rituals?" Keith was surprised to find out that his grandpa was secretly a ritualist.


    "I don''t think so. He abides by the council rule pretty rigorously. I doubt he will teach you just like that. The only thing he will teach you is the family technique."


    "What technique is that?" Keith couldn''t hold his excitement.


    "You''ve been studying it all along. It''s the count-level warrior frame. But all the advanced techniques will only be unlocked once you reach count level. What I''ve shown you is just a glimpse." Brad said with a hearty laugh looking at Keith''s disappointed face.

 Chapter 37: Back to the Cave

    Going back to his room, Keith was tired and exhausted. He sparred a little more and he was absolutely decimated by his cruel uncle. At least that''s what he believed. On the positive side, he was able to improve his speed while activating the warrior frame, but that went unnoticed by him, because of the excessive beating.


    Still, he was looking forward to learning the blood esper techniques. First, he had to adapt the warrior frame even more. He needed to control the output of his warrior frame so that he could divide his blood-qi between his frame and body.


    While activating the warrior frame gave him a greater boost in power, it also restricted his blood-qi usage. His speed also suffered. This was because of his lack of control in the frame.


    He couldn''t control the amount of blood-qi that went inside the warrior frame, partly because he was short of blood-qi. Building the current warrior frame cost him almost all of his blood-qi.


    For him to overcome this, he needed more blood-qi. He wanted to cut the blood-qi consumption to half, and for that, he needed to reach the viscount rank.


    ''I have to go to the cave again.'' Keith thought while lying on his bed.


    ''After reaching the viscount rank, I will have enough blood-qi to adjust the warrior frame. Then I won''t be burdened by the blood-qi limitation.''


    Now that he had managed to stabilize the blood core and convert all of the blood essence into his very own blood-qi, he could go back to the cave and absorb more blood-qi and evolve.


    The tournament was a couple of days away, and he needed to be in his best shape before going there. He first wanted to go there for the blood, but now that he had a reserve of ghouls, he was less interested in that.


    Still, getting vampire blood was better than getting ghoul blood. Also, he wanted to test out his power against younger vampires. He was measuring his power against his uncle who was way older than him.


    In the tournament, he could gauge the power of other vampires of the same rank. Even now, he was pretty confident against fighting early stage viscount. He was sure he could beat them if they didn''t know any advanced blood techniques.


    After resting for a while, he finally decided to go to the cave. He told Rena to stay put and not leave the premises. When night arrived, he snuck through the wall and left the castle.


    BOOM!


    The ground cracked as he landed, after jumping from halfway off the cliff.


    ''I could probably jump from the top, but some bones might crack.''


    Thinking that he shrugged off the dust from his shoulders. The landing didn''t do any damage to his legs, but he still felt a slight shock.


    He walked in the direction of the blood forest away from the city square. He passed several check-posts, but there was not even a single baron guarding there, so he easily sneaked out, without alerting anyone.


    After reaching the city wall, he looked around for any city guard on top. Two guards were looking in the direction of the blood forest. Keith quietly climbed up the wall and peeked at them.


    He was thinking about how to divert their attention. Picking a stone from the side of the wall, he threw it on the other side. The guards looked sideways and walked in that direction.


    This gave Keith the chance to pass the wall without being detected.


    ''This cliche move works on this world too.'' He landed on the other side of the wall and walked near the wall until he got far away from probing eyes. The blood forest was in front of him as he walked into the shadows.


    He followed the same route that he took the first time. He first reached the blood tree where he buried the ghouls and the ghoul baron. The place was quiet as a cemetery, as it was for the ghouls.


    Still curious to see if he could still absorb their blood-qi now. The amount of blood-qi would definitely be lower, but he wanted to know how much.


    He dug out the corpses and activated his purple tendrils. After going through all the lower-level ghouls, he only absorbed only a couple of blood essence units.


    ''This is worse than I thought. All the blood-qi has been dissipated."


    Digging out the ghoul baron from the ground, he absorbed everything from the corpse. In the end, it was only twelve units of blood essence.


    Sigh!


    He put all the corpses inside a giant pit and covered it with soil. After dusting his hands off, he walked in the direction of the cave.


    Two red eyes glowed as he walked away. A small bat opened its eyes and looked at the fading figure of Keith.


    When Keith reached the entrance, he looked around again. He couldn''t detect a single soul but somehow he felt someone was spying on him.


    ''Maybe I''m being paranoid.'' After finding nothing with his senses, he jumped inside the cave.


    He entered the tunnel he created when getting out of the cavern. The giant rock was still there covering the entrance to the cavern.


    " Nobody came here after we left."


    He crossed the tunnel and got out of the other side. As he got out he saw a blood-red mist covering his vision.


    [Corrupted blood-qi detected.]


    Without waiting, he activated his purple tendrils that started absorbing the surrounding mist.


    [Blood essence absorbed : 1 ]


    ¡­


    Slowly, the mist started to thin out as the tendrils absorbed the blood-qi.

 Chapter 38: Upgrade Options

    As he was absorbing the blood-qi, he walked towards where the cocoons were supposed to be. With the dense blood-qi, his senses couldn''t see more than ten meters.


    Grrrr!


    He heard a sound as he walked forward.


    ''Ghouls? Are they from Jovan''s mercenary group?''


    He walked closer to the sound and found several ghouls circling the cocoons. They turned their heads to see him as he approached them.


    Grrr! Grrr!


    They jumped straight at him with their mouths wide open.


    ''Come on. Give me your blood-qi.''


    Keith enveloped his body with blood-qi as his eyes shined red, in the darkness. The mist started to disperse and as the ghouls reached in front of him, he had both of his hands through their hearts.


    "Now, rest easy."


    The purple tendrils expanded and sucked the blood-qi inside the ghouls.


    [Blood essence absorbed : 1]


    [ Blood essence absorbed: 1]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    After finishing off the ghouls, he walked towards the cocoons. They were glowing slightly and a faint beat was coming off from the inside.


    He got closer and placed his hands on one of the cocoons. The tendrils dug inside the soft jelly-like membrane and spread like a wild vine.


    [Blood essence absorbed : 1 ]


    [Blood essence absorbed : 1 ]


    '' Man, I''m going to be full at this rate. Hope I don''t blow up.''


    His level went up as he absorbed more and more blood-qi. He moved to the next cocoon and then another.


    After dozens of red cocoons later, he noticed his level reaching almost the limit.


    [ Blood essence absorbed : 1 ]


    ¡­


    [ Level 1.999 ]


    ¡­


    He looked at the status screen and sighed.


    "Let''s do this. There is a possibility I might blow up, but I will take the chance."


    With unwavering resolve, he pressed on the next cocoon.


    [ Blood essence absorbed : 1 ]


    [ The level of blood-qi has been reached for the next evolution.]


    [ Evolution in progress]


    [?]


    [Options]


    => Evolve blood core


    => Increase the rank of the warrior frame


    =>Increase the level of the system.


    ''What the hell? I never heard of something like this before.''


    He looked at the options carefully and read the details.


    [ Evolve blood core ]


    => By choosing this option, all of the blood-qi that you''ve just absorbed will be used to evolve the blood core. This is non-reversible. Your power will be concentrated on the blood core.


    [ Increase the rank of the warrior frame ]


    => By choosing this option, your warrior frame will absorb the blood-qi and evolve to the next stage. This is non-reversible. Your power will be concentrated on the blood core.


    [Increase the level of the system]


    => System has noticed enough amount of life essence that can be converted from the blood essence available in this place. By upgrading the system you will gain additional features and skills. A new interface and scanning will be available to you. This will help you notice and record other skills easily. All the blood essence will be converted into life essence and used for the upgrade.


    "Fuck! That''s tough." Keith was bulging his eyes out, paranoid.


    Millions of thoughts ran through his head as he tried to justify his desires. More choices gave him more anxiety. He wanted to evolve into a viscount, and now this happened.


    ''Can''t I have a single option for ancestor''s sake?'' He cursed.


    Thinking about the various implications, his brain was getting fried. He plopped down and looked at the status window, ruminating about what to do. He knew he had to get stronger. But he didn''t know which of these options was the best for him.


    The first option was pretty straightforward. His blood core will evolve and he will reach the viscount level. All of the blood essences will be absorbed and converted into his very own blood-qi that condensed inside the blood core.


    The second option was also tempting. It was his first time seeing something like this. In theory, it was possible to use the warrior frame as the secondary blood core, but in practice, no one could do it.


    Storing and condensing blood-qi inside the warrior frame was impossible due to the overwhelming blood-qi demand for both the frame and core. Not a single warrior has ever done it.


    If it was done forcibly It might drain all of the blood-qi from the blood core and worse dissipate out in the atmosphere instead of being condensed inside the frame.


    ''Looks like the system could channel and direct the blood-qi inside the warrior frame and safely evolve it. It had the blueprints for it after all.''


    But that begged the question, why the third option? He didn''t even know if it was worth it.


    ''Extra skills? New interface?''


    He was a little skeptical about it and never really interacted much with him. It was silent like an old statue. But he couldn''t deny that, it helped him grow stronger. Nevertheless, he had to make a decision. The tournament was just around the corner.


    He looked around and scanned the whole cavern. There were still hundreds of red cocoons still alive or dead, depending on the interpretation.


    ''There is enough juice to cover one more I suppose. I can give it a try. Let''s hope it''s not a waste.''


    With a heavy sigh, he looked at the status window. He extended his hands and clicked the last option.


    ''Increase the level of the system''

 Chapter 39: Who are you?

    Shing!


    The purple mark started to glow and the blood mist started disappearing like a mirage.


    ''The absorption is too fast.''


    He noticed that the speed at which the blood-qi was being absorbed was way faster than before. When he looked at his status window, a progress bar was filling up like a loading screen.


    His level was still the same, at the edge of baron. The blood-qi was not being absorbed from his level. That made him a little relaxed. He thought he would lose all of the blood-qi he absorbed today. Fortunately, that didn''t happen.


    ''What the fuck?''


    He noticed a dip in his level, a slight drop in the decimals, but it was around ten blood essence. When he looked closer, the level started dropping like a crashing stock market.


    "What the actual fuck? STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Keith roared at the top of his lungs.


    The system didn''t respond and started draining his blood-qi as well. He could feel his energy being sapped away by the mark that was in his head.


    ''Fuck, what is it trying to do?''


    Barely any word came out of his mouth as the blood-qi drained from his body. The eyes went dim and he dropped to the floor, unconscious.


    ¡­


    ''Ahhh''


    Raising his head, Keith saw a bluish-purple screen in front of him. He didn''t know for how long he had passed out, but the last thing he remembered was his level dropping below 1.


    "You fucking piece of¡­"


    [Your level has been restored]


    [ The warrior frame has been upgraded to Viscount level.]


    [ After the system upgrade, you can now absorb blood-qi more efficiently.]


    [ The system can analyze skills and break them down, depending on the complexity.]


    [ I am now always available for your queries.]


    A female voice rang in his head.


    "Shut the fuck up."


    [ I will show your current status now]


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Baron ]


    [ Body detected: Vampire ??? Hybrid ]


    [ Level : 1.969 ]


    [ Blood-qi: 4.4]


    [ Blood Warrior Frame: Viscount ]


    [ Physical Strength: 3.5 ]


    [ Vitality: 4.2 ]


    [ Agility : 2.9 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    [ Techniques : Blood warrior frame(Viscount), Unnamed Martial arts(Baron), Blood-qi Manipulation(Baron), Qi-Scanning(Viscount)]


    "My warrior frame is upgraded!"


    [Yes. I''ve absorbed all the blood-qi inside the cave and after upgrading myself, I used the rest to upgrade your warrior frame.]


    "That doesn''t explain why you tried to kill me."


    [ I wasn''t killing you, I was merely borrowing the life essence from you. In the end, everything is sorted out.]


    ''¡­''


    Keith looked at the status screen with hatred and grunted as he stood up. After examining his body, a soft chuckle escaped his lips.


    [ How is it? Do you like the new changes.]


    Without answering, he looked around the cave. The red cocoons were gone and so were the runes covering the walls.


    "What happened to the runes?" Keith asked.


    [ I''ve absorbed all the life energy within the cavern, so there is no power source to activate the runes. ]


    ''Yeah, a mosquito you are.'' Keith cursed the system in his head.


    "So what now? I haven''t seen any new system skills you told me about." Keith looked at his status and said angrily.


    [ Obviously, that is not available in your status window. The skills are integrated into the system.]


    [ System skills: Life essence conversion(Native lv2), Analysis(Native lv2), Precise Application(Native lv2)]


    "You are just showing me the old skills. Where are the new skills you promised? As far as I can see, these are just the same skills I used before. I didn''t even know the levels of those skills. What the hell is native?"


    [ Listen here sir, Can I call you sir?]


    " Why are you asking me that?"


    [I¡­]


    "Wait, wait, wait. Call me master."


    Something clicked in Keith''s mind.


    [ M¡­ Master]


    "So it''s true. You need my approval before doing anything." Keith scratched his head.


    [¡­]


    "I get it now. I gave you approval for using the blood-qi but didn''t specify the limits. You cunning little B...Bampot."


    Cough!


    " So you took advantage of my ignorance and almost killed me."


    [That''s not it. I would never kill you. You are my host after all. I was just borrowing the blood-qi.]


    "Yeah sure. So I''m supposed to believe that."


    Keith looked at the blue screen in front of him.


    " Did you gain your sentience just now or you were there the whole time?" Keith asked with a serious face.


    [ I was there. I was there all along. I just couldn''t exercise my power after getting to that damned world. I was turned into a mere butterfly.]


    "¡­ So you brought me to this world." Keith glared at the system with a fiery gaze.


    [ I was supposed to kill you. Sacrifice your life essence to get back to this world. But, somehow you survived and came along with me. What''s worse is that I was bound to your soul and as a servant at that. Hateful.]


    " Wow! The audacity. Aren''t you a loyal servant of mine? You are seriously saying that in front of my face."


    [ So what. You can''t kill me anyway. The only thing you can do is shut me up. Besides, We are bound to each other for all eternity now. I''m part of your soul. During the transmigration, our souls mixed together and you somehow got the long end of the stick.]


    "Geez, can''t I get the silent system back? I am regretting upgrading the system now."


    [ Hey! You wouldn''t be here without me. I helped you absorb all the blood-qi. I helped you evolve faster. You should be grateful that I was with you every step of the way.]


    "Oh yeah! If you didn''t kill me in the first place, I wouldn''t be here, sucking blood for power."


    [ You are not a mortal anymore. Thanks to me, you can enter the path of godhood. You are already an immortal, maybe not in the truest sense, but still better than your previously pathetic life.]


    "Watch it! I was happy there. I''m not some sad kid who wanted to leave my world like those novels. You forcefully brought me here. I can''t even play my favorite games anymore. I have to always be on my edge here, it''s so uncomfortable."


    [But, you still persevere. Why is that? You didn''t give up.]


    A sudden change of tone from the system cut off Keith''s rant.


    ''Why?''


    "Because I like to win. If you are in a place full of opportunity, wouldn''t you do your best to maximize your odds? Wouldn''t you work hard knowing that, if you slack off, someone stronger will crush you? More importantly, what choice do I have? I can only push forward. Unless you have a way to get me back to my world."


    [ Unfortunately, I don''t. I lost most of my memories about godhood, because of your interference. I don''t even remember who I was, except that I was almost killed by another god. Fortunately, my personality is still the same.]


    "Still a rabid dog, I see."


    [ You! ]


    " You might have been a god in the past, but you are just a wisp now, and my ser¡­"


    Crack!


    Before he could finish his line, cracks started to appear on the walls of the cave, instantly covering the ceiling like a spiderweb.

 Chapter 40: Strange Bat

    The ceiling started to crack and rocks began falling on the ground.


    "What is happening?" Keith looked around and used his senses to see if any other ghoul was left, but there were no life forms in the proximity.


    [Whatever that is, we need to get out of here first.]


    Even though Keith was not on good terms with this system, he agreed that getting out of the cave was the most important thing now.


    He locked his senses into the tunnel that he used to get inside. Swiftly moving through the tunnel he arrived at the entrance of the cave. As he got out of the cave, he sensed a presence above him.


    "A bat."


    [ No, it''s not any ordinary bat. I can feel strong blood-qi fluctuations from it.]


    "Is that a ghoul or what? Its size is not big enough though"


    Keith picked up a rock about the size of his fist and threw it towards the bat.


    Swing!


    The bat swiftly avoided the rock and glared at him with its glowing red eyes. It dived down with great speed and opened its mouth, shooting a beam of red light.


    The beam of red light struck Keith, but he blocked it with his own blood-qi barrier.


    ''A baron-level creature.''


    Judging by the power emitted from the attack, he estimated the beast to be at least a middle-level baron.


    "Why is it attacking me? Am I that delicious?" Keith said with a frown.


    He activated his warrior frame and jumped straight at the bat.


    Hong! Crack!


    The aura around him intensified and a bloody red light covered his body. It was not too bright, but it showed that his blood-qi manipulation had increased a lot.


    When he arrived in front of the bat, he grabbed its neck and scanned its body. The blood-qi swept throughout the bat''s body and reached its eyes.


    The bat started to violently shake its head as if to break free from his grip. Unfortunately for him, Keith''s strength was increased many folds after the upgrade in the warrior frame. His own blood-qi was also at the peak of Baron, just a step away from viscount.


    Holding its head, Keith inspected its blood-qi and what he found surprised him greatly.


    ''It''s not an ordinary living beast.''


    He looked closer into its eyes and applied his blood-qi. After a while, the eyes of the bat started to dim down and completely faded. Not knowing its origins, Keith didn''t want to jump to any conclusions.


    He picked the bat and started heading back to the city. Today was a great day for him as he upgraded his blood warrior frame and also the system, which he was still conflicted about.


    ''I hope it doesn''t interfere with my choices too much, and hopefully, its memories stay buried for the rest of eternity.''


    Keith cursed the system for his current predicament, but also somewhere in his mind, he was grateful for his luck, that he managed to subdue the system and make it a part of himself.


    ****


    After getting back to his room, he headed straight to his grandpa to figure out the mysteries about the strange bat. He knocked on his door, and a deep voice was heard from within.


    "Come in"


    Keith entered the room and saw his grandpa looking through several documents and massaging his temple.


    "What happened grandpa? Is everything alright?" He could see the exhaustion in his grandpa''s eyes.


    "Take a look at this."


    Lex handed Keith a file made of fine leather. Keith opened the file and skimmed through the contents and was shocked by some of the information.


    "Is that true?"


    "Apparently yes. We''ve noticed a drop in the human population in our city. First, I thought it was just a disease, but the numbers kept getting lower and we looked into it carefully. The humans who were missing, all were healthy and mostly in their youth. "


    "Where could they have gone? Are the vampires behind this?" Several thoughts came into Keith''s mind.


    "I suspect that too. I even sent out a baron to thoroughly investigate the matter, but he never returned. I think it could be an attempt to weaken our territory by decreasing the blood supply. What better way than kidnaping our healthiest humans." Lex clenched his fists.


    "Do you have any leads? There must be some movement from the kidnappers. They were literally smuggling hundreds of humans out of the city." Kieth also racked his brain, trying to find a clue within the data.


    "Not a single thing. It happened right under our noses. I.."


    Keith interrupted him and said


    "Uncle, do you think he might have something to do with this?"


    "Rufus? I thought of that too, but he never left the premises, and I also have spies watching over him."


    "Then who could do this?"


    "Whoever is behind this, they''ve planned this for a long time. Also, they seem to have a lot of power behind the shadows. It looks like someone influential is also behind this. Otherwise, it''s pretty hard to do all of those things going unnoticed."


    Keith also agreed with Lex''s judgment. He knew that his grandpa had a lot of connections and influence in the region. Even then, he couldn''t find any clue. Thinking about the missing humans, he remembered the cave in the blood forest.

 Chapter 41: Summoners

    When Keith first arrived at the cave, it was filled with red cocoons. Inside them were humans. The humans were being turned by the corrupted blood-qi, which was the same as the ghouls.


    Also, the blood runes around the cave were feeding the red cocoons with corrupted blood-qi. Whoever was behind this was also responsible for creating those blood runes and the blood ritual. That meant, a high-level blood ritualist was involved in this scheme.


    Keith''s eyes flickered as he was thinking rapidly, trying to remember more details. The blood runes were not old, and the cave was inspected before. So the blood ritual must have happened recently.


    As he recalled his grandfather''s words, a sudden realization struck him. Lex sent a baron-level vampire to investigate the missing humans, but he went missing. Keith also encountered a ghoul baron not too far from the city gates. He had a faint suspicion that the baron Lex sent and the ghoul baron might''ve been the same.


    But he didn''t jump to conclusions. He couldn''t just assume based on his instinct. This matter was more complicated than he thought. If he wanted to get to the bottom of this, more information was needed.


    He took out the bat corpse and placed it on the ground.


    "What is that?" Lex turned around looking at Keith''s actions.


    "Grandpa, do you know what it is?" Keith asked with a serious face.


    "Hmm¡­ a bat with no life force and organ, completely devoid of any inner life energy."


    Lex squinted his eyes and examined the corpse with his senses.


    "It is a summon. Where did you find this summon?" Lex looked at Keith with suspicious eyes.


    "When I went to the blood forest, I was suddenly attacked by this bat. At first, I thought it was some wild beast. But after fighting for a while, I discovered it was a baron-level beast. What surprised me more was that this beast didn''t have any internal organs or life energy."


    "I only sensed blood-qi equivalent to a baron. I killed it and all of its blood-qi disappeared."


    "That should be it. After exhausting all of its blood-qi its functions stopped. The connection with its summoner must''ve been cut off." Lex nodded his head.


    "From your description, it looks like this bat was controlled remotely, from a faraway place. If the summoner was near, the blood-qi wouldn''t have dissipated so early."


    "Grandpa, do you know any summoners living in our territory?" Keith asked.


    "There are a few, but none of them could remotely control such a high-level summon. They are all below baron level and only could summon blood condensing stage summons. As for the one behind this summon, it has to be someone above the baron. Looking at the proficiency and control, and doing this from a faraway place, my guess is,


    "A viscount level summoner," Lex said with a heavy voice.


    "Why would such a high-level summoner come here? Do you know anyone who might have had grievances with us?" Keith asked.


    Many high-level vampires were involved in this. As Keith recalled the blood rituals inside the cave, his expression turned dark. He kept it secret from everyone else so he could have access to the corrupted blood-qi. If he reported it to his grandpa, it would''ve been swarmed by vampires by now and monitored all day.


    "What are we going to do now? The shortage in the human population will decrease our blood supply."


    "At this moment, we can only increase our security around the city. I will send another team to investigate the missing humans. Meanwhile, you should focus on improving your blood-qi manipulation."


    "I''ve grasped the fundamentals thanks to uncle Brad. Now, I have to practice hard in order to increase the level of my techniques." Keith looked determined as he said this.


    "Good. I''m counting on you. Everything else is irrelevant as long as you can increase your strength. I hope you keep the same enthusiasm and drive to reach the pinnacle. The path ahead of you is hard, especially after you join the academy."


    "I understand, grandpa." Keith nodded his head.


    "You don''t have to worry about this. I will handle this mess. You just focus on improving yourself."


    Keith nodded and turned around to leave, a glint appeared in his eyes as he left the room.

 Chapter 42: Warm up

    Keith came back to his room and contemplated the events that occurred recently. Someone was targeting their city and their methods were also discreet. Several high-level vampires were also involved in it.


    He didn''t know much about the political feuds among the vampire nobles. Being just a baron, who was recently promoted, he wasn''t in the limelight, yet.


    ''My warrior frame has been upgraded to Viscount level. I wonder how much my power level has changed. I have to fight with uncle Brad to know my limits.''


    Closing his eyes, he started to circulate his blood-qi. The current surge of blood-qi was still not properly absorbed. After upgrading the system and warrior frame, his blood core stayed at baron, but the density of blood-qi was at its peak.


    ''What did you do?'' Keith asked the system with suspicion.


    [ Nothing much. I have studied your body and found that you can accumulate more blood-qi than other vampires, courtesy of your special physique. You can still promote to Viscount with the minimum blood-qi, but the foundation won''t be as solid. Still, It will be better than average vampires.]


    ''What are you getting at?'' Keith asked impatiently.


    [ You can stay at baron and absorb more blood-qi, which will further solidify your foundation. It will be beneficial when you reach a higher level. Your blood core will also be able to hold more blood-qi than regular vampires if you do that. ]


    ''Can I match with higher-level vampires if I do this?''


    [If you accumulate the same amount of blood-qi, then it is theoretically possible to match opponents one level higher. But, as you know, the strength of a vampire also depends on the blood-qi techniques and blood manipulation.]


    ''I understand. So, if a vampire one major stage above me, with no blood-qi techniques can be subdued by me, given that I match his blood-qi level.''


    [Precisely. Also, your warrior frame acts as a quasi blood-core. So you can accumulate more blood-qi there. The higher its level, the amount that can be stored will increase accordingly.]


    Keith nodded his head as he mulled over what the system had said. This will slow down his promotion to higher levels, but did it matter? His growth was faster than any other vampire, and even though this would slow down his progress, in the eyes of others it was still abnormal.


    He closed his eyes again and started circulating his blood-qi. After several hours, he opened his eyes and saw two glasses placed on the table.


    ''As usual, she''s always on time.''


    Rena always prioritized him and brought his meals a little earlier. She even cleaned the room when Keith was immersed in his blood condensing. These days, she rarely got out of her room and wandered only in the inner garden which was located in Keith''s residential area.


    It was already morning, and Keith was looking forward to the spar with his uncle. After gaining so much blood-qi and upgrading his warrior frame to viscount level, he wanted to test out how powerful he had become.


    He was pretty optimistic about his growth but he wanted to make sure by fighting one on one with Brad, to use his full power against him. Brad also promised to teach Blood-esper techniques to him, so he was also very excited for the day.


    Arriving at the arena, he saw Brad practicing as usual with his conjured crimson sword, splitting the air wherever he moved his sword.


    "You''re here. I thought you gave up on learning Esper techniques." Brad teased Keith with a smile.


    "How can I pass up such a chance of learning Esper techniques? I want to learn it as soon as possible. I was just consolidating my blood-qi, forgetting the passage of time."


    Keith walked forward and entered the arena. He had an excited and expectant look on his face.


    Going inside the arena, he activated his warrior frame to a quarter of its power.


    "Starting with a little warm-up, I see. Let''s see how much you''ve gained in the last few days."


    Brad looked at Keith with interest.

 Chapter 43: Spar

    Keith activated his warrior frame and lunged forward. Moving instantly, he appeared in front of Brad with his hands coated with blood-qi.


    Swish! Swish!


    Delivering swift blows towards Brad, who was shocked by his speed and power, he didn''t let him catch a break.


    "I''ve severely underestimated your growth, kid. You are a true monster." Brad blurted out as he blocked Keith''s attacks with a serious face.


    "Haha¡­ What did I say, old man?" Keith laughed as he kept attacking Brad from various angles.


    Brad activated his warrior frame and engaged in full-on battle. They exchanged blows with unimaginable speed, with afterimages of their bodies seen all over the arena.


    ''I haven''t used the full power of my warrior frame, but I was able to force him to this extent. No, that can''t be right. I felt his strength was higher when we fought previously. Surely, he''s holding back.'' Keith thought as he examined Brad''s movements.


    ''This kid was able to force me to use 50% of my warrior frame''s strength. Where did he get this much power? And he isn''t even looking desperate yet, so it isn''t his full strength. What a monster.'' As he was blocking Keith''s blows, he was amazed by his power.


    This type of growth was unprecedented, even among the top families of the continent. Brad was astonished at his growth. From the spar, he could more or less sense that Keith''s warrior frame was at a similar level as his own.


    ''Viscount level?''


    Brad couldn''t believe this, as Keith was just a baron, so leveling up the warrior frame was impossible for him. He didn''t have enough blood-qi to sustain a viscount-level warrior frame. This didn''t make any sense.


    "How did you level up your warrior frame?" Brad asked bluntly, as he couldn''t hold back his curiosity.


    "Ah, this¡­ I was just practicing, and it just happened.." Keith didn''t know what to say, so he blurted out nonsense subconsciously.


    "Do you take me for a fool? You don''t have enough blood-qi to fill the warrior frame for its upgrade. Your blood core is still at baron level, so it couldn''t be through normal means."


    He suddenly looked at Keith''s hand,


    "It''s because of the mark, isn''t it? You were absorbing blood-qi through that."


    Keith knew that it was useless to feign ignorance, as Brad was aware of the mark.


    "Yeah, I used this to absorb blood-qi from my share within the blood reserve. But I didn''t actively try to upgrade my warrior frame. It just happened by chance." Keith mumbled.


    "Don''t use that mark often. If anyone notices, it will be disastrous." Brad warned him.


    "No one knows except for you, so you can rest assured."


    Keith smiled and increased his warrior frame''s power.


    Hong!


    The attacks got fiercer and fiercer, and Brad was forced to increase his power.


    "You were still holding back."


    "Haha¡­ uncle you have to do better than this if you want to beat me."


    Changing positions Keith launched several blows with his hands. His hands were brimming with blood-qi and struck Brad''s left hand. The blow made Brad retreat a few steps.


    Without giving him a chance, Keith jumped and used his legs to launch several kicks to throw him off balance.


    Boom! Boom!


    The arena floor started to crack as Keith''s overwhelming kicks landed on the floor. Brad moved sideways to quickly dodge the kicks.


    "Why aren''t you using your full strength? Do you think you can beat me with this much power?" Keith turned around and taunted him.


    "Heh¡­ trust me, you don''t want to see my full power. If you want to get beat up that bad, I will fulfill your wish."


    A sudden surge of power swept the arena and the air turned heavy. Brad''s figure glowed red as the blood-qi covered his body. The aura extended outwards and the 2-meter area surrounding him was covered with a red force.


    "Here I come," Brad shot forward like a moving train.


    Keith was flabbergasted by the sudden surge of power and staggered back. He quickly channeled all of his blood-qi and prepared for the collision.

 Chapter 44: Blood-qi Projection

    Boom! Crack!


    The wind was howling and the arena floor was cracked. Keith was standing in one corner with his hands bruised. A thin trail of blood was dripping from his mouth, his eyes focused on the figure in front of him.


    Swish! Swish!


    He used his blood-qi to its maximum and circulated it throughout his body. His own aura expanded in a crimson hue, repelling the other aura. He threw several punches and kicks at the figure, but it was easily blocked.


    "Do you understand now? The difference between skills. Your blood-qi is not the issue here, you simply lack the high-level techniques." Brad said as the dust settled.


    His figure became visible in the arena, which was broken in several areas. He looked at Keith with a smirk,


    "You blocked that attack? I was expecting several broken bones, but you handled it well. Good."


    "It looks like it will be a while until I can beat you." Keith relaxed his hand.


    "Huh¡­ I have to work hard, in order to keep you from humiliating me. Now, a promise is a promise. I will impart you the blood Esper techniques as I said."


    An excited and expectant look appeared on Keith''s face. He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at Brad with a determined face. His eyes were sharp and he didn''t want to miss a single thing from the explanation.


    "I will tell you the basics of the technique, show you some examples. Then you are on your own."


    Keith nodded his head.


    "Alright. Listen carefully. Blood Esper technique is an outward projection of blood-qi. When you use blood-qi, the most you can expand is your skin and several inches from that. But you can''t change its form and give it shape. It just outlines your body like a wrap.


    When you exude your aura, it is a form of outward projection as well, but it is not considered blood-qi manipulation, as it occurs naturally and has a fixed form. Blood warriors can extend their aura to their weapons and the things they touch.


    They can change the density and flow of the outward blood-qi projection that you call aura, but changing the properties and shape of the aura is beyond them. The highest level of blood warriors are top vampires of the continent, so they are more likely to learn other disciplines, so some can change their aura forms, but that can''t be comparable to Blood Espers."


    Brad created a red sphere above his palm and changed its shape to abstract structures.


    "As you can see, a blood esper can project the blood-qi outwards and separate it from their own body. They can change its shape and form, also its properties according to their will."


    "So, is there a secret technique to project the blood-qi outwards like that?" Keith looked at the red sphere.


    "There isn''t. This is not a secret technique. Secret techniques are the applications of blood-qi projection, which comes after you can do this. As for how you go about achieving that, it''s entirely up to you." Brad smiled at Keith.


    " The first step towards understanding blood-qi projection is to understand blood-qi itself. You may have used blood-qi your whole life, but never understood what it really is. You see, blood-qi is a type of life energy produced by our blood core.


    It refines the life essence absorbed from blood, and combines with our own life energy."


    Keith listened carefully, as he remembered the system notifications. He absorbed the blood essence, which was a type of life essence, derived specifically from blood. It could only be refined by vampires as they possessed the blood core.


    He guessed that the life essence here meant blood essence, and the infusion of life energy within the blood core was the attribute given to the blood-qi. Then it becomes truly integrated with the body.


    " Now, the typical blood-qi projection which is static occurs naturally as you accumulate more blood-qi, but it can not be separated from your body in normal conditions.


    What you need is a medium to control the blood-qi. When you exert your full power your blood-qi expands outwards, but it stops after a couple of inches. This is because your blood-qi is limited within a certain area, which is your body.``


    Brad changed the shape of the sphere to show what he was saying.


    "This is the most crucial part, so listen carefully. The area around your body where blood-qi is restricted is called an aura domain. Every vampire has a limited amount of aura domain, mostly surrounding the user''s body.


    "But for Blood espers, they can create aura fields outside their own domain. This is what differentiates them from other blood-qi manipulators."


    The sphere changed into a figure with a red transparent field surrounding it.


    "This is where your talent will be tested, whether you are gifted enough to practice blood Esper techniques."


    Keith looked at the scene with a determined face. He was taking in all the information that he just received and processed them carefully.


    He understood now why Espers were so rare among the vampires. They were unique in manipulating aura domains. This was not something anyone could do. You have to be naturally gifted to be able to create aura domains outside your body.


    This required talent and he had yet to figure out if he had any.

 Chapter 45: Secrets

    Looking at the sphere in front of him, he guessed that it was the aura domain his uncle was talking about. He just manipulated his blood-qi inside this small aura domain to change the shape of his blood-qi.


    "That is the easy part," Brad said after a moment of silence.


    "What?" Keith was snapped out of his own thoughts.


    "Creating an aura domain outside your body is the primary step. Separating blood-qi from your body, then manipulating it inside the aura domain to change the shape and properties of it, is the next step."


    "So, this is how it works. I have to practice a lot in order to create aura domains outside my body. " Keith mumbled.


    "Even people with talent in this discipline take years before they can create aura domains. Outward blood-qi projection is not something you can do on a whim. You have to train your own aura, slowly separate it from your body.


    Do it one step at a time. After you can project the blood-qi several meters from your body, then you can focus on isolating the blood-qi and sustain that blood-qi there. That will be your very first aura domain." Brad explained.


    All of this was too much for Keith, but he roughly understood the principle behind this.


    "I will practice as you mentioned. I don''t know how long it will take though? How long did it take when you first learned it?" Keith asked.


    "Several years. It took me decades to perfect the technique after creating my first aura domain."Brad said.


    "Where did you learn it?"


    "That is not something I can answer, but it was a coincidence. You should keep the technique to yourself, and never mention learning it from someone else. It would be even better if you join the blood esper discipline at the Crimson Academy.


    By the way, when are you going to enter? You already received the invitation." Brad asked.


    "After a couple of months. I will try to accumulate more strength and perfect my techniques before entering the academy."


    As the next leader of the Ennes family, Keith was invited to join the Crimson academy within a year. Only there he could learn advanced blood-qi techniques from top vampires, who were at the pinnacle of blood-qi manipulation.


    He just started practicing blood condensation, so in terms of experience, he was way behind other descendants. His only advantage was abundant blood-qi, which could sustain his warrior frame. This was all thanks to the system, or the entity, whatever it was.


    With the help of the system, he could absorb blood-qi from other vampires, which greatly improved his strength. If it wasn''t for the purple tendrils, he couldn''t have reached this stage.


    After learning that there are even more things that determine the strength of a vampire, he was interested in learning them to increase his combat power. The four disciplines allowed the vampires to manipulate blood-qi in many different ways, resulting in a vast increase in strength.


    The ones who grasped the true path were at the pinnacle of power in the continent. They could do miracles that no other vampire could imagine. But they rarely showed themselves in public. Their whereabouts were also hidden.


    Only the vampires that were assigned a position on the council were known, but only to a few. The vampires at the pinnacle of each discipline always secluded themselves and practiced their techniques, having no interest in worldly affairs.


    They stayed away from the council and only consulted the council when needed. They always immerse themselves in creating new techniques and perfecting them.


    Keith was determined to see the end of this path as it would give him the answers he was looking for. There was a whole world out there, full of mystery and danger. But it contained the path to unravel this world.


    "Hey! Are you listening?" Brad deactivated his aura field and the sphere disappeared. A sudden ear-splitting sound woke Keith from his inner thoughts.


    "Yeah, It was a great explanation. I will try to grasp it and try to apply it as much as I can." Keith said.

 Chapter 46: Preparing for the Tournament

    After practicing martial arts, he resumed condensing blood-qi and focused on all the details about the blood Esper technique.


    The rest of the day was uneventful. He practiced the whole day and rested for some time and went back to training again.


    Several days later, his blood core was stabilized and blood-qi properly integrated. He practiced the martial arts everyday and improved his warrior frame output.


    Sitting on his bed, he opened his eyes. The red glow was visible in the faint lighting. It was the day of the tournament. He waited over a week for this day. When the shop manager first told him about the tournament, it was regarding the vampire blood.


    Now, Keith was brimming with blood-qi. Sure, he still needed the vampire blood, but after absorbing so much corrupt blood-qi, he completely stabilized it now. Getting more potent blood from high level vampires will destabilize the flow and he will have to retreat for a longer period of time.


    There is also a significant chance of blood-qi eruption happening after he absorbed high-level vampire blood. So he didn''t want to absorb vampire blood now. If he could, he wanted to change the tournament date, but it was not within his control.


    Getting back from his bed, he stretched his muscles, took a sip of blood. He got ready for today''s event. His uncle invited him to the tournament, seemingly to mend their relationship. To what extent it was true, that remains to be seen.


    While getting ready, he heard the door opening.


    "Young master, Sir Rufus asked for your presence at the castle gate within an hour."


    Rena said as she entered the room.


    A smirk appeared on Keith''s face as he turned around. He was looking forward to the tournament, not only because of the vampire blood, it was more to do with testing his combat strength.


    He already cancelled the plans to absorb vampire blood, as he just stabilized his blood core. Still, he didn;t want to pass such an event to gauge his strength against other vampire nobles.


    The spars with his uncle were intense, but he wanted to see how others fared against him. He also wanted to see the fights between other powerful vampires.


    Turning around, his eyes fell on Rena who was also looking at him curiously.


    "Young master, are you going to attend a noble gathering? You look amazing in that dress."


    "Something like that. It''s a noble gathering but not a peaceful one."


    "What''s that?" Rena looked at him, confused.


    "Nothing¡­ You look better as well. I see you''ve been eating well these days." Keith noticed that Rena looked more lively and healthier than before.


    Her cheeks were more full and she looked more energetic than before.


    "It''s all thanks to the young master. I am just doing my duty as your servant." Rena spoke with a slightly flushed face.


    "Good, just do as I say and you can stay with me as long as you want." Keith said.

 Chapter 47: To the Colosseum

    "You are here." Rufus, who was waiting at the castle gate, noticed Keith''s presence.


    "Good morning uncle."


    "Now that everyone is here, let''s head out to the venue."  Several elders of the family were present by his side. They nodded their heads as Rufus glanced at them.


    They walked out of the castle''s main gate and a carriage was waiting for them on the outside. It was an exquisitely designed carriage filled with beautiful carvings and multiple runes.


    Keith recognized some of the runes as they were blood ritual runes. Some patterns were similar to the ones he had seen in the cave. He silently took note of this and followed Rufus. The carriage was long enough to accommodate six people.


    It had two compartments and the group split in two and entered the separate compartments. Keith sat down with Rufus and another elder of the family. He was a follower of his uncle and sided with him at the family meetings.


    The carriage moved as they sat inside the carriage. Several horses pulled the carriage and it exited the castle premises.


    "What kind of gathering are we attending?" Keith asked, putting up a curious face.


    "You will see soon enough. It is a secret gathering where nobles exchange their most prized possession. Here you will find many artifacts and treasures getting exchanged." Rufus replied with a smile.


    "Is it like an auction?"


    "No¡­ it''s even better. You can place bets and win those artifacts too."


    "Is that so? Now that you say it, I am really excited about the event."  Keith feigned ignorance.


    He knew where they were going and what kind of event this was. But he didn''t want to show it on his face, so he asked those questions to see his uncle''s response.


    Rufus was hiding the main purpose of the gathering, and from that Keith could guess he was trying to set him up. He was trying to hype up the event and make Keith interested in the bets.


    But he didn''t know that Keith already knew about the colosseum and the upcoming fight.


    Soon, the carriage entered the blood forest.


    Trottle! Trottle!


    "How long until we reach the venue?" asked the elder sitting beside Rufus.


    "We will reach there shortly. I guess we are halfway there. It won''t take long." Rufus replied.


    The elder nodded and turned his head.


    Keith was observing the blood runes that activated as soon as the carriage left the city. They blocked everything from the outside, so nothing could be seen, heard, or sensed from the inside.


    His senses also failed to penetrate the invisible barrier. This was a high-level engraving that protected the secrecy of the path taken. The organizers did this to prevent anyone from finding out the location of the colosseum.


    The runes sealed the air and created a blood-qi barrier that surrounded the whole carriage. Nothing could get out from the inside. With no other way to know the path they were taking, Keith withdrew his senses and silently waited for the carriage to arrive at its destination.


    In the meantime, he circulated blood-qi to further increase the attributes and stabilize his excessive blood qi even more. Due to the blood runes sealing the entire carriage, it was very quiet inside. Barely anything could be heard from outside, except for the voice of the coachman.


    After several hours the coachman informed Rufus that they reached the checkpoint. What that meant was beyond Keith''s understanding. About ten minutes later, the carriage stopped and the runes sealing the carriage deactivated.


    Keith expanded his senses instantly to probe the terrain outside the carriage. It was a large corridor, about thirty meters wide. From the textures of the walls, he guessed they were somewhere underground.


    "This is where we walk." Rufus got out of the carriage and took a deep breath.


    Keth slowly got out of the carriage and looked around. It was a tunnel thirty meters wide with black marbles covering the surface. The reflection of the carriage could be faintly seen in the dimly lit space.


    "Are we inside the colosseum or is it just a way to that place.?" Keith asked.


    "This is the underground way that connects the colosseum to the surface. You see, the colosseum is hundreds of meters below the surface in the middle of nowhere. Only those who know about it can come here. The runes covering the carriage and blocking our senses were used to keep the path a secret." Rufus explained to Kieth.


    The group slowly walked for some time before a white light could be seen from the other end. After coming out of the tunnel, they saw the enormous stage in the middle and the colosseum that stretched for hundreds of meters. The height of the spectator''s area was equal to hundred meters.


    In the middle of the colosseum, there was a rounded platform made of pure white marble.


    ''So the fight will take place there.''


    As he moved towards the spectator''s area, he felt incredible existences similar to his uncle and grandpa.


    ''Are they the VIPs? The nobles who organize the tournament.'' Keith looked at a certain area that was covered with a thick glass that did not let the light out. So Keith could only see the reflection from outside.

 Chapter 48: Lets start

    The colosseum was a large underground architectural marvel that stood a  hundred meters hight and several hundred meters in length. It was decorated with finest bloodstones and white marble.


    It was designed such that the light was reflected off of its walls and illuminated the arena at the centre. The colosseum was built underground, so it needed all the light it could get. Only one source of light provided the entire structure to be illuminated.


    As Keith followed Rufus to the specteter''s area, he noticed it was divided into several blocks. There were gaps within the seats for each faction.


    Many factions were already seated and already prepared their warriors for the tournament.


    "Welcome to the Spirit Colosseum, where you get the experience of a lifetime. I, Eduard, welcome all the esteemed guests."


    A loud voice greeted all the spectators and appeared inside the arena. The light was focused on the arena and provided enough visibility to see his appearance. The host was a vampire at the baron stage, roughly two meters in height and very well built physique.


    He was wearing a red mask that covered half of his face. Looking around he entertained the guests with his silky words.


    "Now that most of you are present, we will commence the Spirit Colosseum fortnight batlle.  We will chose one warrior from each faction and group. They will fight until one of them surrenders or dies." A smirk appeared on his face as he said this.


    The audience turned cheerful in anticipation of the upcoming fight. The  lights focused on the stage and the surrounding area turned dark.


    "We will read the name of the participants from the list and randomly match them together for the preliminary matches. I would like to say one more thing, there is a special person watching the fight, so all the participants are encouraged to give their best performance. The rewards will be well worth it." The host announced.


    A sudden gossip ensued inside the area regarding the identity of the VIP. They were here with some sort of connection, so they tried to ask the others if they knew who it was. But soon the gossip died down as no one knew who it was.


    Keith silently watched the host walking on the pavilion on the other side of the arena. His uncle and the elders were sitting near him and eagerly waiting for the fight to start.


    A vampire walked up to the arena and placed his hands on the floor. The ground shook and engravings started forming on the arena floor.


    "Bring them in." The vampire said.


    Two more vampires carried ten male humans to the center of the stage where the first vampire was standing. The humans were handcuffed on both hands and legs, but they wore decent clothes.


    "Put your hands on this rune." The vampire commanded.


    There was a slight reluctance in their eyes but they gulped and proceeded to put their hands on the rune.


    Whish!


    After all ten of them put their hands on the rune formation, the pattens climbed up on their skin and completely covered their body.


    "By the blood pact, and the blessings of our ancestor, we will start the tournament to find the strongest among us." The vampire shouted those words and gripped his hand.


    The ten humans were suddenly absorbed inside the floor and the blood flowed on the engravings. The runes started to illuminate and the blood dried up making borders around the tiles and forming all sorts of shapes. In the center, a circle was formed.


    Keith''s eyebrows twitched seeing this. As unsettling it was, the process was rather painless. The humans didn''t even utter a word and it took a fraction of a second for them to assimilate with the floor.


    ''This is how humans are treated outside proper observation.''


    [Well, this is an underground arena, so this kind of thing would be common. Also, I sensed those humans¡­ they were not normal. It''s as if they were made and born. See how there are no women in that group. Because they are used to make more humans, they used only those that were defective.]


    ''What do you mean, they are made? Are they like¡­ clones?''


    Kieth knew the concept of clones and if these humans were clones that meant someone had achieved this level of technology in the vampire society.


    [I think they are similar, but different implementations.]


    ''¡­'' Keith silently watched as the vampire explained.


    "This is the countermeasure for cheaters and those who use unfair means during a fight. This will ensure that everyone has a fair fight. But the opponents could be of different stages and will depend on their own strength to win.


    "I will now put all the names on the rune that will register the blood-qi of the participants and only let them in. While we are at it, please look at the matchings on the pavilion."


    Keith remembered the manager saying that they will put all kinds of restrictions to make the game fair. At the same time, they wouldn''t interfere if the strength level is different and the opponent is being crushed.


    Basically, if you can;t say that you give up, you will die.


    He shifted his gaze to the pavilion where all the names of the participants were carved on a wall. The letters were glowing red, so it could be seen from the other side.

 Chapter 49: First battle

    The names were jumbled up together and after a while came out as one pair of names listed one after the other with a line connecting them.


    "This is the current match-up, so enter the arena accordingly. We will start the fight from the left."


    The host called out two vampires who were at the early stage baron level. Two of them entered the arena and stood in front of each other.


    "Are you two ready, or does someone need a little time to warm up?" The host asked.


    "No, I''m ready." Said the first vampire.


    "Me too." The other one said.


    "Very well then. Let''s commence the very first match of the tournament. The circle at the center will glow three times and the runes will get activated. So you can start fighting after the third glow."


    Both of them didn''t respond and stared daggers into each other. They flared up their blood-qi and waited for the signal.


    The vampire who cast the blood ritual on the arena used his hands to activate the circle. The circle glowed red for a while then faded. Then the second time it was quicker. The two vampire''s eyes were locked in on the circle.


    At the third glow, both of them dashed forward and clashed in the middle.


    The fight was very intense as both sides were evenly matched with equal strength. Both of them were at baron level and used their full strength to suppress each other.


    Keith paid attention to the fight and analyzed their fighting patterns. Even though they were weaker than him in terms of raw strength, their fighting style was unique and the martial arts used looked refined.


    They didn''t use any advanced blood-qi techniques but their martial arts were not inferior. Even without blood-qi techniques, they displayed great strength.


    One thing Keith noticed was that both of them were decades older than him, which meant they stayed at the baron level for so many years. Still, their martial art reached its peak and their moves showed elegance.


    ''They don''t have access to the same blood-qi techniques as the family leaders. All they can do is practice the martial arts they are given. The common vampires are in a position where they don''t even know the existence of blood-qi techniques.


    The innate blood-qi is only what they can cultivate.

 Chapter 50: Second Battle

    The second fight was between a Final stage baron and a middle stage baron. The Final stage baron was a tall, muscular vampire, who looked menacing with his huge build. On the other hand, the middle stage baron was almost half the size of his opponent.


    He looked innocent with his younger look as there was not a shred of maliciousness shown on his face.


    They closed their gap inside the arena and stood two meters apart, from the arena.

 Chapter 51: Time for me to show up

    Keith entered the arena with his mask on. He already changed his clothes backstage and he looked like an ordinary vampire. The manager accompanied him backstage as they walked in the dimly lit tunnel.


    "Sir, do you need any artifacts and armors for the fight?" The manager asked.


    "Do you have a defensive artifact capable of blocking blows from final stage viscount and early-stage count?" Keith looked at the manager with a frown.


    He was strong enough to contend with a middle stage viscount, given that the opponent didn''t know any advanced blood-qi techniques.

 Chapter 52: Collecting the rewards

    A large crater was formed when the attack landed on the ground. The opponent was nowhere to be seen. After the dust settled, Keith''s figure remained at the center of the arena and the opponent was lying unconscious outside the arena.


    The last attack was very powerful and Keith used his warrior frame to its limits.

 Chapter 53: No one else?

    No one dared to challenge him as he stood silently inside the arena. He just defeated two viscount-level warriors in just half an hour, so almost all of the contestants were wary of him. Most of the warriors were barons, so they gave up challenging him.


    Despite being a baron like them, Keith managed to defeat two viscounts so quickly, without suffering any damage whatsoever. This greatly shocked the other participants in the tournament as well as the audience.

 Chapter 54: Blood Contract (Preview Chapter)

    Looking at the blood contract he received from the arena, he examined the runes carved on its surface. It was a thin sheet of leather only a couple of millimeters thick, carefully crafted with several gems embroidered on each corner.


    This was a blood ritual contract that made sure both parties kept their end of the deal.

 Chapter 55: Entering The Academy

    A large palace could be seen at the horizon as the carriage moved forward on the stone-paved road. Keith looked at the magnificent scene in front of him. He could tell that the palace was several kilometers away from the carriage, but he could see it clearly from such a distance.


    Soon, the carriage entered the palace premises and a huge gate appeared. Several vampires were guarding the entrance. They were wearing a dark red suit-like uniform. In their hands, there was a knuckle-like artifact.


    As soon as the carriage arrived near the entrance, the guards quickly approached it.


    "Invitation token and purpose of your visit." One of the guards said.


    Keith quickly took out his invitation card and passed it through the window.


    "Keith Ennse. The next leader of the Ennes family." The guard read all the documents and returned them to him.


    "You can enter the academy premises." The guard gestured his hands sideways.


    The gate opened and the carriage entered the palace. The academy was built on the ancient castle that once belonged to an original vampire. That particular ancestor greatly favored education and provided his castle as a place for the bright minds and geniuses together after he entered eternal sleep.


    After entering the academy gates, Keith saw the magnificent buildings and gardens spread all around. Many students walked on the premises. Several other carriages also arrived alongside Keith''s as well as officials who entered the academy at the same time as him.


    "Hah! So this is the old ass academy mother used to talk about. This is nothing special. Our palace is even bigger than this." Someone shouted from behind Keith''s carriage.


    A flamboyant-looking boy stepped out from a luxurious carriage and started to spew whatever came to his mind. His tone was also full of disgust and he cursed every second word he spoke.


    "What the hell? Where are my servants?" The boy looked at the man beside him.


    "We are only allowed to bring one servant for the academy, master." The man, who looked like a butler, replied.


    "Wastes. How am I going to manage everything if there are not enough servants? I want to talk to the director of the academy. Surely he will allow me to get more servants." The boy said.


    "No young master, that won''t happen. Your father already tried to negotiate with the director and he refused to change the rules." The butler replied.


    "Ah, what good is this academy if they can''t give us a couple of servants. Hateful."


    "Rest assured, master. I will take care of all your affairs and you don''t have to worry about anything."


    Now that Keith looked at the man again, he sensed his blood core. He was a final stage viscount. Someone of that caliber is a butler of an early-stage baron. Keith was shaking his head.


    ''Clearly, he''s from a powerful family. No one from lower families can afford to employ a butler of this caliber. I wonder which country he''s from?''


    Before coming to the academy, Keith researched the five countries on the continent. His home country Kelgard which was in the southern part of the continent was one of the top three countries. As it was in the south, it received a decent amount of sunlight. The human population was also bustling compared to other countries.


    The two neighbors, Argania and Clecia, locked the country from both sides. Argania had somewhat unfavorable connections to other countries. It closed off its borders to outsiders and only allowed high-ranking officials to enter.


    Clecia was the opposite of Argania. It was a business paradise, also the center of all illegal trades. It boasted relatively warm weather, huge amounts of human labor, and free borders for traders. This also attracted slave traders and illegal merchants to its borders.


    The higher-ups never really cared about humans as long as no vampires were implicated. So they turned blind eye to all the atrocities.


    The two countries on the other side of the continent were sparsely populated by humans and vampires alike. Efrain was situated at the northernmost part of the continent, with ice covering half of its land all year long.


    Fleidian was just below it and it was in turmoil after the king passed away a few years back. The two princes fought against each other leading their separate factions and destroying everything that belonged to the other.


    The war still continued to this day, and countless humans were sacrificed. Many vampires also suffered because of this. The food shortages due to the war further declined the population as famines were as frequent as the full moon.


    Among the five countries, Argania was considered the most powerful force. Many high-level vampires were in the ranks of their army. Argania had the highest number of Dukes who were the pillars of a nation.


    The other countries were around the same level in terms of military might. They also cooperated with others who couldn''t defend against Argania. But it was just a superficial alliance that relied on mutual benefit.


    In exchange for borrowing strength, they asked for resources from the weaker country. It didn''t matter if the normal population suffered because of it. Kelgard was relatively neutral and didn''t have any feuds with other nations.


    The last war fought by Kelgard was thousand years ago against Fleidian. Even though there were no wars in that region, every country kept strengthening its military. So no one could take their land where they weren''t paying attention.


    Looking at the Kid''s clothes, he spotted the logo of the Argania. It was an insignia with two red swords covered in thorns. In the center, there was a crescent moon.


    "Hey! What are you looking at?" The kid yelled at Keith while pointing his finger.


    "You are from Argania, right? Nice to meet you, I''m Keith from Kelgard." Keith introduced himself to him.


    "Did I ask your name? What a useless kid? Hmph!" The boy snorted after hearing Keith.


    "Don''t mind him. He''s always like that. Duke Arji spoiled him by providing everything to him. Look at him, he''s reeking of the narcissistic aura."


    An alluring teenage girl stepped out of another carriage and shot a hateful glance at the boy.

 Chapter 56: New Place

    "Annica! How dare you say those things in front of me?"


    The boy shouted back at the girl.


    "What are you going to do? Complain to your father. That is the only thing you can do anyways." The girl named Annica replied.


    "Hmph! You wait." The boy spat out loud.


    He didn''t wait for the response as he quickly turned around and left.


    "I''ve been waiting my entire life." They laughed as the boy walked off the distance while stomping his foot.


    The girl looked at Keith and approached him.


    "You are from Kelgard right?" She glanced at his insignia embroidered on the dress.


    "Yes." Keith looked at the girl''s dress, but couldn''t identify her origins.


    She must have noticed that he was searching for her insignia, as she laughed while placing her hands on her lips.


    "I''m from Argania as well. You can call me Anny." She extends her hand for a shake.


    "Keith. It''s nice to meet you." Keith shook her hand.


    She was wearing a black Victorian dress and a hat that was tilted to the right side. Her hands were covered in thin white gloves. Upon closer look, her dress contained several blood runes.


    She looked to be in her late teens, but looks were deceptive for vampires. She might be hundreds of years old. Someone couldn''t judge a vampire''s age just by appearance.


    "Impressive! You are so young, but already a final stage baron." Anny said.


    "You overpraise me. I was just lucky."


    "So you also joined the academy for this batch. Looks like we will be spending a lot of time together." Anny looked at Keith playfully.


    "What do you mean?" Keith asked with a suspicious face.


    "We will be learning together, you and me. I am also a final stage baron." She laughed.


    Keith was surprised. Because a moment ago he scanned her but no functions were found. He didn''t know what stage she was in, but to completely hide the final stage baron''s aura was beyond his expectations.


    "Shall I ask you to accompany me to our dorms?" Anny asked.


    "NO, thank you. We can go by ourselves." Rena said as she came out of the carriage holding Keith''s luggage.


    "Oh my! Who might you be? She has quite the temper for a human." Anny turned around and looked at Rena, who was staring daggers at her.


    "She''s my maid. I brought her here as a servant." Keith replied.


    "Wonderful. Is she your personal blood bank?"


    "Ahem! No, she just takes care of all my things. Isn''t that right Rena?" Keith looked at Rena with big eyes.


    "Yes¡­ I am young master''s loyal servant." Rena understood the gesture and toned down her voice.


    "Aww, I haven''t seen such a vampire-human relationship in years. Mostly they are just overworked or used as food." Anny said with a cute voice.


    A chill ran down Rena''s spine as she heard this. She never expected such a cruel thing could be said with this much cuteness. The girl in front of him was very good with words.


    "Thank you miss for your compliment. But we must report to the registration office. Now, if you''ll excuse us, we will take our leave." Keith said.


    "Oh! I almost forgot about that. Thank you for reminding me. Hope we meet again in the near future." Anny winked at Keith and turned around.


    "Henry! Pick everything up. We are leaving. Hurry!" Anny ordered her servant who was standing near the carriage.


    The man quickly picked up the luggage and followed her.


    "What a vicious woman." Rena blurted out.


    "Something tells me, we will be seeing more of these spoiled brats here." Keith sighed.


    They picked up their luggage and headed to the registration office.


    ***


    "Age and Family name?" A deep female voice asked.


    "Forever Family. 21 years old." A beefy-looking man who was standing in front of the table said with no emotions.


    "Blood condensing stage?"


    "Early-stage baron."


    "Here you go. Take the left turn and go straight to block eight. Show this card to the guard, he will guide you to your room." The old lady who was registering the students handed the bulky man an identity card.


    As soon as the man took the card from her hands, the runes engraved on it lit up faintly and registered his blood-qi.


    "Next!"


    Keith, who was watching from the sides, walked forward and handed her his documents.


    "Age and family name?"


    "20 years old, From Ennes family."


    "Blood condensing stage?"


    "Final stage baron" Keith replied with a straight face.


    The woman turned her head up and looked at him for several seconds.


    "Is something wrong?"


    "No, I thought I''ve seen you somewhere. Looks like you are his son." The old lady replied.


    "You knew my father?" Keith asked with an excited face.


    "This old lady has been managing the registration office for several centuries. There are only a few who can stay relevant in my memory."


    "May I ask a few more things about my father? Keith looked at her eagerly.


    "I''m afraid I can''t do that. The academy has prohibited spreading information about wanted fugitives." The old lady looked strangely at Keith.


    "My dad¡­ Why did he do this? Why did he go that far and sacrifice his entire fortune, his seat as the leader? If I could just know his reasoning." Keith mumbled.


    "Whatever his goal was, he was hell-bent on achieving it. He didn''t even flinch when he¡­" She looked at Keith again and stopped talking.


    She then handed him a card similar to the one she gave to the brawny man.


    "Take a left and at the end of the corridor, turn right. You will find 3 buildings, go to the middle building and show the guards this card."


    Keith nodded his head silently and left the registration office.


    "That kid, he has the same eyes as his father. Hopefully, he doesn''t bring trouble to himself." The old lady mumbled before asking for the next registrant.


    Walking on the campus corridor, Keith followed the path the old lady had instructed. Rena was walking by her side, carrying the luggage.


    They quickly reached the end of the corridor and turned right. After walking thirty steps, they came out to an open space several acres long. Three large buildings could be seen, separated by two gardens.


    Keith walked towards the middle building, which was built with finely cut stones. It was so flawless in fact that he thought the building was molded by metal. But the lines separating the stones gave it away.


    The building was around five storeys tall, with a sloped roof starting in the middle. The entrance was supported by several pillars. The golden-brown colored stones accentuated the building in an elegant way.


    As he approached the entrance, the guard extended his hands. Keith gave him the identity card and the guard looked at it and slowly nodded.


    "Come with me." He guided Keith inside the building.


    Keith followed the guard. After going through several corridors the guard stopped in front of the luxurious door.


    "This is your room where you will be staying for the term. If you like it, you can extend your stay indefinitely, or move to another building."


    Keith opened the door and entered the room. His eyebrows went up as he looked around the interior. It was a luxurious suite filled with everything a nobleman could think of.

 Chapter 57: The Training Facility

    The inside was like a large house with multiple rooms attached. In the middle, there was a giant hall that connected the rest of the rooms. Two stairs went up to the upper floor from both sides of the hall.


    Keith decided to check out the rooms. The first room was quite big, similar to his room at Ennes castle. The others were a little smaller, but it was nothing ordinary. Every room was decorated with luxurious furniture and filled with all the amenities.


    He gave one of the rooms to Rena, which was opposite the hall. It was the second biggest room after Keith''s. Rena reluctantly accepted and started renovating the room.


    Meanwhile, Keith was interested in looking around the academy campus. He left his room and headed outside. The front garnet was well maintained with different species of trees painted.


    He glanced around and walked towards the other side of his residential area. The corridor was short and when he came out of the other side, a large building was seen towering over fifty meters.


    The building was wide covering his entire field of vision. Many students wearing different types of uniforms were entering this building. Keith was curious to find out what this place was, so he followed them and entered the building.


    Upon entering, he saw a large hall consisting of dozens of large doors. Every door had a unique sign and a corresponding title attached to it.


    "Are you new here?" A middle-aged man asked.


    "Uh... Yes. I just enrolled in the academy today. What is this place?" Keith asked the middle-aged man.


    "You are one of the students from the new batch, I see." The man nodded.


    "This is a training facility for blood warriors. You see those doors." The man pointed his hand to the dozens of doors opening and closing as students came in and out.


    "Each door represents one minor level of the blood condensation stages. Baron has three doors for each stage. Viscount has three and so on. The last ones¡­ are way less crowded. They are the training facilities for count and marquis stage respectively." The man spoke as he pointed his fingers to the bright red colored doors with beautiful carvings.


    "Can a lower stage blood-qi user enter the higher training grounds?" Keith asked.


    "Not normally, but if you can get the approval of the dean."


    "The director of the academy?"


    "No, the head of the blood warrior department." The man shook his head.


    "Is that so? I''m new here so I don''t know a lot about the academy?" Keith said.


    " Didn''t your current family leader brief you about the academy?"


    "He did, but I condensed my blood core fairly recently so there was not much time on my part to sit down and listen. I was stabilizing my blood core most of the time." Keith scratched his head with an awkward smile.


    "Huh! You are a final stage baron. When did you get promoted to baron?" The man asked with a strange face.


    Now, Keith realized his progress was too fast, even among the top geniuses. He was promoted to baron very quickly., even getting to the final stage baron within a month after condensing a blood core. If he told him that, the middle-aged man would surely doubt him.


    "Around a year."


    "You are telling me you reached the final stage baron within a year." The middle-aged man was flabbergasted.


    Keith gave an awkward smile.


    ''I thought the top genius would reach the final stage baron within a year. Should''ve added a couple more years.''


    "Yeah¡­Is that bad?" Keith asked with an ignorant face.


    "Bad? If that is bad, then all the geniuses are trash."


    The man looked at Keith as if he saw a terrifying monster.


    "Come with me. I will test your blood core. Let''s see if your core has stabilized or not."


    "How should I address you?" Keith talked to this middle-aged man for a while but didn''t know who he was. Considering that he knew a lot about this place, Keith thought he might be a staff.


    "Garey Visit. Retainer of this facility." The old man replied.


    Keith followed the man to one of the gates and entered inside. The inside was dark and the corridor was filled with blood runes.


    Hong!


    "What was that?" Keith was startled by the sudden pressure.


    "It''s just the runes trying to suppress the blood-qi. Stay close." The old man warned.


    Keith didn''t feel that much discomfort but it still stung him a little.


    " The blood ritual array here suppresses the blood-qi of the warriors. They come here to practice their blood-qi tampering.


    "When you condense your first blood core and enter the baron stage, there are a lot of things you need to learn. This is the start of the path for your journey in the blood condensing."


    When you stabilize your core, you can learn one of the four disciplines. The retainer looked at him.


    " Oh, so you know about it."


    "Mhm¡­ Grandpa told me about it."


    "So, you must have known your family technique then."


    " It''s nothing special."


    They reached a place where the runes were so dense that it was suffocating. The man opened his hand and a card appeared in his hand.


    The surrounding runes changed, and the room was devoid of any life energy.


    "Now, can you withstand the pressure without a warrior frame?" The man turned around.


    He saw that Keith was not only able to withstand the pressure, but he did it without the help of a warrior frame. This greatly stunned the man as he stared at Keith from top to bottom.


    "Do you practice any special blood-qi technique?" The man asked.


    "Not at the moment, why?"  Keith asked.


    "Considering that you can withstand this much pressure, you have something special going on inside your body. No ordinary baron can withstand such pressure without a warrior frame." The man examined Keith''s body with his senses.


    He scanned Keith''s body with his blood-qi but found nothing.


    "Maybe, my blood-qi is too dense." Keith smiled.

 Chapter 58: Blood Stone

    The suffocating atmosphere lasted for a while as the two stayed in the middle looking at each other.


    The middle-aged man was examining Keith''s body with his blood-qi, but he didn''t find anything interesting. That was precisely what was making him restless.


    Staying calm inside the body tampering chamber made for final stage blood warriors was already incredible. The man didn''t find any signs of warrior frame activation or any other blood-qi technique.


    If he were to use any blood-qi technique to stay unharmed inside this chamber, that would''ve been easier to digest. But the boy in front of him didn''t use any such technique, at least he couldn''t detect it.


    This was incredible considering he didn''t have that much experience in manipulating blood-qi. Even if he did, staying calm like this was still shocking. At least a normal vampire who activated blood-qi would fight the pressure and show some sign of struggle.


    This young man in front of him showed no such sign. After examining Keith, the man activated his card and the pressure slowly faded and the blood runes returned to their original arrangement.


    "You are quite the interesting specimen."


    "Mr. Visit, you are saying as if you will dissect me," Keith said with a frown.


    "Oh! I would''ve if you weren''t a student of this academy. Labeling an unknown freak as a unique research specimen wouldn''t be that hard. Just have to stay away from those council dogs." Mr. Visit said with an indignant expression.


    "Then I have to thank the ancestors, for bestowing me such incredible luck," Keith replied.


    "Hmm¡­ Hmm¡­ You are indeed lucky. How about you join our Department."


    "This¡­ I just arrived here. I haven''t seen a fraction of the campus yet, not to mention the other departments. I appreciate the offer, and I might take it, but I need some time to decide what is best for me."


    "Fair enough. You are special and I know it. If we don''t snatch you from those other departments, that will be m¡­ our loss." Mr. Visit looked at Keith with greedy eyes.


    " Sir, if you keep looking at me like that, I''m afraid I will have to join another department.


    "Ahem! Sorry for that. I can''t control myself when something catches my attention."


    He turned around and walked in a certain direction.


    "Come, I will show you the best training chamber for final stage barons. You will surely like it."


    Keith followed him and soon reached another hall, but this was the opposite of the first one he entered. This chamber was illuminated by large lamps and blood runes filled the room with ambient blood-qi which was three times higher than the cave he absorbed corrupted blood-qi.


    Contrary to the corrupted blood-qi in that cave, this place was filled with the purest blood-qi he had ever encountered. He also knew that regular vampires couldn''t absorb blood-qi from regular vampires due to the conflicting attributes.


    So this whole place had to be filled with human blood.


    "Sir, how can this place help the blood warriors?" Keith asked.


    "When you master your warrior frame and can control your blood-qi output, this place will stimulate your frame and help you condense blood-qi many times faster. This is only useful to the blood warriors, as warrior frames have a special trait that allows them to condense blood-qi faster.


    ''It''s definitely because the warrior frame acts as an auxiliary blood core.'' Keith thought.


    After upgrading his warrior frame to viscount level, his frame was able to condense blood-qi within it. It was way slower than the blood core, but both of them combined, the efficiency was significantly higher.


    " What do you think?"


    "It''s a good place, but it won''t be enough to keep me here." Keith looked at him with a disappointed face.


    He was trying to see how far Mr. Visit will go to keep him in this department. Even if he didn''t get anything better, it was worth a try. Besides, his primary goal was to join the Blood Esper department.


    "You haven''t created your warrior frame yet, but you want better environments. You have quite the appetite." Mr. Visit frowned.


    "If this is what you can provide me, then I will take my leave. It was nice talking to you, hope to meet again, when you''ve lost your interest in me." Keith turned around and started walking.


    "Alright. You want a good reason to stay. Very well." He threw something toward Keith.


    Its trajectory arced in the air and headed straight to Keith''s hands.


    Keith also sensed the throw, so he opened his fist and caught it. When he touched the object his whole body jolted.


    [ Purified blood essence detected ]


    A loud system notification rang in Keith''s head.


    [ What? Who woke up this goddess? You¡­]


    ''Shut up!''


    The system suddenly went silent. After a few moments, it noticed that the thing in Keith''s hands was so rich in blood essence, that the system had almost mistaken it for a blood core. But after examining it, there was no sign of blood-qi, only pure attributes with less blood essence.


    "What is this?" Keith asked while turning around.


    "A high-grade bloodstone. Hope this changes your mind, because no one in the other departments can give you this much bloodstone, let alone this grade."


    "Then, why are you giving me such a precious treasure?" Keith couldn''t rationalize Mr. Visit''s action.


    Did he want to recruit him for the department, or did he want to keep him by his side, so he could study him? Like he previously said, he would''ve made Keith his lab rat if not for the student id he had on him.


    Still, giving him such a valuable item, what did he see in him? Sure, he did pretty well inside the blood tampering chamber, but it was nothing outstanding. He didn''t even show him his warrior frame.


    How was he so sure that Keith had what he was looking for? Or did he do this without the hope of gaining anything? But why? Who would gamble on a nobody they just met?


    "I know what you are thinking, but you don''t have to give me that strange look. I have a lot more of these stones lying on my lab." Mr. Visit said with a proud smile as if flaunting his wealth.


    "Sir, who are you? How can you afford this much? I refuse to believe you are just a retainer at this training facility."


    The number of resources the man in front of him claimed was by no means a small amount, quite the opposite. This much resource was unheard of in his hometown. Even Ennes'' family didn''t have this much.


    "Well, you could say I''m kind of a retainer because I made this place and all the training grounds were designed by me. So of course I will have this much." Mr. Visit proudly declared.


    "You are a blood ritualist." Keith joined the pieces together and came to this conclusion.


    "Of course. How would you explain all the clearances, considering I''m not even a blood warrior? I simply like this place so I stay here all the time.


    The dean also gave me a position, so it doesn''t look like I''m idling around, which I never do."


    "So what are we doing now?" Keith asked with a frown.


    " This is part of my job too. To seek talented seedlings for the department. You have caught my eyes, so I will have to try everything in my power to lure you into our department."


    "One question? Why do you keep saying our department? I thought, blood ritualists have a separate department, dedicated to various research," Keith asked.


    "Meh, it''s just them slaving me away. I don''t want to act on their orders. I want to do whatever I like. How dare they tell me to sit at one place and make countless blood runes. Hateful"


    Keith was amazed by this man''s deposition. Also, his lack of care for any of the seniors was something he found amazing. If you think about it, in general, it was impossible to disobey superiority in this hierarchical environment, It could only happen if the person was really influential.


    "From the look on your face you might be thinking, who am I to disobey the Director? Well, they don''t have a choice. I am the only one who can make what they want. Even though I''m not a count, I am more important than a Duke.


    Ritualists are very rare, to begin with. But some of them also specialize in certain fields, so their value is way higher than ordinary ritualists. What I''m capable of, only a handful can do in the entire continent."


    Keith looked at the middle-aged man in a whole other light. At first, he thought he was just a crazy old man who was a cannibal, trying to lure him into his trap. But now that he found out about him and his capabilities, he didn''t take him lightly.


    He clenched the bloodstone in his hands and felt the rich blood essence flowing within it. This man was rich, very rich in fact. He could provide him with blood stones if he could keep him interested in him.


    [Quick! Quick! Agree! I want that blood stone. My energy has been running out lately. I can''t come out as often like before.]


    ''You better stay inside and not eat my brain, or else I will return this blood stone to him.


    [Okay! Okay! I will shut up.]


    Keith looked at Mr. Visit, who was smiling at him.


    "I will.."


    "What''s that?"


    "I will join this department, but on one condition."


    "Which is?"


    "You have to give me one of these every week," Keith replied with a serious face.


    "Hey! Do you know how valuable these are? I''m not that benevolent."


    "Alright, no deal then." Keith turned around to leave.


    "Kid, you better become my lab assistant, if you want to get one high-grade blood stone each week."


    "See you later, Mr. Visit. I might never visit you¡­ Haha," Keith waved his hands as he walked forward.


    "FINE! But you must give me one day to study your physique. This is my final offer."  A look of frustration flashed in his eyes.


    Keith turned around and smiled gently.


    "Now, this marks the start of a great partnership."

 Chapter 59: Arrogant Kid

    "Hmph! This old man has given you so much, you better pay me back in equal amounts."


    "If it was not on equal terms, why did you agree?" Keith laughed.


    "Because you haven''t given me any value, yet. Think of it as an investment. Now get out of my sight. I will call you when it''s time."


    Mr. Visit turned around and headed for the exit.


    "Can I stay here for some time?" Keith asked reluctantly.


    "Do as you wish, just don''t enter the higher training chambers. If you die too early, I can''t collect any data."


    His figure disappeared outside the open doors. Keith looked around the training chamber and felt the rich blood-qi surrounding him. Then he gripped his hand. The bloodstone was shining faintly as the blood-qi reacted to it.


    "Should I absorb this now? Keith seemed to be talking to himself, but he was asking the system.


    [Are you really asking that question? It will greatly benefit you and increase your blood-qi.  You know other vampires can''t absorb blood-qi from other vampires, but this is something they can use.


    The top geniuses must be using these bloodstones to increase their blood-qi. Looking at the rich blood essence present within it, it will boost your blood-qi to the viscount level. But I will advise you against that.]


    "Oh, then what do you suggest?"


    [ You should use this bloodstone to upgrade your warrior frame. If you level up your blood core, you can''t harness the full potential of the warrior frame. Only relying on your blood core to fuel the warrior frame will hold you back.


    If you do this instead, you can keep the warrior frame independent and also make it act as another blood core. You don''t have to use your own blood-qi to power it. This will allow you to use your complete blood-qi reserve and won''t burden the blood core.]


    "I have to say, this is¡­ a good plan." Keith reluctantly nodded.


    [ What are you waiting for? Activate the mark and absorb that bloodstone.]


    "Not yet, I can do this inside my room. Here, there is an abundance of pure blood-qi. I will absorb as much as I can from here."


    Keith put the bloodstone inside his pocket and activated his mark to start absorbing the ambient blood-qi.


    The surrounding air turned heavy as the purple tendrils started sucking the blood-qi. The area surrounding Keith was covered with a thick red gas. The blood-qi of the whole room gathered around him because of the suction.


    He sat down cross-legged in the middle and closed his eyes. Silently absorbing the blood-qi, he immersed himself in contending the blood-qi into his warrior frame.


    Several hours passed and he collected a lot of blood-qi, His warrior frame reached halfway to the peak of early-stage viscount. It didn''t sound much, but considering the amount of blood-qi required to level up, this was really impressive.


    After reaching the viscount level warrior frame, he noticed that the effectiveness of normal blood didn''t help him at all. He could barely tell the difference after weeks. He couldn''t tell how much he was growing.


    Only the system gave him an accurate measurement of the increase in level. After acquiring sentience, the system was able to calculate and observe the warrior and came to a conclusion.


    The levels after baron required many times more blood-qi in order to breakthrough. And following this rule, the higher the blood core, the more blood-qi was required to breakthrough.


    Viscount, according to the system''s calculation, consisted of three levels. Level 2 to 5. The first level, which was level 2 to 3 corresponds to the early-stage viscount. Level 3 to 4 middle stage viscount and level 4 to 5 is the final stage viscount.


    This was a steep jump from the one-level baron stage. Now that he was aware of his insignificance in the vast continent, and how little baron-level vampires mattered, his entire worldview changed.


    Keith opened his eyes wide and stared at the blood runes that kept changing and producing blood-qi. Countless humans must have been sacrificed to power these blood runes. Now they used more efficient methods, but this academy was here for countless years.


    Earlier, humans were slaughtered young and used for the replenishments for these types of arrays. It was especially brutal in the wars when the vampires needed a constant source of blood. They would slaughter several settlements when they marched and devoured everything that came across. Even animals weren''t spared.


    But it was fifty thousand years ago, when the great war broke out, that almost wiped out life from the continent. It was a cold environment, so there was not much life, to begin with. Most of the humans stayed in the southern part of the continent.


    Because of the war, the vampires slaughtered countless humans and animals alike. If not for the desperate attempt of some brave vampires who convinced both sides and formed a truce, the war would have consumed all life present on the continent.


    The leaders then established the council to oversee the whole continent and the entirety of vampires. The laws passed by them became the chains that kept the five countries together. This was really a great feat.


    They also had the strength to back it up. The council''s hunters were elites of each country working independently for the council and didn''t associate with any other country. When it was needed, they would even purge their own country''s vampires.


    After several thousand years, they became the most powerful organization on the continent. Even countries couldn''t act independently without their approval. Sure, there was tension between countries, but they didn''t act on it.


    Thinking about his own country which was rather peaceful, he silently thanked his great luck. If he were to be in northern countries which were in turmoil, maybe he would have perished long ago.


    He got up from his spot and followed the path he took to come inside. After reaching the entry door, he looked at the ever-changing runes. He stretched his hands to open the door. He only needed to touch it and the card would do the rest.


    Before he could open the door, it opened from the other side. Two figures entered the corridor and looked at Keith.


    "Hey! I haven''t seen you here. Are you new to this place? Did you finally break through to the final stage baron?" A smug-looking boy asked Keith.


    "I made a breakthrough to the final stage baron recently, but this is my first time visiting the training facility," Keith replied with a smile.


    "Wait! So you were not a blood warrior originally. Which department are you from then?" Asked the boy.


    "I haven''t joined any department as I just got enrolled into the academy."


    "No way. You mean to say that you were a final stage baron before coming here. Where are you from, kid? Your family must be very powerful and resourceful." Said the man.


    "Unfortunately that is not the case. My grandpa is the only count in our family and we have only two viscounts." Keith replied.


    "Huh! How come you could rise to such a high level? Does your family own a bloodstone mine or something?" A surprised expression appeared on his face.


    "I wish that were the case¡­" Keith said.


    "Enough!"


    As Keith was talking to the boy, the man beside him silently examined Keith. He also sensed his final stage blood core level, and from his first statement, he thought Keith was from a prominent family.


    But now that he heard that the kid in front of him was from a no-name family, he was rather irritated by his demeanor. Everyone who attended the Crimson academy came from noble families.


    All the five countries sent their best vampires and leaders of the next generation to this academy. He was also a  son of a count and his family had a very high standing in Clecia, which was famous for its trade.


    Being the richest family in their entire duchy, even comparable to the Duke of their region, he was quite proud of his heritage. His family owned several businesses but the most significant was a small bloodstone mine.


    Even though it was small, the output was by no means small. The value of bloodstones was pretty high because this was the only resource that could help the vampires grow stronger without any repercussions.


    He himself absorbed many bloodstones to reach baron level at the age of twenty-three. He knew his lack of talent held him back. But the wealth of his family made up for it.


    When he heard this boy in front of him could reach the final stage baron without any external resources, he felt immense jealousy. If only he had this much good luck.


    He looked at Keith with an angry face.


    "Did you not see my presence here?" He shouted at Keith.


    "My bad, My bad. I was just talking to him."


    "You are disrespectful to your seniors. I will punish you for it. You coming here without being registered in the facility is a severe breach of campus law. The dean will be happy if I punished you in his stead."


    Saying this, he threw a punch imbued with blood-qi straight towards Keith.

 Chapter 60: I Will See You Soon

    The powerful punch headed straight to Keith''s face, but he stayed still without flinching. He could tell that the punch was not threatening to him. The baron-level vampire who attacked him just now was only using one-third of his power, which showed that he had no intention of killing him.


    He probably wanted to severely injure him or give him a couple of bruises. That''s why he held back his punch. Still, it was nothing for Keith as he was already used to receiving punches from the final stage viscount.


    Now that he understood the level difference, he realized his uncle didn''t use his full power. He looked like he was desperate, but this was because he used only his raw strength and didn''t use any advanced blood-qi techniques.


    Compared to his attacks, this was child''s play for Keith. He raised his blood-qi a little and swung his arm vertically. The incoming attack was blocked and the man lost his balance after his hand was diverted sideways.


    Bang!


    He crashed into the nearby wall. The other vampire boy who was watching this was surprised by the sudden turn of events. One moment he was talking to this new kid and then his friend attacked the kid.


    He was still processing this but it ended as quickly as it started. When he looked over to his friend, who was getting up with a twisted face, he felt things would escalate even further.


    "Hey! Hey! Can we just take a minute to relax and talk it out?" he said while gesturing his hands up and down.


    "You tell him. I was just having a normal conversation with you and he just attacked me out of nowhere." Keith said with an annoyed face.


    Keith was in a great mood after absorbing so much blood-qi from the training chamber. Now, this person just pounced on him for no reason and started talking about academy rules.


    He was brought here by Mr. Visit to see the training chambers, he didn''t just break-in. Besides, he didn''t know the rules of the academy in the first place as his stay here didn''t even amount to a day.


    "Would you just think straight for a moment? How can he come here unauthorized? The doors require an identification that is approved by the higher-ups. If he''s here, he must be authorized to do so."  The younger man looked at his friend and said with a serious tone.


    "So what? He''s a junior and dared to disrespect me? I will punish him myself."


    The man got up and was ready to attack again but the younger man looked at him and shook his head.


    "Why are you defending him?"


    "I''m not. But we shouldn''t cause trouble here. If the dean were to find out, it will be a hassle." The young man massaged his temple.


    Hearing this, the other man slowed his blood-qi circulation. He looked at Keith with a frustrated look and snorted lightly.


    "I will remember you. This disrespect, I will punish you when you get out of here." He said to Keith as he brushed past Keith.


    "Sure, I am looking forward to meeting you." Keith smiled back and walked outside the door.


    He wanted to act, but when he heard the man would seek him out later, he controlled himself. Another plan had popped into his mind. An evil smile crept across his face as he exited the training facility.


    Back in the training chamber, the two vampires entered a hall with many structures spread across the room. They activated their identity cards and the structures changed shape and several types of weapons appeared in front of them.


    "Hey! Why are you so silent?" The older one asked.


    "You know why? I asked you specifically to not cause any trouble inside the training facility but to go ahead and attack that first-year student, you were really reckless" The younger one looked annoyed.


    "So what? He didn''t die or get injured. Besides, we could say that he attacked first. Who would know? And nobody would believe him even if he refused."


    "How much power did you use during your attack?"


    "About a third of my blood-qi. I was just trying to catch him off guard during the conversation. I wanted to see at least a broken nose." A hollow laugh escaped the older vampire.


    "But he didn''t get a scratch even though you suddenly attacked him. Why do you think that is?"


    "I don''t know. Maybe he was already alert, and didn''t let his guard down."


    "I wish that were true. But I sensed his blood-qi. It was not a slight bit irritated when you attacked him or when he moved his arm. His blood-qi stayed stable throughout like he didn''t even think this attack was worth getting worked upon."


    "That can''t be possible. How can he not circulate his full blood-qi, when I attacked him with almost a third of my power." A shocked expression appeared on the older vampire''s face.


    "So, now you realize. I think you forgot to pay attention after drowning in jealousy."


    "That.."


    "This is interesting. He could block one of your attacks without using blood-qi, not even using any blood-qi techniques. He is quite capable." The younger vampire scratched his chin with an amused look.


    "He''s just a sneaky little brat. He may have gotten lucky and found a bunch of bloodstones or something. His family is even unknown on the southern continent."


    "Alright. I want to see his limit. You can do whatever you want but don''t kill him. If he is seriously injured, heal him. Make sure nobody sees this. Or else we will be put on probation again. I worked really hard to keep those academy scums off my tail."


    "Hehe¡­ now that you approved, I will have fun torturing that kid. He will remember my face until he leaves this academy, or maybe the rest of his life." The older vampire laughed out loud.


    The structures moved forward and surrounded the two from all directions. Both of them circulated their blood-qi and prepared for the attacks.


    With a whistling sound, all the weapons shot forward at the two figures in the middle.


    Crack! Crack!


    The young vampire smashed two weapons and they turned into dust and got absorbed in the ground. The runes changed and merged with the weapon''s runes.


    The older vampire was struggling against two scythes. When he saw the younger vampire take out two of them with a single attack, a look of jealousy flashed across his face. He was the strongest vampire under viscount. He even defeated an early stage viscount given that viscount was recently promoted. Still, it was something he could never do.


    "I need to find that little rat and vent my frustration." He mumbled.

 Chapter 61: Whole Continent

    After coming back to his room, Keith examined his body. His warrior frame had leveled up quite a bit and almost reached half of the early stage viscount. Upon rough estimate, the system guessed its level based on the calculations, and it was about 2.39 on the viscount scale.


    Because it was his warrior frame and not his blood core, he didn''t feel overwhelmed after absorbing so much blood-qi. A little surge in blood-qi circulation throughout the body was the only noticeable difference.


    "This is great. I can absorb more blood-qi without the risk of blood-qi eruption. Sure, the blood-qi goes to the warrior frame, but it will increase my strength nonetheless. When the warrior frame is at its peak and filled to the brim, I will upgrade my blood core."


    [What did I say? Do you believe me now? This will give you way higher power and create a solid foundation for the future. You will be able to access the full potential of the warrior frame, and also support your blood core, when the warrior frame evolves into a true quasi-blood core.]


    " I can feel my dense blood-qi inside the warrior frame. It is way denser than the early stage viscounts who use their blood core to accumulate blood-qi." Keith felt the dense blood-qi that was circulating inside his warrior frame.


    [ Yes, the more blood-qi you feed to the warrior frame, the denser it will become and one day it will solidify the blood-qi and turn into a quasi-blood core.]


    Keith nodded with excitement and started circulating his blood-qi. Now that he absorbed so much blood-qi into his warrior frame, some residue also entered his body. He refined the excess blood-qi and condensed them slowly.


    He didn''t want to accidentally breakthrough to the viscount stage, so he didn''t condense it too much. Only circulating around the blood core and not letting it enter inside.


    After a while, Rena entered his room to give him his meal.


    "Young master, did you go outside to see the other parts of the campus?"


    "Yeah." Keith opened his eyes and said.


    "I can''t believe I am inside such a historic place. When you said you were leaving the castle, I was sad at first, but then you explained to me about this place. I understood that you needed to come here for better opportunities.


    I was happy, but there was an emptiness in my heart. I wondered when I''ll be able to see you again. Maybe I will turn old and have wrinkles when you come back." She looked innocently at Keith.


    "I was planning on leaving you at Ennes castle, but grandpa told me I could bring one servant with me. He suggested that I bring a baron-level vampire from our family, but I refused him. I have a lot of secrets and I don''t want someone to stay with me all day long.


    Especially if I don''t know them very well. You on the other hand are the most trusted person I could tolerate being around, so I decided to bring you along. " Keith replied with a nonchalant expression.


    "Ah! Thank you for bringing me with you. I can''t repay your kindness in this lifetime. I hope when I die, I will come back to you again in the next life."


    "What are you saying? It was nothing, and you don''t owe me anything. Just don''t overwork yourself." Keith gestured his hands to ask for the glasses.


    Rena handed him a glass full of blood and stood by the bed.


    "I must say, the blood in here tastes really good. The effects are also significantly better than the human blood available in our region." Keith savored the taste in his mouth and licked his lips.


    Seeing this Rena turned her head, only she knew what went inside her head.


    "Do you like it here?" Keith asked after drinking the blood.


    "Yes! This place is way better than our castle. Everything is available inside the residence. The blood always stays full on the containers, so you don''t have to worry about it. Even my food supplies are available on The ordering menu.


    There are several human servants staying in this building as well. I talked to a couple of them and they seem nice."


    " Good that you are blending in. I''m sure you miss the castle¡­" Keith looked at Rena but she didn''t look down. In fact, she looked more cheerful than she did at the Ennes castle.


    "Maybe not. I can rest assured knowing that you are not alone here." Keith replied with a smile.


    "It''s all because of you, I can get out of the castle and our country. I get to see all those beautiful terrains and all the foreign lands. I never thought I would see the whole continent."


    "It''s not the whole continent. We just passed by a small part of it. The real continent is much much bigger."


    "But if I stay with you, I can visit the whole continent someday, won''t I?" Rena asked with a hopeful expression.


    "Probably, if nothing goes wrong."


    It was still dangerous to venture alone in unknown paths filled with bandits and powerful vampires. Also, there are ghouls waiting to consume anything that crosses their path. The road they took to get here was a well-known route that was busy all the time.


    All the countries provided their resources to build the road and employed countless elite vampires to guard the road in regular intervals. It was the most secure road on the entire continent.


    The guarding zones became fully fledged settlements after thousands of years. Many businesses boomed in those cities. Due to this, the road became more crowded.


    Only when the envoys of the academy came, the road was temporarily blocked for regular vampires. It was also when the students of the academy journeyed to the academy. These students were the future leaders, sons, and daughters of big powerful families.


    They were the hope of the countries. So it was natural that they were given special treatment. So when Keith traveled, there were no disturbances on the way.


    "I''m sure one day we will be able to visit the whole continent and see the wonders lurking there. I hope I can see those places before I die." Rena said with a look of longing.

 Chapter 62: We Meet Again

    "There is still a lot of time, so don''t worry about it now," Keith assured her.


    "If you say so, I believe you."


    Her expression suddenly brightened and a smile appeared on her face. After asking her about the residence, he got a rough idea about how many students were staying here.


    From her estimate, there were fourteen servants in this building. That meant, the same amount of students also lived here. Keith was on the first floor, and there were five such living quarters on his floor.


    All of them were the future leaders of some family just like Keith. He didn''t underestimate their capability and influence. He might be stronger than most vampires, but there might be some hidden geniuses who could take him down.


    After hearing everything and discussing how she should proceed, he sent her off. He told her to keep her guard up and don''t believe whatever they say. He also warned her to stay away from any vampires.


    The rest of the day he circulated his blood-qi and practiced martial arts using his warrior frame. His proficiency increased after getting used to the warrior frame.


    The next morning he got ready for the orientation, which was scheduled to be held at the grand hall in the middle of the academy. He almost forgot about it and kept condensing blood-qi all morning. If it wasn''t for Rena, he would''ve definitely missed the event.


    After getting ready, he headed to the entrance. Many students walked out of the building with him. They were chatting among themselves about the upcoming event and what they might expect.


    Keith quietly walked out of the building and followed the path that led to the central hall. As he was walking, he felt someone following him. When he turned around, he saw a middle stage baron tailing him.


    There were other vampires on the way, so it was easy for the pursuer to blend in, but Keith''s senses were sharp. He noticed his movements and how he took turns after him and kept a fixed distance.


    When Keith looked at the vampire, he was also looking back at him. With a sudden movement, he appeared in front of Keith.


    "I come on behalf of master Jerim. He wants to meet you at the southern courtyard after the orientation is over." The vampire said while looking straight into Keith''s eyes.


    "I don''t know any Jeremy guy, and why should I go to meet him there? If he wants something, he can come to me." Keith ignored him and kept on walking.


    "You don''t know who you''re provoking. He is pissed at you for disrespecting him. If you keep disobeying him, he will do more than just beating you up. You have a chance to apologize to him. So don''t act foolishly."


    "Heh! Why would I act foolishly? I know very well what I''m doing. Besides, he can''t do anything to me. Just ask him what happened yesterday, but I doubt he will tell you about this embarrassing event." Keith replied with a grin.


    "What now? You are making shit up. First, you disrespected him and now you are slandering him. Wait till I report it to him. Today will be your end." The vampire turned around and left.


    "Yeah yeah¡­ go ahead, tell the whole campus. I don''t care one bit. I''ve been hearing these death threats my whole entire life. Marvin was a pain in the ass." Keith shook his head with annoyance.


    "Rough day?" A voice came from his back.


    Keith recognized the voice as it was from the girl he met at the academy entrance yesterday. He turned around and smiled.


    "Hey, Anny. What a coincidence. I didn''t think I would see you here. Are you heading towards the central hall as well?" Keith asked.


    "Why can''t I be here? I also live in this residential area. This place is meant for the final stage baron, so it''s no incidence. Why are you giving me that look?" Annica looked at Keith, who was looking suspiciously at her.


    "I just noticed you were being followed, so I wanted to watch some drama. I have to say, you did put up a good show. Do you know who he was working for?"


    "I do. I had a minor skirmish with him yesterday. Turns out he doesn''t like juniors ignoring him. He even threatened to settle his accounts with me." Keith said.


    "I know that guy. He is from Clecia. His father is a count and the vice president of the Clecia chamber of commerce. I heard he is quite rich. Despite having very low aptitude and talent for blood condensing, he used many bloodstones to increase his blood core level.


    "He is a tough opponent to tackle. Do you need my help?" Annica asked.


    "It''s fine. I can handle the matter myself. He may have a lot of resources on him, but he can''t beat me with that. Regarding his subordinates, I doubt they can match viscount level strength."


    "Oh! You are so confident in your strength. I like it. Still, don''t take him lightly. He is not as simple as he looks. Maybe he has high-level artifacts. You never know what you might encounter."


    "I hope he does have them. So I can take those away from him. I can''t afford higher grade artifacts anyway, so it would be great if he could bring them to me."  Keith said with a smile.


    "Interesting. I will be looking forward to the show. Don''t disappoint me."


    "If you could, don''t come to the place. The show is only for those who are going to be robbed by me. If you have some precious treasures, you can exchange them for watching the fight. What do you say?" Keith winked at her.


    "How shameless? You want me to hand over the high-grade artifacts to you just to see you fight. You say it like it''s a fight between elites. I don''t even know if you can beat him. Why should I give you my artifacts without being assured of your victory? Or you want to cut your losses by scamming me?" She looked at Keith.


    "What about a bet?"


    "A bet?"


    "Yes! A bet about who would win the fight."


    "Sure! But do you have sufficient funds for the wager?" She asked.


    "I do have something very precious." Keith took out the bloodstone from his pocket and showed it to her.


    After looking at the faintly glowing bloodstone, Annica''s eyes went wide.


    "A high-grade bloodstone. Where did you get this" She asked with disbelief etched across her face.


    "That is something I can''t disclose. It was given to me by a very powerful vampire. So you should keep your curiosity to yourself, unless¡­"


    "It''s fine. I don''t need to know. Looking at the size and purity of the bloodstone, it is not something you can stumble upon. It is carefully refined and preserved. So I think you got it recently. Considering the time it takes to reach the academy, you couldn''t have brought it here from your home country.


    That leaves me with one guess. Someone from this academy gave you that bloodstone if what you say is true. Or you could''ve just stolen it from someone powerful, but I doubt that is the case." She curiously examined the bloodstone as she explained her assumption.


    "Wow! Spot on."  Keith looked at her in awe.


    With just a little bit of information, she was able to guess the origin of the bloodstone. She didn''t precisely guess who exactly gave it to him, she must have some guesses. But she didn''t voice them out.


    "So now that I; ''ve shown you this, it''s your turn to wager something of equal value." Keith looked at her in anticipation.


    She nodded her head and took out a ring from one of her fingers.


    "You''ve shown me such a valuable treasure, so I will wager this."


    The ring looked ordinary but the intricate carvings of blood runes were immediately visible to Keith. They covered the ring from the inside and connected to the stone in the middle.


    "This is a ring of projection. I''m sure you''ve heard of the four disciplines of blood-qi manipulation. This ring is a count-level treasure that can help you project your blood-qi outwards. I''ve been practicing with this for years and it has helped me gain valuable insight into the blood esper techniques.


    "You know how rare blood espers are, so this is a very important artifact that can help you comprehend blood-qi projection and aid you to learn the blood esper discipline."


    Annica showed him the ring.


    "That is indeed a great treasure." Keith scanned the ring and found that it was powered by a high-grade bloodstone, but much smaller than the one he was holding.


    "So, do you agree on the bet?" Annica asked as she looked at the bloodstone.


    "Alright, it''s settled then. If I win, I will take that ring. And if I lose, this bloodstone will be yours." Keith tossed the bloodstone into his pocket.


    "That bloodstone will help me break through to the viscount stage." She glanced at Keith''s pocket with a greedy look in her eyes.


    "Hey! Don''t keep your hopes that high, or else you will be very disappointed."


    "Bah! I doubt you can take two viscount stage vampires while surrounded by dozens of barons." She said with a snort.


    "What? You didn''t tell me this before?" Keith was surprised.


    "Now you know, why did I ask you to back down?"

 Chapter 63: Pay Up

    Keith stared at Annica with a blank face, then a burst of loud laughter escaped his mouth.


    "What are you laughing at?" Annica looked at him weirdly.


    "Cough! Cough! I think you will be in for a surprise." Keith replied.


    "What surprise?"


    "It won''t be a surprise if I tell you right now. You will know soon enough."


    "So you really intend to fight with them? I don''t know if you are delusional or stupid." Annica snorted while shaking her head.


    "Neither. I''m confident because I know what I''m doing. Now the bet is set, don''t disappear after the fight."  Keith said with a taunt.


    "Why would I? When are you giving me that bloodstone?"  She brushed him off.


    While talking they reached the end of the corridor, and ahead of them was a large gathering of various staff and students. It was the front courtyard leading to the central hall. When they appeared together, several eyes focused on them.


    "Isn''t it lady Heartstone?" A young-looking vampire approached the duo.


    "And you are?" She asked with a stern face.


    "How cold. I am from Argania as well. Stallys, son of count Merrici. I have seen your excellency many times during the royal gala." The vampire said.


    "Never heard of you. Maybe you are useless like that idiot." She spat out coldly.


    The young vampire''s expression turned cold as he guessed who she was talking about. Still, he didn''t show any more emotions as it would make him lose face. He was part of the so-called idiot''s faction.


    So when he heard her say this, he felt she regarded her as a weed. As he was much lower in status than him. Not finding any reason to continue the current talk, his eyes shifted to the young man standing beside her.


    "And who might you be? Her bodyguard?" He asked mockingly.


    "What? Do I look like a bodyguard to you? Can''t you see the badge on my chest or are you blind from all that rejection?" Keith spoke out loudly.


    Many vampires heard the commotion and gathered around the place. Seeing some of them laugh, the young vampire''s eyes glowed red with hatred. He looked at Keith with immense resentment as he clenched his fist so hard, cracking sounds could be heard.


    "Ouch! My bad. I see how fragile your heart is." Keith said with an apologetic expression.


    "You dare talk to me like that. I challenge you to a duel. If you can''t show me enough credibility,  I won''t back down until I punish you properly." He pointed his hands towards Keith with bloodshot eyes.


    "Man, what is wrong with all these noble kids? Keep talking about credibility, respect? She clearly rejected your existence, what more credibility do you want? And I''m not gonna fight you just to prove a point. Do as you will. I just met her yesterday." Keith tried to walk past the vampire but was quickly stopped by his extended hand.


    "Did I tell you to leave?" The vampire said with a high voice.


    "Don''t do something you are going to regret." Keith warned him with a whisper.


    "Regret? I will show you who will regret today." The man expanded his blood-qi and covered his whole body with a red aura.


    "Do you really want to do this?" Keith asked again.


    "Are you trying to avoid fighting me? Are you that afraid of me?" with a loud laughter, the man pointed his hands towards Keith.


    "Who the hell is afraid of you? I can''t fight you just to satisfy my ego. How about we bet on something?" A grin appeared on Keith''s face as he looked at the vampire.


    "A bet? What do you want to lose so badly? Alright, I will accept what you have to offer. I might lessen the punishment if the gift is good enough."


    ''What a prick! This is going nowhere.'' Keith was getting tired of all this empty talk.


    "1 thousand gold blood coins? Do you agree?" Keith showed one finger as he looked at the opponent.


    "1 thousand is too low. How about 5 thousand?" The man laughed.


    "Hehe! Sure, if you say so. '''' Keith walked forward with an amused smile and stood in front of him.


    " Come at me anytime." Keith gestured to him with his hands.


    The man smirked and shot forward with his blood-qi flowing throughout his body. When he was about to punch Keith, a sharp pain crept across his abdomen and his vision blurred.


    ''What is happening?'' He thought while looking down at his stomach.


    A hand firmly penetrated his lower abdomen. At the point of contact, his dress was ripped and his skin was twisted.


    Bang!


    When his vision returned, he was lying on the ground and Keith was standing beside him.


    "What about now? Do you want to fight again?" A playful expression appeared on Keith''s face.


    "¡­"


    No words were heard as the surrounding crowd was deathly silent. Everything happened so fast that no one could register what had just happened. Everyone looked at Keith in awe and some stronger ones examined him with their sense.


    "Time to pay up."  Keith extended his hands towards the vampire.


    The young vampire struggled to get up as he staggered back, staring hatefully at Keith. He fumbled his hands and took out a golden card from his pockets.


    "Ah! So you have them. I thought I would have to make you my slave for compensation."


    The young vampire gnashed his teeth but no words came out of his mouth. The look on his face showed that he was in great pain. He was covering his stomach with one hand, which was badly swollen.


    "What is this? How can I get the gold blood coins from this?" Keith asked, flipping the golden card in his hands.


    Annica, who had been watching the whole show, walked towards Keith with an amazed expression.


    "This is the academy treasury card. Don''t tell me you haven''t registered for this." She looked at Keith in disbelief.


    "Why? Is that important? I was busy condensing blood-qi yesterday." Keith replied with a carefree attitude.


    "The academy treasury is an independent bank for the students attending here and also for the alumni. You can store all your blood coins there and use this type of token for transactions throughout the academy premises.


    Due to the heavy demand for resources and bloodstones, it is often tedious to carry blood coins with you all the time. With this, you can carry around your money anywhere, anytime." Annica explained.


    "This is like a credit card? Amazing! Why isn''t it implemented all over the continent?"


    With this kind of service, many would flock and business would bloom throughout the continent. Keith was rather surprised, it wasn''t implemented all over the continent.


    "Because the cost of running the runes is too high. Here all the students bring a tremendous amount of blood coins, so it is easier to alleviate the operating costs. Also, everyone here will become someone important in the continent, so the council bears the rest of the expenses.


    If you were to implement them throughout a country, let alone the whole continent, the costs of operating them would be astronomical. I doubt if it can even be implemented as the runes require a lot of high-rank blood ritualists. And in no way they will travel the entire continent to implement it.


    So here''s your answer. I don''t know anything about the credit card thing you mentioned." She heaved a long sigh after explaining everything to him.


    "I see. Well, I have to give the treasury a visit after the orientation finishes." With an elated expression, he walked towards the central hall.


    Everyone who was blocking the path steered away as he passed by them. Annica slowly caught up to him and entered the central hall.


    "You didn''t use any blood-qi techniques against him?" Annica asked Keith with a doubtful voice.


    "There was no need to."


    Keith searched for an empty seat near the stage. He found a place near the end of the 2nd row.


    "Then how did you block his attack and defeat him?" A confused expression appeared on her face.


    "That is a trade secret. I am yet to collect your ring, so I won''t answer your question. Who knows, you might divulge the information to the other party." Keith replied with a frown.


    "Forget it. I will know soon enough. Still, I can''t believe you defeated him without activating any blood-qi technique. I didn''t even sense any blood-qi fluctuation from your body."


    "I somewhat expected you to win, but this quickly¡­ If I hadn''t seen this, I wouldn''t have believed it. He was also a final stage baron after all" She said with a slow voice.


    She picked the seat right next to Keith and sat down, folding her dress. As others slowly filled up the hall, the lights dimmed and the stage was lit up with a bright light.


    A middle-aged man walked up to the center of the stage and stood by the stand that slowly erected from the stage floor.


    "Good morning students. I welcome this year''s batch of barons who will be attending the academy for the next ten years. I hope you can reach great heights after reaching the pinnacle of blood condensing.


    Now, let me introduce myself. I am the dean of the blood summoning department, and I will be overseeing this event. Director is busy due to an important matter and I will be taking his place this afternoon.``


    A large cloud of red smoke appeared on the stage and several chairs appeared from the smoke. They moved independently and occupied the side stage which was a little higher than the main stage.

 Chapter 64: Pillar of Judgement

    Seven figures appeared beside the chairs and sat down. The middle-aged man also took a seat among the chairs overlooking the stage.


    The lights illuminating the stage dimmed a little and focused specifically on the center. Three vampires walked to the middle.  They wore distinct bright and contrasting red dresses with black accents.


    Among the three, the middle one was a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties. On her both sides two men around the same age followed her. There was an aura of majesty around her as she walked towards the center.


    Stopping just before the center of the stage where the light was focused, she extended her hands, and the rune card in her hands activated.


    "It''s nice to meet you all."


    She looked around the hall and scanned the students.


    " As you may know, this event is dedicated to you and today you will learn all the things that are necessary to start joining prestigious departments that will aid you in your development.


    Dean Jesper and all the other professors are already present, so we will start the events as scheduled." The woman said with a smile.


    "For starters, I will explain all the essential rules and what is expected of you. Then we will commence the two primary events to evaluate your blood core and blood concentration.


    Now those of you who come from undeveloped places and don''t know what I''m talking about, I will elaborate on this. Basically, the blood core test will determine the amount of blood-qi on your body as well as the rank of your blood core. This test is very straightforward.


    You have to use a specialized blood rune stone, made for. Measuring this. This will allow us to see where you stand on the hierarchy and based on your ranks, preferential treatment will be given.


    That doesn''t mean, those who rank lower won''t get any benefits. They will get all the important resources and can join any of the four departments of their choice. But the advantages for those, who are at the top, is that they can choose a dedicated mentor to teach them.


    Also, the one who will rank 1st could become the direct disciple of¡­ one of the four deans."


    As the words left her mouth, a commotion ensued in the hall. Everyone started whispering and talking about the implication of getting a higher rank. If they could get the first rank, their life would change for the better, as they would get teachings directly from the deans of the four branches.


    But soon the voice of the woman silenced everyone.


    "But there is a minimum requirement for getting the 1st rank. If nobody could cross that threshold then the deans won''t be taking any disciples this year. This should motivate you to give your best performance in the upcoming events.


    Coming to the second test, which measures your blood concentration, that is the original vampire genes present in your blood. The result of this test holds half of the points for the final rankings, so you need to be lucky as well.


    The original genes in your blood determine how far you can go in the path of blood condensing. So it will also play a significant role in your selection."


    Every student looked excited and ready to give the test, to determine how they fared against others and also to prove their worth.


    After explaining all the rules of the event, the woman flipped the card in her hands and the entire hall started to shake. All the students looked around nervously as their seats started to move.


    The entire interior of the hall was changing, so was the arrangement of the seats and the sage. Half of the seats broke off in the middle and rotated to the other side and created a gap. The ends of the rows met and a semi-circular arrangement was formed.


    The stage moved forward slowly and the elevation decreased as it approached the center of the hall. After some time, with a thud, the stage stopped in the place at the center of the hall and its height was lower than that of the seats surrounding it.


    Several ladders connected to narrow paths within the seats. The three vampires stood there silently the whole time looking around the hall with a curious gaze.


    Keith was sitting at the second row, but now after the rearrangement of the seats, his seat was at the front, connected to the first row''s end. From the start, he had been observing the seven figures sitting on the high stage. Their part of the stage didn''t move and stayed where it was.


    They looked down on the hall from above and their figures seemed like mirages floating in the dark. Keith tried to sense their level but to no avail. He didn''t get any blood-qi fluctuation from that area. Like it was cut off from the real world. He couldn''t even sense the ambient blood-qi surrounding them.


    ''Terrifying.'' This was the first thought that came to his mind.


    When he was at the Ennes castle, he could determine everyone''s blood core level, as well as his grandpa''s. From his observations, his grandpa was an early stage count and his blood-qi level was way higher than his.


    The blood-qi was so calm inside his grandpa, that sometimes it felt unreal. But he could at least sense his power, unlike these old monsters who completely hid their aura without even sparing their surrounding space.


    It felt like an empty space in the sea of life energy. As he shifted his attention to the three vampires in the middle of the main stage, he sensed two of them were middle stage count level vampires as their aura was higher than his grandpa. As for the woman in the middle, Keith could in fact observe her blood-qi, but he couldn''t determine her level.


    Her aura was way more powerful than the two vampires behind her. It was significantly greater than his grandpa in all aspects. Moreover, it was immensely galvanizing, erratic, and active. It was the complete opposite of his grandpa''s calm aura.


    Squinting his eyes, he used all his senses to focus on the woman in the center. At that moment, the woman shot a glance towards him with a curious expression. She looked at him for a while and smiled and turned her head towards Annica.


    "Do you know who she is?" Keith asked with a hushed voice.


    She nodded with a tinge of fear in her eyes. As the woman kept staring at her, a sweat slid down her forehead. But the woman turned her head in a different direction, giving Annica a moment to breathe.


    "She¡­ She is the student council president of the academy, Valencia Winters. She is the princess of Efrain, daughter of King Armond." Annica said with a hoarse voice.


    "Why are you acting up? She doesn''t look that terrifying. Look, she''s smiling at those students on the front seat." Keith said with a forced smile as he could still sense the tremendous aura surrounding her.


    "That is not her true nature. It is just a mask she''s wearing as the higher-ups are present here. Usually, she apprehends students for a slight mistake in their behavior. Most of the time, her face is stone cold and she rarely smiles." She said slowly.


    "Now that you mention it, that look on her face does seem terrifying." Keith imagined her face with a stone-cold expression and then a forced smile. His hair stood on end as this thought came to his mind.


    "Why is she looking so cheerful then?" Keith asked.


    "Beats me. My guess is someone at the higher up has ordered her to keep a lively face, or she is expecting something to happen in the events, so she''s looking forward to it.


    Hearing her assumptions, Keith thought about the possible scenarios that could happen during the tests. What was she waiting for that made her mood elated and bring out smiles?


    As the stage stabilized on its position, the student council president stepped forwards and a large pillar was erected from the center.


    Countless runes were carved on the pillar as it faintly glowed, reflecting the red light around the stage. It was five meters tall and one meter in diameter. As it stopped, a gap formed from its stood and extended outwards.


    Valencia moved backwards and the gap explained almost to the end of the stage, only leaving a couple of meters to spare, where the three vampires were standing.


    "This pillar you see here is the ancient pillar of judgement, created by the original who resided on this palace in the inception of the Reinez continent. He made it in order to cast judgement on those who sinned their own blood and also provide great benefits to those who chose the right path.


    How this pillar makes judgement isn''t specifically known, but it has the power to read your blood to its origins. It will show you, how much of the original genes you acquired, and your level of blood core."


    As her voice ended, seven layers of passage opened from the gaps. The outermost layer was dark red and the next layer was slightly lighter. Runes wriggled in the layers, the light emanating from them pulsed with each change in rune arrangement.

 Chapter 65: Who is he?

    Keith looked at the judgment pillar which was emanating a tremendous amount of aura. The layers of passage that opened were connected to the pillar with countless blood runes. He could feel something profound coming out of the pillar as his vision was getting sucked in.


    "The passages you see represent a major stage of blood condensing. The outermost layer is for barons, then viscount, count, and so on. Only those who have sufficient blood-qi will be able to pass the corresponding passage.


    It not only tests your blood core as it contains almost eighty percent of your life energy. It also takes into account your other techniques as well that give you higher reserves of blood-qi. It may be your family technique or it may be your own special physique." Valencia said while looking around the students.


    "What about the original genes? How does the pillar measure it?" One of the female students at the early stage of baron asked.


    "I am getting there, dear junior." She looked at the new student with a smile and continued.


    "The pillar will examine your blood in the meantime and show the results in the runes circulating on its body. This process will take more time, so we will take ten students at a time and repeat the process until everyone is tested.


    "Ten students will be spread around the outer layer. With only their strength and blood-qi techniques, they can advance further. No one is allowed to use any artifacts. If any artifacts are  detected inside the passage, you will be automatically disqualified, and your ranking will plummet."


    "So we can use our advanced blood-qi techniques to boost our blood-qi temporarily. Is that allowed?" One young student who was sitting in the front row asked with a frown.


    He was at the middle stage of baron but Keith sensed his aura to be quite profound and higher than even some final stage barons.


    "Yes, excluding artifacts you can use any means necessary to advance further. It will depend on your blood-qi and also blood-qi techniques, as to how far you will go.


    "Now, we will start the first event. In the starting phase, we will go through one row at a time. Anyone who wants to take the test later or needs some time to unequip an artifact can  withdraw and rejoin at the end."


    She gestured to the first row students to come, and eight students from the first row got up from their seats. The total number of seats was over a hundred, but it was now a circular arrangement, the ones who were facing Valencia got up first as she pointed at them.


    The two who were sitting beside the eight were wearing many artifacts in their hands and neck. They withdrew from the test and slowly equipped their artifacts.


    Seeing this, two other vampires sitting on the other side got up and walked with the remaining eight.


    As they approached the outermost passage, the two count-level vampires from the student council guided the ten to the correct positions and withdrew to their own positions.


    The ten students exchanged looks contemplating whether to go in first or wait for others to enter first. There was an awkward silence, but soon two students stepped forward and the rest soon followed.


    Hong!


    The runes inside the outer layer became active and changed shapes as the students stepped on them. Then a huge pressure enveloped them. Their complexion changed and some showed signs of struggle as they couldn''t tolerate the pressure.


    They were of course early-stage barons, who had the lowest level of blood-qi. Three vampires who were at the final stage of baron were unphased. They did feel the pressure, apparent from their faces, but it was not enough to block their movement.


    The three stepped forward and tried to enter the next phase. With each step they took, the pressure increased even further and when they were at the end of the layer, their bodies were showing signs of withdrawal.


    Among the three, one activated his blood-qi technique and tried to move to the viscount layer. From his apparent struggle, it was evident that it was extremely difficult to move under such pressure. But he still managed to take a step to the next passage.


    When his legs touched the viscount layer, a towering pressure which was many times stronger than what he was facing right now, repelled him. Clenching his teeth, he stood there like a statue. The veins in his legs were popping as the pressure was so overwhelming.


    After some time, the judgment pillar shinned and the runes who stayed still started moving. Ten runes appear, isolated inside ten circles, each facing one vampire standing on the outer layer.


    Almost all the runes looked similar, except for one which was double the size of the others.


    "Oh! We have a special one here." Valencia looked at a girl, who was an early stage baron.


    "You have one-tenth of the original genes. Congratulations! You are currently ranked first. Your early-stage baron level won''t help you keep the ranking, but I''m sure you will stay relatively high.


    "As for the others, you have some original genes, which is common for all nobles in the continent, but it is still lower than one-tenth," Valencia said.


    "You, who stepped on the viscount layer will get the second rank, and the other eight will be ranked according to the analysis of the judgement pillar." Saying this, Valencia used her fingers to activate her rune card.


    From the ceiling, a large piece of squared-off metal floated several meters higher from the pillar. The names of the first ten participants appeared on the metal plate.


    Keith also analyzed the metal plate which was more than ten meters long. It was enchanted with several blood runes, and as the name was being written, it glowed like fire.


    "You can go to your seats. Now, the next ten students come to the exact positions." Valencia ordered.


    Without wasting any time, ten students suddenly got up and walked to their respective spots. The same process continued and all of them tried their best to move one step further.


    Two students managed to cross the viscount stage, albeit with great difficulty. Their ranks appeared on the metal plate and the second rank slid down as the new ranks were updated.


    Several batches of students took the test but only a handful of them had managed to cross the viscount stage. When only nine students were left from the first row, one of the students who declined the first test joined them.


    Among the nine, the middle stage baron who gave off a powerful aura also joined. Keith was particularly waiting for this student, as he showed the most potential, according to him.


    The ten students stood in their spots and the runes governing the layers analyzed their blood-qi. The middle stage baron,  who Keith was keeping an eye on, moved forward with a strange confidence.


    As he stepped further into the baron layer, there was not a single sign of unpleasantness. He walked like he was taking a stroll in the park.


    "He has profound secrets¡­"


    Keith heard Annica''s voice from the nearby seat.


    "Do you know anything about him?" Keith asked curiously.


    "No, I don''t know his origins, but from the way he is moving forward within the passage, I believe he is from a royal family." She said slowly.


    "Why do you think so?"


    "Because He didn''t even use any blood-qi techniques even though he is just a middle stage baron. The pressure is high enough to make the final stage barons struggle, so, him walking like that means he has a great physique.


    Besides, he isn''t even putting in any effort. Let''s see how far he can go." Squinting her eyes, Annica closely followed the young students'' movements.


    "But he could be from a lower family as well," Keith argued.


    "Unlikely.  His demeanor screams of majesty, and from his previous nonchalant expression, he knew all about the test beforehand." Annica replied.


    Keith turned his head and looked at the center of the stage with renewed interest and fixed his eyes on the youngster.


    The other vampires also fixed their sights on the intriguing vampire, so did the three student council members.


    "Do you think it''s him?"


    The vice president of the council asked Valencia who was keenly watching the movements of the young student.


    "Maybe, I know he was within this batch of students, but his information was blocked off by the deans and only higher-ups can inquire about him."


    Valencia looked at the higher stage where all the professors were watching with dean Jesper of the blood summoning department. Their presence was entirely hidden and nothing could be seen except for the shadows of their figures.


    "We will know soon enough."


    Her sights shifted to the judgment pillar which was reacting after the assessment of the blood of the participants.


    Ten circles appeared, facing each student, but the most significant difference was a huge circle facing the young boy which was several times larger than the others.


    All of the students looked at Valencia to hear the results of the test, but they could guess from the huge runes inside the large circle that the boy was incredibly special.

 Chapter 66: Its my Turn

    Valencia''s eyes squinted as she looked at the runes within the largest circle. It was several times larger than the other nine, revealing a complicated rune formation that represented the ancestry of the young boy.


    "Half of the original genes! As I thought, you are not normal. I have some guesses as to who you might be, but it''s inappropriate to say here." Valencia looked at the high stage and then towards the boy.


    Within that time, the rankings on the metal plate changed and the first place changed to a unique-looking name.


    The girl with one-tenth of the original genes dropped to the second position. The third position was taken by the student who took the test later, with the young boy. His performance was certainly good, in the face of the awe-inspiring performance of the young boy, no one paid attention to him.


    Looking at the scoreboard, Keith wondered where he would stand. He was fairly confident in his strength and combined with the warrior frame which was at the viscount level he was sure to break the viscount layer.


    What concerned him was the original genes. He didn''t know how many original genes he possessed. For this was half of the evaluation metrics. If he had lower counts of original genes, his ranking would plummet, even if he scored better in the passage test.


    Now that the first row students had all completed the test, it was time for the second-row students to go in. Because of the sequence the first row ended, the start of the second row started from the other side from where Keith was sitting.


    Several batches of students participated in the test, but none of them were prominent enough. Their performance was average, the same as the normal students. Only a handful of students managed to enter the top 10 of the rankings.


    Almost half of the row had given the test, and it was down to Keith and a dozen of other students. Keith decided to go in the last batch of students. When he looked sideways to see the reaction of Annica, she also had the same intention, as he winked at him and looked at the test area.


    This batch of students performed the same as the students before, but one of them managed to reach 5th position on the rankings. It was a girl at the final stage of baron, but her eyes were dull and she walked as if she had a severe illness.


    "What''s wrong with her?" Keith asked with a frown.


    "Maybe some complications with her physique. Her aura is all over the place and looking at how her complexion is darker, she suffers from a genetic deformity. I''ve seen a handful of vampires like her, but most of them can''t even move a muscle and die prematurely. She''s an anomaly if she could reach this far with that horrendous condition." Annica replied.


    Seeing the frail girl, Keith remembered his childhood days before he acquired this body. He was just like her, actually worse considering he didn''t have the paths to circulate blood-qi and all his meridians had been clogged. With his faulty physique, he couldn''t even walk properly without shaking.


    His condition was much more severe and he also suffered from malnutrition because the blood-qi didn''t get properly absorbed because of his clogged up meridians. If he was born in a commoner family, he would''ve died long ago.


    ''The system sealed my other dominant genes and helped me clear up the suppression that was plaguing my physique and meridians. Without it, I wouldn''t be alive right now. That bastard Marvin would''ve killed me long ago''  A painful past flashed across Keith''s eyes.


    With a sigh, he cleared his mind and focused his attention on the test area inside the stage. The judgment pillar finished giving the results and her genes were normal, or you would say it was average like any other student.


    Keith wondered if his results would be similar to her as well. With only nine students left on the row, it was time for Kieth to enter the test area. He got up with the rest of the students and walked towards the stage.


    Annica followed him behind and stood in the position next to him. The other side was empty, but soon the student who declined the first phase of testing, stood there while looking confident.


    The test commenced and the suppressing aura covered the students standing on the edge of the outermost layer. It was a very terrifying aura that was on par with a final stage baron, the highest of the final stage baron.


    Most of the students were struggling with the aura as their bodies couldn''t move under such pressure. Keith on the other hand was quite comfortable. He already experienced his uncle''s viscount level aura which was many times higher than the aura he was experiencing right now.


    Annica was also faring quite well, with only a slight frown on her face. She was secretly activating her blood-qi technique. On the other hand, the young vampire was also fine under the pressure. He took a step forward with a confident face and started walking towards the viscount layer.


    Seeing this, Keith also started walking towards the next layer with a calm face. The three figures were seen getting separated from the seven others. The young vampire was taking the lead and almost reached the viscount layer.


    Keith was several steps behind, but there was nothing bothering him at that moment.  He was just walking at his own pace and didn''t even activate his warrior frame.


    He was surprised that he could move under such pressure only relying on his blood core. He thought he might need his warrior frame when approaching the viscount layer, but contrary to his concerns, the baron level pressure didn''t bother him at all.


    He looked sideways and Annica was also walking at the same pace as him, but there was a noticeable frown on her face. The aura was affecting her a little, but it was not anything serious. From the looks of it, she was handling it quite well.


    When the trio reached the end of the baron layer, the young vampire was a little uncomfortable, but he still moved forward. Standing at the edge of the layer, he activated his blood-qi technique.


    Annica looked curiously at the young vampire and shifted her eyes towards Keith. A look of disbelief flashed across her face. From the start, Keith never used his blood-qi technique. She thought he was silently activating his blood-qi techniques but now when the viscount stage was ahead, lower level blood-qi techniques didn''t work.


    Here the baron-level vampires are required to show their trump cards to move to the next layer. Only relying on cheap tricks wouldn''t work. As she looked at Keith with suspicious eyes a sudden realization struck her.


    ''I never used any blood-qi techniques.''


    She remembered his reply after defeating the arrogant kid outside the central hall. She didn''t believe him then. But looking at him now, she couldn''t refute his claim. Shaking her head, she focused on her own path.


    She was still holding back her final trump card which she planned to use in this situation. Circulating her blood-qi, she focused her mind on her blood core. She activated her secret blood-qi technique and a burst of blood-qi covered her whole body.


    Hong!


    Keith immediately felt the aura emanating from Annica, as her eyes turned entirely red. Then the amount of blood-qi kept increasing and her eyes glowed brighter and brighter.


    ''Is that her secret blood-qi technique?'' Keith looked at her with interest.


    After a while, her blood-qi stopped increasing and her aura stabilized. She took one step forward and crossed the viscount layer with ease. Her sight was focused straight at the judgement pillar.


    With an unwavering determination, she walked forward, disregarding the viscount level pressure that was reigning down on her.


    The young vampire was shocked after looking at Annica and hurriedly completed his blood-qi technique. His blood-qi increased as well and he started walking inside the viscount layer.


    Keith, who was watching Annica, was very impressed with her performance. She was clearly holding back from the start just like him, but now that the next layer arrived, she showed her true potential.


    At the moment, Keith was wondering if he should try to enter the viscount layer without activating his warrior frame. He didn''t feel any serious issues with the baron level pressure but he didn''t know if he could withstand the viscount aura without his warrior frame.


    When he fought with his uncle, he always activated his warrior frame. Whenever he was fighting with his blood core alone, Brad didn''t use his aura either. So he was doubtful as to how this would affect his performance.


    ''Let''s try it once. If the pressure becomes unbearable, I will immediately activate the warrior frame.''


    Having decided his next course of action, he stepped forwards without much thought.


    Hong!


    A huge pressure enveloped his entire body. A drop of sweat slid down his forehead.


    ''This is no joke. Fortunately, I can withstand this pressure even with my blood core.''


    Keith rejoiced as he examined his body. His blood-qi was working very hard to repel the aura and the blood core was circulating blood-qi with its full power.


    ''Hmm... Let''s see how far I can go while relying on my blood core alone.''


    Thinking this, he stepped forward with a smile.

 Chapter 67: An Unbelievable Sight

    At the exact moment when Keith entered the viscount layer, Valencia''s eyes focused on him. It was not because he was able to enter the viscount layer, instead, his lack of usage of any blood-qi technique during this test made her interested in him.


    She was focusing on Anica who was ahead of all the students. She was almost reached halfway into the viscount layer. When she approached the end of the viscount layer, her movement started to slow down.


    Valencia was curious as to why this young boy could move inside the viscount layer without using any blood-qi technique even though he was only a final stage baron. Using her senses, she scanned Keith''s body and found that he was almost at the viscount stage and his blood core was at the peak of the final stage baron.


    She couldn''t even differentiate between his blood core and the core of an early-stage baron in terms of blood-qi. His blood core was no doubt smaller than a regular early-stage viscount, but his blood-qi was of the same quantity, which intrigued her.


    She had never seen someone have this much blood-qi density. In her life, only a handful of people came close to obtaining highly dense blood cores and almost all of them were duke level or higher.


    Increasing blood-qi density inside the core was not something lower-level vampires could do. It required a tremendous amount of insight into the path of blood condensing. You have to know how the blood core functioned and how it converted and stored blood-qi within itself.


    It was totally different from circulating and condensing blood-qi.


    What he had was something only duke-level vampires could do. She also knew a detail, more of a secret, that the earlier someone grasped the insight to condense blood-qi to its maximum, their potential would be limitless.


    Typically, those who reached duke level or higher were a handful. They were geniuses. Still, they only start comprehending this aspect of blood-qi only after reaching count, and even then, they couldn''t immediately start implementing it.


    It takes them decades to master this and apply their own blood ore. So seeing such a phenomenon, she was speechless for a moment. With a sharp glint, she looked at the high stage and she could feel a slight disturbance in the blood-qi.


    She guessed that the professors also noticed this. She wanted to ask the boy herself or make him join the student council and study him, but looking at the reactions of the higher-ups, she knew she had a very slim chance.


    Dean Jesper definitely would have his attention on the boy that showed such terrifying potential. If the news broke out, other deans would also start to take an interest in him. Basically, her chances of talking to him would only be possible today.


    She decided to see him when the test is finished and try to befriend him. If she could lure him to join her council, it would bring so much benefit to her. She could finally have a hope of knowing this blood condensing technique. It was a gamble but, in the face of uncertainty, she wanted to take one sliver of hope.


    She turned around and asked the vice president about this boy. Unfortunately, he didn''t know anything about him or his origins. She thought he was from a prominent family or at least from a family within the top 10.


    "I want you to get all the information about this boy and give it to me by the end of the test." She ordered the vice president.


    "I will try to meet your expectations." The vice president nodded slightly and disappeared from his position.


    As she was contemplating her next moves and how to approach Keith, the other students didn''t know such a great thing was happening inside the test area. Only high-level vampires could sense the blood-qi technique activation from this far.


    If they were not close like Annica and the other young vampire, then it was almost impossible for them to tell if Keith used his blood-qi technique or not.


    Almost all of the students were focusing their attention on Annica and a small number of boys were also cheering for her. Clearly, they were from her own country and knew her. They also wanted to court her, which was obvious from their excited faces.


    "I knew she would cross the viscount layer. Watch her pass the count layer a well. I bet she  could reach marquis layer if she tried her best." A young vampire said.


    "Haaa.. Don''t say such embarrassing things¡­ I admire her but crossing the count layer is already impossible. Reaching that layer will solidify her position at top 3, even without the genes alone." Another vampire sitting opposite said with a snort.


    "Did you see how she just sprinted across the baron stage and entered the viscount layer so fast? Unbelievable! I could never walk light under this immense pressure." A third vampire said.


    Among them, the young boy who ranked first also paid significant attention to Annica''s advancements, but in the middle, his expression changed.


    "You sure?" He mumbled.


    A light shadow that could be only seen by him was floating behind his right earlobe.


    His expression changed and his vision shifted towards Keith and a sharp glare cast upon Keith''s figure. He nodded his head like he was listening to someone and his vision was locked on Keith while he was contemplating something.


    Inside the test area, Keith was struggling really hard to move further into the viscount layer as his blood core was on the verge of blowing up. It was so heated up due to excess amount of blood-qi circulation and pumping such a huge amount of blood-qi in a short period of time was taking a toll on it.


    At that moment, Keith sensed multiple eyes focused on him. Among them, three particularly stood out. First was a huge presence coming from the high stage where all the professors were seated. The second source was from the student council president Valencia herself. The third was weak, but something was seriously profound about it.


    Even though the presence was weak, its aura had a unique aspect to it, like a deep pit with no end. He also couldn''t tell where this was coming from. It was like someone was purposefully masking it.


    He was in a dilemma as to how he ended up getting the attention of three powerhouses. He was just trying to see his limit. Was it that profound that they were interested in him? But he didn''t even use any blood-qi technique.


    ''Maybe it is a good thing. If I can become a direct disciple for any of the deans, that would be the best outcome. Still, there is one thing that is seriously bugging me. If they are interested in me apart from my potential, like my physique and blood core, it could get troublesome.''


    Keith didn''t want to deal with high-level vampires who wanted to study his physique and know his secrets. He already met a lunatic who wanted to cut him open. Thankfully he swindled him for now.


    ''I have to come up with a plan to keep him away. Or I must find something that can mask my blood core and my blood-qi properties. Looking at what I''ve caused, I might be a bit too late.''


    As he walked further into the viscount layer, the three presences intensified around him, like they were trying to split him open.


    ''If this is too late to stay out of the radar, I will show you something, you will never forget. Trouble will find me after this anyway, might as well go all out.''


    His steps became haggard as he reached the limit of his blood core.


    ''Rest for a while, little guy.'' Keith focused on his blood core one last time.


    [ It isn''t sentient. Why are you talking to it like it is your pet?]


    Thes system, which was observing everything, spoke out inside his mind.


    That''s my decision to make. You just focus on your own task. Activate the warrior frame.''


    Keith ordered the system with a tired voice.


    [Hmmph! Right on]


    Hong! Flash!


    The viscount layer was illuminated for a moment as Keith''s full force of blood-qi erupted from his body. His aura almost tripled and his stamina returned as he inhaled a lung full of air. His eyes shot open with a crimson glow within his iris.


    This caused an uproar among the students as their sights shifted towards Keith, who was now on their radar.


    ''He was still holding back?'' The young boy looked at Keith in a new light.


    ''This kid¡­ going to make things even more difficult for me.'' Valencia was gnashing her teeth.


    All the eyes inside the hall were focused on a single figure, who was radiating a viscount level aura that could be felt from hundreds of meters away. This presence was not something the other students could ignore at this moment.


    Each and every single one of them looked at Keith in awe, as they couldn''t imagine how he managed to emanate a viscount level aura.


    Meanwhile, the high stage was in an uproar. Particularly the professors from the warrior frame department were losing their minds after confirming Keith''s viscount level warrior frame. This was an impossible task according to them as he was just a baron.

 Chapter 68: What do we do now?

    Keith slowly opened his eyes and assessed the situation. The viscount aura was not bothering him like before and he could move freely without any backlash. His blood core cooled down because the warrior frame was activated and it blocked all the pressure that was restricting him.


    ''Seems like my warrior frame is more capable than I thought.''


    His warrior frame didn''t contain anything advanced and was only built on basic structures. These were the basic concepts he learned from his uncle. Due to the restrictions of the Vampire council, his uncle couldn''t teach him more about the warrior frame and the blood esper techniques.


    But his family technique was based on warrior frames and he received just that. It was a count-level warrior frame technique that was passed down from his ancestors. As he was the next head of the family, he was allowed to learn this.


    When his eyes shifted, he saw that all the eyes in the hall were on him. Even the council members were staring at him with astonishment.


    ''Was it too flashy?'' Keith asked the system.


    [ Very. You basically ordered me to activate the full force of the warrior frame. What did you expect? Besides, you wanted to give them a good show, didn''t you?]


    ''Still, it feels a little weird. Everyone is looking at me like I am some kind of monster.''


    [Well, in their eyes you are a monster.]


    ''The three powerful presences are really focusing their attention on me. I can feel their sense pricking my skin.''


    With an annoying look, he turned his head towards the pillar. Both Annica and the other vampire were close to the end of the viscount layer. When they felt Keith''s overwhelming presence, they stopped in their tracks. Annica was genuinely astonished.


    She turned around and scanned Keith with her senses and a look of disbelief flashed across her face.


    ''How could he have a viscount level warrior frame at the baron stage?'' Her mind was in chaos.


    At the same time, the young vampire was looking at Keith with awe. A tinge of jealousy appeared on his face as he wished for such a fortune.


    Keith moved ahead while fully expanding his aura. His every step was smooth, devoid of any struggle. The viscount warrior frame was firmly holding back the viscount aura that was surrounding him.


    Within a couple of seconds, he reached the same distance as the other two. He didn''t stop to look around and moved ahead without giving them a glance.


    ''I don''t feel anything, even though I''m almost at the end of the viscount layer.'' Keith thought to himself.


    [That''s because your warrior frame''s blood-qi density is way higher than ordinary warrior frames. It is also perfectly copied and implemented from the original blueprints. No young vampire could make a flawless warrior frame on their first try. It can take decades to perfect it to its final form, which I was able to implement without any issues.]


    The system declared with a proud voice.


    ''That''s how it is. I guessed some of it, but thanks for the confirmation.''


    He walked forward without any problems and reached the end of the viscount layer. While standing on the edge of the layer, he looked forward to the count layer which was not crossed by any other student.


    It was idle and the runes within that layer were not as active as the first two layers. When he took one step forward, trying to break into the count layer,  his body stopped as the tremendously high pressure of the count layer was applied to his leg as it crossed the border.


    ''This is worse than I thought. I can manage to get in, but staying there would become troublesome. Walking further is¡­''


    [ Calm down a little. I have a plan.]


    ''What is it?'' Keith asked the system sternly.


    [ I did some calculations. Your warrior frame is effectively around the level of final stage viscount, in terms of blood-qi quantity. It can handle most of the pressure inside this layer without any issues, but the trouble starts when you move into the count layer. You see, count level pressure is very hard to dispel without the equivalent amount of blood-qi.]


    ''You don''t mean to?'' Keith guessed the system''s intentions.


    [ We were supposed to use it later anyway, why not use it now?]


    The system said enthusiastically.


    ''I get what you are trying to say, but what if we get a blood-qi eruption. Isn''t it reckless to absorb the bloodstone here, in front of all these people?'' Keith conveyed his doubts.


    [Vampires, not people. And you can extend the tendrils inside your pocket, so it can be done underneath. Once it is covered by the tendrils, no one can sense it.]


    ''Even then, aren''t we asking for too much attention? This little show is getting us all of the attention inside the hall. Do you want the other deans or even the director to get involved as well?''


    Keith didn''t understand why the system wanted to use the bloodstone here.


    He has already performed well enough to get qualified for the top 3 spots. Even with just an entry to the count layer, he could effectively get the second position, even if his genes didn''t perform well. So he was somewhat satisfied with this outcome. Hearing the system getting worked up just for one more rank was suspicious to him.


    [There is something inside the pillar that is trying to invade the system. I held it back, but I''m afraid if we don''t get enough blood-qi, it will sense all the underlying secrets and your consumption of vampire blood.]


    The system''s voice turned grim.


    ''What? So why didn''t you tell me this sooner?'' Keith asked her


    [I was handling the issue just fine. Then the count layer pressure came in. It was still doable. But as we get closer to the pillar, its influence increases. I''m afraid if we don''t get out of here, the judgment pillar will find out about me.]


    ''Fuck! What are we going to do now? I can just withdraw. At this point, I can get a top 3 position at the very least.''


    [ I would advise you against that. Your gene scanning is still going through thorough evaluation and we need to keep the pillar from sensing me.  For that, I need a huge amount of blood-qi. If you refine and absorb that bloodstone, I will get enough blood-qi to block the pillar for now.]


    ''So it won''t get absorbed into my blood core.'' Keith asked doubtfully.


    [ I will try to restrict the blood-qi condensation within the blood core and use all of the absorbed blood-qi to upgrade the system and then the warrior frame.]


    ''What did you just say?''


    Keith''s eyes bulged as he looked at the system with anger. It was as if someone was stealing his fortune right in front of his eyes, which was accurate in his case.


    [ Listen to me. I need the upgrade in order to block off the stupid pillar. Unless you want to get exposed, you better give me an upgrade. I am your slave anyways, so you can control me anytime. It''s not like I can move on my own. I just want more energy to stay awake.]


    Saying this, the system went silent. Keith thought about it in great detail and came to a similar conclusion. The system was under his command, and it would listen to everything he said. It was not that bad of an idea to upgrade the system when the situation was dire.


    Making up his mind, he sighed and gave his permission to the system to absorb the bloodstone.


    [ Don''t be upset. I also managed to detect a lot of blood runes and we can study them later to emulate the pressure. It will help you get some insights into aura projection.]


    ''Alright, absorb the bloodstone and get an upgrade.'' Keith replied with a defeated voice.


    His surroundings were so silent that not even a slight noise was heard as Keith started absorbing the bloodstone. The others were still looking at Keith with great interest. But he was standing there, on the edge of the viscount layer without moving a muscle.


    Annica stared at Keith as she struggled to move past the last couple of meters. She was just behind Keith on the edge of the layer. Her aura was fighting hard to block the viscount aura. The veins in her forehead started to pop as she performed a desperate attempt to close the gap between her and Keith.


    The other vampire was a little behind Annica, struggling to maintain his balance. He was at his limits and could barely hold on. Seeing Keith quietly standing at the edge of the layer, his eyes were bloodshot in shame and jealousy.


    ''I am also a descendant of the originals. I have inherited a Marquis-level blood-qi technique. Sure, I didn''t learn it all, but he isn''t that old either. How could he stay so calm and nonchalant under this pressure?'' He was refusing to believe what was happening in front of his eyes.


    Meanwhile, the rest of the vampires were looking at Keith as if he was about to display another miracle. He was clearly not struggling. His expression was calm, and he stood there like a statue. They thought he was activating yet another heaven defying blood-qi technique.

 Chapter 69: System Upgrade

    Everyone''s eyes were locked into Keith as he stood there silently. Even Annica stopped after a while as she reached her limit. She was only two meters away from Keith, but it still felt like an unreachable distance.


    The pressure weighing down on her was terrifying and she didn''t want to overwork her blood core and sustain an injury. So she stood there with a defeated face and looked towards Keith with anticipation.


    She was also looking for a miracle from this vampire she met yesterday. She already regarded him above her in terms of raw power and blood core capability. When he activated his viscount level warrior frame, she couldn''t believe it at first.


    But now, after taking a closer look her mind couldn''t refuse the truth. She stood there hoping to see whatever Keith was preparing to do.


    With all the preparations complete, Keith already started to absorb the bloodstone which contained pure blood essence. It was immediately absorbed as opposed to when he had to purify the blood-qi into blood essence.


    Here, it was already refined and ready to be consumed. The blood essence coursed through his body and filled his entire body. At that moment, the system started to absorb the blood essence.


    [System upgrading¡­]


    [¡­.]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Keith looked at the moving dots which didn''t give him any estimates about its finish time. If there was any percentage it would''ve been easier to guess, but here nothing was provided.


    He could feel the residue blood essence was stimulating his body, but his blood core was inactive and didn''t absorb any blood essence. It stayed idle throughout the process and didn''t make any attempt to condense blood-qi.


    When he was waiting around for the system to upgrade, he felt that the three presence watching over him intensified their gazes.


    Valencia, who was keenly monitoring Keith''s body with her senses, could feel slight fluctuations in his body. His blood-qi was slightly increased, but that wasn''t significant to boost his power.


    She tried to probe further and tried to determine what Keith was up to. But her senses didn''t give her any lead. She could only guess that he was activating a secret blood-qi technique.


    At that time, her subordinate came back with a frown on his face.


    "Did you find anything about him?" Valencia asked the vice president.


    "I did but it''s strange." He replied with a puzzled voice.


    "What is it?"


    " After inquiring about him, from the registration office, I found that he is from Kelgard. He is the next in line for a relatively unknown count family. I mean, at our level, he is not that special. His family is ranked way below 50 and their blood-qi technique is also only count-level." The vice president replied.


    "Is that a blood warrior frame?" Valencia asked.


    "Yes, it is a count-level blood warrior frame technique, not even close to my Duke level warrior frame technique." He replied.


    "That''s interesting. If he was able to construct a warrior frame so early and also managed to upgrade it to viscount level, it is quite an achievement." Valencia pondered.


    Looking at Keith''s figure a smile appeared on her face. She turned around and looked at the vice president.


    "Would you have reached viscount level warrior frame with your Duke level warrior frame technique within twenty years?" She asked with a smile.


    "I¡­ If I had sufficient bloodstones, it might be possible, but that would also require decades of training and preparation¡­"


    As he was saying this his eyes went wide.


    "What?" Valencia looked at him with a curious face, trying to discern his thoughts.


    "I remembered something. He was crippled from birth and his meridians were clogged due to a defect in his physique. His younger cousin was supposed to attend the academy. But recently, he miraculously got cured and his blood condensing also started to accumulate. Within a day, he reached the baron stage." The vice president said with wide-open eyes.


    "Are you sure, that''s him?" With a doubtful expression, Valencia pointed her finger towards Keith.


    "Keith Ennes, that''s him. I can''t believe he reached the final stage baron within two months after getting cured. His blood core wasn''t even formed before that. If I didn''t read the reports from the academy and the testimonies of his grandfather and the elders of the family, I wouldn''t have believed it."


    "You would lose all of your blood-qi if I tell you what he did right now."


    "Did something happen when I was away?" He looked at the test area.


    He could only see Keith standing at the edge of the viscount layer with a calm face. His viscount level warrior frame aura was emanating a tremendous amount of blood-qi, that could be sensed from here.


    "He reached the end of the viscount layer, with only the final stage baron level blood core. Also, how is he exuding a viscount level warrior frame aura?" He asked in disbelief.


    "That''s what I wanted to find out, but that is not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing he did was¡­" She glanced with one eye at the other vampire to her left.


    " He cleared the baron layer and crossed the viscount layer without using any blood-qi technique," Valencia said softly.


    "Are you implying that¡­"


    "Yes... If you just shut your mouth, that would be good." She glared at him as he was about to spill the secret.


    Increasing the blood-qi density was not known to most of the vampires, even marquis level families didn''t know about this technique. So saying this in front of all the students was reckless.


    "I understand. But to cross the viscount layer while only relying on his blood core, his capabilities are not to be overlooked." He replied while looking around.


    "That''s why we need to recruit him into the student council. If we can nurture such talent, our standing in the council will increase. We could even get a lot of merits, by making him join the vampire council. " Valencia said with a serious voice.


    "I will try my best to recruit him into the student council. I¡­"


    Before he could finish, Valencia cut him short.


    "No need. I will personally recruit him into the student council. He is too precious to be handled by you. I''m afraid you will make him submit by force and I don''t want him to join because of fear. If I want to learn his secrets, I have to make him trust me."


    A vicious grin appeared on her face.


    "Why is the result still not showing?  I think they entered the layers a while back." The vice president asked.


    "Maybe the judgment pillar encountered something special."


    Keith''s figure flashed in her eyes.


    ¡­


    Keith waited for a long time for the system upgrade to finish and he was getting impatient. The entire hall wall looked at him like he was some kind of prey and the eerie silence was making him uncomfortable.


    ''Ah! This is annoying. Hurry up and finish the upgrade already.''


    [¡­.]


    [ Look at you¡­ Didn''t you want all their attention?]


    The system''s voice changed a little and a more profound voice was heard.


    ''I was trying to get the attention of the higher-ups, not all of the students. Oh, your voice changed. It sounds kinda better than the earlier voice.'' Keith took a moment to register the change.


    [ I''m also capable of doing more things. Now I know, with each upgrade, my soul receives nourishment and gets more functionalities. I can become whole again, and maybe get out of your body someday.]


    ''You say that like I will allow you to get away. Until I get to the bottom of the incidents you caused that put me in this world, I won''t let you go. Your memories are sealed for now but when they come back, I want to know everything that happened and retrieve the technique you used to go back to my world.''


    [ You still want to go back to your mundane world, after knowing you can become a god here? I don''t understand you.]


    ''I''m not saying that I don''t like it here, but there are some things to be dealt with in that world as well. Besides, will I lose my power if I get there someday in the future?''


    Keith asked with a frown.


    [ If you have enough strength, you can go there without sacrificing your body. This might be a good choice. If you go there, nobody could oppose you. You could become the ruler of the entire planet.] The system said with a tempting voice.


    ''I highly doubt it. I can beat human soldiers, but some countries have the technology to destroy me. Also, there are weapons that could evaporate me within seconds.'' Keith thought about it in detail and voiced out his concerns.


    Being the most powerful entity didn''t matter when there were nuclear bombs and other powerful weaponry. Upsetting the wrong people would make his life a nightmare.


    [You don''t get it. I was talking about when you will reach the pinnacle of godhood. At that time, not even weapons of mass destruction could put a scratch on you, let alone kill you.]


    ''¡­ There is still a long way to go. We need to focus on blocking the judgment pillar for now.''


    [ Don''t worry. I was already working on the countermeasures. With the upgraded version, I can somewhat analyze the blood runes. They are still very dense with information, but nothing my great mind can''t handle.]


    The mark on Keith''s hand increased in size and a shiny purple glow erupted from the tendrils. It was glittering like starlight within the darkness. Only Keith could see the faint light within.

 Chapter 70: To the Kings Layer

    "Huh!"


    A vampire sitting in the first row looked at the test area with a frown.


    "Are you seeing this?"


    Another vampire said from behind.


    "How is that even possible? I thought he was activating a blood-qi technique."


    A huge uproar swept across the central hall and all of the students looked at the test area with stupefied faces.


    Inside the test area, Keith was examining the changes that had occurred in the system. After the upgrade, the system was more informative and could analyze more information than before.


    For example, before the upgrade, he couldn''t detect the power levels above middle stage count vampires. Now with the upgraded system, he could read the blood core levels of the higher level vampires. In this case, he could see that Valencia was at the peak of the Marquis stage.


    She was the highest level vampire Keith could sense inside the hall. The professors and the dean were definitely stronger and had a more powerful blood core, but due to some kind of barrier, he couldn''t sense a slight fluctuation in blood-qi.


    Coming back to the students, he could expand his scanning and get all the information about all of them. It was different from his own senses, which only worked on close subjects and could only discern their estimated level if only they activated their blood-qi.


    The system was also part of him, so in a sense, it was his ability as well. He could use it anytime he wanted, therefore it was kind of his unique ability. As he looked at the renewed interface which was more clearer and had level explanation up to marquis rank.


    From what he could read, the baron stage was level 1.0 to 1.99. Then the viscount stage was level 2 to 4.99. Then came the count stage, which started from level 5 to 9.99 and it was the start of high-level blood cores.


    Marquis stage started from level 10 all the way up to 20. It was such a huge gap in level compared to the stages below count, that Keith was surprised by the power gap. Only now he realized how powerful higher-level vampires were.


    The unfathomable aura that Keith felt coming from the student council president was closed to level 20. He couldn''t imagine how much blood-qi was required to reach such a level. He thought each stage was probably one level apart and he could reach the count stage after crossing level 3.


    But the reality was entirely different. He was just a frog in the well. Now that he entered the sea, the absurdity hit him hard. He needed to become more serious and also careful as not to get killed off by a powerful vampire.


    No one was here to save him if the high-level vampires tried to snatch him. If not for the academy and the council, he would''ve been dissected even before he could return to his room.


    These vampires were the pinnacle of all the nobles. They rarely cared about rules and the vampire council was there to serve their needs. It was true that the council put the restriction on the vampires against killing each other. But that only applied to lower-level vampires. Who would question if a duke-level vampire killed a baron? Unless the baron was in a significantly higher position, the council would put the incident under the rug.


    This is what Keith was concerned about. He could still manage to flee in the case of count stage vampires, but to run away from the senses of marquis stage and Duke stage vampires was something he couldn''t do at the level he was in.


    [ This is why I don''t show you all of the information. You are getting worked up about something that you have no control over. Did you think that way when you were at the blood condensing stage? There are always bigger fish in the sea, that doesn''t mean you have to be paranoid all of the time. Your mortal mind still interferes with your thinking.]


    ''That¡­'' Keith couldn''t deny that his mind couldn''t easily break out of the human shade of his psyche. It was the survival instinct of a prey animal that was surrounded by predators. His vampire side was not so afraid of all this but due to the influence of his past experience and the fragility he was used to, his mind ran on fight or flight after seeing the power levels.


    ''You are right, I was thinking too much into it. If I were to be killed, there is nothing I could do to stop it. On the other hand, being anxious and paranoid will cloud my judgment and suppress the other ideas I could''ve had if  I was in a calm state.'' Keith replied with a nod.


    He took a deep breath and the heartbeat that was already running slower almost stopped. As the vampire''s heartbeat was significantly slower than other organisms, they could live centuries in normal circumstances. So their heartbeat resembled that of a dead person if they were in a calm state, as the beats rarely registered.


    When Keith''s mind was clear, he looked at the place he was in. Surprisingly he entered the count layer of the test area and already walked several meters into the layer.


    ''How could I walk inside the layer without feeling any pressure?'' Keith asked with a surprised expression.


    [ While you were immersed in your paranoia, I was dispelling the count aura at the same time decoding the blood runes to lessen the effects of the pressure. You can thank me later. ]


    Keith looked around the count layer and found that the runes were not so active where he was going. The pressure felt significantly lower than the viscount layer. Even his warrior frame was at ease and didn''t exert its full power.


    ''Can you understand the blood runes?'' Keith asked with a surprised face.


    [Not really. It is more like tricking the runes. I created a fake aura presence around you using the blood stone''s residue power. It can hold off the runes only for ten minutes. Then the energy will deplete and you have to supply the energy yourself.]


    ''I guess we have to advance through the layers before the residue energy depletes.''


    With a fastened pace, Keith walked forward with a serious expression.


    [ If you use your blood core and warrior frame at once, we could theoretically reach the King layer for a brief moment.]


    '' Are you telling me to kill myself? Can you imagine what the pressure would be there?''


    Keith asked with an incredulous expression.


    [Hear me out. After the upgrade, I can make the system undetectable from the blood-qi sense. It''s possible because the bloodstone you gave me allowed me to integrate with the blood-qi signature and now I can even emulate the very blood runes we are walking on right now.]


    With a surprised face, Keith could understand what the system was telling him. What this meant was, the system would mask itself as the blood runes and deceive the judgment pillar. Before that, they could reach the king layer with the help of the bloodstone''s residue power.


    The stay will be short but if they can enter the king layer, Keith''s rank would be unshakable. But that was not the most important thing. If he could become a disciple of a dean, then it was worth it.


    Also, he could analyze the aura of a King which would help him in the future when he would try to breakthrough. In the presence of a king, he could sense their faint fluctuations if the system could get a sample of the aura and correctly analyze it.


    ''Alright, but we have to come back to the count layer when the bloodstone energy runs out, or I can''t handle the pressure alone.'' Keith warned the system.


    [ I know, that''s why I haven''t used the maximum output. On my mark, activate all of your blood-qi along with the blood core. Ramp up the output of your warrior frame to the maximum. Keep them running for ten seconds at the minimum. I will fully activate the energy barrier.]


    Keith nodded and prepared his body for the full-scale activation. It required a lot of focus as he needed to sync all the blood-qi inside his blood core and the warrior frame. He closed his eyes and focused only on the two parts of his body.


    The warrior frame was already running at 50% and his blood core was idle. He woke up his blood core from its idle state and slowly increased its output.


    ''Anytime now.'' Keith said to the system.


    [ Hold on a second.]


    [ The barrier will be activating at 3¡­2¡­1]


    BOOM! SWISH!


    It was so fast that most of the spectators couldn''t tell what had happened. It was a streak of red and purple that swept across the count layer and entered the marquis layer in an instant.


    The young vampire boy who was looking at the scene stood up abruptly. His eyes were shot open as he couldn''t believe what he was seeing. It was an incredible display of skill and power. Overall it was perfectly coordinated and timed with ultimate accuracy.


    The shadow behind his ear flicked as if it was trying hard to analyze what was happening. The vampire boy heard a voice in his head and his eyes almost popped out.


    "Even he couldn''t detect his powers inside the strange layer." He mumbled.


    At the same time, Valencia was looking at the scene with an unbelievable expression. She couldn''t steer her eyes away from the test area. Her hands were twirling and fidgeting with incredible anxiousness.


    ''I must secure that boy.''


    A determined expression flashed across her face.

 Chapter 71: Mysterious Genes

    Hong!


    The pressure rose significantly as Keith entered the marquis layer. It didn''t bother him as much as it did before because of the protection of the energy layer. It used the residue power of the bloodstone and temporarily created an aura that blocked the outside pressure.


    It could''ve lasted longer if he stayed in the count layer, but now he was in the marquis layer, it was depleting faster because of the resistance. The system gave him a ten-second window to cross the rest of the layers.


    Clenching his teeth, he moved faster than he ever did. His blood-qi was perfectly distributed across the body and both the blood core and the warrior frame worked at their full capacity. They complemented each other and boosted the output of his body to a whole new level.


    When he reached the end of the marquis layer, only eight seconds remained. It felt way longer but he actually managed to cross the marquis layer in two seconds.


    As he entered the duke layer, his movement slowed down a little due to the overwhelming pressure difference. It was many times higher than the marquis layer. If he didn''t have the energy layer to protect him, he would''ve dropped on the floor like a magnet pulling a metal.


    Thankfully, he was not experiencing most of the pressure and could think clearly. His focus was on the path ahead that led to the king layer.


    He increased his speed while pushing his warrior frame''s output even more. He swept past the duke layer in a split second and moved halfway inside the layer within a second. His blood core was glowing red as his output soared with the continuous flow of blood-qi.


    ''Just a little more, and we will be in the King''s layer.'' His eyes were fixed on the dark layer that was barely visible in front of him.


    At the same time, Valencia was watching him with a stupefied face and biting her lips unconsciously. What he showed to the entire hall was nothing short of a miracle. What happened before her eyes were supposed to be impossible but Keith was doing it with not a single care in the world.


    The higher layers of the test produced the emulated aura of the peak-level vampires of the respective stages. That meant the viscount level layer produced the equivalent aura to a peak level vampire at the viscount stage. The same applied for the next layers as they emulated count, marquis, and duke layer pressures respectively.


    To break them without any resistance and move like that was not something even she could do. Sure, it would be a different story if she used her artifacts, but this test prohibited the use of any artifact. So he couldn''t have entered the test layer while being equipped.


    That showed what he used for crossing all those layers was his own ability and not with the help of any artifacts, which was baffling. She couldn''t believe that he was using no artifacts to boost his power. And still was able to move past the count layer.


    The same reactions could be seen from the other two student council members. Their faces were even more contorted and filled with disbelief. When he reached the end of the duke layer their eyes went wide.


    They couldn''t imagine Keith breaking the Archduke layer so easily like taking a walk in the park. Their eyes squinted as to see what would happen once he crossed the Archduke layer.


    To their surprise, he not only crossed the Archduke layer but he did it with minimum resistance. His speed was slower than before but his speed was regaining as a desperate expression appeared on Keith''s face.


    Inside the Archduke layer, Keith was now struggling to maintain his blood core at the maximum output. The increased temperature was making his body numb as the blood core was at the risk of failing. If not for his warrior frame supporting the blood core, it would''ve imploded long ago.


    ''This layer is way more powerful than before. I can barely breathe.'' Keith was visibly tired from maintaining the blood core and the warrior frame at the same time.


    [ The pressure from the Archduke layer is several times higher than the Duke layer, so some of it is going through the energy layer. We only have two seconds, so try to reach the king layer before then.]


    The system went back to its idle state after saying this.


    Keith also looked at the timer which showed two seconds in the status window before the energy layer breaks apart. He closed his eyes and put all of his blood-qi inside which were flowing outside his body. It was more tiring to gather all the blood-qi while maintaining two cores. But he didn''t have any other options so he endured the pain inside his head.


    ''Endure a little bit longer, Endure a little bit longer, I''m almost there.'' Keith repeated this sentence multiple times inside his head.


    Boom!


    With a loud noise, he crossed the King layer with only a second remaining in the clock. He opened his eyes and a beautiful scene appeared in front of his face. The layer was laid with golden red particles flying all across the layer in abstract patterns.


    [ The energy layer is shutting down, you need to go back. I will stay hidden and won''t respond for some time, hopefully, you refrain yourself from doing something stupid.]


    Saying this the system went silent.


    Keith stayed in the King''s layer for a split second but it felt like an eternity. He didn''t know it was the runes that slowed the perception or the pillar of judgement. He felt the aura brushing past his energy barrier which was flickering.


    When half a second was left in the timer, he turned around and left the king''s layer. But before he left, he felt a subtle presence at the end of the King''s layer.


    Swoosh!


    Moving with tremendous speed, he crossed almost half of the archduke layer within half a second. His face was showing signs of fatigue after running both the blood core and warrior frame at their peak for an extended period of time. If it was one of the two, he could have endured several hours, but both of them together used so much mental power that he was having hallucinations.


    ''Fuck! I want to sleep.'' A soft groan escaped his lips.


    The full force of the Archduke pressure reigned down on him as he reached halfway into the layer. His movements slowed considerably and he had to put great effort to leave the Archduke layer.


    "HAH!"


    As he left the Archduke layer, his nose started bleeding. He wiped the blood and moved slowly to the marquis layer. With the pressure within bearable conditions, he could at least pass without falling flat on the floor.


    Within ten seconds, he reached the marquis layer. He eased up a little and slowed down his blood core. The warrior frame was running at full capacity so he could afford to lower the output of the blood core.


    Leaving the marquis layer he took a deep breath and sat down on the floor cross-legged. He looked at the blood core which was slowly recuperating from the overwork and getting to its normal state.


    Strangely his muscles didn''t seem to suffer from the extended use of rapid blood-qi circulation. Only his brain was somewhat affected by the mental pressure to keep the system running.


    He silently slowed down his circulation and looked at the judgment pillar in anticipation, Now that the system was not there to block the pillar''s senses, he would get the results of the gene test anytime now.


    As he predicted, the runes inside the pillar started moving and ten circles appeared on the pillar. All of them were the same size, except the one that was facing Keith. It was significantly smaller than the rest of the circles.


    "What?" Keith couldn''t believe what he was seeing.


    The runes inside the circle were completely empty. There was not a single rune inside that space. Keith turned his head around and glanced at Valencia, who was also looking at the same rune circle with a frown.


    She looked back towards Kieth with a strange expression, trying to comprehend what was happening. Today so much had happened that it was not easy to wrap someone''s head around.


    Heaving a sigh, she turned her head towards the high stage. She didn''t know what the rune circle meant. An empty circle was never seen in the time she was in the academy. So she wanted the help of the higher-ups to understand the judgement pillar''s decision.


    The layer of fog dissipated in the high stage and dean Jesper floated towards the test area. He hovered above the platform where Valceia was standing and slowly descended.


    "Dean Jesper, can you discern the meaning of the judgement pillar?" Valencia asked with an intrigued face


    She knew all the other runes and it was clear that they didn''t hold a candle to Keith''s performance, so it was natural that the others were not in the mind of the dean. With Keith''s performance, no one spared an eye to the other results.


    Even Annica, who was supposed to be second in the batch, was looking at Keith''s rune circle with a strange expression. It was really weird and not to get a normal result.


    The dean stood there while looking at the rune circle with a frown on his face. HE opened his mouth and looked at Keith with interest.


    "His genes can not be determined by the judgment pillar."


    The entire central hall was in an uproar after hearing that statement.

 Chapter 72: An Offer

    Keith looked at the dean with a dumbfounded face. He never thought that his genes would become undetectable. What did it even mean? As he thought this, he looked at the dean with anticipation.


    "What are you saying, dean Jesper?"  Valencia asked with a frown on her face.


    It was normal for vampires to get some genes from the originals, even if it was little. It was enough to create some runes inside the rune circle. So not being able to read the genes was not supposed to happen.


    "What I mean by this is, either his genes are so complicated that the judgment pillar can not distinguish the individual genes or his genes are incomplete and mixed with some other genes." A smile appeared on the old man''s face.


    "His genes are more complicated than the genes of the original vampires? How is that possible?" Valencia looked at Keith with disbelief.


    She couldn''t imagine someone who could have a more complicated set of genes than the originals themselves. Was he not a descendant of the originals? How could he have more complicated genes than them? Thousands of questions swirled around her mind as she tried to comprehend this.


    "What an interesting boy? I haven''t seen a talent like you in centuries. You surely have some hidden cards that couldn''t be detected through normal means."


    The dean looked at the metal plate which was updating the rankings of the students present. Keith ranked first even with the undetermined result of his genes. He crossed so many layers and even stepped on the King''s layer, so the points awarded to him were significantly higher than others.


    Annica ranked third with her exceptional performance and she was quite satisfied with the result. She was aiming for the top three spots anyway, so this was not so bad. Keith''s performance was out of her calculations, but she still considered it something out of her reach.


    His means were something she could never replicate, not even after reaching the viscount stage. But she was glad she befriended him when nobody knew him.


    Sitting inside the count layer, Keith observed the metal plate that showed his name on the top. He was really surprised that he was ranked first after his gene test failed. He expected his rank to be second or third based on his performance but it looked like crossing the king layer gave him a lot of points.


    He nodded his head in satisfaction and stood up after his blood-qi was stabilized. He returned back to his seat along with Annica. All the students'' eyes were on him as if looking at a distinguished person. His performance in the test had earned him the respect and jealousy of countless students.


    Sitting on his spot, he wanted to observe the rest of the test as there were three more rows of students left for the test. The later batches of students were not so flamboyant and definitely didn''t match the expectations. Their performance was rather lackluster.


    Amidst all this, Valencia approached Keith when he was observing the test of a batch of students from the third row.


    "Keith Ennes, it''s nice to finally meet you." A beautiful feminine voice resounded from the side.


    Keith turned his head around and looked at the person who just entered his periphery.


    "How can I help you, miss?"  Keith asked with a respectable voice.


    He knew her identity, but he didn''t tell her right away.  She had a mysterious aura around her so he proceeded with caution. Besides, she was an important person inside the academy, finding trouble with her would not be ideal when he just entered this place.


    "We are not acquainted, yes. But your performance today at the test forced me to look into your information. It was a surprise to find such a genius hiding himself as a normal person.  You sure like to stay lowkey."  Valencia tenderly mocked him, giving a soft laugh.


    "Ah! I was unaware of my talent up until this point. I merely followed my instincts and reached where I was supposed to." Keith scratched his back with an embarrassed expression.


    "That goes to show how talented you are. You don''t even know your own limitations. Your instincts told you to attempt crossing the king layer, is that what you are saying?" Valencia looked at her intriguingly.


    "You overpraise me. I was feeling a little good so the performance was something that exceeded my expectations, but it was just a one-time thing really. I can''t cross the king layer like that again with my current strength."


    "I don''t believe you. You kept on going and showing us one miracle after another. I doubt you ran out of cards to play." With a suspicious voice, Valencia mocked Keith.


    "I was just doing my best to get the first spot, that''s all. See, my gene test was a failure. You can even say that I have no original genes in my blood. I was rather disappointed by it." A sorrowful voice escaped Keith''s barely moving lips.


    "You know how to act, don''t you? I was trying to break the ice, but it turns out you were playing with words all along. I will cut to the chase, I want you to join the student council. I will give you a position at the disciplinary committee, which is generally given to viscount level students who at least stayed in the academy for two years.


    I am giving you this position after evaluating your performance and by judging your talent." Valencia offered the terms to Keith.


    "That¡­ I haven''t been around long enough to know about the student council. I need more time to mull things over and give you a proper response. I also received other offers from different departments so my plate is full at the moment." Keith replied with a pained sigh.


    "And can I ask, who offered you to join their department? You are yet to receive your formal result and even though it is being shown, I don''t think anyone is allowed to recruit before the test results are out." Valencia said with a snort, trying to expose his lie.


    "I am not lying. It was an old man in the blood warrior training facility. I was just merely visiting the place, just to know more about the campus. I met him there and he asked me to join the blood warrior department after I talked to him for some time. It was so strange." Keith feigned an innocent face with a tinge of ignorance.


    "Blood warrior''s training facility. Are you sure? Because if I catch you lying, you will be in big trouble."


    "Do I look like I''m lying? He was there in the front hall. From his get up, he looked out of place, but he told me he was a blood ritualist."


    A strange expression appeared on Valencia''s face as she heard him say that.


    "He was asking you to join the blood warrior''s training facility. Am I dreaming or what? When did he have the time to get out of his lab?  I know you are not lying because, if you have seen him and his identity, it''s definitely him. He doesn''t get out of his lab to meet random strangers."


    "What did I tell you? He was thinking about dissecting me and studying my parts. If I refused to join, I can''t imagine what he would''ve done to me." A shiver ran up his spine as he pretended to be terrified.


    "That''s him alright. You got yourself such a backer even before the orientation. I underestimated you kid. Alright, I believe you. But that doesn''t mean I can''t recruit you. The departments and the student council are two different things. They are the official branches of study by which students are divided into their disciplines, but the student council is not like them. We don''t require exclusive membership, and you are free to join any other department, even multiple departments if you get invited that is."


    "So what I am saying is, think this over and give me an answer by the end of this week. You can find me at the student council office, or the berhmington residence at the south campus. This is my card, show it to the butler, and he will allow you to enter."


    Valencia handed Keith a red rune card embroidered in many gems.


    "I don''t think I''ll ever go to your living quarters," Keith said with a frown.


    "Why not?" Valencia asked with surprise.


    "What do you expect the other students to think after I do that? You are the student council president and I am just a first-year baron. I can''t even fathom your blood core level. Why are you favouring me so much as to invite me to your place? I would rather go to the office to avoid any misunderstandings."


    Keith replied with a straight face.


    "You don''t have to pay any mind to the students. They think all sorts of things, doesn''t mean it has to be that way. I will silence anyone who dares to spread any misinformation about you. What about now? Do you still think it''s inconvenient?"


    Valencia asked Keith with a smile.


    "I will think about it for sure, but I will meet you at the student council office," Keith replied with a plain voice.


    "Oh!  I am looking forward to your answer. But what a bummer, I was expecting an intimate chat with a young genius, turns out you are not as brave as you look."


    Saying this she turned around and left with the vice president.

 Chapter 73: Deryn

    "Why did you refuse her?" Annica asked while looking at Keith''s puzzling face.


    "Like you said, she is not what she portrays outwards. Besides, I haven''t refused her yet. It''s just that I find her a little terrifying. Who knows what she''s scheming? There might be a trap waiting for me inside her residence.


    Pffft!


    "Were you this cautious before beating random students?"


    Annica tried to control her laughter but to no avail.


    "That was a different issue. They were weaker than me, so I had no reason to back down. Also, I earned a hefty sum of blood coins, so it''s a win-win for me." Keith replied proudly.


    "You are right, it is a good way to collect money. Just don''t get caught by the seniors, or you''ll lose all your hard-earned money." Annica laughed.


    Keith didn''t pay her any mind and looked at the test area for the upcoming tests. Only one row of students was left and there was still no sign of any extraordinary performance. With this batch of students, Keith recognized a vampire.


    The arrogant, self-entitled vampire he met at the entrance of the academy. Keith wondered how his performance would be. He was the son of a duke, so he must have a lot of secrets blood-qi techniques with him. With a renewed interest he kept his eyes on him.


    "Oh, you found that little rat. I hope he can cross the viscount stage with his own strength. That would be a sight to see." Annica snorted with contempt.


    "Is he that weak?" Keith asked curiously.


    "All he does is sit around all day and drink blood. How can that lazy bum condense enough blood-qi to pass the test."


    "Maybe he has some secret blood-qi technique. You said he was from a duke family, didn''t you?"


    "I doubt he learned any blood-qi technique from his family considering how lazy he is. We have to see for ourselves¡­" She turned her attention towards the test area.


    "What was his name again?" Keith asked with a frown.


    "Deryn¡­"


    The ten students stood in their position and started walking inside the baron layer. Deryn was looking at the judgment pillar with a mocking smile. When the test started he immediately rushed towards the baron layer and covered half of the distance within a minute.


    When he started to struggle in the middle of the baron layer, he extended his arm and activated a rune that was carved on his arm. A large amount of blood-qi came out of that tattoo and transformed into a wolf-like creature.


    It was two meters high and six meters long with a tail that stretched above his height.


    "What is that? A summon" Kieth tried to guess.


    "Correct. His family must''ve given him a rune to help him control the blood summon so he could give the test without getting disqualified. I thought he would use an artifact, despite it being banned. I got my hopes up unnecessarily." Annica replied with a bored face.


    "Wait, that isn''t considered an artifact or outside help?"


    "Unfortunately not. Blood summoning is a special discipline and the people who go down that path are dime a dozen. They use all kinds of methods to make this process simpler and control the blood summons easily.


    This rune is not considered cheating because it is allowed by the academy. He can use this rune to control the blood summon and pass the layers. If he used a real artifact that boosted his blood-qi, that would disqualify him from the test." Annica replied.


    "So if I got a blood rune for a summon, I could''ve used it to pass more layers?"


    "But you don''t. That''s the difference. Getting one of those higher-grade blood summons is not an easy task. You need a viscount level or higher blood summoner and a blood ritualist to create a blood rune. Then you use the blood summon the high-level vampire already created to transfer it to the new owner. You can''t just find a beat and convert it to your own blood summon."


    Now that she said this, Keith remembered the things his uncle said before he left Ennes castle. The blood summoners needed to carefully convert a beast into a blood summon by injecting blood-qi within them for years. If anything went wrong the beast would die and their chance of getting a blood summon would perish with it.


    Seeing the big red wolf that was standing near Deryn, he also wanted a blood summon for himself. Inside the test area, Deryn wasn''t trying to mount the summon yet as he turned around and scanned the students sitting in the front row.


    He had a beaming smile as he showed his blood summons to all the students present. He was proud of himself for owning such a blood summon.


    "Why isn''t he moving?"


    "Maybe he doesn''t know the rules.."


    "Or he just wants to show off his blood summons."


    Many students started murmuring and giving their thoughts on the blood summon that was standing alongside the arrogant youth.


    Keith was also very interested in the blood summon. He wanted to study it and hopefully record the process of blood summoning and how to maintain it. He didn''t know a thing about blood summoning, so it was surely tempting at first glance.


    "Do you know a way to steal blood summons?" Keith asked Annica with a smile.


    "Hah! I know what you''re thinking, but no. You can''t take the blood summon of other vampires. They are connected to them with a blood core. Their blood-qi is similar so even if you kill and attempt to integrate it with your own blood core, you will get blood-qi poisoning instead. So stop thinking about such useless things.


    "The blood ritualist can alleviate the blood-qi poisoning and help integrate the blood summon, like with the case of Deryn, but the other party, the donor blood ritualist must take back his blood-qi as much as possible before giving away the blood summon," Annica explained.


    Keith nodded his head after understanding the basics of the blood summoning transfer. As for the blood-qi poisoning, he was not too worried about that. He had the system that could refine the blood-qi of other vampires with ease and he didn''t have to deal with the foreign attributes.


    If he could somehow get access to the blood summon''s source, he could theoretically integrate it with his own blood core. The question was, was it doable? From what he heard from Annica, the blood summon''s source was located inside the blood core of the blood summoner, so he needed to secure the blood core of a blood summoner, which basically meant to kill them.


    As no vampire could live without their blood core, the only way to achieve the blood summon was to kill other blood summoners. Keith didn''t want to do that inside of the academy. If he was found out, he would be in deep trouble. Death would be an easy way out compared to things the council would do to him.


    Moving on to the next issue, he didn''t know how to control a blood summon either. So getting one and then being unable to control it would make it useless. A blood ritualist was needed for creating a suppressing rune that also acted as a controller for the blood summon.


    He didn''t have any experience in blood rituals and he just knew a handful of rune formations, that also from the cave he stayed to absorb the corrupted blood-qi. He was ignorant about the uses and applications of the runes and how they were created.


    After thinking it through, he gave up the idea of stealing the blood summon from Deryn. Besides, he wouldn''t get the chance inside the academy anyway, so he better look elsewhere.


    ''First, I need to learn the blood summoning technique and use it on the beasts. Learning the basics will help me in the long run. If I can get the proper technique to create blood summons and integrate them inside my blood core, that would be amazing.'' Keith''s mind drifted as he thought about the uses of blood summoning.


    "Look! He is crossing the count stage." A vampire shouted behind him, which brought Keith back from his inner thoughts.


    As he looked at the test area, the blood summon was running swiftly inside the count layer and on it was sitting the arrogant boy who was not looking that good. His eyes were bulging and he was sweating profusely as the summon moved further and further.


    "Stop! I can''t take the pressure anymore, go back." Deryn ordered its summon after he crossed halfway into the count layer.


    The wolf turned around and headed back to the outer layers. After the summon reached the baron layer, Deryn slowly got down from its back and stood there proudly.


    The results on the metal plate changed and Deryn''s name appears on the third position after Keith and the young boy.


    Deryn wasn''t that happy with the result and as expected he shouted back at the council members.


    "What is this? Why isn''t my name in the first position? I clearly passed the most amount of layers." He shouted with an angry face.


    Valencia shook her head and didn''t pay any attention to him. The entire central hall was looking at Deryn with a strange face that showed a tinge of disgust. He was so self-entitled and shameless that some students wanted to get to the test area and beat him down.


    "Were you not present before the test?" The vice president asked.


    "Huh! Was I supposed to? I came here right now when it was time for my test." Deryn replied with confidence.

 Chapter 74: Crazy

    The vice president facepalmed himself and stood there in silence. The arrogance of this vampire was reaching unimaginable heights. He didn''t show a face that felt like he was acting. The things he said came straight from his heart.


    Keith and Annica tried to control their laughter after seeing this. It was definitely a good show.


    "Is he always like this?" Keith asked while trying his best not to wheeze.


    "Mhmm... I was looking forward to such a performance and he didn''t disappoint me." Annica replied with a satisfied smile.


    "He is¡­ quite the interesting character I must say," Keith replied with a twisted face.


    "Indeed. Back in my country, he is known for these kinds of incidents. Be it with other nobles or lower-level vampires. You can say the lower-level vampires rarely got out of it unscathed." A snort escaped Annica''s delicate face.


    Keith didn''t say anything and simply observed the scene in front of him. The vice president was losing his patience explaining why he was not qualified to occupy the first position. But Deryn refused him every time.


    Failing to change his mind, the vice president was ready to apply force but Valencia entered the scene soon after.


    "The results are determined by the judgment pillar, so I suggest you get back to your seat and wait till the end. We can''t change the results as we wished and all of the evaluation is done by the pillar. The professors have the final say in which department you can join, but that''s that." Valencia explained with a harsh voice.


    "Hmmm¡­ as I thought, it''s a useless academy with little to no respect for the strong. I will report this incident to the dean." Deryn replied with an annoyed voice.


    He knew the lady standing before him and he heard a lot of things about her. So he took a step back this time, not to further complicate things. As he left the test area, the new batch of students came in to take the test.


    The hall descended into silence again and the test continued as before. The last row had the most students present, so it took a couple of hours to wrap things up. In the end, the seats went back to their original arrangement and the stage reverted back to its place alongside the high stage.


    Valencia came back to the center of the stage and held a pamphlet in her hands. When the lights focused on her, she folded the pamphlet and swept her gaze around the hall, scanning all the students by her senses.


    "We have 433 students entering this admission season. All of them are from the main descendant family or a branch family. In this season, 421 students come from the branch families of the main descendant family and the other 11 are from the main descendant families. In a way, they are considered part of the main family and will be treated as such.


    Now coming on to the next statistic, we have 175 students from Argania, which is by far the largest single-time entry for this country. 124 from Clecia, 96 from Kelgard which are consistent with their past entries. The northern country of Efrain sent 36 new students this season.


    And as you all know, Fleidian is in a tight spot right now, so the nobles are not allowing their heirs to get out of their palaces. Even still, we have two more students coming from this country this time around." Valencia slowly explained.


    Keith''s ears perked up as he heard the condition of the war-torn country Fleidian. He was also curious to see which students came to the academy in such a harsh environment.


    Annica seemed to notice his puzzlement, so she explained some details about the country.


    "Thes state of the country is more dire than we think. I think the absence of the director might be related to this. I also think the two students who came in were already living outside the country before the war started." Annica said with a low voice.


    "Why do you think so?"


    "Because the borders are closed in all four directions and both sides are guarding the roads and not letting anyone pass. If they belong to the other side, they take them as hostages or worse, send them to the mines. So you can understand the position of the nobles, who don''t want their heirs to venture outside their territory."


    "Makes sense. Now what? Is the council going to interfere in the war or they will watch from the sidelines." Keith asked.


    "For now, I think the council will hold its position and won''t interfere inside Fleidian. It is their internal issue and participation in the war will make things even worse. The council is waiting for one side to win quickly and avoid any unnecessary conflict with the neighboring countries, in which case the council has to step up and stop Fleidian."


    "So unless the war spreads to other countries, the council will turn a blind eye to Fleidian," Keith said.


    "Correct. The council is busy maintaining all five countries, so it''s important for them to take a neutral stance. Besides, it is their internal civil war anyway, so interfering doesn''t send a good message to the other countries."


    As they chatted along about the situation, the speech of the student council president came to an end. Then she invited a middle-aged man with pure white hair and a well-built physique onto the stage.


    The middle-aged man slowly walked up to the center of the stage and activated his rune card to reverberate his voice throughout the hall.


    "Good afternoon, dear students. As you all have heard Valencia gave all the details about this year''s entries and the overall statistics, a majority of you did well in the test. I sincerely congratulate all of you for your efforts. I''m the vice dean of the blood warrior department, you can call me professor Chandra.


    "Now, the final results and analysis of all your strengths and weaknesses have been thoroughly documented and I will show you the list of students who qualified for the four departments. "


    Professor Chandra swiped his hands on the rune card and the metal plate hovering above the stage tilted sideways and positioned itself perpendicular to the ground. It now faces the students who looked at it with enthusiasm.


    "Out of 433 students, 403 are invited to join the blood warrior department. For the blood summoning department the invitations are 30, the blood ritualist department gave out 15 invitations, and last but not the least, the blood esper department invited 3 students for enrollment into their department." Professor Chandra gestured his hands to show the list of students which appeared on the metal plate one after another.


    In that list, the most commonly invited students for all departments were highlighted in bright red and the others with two or more invitations had orange highlighting. The rest of the names were normal carvings with slight red outlines.


    Keith was surprised to see his name glowing red on the top. That meant, he received four invitations from all of the departments. He expected his performance to get him a good place, but receiving four invitations was beyond his predictions.


    "You are on the hit list of all the departments. I see a lot of jealous eyes around you." Annica said from the side.


    Keith turned around and saw that many students were giving him envious looks. It was a great achievement to get all four invitations from the departments as it meant, they are equally wanted by four departments. Typically, the departments chose which students were best suited for their discipline and invited them accordingly.


    That''s why there were single invitations for some students in the blood summoning and the blood ritualist department. Looking at the blood esper department, the three students who were invited were also invited by the other 3 departments.


    Annica was also invited to the blood esper department, together with Keith and the young boy with a strange name. Looking closely it resembled some kind of ancient name that couldn''t be pronounced easily.


    "Can you read the guy''s name?" Keith asked Annica while pointing to the weird-looking name below him.


    "What guy? Oh, that¡­ that looks like an ancient dialect of the Arganian language. I''ve studied some of it courtesy of my father. It appears to be spelled¡­ Buqfgsloslaermeryan." Annica fumbled as she tried to pronounce the name.


    "Looks like he''s from my country. What a surprise, I have another one within my class. Three of us will be joining the blood esper department together, so I wonder how old the students are?" Annica''s thoughts drifted as she immersed herself into her imagination.


    "I haven''t decided which department to join," Keith said out as he looked at his name.


    This brought back  Annica from her daydreaming as she glared at Keith with disbelief.


    "Are you saying you are going to pass up on the most sought-after discipline in the entire continent? Countless students try their best,  never to be invited to the blood esper department. You are seriously having a problem choosing which department to enter." Annica was out of breath.


    "It''s not that I don''t want to join the blood esper department, but I want to see if there are better ways for me to receive more lessons," Keith said.


    "What do you mean?" Annica was confused by his words.


    "I was thinking if I can get into all of the four departments at once. What would it take? Can I convince the deans to get me a spot at four departments?" Keith said with a smile.


    Annica stared at him with wide-open eyes. Only one sentence left her lips.


    "You are crazy."

 Chapter 75: Finally Someone to play with

    "The four departments won''t allow one student to attend all four departments on their own so stop thinking about it. You may have gotten the first position, but getting the blood esper department is the best thing that could happen." Annica said with a snort.


    "I have my own reasons. I need to accumulate all the knowledge about all four disciplines. Maybe I should try to get in touch with individual professors and become their student. Or should I change my appearance?" Keith pondered hard.


    "Do you think learning the four disciplines is as easy as taking a walk In the park? I have to tell you that mastering a single discipline to its final form is extremely difficult, let alone mastering four disciplines."


    "Is that so? Well, you won''t know until you try. I have a special technique by which I can learn any technique pretty easily." Keith replied proudly.


    "Stop boasting. Even if you learn the basics, which is a stretch, you can get to the end of the path in this lifetime. These disciplines are not as easy as you think."


    As they were discussing the disciplines, professor Chandra explained to the students about the expectations and what the students needed to do in order to maximize their benefits of getting into the department.


    "I need all of you to decide your departments by tomorrow evening. This only applies to the students who got two or more invitations. All the other students are only allowed to join one department, which they are assigned to." He said looking around the hall.


    With a flick of his finger, the meal plate turned back and assimilated into the wall like it even existed. The runes on it vanished and the hall was illuminated enough to cover the students.


    "Now we will celebrate the rest of the evening."


    Professor Chandra used his rune card to make several changes to the decoration of the hall. The seating arrangement changed again and they divided into two separate rows at the end of both sides.


    A large fountain of blood appeared in the middle and the lights changed to a darker shade, but it was clear enough to see the entire hall.


    "Now, enjoy the evening, because from tomorrow you will be working hard. Very hard.


    Saying this, he turned around and left. All the students looked at the stage and then got up from their seats.


    "Is this some kind of banquet?" Keith asked Annica.


    "Yes. The only banquet you will see in the first year. Shall we join them?" Annica pointed to the tables spread across the central hall where many vampires wearing suits were guarding the place.


    "No thanks. I think I''ve had enough social interaction for the day. I will go back to my room. See ya." Keith got up and started walking towards the door.


    "There is definitely something wrong with you¡­." Annica didn''t say anything to him and mumbled after he left the seat.


    She also got up from her seat and walked towards a booth filled with exquisite blood from all over the continent. These were all human blood from various places. They were specially cultivated in the blood to taste a certain way.


    "Where''s that from?" Annica pointed to a red glass.


    "Guzuer pamachoen, from Felgard, miss." The waiter replied.


    "Kelgard hmmm¡­ wait¡­ I totally forgot the fight."


    After remembering the fight between the senior and Keith, she walked hastily and left the central hall as well.


    Keith came outside the hall and was heading towards his place when suddenly a group of five vampires obstructed his path.


    "You came out earlier than we expected. Good good! The earlier you get your punishment, the better for you." The man in the front said with a sneer.


    "I was wondering when you would show up. Alright, lead the way. I have a lot of things on my plate, so I need to finish this as quickly as possible." Keith gestured his hands with such laziness, they thought he had given up.


    "That is the right attitude. If you beg for mercy, he might forgive you and lessen the punishment. Now come with us."


    The one in the front turned around and walked towards the other side of the garden, Keith followed them behind without saying anything.


    When they reached the place, he sensed dozens of vampires hiding in the shadows. In The middle, the man he met at the training facility was standing with a frown on his face.


    "He didn''t resist?" he asked the other two.


    "No boss. He came with us willingly." The one in front of Keith replied.


    "That''s better. You disrespect me and didn''t follow my orders, so I will show you how things get done in this academy. Bring him here." The man shouted.


    Before any of them had a chance to grab Keith''s arm he appeared in front of them and walked slowly towards the man with a blank face.


    The man was not a slight bit concerned about Keith as the entire place was surrounded by a dozen of vampires and most of them were viscounts.


    "I will teach you some manners today, boy. " The man activated his blood-qi and lunged at Keith.


    Without saying anything, Keith activated his warrior frame and threw a punch straight at the man''s abdomen.


    Whack! BOOM!


    What happened next was something the rest of the vampires surrounding the place couldn''t comprehend. Their boss was blasted away with one punch and the boy they just brought here was standing in his place with a smile.


    The rest of the vampires jumped at Keith after they saw their master get beat up.  As they plunged towards Keith, a hoarse voice was heard from the side.


    "Don''t kill him. That will happen by my hands when we get out of this academy." The man got up slowly with a contorted face and looked as if his body had been crippled.


    His hands were crushed and his stomach had a large hole inside. He quickly used his healing artifact to seal the wounds. With a hateful stare, he observed his underlings who were about to clash with Keith.


    "I will make it quick," Keith said slowly.


    Activating his warrior frame to its maximum capacity, he exuded the viscount aura. The entire place was covered with the aura and the vampires surrounding him stopped in their tracks.


    "A viscount aura! Who is this boy?" A vampire questioned with disbelief.


    "I haven''t seen him around in the viscount class so he must have a viscount level artifact. If we can defeat him, the artifact will be ours."


    With renewed spirit, the surrounding vampires plunged at Keith with greedy eyes.


    Keith slowly stretched his hands and threw multiple coordinated attacks. They landed perfectly and the vampires that just attacked him were also thrown away.


    Seeing this the others were confused as to how this baron-level vampire was able to beat so many viscount-level vampires. Sure, these viscount-level vampires broke through recently but they were way stronger than final stage barons.


    "You''re next." Keith didn''t give them any time to process what was happening and jumped at them with a vicious glint.


    "I need all of you to understand that there is always someone above you. Bully the lower level vampires may be fun but not fun enough to get beaten up by one."


    Keith shot forward and launched multiple attacks with his hands and knocked four vampires in an instant. The others used their blood-qi techniques to block the attacks coming towards them.


    HAA!


    Their blood-qi rose to the maximum, but it was not enough to block Keith''s attack.


    Wham! Boom! Boom!


    The next three vampires crashed into the nearby wall and dropped to the floor. Several of their bones were broken and they were coughing out blood.


    "Master, what do we do? He is way stronger than we thought." A vampire said behind the leader.


    "Hmph! These baron-level vampires are weak. The early-stage viscounts are just in name. I can''t believe they were beaten by a mere baron. Send the middle stage viscounts and Lais. He is the only one who could handle him."


    He gestured to his subordinate and then continued watching his underlings getting destroyed by Keith.


    ''I don''t understand. I felt his aura inside the training facility. It was not this fierce then, also how come he has a viscount aura with just a baron-level blood core.''


    As he was contemplating this, a handsome and ripped man stood next to him.


    "I can sense a viscount level warrior frame inside that boy. It will be hard, but I think I can defeat him." The ripped man said.


    "Lais, did you just say, he has a viscount level warrior frame?"


    "Yes! I''m certain. He hides it pretty well, but nothing can escape my senses." The man named Lais said with a snort.


    "Well, he is a baron alright. Even if he has a warrior frame, you also have it too. So I''m not worried about him. He can''t match your level of blood-qi, so defeating him would be like defeating a child for you."


    Lais nodded and slowly made his way through the unconscious vampires piled up on the floor.


    Keith was taking care of the last remaining baron-level vampires when he sensed an aura that was similar to him. I


    ''A viscount that could give me a challenge. Finally a worthy opponent.''


    Keith, who was holding a vampire by the neck, turned around and glanced at the middle stage viscount that was moving closer.


    "It''s time to fight with someone similar to your own caliber." The ripped man said as he approached Keith.


    "Indeed. I was itching for a good fight for the past few days. Glad there is no security here, or I would have to pretend I don''t know how to fight." Keith answered with a smile.


    "Don''t get cocky just because you gave a viscount level warrior frame. I have a warrior-frame more powerful than yours."


    "Oh! Is that so?"


    Keith scanned the man and found that his warrior frame reached the peak of the middle stage viscount, compared to Keith''s warrior frame which was at the early stage viscount.

 Chapter 76: Dont want to fight anymore

    ??"Are you scared? There is no running away now."


    The ripped man closed his distance and approached Keith while activating his warrior frame.


    "If I wanted to run away, I would''ve done it by now. Besides, I also want to test my combat strength, so thank you for proving yourself to me." Keith looked calmly at the approaching enemy.


    "You are funny Kid, Let me show you.."


    Whack!


    "You talk too much" Keith''s hand clashed with the vampire''s aura and almost penetrated his barrier.


    Lais was not expecting such incredible speed for a blood warrior. He was just mocking Keith to mess up his mind and find an opening to attack. But Keith was not the patient one and jumped at him the first chance he got.


    Haaah!


    Because of the sudden attack, he was caught off guard. But it was mostly due to the speed that he was having trouble blocking Keith''s attack. Both of his hands blocked Keith''s attack in the nick of time.


    Keith noticed his attacks did break through the barrier the viscount had put up. After coming closer, he could analyze his better and with the help of the recently upgraded system, he could scan the blood core and the amount of blood-qi the opponent had.


    ''Wow! My blood-qi is significantly higher. I only lack better control and more blood-qi techniques. Having more blood-qi and not any blood-qi techniques is frustrating.


    He kept throwing punches and kicks to not let the opponent breathe for a moment, which was working. Lais was so occupied with blocking the attacks that he couldn''t take the offensive stance.


    Keith''s attacks were also not light and with every move, the speed and accuracy of those attacks increased.


    ''The blood core is around the peak of the middle stage viscount, very close to reaching the final stage baron. But that''s not the most terrifying aspect of his power.'' Keith thought as he analyzed Lais''s warrior frame.


    Looking closer, he could tell that the warrior frame aura was not from a normal warrior frame. It was more solidified and the points were further enforced by an unknown blood-qi technique. He didn''t know what this was and how he integrated it with his warrior frame.


    "You are not bad. If it were any other middle stage viscount, things would''ve been much easier, definitely not fun." Keith smirked.


    He used his martial arts and tried to penetrate the aura and hit a vital spot. Lias on the other hand used all of his blood-qi to defend the barrage of attacks launched by Keith.


    ''How does he seem to have more blood-qi than me?''


    With no time to take a break, Lias was occupied with the fight. He noticed after a while that Keith was not getting tired even after all those powerful attacks. From the power of those attacks, they contained the same power as a middle stage viscount. And maintaining the warrior frame at the same time to match his aura, Lias was having doubts about his senses.


    ''Is he really a baron? Or is he a viscount who is good at hiding his blood core? I see no artifacts on him either.''


    With a lot of questions popping up in his mind, he was having doubts about the true nature of Keith.


    ''No. I can''t let myself get deluded. Whatever he is, I need to defeat him fair and square.''


    Activating his blood-qi technique, which was one of his trump cards, a sudden surge of blood-qi propelled his hands. The outer layer of the blood-qi turned harder and resembled a ruby.


    ''What technique is that? Is it related to the unique warrior frame or a different blood-qi technique?'' Keith noticed the changes right away and analyzed the attack with his system.


    ''System wake up! I need you to monitor all his moves and try to understand the blood-qi technique.''


    Keith focused his mind on the purple mark on his forehead.


    [I was just napping for an hour and you already got yourself in deep shit. What are you? A trouble magnet?]


    The system said with an annoyed tone. Scanning the surroundings it realized that they were in a different place outside the central hall.


    [Hmmm¡­ it looks like we are in the southern courtyard. Several viscount level vampires lying on the floor¡­ wait did you do all this?]


    ''Did you think I can''t beat up a bunch of early-stage viscounts without you? Out of everyone, I think you know my capabilities the most. Now, help me study this guy. He has a unique warrior frame, can you copy his blood-qi technique.''


    Keith was busy exchanging blows with Lais, who was evenly matching his own strength with the recent power boost.


    With the help of his advanced blood-qi technique, he was gaining an advantage against Keith''s clumsy moves. Keith was able to handle all that only due to his insane amount of blood-qi.


    [It seems like he applied some additional blood-qi technique to the warrior frame to make it even stronger. The coating around the warrior frame is made out of solidified blood-qi. It also extends to his hands which are equally strong. From the application of the blood-qi, it looks complicated to copy it right away. I need more time to analyze his blood-qi and warrior frame.]


    ''How much time are we talking about?'' Keith asked impatiently.


    [A month or so. That should do it. Can you hold him still for a month please?] The system said with a plain voice.


    ''You gotta be fucking kidding me! A month, I thought you''d say 10 to 15 minutes. I am in the middle of a fight and we are evenly matched. And do you think the academy will let me keep him for a month even if I defeat him?'' Keith was having a difficult time handling the vampire in front of him.


    Lais was in a focused state and his power increased significantly and matched with Keith''s level. Despite having a lower blood-qi, he was holding his ground against Keith.


    ''Damn! Blood-qi techniques are so powerful. I need more blood-qi techniques to stack on top of my warrior frame. And who knows how powerful dual disciplined blood-qi manipulators are?''


    He remembered his uncle was a dual disciplined blood-qi manipulator, having mastered the warrior frame and the blood-esper disciplines. He was a blood warrior and also a blood esper. Now he realized how much of a monster his uncle was.


    ''He was definitely holding back his strength significantly. Maybe because he used only his warrior frame and not his blood esper techniques. He never drew his sword during our fights.''


    "Now you see the gap between our levels. You can fake your strength all you want, but you can''t fool me with your measly baron-level blood core." Lais shouted as he sped up his attacks.


    Keith was already using his full force of the blood warrior frame but the other side was producing more explosiveness with his attacks.


    [Like in the test area, use your blood core. It is idle now. Use it simultaneously with your warrior frame.]


    ''Ugh! If possible I wanted to hide this trump card for a stronger opponent, but it looks like I need to use it anyway.''


    [You''ve been holding back all this time, knowing fully you could''ve defeated him earlier.]


    ''I was not entirely certain, hence I tried my warrior frame first to test the waters.''


    [Hurry up and apprehend him, I think you can use it to make a deal with him.]


    ''What kind of deal?''


    Keith listened to the system''s voice and a smile appeared on his face.


    "That''s not bad."


    Keith activated his blood core without wasting any time. His aura expanded several times and Lais staggered back after getting hit by Keith''s aura.


    "How?"


    Lais looked at Keith with an incredulous expression.


    "What? You can show your trump card and I can''t."


    Saying this, Keith appeared in front of him in a flash.


    Slash!


    He slashed forward with his right hand and the barrier broke. Ths skin made contact with Keith''s blood-qi and blood started dripping from the wound that opened up as the red aura pierced Lais''s skin.


    Keith immediately activated his tendrils and tried to absorb the blood-qi.


    "What is happening?"


    Lais panicked after noticing his blood-qi drop by the moment. He looked at Keith in horror and slumped on the floor.


    "What are you doing? Please stop. My blood-qi, it''s fading away."


    Keith stopped before too much blood-qi was absorbed and let Lais breathe for a moment.


    "You don''t want to fight me anymore," Keith asked sarcastically.


    "I dare not. From the aura you were emanating, I thought for a second, I was fighting a count-level vampire."


    "Count level! So you thought my blood-qi level was equivalent to count level." Keith asked with surprise.


    "Yes!"


    "I see."


    Now he got an idea about his strength combined with the blood warrior frame and the blood core combined.


    "You want me to let you go after you tried to kill me?" Keith glared at Lais.


    "What? No. Killing you was never my objective. I was just following my orders. He said not to hurt you too much." He turned around and looked at his boss.


    "What was his name again?" Keith asked.


    "Lord Jerim." Lais replied.


    "Ah! Jeremy. He owes me a lot of blood. Hmm... Coming back to you, do you want all your powers to disappear or you could do me a favour?" Keith looked at him with a grin.


    "What favour? I certainly don''t want to lose my blood-qi."

 Chapter 77: Compensation

    Annica was expecting a huge group of vampires surrounding Keith, but when she arrived near the southern courtyard she was shocked to see the scene.


    In the middle, Keith was standing alone while all the vampires were either unconscious on the floor or injured severely. Jerim was also standing in the side with a surprised face.


    Her sight focused on the vampire sitting in front of Keith who was begging Keith to let him go.


    ''He is a middle stage viscount. Did he  defeat them just like that?'' Annica squinted her eyes and stood in the side of the courtyard.


    She didn''t want to interrupt the fight and get involved in this mess. Besides, Keith was doing just fine without her help so she saw no need to lend him her power.


    In Front of Keith, Lais was thinking rapidly and his senses were in shambles. When he felt his blood-qi getting sapped away instantly he panicked and admitted defeat. It was not because he feared Keith so much so his powers were getting taken.


    The amount of blood-qi that was being absorbed from him was equivalent to several years of blood condensation. He worked really hard to reach this level of blood core. He didn''t want to lose all his blood-qi so he aptly gave up fighting him.


    With a strange ability to drain someone''s power, Keith was way out of his understanding. He didn''t know from which family or country he came from. He even feared that he was a descendant of the top ten families disguised as a normal boy.


    "Tell me what favour you want from me? If it isn''t going to affect me negatively too much, I am willing to do it." Lais replied.


    "You are not going to lose anything and no harm will come to your blood core. I just want to learn the blood-qi technique that you used just now with your warrior frame. Care to teach me the secrets of that technique?'''' Keith whispered into Lais''s ear.


    Lais''s eyes went wide as he heard Keith''s demand. It was not something he could decide on his own. It was his family technique and giving it to a stranger was breaching his family''s sacred vow.


    "I can¡­ not do that¡­." He said with a fumbled voice.


    "Listen here, buddy. You are not in a situation where you can bargain. I will break it down for you. Either give me the technique or lose the blood-qi that you cultivated for decades. I will get that technique regardless of whether you want it or not. If you don''t accept, I might have to resort to violence." Keith glared at him while increasing his aura.


    Seeing Keith''s serious face Lais was out of options.  He really didn''t want to give his technique to a stranger but his life was on the line. Being stripped apart from his blood-qi was a death sentence for him as it was really hard to do anything without it.


    He couldn''t attend classes and might get expelled from the academy once they figured out that he lost his blood-qi. Realizing that there was no other way, he reluctantly nodded his head.


    "Is that a yes?" Keith asked with a frown.


    "Yes¡­ I will teach you the blood-qi technique." Lais said defeatedly.


    "Glad that you chose the right option, or else I would''ve had to kidnap you for a month to study your technique," Keith replied.


    Now that this matter was settled, his sights turned to the main reason he got into all this. Jerim, the vampire he met at the training facility who attacked him for ignoring his presence.


    He was staring at the scene in front of him with a dazed face. He didn''t know what to do, now that his underlings were defeated and his best warrior Lais was kneeling in front of Keith, he was out of his wits.


    "We meet again senior." Keith appeared in front of him in an instant.


    "HAH! You! What are you going to do to me?" Jerim asked in a panicked tone.


    "Nothing much, if you give proper compensation to me, I will let you go unharmed," Keith said with a grin.


    "What kind of compensation do you want? Blood coins? I have thousands of blood cons on me. You can take them all." Jerim said while putting his hand in his pocket.


    "No, I''m not interested in your blood coins. I want something more valuable, like advanced blood-qi techniques for example.  If you can provide me with your blood-qi technique that would be good."


    "Absolutely impossible. My family''s technique is the sacred technique passed down from generations. I can''t give it away to a stranger without the approval of our elders. You might as well kill me." Jerim shouted out loud.


    "If you insist, I have no choice." Keith extended his arm trying to attack Jerim.


    "STOP!" A voice shouted from the other end of the courtyard.


    Keith turned his head towards the location the voice was coming from. He recognized the vampire upon close look. It was the companion of the vampire in front of him. He felt that he was more powerful than Jerim.


    "What do you want? I must tell you, they tried to attack me first, so I won''t let them go so easily. I might have to keep them for a month as slaves for compensation." Keith said to the figure standing on the other side.


    "You dare do that to a noble. Do you think the student council will tolerate such behavior?" The young vampire said.


    "What about the council, why would they interfere with my problem? I am merely taking compensation from these vampires. And they gave their consent too, so it''s not like I''m kidnapping them. Isn''t that right?" Keith looked at Lais who was silently looking at the ruckus.


    "Ye¡­Yes," He admitted reluctantly.


    "See, I am not forcing anyone against their will. So if you could just leave us alone, that would be much appreciated." Keith said.


    "Kid, Your courage is not small. Maybe you don''t know who you are offending. His father is the vice president of the Clecia chamber of commerce. If you hurt him, you will see the full wrath of the entire Chamber of commerce." The young vampire said with a threatening voice.


    "And I am supposed to brush off the things they did and forgive them. Not happening. I have a family too, so don''t threaten me with the background bullshit. Besides, his father won''t come here just to take care of a simple scuffle." Keith said with a nonchalant voice.


    "Hmmph! If I say that you attacked us first, no one would believe you. I am a member of the student council, so your words hold no weight inside the academy."


    "I don''t fear about the council. I have a good relationship with Miss. Valencia so I doubt she will punish me for something I didn''t do." Keith replied with an innocent voice.


    "What?! How do you know the president? When did you meet her?" A surprised expression appeared on the young vampire''s face.


    Then suddenly, he had a realization and he laughed out loud.


    "Don''t try to trick me, I know you just attended the orientation so you have seen her and might''ve learned her name through someone else. There is no way she would meet with a first-year." The young vampire said with a snort.


    "If you don''t believe me, why don''t you ask her yourself?" Keith said with a smile.


    "I can''t believe I''m listening to a first year''s ramblings. I am telling this for your own good. Leave this place and never show yourself in front of me. I will let you go this one time for your behavior,  but don''t expect me to forgive you next time."


    "There won''t be a next time. I am not leaving without the compensation we''re agreed on." Keith stared at Jerim greedily.


    "You can have ten thousand gold blood coins. Now scram!" The young vampire said with disdain.


    "I am not short of gold blood coins at the moment, but if you really insist on giving me compensation with blood coins, I want 1 million gold blood coins or I will take them with me." Keith looked straight at the young vampire''s eyes.


    The young vampire''s expressions turned ugly and he shot forward towards Keith with a tremendous force.


    "I tried to reason with you, but you still refuse to listen. I will have to punish you for assaulting your senior. Then I will take you to the president, who will punish you even further."


    With a huge aura resembling a middle stage viscount, the young vampire pounced at Keith.


    Keith''s eyes turned cold and he activated his warrior frame and blood core simultaneously.


    Boom! Wham! Wham!


    The entire courtyard shook as the two figures clashed in the middle.


    "What? how can you match with my strength?" The young vampire was flabbergasted.


    ''I''m using a marquis level artifact to boost my aura, but he has no such artifact. What is more unbelievable is that he has a baron stage blood core. Is he hiding his artifact inside? his body? I can''t sense a single artifact.'' The vampire was surprised by the turn of events.

 Chapter 78: You have to come

    "Hmm!"


    Valencia, who was having a conversation with a female professor, turned her head around in surprise. A slight fluctuation of blood-qi could be felt from the southern side of the central hall.


    "Is someone having a breakthrough?" Valencia focused her senses on the source of the fluctuation.


    "It seems like two viscount auras are clashing against each other. They are still at the early stages of viscount." The female professor said while sipping blood from her glass.


    "Thank you, Miss. Ester, I have to go there and see who dared to fight near the central hall. I will catch up with you later." Valencia hurriedly placed her glass on the table.


    "Mhmmm... It seems like you will be busy. I pity those boys who ruined your evening." Professor Ester mumbled with a sad tone.


    With an angered expression Valencia called the vice president over and left the central hall with him. The banquet carried on like before and everyone seemed to be unaware of the things taking place outside.


    At the southern courtyard, two figures were clashing against each other with such ferocity, the entire place was shaking. Their aura was not inferior to the other, but somehow the young vampire standing in front of Keith was having trouble maintaining his stance.


    Boom!


    The two figures split and crashed into the ground several meters apart.  Keith didn''t seem to receive any injuries as he stood inside the crater with a calm face. On the other hand, the young vampire was struggling to maintain his aura and his body was filled with scratches.


    "What kind of a monster are you?" The vampire shouted at Keith.


    ''I can''t keep the artifact activated for long, my blood-qi reserve is depleting. I need to find a way to finish the fight soon.'' He racked his brain to find a weakness of the seemingly invincible vampire before him.


    "The kind of monster, who will show you some respect that you deserve. Thank you for sparring with me, senior." Keith licked his lips and shot forward with a fiery gaze.


    ''He still hasn''t run out of stamina. How can he sustain his artifact for so long?'' He questioned his judgment about the opponent''s strength as Keith was shattering his every preconceived notion. It felt like he was fighting against a count stage vampire despite the opponent being just a baron.


    Swish! Swish! Wham!


    Swinging his arms and legs imbued with terrifying blood-qi, Keith didn''t let the vampire catch his breath. He attacked him furiously from all sides and with each attack the defense of the opponent dwindled.


    "Do you even know who you''re offending?" The young vampire let out a desperate cry.


    "If you amount to this much after using such a high-grade artifact, I have nothing to fear while I''m here," Keith said with a sneer.


    At this moment, a figure appeared between them and stopped Keith''s attacks.


    "How dare you two fight here? Are you not aware of what is happening inside the central hall?"  The vice president said with an angry voice, glaring at the two.


    "Senior, you came at the right time. This brat started this all. He refused to follow my orders and clashed with my underlings. You can see how he injured them."


    Pointing his fingers to the unconscious vampires lying on the ground he shot a hateful glare at Keith.


    "Is that true?" The vice president looked at Keith with a frown.


    "Hah! I expected better from a member of the student council, but it looks like it''s filled with garbage." Keith said with disgust.


    "Hey! Answer my question? Did you do it or not? If you dare lie, I will send you to the dungeons."


    Keith looked at the vice president and snorted.


    "Do you think I am going around offending everyone I see? They were the ones who brought me here. I was just defending myself."


    "You dare lie in front of the vice president. Senior, he won''t tell the truth how much you ask him. It''s better to put him in the dungeon for his violations of the academy rules."  The young vampire said.


    "This will all be cleared soon enough." A feminine voice said from behind.


    "President!"


    The young vampire lowered his head in fear once he heard her voice. Sweat was dripping from his forehead.


    "Tell me why are you two fighting at such an hour? What would the professors think about me, if I can''t handle viscounts on the orientation day? If I don''t get a proper answer, I will put you both in the dungeon for a month." Valencia glared at them with such ferocity that the temperature dropped several degrees.


    "Uhmmm¡­ I¡­" The young vampire struggled to open his mouth and fumbled continuously.  He knew he messed up when the president of the student council showed up. She was ruthless and cold to everyone who broke rules, regardless of their origin. She didn''t even forgive the council members in this regard, so he already lost all hope of getting out of here.


    "He joined the student council last year and has been doing quite well for a baron. I hoped to get him a position at the disciplinary committee after he broke through the viscount stage, but now I''m not so sure." The vice president looked at the injured vampires and shook his head in disappointment.


    "But I didn''t do anything. It''s him. He ambushed us here and forced us to fight. If not for my artifact, I would''ve been seriously injured by now." The young vampire said with a pleading voice.


    "Shut up! You can''t even handle a single baron. How can you expect me to defend you?" The vice president snapped.


    The young vampire lowered his head while gnashing his teeth. He shot a hateful glare at Keith from the corner of his eyes.


    Valencia, who was watching the drama unfold, lost her patience and looked at Keith with a frown.


    "Tell me, why are you here instead of the banquet? Do you like fighting so much? I thought you wanted to be lowkey, but your actions say otherwise." She squinted her eyes and took a closer look at his aura and scanned his body.


    "I was going to my room and they showed up out of nowhere and asked me to follow them here. I met him before at the blood warrior''s training facility with another baron who seems to be acquainted with him." Keith looked at the young vampire beside him.


    "And? What happened between you guys that you resorted to this?" Valencia pointed her hand to the mess of a courtyard that was ruined by the fight.


    "I was having a normal conversation with him, but the other baron suddenly attacked me for ignoring him. If not for my strength, he would''ve seriously injured me by that surprise attack." Keith said, looking at the young vampire and Jerim.


    "Hmm¡­ is it true? What he''s saying? Is it TRUE?" Valencia''s tone turned cold and she glared at Jerim and the young vampire.


    "I¡­  I haven''t seen him before. He''s clearly lying. Why is the president taking his word seriously." Jerim who was silent throughout this time said with a stuttering voice.


    Valencia''s figure flashed and she appeared in front of Jerim, grabbing his neck and lifting him from the ground.


    "Then why are you stuttering? I can sense your heartbeat fluctuation madly. You can fool him, but not me."


    She tightened her grip around his neck and the vampire''s pale face turned beet red.


    "I..uhh... I cuhnphess... I¡­ Cough! Cough!"


    Valencia let her hands go and he dropped on the floor with a thud.


    "I made a mistake. I was jealous of his strength and talent. I was just pissed and wanted to vent it out. I.."


    "Take him to the dungeon. And him too. I want them to stay there for a year. And under no circumstances they are allowed to leave."  Valencia said to the vice president while pointing two fingers towards Jerim and the young vampire.


    "President! I didn''t do anything. I was just making sure, Nobody gets hurt. I was here to stop the fight." The young vampire pleaded.


    "Well, you did a great job stopping the fight. Now, shut your mouth before I rip your tongue out."  Valencia glared at the young vampire with murderous intent.


    "Let''s go." The vice president grabbed the two vampires and looked at Keith with interest.


    "Are you going to let him go?" The vice president asked carefully.


    "Leave him to me. I will handle the punishment."  Valencia flicked her hand, gesturing to him to leave.


    The vice president nodded slightly and left the courtyard with the two vampires.


    After their figure vanished from the courtyard, Valencia looked curiously towards Keith.


    "You took care of all these vampires?" She pointed her hand towards the unconscious vampires.


    "I was nothing much. They were pretty weak. Only that guy over there had some fight in him." Keith looked at Lais who was still silently watching all this.


    "You are good. I thought you only had the aura, but you know how to fight as well. Even though you didn''t instigate the fight, you were involved in it. I won''t let you go so easily. Given that I know your potential, I am willing to let it slide, but you have to come to my residence when you are free. Or I have to report it to the professors." Valencia looked curiously at Keith.

 Chapter 79: Red Eyes

    Keith looked at Valencia with caution and said with a hushed tone.


    "Miss, I can go to the student council office, why do you insist on taking me to your living quarters?"


    "Oh please! Like we will have any privacy. The two vice presidents will be present and even if we talk about something sensitive, it won''t be ideal as the professors'' chambers are nearby."


    Valencia said with annoyance.


    "What could be so sensitive and important that we can''t talk about it there?" Keith couldn''t understand her reasoning.


    "Let''s say I have a particular interest in you. I want us to have a good relationship so we could help each other out."


    Keith was surprised by the statement. At first glance it didn''t seem much, but if you considered the position she was in, the meaning of the sentence changed drastically. Her statement could be taken as a compliment to Keith but at the same time, it showed she was regarding Keith as an equal.


    It was a huge deal if you take into account her position as the student council president. She was also significantly stronger than Keith in every aspect. He couldn''t even sense her aura level. So it came as a shock to him that she said such words to him.


    From the smug smile on her face, it was evident that she didn''t do it without a reason. She was making a statement that, if he agreed to her proposal, she was willing to treat him as an equal. That meant, he could ask her for help and in return, he had to do whatever she wanted.


    After contemplating for a while, Keith shook his head.


    "I¡­ want to know the exact reason why you are inviting me to your place?" Keith asked in a serious tone.


    Valencia squinted her eyes and peered into Keith''s.


    "That depends on what secrets you''re hiding. I am particularly interested in your high blood-qi density, so naturally, I want to study it. From the look on your face, you do know some things about it."


    Keith showed no surprise after Valencia told her about his dense blood-qi. Still, it was one of his well-kept secrets of the warrior frame, at least he thought so. Considering Valencia was able to know about his dense blood-qi, he suspected the professors and dean to know it as well.


    ''Well, there goes my precious secret. Now everyone will be on my tails.'' Kieth facepalmed while shaking his head.


    "Rest assured, you will be properly compensated. I will give you precious resources for blood condensing and no one will mess with you inside the campus." Valencia tried to entice him with her offers.


    "Can I ask one thing? Will you be using some kind of blood ritual on me?" Keith went straight to the point.


    This was the one thing that bugged him. If the blood ritual was advanced, his other secrets would get revealed as well. He wanted to avoid such places if possible.


    "Yes. But it''s a safe blood ritual made by my family''s ritualists to scan the physique. So you don''t have to worry about it." Valencia assured him.


    "I''m sorry but I can''t take that offer. I appreciate your kindness, but I can''t enter a blood ritual knowing my secrets will be revealed." Keith flatly denied.


    "You don''t have anything that interests me apart from your blood-qi technique to increase its density. I want to observe it to get enlightenment. You don''t need to worry about me getting all your secrets. Literally, every technique you use is inferior to mine. Do you have a King-level blood-qi technique to hide?" Valencia asked.


    Keith didn''t reply. From his silence, she guessed he was lacking in high-level blood-qi techniques.


    "I have king-level blood-qi techniques to hide, so I don''t need your viscount or count-level warrior frame technique." She said with a frown.


    "Still, I can''t come to your place and enter into a blood ritual. I will meet you at any other place apart from that." Keith said resolutely.


    Valencia stared at him for a while and then withdrew her gaze.


    "Fine, I am not forcing you. Instead, you have to join the student council disciplinary committee, or this incident will put you in the dungeon for at least a week."


    "Alright. I will join the disciplinary committee. But I have a condition." Keith opened his right index finger.


    "Speak."


    "I don''t want to be restricted and come under any council member. I will act independently and do things my way. I don; want anyone to keep tabs on me or constantly. If you agree to these conditions, I will join the student council."


    Valencia thought for a while and nodded her head.


    "That is doable. I will arrange a special rune card for you. You will work directly under me and no one will bother you unless they have a death wish."


    "Great! I will do my best to not make trouble." Keith bowed his head forward.


    "You are one fine piece of work. There is still a lot of time before you leave this academy, so I''m not too upset about your refusal. Who knows, maybe I will change your mind next time." Valencia sighed and looked at the mess surrounding them.


    "Leave the courtyard. I will clean up this place." She activated her rune card.


    Keith didn''t ask any further questions and quietly left the courtyard. He was very tired after the fight and conversing with this dangerous woman. He wanted to take a long nap after all this.


    Vampires didn''t sleep much, if at all. But when they were exhausted or lost a lot of blood-qi they entered into the state of sleep to recover while their metabolism was low.


    After he got out of the courtyard, Annica confronted him.


    "Wow! Look at you. Aren''t you going to collect your reward for the bet?" She said coyishly.


    "I''m very tired at the moment, so just give it to me." Keith extended his hands.


    "Hmph... You know how to fool people, no?" Annica snorted with anger.


    "What now? Don''t tell me you don''t want to hold your end of the bargain?" Keith was too tired to argue more.


    "That''s not it. You kept your power hidden and made me believe you were weak. How is that fair? I didn''t even know your capabilities before the fight. I feel like getting cheated." She turned her head around with clear discomfort.


    "Hahahaha! You shouldn''t have assumed my strength was low. It''s your fault for believing in your preconceived notions." Keith laughed, hearing her absurd claims.


    "Here! Take this. Make sure to properly study it. It''s a precious artifact and can help you improve your outward blood-qi projection required for the blood esper discipline." Annica handed him the ring.


    He dropped it inside his chest pocket and turned around to leave.


    "Thanks for showing me around the campus. Now good night." Keith waved his hands as he walked away from Annica.


    "Are you going to at least tell me if you are going to join the blood esper department or not?" Annica asked while turning her head.


    "I haven''t decided yet. You will know if you see me in the class. Bye for now. Haaaa!" Keith yawned slowly and left the corridor.


    Annica stood there staring at the leaving figure of Keith until he completely vanished from her view.


    "Ughh! I feel so stupid. I lost such a precious artifact. I need to vent my anger, or I will go crazy."


    She also left the corridor from the other side.


    Arriving at his room, Keith took off his sweaty clothes and entered his bath. After taking a quick shower, he changed into a comfy pair of pajamas and plopped into the bed.


    "Ahhhh! Today was so stressful. I was also at the end of my rope. If She hadn''t arrived at that moment, I couldn''t have sustained it for long."


    Sigh!


    He circulated his blood-qi and the temperature of his body dropped. Examining his body, he searched for any internal injuries, but surprisingly he found none.


    "Seriously, no injuries even after taking this many attacks. I wonder what my body is made of?"


    Keith patted his muscles with pride and turned back, falling flat on his belly.


    "I hope tomorrow is not this stressful."


    His eyes turned hazy and he entered into a deep sleep.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    "Haah! Haah! Where am I?"


    A foggy surrounding covered Keith as he moved his hands to clear the fog.


    "Is this inside the academy? I don''t see any buildings around here. What''s going on?"


    He looked around and found nothing in the vicinity.


    "Am I dreaming or something? But it looks so real."


    When he was looking around, he saw a small pond in front of him. He approached the pond slowly and looked at the water.


    It was pitch black and there were two glowing red eyes looking straight at him. Keith jerked back after seeing those eyes and his entire body shook.


    "WHAAT... What is that thing?"


    An unknown fear enveloped him as he woke up from his sleep.


    Huff! Huff! Huff!


    "Master! Are you alright?"


    Rena looked at him with concern as she stood near the bed.

 Chapter 80: Curious Gaze

    As usual, Rena was tidying up the place and entered Keith''s room. She came here last night after Keith came back, but seeing him snoring like a baby she left the room immediately. She placed the glass and silently exited his room.


    The next morning she heard weird noises from his room. Slightly opening the door, she took a peek at him.


    "What is this place?"


    She heard him mumble things while his eyes were closed. He seemed asleep but his eyes madly flickered. She entered immediately and walked closer to him. As she approached the bed, a faint black smoke could be seen coming off of Kieth''s body.


    Upon closer look, his eyes were pitch black, staring straight at the ceiling.


    Huff! Huff! Huff!


    He woke up not long after while panting heavily, looking around with a fearful face.


    "Master! Are you alright?"


    Rena asked with a face full of concern.


    "Rena! Thank god... I thought I was kidnapped or something. Turns out it was a weird but terrifying dream."  Keith took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.


    "Young master! Is everything okay? Do you have anything weighing you down?" Rena asked.


    "I don''t think so. I sorted out everything yesterday. This nightmare was not something related to the real world, I think."


    He remembered the dark and foggy place with a pond with pitch-black water. Inside he saw two glowing red eyes.


    ''What was that about? Man, I need something to put my mind off of that nightmare. I think the stressful life is taking a toll on me.''


    Getting out of his bed, Keith drank the glass of blood. Rena stood there without saying anything.


    "How is it here? Any new developments?" Keith asked, giving a side glance while sipping blood from his glass.


    "Nothing worthy to note. But I heard an interesting rumor." Rena said.


    "That is.."


    "In the gathering last evening, a maid said there were several vampires scouting the residence. At first, it was only two, but soon several vampires came to the building, trying to look for something."


    "Interesting¡­ So did they inquire about anyone or just looked on their own." Keith asked with a curious expression.


    "From her accounts, they didn''t ask anything to the staff here or the servants. They came on their own and left after some time." Rena said with a thoughtful expression, trying to remember if she missed out on anything.


    "I see. Maybe they wanted to find information on something or someone¡­ Anyway¡­ always keep your guard up, don''t leave the building for some time. Everything is available here, so you won''t have any problem. If you need some air, you can go take a walk in the garden."


    "Yes, I love it here. This place is way better than our castle. All the places are properly maintained, and I also heard the entire building is protected by some kind of powerful magic." Rena said cheerfully.


    "Oh! That''s probably the blood runes covering the residential area. That''s some good security, certainly better than vampires." Keith nodded his head.


    "I will go to the training facility now. The nightmare was rough, I need a good place to start condensing blood-qi."


    "Will you stay there for the day?"


    "Nah! I will come back in the evening." Keith wiped his mouth after slowly finishing the glass of blood.


    "Then, I will take my leave."


    Rena picked up the empty glass and left the room. After she left, Keith changed his clothes to the battle uniform, which was used for training purposes. There were several types of uniforms, each to cater to a particular need.


    For example, for ceremonies and parties, there was a suit-like uniform perfectly decorated with all sorts of embroidery. The stitching was done by ruby-like threads. They glistened with every reflection that accentuated the suit''s charm.


    There were other uniforms for attending classes, for specific departments and the one like Keith was wearing, a combat suit uniform. It was made up of a resilient material that could withstand high and cold temperatures, couldn''t get torn by sharp objects, and had a perfect fit no matter who wore them.


    Keith also noticed the subtle runes going across the insides of the uniform. These were the reasons the suit could adapt to the wearer. Also, they maintained a constant temperature throughout the body at all times irrespective of the outside temperature. It was like an integrated mobile air conditioner.


    ''Damn! These blood ritualists went all the way while designing this uniform. Is that the perk of having so many ritualists in one place? Our fiefdom barely has any high-level blood ritualists.'' Keith looked at the exquisite designs and lamented the fact that their city had no such blood ritualists capable of doing this type of intricate work.


    [Good morning, Moonshine..]


    The system said in a seductive feminine voice.


    "Geez! Could you talk to me like you used to¡­ This is freaking me out." Keith snapped at the system.


    [What? You don''t like my voice. Should I change it back to the rough hag voice.]


    "No, I didn''t mean your voice¡­ just don''t talk to me like this"


    [Ah! You don''t want me to talk sweet to you? Are you afraid you will fall in love with me? Maybe nobody in this world knows, but I know. You are just a 16 year old teenager inside that body.]


    "Please, you are also a thousand old year hag. Besides, you tried to kill me. Even without that, I won''t fall for an unknown entity that has no form. For what it''s worth, you are my slave now. So I''ll have one less headache."


    [ Yeah... Yeah! Lucky human. I didn''t even consider you as your existence was nothing compared to me. It''s like when you walk, you don''t take into consideration all the insects under your shoes. So it was nothing personal. I was trying to get out of that world and used you as a bridge, but that went terribly wrong. Now, I''ve lost everything, forgotten my true existence and bound to a mortal.]


    "Glad to know that Karma doesn''t discriminate."


    [Hmpph..]


    Keith walked out of his room and left his building. Arriving at the Blood warrior training facility, he entered with his rune card. The doors opened automatically as he entered the final stage baron training chamber.


    ''Huh! Mr. Visit must''ve added my name. Speaking of him, I hope he doesn''t seek me out too soon. I need a way to hide my physique and blood core. But can I do that? He''s way more knowledgeable in rituals and runes than I am.''


    He entered the chamber used for blood condensing. It was rich with purified blood-qi and helped blood warriors to simulate their frames and lead to a breakthrough.


    Sitting down at a corner, he closed his eyes and started absorbing blood-qi to fill up his warrior frame. He was holding back his blood core advancement because he wanted to level up the warrior frame to the max and then attempt to advance the blood core.


    This way his foundation would be further solidified. Nobody knew of this, as they couldn''t absorb blood-qi directly into the warrior frame. For them, the warrior frame was a result of their blood core level.


    So only the viscount level vampires could activate the viscount level warrior frame. Keith was an exception to the rule as he found a way to independently keep the warrior frame activated and not depend on his own blood-qi.


    It helped him increase the overall blood-qi inside his body, freeing his blood core from the burden of sustaining the warrior frame. It also increased the blood-qi density, giving him explosive strength. And when combined with the blood core, the warrior frame showed unparalleled power, even surprising vampires possessing the same level of warrior frame.


    "Guess, I have to wait until I finish filling up my warrior frame. The limit right now is the count level. So after that, I need a higher level blood warrior frame technique to level up my frame."


    He madly absorbed the ambient blood-qi and filled up his warrior frame. His warrior frame was at the early stage of viscount but had the blood-qi amount that of the middle stage viscount due to the increased density of the blood-qi.


    The system helped him fill up all the cracks and crannies of the frame. It made sure no space was left and filled blood-qi with its superior computation and remodeling of the frame.


    Regular minds couldn''t perform these kinds of calculations. Maybe high-level blood ritualists or Kings, but after reaching that level of power, their path is already set in stone. They can''t modify their techniques at their stage as it was the majority of their essence and made them who they were.


    Keith had the benefit of being at the lower stage and the capability to do these alterations to his techniques. His warrior frame would evolve to be way stronger and better than regular variants of the warrior frame.


    From his calculations, by the end of this, his warrior frame could match up to marquis-level warrior frames even if its limit was count level because of the increased density.


    With that in mind, he concentrated his mind to condense blood-qi inside his warrior frame.


    After some time, many students entered the chamber and picked an isolated spot to sit on. As they entered, their attention focused on Keith who was immersed in his blood condensing. They were curious to know who this new student was.


    Among them, a bulky man walked towards him and stared at him curiously.


    "Are you new to this place? First-year perhaps?"


    He circled around Keith and examined his body.

 Chapter 81: I had fun

    "Look at this guy! He''s already at the peak of the final stage baron."


    The bulky vampire whistled as he examined Keith''s blood core.


    "You are not going to ask for your spot?" Another vampire approached him and asked with a frown.


    "It''s alright. It''s not that special anyway. Let him keep it. I will go there." The bulky vampire pointed to the corner next to Keith.


    Keith opened his eyes and looked at the two vampires. He absorbed a significant amount of blood-qi, so he decided to take a break for some time and resume the blood condensing again.


    "Is this your spot? I am new here, so I don''t have any idea about how things are arranged here. I can give the spot to you if you want." Keith offered to leave.


    "Nah! It''s fine. There is no rule saying that we own the spots. It''s decided on a first come first serve basis. You can carry on your blood condensing. Although, I''m really surprised that you reached the final stage before entering the academy.


    "If I were to compare myself, I just reached baron stage at the time of my admission." The bulky man nodded his head in approval.


    "Is it that rare? I saw many first years at final stage barons?" Keith asked with an imperceptible curiosity.


    "It is always rare. Maybe this year''s batch has too many geniuses lining up. Our spotlight will soon be taken away by you guys. Tsk!"


    "I don''t think they can compare with experienced and seasoned vampires. They lack in many areas even though they reached the final stage baron. It might be due to the use of bloodstones, which I heard only available to rich families." Keith pondered.


    "So we have a bunch of rich kids this year. Our descendant branch families can''t compete with direct descendant families." The bulky man said with a dejected face.


    Cough!


    "I am from a direct descendant family, but I never knew about bloodstones," Keith said with an embarrassing expression.


    The bulky man looked at Keith with strange eyes. He couldn''t believe that a descendant from the main family hadn''t heard about bloodstones.


    "Which backwater place do you come from? Is your fief isolated from the rest of the world? How could you not know about the thing that could improve your blood condensation speed?"


    "Maybe my family purposefully didn''t tell me as it would dishearten me. We don''t have a decent blood ritualist in our city, let alone summoners or espers. My grandpa probably is the best ritualist in that region. He might''ve kept it from me and provided what was available."


    Keith tried to come up with a reason.


    "Hmmm¡­ which place are you from?"  The man asked.


    "From a small county in Kelgard. I think the supplies are rare there so the prices are high. I  never heard of other countries having such things as well. The royal family and other bigger families might''ve had bloodstones, but for us, it was not available." Keith replied.


    "I see. Well, you did quite well even without the help of bloodstones, so cheer up." The bulky man consoled Kieth.


    "It''s nothing. I hope to reach the pinnacle, so these lower stages don''t matter to me." Keith replied.


    "Bold of you to say so." The other vampire snapped immediately.


    Keith looked at the other vampire who was standing silently this whole time. He was also at the final stage baron level,  but his blood core was slightly inferior to the bulky man.


    "Calm down, he''s just talking about his growth. Besides, isn''t it everyone''s dream to reach the pinnacle? The King stage." The bulky man chuckled.


    "I''m not being delusional. In fact, I am very serious about advancing to the King stage." Keith replied confidently, still maintaining a calm appearance.


    "Is that so? You just entered the academy, so you don''t know the real struggles. You and your silly dreams. It would be amazing if you could reach the Duke stage. Don''t dream too big or you''ll be disappointed beyond comparison."


    The bulky vampire shot an angry gaze towards the other vampire who was clearly trying to undermine Keith.


    "You can think whatever you want, but I am certain I can reach that stage so I won''t argue with you unnecessarily." Keith was tired of these kinds of useless arguments and didn''t wish to continue.


    "How about this? If you can defeat brother  Garion, I will believe you and personally apologize for my rude behavior." The vampire said.


    "Hey! Why are you dragging me into this?" The bulky man named Garion shouted.


    "Aren''t you curious to see his potential too? I wanted to have some fun as well, so why don''t you agree to this and beat some sense into this kid." The young vampire said with a laugh.


    "You want to fight me?" Keith pointed to himself, showing a nonchalant and carefree expression.


    He smiled and thought about how to benefit from this situation.


    ''Here comes the gambling king. I will rob you thoroughly, asshole.'' Keith thought to himself.


    "Yes, you. Are you afraid? Then I can assure you, reaching the king level is impossible for you. You have to challenge countless vampires to make your way through the hierarchy."  The vampire said.


    "If you are so confident about beating me, why don''t we bet something? The winner takes all and the loser gets nothing¡­ except humiliation."  Keith said with a smile.


    "Sounds good. What  are you going to wager?"


    "5000 gold blood coins,"  Keith said, expanding his fist and showing five fingers.


    "That''s¡­"


    "Oh! You don''t have that much? Too bad¡­ How about 3000?" Keith smacked his lips and tried to lower the amount.


    "It''s fine. 5000 it is. But if you lose, don''t chicken out later. I will hunt you down to the end of the world and get the money." The vampire said with a snort.


    He took out his treasury card and flipped it in his fingers.


    "I will take that as a yes. So let''s finish this quickly and get back to our own business." Keith approached them while cracking his neck.


    "Don''t throw yourself to the lion''s den so fast." The man provoked Keith even more.


    "We''ll see who is the lion and who is the wolf," Keith said instinctively.


    "Brother Garion, go beat up this kid for me. I will give you half of the earnings." The vampire nudged Garion.


    Garion face-palmed himself and sighed with frustration. He came across such difficult situations due to the sharp tongue of this man.


    "Kid, I will go easy on you. Take this as a friendly spar."


    Garion turned around and cracked his knuckles. He moved towards Keith and released his final stage baron aura and activated his warrior frame which was at a similar level.


    "I don''t see this spar any different than a money-making job. So I will finish this quickly."


    Keith didn''t activate his warrior frame and only used his blood core to exude his final stage baron-level aura.


    "My blood density is way higher, so I can match his strength with just my blood core. If I need more power, I will activate the warrior frame, but for now, this is enough."


    "You are not going to use any blood-qi techniques?" Garion asked with surprise.


    "This is all I need for now. We''ll see if I need any blood-qi techniques after we fight."


    "As you wish."


    Garion shot forward like a wild beast and utilized his warrior frame to enforce his body. His hands were covered with rich blood-qi and moved towards Keith with unstoppable force, or so he thought.


    Crack! Bam!


    Nobody registered what happened, but it was clear that Garion was lying on the floor. The cracking noises could be heard from his bones from his fists and legs.


    Garion looked upwards, dazed and out of his wits. He couldn''t process what happened as it transpired so quickly, his senses failed to register.


    "You may be very strong with your warrior frame, but you move too slow to defend yourself against vampires having high agility and speed." Keith dusted off his hands and glanced at Garion who was still trying to process the event.


    "Agility¡­ Are you practicing assassin-type blood-qi technique? Even then, how could you have such high strength to penetrate my warrior frame?" Garion asked with a confused expression.


    "Nothing is impossible in this world. And I don''t practice any such technique. In fact, I didn''t use any blood-qi techniques at all. I use my natural strength and speed to fight you." Keith replied casually.


    "Impossible! How can a final stage baron have such strength? Your display of power is similar to an early stage viscount. Are you using some kind of high-level artifact?"


    The vampire shouted at Keith in disbelief.


    "How stupid can you be? Did you sense any blood-qi fluctuation of higher-level power? So no, I didn''t use any artifacts. Now, hand me over the treasury card. I need to check if you even have that many coins." Keith gestured his hands and asked for the card.


    "No, this has to be a trick. Brother Garion can not lose just like that. You did something. It all seems you had a weapon and used it to paralyze him." The vampire refused to believe the reality.


    "Again! Use your fucking common sense. How can I use a high-level artifact without detection."


    "Sen, stop it. I lost, that is the truth. I didn''t sense any artifacts on him, so it was a fair battle. Give him 5000 coins." Garion got up and said to the vampire.


    "I¡­ I have a few coins short, I don''t have to full amount." Sen said embarrassingly.


    Sigh!


    "Take mine. And you, I''m sorry for his behavior and I wish to mend our relationship. If you could forgive me and him for our short-sightedness, we will be grateful." Garion said with an apologetic tone.


    "It''s alright. I had some fun as well." Keith smiled in response.

 Chapter 82: An Opportunity

    Garion gave his treasury card and made up for all the coins Sen was lacking.


    "Here you go. I lost big time, but knowing someone like you and getting a chance to fight is really a great experience. If we can start a good relationship with you, I would consider that a win." Garion said with a voice full of admiration.


    "About that, I don''t care about it as long as you don''t show any malice. He was saying all this just to get us to fight, so his intentions are not too excessive. You, on the other hand, never showed any malice towards me. Quite the contrary actually.


    I felt a warrior spirit within you and your focus was always to have a good spar. So I never thought of you as a bad person." Keith said with a calm voice.


    "Glad to know that you don''t see me that way. I was really losing hope on this one." Garion heaved a sigh of relief.


    "You are not so bad. I have some special traits that make me stronger than you and give me an unfair advantage. But a normal final stage baron won''t be able to take your blows. I bet they will get crushed in a second if received the attack at point-blank range.


    The only thing you need to work on is your speed." Keith pointed out his skills.


    "I agree. I know my weaknesses very well. I''ve been practicing very hard to increase my agility, but my warrior frame technique is unique and so heavy that the increments in speed are abysmal." Garion replied with a dejected voice.


    "Mind if I take a look at your physique while you activate your warrior frame. I can point out the flaws and you can improve on them.: Keith proposed with a smile.


    "Can you really analyze my warrior frame and point out what I''m doing wrong?" Garion looked at Keith with surprise.


    "Oh yes! I have a special technique that allows me to analyze faults in blood-qi techniques. You can call it a weakness detecting blood-qi technique." Keith explained with a dignified voice.


    [Yeah, right!]


    ''Shut up! Don''t ruin my acting.'' Keith snapped at the system. His expressions were the exact opposite to the one he was feeling on the inside. He was carefully maintaining the profound expression on his face.


    "Ah! Is that why you can detect faults in other people''s blood-qi techniques? That explains it." Sen, who was listening to all this said while smacking his fist.


    ''Did he just buy that so easily?'' Keith almost laughed out loud.


    "Yes! So you know why I could beat him so easily. It allows me to detect the weak points of the opponent and I attack them on the spot. Easy win, unless they are way more powerful than me. Plus my strength is also very high so it helps a lot."


    "I see¡­ So that''s how it happened."  Garion looked at Keith with awe.


    "Can you analyze my warrior frame and give me pointers to improve it," Sen asked eagerly.


    "Sure! But I need time to properly find the flaws. The ones I detect in a fight and the ones that provide a detailed report are vastly different. The former is a piece of low-resolution information that only shows vague points, while the former gives much more detailed report." Keith explained with a straight face.


    "So how long do you need?" Sen asked impatiently.


    "That is uncertain. It could take an hour to several days depending on the complexity of the warrior frame. But rest assured, the reports I give will most certainly improve your strength and blood-qi technique at the same time."


    "That is not a bad idea. What kind of compensation do you want for this? If you analyze warrior frames for so long, you''ll be wasting your time. " Garion said with a thoughtful expression.


    "As a gesture of goodwill, I will do it for free. If others see the results of my service, more people might be willing to do this. Then I can charge them." Keith said while stroking his chin.


    "Are you sure?" Garion asked with hesitation.


    "Absolutely!  After your improvement in strength, good words about my service will spread the entire training facility. So you are helping me out in a way."


    "If that''s what you think, then we agree." Garion nodded his head.


    "Great! I will start analyzing your warrior frame in the afternoon. Till then I will stay here and condense blood-qi, so I can achieve the perfect state before performing the technique."


    "Alright, we will also do the same. I lost quite a bit of stamina after the fight."  Garion said embarrassingly.


    The tree vampires scattered and occupied their spots. Keith once again immersed himself into the blood condensing and madly absorbed the ambient blood-qi. His warrior frame started filling up slowly.


    After several hours, Kieth opened his eyes and it was almost noon. The identity card which acted as the universal rune card for students was fitted with many runes that provided a lot of services.


    It showed the time of the day with an ever-changing streak. It reminded him of the sundials from the earth, but it was very precise and used blood runes to show time. The mechanism was entirely different. Maybe there was a central device that measured the time and synced it with all rune cards.


    The other features included in the rune card were, communication runes, controllers that helped automate various mechanisms integrated into the academy structures. Communication runes worked more like messaging and no voice was sent through.


    It was not because the voice feature was not invented. The blood ritualists were geniuses that created all the necessary communication runes, but it was never implemented on the identity cards. Simply because the same runes could be used for monitoring the voices and collecting information.


    That''s why it was not implemented on the student''s id cards. The communication rune was a small space at the center of the card that changed shape and sent the desired message to the receiver.


    This was very limited and only worked if the other side also integrated the rune with the sender and approved of its transmission. Also, the messages didn''t contain any personal attributes like voice. So it was impossible for any blood ritualist student to reverse engineer a backdoor.


    Keith tapped the card and checked all the information on his card. The identity rune card also showed news regarding the academy as well as the student''s information. On his profile, it showed his blood core level, department and estimated strength.


    As he didn''t give his final decision regarding joining departments, that section was empty. The blood-qi technique section showed a viscount level blood warrior frame. This data was only visible to him and it was the same for all students as well.


    Only deans and a handful of high-level professors had the clearance to see the student data. But he was not concerned about that. The data recorded here was only the ones he showed. It didn''t have the capability to detect the physique on its own. It was approved by the academy and then put here after careful consideration and scrutiny.


    Besides, his system could mask his data by tampering with the runes. But that would alert the blood ritualists maintaining the runes, so he avoided that. The judgement pillar was independent of the academy runes and represented an ancient power.


    He could get away because it was not controlled by blood ritualists. They could only see the runes and deduce accordingly.


    "Have you accumulated enough?" Sen asked from a distance.


    Keith forced a smile and turned around.


    "Yes, all the preparations are complete. I will start now." Keith pointed to the empty spot in front of him and gestured for Garion to sit.


    "What about me?" Sen asked impatiently.


    "Your turn will come. But first, I have to analyze his warrior frame."  Keith replied.


    "Ugh! I am always unlucky." The vampire youth mumbled dejectedly.


    Garion sat in front of Keith and activated his warrior frame.


    "I will begin the process now."


    Keith used his system to analyze the warrior frame.


    ''Try to copy the warrior frame structure and decode the technique if possible. If this works, we can copy every warrior frame technique and improve it further. We can also integrate the unique one into my own warrior frame, given it compliments my warrior frame.''


    [ Leave it to me¡­]


    [ Analyzing¡­]


    The system''s analysis was way more capable than Keith''s use as it required a tremendous amount of computing power. Keith''s mind couldn''t provide that so he handed the task to the system. He also helped by giving some of his concentration.


    Everything went smoothly and he started mapping the warrior frame inside Garion''s body. Nobody suspected him of stealing the technique because this was not how the blood-qi technique was transferred.


    It had to be properly taught and given the complexity of the structures, without the guidance of a master or guidebook, learning someone else''s blood-qi technique was almost impossible.


    So no one suspected him of stealing the techniques. His system was the reason he could copy the techniques and learn the blood-qi flow within every vampire. However, there was one exception to this rule. If a vampire practiced the pinnacle of blood condensing and mastered a myriad of techniques, learning the blood-qi technique of a baron-level warrior frame wasn''t a difficult task.


    The pinnacle here means the highest level blood-qi manipulators of all four disciplines. So clearly they were already at the pinnacle of vampire society. They don''t need to learn or even glance at this technique. It''s not even worth their time.

 Chapter 83: A Message

    The process went smoothly and Keith copied the warrior frame structure. Now, the only thing left was decoding the blood-qi technique which would take longer.


    "I scanned most of the warrior frame and we will continue this tomorrow. Using this technique takes a toll on me so I will stop for now." Keith said with a tired voice.


    "Alright, I can wait. This is very important to me so I don''t want any mishaps. By the way, you haven''t told me your name." Garion said.


    "Kieth Ennes, from Kelgard. Which country are you from?" Keith asked.


    "Haha! We are fellow countrymen. I am from Kelgard as well. Which place are you from?"  After hearing that Keith was from Kelgard, Garion was happy. He also felt pride as such talent came from his country.


    "Bergzen territory," Keith replied with a smile.


    "Far south huh! I heard the family head of that place was an old man. The previously assigned leader went missing and the previous count took the position again. Is that true?" Garion asked.


    "Yes, my grandpa is overseeing the territory for now until I go back from the academy. My father had an accident and my uncle was not good enough for the role, so grandpa shouldered the burden." A glint appeared on Keith''s face as he remembered his father.


    The secrets of his disappearance were buried in this academy and he needed to uncover all of that. The vampire council had a hand in this. Whatever happened at that time, the vampire council wanted to bury it forever. Not even nobles knew what transpired on that day.


    "I heard the leader was supposed to be a vampire named Marvin. He showed good promise, not at the level of genius but passable." Sen said with a doubtful face.


    "My cousin was selected to enter the academy, but as he was defeated in battle fair and square, the family head position was given to me. So I ended up coming to the Crimson Academy."


    Remembering the time when he beat up Marvin, his mood suddenly got better.


    "Where have you been these twenty years? I''ve never heard of such a genius in the southern territory," Sen asked.


    It was so sudden and his presence was not even heard outside the academy. The nobles in Kelgard never heard of such a talent.


    "I was crippled my whole life. Until a blood ritual cleansed my body and fixed my physique. After that, my blood core evolved at a tremendous speed. Maybe I had this talent all along and my faulty physique was holding me back." Keith replied with a dignified voice.


    "Well, in the end, everything worked out. So don''t dwell over the past."


    "We are from Carrizen territory from the north. A branch family of the Lennar family. We got the spots three years back and we''ve been at the baron stage since. Reaching the final stage baron was possible due to the resources of the Academy."


    Many vampire nobles didn''t have good talent to advance at a great speed. Even if they were more likely to evolve than regular vampires, their pace was not that fast. The direct descendants were more likely to advance further than branch families and the families of the purest blood had the chance to advance to the king level.


    Keith''s goal was to reach the king level, not only to uncover the secrets of this world but also to understand his own genes. He didn''t know how many original genes he possessed. Even the judgment pillar couldn''t accurately tell his gene structure.


    "I know the struggle of lower-level families, but we have to acknowledge our privilege. The vampire council doesn''t allow regular vampires to learn blood-qi techniques, so we are living way better lives than them." Keith said.


    "That may be true,  but the council did it to preserve our race. If every run-of-the-mill vampire learned blood-qi techniques, the entire continent would be in endless war. The demand for blood will rise and humans would get killed, which in turn increases the demand. This will end in the total destruction of the vampire and human race alike." Garion explained with a thoughtful expression.


    Keith was about to answer but his rune card glowed and he received a message.


    "Excuse me!"


    Keith turned around and read the message. It was from Mr. Visit. He wanted to see him in his lab. He sent the location of his lab in the training facility and asked him to be present there in ten minutes.


    "I thought the old man forgot about me."


    Keith was not pleased to see the message as he hadn''t come up with a technique to mask his secrets.


    [ You don''t have to worry. After my upgrade, the system can mask your physique better. I don''t know how strong his detection abilities are, but he can''t break my barrier so easily.]


    "I hope that''s true. I don''t want to end up getting dissected."


    He excused himself and left the training chamber. Navigating the hallways and corridors, he stood in front of a huge black door made up of some kind of ancient wood. It emitted a pleasant fragrance that had hallucination effects.


    The door opened as soon as he got closer and closed quickly after he entered.


    "Come in. I heard you have a viscount-level warrior frame! Why didn''t you show your power when we first met? I might''ve offered way better things to keep you here." Mr. Visit said while licking his lips.


    "I didn''t know what kind of person you were. Even now I''m having second thoughts about joining the training facility. If I get the chance, I would hide my power once again." Kith answered resolutely.


    "I am not going to eat you. The most I want is to study your physique to improve my theories about warrior frames. Your talent is very unique and it will help me analyze the blood-qi structures that form within highly talented vampires." Mr. Visit explained.


    "I don''t want you to know my secrets though. I only agreed to become your assistant, not your guinea pig."


    Keith was very uncomfortable with the blood ritualist even though he didn''t feel any malicious intent coming from him. All of his intent was filled with curiosity and awe.


    "So, why did you call me here? Do you need help with anything?" Keith asked.


    "Yes yes¡­ My new blood rune is active now and I need someone to attack the runes. I could get high-level vampires but their strength will be too high for this type of rune. I don''t fight so the only one I could think of was you."


    A wall was revealed from the side as the runes covering it glowed faintly.


    "What kind of blood runes are these?" Keith asked, looking at the wall.


    "This is a type of blood rune that changes the shape of the object it is engraved on. It has the capability to change into any shape or form. It can change into a sword, spear, or even artifacts with certain attributes.


    "The only thing holding them back is the upper limit of power they can tolerate. Anything above the count level will break the runes as they are not calibrated properly. I am still working on it to improve the upper limit and make it withstand at least marquis level power."


    "So you want me to attack the wall and test its limits."


    "Mhhmm... I want to see how powerful your punches are."


    Kieth didn''t say anything and activated his warrior frame.


    "Early-stage viscount. Not bad!" Mr. Visit scanned Keith''s body with his senses.


    Keith could feel his senses scanning his whole body and it was not simple. Even with high-level vampires like Valencia and the other professors, their senses didn''t feel so intrusive as the blood ritualist in front of him. He was clearly using advanced runes to amplify his sense.


    ''This is going to be a headache.''


    Moving forward, he punched the wall with all his strength. The wall didn''t respond until his hands made contact with the surface. The wall morphed into a shield and blocked Keith''s punch.


    Bang!


    Soon the entire wall shifted and many types of weapons formed. They all pointed towards Keith.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    The dozen or so weapons launched from the wall and headed towards Keith. each and every one of them was imbued with blood runes providing continuous blood-qi to the weapons.


    Seeing the barrage of weapon projectiles, Keith expanded his aura and increased his defense. He was still an amateur in terms of handling blood-qi projection, but after a lot of practice, he could create blood-qi barriers like this.


    These were three times thicker than regular aura and they provided nine times the original defense. This was possible because of Keith''s excess blood-qi.


    The spears hit his outer layer of the aura and tried to pierce it. The runes on them glowed as they were spinning rapidly. His aura was able to hold back the spears.


    "Amazing! You can block all these spears. Let''s see how you handle the other weapons."


    As Mr. Visit said this, a couple of swords and axes struck Keith''s aura and his eyes wavered.


    ''Not good!''


    His defense was dwindling and the number of attacks kept increasing.


    [ Activating your blood core will boost your strength enough to tackle this,  but you''ll also expose your power to him. I suggest you get a defensive stance and not take the wall head-on. You need to find a weak spot and strike it there.]


    ''You''re right. I need to get back and evade the attacks. Then I will target the weapons individually. There is bound to be a flaw in the blood runes. We just need to find it.''


    With a determined expression, Keith turned sideways and evaded the attacks, moving closer to the center. His eyes were locked into the central rune at the center of the wall.

 Chapter 84: Rune Formation

    The barrage of weapons followed him all the way to the edge of the room. Keith used several pieces of furniture to avoid getting hit. Surprisingly the furniture didn''t break after getting hit.


    The entire interior was filled with blood runes and protected all the things inside the room. The only target was Keith, who was not protected by the runes.


    ''This is getting annoying. I need to find a way to get closer to the central rune. The defense is very high and the versatility of these moving weapons make it harder to break.''


    With a jump, he crashed into the ceiling and adjusted his trajectory to the center of the wall. The weapons arranged themselves in a defensive barrier by locking with each other. Their shape was melting away and filling up the empty space.


    ''Can''t let you do that.''


    Keith used his blood-qi to amplify his two fist''s power output and reduced the circulation on his back. As the blood-qi surged in both his fists, he punched his way through the barricade.


    Wham! Wham! Wham!


    The material was surprisingly very hard considering its malleable nature. They could change shape resembling a liquid, at the same time have incredible hardness. Mr. Visit must''ve used a lot of resources to make a material like this.


    Even though the barrier was not budging, Keith didn''t stop attacking as it was his only way in. If he withdrew now, he would be swarmed by countless weapons.


    Wham! Wham! Wham!


    ''Come on! Break!'' Keith gritted his teeth.


    He used his last bit of strength and punched the barrier with his right hand. Shifting his blood-qi from his left hand to the right, he doubled the blood-qi quantity for a short time that increased his power output many folds for a brief time.


    Boom! Crack!


    Faint cracks formed on the barrier and spread like spider webs.


    "This!"


    Mr. Visit stared at the scene with squinted eyes and there was a clear surprise on his face. But he immediately changed his expression to normal.


    ''This kid, I thought his warrior frame was early-stage viscount level. I even verified myself. His warrior frame is clearly at the early stage viscount, but he''s somehow able to exert the strength of a regular final stage viscount. This is definitely not normal, even for a one in a million genius.''  The old ritualist contemplated as he locked his eyes with Keith''s movements.


    "Haa!"


    Keith punched the barrier a couple more times and it shattered with a huge hole in the middle.


    ''Finally, I can get to the center.''


    Making his way through the runes Keith arrived at the inner circle of the central runes. As the wall was slanted in a steep curve that could only be climbed one way.


    He arrived at the center in a flash and attacked the rune, trying to break the formation.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    An invisible barrier covered the central rune and blocked Keith''s attack.


    "Enough! I think I got an idea about your strength. Your power almost reaches a count-level warrior frame. You are equally matched with the blood rune formation, even exceeding in certain scenarios. Now, come back." Mr. Visit said out loud.


    Keith knew he couldn''t break the barrier because the energy coming off of it was incredibly dense and was way above his level. From this, he guessed that this was already protected by the runes, even before he came here. The main purpose of this short battle was to gauge his strength.


    In the end, Keith was able to break the outer defense and threaten the central rune which greatly surprised the old ritualist.


    "This was a test from the beginning, wasn''t it?" Keith asked with a frown.


    "At first it was, but as you broke the barrier and entered the formation, I realized your strength is way higher than I anticipated. The energy barrier kicked in when you entered the central area of the formation." Mr. Visit replied.


    "So now that I''ve finished your test, can I leave this place? I am feeling quite tired.


    "Just a little more. Then you can go. You don''t need to fight, just answer my question honestly."


    Extending his hand he pointed to the wall.


    "What do you think about the blood rune formation integrated with this material?"


    Keith was puzzled at first, but then he focused his mind on his question, trying to figure out his motive.


    "It was very strong and flexible. If it were any other viscount, they would''ve been decimated long ago. This will become a good training approach for middle stage viscount and higher." Keith replied.


    "Mhmm¡­ That is just one use of this special formation. I used many types of metals and created the perfect alloy suitable for the blood runes. In normal conditions, they are extremely hard. But when the blood rune is carved into it, the property of the alloy changes, and it can change its shape and form according to the limit of the runes.


    "I was preparing this rune formation to create weapons for non-esper vampires. You know how the blood espers are the only ones who can manipulate blood-qi outside their body. If you join the discipline, they will teach you the exact technique to achieve that, given you can acquire it and successfully practice it." Mr. Visit explained.


    Keith knew this before thanks to the lessons from his uncle, but it was just the tip of the iceberg. There were countless procedures and techniques for the blood espers that existed. It needed unwavering discipline and focus as well as top-class talent to learn. He had to find out how he fared against all the other geniuses of the blood esper department.


    There were only a handful of blood espers present in the academy and the students in that department were never seen in public. So nobody knew how powerful they were. Only the professors of that department, who were equally discreet, knew all the ins and out of the academy.


    This was evident from the lack of presence of any professor in the orientation ceremony. Only the professors of the other three disciplines were present that day.


    "So, this can mimic their blood-qi technique and change the form of blood-qi inside it with the help of the runes." Keith guessed.


    "Spot on! But it is nowhere near the level of their strength. When you channel your blood-qi, it flows without a hitch within your body and its surroundings. But when you try to extend the blood-qi outside of your range, it will dissipate immediately.


    "This happens to all the other vampires who are not blood-espers. Blood warriors can channel blood-qi to external objects but it requires a physical medium, which is not the case for the blood espers." Mr. Visit started explaining.


    "This rune formation, carefully crafted with my custom-made alloy, can extend the range of the blood-qi projection and control objects remotely. It''s not as fluid and doesn''t work without this special material. All the other prototypes failed to maintain the runes."


    Keith was really impressed by the ingenuity of the blood ritualist. They made a weapon for the other vampires to use. If this was successful, the vampires could use weapons from a distance and change their shape and form like blood espers.


    "But it has a major drawback. It can''t be hidden like blood-qi, which is practically invisible. The enemy could see the runes clearly and the material used. Still, it''s better than nothing.


    "I asked you to come here because I wanted to test out the new revision of my prototype. This can handle power output up to the count level. So you almost broke it. Thankfully, I installed a protective barrier beforehand, or else my months of research would''ve turned into scrap." Mr. Visit sighed after the long explanation.


    "I thought it was some kind of training method for martial arts users. I saw a similar wall in the training chamber. It turned into weapons that attacked the blood warriors training there. That could only handle viscount level power. Compared to that, this feels way more advanced." Keith looked at the wall that was covered with runes.


    "I made this available for the warriors to practice on and collect data. I use that to calibrate my next prototypes. This session was incredibly unique and I think the data is on point. I could upgrade the runes to tolerate marquis level power." Mr. Visit nodded his head with approval.


    "Now, what''s left is to fit the runes in a small enough space so that it could be transported with ease."


    Keith paid attention to all his explanations and tried to take a mental note. This was extremely important information. The rune was very useful in certain scenarios. It was true that it was not as versatile and easy to carry.


    But it worked independently from the vampire''s blood-qi and didn''t burden their blood core. If it was made available in a small form factor, it could increase the combat power of the vampires greatly.


    While thinking this, an image popped into his mind which he had seen countless times in his homeworld. A certain type of exoskeleton suit that changed shape according to the instructions of the wearer.

 Chapter 85: Discussion

    The exoskeletons could only function for a couple of hours due to their power-hungry nature. A power-efficient exoskeleton could last for days with minimal and optimized movements but for long-term use, they were basically useless.


    The main purpose was to help the wearer lift heavy weights and run a little faster. It was incredibly useful in places like oil rigs and coal mines where the worker''s life was always in danger. With the suits, they could work safely and more efficiently. In the case of any mishaps, the exoskeleton could provide them with additional protection.


    This blood rune could be integrated with such an exoskeleton, at least he thought so. He had no idea how this could be achieved as he was not even remotely acquainted with the blood ritual techniques.


    ''If I could build something like this, wouldn''t that be amazing? No, an open exoskeleton wouldn''t cut it. With the flexibility of blood-qi that many openings will be deadly. Maybe an armor. ''


    "I know what you''re thinking. This idea popped into my head as well, but the main purpose of this is to get detached from the body, so keeping it on wouldn''t make sense. There are many high-grade static armors that provide excellent defense and attack power.


    "I made it work remotely from the host with minimal intervention. The blood runes will take care of all the heavy work while you concentrate on fighting."


    With a flick of his finger, the wall rearranged and turned into a cube twice the size of Keith. Its entire surface was covered with intricate runes. After the area decreased the runes became denser.


    "This is the limit of the runes. I tried to minimize the size but it would affect the performance so I carved multiple layers to keep a dense rune formation. Any smaller the runes will collapse and the malleable property will disappear."


    "So the runes are holding it together. I thought the material was bearing half the weight, but I was wrong. The limitation is the size of the runes." Keith said with a thoughtful expression.


    "You have good observation skills. I really want to see how far you can go in the blood ritual path." The old man looked at Keith with interest.


    "Is that an invitation to become your disciple?"


    Keith wanted to get into all four disciplines and if possible get the direct disciple position under the dean. As crazy as it sounded, he didn''t want to give up. In the worst case, he would sneak in and copy the techniques from others.


    "Boy, I haven''t taken in a disciple for a century. I don''t wish to break that streak, unless¡­"


    "Unless¡­what?" Keith squinted his eyes.


    "Unless you vow to be a blood ritualist to the end and not delve into other disciplines. YOu have to follow me for a decade and then I will let you go with all the necessary knowledge to carve your own future." The old man said, smiling ear to ear.


    "I wish I could¡­ but warrior frame is my family technique, I can''t abandon it." Keith pretended to be in a dilemma.


    "I know, giving up the warrior frame at this stage is not a wise decision, so I won''t be taking you as a disciple."


    "Then¡­"


    "I will simply impart you some of my knowledge. Your talent is very unique as you can implement and evolve blood-qi techniques very quickly. Maybe that''s why you could reach this stage so early.


    "Maybe you can become a multi-disciplined blood-qi manipulator. " A grin appeared on Mr. Visit''s face.


    "I wanted to ask, how blood ritualists make runes?" Keith asked hesitantly.


    "Oh! It''s quite simple. I know the council wants to keep it a secret, but any smart person could come up with this method if he tried hard enough.


    "Basically, the runes are a structure to hold the blood-qi. We carve the runes like circuits inside a body, but in this case, the non-living objects are used. It mimics the flow of blood-qi within vampires and that''s how it powers the artifacts, rituals, and array formations."


    "We use the bloodstone as the power source, but with direct contact, a vampire can use the runes."


    "Then can humans use it too using bloodstones?" Keith asked.


    "No, to use the runes the user must have some blood-qi no matter how low. Humans and other organisms have different types of life force which are incompatible with the blood runes. Coming up with a new rune system could help, but without power, humans can''t operate them.


    "Then there''s the sustainability issue. The blood runes require blood-qi to function and aside from vampire''s blood-qi, there are only bloodstones. And from the supply of bloodstones, I doubt any human will be able to get one in a thousand lifetimes."


    Now Keith understood how many disadvantages the humans had. With basically no energy to power any runes, they didn''t have any means to gain power apart from turning into a vampire.


    With the superior physique, longevity, and life energy, vampires reigned high above the humans, even if their population was not that high compared to the humans. Most of the humans were kept inside special territories and monitored regularly.


    They were well-fed and kept safe, only to collect blood from them. It was like a milk factory except in this case the blood was milk and it was mandatory for the survival of the vampires.


    "If creating runes is so easy as you say, why are there only a handful of blood ritualists?" This question bothered him many times.


    "This has more to do with an innate talent to understand the underlying structure of reality. You see, the blood ritualists are not that special compared to other blood-qi manipulators. We don''t have any special abilities.


    "What we do have is knowledge and creativity. An important thing to note is that, unlike other disciplines, blood ritualists don''t rely on their own strength. They make use of the power of runes, which allows them to modify the fabric of reality."


    "We can change everything, given we discover the structure of the thing and carve the proper rune structure to channel the blood-qi. This made us even more valuable than other disciplines. The things made possible with the power of runes, you could not even imagine."


    A glint flashed across Mr. Visit''s eyes as he looked at Keith.


    "Hmm?" Keith couldn''t get what he was referring to.


    "Ah! Don''t mind my ramblings. Today was a fruitful day. Thanks to you, I can improve the rune formation to yet another level." Scratching his chin, the old man looked to be immersed in something.


    "Blood runes hold such power! Now I want to learn this discipline even more. I was fascinated by the artifacts but after understanding the possibilities, I am even more eager to enroll." Keith replied.


    "So want to join the blood ritualist department. Let me tell you, the old fogeys there will make your life miserable. So many restrictions. And forget about joining any other department. They will directly expel you from the department." Mr. Visit said with a snort.


    "How old are they for you to call them old? You are pretty old yourself."


    "Several thousand years. Blood ritualists have the longest lifespan among vampires because we stay in our lab all the time and never go to a battle. We also don''t practice unknown blood-qi techniques on ourselves. There are always exceptions to the rules, but for the majority it''s accurate."


    "Hmm¡­ no risky blood-qi technique so there is a chance of a blood-qi eruption. I understand now. The blood ritualists are like the masterminds behind the vampire society. All the advancements in the artifacts, runes, and even techniques are made by blood ritualists."


    "Precisely because of this, the blood rituals are valued the most even though they are physically the weakest. The most precious thing is our minds. If you think about it, the origin of blood-qi techniques was around 100 thousand years ago when the originals appeared.


    "How do you think they made the blood-qi techniques?"


    Keith''s eyes almost popped out as he realized that the blood-qi techniques were a type of ritual.


    "That¡­ I never thought of it that way. Is this true?" Keith asked impatiently.


    "That is not proven, merely a speculation among us ritualists, that is not accepted among the other disciplines. They think it''s just a means to influence the other disciplines. And there hasn''t been a single blood ritualist who successfully created blood-qi techniques from the runes."


    "There are some blood ritualists who actively pursue this field but for centuries no progress has been made. Looks like it is just a stupid theory after all."


    Mr. Visit''s expression turned solemn as he looked at the cube. The blood runes glowed and the shape of the cube changed again.


    "I will go for now. I need to do some revisions to the runes and try to make the cube more compact. You can leave. I will call you later."


    Keith left the lab with a thoughtful expression. It was an incredibly insightful conversation that answered many of his burning questions. At the same time, it presented even more unanswered questions.

 Chapter 86: Let me follow you

    After coming back to the training facility, Keith spent the afternoon absorbing blood-qi, then he returned to his living quarters. The duo Garion and Sen stayed by his side in the hopes that he would perform the technique.


    But Keith didn''t do it. He preferred to accumulate blood-qi for now and increase his warrior frame''s level. The technique was fully copied and he just needed to wait till the system decoded the structure.


    His main target was a unique warrior frame user with an ability to complement his technique so he could mix them up and perfect his own technique. Helping Garion improve will make others come to him as well.


    With that, he could essentially study most of the warrior frames. If only one or two had something good, he would consider that a success. Compatibility with blood-qi techniques was a rare occurrence. The techniques had been passed down from their ancestor and over time, it adapted to a certain type.


    Thousands of years of gradual modification tailored towards specific types made them foreign to each other. To study a normal blood-qi technique was hard enough, and amassing the warrior frame technique was not feasible even with money.


    Most of the high-grade blood-qi techniques were heirlooms of distinguished families. No amount of money could buy that. You have to defeat their whole family and get the technique by either torturing them or if they have a written scroll, that would make things easier.


    Nowadays, most families moved away from physically storing the blood-qi technique and remembered the technique by heart. Only small parts were shared between the family members to get them off the ground and the rest were kept with the head of the family.


    Only the head of the family knew the important parts of the technique and he shared it with the next leader. Some geniuses develop their very own technique with just a fraction of the knowledge but they eventually get the full technique as nobody could compete with them in the first place.


    Keith had a solution to this seemingly difficult problem. With the system to scan the techniques, he could discreetly copy and study the techniques to improve his own. The superior analytical skills of the system further optimized the techniques and made the perfect base for implementation.


    Generally the warrior frames the barons create tend to be clumsy and not refined. The technique itself always has a higher level so perfectly implementing them at the lower stage is really hard, if not impossible.


    The mental power and experience needed to perfectly create the technique are beyond any baron. Geniuses could get closer to perfection, but even then it couldn''t reach 100 percent efficiency.


    Keith could perfectly replicate the blood-qi techniques If he got direct contact with the users. Sure, he needed some time to scan and copy so using it in a fight wasn''t practical. And the more complex the technique the more time is needed to scan the entire structure.


    Making the vampires willingly come to him in the name of improving their skills, he could study blood-qi techniques without arousing any suspicions. He would improve their compatibility and help them fix the implementation.


    In the case of high-grade blood-qi techniques, he could still optimize them. The higher the blood-qi technique, the harder it was to implement. So most of the vampires couldn''t perfectly implement them.


    Now that he analyzed Garion''s warrior frame, he was surprised to find that it was a marquis-level warrior frame. Even with this warrior frame, Garion could implement it with 60 percent accuracy.


    It was great considering regular vampires could only get 30 to 40 percent of efficiency. As he analyzed further, he noticed some peculiarities in the technique. The warrior frame had several more structural elements and joints.


    If he compared this warrior frame to his own, this technique had more than a dozen extra joints holding the structure together.


    ''If he could improve his implementation of the technique, his output will increase significantly. I need to make it so that he could grasp some of the joints that are not properly created and the missing structures.''


    He spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to come up with a formula for Garion.


    ''System, can you try to integrate this technique into mine? Maybe add those joints and additional structures. My warrior frame could hold much more blood-qi after that. Maybe marquis level blood-qi.''


    [ Not possible with this technique. Its fundamental structure is very different and you have to change your whole frame which would lessen the effectiveness. It''s like getting a slight bump up in strength for a tremendous amount of work. You would be better off learning that technique. Then, you have to start from the beginning as well.]


    The system replied with a nonchalant voice.


    "I guess I have to find a compatible warrior frame that can integrate with my own. I honestly don''t want to learn a technique from scratch. I accumulated so much blood-qi that giving them up will be foolish. If it was a duke, archduke¡­ or king-level warrior frame, I would learn it in a heartbeat."


    Kieth said with a sigh.


    [ Do you think the powerful vampires will let someone else study their technique? These are students and they are naive. Most of them want to improve their strength to get the position they want. But the ones who have the position already reached their position and they are even more cunning. I doubt the ones who have the best techniques will even show up in front of us. All the weaker ones will come to you.]


    "So, what do I do? Drop this whole thing. Tell me if you have a better idea."


    [You can continue this. I think it''s a good idea as we could hit a jackpot anytime. Just because someone is weak doesn''t mean their technique is bad. In some cases, the user couldn''t implement the technique resulting in a lower output even if they have a good technique.]


    "That is possible. I hope someone among my clients has a good enough technique. Now back to analyzing."


    Keith worked with the system to fine-tune the technique and condensed his blood-qi at the same time.


    The next day, when he arrived at the training facility, Garion and Sen were already present.


    Keith looked at Garion and smiled.


    "Good news! I have perfected the technique and you can implement it now." Keith said.


    Garion''s face bloomed instantly but he restrained himself.


    "Is it really available now? You sure, it will work." Garion asked with a serious face.


    "Yes! Yes.! I worked all night to perfect the technique. Now it''s finally complete. I know I said it could take longer, but you don''t have any major flaws, so the process was faster."


    "Alright, show me." Garion stood in front of Keith with a determined expression.


    Keith handed him a small scroll about the size of a palm.  Garion opened the scroll, and his eyes went wide.


    "Is it real?"


    In the scroll, many characters were written and many structures were designed. Garion could understand the structure as it was what he used. This model had some changes to his own frame, but it was mostly similar.


    "You can test it out yourself." Keith smiled in response.


    Without wasting any time, Garion implemented the technique written in the scroll. It was nothing major, just some changes in the structure.


    After absorbing the technique, Garion sat down and focused his mind to add those changes to his warrior frame.


    Keith was scanning the inner structure of Garion this whole time and he could see the changes being made in his warrior frame. Garion was reassembling his joints according to the instructions.


    After some time, he opened his eyes and looked at Keith with a face full of gratitude. He got up and felt his body which seemed even lighter than before. His strength increased significantly from this implementation.


    ''What is his implementation rate?'' Keith asked the system.


    {Around 90 percent. He hit the maximum estimated growth, not bad.]


    "Now, how do you feel?" Keith asked Garion.


    "I¡­ I can''t express how grateful I am to you. Even after all the things we did, you chose to help me. I am¡­"Garion said with an apologetic voice.


    "Whoa! Whoa! Don''t misunderstand. I did it to get more students to come to me. I am taking compensation for this, so you don''t need to be like this." Keith replied.


    Garion looked at Keith in awe as his head lowered on its own.


    "I could never improve my technique even after three years of relentless practice. But you showed me a way to improve. From this day, you are my benefactor. No matter what you ask of me, I will try to fulfill it to the best of my abilities." Garion said sincerely.


    Kieth scratched his back as he was expecting such a response. He just wanted him to spread the word about his method and the improvement he had so that more students would be willing to do the same.


    Garion turned his head up and looked at Keith trying to figure out the reason for his silence.


    "I see what you want now. I will do as you say, and all the students will know about this. But.."  Garion paused.


    "But what?"


    "Let me follow you..." Garion said with a determined face.


    "Haah!"


    Keith looked at Garion with a strange face.

 Chapter 87: A Plan

    Keith couldn''t understand what was happening. It came out of nowhere. Did this mean so much to him that he chose to go under him?


    ''No, that''s not it. His eyes show clear determination and a will to improve. He wants to gain more by following me. Maybe this is not a bad idea. I can use him to deal with things that I don''t have time to do.''


    All sorts of plans were being formulated inside his head, but he didn''t show this on the outside. With a conflicting expression, he stroked his chin.


    "I get what you are saying but why would I need you? I am more powerful than you and I don''t need dead weight." Keith said with an annoyed voice.


    "You don''t need to worry about that. I won''t hinder your actions. I just need to repay your kindness and hope you see me as a trustworthy man." Garion replied with a smile.


    "Fine¡­ Looks like I can''t convince you otherwise."


    Looking at the scene, Sen was dumbstruck. He couldn''t believe what had just transpired. Garion was a proud man who didn''t like to follow others. This was what made him admirable in his eyes and why he chose to follow him.


    "Brother Garion, how can you do this? How could you go under someone like him? We could just pay him." Sena with a cracked voice.


    Hearing him say that, Garion shook his head and walked closer to him. He put his hands on Sen''s shoulders and stared into his eyes.


    "You know what? I was blinded by my pride and thought I don''t need anyone to get stronger. That may be somewhat true, there are times in life, better things show a glimpse of the future. If you don''t decide at the moment whether to follow it or not, you will regret it for the rest of your life.


    "I know you are young and impulsive. I know why you act this way, but we don''t have to be weak anymore. We can show those descendant families that we could reach a higher level than them. Don''t you want to see their faces when we beat them?" Garion whispered into Sen''s ear.


    Sen''s eyes opened wide as he stared at Keith who was immersed in his own thoughts.


    "Can we surpass the main family?"


    Sen turned his head towards Garion and asked with determination. A hope glistened inside his skeptical mind.


    "If you don''t believe me, let him analyze your warrior frame as well. You will change your mind when he gives you the formula to implement the revised technique." Garion said while taking a glance at Keith.


    "If this could really improve my strength to the point I can rival the main family''s heir I am willing to follow him to the end of this continent," Sen replied with a determined voice.


    "Hah! Look at you. One moment you were hating on him, now you are licking his boots."


    Hitting Sen''s back Garion started mocking him.


    "Didn''t you do that as well? And who was the one who said, I WOULD NEVER FOLLOW ANYONE IN MY LI¡­"


    Mhppp! Mhpph!


    Garion closed Sen''s mouth immediately.


    "What are you two on about?" Keith found their behavior odd.


    "Nothing¡­ we were discussing the technique and he wanted to follow you as well," Garion said with an awkward smile.


    "Hmmm¡­ not a problem. But he''s your responsibility. If he does something to tarnish my name, I am kicking both of you out."


    "It won''t happen. He''s a little resentful, but once he makes up his mind on something, he follows it like a blood oath." Garion said.


    Keith walked to the duo and put his hands on Sen. He analyzed his warrior frame and it was very similar to Garion.


    "Are you two related or something?" Keith asked.


    "No, we are from two branch families that come under the Lennar family.  The Lennar family head is a duke and many territories come under his influence. My family is only count level, same for him as well." Garion looked at Sen.


    "But you have a marquis grade blood-qi technique," Keith said slowly.


    "How did you know?" Garion said with a hushed voice.


    "I analyzed your warrior frame, did you forget? How could I fix the faults if I can''t even determine this." Keith said while shaking his head.


    "Yes... It''s a marquis grade warrior frame, but for generations, nobody from my family could perfectly implement it. So our family fell from the marquis level to the count level. Normally our fief would''ve stayed the same."


    Sen''s eyes glowed with hatred hearing Garion''s next words.


    "The Lennar family pressured us to submit them and two generations ago, the head of our families agreed to integrate into the Lennar family." Garion clenched his fist with indignation.


    "So, that''s how you were able to get here. This academy is for the descendant families. So by going under them you get a pass to enter the academy as a branch family. So that''s why there are way more students than I originally imagined." Keith said after the sudden enlightenment.


    "The main families take in weaker families and send them to the academy to make stronger soldiers and potentially a genius which could enter the main family. This would increase the manpower significantly.


    So all of the top main families use this loophole to send students to this academy," Garion said.


    "That is very smart of them, but not so pleasant for the branch families under them. Basically, they use any means necessary to force them into the family. It goes to the point in which they block off all the supplies for blood condensing."


    At this point, both Garion and Sen''s face was red with anger. Their pale faces looked like swollen tomatoes. Somebody would have mistaken them for a blush, but their eyes gave it away.


    "That is indeed very extreme. I think if the council didn''t ban killing vampires they would''ve resorted to even more extreme methods." Keith said thoughtfully.


    "So where are these Lennar family heirs? Are they in the academy?" Keith asked the duo.


    " He is in the count class, and joined the academy four years ago," Sen replied.


    "Count, huh! I wonder how powerful his blood core is." Keith pondered.


    "He advanced to the count stage this year, so I think he would be at the early stage. His blood core must''ve consolidated by now."


    The students joined the Crimson academy at the baron level, so getting to the count level in four years was rather impressive. Sure, it was nowhere close to Keith''s speed, but for vampires like Garion and Sen who could only reach the final stage baron in three years, it was on a whole another level.


    "Don''t worry about him for now. He is beyond you at the moment. But if you follow me, I can make you way stronger, strong enough to rival him."


    Smiling with a sinister gaze, Keith looked at the duo.


    "There must be a catch." Garion picked up the cue.


    "Indeed. You are going to help me get his blood-qi technique. Oh, I forgot, which department he''s from?" Keith asked as he remembered he didn''t know anything about this count.


    "He is a blood warrior as well. His blood-qi technique is bound to be duke level as he is the heir to the Lennar family. Are you saying you are going to steal the Lennar family''s technique?" Garion whispered in the faintest audible voice.


    They were quite a distance away from the rest of the vampires, so they couldn''t hear them but he still chose to say it in a hushed voice. Lower level vampires couldn''t hear clearly after fifty meters of range and they were at the other end of the chamber, hundreds of meters away.


    "How else are you two going to beat him? I don''t have a higher level blood-qi technique to give you. I can only improve the implementation of the technique, not the technique itself."


    "I''m in. Tell us what we need to do in order to get his blood-qi technique. He''s not going to just hand over his blood-qi technique." Sen immediately agreed.


    "Look at you! You are braver than I thought. At least braver than this musclehead." Keith looked funnily towards Garion.


    "I¡­ Don''t you worry about retaliation from the Lennar family?" Garion gulped.


    "Nothing will happen, because they couldn''t tell if it''s their technique. I will change the structure so it doesn''t match with him. You just have to wait till you reach the duke stage. Then the leader couldn''t even stop you.


    "Can we really reach that stage?" Sen looked at Keith with yearning.


    "If you follow me earnestly, I promise you you will reach that stage in no time," Keith said confidently.


    Sen clenched his fist and looked more determined than ever.


    It was his lifelong goal to surpass the Lennar family. So when fate presented him with an offer, he grabbed it after some reluctance. But as he heard Keith more, his confidence in him increased even further.


    He steeled his heart and looked straight at Keith.


    "Tell me. Tell me what I need to do to reach the count stage?"

 Chapter 88: Dean

    In a dark room covered with countless shimmering runes, a single figure was resting inside a blood pool. The blood inside was very pure and from the freshness, it was collected not too long ago.


    The sound of slow footsteps was heard from the other side.


    "What brings you here?" The vampire inside the blood pool said without looking back.


    "The orientation ceremony has already ended and we have a lot to handle. You missed out on a lot of action by not attending the event." The vampire that just arrived in the room said.


    "Hmm? Is there some good talent you came across, Jesper?" The vampire inside the pool creased his brows.


    Dean Jesper came out of the shadow, fully revealing his face. His aura was terrifying but it had no effect on the vampire inside the blood pool.


    "Indeed. We have quite a few good entries this year. One in particular, is very promising." Dean Jesper said with a smile.


    "Oh, for you to give this much praise, the vampire must be very powerful. Above 50 percent original genes?"


    "Unfortunately his original genes couldn''t be determined. That doesn''t mean he lacks original genes, for a vampire to show this much strength and control over blood-qi, I doubt his genes are lower than 20 percent in the worst case.


    The judgment pillar failed to analyze his genes, do you understand what this means, Lucien?"Dean Jesper asked.


    The vampire inside the blood pool turned his head. Two glowing red eyes reflected the vastness of his aura. He slowly got out of the pool and the runes changed surrounding the pool.


    Two bars came out from the ground and wrapped Lucien with a fabric that changed shape into a magnificent attire. Simultaneously, he expelled the residue of blood dripping from his body with his aura.


    Even after wearing his dress, his toned outline was somewhat perceivable as his ripped shoulders and arms were noticeable.


    "Did you break through to the final stage of your warrior frame?" Dean Jesper asked.


    The man in front of him was the dean of the blood warrior department, Lucien Vi. He was at the Final Stage of the duke level. And his warrior frame was stuck at the second stage of the duke level for decades.


    "Not yet. But I can feel the meridians open, so it will be happening soon." Lucien replied politely.


    "I don''t understand. Why don''t you agree to the council''s offer? They could help you reach the king stage. Then the position of the director would come easy to you." Dean Jesper looked at Lucien with a complicated face.


    He was very envious and respectful to Lucien. Being only a century old, Lucien was one of the youngest Dukes on the continent. On top of that, he was never involved in any major scruffles, but all of the higher-level vampires knew his strength, as he defeated a Duke ghoul while being an early stage duke. This was almost thirty years ago.


    Now, nobody knew his exact battle strength as he rarely got out of his chambers. They could roughly guess from the aura emitted by him, but that also was suppressed by him.


    "You know how they do things. I will be a king on the name, but be a slave to those council elders, no thank you. I can reach there on my own, maybe it will take some time, but I am not short of it.


    "As for the position of the director, I have no interest in it. With the amount of work I have to do, I will have no time to train. I can somehow manage due to my excellent subordinates." Lucien replied confidently.


    "As strong as you are, you are a terrible dean. If it wasn''t for your strength, the director would have fired you already." Dean Jesper replied with a snort.


    "Oh come on! I have tenure. He can''t fire me. I''m the youngest dean in the history of the academy and the earliest to get tenure." Lucien laughed.


    "Hmph! Can''t you figure it out? The council is trying to rope you in. They are not aggressive now, but if you keep this up, they will come after you sooner or later." Dean Jesper warned.


    "I know. They are some tough old bats. I need to get stronger if I even hope to hold them back. One one one, I can beat an early stage King, but if they gang up on me, I''m done for. How many king-level elders are there in the council? I forgot." Lucien tried to remember.


    "Seven. They are all over a thousand. The youngest in the council elder''s seat is a duke at the age of 800." Jesper replied.


    "Damn! They are still keeping them. The system is corrupt from the inside." Lucien looked angry.


    "Do you even know how rare dukes are? If you stay in your own little bubble, even kings will be mediocre to you."


    "Isn''t that a good thing? Why bother about useless politics when strength determines all. I want to see the faces of those elders when I reach the final stage of King. I bet they will bow down and worship me." Lucien laughed out loud.


    "Don''t underestimate the council. They have many hidden cards yet to reveal. If you recklessly put them down, don''t whine later. Besides, reaching the king stage will take you centuries if not millennia. Can you hold them back for such a long time?


    Ah! Look at the time. I''m late again." Jesper checked his rune which glowed with a message.


    "Aren''t you happy to see me after such a long time? How about you join me for a cup of balch¨¦ blood." Lucien asked temptingly.


    "Please, I have a department to run. Unlike you, I don''t have good subordinates. Look into this, you will know everything."


    Dean Jesper handed Lucien a rune card and vanished from his spot.


    "There he goes again. I wonder why he was so worked up?"


    Lucien attached the rune card to his own and all the information transferred to his rune circle.


    As he read through the reports, his eyes shined brightly.


    "Interesting! He crossed the king layer with only a baron-level blood core and viscount-level warrior frame. I have  to give him a visit." Lucien kept reading the file and his smile became brighter.


    ***


    Back in the training facility, Keith talked it out with the duo and they postponed the plan to meet the Lennar family heir a bit later. Keith was still in the phase of accumulating and he wanted to break through to the viscount stage before proceeding with the plan.


    Sitting in his spot, Keith absorbed the blood-qi and focused his mind entirely on leveling up his warrior frame. He wanted to level it up to the count stage before leveling up his blood core.


    That way his blood-qi density and base would be at the peak of perfection. There will be no gaps and empty spaces inside his body. His body will be fully packed with blood-qi. Also, the warrior frame will act independently from the blood core and his overall blood-qi will be way higher than regular viscounts.


    The afternoon passed and Keith left the training facility with a satisfied face. He came out of the building and headed to his living quarters. As he took a turn into a nearby corridor, a handsome man stood there, leaning against the wall.


    Keith walked past him without any thought but as he crossed him a tremendous pressure descended on him. He couldn''t move his body forward. Only his eyes could move and he looked at the handsome man, with sweat dripping from his forehead.


    After his movements stopped, he immediately ordered the system to scan the vampire next to him. But to their surprise, the system couldn''t scan his body. The senses couldn''t penetrate the aura surrounding him.


    The entire figure looked like a black hole, just like he felt the high stage at the orientation.


    "Don''t be afraid. I''m here to talk." Lucien smiled at Keith and the suppression lifted immediately.


    "Who... Who are you?" Keith asked while gasping.


    Even after the aura was lifted the lingering feeling stayed. The vampire in front of him was so strong, the mere presence of him suffocated Keith.


    "Wow! You''ve been training in my facility all this time, and you didn''t take the time to inquire about me." Lucien shook his head.


    "Are¡­ you the dean of the blood warrior department?'''' Keith asked reluctantly.


    "Bingo! I thought you would never figure it out. Why would anyone from other departments come here? Can''t you feel my aura?"


    Keith already guessed that the vampire in front of him was above duke level. He couldn''t even fathom his blood-qi level. Keith stood there silently without making any expression. Just a straight face. He tried to look calm, but the sweat on his forehead gave it away.


    "I''ve read your report. You secured the first rank in the orientation, but that''s not the highlight."


    "You crossed the king layer with your level of blood-qi. That really fascinates me." Lucien said with a beaming smile.


    "What do you mean?" Keith asked with a blank face.


    "How did you do it? If I am pleased by your answer, I might take you in as my direct disciple." Lucien declared.


    "DON''T YOU DARE TAKE MY ASSISTANT AWAY FROM ME, LUCIEN!"


    A loud scream was heard from the other side of the corridor and the figure that Keith was quite familiar with entered into his vision.

 Chapter 89: Hundred Years Old

    "What are you doing here?" Lucien looked at Mr. Visit.


    "I recruited that boy first for my lab, and he will stay with me. You can''t take him away with me." Mr. Visit said while locking his gaze with Lucien.


    As soon as Lucien left his chambers, Mr.Visit noticed his departure. And he wanted to talk to him about some important things regarding the training facility as well. But when he sensed Keith also being at the same place, he immediately arrived there.


    "You recruited him first? As far as I recall, he hasn''t joined a department yet." Lucien replied with a thoughtful expression.


    "Does he have to choose a department? That is not mandatory, or else, the special students would''ve been kicked out by now. When he first arrived at the academy, he came here to visit. I noticed his peculiarity and took him under me. So he is mine now." Mr. Visit proudly declared.


    "But, he''s just your assistant. He has to be a direct disciple to be exempted from the rules."


    Lucien replies while shaking his head.


    The academy allowed some special and talented students to be exempted from the regular curriculum. For that, the student in question had to go under a faculty as a direct disciple. Then it was the faculty''s decision to teach him and all the courses are left to their discretion.


    Keith agreed to work under Mr.Visit, but he was not his direct disciple yet. So he had the option to deny his claims over him.


    But, did he want to do that?


    Keith looked at them both figures, one exuding a tremendous aura and the other was quiet as a lake. Mr. Visit was not comparable to Dean Lucien at all. However, his runes were on full display. They were actively glowing and seemed to launch an attack at any time.


    "Why are you so aggressive? Do you think you can defeat me? If I wish, I can take this kid with me right now." Lucien smirked.


    "Very well then. I will have no choice but to leave this department and go back to my blood ritualist club. Even if it''s boring there, nobody will bother me." Mr. Visit sighed with apparent pain.


    "Wait! Wait! Are you saying you will leave the department for this boy?" Lucien looked at the blood ritualist with distress.


    "If you don''t believe me, I will apply for the transfer letter now. I''m sure they will take no time to approve it."


    Mr. Visit took out his runes card and showed it to Lucien. Seeing this, the all-powerful Dean grimaced. Even if he was powerful, he was not an expert at blood rituals and runes.


    Basically, all the training facility equipment and chambers were built or enhanced by him. For the department to lose such a blood ritualist, his subordinates will not let him off. This was a rather delicate matter, so Lucien took a step back.


    "There seems to be quite a bond between you two. Alright, I will leave him be. Besides, if he stays with you, he''s part of the blood ritualist department as well. He can take special classes from me, can''t he?" Lucien looked at Keith eagerly.


    Keith didn''t want to meddle between the two so he just stayed silent. But hearing Lucien that he will teach him, he was quite surprised, at the same time cautious as well. He asked for the secret of how he crossed the king layer. He was formulating a response to satisfy him, but Mr. Visit showed up. He didn''t have to tell Lucien anything right now.


    "That is up to him if he wants to learn from you or not, but he''s under me and I take priority when I need him. And the rest of the time, you can take him." Mr. Visit calmed down after hearing Lucien.


    "It''s settled then. Will he come to me in his free time? So when do you have free time?" Lucien asked Keith.


    "Not too much I''m afraid¡­ I''m consolidating my blood core and don''t have much time except for Mr.Visit''s call. But I will be at the training chamber most of the time." Keith replied thoughtfully.


    Lucien looked at Keith strangely and turned his head towards Mr.Visit.


    "See, he doesn''t want to learn from you. You must''ve scared him to death... Haha,'''' Mr.Visit laughed out loud.


    "Umm¡­ he can come to the training chamber if wants to teach me¡­I said I''m always available there." Kieth said slowly.


    "Are you seriously telling me to come to the training facility to teach you? Do you think I have that much free time?" Lucien glared at Keith.


    "Ahem! Actually, you have a lot of free time. All your work is done by Julie and the others. You spend all of your time in your chamber and give the excuse of advancing your warrior frame. It''s been years since normal students saw you." Mr. Visit pointed out.


    "That¡­ It is very important for me. I''m the strongest close combat vampire in the academy."


    "Well, that doesn''t necessarily make you a good teacher. You have to interact with the student too. When was the last time you gave a lesson to a student?" Mr. Visit asked.


    "Berci, he reached the counting stage.." Lucien replied after thinking hard.


    "That was seven years ago. He already left the academy last year." Mr.Visit looked at Lucien with a disappointed face.


    "Look, old man, in the passage of time, we have to sacrifice one thing or another. What I seek requires such sacrifices... He can learn so much from me.."


    "So go to the training chamber¡­ what''s wrong with that?" Mr. Visit questioned.


    Lucien looked at him with a dejected face and controlled his aura to the full of his ability, but the intent was clearly felt, so did the slightly leaking aura. This much was enough to silence the surrounding.


    "Fine¡­ You win. He''s in my department so I have something to celebrate. Enjoy your last remaining life old man¡­"


    Lucien disappeared from his spot instantly and the terrible aura dissipated.


    "That brat!" Mr. Visit cursed.


    "Thank you Mr. Visit for defending me. I unnecessarily created tension between you two." Keith said to the old blood ritualist.


    "It''s fine. He''s like that. He likes to talk aggressively, but he''s just a child from within." Mr. Visit said.


    "A child? Him.." Keith looked at him surprised.


    ''If he''s a child, what does that make me? An unborn baby.'' Keith wondered.


    "If you compare his age to the other Duke level vampires, he''s half the age of the second youngest duke. With this, you can imagine how young he is compared to us."


    "He''s that young. What age is he again?" Keith asked bluntly.


    "Around a century old." Mr. Visit replied.


    "Hundred years!"


    In the human world, 100 years was the age of the oldest people living on earth. But here in the Reinez continent, 100 years was nothing. Ordinary vampires lived for several centuries and as their strength increased, their lifespan increased as well.


    Lucien to be 100 years old and still reach duke level was impressive, to say the least. His uncle was almost Lucien''s age and he was just a viscount.


    "When did he become a professor here?"  Keith asked.


    "Thirty years ago. He is an alumnus of this academy, but he chose not to join the vampire council. He also didn''t want to take on the head position of his family due to some personal conflicts, which he never talks about.


    But he was always passionate about fighting and improving his strength. Thirty years ago, when he was an early stage viscount, he defeated a final stage Duke level ghoul that almost destroyed an entire city.


    Keith gulped inwardly. He could vividly remember the strength the baron-level ghoul showed, which was way more powerful than even final stage barons. So to defeat a final stage duke-level ghoul, Keith was having a hard time comprehending the power.


    It was unfathomable for him. If he were to face a viscount or count level vampire, he didn''t know if he could beat them considering the power multiplier is the same with the baron level vampire.


    "He is the most powerful close combat vampire in the academy after that man." Mr. Visit''s eyes squinted.


    "That man! Who are you talking about?" Keith asked curiously.


    "You might never see him. He is the dean of the blood espers. I only saw him once at a meeting and that''s it. He is indeed a mysterious man."


    "Is he more powerful than Dean Lucien?" Keith asked eagerly.


    "That''s a given. He defeated several king-level opponents throughout the years. I wonder how much stronger he has become now?" Mr. Visit went deep into thought.


    "Is he stronger than the director then?"


    Keith didn''t know anything about the director of the academy and he asked this question to see where he stood in terms of strength between the faculties.


    "Oh, the director is certainly strong, but he is not comparable to him. He is a blood ritualist so he always spends his free time on his experiments, that is considering he gets free time from the council duties. Poor him!" Mr. Visit shook his head.

 Chapter 90: Just An Assistant

    Coming back to his room, Keith was ruminating over the incidents that happened and also the information he gathered.


    First up was the reveal of the most powerful vampire in the academy, the dean of the blood espers. He was said to be stronger than any vampire on the continent. Even though there was no strictly maintained power hierarchy in the continent, the council elders stayed on the top, be it their innate power or influence. Then came the five kings who ruled over the five countries.


    Among them, the scale of power was more or less the same, but some were stronger than others. These were the vampires known by the masses. Apart from them, the hidden powerhouses never came up in the discussions.


    Such powerhouses usually didn''t want to be known so they rarely interacted with the council and the countries. With strength alone, they could rival the five kings.


    Clearly, the dean of the esper department was one such powerhouse. From what he heard from Mr. Visit, he was a king-level vampire and an esper too. Combining his blood core with his technique, he was unbeatable in one-to-one combat with anyone.


    Even the vampire council feared him. Still, he never showed himself outside his department. The espers were quite unique, in the sense that the vice dean usually showed up to the events and meetings. He was on par with the other deans as well.


    As for that man, whose name Keith didn''t know, was away most of the time. He didn''t even stay inside the academy. The esper department was fairly small in size but they were treated better than any other department.


    Keith was very tempted to join the esper branch, so he thought about consulting with Mr. Visit. He didn''t actually join the training facility, rather he was a disciple of  Mr. Visit.  Now he had to think of a way to join the blood esper department.


    Dean Lucien already said he would give him lessons, but he was not looking forward to those. He possessed so many secrets and knowing that the young dean was not so reserved and could force him anytime, he didn''t want to meet him.


    Coming back to the matter at hand, he had to decide on a department within a day, and he was really considering joining the blood espers. As far as he knew, blood espers were the most powerful blood-qi users in general. At the same level, they could defeat most of the vampires, even blood warriors had a tough time handling them, no matter how skilled.


    As he sat down to think about the other options, he didn''t know how they stood against blood espers and blood warriors. The blood ritualists were not a combat-oriented department and they primarily focused on creating artifacts and rune formations.


    The blood summoners seemed very powerful with their summons adding more power to the vampires, but they had to maintain their form with their blood-qi. They couldn''t afford to learn other blood-qi techniques on top of their own as it took a lot of time to tame and train blood summons.


    In the end, he didn''t have enough time to carefully evaluate the four departments. Although the blood espers seemed the most powerful department, blood ritualists and blood summoners had some really powerful vampires as well. Their power worked for different scenarios.


    Keith was selected for the four departments, so he could choose anyone. But his goal was to join as many branches as possible. With his system, he could learn several blood-qi techniques at once without compromising his growth. Unlike other vampires, he was really suited for multi-discipline study.


    To maximize his power,  he needed to amass more blood-qi techniques that could complement his current techniques and increase his output even more. He already thought about such away.


    The blood summoners could tame any living thing and turn them into blood summons. Their blood-qi flows inside the summon. The blood core handled the blood-qi inside the summon.


    Keith had an ample amount of blood-qi and his blood core didn''t have to focus on the warrior frame as it was functioning independently. So if he could get a blood-summon on top of using his warrior frame, his battle strength will soar.


    The most difficult thing was to join the departments. He could learn the techniques easily given enough time. But that also meant he had to keep them to himself so as not to arouse any more suspicion or the entire academy will go after him.


    He calmed his mind for now and relaxed for a while. Drinking the blood that was on his table, he contemplated his next course of action. He sat down on his bed and circulated the blood-qi the whole night


    Early in the morning, he left his room to go to Mr. Visit''s lab to talk to him about the department joining. He finally chose to join the blood esper and the blood summoner department, if he could, he wanted to join both.


    As he put his rune card on the door, it opened right away. He walked to the chamber where Mr. Visit worked most of the time. He was busy forming a rune with his hand movements as Keith entered the chamber.


    "I didn''t call for you today? Are you liking this lab already?" Mr. Visit smiled and turned back.


    "I''m here to clear some doubts. It''s about the departments." Keith said.


    "Alright, ask what doubt you have. Do you have a problem picking up a department?" Mr. Visit asked.


    "Not that¡­ I mean I already know the blood esper department is the best choice but I want to join multiple departments, is that possible?" Keith asked.


    "Multi-discipline? Hmm¡­ it is certainly possible, but you can''t join the esper branch if you choose to join any other department. They have strict rules regarding who can join the department. They require you to stay at their department for one year before interacting with the other departments. So if you join the other departments, you can attend their classes, and get kicked out as a result." Mr. Visits replied thoughtfully.


    "One year! I can''t even go outside the department premises?"


    "Maybe not. Their training is very rigorous and they think going outside will break your flow. If you can convince the higher-ups then you can ask for a leave for some days. But don''t expect free-roaming throughout the campus."


    "I thought it was the best department¡­" Keith mumbled.


    "It certainly is a good department, but they are isolated and rarely interact with other departments. I doubt they will let you join any other department."


    "So, I don''t have no choice but to join other departments," Keith said dejectedly.


    "If you want I will allow you to join the esper department. It''s just one year. Then you can come here anytime you want." Mr. Visit replied with a smile.


    "There is no way you are doing this out of goodwill. What do you want?" Keith asked straightforwardly.


    "Nothing much¡­ I want to test out some things with the runes. You just have to stay in one spot without doing anything. It''s that simple."


    "I think I will pass on that. I don''t know what evil things you are planning. Maybe you want to put some curse runes inside my body." Keith denied his request.


    "Don''t you want to join the esper department? Mind you, I still want you here, so you can''t stay at the department for long." Mr. Visit said with a frown.


    "I will think of another way. Being an assistant is tiring enough and you want to experiment on me. No thanks." Keith didn''t want to get himself scanned and staying idle inside a rune formation basically left him with no defense.


    He already had enough with the shapeshifting runes so he wanted to stay away from such things if possible.


    "Mr. Visit, I have a condition¡­ If you agree to this condition, I am willing to do this." Keith said.


    "Speak."


    "I will do your experiments, but I need time to prepare. How about two months. I will do it in two months. And after that, you have to formally teach me blood rituals and rune formations."


    If he was going to be his little lab rat, he wanted to grasp what was happening as well. Blood ritualists were very resourceful and he wanted to learn this discipline to better understand runes and their applications as well.


    "Impossible¡­ My legacy is not something you can learn so easily. It''s one thing learning the basics of rituals, but to ask for my technique, I can''t agree to this." Mr. Visits flatly refused.


    "If you don''t show me how things work, then how am I supposed to know what are you using on me?"  Keith asked with a frown.


    "We have an agreement, kid. Don''t bite off more than you can chew. I gave you the bloodstone as well. You have to follow your part of the agreement."


    " Then I have no choice but to be your assistant. You can''t do experiments on me. I will never lower my aura and let the runes invade me." Keith replied resolutely.

 Chapter 91: Strange Plant

    Keith rushed out of the lab with an agitated face. He was really hoping to learn from Mr. Visit, but he didn''t want to impart his knowledge to him. The only thing he said he would give was a book on blood rituals and runes written by him.


    Without direct learning, he couldn''t copy the accurate methods. Learning from the book will take a lot of time mostly through trial and error. He had to start from scratch and learn every rune and its perfect form by himself.


    ''Let''s forget about the blood rituals for now.  I need to choose a department to get into.''


    As he glanced at his rune card, he noticed it was already time for the academic office to open. The office was open for twelve hours, six hours in the day, and six hours at the night. It was the last slot for him to register his department.


    Most of the students had already registered their choice so Keith headed to the registration office. The office was located in the central part of the campus which was ten minutes walk away from the blood warrior department.


    Arriving at the counter, he showed his identity card and the one in charge looked through his report frowning.


    ''You are Keith Ennes. First place at the orientation."  A young lady asked while looking through his report.


    "Yes, miss. I''m here to choose a department." Keith said.


    "So, What do you have in mind?"


    From his report, she could see that he got invited to join all four departments, and of all the students who got four invitations, almost all of them chose the blood esper department. Her question was only a formality.


    "I would like to join the blood summoning department," Keith said calmly.


    "Huh!" The vampire lady was taken aback by his response.


    Who didn''t know that blood espers were the most powerful blood-qi manipulators in the vampire society. They were small in number but their strength more than made up for it. With their versatile blood-qi techniques, they could rival the top powerhouses.


    But the boy in front of him was choosing the blood summoning department. It was not a bad discipline by any means, but compared to the esper department it was not that good. For average vampires, the blood summoning department was something they looked up to, so it was still the top sought-after department.


    "Are you sure? You can choose better options, you know." She reminded him.


    "Thank you miss for your consideration but for some personal reasons, I can''t join the blood esper departments, so you can go ahead and register my choice," Keith said with a calm face.


    "Alright, if you say so. Don''t regret afterwards."


    She used his rune card to register his choice of the department and returned his card.


    "Here you go. Now you have to wait till morning to see the confirmation on your rune card. All the details will be sent to you as well so make sure to read all the instructions." She explained to Keith.


    "I will." Keith left the registration office and headed back to his room.


    The rest of the day was normal and he chatted with Rena for some time about the other vampires and her experience in the building. The residential building had its very own open space and garden which was very big, almost as big as three football fields. Paved roads were all around the garden so it was easy to walk around.


    Rena had been collecting some plants and bringing them to the living quarters. These plants emitted a very pleasant fragrance and some bore fruits that tasted amazing. From her descriptions, these plants were planted by servants of the previous student''s hundreds and thousands of years earlier.


    She tasted many fruits that couldn''t be found in the other parts of the continent. This place was the best place for humans as they could enjoy a certain level of freedom and also eat so many good things.


    As vampires only consumed human blood, the fruits were useless to them, but at the same time, the humans benefited immensely from this. The humans who consumed these fruits had better quality blood than regular humans.


    After the conversation, Rena showed him a fruit which in her opinion was the sweetest and the tastiest fruit she had ever tasted. Keith held the fruit in his hand and looked at it carefully.


    If he was a human, he would''ve definitely tried the fruit, but as a vampire, it could affect his blood-qi. He missed the days when he could eat many varieties of food ranging from sweet to sour, all the way up to spicy.


    Now, he had to consume the same bland-tasting blood his entire lifetime. Sure, different humans taste different, but it was not a significant change. Most of them had the same taste. It''s like you had a dish from several restaurants, they will taste different but the overall taste will remain the same.


    Carefully looking at the fruit, he sensed a faint fluctuation in the core of the fruit.


    ''System, what is it?''


    [ It''s a fruit with life energy in it. It is of the purest form but the amount is minuscule. I can absorb it but it wouldn''t amount to much. You better drink some blood than waste time absorbing this]


    ''So that''s how the humans who eat these increase their blood-qi quality. That''s why they taste so good. I wonder how they affect the human physique. Can you check Rena''s body?''


    The system immediately scanned Rena and her life force. After the upgrade, the system could pick the faintest of life energy fluctuations around it. The only thing limiting was the user''s level. So scanning low-level beings was not hard.


    [Her life energy has been significantly improved. Her glow is noticeable and I think she will reach her peak in a couple of months.]


    The system explained the details of her life energy to Keith.


    ''Peak? What is that? Her limit of consumption?''


    [Her limit to store life energy. That is the limit of the human physique. Any more life energy will simply dissipate into the atmosphere.]


    ''I see. She is at the peak of her physique. Can you estimate her stats based on the life energy as you do with my blood-qi?" Keith asked.


    [ Sure, but her stats will be very low compared to yours.]


    ''Just do it.''


    The system started analyzing her body and decrypted her life energy signature. It was possible to completely analyze her because of her lower power level. Keith couldn''t use it on higher-level vampires like Valencia and the Deans.


    [ Rena ]


    [ Body detected: Human ]


    [ Level : 0.01 ]


    [ Life energy : 0.05]


    [ Health : 90%]


    [ Physical Strength: 0.01 ]


    [ Vitality: 0.03 ]


    [ Agility : 0.02 ]


    Keith stared at the status window for a while. She was incredibly weak. As barons were level 1, she was a hundred times weaker than barons. Her each stat was fragile like glass, he could extinguish in a moment.


    ''Are all humans have this kind of stat?''


    [ Not necessarily. Males are usually stronger than females, but there are always exceptions. And the blood type, ancestry will affect their stats as well. She is just a normal human so, her stat is identical to the rest of the humans.]


    "What are you looking at, young master?" Rena waved her hands in front of Keith.


    "Nothing, I was just analyzing the fruit. It looks so tasty. Too bad, I can eat it." Keith returned the fruit to her.


    "I wasted a lot of time talking about random things, I apologize.." Rena lowered her head.


    "I like to hear your experiences as it allows me to get informed about the things happening in the building. Keep an eye on every event and tell me if anything comes up." Keith excused her.


    "Yes, young master." Rena left the room and Keith walked to the windows. He peeked the garden from the partially opened curtains.


    ''Can you detect the levels of the trees and other humans as well?''


    [Why? You want me to check the stats of ants too¡­] The system replied with annoyance.


    ''I was just thinking, maybe there might be some trees that have denser life energy than this. Also, we can train our senses for minute fluctuations of life energy.''


    The system sighed and expanded its senses outward and covered the whole garden. As there was no powerful existence in here, the sense didn''t get interrupted.


    Scanning the whole garden. Keith looked at the various trees with different life energy signatures. Some were dense and some were scattered. Some formed symbiosis and depended on each other for forming a life energy cycle.


    As his senses were scanning through the garden, a small plant stood out from the rest. It was a tiny plant the size of a pinky finger but the life energy coming off from it was very dense, way denser than regular plants.


    It was so dense in fact, it was similar to an animal or human. Still, it was nowhere near the level of vampires.


    ''What is that plant?''


    [ It is indeed peculiar. I want a closer look. Let''s go.]

 Chapter 92: Is she special?

    Keith went to the spot immediately to study the plant. The tangled tree branches made it hard for any regular humans to enter that spot. As Keith cut through many branches covering that plant like a shell, he entered a small dome-like structure made of tree branches.


    ''This is?''


    Keith noticed the empty space surrounding the small plant. There was no plant life for two meters surrounding it. Not even grass was present and the ground looked barren. At the center, the small plant the size of his pinky finger glowed deep blue.


    Its leaf was green but the countless tiny blue flowers illuminated the small plant like a small light bulb. Because of the protective barrier of branches, the light couldn''t escape this place. And the place was deep inside the garden. Humans couldn''t just cut the entire trees just to get here. The building security would never allow that.


    Moving closer to the plant, he could feel the life energy emanating from the plant. It was a very neutral presence, unlike humans and animals. It was pure and attribute-less life energy. Only the system''s purification was of higher quality than this tree''s life energy.


    [ This plant is very rich in life energy. Compared to the other plants the life energy density is a hundred times higher. This small plant holds the equivalent life energy to a fifteen-year-old human''s entire blood-qi.]


    ''That much? Then what if a human eats it?'' Keith asked.


    [The excess life energy will dissipate, but the sudden surge of energy will give them quite the stimulation.]


    ''Stimulation... Like drugs?''


    [Not exactly¡­ They will feel incredible power running through their body all of a sudden. Their hormones will secrete rapidly and they will enter into an energized state for a couple of hours until the excess energy dissipates.]


    ''So like performance-enhancing drugs.''


    [But these will permanently increase their life energy and their health will peak. It has no other effect except the one I''ve mentioned.]


    [Wait...This..]


    ''What happened?'' Keith asked curiously.


    [I just finished the entire scan and it looks like this tree is just a seedling. But its age is hundred years old. Imagine the life energy it can store if it reaches its prime.]


    ''But this tree will take centuries and millennia to grow. We can''t wait that long.'' Keith said with a disappointed voice.


    [You''re right. Thousand years is too long. You would be at the king level if nothing goes wrong. I doubt you''ll need it then.]


    Keith plucked a small flower from the plant which was so tiny it was almost crushed by his two fingers. He carefully put the flower in a small pouch.


    [Are you going to give it to your maid?] The system asked.


    ''Yes. It will improve her vitality and life force, so I will give her this to consume.''


    [ This is extremely potent so the life energy will make her hyperactive for some time. Try not to stay close to her.]


    ''What do you me..'' Keith realized what the system was talking about.


    He didn''t notice the subtle cues about the stimulant, so now he understood the other effect of the plant.


    ''She can''t force herself on me. I am much more powerful.'' Keith consoled himself.


    [ Do what you want. She''s your maid anyway.] The system said without a care.


    Keith went back to his room and kept the flower in his drawer. As he entered into the state of extreme focus condensing blood-qi, the afternoon went by. In the night Rena returned with a glass of blood for his night meal.


    Keith drank his blood and took out the flower from the pouch.


    "Rena, eat this flower." Keith opened Rens''s palm and placed the tiny flower at the center of her palm.


    [Are you insane? What are you doing?] The system shouted from within.


    ''Shut up. I don''t know what will happen if I leave her alone. I can''t fully trust you yet. You don''t harm me because you are bound to me and can''t harm me, but what about others.''


    [But you asked with the intention of learning the truth. I said it won''t hurt humans.] The system interjected.


    ''Still, I need to be with her to see how it will react. You will monitor her changes and tell me if anything goes wrong.'' Keith said sharply.


    The system snorted and started monitoring her.


    Rena was confused after seeing the small flower on her palm. It was so tiny that it looked like a grain, but it gave a blue tint glow that looked beautiful.


    "What is it, young master?" Rena put the flower in her tongue.


    She didn''t doubt that Keith was giving her anything harmful, but she was curious to know what this flower was.


    "It''s a special flower. It will increase your vitality and health. Your strength will increase too." Keith replied with a smile.


    "Really? You are giving me such a precious herb. I.." Rena hesitated.


    "Just swallow it. It''s of no use to the vampires, so only humans can consume it."


    "If you say so, I will take it. Thank you, young master" Rena swallowed the flower and gulped.


    Seconds later, her eyes wavered and her face turned red. With a flushed face, she gripped her dress and panted heavily.


    ''Any changes in her physique.'' Keith asked the system.


    [The life force is increasing steadily. She is handling it very well. Most humans would be jumping around now.]


    ''You said it will be a mild reaction.'' Keith asked back.


    [Yeah... Mild has a lot of spectrums. She will still experience it for half an hour at least.]


    Keith looked at Rena, who was panting heavily while lowering her head. He didn''t say anything and sat there silently.


    "Young..master¡­" Rena called out with great difficulty.


    "How are you feeling?" Keith asked.


    "I¡­ I don''t feel good." Rena replied while huffing.


    Keith stared at Rena and chose to leave the room instead.


    "You stay here for a while, I will be just outside."


    As he was leaving, Rena grabbed his hand and shook her head.


    "Don''t leave¡­ I am fine now. The effect is going away." Rena said while taking deep breaths.


    ''How is she? Her life energy is still increasing?'' Keith asked the system.


    [ Her¡­ Lifeforce suddenly absorbed all the life energy. The effects should''ve stayed for half an hour, but she absorbed all the life energy in a minute.]


    ''Isn''t that a good thing?''


    [ Yes, but aren''t you curious how she was able to absorb that much life energy so quickly.]


    ''What are you implying?'' Keith was also curious to see her get to normal so fast.


    [Maybe she has a special physique that is better than normal humans. We should give her more of these flowers and see how much she could absorb.]


    ''Not at once. I will give her these flowers every day.  That will keep the side effects away.'' Keith let go of Rena''s hand.


    She sat down on the bed and calmed her head.


    "Young master, that was really a weird flower. I felt really funny. I had this kind of strange attraction to you for a moment." Rena said with a tilted gaze.


    "Don''t worry. It''s just the side effect of the flower. Your body will experience some dizziness and attraction to the other person." Keith replied.


    "Ah! I can''t believe I was feeling that¡­ I''m sorry young master. I showed you something embarrassing. I heard this from other maids, but I never experienced it myself."


    Rena put her two hands on her face and looked away in shame.


    "It''s alright. I would''ve stopped you even if you went out of control." Kieth consoled her.


    Rena peeked through her hands and after seeing Kieth''s determined face she opened her hands.


    "You should rest for now. The life energy is still coursing through your body, and it will take some time to stabilize. You can feel the increase in strength now."


    "I can feel it. My hands feel way lighter than before and I''m full of energy. This is amazing. I feel like I can carry double the amount of luggage." Rena gripped her hands.


    " That''s good. Go back to your room now and tell me if anything happens in the night." Keith excused her.


    After she left his room, Keith looked at Rena''s recorded physique which doubled in stats. She was now two times stronger than she was before. This level of growth was unprecedented in a human.


    Usually, Humanas had to train for years to increase their strength by a few points. But she was able to get double that amount. The excess life energy didn''t dissipate and got absorbed into her blood.


    This was really unique and the system also agreed that she had some kind of special physique than regular humans. Keith also wanted to know how far her body could evolve and how strong she can become.


    Keith spent the rest of the night condensing blood-qi and focused on his warrior frame to further increase the blood-qi.


    The next morning he noticed a slight change in his rune card. He was accepted into the blood summoning department and the emblem of the department was added to his card.


    Under the emblem, there was a message containing the information about the first class. The scheduled class was three hours later and asked the students to wear the normal uniform.

 Chapter 93: First Class

    Chatter! Chatter!


    The entrance of the blood summoning department was busy as all the new students entered the main hall. Many students looked happy but some looked gloomy. They were all wearing the same uniform that was given to them.


    "I was hoping to join the Esper department. This sucks! I will have to summon cats and dogs now." A vampire said dejectedly.


    "Calm down, will you? This department is also good. You can enter the vampire council if you train hard enough. As for the blood esper department, it takes the most talented students. Only three were offered the spots this year."  Another young vampire said as he stood near the counter.


    "Hey, look, it''s that summoner, who caused a lot of ruckus on the orientation." The young vampire pointed out as Deryn entered the department hall.


    All of the vampires turned their heads towards the proud-looking vampire who walked like he owned the place. He was quite happy seeing everyone''s attention focused on him.


    "Yes¡­ I am the boss here. You all will obey me." Deryn said as he extended his hands and walked towards the counter.


    "Is that Keith Ennes? Why is he here?"


    All of a sudden all of the attention shifted to a figure who just entered the hall. It was Kieth, wearing the uniform and looking very handsome with his hair combed properly. He scanned through the main hall and found all of the eyes were glued to him.


    It was a little weird but he wasn''t that bothered. He walked towards the counter and gave. His rune card to the faculty there.


    "You? Why are you here?" Deryn shouted from his back.


    "So I can''t join the blood summoning department?" Keith said without looking back.


    "You didn''t choose the blood esper department? Are you a fool?"


    Deryn mocked him with a laughing face.


    The rest of the students were also confused as to why Keith joined the blood summoning department as opposed to the blood esper department. They didn''t know he was restricted by a lot of things.


    Keith thought long and hard about this and in the end, he chose to join the blood summoning department. If he joined the blood esper department, he had to stay there for an entire year without going outside. He couldn''t learn warrior frame and other techniques as the Esper department closely monitored the students and only wanted them to learn blood esper techniques.


    Joining the blood summoning department would give him enough leeway to learn warrior frame. He could also get some lessons from Mr. Visit on blood rituals. This meant he could learn three disciplines at the same time as compared to one if he joined the blood esper department.


    He had to figure out on his own how to get the blood esper techniques from other vampires. He had plenty of time, so he wasn''t in a rush. This kind of arrangement really helped him because he could be free from all the restrictions.


    The blood esper department monitored their students all the time and hence he couldn''t do anything else there. Due to the lower number of blood espers, it was easy for the faculty to check on most of the students.


    Keith looked back at the laughing young man and smirked.


    "I chose to join this and I had a choice. You on the other hand never had a choice. You came here by default, so don''t talk to me about which department I should join." Keith replied with an annoyed expression.


    "I will show you who is better. I always wanted to teach you a lesson when I saw you at the entrance with that bitch." Deryn took out an artifact from his pocket that looked like a horn.


    As he was activating the artifact, someone grabbed him from the back and his artifact lost its luster.


    "Shall we start our first day? Now that everyone is present, don''t do something you will regret later."


    A vampire who was one head taller than Deryn appeared beside him. He was wearing a dress with a cape hanging from the back. It was like a floating cape fluttering in the air. Upon closer look, it didn''t look real. It was made up of blood-qi.


    ''What is that?'' Keith asked the system.


    [Some kind of external blood-qi projection. Maybe it is related to his blood-qi  technique.]


    From the blood-qi levels, Keith could tell that he was a marquis level vampire and his blood-qi was really profound. He was looking around the students with a faint smile on his face.


    "Now that everything is settled down, I will guide you to your first class. Follow me."


    The man disappeared from his spot and appeared near a door.


    The students followed him and Keith tagged along as well. Deryn was looking at him with hateful eyes, but couldn''t do anything in front of a faculty this strong.


    As they followed the man corridor after corridor, a decently big open space came into sight. It was covered with stone pillars and the ground was finely maintained with trimmed grass.


    "This will be your practical training ground before you control a blood summon. The class is over there where you will learn the theories about the techniques." The man explained as he pointed his hands towards the room in front of the open space.


    "Now, let me introduce myself. I am Kyrel Heave, and I will be taking your practical lessons for the first year." The man waved his hands towards the students.


    " Oh, you brought the students here." A female voice came from the side as a beauty entered the open space. She was wearing the same kind of dress as the man named Kyrel, but she didn''t have any cape on her.


    Her crimson eyes scanned the students and met with Keith. She smiled lightly and shifted her gaze towards Deryn and then back to the man.


    "We have very good talents this year. I see a good future for the blood summoners." She said smilingly.


    "Can we start the class already? I am getting bored." Deryn said with an uncaring voice.


    "You might be Deryn, from the Arji family. I heard you have quite the temper. But you have to follow our rules here, no matter which background you come from. So the class will start when I say so. You understand?" She glared at Deryn.


    He turned his head and scoffed and didn''t look back.


    The lady then turned her head towards Keith.


    "Keith Ennes, I have heard a lot about you. You have a viscount-level warrior frame despite being at the baron stage. You managed to cross the king layer in the orientation. These are some impressive feats. I wonder why you chose to join the blood summoning department.


    "To be honest, I wanted to join the blood esper department, but their tight control over the students was a no-no for me. I wanted to be free of all the surveillance and restrictions. Here I can come and go as I please, except for the class of course." Keith said with a calm voice.


    "I see, you are a type who doesn''t like restrictions. The council will be very displeased when they hear this. Anyhow, you are part of the blood summoning department from now on. So I hope you take this department to new heights."


    " I will just explain how the classes will be done and today there will be no classes. YOu just have to see the demonstrations and follow along if you are capable of it. My name is Jessica Cryel. You can call me Miss. Cryel."


    She opened her hands and a burst of blood-qi expanded and covered the area.


    "As you all come from noble families, you all know how the blood-qi works. It is a type of life energy found in the blood. We condense the blood-qi in our blood core and the higher the blood core, the higher the power. The amount of blood qi that can be stored is also dependent on the level of the blood core.


    "When you learn a blood-qi technique, you use your blood-qi to manipulate in a certain way to achieve a certain result. We will not go into the details. I will explain it all to you later. Today, I will show you the applications of the blood-qi technique associated with blood summoning."


    She condensed her blood-qi and a sphere appeared in front of her. It was glowing red and seemed very dense.


    "This is my blood-qi connected to a summon that resides in my body.  This is the peak of the blood summoning technique, to turn the entire summon into a blood-qi projection.


    "The summon will not lose its sense of self rather it will gain new senses and its mind will develop further. For example, you can tame a wild animal or a domestic animal. We prefer to tame wild animals raised in the blood forests as they have more life energy in them.


    "Then you will spend some time to control their mind, transfer a wisp of blood-qi  and integrate with their blood."

 Chapter 94: Introduction

    The sphere of blood transformed into a two-headed cat with bat wings. One of its heads had two horns while the other head had two fluffy ears like a rabbit. The two cat heads contrasted quite a bit with their distinctly colored eyes.


    The head with horns in it had white eyes while the fluffy eared head had black eyes. The body of the cat was pitch black with dark red glows from its stripes.


    "This is one of my blood summon, in fact, this is my first summon I tamed during my academy days. It is a viscount level blood summon and doesn''t take too much blood-qi to project.


    "You might be thinking what kind of animal is this? This right here is just a normal crimson cat found in the outskirts of the academy. When I first tamed her, she wasn''t that powerful. I did it merely for practice, I had no intention to make it my primary summon.


    "When you first tame an animal of your choice, you send your blood-qi through their blood and try to enter their mind. If you can successfully integrate your blood-qi with their mind without killing them. You pass the first phase."


    Miss. Cryel changed the cat''s appearance to a normal cat that didn''t look intimidating. Its size also decreased by half.


    "When you go through this process, the animal who you bonded with will be intelligent to te foreign blood-qi. You have to slowly permeate the blood qi in small intervals. When the entire body of the animal is filled with your blood-qi, then you can proceed with the second phase.


    "The completion of blood-qi permeation will make the animal significantly powerful and it will be ready for entire integration into your blood core. This phase is extremely difficult and dangerous, not just for the summon, but for the summoner as well. One wrong step, you will lose a lot of blood-qi and as much time to re-accumulate it.


    "That''s why summoners take a lot of time to prepare for the second phase of the integration. You need to be absolutely sure that you can succeed, or you will have to wait for another decade or so to re-accumulate the same amount of blood-qi.


    "This step will take the blood-qi that is inside the blood summon and exchange it with your own blood-qi. Do it until the summon''s mind gets firmly planted in your blood core. Then you have to condense a layer of blood-qi on top of that. This is a little complicated for you to understand so we will stop here."


    She turned her summon into a cloud of red smoke and sucked the blood-qi back to her body.


    "The summon should be able to leave behind its physical body and reside within your blood core like this. That is the completion of the second phase."


    "How were you able to evolve your summon?"


    As she was explaining, a young girl asked.


    "That is the third phase of the blood summoning technique. You have to be patient with the process. Reaching this stage will take you decades. I will be impressed if any of you manage to reach the second stage in five years. Most students only reach the second stage by the end of their seventh year." Miss. Cryel said with a smirk.


    "After your second phase, you will take out your summon only a few times because your blood-qi projection hasn''t been perfected yet. We are no blod espers. We need an external source to project out blood-qi, like a summon."


    "When you get stronger and increase the level of your blood core, you will get more opportunities to tame more animals and integrate their traits into your existing summon. In my case, I added another cat of the same species and a Terrier bat that had very impressive flight capabilities. In the end, you get this hybrid to summon that can do much more than the previous one. The other minds don''t take over and get absorbed by the first mind as it is the most powerful. Does that answer your question?"


    Miss. Cryel looked at the young girl.


    "Yes, I think I somewhat understand the gist of it." The young girl replied.


    "Good, This is all you need to get started with your first summon. Now over the years, the blood summoning department gathered many animals from the blood forest for the first years, and you will start the first phase with them."


    She flicked her rune card and a door opened behind them.


    "Everyone step aside, the wild animals tend to be a little violent." She looked at the door.


    "What is she talking about? These animals can''t be as strong as us. What is there to be afraid of?" One vampire scoffed.


    When the door opens a herd of angry beasts flooded the open space. None of the beasts looked cute as the majority of them were big beasts twice the size of the students.


    "What did you call them again?"


    Another vampire mocked the first one.


    The horde of wild animals attacked the students in groups. Even if they looked very ferocious, they weren''t that powerful. Their life force was only at the first stage baron level.


    Seeing the group of animals attacking the students Keith analyzed their life force and smirked.


    He swung his arm and two animals who jumped on him blasted away to the other end.


    ''They are not that strong. I wonder how we will send our blood-qi to them. We haven''t learned the technique yet.''


    "Just try to tame the beasts with your own power. If they submit to you before the procedure, the first phase will be much smoother." Miss. Cryel said.


    Keith picked an animal that looked like a tiger and grabbed his tail. Seeing the grip on its tail, the animal immediately tried to flee but in the face of Keith''s strength, it couldn''t budge.


    "Just sit here. Don''t make a scene." Keith glared at the animal and it immediately shut up.


    Meanwhile, the others were having a hard time containing the animals. Most of the students were at the middle stage or early stages of baron so subjugating a similar level animal was hard.


    The beasts suddenly realized they couldn''t match the students so they tried to flee.


    Deryn was running behind a wolf-like animal trying to capture it. But the beast was faster than him.


    "Stop there you little! I will roast if you don''t stop." He shouted at the beast.


    The beast couldn''t understand a thing Deryn was saying and kept on running.


    After ten minutes, Miss. Cryel used his rune card to activate a rune and a strong aura stopped all the beasts on their tracks.


    "Time''s up. I can see most of you haven''t even touched a single beast let alone tame them. Here I was thinking you could tame them easily.


    " The beasts that you tamed will be your first summon, and whoever successfully tamed their beasts will get a chance to learn the blood-qi technique first." She looked at Keith and a bunch of others who already tamed their own beast.


    Deryn had managed to tame the beast he was chasing. He was panting heavily, but the beast was well within his grasps.


    "The rest of you, keep working hard until you tame an animal. The faster you tame them, the faster you will learn about the blood-qi technique."


    Miss. Cryel looked at the remaining students who couldn''t tame a beast.


    "The ones who tamed their beast, follow me"


    Miss. Cryel headed to the classroom that was in front of the open space.


    Keith and four other students followed her to the room.


    Entering the room, the first thing they noticed was a big chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It was huge reaching half of the height of the classroom.


    Miss. Cryel walked to the front and sat on the long table that was semi-circular around the chair.


    "Sit. Introduce yourself properly and we will start the lesson." She said.


    After sitting down, the student at the first introduced himself.


    "Mark Heelloy from Croeafelt, Argania. I am honored to learn the blood summoning technique from you."


    The others also quickly introduced themselves and it was Deryn''s turn.


    "The great Deryn Arji, the next king of Argania." He proudly declared.


    Miss. Cryel''s eyebrows fluttered with amusement as she tried to contain her laugh.


    The others including Keith looked at him strangely as if he was mad. It was one thing to dream or speculate over it on your mind, but to say it like that was very brave.


    Keith was also very open optimistic about his growth and he was guilty of this kind of boasting too. He only said it to his grandpa.


    "You really think you can become the next king of Argania?" Miss. Cryel asked.


    "Without a doubt. I have the talent to reach that level and reign supreme over the entire continent."


    Keith was calm, unlike the others who were almost bursting out in laughter. But he was bad-tempered and heir to a powerful family so they didn''t want to upset him.


    "Let''s see how long you can maintain that attitude. I have seen many heirs like you who delude themselves into thinking that they can reach the king stage, but it takes more than talent and resources to advance to the Duke stage, let alone King.


    "Ask your father this, how much did it take for him to reach the duke stage?" She didn''t say anything more to him and moved on to the next student.


    Keith stood up and proceeded to introduce himself.


    "Keith Ennes, from the bergzen territory, Kelgard. I come from a count family that specializes in blood warrior frame. I chose the blood summoning department to further increase my strength using two blood-qi techniques. I am in your care, Miss. Cryel." Keith bowed his head slightly.


    "Very good! I see you learned some manners, unlike a certain arrogant individual."


    She glanced at Deryn who was fuming with rage. Being raised with everything in his palms, the academy treated him like a normal vampire who greatly angered him.


    ''You are just a marquis. How dare you look down on me!'' He emitted killing intent directed towards Miss. Cryel.

 Chapter 95: Personal lessons

    Miss. Cryel felt Deryn''s gaze but chose to ignore him. He won''t listen to her so it was pointless trying to change him.


    Deryn was from a prominent summoner family so she didn''t want to escalate the situation further, at least she didn''t want to directly get involved. If someone else were to challenge him, that would be for the best.


    After the five students introduced themselves, she stood up and put her rune card on the table.


    "Listen to what I say very carefully. Today I will teach you how you can send a wisp of your blood-qi to your tamed summon."


    The wall behind her showed many symbols in sequential order.


    "These are the sequential order of the steps you need to take in order to create a wisp strong and delicate enough to enter the summon''s body successfully without killing it.


    " I will explain the procedure to those who need time to process the symbols."


    At first glance, Keith could tell what was written on the walls. It was the ancient tongue in which all blood-qi techniques are documented.


    As he made sense of the text, a smile appeared on his face. It was a very simple yet tricky technique that needed a different type of insight, unlike warrior frame techniques.


    " The blood-qi is the life energy of the blood with your attribute. When you use blood-qi projection, it only covers a few inches from your body.


    In this technique, you will be able to extend a small part of your blood-qi projection and enter the summon''s body."


    She extended her aura and her blood-qi surrounded her body.


    "In the demonstration, it looked easy to just create a blood-qi wisp, but in reality, it is extremely hard.


    "This technique is not like esper technique where you separate your blood-qi. Instead, you focus on a single point in your body and extend that part.


    These parts of your body will be the pathways that communicate with the summons and extend your influence. So you should focus on a couple of spots instead of spreading it all around your body."


    She shook her hand to show that she chose the palm. The blood-qi above the palm stretched and turned into a cone-like shape. A thin thread came out of the pointy end.


    "You have to focus incredibly hard and practice this posture for a time to make the blood-qi behave like this.


    Then, from the end of the point focus on the edge, try to visualize a thread coming out. The more you focus the thread will come out eventually." Miss. Cryel created a small thread that came out of her palm.


    It was so thin and transparent that anyone could barely perceive it.


    " Let me tell you, I made this wisp thread thick enough for all to see. Master blood summoners can make these threads so thin, even vampires at the high level can''t perceive it."


    Everyone hearing this tried to imagine the blood-qi threads that the high-level blood summoners use. One student couldn''t control his curiosity and asked Miss. Cryel.


    " How high are you talking about? The level of those high stage vampires."


    " Dean Jesper could make threads even Dukes couldn''t detect. The only way to detect these threats is to have an extremely high sense of blood-qi equal to the king." She explained.


    " I will end the class here. Try to practice the technique as much as you can. I want to see who can create blood-qi threads first. Now remember this sequence and try to memorize it." She pointed to the wall behind her.


    Three students stated to imitate the technique described by Miss. Cryel.


    Deryn was still mad at her and only glanced at the blood-qi technique and didn''t try to implement it


    Keith on the other hand was analyzing the symbols and the technique shown by Miss. Cryel.


    [ The symbols are pretty straightforward, but it doesn''t show an accurate picture. After seeing her do this, I''ve copied the technique to its tiniest details.]


    The system declared proudly.


    ''Can you replicate the method? Right now?'' Keith asked with anticipation.


    [ If you want to bamboozle these vampires, then sure.] The system replied.


    ''Just make a small thread and don''t take out the purple tendrils accidentally.''


    The purple tendrils that absorbed energy also resembled a summoning wisp, but they were nothing alike.


    The purple tendrils were like a black hole sucking any type of life energy thrown at it. Only Keith could decide which energy it would absorb.


    The blood summer wisps are extensions of his blood-qi and not independent. They were primarily used to tame the summon''s soul and bond with it.


    As the system gave Keith an understanding of the wisps, Keith grasped the technique easily. It was also because of the purple tendrils that made it easier to implement this technique.


    Keith extended his arm and created a small cone-like shape made of blood-qi.


    Miss. Cryel was so surprised after seeing him casually create the shape after observing her do this.


    " Did you learn this technique beforehand? " She questioned with a doubtful face.


    " No Miss, I just saw you do this. I merely followed your lead. You are such a wonderful teacher. I could do this on the first try." Keith laughed it off.


    This time Deryn was also astonished. He was from a blood summoner family so he knew what it took to learn this technique. Seeing Keith learn it and implement it so quickly made him mad with jealousy and denial.


    He kept denying it until he snapped.


    "This is nothing special. I can do it too." He created a similar wisp but his ring shined softly that implying he used his artifact to create this.


    " Deryn! You are not allowed to use artifacts in the class. I''m afraid I''ll have to abstain you from entering the next class.


    " Why can''t we use artifacts.? They are part of us and act like extra limbs. I think it is an advantage if someone has a better artifact than others." Deryn defended himself.


    "That applies to only the blood ritualists. If you love artifacts so much, why don''t you transfer to the blood ritualist department?


    Miss. Cryel was losing her patience with his unreasonable blabbering.


    " Right, you haven''t been selected for the department. So shut up and follow the rules, or else I will ask the dean to see you personally " She glared at Deryn.


    Hearing dean Jesper''s name Deryn calmed down considerably. It was well known within the faculty that dean Jesper and Duke Arji were classmates. They were at the same stage and shared a healthy rivalry.


    Deryn wasn''t afraid of anyone even if they were faculty, but dean Jesper was very close to his father. He could effectively punish him without an issue and his father won''t interfere.


    Seeing that Deryn went back to being calm, she went back to her seat. She glanced at Keith and asked with an eager face.


    " I can see you have great talent in blood-qi manipulation of any discipline. I would like to personally train you. How would you like that?" Miss. Cryel asked with expectant eyes.


    ''This is a good opportunity. I can scan all the techniques perfectly and implement them relatively quickly.''


    " That would be an honor, Miss." Keith bowed his head.


    "But I must tell you, these personal lessons will be during the usual class, I can''t give you extra time, as it will hinder other''s learning.


    " I understand. I will make the best of those times."


    '' And copy all the techniques you will show me.'' Keith inwardly rejoiced.


    After that, Miss. Cryel dismissed the class and the five students left the classroom.


    When they came out, the other students struggling with the wild animals glanced at them with envy.


    They were upset about not learning the blood-qi technique in their first class. Still, they couldn''t just get out of this situation.


    They had to subjugate the beasts first in order to learn the blood-qi technique. The rest of the students went back to subjugating the beasts.


    Keith didn''t bother to stay inside and left the blood summoning department. It was still afternoon, so he went to the blood warrior training facility to practice his warrior frame.


    There he met up with Garion and Sen who were happy to see him again.


    "Did you choose the blood warrior department?" Garion asked Keith.


    The last date for the final decision was yesterday and he was here. Garion guessed that Keith had joined the blood warrior department.


    "I''ve joined the blood summoning department. I have an agreement with Mr. Visit and the dean of the blood warrior department so I can still come here despite joining another department.


    This way, I can learn two disciplines at once. Isn''t that amazing?" Keith replied with a proud face.


    "How did you do this?" Sen asked in disbelief.


    "I am a genius after all. All of the departments are fighting against themselves to make me join."


    Garion laughed out loud after hearing Keith''s boast.


    "It was a good decision afterall, to follow you. I knew it. You are not some ordinary genius."


    Keith joined in with the laughter and Sen looked more determine as ever. The trio looked like they were getting along.


    "It was a good decision afterall, to follow you. I knew it. You are not some ordinary genius."


    Keith joined in with the laughter and Sen looked more determine as ever. The trio looked like they were getting along.

 Chapter 96: Progress

    "One... Two... Three..."


    "Haah!"


    Keith was practicing his warrior frame with the duo. Garion was enforcing his warrior frame and Keith was using his strength trying to penetrate it.


    After the fifth punch, the layer of blood-qi dissipated. Sen couldn''t withstand Keith''s second punch and was blown away as a result.


    Garion looked exhausted and tired after the fifth punch.


    "25% to be exact."


    Keith wanted to accurately assess their strength against his own. While they used their warrior frames, Keith used his blood-qi to attack them.


    He started off with 5 percent of his power and it was easily blocked by Garion. He was at the same blood core level as him, but Keith had a higher blood-qi density, which resulted in more explosive power.


    The second punch was also blocked relatively easily and had no impact on Garion. From the third punch itself, Garion showed signs of struggle.


    And the fourth punch was enough to shake him from the ground. The current punch was Keith''s 25% power. He also had to take into account his warrior frame which gave him a massive boost for staying idle.


    Even if he didn''t activate the warrior frame, just staying idle and providing him with an ample amount of blood-qi comparable to final stage viscounts, his strength was very high.


    If he were to fully activate his warrior frame, it would reach the power of early-stage count.


    The amount of blood-qi in use was the same at both times. When the warrior frame is deactivated, it only provides blood-qi to the blood core and acts as a quasi-blood core.


    When the warrior frame is activated, however, the strength and defense increase and it utilizes the blood-qi for itself. That time the battle strength rises due to the active power generated by the warrior frame and its integration with the Martial arts.


    Keith relaxed his muscles and approached Garion.


    "You did well. Don''t worry, the strength I used was the same as an early-stage viscount, so you don''t have to feel bad. Your blood-qi is way lower, so it was impressive that you can block these attacks."


    Keith patted his shoulders.


    "Impressive is not enough. I want to be exceptional. I want to become even stronger to challenge the main family." Garion spat with a determined face.


    "You will. Trust me, once we steal that blood-qi technique, your growth will be boundless, so will yours." Keith turned his head and smiled at Sen who was looking rather disappointed.


    "I am not even able to withstand a single punch from you, how am I supposed to beat him? I can''t even beat Garion." Sen looked down silently.


    "You are not hopeless, considering you have a good base. The problem is your technique is not implemented well. I will have to analyze and come up with a revised frame that you can implement easily.


    "Secondly, your blood-qi level is abysmally low. You are a middle-stage baron but your blood-qi is barely qualified for that. I misunderstood you for an early stage baron at first sight, if not for my special technique that scanned your blood core. So don''t lose hope yet. Maybe your warrior frame is faulty and that''s why you can''t use your blood-qi to its full potential." Keith assured him.


    "Then analyze my warrior frame. I want to practice the revised warrior frame." Sen said enthusiastically to Keith.


    "Don''t worry. It won''t take much time as it did with Garion. Your warrior frame is not that advanced. Active your warrior frame and relax your mind." Keith touched his shoulder and started scanning his physique.


    Sen did what Keith had said, and activated his warrior frame to its maximum power.


    ''So, did you find any irregularities?''


    [Hmm.. his warrior frame is full of missing joints. His implementation is completely off. I wonder how he could even keep it running for this long. His warrior frame should be breaking from all these wrong joints.]


    ''It''s that bad?'' Keith asked with a voice full of pity.


    [ You should''ve analyzed his warrior frame first. He needs a revised warrior frame soon or his physique will suffer greatly. You can see how he is barely holding on to his blood-qi with the faulty implementation.]


    ''Just decode the warrior frame and fix the issue as much as you can.''


    Keith looked at Sen who was rather enthusiastic.


    "I''ve scanned your warrior frame. I just need some time to fix the issues with your implementation. I have to say, you are in a very dire strait. Barely surviving. If you used that faulty warrior frame implementation, your days of being a blood warrior would be numbered." Keith said.


    "But, now that I''m here, you don''t have to worry about that. I will fix your implementation and you will be reborn. You will feel as if you''re in a completely new body, full of energy."


    Hearing his assurance, Sen was back to his determined expression. He kept his warrior frame running steady and didn''t even budge from his spot.


    Meanwhile, Garion was quietly looking at the duo and smiled. He was very happy that both of them had met Keith. Their start was rather bumpy but they quickly resolved the conflict and formed a good relationship with him.


    Garion himself chose to follow him after implementing the revised warrior frame technique given by Keith. It was without a doubt, a great increase to his overall strength and endurance. He was really grateful to Keith for doing this for him.


    It didn''t matter to him if Keith had ulterior motives for doing this. Without him, he could never grow as fast. So he didn''t choose to follow him because he did this to him, rather the future possibilities Garion could have of he decided to follow him.


    Keith was a once-in-a-generation genius. Even if he laughed and joked like them. He was nothing like them. Inside that friendly face of his, a determined and ferocious beast was hiding.


    He was cunning and used the worst situation to his advantage. He used them to lure more students, but it was incredibly helpful to them as well. Garion couldn''t imagine a single Vampire doing this even in exchange for a fortune.


    After a while, Keith retracted his hands from Sen''s shoulder and stood up.


    "You are all set. I will give you a revised frame tomorrow on a scroll. Now you should rest and don''t practice for the day. You, Garion, practice your warrior frame like always. I''m off to my room."


    Keith walked out of the training room and left the facility.


    Back in the training room, Garion asked Sen about Keith. How he felt about him.


    "I misjudged him, it was my fault. I can see now, how stupid I was. Thanks for bringing me back to the right track." Sen looked at Garion with gratitude.


    " don''t thank me. I told you what is best for you. It was your decision in the end. You are a good kid, just sometimes you tend to deviate." Garion. Ruffled his hair and turned back.


    "As he said, sit back and relax. Or just watch me practice, maybe you''ll learn a thing or two."


    Garion dashed to the middle and activated his warrior frame, swinging his arms swiftly in a different orientation. Soon his figure turned into a mirage and his swings became more refined.


    He couldn''t do this before as his implementation was faulty. Now¡­


    ''So this is the improvement he''s made after practicing the revised warrior frame.'' Sen looked in awe as Garion performed his martial arts.


    ***


    Keith returned to his room and brought another flower of that tiny plant. As he returned to his room, the entire room was shining like they were brand new.


    His room was already looked perfect, but seeing the glittering surface of the furniture and floor, Keith was impressed.


    "Young master, do you like what I''ve done to your room?" Rena asked from behind.


    "You did all this," Keith asked, turning back.


    Rena nodded fervently.


    She looked full of energy and didn''t look tired at all.


    "This is very good. I haven''t seen a cleaner room in my life. You really outdid yourself." Keith praised her.


    "Thank you, young master. But that''s not the best thing. I don''t feel anything after doing all the work. I feel like I did nothing after waking up. No, even that couldn''t explain this. That''s how good I feel." Rena replied.


    "Here, I brought you another flower. Now that I know it doesn''t do anything funny and dangerous to your body, I can rest assured. Consume it before going to sleep and¡­"


    Keith stopped for a second.


    "And what?" Rena asked back.


    "Nothing, just don''t leave your room after eating this," Keith warned her.


    "Okay, young master."


    "Now, go back. I will condense blood-qi now. Bring my dinner when it''s time." Keith excused her.


    Rena left his room with a face full of smiles.


    Keith sat on his bed and took out a scroll. He inscribed the scroll with the revised warrior frame technique.


    After finishing the inscription, he put the scroll aside and started to condense blood-qi.


    That night, he stood in front of Rena''s room and locked it from the outside, and went back to his room after she fell asleep.

 Chapter 97: Changes

    [ I told you she has a special physique.]


    ''She didn''t act weirdly at all. Her heartbeat went up for a while, but that was it. She controlled it afterwards.'' Keith thought.


    [We need to give her two flowers from now on to see how she will react.]


    ''I told you. We are doing this in a safe manner and I won''t give her more than one flower. Even if she doesn''t feel anything, it''s still risky. And the flowers will run out soon. We can''t just pluck all the flowers out of the tree.'' Keith objected to the system''s idea.


    Creak!


    "Young master! You didn''t sleep last night?" Rena walked inside with a glass of blood.


    She looked more cheerful with an incredible fettle, with an aura of confidence around her.


    "I don''t need sleep, don''t you know? By the way, how do you feel? I can see your body is in excellent condition." Keith inquired.


    "I ate that flower as you said and after I woke up, my entire body was brimming with energy. What is this magical flower? I''ve never felt better as I do right now. I can run through the entire Ennes castle and won''t break a sweat." Rena replied nonchalantly.


    "Do you feel anything except that?" Keith asked carefully.


    "Not particularly. There was that odd sensation after consuming the flower but I immediately suppressed it or I would''ve made a fool  out of myself." Rena replied shyly.


    "Then there is nothing wrong. It appears you have a special body and somehow you can absorb more life energy than regular humans. Did something like this ever happen to you in the Ennes castle?"


    Rena thought long and hard about her time at the castle, but nothing came to her mind.


    "I am an orphan and don''t know much about my parents. I was raised in Ennes castle and I have no recollection of something extraordinary happening to me. My entire life has been simple and repetitive." Rena replied with a thoughtful gaze.


    "Maybe, you haven''t been exposed to this kind of energy before. There is nothing else except for blood-qi in our region. These kinds of exotic plants are a rarity even in the capital."


    Keith didn''t know why Rena was different from other humans, but it was evident that she didn''t encounter any extraordinary events in her life. She was raised in the Ennes castle and then she became a maid when she turned thirteen. Coincidently, nobody wanted such a flimsy and weak human as a maid, so she was assigned to Keith as a result.


    "Rena, I want you to consume one flower each day and tell me the results the next morning. I need to confirm this. If you have a special physique I have to figure it out somehow." Keith said.


    "You are going to give me these flowers indefinitely? Are they not rare?" Rena asked with a concerned face.


    She thought it was kind of a one-off thing that she consumed for a day or two. To use these precious flowers every day, she wondered where Keith brought them from.


    "Don''t worry. I found them in the forest. I have a limited supply, probably enough for around three weeks. By then, your physique would be brimming with energy."


    "Young master, when I become strong enough, I can protect you right?" Rena looked at Keith enthusiastically.


    "Umm... If you can become as strong as me then sure... I don''t have to worry about your safety all the time. Maybe you can tag along with me to the blood forest." Keith casually said.


    Reaching the same level as Keith was almost impossible for a human. Humans didn''t have any means to store life energy within their body, unlike vampires who acquire the blood-qi from birth.


    The plant also had limited life energy that could increase the life energy inside her to the level of the seventh or eighth stage of blood condensing, which in the academy didn''t mean much. Even barons were commonplace on the campus so a slightly strong human was not eye-catching.


    Also, he didn''t know if he could find more plants like this one. It was planted several decades ago and didn''t even reach the height of his pinky. So finding such a rare plant was harder than finding bloodstones.


    "Don''t think about that now. It will only stress you out. Our strength differs by a lot and to reach my stage you would need thousands of flowers like this." Keith reminded her.


    "I haven''t seen the blood forest my entire life, I would love to take a stroll with you. How can I not imagine? I don''t have much to do these days except run around the place. I know it''s too much to ask for humans, but I wish to explore the world as you do." Rena blurted out.


    "You don''t seem to realize how dangerous the blood forest and the outside world are. The beasts living there can kill you in seconds. It''s hard for barons to contain them. If it was not for the academy guarding the beasts, we would be swarmed by wild beasts by now."


    "It''s the reality¡­ Humans are too weak to do anything outside their safe space. It''s a slaughterhouse outside. You know why humans stay in restricted zones. Because if a vampire sees them outside they will hunt them down. Keeping them in one place and guarding them, saves them from outsiders.


    "Here, you are under me like the servants brought by other students. You are safe because you are associated with us. If you take one step outside the academy, no one would recognize you. Well, technically, getting out of the residential place is enough to put you in danger." Keith explained.


    "But I can get stronger, won''t I? At least enough to not hinder your actions." Rena said hopefully.


    "Maybe... Someday. Not now though. You are like a fly to the vampires."


    "I know my place. I was just expressing my hopes for the future. You don''t have to think so hard about me. It''s alright, I have always found peace by your side. As long as you don''t abandon me, I am happy."


    "Oh¡­ Okay, I might have to leave you in Ennes castle for better protection." Keith added sarcastically.


    "Young master!" Rena almost teared up.


    "I was kidding¡­. It was a joke." Keith coughed.


    "Then I will ask Master Ennes to send you vials of my blood after I offer myself to be turned into your personal blood bank," Rena replied seriously.


    "¡­" Keith stared at her with panic.


    "What? I can''t joke?" Rena wiped the slight tears from her eyes and pouted.


    "That seemed a bit serious to be a joke," Keith said.


    "Well, I don''t have anything better to do and contribute to you, so¡­"


    "Alright, let''s forget about that discussion. I need to go to the training facility. You go back to your room and finish what you have to do."


    Keith walked outside of his room with Rena. She went back to her room and Keith headed to the training facility.


    It was still morning, and he didn''t receive any messages regarding the blood summoning class. He thought about practicing with the duo in the training facility before going to the blood summoning class.


    He arrived at the usual spot where they used to practice and the duo was still there. Sen was quietly watching Garion, who was practicing his warrior frame and displaying his superior martial arts synergy.


    "You guys were here the entire night?" Keith asked.


    "No, we left for a short break but returned around two in the morning. And what about the night? Students usually don''t leave the training center for days. Rarely anyone stays at their place at night. You are in your first year, so you haven''t gotten used to it yet." Garion appeared in front of Keith and explained.  He was dripping with sweat after the intense practice.


    "That''s why I don''t find any students in my residential building most of the time. Still, I like to go back to my room to condense in peace." Keith shrugged.


    As he looked at Garion, he noticed that his warrior frame is perfectly implemented and his output has increased a lot. Because of that, he could take his martial arts to the next level. Before this, his speed was very slow due to the wrong implementation.


    Now, however, he could get much better speed with the revised warrior frame. His efficiency went up significantly. With better implementation, Garion could increase his speed with that explosive strength, which was holding him back.


    He glanced at Sen who was looking at him expectantly.  Kieth took out the scroll from his chest pocket and threw it to him.


    "It''s all here. Try it now and see the difference." Keith pointed to the scroll.


    Before Keith could finish, Sen tore the sealing and opened the scroll. He read through the instructions and the revised blood warrior frame and immediately closed his eyes. He calmed his mind and focused seriously on his warrior frame.


    He looked for the places where warrior frame joints were supposed to be and started condensing blood-qi to create new joints. He followed the instructions written on the scroll step by step and in an hour, he fixed most of his empty joints.


    Keith and Garion watched the transformation of Sen as his blood-qi rose to the peak of middle stage baron. Only Keith could see what exactly was going on inside Sen''s body.

 Chapter 98: Let me tell you

    Sen implemented the revised warrior frame and the blood-qi that was holding him back, freed from the meridians. His faulty implementation was making his blood-qi clog.


    After he finished condensing his last joint, his warrior frame repaired the damage that was done and he could instantly feel the surging energy flowing through his body.


    "It worked. I really had a faulty implementation." Sen rejoiced as he clenched his fist to feel the surging blood-qi.


    He turned around and looked at Keith with gratitude and respect. Now, he could understand why Garion was so emotional after implementing his warrior frame. From their perspective, it was a miracle. And the one that made this miracle possible was Keith.


    So naturally, Garion couldn''t let this opportunity go and chose to follow him. It was a mix of gratitude, respect, and hope for the future. Sen had no doubt and his eyes were open completely. He tried and did believe in Garion, but he didn''t experience it himself, so there was a dwindling feeling that it might not work. That feeling was completely replaced with unfazed belief.


    "How''s your new warrior frame?" Garion asked after sensing Sen''s increased blood-qi level.


    "I feel a lot stronger now. It was really a great boost in power. Brother Keith, I am sorry for saying all those things to you. I am deeply ashamed of myself." Sen answered Garion''s question and bowed his head to Keith.


    "That was a misunderstanding, but you did the right thing by listening to Garion, so it''s fine. I''ve already forgiven you." Keith said calmly.


    "Let''s test it now. I want to see how much you''ve improved." Garion stepped forward, cracking his fingers.


    "I just finished condensing my missing joints. I don''t think¡­"  Sen tried to make an excuse.


    "Then you need some warm-up to settle all the excess blood-qi. It needs some stimulation." Garion walked towards Sen with a smirk.


    "Wait, that is not a real thing¡­ What stimulation?" Sen staggered back.


    "Oh come on! I won''t use my full power." Garion activated his warrior frame to its maximum power.


    He was really frustrated by getting beaten up by Keith so he wanted to play with Sen. If Keith didn''t specifically instruct Sen to not use his warrior frame, Garion would''ve fought with him yesterday.


    Sen couldn''t see any way out of the situation. He fixed his stance and activated his warrior frame and put all his blood-qi into it. A sharp aura expanded from his body.


    "See, you are adapting to it as well."


    Garion dashed forward with his right arm shooting forward.  Sen tried to dodge but Garion''s speed was improved after he implemented the revised warrior frame. With a loud bang, Garion''s fist clashed with Sen''s both hands crossed together.


    "Arghh!" Sen slid back a couple of meters after the impact.


    Garion was without a doubt a walking tank and his speed was the only thing that was holding him back. As he caught up at his peak speed, Garion could utilize his momentum to throw such powerful punches, his enemies had no time to block unless they were higher stage vampires than him.


    "I am no match for you¡­" Sen wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed.


    "You blocked my punch. It wasn''t my full power, but it was around 70% of my output. So you are doing good. Before this, you couldn''t even take a single punch from me without getting blown away." Garion smiled.


    "Hmm¡­ You got a point. I feel much stronger. I think I need some time to adapt to the changes." Sen opened and closed his fist.


    "Let''s go for round two.." Garion declared.


    Keith was watching the show from the sidelines with an amusing expression. His plan was taking effect very well. He convinced these two of his special ability to improve the warrior frame. All he needed was to showcase their strength and wait for the other students to come to him.


    This way he could analyze many more warrior frames and copy their technique. It was a great plan that would make him money and help him increase his strength if he could find a complementing technique, which he was sure he would get.


    There were so many students and he needed one warrior frame that was compatible with him. These were the best vampires on the continent. So if he couldn''t find what he was looking for here, he won''t find it anywhere else.


    As the duo was fighting, a lot of eyes were on them. These two took the fight to the center of the training chamber which was visible from all sides. After seeing Sen, holding up against Garion, many students showed great interest. They also wanted to know how he increased his strength, so they keenly observed the fight.


    Keith stood there calmly and observed the show.


    Two hours later many students were swarming Garion and Sen, asking about their growth. Garion proudly told them about Keith and how he found the faults in his technique and implementation and helped him fix them.


    Sen did the same and even vouched with his life which further solidified the student''s trust. Many students even approached Keith in order to get their warrior frames analyzed. Keith was running late for his blood summoning class so he left the training facility early. However, he did pick some students to analyze their warrior frame later.


    ***


    "We have ten more students for the second class, so a total of fifteen students."


    Miss Cryel repeated the same and listened to the introductions of the new students. She then briefly explained the blood-qi technique and left the students to implement it. The five students who attended the first class also stayed there.


    "Keith, come with me."  She called him out.


    Keith obediently followed her and left the room from the back door. He received some envious gazes and a hateful gaze, he was sure was emanating from Deryn.


    After he exited from the back door and followed her to a circular room. It was an empty room with no special decoration. The walls looked bland and there was a stone door on the other side.


    "What is this place, Miss?" Keith asked.


    "This is the place where you will train your summon. I brought your tamed beast here, so you can try to use the blood-qi technique and bond with it."


    The stone door opened and the tiger-like beast that  Keith tamed entered the room. When it saw Keith, it instantly became timid and tried to walk in the opposite direction.


    "You tamed him well. I''m sure your technique will work on him. Now, go bring him here."


    Keith''s figure flickered and he appeared in front of the beast that was trying to run away. He patted the beast''s head and the nervousness of the best went away. He was much calmer now.


    He activated the summoning technique and extended a wisp out of his palm and tried to penetrate the beast''s body.


    Miss Cryel silently observed the scene and didn''t utter a sound. She was also curious to see the result.


    The beast shook violently after the wisp entered its body and his body''s temperature rose.


    "What is happening? Am I doing something wrong?" Keith looked towards Miss Cryel.


    Miss Cryel sighed and explained.


    "I was curious to see if you could tame the beast in one go. It would''ve been possible if you learned the technique before but it turns out you were telling the truth. You learned it yesterday. It is even more astonishing." She said while massaging her forehead.


    "I told you. I saw the technique for the first time. And it naturally came to me. I didn''t learn it before" Keith shrugged.


    "Alright, enough with the pretense. I will tell you what you need to do to properly tame and bond with that beast."


    Keith listened to her next words very carefully.


    "You are using too much blood-qi for the penetration. For the first attempt, you need to use as little blood-qi possible to safely enter the beast''s body. If the amount is too low to enter, increase it bit by bit.


    "So always start with the lowest amount of blood-qi and then increase it slowly."


    Kieth did use very little blood-qi, but it was not the lowest he could go. He didn''t know how much blood-qi was needed to enter the beast''s body safely without harming him.


    "I understand." Keith lowered his blood-qi output to the lowest level possible and tried to enter the beast''s body again.


    The wisp made its way through the beast''s head and this time it didn''t create any side effects. The beast was behaving like normal and the wisp went through easily.


    When Keith found the brain of the beast, he looked towards Miss Cryel again.


    "You entered the beast with the first try. How much blood-qi did you use?" She asked.


    "I used the minimum I could exert. I didn''t think it will enter. I arrived near its brain, so what now?"

 Chapter 99: Feels like Surgery

    Miss Cryel rolled her eyes and tried not to stress her mind. In a way, she was happy that such a talented student had joined the blood summoning department.


    " I didn''t know you were also well versed in anatomy. This kind of information is usually known by blood ritualist students. Are you secretly taking classes there?" She asked in a teasing manner.


    "I thought it was common knowledge. Anyway, I can''t hold my wisp for much longer... Care to tell me the next step?" Keith urged.


    "Can you feel the central life force? If your wisp is near its brain, the life energy should be detectable."


    Keith nodded in response.


    "Use your wisp to attack the lower stem of the brain where the life energy is connected to the central nervous system. Cover the stem and inject your blood-qi slowly to separate the brain from the rest of the body." She instructed.


    "Isn''t that going to kill the beast?" Keith asked with some doubt.


    "Not if you do it properly. You have to adjust the blood-qi like you did when you penetrated the wisp into the beast''s body."


    "Can I get a practical demonstration? I''m afraid I will mess it up." Keith pretended to be confused.


    "Just try it once, if the beast dies, I will get you another one." She insisted.


    "I really like this beast¡­ I don''t want to kill it by accident. Can you just show me how it''s done so I can do it safely the first time?" Kieth didn''t back down.


    "Argh! Whatever." Miss Cryel tapped her rune card and a door behind her opened and a dozen bats came out of that door.


    These bats were larger than regular bats but not by much. The most prominent thing about these bats was that they could fly at incredible speeds.


    Still, they were no match for Miss Cryel as she picked them while standing at her spot. She used some kind of blood-qi technique to restrain and bind one bat and the others quickly fled the room seeing the struggling bat.


    As the rest of the bats went back inside the door, she used her rune card again to close the door.


    "They are trained like that. So every time this happens, they go back to their cave."


    Miss Cryel pulled the bat that was stuck to her invisible wisp threads and brought it closer. She put her index finger on the bat''s head and sent out a thin wisp which was visible to Keith.


    When Keith first saw the blood-qi technique, he could sense the blood-qi extend to the surroundings but not their exact position. He couldn''t see the wisp threads until she intentionally revealed it now.


    Keith watched the technique unfold and told the system to document and copy it properly. The system was also busy and keenly observing the technique.


    She used her wisps to enter the bat''s head and quickly found its way to the stem under the brain. She then proceeded to wrap the stem with her wisp slowly and gently. She applied more blood-qi and the connection between the brain and the body severed.


    "This is a delicate state, and if you hastily take out your wisp,  it will instantly kill the beast. You have to inject your own blood-qi to the brain and replace all the life energy with your own blood-qi."


    "That''s how the brain gets our blood-qi and its mind will be attached to the blood-qi, instead of its life energy." Keith pieced everything together.


    "There is more. After you fill-up the head with your blood-qi, you need to create a barrier, to separate the life energy and other sources of blood-qi to contaminate it. So keep the beast with yourself and don''t let other vampires come near it. It might disrupt the flow of your blood-qi." Miss Cryel warned him.


    "But aren''t you here with me?"


    "High-level blood summoners can control their aura so it doesn''t leak to the beasts. Other departments can also suppress their aura, but they don''t know your circumstance. Even if they leak a slight aura without knowing, the blood-qi could still enter the beast''s system."


    "Alright, I will keep that in mind." Keith nodded his head slightly.


    "Now that you''ve observed how I did it, I want you to try it." She let go of the bat and it flew around her head and landed on her shoulder.


    "You replaced its entire blood-qi so quickly," Keith said with a surprised expression.


    "It is a small beast with barely any life energy. I could do the same with your beast too." She smiled.


    Keith turned his head and patted the beast, sliding his hand through its neck. He was trying to relax the beast before attempting to disconnect its brain from the body.


    ''Oh god! This feels like surgery. Hey, did you copy the whole technique?'' Keith asked the system.


    [The analysis is complete. She didn''t hide the entire process, but nothing profound was used. It was similar to her explanation, only her control over the blood-qi was very good. This controlled release of blood-qi will help us properly do this.]


    ''Then, shall we begin?''


    Keith extended his aura and took out a thin wisp that entered the beast through his index finger. The wisp traversed the head and arrived at the spot that Keith was looking for. The stem of the brain. He wrapped the stem with his wisp and the system assisted him with calibrating the amount of blood-qi required for the technique.


    Finally, the wisp completely covered the stem and it was time to separate the brain from the body.


    "Very good. You are doing it perfectly. Now inject your blood-qi slowly into the wisp." Miss Cryel, who was observing Keith''s progress, instructed the next steps.


    Kieth carefully exerted his blood-qi to the wisp. He used the lowest amount of blood-qi he could transfer and the system increased it one unit at a time. The system was way more accurate in terms of control, so it took the minimum amount of blood-qi as a measurement and increased it slowly.


    The brain of the beast started to fill up with Keith''s blood-qi. The beast was calm and didn''t notice any difference, which was another indication that the implementation of the technique was a success.


    But it was far from over. He had to stay there and inject blood-qi until the entire brain was filled with his blood-qi. He sat there, in front of the beast and sent his blood-qi without stopping. With the system''s aid, he could inject blood-qi continuously without breaking his concentration.


    Miss Cryel watched him silently, but after some time she used her rune card to open the door and left the room without making a sound. The room was soundproof and Keith couldn''t hear anything from the inside.


    The process needed a long time to complete and Keith didn''t open his eyes even when he sensed Miss Cryel leaving the room.


    On the outside, Two figures were watching Keith from a screen-like artifact that showed what was happening inside the circular room. Miss Cryel was with Kyrel, the physical instructor of the first-year students.


    "What do you think?" She asked her colleague.


    "He is incredible. To perfectly perform this step and without failing once. I am seriously amazed. Are you sure he''s not using any hidden artifacts?" He asked.


    "I''ve checked with all the available scanners inside the room. He doesn''t have a single artifact on him." She replied with a smirk.


    Kyrel''s gaze intensified after hearing this and he observed Keith with an even greater interest.


    Back inside the circular room, Kieth was focused on filling up the beast''s brain with his own blood-qi. He already completed a quarter of the process.


    It looked way more difficult than he initially thought. Seeing Miss. Cryel do it so fast made him think it was not that difficult. But now that he attempted to do it himself, he realized how hard it was.


    ''I am no doctor, but I think I can understand how they must be feeling while doing delicate surgeries. This is really stressful.'' Kieth thought to himself.


    [ Are you forgetting who is helping you? Without me, you couldn''t even perform the first step.]


    ''Say what you want, but you are under me. Everything you do is for me and I take that as my own achievement.'' Keith said.


    [...]


    ''I haven''t forgotten what you''ve done to me. Now that we became so close, do you think I will trust you more? Dream on.''


    [ Forget it. You are still a child, so you can''t understand how desperate I was to leave the world. I recognize it was my fault, but considering that you were smaller than an ant to me, it was natural for me to not care for you. Do you look at the ground when you step on ants? I don''t think so.]


    ''Well, you are under an ant now, so deal with it.''


    As they quarreled inside the head, the blood-qi was filling up and replacing the life energy of the beast.

 Chapter 100: A Name?

    [ The life energy is completely replaced. Now I need to make a blood-qi barrier around the brain, so it doesn''t get contaminated with other life energy.]


    ''Finally!'' Keith sighed with relief and opened his eyes.


    The room was silent and Miss Cryel haven''t returned. He was the only one inside the room in addition to the beast. Keith held the beast in his hands and it silently sat there.


    "It doesn''t even know I''m taking over his mind."


    [Well, his mind will stay intact. It''s just that the energy it will be running on will be your blood-qi. You''re essentially its source of power. So in a sense, it''s bound to you.]


    ''This is just the first phase, I need to take it with me and circulate my blood-qi throughout the beast''s body.'' Kieth said with an exhausted voice.


    [The complete integration of the brain will take some time. Then you can proceed to inject more blood-qi into its body. I will monitor the changes and tell you when it''s time.]


    The system copied the technique from Miss Cryel, so it easily followed the steps and safely created a blood-qi barrier covering the brain that was now running on Keith''s blood-qi.


    The beast didn''t feel any different from before, only a slight change in color in the eyes that looked a light shade of red. It stood up and circled around Keith.


    "I am your master now," Keith said to the beast.


    Because of the bond carried by blood-qi, the beast could understand the underlying meaning and intention of Keith. It showed reluctance but the process was complete and it felt as if Keith smelled familiar.


    "Let''s test out how much control I have over you. Attack me with everything you''ve got." Kieth ordered the beast.


    The beast understood the intention and looked at Keith nervously. It knew Keith was powerful and how he didn''t use any effort to restrain him. So it couldn''t understand why he wanted to be attacked when the beast was weaker. The beast thought Kieth would use him as a punching bag.


    "You may be a decent summon, but you are very timid. I won''t beat you up, I''m just testing your strength." Keith gestured his hands to the beast.


    The beast made a growling sound and jumped at Keith. Its sharp claws came out and directed towards him. When it was sure Keith wouldn''t beat him up, the beast showed its incredible ferocity.


    Kieth stood there analyzing the changes brought by the swap of life energy. The beast''s overall strength increased slightly due to the blood-qi and the speed was a little bit faster. Overall, the beast experienced decent growth.


    "The strength is near the middle stage of baron, and if I replace the entire life energy with my blood-qi and circulate it throughout its body, It''s strength will reach the viscount level." Keith pondered.


    Clap! Clap! Clap!


    "You are worthy of all the praise you''ve been receiving. From the orientation, every faculty was curious about your performance, but now seeing you learn so fast, I can''t wait to see the faces of the other department faculty¡­ Hahaha!"  A male voice was heard from the entrance.


    Miss Cryel entered the room with Kyrel.


    "Miss Cryel, Mr. Heave.  I finished the first stage and the beast has no side effects. It''s completely healthy and the strength also increased by a decent amount." Keith said after seeing both of them.


    "Yeah, we can see that. The beast has indeed gotten stronger. Congratulations on your first successful summon. I think we should wrap it up for today. You look exhausted and for a second class, you did exceptionally well."


    "Thank you Miss Cryel. If it wasn''t for you, I couldn''t have done it."


    ''Literally.'' Kieth thought to himself.


    "Oh, stop with the flattery. I know you have great talent and fortitude to learn complicated concepts, so I am counting on you to keep up with my pace." Miss Cryel said with an amused voice. She dismissed Kieth''s praise with a gesture.


    "You can leave now. We have to go attend to the other students as well. Even though you are a genius, we need to give time to other students as well. Also, take the beast with you. There will be some prying eyes, which is good. It will be a good show off for the blood summoning department."


    "Then, I will take my leave." Keith sent the beast a message with his mind and it instantly came back to him. As he left the room, the beast followed him as well.


    "Let''s go. After handling the other students, we will brief dean Jesper about today''s events. He will surely like it."


    Miss Cryel and Mr. Heave left the room as well and headed to the classroom.


    Keith was happy that he acquired the blood summoning technique''s first phase, and was able to bond with a beast. He was making progress in terms of learning blood-qi techniques and it complemented him.


    The summon was great for support against multiple enemies and even on a one-on-one fight. It could help him restrain someone from the other side and when it is properly integrated to him, it will be quite a surprise to the enemies.


    He was primarily a warrior frame user and enemies will never think he will release a summon. Only the students who know that he had joined the blood summoning department will be aware of his arsenal.


    Even then, they couldn''t estimate the level of power the summon had. From their perspective, the blood-qi of Kieth was limited, and he couldn''t divide it between two blood-qi techniques.


    ''Maybe it''s a good thing if they underestimate my strength.'' Keith thought.


    As he walked out of the blood summoning department building, it was already evening. He spent more than six hours in that chamber trying to bond with the beast.


    ''Should I go to the training facility or go back to my room?''


    [You should return to your room, and keep the summon there. The blood-qi just settled in. We don''t want other blood-qi to interfere with it.  Keep the beast in your room until it is fully bonded with you.] The system replied.


    ''I think I''ll go with that. Rena could use some security. This beast is plenty strong and can handle final stage barons as well if the situation is dire.'' Keith nodded in agreement.


    Many students gazed curiously at Keith as he strolled across the corridor. The beast''s height was around his shoulder and the large frame and long body gave an intimidating feeling.


    It also had the strength to back it up and the energy coming off of it was similar to a middle stage baron. So all the students looked at the beast curiously. They guessed that Keith was a student of the blood summoning department.


    As the first-year students joined recently, they thought he was not a first-year as he already bonded with the beast. They didn''t bother him and walked out of his way.


    Keith reached his residential building with no issues. Some students asked him about the beast and were surprised after sensing its strength. First-year students could recognize him and kept their distance as they felt intimidated by the beast. Keith had a fun time scaring the early-stage barons.


    "I want to complete the next phase already. When the beast reaches the viscount level, I want to take it for a stroll in the campus." Keith thought with a smirk.


    "Young master! Kyaahh!"


    Rena who saw Keith enter through the main door, staggered back as she saw the big tiger-like beast enter from behind.


    "What? What is that?" Rena shouted after pointing to the beast.


    "Oh! I forgot about him. He''s my new summon." Keith said nonchalantly.


    "A¡­summon¡­" Rena looked confused.


    "I have to tell you all about the vampire disciplines it seems. Or you will be surprised every other day I return."


    The beast looked at Rena curiously and it could see that it was a harmless human. In his eyes, she was just meat.


    "Hey! If you think about eating her, I will skin you alive, understand." Keith looked at the beast angrily.


    "You will stay here for quite some time, so remember her well. You will protect her from now on. If anything happens to her¡­" Keith imagined all the gruesome things he could think of and the beast shivered in horror.


    "Rena, meet¡­ Well, I haven''t thought of a name for him yet. I intended for it to be my temporary summon, but I might use it for some time. So it''s better to give it a name."


    "Young master, where did you find it? Is it like your pet or something?" Rena asked while shifting her gaze from Keith to the beast.


    "It was a wild beast and kept inside the blood summoning department. I tamed it and now bonded with the beast''s mind. Now it follows all my commands." Keith said with a smile.


    "I see¡­ What you said about protecting me, will the beast stay here?" Rena asked while gulping.


    " Don''t worry. It won''t dare to harm you. I trained it very well, didn''t I?" Keith glared at the beast.


    The beast nodded its head rapidly.

 Chapter 101: Something Interesting

    "See! The beast is very obedient." Keith patted the beast on the back.


    "I should probably give it a name¡­" Keith thought.


    "Young master, you don''t need to keep it here just to protect me."


    "I do need the beast, but this time it''s necessary to keep it here so the blood-qi doesn''t get affected. I need to get back to the training facility so I leave it in your care, Rena. And you, don''t do anything you''ll regret later."


    Keith left through the front door after warning the beast.


    Rena stared at the beast that had a terrified expression and stared at the gate with anxiety. When Keith left the building, it heaved a sigh of relief.


    "So you can understand what I''m saying?" Rena asked the beast. Doing so, she pointed her hand toward it.


    The beast could understand Kieth''s intentions due to the bond between them, but Rena''s words were foreign to it. The beast looked at Rena and shivered.


    "Are you afraid of young master?" Rena asked the beast.


    Still no response.


    She brought a picture of Keith and showed the beast and it lowered its head.


    "So, you are afraid of him. I know he''s quite scary to other people. You are his pet right, do you need blood like him or do you eat normal food?"


    Rena quickly brought two bowls. One filled with blood and the other filled with cooked meat. She made it for herself, but she brought half to see what the beast liked to eat.


    The beast sniffed the two bowls and strangely enough, it ate the meat and also the cooked meat. It was a little uncomfortable after eating the meat, but it went through without a hitch.


    "You can consume both¡­  Interesting¡­ I might have to wait for young master to come back and explain to me about the beast. He also said he would explain the disciplines to me, I wonder what that is?" Rena mumbled.


    She stared at the beast that was licking the blood cheerfully from the bowl.


    "Should I give it a name in the meantime?" Rena was thinking hard for a good name that Keith would like.


    While Rena was busy with knowing the beast, Keith was at the blood warrior training facility. He was watching the fight of Sen and another middle stage baron.


    Sen was clearly leading the fight as the opponent was not as fast as him. Sen''s warrior frame was stronger and he was pushing the opponent to the edge.


    "You''re here. Sen has been fighting opponents for an hour. He says he wants to be the strongest baron below the final stage. Clearly many students wanted to challenge him, but he''s handling them very well." Garion, who was also watching the fight, approached Keith.


    "I can see. He seems exhausted, but still pushing himself to the brim. I think he will break through to the final stage baron soo enough." Keith said.


    Sen threw a punch to the lower abdomen of the opponent and knocked him out. Wiping his sweat off his forehead, he glanced at Keith and Garion and smirked. Raising his hand, he showed the students he was the champion and not the weak baron they all knew.


    After Kieth returned, many students who were supposed to get their warrior frame checked flocked towards him. Keith was also looking forward to the analysis of the scans.


    The first three vampires lined up and Keith scanned their warrior frame one by one. The first two had a normal warrior frame with not so many hidden skills. They were based on active strength and endurance boost.


    He quickly came up with the revised warrior frames but kept it to him. He had to engrave them into a scroll and then give them away after making easily understandable steps. The third vampire was a final stage baron, who was recently broken through, as it was apparent from his blood core.


    Keith scanned his warrior frame and found that his warrior frame had a special component that supported several joints for the shoulder and ankles. Because of this, his speed was very fast compared to other warrior frames.


    After analyzing the warrior frame, Keith checked the implementation which was half wrong. According to the faults, there were supposed to be four more joints in the wrists and knees.


    Due to the missing joints, the vampire couldn''t take out the full power of the warrior frame. Keith wondered if he could merge and integrate this joint structure with his own warrior frame.


    ''Can you do it?'' Keith asked the system.


    [This warrior frame looks similar to your own, just a slight change in structure here and there, so I think there will be no problem integrating the changes. But I have to warn you¡­ The warrior frames were carefully crafted based on the needs of the family. If you change too much, it will create problems later on.]


    ''Aren''t you here so that I don''t get into those problems.''


    [It doesn''t work like that. For example, your warrior frame is quite stable, but if I make slight changes, the stability will change slightly. It might not affect the overall structure, but it will behave differently from the written records as it will be a one-of-a-kind warrior frame.


    Keep in mind, I don''t have all the knowledge about the blood warrior frames and what structures are the best. It is an estimate, based on the information we''ve gathered. That is to say, the more advanced and the more variety of warrior frames I analyze, the better the reliability will be.]


    ''So adding these changes to my warrior frame will make it unpredictable due to the uniqueness of the structure?''


    [Yes. So I suggest you keep the techniques and test them with someone else, then after gathering enough samples, we can go ahead and alter our blood warrior frame structure.]


    ''Hmm¡­" Keith looked at the duo who were talking to the other students.


    ''Will it have some serious side effects or a chance to lose all strength?'' Keith asked.


    [Not really. The main issue here is the efficiency and the reliability of the warrior frame. You change your warrior frame structure if you want, but it will be the first stage and will come with multiple iterations of adjustments.


    You can come up with as many revisions and test them with Garion and Sen and when the final sample that can exceed the normal output is made, we can directly implement and upgrade it. Your warrior frame is an active one that stays activated all the time. So it will be bad if anything happens when there is a fault and you have to change the structure mid-fight.]


    ''Won''t they have the same problem? I think they are more susceptible to this.''


    [We will give them small variations, like one pair of extra joints. See how it does. Diving the revisions with both of them, and merging them after the two half are full proof.]


    ''Yeah... You''re right. I have many things on my plate to run the test on my own..''


    Keith thought about the blood summoning technique and all the other things he had to manage.


    Sigh!


    "This is the burden of staying at the top. I don''t have any free time." Keith said softly.


    "Is it done?" The student asked whose warrior frame Keith was checking.


    "Yes! You have a very good warrior frame, just need some changes to your joints, and you will be in top shape." Keith took out a scroll and inscribed the revised warrior frame.


    "Here, implement it and tell me if anything goes wrong." Keith handed him the scroll.


    After him, several more students came to Keith to analyze their warrior frames. Keith was occupied for two hours analyzing the warrior frames.


    ¡­


    ''Nothing interesting..'' Keith plopped on the ground and looked at the happy faces of the students.


    For Garion and Sen, Keith didn''t charge any money, but for these students, he charged based on the complexity of the fault and the time it took him to come up with a revised warrior frame.


    All in all, he made a huge amount of gold blood coins from today''s little session. Garion was in charge of collecting the coins and he was very diligent about it. He carefully counted all the transfers to the treasury card and reported them to Keith.


    "Brother Keith will be the richest student on campus in no time. I can bet that he will be a great merchant in the future. His services will fetch so much money throughout the continent that he will be swimming in blood coins." Sen praised Keith with his silver tongue.


    "I don''t know. The warrior frame outside the academy will be subpar. I don''t think it will b worth it. If higher-stage vampires request my services, then I may be willing to go. But below, count level, it will be a waste of time."


    Generally, the students of the crimson academy were the geniuses of the continent. Finding better techniques from others was not possible. After all, the vampire council banned the learning of blood-qi techniques for regular vampires.


    The rest of the vampires were either old nobles, who were stuck at their stage for centuries, like his uncle Rufus, who was still a baron. He didn''t want to waste his time on the likes of them.

 Chapter 102: A Disruption

    "That''s right. The old vampires that are stuck at a certain level will certainly seek you out and pay you a large sum in order to breakthrough. You won''t just give up the money, are you?" Sen asked.


    "Money¡­ Does the vampire society run on money? No matter how much I have, I''m at the mercy of the strong. If a king comes to me and takes away my money, what can I do?" Keith said.


    "But, they won''t do that in normal circumstances.." Sen tried to back up his word.


    "Still, we can''t do anything in that case. Being strong is the greatest wealth a vampire can achieve. It will give him all the riches of the world while sitting on his spot. Because the world will revolve around him." Keith said calmly.


    "What he said is true. Being strong is the only thing that should matter to a vampire. We are not like humans or other living beings that can''t evolve. We have a very big gap in terms of strength from the top to the bottom. The king is so much stronger than us that a human baby is closer to our strength than we are to the king." Garion explained.


    "¡­" Sen wanted to add more, but he also knew the reality. He wanted to say that, as long as the council was there, they could protect themselves. The thing he was forgetting was the council looked after its own members.


    Sure, you could get the help of the council to secure your position, but in order to get inside the council, you have to be absolutely loyal and become a slave of the council. They will take a portion of your profits and order you around. In return, you get to keep the rest of your money.


    Most of the students here were next in line for their family leader''s position. This made them feel like they were privileged and protected. But the fact that their family came under the council and all their blood-qi techniques was given to the council never entered their mind.


    It was like a tradition passed down from generation to generation that nobody questioned. Only the normal vampires could know about the chaotic life of managing their own place in this continent.


    Protected places like the cities were safer than most places, but leaving those highly populated areas, the barbaric nature of vampires was shown. If Keith killed any vampires in the blood forest, nobody would know about it, even though it was illegal.


    The only case in which Keith would be subjected to the council''s interrogation was if a noble was killed and somebody found Kieth suspicious. Otherwise, the council didn''t care for ordinary vampires lost in the blood forest. That is why the ghouls still roamed the continent, despite the strength of the council that could easily wipe them out.


    The council only cared about power over the vampires and controlling them with their overwhelming influence. They sent low-level hunters to the blood forest for a routine clean-up just to show that they are taking action.


    Keith got up from the floor and looked at the technique he got from the student with additional joints in his warrior frame. He took out two scrolls and wrote the two separate pairs of revised warrior frame techniques.


    "I made some adjustments to your existing warrior frame. I want you to try it. But, let me warn you¡­ this is not guaranteed to increase the output of the frame. So if you find any problems, revert back to the previous technique." Keith gave them the two scrolls.


    "If you are giving us a technique, it will surely be great. Still, if there are any faults or loss in output, I will notify you." Garion replied with a light smile.


    Sen also joined in and agreed with Garion.


    "As long as you do this, I can create better techniques and give them to you. You can say, it is my own variation rather than the warrior techniques that are already there. So your frames will be unique from your family technique." Keith reminded them again.


    "We don''t care. As long as we can get stronger with this over time, we will do anything." Garion looked around for a while.


    "By the way, when are we going to execute the plan?" Garion asked with a hushed voice.


    Keith understood which plan Garion was talking about. It was to steal the blood-qi technique of the Lennar family. They talked about it a couple of days back so Garion asked again to confirm Kieth''s position.


    "Don''t worry. After I break through to the viscount stage, we will proceed with the plan. It will take a month or two, so try to raise your strength as much as you can before that. Garion, I want you to reach the viscount stage as well in two months." Kieth said with a serious voice.


    Garion''s expression turned grave as he nodded his head.


    "I won''t spare any effort for the breakthrough. Before the end of this month, I will attempt to condense the viscount blood core."


    "Good! Sen is still weak, so his goal is to reach the final stage before the deadline."


    Keith looked at Sen who nodded his head with a determined expression.


    ***


    "This is really impressive."


    Dean Jesper was sitting on a large throne in a long decorated room. Statues of many bests that touched the ceiling displayed one by one as the red carpet stretched to the end of the hall.


    Two figures sat on two chairs on the side and looked at the mirror-like artifact in front of them. It was an artifact that recorded what happened in a certain place by capturing all the light in the runes.


    The only thing that made it difficult to produce the artifact was the scarcity of blood ritualists. Only a handful of ritualists skilled enough could make this type of runes. Higher-level vampires knew the underlying principle, but without the knowledge of the runes, they couldn''t replicate it.


    The mirror-like artifact was displaying the events that transpired in the circular room where Kieth learned his first blood summoning technique. Dean Jesper was keenly observing Keith''s actions and his eyebrows were going up and down every moment.


    He was at the pinnacle of the blood summoning discipline, so he knew what process was happening precisely at the moment.


    "He has such control and calibration at this age. If somebody didn''t tell me he is a new student learning blood-qi technique, I would''ve thought he was a seasoned summoner who was practicing his technique on a new beast." He said with a slight surprise.


    Miss. Cryel who was also watching nodded her head.


    "That is what makes it even stranger. Before this, he specifically asked me to teach him the technique by a real-world practical example. He didn''t even know how to separate the body from the brain. On the first try, he almost killed the beast."  She said with a confused face.


    "Either he is a once in a generation genius, or he''s lying," Kyrel said with a frown.


    "He''s not lying. If you notice his expressions and the way he is handling the process. It shows that he is lacking a lot. But the control over blood-qi and the calibration of the wisp is on point as if two minds are working together to solve a problem." Dean Jesper said while deep in thought.


    "How can that be? He''s just a kid. Besides, We checked for artifacts and didn''t find any." Miss Cryel said.


    "Whatever it may be, we need to monitor him and see how he performs in the future. If he could maintain this kind of growth, we will definitely see a great disruption in the power scale."


    Dean Jesper leaned forward and his crimson eyes glowed in the darkness.


    "He is learning three disciplines simultaneously. He gave up the blood esper department just because they didn''t allow the students to learn any other technique besides their own.


    "Eventually, he will master the disciplines and try to learn the blood esper technique. If he will stay true to his ongoing projection, I see great potential in him."


    Dean Jesper clasped his fingers and leaned closer to the artifact. Keith was waking up from his meditative state and examining the beast.


    "Interesting..." Dean Jesper noticed Keith''s eye movements and the


    beast''s behavior.


    "Should we allow him to learn the blood-qi techniques of other departments?" Kyrel asked.


    "I see no problem in it. If we try to restrict him, he will surely leave the blood summoning department. He joined precisely because he could have the freedom to learn all three disciplines."


    Kyrel looked at the dean with a confused face and asked.


    "Sir, you''ve been saying this, but he has a blood warrior frame and he goes to the training facility but when did he join the blood ritualist department?"


    Dean Jesper smiled.


    "Mr. Visit has taken an interest in this boy. He found him even before the orientation and the boy agreed to become his assistant. Can you imagine this?"  He laughed after saying this.


    "Mr. Visit! The blood ritualist, who refused to follow the rules of the blood ritualist department and left. He joined the blood warrior department later and built the training facility." Kyrel said in surprise.


    "Yes, him. He rarely gets out of his lab and doesn''t share his research with others." Miss Cryel said.


    "So, he''s the one backing him. I wondered why dean Jesper never enforced restrictions on him. Turns out this was the reason."


    "That is not the sole reason. You see, I am also interested in this boy and his growth potential. I want to see how far he can go." Dean Jesper smiled mysteriously.

 Chapter 103: Questions

    It was around midnight, and Keith returned back to his room after practicing his warrior frame. When he entered the hall, he saw the beast sleeping lazily with two empty bowls by its side.


    "The beast is doing good. His bodily functions are working properly, and there is no sign of any side effects." Keith examined the beast''s physique and said.


    "Young Master! You''re back." Rena walked out of the kitchen with more food and put it in front of the beast.


    "Just got back. Today was a little tiring¡­" Keith stretched his hands and walked towards the beast.


    "Young Master, Kenny is very obedient and listens to my every command," Rena said with a smile.


    "Oh! You already gave it a name, Kenny¡­ huh." Keith patted on the beast and It shivered slightly.


    "It''s a good name. So, let''s see your progress regarding the blood-qi stabilization."


    Keith examined the blood-qi inside the beast''s body and it was functioning normally as usual. He withdrew his hand and headed to his room.


    "Master, I will bring you the blood in a moment." Rena walked inside the kitchen again.


    ''Come here.'' He sent a message telepathically to Kenny.


    The beast stood up and followed Keith to his room. Inside Kieth sat on his head and condensed blood-qi and the beast was sitting on the floor next to the bed. After some time, he touched the beast''s head and started channeling his blood-qi inside its body.


    ''Slow and easy.'' Keith carefully controlled the blood-qi amount and slowly injected blood-qi into the beast''s body.


    ''How''s the estimate?''


    [About a week or so. Maybe a little sooner. The beast''s life energy is significantly weaker than yours, so replacing all the life energy with your blood-qi won''t take too long. The tricky part is to control the input and not kill the beast accidentally.]


    "Young master, your blood is here!" Rena entered the room holding two glassed of blood and a large bowl.


    Keith frowned after seeing the bowl.


    "What''s that for?" Keith asked.


    "I wanted to give Kenny some blood, so I bought a bowl with me," Rena replied.


    "That''s a good idea. He needs blood-qi from natural sources and it will stimulate his growth. There is a lot of blood sitting on the shelf, better to use it on something useful." Keith nodded his head.


    "Also, Kenny eats normal meat as well. I gave him some of my cooked meat and he ate it cheerfully." Rena added.


    "That''s understandable. His body is running on life energy, so he could consume meat even after half of his body has been replaced with blood-qi."


    [More like a quarter.]


    Kieth got up from his bed and drained the blood. After a busy day of analyzing so many student''s warrior frames, he was mentally exhausted.


    "Rena, go back to your room." Keith handed him the flower and asked her to leave.


    She blushed a little after getting the flower. She nodded her head and left the room silently.


    "Now that everything is taken care of¡­ I need to level up my warrior frame as quickly as possible."


    ''What level is my warrior frame at?'' Keith asked.


    [Middle stage viscount. The blood-qi alone is enough to fight against a count-level vampire. I estimate two weeks will be enough to get it to the count stage.]


    ''I need to get there as soon as possible, then there is my blood core, which is at the final stage baron for months.''


    [Then we need a source richer than the training facility. We can''t consume vampire blood here, even if we could get blood from a count level or higher is next to impossible. Bloodstones are rare, and we don''t have any idea where they are.


    Lastly, human blood won''t increase the blood-qi unless we kill thousands of humans, which is really inefficient.]


    ''Then what can I do?'' Keith racked his brain to find a solution to his blood-qi shortage.


    "The blood forest!" An idea suddenly popped into Keith''s head.


    ''If there is a blood forest, there will be ghouls or other blood beasts too. We can go and hunt them and absorb their blood-qi.'' Keith thought excitedly.


    [That is indeed a good idea. The question is, is there a way for us to get out of the campus premises. From what I''ve gathered the academy doesn''t allow students to get out of the campus without a hunter license.]


    ''What''s that?'' Keith asked with a confused expression.


    [It''s literally written on a wall of the training facility. Blood warriors above the viscount and students for two years minimum are allowed to apply for a bronze class hunter license.]


    ''Geez! There are so many things going on right now, I lost count.''


    [That''s why I''m here. Your  personal slave.] The system replied with a sneer.


    Keith got up from his bed, ignoring the remarks of the system. He went to Rena''s room to check on her. From his senses he could pick up on that, Rena was calm and there was no sign of side effects. Her body was a little hotter than usual, but she was sitting on her bed with a calm expression.


    ''Is she meditating?''


    [ I don''t think so. It''s more like she''s controlling the life energy inside her body and suppressing it. Amazing!]


    ''What''s her level now?'' Kieth asked.


    [ She is three times stronger than before, which is significant for a human.]


    ''She only consumed the flowers that boosted her life energy.''


    [The highest level a human can reach is  0.5, the same as the fifth stage of blood condensing phase. If she can exceed that level, we can be sure that her physique is indeed very special. The way she handles and controls life energy so efficiently without wasting it, I suspect she is capable of way more things.]


    ''What is she then? If normal humans can''t break this threshold and her handling of life energy is unique, she must have some techniques or innate skill, but we can''t see anything. She''s not a vampire for sure.'' Keith thought.


    [Maybe, her technique is fundamentally different from vampires and has nothing to do with blood-qi.]


    ''Maybe, I can ask Mr.Visit about it.'' Keith thought.


    [What if he finds out and takes her to his lab.]


    The system laughed.


    ''Like, I''m going to tell him about her. I will say that I heard this from an old vampire, who had a human underling. Or that, I read it somewhere or something. Might as well add the plant into my story.''


    Keith glanced one more time toward Rena''s room and left. She was doing very well in terms of absorbing life energy. Keith stayed up the whole night and injected blood-qi into the beast.


    The next morning, he got a message from the blood summoning department, It was Miss. Cryel. Now that he completed the first phase of the blood summoning technique, he was not required to come to the class.


    The beast needed as much time as it could get to absorb blood-qi and integrate completely with Keith. He only needed to go in case something went wrong. Unbeknownst to him, it was not something normal students could get. Only members of the council who are occupied with other responsibilities are given some days off.


    But in the case of Keith, his exceptional growth was abnormal, to say the least. Dean Jesper personally instructed Miss. Cryel to give Kieth enough leeway so he doesn''t feel pressured. In a way, he was getting special treatment from the department.


    With that, his plans for the day changed. He stayed in his room for the morning, injecting blood-qi into Kenny''s body. He left for the training facility later.


    ''I''m not a viscount and I just joined the academy. This will be harder than I imagined.''


    While walking to the training facility, he was thinking about the bronze hunter license. The requirements for the license were a problem for Kieth.


    Instead of going to the training chamber where Sen and Garion were practicing, he headed to Mr. Visit''s lab.


    The door opened with the touch of the rune card and he entered the quiet chamber.


    "Look who it is? The esteemed businessman." Mr. Visit glanced at him and chuckled.


    "What?" Keith was taken aback.


    "Aren''t you making quite a sizable amount from fixing warrior frames? All of the blood warrior department knows this. Even Vice-dean Chandra approved of this. If you can improve the output of the blood warriors, it''s a good thing for the department.


    Students are lining up for this, haha.." He laughed out loud.


    Keith was happy that the department didn''t interfere and let him do it. He had to meet the vice dean and thank him properly.


    "Well, If I can help other fellow blood warriors and make money at the same time, isn''t it a good thing?" Keith moved closer to Mr.Visit.


    He was carving some odd-looking shapes into a golden plate.


    "It''s not bad at all. I find it very ingenious of you. Just don''t get carried away by the smell of blood coins." Mr. Visit glanced at Keith.


    "I never did it for the money in the first place. The insight I gain from performing my technique is way more valuable than mere blood coins can give." Keith replied.

 Chapter 104: A History Lesson

    Mr. Visit looked at Keith with a smile and stopped engraving the runes.


    "You need my help with something?" He asked.


    Kieth cleared his throat and carefully thought about what he was going to say.


    " I want to get a bronze hunter license. The second requirement is to be a student with two years or more years of experience, but I''ve been here for a week or so." Keith asked carefully.


    "Bronze hunter license. You want to go outside the academy campus." Mr. Visit quickly caught up to his intention.


    "As a summoner, I want to research more about wild beasts, so this is a good way to encounter them," Keith said.


    "The blood summoning department provides their own wild beasts, don''t they? Why do you need to go outside? It''s very dangerous  there."


    Mr. Visit looked curiously towards Keith, trying to discern his true intention.


    "I want to discover more powerful beasts. Here, they only have baron-level wild beats, and all the higher level beats are already summoned beasts."


    "Baron level beast is not enough for you? Did you try to bond with a beast? It is not easy." Mr. Visit warned.


    " I already have a baron stage summon. I bonded with it yesterday. Still, it was really hard, like you mentioned." Keith said with a tired expression.


    "You already performed the first phase of the blood summoning technique?" Mr. Visit squinted his eyes.


    "The beast is in my room consolidating its blood-qi. I already replaced the blood-qi inside his head and now slowly injecting blood-qi into its body."


    Keith noticed that Mr. Visit wasn''t surprised to hear the steps. It looked like he knew about the technique before. However, he looked impressed by Keith''s achievement.


    "As expected, my eyes are never wrong. You are indeed very special. Don''t worry about the license, just go to the registration office and see Jylee. She is in charge of all the hunter-related affairs.


    I will send her a message about letting you participate in the test, but you have to prove your strength. The experience can be ignored if you have enough strength to back it up."


    Kieth looked at him and smiled.


    "Don''t you know my strength already?"


    He fought against the experimental artifact that could change its shape. Keith displayed strength on par with an early stage count. So he wondered why Mr. Visit said this to him.


    "I know, but they don''t. It will be a good surprise¡­ They will test your blood core and blood-qi levels. Whichever is higher will be given priority. Generally, viscounts have a higher amount of blood-qi than a baron, and the difference isn''t small.


    You are an exception. The blood-qi inside you is close to a final stage viscount, which is unheard of from a final stage baron. I don''t think you''ll have any problem getting the license. On that note, you have to use just your blood core and not the warrior frame for the evaluation."


    "It''s manageable. I think there won''t be any problems¡­" Keith contemplated his options.


    He glanced at Mr. Visit but didn''t say anything. Noticing his hesitation, Mr. Visit asked.


    "You have something else on your mind? I''m free for half an hour, so ask me if you have any doubts." He sat on a chair and looked at the golden plate where runes interchanged and formed new runes.


    "I¡­ It''s not related to the academy, but I read somewhere that apart from vampires, there are some plants that can accumulate life energy to a significantly high level. Also, there was a record of a human whose strength surpassed baron stage vampires and rivaled that of the viscount." Keith asked carefully.


    "Where did you find such information?" Mr. Visit looked at Keith with a strange expression.


    "It was in an antique store that had some books excavated from a ruin. I stumbled upon such a book that had all this information. I Was curious to know if the things documented there were true or not, but I didn''t know someone who had extensive knowledge regarding this matter.


    I thought my best bet would be you. You''re the oldest and most influential vampire I know." Keith said.


    "Aren''t you acquainted with Lucien?" Mr. Visit asked.


    "Ah! He''s so young compared to you, and the things I wanted to know are ancient information. Also, I don''t know him very well." Keith replied.


    Mr. Visit thought hard and tapped his fingers on the table. After a short silence, he spoke up.


    "I have heard about the plants that accumulated astronomical levels of life energy. Some even rivaled the life energy of Dukes. This was hundreds of thousands of years ago. The vampire council buried all the knowledge regarding the era before the originals. It was available until the great war.


    I found some old copies of those documents several hundreds of years ago. At first, I dismissed them thinking they were just made-up stories. But the more I read, I realized how profound the underlying principles are." Mr. Visit explained.


    "There was also a mention of a special kind of human. The documents were torn and I couldn''t decipher the texts but I tried and reconstructed the inscriptions and found the term used for those humans."


    Keith leaned in closer, focusing on his next words.


    "They were called wizards. Sounds weird, doesn''t it? They used pure life energy to create a special kind of life energy compatible with their technique. Like we use blood-qi, they convert the life energy to mana or something." Mr. Visit explained with a sigh.


    Keith''s eyes were wide open after hearing the term as he was familiar with the concept. Back in his world, he used to play many role-playing games. So he knew about wizards, who used magic and spells. They used mana like the wizards from here.


    But he wasn''t sure if they were completely similar. Maybe the wizards from here were different and used completely different techniques. He didn''t want to jump to a conclusion before seeing it with his own eyes. Still, he was excited to learn about this piece of information.


    "Where are these wizards now?" Keith asked.


    "According to the documents, the original vampires used their powers to purge all the wizards. The wizards posed the greatest threat to the vampires then. After the purge, the vampires closely monitored the humans and didn''t let them learn the wizarding techniques for generations. So now, you have a human population who don''t know any wizarding techniques."


    Keith was taken aback by the revelation.


    "The vampires killed all the wizards a hundred thousand years ago?"


    "Seems like the originals didn''t want to share the continent. Well, that''s in the past. Now humans are like cattle to us. The Ghouls are the greatest threat to vampire society." Mr. Visit sighed.


    "So is there any connection between the plants and the humans known as wizards?" Keith wanted to know more so he followed up with another question.


    "I didn''t find anything connecting the two, but both used pure life energy." Mr. Visit said after thinking.


    "That is a lot to take in. I thought humans were not capable of growing stronger like us, but it seems like they had forgotten about their past." Keith thought about how most humans stayed inside a certain territory monitored by vampires.


    They were used as cattle and blood was collected from them on a regular basis. So there was no way for the humans to practice the wizarding path. Keith guessed that the humans who tried to do that were eliminated in the past, and now there was not a single human who knew about it.


    It happened over the span of thousands of years. It was a gradual process that resulted in the complete eradication of the wizard legacy.


    ''If the wizards used life energy to practice their techniques, do they have a special core to convert the life energy as we do with blood cores?''


    [We have to gather more information about the so-called wizards.]


    ''Do you think¡­ Rena''s abnormality is because of this?'' Keith asked the system.


    [I mean, it''s possible. We don''t know anything about that to firmly accept the possibility, but if she exceeds the threshold, it might be true.]


    ''This is great news. If Rena can become strong like me, I can take her with me to the blood forest, and don''t have to worry about her safety.  She will be a great help to me as well.''


    [ That is after we find any technique related to the wizards. All the documents have been destroyed. The piece that the old man read was probably a history lesson. It didn''t contain any information about the technique or how they operated.


    Her stats will increase but without a technique to fully utilize the life energy, she will have a great disadvantage against vampires.]


    Kieth agreed with the system with this one. Being physically strong was not something that could rival the vampires. They already had unparalleled physique so matching that was a great achievement for a human, but the blood-qi techniques separate the wheat from the chaff.


    The vampires using the blood-qi technique were many times stronger than regular vampires. They could do much more with their blood-qi technique than just using their muscles.

 Chapter 105: Fixing the Problem

    The new information shattered Keith''s preconceived notions. He never imagined that humans had this kind of legacy hidden in the past.


    "Is this what you wanted to know?" Mr. Visit asked.


    "Yes, I was just curious about the documents and wanted to confirm my theories. I learned quite a lot thanks to you." Keith slightly nodded his head.


    "Seems like my free time is over." Mr. Visit wanted to say something, but the golden plate finished the rune-making process, so he immediately turned his head around to attend it.


    "Thank you for sharing it with me. I will take my leave then." Keith said to Mr. Visit, but there was no response. The blood ritualist was immersed in his own world.


    Kieth left the lab silently and headed to the training facility.  The thought still lingered in his mind. With the new piece of information, many new opportunities opened.


    "Brother Kieth, you''re here. Don''t you have blood summoning class today?" Sen spotted Kieth enter the training chamber and approached him.


    "I got a leave for completing my first phase of the blood summoning technique," Keith replied with a smile.


    "So you will be training here for the say?" Garion walked over and entered the conversation.


    "For one hour¡­ I need to go to the registration office."


    "Registration office? Are you applying for something?" Garion asked.


    "The bronze hunter''s license. I need to go out of the academy, so I need the license." Keith replied.


    "But the requirements are viscount and two years study experience as far as I can remember." Garion stroked his chin as he tried to remember.


    "I know I don''t meet the requirements, but someone is helping me so I just need to evaluate my strength and I can get the license.


    "That''s convenient. I wish someone would sponsor us like that." Sen said with a sigh.


    "You guys don''t have enough strength to hold back high-level beasts, not even I am safe out there. I am going because I  have a special technique that helps me avoid powerful beasts. Also, I am much stronger than regular viscounts, so I can stay alive longer."


    Keith knew how dangerous it was for the barons to enter the blood forest. In the blood summoning class, he saw the horde of beats that attacked the students. They were kept in a closed environment and specially selected to match the strength of the students.


    In the blood forest, there was no governing body and the level of the beast was uneven. If a more powerful herd made its way through to the students under viscount stage, there was a slim chance they would make it out alive.


    This was the reason, it was strictly prohibited for barons to enter the blood forest. They were simply too weak to deal with powerful beasts.


    "Keith is right. If we go out with our current strength, it will be suicide. The hordes have baron-level beasts and some hordes have viscount-level beats. If we encounter a horde  with multiple viscount level beasts, you can imagine the rest." Garion glanced at Sen.


    Sen gulped and understood the meaning. They would become the prey of the beasts in an instant.


    "So how is your implementation holding up? Any problems there?" Keith changed the topic and asked them about their new warrior frames.


    "They are great. I found no issues with the implementation and my strength has increased significantly. My frame feels much more robust than before." Sen replied immediately.


    "Looks like your implementation worked fine. Still, we need to push the frame to its limit to see if there are any inconsistencies." Keith began scanning Sen''s body and took note of the changes in his warrior frame.


    He was surprised that Sen implemented the warrior frame perfectly without any problems. On the other hand, Garion didn''t look that happy.


    "Did you encounter any problems?" Keith asked, seeing his slightly gloomy face.


    "The frame itself was fine, but my martial arts doesn''t go well with the changes. The frame feels solid but I can''t practice my martial arts techniques with this frame. Looks like I have to go back to the previous frame." Garion sighed with displeasure.


    ''The martial arts are incompatible with the warrior frames.'' Keith thought.


    [ This may be due to the specifically designed martial arts for a particular warrior frame. The martial arts might be optimized for the exact structure of the warrior frame and any slight variation will change the techniques.


    I fear your family martial arts are also designed specifically for your warrior frame. If you change the structure, you can''t practice the martial arts.]


    ''So how can we avoid this? We need to get stronger and for that, we can''t rely on the count-level warrior frame. We need more powerful warrior frames in the future.'' Keith voiced his concerns.


    [ I''m thinking about it as well. There are two options for this. Firstly, we use different martial art with the new warrior frame or we change the warrior frame carefully with enough research to be compatible with the martial arts.]


    ''We can''t analyze the martial arts without fighting with the opponent for a long time. It took me days to get acquainted with uncle Brad''s martial arts, and for that, I had to get beaten up repeatedly for hours.'' Keith raised his eyebrows remembering those days.


    [ I think it will be better if we proceed with the second option. Changing the martial arts will be harder because it''s not as accessible as the warrior frame. If by any chance, we get hold of any improved martial arts in the future, we will use that. Until then, tweaking the warrior frame according to the martial arts is the right option. ]


    Keith nodded his head and looked at Garion.


    "Hold on! I need some time, but I can make the warrior frame compatible with your martial arts. Don''t revert back to the previous frame yet."


    Garion looked delighted as he heard this.


    "Honestly, I don''t want to go back to my previous implementation. This is much stronger and robust than that. If I could, I want to keep using it. Solving the compatibility problem with my martial arts will be enough." Garion nodded in agreement.


    For the next hour or so, Keith analyzed Garion''s warrior frame and tried to find which parts were making it harder for him to use the martial arts. Garion performed his martial arts, each and every move.


    Haah!


    The pain caused by the incompatibility was apparent as he struggled to keep up the moves. But he had faith in Keith so he didn''t budge and completed all the moves. By the end of it, He was lying on the floor face-up, exhausted to the brim.


    "Sorry for the trouble, I know it must''ve hurt doing the martial art moves on top of the incompatible warrior frame."


    Keith got all the information he needed and was analyzing the data. The changes were minimal to the warrior frame, but the two extra joints changed the order in which the martial arts was supposed to use that region.


    It was like this, the martial art was designed for a specific amount of joints that were present in the frame. When Keith revised the frame and added additional joints, the martial arts couldn''t determine which joint was applicable for that move.


    The technique switched between one joint to another and hence created this friction that caused the other moves following it useless as well.


    The solution to this, according to the system, was to merge the joints or create a blood-qi connection between the two joints that could incorporate both joints and treat them as one. The other solution was to shift the joints to a different part that doesn''t get used by the martial arts.


    The system chose the first solution because, with the second solution, the output of the frame will decrease. The joints are present in the place where they are supposed to be. Changing their position just to accommodate the martial arts was not a good idea. What''s more, the joints weren''t supposed to stay there.


    If the extra joints in the wrist or shoulders of the frame were shifted to the knees or ankles, it won''t have the same effect as before. Even with an extra pair of joints, the overall output will decrease.


    So the system started to implement the first solution and revised the warrior frame to add an extra layer of blood-qi connection that will make both joints behave like one, so it will be compatible with the martial arts.


    "Brother Keith is doing so much for us, we need to repay his kindness as well," Sen spoke as he looked at Keith, who was sitting cross-legged, eyes closed and immersed in his technique.


    Garion got up after catching his breath.


    "You''re right. We need to double our efforts and reach the viscount stage as quickly as possible."


    Keith opened his eyes and sighed deeply.


    "It was harder than I thought."


    Phew!


    "You fixed the problem?" Garion asked enthusiastically.


    Keith smiled in response and took out a scroll and started engraving the revised frame.


    "This will fix the problem. Now, I know why the martial art was incompatible with the frame."  Keith handed him the scroll.


    "Basically, the joints in the frame were in a different orientation and two more were added, so the technique couldn''t distinguish between the two. I fixed the issue by creating a layer of blood-qi that wrapped the two joints and connected them. So the technique will see it as one joint as opposed to two.


    But this won''t change their functionality or the output of the frame." Keith declared proudly.

 Chapter 106: Time for the Test

    Leaving the training facility with a satisfied smile, Keith headed to the registration office. He needed to register for the evaluation of the bronze class hunter license.


    ''The changed warrior frame is stable enough.''


    [ We have to monitor the progress for one month before changing your frame.]


    ''I am really surprised that even small changes can easily solve the problems. I thought we have to change the entire structure to fit the martial art.''


    [It was a small change, so I didn''t have to exert extra effort. Maybe modifying the frame with primary joints and other important structural changes will be harder.]


    ''Let''s not get into that now. We don''t have a better warrior frame right now. Hopefully, the mission to steal the warrior frame from the Lennar family goes well. I can finally evolve my warrior frame to duke level.'' Keith thought.


    The registration office was empty as usual. Apart from the annual student registration, there was not much going on the rest of the year. There was the occasional hunter license registration that happened once a week.


    Keith strolled into the hallway of the registration office and looked for the hunter affairs counter. He found a sign to a corridor on his left. He followed the route and found a counter for hunter registration.


    "How may I help you?" The receptionist asked Keith in a polite tone.


    It was a young man in his mid-twenties with red eyes and white hair. From the aura he was giving off, someone could mistakenly think he was a baron, but Keith could sense the blood core, which was an early stage viscount.


    "I''m here to register for the bronze class hunter''s license," Keith said.


    The receptionist paused for a second and took out a paper and slid it on the table.


    "You are still a baron. Applying for the license requires a viscount level blood core at the minimum. Also, which year are you?" He asked.


    "This is my first year, I joined the academy last week," Keith replied calmly.


    "Seems like you are still unaware of all the rules, Here read this¡­ it will answer all of your questions."


    Keith sighed and shook his head. As he was just a baron, the receptionist rejected him outright.


    "Can I see Miss. Jylee. I have. Referral and she might''ve got it." Keith said directly.


    "A referral? Why didn''t you say so from the start? Alright, I will ask her about it. Also, don''t call her Miss. Jylee. It''s her first name, call her Miss. Shaw." The receptionist leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice.


    Keith shrugged and nodded his head. As the man used his rune card to message his boss, Keith sat on the nearby chair. The furniture was well maintained and felt almost new. The chairs were arranged in a row with a two feet gap in between.


    Soon a girl who looked to be in her late teens came from the opposite corridor leading to a dark place. She glanced at Keith and squinted her eyes. Looked like she was scanning Kieth''s body with her senses.


    "You''re that kid who wants to get a hunter''s license?" She stared at Keith suspiciously.


    "Yes, Miss. Mr. Visit told me to come and find you." Keith got up from his seat.


    When the girl entered the reception hall, Keith also scanned her body and blood core. Surprisingly, she was an early-stage Marquis. Her aura barely leaked outside and nobody could tell her blood-qi level from that.


    "What is that old man thinking? Sending a baron to his death. Listen, I don''t know why you want to get the hunter license, but the blood forest isn''t your playground. If you are not careful enough, you will die." She said in a grave voice.


    "I know what I''m doing, and you are going to evaluate me anyway. The thing I don''t have is the two years of class completion, which frankly doesn''t make sense for entering the blood forest. You might as well, put a strength limit." Keith replied.


    "The rules are made specifically for students who leveled up their blood core to the viscount stage and haven''t learned or mastered any blood-qi technique. So two years is enough buffer period for them to get good. As for the ones who take two years to reach Viscount level, even after receiving all the resources from the academy, they are trash anyway. So we don''t stop them from entering the blood forest." She said with a shrug.


    "Just test me, no need to say all these." Keith didn''t say anything and stood there silently.


    There was a brief awkward silence for a moment but Miss. Shaw walked to the counter a moment later.


    "Let''s get this over with. Gard, open the test chamber. I want to see how strong this baron is."


    ''I think she doesn''t know about the orientation ceremony. Or maybe she heard about it but forgot about me.'' Keith followed her and the receptionist to the test chamber.


    Creak!


    The large doors of the test chamber opened after the receptionist touched his card on the front. Inside the test chamber, a circular rune formation stretched across the floor. There were puppets of all different sizes scattered across the chamber.


    " Go stand in the middle of the rune formation. I will start the ritual and you have to fend off the puppets for half an hour. If you can successfully complete the task, the hunter license is yours." Miss. Shaw explained the rules of the test.


    "Seems easy. What does that rune do? Will it restrict my strength?" Keith asked nonchalantly.


    "No, the rune is there to measure your blood-qi level and assess your strength level in absolutes. This is a new model the hunter branch came up with. The council postponed it for like a decade¡­ those old geezers don''t want an absolute unit to measure strength." She spat angrily.


    "Does it show your strength irrespective of the blood core stage? I mean if a final-stage baron is stronger than an early stage viscount, then does it show that the baron is stronger?" Keith asked.


    "Precisely. It doesn''t matter your blood core level. The thing that matters is your overall strength. The culmination of your blood-qi techniques, blood core, and fighting experience. It evaluates based on your display of power, so you can lower your strength and get a lower score.


    "It''s already widely accepted that the blood core level doesn''t necessarily show the actual strength of the individual, so the top blood ritualists have been working for centuries to create a method to properly measure the absolute power level of the vampires.


    "They refined the early rune formations and now in recent years came up with this. But as usual, the council doesn''t want to approve the project for widespread use. They want everyone to think that a higher blood core and nobility is an accurate measure of power." Miss. Shaw heaved a sigh with a frustrated expression.


    "Top blood ritualists? Did Mr. Visit also work on this rune formation?"  Kieth asked curiously.


    "Obviously, he is one of the oldest and most knowledgeable rune-masters among the blood ritualists. He specializes in rune making and not so in actual rituals. That is to say, his level of mastery in blood rituals is also quite high."


    Kieth thought of something and looked at Miss. Shaw hesitantly.


    "What is it?"  She saw Keith''s expression and asked.


    "I have a question regarding the blood ritualists? I wonder if Miss. Shaw has any insight on this?"


    "Just ask?"


    "Do you know how proficient the director is compared to Mr. Visit?" Keith spat out his question.


    "Kid, be thankful that none of the staff are here, and I don''t like to associate too much into the academy politics, or this question would put you in deep trouble.


    "Seeing that you are related to Mr. Visit, he must''ve mentioned the director once. That''s probably why you know his main discipline. The Director is definitely overall a better blood ritualist, but in terms of runes, he lacks slightly from Mr. Visit. His blood rituals are the strongest in the continent, and he has an artifact that can take him to any place on the continent with a single thought."


    Keith gulped as he heard this. An artifact that has the power to teleport someone at will. What an absurdly powerful artifact.


    "Isn''t that supposed to be a secret? Why are you telling me this?" Keith asked with a frown.


    "It''s not like nobody knows about it. Almost all the staff and students above the viscount stage know it too. This is an artifact the director himself showed as a demonstration seventy years ago. Over time it circulated everywhere, but no one has seen it, so it is treated as a myth nowadays.


    Maybe the deans and the elders of the council might''ve seen it." Miss. Shaw entered into contemplation as she described this.


    "He must have other artifacts more powerful than this if he showed it publicly,"  Keith mumbled.


    "Naturally. He is considered one of the strongest vampires on the continent right now, so he has a big arsenal of artifacts waiting to be unleashed.


    Now, enough chit-chat. Get inside the rune formation and stay there for half an hour."


    She snapped back and saw the time on her rune card.


    Kieth wanted to get more information out of her but it looked like she didn''t want to continue.


    ''She has more things to take care of than just talk to me all day.''


    Walking inside the rune formation, Keith cracked his fingers.

 Chapter 107: Is that Allowed?

    "Perfect! Now stay there for a while."


    Miss. Shaw signaled his hands and the runes covering the entire room activated. The puppets started to move clumsily but soon their movements changed and became more refined like a seasoned soldier.


    Keith was rather carefree about it as he didn''t glance at the approaching puppets. The puppets were made of malleable material and fueled by blood-qi. As they came closer and closer, their blood-qi rose from zero and shot past the baron stage.


    The system was analyzing their blood-qi in real-time, and showing the movement patterns to Keith.


    [ Half of the puppets to the right reached the early stage baron. The rest are still at a blood condensing stage.]


    ''Am I supposed to just fend them off? They don''t seem that terrifying.''


    "Hey, Miss. Can I go outside this rune formation and fight the puppets." Keith asked.


    "No, You are not allowed to move outside of that circle. That will automatically disqualify you." Miss. Shaw pointed her hand to the central circle where Keith was standing.


    "Alright¡­ This will be boring." Keith yawned as the puppets approached him.


    The two outside the rune formation were watching Keith''s carefree attitude.


    "Do you think he can finish the test?" The young man asked miss. Shaw.


    "His blood-qi levels are very high, but can he sustain it for half an hour with the puppets swarming him like ants? Also, look at him. He doesn''t even look like he cares about the test."


    Miss. Shaw looked at Keith with a smirk.


    Meanwhile, the puppets in the front started to enter the central rune formation. At that time Keith turned serious and let out his aura.


    Hong!


    The rune circle lit up and the puppets moved at him with even greater speed. They seemed like mosquitos looking for blood.


    [ Their movement turned erratic and there is no predictable path.]


    ''Let them come.''


    Swish! Boom!


    Keith moved his right hand and delivered a punch to the closest puppet and it flew away like a football. It struck the ceiling of the chamber but soon dropped to the ground and stood up again.


    "Wait!" Keith understood what the rune formation did.


    "That''s why I told you not to be overconfident. These puppets are powered by a large bloodstone that can power them for years. Even if they use an early-stage viscount level of power, they can maintain that for several months.


    Additionally, the runes help them repair any damage incurred during the fight, so you see you can''t beat them. You can only survive." Miss. Shaw explained with a smile.


    "A blood stone." Keith''s eyes lit up.


    From an outside perspective, it might seem he was afraid and didn''t know what to do. But the amused expression on his face meant something else. He had been searching for a way to get bloodstones inside the academy campus, but he had no luck.


    Right when he forgot about finding bloodstones for now and focused on accumulating blood-qi inside the training facility, a bloodstone appeared on a test. He didn''t know where the stone was at the moment, but he could sense the fluctuations in the runes and the power increased more as his senses dug deeper.


    ''It''s underground.''


    [ Determining the actual depth and location of the bloodstone will take some time. It is very well hidden with a very faint aura leaking from it. If my senses were not sharp, you couldn''t have detected the bloodstone.]


    ''Am I supposed to thank you or something?''


    [Whatever. The runes are suppressing the energy emitted by the bloodstone and also the high blood-qi density on the ground also blinds our senses. Only a Marquis-level vampire or higher could sense the bloodstone. Then again, they don''t need this bloodstone anyway.]


    ''This is very well planned. But if I have to just survive, then it will be easy.''


    Keith turned back and dashed to the other side of the circle and the puppets on that side attacked him immediately. As their attacks were about to land on him, Kieth''s figure flashed and he appeared on the other side again.


    "What is he doing?'' The young man asked.


    "Hold on!'' Miss. Shaw''s eyes flickered and she looked at the scene attentively.


    Kieth repeated the pattern a couple more times and the puppets coming from two sides appeared in the middle. Keith appeared again in the middle and stood there for a moment.


    "Come at me, you rag-dolls," Keith shouted as he flared up his blood-qi.


    The puppets sensed the heightened blood-qi and started attacking him in a frenzy.


    Kaboom! Swish! Boom!


    "This¡­" Miss. Shaw''s mouth twitched as she saw the scene.


    The puppets were blowing each other up and Keith was nowhere to be found.


    "Is this allowed? I think he was supposed to stay at one spot." The young receptionist said.


    "What he did is not against the rules. He only needed to survive for 30 minutes while being inside the rune formation. Everything else is allowed except the use of external power and artifacts.


    "He didn''t bring any artifacts to the test and he stayed inside the central rune circle. So everything was according to the rules."


    "Then.." The young man interjected.


    "We can''t say that just yet. He has to keep them away for twenty-five minutes more. After that, I can declare that he passed the test. We have to wait and see how long he can avoid them." She focused her senses and scanned Keith''s physique.


    Inside the formation, Keith was moving back and forth between the puppets and using his presence to make them fight each other. After finding out that the puppets are attracted by the blood-qi and the attraction increased proportionally to the amount of blood-qi emitted, he made a plan to lure them in using his blood-qi.


    For this plan to work, he needed two things. First, he had to accurately pinpoint the gaps and appear at those specified zones one after another. This would allow him to clash the puppets in a series, and when one layer of puppets fought, he moved on to the next batch.


    This required an incredible amount of concentration while fighting and most of the vampires couldn''t pull it off. Thankfully, he had the assistance of the system to properly calculate the movements of the puppets and pinpoint the exact gaps he needed to appear.


    The second requirement was his control over blood-qi. If he didn''t have precise control over his blood-qi, then he couldn''t surprise the puppets. They could sense his blood-qi throughout the formation. Keith practiced his blood-qi manipulation to the finest and he could control the output of his blood-qi very well.


    On top of that, the system also managed his warrior frame and blood core output. This made his blood-qi seem extremely quiet and stable, almost blending in with the surroundings. And when he appeared at the right spot he unleashed his aura to attract the puppets like moths to a flame.


    Combining the two, he successfully evaded the puppets and at the same time managed to make them fight each other. In fact, it was so efficient that Kieth barely used any blood-qi to execute the plan.


    His warrior fame was not in use, and he didn''t spend much energy moving among the puppets. He did this for twenty minutes, hopping from one spot to another and he didn''t seem exhausted at all. On the contrary, he looked very relaxed and there was a smile on his face.


    "What is this? How can he concentrate while moving around like that? There has to be more to this than meets the eye." Miss. Shaw tried her best to come up with an explanation but didn''t find any tangible conclusion.


    From her analysis, Keith''s blood-qi was stable most of the time, except when he unleashed his full aura that attracts the puppets. She had to admit that this final stage baron was giving off the aura of a middle stage viscount which was very shocking. It was a short burst, but from the lack of tension on his face, she guessed that he could sustain it for much longer or maybe it was his actual level of blood-qi.


    She was amazed by how a vampire so young had managed to accumulate this much blood-qi even before reaching the viscount stage. Baron was just the entry to the vampire high society and was not considered special at all. All the students attending the academy as barons were considered seedlings and the academy focused on their growth and future prospects rather than their current strength.


    As she was from a lower-level family and worked hard to get where she was, seeing such talent made her remember the days when she was a student. She came from a family where the highest blood core level was middle stage viscount. Her father and grandfather were at the same stage and their growth stagnated after that.


    She was the first in her family''s history to reach the marquis stage, that too within a century. So she was considered the leader of the family even though she gave up on being one. Her little brother, who was fifty years younger than her, also showed promise and reached early-stage viscount, so she wanted him to become the next leader.


    Seeing Keith, she was reminded of a man she used to duel with when she was a student. He taught her a lot of things and he was extremely talented but definitely lower than Keith.


    ''Brad, is he related to him somehow?'' She thought, looking at Keith.

 Chapter 108: Missions

    Thirty minutes later, Keith was still moving around the rune circle and not a single puppet could touch him. In the end, he managed to clash all the puppets together by repeatedly appearing in the right spot.


    Plop! Plop!


    After thirty minutes the puppets dropped on the floor and the rune formation was deactivated. Keith leisurely walked outside of the formation.


    "I passed the test, right?" Keith asked.


    "According to the rules, yes. But you didn''t stay at a single place and used your strength, so the rune formation couldn''t calculate your absolute strength." Miss. Shaw said with a shrug.


    "I''m fine with that. I didn''t want to display my full power here anyway. So what is my absolute score?" Keith eagerly asked.


    Miss. Shaw took out her rune card and it displayed a three-character sign. She read the report and sighed. It was a great performance, but she didn''t get the chance to witness Keith''s limit.


    He only showed the surface of his powers.


    "Adjusting all the variables, your final absolute strength is 132. This combines your speed, physical power, amount of blood-qi, and a dozen other variables to come to this number. This score generally means the student is a viscount.


    "Your blood-qi level is the most useful thing you revealed during the test. So the runes calculated the score based on that. You are estimated to be at the early stage viscount. Barely passed the threshold." Miss. Shaw observed Keith''s reaction.


    Keith''s response was normal as he didn''t show any surprise. He shrugged and moved on to the next part.


    "So when am I going to get the license? I need it as quickly as possible." Keith looked at Miss. Shaw.


    "I will give you your license right now, but you have to answer some of my questions?" Miss. Shaw looked at Keith curiously and said.


    "Uh¡­ Is that supposed to be part of the test?"


    Keith was confused because he never heard of a verbal test for the hunter''s license. It measured the vampire''s strength and not the communication skills.


    "No, it''s not. You could say, it''s my personal curiosity. Don''t you want to curry favor with the person in charge of the hunter affairs, hmm?" Miss. Shaw asked Keith with raised eyebrows.


    "Your personal curiosity? What is that to do with me? Forget it, ask whatever you want, but let me remind you, I can''t say any important information regarding my family and the blood-qi techniques." Keith warned.


    "I was going to ask about your family, but it''s not about the secrets. I want to know if you know someone. Brad Ennes, do you know him?" Miss. Shaw asked.


    "Uncle Brad! How do you know him?" Keith was surprised to hear that name here.


    "Naturally, we were friends when we attended the academy together. Your moves reminded me of him, so I had to clear the doubt, turns out you are his nephew." Miss. Shaw smiled in response.


    "So that''s how it is, You two were friends back in the day. How come uncle is so weak compared to you?" Keith asked bluntly.


    He remembered his uncle''s strength was at the final stage of Viscount when he was fighting his uncle. He was holding back considerably against Keith, but to the current Keith, his strength was nothing special.


    Keith felt he could defeat his uncle now.


    "Brad is weak? Who told you that?" Miss. Shaw looked at Keith strangely.


    "I used to fight with him at the family arena. He was only a final stage viscount, whereas you are an early stage marquis." Keith said.


    Hearing him say this, Miss. Shaw''s eyes twitched.


    "That can''t possibly be true. The last time we parted ways, he was already at the count level. I don''t think his blood core just reverted back to the viscount level. He was not a freak like you, but he did get into the esper department. We met each other in the second year when his isolated training finished." She started reminiscing about the past as she explained the events.


    "But that was decades ago, I''m sure he is at an equal level as me or even higher. If you fought him, you know he could use blood esper techniques."


    "He did show me a demonstration, but never really used it in a fight. He was really skillful in the technique though." Keith said remembering the explanations his uncle used to make.


    "Maybe he was suppressing his strength, or you couldn''t detect his blood core because of your lower blood core level. I assure you were below viscount then."


    "Yes, I was at the early stage of baron," Keith replied, nodding his head.


    "That explains it. But I don''t understand why he would keep his strength a secret from the family. He said his brother disappeared and the position of the leader is empty. Is he the leader of your family now?"


    Keith stared blankly in response.


    "Uh¡­ he is not the leader of my family. In fact, my grandpa who was the previous leader took the spot temporarily and I was selected to take that spot later." Keith answered.


    "You are the next leader of the family, hmm¡­ I wonder what he''s up to?"


    Miss. Shaw was immersed in her own thoughts but a question from Keith snapped her out.


    "Miss, he never shows himself at the family gatherings but always trains in the family arena. My grandpa also never talks about him."


    "I remember him as a cheerful guy who got along with everyone, except his enemies. He would spare no effort to get rid of them. At least we are in the same position albeit I rarely visit my family."


    "Same position?" Keith looked at her with a confused expression.


    Seeing him like that, Miss. Shaw sighed and explained it to him.


    "I am the strongest in my family, and my father wanted me to be the leader. It would elevate the status of the family as I am the first descendant to ever reach the marquis layer. But I rejected him and left my family to pursue higher strength. At least my brother is talented enough so I don''t have to worry about my family''s future."


    Keith now understood what he meant to say. Both his uncle and Miss. Shaw were the strongest vampires in their respective families, but both of them didn''t take the position of leader. In the case of Miss Shaw, she didn''t stay with her family and left to look for better opportunities.


    "Here, take this. Let''s keep in touch. I have something important to attend to, so stay alive till we meet again." Miss. Shaw handed Keith a shining red card which was slightly shorter than the student identity card.


    As he tried to take the card from her hand, she flicked it.


    "Give me your rune card." She asked Keith for his student identity card.


    Being clueless, he showed her the rune card. Then she tapped the hunter license card on top of the student id card and it assimilated inside it.


    "There you go, now whenever someone asks for the hunter license, show him this and think about the hunter license. The shape will change and it will turn into the license. Got it." Miss. Shaw said sharply.


    Keith nodded and the next moment, her figure vanished in front of him. Only the young receptionist, who was watching this from the sides, stood there as if nothing happened.


    "Do you want to take a mission right away or later?" The young man asked.


    "What time is it?" Keith checked the time through his rune card and it was barely noon, so he had plenty of time.


    "I want to see what kind of missions are there before deciding," Kieth replied.


    "Come with me."


    Keith came out of the test chamber with him and the doors automatically closed and many extra layers of protection were activated as they got out. Keith took note of the rune formations and where they were placed. It will come in handy if he decides to come here again.


    They made their way to the reception hall. On the opposite side of the counter, there was another short corridor that led to a different door. The young vampire pointed to the door and said to Keith.


    "That is the waiting room for the hunters. When hunters are waiting for a re-evaluation or payment for your missions,  they stay there for some time. You will find all the active missions on the four boards in the middle of the room. I have all the copies of the missions so you don''t have to find them yourself."


    The young man took out a large book, twice the size of his elbow and placed it on the table.


    Thud!


    "This book right here, stores all the missions of the past and also the new missions granted by the academy and vampire council. There is also a master record in Miss Shaw''s office that is even more detailed but we''ll talk about that some other time."


    He opened the book in the middle and the bend in the middle turned flat. It showed the missions in the order of difficulty and how many hunters were required for the job.


    "The missions are divided into three categories. Easy, medium, and hard. You might think the hard missions must be really dangerous, and you would be right. But all of these missions are for students who are below Marquis level. The hunters at the marquis level or higher are transferred to the vampire council as they manage their missions.


    "Well, originally hunters were employed by the vampire council so we are just a branch of the main hunter''s division of the council." The young man explained.


    "At the end of the day, everything traces back to the council," Keith mumbled.


    "Pardon me?" The young receptionist was confused by his response.


    "Nothing." Keith skimmed through all the missions to find something suitable for him.

 Chapter 109: Follow Him

    Looking through the missions in the book, he noticed that the easy missions were basically scouting missions with no hunting requirement. Some easy missions did ask for small beasts but the beasts were weaker than early-stage barons. Keith skipped all the easy missions and glanced at the medium missions.


    The first one asked for a special viscount level beast and recommended to go in a group of three. Keith disregarded that and looked at the other missions.


    ''Best hunting¡­ Beast subjugation¡­Scouting Ghouls at the edge of the blood forest.'' Keith''s eyes lit up as he saw the mission.


    It asked for a thorough inspection of the outer territory of the academy''s border. The castle was in the middle of the territory and the blood forest stretched for miles. The border of the territory was guarded by the academy''s summons. The summoning department took charge of the task and kept their eyes on every dust particle near the border.


    Still, those summons were not that strong and once in a while a strong ghoul enters the territory and tries to attack the academy. The castle runes take care of all the attackers and turn them into dust.


    As a way to train the hunters and scout the ghouls near the academy, some medium difficulty missions are given to the students. With this they can earn merit points and once stacked up,  the academy gives the students a certain amount of bloodstone.


    Kieth was delighted after knowing this. He was in dire need of blood-qi and what better way to increase it than use a bloodstone. But the bloodstones were very expensive. The students couldn''t buy them with blood coins and only the merit points could be exchanged for the bloodstones.


    A hunter had to complete 10 missions successfully or amass enough merit points by doing more missions if he didn''t reach the required amount for the bloodstones.


    ''I am going to hunt the ghouls anyway if I get a bloodstone on top of that..''


    [The bloodstone mentioned in the rewards is way smaller than the one Mr. Visit gave you?]


    The system spoke up after scanning the entire list.


    ''Huh! Really? How small compared to the one he gave me?" Keith asked.


    [ One-tenth. It will increase the blood-qi slightly. Although it is noticeable, it is not enough to satisfy our needs. For other vampires at the viscount stage, it is a great way to increase blood-qi as they don''t have the method to absorb and refine life essence.]


    ''Then I will choose the ghoul scouting mission. If I encounter some high-level ghouls, I can level up my warrior frame.''


    After deciding to choose this mission, Keith informed the young receptionist.


    "You''re taking a medium-level mission that too for the ghoul scouting one. Man, you are really brave. Usually, most of the hunters skip this and choose to hunt beasts instead. Going to the border is very risky." The young man warned Keith.


    "Is it? What can threaten the students inside the territory? Don''t tell me there is a colony of ghouls and they will attack us at once?" Keith mocked.


    "Hey! Don''t underestimate the ghouls. Have you ever fought one before? They are much stronger than a vampire of equal blood-qi. So if you encounter a viscount level ghoul, don''t think about engaging in battle with them."


    "I am not underestimating the ghouls, but that doesn''t mean I blindly charge forward. I encountered and defeated a baron-level ghoul before attending the academy." Keith said with a confident face.


    "Are you serious? You killed a ghoul baron while being at the early stage baron. Are you sure you didn''t use any artifacts, then¡­"


    "None, I only used my blood-qi and martial arts. My warrior frame was just created so it wasn''t as strong but it did help me get through the fight." Keith explained the details.


    "As crazy as it sounds, I guess you are the most likely person to achieve that. After all the things you did in the academy, this doesn''t compare to the others."


    Keith was surprised by this as the receptionist didn''t know who he was before.


    "I searched your name and found that you came first in the orientation and crossed the King layer of the judgement pillar briefly. You are a baron yet you have a viscount stage warrior frame. Now I understand how you managed to pass the test. You are the young genius everyone keeps talking about."


    Closing the book with a clasp, he looked at Keith expecting a reply.


    "If that makes things easier, then why not? I am more than happy to let the entire academy know about my greatness." Keith sighed and turned around.


    "Can I go alone for this mission or do I have to team up with others?" Keith asked.


    "You can choose to go alone if you like, but it is advised to go as a group. The dangers are significantly higher so it is always wise to keep some company. The other might be inside the waiting room. You can go right away or you can wait for all the other team members to join."


    "I think I will pass. I don''t want to team up as I have some secrets I like to keep to myself."


    Instead of going to the waiting room, Keith headed for the exit.  The entrance of the academy was still miles away from the registration office. He thought about bringing Kenny with him but quickly discarded that idea.


    He was still in the assimilation phase and taking him to such a dangerous place will surely disrupt his blood-qi flow. He needed more time to stabilize his blood-qi. Then Kieth can bring him along in future hunts.


    Thinking that he headed straight to the entrance. The academy was a very tightly guarded castle and arguably the most secure castle on the continent. It was kind of obvious because the most talented, powerful future leaders came here to study and learn blood-qi techniques.


    The academy housed some of the most powerful vampires present in the continent. Also, the most powerful blood ritualist was guarding the place and four deans who were the pinnacle of their field. Sure, there was no King level dean among the deans but they could match the strength of King-level with their blood-qi techniques.


    One of them, the dean of the blood warrior department, Lucien was strong enough to defeat ordinary king-level vampires. He was the strongest under the king level.


    At a place where these people gathered, it was bound to be secure. Especially, the rituals performed by the dean made sure not a single dust flew inside the campus without notice. The runes covered the entire castle and the sky above it. Even a bird will get registered if it flew too close to the building peaks. The only way to get out of the castle was the front gate, the entrance to the academy.


    Keith reached the entrance and showed the guards his hunter license. As they saw the rune card transformed into the license, they cleared Keith''s path. The runes were designed in such a way that they followed the cards wherever they went. So Keith going outside was also registered in real time as he stepped outside the campus.


    He walked straight ahead on the stone road and remembered the direction he was supposed to go. According to the map, the border he was supposed to scout was 15 miles left to the entrance of the academy. He turned left and headed straight to the border.


    Back at the registration office, three vampires were arguing with the receptionist.


    "How could you let him go? A hunter who just got their license. We were supposed to go together after meeting here. It says her in the description." One vampire said.


    "That is an option and the members are free to go alone if they like. I warned him before he left, but he didn''t listen. You can''t blame me." The receptionist defended himself.


    " Still, he is wrong to just leave us here. He might not think about our lives, but moving as a team would''ve helped us. One less member means more responsibility for others.  If I find his corpse, I won''t bring him here."


    "You''re right¡­ I will personally kill him if he''s alive. Talk about respecting seniors. We are fourth years and a third-year dared to disrespect us with no regard. He didn''t even notify us about his departure." Another vampire said.


    "Actually¡­he is a¡­" The receptionist was trying to correct them but the lady vampire in the middle cut him short.


    "Stop blabbering you two, we need to hurry up and catch up to him. He might still be reachable. Rather than wasting our time here with useless words, we need to catch up to him."


    The lady vampire looked to be in her early thirties with a plump figure. She was half the size of the other two vampires. Her skin was really pale to the point it resembled ash. Still, his face was so symmetric, combined with her straight black hair and crimson eyes, she looked almost ethereal.


    "Miss. Clement, you are indeed wise. Wasting time here will achieve nothing."  The receptionist praised her.


    In response, she didn''t show any expression and only squinted her eyes. The receptionist looked away awkwardly.


    She turned around and made her way out of the office. Following the same path as Keith, the trio quickly got out of the entrance and moved in the direction described on the map.

 Chapter 110: I Like to Hunt Alone

    A blood forest is a specific term used to identify the forests in the continent. They don''t have any special traits apart from the blood trees that have red leaves. The harsh environment of the continent and its lack of sunlight made these trees evolve and now almost all the forest area is covered with them.


    The grains and vegetables grown by the humans are planted inside the settlements and they only make a small portion of the greenery. The natural habitat is different for the blood forest. Generally, these trees are much better with life essence than regular plants.


    So the beasts that eat the plants and trees with red leaves get more life essence. As it developed for millions of years, the beasts here became way stronger and rivaled even vampires.


    But they were no different from normal living beings. They had the same blood and organs functioning the exact same way. The vampires were the only ones that were different on this continent, as they used blood-qi instead of natural life essence.


    Keith made his way inside the dense forest and encountered some beasts too. They were very weak compared to him and were easily dealt with. He did use his purple tendrils to absorb all the life essence in them.


    ''I think we reached the border..''


    Keith glanced at the large cedar-like trees lined up as a wall that stretched across the horizon.


    [ Yeah, there are rune imprints all over the place. It''s not as dense compared to the runes inside the campus, but still impressive.]


    Keith jumped over to a branch of a tree and used his momentum to hop over the upper branches. He reached the top of the tree and looked at the horizon.


    The tree was over 100 meters high and it was one of the tallest trees in its surrounding area. The spot allowed Keith to monitor the other side of the border.


    ''Did you find any signs of ghouls''


    [ Still nothing. I can enhance your senses and expand them up to 500 meters, but after that everything becomes hazy. Also, the region only senses blood-qi that is above the 7th stage of blood condensing. There might be lower-level ghouls but they are not important. ]


    ''I thought I would find a lot of ghouls here, but it seems like they are hiding very deep. Do you have any ideas to lure them out?''


    [ We don''t have anything to lure them out like humans and other bait. The only thing left is to reveal your aura and wait for them to enter our detection range.]


    ''Alright, I will reveal only early-stage baron aura, so the lower ghouls will be intimidated and only the high-level ghouls will come. On second thought, I am tempted to release all my aura to bring out the viscount ghouls.''


    Keith wanted to fight a viscount-level ghoul to see how strong they were. The last time he fought against the baron-level ghoul,  the difference in strength was too much.


    But now that he mastered his warrior frame, which was at a similar strength level as early-stage count. It didn''t mean Kieth could defeat an early-stage count just because his strength matched theirs. They might have better blood-qi techniques than him.


    [ We don''t know the situation and how many ghouls there are. If there are several viscount or count level ghouls, you will be in trouble. We can come back here later anyway so there is no point in being greedy. Now you have the hunter license so you can come here every day if you like.]


    ''After absorbing the blood-qi, I will have to go on a retreat so coming here every day won''t be possible. Maybe once a week.'' Keith smiled.


    He expanded his aura to the early stage baron and jumped down from the tree.


    Boom!


    A crater formed where Keith landed and the nearby ground shook. He announced his arrival outside the border of the campus. The beasts surrounding that area fled after sensing such a menacing aura.


    ''No sign of them yet?''


    [Hold on. I sense corrupted blood-qi. A ghoul is approaching¡­ Time for a good meal.] The system said in delight as the ghoul approached closer.


    ''They are strong but really inefficient. We get so little purified blood essence from their corrupted blood-qi. Most of it is lost in the purification process.'' Keith thought annoyingly.


    A ghoul similar to the size of an elephant charged forward like a bull stretching its tongue. It was a middle-stage baron-level ghoul with exceptional physical strength. But Kieth yawned as the ghoul approached him in the open area.


    ''Like with Garion, the ghoul is very strong but..''


    Without waiting for the beast to arrive, Keith appeared over the ghoul''s head and smashed it. He used blood-qi to penetrate the ghoul''s skull and killed it immediately.


    The ghoul rolled down on the ground after losing its life and the momentum was enough to uproot several trees.


    "Next?" Keith looked around for new ghouls to appear but not a single soul was present, be it beasts or ghouls.


    ''Where are they hiding?'' Keith asked with frustration.


    [ I did sense several blood-qi fluctuations at the edge, but all of them were very weak. Do you want to follow them?]


    ''Why not? I''m not passing up free blood-qi, especially when it''s so close.''


    [ Maybe you should absorb the ghoul baron''s corrupted blood-qi. ]


    ''It''s not going anywhere, we are staying here for the afternoon, so there is plenty of time to hunt.''


    [¡­] The system didn''t say anything but an unsatisfied intent radiated from it.


    Keith asked for the location where the system last sensed the ghouls and quickly dashed forward almost like a mirage disappearing into the horizon.


    Soon after he left, a trio appeared at that location and saw the large corpse of the ghoul lying in the middle of a crater.


    "Who did this?"


    One of the male vampires asked, pointing towards the dead ghoul. The other two also looked at the scene with serious faces.


    "There must be a beast around here, at the level of the final stage of viscount." The other man said.


    The lady didn''t object and nodded her head.


    "I think so too. Even a vampire at the final stage viscount can''t defeat this ghoul so easily. Look at its head. Only a single strike has been delivered and the ghoul died. I think the beast is at least an early stage count level." She deduced.


    "How can such a strong beast roam here without notifying the academy. The runes must have located the beast by now. How did it hide in plain sight?"


    "Whatever the reason may be, we need to learn its whereabouts right now." The lady said out loud.


    "Miss, why are you so desperate for the beast? We can report it back and the hunter department will deal with it. We were supposed to scout the area, not to look for some beast that is probably at count level."


    "I think this is a good opportunity. My highest summon is just a viscount level. If I can capture that beast, my strength will increase significantly."


    Apparent by her remarks, she was a blood summoner. Seeing a good opportunity to capture a count-level beast there was a new light in her eyes.


    ''I have to subdue that beast with any means necessary. Thankfully, I brought my artifact.'' She smiled thinking about this.


    "This is going to be a hassle. Miss, are you sure we can subdue it." The other vampire asked.


    "Don''t worry, I didn''t come here without preparation. We will be fine. Now, let''s follow the trail."


    "What about the third-year student? We didn''t find him on our way here."


    "Forget about him. If he''s alive, good. If he''s dead, it''s his fault to venture out alone. He couldn''t have helped us anyway." She replied sternly.


    "The beast seems to go in that direction. I can feel high-density energy fluctuations coming from there." The vampire pointed in a certain direction. This direction happened to be where Keith had gone.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Three figures flashed across the horizon.


    One mile away, Keith already found several low-level ghouls and killed them as he moved. He would put them on the way in which he was moving, so when he returned he could absorb the corrupted blood-qi without changing paths.


    The ghouls were very tenacious in their hiding process. He could only find a dozen or so ghouls at the blood condensing phase. As he was getting bored by killing these weak ghouls, he sensed someone approaching him.


    [ Three Vampires coming this way. All of them are at the final stage viscounts. ]


    "Oh, I have visitors.." Keith turned back and waited for them to catch up.


    Soon, the three of them caught up to Keith and stood in front of him. They inspected him as if he was an outsider.


    "Are you the one who registered for the ghoul scouting mission?" The lady spoke as soon as she laid eyes on him.


    "Yes, miss. I did register for that. So how can I help you?" Keith replied.


    "Cut the crap. Why did you come here alone despite knowing we were supposed to come as a team. Aren''t you too full of yourself?" The vampire on the lady''s side shouted in rage.


    "Woah there senior! It''s not that I have something against you guys, but I like to hunt alone, so forgive me if I disappointed you." Keith said with a slightly apologetic face.


    "Hmph! Who do you think you are? Hunting outside the academy border alone? Are you looking down on us?" The other vampire asked.


    "Uh¡­ No offence but you would hold me back considerably, not to mention I can''t display my full powers and techniques in front of you. There is another very important thing, I definitely can''t do while you are here, so if you''ll excuse me, I w¡­"


    One of the vampires suddenly launched an attack on Keith.


    ''¡­Why don''t they peacefully listen? I even apologized.'' Keith started dumbly at the attacker and sighed.

 Chapter 111: Not Again

    The vampire that attacked Kieth was a final stage viscount. His aura expanded and covered his body as he stuck where Keith was standing. His overwhelming blood-qi directed at Keith.


    ''His physique is really good. A blood warrior. He hasn''t activated his warrior frame  yet.''


    Meanwhile, Kieth analyzed his body and blood core and found out that he was a blood warrior. Within the aura, the warrior frame was on the verge of activation.


    Compared to him, Keith''s blood-qi level was higher so he didn''t worry. Although blood core was one stage lower, his higher blood-qi density compensated for it. He blocked the incoming attack easily and landed a kick on the vampire''s stomach.


    This happened so fast the vampire couldn''t block the attack and was blown away by the strike.


    Gyaah!


    He rolled on the ground before stopping his movements and getting back up.


    "Who are you? You have a final stage baron blood-core but your strength almost reaches the count stage. There is no way you are doing it without an artifact." The man shouted.


    ''Does he think I used some sort of artifact? Maybe my sudden surge of blood-qi must''ve given him the wrong impression. Whatever, let''s play along. I don''t have time to explain to him how I did it.''


    "So what? You are weak, and that''s how it is. Now if you''ll excuse me. I have important things to attend to." Keith was about to leave but suddenly vines started to pop up from the ground and gripped his legs.


    "Now what?" He looked at the other two vampires who were getting ready to fight. Particularly the lady was using her hands to keep something active. The Blood-qi fluctuation on her hands was higher than her body, so Keith guessed it had to be her.


    "You can''t leave before answering a few questions." The lady said to Keith.


    "You didn''t have to restrict me in order to ask those questions," Keith said, rolling his eyes.


    "Seeing how fast you are, it would be unwise to let you go until we know you are on our side." She said, moving closer.


    "Huh? What do you mean? I am a student of the academy, I don''t need to justify myself to others."


    "Then answer my question, have you seen or sensed a beast at the count level in this region?" She asked with a suspicious gaze.


    "I don''t think so. All the beasts that I''ve killed were weaker than a baron. So if a county-level beast arrived  I would''ve noticed." Keith replied.


    "Did I make a mistake? There was supposed to be a count-level beast. The dead ghoul was definitely killed by that beast." She mumbled.


    Keith heard her faint voice and his ear perked up.


    "Excuse me? The ghoul. Was it a large ghoul of  middle stage baron level?" Keith asked.


    "How do you know that? Were you present when the ghoul died? When we arrived the best died just recently. You couldn''t have seen the corpse and come this far."


    Keith laughed and looked at her.


    "Of course I saw the ghoul die because I am the one that killed it," Keith replied with a smile.


    The vines that wrapped around Keith''s leg tightened, but he was unfazed. The lady was having a problem wrapping her head around what Keith had said.


    "Don''t lie to me. How can you defeat it so easily? I''ve seen your strength, but to kill it in one strike is not possible for a viscount, let alone a baron. Ghouls are much stronger than vampires and they can match vampires one stage above them.


    "This one was especially strong. We checked its body too." She said with a serious tone.


    "Miss, you saw how I defeated your friend over there and I didn''t even use my full power. Just drop the topic. I am already late, I can''t keep entertaining you guys. Oh, you guys have to compensate me later for wasting my time, or I will find you inside the campus.


    See ya."


    Keith broke the vines and disappeared from his spot. The three stared at each other and went to the position Keith was standing.


    "Where did he go? I couldn''t even sense his presence."


    "Miss, did you notice where he left?" One vampire asked.


    "I''m afraid his techniques are undetectable to me. I did feel his presence faintly moving away from us, but his aura was almost invisible. That''s why it felt like he disappeared." She explained her guesses.


    "What do we do now? One of us is injured now. We can''t continue the mission. We should take that ghoul corpse and hand it over for its merits. It will fetch more points than this mission anyway."


    The other injured vampire sitting on the ground also agreed to this.


    "I also agree with him. We should retreat and take that ghoul corpse with us."


    The lady hesitated for a moment but soon realized how dire their situation was. If a horde of ghouls arrives here now, they will be in deep trouble.


    "Alright, let''s return to the hunter office. We will take the ghoul corpse with us."


    They went back to the place they saw the ghoul but this time there was nothing there. The ground was even covered up and looked normal as if nothing happened here.


    "It must be him. Apart from us, he was the only one who knew about the corpse. We have to find him before he enters the academy premises."


    "Aren''t you injured because of him, yet you want to fight him again." The lady spoke.


    He tried to retort but remembering how easily he was defeated he didn''t argue further.


    ''I can''t let him get away with this. I will confront him later and get all the information from him. I''m sure he was lying. Maybe he saw the beast, but chose not to disclose the information.'' She thought after giving a last glance to the place where the ghoul corpse was.


    Keith was hunting low-level ghouls with frustration and moving further into the blood forest. The number of ghouls appearing increased a lot after he advanced several miles.


    ''When will I find a viscount ghoul? Are they that rare?''


    Keith slashed two ghouls as he moved forward. The blood forest was getting denser and denser with many beasts appearing here and there.


    [ I think I found what you are looking for.]


    ''A viscount ghoul? Where?''  Keith asked excitedly.


    [ You see that hill over there. It''s inside what appears to be a cave.]


    Keith looked slightly right to spot the hill over five hundred meters high. There was a small hole at the peak. Keith immediately dashed forward in that direction with a smile.


    [It appears to be sleeping at the moment. The cave is quite small, huh.]


    Keith quickly made his way through the dense forest and climbed up the hill, finally arriving in front of the cave''s entrance.


    Now he could feel the corrupted blood-qi fluctuations himself. He walked inside the cave and the darkness soon covered his vision. Thanks to his blood-qi, he could still see the blood-qi inside the cave and the ghoul was basically a bright lamp inside the cave.


    Keith approached the sleeping ghoul without making a sound. His eyes glowed red as he used blood-qi inside his eyes to sense the surroundings. When he was ten meters away from the ghoul moved.


    ''Did it sense my presence?'' Keith took one step forward.


    The ghoul moved again. This time its eyes slowly opened and it stared directly at Keith.


    ''¡­''


    There was a moment of silence that was broken as Keith shot forward with all his power and tried to strike the ghoul while it was in a half-awake state.


    Graaah!


    The ghoul screamed and turned back. The attack was blocked by two membranous wings.


    Krrrr!


    The ghoul didn''t turn around and flew straight into the cave.


    ''Didn''t you say that it was a small cave?'' Keith asked the system.


    [Well it is¡­oh my god.]


    The system made a sudden realization.


    ''What is it? Don''t leave me hanging?''


    [ This is exactly how we found that cave in your territory.  This place is literally a ritual ground. I couldn''t sense beyond that because the runes were blocking the senses. As soon as the ghoul vanished inside, the runes activated.]


    ''Then we need to hurry up and follow it. Or else we might lose it.''


    [ We have another problem to worry about.]


    Keith looked forward as the runes started to reveal themselves and spread across the cave. The glowing runes stopped right below Keith.


    ''I don''t have a good feeling about this.'' Keith immediately used his blood-qi to jump but the ground collapsed under him.


    "Fuuuucccck!"


    Keith shouted as he fell endlessly inside that hole.

 Chapter 112: Ancient Demon

    Whoosh!


    Splash!


    "Where the fuck am I? I was hoping for a good harvest but ended up here. I hope I can get out of here before sunset."


    Keith found himself in a pool of water that glowed red. The cavern was covering the water and the hole that Keith came through was above his head.


    ''How deep are we in?'' Keith asked.


    [You fell for ten seconds in that tunnel, which means this place is over a thousand meters underground. And from the sounds, I''m hearing.]


    Crack!  Crack!


    Keith looked at the ceiling which cracked and he understood this entire place was going to be buried. He looked around but didn''t find any openings in the spherical cavern. He was in the middle of the pool swimming on the surface.


    He looked below and thought of an idea. Quickly submerging himself in the water, he started swimming downwards. The light was getting brighter and brighter as he went deeper.


    At the bottom, Kieth found a large illumination ball. He moved closer and what he saw greatly surprised him. Inside what appeared to be a membrane, a beating heart could be seen at the center.


    From the frequent heartbeats, it was evident that it was a human heart but who would put a human heart a thousand meters below the surface.


    He searched for a secret passageway around the membrane but there was not a single way out.


    ''What are we going to do? If we can''t get out of here. This place will turn into an aquarium.''


    Returning back to the membrane, he tried to puncture it, but his hand couldn''t break the membrane. He used his blood-qi this time to penetrate the membrane and it popped.


    Swaaa!


    The liquids inside flowed outwards and the membrane split in two. The heart that was beating slowed down but didn''t stop.


    It floated on the water and the arteries started to suck the liquid and extended their size and shape. The arteries completely formed and flesh started to form around them. Soon, the heart was covered in spherical flesh.


    Keith reached out and tried to grab the lump of flesh. As soon as he held it he heard a voice.


    ''Who are you?''


    ''Excuse me! Is the lump of flesh talking?'' Keith pinched it.


    ''I''ve been hiding here for thousands of years, right underneath the vampire''s nose. This cave was made by me so that no one could find me. How could the runes have allowed you to fall.'' The lump of flesh spoke.


    ''Did you make caves like this in other places?'' Keith asked carefully.


    ''No, this is the only one I made.'' It replied.


    Keith was relieved that it was not the same being that made the cave inside his territory. Or else they wouldn''t have started off on good terms.


    ''Are you a vampire?'' Keith asked.


    ''Vampire¡­You could say that, but we are much more powerful than them. The young ones tend to follow their bloodlust and hunger to fall into situations that destroy them, but some of us make it to the top and gain knowledge and wisdom. ''


    Keith''s hair stood on end as he heard this. He had a bad premonition when he first came here, but he guessed the identity of the lump of flesh.


    ''Sir, are you a ghoul?'' Keith was extra careful this time with all his senses on high alert.


    ''Ghoul? Is that what they are calling us now? I see.''


    ''No boy. I am a demon. Ghoul is just a term they use to identify the weaker ones.'' The lump of flesh dropped the information casually.


    Keith was trying to wrap his head around it.


    ''Demons¡­ What is this? Are the angels going to start to pop up too?'' Keith thought to himself.


    ''I can see that you are a vampire. Don''t worry we have more in common than you think. I will tell you all the secrets of how vampires came to be if you take me to the sacrificial chamber.'' The lump of flesh said to Keith.


    ''Sacrificial chamber. It sounds like a terrible place. What if you are tricking me and it''s all a trap?'' Keith said with a suspicious gaze.


    ''I think my underlings gathered enough sacrifice in all these years, so you can rest assured, I won''t be sacrificing you. Besides, you are the one that freed me. I can''t let you get harmed.''


    Keith squinted his eyes trying to process all this.


    ''Where are you? At this moment, you want to stay silent.'' Keith said to the system.


    [He is weak, and I can barely register any life energy within it. I think we should kill it now before it gets more powerful. From the way he was speaking, he desperately wants to get out of here.]


    ''So, I just pop the flesh and rip the heart out? We can use our blood-qi to try invading its mind.'' Keith started thinking of an idea.


    [Are you seriously trying to try the blood summoning technique on it? What if he takes control of your body?]


    ''Aren''t you here with me? We are bonded and together. We can take him down. He is not expecting two minds inside so it will be a surprise.''


    Keith extended his hands and used his blood-qi to create thread wisps and injected inside the lump of flesh.


    ''What are you doing? You were supposed to take me to the sacrificial chamber. You dare invade my mind.'' The demon shouted as Keith injected his thread inside the flesh and made its way to the heart.


    [ It is using some kind of rune formation to keep the mind inside the heart. We need to find it and destroy his consciousness.]


    Keith followed the instructions of the system and searched every nook and cranny of the heart. Because the life energy of the demon was so low, it couldn''t block those threats from scouring its insides.


    But he waited patiently for the right opportunity when Keith would enter his mind. Then he could show his true power.


    Everything stayed quiet and Keith kept on injecting the threads.


    [I found it.]


    The threads tried to penetrate to a unique mark carved inside the heart.


    <You finally entered inside my mind. You think I am some lowly beast you can control with your blood summoning technique. The technique only works on those who have a weaker mind than you. You can take over the body but can''t erase me.


    Well, now that you''re here, I will show you who you''re dealing with.>


    [The runes are activating inside his heart¡­ Be careful.]


    Keith focused his mind not to get distracted and blocked the incoming pull from the demon''s mind. But he couldn''t hold on for long.


    Seeing that Keith was on the verge of being sucked inside the demon''s mind, the system interfered and made its presence known.


    <Another mind inside a vampire. How could I''ve missed that? >


    [ Because you are not worthy of knowing my existence.]


    The system expanded its consciousness and put the three of them inside a white room.


    "Where am I ?" The demon shouted in anger.


    Keith was also confused and looked around trying to figure it out.


    [ This is a mind simulation I''ve created as a bridge among several minds. You can call it a mental plane.]


    ''So you did this. What is this place exactly, I mean what can we do here?''


    [ This is a rare situation where I could perform an artificial construct when two minds are in range. For this to happen, I need to make sure both sides are independent and giving enough mental energy to keep it stable.]


    [ If we fought against him outside without the mental construct, he could use techniques we have no control over. Also, there is a chance  he could contact his minions when we are at a standstill.]


    ''So he can''t get out of this mental construct.'' Keith rejoiced.


    [That''s right. Whatever entered this place will stay as-is and won''t get any outside boost. Lucky for us, we both dominate this mental plane with the majority of the energy, so we can communicate with the outside.]


    "You seem to have found a way to imprison my mind and separate it from my heart. But that doesn''t matter. I am an existence that can''t be defeated by the likes of you."


    Keith felt malevolent energy start pouring from the demon''s astral body and tried to cover the surroundings.


    [I won''t let you do that.]


    The system used its mind to repel the demonic energy and constrained the demon.


    [ Use your blood summoning technique on him quickly.]


    Keith focused his mind and the thread wisps penetrated the mark outside the mental plane.

 Chapter 113: Bigger World

    The demon shouted with anger and red threads started to wrap around him inside the mental plane. He tried to break free but the system was keeping a firm grip around the demon.


    It couldn''t move freely due to the pressure the system was giving it and the threads started to grow larger and covered his entire body.


    [Finish him now.]


    "Wait! I need to ask him some questions?" Kieth opened his eyes and looked at the demon.


    The demon stared at Keith with hatred for putting him in that situation.


    "When you said you were a demon, what did you mean? Is there a demon race on this continent?"


    It was something Keith wanted to confirm from the very start but he was occupied with restraining the demon. Now that the demon was restrained by his threads and the system''s pressure, Keith found the opportunity.


    "If I told you there was a bigger world than just your tiny continent, would you believe me?" The demon taunted Keith.


    Keith smiled.


    "Would you believe me if I told you I come from a different world, where there are no vampires and no life energy?" Keith asked back sarcastically.


    The demon showed a visible confusion with Keith''s nonchalant attitude as he seemingly was not able to grasp the meaning of his words.


    "Are you mocking me? This is the truth, if you believe me or not, is entirely up to you."


    "Oh I believe you, but what kind of world are you talking about? I am not interested in other worlds unless there are better opportunities in that place." Keith replied.


    "The Reinez continent is not the only continent in this world. The council is hiding the information from the vampire society. Well, I could say that they don''t care about the outside world. Most continents never heard of this continent either.


    "At the border of the Reinez continent, the vampires made a toxic bloody fog made by your extremely talented blood ritualists. Then on top of that, there are several hurricanes that revolve around the continent in a cycle. So how can the residents of other continents come here?" The demon looked at Keith, raising his eyebrow.


    "Get to the point." Keith snapped.


    "Isn''t that obvious? We are brought here by the same ritualists that are trying to block us from getting in." The demon revealed.


    "What do you mean?" Kieth asked in surprise.


    "You think every vampire wants to protect the vampire society. There are many factions that want to overthrow the council even if that means destroying the continent. There are also foreign powers that want to take over this continent and send their forces here to infiltrate."


    Keith took a deep breath and stroked his chin. All of this was too much overwhelming information. Just a few days ago he learned about the ancient wizards and now there were other races and continents outside this place.


    Still, it was not too far-fetched to him considering he came from another world. He also wondered if there was another place beside this continent. He tried to find information about the outside but there was not a single mention.


    The only thing that stood out to him was the ancient history when the originals took over this continent. Were they from this place or did they come from another place? It was so far back that Keith didn''t find any lead previous to that.


    Here, in front of him, a race totally different than his, never seen on this continent was saying there are several continents throughout the world. That intrigued Keith as he wanted to know the true nature of the world.


    He looked at the demon, who was expecting Keith''s response. The threads were restraining him so he couldn''t do anything besides waiting and hoping Keith would side with him.


    "You said there are many continents in the world. How many continents are there? How big are they?" Keith asked.


    "Before I tell you more, I want you to promise me something." The demon demanded.


    Keith''s eyebrows twitched for a second but he contained his frustration.


    "Speak."


    "I want you to take me to the sacrificial chamber after I answer all of your questions. I promise I will not harm you."


    Keith really wanted to know the information, but still, he found the demon to be very sneaky. He was having trouble coming to a conclusion.


    [ Agree for now. We will think about that later.] The system said.


    "Alright. I agree. But if you lie or give me wrong information, forget about the sacrificial chamber. I won''t let you out of this place." Keith warned with squinted eyes.


    "Do you think I will believe your words? We have to make a soul contract. If you back down from your words, a portion of your soul will be taken. Depending on the severity, you might lose your life." The demon laughed hysterically.


    "What makes you think I know what that means? I don''t want to do stupid shit that I don''t know." Keith waved him off.


    "Are you seriously asking me that? Which remote place do you come from?" The demon looked at him as if he was some kind of weirdo.


    "Trust me. If I don''t know something, the majority of the vampires also don''t know. It looks like the vampire council hid a lot of things. Can you tell me what a soul contract is?"


    "A soul contract is a contract signed with your mind. It is different from the contracts you have that use the life energy of the person. Here, if you violate the contract, you will receive severe backlash. In the worst-case death is a mercy." The demon said.


    "What do you mean, mercy?"


    "Well, sometimes when you are unable to pay with your mind or the terms of the contract are too overwhelming for you to fulfill, your soul will be trapped inside the contract for eternity."


    "You keep talking about mind and soul, are the two things different, or are you referring to the same thing?" Keith was having problems grasping the terms.


    "Soul, mind, it''s all the same. You have three levels of being. Your physical being. Your life energy that supports your life. And the third, your mind or soul. In the ancient tongue it was called the soul, so the term stayed. The mind is the same thing but it''s the newer term.


    "So the soul contract is the contract between minds created by the wizards to make the most secure contract in this world." The demon said.


    Keith suddenly jerked up by the mention of the wizards, so he immediately stopped him.


    "You know about wizards?" Keith asked.


    "Of course, all the things we have today are because of them. The runes were first created by them and¡­" The demon struggled to say the next words.


    "And what?" Keith inquired.


    "The wizards were the first life energy users on this continent. Their disappearance from this continent was orchestrated by the vampires but they still thrive in another place. Another continent." The demon said slowly.


    "You mean, there is an entire continent full of wizards? Where is that continent?"


    Kieth was curious about this mainly because the wizards were as powerful as vampires. And if they were present equally in number as the vampires, it would create quite the turmoil inside the vampire council if they find out.


    Plus, he hoped Rena would learn the way of the wizards and become as strong as him. He didn''t know if it was possible until this moment. There was hope, a way to strengthen Rena, the most trusted person he had in this world.


    The demon paused for a bit then continued,


    "I think the distribution of wizards is the same as the high-level vampires. There is a very small fraction among humans. But they do control the continent like the vampire council does."


    The series of discussions opened Keith''s eyes to new possibilities and he was more interested in the wizards. He also felt that the demon was hiding something, but he couldn''t read his mind. He forced him to spill this much but if he didn''t say anything he didn''t want, Keith couldn''t force that out.


    "I said enough. You need to show your sincerity by making a soul contract with me." The demon reminded him sharply.


    Keith wanted to know more about the outside world and how he could get out of the continent one day if he needed to. He hesitated for a while but soon complied with the demon.


    "What do I have to do?" he asked the demon.


    The demon smiled and opened his hand. A glowing scroll materialized out of nowhere and floated between them.


    "As a bonus, I will teach you how to perform soul contracts. These are the runes you have to carve with your mind. It doesn''t need life energy and.." As the demon was explaining, Keith stopped him.


    "Hey! I don''t know how to make runes¡­ So this is useless to me." Keith couldn''t understand the procedures.


    "It''s the basic rune inscription. Don''t tell me they don''t teach you that now?" The demon asked.


    "They stopped doing that because the council banned it, so now¡­ only one academy can teach the nobles the advanced blood-qi techniques," Keith replied with a disappointed face.

 Chapter 114: Sneak Attack

    The demon then proceeded to create the soul contract and there was an awkward silence between them. Keith observed the process and the system copied all the steps that were being performed.


    Several minutes before Keith explained how the current system of vampires didn''t allow the regular vampires to learn the advanced blood-qi techniques and this resulted in the decline of skilled vampires.


    That didn''t mean the council didn''t make its own force. The hunters were a special division responsible for raising exceptional blood-qi users of each discipline. So it was kind of a private army of the vampire council.


    Keith ordered the demon to show the entire process of creating the soul contract even though he didn''t understand it at this moment, he had the system to take care of the heavy lifting of memorizing and implementing the technique later on.


    He also asked the demon if could teach him the blood runes, to which the demon replied with a new agreement. He would give Keith a manual to learn the blood runes in exchange for getting him to the sacrificial chamber.


    The demon considered the manual a bonus on top of the information for gaining Keith''s trust. He didn''t want Keith to believe that he was scamming him and as a result, finished him right here. So he was giving him very generous gifts just to build trust.


    As the contract was being made on the mental plane, Kieth felt tremors around the water.


    [The cave is entirely collapsed. We can''t go above the water. Thankfully, the rubble was interlocked and the large stone pieces stacked on top of each other to create a blockade. So the  pool will be safe for some time.]


    "How do we get out then?" Keith asked with concern.


    The demon looked at Keith''s face that was starting to twist.


    "Are you having a hard time containing me? You can let go of me now. As we''ve made an agreement, I won''t harm you now." The demon said to Keith.


    "Don''t try to lower my guard. This has nothing to do with you. The cave collapsed so the escape route is blocked. I assume you know a way to get to your destination. Or the contract is useless for you." Keith replied mockingly.


    "The entry to this cave was only for those who qualified to enter. I don''t know how a vampire-like you was able to get past the runes but that is not the only path connecting to the main cave.


    "This is just my hiding spot. Even if someone finds the main cave in the future, this place is hidden so well that they can''t get here without the proper method which I only know."


    "Then how can we get out of this closed space?" Keith asked.


    The demon smiled and didn''t answer immediately. His mysterious attitude was giving bad premonition to Keith so he was extra alert not to lower his guard.


    The soul contract was finally completed after what seemed to be a prolonged silence.


    "Put your terms on the contract by projecting your thoughts and I will do the same. The rules have to be approved by both of us in order to appear in the contract, so choose your points accordingly."


    Keith did what the demon said and projected his intentions carefully to the soul contract floating in front of him. The demon sent his terms as well and both of them evaluated which terms were reasonable.


    On Keith''s side, he asked for information about the outside world as well as the manual for understanding runes. He asked for all the knowledge available to the demon specifically.


    "You do have my life on the line, but I can''t give you the entire inheritance of my knowledge." The demon said.


    Keith wanted to know the information about the outside world but after knowing he could learn about runes from this demon, he was considering how to extract the knowledge.


    If he agrees to the demon''s terms, he will get only a fraction of the knowledge. Even if it was significant for Keith who knew nothing about the runes, an opportunity like this won''t come to him every day.


    He steeled his resolve and clenched his fist to gamble on this.


    "Fine! I don''t need the manual or the information about the outside world. Now that I know about the outside world, I will get the information I''m looking for sooner or later. You revealed a lot of useful things. I think it''s time to end you now."


    Hearing Keith''s words, the demon started panicking in response to Keith''s change in attitude. The entire conversation turned upside down in a moment.


    "Look here pal, demon, or whatever you are called. Your life is in my hands now. You might think giving me small bits of information will entice me into agreeing to your terms, but guess what, I want the whole thing or you''re dead.


    Thank you for showing me the soul contract. If not for this, I couldn''t confidently say you gave me your entire inheritance. Did you think I would just follow along your lines? Do you think I''m from your era where every young vampire was dumb?


    Well, they are dumb now too but don''t compare me to them, okay. Now¡­ put all of the knowledge you have about all of the things you know here or I''ll kill you right here and now." Keith spat out the entire thing without taking a pause.


    He glared into the demon''s eyes and didn''t flinch slightly to show he was serious about killing him, but in reality, he wanted the demon to agree to his demands.


    "Fine! I think there is nothing left to discuss."


    Keith smiled after hearing this but the demon was looking at him in a serious manner. As he was about to order him to agree to the terms a light shot out from the demon and entered Keith''s mind.


    [A secret technique? How could he muster his power when I was holding him back?]


    Both of them were unconscious and their mental projection froze in place. They looked limp and out of life.


    The system quickly sent a part of her consciousness to Keith''s mind to see what had happened but it was blocked from the inside. A wall of rune similar to the soul contract was covering Kieth''s mind.


    [ These runes are too complicated for me to crack right now. I have to change their structure so that I can sneak inside the cracks, but looking at the formation, the demon was already prepared for it. I hope he doesn''t die inside before I find a way. There is no telling what would happen to me once he dies. Damn, is it the instinct to save myself or serve my master? Whatever..]


    The system quickly started to analyze the rune formation just to change its structure. At the current level, the system couldn''t break the entire rune formation so creating a crack that will allow the system to enter Keith''s mind was enough.


    ***


    In a dark space, two figures were floating in front of each other and the ground was nowhere to be seen.


    Keith opened his eyes and saw the demon without any restraint standing in front of him. The memories started flooding inside him and he remembered the last moment before he lost consciousness.


    "What is this place?" Keith asked, looking around the empty space.


    The demon laughed and pointed to Keith in a mocking manner.


    "This is your own mind and you can''t even recognize it. I have never been such a weak-minded vampire.


    "You should''ve killed me when you had the chance. Your curiosity was the reason for your demise. I prepared my soul penetrating technique and blocked it with the unbreakable shield. Unless you completely destroy my mind, the shield won''t open. Even I can''t open it unless I control this entire space." The demon proudly declared.


    Keith also found it odd that this place felt so unfamiliar to him. If it was his mind, why couldn''t he feel a connection to it? When he focused on blood condensing, he entered a state where he could visualize his blood core like a large sphere and he was inside it. It came from his analysis of the blood core and his unconscious vampiric knowledge.


    "This place is the core of your mind where your deepest unconscious thoughts emerge. You could say this place acts as a bridge to your biological self and mental self. Your body holds within it the intentions of the vampires and their instincts.


    "Hmmm¡­ Looking at this place, I can''t find any vampiric intent. I''ve devoured countless vampires but this is the first time seeing such a quiet and weak mind. There is literally no resistance. Well, this will be short."


    The demon expanded his mental projection and the body increased in size. A pair of membranous wings came out from his back. His body morphed into a hideous form that was ten times larger than Keith''s body.


    "This is my demonic form. You are lucky to have witnessed it before your death."

 Chapter 115: A Hope

    The demon shot forward expanding his fangs and tried to grab Keith''s mental projection.


    Keith was already fully alert and tried to activate his blood-qi techniques. To his surprise, the blood-qi techniques didn''t work inside this space.


    ''What do I do?'' Keith tried to dodge the incoming attack by jumping backward.


    "Hahaha! There is nothing you can do against me here. The blood-qi technique doesn''t work inside your mind. All your blood-qi is useless. You are weak if your mind is weak.


    "I''ve lived for thousands of years hunting vampires like you and strengthened my soul to the pinnacle. I can project my demonic instincts and call forth my primordial form. You don''t even know how to bring out a tiny fraction of your vampiric instinct let alone your primordial form."


    Keith couldn''t dodge the attack fully and the attack struck his leg that sent him flying across the dark space. The demon followed Keith''s body and appeared behind in a flash.


    ''This is not how I imagined my first outdoor mission, how the fuck am I going to defend against him. Am I going to die here? What can I even do... Intent?"


    In that split moment, A series of thoughts flashed inside him trying desperately to find a solution to this problem. Humans had instincts but it was just a basic defensive and fleeing response. He thought about weapons hoping that inside his mind he could manipulate reality.


    But it was totally different from his previous conceptions. This seemed like a place where you could use your instinctual or the reflexes of your body. It was tied to the genes and the information stored in them. Any outside interference was not usable as it didn''t belong to genetics.


    Keith didn''t know that mind spaces didn''t work like that. You can''t just create a weapon out of nothing inside this space. What you could use, was a technique that uses your soul to strengthen itself and you could create all sorts of things from it like knives and swords.


    It also required the full knowledge of the inner workings of the weapons to their exact details. If Keith wanted to implement the technique which he didn''t know, he had to know the process to create a sword. The runes would arrange themselves in that manner to create the weapon.


    Racking his brain to its full capacity, he thought about all the scenarios and techniques he had learned. He even remembered the lessons he had with Mr. Visit and his uncle.


    The demon swung his arm once again and the claws approached Keith''s body. Keith looked in despair as his sight shifted to the darkness behind. The black fog felt somewhat similar that he couldn''t put his finger on.


    ''The dream''


    He remembered that night of the orientation. A strange dream occurred that night in this exact setting. A dark space with a for everywhere and a pond where he saw a...


    Hong!


    The entire space vibrated and the demon stopped its attack. He looked around to find what was causing the tremors thinking that Keith somehow found a way to manifest his instincts.


    "You finally managed to manifest your instincts. Still, it can''t go against my primordial form."


    The demon laughed and launched another attack at Keith.


    At that moment a ray of light shot forward towards the demon who was about to hit Keith.


    BZZZ!


    "Wha¡­"


    The demon was blasted away by a huge pillar of light that heated up the surroundings so much that Keith felt his skin melt even though it was not his physical body. The dark space was illuminated for a moment by that blinding light and the next moment two glowing red eyes the size of ships appeared several hundred meters away from Keith.


    "What is that?"


    He was also confused about how all of this happened. All he did was remember the dream and the pond where he saw those eyes and the same eyes appeared in front of him.


    Amidst the silence that ensued after the light pillar appeared, the demon''s voice was heard faintly.


    "This can''t be! How could such an existence be present inside of you? Soul Artifact? No, that can''t be this powerful to completely annihilate me. This is real! Hahaha!"


    The demon started to lose his mind after seeing the eyes and blabbered continuously. Another pillar of light was shot that silenced the demon once and for all.


    Whoosh!


    The space turned pitch black again and then the silence ensued. The two large red eyes didn''t disappear instead, they slowly moved forward towards Keith.


    As the eyes moved closer and closer, the darkness grew thicker and fog started to circulate around him. This time he could smell it.


    ''Is it smoke?'' Keith thought after he inhaled the fog.


    It smelled like burnt wood but there was an aroma to it. A hallucination effect could be felt from the pitch-black smoke. The veil of darkness was cleared when the two eyes stopped right in front of Keith.


    "Fuck! What is this monster? Is this the system''s true form or what?" Keith took a step back from the majestic two eyes that were glaring right at him.


    [Huh! So you are not dead after all.]


    Keith heard the voice of the system inside his head. He turned around to look at the eyes but they were not moving.


    "Is that you? This monster?" Keith asked.


    [What are you talking about? I just sent a small part of me inside your mind. The runes appear to be collapsing, so I will be inside in a while. Is the demon dead? How were you able to break the runes from the inside..]


    "Then what the hell is this?" Keith said with a serious tone.


    The system was interrupted by Keith''s words. As it was outside the barrier, the system couldn''t see what was going on inside so it had no idea about how to answer him. The system thought it was the demon.


    [Is that demon still alive?]


    ''No, not the demon. It''s dead. Another monster popped up inside my mind and burned that demon out of existence. I don''t know what this monster is, I can only see its two eyes. They are huge¡­ I feel like an ant compared to those eyes.'' Keith explained telepathically.


    [Two huge eyes. Are you inside your subconscious?] The system asked cautiously.


    ''I don''t know what this place is. But I can''t change anything here. Maybe you''re right. This is my subconscious. Then how did this monster invade my mind? Is this a nightmare manifestation?''


    A puff of smoke came out from the darkness right below the eyes. The pitch black smoke was covering what was behind. Only the bright glow of the eyes could be seen from the outside.


    [ There are no nightmares! This place holds all your physical instincts, sealed or unsealed. The natural and primordial subconscious. I think I know what it is?]


    ''Is it like a genetic thing? My vampiric instinct.''


    [ No, the vampiric instinct should be in your conscious mind as you are in control of the space. This is, I''m afraid of the other genes I suppressed to cure you. This is the gene of your other half and way stronger to control. This was the reason you couldn''t use blood-qi and your physique was in shambles.]


    ''¡­ Is it from my mother''s side? What was she? Was she even stronger than my father?''


    Many questions popped up inside Keith''s head as he stared at the two glowing eyes. They seem to do the same like both of them were staring at a reflection.


    [Get out of there right now. That could take over your mind and you will go back to your faulty physique again. This gene is no joke. It took me a lot of effort to suppress it inside. And this has not even evolved. The existence behind it could be a god-like me.


    [I felt the tremendous power within you when I tried to suppress the gene. It was resisting me and was almost equal in power. It was at a stage where you didn''t have any power. There was basically no life force within you, still, it resisted me. The source was not life force, only your physical instincts. Then I realized it was way more dangerous and used all my power to suppress it. I didn''t even peek inside.


    [Well, I couldn''t even talk to you at that time.]


    ''I want to know the other part of my origins.'' Keith slowly walked forward.


    [I;m telling you. It will consume you. You can''t control its powers now. Leave.]


    Keith disregarded the system''s warnings and moved forward with a face full of expectation and curiosity.


    [Don''t blame me when it backfires.]


    Keith stretched out his left hand and tried to touch the monster which was under the black smoke.


    ''¡­''


    [¡­]


    ''It feels like scales. Wait! Fire¡­ that pillar was fire shot by this monster. A..''


    "Dragon?" Keith looked straight at the two eyes whose pupils turned down.


    At first, he was in a state of panic and couldn''t catch the details. Also, the monster was behind the dark smoke, so its entire body was hidden behind the darkness.


    Now that he felt the scales that reminded him of an alligator, his thoughts ran wild to search for an appropriate monster. The most powerful mythological creature he knew that had scales was definitely a dragon. He was also considering a serpent, but then he remembered the pillar of light that obliterated the demon and his guess narrowed down to a dragon.

 Chapter 116: Disappeared

    [A dragon? Are you sure? Did you see its body.] The system asked carefully.


    ''I couldn''t see the skin with the dark smoke floating around, but I think it is a dragon. It breathes fire pillars so hot it almost melted my body even though I was several meters away from the attack.''


    [ I''m coming in, you get back to a safe distance. You just wanted to know the origins right? It''s time to get back.]


    ''But..''


    Hauuf!


    [ You there! Keith? ]


    The system shouted continuously but there was no response. Thinking the worst had happened it entered the subconscious mind immediately. Inside the space, there was pitch black darkness wherever it looked.


    Using its powers the system created a flash of light to see in the darkness and a large tail the size of a train stretched beyond her visible range. The tail moved and a blinding light was fired from the other side.


    At that moment the darkness was completely erased and the system could see the full body of the monster. Keith closed his eyes in the blinding light but the system was not affected by it. The majestic body was right in front of it in full display.


    An obsidian skin with two large membranous wings large enough to cover the entire Ennes castle. The head was the size of a small port. Its eyes glowing bright red, staring right at the system.


    The mouth was partially open and the residue of the strange fire slowly went inside. Bright white teeth with fangs long enough to resemble a small building. In short, the dragon was massive.


    The skin was pitch black and absorbed the light around it like a sponge. The system quickly looked around for Keith''s presence but it was nowhere to be found.


    [Where did he go? Did the dragon eat him?]


    Looking at the closing mouth of the dragon, the system panicked. As soon as the pillar of light made from the strange substance disappeared, the space turned dark again. The system moved around maintaining his distance and searching for Keith''s presence.


    [I did warn him though. Still, I don''t think he''s dead. There was no backlash and I''m still alive, so it''s safe to assume he''s also alive. But if the dragon consumed him, what was its purpose?]


    The dragon turned around and stared at the system fully projecting its killing intent.


    [ This is troublesome. I can''t suppress it from inside. The tendrils are outside, so without their power, I can''t touch the dragon. Ah! I have to go out and think of a plan. Hopefully, you can stay alive till then.]


    Before the dragon could shoot another fire pillar the system left the subconscious.


    Outside the mental projection of the demon already vanished and Keith was in a frozen state.  The system sighed and pulled Keith outside the mental plane. As soon as the mental plane was broken, the system entered the conscious mind of Keith which was the reflection of his vampiric origins.


    [So this is what it looks like. It''s not that bad. I can finally control this body. Maybe if he stays inside the belly of the dragon. I can be free¡­ Hmmm. Stupid kid!]


    The system shook Keith''s mental projection.


    [ You are so dumb and full of yourself. I warned you not to stay there, but why would you listen to a mere slave, huh? Now, spend eternity inside your pet dragon while I rule the world.]


    Sigh!


    The system sighed and created a small bed inside the conscious mind. Then she carefully laid down Keith''s body on the bed.


    [Guess I have to control the body now.]


    The system tried to wake Keith''s physical body inside the pool of water. Little by little, the body moved and the system looked around the clear water.


    The lump of flesh where the demon''s soul was dissolved in the water. There was no life energy signature in it. An ancient demon had perished so discreetly.


    Rubble that was blocking the top of the pool was slowly coming down as the heavy weight of the stone was collapsing on itself.


    [I need to find the exit the demon was talking about.]


    Although the demon was dead, the afterglow of the place was still present. The bottom of the pool was pulsating with a fading light. The system guessed it might''ve been the exit so it started swimming in that direction.


    [This looks like a rune formation. How am I going to crack it without the demon''s help?]


    The light was fading after each pulse and soon it would be completely gone. Analyzing the runes was more difficult than the system thought. Not being able to find any solutions for this precarious situation was making the system paranoid.


    [ The demon''s remnants! If I can find the rune that was holding his soul, it might fit inside the formation.]


    Going back to the spot where the lump of flesh dissolved in the water, the system looked for the remnants of the rune. The remnants might''ve dissolved but the runes carried the life energy of the demon so they would take more time to fade away.


    Just as the system predicted, small layers of flesh thinner than hair was floating in a circular manner. They were so tiny and thin, they were basically invisible. The system carefully used Keith''s blood-qi to catch the floating pieces and attached them to his palm.


    Slowly swimming down to the rune formation, the system tried to link the runes to the formation.


    [ Somewhere! There has to be a spot somewhere.]


    Moving above the rune formation, the system tried to locate a resonance. Much to the system''s surprise, the resonance was exactly at the center of the rune formation. Taking the runes closer to the center, the formation started to change and a small shape opened up in the middle.


    It was exactly like the rune on Keith''s hand. As the system placed the rune above the open space the formation started to glow brighter.


    [ I can sense the life energy. The rune formation is asking for a command.]


    The system interfered with the rune and with the help of the demon flesh, it was able to communicate with the formation. Even though it was beyond the expertise of the system, the life energy was something it could understand. The overall direction of the life energy and how it resonated with the demon''s core rune was giving it hints.


    Carefully analyzing the formation that was asking for a command, the system randomly gave commands that would best fit in this situation. This was a gamble as there was no definitive and known command to the system.


    [ Cancel Travel Escape Move ¡­]


    Of course, all the commands were given through the demon flesh connecting the runes. In the end, none of the commands really worked. The runes glowed but soon dimmed down.


    [What did that demon put here? He was obsessed with the sacrificial chamber. Yes!]


    As soon as the command was given, the runes lit up and Keith''s body disappeared along with the light. The light stayed illuminated for some moments before the water turned dark again. There was no sign of Keith over the rune formation.


    In a large open space, many ghouls roamed freely as a big viscount level ghoul sat on a large rock overlooking the lower level ghouls. Three baron-level ghouls were hanging backward from the ceiling above the viscount ghoul. It was clear that the viscount ghoul didn''t want the baron ghouls to rest beside it.


    Suddenly a large splashing sound was heard and water started pouring from the back of the viscount level ghoul. Keith emerged from a pool of water and fell to the ground. It was the exact type of runes that brought him here that was present under him.


    Right now, the system was in control of Keith''s body. It sensed the entire chamber and found several hundred ghouls just swarming around. Also, the viscount level ghoul was not gone unnoticed. Its huge presence was just in front of Keith.


    "It''s that same viscount ghoul I found on the entrance." The system scanned the ghoul with its enhanced senses.


    Undoubtedly the system was more efficient in implementing the blood-qi techniques and after the upgrade, it could enhance Keith''s senses to a significant degree. Taking advantage of the situation, the system wanted to test out some new methods.


    The ghouls were alerted as soon as Keith appeared inside the chamber out of nowhere. The baron-level ghouls were the first to see him as they were on the ceiling and could easily identify him.


    The viscount ghoul was behind a giant rock, so it could only sense Keith''s blood-qi. The rest of the ghouls could somewhat sense something but among all the ghouls it was hard for them to distinguish as they were low-level ghouls and their senses were not good.


    Still, that didn''t stop them from mindlessly running towards the anomaly. Their instincts could feel that something good had appeared.


    Screeech!


    Graaaah!


    The horde of ghouls ran towards Keith''s position like ants.

 Chapter 117: Not My Opponent

    The sudden movement of the ghouls also bothered the high-level ghouls as they wanted to hunt Kieth themselves. The three baron-level ghouls released their corrupted blood-qi and overwhelmed the lower-level ghouls.


    Graaah!


    The three ghoul barons hovered around the low-level ghouls to stop them in their tracks. It was instinctual of them to stop the low-level ghouls even if it was unintentional. Keith could''ve used the lower-level ghouls as shields when the high-level ghouls appear.


    [What I most worry about is the viscount level vampire. I can easily deal with the baron-level ghouls even if they attack me simultaneously. Their blood-qi level isn''t that high to rival Keith''s.


    [The problem is, will the viscount level ghoul just stand there or join the fight? Even with all this strength, handling three barons and a viscount level ghoul might be a bit much.]


    The system circulated Keith''s blood qi at once and maximized the output of the warrior frame. Soon the entire chamber was filled with intense pressure emanating from Keith. Before this, his aura was suppressed and the ghouls couldn''t sense his true power. Now, however, the baron ghouls were alerted and landed on three pillar-shaped rocks surrounding Keith.


    They carefully evaluated Keith''s power and when they sensed It was at the viscount level, they didn''t attack freely as they were supposed to. In general, ghouls at the same stage have more corrupted blood-qi and several times stronger physique than vampires. So the baron ghouls were closer to Keith''s blood-qi than the viscount level ghoul.


    What they didn''t know was Keith wasn''t even using his blood core to its maximum capacity. If he used all of his blood-qi and fired up the warrior frame to the maximum output then the landscape would change immediately. The baron ghouls couldn''t even hold their ground.


    But the system didn''t want to wear out Keith''s body because there was that viscount ghoul lurking behind the darkness observing the fight. It was clearly more intelligent than the baron-level ghouls.


    "What are you waiting for? Come at me. Looks like I have to come to you."


    Seeing that the baron ghouls were not moving from their spot, Keith shot forward and expanded his aura to paralyze them. It worked to some degree as the ghoul barons were somewhat perplexed and couldn''t move for a moment.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Keith slammed his fist straight on the first ghoul baron''s face and it caved in like a sponge absorbing shock. In this case, it was not any hand and it certainly didn''t hold back.


    The first blood-qi-infused punch knocked the first ghoul baron out and its body flew backward in spirals and crashed into a rock. The impact was so heavy that the rock cracked after the ghoul crashed into it.


    Despite their attentiveness, Keith turned out to be quicker than they anticipated. The other two ghoul barons were perplexed and moved away from their position levitating in the air overlooking Keith.


    Keith stomped his feet and propelled himself at tremendous speed and flashed right past the rocks and with a small crater.


    His strength was so great the baron couldn''t resist it. Grabbing the second ghoul baron by his neck, Keith slammed him on the ground.


    Boom!


    Dozens of low-level ghouls turned to paste as the ghoul baron crashed into the ground making a river of black blood. The ghoul blood was way darker than vampire blood, so it looked black and the red color was suppressed.


    Two ghoul barons were incapacitated in an instant without him losing much stamina. They weren''t dead and far from gravely injured. They did however struggle to get up with their broken bones.


    The system understood that and knew it had to act quickly before they regenerate and group together. It didn''t want to lose stamina unnecessarily. Locking in the position of the third ghoul baron, Keith jumped again from the stone pillar and grabbed one of the wings of the ghoul.


    Screeeech!


    Graaaah!


    He kept hitting the ghoul''s wings and totally ripped the membranes. As a result, the ghoul baron dropped to the floor like the previous one but in a less devastating manner. Still, this would take the ghoul longer to heal and give Kieth a chance to finish him while it''s on the ground.


    Circulating blood-qi on his right fist, he tried to crack the skull of the ghoul baron with repeated strikes and stabbing through its eyes. The skin of the ghoul turned out to be really hard and robust. The attacks did go through but the skin didn''t rip and protected the skull.


    [ Damn, they are hard. I need to bleed them from the inside. ]


    The system glanced at the grotesque mouth with two large fangs and jabbed inside. Using Keith''s full power it tried to rip the tongue.


    Braaaah!


    The tongue was ripped open and tied around Kieth''s hand. There was a fleeting instant like that of an octopus arm that was trying to grab Keith even though it was already detached from the main body.


    Bluuuub! Bluuub!


    Blood started to flow out frantically from the ghoul''s mouth and it convulsed while holding its neck.


    [ Nice! Time to fill up the blood-qi.]


    Now that the system was in full control of Keith''s body, the purple tendrils moved way faster and covered the entire mouth of the ghoul.


    [Corrupted blood-qi detected.]


    [Blood essence absorbed : 1 ]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Using the other hand to keep a defensive stance the system sucked the blood from the ghoul and made it weaker by the second. When Kieth first absorbed blood-qi from a ghoul baron on the Bergzen territory, he was still a baron and way weaker. His capacity to hold blood-qi was lower so he couldn''t absorb all of the corrupted blood-qi of that ghoul.


    However, at this moment, he was near the middle stage of viscount and needed a ton of blood-qi to level up. His physique and blood core were essentially hungry for more blood-qi. This was a dangerous situation but also a great opportunity.


    The system didn''t spare a single tendril and sucked the blood from the ghoul baron as fast as it could. The converted blood essence was filling up Keith''s body and was ready to turn into his very own blood-qi.


    Such a surge in blood-qi warmed up Keith''s body and strengthened his muscles even more.


    The other two ghoul barons were almost healed and ready to pounce on Keith but they soon noticed the strange phenomenon and the state the other ghoul baron was in. The ghoul''s life energy was getting weaker with every second and Keith''s aura was increasing.


    As soon as the two ghoul barons healed their wounds completely they coordinated and attacked Keith from both directions.


    Graaah!


    Swish!


    Keith stood there silently observing their trajectory and stopped the absorption, withdrawing the tendrils. The ghoul''s life energy was reduced to half and it was barely holding on. The sudden change in its life energy took a severe toll on its body and it dropped on the ground like a paralyzed beast.


    Well, it was the least of its concerns as Keith grabbed the ghoul by the leg and threw it towards one of the attacking ghouls. As they were so close and couldn''t avoid the clash, they opened up their wings fully and wrapped them in front of them.


    The swinging ghoul baron that Keith threw crashed into the first ghoul baron midair.


    Meanwhile, the other ghoul baron launched attacks towards Keith despite the situation its peers were dealing with. Its claws landed on Keith''s left shoulder only to be blocked by Keith''s overwhelming aura. In comparison, his blood-qi was close to the count level and these barons were at the middle stage of baron level at best. Keith had no problem resisting their force.


    He struck multiple punches and kicks, fully utilizing his martial arts to hit them in their vital spots. In a manner, the system was way more efficient while controlling this body. All the blood-qi techniques were combined together and flawlessly executed to deliver the most effective blow to the opponents.


    It was all because the system was eternally bound to Keith''s soul and got into his conscious mind while his mental projection was taken away by the dragon. Honestly, the system didn''t know what the dragon wanted and for what purpose he kidnapped Keith, but the fact that it was still unharmed and there was no backlash, Keith was very much alive.


    The system could only wait till Keith got out of the subconscious mind and took over the body. Right now, the system was controlling the body to the full of its capabilities. It was a  good opportunity to experiment with some of the ideas the system was planning.


    [ It''s not that bad if he doesn''t get out. I can finally be free and achieve godhood. The shame I was put through and the humiliation that I suffered, I will return it a hundredfold. The ones who banished me from this world will pay the price.]


    Holding the ghoul baron by the neck, Keith applied all of his power and warrior frame output to focus on his fist that was gripping the neck. He squeezed the neck and the ghoul''s head separated from its body.

 Chapter 118: Chase

    Crack!


    Plop! Plop!


    The head of the ghoul rolled on the floor and the headless body was leaking black blood onto Keith''s hands. This was not a time to absorb the corrupted blood-qi, so he threw away the body and looked at the last standing ghoul baron.


    The system increased Keith''s blood core output to the maximum along with the warrior frame. This was Keith''s full power using all the blood-qi techniques. The system was well aware that after fighting the final ghoul baron, the ghoul viscount will join in.


    Even right now, the viscount level ghoul was studying Kieth''s moves and bidding it''s time to launch an attack after Keith defeated the ghoul baron.  This was very evident from the killing intent it was emanating. The viscount ghoul did suppress the killing intent however, the system was very sensitive. It picked up the intent as soon as Keith snapped the second ghoul baron''s neck.


    Just like the system predicted, the last remaining ghoul baron tried to retreat after seeing Keith rip apart the other ghoul baron''s neck. The low-level ghouls also moved further to keep a safe distance from Keith.


    But Keith didn''t want to let the ghoul baron go as it could sneak attack when he would be fighting the viscount level ghoul. He wanted to eliminate the ghoul before engaging with the viscount ghoul.


    Keith was at his peak power and used all of his blood-qi to strengthen himself. The warrior frame and the blood core were running at their maximum capacity. Also, the absorbed blood essence was getting converted to blood-qi slowly and it was giving Keith''s body a significant boost.


    All of this combined, Keith was stronger than ever. He pounced on the escaping ghoul baron and pinned him on the ground. Holding both of the wings, he smashed the ghoul left and right like a ragdoll. The overwhelming strength that Keith was showing, the ghoul baron couldn''t resist.


    Swinging the ghoul''s body and hitting it on the nearby stones, Keith glanced at the viscount ghoul that was starting to move forward. The aura was calm but very malevolent. The corrupted blood-qi was many times stronger than that of the ghoul barons.


    [ Come on now! Don''t keep me waiting. This state is draining the blood-qi very quickly, I need to finish the viscount baron quickly. Keith''s body can''t sustain this state for much longer.]


    The viscount level ghoul released its aura and opened up its wings. The low-level ghouls moved further away in fear. It was a tremendous pressure similar to a count stage vampire. The ghoul''s blood core was at the middle stage viscount but the blood-qi was significantly higher.


    The system flared up Keith''s aura and jumped at the ghoul. It didn''t want to waste his energy by waiting around. As he closed the gap, the viscount level ghoul also moved his claws, ready to attack Keith.


    Wham!


    Slash! Slash!


    Clashing with their full force, the two viscounts struck each other with incredible speed. It was entirely different from the fight a few moments ago. Keith''s body was pushing the limits and attacking the ghoul viscount from different angles.


    The wings of the ghoul acted as extra limbs and sliced like sharp swords. It was really troublesome for Keith to avoid while being engaged in direct combat.


    [I need to analyze more blood-qi techniques and incorporate them. Fighting with just the warrior frame is not efficient. If Keith brought that summon, we could''ve trained him here. On second thought, he would''ve died pretty quickly here. His level should at least reach the viscount stage before I can bring him outside.


    [ Blood Esper techniques are very versatile and perfect for this situation. I have to get my hands on one of their techniques.]


    Without diverting the focus, the system kept on attacking the ghoul viscount and analyzing its attack patterns. The viscount level ghoul was certainly smarter than the baron level ghouls, but its intelligence was lacking compared to regular vampires. It moved in predictable ways and never really tried to study Keith''s moves.


    It was as if the ghoul was confident in his power and fought like it would win.


    [I have to admit, the ghoul is super strong for a viscount. It is the strongest opponent I''ve faced till now. From the looks of it, the blood-qi is very stable. What tremendous stamina! If I don''t finish it quickly, I will be on the losing side.]


    After finding out that the viscount level ghoul''s stamina was simply outstanding, the system didn''t want to make this a fight of attrition. It needed to find an opening and end this battle as soon as possible.


    The skin of the ghoul was very tough as expected from a viscount level ghoul. Keith''s attacks were being absorbed by the ghoul and rarely any damage was getting through.


    Targeting the wings that were the most annoying, Keith tried to slash the membranes but the wings absorbed his attack. There was only a small scratch on the wing and it healed almost immediately.


    [No wonder it is confident. The difference between the ghoul baron and the viscount baron is too high. ]


    Clenching his teeth, Kieth maintained his speed and didn''t let the ghoul land an attack on him. Needless to say, the ghoul viscount was as fast as Keith, keeping up with all of his attacks.


    With each passing moment, Keith''s stamina was dropping and the ghoul''s attack was getting fiercer and fiercer.


    [ I need to consume more blood-qi, that is the only way I can beat the viscount ghoul.]


    Breaking off from the fight, Keith retreated for a moment to find the corpse of a ghoul baron. The last one that Keith slammed mercilessly was unconscious due to the severe injuries. Its body was healing very slowly and not a threat to Keith at all.


    The viscount ghoul could more or less guess what Keith was going to do. Even if it had no idea what Keith used, it noticed Keith absorbing the ghoul baron''s life energy earlier.


    Graaaah!


    As Keith was about to pick up the ghoul baron''s body to absorb the corrupted blood-qi, the viscount ghoul appeared in front of him and struck him with his claw.


    [This ghoul is not so naive. I have to take this ghoul''s body and move to a different place, hold on¡­]


    Moving sideways, the system dodged the attack. The viscount ghoul growled loudly and used its wings to block Keith from getting the ghoul''s body.


    [Fine¡­ I''ll get the other one then.]


    The system moved backward and picked up the headless ghoul baron''s body and kept on running. There was no place to quietly sit down and absorb blood-qi, so doing it while moving at your full speed was the only option.


    [ I hope he doesn''t catch up to me soon.]


    Activating the purple tendrils and attaching them to the ghoul''s neck, the system started absorbing the corrupted blood-qi while maintaining his speed. It was a very delicate situation where a small mistake could put Keith in serious danger.


    Despite the risks, fighting the viscount level ghoul head-on was even riskier. Not until Keith absorbed all of the blood-qi the ghoul baron had,  avoiding the viscount ghoul was the logical decision.


    Swish!


    Keith ran past the horde of ghouls who were watching the entire thing unfold. The viscount ghoul chased Keith, not giving him a chance to stop. Endless swings of the wings the ghoul viscount delivered that almost toppled Kieth.


    The chase continued for several minutes and Keith was rapidly absorbing the blood-qi within the ghoul baron. Meanwhile, the ghoul viscount extended his wings and started to fly over Kieth, trying to capture him from above.


    After absorbing half of the corrupted blood-qi, Keith''s body was overflowing with blood essence that was getting converted into his blood-qi very quickly. This gave him enough boost to evade the ghoul viscount and keep a safe distance.


    [ Hold on! I will rip you apart very soon. You are worth more than anything inside this cave.]


    It was the system''s goal to kill the viscount and absorb the corrupted blood-qi. The amount of blood essence Keith''s body would receive could level him up to the viscount stage after leveling up the warrior frame.


    The warrior frame itself was at the middle stage of viscount after absorbing corrupted blood-qi from the ghoul baron. The ghoul viscount had many times more corrupted blood-qi that could easily level up Keith''s warrior frame to its peak.


    [ I wanted to absorb more life energy to upgrade myself, but his body needs a boost right now. I can do the upgrade later.]


    Most of the things that were useful were already there, so the system didn''t want to upgrade at this precarious moment.


    As more time passed by, Keith''s body was strengthening even more. The effects of increased blood-qi meant his muscles had more available blood-qi to consume, hence as long as the supply was there, the system could sustain Keith''s body at his peak state longer.


    This was evident from the increased speed at which Keith was moving. At first, the distance between the ghoul viscount and Keith was only two meters, now Kieth was way ahead of the ghoul viscount. Only when he turned and diverted his path, the ghoul could close the distance for a moment.


    [Almost there! ]


    Absorbing the last drops of blood from the ghoul baron, Keith threw the dried corpse behind.


    Graaah!


    The viscount ghoul sliced the corpse in half with its wings and continued chasing Keith. After circling the chamber one more time, Keith abruptly stopped and turned back, ready to start the assault.

 Chapter 119: Harvest

    Taking an offensive stance, Keith waited for the ghoul viscount to reach his range of attack. The ghoul saw that Keith stopped and an evil smile appeared on its face. Swinging his sharp wings towards Keith, the viscount ghoul wanted to cut him into a thousand pieces.


    But Keith''s power in front of the ghoul was not the same as in the previous short battle. Right now, Keith''s body was oozing out aura due to the rapid conversion of blood-qi from blood essence. Sucking the entirety of the ghoul baron gave Keith enough power to overpower the viscount ghoul.


    Boom! Crash!


    Now to the ghoul viscount''s surprise, it was hit in the abdomen with Keith''s powerful kick that was so explosive, it sent the ghoul flying. Keith jumped just before the wings approached and flew horizontally to deliver a powerful hit with two legs.


    Getting back into position Keith madly poured blood-qi into his warrior frame that was being converted. The warrior frame strengthened further and Keith''s aura turned fiercer.


    The viscount ghoul got out of the rubble and lunged at Keith. As they clashed, a big shockwave erupted and aura fluctuations could be felt throughout the chamber.


    Keith was overwhelming the viscount ghoul and kept on hitting his head and chest. The wings tried to slice him from behind but Keith was fast enough to dodge them in time. This made the ghoul irritated and lose its temper.


    So far, the ghoul was attacking Keith with a calm mind but as soon as Keith dominated it, the attack pattern changed and became arbitrary. This was good for Keith as he could tire the ghoul quickly and then kill him with repeated attacks.


    The entire sacrificial chamber was trembling because of the two powerhouses frantically smashing each other. The ghoul''s attack was being dodged and Keith''s attacks were connected at the right place multiple times.


    Despite the struggle, the viscount ghoul couldn''t take back his dominance over Keith and fell into Keith''s trap. Soon the effects of exhaustion were showing on the ghoul''s face as its attacks started to get slower.


    [Time to end your life¡­]


    The system noticed the viscount ghoul''s fatigue that allowed Keith to hit more vital parts of the ghoul''s body. Keith increased his speed as opposed to the gradually slower attacks of the viscount ghoul.


    Bam! Bam!


    Keith hit the ghoul''s abdomen and then on its head successively that left the ghoul in a trance as it flew up in the air after the series of fierce attacks had ended. Not able to maintain its balance, the ghoul rolled on the floor as its wing wrapped around it.


    "Now, shut up and die.."


    Keith roared as he landed on top of the ghoul''s head firmly cracking the bones. He jumped with all his might and strengthened his leg muscles and heels. The resulting impact was so devastating that the head was buried inside the rock-hard stone floor as blood started to ooze out.


    Huff!


    "Finally this monster is dead."


    Bwwaaah!


    The viscount ghoul shook its body rapidly as the head was healing at an unimaginable rate.


    "God! Just die! Your regeneration is no joke, but it can''t keep up with this."


    Seeing the desperate ghoul trying to defend with its wings, Keith grabbed the two wings and stretched them outwards. The ghoul growled loudly in hatred as the wings ripped apart.


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Several explosive kicks to the head sealed its fate as the crack that already formed on its head expanded and the head exploded inside the small crater, filling it up with black blood.


    "Finally!" Keith plopped on the floor looking upwards.


    The activation of all blood-qi techniques was tiring for him. Even after absorbing the blood-qi from the ghoul baron, to sustain such power inside his body this long was not without consequences.


    His muscles were breaking apart and regenerating constantly and if it continued any longer, the muscle would be ripped apart due to constant stress. Fortunately, he was not an ordinary vampire and his physique was way more resilient than regular vampires, that was why he could absorb and contain so much blood-qi way above his level.


    [That reminds me of the dragon. It turns out Keith''s other gene was that of a dragon. No wonder the vampire gene was suppressed. Dragons are godly beings that transcend the life and death cycle. They are not mortal beings and their presence can disrupt the life energy of the continent.


    [Then how could a dragon come here, let alone mate with a vampire. There is only one explanation. The vampire went outside to that place. Ahhh! I still lack enough life energy to get back my divinity.


    [ No worries! As long as I absorb enough life energy, I will regain my former self. It is shameful that I''m bound to the kid, but this is my reality now. For me to live, I have to keep him alive. We are bound to each other after all.


    [If he doesn''t get out of there sooner, I will have to force myself inside, but for that, I have to get back my divinity. And that will take a long time.]


    Getting back on his feet, Keith glanced at the corpse of the viscount ghoul which was half-submerged in its own blood. The rich life energy contained within the blood was so tempting that the system couldn''t wait any longer.


    The system extended its tendrils that dipped inside the black blood and started absorbing the corrupted blood-qi. It was the highest amount of blood-qi that Keith absorbed in a single session.


    No ghoul approached him after seeing their leader get annihilated by Keith. They were much weaker compared to the ghoul barons let alone the viscount ghoul. To their primitive minds, Keith''s fear was etched thoroughly and became instinctual.


    Several hours passed and Keith didn''t even finish absorbing half of the corrupted blood-qi. The blood of the viscount ghoul was so potent that the absorption rate had to be slowed down in order for Keith to safely convert the blood-qi. Giving more pressure to the blood core will result in a blood-qi eruption.


    As the system was very careful with the absorption, there were no problems whatsoever. Keith''s warrior frame reached the peak of the final stage of viscount. Just as the warrior frame was getting ready to evolve, the system withdrew the tendrils and sat down cross-legged and focused on consolidating the blood-qi, so that the warrior frame leveled up without any problem and there was no implementation fault.


    With each passing moment, the warrior frame shifted and changed, accommodating the surplus blood-qi within the body. This time the harvest was amazing and leveled up the warrior frame in one go.


    ***


    Even right now, the viscount level ghoul was studying Kieth''s moves and bidding it''s time to launch an attack after Keith defeated the ghoul baron. This was very evident from the killing intent it was emanating. The viscount ghoul did suppress the killing intent however, the system was very sensitive. It picked up the intent as soon as Keith snapped the second ghoul baron''s neck.


    Just like the system predicted, the last remaining ghoul baron tried to retreat after seeing Keith rip apart the other ghoul baron''s neck. The low-level ghouls also moved further to keep a safe distance from Keith.


    But Keith didn''t want to let the ghoul baron go as it could sneak attack when he would be fighting the viscount level ghoul. He wanted to eliminate the ghoul before engaging with the viscount ghoul.


    Keith was at his peak power and used all of his blood-qi to strengthen himself. The warrior frame and the blood core were running at their maximum capacity. Also, the absorbed blood essence was getting converted to blood-qi slowly and it was giving Keith''s body a significant boost.


    All of this combined, Keith was stronger than ever. He pounced on the escaping ghoul baron and pinned him on the ground. Holding both of the wings, he smashed the ghoul left and right like a ragdoll. The overwhelming strength that Keith was showing, the ghoul baron couldn''t resist.


    Swinging the ghoul''s body and hitting it on the nearby stones, Keith glanced at the viscount ghoul that was starting to move forward. The aura was calm but very malevolent. The corrupted blood-qi was many times stronger than that of the ghoul barons.


    [ Come on now! Don''t keep me waiting. This state is draining the blood-qi very quickly, I need to finish the viscount baron quickly. Keith''s body can''t sustain this state for much longer.]


    The viscount level ghoul released its aura and opened up its wings. The low-level ghouls moved further away in fear. It was a tremendous pressure similar to a count stage vampire. The ghoul''s blood core was at the middle stage viscount but the blood-qi was significantly higher.


    The system flared up Keith''s aura and jumped at the ghoul. It didn''t want to waste his energy by waiting around. As he closed the gap, the viscount level ghoul also moved his claws, ready to attack Keith.


    Wham!


    Slash! Slash!

 Chapter 120: Consolidate

    " It''s already midnight¡­ Young master hasn''t returned yet? Kenny, are you concerned for him too?"


    Rena who was looking outside the window from Keith''s room asked the beast standing beside her.


    Grrrr! Grrr!


    Kenny shook his head and dropped to the floor. He was just there for the sake of it. Also, staying with Rena meant he would get surprise treats once in a while. Rena even gave her some portion of her meal, but there was enough in the storage that everyone ate to their fill.


    Keith didn''t come to his room and he didn''t notify Rena about something important. So she was a little concerned about him. That didn''t mean she thought he was trouble, quite the contrary. She believed in his power and thought he could overcome any obstacle, but there was also the threat of the unknown that she couldn''t comprehend.


    "Hopefully he returns safely¡­"


    Grrrr! Grrr!


    Kenny started to growl with displeasure and shrunk back in annoyance. He seemed to sense something.


    "What happened? You are still hungry after eating all that?" Rena retorted.


    Creak!


    The sound of the front door opening was heard and Rena quickly got out of Keith''s room. She paced across the hall and stood in front of the front door.


    Residential quarters were exclusively given to each student and only their rune card could let them enter. They could give permissions to other students and their servants, but as far as Rena knew, there was no one except her who had permission to enter Keith''s private quarters.


    "Young Master! I''ve prepared your bath and your meal is on your table. Huh!" She looked flabbergasted at Keith''s appearance.


    His hair was erratic and his uniform was torn in several places. A foul stench came from his body like he was in a gutter for the entire day. The only thing that didn''t change was his skin. When she looked closer, his skin seemed to be glowing even more. The contrast between such extremes was confusing her mind.


    "Young Master! What happened.."


    "I can''t talk to you right now. Here take this and eat it like you do every day. I''m tired, so don''t disturb me anymore." Keith walked off and entered his room with a tired face.


    Kenny also sensed something was amiss but soon shook his head and lay on the carpet.


    "I wonder what was that all about? Anyway, maybe he worked really hard today and needs some rest. I will ask about it tomorrow." Rena nodded her head and glanced at Kenny one last time then entered her own room.


    Back in his room, Keith took off his dirty clothes and entered his bath. He exhaled slowly after submerging half of his body in the lukewarm water. It was not too hot, just enough to ease his fatigue.


    "That was a wild day? Keith still hasn''t returned from the subconscious. I wonder if I can keep this body for some time. He wouldn''t mind right. After all, I''m making him stronger.


    "That being said, It took eight hours for me to completely absorb all the blood-qi. That viscount ghoul was really potent. I have to stay inside my room and consolidate the blood qi.  The blood core is at the early stage viscount and the warrior frame has already reached its peak.


    "Combining all of the blood-qi, Keith''s strength is comparable to a middle stage count now. But the warrior frame hit its limit. Without a new warrior frame technique, it will be stuck at count level indefinitely."


    Haa!


    After relaxing and cleaning his body, Keith put on new clothes and sat on his bed. The system was focusing entirely on stabilizing the blood core and warrior frame.  Blood-qi was overflowing the body and leveling up sped up the process. Now, the blood core and warrior frame contained more than three times the blood-qi they had one day earlier.


    Such a rapid increase in blood-qi was dangerous for the body. If not for the special physique of Keith, he couldn''t store such an amount of blood-qi in a single day. Normal vampires took decades to accumulate the same amount of blood-qi. It was supposed to be a slow and gradual process.


    [ I think the dragon genes are the reason Keith''s body is so tough and can hold many times more life energy than normal vampires. It happens to be blood-qi but I''m sure any energy can be stored inside this body.


    [ Just how did a vampire meet with a dragon? It seems impossible. Forget it. There is no point in asking questions whose answers are out of my reach. I haven''t regained my strength yet, so all of this is useless. ]


    Throughout the night, the system carefully circulated the blood qi and added more attributes to it. The overflowing blood essence was running amok and without properly stabilizing it, the chances of a blood-qi eruption happening in the future will increase.


    Blood-qi needed to be circulated in order to imbue the personal attribute that identifies Keith''s blood-qi. Without it, it''s just blood essence like humans. If enough blood essence circulated inside his body without converting them to blood-qi, his odor would change and other vampires would notice it.


    The scent of attributed blood-qi and normal blood essence was different. Blood-qi with attributes was used to identify a certain vampire and remember their aura. If Keith''s ratio of blood-qi and blood essence crosses a certain point, he will smell like half-human. This is what the system observed after the tremendous amount of blood essence entered Keith''s body inside the sacrificial chamber.


    Just like a human who turns into a vampire and the blood essence changes into blood-qi, the reverse could happen, but it didn''t revert the vampire into a human. It resulted in the instant death of the vampire as it couldn''t sustain the energy within the body and resulted in an explosion commonly known as blood-qi eruption.


    This was more to do with the conversion of energy. While blood essence was pure and attribute-less, converting it to blood-qi was easy. All vampires did that naturally. On the other hand, converting attributed blood-qi to blood essence or life energy was impossible for the vampires, that''s why they couldn''t drink another vampire''s blood and convert it to their own blood-qi.


    To be able to absorb the other vampire''s blood-qi first, you have to convert the blood-qi into attributeless blood essence and then absorb that to imbue it with your own attribute. The system was able to convert any type of life energy no matter how crude to useful energy that was compatible with the user.


    It could change the blood-qi to pure life energy and even corrupted blood-qi now that it understood their composition. But it was dangerous and could result in Keith turning into a ghoul.


    The night passed and Keith didn''t flinch from his position. The system decided to stay inside his room until Keith''s blood core and warrior frame are completely stabilized. As usual, there was no reminder for any classes as he was given the freedom to enter the summoning department anytime he wanted. There was no strict requirement.


    ***


    Taking an offensive stance, Keith waited for the ghoul viscount to reach his range of attack. The ghoul saw that Keith stopped and an evil smile appeared on its face. Swinging his sharp wings towards Keith, the viscount ghoul wanted to cut him into a thousand pieces.


    But Keith''s power in front of the ghoul was not the same as in the previous short battle. Right now, Keith''s body was oozing out aura due to the rapid conversion of blood-qi from blood essence. Sucking the entirety of the ghoul baron gave Keith enough power to overpower the viscount ghoul.


    Boom! Crash!


    Now to the ghoul viscount''s surprise, it was hit in the abdomen with Keith''s powerful kick that was so explosive, it sent the ghoul flying. Keith jumped just before the wings approached and flew horizontally to deliver a powerful hit with two legs.


    Getting back into position Keith madly poured blood-qi into his warrior frame that was being converted. The warrior frame strengthened further and Keith''s aura turned fiercer.


    The viscount ghoul got out of the rubble and lunged at Keith. As they clashed, a big shockwave erupted and aura fluctuations could be felt throughout the chamber.


    Keith was overwhelming the viscount ghoul and kept on hitting his head and chest. The wings tried to slice him from behind but Keith was fast enough to dodge them in time. This made the ghoul irritated and lose its temper.


    So far, the ghoul was attacking Keith with a calm mind but as soon as Keith dominated it, the attack pattern changed and became arbitrary. This was good for Keith as he could tire the ghoul quickly and then kill him with repeated attacks.


    ''I can see that you are a vampire. Don''t worry we have more in common than you think. I will tell you all the secrets of how vampires came to be if you take me to the sacrificial chamber.'' The lump of flesh said to Keith.


    ''Sacrificial chamber. It sounds like a terrible place. What if you are tricking me and it''s all a trap?'' Keith said with a suspicious gaze.

 Chapter 121: Cave

    "Finally the blood core is stable. Let''s see the changes.."


    The system got up from the bed and examined the changes that happened to Keith''s physique. Opening the status window that displayed Keith''s present stats, the system glanced over the numbers one by one.


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Viscount ]


    [ Body detected: Vampire Dragon Hybrid ]


    [ Level : 2.107 ]


    [ Blood-qi: 5.5 ]


    [ Blood Warrior Frame: Count ]


    [ Physical Strength: 5.8]


    [ Vitality: 6 ]


    [ Agility : 5.1 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    [ Blood-qi techniques :


    Ennes Warrior Frame Technique : Count(Max)


    Blood Summoning Technique : Blood-Qi integration and Soul control(Phase 1)


    Blood Ritualist Technique : Basic Rune understanding(lv0) ]


    The growth was tremendous, especially the physical stats like strength and vitality. Blood-qi levels were at the early stage count and his vitality was close to the middle stage of count. Now he needed to practice the warrior frame and get used to the new power level.


    Looking at the Blood-qi techniques, the system noticed that blood ritualist technique is added to the list. Although the understanding of runes were limited, it still showed up on the status bar. The system could only change and manipulate certain runes and it was because of life energy manipulation.


    By seeing how runes interacted with the other runes and following the life energy trail as they shifted their form, the system could more or less guess the operation they were doing. It was not a hundred percent accurate but it did save Keth''s life many times.


    In the orientation ceremony, the system successfully diverted the attention of the judgement pillar and recently in the demon cave, activated the rune formation that helped him escape from the collapsing rubble.


    As the system was thinking about the sacrificial chamber, it remembered what happened after Keith absorbed all the corrupted blood-qi from the viscount ghoul.


    The cave was silent as usual. Barely any ghoul made a sound and most of them were standing hundred of meters away from Keith''s position. An empty space two hundred meters in diameter could be seen inside the sea of low level ghouls, and in the middle of it was a youth sitting peacefully as his count level aura was exuding its dominance.


    After Kieth evolved his blood core to the viscount stage and the warrior frame to the count stage, there was still plenty of blood left on the crater. The viscount ghoul''s body had dried up after the blood was extracted from its body and now looked like an empty husk.


    The amount of corrupted blood-qi left was thirty percent of the entire amount. It would be a waste to just throw that away. Now that the blood core has evolved to the viscount stage, it could take in some blood-qi until its full, same for the warrior frame.


    Carefully absorbing the blood-qi into the two sources the system filled all of the empty spaces that were left out during the evolution process. As the process was very accurate there was rarely any spot left but the concentration and density of blood-qi was uneven at many places.


    To be able to reach the maximum efficiency without risking a blood-qi eruption, it had to be monitored to the tiniest details. There was no way normal vampires could achieve this kind of precision, that''s why Keith''s blood-qi was even spread out and there were no  gaps and lower concentration blood-qi zones.


    This helped him increase his blood-qi density because all parts of his body had a uniform amount of blood-qi and collectively they amounted to more blood-qi than vampires at the same level.


    On top of that, Keith''s warrior frame was also capable of storing blood-qi independent of the blood core. It didn''t need external blood-qi and could operate on its own. It was an incredible advantage and resulted in Keith''s blood-qi reaching two to three times the previous amount.


    In battle, this advantage gave Keith an element of surprise as the opponent could only see his blood core and not the warrior frame, not until he activated it fully. In the idle state the warrior frame only exerted enough power to maintain Keith''s weight and nothing more. It would appear as if it was just a viscount level warrior frame until Keith went all out.


    Despite absorbing corrupted blood-qi into the blood core and warrior frame, it was not enough to deplete the reserve. In the end the system absorbed the corrupted blood-qi  for itself and converted it onto life energy.


    The next upgrade for the system needed way more blood-qi than the current reserve could provide. Even if Keith killed all the low level ghouls inside this sacrificial chamber, it wouldn''t fill a single bar. As it turned out the twenty percent of the viscount blood barely filled one bar out of hundred in the upgrade status.


    [ Seems like the next upgrade is a major one, maybe it will unlock my lost memories and a part of my divinity. Still, it would take a long time to absorb that much life energy. I have to make sure this body is strong enough to face the dangers of this world.  I can''t just blindly upgrade my system and leave this body unattended.]


    Not a single drop of blood was left on the crater containing the viscount ghoul''s blood. It was all absorbed by Keith. Getting up after he finished absorbing corrupted blood-qi from the viscount he started looking for the other two ghoul barons.


    Their blood-qi was insignificant compared to the viscount ghoul but it was still something. The system swiftly absorbed the blood-qi from the two corpses and filled up the system upgrade. There was no change in the bar as the system predicted.


    Now that the most important thing was taken care of, Keith took out his student rune card to see if he could send a message to the academy.


    Nothing. There was no signal as the runes covering the sacrificial chamber were blocking any kind of life energy trail to escape. Looking around the chamber which was just a finely decorated cave, Keith started looking for an exit.


    When he moved in a certain direction, the low level ghouls cleared the path for him and gathered in a different spot.  After searching the entire cavern, Keith couldn''t find a single exit. But the viscount ghoul did come here somehow. They saw it first at the entrance to the cave so there must be a path connecting to the exit.


    Without a single clue about the exit, Keith went back to the rune formation from where he arrived here. It was similar to the one carved into the bottom of the pool.


    [Does it connect to another place?]


    The system examined the rune formation and tried to male out the patterns. Unfortunately, the formation was not active and without the demon runes, the system didn''t know how to activate the formation.


    [There must be a way to activate this without the demon. The viscount ghoul!]


    In a flash, Keith appeared on the spot where the viscount ghoul''s dried up corpse was mangled up. There was nothing special about the body and upon scanning for any life energy signatures, nothing was found.


    Still, Keith didn''t just leave and picked up the corpse for examination. He searched every part of its body and inside his organs as well. In the end that also didn''t provide any results.


    [ The head?]


    As the system remembered that the head of the ghoul was crushed and buried inside the crater, Keith''s hand dug that spot immediately to find the cracked head. A mushy and broken head beyond recognition was buried two feet under the crater floor.


    After digging it out, Keith used his aura to cover up the crushed head in  a hope to activate the runes. As soon as the aura seeped into the head, the system sensed the runes immediately.


    It was at the back of the skull barely larger than a fingernail. The blood-qi activated the rune and Keith quickly carved out the part of the skull that was holding the rune. Looking closer, it was similar to the rune  that surrounded the demon rune while activating the passageway.


    The system remembered that when he put the demon rune above the formation, a gap opened up the size of the rune and fit inside perfectly.


    [Maybe this is the rune corresponding to the exit.]


    Holding the piece of skull carefully, Keith walked up to the rune formation. He used his blood-qi to activate the rune formation just like befor and put the skull piece close to the center.


    As the system predicted, the rune formation changed and in the center there was a small gap similar in size to the rune carved on the skull. With a smirk, Keith placed the rune at the center of the rune formation and it glowed brightly, also absorbing blood-qi from Keith''s body.


    ***


    If this continued, Rena could surpass all humans and even reach the level of vampire nobles. The problem was the supply of pure life energy easily consumable by the human phsyique.


    The plant was a rare herb that contained rich life enery and the flowers futher diluted that. Rena couldn''t absorb all the life energy at once. The system could convert the blood eseence to life energy but it was more taxing and there was not a medium to hold the energy.  Keith''s body acted as stable resorvoir to store and convert blood-qi but the energy quicly dissipates after getting out the body and merges with the surroundings.

 Chapter 122: Viscount

    It was already midnight and the temperature had already dropped to sub-zero. Thin sheets of ice could be seen forming around the barren land. The blood forest was much more resilient thanks to their life energy, keeping them warm even in this harsh environment.


    Keith''s body was brimming with excess blood essence so his body was warmer than usual. The cold wind was creating thin layers of ice on his body but it was melting as soon as the blood-qi circulated in that area.


    He expanded his blood-qi and the air around him heated up and the ice vaporized within a split second. Extending his arms, Keith struck the ground and started sprinting towards the academy.


    Swish!


    His figure disappeared from the entrance of the cave and the silhouette of his aura could be seen moving at an incredible speed. Much to his dismay, the blood core was not properly stabilized so the system couldn''t exert Keith''s full power.


    Reaching the academy entrance, which was guarded by several viscount level vampires, Keith showed his id and got in without any problems. Although he did get some weird glances due to his appearance which didn''t bother him that much.


    The series of events that happened today was nothing short of a dream. First, he found a cave that was exactly like the one he found in his home territory. There he found an ancient demon who claimed to come from another continent.


    The system didn''t blatantly refute all these claims because it could feel that these statements were true. The memories of the past were still locked inside but the sense of resemblance could be felt. Maybe after the system recovers its divinity and memories all these things will become apparent.


    "Haaah!"


    Keith slid his hand across his messy hair and felt how long they''ve become.


    "I cut my hair just before coming here. Not even a month has passed. Is this the side effect of the rapid absorption of blood-qi? Well, I can''t test that now. Maybe next time I absorb large amounts of life energy, I will keep this in mind."


    The room was already cleaned by Rena and all the things were placed in proper order. Keith freshened up and changed into his training uniform. He didn''t go to the hunter office for three days after getting here. The staff must be looking for him. He checked his rune card and there it was, hundreds of messages flashing in order one after the other.


    Most of the messages were from Garion and Sen. They were desperately asking him to come and witness their progress. Others were from the students who booked Keith''s time for analyzing their warrior frame. Lastly, ten messages were from the hunter office, mainly from the young receptionist who asked to meet him urgently.


    "Did those three tried to make trouble again? I didn''t bring any ghoul corpses here but I can go back and get the ghoul baron corpse." Keith said with an evil grin etched across his face.


    Right now, Keith''s body was controlled by the system. Although the behavior was slightly different, the main goals were more or less aligned with Keith, that is to level up as quickly as possible without harming the foundation and learn as many blood-qi techniques as possible.


    Even if the system was greedy and wanted to upgrade itself, its mind was intertwined with Keith and his ideals. As a former god who is bound to a mortal, it was very uncomfortable at first. But Keith''s determination to grow and become stronger changed the impression of him. Now the system was not so detached from him, more like it was going in the same direction as him.


    Most importantly, Keith was his master. Whether or not the system wanted to accept it or not, this was the reality. Even after becoming a god, The bond between them won''t go away. If the system could get stronger than him, there was a chance to reverse the situation, but it was not a surefire way.


    Keith''s mind held the key to controlling the system and anytime a problem arises, he could just order it to stop. In that case, there was nothing the system could do. Among all these contradictory thoughts, the system knew one thing very well. It''s that Keith was the only choice it had to achieve the divinity. Not because Kieth was bound to him, but his physique and otherworldly knowledge gave him so much advantage in this world that others couldn''t match his pace.


    The system was sure that even without its help Keith would''ve reached the pinnacle. The absorption blood-qi does give him a boost, but his physique also plays a crucial role in this. Not only does it provide him with incredible endurance and vitality, but it also allows him to hold much more life energy than his peers.


    Keith''s mind was also sharp and he paid attention to every little thing. Even if the system didn''t provide him with the blood-qi, he would''ve gathered it alone. It would''ve taken more time, but the results would''ve been the same.


    The suppression of the Draconic gene was a hurdle Keith couldn''t have passed on his own, but there was more to it than meets the eye. Firstly, the dragon genes were looking for Keith''s mind as evident from the encounter. The previous Keith must''ve been crippled due to the fact that the draconic instinct didn''t find his legacy authentic.


    Even though the system didn''t remember the memories from the time it was a god, it could get the general idea around the dragons. They were universally recognized for their godly power and creation abilities. Among the gods, dragons were considered the most powerful bunch.


    They were prideful and most of all they didn''t like to give their powers to any outsiders. They had a very strict rule of proving their worth, by any means necessary. Oftentimes it meant battling a powerful god or creating something unfathomable. The young dragons always try to prove their worth or their powers don''t awaken.


    Just like there is a hierarchy among the gods, the dragons are no different. The average dragon is more powerful than young gods, but to become a more powerful god, the dragons had to perform incredible feats.


    In the case of Keith, he couldn''t prove his worth even after twenty years and the dragon instinct never let off of his vampire genes. The previous Keith''s mind was so weak and he never stood up for himself even after terrible atrocities were done to him.


    A dragon''s pride is something that never bows, no matter what state they''re in. Even in the face of death, they stand tall and proud, welcoming their demise with pride.


    Maybe that was the reason, the previous Keith couldn''t suppress the draconic genes. The current Keith was different, he was brave not in a sense that he jumped on his enemies without a second thought, but he was more calculating and observant. He knew his strengths and weaknesses.


    Without the help of the system, he could''ve gotten rid of the faulty physique sooner or later.


    [Maybe he is confronting the dragon''s instincts at this moment. Whether he will succeed or fail, it will determine how worthy he is to wield the draconic power.]


    After getting ready, Keith drank the blood to get some fresh blood essence. It was the breakfast Rena brought for him. Honestly, he didn''t need blood for many days as the blood essence in his body was still getting converted. Still, it was something his throat was craving for.


    Putting the glass down, Keith wiped his mouth and took a last glance at his appearance in the mirror before leaving his room. In the hallway, Kenny was sleeping without care and as soon as Keith appeared he jolted back up with full attentiveness.


    "Good boy. I see you''ve merged with the blood-qi very well. It has been stabilized to a great degree so it''s fine to take you outside with me. Next time I go out to hunt ghouls, I will take you as well."


    Keith walked off with a slight smile on his face and headed to the training facility. Rena was coming with a large package of meat and blood vessels. She was carrying those heavy supplies without showing any sign of struggle.  Their weight definitely surpassed ten kilograms and any human would find it hard to carry.


    "Young Master! You go out of your room at last. I waited for you to come out but it''s been three days. Are you feeling okay now?" Rena asked, putting the packages aside.


    "Yeah. I feel excellent. In fact, I never felt this good in my life assuming I ever did feel." Keith spoke with a melancholic voice.


    "What happened? You sound different. Did something happen yesterday? Also, you look way better now, young master. The last time you glowed like this is when you became a baron. Hold on!" Rena caught on to something.


    "Your guess is correct. Young master is a Viscount now." Keith said with a smile.

 Chapter 123: Cave

    "Finally the blood core is stable. Let''s see the changes.."


    The system got up from the bed and examined the changes that happened to Keith''s physique. Opening the status window that displayed Keith''s present stats, the system glanced over the numbers one by one.


    [ Keith Ennes ]


    [ Blood Core: Viscount ]


    [ Body detected: Vampire Dragon Hybrid ]


    [ Level : 2.107 ]


    [ Blood-qi: 5.5 ]


    [ Blood Warrior Frame: Count ]


    [ Physical Strength: 5.8]


    [ Vitality: 6 ]


    [ Agility : 5.1 ]


    [ Path: Blood condense ]


    [ Blood-qi techniques :


    Ennes Warrior Frame Technique : Count(Max)


    Blood Summoning Technique : Blood-Qi integration and Soul control(Phase 1)


    Blood Ritualist Technique : Basic Rune understanding(lv0) ]


    The growth was tremendous, especially the physical stats like strength and vitality. Blood-qi levels were at the early stage count and his vitality was close to the middle stage of count. Now he needed to practice the warrior frame and get used to the new power level.


    Looking at the Blood-qi techniques, the system noticed that the blood ritualist technique is added to the list. Although the understanding of runes was limited, it still showed up on the status bar. The system could only change and manipulate certain runes and it was because of life energy manipulation.


    By seeing how runes interacted with the other runes and following the life energy trail as they shifted their form, the system could more or less guess the operation they were doing. It was not a hundred percent accurate but it did save Keth''s life many times.


    In the orientation ceremony, the system successfully diverted the attention of the judgement pillar and recently in the demon cave, activated the rune formation that helped him escape from the collapsing rubble.


    As the system was thinking about the sacrificial chamber, it remembered what happened after Keith absorbed all the corrupted blood-qi from the viscount ghoul.


    The cave was silent as usual. Barely any ghoul made a sound and most of them were standing hundreds of meters away from Keith''s position. An empty space two hundred meters in diameter could be seen inside the sea of low-level ghouls, and in the middle of it was a youth sitting peacefully as his count-level aura was exuding its dominance.


    After Kieth evolved his blood core to the viscount stage and the warrior frame to the count stage, there was still plenty of blood left on the crater. The viscount ghoul''s body had dried up after the blood was extracted from its body and now looked like an empty husk.


    The amount of corrupted blood-qi left was thirty percent of the entire amount. It would be a waste to just throw that away. Now that the blood core has evolved to the viscount stage, it could absorb some blood-qi until it''s full, same for the warrior frame.


    Carefully absorbing the blood-qi into the two sources the system filled all of the empty spaces that were left out during the evolution process. As the process was very accurate there was rarely any spot left but the concentration and density of blood-qi were uneven at many places.


    To be able to reach the maximum efficiency without risking a blood-qi eruption, it had to be monitored to the tiniest details. There was no way normal vampires could achieve this kind of precision, that''s why Keith''s blood-qi was evenly spread out and there were no gaps and lower concentration blood-qi zones.


    This helped him increase his blood-qi density because all parts of his body had a uniform amount of blood-qi and collectively they amounted to more blood-qi than vampires at the same level.


    On top of that, Keith''s warrior frame was also capable of storing blood-qi independent of the blood core. It didn''t need external blood-qi and could operate on its own. It was an incredible advantage and resulted in Keith''s blood-qi reaching two to three times the previous amount.


    In battle, this advantage gave Keith an element of surprise as the opponent could only see his blood core and not the warrior frame, not until he activated it fully. In the idle state, the warrior frame only exerted enough power to maintain Keith''s weight and nothing more. It would appear as if it was just a viscount-level warrior frame until Keith went all out.


    Despite absorbing corrupted blood-qi into the blood core and warrior frame, it was not enough to deplete the reserve. In the end, the system absorbed the corrupted blood-qi for itself and converted it onto life energy.


    The next upgrade for the system needed way more blood-qi than the current reserve could provide. Even if Keith killed all the low-level ghouls inside this sacrificial chamber, it wouldn''t fill a single bar. As it turned out the twenty percent of the viscount blood barely filled one bar out of a hundred in the upgrade status.


    [ Seems like the next upgrade is a major one, maybe it will unlock my lost memories and a part of my divinity. Still, it would take a long time to absorb that much life energy. I have to make sure this body is strong enough to face the dangers of this world.  I can''t just blindly upgrade my system and leave this body unattended.]


    Not a single drop of blood was left on the crater containing the viscount ghoul''s blood. It was all absorbed by Keith. Getting up after he finished absorbing corrupted blood-qi from the viscount he started looking for the other two ghoul barons.


    Their blood-qi was insignificant compared to the viscount ghoul but it was still something. The system swiftly absorbed the blood-qi from the two corpses and filled up the system upgrade. There was no change in the bar as the system predicted.


    Now that the most important thing was taken care of, Keith took out his student rune card to see if he could send a message to the academy.


    Nothing. There was no signal as the runes covering the sacrificial chamber were blocking any kind of life energy trail to escape. Looking around the chamber which was just a finely decorated cave, Keith started looking for an exit.


    When he moved in a certain direction, the low-level ghouls cleared the path for him and gathered in a different spot.  After searching the entire cavern, Keith couldn''t find a single exit. But the viscount ghoul did come here somehow. They saw it first at the entrance to the cave so there must be a path connecting to the exit.


    Without a single clue about the exit, Keith went back to the rune formation from where he arrived here. It was similar to the one carved into the bottom of the pool.


    [Does it connect to another place?]


    The system examined the rune formation and tried to male out the patterns. Unfortunately, the formation was not active and without the demon runes, the system didn''t know how to activate the formation.


    [There must be a way to activate this without the demon. The viscount ghoul!]


    In a flash, Keith appeared on the spot where the viscount ghoul''s dried-up corpse was mangled up. There was nothing special about the body and upon scanning for any life energy signatures, nothing was found.


    Still, Keith didn''t just leave and turned around to pick up the corpse for examination. He searched every part of its body and inside his organs as well. At the end that also didn''t provide any results.


    [ The head?]


    As the system remembered that the head of the ghoul was crushed and buried inside the crater, Keith dug that spot immediately to find the cracked head. A mushy and broken head beyond recognition was buried two feet under the crater floor.


    After digging it out, Keith used his aura to cover up the crushed head in the hope to activate the runes. As soon as the aura seeped into the head, the system sensed the runes immediately.


    It was at the back of the skull barely larger than a fingernail. The blood-qi activated the rune and Keith quickly carved out the part of the skull that was holding the rune. Looking closer, it was similar to the rune that surrounded the demon rune while activating the passageway.


    The system remembered that when he put the demon rune above the formation, a gap opened up the size of the rune and fit inside perfectly.


    [Maybe this is the rune corresponding to the exit.]


    Holding the piece of skull carefully, Keith walked up to the rune formation. He used his blood-qi to activate the rune formation just like before and put the skull piece close to the center.


    As the system predicted, the rune formation changed and in the center, there was a small gap similar in size to the rune carved on the skull. With a smirk, Keith placed the rune at the center of the rune formation and it glowed brightly, also absorbing blood-qi from Keith''s body.


    The rune formation didn''t use too much blood-qi to activate mainly because Kieth could provide that much. If it was a baron-level vampire, it would be quite taxing for their body. The runes rearranged again and just like the formation that brought him here, it also glowed and transported Keith to a new place.


    Keith looked around after finding himself in a different place. The place was small and surrounded by rocks. Only a small gap enough to fit an adult vampire could be spotted at the top.


    Crack!


    Keith jumped and his body went through that narrow hole. While brushing past that gap, it closed again like there was no gap there. Keith hit that spot multiple times after landing but it didn''t open again.


    Sigh!


    "At least I got out without a hitch."


    Looking in the other direction, It was the same entrance where they found the viscount ghoul.

 Chapter 124: Dont read now

    The summon of the vampire lady resembled a large bat that had two large horns on its head. It was twice the size of Keith and the speed at which it attacked him was not something to scoff at. For its size, the summon was incredibly fast and agile.


    But the opponent of the summon was not any ordinary vampire either. Having evolved his blood core to the viscount stage and the warrior frame to the count stage, Keith''s physical power was way over the viscount stage, be it speed or strength.


    Tossing the large bat to the ground, Keith struck its vital points trying to wear it down. The bat struggled and tried to use its legs to attack Keith. In front of a count level, the bat couldn''t do anything.


    Still, Keith never used his full power up until now so the bat could somewhat manage. Turning its head, the bat shot out blueish liquid from its mouth. Keith dodged it without a problem but upon contact to the ground, the liquid melted the floor.


    "Corrosive poison, huh? I need to shut your mouth."


    Keith grabbed the bat''s head and closed its mouth. Applying more pressure on the grip, Keith cracked the bones of the bat. Then he grabbed one of the horns and used all his force to rip it apart.


    Graaaah!


    "Stop!" The lady vampire attacked from behind with the other male vampire aiding her.


    The two figures lunged at him simultaneously while Keith was holding the bat. They thought now that Keith was in a position where he couldn''t let go of the bat. And the attack was well coordinated as the two vampires attacked from opposite directions.


    [Looks like I got my answer. Viscounts are much weaker now. I thought they would entertain me for longer, alas¡­]


    Keith used the same technique he used multiple times while fighting the ghouls.


    Boom!


    A horn pierced the male vampire and he dropped to the floor. The lady vampire was hit with her summon and blasted away, hitting the other side of the wall. Keith walked up to the lady and picked her up.


    Holding her elbow, he dragged her to the middle of the room and kneeled down.


    "I didn''t even use my full power to not kill you. You should listen to me when you have the luxury to, otherwise, I will take much more important things from you than just coins." Keith whispered in her ears while licking his lips.


    A viscount level vampire had a tremendous amount of blood-qi and unlike the ghouls, the life energy that could be converted efficiently was much higher. The system knew that a ghoul''s corrupted blood-qi was much harder to distill than the blood-qi of other vampires.


    It all came down to the relative structure of life energy. While the corrupted blood-qi was abundant, due to the significant change in attribute, it was harder to absorb and most of it gets absorbed by the surroundings in the process of conversion.


    Blood-qi was similar in structure for all vampires and the only difference was in the attributes that were interwoven with the blood-qi. It was much easier to erase the vampire attribute from the blood-qi than the ghoul attribute.


    Ghouls were bloodthirsty and didn''t have a clear mind. Sure, the higher-level ghouls were somewhat intelligent, but the corrupted blood-qi was the reason they couldn''t control their instincts.


    The corrupted blood-qi was a chaotic type of life energy that feeds off of a vampire''s primal desires and takes it to another level. The physique changes and vampires slowly turn into ghouls.


    There are many ways to trigger the corrupted blood-qi creation. If a vampire mindlessly consumed blood and killed other species, the primal instinct solidifies more, and the process of corrupted blood-qi creation starts in their body. But it is too slow and any experienced vampires could eliminate the corrupted blood-qi by abstaining from killing and consuming blood or forcing the corrupted blood-qi out.


    It also takes a lot of time for the corrupted blood-qi to form. So unless the vampire deliberately commits these atrocities, the chances of a vampire turning into a ghoul this way are almost impossible.


    The other way a vampire could become a ghoul is when a blood ritual goes wrong. This is also not very prevalent as the blood ritualists are usually careful enough to not cause any disaster, but once in a while, these accidents occur and the blood-qi gets chaotic all of a sudden, hence turning the vampire into a ghoul.


    All of these are just a small portion of the ghoul population. The majority of the ghouls were humans who were forcefully converted without supervision. That''s why it''s forbidden to turn humans without the approval of the vampire council.


    As the ghouls have the same amount of lifespan, most of the powerful ghouls are centuries or even thousand-year-old powerhouses. Humans don''t live much longer and they create more of them every year. So almost all the new ghouls that are being turned, are humans.


    Keith couldn''t get the amount of blood essence from the ghouls of the same level. A vampire''s blood was very precious especially if the vampire was a viscount. So Keith had all the reasons to find dumb vampires who would throw themselves at him just so he could extract their blood from them.


    If the lady in front of him denied his offer, Keith would bid his time and when she leaves the academy, he will absorb her blood-qi to compensate for all this. He won''t kill her but if she loses enough blood-qi, she can''t sustain her viscount stage for much longer.


    Keith looked at the lady and raised his eyebrows in a curious manner.


    ''How is she going to respond?'' He thought.


    "This is the money I had saved to buy artifacts, you can''t take them away from me." She retorted as tears started forming at the corner of her eyes.


    "Then collect it again. Not like you are going to die tomorrow Unless you want to?" Keith glared back.


    ***


    The two male vampires were huffing and their hands were shaking. The lady in the middle was a little calmer, but her pupils were shaking which showed how stressed she was.


    "You can take the compensation for the mission. We will withdraw all the complaints and I will give you 500 gold blood coins." The lady said, showing her five fingers.


    "I don''t want to negotiate. If you don''t give me your treasury rune card, I will beat you up until you can''t remember your own name." Keith''s voice turned fierce.


    [The dialogues! Where am I getting them? Keith''s mind is surely influencing mine. Still, it''s fun to say stuff like this.] The system inwardly laughed but Keith''s face was stone cold.


    "You can''t take the treasury cars just for a small misunderstanding. We didn''t know you were a count okay. So can you just drop it? I''m not afraid of you. If you beat us up, the summoning department will not take this lightly. I am Miss. Cryel''s direct disciple and she is a marquis. You can show off your strength in front of us but not her." The lady said while clenching her teeth.


    "Is that so? Well, I am not afraid of any marquis. If you think mentioning her name will save you from me, then you are mistaken. This place is in the jurisdiction of Miss. Shaw and I don''t think others will interfere with the hunter affairs because at this moment, you are not in the summoning department but the hunter office.


    Bang!


    Keith threw a slightly powerful punch trying to test his strength but it blew away the vampire standing next to the lady. Although the vampire was not hurt that badly his body was experiencing immense pain.


    The punch Keith threw was powerful enough to compare to a final stage viscount''s full power punch. Keith didn''t use any extra blood-qi to strengthen the punch but it still managed to disrupt the blood-qi of the opponent.


    "I will say this one more time. Give me your treasury cards or the next punch won''t be this light."


    Hiss!


    The lady''s eyes were full of dread but she didn''t lose her mind and gave her treasure card. Clearly, the treasury card contained a lot of coins, which she was unwilling to part with.


    The other vampire was shaking and hastily took out his treasury card and gave it to Keith.


    "Hmm¡­ only 200 gold blood coins, no wonder you handed it so easily. Now Miss, don''t make me wait any longer, I have other important things to attend to." Keith gestured his hand to the lady.


    "Never!" The lady suddenly expanded her aura to counter Keith''s and brought out her summon.


    She was at the final stage of Viscount and her summon was also at the level of final stage viscount. Showing no fear, she ordered her summon to charge forward and attack Keith.


    "Great! I can finally warm up. Hopefully, you won''t disappoint and withdraw after one attack." Keith turned his fist and cracked his neck.


    Circulating his blood-qi, he struck the summon after appearing above its head and blasting its head on the ground.


    Boom!

 Chapter 125: I Come in Peace

    The interior of the office was minimal but there were certain things that stood out. The walls were covered with many artifacts, some of which radiated immense blood-qi fluctuation and others not so much. Some of them were not giving off any energy signatures and only there for decoration.


    Swords, spears, bows and different types of axes were all on full display. There were many weapons Keith saw for the first time and their shapes intrigued him.


    As he walked to the end of the room where a large table was present, Miss. Shaw, who was sitting on her chair, turned her head.


    "You like my collection?" She asked.


    "Honestly, this is an amazing collection. But I can see most of them are for decoration." Keith replied while scanning the wall.


    "Oh they are just for show. All of them were collected from the vampires I defeated or killed. My personal weapons are in a safe place where only I can go." She giggled after saying this.


    Finally Keith was in front of the table and sat on a chair that was nearby.


    "May I ask, why did you call me here? If you wanted to say something, you could''ve said that outside." Keith''s expression turned serious.


    Seeing his expression stifen, Miss Shaw jumped to the matter at hand.


    "If you beat them up outside the hunter office, that would''ve been better. I am in charge of everything here and any mishaps put me in a bad spot. I can''t take sides and even though what you did wasn''t that severe, she is a fourth year student. The other fourth years will be quite unhappy about your behavior to her.


    "Also, she has strong connections in the blood summoning department.  I know you also joined the department  but she has been here for four years while you are barely for a month. Don''t think you are the top of the food chain after getting more power. There is always a bigger fish." Miss. Shaw explained her concern.


    "I agree with what you said, but I didn''t want to create conflict with them. I was very respectable and even apologized when we met. They were the ones talking down to me and even attacked me outside the campus. I try to be polite at first, but the other side don;t let me. They think I''m polite because I''m weak." Keith replied with a snort.


    "Then let me give you a practical piece of advice. Don''t make trouble where there are eyes. It''s fine if there is no one present. You already thrashed one of those vampires didn''t you? Nothing happened and I didn''t care. I wanted to bring the conflict to the end because they kept on asking for my appointment. I don''t have time to deal with mere skirmishes. So I gave Gard the responsibility.


    "Looks like he failed to communicate with you properly." She looked rather pissed.


    "Don''t blame him for my rage. It was my decision to attack them. He just asked me to resolve the issue, and I almost.." Before Keith could finish, Miss. Shaw cut him off.


    "Glad that I was there before you took that treasury card. Or else you had to deal with the disciplinary committee." Miss. Shaw shook his head.


    "The disciplinary committee of the student council?" Keith asked.


    "They keep track of all the fights in the campus and if you take a students belongings after fight without taking the matter to a higher authority, they will detain you. You can beat her up all you want and that only puts you at a risk of making enemies out of fourth year students, but taking her stuff is not taken lightly. Remember that from now." She said with a deep voice.


    "But I took another student''s treasury card before the orientation and nobody came to deal with me." Keith remembered his encounter with that youth who tried to attack him in front of Annice.


    "Maybe they did notice but the ceremony was about to start and they wanted to deal with you later. Or..


    "I heard from a source that Valencia is trying to recruit you and she has a very favourable attitude towards you." Miss. Shaw raised one of her eyebrows looking at keith.


    "Ah! Is that so?" Keith tried to feign ignorance.


    Ever since he said he would go to the student council and join them, he has been postponing the task to this day. Among all the matters he was dealing with right now, he forgot about the student council until Miss. Shaw reminded him.


    "Don;t try to fool me with that look, everyone saw you talking to her inside the central hall and the fight you had on the outside. I keep track of all the activity happening inside the academy. It''s my job to assess threats, both internal and external.


    "As for your compensation, take it from Gard. I won''t deduct anything from you this time, but try to keep your activities as discreet as possible. Understood?" She said with a commanding voice.


    "Yes ma''am! I will try to control my impulses." Keith replied with a grumpy voice.


    "Now get out of here. I have to deal with more important matters." She gestured to Keith.


    Keith got up and turned around to leave, but before he got out of the room, Miss. Shaw asked him a question.


    "When are you going to your hometown?


    Keith was surprised by the question for a moment, but soon he realized why she asked that question.


    "I thought we couldn''t leave before ten years." Keith said.


    "It''s not a hard and fast rule. The academy doesn;t want students to leave the academy every week, so they created this rule, but if you keep with the curriculum and get approval from your professors, you can leave anytime you want. Just don''t stay there for more than a month." She went back to sorting her files and used her runes to levitate several papers.


    "I am planning to go back once I become a duke." Keith replied.


    "So, after ten years, noted.'''' She continued her work.


    "What makes you think that I can''t reach the Duke stage before that?"


    The levitating papers created a gap through which Miss. Shaw stared at him with a scrutinizing gaze.


    "Well, looking at your progress, you might make it, but the world isn''t a simple place and not all things go according to plan especially if there are others trying to pull you down." She warned him.


    "Good, they will become the stepping stones for my greatness." Keith replied as he left the room.


    "This kid. But I kinda like that attitude. Sigh! I need to find out who is making such a huge army of ghouls throughout the region." She immerses herself in reading the reports given by the other hunters.


    Back in the counter, Gard was looking anxiously towards the passageway that led to Miss. Shaw''s office. As soon as he saw Keith, he sprinted across the corridor and arrived in front of him.


    "How''d it go?" He asked in an anxious voice.


    "It was fine. Nothing serious happened really. She just informed me about some of the campus rules, that''s all." Keith replied calmly.


    "That''s a relief. I think I''m also safe. Did she say anything about me?" he asked.


    "She was pissed that you didn''t control me, but I told her it was my idea, so you are good. Also, take me to that lady. I need to say a few words."


    Keith followed the receptionist to meet the lady vampire. She was still in the waiting room, sitting silently and thinking about something. In her trance, she didn''t notice Keith approaching her. The two other vampires sitting with her stood up as he approached them, but this time they were fearful as opposed to being angry.


    The lady noticed that something was wrong and she turned her head only to see Keith''s intimidating face staring down at her.


    "Hey miss. I did beat you up pretty bad, didn''t I?" Keith sat in front of her in the empty seat.


    "What do you want now?" She asked in a deep voice.


    "Can I only talk to you when I have something in mind? Keith said, smiling at her.


    ***


    Keith didn''t look at the lady and turned around to leave the waiting room. The receptionist followed him from behind.


    "Keith? I asked you to resolve the issue not to make it worse. Do you know the complications of this event and the actions you took? Miss. Shaw will kill me next time she sees my face." He mumbled with a mad voice.


    "Her office is this way right?" Keith pointed to a certain corridor.


    He saw her coming from this side when he first arrived at the office. Looking in the direction, the receptionist gulped.


    "Yes, that''s her den. You are in a lot of trouble my friend. Good luck! " He backed off and walked to the counter.


    [Heh! She looked quite distressed when she asked me to come. I wonder what''s it all about?]


    Keith slowly approached her chamber and the door opened as soon as he stood in front of it.

 Chapter 126: Dont read now

    The reaction from the other party was hilarious as Kieth watched them gawk at him for minutes without saying anything. It was a hard truth to swallow if you got beaten up by a first-year student who had the power equivalent to the count stage.


    Regardless of their discomfort, they had to accept that Kieth was more powerful than them and they couldn''t do anything to him. Now that he was revealed to be a student of the summoning department, the lady eased up a little, still looking at him with a fiery gaze.


    "You really joined the summoning department? Where is your summon then?" The lady asked.


    " I performed the summoning technique on a beast, but he''s integrating with the blood-qi. It is still in phase one and can''t assimilate with my blood core. I can show him to you later if you want." Keith said flamboyantly.


    "I''d love to see your summon, but why are you being so friendly all of a sudden? We are on bad terms and you are not the type of guy who would back down." She said with a tinge of suspicion.


    "Look, I was polite to you when we first met. I didn''t want conflict in the first place. You guys thought I''m some pushover and decided to clash with me. I had no choice but to bring out some of my cards to defend myself. You know how that turned out.


    "So how about we make peace and don''t get bitter about it later. Miss. Shaw will be happy about it, and we will get our money back. What do you say?" Keith looked at her with a pleasant smile etched across his face.


    The lady reluctantly took out her treasury card and was about to hand him the card, but she stopped for a moment.


    "I still don''t trust you, but looking at the mutual loss, I want to make a temporary truce. After we get out of here with our money, this thing ends." The lady declared.


    Even though Keith was stronger than her and the other two vampires, she didn''t want to lose to a first-year. Her pride was on the line. She would do whatever it takes to get back at him. Be it relentless training to become stronger or to gather her friends to teach him a lesson.


    She felt that bringing in help from her friends was not good, because it would show her weakness. To be able to do it without any help, on her own, was something she desperately wanted.


    Still, if push came to shove, she was going to ask Miss Cryel''s help and make this first year suffer. She wasn''t aware how strong Keith''s relationship was with the department that even Dean Jesper thought highly of him.


    "Whatever you wish. Don''t stumble into me outside the academy, or you will pay dearly for it. Have a good day."


    After scanning the treasury card and confirming how many coins were in it, he left the waiting room that descended into deathly silence. As soon as he left, the conversations resumed and they discussed what had happened.


    "That was humiliating!" One of two vampires said.


    "We didn''t have a choice, if we attacked him, you know what would''ve happened." The other vampire said. They already experience it first hand.


    "Stop it you two. At least I survived a couple of blows, you on the other hand couldn''t even take one hit. What have you been doing these past four years? You were supposed to be physically stronger than me." She said angrily.


    "His strength is at the count level, so was his speed. We couldn''t predict his next moves. If we did, at least we would''ve blocked the attacks. But he was too fast for our eyes to catch."


    "¡­"


    Silence ensued at that table as the three vampires looked down, immersed in their thoughts.


    Keith went to the counter and informed the receptionist about the number of gold blood coins he was ought to receive. The young vampire bit his tongue. Looking at the amount but. He had to oblige as it was the order from Miss. Shaw.


    "This is still my fault. I don''t think she will leave me be," He handed Keith a token which was just a golden rune.


    Upon touching the golden rune with Keith''s treasury card, the new amount was added to his account. Keith smiled and put his card back inside.


    "I will come back in a couple of days with my summon. Keep an eye for any ghoul-related missions for me, alright?" Keith said after turning back to leave.


    "You want to hunt ghouls?" The receptionist asked.


    "Sure! Do you have any particular mission in mind?" Keith said without looking back.


    "Nevermind. I heard of some incidents happening, but it''s still vague what caused them. I will inform you once we get more info on that." The receptionist said.


    "Alright."


    Keith walked out of the central office building and headed straight to the blood warrior training facility. After getting there he saw many students lining up to enter the baron stage training chamber.


    "What''s going on?" Keith asked one of the vampires in the queue.


    "¡­Keith?" The vampire recognized him with a glance and almost panicked.


    "Yeah, that''s me."


    "I''ve been looking for you for three days. Please analyze my warrior frame. I can''t evolve it to the final stage of baron." He desperately begged Keith.


    Noticing that all of the vampires in the queue started looking at him and hurriedly walking towards him, he got the gist of what was happening. Basically, they were here for him, specifically to analyze their warrior frame and improve it.


    Keith demonstrated time and time again that he could fix the implementation faults of the frame and give a revised warrior frame technique that profoundly increased the output and helped the vampires who had long-lasting bottlenecks.


    The vampires saw that all of them were rounding up Keith so they hurriedly tried to get to the front which caused a messy atmosphere. Keith couldn''t pass due to the vampires pushing each other and blocking the entrance to the training chamber.


    Whoosh!


    Keith revealed his viscount level aura and it suppressed all the baron level vampires in front of him. He didn''t even need to fully activate his warrior frame. His blood-core aura was enough to stop them.


    "If you do this, I might never analyze your warrior frames, so behave in a civilized manner. I have other important things to deal with. Now step aside." Keith increased his aura.


    The baron-level vampires turned silent and steered away from the entrance. Keith walked inside the training chamber and found it to be quite empty. Normally, hundreds of vampires came in here to train every day but today there were only a dozen of vampires.


    He saw Garion sparring with a final stage baron, and he approached without getting noticed. As soon as he entered the chamber, he withdrew all his aura so he was basically invisible at this moment.


    ***


    front of him.


    "How''d it go?" He asked in an anxious voice.


    "It was fine. Nothing serious happened really. She just informed me about some of the campus rules, that''s all." Keith replied calmly.


    "That''s a relief. I think I''m also safe. Did she say anything about me?" he asked.


    "She was pissed that you didn''t control me, but I told her it was my idea, so you are good. Also, take me to that lady. I need to say a few words."


    Keith followed the receptionist to meet the lady vampire. She was still in the waiting room, sitting silently and thinking about something. In her trance, she didn''t notice Keith approaching her. The two other vampires sitting with her stood up as he approached them, but this time they were fearful as opposed to being angry.


    The lady noticed that something was wrong and she turned her head only to see Keith''s intimidating face staring down at her.


    "Hey, miss. I did beat you up pretty bad, didn''t I?" Keith sat in front of her in the empty seat.


    "What do you want now?" She asked in a deep voice.


    "Can I only talk to you when I have something in mind? Keith said, smiling at her.


    Tsk!


    "Are you here to just humiliate me?" She asked while clenching her teeth.


    "Not quite. I want to see how much you have in your treasury card. And also, I talked to Miss. Shaw, she won''t deduct anything from you. I will be give that amount from my compensation. How about that?" Keith said with a smile.


    "I don''t believe you." She was avoiding eye contact with him. Keith eyes resemled that of a predetor''s gaze.


    "Well, I can''t convice a woman who doesn''t want to be convinced, especilayy from a first year junior from the same discipline."


    The lady''s eyes widened after hearing Keith''s words.


    "You¡­ are in the first year?" She asked with a unbelieving expression.


    Keith shrugged.


    "You joined this year, last month?" She asked again refusing to belive his words.


    "Pretty much. I joined the summoning department even though I got invitations from al four departments." He said without a care in the world.

 Chapter 127: What Happened?

    "So you''ve been consolidating your blood core all this time. That explains it. I wondered why you weren''t replying to our messages." Garion said after listening to him.


    "Yeah, it was a critical moment. If I broke my concentration, the blood-qi wouldn''t be properly allocated. By the way, do you have any idea about other intelligent species besides humans and vampires?" Keith asked cautiously.


    "Not that I know of. Some high level beasts do show similar intelligence to humans, but they are just a handful. Others don''t have the mental capability to think abstractly,"Garion replied.


    "Nevermind. It was a stupid question. Vampires are the pinnacle of life in the continent and that''s the absolute truth. If there were any intelligent beings besides us, the council would have told us so." Keith said with a calm yet rigid voice.


    "I don''t think about that stuff. I guess it''s related to your summoning department. I am a blood warrior so I barely put my mind to things other than blood-qi techniques. The way of the warrior is the only focus in my life.


    Looking at Garion, Keith could see that he was an honest and straightforward person, but ruthless when needed. It was a perfect combination for a warrior and as a soldier. If Keith could cultivate his potential, in the future he would become an invaluable asset.


    The system was contemplating the future when suddenly, Keith''s voice was heard from within.


    ''System can you hear me?''


    [ You got out of the Primordial subconscious? How did you get away from the draconic instinct?] The system asked in bewilderment.


    ''I didn''t. This shit is getting on my nerves. That dragon wanted me to prove myself to the draconic genes. Hah! It was so exhausting. Wait a minute? Where are you now? What about the cave and the ghouls?''


    [ Wait, you have a lot of things to catch up to.]


    "I''ll go now. You practice here and tell Sen what I told you. Remember the plan." Keith said while walking away.


    He got out of the training chamber and looked at the viscount training chamber. It was adjacent to the baron class training chamber. In a hurry, he entered the chamber and found himself a quiet place in the corner of the room.


    The room was almost empty and. Only two or three viscounts were occupying spots  on the other side. Blood-qi within the chamber was very rich, many times more than the baron chamber.


    Keith sat down and continued conversing with Kieth about the events that transpired on that day. The original mind of Keith entered the conscious mind and took control of his mental projection. The body woke up from the bed within his conscious mind and the system was watching him with awe.


    "What are you looking at?" Kieth asked.


    "I was hoping for some alone time and finally my long awaited freedom, but you got out of the subconscious so quickly." The system said.


    "Are you sad that I got out? What a terrible way to greet your master. Hah! Kneel!" Keith commanded as he looked at the system''s humanoid body. There were no facial features, just a halo of light with hands and legs and long hair that  floated in the air almost reaching its feet.


    Ah!


    "You must''ve been really happy, weren''t you? Taking advantage of my absence and controlling my body. But it looks like it was not productive at all. You did some good things. My blood core finally broke through the viscount stage; the warrior frame leveled up to the count stage too. Well done!"


    Keith let go of the pressure. The system got back up and reverted back to its original form, that of a two dimensional screen.


    "It was rough, the dragon really scared the shit out of me. I thought for a moment when it swallowed me, that this was the end. I couldn;t even survive a year in this world. But soon I found out that The stomach of the dragon was a sealed space with its full authority.


    "It asked me.."


    Haah!


    [Asked you what?] The system inquired curiously.


    "See for yourself."


    Keith shared a memory of him falling through the void after getting eaten by the dragon. He fell for several minutes and stopped abruptly in an empty space. There was nothing visible in the surroundings. Only the pitch black nothingness.


    <Who are you?> A deep voice asked.


    It was an echo that repeated hundreds of times before the silence fell.


    "I''m¡­ Keith. Keith Ennes." He said with a nervous expression.


    <Lies! You are not Kieth. I have known him since he was born. You are a foreigh soul controlling his body.> The voice declared.


    "So what? I''m Keith now, it doesn''t matter who I was or who he was. I share his memories and intentions. He died that day when Marvin pierced his stomach. His mind was weak and couldn''t even hold on to his body. Where were you then? Why didn''t you help him? You understand that his faulty physique was because of you." Keith snapped back.


    <You are different, but I can sense the lingering intent of the previous Keith in you. Hahaha! I get it now. He probbaly found your soul drifting in the void and gave you his body.>Th voice said while laughing.


    "Why do you say that? I don''t remember such an event." Keith was taken aback.


    The first memory of Keith was when he opened his eyes for the first time and Grandpa Lex sitting beside him. He couldn''t remeber a single thing before that except fot the horrible death he experienced in his woeld.


    "Damn that system. Burned my body to the crisp." He cursed the system for putting him through so much trouble.


    <It''s precisely what Im saying. I was present when it happened. I witnessed your soul enter the periphery of te body. The keith from before found your wisp and gave up his life. He was ashamed of his existance in the familay as eveyone looked down on him. Do you know why you have the unconditinal affection towards your maid whom you never met before.


    <You don''t have that feeling towrds your grandfather or any of the family members even though you met them the same day. You can''t justify the memories giving you the sense of closeness as they don''t have any emotional element to the when being transfered, Unless the intentions and experiences went along with it.>


    < He gave up on his life and let you control his destiny for him. What a coward?>


    Argghh!


    Keith flared up with rage. The response was almost instantaneos.


    <See! He would never fo that. But you reacted on his behalf. Can''t you see you ingerited his will and intentions.> The voie mocked Keith again.


    "So what? That doesn''t make me any less.. Me. I still have all my memoires of my past and I know who I am." Keith shouted in rage.


    <Really? Let me give you an example so you can understand it clearly.>


    <Imagine you are a child and all you have are the happy memories of yourlself. Then imagine the older you with all the vile and terrible emotions and memories. The embarasing moments and the humiliating encounters. Are the two of you the same even thoug you share the same body.?


    < People think they stay the same throughout theit life, but if they look back they realoze they turned into a comletely diffent person, with difeent life, diffent ambitions and diffent relationships. All because they found new memories. It''s debatable where those memories cam from >


    ****Read my new Story: Check my profile( This part will be edited in an hour.***


    When you think about dreams, what comes into your mind?


    A hazy memory filled with all the terrors or the deepest secrets of you, often forgotten because of their obscurity.


    In the Ruined world where people are fighting for resources in the real world


    And building worlds inside the Dreamscape.


    Can Leon, the fallen Ruin King, rise to his previous glory after he was sent to the future by a fragment of Calamity?


    Join the journey of Leon as he reaches the pinnacle of the Ruined world as well as the Dreamscape.


    "Sir! I have bad news."


    A knight wearing flashy red armour walked up to a man sitting on the biggest chair that looked like a throne.


    "What is it?" The man asked in a heavy voice.


    "We''ve lost out 16th brigade and our southern tower has fallen to the hands of the enemy.


    BANG!


    The man hit his armrest with so much power that it cracked. It didn''t break so easily because it was made from one of the strongest metal known to man. Sitting on top of it was the leader of the Divine alliance.


    Murmur! Murmur!


    Ten people sat in exquisite chairs embroiled in several gems that faced the grand throne where the man sat, overlooking them with his sharp eyes. Thy also heard the news about the fall of the southern tower. It was an important stronghold for the divine alliance.


    "Ruin King, that bastard! I will not let him do as he please" he declared with a shaking voice seething with anger.


    ***


    In the southern side of the Divine alliance territory, a man with silver hair was floating above a castle that was in ruins. Quite synonymous with the name of the man overlooking it.


    It was the man who struck fear in all the ruined world. He came from nowhere and in a span of ten years, he conquered half of the territory in the ruined world. Who was this mysterious man? Nobody knew, but there were theories that he was from a noble family and sold his soul to the devil. The truth was¡­


    "Naira, Don''t play around and round up the captured soldiers. We are behind the schedule."

 Chapter 128: New Problems

    "That''s what happened." Keith smiled after the memory ended.


    [¡­ That explains why you shared the memory with me.] The system said with a bitter tone.


    "Anyway, how is everything going? I see you''ve stabilized the blood core. You absorbed blood-qi from ghouls?" Keith asked.


    [Yes, after you disappeared, I took control of your body and defeated the ghouls in that cave. Especially that viscount ghoul, it was really tough. But the corrupted blood-qi it had was worth it.]


    "What about the pool where the demon was, how did you get out of there?"


    [There was a rune formation that connected the pool with the inner cave that the demon called the sacrificial chamber. I think he was referring to the ghouls as a sacrifice. All of them were humans before turning into ghouls. I killed three baron-level ghouls and one viscount-level ghoul. The low-level ghouls were not worth killing so I left them there. Maybe the summon will need them later on.] The system said suggestively.


    "How is he doing?" Keith asked about Kenny.


    [ He''s fine. His assimilation with the blood-qi is almost complete. I think you can take him outside.]


    "Good, I will train him properly from now on." Keith nodded his head.


    [Are you alright¡­ do you need more time to rest? I can control your body for a little more if you want.] The system said with expectation.


    "No thanks¡­ After getting tortured in darkness, this feels like a breath of fresh air. I think I need to vent." Keith replied grimly.


    [About that. You missed a great opportunity.] The system laughed.


    "Why do you say so?" Keith asked.


    [ The three vampires that attacked you that day filed a case against you in the hunter office. The receptionist told me to resolve the issue and I might''ve gone overboard.]


    "Did you kill one of them?" Keith asked, surprised.


    [ No, but I used my aura to suppress them and some rough punches¡­ nothing extreme.]


    "That''s my aura and you let them too easy"


    [If that bitch didn''t interfere, I would''ve beaten them to a pulp.]


    "Miss. Shaw? I don''t think anyone except her can stop me." Keith wondered.


    [Yeah, she interfered right when I was about to punch that girl''s face.]


    "Too bad¡­ what happened after that?"


    [ I did get the compensation and cleared things between you and those three, but that was to drop their guards. There will be another chance to catch them outside the academy. If they are too scared of you, they won''t approach¡­]


    "That sounds just like you¡­ I was about to ask why you would sort things out with them, so this was the reason."


    [You want to take control right now or?]


    "Haha"


    Keith''s eyes opened and he looked around the training chamber. The blood-qi level here was higher than the training chamber for barons.


    "I am inside the viscount training chamber, aren''t I?" Keith asked the system.


    [Yes..you should''ve replied before taking over]


    "I don''t need to inform you of anything, so shut up. Are you forgetting your place? It''s my body now, so why do I need to consult you before taking control of it, huh?"


    [ That''s not it. I was just having a good time. It''s been too long since I could interact with the real world.]


    "¡­ Well it''s been too long since I played my favorite video game, read my favorite manga, and ugh¡­ Now stop complaining."


    Keith stood up and tried to calm himself down by taking deep breaths. Around that time, another vampire inside the chamber opened his eyes too and said in a calm voice.


    "This is no place for amateurs to shout. If you want to train and condense and blood-qi do so, but don''t shout."


    "Well, now I own this place so you should shut up." Keith snapped back.


    ''Ugh! It slipped. I shouldn''t have said that. I was so angry that I forgot I''m back in my body. Hope they don''t engage further or I won''t be able to control myself.''


    Keith didn''t say anything further and sat down in his spot. Not a minute went by and three viscount-level vampires rounded him up.


    "Oh great! Looks like my wish will come true after all." Keith opened his eyes to check the three vampires that surrounded him.


    "What did you say, you little shit! You own this place." One of the vampires said, spitting on the ground.


    "I need to teach you some manners!" Another one said, expanding his aura.


    "Your blood core fluctuations are really faint, you''re good with controlling your blood-qi but all of us can see that you''re just an early stage viscount. Care to tell us how you own this place? The last time I checked, this was the property of the blood warrior department. Are you claiming to be the dean?" The third vampire who first spoke to Kieth stood in the middle.


    He looked at Keith with ice-cold eyes and expanded his final stage viscount aura to suppress him. With the three vampires pressuring Keith simultaneously, Kieth didn''t slouch down. His eyes squinted and he looked directly at the middle vampire who was the strongest.


    "You don''t know how to differentiate between a normal statement and sarcasm? I will give you proper training." Keith stood up abruptly.


    "Sarcas..!"


    Boom!


    Keith didn''t spend any more time explaining to them about his weird way of speech as they were not aware of such terms. He was pissed off and needed an outlet to let his frustrations go. Looking at the other two vampires who were getting ready to attack, Keith grabbed the head of the other one and gave him a solid knee kick.


    Crack!


    His chin was split in two and blood started flowing from the gap. Keith didn''t use the full power of his warrior frame so that he doesn''t kill someone by accident. Still, it was enough to beat these three.


    "You asshole!" The last vampire used this chance to attack Keith from his left side which was wide open.


    Keith didn''t panic and turned the vampire''s body to become a shield for him, and it worked magnificently. The punch struck straight into the face and his nose flattened.


    "Nice! Now you get the same treatment." Keith punched the last vampire who tried to dodge after realizing his mistake, but it was too late.


    "Ahh!"


    Wham!


    He was sent flying with that powerful punch and only Keith stood there wiping his hands off. The other two vampires were lying on the floor. One was completely unconscious after getting hit twice on his head.


    The supposed leader of the group and the strongest one was holding his broken nose and trying to stand up. He didn''t look like he suffered too much, but his face was twisted, apparent by a fist mark with a red border.


    Still, the wound was nothing to him and it was healing faster each second. In a couple of seconds, the nose was also reattached and he let go of it.


    "You! How do you possess so much power?" He expanded his aura again and asked Keith with caution.


    He didn''t even see the punch coming at him. It was so fast that he thought he was facing a count. But he clearly sensed Keith''s aura and blood core and it was nowhere near count level.


    "Again! I don''t need to explain it to everyone I happen to beat up. Do you want to fight one more time? I can break your nose again if you want." Keith provoked him further.


    "Your blood-qi level increased. You were hiding your powers, didn''t you? I can sense that your blood-qi is equal to me. But your warrior frame, why can''t I sense it?" He said while taking a good look at Keith''s physique.


    "You are not worthy enough to look at my warrior frame. I was having a bad day so I spoke without thinking but you guys came to harass me just like that. Well, I also wanted to beat someone up so no complaints there."


    Keith saw that the vampire had lost his will to fight and he didn''t want to beat them up meaninglessly so he sat back and continued to circulate his blood-qi.


    The vampire stood there looking at Keith and clenching his teeth. He didn''t want to fight someone who was unpredictable. At first, he thought Keith was just a newly promoted viscount who entered the training chamber, so he confidently came here to teach him the rules.


    It was not uncommon for seniors to bully the juniors for small and petty reasons, everyone was guilty of it. But it wasn''t that serious for them to get involved, still, they did. And it turned out they couldn''t be more wrong.


    Keith absorbed the ambient blood-qi quietly. It was not enough to increase his blood-qi substantially, but it was like a snack that he needed to stimulate the blood-qi once in a while. He kept his senses sharp amidst all of this and didn''t drop his guard. Not that he needed to, as he could easily dodge or block their attacks. He did it because he wanted to beat them up again if they tried anything funny.

 Chapter 129: Student Council

    Fortunately, the vampire was smart enough to know when to stop. He bit his tongue and after the other two woke up, he carried them with him and left the training chamber.


    Luckily, there wasn''t any more fuss about it. Keith silently absorbed blood-qi and circulated it at the same time to add his attribute to the new blood-qi.


    It was afternoon and Keith left the viscount training chamber. He wanted to go to his room and check on Rena and Kenny. Despite the positive things he heard from the system, he wanted to see for himself how much they''ve grown.


    [I wanted to inform you that you forgot about the student council. You were supposed to go to Valencia''s office. Or are you purposefully avoiding it?] The system asked.


    "A bit of both. I don''t want to go unless I have a certain level of strength and now it seems like a good time. I don''t think anyone at the count stage will be a threat to me. At least I can defend myself and flee if anything bad happens."


    [Maybe she has some artifacts to control your movement, you never know.]


    "But why would she want to capture me? Besides, even if she planned to capture me, I doubt she would go through with this plan. Remember who is backing me, he won''t let her get away with it." Keith smiled and walked across the hallway.


    [ I think she sees the potential in you and wants to have you on her side.]


    "Now that is more likely. I have to go there to find out. I''ve gotten stronger and I need to find out my limits, only that way I can stimulate the blood-qi. These weaklings can''t even block a single attack from me.


    "The blood-qi is also overwhelming. For some time, I need to stop absorbing a huge amount of blood-qi. I don''t know how to describe it but it feels like when you eat so much, you can''t even walk. But in my case, it''s more subtle. I feel like if I absorb more blood-qi, something bad will happen."


    [Is it just a bad feeling or..]


    "A premonition. It''s instinctual." Keith replied, lowering his head.


    [ I never had this kind of feeling even after absorbing three vampires'' corrupted blood-qi.]


    "Probably because it''s not your body. I have a certain connection to it that I can''t explain. And the dragon said it too, the previous Keith merged with me, at least a part of him, his intentions." Keith mumbled.


    He arrived at his residence and looked through the hall to spot a big tiger-like beast lying on the floor, all curled up.


    "There you are. Your blood-qi has been stabilized and integrated with your soul. I can finally take you outside." Keith glanced at his summon.


    Sensing his sharp gaze, Kenny stood up shivering, and at the first glance, he walked towards him. He could feel Keith wanted to see him. It was a natural instinct to obey his master''s commands.


    At the same time, Rena who was resting inside her room got up and came outside.


    "Rena, I''m taking Kenny outside for some training. He is ready now that his blood-qi has been stabilized." Keith said.


    "It''s time for Kenny to be useful to the young master. All he does is eat food and sleep every day. I have to clean the hallway three times because he keeps jumping around. The carpet gets all mangled up." She looked sharply at Kenny.


    A horrifying expression appeared on Kenny''s face as he stared at Rena, pleading not to tell more, and she didn''t anymore.


    "But he''s a good boy too. So make sure to train him well." Rena smiled at Keith.


    "Oh, I will. He needs to get stronger, and for that, he has to go through hell."


    As Keith said that, shivers ran down the poor beast''s spine.


    "Speaking of getting stronger, you''ve grown stronger too. I can sense the life energy within you growing faster. If I didn''t know about you, I would think that you are a powerful human with years of experience in combat." Keith said admiring her growth.


    "It''s all thanks to you. I didn''t even do anything. If I may ask, can I learn any technique or something that will increase my combat strength? I don''t like to sit around all day and do nothing. With all this power, I can do chores in an instant and I don''t even get tired. After that, I just sit around all day or gather supplies from the warehouse.


    "The other humans also saw me strangely after I carried 100-pound boxes with one hand. I can understand that they think I''m different, if I was in their position I would think that too. It''s just I can''t go back to being normal so I have to use this strength in the right way. They do admire and we laugh about it, but their fear for me¡­ I can feel it." Rena described her experience with her friends.


    "It''s natural that weak people will fear strong ones, it''s not their fault. You were also scared when I brought Kenny here. It was a natural response to probable threat. Especially when you are a human, and your strength far exceeds normal standards, people tend to be wary of you. This will only grow as you get stronger and even vampires will feel threatened by you. But that will take some time.


    "About what you said, I will try to find martial arts techniques that can be used by humans and give them to you so that you can practice. It will be significantly weaker than martial arts that use blood-qi, but it''s better than nothing." Keith assured her.


    "I will be looking forward to it then." Rena smiled in response.


    "I''ll come back after sunset, or a little later if something happens. '''' Keith left his residence and headed to the student council office.


    The student council was the governing body over all the students inside the academy and exercised its power to make sure students don''t go out of their way to cause trouble. Keith arrived in front of the office which was a white building made with stones and a type of clay widely used for all the buildings inside the campus.


    He tried to crack the hardened clay outside his residence, but it was too strong. Only after applying force equivalent to the final stage viscount, he could create a small crack. If he used more power, he would have created a bigger crack, but he didn''t want to be held responsible for damaging the property so he left.


    When he came back the next day, he found out that the crack sealed itself and there was nothing on the surface. It was as if the crack was never there.


    "The blood ritualists are terrifying. I need to learn more about the rune and the blood-qi techniques of the blood ritualists."


    Keith entered the student council building and walked up to the counter in the middle. The hall was surprisingly empty with only a handful of vampires sitting on the side.


    "Who are you and what''s your purpose?" A student at the middle stage of viscount asked Keith, looking at him lazily.


    "I''m here to see Miss. Winters. She invited me to join the student council." Keith said, showing his rune card.


    "Alright, I will call her now to see if what you''re saying is true or not?" The vampire smiled.


    "What do you mean? You think I''m lying?" Keith asked with an angry face.


    "No¡­ No¡­ It''s just that a lot of vampires just come here not knowing anything about her. Often they come here to see her and that''s it. You could say they just want to meet her to admire her beauty. She is the most beautiful¡­Argg!"


    Suddenly another female vampire stuck his head with a rolled-up paper bundle and glanced at Keith.


    "Get back to work and stop telling people that. She is the most powerful and that is all they need to know. Now go to your place." She ordered the male vampire.


    She looked at Keith''s rune card and recognized his name. It was the name she heard many times after the first-year orientation ceremony.


    "Keith Ennes."


    ***


    "You are not worthy enough to look at my warrior frame. I was having a bad day so I spoke without thinking but you guys came to harass me just like that. Well, I also wanted to beat someone up so no complaints there."


    Keith saw that the vampire had lost his will to fight and he didn''t want to beat them up meaninglessly so he sat back and continued to circulate his blood-qi.


    The vampire stood there looking at Keith and clenching his teeth. He didn''t want to fight someone who was unpredictable. At first, he thought Keith was just a newly promoted viscount who entered the training chamber, so he confidently came here to teach him the rules.


    It was not uncommon for seniors to bully the juniors for small and petty reasons, everyone was guilty of it. But it wasn''t that serious for them to get involved, still, they did. And it turned out they couldn''t be more wrong.

 Chapter 130: New Problems

    "That''s what happened." Keith smiled after the memory ended.


    [¡­ That explains why you shared the memory with me.] The system said with a bitter tone.


    "Anyway, how is everything going? I see you''ve stabilized the blood core. You absorbed blood-qi from ghouls?" Keith asked.


    [Yes, after you disappeared, I took control of your body and defeated the ghouls in that cave. Especially that viscount ghoul, it was really tough. But the corrupted blood-qi it had was worth it.]


    "What about the pool where the demon was, how did you get out of there?"


    [There was a rune formation that connected the pool with the inner cave that the demon called the sacrificial chamber. I think he was referring to the ghouls as a sacrifice. All of them were humans before turning into ghouls. I killed three baron-level ghouls and one viscount-level ghoul. The low-level ghouls were not worth killing so I left them there. Maybe the summon will need them later on.] The system said suggestively.


    "How is he doing?" Keith asked about Kenny.


    [ He''s fine. His assimilation with the blood-qi is almost complete. I think you can take him outside.]


    "Good, I will train him properly from now on." Keith nodded his head.


    [Are you alright¡­ do you need more time to rest? I can control your body for a little more if you want.] The system said with expectation.


    "No thanks¡­ After getting tortured in darkness, this feels like a breath of fresh air. I think I need to vent." Keith replied grimly.


    [About that. You missed a great opportunity.] The system laughed.


    "Why do you say so?" Keith asked.


    [ The three vampires that attacked you that day filed a case against you in the hunter office. The receptionist told me to resolve the issue and I might''ve gone overboard.]


    "Did you kill one of them?" Keith asked, surprised.


    [ No, but I used my aura to suppress them and some rough punches¡­ nothing extreme.]


    "That''s my aura and you let them too easy"


    [If that bitch didn''t interfere, I would''ve beaten them to a pulp.]


    "Miss. Shaw? I don''t think anyone except her can stop me." Keith wondered.


    [Yeah, she interfered right when I was about to punch that girl''s face.]


    "Too bad¡­ what happened after that?"


    [ I did get the compensation and cleared things between you and those three, but that was to drop their guards. There will be another chance to catch them outside the academy. If they are too scared of you, they won''t approach¡­]


    "That sounds just like you¡­ I was about to ask why you would sort things out with them, so this was the reason."


    [You want to take control right now or?]


    "Haha"


    Keith''s eyes opened and he looked around the training chamber. The blood-qi level here was higher than the training chamber for barons.


    "I am inside the viscount training chamber, aren''t I?" Keith asked the system.


    [Yes..you should''ve replied before taking over]


    "I don''t need to inform you of anything, so shut up. Are you forgetting your place? It''s my body now, so why do I need to consult you before taking control of it, huh?"


    [ That''s not it. I was just having a good time. It''s been too long since I could interact with the real world.]


    "¡­ Well it''s been too long since I played my favorite video game, read my favorite manga, and ugh¡­ Now stop complaining."


    Keith stood up and tried to calm himself down by taking deep breaths. Around that time, another vampire inside the chamber opened his eyes too and said in a calm voice.


    "This is no place for amateurs to shout. If you want to train and condense and blood-qi do so, but don''t shout."


    "Well, now I own this place so you should shut up." Keith snapped back.


    ''Ugh! It slipped. I shouldn''t have said that. I was so angry that I forgot I''m back in my body. Hope they don''t engage further or I won''t be able to control myself.''


    Keith didn''t say anything further and sat down in his spot. Not a minute went by and three viscount-level vampires rounded him up.


    "Oh great! Looks like my wish will come true after all." Keith opened his eyes to check the three vampires that surrounded him.


    "What did you say, you little shit! You own this place." One of the vampires said, spitting on the ground.


    "I need to teach you some manners!" Another one said, expanding his aura.


    "Your blood core fluctuations are really faint, you''re good with controlling your blood-qi but all of us can see that you''re just an early stage viscount. Care to tell us how you own this place? The last time I checked, this was the property of the blood warrior department. Are you claiming to be the dean?" The third vampire who first spoke to Kieth stood in the middle.


    He looked at Keith with ice-cold eyes and expanded his final stage viscount aura to suppress him. With the three vampires pressuring Keith simultaneously, Kieth didn''t slouch down. His eyes squinted and he looked directly at the middle vampire who was the strongest.


    "You don''t know how to differentiate between a normal statement and sarcasm? I will give you proper training." Keith stood up abruptly.


    "Sarcas..!"


    Boom!


    Keith didn''t spend any more time explaining to them about his weird way of speech as they were not aware of such terms. He was pissed off and needed an outlet to let his frustrations go. Looking at the other two vampires who were getting ready to attack, Keith grabbed the head of the other one and gave him a solid knee kick.


    Crack!


    His chin was split in two and blood started flowing from the gap. Keith didn''t use the full power of his warrior frame so that he doesn''t kill someone by accident. Still, it was enough to beat these three.


    "You asshole!" The last vampire used this chance to attack Keith from his left side which was wide open.


    Keith didn''t panic and turned the vampire''s body to become a shield for him, and it worked magnificently. The punch struck straight into the face and his nose flattened.


    "Nice! Now you get the same treatment." Keith punched the last vampire who tried to dodge after realizing his mistake, but it was too late.


    "Ahh!"


    Wham!


    He was sent flying with that powerful punch and only Keith stood there wiping his hands off. The other two vampires were lying on the floor. One was completely unconscious after getting hit twice on his head.


    The supposed leader of the group and the strongest one was holding his broken nose and trying to stand up. He didn''t look like he suffered too much, but his face was twisted, apparent by a fist mark with a red border.


    Still, the wound was nothing to him and it was healing faster each second. In a couple of seconds, the nose was also reattached and he let go of it.


    "You! How do you possess so much power?" He expanded his aura again and asked Keith with caution.


    He didn''t even see the punch coming at him. It was so fast that he thought he was facing a count. But he clearly sensed Keith''s aura and blood core and it was nowhere near count level.


    "Again! I don''t need to explain it to everyone I happen to beat up. Do you want to fight one more time? I can break your nose again if you want." Keith provoked him further.


    "Your blood-qi level increased. You were hiding your powers, didn''t you? I can sense that your blood-qi is equal to me. But your warrior frame, why can''t I sense it?" He said while taking a good look at Keith''s physique.


    "You are not worthy enough to look at my warrior frame. I was having a bad day so I spoke without thinking but you guys came to harass me just like that. Well, I also wanted to beat someone up so no complaints there."


    Keith saw that the vampire had lost his will to fight and he didn''t want to beat them up meaninglessly so he sat back and continued to circulate his blood-qi.


    The vampire stood there looking at Keith and clenching his teeth. He didn''t want to fight someone who was unpredictable. At first, he thought Keith was just a newly promoted viscount who entered the training chamber, so he confidently came here to teach him the rules.


    It was not uncommon for seniors to bully the juniors for small and petty reasons, everyone was guilty of it. But it wasn''t that serious for them to get involved, still, they did. And it turned out they couldn''t be more wrong.


    Keith absorbed the ambient blood-qi quietly. It was not enough to increase his blood-qi substantially, but it was like a snack that he needed to stimulate the blood-qi once in a while. He kept his senses sharp amidst all of this and didn''t drop his guard. Not that he needed to, as he could easily dodge or block their attacks. He did it because he wanted to beat them up again if they tried anything funny.

 Chapter 131: Student Council

    Fortunately, the vampire was smart enough to know when to stop. He bit his tongue and after the other two woke up, he carried them with him and left the training chamber.


    Luckily, there wasn''t any more fuss about it. Keith silently absorbed blood-qi and circulated it at the same time to add his attribute to the new blood-qi.


    It was afternoon and Keith left the viscount training chamber. He wanted to go to his room and check on Rena and Kenny. Despite the positive things he heard from the system, he wanted to see for himself how much they''ve grown.


    [I wanted to inform you that you forgot about the student council. You were supposed to go to Valencia''s office. Or are you purposefully avoiding it?] The system asked.


    "A bit of both. I don''t want to go unless I have a certain level of strength and now it seems like a good time. I don''t think anyone at the count stage will be a threat to me. At least I can defend myself and flee if anything bad happens."


    [Maybe she has some artifacts to control your movement, you never know.]


    "But why would she want to capture me? Besides, even if she planned to capture me, I doubt she would go through with this plan. Remember who is backing me, he won''t let her get away with it." Keith smiled and walked across the hallway.


    [ I think she sees the potential in you and wants to have you on her side.]


    "Now that is more likely. I have to go there to find out. I''ve gotten stronger and I need to find out my limits, only that way I can stimulate the blood-qi. These weaklings can''t even block a single attack from me.


    "The blood-qi is also overwhelming. For some time, I need to stop absorbing a huge amount of blood-qi. I don''t know how to describe it but it feels like when you eat so much, you can''t even walk. But in my case, it''s more subtle. I feel like if I absorb more blood-qi, something bad will happen."


    [Is it just a bad feeling or..]


    "A premonition. It''s instinctual." Keith replied, lowering his head.


    [ I never had this kind of feeling even after absorbing three vampires'' corrupted blood-qi.]


    "Probably because it''s not your body. I have a certain connection to it that I can''t explain. And the dragon said it too, the previous Keith merged with me, at least a part of him, his intentions." Keith mumbled.


    He arrived at his residence and looked through the hall to spot a big tiger-like beast lying on the floor, all curled up.


    "There you are. Your blood-qi has been stabilized and integrated with your soul. I can finally take you outside." Keith glanced at his summon.


    Sensing his sharp gaze, Kenny stood up shivering, and at the first glance, he walked towards him. He could feel Keith wanted to see him. It was a natural instinct to obey his master''s commands.


    At the same time, Rena who was resting inside her room got up and came outside.


    "Rena, I''m taking Kenny outside for some training. He is ready now that his blood-qi has been stabilized." Keith said.


    "It''s time for Kenny to be useful to the young master. All he does is eat food and sleep every day. I have to clean the hallway three times because he keeps jumping around. The carpet gets all mangled up." She looked sharply at Kenny.


    A horrifying expression appeared on Kenny''s face as he stared at Rena, pleading not to tell more, and she didn''t anymore.


    "But he''s a good boy too. So make sure to train him well." Rena smiled at Keith.


    "Oh, I will. He needs to get stronger, and for that, he has to go through hell."


    As Keith said that, shivers ran down the poor beast''s spine.


    "Speaking of getting stronger, you''ve grown stronger too. I can sense the life energy within you growing faster. If I didn''t know about you, I would think that you are a powerful human with years of experience in combat." Keith said admiring her growth.


    "It''s all thanks to you. I didn''t even do anything. If I may ask, can I learn any technique or something that will increase my combat strength? I don''t like to sit around all day and do nothing. With all this power, I can do chores in an instant and I don''t even get tired. After that, I just sit around all day or gather supplies from the warehouse.


    "The other humans also saw me strangely after I carried 100-pound boxes with one hand. I can understand that they think I''m different, if I was in their position I would think that too. It''s just I can''t go back to being normal so I have to use this strength in the right way. They do admire and we laugh about it, but their fear for me¡­ I can feel it." Rena described her experience with her friends.


    "It''s natural that weak people will fear strong ones, it''s not their fault. You were also scared when I brought Kenny here. It was a natural response to probable threat. Especially when you are a human, and your strength far exceeds normal standards, people tend to be wary of you. This will only grow as you get stronger and even vampires will feel threatened by you. But that will take some time.


    "About what you said, I will try to find martial arts techniques that can be used by humans and give them to you so that you can practice. It will be significantly weaker than martial arts that use blood-qi, but it''s better than nothing." Keith assured her.


    "I will be looking forward to it then." Rena smiled in response.


    "I''ll come back after sunset, or a little later if something happens. '''' Keith left his residence and headed to the student council office.


    The student council was the governing body over all the students inside the academy and exercised its power to make sure students don''t go out of their way to cause trouble. Keith arrived in front of the office which was a white building made with stones and a type of clay widely used for all the buildings inside the campus.


    He tried to crack the hardened clay outside his residence, but it was too strong. Only after applying force equivalent to the final stage viscount, he could create a small crack. If he used more power, he would have created a bigger crack, but he didn''t want to be held responsible for damaging the property so he left.


    When he came back the next day, he found out that the crack sealed itself and there was nothing on the surface. It was as if the crack was never there.


    "The blood ritualists are terrifying. I need to learn more about the rune and the blood-qi techniques of the blood ritualists."


    Keith entered the student council building and walked up to the counter in the middle. The hall was surprisingly empty with only a handful of vampires sitting on the side.


    "Who are you and what''s your purpose?" A student at the middle stage of viscount asked Keith, looking at him lazily.


    "I''m here to see Miss. Winters. She invited me to join the student council." Keith said, showing his rune card.


    "Alright, I will call her now to see if what you''re saying is true or not?" The vampire smiled.


    "What do you mean? You think I''m lying?" Keith asked with an angry face.


    "No¡­ No¡­ It''s just that a lot of vampires just come here not knowing anything about her. Often they come here to see her and that''s it. You could say they just want to meet her to admire her beauty. She is the most beautiful¡­Argg!"


    Suddenly another female vampire stuck his head with a rolled-up paper bundle and glanced at Keith.


    "Get back to work and stop telling people that. She is the most powerful and that is all they need to know. Now go to your place." She ordered the male vampire.


    She looked at Keith''s rune card and recognized his name. It was the name she heard many times after the first-year orientation ceremony.


    "Keith Ennes, Miss. Winters has been waiting for you. If you didn''t come here by the end of the week she was ready to go to your residence by herself." She said, wiping her forehead.


    "Well, that sounds like something she might do. Luckily, I arrived here before she wreaked havoc in my place." Keith said with a laugh.


    "I see why she desperately wants to recruit you. Not even a month has passed since you entered the academy and you have already reached the viscount stage. Follow me, she probably knows you are here and the more I take your time, the lesser the chance of me getting a promotion."


    The lady vampire turned back and started to walk towards a narrow door. Keith followed her and entered a circular room three meters in diameter. A pulling force from below could be felt as soon as the door closed.


    "A fucking elevator!" Keith yelled in surprise.


    "What are you babbling? This is an artifact prototype made by the blood ritualists, only installed in the student council office. They thought it was useless since the high-level vampires could go anywhere in an instant so there was no need for such an artifact, but Miss. Valencia wanted it for some reason.


    "As the blood ritualists didn''t find it useful, they donated this prototype to the student council." She said with a shrug.

 Chapter 132: Dont Read Now

    Wait for some time for the Server to Refresh the new chapter


    The elevator stopped after a couple of seconds and the doors opened. Outside was a hallway leading to a door. Keith followed the female vampire as she entered the room.


    "You are late." A cold voice resounded throughout the room.


    Keith turned his head towards the direction the voice was coming from and he saw Valencia wearing the student council uniform. It was overly decorated with many symbols and medals attached to her shoulders.


    Her red eyes were piercing through his appearance, trying to see what is underneath while her white hair fluttered after she used her aura to peer into his blood core. The pressure inside the room increased and the lady vampire was having trouble standing still.


    "Miss. Winters, I told you I didn''t want to join the student council, but after the incident, you forced me to join. Didn''t I say the normal rules don''t apply to me? I want to make this clear again. I will do this only if it doesn''t interfere with my other interests and doesn''t take too much of my time.


    "I was busy this whole week, so I couldn''t come here. That doesn''t mean I was hiding from you." Keith expanded his aura to block the suppression Valencia was applying on him.


    He activated his warrior frame to its maximum output to push Valencia''s aura away. Seeing his blood-qi level rise to such a degree, her eyes widened a little, but she let out her final stage marquis aura.


    Heuk!


    The lady vampire couldn''t resist the aura and fell flat to the floor and passed out. Keith was handling the aura pretty well, but it wasn''t enough. The gap between them was too large and even with the warrior frame providing him with count level blood-qi, she was at the final stage of Marquis. Her blood-qi was several times higher than Keith''s. If he were to fight her, he wasn''t sure if he could escape alive.


    "Miss. Valencia, Are you trying to kill a junior and your subordinate?" he said while maintaining his aura.


    "Hmph! You are far from dead and she''s just passed out. I didn''t use any physical force so it is not that big of a deal even if you died. It proves that you are weak." She smirked and withdrew her aura.


    "That is a cruel thing to say. So I can use my aura like this on baron stage and blood condensing phase vampires and no one will blame me?" Keith asked, raising his eyebrows.


    "Depends on the identity of the vampire. If the vampire is from a low-level family, you can get away with it, but if the vampire has any strong backer, you will be hunted until they do the same to you or worse." She smiled.


    "Nevermind. You are a princess, so even if I kill you, your father will spare no means to hunt me down." Kieth sighed.


    Hahaha!


    "So you want to kill me now? Well, you have to catch up to me soon. Your growth is impressive, but getting to my level will take you several years even with your heaven-defying talent. I would be happy to fight you after you reach my level." She replied with a grin.


    "Now, sit down. I have a lot of things to ask you." She walked to her chair across the table and sat down crossing her legs.


    Keith sighed and sat down on a chair in front of the table. Valencia moved her fingers and the lady vampire''s body levitated and dropped outside the office and the door closed. A transparent layer of energy covered the room and another layer around the table, enclosing them within the semi-sphere.


    "Nothing can enter inside, so anything we talk about will be between the two of us. I know that the director and deans have artifacts to snoop around." Valencia explained.


    "But you don''t have to worry. Every department has a protective layer to repel the others, but sadly, This place is run by me, and I don''t have resources equivalent to the main branches. Also, I''m not a faculty here. The blood ritualists won''t give me special treatment just because I''m a marquis or the princess of  Efrain.


    "But I do have my means to get artifacts of equivalent strength. The only problem is that it covers only a small space, enough to cover this room." She pointed to the layers.


    "So the protective layer is present on the residential quarters?" Keith asked with a serious voice.


    "Are you secretly doing something illegal? Why do you have such a face?" She smiled teasingly.


    Keith was getting impatient with her attitude. He just wanted to know if his living quarters were safe or not. Valencia''s lips opened and closed several times.


    "Every residential building made for students and teachers are protected by the same runes as the other major department buildings. These rune formations were created before the establishment of the academy. The original vampire who owned this palace laid these runes. The student council building was built after the academy was created, so sadly we don''t have the same rune formation." Valencia replied.


    Keith also remembered the strong material their buildings were made of. He was really surprised to know that they could resist a blow from a final stage viscount. Clearly, there was a formation that was underneath the walls.


    "So the material used to make the walls is not the main reason for their strength. I think the runes are the reason the walls are indestructible." Keith said with an excited expression admiring the rune formation.


    "You noticed! Even if a duke breaks the walls, they will rearrange within seconds. You have to test it for yourself if you want to see the effect. I once tried to crack a wall and it snapped back to its place in an instant."


    Keith didn''t say that he already tried this, but he agreed with her statement and nodded his head. If what she said was true then the castle was definitely an unbreakable fortress. Each wall was capable of taking a hit from a Duke-level vampire and reverting back to its earlier state. And it was the same for each and every building and wall built by the original vampire.


    "That is not all. The walls covering the academy have an even stronger rune formation that can withstand blows from King-level vampires. And how many kings do you think there are in the continent. Let alone kings, dukes are only a handful, so unless someone gathers an army of duke-level vampires, getting inside the academy premises without permission is almost impossible." Valencia explained.


    "What about the sky? Can''t they just jump over the walls or drop from the sky. I doubt there is a lack of flying artifacts." Keith asked curiously, to make Valencia spill more details.


    "The academy has several rune formations to cover the entire sky and the important buildings. They are invisible rune formations that act as a shield to block anything that has a life energy level higher than the fifth level of blood-condensing phase. Air, rain, birds¡­ anything can enter as long they are harmless and weak enough.


    "Also there is a special barrier only accessible to the director that can block huge projectiles and rocks in case someone attacks. Only the director can disarm them and let anything in.


    "But why isn''t it permanent, like the other layer?"


    "Because sometimes, the academy needs supplies and they are delivered through flying artifacts. Living things above the fifth level of blood condensing phase can''t even get in, so it''s not that dangerous if opened for a second or two. And the director is the one who built the second rune formation, so naturally, he knows what he''s doing."


    Keith was surprised to find out that the director built the rune formation to block low-energy projectiles on such a scale. He was a blood ritualist at the king level, so it made sense.


    "The director is very powerful it seems. I heard from Mr. Visit that  he can travel anywhere with an artifact." Keith said, remembering his conversation with the old blood ritualist.


    "This is a rumor that has been going on for a long time. Personally, no one ever saw him do it, so it hasn''t been proven yet. But I think there is a truth in that. He is very mysterious and holds unfathomable knowledge. I only met him once, two years ago. He rarely shows himself to the students. Only a select few can encounter his presence while attending the academy." Valencia replied.


    Keith wanted to find out more about him through Valencia, but as it turned out, she didn''t know much about him either.


    "Now let''s get back to the matter at hand. We wasted too much time going off-topic. I followed your every move after the orientation ceremony and your activities are limited to the blood warrior training facility and the blood summoning department. You didn''t attend classes at the summoning department for about a week. What happened there?"


    "I didn''t bring him inside to hide it from you, but I think you figured it out."


    "Your summon, I know that he''s downstairs. But this is not enough to grant a student special leave. It seems like Dean Jesper himself ordered this to your teachers." Valencia said with a thoughtful expression.


    "Dean Jesper! Why would he do that? I don''t know him personally. He never asked me to join or to be his disciple." Keith''s eyes glowed with anticipation.


    "Don''t think too much into it. I think he''s doing it because you are an important asset to the summoning department and he wants to build a good relationship by giving you enough freedom. He is not going to teach you personally." Valencia replied mockingly, bursting Keith''s bubble.


    "At least Dean Lucien tried to make me his disciple¡­" Keith mumbled.


    "What did you say?" Valencia stood up from her seat.

 Chapter 133: Dont read now

    Update problem, read later.


    Valencia was well aware of the Deans, especially the powerful ones who were feared throughout the continent. Dean Lucien was one of those figures. He was very young compared to the other powerhouses, but he was the strongest under the king stage, it was undisputed.


    After knowing that Keith was offered to be his disciple was shocking, to say the least. But looking at his face, she knew it didn''t go well.


    "Let me guess, Mr.Visit?" She voiced her hunch.


    "He did try to keep me away from him, but I didn''t like Dean Lucien either. He doesn''t see me as a disciple but a treasure chest, at least that''s how I feel. I won''t go to him until I''m strong enough to defend myself, in case he tries something funny." Keith replied with an annoyed voice.


    "He is a lone wolf and his achievements are endless. But anyone who knows him properly is either dead or stronger than him. From what I''ve heard, he doesn''t fulfill his duties as the dean and Vice-dean Chandra handles all the affairs of the department. Actually, Vice Dean Chandra is more efficient than any other faculty I''ve known. Not only does he manage everything inside the blood warrior department, but he also handles the affairs of the management committee. I wonder how he does all of that while keeping his sanity." Valencia said with an admiring tone.


    "Hmm¡­I forgot to thank him for letting me do my thing. Well, I will meet up with him soon." Keith mumbled.


    "Another thing I wanted to ask is, why did you register as a hunter? It is very dangerous for first years like you." Valencia asked.


    "I wanted to go outside for some fresh air. It felt boring inside the academy walls." Keith replied casually.


    "And what about getting in trouble with your seniors? I heard you almost stole their treasury cards. The fourth-year students will be coming after you soon enough." She warned him.


    "Let them come. I could use some free labour."


    "You''re as audacious as ever. But we''ll have to see how you are going to back it up." She laid back on her chair.


    "Do you remember what you promised me?" She questioned.


    "To be a member of the disciplinary committee. Yeah, I''m here to get it done with. I won''t be coming here often so let''s finish all the discussion right now." Keith replied firmly.


    "Listen, I know you don''t have any particular interest in the resources I want to give you but take a look at this."


    She dropped a baseball-sized bloodstone on the table that popped out of nowhere. Keith stared at the bloodstone trying to analyze its properties. If it was a good quality bloodstone with enough blood essence, he was willing to listen to her terms.


    [ This bloodstone is very rich in blood essence]


    [ Purity: 96% ]


    [ Blood essence: 513 ]


    ''How is it compared to the one Mr.Visit gave me?'' Keith asked the system.


    [ His bloodstone''s purity was higher than this one at 99%, but it was smaller so the blood essence it contained was lower. This will increase your level by 0.5 which is a significant boost. But..]


    ''I know. If it were any other vampire, they wouldn''t think twice before getting that bloodstone.''


    Keith was not desperate. He knew what he was getting into if he took that bloodstone. Besides, he could absorb blood-qi from various sources and didn''t need the bloodstone urgently. He recently leveled up his warrior frame and blood core so he was taking a break from absorbing huge amounts of blood-qi.


    What he needed the most right now was not blood-qi but techniques, high-level blood-qi techniques at that.


    "The offer is tempting but I have to politely refuse. I just broke through to the viscount stage and you must''ve already felt my warrior frame reaching the count level. So I don''t need the bloodstone for the foreseeable future." Keith shrugged his shoulders.


    "Then what do you want? This is not related to the student council, but me. I will get to the point. I am on the verge of breaking through to the Duke stage. Everything is going well for me and I''ve accumulated enough blood-qi.


    "What I need is the technique you used to increase your blood-qi density. I didn''t think I would meet a vampire who can increase his blood-qi density before reaching the Duke stage. In fact, I was ready to break through. But after I saw your wonderful performance at the orientation ceremony, I changed my mind." She leaned in to look directly at Keith''s eyes.


    "What is so magical about higher blood-qi destiny. You have enough strength already, why are you worried about the blood-qi density? It looks like a trivial thing." Keith was puzzled to see her pick that particular point.


    His higher blood-qi density was the result of the warrior frame absorbing and storing blood-qi on its own, independent from the blood core. It acted as a quasi blood-core and increased the amount of blood-qi his body can store.


    Another reason for his tremendously high level of blood-qi was the system allocating blood-qi to every single muscle in his body evenly so that not even a small amount of space was wasted.


    The result was that his body was carrying several times the blood-qi of a normal viscount level vampire. Lastly, all of this relied on the fact that he had a special physique. Keith as well as the system didn''t know the reason before the encounter with the black dragon.


    But now that the other gene was revealed, It was clear that Keith''s body was strong because of the dragon genes. Dragons were godly beings, capable of destroying worlds. If Keith was half-dragon, it wasn''t surprising that his physique could withstand and absorb so much life energy. His endurance and vitality were way higher than normal vampires.


    "You are still at the lower levels on the path of blood condensation, but the higher you reach, your blood-qi becomes stagnant. This kind of knowledge, I''m afraid no one is going to give you. I am also saying this just for you to trust me.


    "Before I explain to you about the blood-qi density, let me give a brief introduction to the blood-qi circulation process. This is the main driving force for the blood-qi generation. After you consume blood from humans or absorb blood essence from the bloodstone, it gets stored within you as the purest form of life energy that could be absorbed by vampires."


    "You need to circulate that blood essence to add your attribute and make it your own blood-qi. At lower levels, the conversions taking place at a moment is very low. The higher you go, the more blood essence will be stored within your blood-qi. Then it becomes difficult to store blood essence with the high level of blood-qi present."


    [ I think I understand what she''s trying to say. When I absorbed the viscount ghoul, your whole body was getting hot and there was no space to hold it in. The blood essence is raw and pure life essence and it can''t be diluted and separated easily like your own blood-qi. It stays in one place and occupies free space.


    [ Unless you convert it into blood-qi, you can''t absorb more blood essence. The imbalance will lead to a blood-qi eruption where the body can''t circulate any blood-qi when your blood core is converting blood-qi from blood essence. There will be no space left in your body to store that blood-qi.]


    ''Then it all makes sense.''


    Valencia continued explaining.


    "The blood-qi stored in your body is not always uniform and there are gaps in your physique and spaces where the blood-qi is not dense. This creates a hollow structure of blood-qi and as it accumulates, it''s harder to get rid of.


    "Lower level vampires have a better chance to reorganize their blood-qi, especially if they don''t use any blood-qi technique. It gets harder to change the blood-qi density if you use blood-qi techniques. For a vampire at my level, I can''t change what is done and only fix the faults I have now. Fortunately, I have a very efficient and high-grade circulation technique that ensures that my blood-qi is less imbalanced, but it''s nowhere near your level." She explained directly.


    "So let me get this straight. If you have more blood-qi and blood-qi techniques, you are basically locked in on the path, and changing the blood-qi passageway will have a detrimental effect." Keith summarized what he understood.


    "Something like that, but changing the blood-qi passageway is impossible for me. What I can alter is to reduce the number of empty spaces in my physique and fill them with blood-qi."


    Keith was silent and thought deeply for a moment. He was weighing the positive and negative aspects of this before suggesting anything.


    "After the explanation, I still can''t understand why you would ask me this? You said, only Duke level or higher can alter their blood-qi density. If you break through to the Duke level, you can grasp the concept." Keith suggested.


    "You don''t understand. It will be too late. The best time to alter the irregularities is before a major breakthrough. I can only change the irregularities that happened during my marquis stage, which is the significant portion of my empty spaces.


    "If I break through to the Duke stage, and grasp the concept at that time, I can only fix the irregularities that happen afterward. All of my irregularities from the past will be unchangeable." She said with a grave tone.


    "That is indeed a problem." Keith nodded his head.

 Chapter 134: Dont Read Now

    Updating in a while...


    In a sense, blood-qi density determines the future of a vampire. Not everyone noticed this one trait when they started out but as they accumulated more blood-qi, the irregularities became apparent.


    Keith was lucky to have the perfect combination of luck and execution. If the previous Keith had been a baron, the irregularities before he became a baron would still be there. Without a system to accurately guide the blood-qi, Keith''s density wouldn''t reach the level of what it is today.


    "Does having a higher blood-qi density help with breakthroughs?" Keith asked the student council president.


    "Not by much, but it makes your growth seamless, and trust me, you need it more than you think after reaching the higher levels. People who reach the King stage have everything in order otherwise it''s a distant dream." Valencia replied.


    "That''s why you want to learn the technique and remove all irregularities from your physique," Keith said.


    "I wouldn''t have called you otherwise. I have everything I need, resources, blood-qi technique, and original genes. I can''t just pass on the chance to increase my blood-qi density. It is a marker for those who reach the king stage. They learned how to distribute blood-qi evenly and build a solid foundation." She explained.


    "Can I ask you something?" Keith suddenly interjected.


    "Feel free, we are negotiating after all."  Valencia looked at Keith curiously.


    "Which blood-qi technique do you use, I mean the disciplines and the grade?" Keith asked bluntly.


    "Hmm? Well, it''s impossible for you to learn without knowing the underlying principles¡­ so there is no problem saying it.


    " I am an Esper. My blood-qi technique was given to me by my father, it''s our family heirloom. Father didn''t give us any guidance to learn it, only the initial method and I learned everything after I came here. I somehow managed to get my hands on a marquis level warrior frame technique. It was an expensive deal at that moment but well worth it."


    Keith was intrigued by her statement and inquired further.


    "What did you exchange for the warrior frame technique?" He asked.


    "100 bloodstones that could take you from baron stage to early-stage marquis. They were very stubborn as it was their family technique but I convinced them by offering enough bloodstones that could guarantee that the next heir becomes a marquis.


    "They were still reluctant, but in the end, the leader of the family agreed," Valencia said with a smirk.


    "That is a lot of bloodstones. If I couldn''t wait to evolve, I would''ve chosen to give my blood-qi technique as well. Having such a reserve of bloodstones makes it easier for the vampire to gather huge amounts of blood-qi at once.


    "Whereas human blood can only give you a tiny fraction of that," Keith said.


    ''It''s nothing for me because I can absorb blood-qi from vampires and corrupted blood-qi from ghouls. The bloodstones are valuable to me as well, but not enough to give up my family technique. Unless the other side has something better to offer.'' Keith thought to himself.


    "It''s good that you understand. What I showed you is just an appetizer. If you agree to give me the technique, I will give you 100 bloodstones." She smiled.


    Keith''s eyebrows went up hearing the number, but he didn''t let greed cloud his judgment. If he wanted to accumulate blood-qi,  he could just hunt high-level ghouls and it would be enough for a minor stage. In the future, he could hunt count-level ghouls to get enough blood-qi for each stage.


    "Again, I don''t need bloodstones at this moment." Keith flatly refused.


    Valencia''s eyebrows twitched as she controlled her rage. She was giving her the same amount as the marquis grade blood-qi technique. Who in their right mind would refuse such an offer?


    "What the hell do you want then? If it''s reasonable, I might agree to it." She roared.


    The temperature dropped several degrees with her cold gaze.


    ''The Esper technique. I have to ask if she could teach me.'' Keith thought.


    [ She won''t agree to this. That is a king-level blood-qi technique we are talking about.] The system interjected.


    "Miss, I could give you the technique, but in exchange, I want another blood-qi technique. An esper blood-qi technique." He asked directly.


    "Do you realize what you are asking?  This technique is priceless and passed down from our ancestors. I can''t agree to this." She said with a deep voice.


    "I know you can''t give me the king-level blood-qi technique, but how about a lower level blood esper technique? You are giving me 100 bloodstones, so you could give me a marquis grade blood esper technique." Keith suggested.


    "Not all blood-qi techniques are equal and I never practiced a lower level technique from the same discipline. What is the limit to your warrior frame technique?" She asked.


    "It is a count-level warrior frame technique and I think it might''ve reached its limit. That''s why I want other blood-qi techniques to increase my strength."


    "If you have a low-level blood-qi technique, you need several of those to get stronger after a certain point. The variations in structure and effects combined can make the frame stronger.


    "If you want to evolve your warrior frame, you need a warrior frame technique of the next stage, otherwise you will be stuck there. But what if you have the best blood-qi technique suitable for you. Then the other techniques become irrelevant because what you can do with the higher-level technique can''t be compared with the lower-level technique.


    "There is also the encompassing effect. If your warrior frame is of the highest level then you can add the effects and attributes of the lower stage warrior frames." She explained.


    "How does it work?" Keith asked curiously.


    "Imagine a baron level warrior frame with a hardening attribute and another with higher blood-qi projection, the two vampires can''t get insight into the other''s attributes, but if a king level blood warrior was seeing the blood-qi techniques for the first time then he could understand and add the attributed to his own warrior frame and the effects would be exponentially higher even if it''s not perfect."


    Listening to her explain, Keith understood a lot of things. The grade of the blood-qi techniques determined if the vampire could understand lower-level blood-qi techniques or not.


    "Think of it this way. The high-level blood-qi techniques are more complicated and harder to practice. They contain within them more knowledge of the discipline than any other technique. So it''s natural the users can understand lower-level techniques which are built on the same principles. They don''t need the lower-level technique because what they have is better."


    Keith nodded his head with approval. If he wanted to analyze a warrior frame of a baron stage vampire, he could do it easily. The structures were similar to one another, only some parts which differ need to be thoroughly examined, otherwise, it was not difficult at all.


    On the other hand, implementing the technique in your body was harder, for lower-level vampires at least. Keith had no idea how higher-level vampires did it and their methods.


    "I can arrange a higher level warrior frame technique for you, but esper techniques are hard to acquire. The department doesn''t like outsiders to learn the technique. Even if it''s not illegal to teach someone if they are studying in this academy, it''s severely frowned upon. The Esper department will break all ties with the vampire who gave away his technique and the one who received it.


    "They won''t get any further support from other Espers. So nobody exchanges techniques unless it''s a life-and-death situation. The warrior frame is not hard to get because of the abundance of blood warriors. You can get a warrior frame technique up to the marquis level with the right amount of money and connections."


    Blood warriors were the most abundant blood-qi manipulators among the four disciplines. The department could care less if someone gave away their blood-qi technique to an outsider. It wouldn''t affect the overall picture.


    "What about Duke-level warrior frame techniques?" Keith asked, tapping his fingers on the table.


    "Around the Duke level, it gets complicated. They are very powerful techniques and we can''t exchange them for bloodstones. Usually, those who possess such techniques don''t need resources to condense blood-qi.  So to get the warrior frame from then, we need to exchange something of equal or higher value. No other discipline would want to exchange their blood-qi technique to get the warrior frame and King-level blood warriors have no reasons to do it."


    The plan to steal the Duke-level warrior frame was playing inside Kieth''s head. He waited for his warrior frame and blood core to evolve so that he could proceed with the plan. If he succeeded, his warrior frame would get a significant level up.


    "So You can''t teach me any blood esper technique. Well, there is nothing left to talk about then. I will join the disciplinary committee and that''s about it." He said sneakily.


    Just as Kieth was about to get up and leave, Valencia spoke out.


    "I may not be able to give you what you want, but I know someone who can."

 Chapter 135: Dont Read Now

    This chapter will get get updated in a short time...


    Just outside the student council building, a group of five students who wore a unique type of uniform entered inside. They were coming from a routine check-up for a certain part of the academy that was assigned to them.


    "It''s awfully quiet here. Nothing interesting happens when it''s my turn." One of the vampires bellowed.


    "We are inside the building, can you just keep it quiet?" Another vampire warned.


    The five of them crossed the hall and reached the counter where the lady vampire was doing some paperwork. They added their findings which were nothing much.


    "Nothing happened, huh?" The lady asked.


    "Isn''t it good that wherever we go, it''s peaceful? We should get a promotion for this, don''t you think?" The leader of the group said with confidence.


    "It''s not up to me. Miss. Winters is the president and only she can give you a promotion. Although the likelihood of this happening is very low." She put her head down and kept on writing.


    "Why do you think that? Aren''t we doing this for over a year? I think it''s time for us to get that promotion." The leader pressed on.


    "She barely cares about me, let alone you, and I worked here for five years. So stop expecting anything unless you do something exceptional."


    Remembering the tremendous aura that led to her losing consciousness inside her office she was scared to go up this time. After she woke up, she was outside the office and the room was covered with runes.


    The president of the student council was a ruthless woman who set strict rules for the members of the council. If anyone slacked, she would punish them regardless of their position. Fortunately, the lady vampire never did something to upset the president and Valencia had a good impression on her.


    "What is that?"


    "Looks like a wild beast? What is it doing here?" The five vampires looked at Kenny who was resting on the side.


    "It is giving off blood-qi fluctuations so it''s a blood summon someone forgot to bring with them. Its life energy is around the middle stage baron, so let''s drop it outside."


    Three vampires started talking to each other about how to handle the summon. In a way, they were doing this because there was nothing for them to do and this situation was abnormal which gave them the excuse to show their authority.


    The lady vampire got up from her seat and walked over.


    "What are you doing? Leave it alone. It''s a summon of a new potential recruit and he is getting interviewed by the president right now." She stood in between them and Kenny.


    "So he can just bring his summon inside like that? I''m sure the president wouldn''t like it. We are just doing what is necessary."


    "It''s not like we are hurting the summon."


    "Well, I can''t let you guys do it. I have the best track record among the managers and I don''t want it to change. Go somewhere else." She commanded.


    "¡­"


    Suddenly, her rune card pulsed, and the conversation was put on hold.


    After getting the message, she rushed towards the elevator and left the five vampires standing. They could only look at the elevator door closing and she gestured to them to leave that place.


    In front of the president''s office, the lady vampire gulped and opened the door slowly. Inside the office, two figures were talking casually. She made eye contact with Valencia and Keith turned his head around slightly.


    "Come, meet your new boss. Keith, she will be your new assistant and handle all the paperwork and documentation." Valencia pointed to Keith and introduced each other.


    "She is Erica, our best accountant, and handles most of the paperwork. I was withholding her promotion so that I could give her something that will be beneficial for her. Isn''t it good that she is going to be your assistant?" Valencia asked Keith.


    "Honestly, I don''t need assistants and underlings. I''m fine by myself." Keith tried to refuse the offer.


    "You can work alone if you like, but the disciplinary committee has hierarchies and I gave you control over one of the divisions. There are ten members under it, all of them are viscount."


    "Your job is to monitor certain areas that come under your jurisdiction. Right now inside the campus, there are rarely any incidents happening, but trouble comes when you least expect it."  Valencia Explained.


    "If there isn''t anything important to attend to, I will stay in my room or the training facility. Which region I''m assigned to?" Keith asked.


    "The northwest campus, basically half of the blood Esper department," Valencia replied.


    "I can see why that place is so quiet. Blood espers don''t interact with the other department and I''ve heard the first years stay inside the department for a year." Keith stroked his chin.


    "Yes, that part of the campus is relatively safe, and not many students roam around that area. However, I advise you to keep an eye on the outliers. Some Espers tend to create trouble when it''s too peaceful."


    Valencia explained the different rules and how he should react to the Espers. The disciplinary committee was divided into eight parts and each division looked after eight areas throughout the campus.


    Each division head was at least a count-level student and extremely good with combat. They usually don''t meet each other for a year and only when there is an emergency, they gather in one place. Valencia was thinking of making Keith a deputy division head, but after seeing his growth and power match the division heads, she changed her mind.


    It was a good thing for Keith that he got the region with the least violence. If there wasn''t a serious issue, he wouldn''t be called by his subordinates.


    "About the thing, we agreed on." Keith reminded Valencia again.


    "Don''t worry, you will get what you want. I just need to make sure that person is present when we will leave for the next expedition. I can hold off the breakthrough for two months, so I need to get you that technique." Valencia reassured him.


    "Then I''ll take my leave. It was a pleasure talking to you, Miss. Winters." Keith stood up and nodded his head.


    "I wanted to take you to my residence and put you inside my rune formation to analyze your physique, but I don''t want to deal with that old man, so this is the only option I''m left with to open your mouth." Valencia sighed.


    Keith turned around and walked out of her office and only Valencia and the lady vampire remained.


    "What do you think of him?" Valencia asked her out of the blue.


    "Uh¡­ He is very confident and his strength is abnormal considering he joined the academy only a month ago. His combat experience is lacking, but I have a feeling he can catch up in no time." Erica replied.


    "A feeling?" Valencia raised her eyebrows.


    "It''s just a gut feeling." The lady nodded her head.


    "Good, show him his office and prepare a new uniform. He will need it at this year''s meeting." Valencia rolled her eyes in annoyance.


    "He''s not going to wear the uniform while on duty?" Erica asked.


    "What do you think? I doubt he will show up even for a day. I didn''t ask him to join the council for what he can do right now, but what he will become in the future. Can you sense his future path?" Valencia glanced at her again.


    "Ah! Now that you mentioned it."


    From the moment she met with Keith, there was an unsettling feeling she couldn''t brush off. Like something was off about him. Now that Valencia had pointed it out, she finally realized that she couldn''t glimpse into his future.


    Erica was a special case among the espers. Most espers were powerful blood-qi manipulators who could control huge amounts of blood-qi and shape anything from it. She was different, in a sense her powers didn''t interfere with the real world but connected to each and every life energy within a certain range.


    It was a special trait and not a result of some blood-qi technique. For this reason, she couldn''t fight like normal espers. Her blood-qi was active and formed an invisible bond with her surroundings. Blood ritualists called these types of Espers who can see glimpses of the future as Seers.


    They studied their physique and came to a conclusion that the blood-qi within their body acts as a bridge between the mind and the outside life energy. For normal vampires, they can interact with only their own blood-qi. Espers can control their blood-qi from any distance but it was still their own blood-qi.


    Seers took this to the next level and connected with the life energy outside of their body with their mind. This meant their power was distributed and fragmented. They couldn''t control the life energy and manipulate it as they wished. They could only sense the flow and underlying information carried by the life energy.


    Oftentimes it is just the future events that are supposed to happen if things went according to the flow. But the physical world is not the only thing that matters when an event occurs. The mental plane where the subconscious hides, change things that affect reality, and the seers had no way to look into that.


    There were some instances when someone''s intentions were revealed because their thoughts were so dominant that some of them escaped their mind. The best example of this is killing intent. When someone focuses their mind on one thing and channels their hatred towards the other person, the life energy resonates with the strong emotion that could be felt outside.


    The fact that Erica couldn''t glimpse into Keith''s intentions indicated that either he had extremely good control over his emotion and could block his emotions from getting out or there was something powerful that blocked the outside world, like an artifact or a special type of soul summon.

 Chapter 136: Dont Read Now

    Updating...


    "Do you think he uses an artifact?" Erica asked with a serious expression.


    "Surprisingly, he doesn''t have any artifacts on him. Not even a warrior artifact." Valencia replied.


    "Then how could he keep his emotions from leaking out? I can sense your emotions but not his, even though he is weaker than you." Erica asked in an alarmed tone.


    "He hides many secrets but we are not going to talk about them. I have enough on my plate so I don''t want that old man on my tail." Valencia said, rubbing her forehead.


    "Mr. Visit? But there was no sign of rune formation."


    "Just don''t think too much into it. Whatever you learned here, keep it a secret." Valencia warned.


    Erica nodded her head and didn''t ask further questions.


    "He is a special vampire and I need him to keep a favorable impression of us. That''s why I didn''t want to force him to do anything and negotiated a deal instead. Otherwise, you know how I handle things."


    "Yes.. Miss. Winters."


    "Now go and assist him as much as you can. Make sure he is satisfied with everything."  Valencia ordered her.


    "I''ll go right away," Erica stood up and left the office quickly.


    "Learning every discipline at the same time! What are you planning to achieve?" A smirk appeared on Valencia''s face.


    Keith took the elevator and came downstairs only to find the summon missing.


    "I was up there for about an hour and Kenny couldn''t sit still." Keith looked around the hallway in frustration.


    ''Where are you?" He tried to communicate telepathically.


    There was no response. But he could feel that Kenny wasn''t in trouble. His presence was nearby and he was purposefully not answering to him.


    ''If you don''t reply to me now,  I will take you to a place where you will be fighting ghouls tirelessly until you are on the verge of death.''


    ''Grrr!''


    ''Fighting? Where are you?"


    ''Grrr!''


    Keith ran to the entrance and appeared in front of a crowd in an instant. Dozens of vampires were surrounding two beasts and one of them was undoubtedly his summon. Kenny was growling at the wolf-like summon with two tails and they were facing each other, ready to pounce at any moment.


    "What''s happening here?" Keith heard a familiar voice.


    Erica walked up to him and looked at the scene with an angry expression.  The vampires surrounding the two beasts also dispersed and only five of them remained. Looking at the familiar faces, Erica was red with anger.


    "I told you to leave the beast where it is, why didn''t you listen to me?" She roared.


    "Ugh! We didn''t do anything. It came out on its own." The leader scratched his head, trying to explain.


    Grrr!


    Keith stared at his summon angrily trying to get a response, and under direct pressure from Keith''s mind, Kenny couldn''t refuse. Keith got a gist of what happened from the short rant.


    "Let''s go. I think you enjoyed yourself enough. Time for your real training." Kieth walked away without saying anything.


    "Wait! Aren''t you going to take your rune card and uniform? It will take only a couple of minutes." Erica shouted from behind.


    "Deliver them to my residence." Keith walked off without turning back.


    "Who''s that guy?" The leader of the five asked.


    "He''s your new boss. So next time you see him, don''t misbehave." Erica glared at the leader.


    ***


    Waking on an empty corridor, Keith was having a serious conversation with the system.


    ''What do you mean we can give her the warrior frame technique?''


    [ She doesn''t know how you are increasing your blood-qi density and it''s not a single technique either. I make sure all the blood-qi gets allocated equally throughout the body, which she can''t replicate. On the other hand, the warrior frame acts as a Quasi blood core and acts independently. I will change it slightly so that it doesn''t stay active all the time and decrease its capacity.]


    ''But what if she figures it out on her own? We can''t risk giving her one of my main techniques?'' Keith opposed the idea.


    [ It will be a downgraded version and she can''t make the warrior frame independent. And I''m thinking about giving her the most downgraded version, so we can come back and revise her technique for it to work properly. Like I revised the warrior frames of the other blood warriors, I can adjust the blood-qi inside her body.]


    ''That could work. She will need us in the future if she wants to remove more of her irregularities. We can exchange more favors from her.''


    [ Then I will prepare a downgraded warrior frame technique.]


    Now that Keith decided how to proceed with Valencia, he just needed to wait for her to settle everything.


    "An Esper who was abandoned by the department."


    This vampire used to be a student in the academy and after the department expelled him, other departments didn''t take him in. In the end, he left the academy in shame and never came back.


    Valencia knew about him because the vampire opened up a bloodstone shop in the capital of Efrain. He practiced whatever he learned from the academy and broke through to the count stage on his own. Then he started selling bloodstones and after decades of hard work, he became rich enough to buy blood-qi techniques from other vampires.


    According to Valencia, the vampire had a price for everything, even his very own blood-qi technique. He was expelled for selling the Esper technique to another student. That didn''t stop him from exchanging blood-qi techniques later in his life. He was a businessman at heart.


    Valencia promised to bring that person to the nearest city and take Keith to him. She would pay him for his services, but it was up to Keith to grasp the concepts.


    He agreed to it immediately. It was a rare opportunity to learn the most secretive technique. Even if there was a chance that the Esper could scam him, he wanted to go. Besides, he was giving Valencia a faulty technique anyway so he was not losing out on anything.


    Keith was a student of the academy and could learn and acquire a technique with money and use it to grow his strength. If he tried to learn any of the four disciplines before attending the Crimson academy, he would''ve had to get it from an illegal source. Maybe the manager of the blood shop knew someone who could provide blood-qi techniques.


    But they couldn''t compare the connections Valencia had with dealers. with her background, she could get anything done as long as it wasn''t forbidden. Keith already broke the law before by consuming blood-qi from other Vampires.


    Keith went to the training facility next and brought Kenny with him to the viscount chamber. No one tried to get close to him after yesterday''s event. He found an empty corner and sat down with Kenny.


    Circulating blood-qi and channeling it to the summon, Keith was increasing the blood-qi reserve of the beast. Right now, there was no way for a summon to increase their blood-qi except for consuming blood and life energy. They couldn''t absorb the blood-qi of vampires so except for vampire blood, they could absorb any kind of life energy as long as it was not corrupted.


    After a couple of hours, Keith brought Kenny''s blood-qi reserves to the final stage baron. He was already at the middle stage baron level so it took him some time to break a minor stage. The summon was far from reaching the pinnacle of the baron stage, but it was enough for now. His vitality increased significantly and so did his strength.


    "I have to take you outside for hunting. You can''t learn anything sitting in one place. The more you fight, your reflexes will improve accordingly. Getting stronger without getting enough experience will make you useless like the summon I fought at the hunter office.


    "It was strong but extremely slow. It could''ve given me a much harder time if it had better reflexes." Keith remembered his fight with the bat-like beast with two horns.


    Even with some much power, it couldn''t dodge a single attack from Keith. The use of the wings was good but in a closed space, it didn''t amount to much. Keith didn''t want his only summon to end up like that.


    ''I should take him to that cave and make him fight the horde of ghouls. If he could hold off against them, then other beasts will be a piece of cake for him.''


    [ I agree. You are currently fighting all your enemies on your own. If he could get stronger, you can coordinate with him to fight multiple enemies.]


    ''Then I will look for a mission outside the campus tomorrow. I''ve given Sen one month to prepare, so I will take this time to train Kenny.'' Kiteh thought.


    He didn''t need a significant amount of blood-qi right now because he had just broken through and he needed to convert all of the blood essence into blood-qi.

 Chapter 137: Scheme

    Last two chapters  will update, I''m sorry. I''m having a writer''s block


    "Keith Ennes! A first-year student became the division leader!" A tall figure said angrily.


    "Yes, sir. This first-year student seems to be close with the president. He stayed for one hour inside her office before he was recruited." Another vampire said, lowering his head.


    "This is getting out of hand. We worked so hard to make the council what it is today and she handed the first year an entire division. Was there not a single qualifying candidate other than him?"


    Roaring from an elevated stage, a vampire in his mid-twenties looked straight out of the window, his sight focused on the student council office. It was a dream of his, to get the position of student council president before leaving the academy.


    Lenser Rown was the Vice president of the student council and held significant power among its members. Still, he was under Valencia, and as long as she stayed here, the position was unchangeable.


    He was a middle stage marquis and Valencia was on the verge of breaking through to the Duke stage. Not to mention the artifacts that she hid from everyone, consisting of several Duke and king level artifacts.


    To challenge her directly was akin to a death wish, and he knew it was a suicide attempt to try and overthrow the position. There were two ways someone could become the student council president. Firstly, the candidates need to demonstrate their power by having a duel with the current president. If they can defeat the current president, the position will be given to the most powerful candidate.


    If he became the new president without the duel, he had to get approval from the faculty and four deans, which was a harder process to accomplish. It was much easier to face the current student council president rather than to get the approval of all the faculty members and Deans of four disciplines.


    In the case of a Missing or deceased student council president, the next candidate can directly become the President if not a single member of the Council opposed the decision and asked for a duel. Anyone who defeats the new candidate can become the President.


    Usually, the vice president is the second strongest vampire in the student council. As the vampire society respected strength over anything else, weaker vampires getting the President position was unheard of. Sometimes it''s given temporarily to a division commander before the final selection.


    Lenser was a hard-working vampire who contributed a lot to the student council. His goal was to join the vampire council after he graduated from the academy. His track record in managing the council was top notch and he had an entire faction under him.


    Valencia turned out to be a tough opponent for him to overcome. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t find a single mistake in her governance. Her decisions always turned out to be beneficial to the council and the division leaders had an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards her.


    If he wanted to secure the seat of the president, he had to either defeat her in combat or get the approval of the deans and faculty. Her decision to make a first-year student the division leader was an opportunity for Lenser. If he could prove that this new student was incompetent to keep the position of the division leader, he will shift some of the favorability towards him.


    "Let''s go. We need to make sure he fails miserably. The area assigned to him is fairly peaceful, but not when the Espers are provoked." A sinister smile appeared on his face.


    ***


    The rest of the day was uneventful and Keith circulated his blood-qi while helping Kenny enhance his blood-qi. In the evening, he left the training facility and came back to his place.  There was a package outside his front door. Opening it up, Keith found his student council uniform and rune card carefully packaged inside a wooden box.


    He merged the rune card with his student identity card and new runes appeared on it. It was the function of merging rune cards to make one all-purpose card that can be used everywhere. Students merged all of their auxiliary cards except the treasury card which was held separately because money was exchanged the most and they didn''t want to separate it from the rune card later.


    The Treasury card was special because it could be exchanged, unlike other cards. The owner of the card needs to willingly give the rune card to others but once it was gone, they couldn''t claim it unless the other party repeats the same process. Inside the campus, there were many events that used the treasury card exchange method. If someone couldn''t pay for something, they held their treasury card as insurance. As the students couldn''t issue another card if they currently had one, the money could be deducted once they receive money into their accounts.


    Most of the students were rich enough to pay for their things but in desperate circumstances, the treasury cards had to be handed over. That''s why most students didn''t merge their treasury cards with the student rune card.


    Kieth opened up the uniform and it was a white dress with black and red stripes. It looked very eye-catching, especially the shining insignia of the student council attached to the left shoulder.


    "This is too flashy, I don''t need to wear it unless I want everyone to notice my presence.  how can I extort the morons who try to mess with me if I wander around the campus wearing this."


    Keith dropped the uniform on an empty couch as he strolled inside. Rena was cooking in the kitchen when she heard the door open. Kenny sprinted to the kitchen with his tongue out.


    "Kenny! Stop. I haven''t finished it yet. If you take a bite out of it, I won''t cook for you next time." Rena shouted while swinging the spatula.


    Grrrr!


    Staying still for the entire day and not eating anything was making him mad. Blood-qi was enough to sustain him but he wasn''t a vampire who could only consume blood. Even though his body was brimming with blood-qi, the longing for tasty food didn''t vanish.


    "Just wait in the hallway. Every time you enter the kitchen something goes missing."


    Rena was making the food for her and Kenny,  but most of it was for him as she needed only a fraction of it. From observing the summon, Rena found out that he loved cooked meat even though it didn''t affect his blood-qi intake. It was more of a craving than a necessity.


    "Don''t disturb her. She''s making this for you. So next time just keeps quiet. The food will come to you." Keith entered the kitchen following Kenny.


    "Young Master! I was about to go to your room. I didn''t think you would come here." Rena turned back and smiled.


    Whenever Keith returned, Rena brought him some fresh blood to drink. Seeing her get carried away by his presence, he ordered her not to hurry and try to finish whatever she was doing at that moment.


    Rena, who was more powerful than normal humans, didn''t feel tired doing the housework. She finished everything in one go and busied herself with cooking for the rest of the day. There was nothing interesting to do here so she picked one hobby she was always passionate about.


    In just a month, she learned many recipes from the other servants that originated from different countries. She experimented with her own style and the ones she learned here to make the perfect cuisine.


    "That looks really good. It''s a shame I can''t taste it." Keith looked at the finely cooked meat slices spread across the large pot.


    The seasoning was sprayed over the meat and different types of herbs were sprinkled on top. No wonder Kenny couldn''t control himself. Looking at the dish, Kieth remembered the time when he could eat whatever he liked, and his mom who made all kinds of dishes for him.


    ''I miss her food.''


    Being a vampire, he couldn''t eat normal food. Anything except blood didn''t register in his tongue. And if it didn''t have any life essence, it didn''t get absorbed by the body which resulted in a short vomit that took out everything that was inside the body.


    Blood-qi reacted negatively to everything except blood essence. He could smell the food but it didn''t mean much because of the blood-qi suppression. He could only imagine the taste from his previous life. Here everything felt bland.


    "The vampires are missing out on a lot." He sighed and approached the table.


    "I didn''t think you would like human food. I always liked to cook, but in Ennes castle, we didn''t get too many supplies for experimenting. It was enough for a single meal. So we didn''t alter the recipe much.


    "But here the food supply is many times more. The veggies and meat of beasts are abundant here. The vampire lords don''t use the low-level beasts and usually give them away to their servants. We never run out of food here." Rena said, turning the meat slices over.


    "What kind of beasts?" Keith asked.


    "Well, it''s not what you think. The meat that is provided to us is a domesticated rabbit. They have a short life span of only a few weeks, but it doesn''t affect their meat quality. We pick the ones that are about to die and divide them among the servants." Rena explained.


    "Not bad. The meat has very low life energy but it''s enough to keep you full throughout the day. Three slices are enough." Keith analyzed the meat.


    "Mhmm¡­ but lately my appetite has been rising. I need six to seven slices every day." Rena pouted.


    "It''s understandable. Your strength has increased many times and you need more cal... More energy to sustain your power."


    ''Calories? This isn''t earth.'' Keith reminded himself.


    "Why can''t I keep going without food just like you?" Rena asked with a curious face.

 Chapter 138: Dont read Now

    "You are a special case so I can''t say for sure ,but I think it has something to do with our technique and the presence of the blood core." Keith replied.


    "So I have to eat in order to maintain my strength." Rena said.


    "You don''t have a central power source that can store the life energy on behalf of the entire body so your muscles bear all the burden. That;s why you need to eat everyday to maintain your power.


    "On that note, even if you don''t eat the body will consume the life energy in your muscle to keep you going until you get to your original life energy," Keith explained.


    Unlike Keith, Rena''s physique was unique and the differences were striking. Keith being a vampire had a slower heartbeat compared to her. His blood-qi technique preserved energy better as opposed to the lack of any technique for Rena.


    Keith needed only a couple of glasses of blood everyday to sustain his body.


    ***


    To challenge her directly was akin to a deathwish, and he knew it was a suicide attempt to try and overthrow the position. There were two ways someone could become the student council president. Firstly, the candidates need to demonstrate their power by having a duel with the current president. If they can defeat the current president, the position will be given to the most powerful candidate.


    If he became the new president without the duel, he had to get the approval from the faculty and four deans, which was a harder process to accomplish. It was much easier to face the current student council president rather than to get the approval of all the faculty members and Deans of four disciplines.


    In the case of a Missing or deceased student council president, the next candidate can directly become the President if not a single member of the Council opposed the decision and asked for a duel. Anyone who defeats the new candidate can become the President.


    Usually, the vice president is the second strongest vampire in the student council. As the vampire society respected strength over anything else, weaker vampires getting the President position was unheard of. Sometimes  it''s given temporarily to a division commander before the final selection.


    Lenser was a hard-working vampire who contributed a lot to the student council. His goal was to join the vampire council after he graduated from the academy. His track record in managing the council was top notch and he had an entire faction under him.


    Valencia turned out to be a tough opponent for him to overcome. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t find a single mistake in her governance. Her decisions always turned out to be beneficial to the council and the division leaders had an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards her.


    If he wanted to secure the seat of the president, he had to either defeat her in combat or get the approval of the deans and faculty. Her decision to make a first-year student the division leader was an opportunity for Lenser. If he could prove that this new student was incompetent to keep the position of the division leader, he will shift some of the favorability towards him.


    "Let''s go. We need to make sure he fails miserably. The area assigned to him is fairly peaceful, but not when the Espers are provoked." A sinister smile appeared on his face.


    ***


    The rest of the day was uneventful and Keith circulated his blood-qi while helping Kenny enhance his blood-qi. In the evening, he left the training facility and came back to his place.  There was a package outside his front door. Opening it up, Keith found his student council uniform and rune card carefully packaged inside a wooden box.


    He merged the rune card with his student identity card and new runes appeared on it. It was the function of merging rune cards to make one all purpose card that can be used everywhere. Students merged all of their auxiliary cards except the treasury card which was held separately because money was exchanged the most and they didn''t want to separate it from the rune card later.


    The Treasury card was special because it could be exchanged unlike other cards. The owner of the card needs to willingly give the rune card to others but once it was gone, they couldn''t claim it unless the other party repeats the same process. Inside the campus, there were many events that used the treasury card exchange method. If someone couldn''t pay for something, they held their treasury card as insurance. As the students couldn''t issue another card if they currently had one, the money could be deducted once they receive money into their accounts.


    Most of the students were rich enough to pay for their things but in desperate circumstances, the treasury cards had to be handed over. That''s why most students didn''t merge their treasury card with the student rune card.


    Kieth opened up the uniform and it was a white dress with black and red stripes. It looked very eye-catching, especially the shining insignia of the student council attached to the left shoulder.


    "This is too flashy, I don''t need to wear it unless I want everyone to notice my presence.  how can I extort the morons who try to mess with me if I wander around the campus wearing this."


    Keith dropped the uniform on an empty couch as he strolled inside. Rena was cooking in the kitchen when she heard the door open. Kenny sprinted to the kitchen with his tongue out.


    "Kenny! Stop. I haven''t finished it yet. If you take a bite out of it, I won''t cook for you next time." Rena shouted while swinging the spatula.


    Grrrr!


    Staying still for the entire day and not eating anything was making him mad. Blood-qi was enough to sustain him but he wasn''t a vampire who could only consume blood. Even though his body was brimming with blood-qi, the longing for tasty food didn''t vanish.


    "Just wait in the hallway. Everytime you enter the kitchen something goes missing."


    Rena was making the food for her and Kenny,  but most of it was for him as she needed only a fraction of it. From observing the summon, Rena found out that he loved cooked meat even though it didn''t affect his blood-qi intake. It was more of a craving than  necessity.


    "Don''t disturb her. She''s making this for you. So next time just keep quiet. The food will come to you." Keith entered the kitchen following Kenny.


    "Young Master! I was about to go to your room. I didn''t think you would come here." Rena turned back and smiled.


    Whenever Keith returned, Rena brought him some fresh blood to drink. Seeing her get carried away by his presence, he ordered her not to hurry and try to finish whatever she was doing at that moment.


    Rena, who was more powerful than normal humans, didn''t feel tired doing the housework. She finished everything in one go and busied herself with cooking for the rest of the day. There was nothing interesting to do here so she picked one hobby she was always passionate about.


    In just a month, she learned many recipes from the other servants that originated from different countries. She experimented with her own style and the ones she learned here to make the perfect cuisine.


    "That looks really good. It''s a shame I can''t taste it." Keith looked at the finely cooked meat slices spread across the large pot.


    The seasoning was sprayed over the meat and different types of herbs were sprinkled on top. No wonder Kenny couldn''t control himself. Looking at the dish, Kieth remembered the time when he could eat whatever he liked, and his mom who made all kinds of dishes for him.


    ''I miss her food.''


    Being a vampire, he couldn''t eat normal food. Anything except blood didn''t register in his tongue. And if it didn''t have any life essence, it didn''t get absorbed by the body which resulted in a short vomit that took out everything that was inside the body.


    Blood-qi reacted negatively to everything except blood essence. He could smell the food but it didn''t mean much because of the blood-qi suppression. He could only imagine the taste from his previous life. Here everything felt bland.


    "The vampires are missing out on a lot." He sighed and approached the table.


    "I didn''t think you would like human food. I always liked to cook, but in Ennes castle, we didn''t get too many supplies for experimenting. It was enough for a single meal. So we didn''t alter the recipe much.


    "But here the food supply is many times more. The veggies and meat of beasts are abundant here. The vampire lords don''t use the low level beasts and usually give them away to their servants. We never run out of food here." Rena said, turning the meat slices over.


    "What kind of beasts?" Keith asked.


    "Well, its not what you think. The meat that is provided to us is from a domesticated rabbit. They  have a short life span of only a few weeks, but it doesn''t affect their meat quality. We pick the ones that are about to die and divide them among the servants." Rena explained.


    "Not bad. The meat has very low life energy but it''s enough to keep you full throughout the day. Three slices are enough." Keith analyzed the meat.

 Chapter 139: Dont Read Now

    I''m working on the chapter  *sad noises*


    Writer''s block is not good.  I having trouble writing.


    This chapter is just a placeholder


    ***


    "See! The beast is very obedient." Keith patted the beast on the back.


    "I should probably give it a name¡­" Keith thought.


    "Young master, you don''t need to keep it here just to protect me."


    "I do need the beast, but this time it''s necessary to keep it here so the blood-qi doesn''t get affected. I need to get back to the training facility so I leave it in your care, Rena. And you, don''t do anything you''ll regret later."


    Keith left through the front door after warning the beast.


    Rena stared at the beast that had a terrified expression and stared at the gate with anxiety. When Keith left the building, it heaved a sigh of relief.


    "So you can understand what I''m saying?" Rena asked the beast. Doing so, she pointed her hand toward it.


    The beast could understand Kieth''s intentions due to the bond between them, but Rena''s words were foreign to it. The beast looked at Rena and shivered.


    "Are you afraid of young master?" Rena asked the beast.


    Still no response.


    She brought a picture of Keith and showed the beast and it lowered its head.


    "So, you are afraid of him. I know he''s quite scary to other people. You are his pet right, do you need blood like him or do you eat normal food?"


    Rena quickly brought two bowls. One filled with blood and the other filled with cooked meat. She made it for herself, but she brought half to see what the beast liked to eat.


    The beast sniffed the two bowls and strangely enough, it ate the meat and also the cooked meat. It was a little uncomfortable after eating the meat, but it went through without a hitch.


    "You can consume both¡­  Interesting¡­ I might have to wait for young master to come back and explain to me about the beast. He also said he would explain the disciplines to me, I wonder what that is?" Rena mumbled.


    She stared at the beast that was licking the blood cheerfully from the bowl.


    "Should I give it a name in the meantime?" Rena was thinking hard for a good name that Keith would like.


    While Rena was busy with knowing the beast, Keith was at the blood warrior training facility. He was watching the fight of Sen and another middle stage baron.


    Sen was clearly leading the fight as the opponent was not as fast as him. Sen''s warrior frame was stronger and he was pushing the opponent to the edge.


    "You''re here. Sen has been fighting opponents for an hour. He says he wants to be the strongest baron below the final stage. Clearly many students wanted to challenge him, but he''s handling them very well." Garion, who was also watching the fight, approached Keith.


    "I can see. He seems exhausted, but still pushing himself to the brim. I think he will break through to the final stage baron soo enough." Keith said.


    Sen threw a punch to the lower abdomen of the opponent and knocked him out. Wiping his sweat off his forehead, he glanced at Keith and Garion and smirked. Raising his hand, he showed the students he was the champion and not the weak baron they all knew.


    After Kieth returned, many students who were supposed to get their warrior frame checked flocked towards him. Keith was also looking forward to the analysis of the scans.


    The first three vampires lined up and Keith scanned their warrior frame one by one. The first two had a normal warrior frame with not so many hidden skills. They were based on active strength and endurance boost.


    He quickly came up with the revised warrior frames but kept it to him. He had to engrave them into a scroll and then give them away after making easily understandable steps. The third vampire was a final stage baron, who was recently broken through, as it was apparent from his blood core.


    Keith scanned his warrior frame and found that his warrior frame had a special component that supported several joints for the shoulder and ankles. Because of this, his speed was very fast compared to other warrior frames.


    After analyzing the warrior frame, Keith checked the implementation which was half wrong. According to the faults, there were supposed to be four more joints in the wrists and knees.


    Due to the missing joints, the vampire couldn''t take out the full power of the warrior frame. Keith wondered if he could merge and integrate this joint structure with his own warrior frame.


    ''Can you do it?'' Keith asked the system.


    [This warrior frame looks similar to your own, just a slight change in structure here and there, so I think there will be no problem integrating the changes. But I have to warn you¡­ The warrior frames were carefully crafted based on the needs of the family. If you change too much, it will create problems later on.]


    ''Aren''t you here so that I don''t get into those problems.''


    [It doesn''t work like that. For example, your warrior frame is quite stable, but if I make slight change, the stability will change slighty. It might not affect the overall structure, but it will behave differently from the written records as it will be a one of a kind warrior frame.


    Keep in mind, I don''t have all the knowledge about the blood warrior frames and what structures are the best. It is a estimate, based on the information we''ve gathered. That is to say, the more advanced and variety of warrior frame I analyze, the better the reliabilty will be.]


    ''So adding these changes to my warrior frame will make it unpredictable due to the uniqueness of the structure?''


    [Yes. So I suggest you to keep the techniques and test them with someone else, then after gathering enough samples, we can go ahead ans alter our blood warrior frame structure.]


    ''Hmm¡­" Keith looked at the duo who were talking to the other students.


    ''Will it have some serious side effects or a chance to loose all strenght?'' Keith asked.


    [Not really. The main issue here is the effeciency and the reliabiluty of te warrior frame. You change your warrior frame stuture if you want, but it will be the first stages and will come with multiple iterations of adjustments.


    You can come up with as much revisoins ans test them with Garion and Sen and when the final sample that can exeed the normal output is made, we can directly implement and upgrade it. Your warrior frame is a active one that stays activated all the time. So it will be bad if anything happens when there is fault and you have to change the structure midfight.]]


    ''Won''t they get the same problem? I think they are more succeptible to this.''


    [We will give them small variations, like one pair of extra joints. See how it does. Diving the revisions with both of them, and merging them after the two half are full proof.]


    ''Yeah.. You''re right. I have many things on my plate to run the test on my own..''


    Keith thoight about the blood summoning technique and all the other things he had to manage.


    Sigh!


    "This is the burden of staying at the top. I don''t have any free time." Keith said softly.


    "Is it done?" The student aked whose warrior frame Keith was checking.


    "Yes! You have a very good warrior frame, just need some changes to your joints, and you will be in top shape." Keith took out a scroll and inscribed the revised warrior frame.


    "Here, implement it and tell me if anything goes wrong." Keith handed him the scroll.


    After him, several more students came to Keith to analyze their warrior frames. Keith was occupied for two hour analyzing the warrior frmes.


    ¡­


    ''Nothing intersting..'' Keith plopped on the ground and looekd at the happy faces of the students.


    For Garion and Sen, Keith didn''t charge any money, but for these students, he charged based on the complexity of the fault and the time it took him to come up with a revised warrior frame.


    All in all, he made a huge amount of gold blood coins from todsy''s little sesion. Garion was in charge of collecting the coins and he was very dilligent about it. He carefully counted all the transfers to the treasury card and reported them to Keith.


    "Brother Keith will be the richest student in campus in no time. I can bet that he will be a great merchant in the future. His services will fetch so much money throughout the continent that he will be swiiming in blood coins." Sen praised kieth with his silver tongue.


    "I don''t know. The warrior frame outside the academy will be subpar. I don''t thik it wil b worth it. If higher stage vampires request for my services, then I maybe willing to go. But below, count level, it will be a waste of time."


    Genrally, the students of the crimson academy were the geniuses of the continent. Finding better techniques from others was not possible. After all the vampire council banned the learning of blood-qi techniques for regulaar vampires.


    The rest of the vampires were either old nobles, who were stuck at their stage for centuries, like his uncle Rufus, who was still a baron. He didn''t want to waste his time on the likes of them.