While Ben is currently struggling about his decision whether to accept the Creatures offer.
The creature stood in front of Ben while coldly watching him, as the creatures features were revealed it shockingly resembled a normal human, albeit one who is very pale and possessed eerie red eyes.
Ragnar looked at the human before him he mumbled to himself as he saw the resistance within Ben's expression, "This one is difficult to break."
Ragnar thought this as despite using a spell which specific purpose is to cause the primal desires which are hidden within a being to be revealed, it still is requiring a while for Ben's mind to break under the spell.
This caused Ragnar to feel slightly annoyed and impatient, but due to him being under orders to turn the targets through this method, then he can only reluctantly oblige.
Ragnar still felt confused about the reasoning behind his superiors giving him a list of humans to turn, while also enforced that he had to use such a method to turn them, in order to ensure their loyalty within the future.
As what greater leash to an individual, is their greatest desire?
But, what made him confused was that he knew for a fact that beings with the most potential create the best fledgelings among the Vampire race, so it made him wonder why all of the targets they each were assigned to were 'Commoners' who were believed to have no latent potential.
That's right Ragnar is a Vampire, and a pureblood, in fact, making him a natural born Vampire, and not one who has been turned.
What is the difference?
Well, it is simple Pure Blood's are Vampires born naturally through Vampire Nobles, and contrary to belief of Vampires only being known for their physical capabilities, most Pure Blood's are very talented within the Magic arts, and this is the fact especially when coming to the Illusion affinity which is known for being their strongest talent.
However, despite commonly possessing both good talent in both being a Warrior and Mage from birth, making them a fierce race, their main weakness was their birth rate, which is astonishingly Low, meaning there are far fewer elites of the Vampire race than Humans despite it even being rare for a Human to possess the talent for being a Warrior or Mage.
Making this one of the greatest weakness of the Vampire race, however, they do have something which makes up for it as they can turn beings into fledgelings Vampires of their own race, but this has a major flaw, and that is the potential of the fledging depends on the talent of the individual they turn.
And because any being with good potential are usually the most prized of their respective races, with them also mainly are born into powerful families therefore meaning they are heavily protected, then would the Vampires even get a chance to make a large number of fledgelings which can even have any form of strength comparable to their counterparts?
Not to mention even if they did try and mass produces fledgelings to have a large army capable of swarming an enemy, this would just cause the other races to be hostile towards the Vampire Race itself, and would even push the other races to band together in order to wipe out the Vampire race.
Thus, putting of the Vampire race of this idea greatly, as even them wouldn't be able to hold against the experts of numerous different races at the same time, and it will inevitably cause the Vampire race to suffer tremendously.
Not to mention even if they had a large army as it is made up of individuals with low potential, then it would be far too weak to pose a threat to the powerful beings of the other races.
As there are mass killing methods which could exterminate large numbers of weak beings, thus the Vampire race deemed such a thing as useless, and could only occasionally gather a fledgling with good potential if they have enough sufficient reasoning to do so for instance maybe a rogue member of another race who became a bandit and stole from the Vampires can be turned into one without any complaints from another race.
Additionally, another demerit of fledgelings is that it is much more preferable if you have a willing individual to turn, why?
Because, even though it is optional for a Vampire to wipe the intelligence of that individual by making them completely loyal, it will do significant damage to their thinking ability, making them nothing but a mindless individual who can just listen to orders.
Even though it sounds useful, if you did that to a fledgeling with high potential then it is simply wasteful, as they will basically only possess the raw power of the rank they reached, but against someone of a similar rank then they could easily be defeated by the superior technique of the other individual.
It may even be possible for someone with a lower rank to defeat them, that is if they had enough talent within their respective class, thus this made it many times more preferable for them having a willing individual becoming a Vampire fledging rather than it by force.
Explaining the reasoning behind why Ragnar is using this method on Ben currently, but the factor that made Ragnar confused is that they usually would only do this towards a being of high potential, so why would they waste their time in gaining the loyalty of a regular human?
Of course, there could be similar cases to what Alice believed happened to Iris, which are individuals who haven't yet awakened their magic or warrior ability but still have the potential to be one.
But, these cases are extremely rare, and it is basically impossible to pick out an individual of any race who has potential.
Therefore, Ragnar is puzzled at the reasoning behind why his superior sents them out with a list to pick up certain individuals of each race with each of them being identified as regular citizens.
As Ragnar was contemplating these thoughts, the voice of Ben finally sounded signalling that the technique has finally broken him with him saying, "Yes."
Following his answer, he muttered Iris's name repeatedly, making Ragnar raise his brow, believing that it seemed that this one would be incredibly easy to manipulate, as after all Bens desire being a girl will make him easy to control.
Seeing that Ben accepted in being turned, Ragnar smiled while he approached Ben and said, "It seems you have accepted my offer, so don't resist this will last only a moment."
Seeing Ragnar's smile, Ben trembled in fright as he found it wasn't comforting in the least as it looked as if a predator was staring down at its prey.
A bunch of fangs emerged from Ragnar's mouth as he approached Ben, as Ben saw the scene before him he couldn't help but try to speak out, but before he could even mutter within an instant Ragnar grabbed Ben and lifted him in the air before he plunging his fangs into Ben's neck as the transformation process into becoming a fledgeling began.
As Ragnar put Ben within an inch of death, Ben's heart beats became slower and slower, Ben who thought that Ragnar is going to kill him and started inwardly cursing at the monster, saw that Ragnar once again approached him before he cut his own wrist and held it to Ben's mouth.
Feeling the bitter taste of blood within his mouth, Ben originally wanted to spit it out as he felt bile rise within his stomach, but Ragnar said, "Drink or Die. Your choice, Human."
Hearing Ragnar's voice, Ben reluctantly began sipping on the blood, as the more he drank, the more he felt that the blood was delicious.
His previous reluctance vanished as he suddenly felt this was the most delicious liquid he ever consumed, as Ben continuously drank from Ragnar's wrist, Ben got lost within the feeling as time seemed to pass quickly as Ben was lost within the euphoria of Ragnar's blood.
But, suddenly he felt the heavenly taste disappearing, trying to reach out to grab onto the wrist for more, he felt a pang of pain as Ragnar slapped his hand away.
Ben looked at Ragnar as if he is begging for more so he can experience the same sensation once again, seeing Ben's reaction Ragnar said, "No more Human that is enough for your transformation, anyways I think this will be the least of your troubles as you will be experiencing the process into becoming a fledging at any moment."
When Ben was going to question Ragnar, saying he doesn't care and wanted more of the blood, he suddenly felt excruciating pain throughout his whole body.
At first Ben tried to hold in the pain as he gritted his teeth, but eventually, the pain which grew greater and greater as time passed made Ben let out a scream as he felt his entire body changing rapidly.
Ragnar looked down at Ben with a hint of respect in his eyes, as he felt that the Human before him is a tenacious character as he knew for himself exactly how painful it is for new fledging, and seeing that Ben resisted the urge to scream until now has even impressed him.
Thinking that this Human will make great progress in the future if he had any potential, Ragnar looked down at Ben patiently waiting for him to finish his transforming.
A few hours, with the school bell loudly sounding it, is time for school break, Ben finally finished fully transforming into a Vampire.
As Ben stood up, his previous Handsome face is enhanced even further, in addition to even his previous impressive physique compared to the one he has gained as a result of his transformation pales in comparison.
Moreover, Ben became extraordinarily pale, and within his eyes, there is a hint of red if you look closely.
Smiling at the success of the transformation, Ragnar found that Ben did seem to possess a latent potential for a human, as this transformation would be far too impressive for a normal human without any potential.
Seeing his new-founded physique, Ragnar deducted he must have some warrior potential within him, thus thinking that it seemed they got incredibly lucky to pick up an unrecorded seedling, his thoughts were interrupted by Ben who said, "My mind feels clear now, did you do something to me to make me have these thoughts?"
Hearing Ben's questioning voice, Ragnar replied, "What I showed you is what you secretly hide within your heart, that is your deepest desire whether you admit it or not. Perhaps you would never even have thoughts on doing anything to her if it wasn't for my provocation. Maybe you would. Who knows, but the reality is that is what you truly want isn't it?"
Seeing the provocative expression on Ragnar's face when revealed his deepest secret, Ben said, "I would never force her! I know the wrong thing to do, and I would rather have no relationship with her at all for the rest of my life than see her hate me while possessing merely some fake love for me, so why should I listen to you? What stops me from leaving, right now?"
A hint of killing intent appeared the moment Ben said those words as he appeared in front of him within a flash and slammed him down on the floor, making Ben once again feel powerless in front of the foe before him.
"You think you're some big shot now, do you? Just because you gained some strength, a mere recently turned fledgeling is nothing to me. I will tell what will happen, either you turn her, or I would. You know what, maybe that is a good idea. After all, having such a beautiful human slave to serve my every whim... to never even dare to think about refusing me. It does sound rather marvellous, don't you think?" Ragnar said as a lustful smile emerged on his face.
Seeing the look within his face, Ben suddenly spoke, "Don't you dare think of touching her!"
"Or what? What will you do to me, boy! I hold her and your life in my hands, and you couldn't do anything to me. Now you can either have the girl for yourself, or I will take her. Either way, you will obediently serve my Masters every whim, otherwise, the girl will meet a fate worse than death! Now, will you be obedient, or will you dare to find the outcome of refusing me?" Ragnar said.
Hearing Ragnar, Ben found that it seemed he had no other options, begging within his mind for Iris to forgive him he said, "Alright, I accept. I'll do it, but in return, you or anyone else like you will never touch her?"
Seeing Ben's compliance, a smile graced Ragnar's face as he said, "Deal, Human. Now, before you leave touch this memory crystal, within it contains a few basic things to point out to you the reality of the situation here, with it will show how foolhardy the thought of running from us will be, as you will never make it far. It also shows a few other things about fledgelings you will need to know, also at the moment the red within your eyes isn't noticeable but eventually you will need to learn to mask it like we do otherwise you will be compromised in revealing yourself to humans, and I don't want to attract the Human experts at the moment just because of a foolish fledgeling. Now touch the crystal, and leave." Ragnar said.
Touching the crystal, Ben found an influx of memories appearing within his mind, as he skimmed through them the expression on his face turned into one of hopelessness as if he accepted his fate.
Thus, Ben knew that he would have to turn Iris, as if he doesn't then the risk of another Vampire doing so is fully revealed to him within the memories of the crystal, as they can enforce her in being completely obedient to them obeying their every whim.
Having this occur to Iris would be horribly tormenting, so he thought it is better if he turned her instead, because at least he wouldn't treat her horribly, and in fact would love her like he promised he would, thus Ben turned around and left before handing the crystal to Ragnar without sharing another word with Ragnar.
As Ragnar held the crystal within his palm, as it served its purpose and no longer required Ben to possess it, as it already provided Ben with the necessary memories, Ragnar watched Ben leave as a cold smile emerged on his lips.
"Romantics. They are indeed the easiest to control." Ragnar said.