Iris stared at the approaching Ben with apprehension, she knew the moment she witnessed the dramatic change within Ben's appearance, that only one race could cause such a thing, and that was the Vampire race!
Thinking back to what Alice told her about various races within the Universe, the Vampire race is known for being one of the most powerful races and this is for a good reason as the Vampire race is known for having both a high natural talent within each path making them a race with very few weaknesses.
Not to mention the thought of having an opposing race which can turn your own allies into mindless slaves which will follow their every order terrifies the other races.
This is exactly why every race has banded together in order to suppress the Vampire race greatly, by joining together they created a joint treaty between them out of fear of the Leaders of the Vampire race kidnapping members of their race and turning them into fledgelings.
The treaty basically states that no Vampire can be caught trespassing in any of their territories illegally meaning they cannot enter without the proper credentials, in addition to this the treaty states that there will be heavy punishment for any Vampire which is caught turning a member of their races into a fledgeling.
Of course, this treaty is merely a formality as the races cannot properly prevent the Vampire race from forcing their way into their territories if they truly desired, thus the treaty truly serves as a hidden threat towards the leaders of the Vampire race with it basically telling them that there will be disastrous consequences if they overstepped their boundaries.
Thus, this was why Iris right now is strongly shocked at the sight before her, as she knew from Alice that since the treaty came about, the leaders of the Vampire race has acted very cautiously with the other races and in Iris opinion wouldn't be so foolish to risk the ire of the other races merely to change a 'Normal' individual of the human race into a fledgeling.
The reason Iris said 'Normal', was that Ben has is a regular human from what she knew with no connection to any 'Mage' or 'Warrior' clans, therefore the Vampire race will definitely know that the likelihood of Ben having any potential at all is incredibly low.
So, Iris found it strange, that a race which is very shrewd has taken such a major gamble, which is just for the purpose of gaining an ordinary fledgeling?
But, as these thoughts were quickly forming within Iris's mind she suddenly grew serious as she knew now was not the time for pondering on the reasoning of the Vampire race in taking such an action.
After all, even though Ben in Iris's mind is deemed as a regular human before, he has just been greatly enhanced physically due to becoming a Vampire fledgeling.
And even with her stats being far higher than that of the average human in addition to being a Mage, she will still be required to be vigilant of Ben, as just one moment of carelessness could cost her dearly.
Thus, Iris' eyes formed a cold glint, as Ben rapidly approached her, when Ben almost reached Iris he reached his arm out to grab her casually, as in his mind it would be a simple task to restrain Iris and due to him not wanting to injure her, Ben didn't put in his full strength.
But, Ben was soon going to be disappointed, as is Iris purely some pushover he can do with as he pleased?
With a quick movement, Iris nimbly dodged Ben's arms before landing a solid strike perfectly on Ben's chin as a look of astonishment appeared on his Handsome face as he was sent scrambling backwards from the impact.
Swiftly regaining his balance, Ben looked at Iris with a dazed look on his face.
Snapping out of his current befuddlement, Ben scanned Iris's beautiful figure as he suddenly began to wonder for the first time if he genuinely knew who the real Iris was.
He always thought he understood her perfectly, and that was why he thought they were destined to be with each other, as in his mind he thought that no one knew Iris better than himself and that compared to others who just lusted after her for her beautiful face, and didn't bother in getting to learn about her character meant that he would have the best chance of winning her affection in the end.
Ben always used this as a way to assure himself that Iris will eventually come to possessing the same feelings he has towards her, as he felt that even though Iris may have a few relationships in the future, in the end, he believed she would come to realise that the only one who would truly accept her for the person she is, and not just for her appearance is himself.
So Ben couldn't help but scrunching his brows in dissatisfaction at finding that he didn't know anything at all about such a large part of Iris's life, making him doubt himself at all that he truly knew Iris at all.
Mockingly smiling to himself, Ben said, "So, how long have you kept such a large secret? You played innocent so well, didn't you? Does even Charlotte and Olivia know what you truly are? That their 'Delicate' and 'Harmless' friend does not need any forms of protection?"
Seeing the guilty look on Iris's face, Ben clicked his tongue before he continued, "Don't bother hiding it, from the memories given to me by my Sire I know exactly the truth about this World. That there are Monsters among us! Some who are even part of our own World, humans who have mythical powers. You know, with the force you hit me I can assume you are a warrior, yes?"
Wondering if she should actually tell him the truth, Iris quickly decided to conceal her full capabilities from Ben for now, as she didn't know if there was some way for Ben to transfer knowledge of her being both a Mage and Warrior to the so-called Sire, therefore Iris nodded confirming the answer to his question.
Hearing the confirmation directly from Iris, a sneer formed on Ben's Handsome face as he said, "Hmm. It seems I shouldn't be as gentle on you as I originally intended, but thanks for making this less hard for me, Iris."
Witnessing the abrupt change in Ben's expression as his voice grew exceedingly cold at the end of he muttered her name, a bloodthirsty grin emerged on his face as his eyes became an even more chilling red as he stared down at Iris's petite form.
A grim look appeared on Iris's face as she prepared herself for the battle which is going to occur, just then she launched a full powered strike at Ben intending to take him out within one hit by catching him through surprise.
But, she soon discovered that Ben is much stronger than she originally thought, and it is he clearly a fair bit stronger than even her. Making her wonder, do all fledgelings start of this strong?
This caused Iris to hatefully think back to Alice's words, which clearly stated that a fledgeling Vampire created from a 'Normal' individual is always weaker than an Apprentice Warrior, whereas Ben is clearly much stronger than that level.
Believing Alice source of information is completely untrustworthy and unreliable, she decided to 'Punish' the girl later for making such a major error.
Though if Alice heard Iris's current thoughts, she would feel greatly aggrieved, as what she told Iris was the truth, but how could she knew that Ben would coincidently be a human with immense Warrior potential born from normal human parents, with him being outside of a Warrior clan which is almost unheard of!
But, of course, Iris as no knowledge of this at the moment as back to her current predicament, a raging fledgeling Vampire was charging towards her.
The current Ben was completely unlike his former self, as due to becoming a fledgeling Vampire he would be led to anger easily, and would naturally be very bloodthirsty.
So, the Ben at the moment has lost his mind entirely, and his only thought is subduing Iris at whatever the cost. With his former tender feelings for her making him think of treating her gentle, disappearing absolutely.
As Iris wanted to keep her 'Mage' heritage a surprise factor, in addition to not having the time to launch her most damaging spells with such a swift opponent already in close range with her, Iris decided to use the technique to out-do raw power.
At the moment, Iris martial art skill is already close to evolving into a [Middle-Level] Skill, so at the moment it was at the peak of a [Low-Level] Skill and her technique as a result of the Martial Art skill is much more refined.
Launching a flurry of blows, Ben's wild punches were full of nothing but pure power as he launched them at Iris, as his savage moves caused Iris to be constantly on the retreat as she dealt with Ben's punches by blocks and evasions.
This caused the Vampire to be further agitated, as, despite the disparity of strength, he still found himself unable to deal with Iris which caused his movements to be even wilder as he ignored all forms of defence to land a strike on Iris.
Feeling a major increase on the pressure from Ben, Iris shown not a trace of panic on her beautiful face as she finally found herself the perfect opportunity, she knew that she needs to deal with Ben quickly as she already felt a burst of pain caused by the damage Ben is causing even with her blocking most of his strikes.
As after all Ben was faster and stronger than her, and even with a much superior technique, she still cannot evade every strike from Ben, so a few managed to land on her causing Iris to feel as if a sledgehammer was swung at her body with each strike.
So she knew she needed to find the perfect way to end this fight quickly, so knowing that at this moment Ben had his mind fully clouded with anger, Iris used shadow blink to appear a few feet from behind Ben who ending up swinging at the air with his intended target disappearing completely.
Perhaps, if Ben was much calmer, he would realise at this moment that something was definitely strange, but as he was lost in his rage, his thoughts were focused much more elsewhere.
Thus, Ben didn't even realise that Iris has already prepared the newest spell she has received from the Shadow Hunter Class, Shadow Blast!
Therefore, Ben was hit squarely on the back by the powerful spell and was sent crashing into the ground, causing a large hole to emerge within the ground, showing just how powerful the impact of that Spell was!
This was, of course, a result of Iris becoming a Journeyman within a Mage Class, as even if the spell was from the Shadow Hunter class it's power is still upgraded each time Iris Rank is further increased, and in a normal circumstance even if the Shadow Blast came from an Apprentice Mage it would be enough to annihilate most Apprentice Warriors and if it managed to hit a Journeyman Warrior they would be severely injured, thus it can be seen just how much damage such a spell could cause if it successfully landed onto an individual.
Though, in a normal situation, Ben could have easily avoided the Spell, as Vampires are famed for their fast reflexes and with Ben is a human with great potential as a warrior beforehand his talent is further increased, so Ben would have been able to avoid such a Spell as he would have noticed Iris preparing to launch it and would have been much more prepared.
So, he ended up being caught completely, causing him to end up in the pitiful situation now.
Walking slowly towards the hole, Iris stared down at Ben's figure, as his original Handsome appearance has become bedraggled.
As Ben looked up at Iris he barely maintained the urge to maintain consciousness, as his badly damaged body was rapidly healing as a result of it is a trait of being a Vampire thus Ben's body was recovering at a rapid pace and it was the only reason he even managed to stay conscious despite bearing the brunt of an attack which could put even a Journeyman Warrior into a life and death situation.
Though, his recovery was being largely slowed by the corrosive effect of the Shadow Blast Spell, which prevented Ben from recovering quickly.
This was another reason Iris used this Spell, as it was the only way to deal with the Vampires strong regenerative ability without killing the Vampire itself.
Iris still had difficult feelings of even having the thought of taking her best friend lives, and in the end, she knew Ben for years and he has been one of the few individuals nice to her within her life, could she easily take his life from him?
Thus, a difficult expression emerged on Iris's face causing a strange glint to appear within Ben's eyes as he found that it seemed that Iris did have some genuine feelings for him, but just not to the point of what he hoped.
Therefore, calming down after realising it seemed that Iris may have a good reason to lie to him and that their friendship wasn't just a lie to her, he croaked, "Iris, tell me what you want. I will tell you everything gladly... I let my anger get the better of me. You must have a superior right? If I tell you who did this to me, would you help me?"
Hearing Ben's voice, Iris turned her head towards him as complex feelings filled her heart, could this be settled just like this?
To be honest, Iris doesn't know what to do even if she gains any information from Ben it would serve no purpose, as she hasn't got any superior in the first place, and whoever turned Ben is obviously much stronger than him, thus at the moment such an opponent is out of her depths.
And in addition would Ben prove a liability if she spared his life?
Iris has already grown accustomed to death by now, as she witnessed firsthand the cruelties of this World, but she still wasn't sure if she could go so far as to end the life of a boy which has been nothing but kind to her.
But, as these complex feelings emerge within her, a mad crackling laughter echoed within the surroundings causing Ben to shiver in fear at the familiar voice.
Seeing Bens expression, Iris thought 'It seems things have gotten just that much worse...'