I managed to get back to town before it got too dark, not that it matters to me as I can see in the dark. Walking through the town I saw the various stalls close up for the day. Walking past the inn I can hear some joyous sounds coming from inside, most likely other mercenaries relaxing from a hard day's work.
After a short time, I arrived at the dungeon entrance and was about to walk inside before a voice stopped me.
"Hey, miss! The dungeon is closed at night except for gold or mithril rank."
This guard must not know me. Understandable though seeing as he most likely works the night shift. Thinking about it, this is my first time coming to the dungeon at night.
In my response to him, I simply flash him my tags to show my ranking.
"I apologize. I didn't realize you were a mithril rank. With how young you are I thought you would be wood or iron rank. You may pass then."
Without further complication, I pass on through and walk up to the orb. I place my hand on it and transport myself to the jungle level.
Arriving at the jungle I turn around and head back up to the seventh floor. Thinking about my actions bring a smirk to my face. It reminds of my day back on earth, when I played games that had a fast travel function. I wonder If my system can unlock something like that.
Arriving at my destination, I spot my target, a single coffin in the middle of the room. Walking up to it, I look around the room for any sign of the vampire. Not seeing any I proceed to open the coffin.
I used too much strength as I flung the stone lid partway across the room, completely shattering it. I make a mental note to be more aware of my strength next time. I look down and see a familiar vampire sleeping in her coffin.
"Hey! Wake up, we need to talk."
She didn't respond at all to my voice and proceed to shake her to get her to wake up. After a minute of shaking, I see that nothing was happening.
"Fine, I guess we move to plan S then."
Using a little bit of my strength, I give her face a few slaps. She jolts up into a sitting position looking around wildly before speaking.
"Who dares…!"
Finally making eye contact with my she abruptly changes her tone.
"Ah! Mistress! If I had known it was you giving me those love taps, I would have stayed asleep longer."
I look at her in what I could only guess is in shock. Mistress? What the hell is she talking about? Did she want me to continue slapping her? She's not a…is she? Maybe this was a mistake.
My thoughts were quickly drowned out by her weird manner of speech.
"This feeling! You ignoring me is the best, like I am not even worth your time!"
Damn, she is like how I thought. I do a slight facepalm before responding to her.
"Tell me what a familiar contract does."
"It basically just binds creatures from dungeons to someone outside. Both participants can't harm and betray the other without the consent of the other. We also gain a portion of each other's power. I will also be able to leave this place as well. The contract is broken when one of us dies or if we both decide to break the contract."
The familiar contract is pretty beneficial. Not sure how much more power I will get but she should be powered up some as well. Plus, it will mean that she will be loyal to a degree as well.
"And you are ok with doing the contract?" I had responded back once I came out of my thoughts.
"Yup! Since we are pretty much sisters anyway, this doesn't bother me at all. Neris had contacted me while I was sleeping and gave me the gist of your situation. So, I'll be in your care mistress!"
"That's fine and all, but do you need to call me mistress? It sounds so…I don't know, uncomfortable."
"But you are my mistress. If I don't call you that it would be rude of me."
"I am fine with you calling me just about anything else except that. Its kind of cringy and I don't like it."
The vampire goes into deep thought for a moment before she spoke back up.
"Well then, how about I call you sister then? Since we are now blood-related and have the same mother?"
I forgot about that. Due to some magical voodoo, I now have a goddess mother and a whole family of vampires. Wait, wouldn't my family consist of more than just vampires? All creatures of the night were created by her. So, wouldn't that include others like werewolves?
"Fine. You can call me sister. Since we are on the topic what is your name?"
"You can just call me Aurelia. Normally a vampire lord would have a last name when they ruled over a coven of vampires. But I no longer have one so it's just Aurelia."
So now we are two people who have lost their family and are alone. I can't help but feel like this is some weird twist of fate.
"So how do we do this contract then?"
"That's easy, we just need to do a blood pact. Just cut your palm and I'll do the same and we grab each other's hands.
Doing as she told me, I took out my knife and made a cut on the palm of my hand. Afterward, I gave the knife to Aurelia. She took the knife and did the same as well. With our now bloody hands, we grasped each other's hands. It took a few moments, but I felt a warm sensation spreading throughout my body.
System
A familial contract has been performed. Aurelia has been added to the family tree.
Wait? What do you mean added to my family tree? After seeing the message, I got confused and looked at Aurelia's stats.
Name: Aurelia
Age: 622
Level: 56
Race: Void Human
Class: Bloodweaver
----
Attributes:
HP: 1710/1710
MP: 6720/6720
STR: 61
END: 30
AGI: 55
INT: 63
WIS: 57
Holy crap! Did I just turn Aurelia into a void human too!? Shortly into my thoughts, they were broken by a question from Aurelia.
"Um. Sis? What is this system thing I am seeing?"
----
Brendan was on his way back to the capital where his family was currently staying. Normally the duke would be living in his own manor in the fief he governed. But they had traveled to the capital to see this new dungeon that had sprung up. So, they were staying in a manor at the capital, which was their home away from home.
He was upset that the guild master didn't want to help him punish that mercenary. He even went as far as to tell him to leave her alone. Once he got his father involved that harlot would beg for mercy.
The ride back to the capital didn't take as long as he was in a hurry. Once he was back, he headed straight to the manor. As he walked into the entrance, the house butler greeted him.
"Welcome back young master. Would you care to join your family for dinner?"
"Yes, I shall. I need to speak to father anyway."
The butler led Brendan through the manor into the dining hall where the rest of his family was at. He had a younger brother, but he was physically weak from an illness since his birth. He also had two sisters. One was older than him and was the firstborn, but she was married off to another family. The other sister was the youngest at the age of twelve. His father and mother were also at the table enjoying their meal.
Seeing the doors open, Aoric and the rest of the family looked at who was interrupting their meal. Once they realized who it was Aoric addressed his son.
"You are back early from your adventures. How was the dungeon everyone was talking about?"
"I didn't get a chance to visit them. I was in a shop purchasing some clothes. I was in the middle of convincing the shopkeeper to put a priority on my clothes when a girl walked in."
"Once I saw her beauty, I had asked her if she wanted to join me for some tea. But that barbarian instead attacked me and left me for dead at the mercenary guild."
"The guild master said he wouldn't interfere unless you explicitly told him to do so."
After hearing his son's rant, Aoric became visibly troubled. He had put down his silverware and started to rub the sides of his head. The rest of the family only held their heads in their hands, knowing what was coming next.
"Dammit, Brendan! How many times do I have to tell you to stop harassing the commoners?! They are not your playthings. I thought you joining the knight academy would change your character."
"Until further notice, your allowance is suspended. Also, until you can prove to me you are worthy you are temporarily last in line for succession. If you can't conduct yourself properly then you don't deserve to be the next duke."
"You are dismissed. Go to your quarters."
Brendan stood there in shock for a moment before he turned and stormed out of the dining hall. Once he had left everyone else had breathed a sigh of relief. Aoric turned to his wife and broke the silence.
"I don't know who this girl is, but it sounds like she would be a good match for Brendan. He needs a strong woman, someone to keep him in line."
The woman responded while laughing.
"You mean like how I kept you in line dear?"
Aoric could only look away while muttering his response.
"I don't know what you mean."