Eva and I had been walking in silence for over an hour, it was driving me insane. However, I didn't want to disrupt her from grieving for her friends, mostly because I could have saved them but didn't. She didn't know that though, so it's alright for me to talk to her, right?
Yeah, it's fine, immorally speaking. "So Eva, how long did you know them?"
God damn it Seras! Why would you ask that? Yeah, let's just talk about her recently departed friends, what a great idea. Luckily she didn't seem to mind as she gave me a sad smile. "The five of us had just met a couple of months ago, this was our first A-class mission together. We were a good team, ranked number four in the adventures guild." A small smile graced her lips as she spoke. "I just wish I could have gotten to know them better before they passed on."
I think I could understand what she meant. Elves, Dragons, some beast-men, live incredibly long lives. I guess that includes me now. I tried to give her some helpful advice. "Those who live longer are cursed with leaving our friends and family, but we are blessed to meet new people and experience new things with them. Judging from how you speak of them I'd say you have experienced this scenario multiple times." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She stopped in her tracks and looked directly into my eyes.
Warning...mind manipulation detected|
Blocking Intruder|
Immediately I jumped a few paces back. "What do you think you're doing!" She just stared back at me with a sneer on her face.
"I'm impressed, most people can't block me from twisting their minds. Did you think I would miss the fact that the Forest King had no blood? Or the fact that there were two distinct holes near its arteries? You must think me an idiot. I don't know why you saved me but that was your biggest mistake." As I was coming up with something to say I noticed her crush something in her hand. "I am a disciple of Freyja, under the Temple of War*, and you are a demon spawn that must be wiped from this holy land!"
As she finished speaking there were multiple flashes of light, suddenly 20 people of varying races surrounded us. All dressed in red robes with gold seams and a falcon on the back. Although there was one who had a robe that was blue with gold seams, a woman I think, probably of higher rank than the rest. My thoughts were confirmed when all the other robed people got on one knee. "Archbishop!" They called out as one. I have to say I was impressed with their synchronization. How did they pull that off?
"Rise. Why have you called us here Eva?" A soft voice came from under the hood.
"The woman before you is a vampire," Eva said as she pointed at me. Ok, new plan, I can't fight my way out of this so I'll have to bullshit my way out. "What?! No, I'm not!" I turned towards the Archbishop. "Archbishop please, we were just walking to the city when suddenly Eva tried to invade my mind. I didn't do anything wrong and I'm not a vampire. I swear it on my life." Although technically I'm dead so that is also bullshit.
"She's lying your grace. My party and I went on our first A-ranked adventure and ran into the Forest King Viper. We fought till our last breath, my friends all died before me, but, hic sob, I wasn't going to give up. Just when I passed out I saw a black blur rush towards the snake. When I woke up she was sitting next to me, everything seemed normal at first, she even helped bury my friends. Even so, when I went to harvest the snake, all of its blood was gone and there were two puncture wounds near its arteries. She has to be a vampire!"
Ash {Archbishop} (Pov)
30 Minutes Earlier
"That is all, leave me." "Yes your grace." The lizard man bowed before exiting my office. "Huuuh." Today was not a good day for me. Two weeks ago reports from all over the empire were coming in stating a new divine being was born. Yet when they went to where the Heavenly Tribulations were spotted there was nothing except some elite grade beasts. Now I'm looking at all of the expenses that were wasted on nothing more than a fantasy.
I might have to ask for help from Count Grey. Just the thought alone made me grind my teeth. Sure to the public we show that the Nobility and the Church get along fine, however that is a total and utter lie. We at most can barely stand each other, but we also don't want to start a war with each other. So it's a political, nightmarish, hellhole.
I was about to call in my next appointment when a flash of light appeared before me, the quill I was holding dropped to the floor. Eva's emergency talisman had been crushed. "Order of the Wind, come to me, now!" The air around me blurred and then 20 members of the temple stood in front of me. "One of our disciples has crushed her token we will be leaving at once." Wait, the array can only carry 20 people, shit. I looked at the commander, a male wolfman. "Jackson, I need you to stay here." "Yes your grace, I understand." "Ok people you know the drill, magic ready, weapons out. Be ready for anything, Eva is a talented mage, she wouldn't call unless she was desperate."
Everyone grabbed each other's hands before I activated a traceback teleportation array. It would lock onto the location of the emergency talisman and take us to her. A bright flash of light and then we were in a forest, actually we were on the main road to the city. I looked towards Eva only to see her pointing her staff at a blonde woman with odd clothes on. Once the Order of the Wind noticed nothing was wrong they turned towards me and bowed, waiting for my orders. Eva wasn't in any danger so why did she call, I needed more information.
Once I heard Eva's story, as well as the unnamed woman, I was still quite confused and a little angry. "Disciple Eva!" "Yes your grace." "You were told to only use the talisman in a life or death situation, and yet you call us here because you think this woman may be a vampire?" "I know your Grace, but if she is a vampire I knew I would need help, that is why I called."
I couldn't believe this girl, she thought she was well within her rights to call for help on a suspicion. Moreover, I had already scanned the woman and detected no malicious intent towards anyone present. She also didn't seem to be suffering from the bright afternoon sunlight right above us. However, I will take Eva's instinct into account and do an investigation. If Eva is wrong this is going to look very poorly on the Church as well as me.
"Eva if you are wrong about her you will be stripped of all your titles and be transferred to the cleaning department for a year without pay, do you understand." "Yes your Grace." A small smile was on her face though as if she knew she was right, that she couldn't be wrong. I didn't notice it at first but the woman we had been talking about had been silent this entire time, I turned to look at her only to stumble backward. She was floating three feet in the air with her legs crossed, I couldn't believe it, she was cultivating. I could feel the energy floating through her, but how was she floating in the air.
Seras (Pov)
While the Archbishop and Eva discussed my fate I thought of a way to get out of here without them discovering I'm a vampire and then killing me.
Reminder: You can use holy magic.|
A manic grin flashed across my face. Ok, so I already have this locked in the bag. Well, I may as well cultivate while they argue my fate. Wait, I should make myself look cool while I'm doing it, but how? A thought entered my mind, it would make me look cool, but it might hurt like hell as well. Alex, flip a coin in my mind, heads being my dumbass idea and tails, well won't be it.
Coin flipped.|
Coin flipped 36 times and landed on heads.|
Ok, the dumbass idea it is. Concentrating on the blood flowing through my body, I willed it to lift me into the air while I crossed my legs. Oddly it didn't hurt as much as expected.
Skill Blood Control gained|
I then willed the extra blood in my ring to seep into my veins. The snake blood entered my body through my hand, rising through my arm into my heart and then circulating through my body before I started to rotate my Blood Pearl and condense the new blood into it.
Blood Control has reached max Level|
I guess that makes sense, after all, I'm levitating my body with my town blood while integrating a new type of blood into my body.
Notice: Forest King Viper's bloodline has been fully integrated into your system. Talent Skill Steal has activated: Please pick a skill/talent/affinity: Golden Scales, Venom Bite, Infrared Vision, Bite, Stealth, Tail Strike. Please pick one.|
Immediately I discarded the last three, I could probably buy Infrared something or others in the store so that left me with golden scales and Venom bite. Alex, if I choose Venom bite, what would happen to my prey? Or more specifically what would happen to their blood?
Since it is a skill derived from a Viper it would be a corrosive type of venom that would invade the bloodstream killing your prey. However, you would not be able to feed on it as well.|
Well then, that leaves golden scales, however, it will be weird if I grow scales in front of the Church. Can you do anything about that Alex?
Notice: I can focus the evolution to your hair. Your hair will look the same but be made of pure scaled gold.|
Golden hair, that sounds fun. Maybe I can make a living off of it. As long as you focus it only on my hair I will select the skill Golden Scales.
Would you like to proceed with the selected choice?|
Y/N|
Yes.
Ash (Pov)
It has been 2 hours since we noticed that the woman had started to cultivate while we were discussing her life. I have to admit, she's got some serious steel in her blood to just ignore us and start to cultivate as if we don't exist. When Eva noticed that she was cultivating she did something even more stupid than using the emergency talisman. She decided that it would be the most optimal time to attack the supposed vampire while she wasn't aware of her surroundings.
I wasn't able to stop her in time, although as it turns out I didn't need to. As soon as Eva was within 3 feet of the woman her shadow rose from the ground and punched Eva in the face, effectively knocking her out in one strike. It is very rare to see a practitioner of shadow magic and even rarer see someone who has made a clone that can operate without the person being awake.
Just as I went to inspect the shadow clone something extraordinary happened, the clone spoke. "My master is cultivating. Please do not disturb her or I will have to use lethal force next time." Then an intense amount of killing intent billowed out before disappearing as the clone walked back into the woman's shadow. I just stood there, my jaw slack. I'm not sure if I care if she is a vampire at this point, a practitioner who can make a sentient clone is someone I want to get to know. "Lucas, take everyone back to the Temple, bring Eva with you. I will wait here until this woman awakes." "Yes your Grace."
I was prepared to wait all night for her to wake up, however, 2 hours after Lucas left a burst of energy left her body. She had broken through, from the energy signature I'd say she just reached the Disciple rank, and yet the aura she exuded was much higher. Her legs dropped down to the ground, her eyes fluttered open revealing a vermillion abyss that I was almost sucked into. "So, did you finally decide whether or not I'm a vampire?" I couldn't help but chuckle at her question. "No we did not, is there any way you could prove that you are not a vampire?"
Seras (Pov)
When I woke up Cinder mentally reported what had happened while I was cultivating. I was surprised to learn that I had been cultivating for a little over 4 hours, it only felt like 20 minutes at most. As I looked at the Archbishop I couldn't help but inspect her, I'm not sure why I didn't earlier.
Name: Ash Feather|
Race: Phoenix Beast-man|
Level: 70|
Cultivation: Master|
Church Rank: Archbishop|
Blood Type: Phoenix Fire|
Well now, that's interesting. A phoenix, or at least part phoenix. I can now see what blood type people have as well. The fact that she has Phoenix blood probably means she's more phoenix than human. I wonder what it tastes like. I licked my lips as the thought crossed my mind. Well, I better figure out if they think I'm a vampire or not. "So, did you finally decide whether or not I'm a vampire?" She let out a small chuckle. "No we did not, is there any way you could prove that you are not a vampire?"
"Yes, there is actually." When I pulled out my Grimoire she let out a gasp of surprise. My plan is already going in my favor. Then I went to one of the healing spells. It was pretty cool in my opinion. Slowly I let my magic follow the directions of the book and a bright white and green flame circled me before spreading out in all directions. The flame stopped after it had reached 50ft in every direction before disappearing. I stood there looking at Ash. "So, can a vampire use holy magic?" "You...that book...how? You're only a Disciple ranked cultivator how can you wield the Holy flames of Freyja, and where do you get the fated Grimoire?!" Holy flames, Lost Grimoire? What the hell is she talking about? Alex!
Notice: The Holy Grimoire you possess is the legendary Grimoire thought to be a myth that holds the spells that Freyja herself wrote down.|
Seriously, Alex! You gave a fucking legendary Grimoire that the Church will hunt me down for. Fuck you!
Notice: Mosis|
Oh...yeah, you're right, he is an asshole. I guess I should answer her. "Um, I just found this when I was exploring the forest. I didn't know it was that special, you can look at it if you want." I passed her the book, she opened it up only to frown before a look of realization appeared on her face as she handed the book back to me.
"Even if I wanted to see these spells I couldn't as it has bonded with you, only you can use it. Now that we have sorted out the unfortunate business of one of my disciples insinuating that you were a vampire, which again I am sorry for, let me formally introduce myself. My name is Ash Feather." I couldn't help myself as I laughed at her name, I knew it from her status but hearing her say it made it so much funnier. I couldn't stop myself from saying the words that would start a beautiful relationship.
"Your parents didn't put a lot of thought into naming a baby phoenix did they?" Her face immediately darkened at the word phoenix. "How do you know, only a select few know that I am a half phoenix." A fiery pressure started to release from her body. "Tell me!" The pressure kept building, I fell to my knees. That's when I felt something in my blood start to burn, to fight. Something screamed in my mind. I am an Ancestral Vampire! No one is allowed to force me to my knees.
Ancestral Vampire Bloodline has been forcibly unlocked.|
Aura of a Ruler Gained|
Aura of Blood Gained|
I stood up under the pressure, staring at Ash as my auras were unleashed, Cinder came out as well unleashing hers doubling the effects. Ash slowly sank to her knees just as she had me. I couldn't help myself, my prey was presenting itself before me. Who am I to say no to a hot meal?