(Authors Note: Sorry about the really long explantation last chapter with no advancement, but I needed to explain how the world works. And give a little bit of backstory on how the world works. There will be more explanation in this chapter as well, but not as much, there shouldn't be much more explanation after this chapter though.)
After Arthur's very long, and informative explanation Roland felt like he had a decent idea of things now.
"So Arthur, what do I do about my aversion to light if I run a multi billion dollar corporation." Roland asked with some annoyance.
After all his double surely didn't only go out at night right? There had to be something that could allow him freedom of movement in the day, even if for a few hours.
"Well, there should be a spell in your spells tab called "Night's Mantle", it allows Vampire's to go out into the sun for 6 hours before either the spell has to be recast, or you get out of the sun." Arthur replied.
Roland immediately opened his spells tab and saw 2 separate sections. A blank section to the right labeled "Favorites", and a section to the left just labeled "Spells". But there was a separate tab that was greyed out called spell like abilities.
Roland immediately found the spell "Nights Mantle" and put it in his favorites. Then he asked Arthur why his spell like abilities were greyed out.
"Well that would be because the system wants you to get accommodated with your new body, before you start getting into any Vampire trickery." Arthur replied with an amused sounding voice.
"But before you cast any spells, I would get acquainted with your stats first." Arthur suggested to Roland.
"Ah right, I didn't think about that, you said something about Mana right? I suppose I use that for all of my spells, and spell like abilities?" Roland asked Arthur.
"Actually you only use it for spells, spell like abilities are just that, abilities that are spell like. They are part of you as a Vampire, and instead work off of your different stats. Some of them might use some Stamina though." Arthur helpfully informed him.
Roland immediately opened the stats tab again, not having paid it any attention before.
The page went like this:
Player stats:
Hit Points (HP): 80
Mana Points (MP): 400
Stamina Points (SP): 300
Attribute stats:
Strength (Str): 30
Agility (Agi): 30
Intelligence (Int): 40
Constitution (Con): 30
Charisma (Cha): 25
Roland was somewhat confused and asked Arthur "So I guess my Health is based off of Constitution, and my Stamina is Based off of agility, and my Mana is based off of Intelligence, Strength is obvious too, so what is Charisma used for?"
"Well you would be correct on all, except that depending on what race you are, your Hit Points increase by level, and by your Con. Human's Hit Points increase by 10 per level plus your Con. A Vampire's Hit Points increase by 50 per level plus your Con. And it varies depending on race, this also holds true for Beasts. Different Beast's have more Hit Points than others."
"Obviously people without the system can't really level up, but they do become stronger through training, fighting, and studying if they're a wizard. But they're not conscience of this increase in strength, it's a gradual thing that happens over time. And the system puts it into numbers."
"The true strength of the system is shown in it's incredible utility powers, and the rapid growth it's user is capable of."
"Your Charisma determines the strength and effectiveness of some of your Vampire abilities. It also affects how good looking you are, and how you affect people around you. "
"The main ability having a 25+ Charisma as a Vampire gives, is the ability to look into the eyes of someone and influence their minds. You could heavily intimidate or scare someone, make them feel confident, or make them believe every word you say. You could make them literally forget a series of events, or compel them to do as you please. But only if your Charisma is 3 or more points higher than theirs." Arthur told him, while amazing Roland in the process.
"So I could theoretically make any human do anything I want since their stats max out at 10?" Roland said while thinking of interesting things he could do with this.
"No, that is the only stat that can grow infinitely no matter what race you are. Anyone can become more Charismatic if they try hard enough." Arthur said, popping Roland's bubble.
"But for the most part yes, the only people you might have trouble with are politicians and public speakers. The average human only has a 5-10 Charisma. A naturally charismatic human might have a 10-20. And a politician or public/motivational speaker will probably have a 20-30, maybe even 40."
"The big problem that you would have to watch out for is that, while your ability can have long lasting, near permeant effects, a decent amount of high level politicians are either Vampires, or under another Vampire's influence. To control another vampire, your Charisma has to be at least 15 points higher than theirs. Or at least equal to it to break their control." Arthur said managing to improve Roland's mood again.
Roland then changed his focus back to the spell that lets him walk in the sun. The description of the spell was "cover's the caster in a protective shell of energy preventing the sun's UV rays from reaching them - protects vampires from the sun". The Mana cost of the spell was 10 Mana for the initial cast.
He then dressed in his standard clothes, which was kind of stereotypical for a modern Vampire, but it did look very classy. A black fitted suit with brass buttons and a red handkerchief in the breast pocket, a crimson red button up shirt with a black tie, oxford boots, and a long sleeved black overcoat that came down midway past his knees, that he wore over his shoulders like a cloak.
Roland stated at himself in the mirror. "Well I certainly look the part. A modern day billionaire, CEO, Vampire. I need to fix this fast or I'm going to die of boredom." He said to himself chuckling while casting the spell and walking out of the room.
Walking down the hallway he noticed that either the building was larger than he figured, and that every apartment was very large. Or the entire top 3 or 4 floors of the apartment building were his house. And that they were converted to look like a large mansion.
Walking down the hall he noticed how sharp his vision was, and how annoying the sunlight shining through the curtains was to his eyes. "I'll have to get some sunglasses later, I can't stand that light." Roland mused aloud.
At that time the old butler came around the corner at the end of the hall. And it made him think to ask his A.I. a question. "Arthur, is Xavier a Vampire, or aware of my and my families being Vampire's?" The A.I. had opened some of the most immediately need memories to him, this includes many people's names.
Arthur quickly responded "No he isn't a vampire, but he is aware of you and your families statuses as Vampire's."
Before Roland could respond Xavier called out to him, "good morning young master Roland."
Roland replied in an even tone, never having slowing his pace "good morning to you as well Xavier, say are there any really dark sunglasses around. The sun is really bothering my eyes."
Xavier had stopped walking when he called out to Roland. At this point Roland had reached his position, "here you are sir."
Xavier pulled a pair of very heavily tinted aviator frame sunglasses out of the inside pocket of his jacket. He always kept a few pairs on him just in case the young master had need of a pair.
Roland put on the sun glasses and was no longer bothered by the light. Xavier then noticed that he was leaving the building.
"Heading to the office sir?" Xavier asked expecting and recieving the usual answer of "yes". But he did not expect the comment that followed it.
"I'm thinking of leaving my position as CEO, obviously as the owner I'll still be getting an income, though it'll be less than it is now. So if I ever need anything I can just tell the board, and new CEO to do it yes? After all, its a private company, we have no stock to buy, and the board has to ask my decision before they do anything. And if I don't like it. I can just say no." Roland spoke to Xavier while musing to himself about his plans to go adventuring.
Xavier was understandably shocked. He had already asked his young master in the past if he was ever going to take a break from work, or retire. The older butler didn't think that a 22 year old should be working himself as hard as Roland did.
It's not that he didn't think that he was capable, he was a very capable CEO. He just thought that he should be enjoying his younger years, rather than being stuck behind a desk all the time. Granted he is eternally young, and as close to immortal as you could get. But he was still at the point where he hadn't experienced alot in life, and his view point on things had yet to sour.
But Roland was always very adamant about his work, insisting that he run and manage the company. Not trusting anyone else with the management of his late parent's corporation. And he had managed to turn it into a multi billion dollar empire as a result.
"Well Master Roland, I'm somewhat shocked, the last time I suggested such a thing you were very adamant about doing just the opposite. What has changed to make you consider doing so?" Xavier asked concerned for Roland, thinking that something might be wrong with him.
"Well I've made enough money that I'll never be able to spend all of it, not me, my future children, or their children. And the company has gotten to a place where even an idiot could keep it afloat."
"So I've decided that since I'll still be making a residual income, and that since the board and future CEO needs to have my approval to make a major decision; that I will retire from my position, and do as I please."
"I've recently become quite taken with the idea of becoming a planetary explorer." Roland explained to Xavier his reasoning.
(Authors note: Planetary explorer's are adventurer's who go to planets, and kill Beasts for profit. They are often hired for the reason of clearing planets for colonization.)
Xavier calmed down, and considered Roland's words. He understood his reasoning with the company, it really was big enough that failing was only a distant bad dream at this point.
Plus if anything ever went wrong, it was still a private company that Roland owns. So he could take back control of it at anytime if need be.
But becoming a planetary explorer? That seemed to come out of nowhere. Roland had never shown an interest in it before, outside of an economical stand point. Why would he want to become a planetary explorer?
When he asked Roland that very question, he replied with, "Why not, it'll be an interesting turn of events, and I'll have something else to fill my time. Plus this is the perfect opportunity for me to grow stronger as a Vampire without anyone growing suspicious."
So Roland continued down the hallway, to the main room. The apartment was very fancy, with a Victorian look to it. The floors and walls were made out of black polished marble, with thick blood red carpeting going all the way down the center of the hallway. The whole house was very similar, there were big full size windows in the some of the rooms heading away from the interior of the building, but they were covered in very thick curtains.
When he got to the main room there was an elevator. It was a private elevator and had 6 floor selections. 4 Floors of his house, one for the main floor, and one to go to the private garage. There was handprint scanner to allow access rather than a key.
He went down to the garage and saw a few cars. The keys were all hanging on the wall and labelled. He walked over to his favorite car, a 1967 pontiac GTO. He got in, started it, and drove out of the underground garage.