Going down many steps, I felt bored by the lack of change in the scenery. How deep is this part of the castle? My generals remained alert and firm, worried in case something could hurt me… I found their loyalty and dedication cozy and praiseworthy. Feeling optimistic, I went down the last step and faced a black iron door with a sinister air surrounding it.
I notified my generals of a possible attack, but nothing happened when I opened it… And the scenery inside enchanted me. It was divided into two chambers: in the second one, I could perceive a laboratory full of various tools, notes, parts of monster bodies, and an air of antiquity and mystery enveloped the place.
In the first one, which I entered, there was a huge library with magical books, tomes, books of various cultures and information. In a trance, I came across a beautiful crimson book with a bright aura surrounding it, but before I could touch it I heard the sound of footsteps and an elegant gentleman with blood-red eyes looking to be 50 years old in human age appeared in my sight with an expression of surprise and fear.
He approached me and we stared at each other for a few seconds until my generals surrounded me in a circle showing their fangs and pointing their sharp claws like blades at the gentleman.
Seeing that situation, a glint of recognition passed through the eyes of the elegant gentleman and with a cough he introduced himself respectfully with some difficulty. As he spoke, I could see his vampire fangs:
"Hello, ehh… illustrious visitors to my dwelling. My name is Alfred and I am an archmage and a vampire, as you can see… And my crow was tamed by you, as I can see, after all only he knew how to deactivate the barrier and was in order to protect against external intruders with his huge flock. Could you tell me who you are?"
Hearing that, my generals calmed down, but did not lower their guard. Smiling politely, feeling curious, I introduced myself:
"I am Mikael Van Greenbloody, a progenitor vampire, as you can feel the pulse in your blood and a sensation of bowing. Should I infer that you are a vampire from the marquess occupation? And these are my generals: Lara Greenbloody, Nara Greenbloody, Rafael Greenbloody, Lucas Greenbloody, Uriel Greenbloody and Drake Greenbloody. I am a vampire king and I am in search of a land to build my empire and your castle was my start to begin. But from what I see the castle is not abandoned, Mr. Alfred. My apologies."
Alfred felt a chill run down his spine when the visitor introduced himself. He was a progenitor vampire, the being that created the vampires. He was a vampire king, a leader of a nation of vampires. He was someone that Alfred could not challenge, not even with all his magic. He had to be careful with his words and actions, but he was curious, because as far as he knew the progenitor vampires from the ancient era were extinct.
Prepared, Alfred said next:
"No, your majesty, I am the one who should apologize. I forgot the formalities and the hierarchy that follow the vampires… I became a vampire in order to continue to research, study and create magics of our world Orion, because even breaking through the human ranks with the help of magic, the most I could go was 200 years. If what your majesty wishes is to build an empire, I can contribute with the condition of being able to continue with what I always did, because magic is everything to me."
Hearing that, I was going to say something, but I was interrupted by my angry generals, demanding that Alfred be grateful for his merciful and majestic king choosing him. Sighing and massaging my temples in frustration, I demanded silence, which made them quiet down, and said:
"Alfred, don't mind my generals. They are a bit extreme, but they are good people. And yes, I am grateful for your permission and we will start building our empire here. But I wish for your help to educate my vampires, because they are ignorant in this area and it was also one of the reasons why our old empire was destroyed…"