Midnight looked over at the elf, for once having no rude remark to make as she went into her teacher mode.
"I am not surprised you do not know, and am happy to explain it to you. You see, we are taught that we were the first race to inhabit this land, and that the other races came after. But as I got older, I did some digging, and I found that we are not even native to this land; apparently, we came from overseas, and just began claiming this land for our own."
Jack raised his eyebrow under his helmet, not knowing this. Elaine absorbed the information, her eyes alight with wonder, and he saw that even Jerry was paying attention as Midnight kept going.
"From what I was able to find in old scrolls and books, our race was created by a vampire called Dracule. It does not explain how or why, but this Dracule apparently created the first vampires, around a couple thousand of them, and they are what we refer to as elder vampires. They are easily a thousand years old, and are considered the most powerful among us. The next group is called royal vampires, and they are the children of the elder vampires. You can only be considered a royal vampire if both of your parents were elder vampires, and they are much larger in number."
Midnight held up her hand, holding three fingers up as she continued.
"The third group is the rest of us, called common vampires. They are the largest group, and make up around ninety percent of living vampires. While the Nation of Blood does not have social classes, since nearly all vampires are soldiers until they retire to pursue other interests and we do not have peasants or serfs, the elder and royal vampires are seen as above the common vampires, and usually have higher ranking positions in the army and in the government."
Elaine looked awestruck, the elf always curious about stuff she was ignorant of, but it was Jerry that spoke up, asking Midnight a question.
"Is there any difference between the groups, besides their parents?"
Midnight looked over at him, nodding her head. "Yes, although not much. As you know, some vampires are born with abilities that allow them to do powerful and unpredictable things. All elder vampires have an ability, and they called them gifts, as they were apparently bestowed to them by our creator. Royal vampires also have gifts, although from what I have read, their abilities are not as powerful. It is the common vampires that are mostly born without these abilities, and only one in one hundred common vampires will be born with a gift."
Jerry nodded, smirking with amusement at the answer. Noelle finally turned her head, looking back as she walked and deciding to ask a question of her own.
"What about you three? What group do you fall in?"
Midnight gestured to Drake and Jack, shooting them a look before speaking.
"I am a common vampire, and was born without an ability. My mother was a royal vampire, but my father was a common vampire, and a weakling at that. Drake and Jack are both royal vampires, with Jack's father being considered one of the most powerful elder vampires still alive today. Drake's mother, while not having the reputation Jack's father has, can boast of having one of the most powerful abilities we know about. She can instantly change the emotions of anyone around her. It does not sound scary, but she has never been injured by another in her life, as if anyone intends to harm her, she can literally force them to feel nothing but happiness and contentment."
Drake chuckled at this, looking up and closing his eyes as he revisited a memory of his past.
"I remember there was a vampire that had gotten blood drunk, bumped into my mom, and threatened to kill her if she did not apologize. She simply looked at him, and within seconds he was sitting down, giggling to himself like an idiot and forgetting she was even there. I think that is why I am always so cheerful; it was kind of impossible to be anything else with a mother that could calm you down with a look."
Elaine giggled as Jerry raised an eyebrow, puzzled by something.
"What is blood drunk?"
Drake decided to answer this, making a drinking gesture as he spoke.
"Our bodies can only handle so much blood at a time. If you drink too much, it is too much for our bodies to process, and it gives us a similar sensation to what I have heard alcohol does to the other races. We get sluggish, our minds having trouble making thoughts, and it is considered stupid to gorge yourself like that, as too much can kill a vampire."
Jack grunted, all eyes turning to him as he finally spoke up.
"It is a common problem among the army, and is tedious to deal with. The army is only able to bring so much blood with them, and there were many times that we were forced to ration because of vampires drinking more than they needed to."
This got Noelle's attention, the dark elf looking back and catching his gaze.
"You are running low on blood? Is blood the only thing you can consume?"
Midnight nodded to this, patting her water skin.
"Blood does not stay good for long, no matter how it is stored. We can drink water, but it does not give us the sufficient nutrients we need to survive. It is actually one of our greatest weaknesses; we need blood to survive, but as our population grows, there never seems to be enough to keep up. That is why I fear for the humans."
Midnight looked at Noelle, Elaine, and Jerry one by one, her eyes filled with concern.
"Zillion tried to kill the other races because he saw them as a threat to his conquest of the land. But he sees the humans as weak and inferior. He will not wipe them out like the other races; he will most likely keep them alive and force them to be his food supply, living only to give their blood and keep the vampire race alive."
Everyone grew silent, the weight of Midnight's words not lost on them. Drake was the first to break the silence, crossing his arms and looking at them.
"Then all we need to do is stop that from happening. The humans outnumber the vampires, and that weapon they used against Jack was a threat. I don't know how, but we could try to convince them to work together against the vampires."
No one responded, pondering his words, Jack surprised at how well thought out they were. He had been wondering how they would deal with Zillion, as Elaine would never truly be safe as long as the vampire lived. The thought of the humans resisting never crossed his mind, but the more he thought about it, the more it began to seem like the option he had been looking for, and he could see no other options at the moment. But the two human countries were at war with each other, and it was clear from what he has seen so far that they are not considering the vampires a threat. He did not know how, but it seemed that he needed to convince them that they have a common enemy, before Zillion attacks and destroys them like he has done to every other race so far.