Mark stood there stunned as a very serious black man that was the combination of Wesley Snipes and Mahershala Ali with shades stood in front of him at the counter. His outfit is very similar to the one he wore on Marvel: Avenger's alliance, an all-black motif with the black trench coat and the signature shades along with various weapons hanging on his belt.
But Mark calmed down as he needed to stay in character, so he thought of various ways to approach in a millisecond as he wanted one of the coolest black characters to ever exist in media to buy something here. So he fixed his tie as he walked confidently in front of the Vampire hunter, but before he could the door on the side received a knock and only one person was permitted by Mark to the shop which made his eyes wide.
The door opened with Melissa bringing documents and as she entered, Blade sniffed the Air and instantly dashed to the unsuspecting Vampire. Mark reacted too as he took out a sword in his inventory to block the katana of the Vampire Hunter. Melissa was then able to react as she jumped back quickly, too fast for a normal human that Blade noticed but as she was about to bear her fangs Mark said something that stopped Blade.
"Quite rude would you say daywalker? She is a vampire but not the vampire of your universe so please lay down your sword. It would you no favor should we fight right now Blade, or should I call you Mr. Eric Brooks?" Mark said as he pushed his sword making the vampire slayer frown feeling the heaviness pushing him back.
"A vampire is a vampire, so please move aside or I will move you young man." Blade said and as he spoke his fangs showed which made Melissa shocked as she never knew who this vampire in front of her. He did not give out the aura similar to them as he somehow showed life in his body. And from what Mark said she understood that the one in front of her could walk on daylight making her eyes shine.
"As I said the vampires of your world is very different from her kind of vampire. So could you please put the weapons down so we could have a talk? Melissa would you please get me some of the tea we harvested last week?" Mark sent Melissa away as he knew it would not help if she stayed in the room for now.
"Yes My lord." Melissa bowed which made Blade double take as never thought a vampire would bow to a human. A friendly one he saw but bowing to a human was rare and it was then he took as serious look at Mark making him realize the sword from earlier is now gone.
"Don't be tense my friend, and FYI I am no young man. I lived longer than you have." Mark lied but since he was ageless then it would not matter as he would age faster in his world.
"Now would you care for a chat?" Mark walked to the side where a table was as sometimes some old people need to rest a bit. Mark did not know the criteria for people to appear here but that was something to ponder for later.
"It seems we went to a bad start so why not talk over refreshments?" Mark said calmly as he gestured to the seat in front of him. Blade still looked impassive but he walked to the seat nonetheless, yet the atmosphere was quite tense as Blade just stared at Mark. But it was broken when Melissa brought the tea set as well as some snacks, she was alert against Blade as she even felt danger from the man.
"Melissa come here for a bit…" Mark said after the Vampire placed the things on the table. He then held the vampires hands which made Blade look skeptically at Mark but then he saw him take out a small silver needle and prick it on the skin of Melissa. Blade looked at the needle as he knew it was silver, working with the material for almost all his life made him know it just by glance.
"As you can see, she might be a vampire but different from yours. She is rare as she learned to handle the weakness of silver inherent but that is not enough for me to make you relax doesn't it?" Mark smiled as he looked at the confused Vampire hunter but he looked at the fidgeting vampire on his side and said." Sorry about that, it seems this is the first time you met a customer of mine. I'll explain to you later"
Mark then started to make tea as he gesture for the tense black guy in front of him to enjoy some snacks. This was one of the things he liked right now as he had taught the Halflings or Hobbits which he liked to call them bakery and how to make various pastry. It made the seven small fellows behave and even call him the god of food.
He did not mind as he found the fellows has real talent with cooking so he also regularly teach them cooking techniques using the various ingredients the Skeletons gathered. He made them work with the six skeletons as he found they also like making their own ingredients so the food section of the commands on the skeletons was lessened as the Hobbits took that position.
They even forgot they were slaves as they went like cultivators into seclusion by locking themselves in the fields and kitchen doing more experiments form the techniques he used. Best thing he taught them was how to make quality tarts and cookies, even introduced them to chocolate.
"So, Mr. Brooks, I assume you are with questions as to why you are here. So speak your mind out, don't be shy." Mark said as he served tea to the serious face with cool shades.
"A trail." Blade said.
"A trail huh, to whom? Dracula?" Mark asked as he was indeed quite curious. He wanted to know what might be the plot that followed this universe.
"So you know of me?" The broody vampire just raised his guard as there were a few people who knew him to know his goals. And his last team surely were not the chatty type so he was thinking of who spoke of his situation.
"Don't be so guarded against me, there are many hidden forces in the world that know of you and I am pretty sure that your actions are not that much of a secret to those who want to know. Especially when the one you are hunting is Dracula himself so don't think too much." Mark said which were just some bullsh*t –no-jutsu from him, even with superhuman senses Blade would have a hard time telling if Mark spoke the truth but he did not mind it much as it was useless as the man in front of him knows who he is anyways.
"Well since you have been chosen then it surely is fated for something here to be of use to you." Mark then waved his hand as the shop moved in mysterious ways that it made the Vampire hunter almost jump in action, This was a neat feature Mark discovered when he knew of the shop's ability to expand, which is that he could redecorate the room with his will alone.
As the shelves circled around them the floor also moved carrying the table and the chairs Mark sat on and as well as Blade's. These show-off actions of Mark made the vampire hunter think that Mark might be one of those hidden magical societies like Kamar-taj. So he relaxed as he looked upon the various things that were on the shelves moving about.
Soon something caught the eyes behind the shaded glasses which were accompanied by the shelves pausing making Blade focus on the item. It was a pair of ivory daggers that Mark displayed recently, it came from the various stuff he 'borrowed' from the corrupt nobles that he set his eyes on. He waved his hand as the shelf that the daggers rested on came near the Vampire Hunter.
Blade unconsciously reached out as he held the two daggers on his hand, this was one of the things Mark found interesting as it was dwarven forged. He knew it was expensive and showing it to the dwarves he owned made him sure that these were daggers with runes. None of them were rune masters as they were the generic dwarf citizen but they knew the function of the dagger at least.
(Return)
Mark waved his hand as a wide space was made and a log was placed ten meters away from the table. Blade noticed this but he did not understand what Mark wanted to do but when he saw the outstretched hand of Mark.
"Would you like a demonstration?" as he heard Mark say this Blade understood so he gave the daggers to Mark along with the sheaths. But Mark instead held Blades hand as he pricked the finger of the vampire hunter which made the guy pull back his hands quickly and unconsciously put his hands on his sword.
"Sheesh, would you relax for a bit? I'm not going to harm a customer." But Mark noticed the impassive face of Blade as he stared at the needle with a small drop of blood. But Mark ignored it as he dropped the blood on the eye of a crow carved on the sheath of the dagger. As it fell of the crow's head, a small flash of red light appeared on its eyes as the blood was absorb. Mark then drew a dagger and threw one at the log ten meters away.
"Now, raise your hand forward like you are reaching to fondle a titty." Mark saw the judging stare of the Vampire Hunter but he just ignored it as he also reached his hand out as example.
"Like this and then think of the words 'return' in your mind" It was then the Stoic face of the guy had a reaction as he was able to deduce what the dagger's function is. So he reached out but he stopped halfway as Mark's voice sounded out.
"Good good, just like that imagine grabbing the soft plushy texture of the human body… heheeheh" Mark said in a mock evil laugh.
"Stop making this weird…" Blade said as he felt unsure how to talk to the mysterious shop owner, which he felt might have been the one in the rumors coming from the other criminals in the underworld.
"Hey you can't blame me, your too silent dude. First thing you even did here was to slice my beautiful assistant, so I was just trying to lighten the mood." Mark shrugged his shoulders as he felt it was like talking to a wall facing this guy in front of him.
"Even I of all people felt disturb by your actions…." That was all Blade said as the dagger flew to his hands in a blinding speed. Mark froze as he felt a critical damage to his heart as he understood what Blade meant. He stood frozen thinking that he might have indeed started to act weird having no other people to talk to that could relate to the various jokes he said.
As serious and scheming as he is, he was still a guy born during the 21st century so even the customers he entertained doesn't know of the jokes he said which mostly came from memes. He felt dejected as the serious and stoic guy insinuated he was weird, the guy worked on weird stuff every day with vampires and monsters yet he was still serious. But he got called weird, so Mark sat there like a crumbling person that just got snapped by Thanos.
"How much is this?" Mark was awoken from his dazed state as the Vampire Hunter asked for the price of the daggers. It was then Mark made a thoughtful face as he thought of what could benefit him for the long time. It only took about three seconds until he looked at the dhampir in front of him and said.
"Your Blood, give me your blood."
[Thirty Minutes Later]
Mark received a negative reaction from Blade but when he specified he only needed about half a liter of blood made the Hunter stop from going haywire. He then explained that he would use his blood to study how to transform all of the vampires under his command into dhampirs.
Mark had planned this too before but he knew he had to study books about curses to understand what was different from vampire physiology and human physiology. He wanted to find a middle ground but he knew it would take years of constant experimentation even with the super genius techadon alien transformation.
But the shortcut appeared on his doorstep which made him glad as he did learn some things from Blade, the guy felt he still needed to pay Mark with something so Mark asked for information of the current world affairs public and secret ones. Blade looked at Mark skeptically but Mark just shrugged it off saying that the Vampire Hunter might know something he does not but not so important that the guy won't share it.
Mark then went to a private laboratory he made using the techadon alien. It was then he realized how bricked up the brains of these aliens, he was able to make a homemade synthesizer using various household appliances that were available on the shop. Thought some parts needed to be made as not all electronic devices were available until he built the power plant.
But it made him realize that with the techadon alien he made a black tech item in just one day. His techadon mind even thought that it would have been just a few hours to make a synthesizer if some of the appliances were available. Appliances, not military grade things but just appliances. He then understood how much of a monster Rick Sanchez is for making a concentrated laser gun with office items and a battery while being a pickle.
Even the in the techadon alien form Mark had to calculate it after three repeat transformations just so he could make something similar but not from office items. He needed to make stuff from the synthesizer to create the small laser gun powered by batteries. Still this guy was enough for him to start researching the DNA's of the Lahmian Vampires and was even able to reengineer the original recipe of the Life Elixir Nagash made.
And one of the requirements was blood, lots and lots of blood from still living human beings. Mark was reluctant to use such recipe so he tried to look for substitutes, besides that he needed to find a way to get rid of the curse. But he found another way which was to use the purifying room, the room where he put the five cleansing Orbs. He found they have a slow effect of taking out the negative things on the body once bathed under the light of the Orbs.
Coupled with his now improve perception on the mystical side brought upon by his cultivation as well as the scientific prowess of the techadon Alien. Mark spent a large amount of his schedule trying to make a serum that would transform the body of the vampire similar to Blades. Immune to light, Immune to the curse and could eat human food so no more blood sucking needed but it could still empower them.
But he did not lock himself up as he too started training his soldiers secretly in the underground caverns by hunting various beast, mining ores and gems and even fighting occasional skaven groups found scuttling about. Mark was even able to obtain a detailed Map of the underground tunnels used by the skaven. He did not go straight to Skavenblight as he knew that there were tens of thousands of Skaven under the ruined city.
That was why he had the men hunt some small Skaven tribes to gain knowledge of their enemy. It also helped Mark's image as the soldiers and even the sailors met each other, so seeing his actions of killing some pest like the skaven fervently made tehm see Mark in a very Positive light. Mark then used Super Bullsh*t-talk-no-jutsu he was able to convince them that he was a silent defender of the living thus he did not care for mortal desires of conquering.
So much propaganda and the men, women, elves and even the dwarves became passionate thinking that they were now duty bound to keep their actions a secret. In the surface they are just normal soldiers patrolling the realm while under here they are selfless heroes. And since most of Brettonians were exposed to chivalrous tales since their birth, they even made their own versions of oaths to not disclose their situation.
Mark felt that he was now beginning to build a fanatical cult around him, but meh, who cares. At least he was now stable in the surface, he has a trade route secured as he also bought some lands on the seaside town with roads connecting to Mousillon in a nearby Seaside Castle which Mark could not understand how to speak.
I was open to the sea that the frigate could sail in easily, but it was also remote enough that only a dozen shadows were need to patrol the area around the small peasant hovel where the small port he had built in a small time frame existed.
Not that he needed it but he needed a front so no people would suspect. Surely the news of his actions in Marienberg was not circulated in neighboring area. Many wanted to see him but rumors started where he was last seen boarding the ship going to Erengrad to trade. Or that he was within a travelling carriage that carried his coat of arms, a simple shield with a cross sword and two fleur-de-lys on the pommels of the swords.
Some even say he is currently in Castle Rachard or in his family Mansion on Border Town which was Creacheur town renamed. One of the good perks of being a landed Earl, there was also a rumor that he spent his days locked on his castle bed in constant tussle with his newly wed wife as well as many seductive women as he was heard to have a really long 'sword'.
It started to go out of place but he did not mind it, he would only meet those who were of higher rank in nobility or someone respectable. The Border town also became famous as various knights and warriors seek fame in fighting the now famous one armed devil knight or the silent knight that now took the challenges from strong warriors.
Though his men also became a little famous as they now practiced diligently in martial arts to better themselves. There was now even an influx of people wanting to settle down in his territory, it was then known how strict the process of acceptance to become a citizen of his domain. There were indeed spies but he let some in while others were rejected yet there was a group that caught his attention.
The Herrimaults
Or also known as the faceless men, they have literal faces but their organization are made up of like-minded people that find the oppressive actions of most Bretonnian nobles not to their taste. And their actions are always guided by their code that goes:
"Do not harm the innocent. You cannot fight for justice by unjust means. Uphold justice where the law has failed."
So in other words they are like a group of Robin hood themed group of justice fighters. They go around the realm of Bretonnia to enact justice to the nobles the oppress their peasants. And since this is Bretonnia, the distinction of nobility and peasant is very clear here, that was why Mark made it important to remember to act dumb in front of outsiders to his people.
Especially nobles who might have just coincidentally wandered on his territory, that was why once there is a suspected noble Mark would be present and waiting in case a situation occurs. A peasant could be killed just for petty reasons in other territories, the taxes of the kingdom even stated that the peasants only get to keep about 10% of their harvest.
Because most noble think that since the 'Bretonian nobles protect you with their shield then you should give your all to feed me as it will be your honor to serve me' kind of mentality. They think the peasants only need to work, farm, populate and not make a noise as the nobles will protect you, he would have no problem if they really did protect their subjects but they don't.
Most just stay fat and sit on their overcompensating thrones to indulge in lavishness while saying there are being noble and all that bullshit. That was why the herrimaults exist because too much injustice is happening on Bretonnian lands. Most nobles even don't care their peasants are illiterate as they only care of they give the nobles food.
Once someone steals or poach food without permission, some peasants were tortured and even had to watch as his/her family members are killed alongside him/her. Mark had seen this problem as some of his people had distinct signs of having done inbreeding, vain and idiotic nobles as well as uneducated peasants that were very superstitious make an easy target to vampires especially Lahmians.
That explained how almost every large town or city his carriage passed through has a group of Vampires manipulating the scenes behind the nobility. He wanted to change that but not right now, in due time things will fall in place so for now he just slowly draw in the Herrimaults to work for him.
Even if his men are now trained heavily, there is something that prevents Mark from completing the minimum soldiers and knights on his forces. It was that Peasants don't get to earn knight positions because they are peasants, even if one was stronger than a knight and gained some fame. All you would receive are nobles silencing the people to keep you from becoming famous as they do not want to prestige of knight tarnished by peasants.
A Feudal society is a very easy thing to handle but the problems coming along with it if your subordinate nobles don't behave then things would get ugly. But the nobles wouldn't care, they wouldn't care of the acts of inbreeding, the illiteracy of their people, and even if some preach being some great person but deep inside their hearts were now corrupted darkly.
He knew this as the reports from the vampires keep coming in and since the vampires were the ones doing the corruption then he could not blame the culprit. They were kept in line of his fame and now the power he showed which they cannot explain. So right now he just had the Lahmian sisterhood pause their plans or Neferata's plans.
He does not care if the Empire becomes messy as they will find ways to recover anyways, there are just three places that he did not want to fall and that are the Dwarf Holds so he kept troubling the Skaven now to make them stop harassing the breaded fellows, Kislev which is a great wall of defense against the hordes of Chaos coming down from the Chaos Wastes.
So he Traded food as well as weapons forge by dwarves, he could gain wealth as well as respect as the only provider and his status is now increasing in the north. As long as the Kislevites are well armed then they will have a higher chance of repelling the Hordes of Demon worshippers.
And lastly the Vortex, the large spiral of energy storm that could be seen even in Kislev which is very far north of the Old World. The spell that kept the Chaos Gods at bay making their influence weaker in the mortal world being maintained by the High Elves. One day once Mark gains more ships then he might just start to trade with the Xenophobic Elves.
Maybe he might get an award after he reconnects them to the wood elves, speaking of which one thing he needed to find ways to solve in the problem with Ariel who from what he knew in lore is currently descending in madness from the corruption brought upon by Morghur. He already had some of his shadows scout out the Forest of Arden for suspicious activities by the Beastmen as he too would find ways to stop it.
Mark was deep I contemplation that he did not notice that he kept multitasking tirelessly by travelling left and right in every place. He knew that one day he might need managers of areas thus the muscle head team are constructing a large building nearby the door area. The Place where Mark concentrated all of the anywhere doors, he would have the vampires stay here while only his shadows would deliver the messages to the places needed.
For now he stopped the carriage from travelling ay more as he now has no more Anywhere door to install on a secret location in the new city it was in. He had now doors in Fort Bergbres, Gisoreux, Castle Bastonne and the carriage is in Bordeleaux. There he would build a network that would make him access information on the cities surrounding Mousillon from the south. Up north would be the lands beyond Castle Rachard and he has enough influence to know the latest news ahead of time.
*Knock! Knock!*
"My lord, the men have discovered something on one of the Skaven raids." Melissa was now privy to some secrets and she too was now devoted to being Mark's assistant as she felt that what he was doing was indeed essential for the continuation of their world. Mark had explained what would happen should humanity fall and the vortex collapse which made her dread and even think that their mistress Neferata was quite selfish.
She only cared for the restoration of Lahmia and if she had the information of the world at her fingertips then she should have noticed the signs of the corruption of chaos in the realms of men. So right now she felt that it was indeed a right decision of hers to swear fealty to Mark, at first she was reluctant but as time goes by she found that her new master might be someone really sent by the gods or maybe he is a god himself for knowing such information.
Soon Mark arrived at the place where a small clan of Skaven was found and now a ruined place from the sudden ambush of Mark's men. But some got injured as the clan head of the Rats was quite competent to resist the tranq darts. Thankfully no one died but the point of interest was now the large crate in front of Mark that glowed green. He knew what was inside was important as the system also said it was needed.
[Mission #3]
[Gain the needed material to proceed to the second scenario]
[0.24/100]
[Rewards:???]
"Melissa, do you perhaps know of what is inside the crate?" Mark looked at his vampire assistant who has a scrunched up face.
"Yes my lord, it is something lethal to us vampires. It's Warpstone…"