As we stepped through the portal I could smell flowers. We were in a large circular room made from grey brick with a round table with four chairs in the center. Light was shining through the 3 windows at the front and sides while there was a large dark-wood door behind us. It was almost completely bare, aside from the single potted plant that adorned each window.
"Are we going to wait for them?" I asked James.
"No, we can go get them right now. Dracula is teaching the fledglings so we can go get him first!"
I grunted. *this will be annoying…*
**Vlad Dracul Tepes POV**
I was teaching the new fledglings inside of a side room within the castle. It was made to look like a common college classroom where the student were slowly elevated on steps while at the bottom there was a large white board with a projector shooting out pictures of what I talked about as I went on.
I had just finished talking about the werewolf/vampire war when I saw a female fledgling raise her hand and I pointed at her.
"Claire. What is your question?"
"Yes, sire." She stood up. "You've gone over our history but I am especially curious about the war. We've heard many different re-enactments but- in your opinion- what was the real reason you came to a truce?"
"Mercenaries." I said simply.
"Yes?" She urged me to continue and sat back down.
"Back in those days- when humans were unaware of our existence- not much was known about our strengths and weaknesses. Ours nor the wolves. However, as the war prolonged, mercenaries started to show up on either side of the war. Many were known, while some died on the first battle. The ones that survived passed their knowledge unto their fellow mercenary."
I saw a young man raise his hand nervously. He was turned a few days ago, unlike Claire who was turned a few months ago.
"Stand and speak, Elijah." I said to him with a calming smile.
"Y-yes, Sire." He stood up. "As I am new to the whole… vampire thing… can you explain our weakness and/or strengths? Like the flowing water or crosses or… anything for that matter."
I laughed as I began to speak. "Well, I will start with our weaknesses! sun will not hurt us but you can get a sunburn still!" They laughed. "I don't know where that theory came from aside from Mr. Stoker. Holy water does nothing but get us wet as does flowing water and crosses don't do much either! The only real threat we face is we cannot enter a persons home without permission and silver will kill you if it is stabbed into your heart. Beheading can kill you as well!"
An older student who was about to graduate stood up suddenly.
"Sire!"
"Yes, Gregory?" I asked him with my eyebrows raised. "You have a question?"
"You mentioned that we couldn't enter a home without permission- I was curious of the reasoning behind that!"
"Well, words have magic. The most powerful words are also the shortest. They do not need any fancy pronunciation for one to understand their meaning. Hate, Love, Fun, Joy, Pain. These are all examples which lead me to another powerful word. That word being 'home.' You can enter any building you please but if a creature sees it as it's 'home' then a threshold is created. I do not know why this happens, however. it is one of the many examples of 'words' that you will be learning about when you go back to the one who sire'd you. You will learn more about it from them."
Elijah stood up again. "And our strengths, Sire?"
I waved him to sit and began to speak. "That is a much longer list than our weaknesses. Immortality- we cannot die unless we are killed. Enhanced senses that only get stronger as you age- i for one can hear a humans heart beat from five miles away." They gasped. "Your strength will increase exponentially as well. Your bones become harder to compensate for this. When you turn into a vampire your human body stops regulating it's strength because it feels that you no longer need it to. Among all of this, the most important would be your Blood." They leaned forward. "You will not have any Blood Powers until your third year of undead. As for what Blood is? It entirely depends. Some are weaker some are stronger, some have specific strengths in some areas while they have weaknesses in others. You can train your Blood as if it were a muscle as well, so do not fret. You must also keep in mind that the older you are, the stronger you become."
I heard the door open and I looked towards it. Seeing James I smiled before I looked to his left and saw a man I thought was dead.
"YOU!" I screamed at him and the fledglings jumped and started to shake.
**Birgers POV**
We were walking down a hallway when I heard Vlad giving a lecture to a bunch of fledglings. James opened the door and stepped in with me on his right and Isaiah on his left.
I saw him look at James and smile before shifting his gaze to me.
"YOU!"
*Yep. He still remembers me. Fuck.*
"Vlad! Good to see you buddy!" He started to walk towards me. "H-hey man… it was a long time ago, right?" He started to speed up and run towards me. "RIGHT?!"
When he disappeared from my vision i predicted his movement as I pulled out a silver knife and stabbed it into his chest just above his heart. He collapsed to the ground but his eyes followed me weakly.
I left the knife in his chest and made my way to the front of the room. The fledglings were following my movement, staring at me in shock and fear.
"As a little side note: if you're old enough and strong enough, when silver gets stabbed around your heart- mainly through a major artery- you become paralyzed." I finished with a smile.
I walked back toward the door and crouched down to look at Vlad. He turned his gaze to me and hissed.
"C'mon, Vlad…" I said. "It was centuries ago, man!"
"You killed half my brood. Took half my money." He said through grit teeth as his eyes bled from red to orange.
I patted his head like a dog as I said. "Now, now… it was only half, right? Can we have a civil conversation or will I have to shift the knife to your heart?"
"Civil." He hissed.
"Good!"
I pulled the knife out in one go and he immediately jumped at me. Before he could reach me, Isaiah jumped infront of him and knocked him to the ground. They wrestled for a moment before Isaiah settled on top of him with Vlad in an armbar.
"Civil, or death?"
He hissed at me again.
"Thrice i ask- So shall it be." I said as my left eye glowed blood red. "Civil… or… Death, Aeternus."
He jerked as I invoked the law of three before he clenched his teeth tightly.
"Civil!"
Isaiah immediately let go of him and Vlad stood up. He was breathing heavily, but with the law of three he couldn't attack me.
"Yo!" I stuck out my hand and made a peace sign.
"Fuck you."
I blushed. "Shtop it Vlad! I'm not into you like that!~"
"FUCK YOU AND DIE!" He screamed at me.
Isaiah and James were laughing. I chuckled a bit too before I looked at him seriously.
"Jokes aside, I hope you and yours are well." I said seriously. "I've come to call in my Blood, Vlad."
Vlad's eyes widened. "Why would you… what's this about?"
Blood, as mentioned before, is quite simply a vampire's power. Blood Magic, if you will. During the werewolf/vampire war I happened to save his wife so he promised me a favor using his Blood. He owes me, and I'm here to collect.
"Children…" Vlad said as he turned to the class. "As we just went over the vampire/werewolf war… Who was the most notable person you all have read about?"
"T-the human who instigated the two species to enter a truce, Sire?" A young vampire said as he stood up.
"Very good, Elijah." Vlad started. "And what was this human's name?"
An older woman stood up now.
"Catherine." Vlad said and motioned for her to speak.
"Sire." She began. "All noted instances depict the human as a mercenary on both sides of the war. A name was not mentioned, however a title was."
"Continue."
"The Unknown Blood." She said.
"Correct! This human single handily started truce talks between me and the werewolf leader, Isaiah." He pointed at Isaiah. "Since then we both have established a trade route and have kept the truce strong. As much as I hated that mercenary, he is a good man. And he stands before you."
I stuck my hand up and waved at the group of fledglings. "Hi!~"
The fledglings froze for a moment before they jumped and started yelling questions at me. I sighed and motioned James over.
"Get the other two. Come get me when you are done."
"Sure!" He snickered. "Have fun teaching the fledglings!"
They walked out and I slammed my hand on the table. The sound echoed across the room and the vampires immediately quieted down. I looked from my left to my right and counted seventeen of them.
"Okay. Starting from left to right I will answer a single question. You, Blondie." I pointed at a blond fledgling.
"M-my name is Grace, Unknown Blood."
I raised my hand to stop her before looking at them one by one. "My name is Birger Age. You can call me either my first name or last name. No titles or honorifics."
"Understood, Birger Age!" They shouted.
I turned back to Grace. "So, Grace. What is your question?"
"Firstly, let me begin by saying that it is an honor to meet you." She fidgeted nervously. "A-are you really h-human?"
"Yes, I am human. I am slightly stronger than a human, as well as immortal, but I am human. Do you know Cain? From Biblical literature? I'm similar to him minus the being an asshole part. Although I have been told I can be an asshole." They all laughed and i grinned.
"Next, green eyes!"
"Rachel, Birger." She stated her name. "How did you come to become a mercenary and solve the v/w war?"
"To answer the first part of your question: I was really good at fighting and wanted a shit ton of money!" I grinned at them. "As for the second part I will have to skip it as it is a very long story."
She frowned at this in disappointment but nodded her head nonetheless.
I looked at another fledgling but before I could speak he stood up with a sparkle in his eyes. "Why did they call you The Unknown Blood?"
I laughed as I began to speak. "For one I would heal fairly quickly despite being a human! But the main reason was because no matter which side I fought on at the time, wether it was vampires or werewolves, when they tried to bite me and turn me they would collapse and immediately die on the spot!" They shivered. "But only if they tried to turn me! There were multiple instances of me giving blood to the vampires so they could heal. My blood has special properties that I control subconsciously."
"Elijah." I said while pointing at the one Vlad called before he had left.
"Um… Birger?" He said nervously. "How did y-"
He got cut off when the door opened and James walked in. I turned to him.
"I got them all in the meeting room. You can come now."
"Alright." I nodded at him and turned back to the fledglings. "It was fun, kids! I might come back here once I'm done with my business so you can look forward to that!"
"Yes, Birger!" They shouted.
I walked out of the classroom and followed James to the meeting room.