Surrounded by trees as we were I felt the on coming group. They were moving quickly and were clearly hostile. I kicked my heels off as Alaric went to open his mouth. "Hold that thought. We have company." I sigh. My MP bar appeared in the lower corner of my view. "First time for everything. This might be fun." I had trained my magic very little but that had not stopped it from growing.
I let my eyes fall closed. My head turned to the sound. Between my echo location and rooted skills it was like shooting fish in a barrel. I opened my hands and let the fire daggers take form. Magic is more about visualization. So knowing where they were in the trees I simply imagined the daggers flying through the trees and hitting the on coming enemies. I hut nine of the ten but only six of them died. "Damn!" I hissed.
The only way for someone to level up was to fight Dungeon beasts. I pulled thorns from two trees as I ran past. They were of course in the shape of daggers. Nature magic, Entangle.
I stopped and blinked in shock. Goblins. They were basic and typically the first ones to escape. I got covered in blood. "Fuck!" I yelled. My leg kicked out without much thought. The beast flew back and hit a tree. I heard bones break as the body slumped to the ground. "I was under the impression I was weak in most aspects..." I said.
"You likely were," one of the vampires said.
"Outside of your intelligence," another chimed.
"If you have been working on the other stats all these years the first level up gave you a huge boost," someone pointed out.
Alaric leaned against a tree, "Do not forget that even someone without their System can kill Goblins." He sighed, "I wanted her first kill to be something more powerful."
"Why would that matter?" I asked. His people had already killed the rest of the Goblins. With a look around, I moved closer to him.
He wrapped his arms around me and I glared up at him. "Are you hurt?" I shook my head. Even if I had been hurt I would already have started healing.
"Something happen?" Alaric asked. He once again lifted me into his arms and began to walk us back to camp. Or what I hoped was being set up as camp. I scowled at him.
-Age: 1746
-Race: Born Vampire
-Class: Lord
-Titles: Lord of Bloody Stars, Born in Blood, Consort of Gods Favored (Temporary)
-Patron: Astra, Sang -Blessings: Star touched, Bathed in blood
-Condition: Happy (with Beloved)
I felt my eye twitch. "Just one of my skills activating. Nothing useful came of it."
He nodded, "Not all skills are useful. What was your question?"
"How can I get a mount of my own?"
"You mean like my wolf? Sashi?"
"Yes! Aiden has one. Kaden's annoying ass has one. When will I get one?" I scowled. Kaden had spent no time rubbing that fact in my face for years. Even if it was just a horse.
Alaric watched me as we got back to the road. If you could call the thin dirt pathway a road. The group that had remained behind had set up at least a dozen tents beside the treeline. One tent was bigger than the rest. He walked us right into that tent without a word to anyone.
Over the last ten years I had seen a lot. Nothing prepared me for the sight of a thousand stars flicking to life as the flap closed behind us. I gasped.
Alaric shifted me to just one arm and brought his hand into my view. With the snap of his finger another star hovered over his hand. I reached out to touch it. Surely he would stop me if it was dangerous. "Light magic?" I breathed.
"Yes," he said. "It is a spell called starlight. A mix of Light and Divine magic."
I looked at him then, "Every says using Divine magic is dangerous. They never let me practice."
He moved to set me down on a pillow. "All magic is dangerous. Divine magic just has the biggest impact when something goes wrong. My affinity with it is quite low compared to most of my magic. I have had a very long time to hone my magic and learn my limits."
-You have been gifted an Origin Vampire Beloved! Do you wish to keep him or spurn him? Only you can decide but you must do it quickly if you are to find a suitable Beloved before your debut.
-Grow Affection with Alaric Stella before clearing the Dungeon -Rewards: (Pass) Royal Beloved, Enhance Bloodline (Fail) Replacement Beloved
My body tensed. "What is it?" He questioned. "What happened?"
"I got a quest. I got my first quest..."
A single eyebrow went up. "What is it? What is wrong?" He was being formal. He had not been formal with me at all so why was he now.
"If I had to guess the same one you got. That is why you are being formal right? You got the message about me having a choice?"
His jaw clenched. "I have been alive for longer than I care to remember let alone count. You are my first Beloved. The first person, man or woman, to make my blood burn and magic hum. If you decide I'm not it for you so be it. I can wait and hope for another chance.
I know you can not feel it yet. Can not feel the bond yet. I do not, can not, fault you for that. But for me... Aurora... I can not imagine having this feeling with anyone else ever again." My breath caught at his words. The way his gaze met mine with such intensity.
I went to say something only for the flap of the tent to open. A woman stood there with a sort of collar about her neck. Her gaze flicked to me but seemed unconcerned with my presence. She was dressed in skin tight fabric that showed off way too much skin to be appropriate given the standards. I felt my eyes go wide as I scrambled to stand up. My cheeks flamed as Alaric caught me around the waist.
The shadows in the room thickened. "My Lord?" The woman asked.
"I did not send for you Kaitlin," Alaric growled.
Kaitlin clenched her hands in front of her. "You fed the child, My Lord?"
"This 'child' is my Beloved. You will show her the respect afforded her. Why are you here?"
"To feed you, My Lord," she tried for a seductive smile.
Something in me jerked at how she said that. I could imagine her face beneath the heel of my shoe. Her eyes flicked to mine as if she could sense the malice from me. Thankfully the calm mind skill kicked in. "Did I request for you to feed me?"
"No... but you... you fed her My Lord. Surely you need to feed?" Again something deep within me jerked.
"You insult me by suggesting a my Beloved would drain me to such an extent. A 'child' as you said. You insult her by interrupting us. You insult us both by offering your blood to me without first asking her if you may give me blood. You know full well how possessive Beloved can be of one another."
"She said herself that she likes females. I am not opposed to letting her feed from me as well. She can not honestly expect you to content yourself without a lover!" Red clouded my vision. I tore out of Alaric's hold.
I did not feel the blow as my magic acted. Ruled by instinct my mind had shut off. Alaric went to interfere but stopped. I could feel his curiosity. Not that I could care about that right now. Anime, Manga, and comic books had long allowed me to do more with my magic than I let on. I normally worked without magic circles because they would give away Speciality. She laughed as a dozen small circles activated. She missed the two at her feet.
Water shot. Wind cutter. Static. At her feet rock tomb and metal shift were for my own twisted version of iron maiden. She dodged out of the way of the lightening just like I knew she would. Right into the mud pit of needles that hardened. She screamed as the earth just below the surface twisted the needles waiting below. They stabbed and ripped at her flesh there.
The lighting did not stop. Instead wind cutter turned the water shots into tiny drops of water and twisted them around her. Water is a great conductor for electricity. If she was screaming before she was howling now. The lighting hit the water drops and bounced from drop to drop.
Then I heard it earth... breaking. She pulled her feet from the ground and charged me. Fire covered me. It wasn't enough. Her fist connected with my face. Once. Twice. Then her foot hit me in the chest. I felt the wind leave my lungs as I flew back. Breath and blood.
Even with all that in effect I was done.
"She's weak!" Kaitlin yelled. "How can that weak child be your Beloved? You deserve better!"
"I do not want better!" He hissed out. "I do not care how strong she is. I care about who she is." My vision went black but I did not miss the sickening sound that followed.