[|||| =LEVEL 13= ||||]
"So where do you want to go first?" I asked Esdeath, cooking up breakfast burritos for my girlfriends, though Ophis and Kuroka were still sleeping. It turned out that Esdeath was an early riser.
"Hm… I don't truly care so long as I can fight. I would appreciate it if you could provide some advice on how to get stronger as well." She was currently reclining on one of the dining chairs that I and the others only rarely used. Kuroka's apartment didn't have a dining set so we just ate on the couch there and the habit stuck.
"Well I've been thinking about going to a world I've designated as Worm. I take most of my selection of worlds from pieces of fiction I read or see and look for a world with similar functioning rules and a matching setting."
"You draw your worlds to travel to from stories?" Esdeath seemed fascinated by this. "Is that how you came to my world?"
"No. I looked into the greater void and requested a world that would amuse me. I appeared a little southeast of the palace, which is when I broke in. Now that was fun." I smiled at the memory as I tossed a few tortillas in the microwave.
"Hm. And what of this Worm world?"
"It's a… you know I should get you caught up on the popular culture of this world. It's where I've collected most of my destinations. It's a somewhat dark world, dystopian like yours with a dysfunctional government, but it's not quite corruption that's bringing it down. See, an outside entity - a world traveller in a different sense than I - entered the world and spread it's power through the world and it's connected worlds. People with strange abilities appeared after experiencing trauma. The first few went out to fight crime and the trend caught on with some of them aiming for something outside the law and others trying to enforce it either as a vigilante or with government sanction."
"Fascinating." She said, seeming to mean it.
"A whole subculture appeared from the trend and the people with powers, which are called capes for short. Customs like getting a unique mode of dress, acting heroic or comedic in line with some stereotypes, and the media of that world - including something called the internet which I need to teach you about - became ridden with capes."
"Again, fascinating, but how strong are they?" This prompted an eye roll from me.
"It varies. Some of the strongest are people like a man who acts under the monicker of Legend. He can turn into light and shoot beams that do a variety of things such as freezing, burning, exploding, disintegrating, and more. Some of the weakest are normal humans, untrained civilians, who can shoot a blast of sound or spit acid or throw a little lightning. They're the majority, though due to the nature of the powers there are some people who are outliers. They can simulate timelines or build teigu-like weapons, though that doesn't mean they can use them."
"So it's more than simple brute strength." She said in realization.
"Exactly! Which is why I want you to go there. You have a lot of brute strength but there is quite a lot there that can't be solved with simple strength. You need cunning to get by there no matter how strong you are."
"I can see the reason in that." She agreed.
"I mean, there's a hundred and one other worlds we could go to but I'd like to go somewhere where brute strength isn't everything for once. Oh, but I have to ask you something first. Do you know calculus? The structure of the solar system? Chemistry?" Esdeath was silent. "I thought so. You're a warrior and things like that were never needed besides what you used to manage your armies. But things like science are useful and you're going to be put into a lot of situations where being uneducated in some areas will cause a lot of trouble. Most universes with decent technology and an organized government have standardized learning where children learn math, science, language, and whatever else is needed."
"I'm not a scholar." It was a statement of fact. Not a protest. I looked down at the scrambled eggs and chorizo I was heating up and decided to take them off. They were ready for eating now.
"Neither is Kuroka but she knows what atomic theory is and how to chart a chemical equation despite losing her parents when she was young and being enslaved. Education is important in most any world no matter how lawless. You don't need to be a scholar but you do need to be educated, at least to the level of this world. You'll be spending a lot of time here since you live in this world now. Adapting to fit some of it's higher standards is necessary."
"Alright," She didn't look happy to need to learn. I could understand that. She's with me for me and to fight and grow stronger. Needing to learn things she'd never had a use for was not what she was expecting. "But how will I learn this science?"
"I can tutor you through a K through twelve program. That's what most people learn through," I shrugged. She perked up, the idea of learning with me probably more appealing than doing so alone. "I'd like to work on your magic as well. The ice demon blood is still harboring it's independence. I'd like to assimilate it's soul into you more than it already is. You should be able to cultivate a higher level of ice magic after the power of the demon blood becomes truly yours and not an extension of you."
Esdeath said nothing since I had just handed her one of the finished breakfast burritos. She took one bite and decided to eat in silence, enjoying the good food. I took mine in hand and walked to my workshop where my computer was. I needed to print out a bunch of worksheets and see how Esdeath did on them. It would help me figure out where to fill in her knowledge.
[|||| =-= ||||]
"Oh no… it's worse than I thought." I said sadly.
"What?" Esdeath asked, sitting at a part of the counter of my workshop I had cleared off.
"Let me see," Kuroka stepped close to me and looked at the test results. She had insisted on playing assistant teacher. I thought she just wanted to do some kinky stuff and distract us both but after extracting a promise that she would actually help and not just use the class for sex she had been a it helpful. "Oh… oh. Yeah, that's not very good."
"What?!"
"Algebra one? I mean, she got some of the questions. We might have to redo that."
"Well she got biology pretty well."
"Nothing on cell theory. Well, she got one or two questions. I think she picked up some stuff from Doctor Stylish. I spied on him once. He's a genius for a medieval world but a hack as a proper scientist. His notes were a mess and-"
"What is wrong with my grades?!"
"Nothing."
"Your world had, like, no schooling, did it?"
"No. It didn't." Esdeath's tone was getting a little dangerous. I don't think she liked how we were calling her a bit stupid.
"Sorry, sorry," I said, trying to calm her down. "You've got a solid foundation but what was advanced for your world is basic here."
"How basic?" I winced. "Abyss. How. Bad. Is. It." I hated that tone.
"A thirteen year old could outsmart you." Kuroka put it bluntly.
"WHAT?!" She seemed furious. The temperature of the room dropped by nearly ten degrees. Kuroka shivered and edged a little closer to me.
"Well you've got the basics of math and you're surprisingly well-versed in anatomy. With a little cell theory and work on bacteria, viruses, and a health class you'll be set there," I said, trying to cool her anger. It worked a little. "As for physics, moderately advanced mathematics, chemistry, English, geometry, and magic theory you're behind or have no grounding at all in it."
"Wait, magic theory? That's not on a standard curriculum." Kuroka said, confused.
"I wrote up a twenty question test on the basics." I told her.
"What, like magic circles and stuff?"
"Why would Esdeath use magic circle? I used affinity, aura, mana, soul theory, and quantum physics."
"That's not the stuff I learned."
"Your magic focuses on normal stuff. Esdeath's magic is abnormal so I'm teaching her the core principals I've discovered and applying them. Do you expect her to use the mathematics based magic magicians use here?"
"Good point."
"I'm still here." Esdeath fumed, looking anything but pleased. I came up with a brilliant solution to calm her down.
"Don't worry, there's an upside to this," She looked at me dangerously. "This means we get to spend more time together. Kuroka will get bored and ditch soon enough."
"You know me so well…"
"That's true," Esdeath said grudgingly. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult me and my education."
"We're not trying to insult you," I explained. I looked meaningfully at Kuroka. She looked away with a blush. "We're trying to figure out how best to show you more advanced topics than your world ever dreamed of." She seemed mollified by that and went back to the interest she had before.
"Now let me just get an algebra textbook. I'd rather get through the hard stuff quickly. Math is my least favorite subject. An algebra two level of mathematics if enough since we have calculators. It's all I have anyways."
"Wait, you only got to algebra two?" Kuroka grinned at me. I nodded. "Oh, you poor fool. Behold! I got all the way to pre-calculus!"
"Have fun plotting triangles."
"Ugh. never again. I like physics, though."
"Oh, physics are nice. I don't like the big formulas, though. I always relied on my sister for that stuff. The theoretical work is fascinating, on the other hand."
"Like quantum stuff?"
"Exactly. Applying it to magic has been a big help to me in understanding what makes affinity a catalyst for mana and magical effects." I noticed Esdeath looking frustrated at not being able to join in on the conversation, not knowing what we were talking about.
Good. It would provide more incentive to learn. I didn't want to stay behind teaching her when I could be travelling worlds any more than she wanted to stay behind and learn when she could be fighting.
[|||| =-= ||||]
"You have to flip the X squared. Criss-cross, remember? Divide on both sides."
"Oh, to get Y?"
"Exactly. With Y you can plug it in to get X." Esdeath nodded and returned to her work. I continued testing repeated exposure to corruption affinity on Akame, her body comatose on a surgical table in a hospital blouse. I had a hundred of the things I had stolen when I was setting up the house. I would wake her up eventually. For now I was testing her aura when it was in a neutral state, not affected by her conscious control over it.
So far her aura had been unusually receptive to corruption, especially when she had murasame in her hand, though the teigu slowly drained her soul and used the aura it gained to fuel itself and make her body function better than the norm, which explained why people with teigu were physically superior to those without.
The sword also collected corruption affinity to itself all the time, making it easy to harvest for me. Incrusio collected adapt affinity, as I had found out. It was also sentient, as I had made it's soul lash out at me after poking it with my own like twenty times. I hadn't touched it since. Akame and murasame were more interesting and I wanted to see if she was up for being my research assistant.
"WHAT?!" I winced at the interruption to my research, though my eyes widened when I realized I didn't recognize the voice. Esdeath realized this as well and grabbed her rapier excitedly and ran to the door, though I was faster and had my halberd out instead of my sword. It was more suitable for the narrow hallway.
I pivoted and pointed the pointy end at the intruder of my house and then froze. "Irisai?" The beautiful half elf stiffened and turned to me, a beautific smile on her face.
"Abyss!" Then her eyes looked at the halberd and her smile faded. "Why are you pointing a weapon at me?"
"You're in my home."
"Oh, wait, trespassing? But the door was open."
"We're in the middle of nowhere. Of course it's open!"
"Tell me about it! Actually, don't. I already-"
"You know her?" Kuroka asked from behind the dragonborn.
"We met once," I answered. I put my weapon back in my soul space. "What I want to know is how in the world you're here?" Irisai smirked.
"Beloved!" I winced as Kuroka's smirk split her face. "I have travelled the land in search of you! As you left my heart wept in your absence! Distraught and hopelessly in love with you I ignored the advice of my peers, for I knew my feelings were just, and went on a perilous journey in search of you!" I was suffering. Esdeath was staring a burning hole into the back of my skull while Kuroka looked like she wanted to do a dance.
"I traveled far and wide! I scoured Tamriel for two treasures, scrolls of unparalleled magics, and traded them to the demon Hermaeus Mora for but a chance to meet your eyes again! I crossed the badlands of Europe, the wretched plains of Asia, and crossed the sea to Japan just to cross ANOTHER ocean and ANOTHER land to see you!" Something about her voice indicated extreme annoyance, though she sounded really happy. It was strange.
"But none of that matters now! For we are together now forever and always!" She took a few steps towards me, throwing her helmet off and letting her golden hair loose as she looked towards me with a gentle smile, showing off pearly white teeth. "And then I find out you have a HAREM YOU PROMISCUOUS BASTARD'S SPAWN!" She leapt towards me as her eyes filled with rage, her fist rocketing towards my face. I ducked under it and threw her over me. She turned over my shoulder and swung her arms around my neck with an unexpected amount of agility considering that she was in armour that didn't look very flexible.
"I CROSSED TWO OCEANS, THREE LANDS, SEARCHED SKYRIM, BEAT A BLIND OLD MAN, AND TRAVELLED A REALM TO SEE YOU AND YOU'RE WITH SOME LOOSE WOMEN?!" I broke her guard and pushed her aside. Esdeath didn't look amused.
"Hey! I'm not-"
"SHUTUP!" Irisai demanded. Kuroka looked kind of offended and seemed to find the situation suddenly less humorous.
"Irisai, don't be rude. Yelling at everyone is accomplishing nothing." I told her calmly. She met my eyes again, clear anger apparent in them. Magic was thick in the air, the dragonborn's soul full of snarls and fire.
"Rude?!" She snapped, thankfully lowering her voice a little. "Do you have any idea just how much I've done to see you again?!"
"A little." I said, keeping my calm, though Kuroka and Esdeath looked kind of annoyed that she was speaking so rudely with me. I noticed Ophis walk up behind Kuroka and watch the scene with a frown.
"Then you can understand how I'm a TINY bit annoyed right now?!" She pinched her fingers together for emphasis.
"I can. However, to my eyes and the eyes of my three girlfriends it looks like a stranger barged into my house, insulted Kuroka, and tried to punch me." Irisai cooled down a little and looked a little ashamed of herself. Just a little. She was mostly unashamed.
"Fine," She huffed. "We'll talk about why you're running around with other women like civilised people. Does your manor have a meeting room?" I pointed and she walked off towards my dining room.
"Sooo she's not… I mean I can get if you slept with some other women before us but what's up with her?" Kuroka asked, looking annoyed for once.
"We had a drink once and killed some dragons. She's got a dragon's soul and a human body. Well, actually she's half-elf. From what I can understand she sold some artifacts to a dark god of knowledge of her land and had to stumble around this world trying to find me. Who knows how she even did that. Ah, shit. I was warned about this." I grimaced, recalling Odahviing's words as we parted ways.
"Kiir (child), you truly do not know Irisia. She chased me across Skyrim, Elsweyr, and down to the Summerset Isles out of sheer stubbornness to not let me escape her and claim another dragon to take her to this temple. If you are within reach she will meet with you somehow, though I know not how. She may give up courting you but this will not be the last you see of her. You intrigue her. You may escape Tamriel but you cannot escape Irisaai. Even if she has to share, though she will not do so happily."
"Fucking perfect. I got a stalker."
"Yeah, I was warned about her pursuing me. One of her close friends said she might give up or share but that neither would be easy. She's apparently extremely stubborn."
"I don't like her. She's loud," Ophis commented from behind Kuroka. "She is kin, though. A dragon."
"Dragons," Esdeath scoffed. "I had to torture the one I broke for three days before he submitted to me. They're prideful, temperamental, impulsive, selfish, and as you said, stubborn to the extreme. However, they are strong and defend their own with tenacity. Perhaps this Irisai is the same."
"If we're all giving our opinions I don't like her but I get where she's coming from. I'd be pissed if I crossed the world to find you with some other women… well, if we were in an exclusive - you get the idea." Kuroka said, her scowl more of a frown right now. I held off another sigh. It was getting a bit repetitive for me. That didn't mean I didn't want to sigh, though.
"Let's just go deal with her. I'll try to explain everything. Maybe she'll give up, er, courting me?" It sounded idealistic to me. Judging by the expressions around me everyone else thought the same. I shrugged and walked to the dining room. Irisai was sitting with an annoyed expression beside the head of the table. I sat across from her, my girlfriends filling in around me.
"So let's get down to this. Why do you think I'm your husband?"
"Your wedding gift." Irisai said simply.
"Wedding gift?"
"Dragons blood rained from the skies, your companions slaying them with ease while you sat beside me, charming me as we enjoyed the carnage. I absorbed a thousand dragon souls that day. Well actually almost six hundred but that's beside the point."
"That sounds fun." Esdeath muttered fondly beside me.
"That wasn't a wedding gift. I just needed a dragon soul." I pointed out.
"So? You're the only decent man I've ever come across and you've given me a dowry worthy of gods by slaying the children of Akatosh, granting me the spoils. You can't give a dragonborn an army of dragon souls because you needed one single soul."
I frowned. "I'm with three other women."
"So? Ditch them." My girlfriends instantly glared at her, even Ophis.
"You think I'm a decent man who would ditch three girlfriends because you said to?" Irisai frowned.
"That's true," She agreed. "You wouldn't be the man I thought you were if you did that. Does that mean I have to duel for your hand? It's traditionally the man's job, I know, but you're not exactly fighting for my hand. I'm fighting for yours."
"No. I have no intention of leaving my girlfriends and, though Kuroka thinks I will end up with more women, I really don't want to spend all my time with multiple wives. I like having free time. Besides, Kuroka and Ophis are pregnant. We aren't married yet since, as I said, I might end up with more women according to Kuroka and I'm having a hard time disagreeing with her, but I am married in all but formalities. Besides, I barely know you." Irisai scowled.
"I see," She muttered. "I can't get rid of your current lovers. I understand… I don't want to share, though."
"Well I'm sorry that you don't. I had no intention of proposing to you. I didn't realize you took my gift as such. If you want I can send you back to Skyrim." She shook her head.
"I still intend to pursue you," She pointed out stubbornly. "In Tamriel everyone just wants to marry me for some stupid reason or make me solve their problems."
"And now you meet the one guy who isn't stunned by your beauty and you want to marry him?" She nodded, not blushing at all at my mention of her beauty. She was courted by an emperor and a lot of other, less important people, wasn't she? I wasn't paying a lot of attention when we first met. I was more focused on my sister kicking dragon ass.
"Well great," I sighed. "Look, I'm not going to be responsible for you. I didn't ask for you to come after me and I'm busy teaching Esdeath to a reasonable standard for this world. I don't mind giving you some piles of gold or something since wealth is just about infinite for me but my time is one of the most valuable things I have. I'm tempted to send you back to Nirn regardless of your wishes just so I don't have to deal with… this." I waved my hand at all of us at the table.
"Fine… but what do I do if not try to court you?"
"I don't know nor care much," I said bluntly. "If you want I can set you up with some servants of mine and they can get you some jobs. But you can't sit in my house and bother me. You're a strong, independent woman. Figure out for yourself what you want."
"Other than a husband?"
"Yes. You know that there's a whole world of men out there?" Irisai scoffed.
"The commoners? They don't even know that magic exists!"
"Not them. There's a number of magicians and devils and so forth that practice magic greater than any Nirnian mage." Isisai seemed a little interested in this.
"Like what you and your companions used?"
"Only a few people use aura, better known here as touki, but there are some people who saw civilizations end and have the power to destroy cities. There's also dragons more powerful than Alduin." At that she seemed interested.
"… If I were to work with these servants of yours how would I be paid? You've already offered wealth freely." Oh, I saw what she was getting at.
"Power? Knowledge? Belongings of yours from-"
"Personal time with you." She said bluntly. I groaned.
"You know what? Fine. Work with them and I'll give you two hours with me a week at a place of your choice. But I want you to teach my servants martial disciplines firstly. How good a thief or assassin are you? Are you a nightingale?"
"I've been robbing men blind since I was a whelp! One of the best in Skyrim!" She bragged.
"Then make me a shadow corps too. Thievery, sabotage, information gathering, and assassination."
"I can do that!" She seemed eager for my approval. I was glad that the bitchiness had disappeared but she had the same feeling to her as Elsyria. It was that sort of fervor, an obsession of sorts. She would fit in well with my religious group.
"Then go, and make me proud." I opened a portal beside her, internally retching a bit at my corny line, but Irisai ate it up and walked on through.
"Who… My lord?" Elsyria's voice asked from behind the portal. I got out of my chair in front of it.
"This is Irisai. She will be working with you to train my followers in martial pursuits and more… dishonorable purposes. Let it be known that both are equally accepted to me and shift my servants back more towards power and combat now that we have a stable supply of wealth. I don't have anywhere to crusade for now but I'm sure I will soon. The cult will need it's own power as well for legitimacy." I didn't think that I would need a martial power behind me, I could handle most of that myself, but I couldn't be everywhere at once. Sooner or later trouble was going to come, as it always did, and I would be better served sending a small army than wasting time dealing with it myself.
"Great! Thank you, my lord! I'm sure everyone will be happy to stop with the boring stuff!" She turned to Irisai with a wide grin and I closed the portal, letting the crazies work things out between themselves.
"Thank dust that's over with," I sat heavily back down onto my chair. "So where were we?" I looked at my girlfriends to see varying degrees of happiness.
"You were too soft with her." Esdeath said angrily.
"I don't like her either, you know? Better that she's solving my problems than being one, though."
"You should have made her quiet." Ophis agreed with Esdeath. I think she just suggested I kill her?
"I think you did fine." Kuroka said supportively. "But can I fight her next time? She yelled at me and was honestly pretty rude."
"I nearly stabbed her when she told us to 'ditch him'." Esdeath said to her.
"I'm fine with you three-two, you two sparring with her. Not you." I looked suspiciously at Ophis, wondering if she was plotting Irisai's death. She had her emotionless face on and blinked at me slowly, betraying nothing.
"What?! Ophis-chan should totally spar with the crazy dragon chick!" Kuroka said playfully.
"A friendly spar, nothing more." Esdeath agreed, getting in on it.
"Hmm… if you insist." Ophis said in monotone.
"I'll make cookies." I bargained.
"Two dozen." She said.
"Six sugar cookies and six chocolate chip."
"Six more chocolate chip and ice cream."
"Whipped cream and the cookies."
"Deal." I nodded in satisfaction at the deal we had struck while Ophis seemed pleased as well.
"So no accidents while sparring?" Esdeath seemed disappointed.
"Is not seeing blood for two weeks getting to you?" I teased.
"Yes!"
"Then it must be a failure on my part that you're so pent-up." I said slyly. Esdeath blushed but still grinned.
"I think you mean our part." Kuroka commented.
"I'll sit this one out." Ophis said, ignoring our wordplays.
"I could go to let out some tension." Esdeath teased.
[|||| =-= ||||]
"… We got most of it." I muttered, looking over Esdeath's new scores on a similar test to the one I had given her about a month ago. We were alone this time, Ophis sleeping her days away and managing the Khaos Brigade and Kuroka watching her sister's latest ice-cream date with Issei Hyoudou. It turned out that he was actually dating now that he had no imminent dangers to him or… anyone.
With me lurking in the shadows after massacring the Old Satan faction, the Khaos Brigade doing the same, nobody was making any big movements out of caution to break the stalemate the factions had found themselves in. It was wonderful… it'll be broken soon as some ass stirs shit up but it was nice for now. I had a few more months of silence, probably.
"What did I get?" Esdeath asked eagerly.
"A thirty-eight percent," I said. She paused and returned to sulking in her chair. "Hey, cheer up. Last month you were almost entirely uninformed on all this. This is a whole lot better than a sixteen. Besides, you're getting a comprehensive education, not a crash course. These things take time, which is one of the few things we happen to have a lot of now."
"I don't want to take my time." She growled, an opinion I had heard from her a few times before.
"I think you mean you want action," Her silence was telling. I sighed, trying to think of a solution to her boredom. "Want to go kill something?" That got her interest.
"What sort of something?" She asked.
"… Killing time?" I said innocently. She glared at me. "Fine, fine. Lets go kill some… I dunno, vampires. Apocalypse worlds are easy to find."
"Vampires?… Alright," She grabbed her rapier from next to her, she never let it out of her sight, and checked over her dress. She only had a blouse on. "I'm ready." She told me. I eyed her up and down skeptically.
"Uh huh."
"I don't want blood on my clothes. Frankly I don't even need this if we're the only ones there." She pinched her blouse while I wondered when my life had gotten so sexy. Had DxD contaminated me? Was it always this way and had only changed when I became a teenager? Was it Kuroka?
"Whatever." I opened a portal assisted by void to the nearest vampire apocalypse world. It had some humans in it but not many. I didn't consider them a factor and just chose the first one that wasn't too dangerous. I immediately met a withered, bony thing with a drawn back face and bat-like ears. It screeched and an icicle went through it's forehead.
"I've seen uglier. And louder." Esdeath said, a somewhat bloodthirsty smile on her face.
"You really needed this, didn't you?" I asked. I looked around to see a worn road and a lot of hot desert. There were even a few cacti in sight.
"Oh, yes." She purred, turning a little to her right where a cacophony of screeches was easily heard in the distance.
"Go nuts. Just don't get bitten or get blood in your wounds. Also, there's real vampires about but you won't see any here. Probably." I said, wandering away. Esdeath wasn't even listening, already laughing madly and facing a horde of vampires. No doubt she'd go looking for more after this was over. I could find her from anywhere. She was technically one of my followers, though I didn't allow her void or anything besides a miniscule boost to her ice affinity. They just mucked up her magic according to her.
I strolled along the cracked roads for about ten minutes before I sensed an aura signature approaching me about a mile away. Just one. I folded my ears down in case it was a human and summoned a backpack, an ordinary (if high quality) metal sabre, and a long rifle over my shirt and pants. Why not fit in? It was best to make it a habit. While walking I looked at the soul.
It had the blood and consumption affinities. They were both innate, sort of winding together as they modified the body but both were very weak. So it was a type of vampire, obviously. But what observe didn't tell me was how the affinities were stronger in the body than the soul and that the person's aura wasn't even awakened, nor was their mana holding the sort of fresh feel that mages had. I thought through a few hypotheses and decided to meet the person and get more information close-up talking to them than stalk them. Why not? This was an apocalypse world. People help people in them sometimes and lone wanderers aren't often aggressors.
As I came closer to the person, who seemed to be a young woman, I looked over their appearance. They were a hell of a lot more bloodstained than me, their black tight shirt looking a dark red except for a few small spots here and there. Their pants were no better, looking torn at one leg. They also had a short katana at their waist, a wakizashi I think.
The moment she saw me the woman froze, shivering and swaying back where she came and towards me. I waved at her and she looked back up and down the road before approaching me. It took a minute before we got close to each other. Neither of us shouted to each other when we clearly could have.
"Not often you see a vampire alone." I said warmly when we were just six steps away from each other. The woman's eyes widened and her wakizashi flew out as she lunged at me. I leaned out of her strike, which was a sloppy, unstable thing, and kicked her back to get her away from me. She stumbled and turned while I cleanly took out my rifle and chambered a round audibly, aiming right between her eyes. She froze, her eyes wide and her breath quick.
I slowly lowered my rifle and put the butt onto the road. "Care for a meal? I've got blood to spare and a lot of time left to travel." The woman was silent.
"What?" She breathed. I wondered why she was breathing so heavily when we had one brief engagement.
"I didn't mean to startle you and I'm lonely," I explained. "I don't mind sharing some blood if you're alright not killing me. Besides, you look like you have a story to tell."
"I… okay." She still seemed confused.
"Great!" I said, acting more enthusiastic than I was. I turned around, a clear show of trust I knew, and walked off the road, going to a rock big enough for us both to sit on. I heard the vampire hesitate before following me. I knew she was eyeing my neck but ignored it, dusting off the rock and sitting down. I took a plastic cup from my backpack, that is to say soul space, and a really sharp knife.
"Wait, wait, wait! I can just… drink from your wrist, you know?" The vampire offered a little frantically.
"Wha-? Oh! I'm not cutting myself open. I just have a hell of a time getting this bottle open." The girl was speechless as I took a red bottle out of my pack and popped the cork with the knife.
"Um, thanks?" She said confusedly as I poured her a glass of blood. It wasn't mine. I had collected blood long ago from some of my first test subjects, gangsters from Vacuo, for analysis. I just had some in store that I never used or got rid of. It just took up space in one of the refrigerators in my lab. I did make sure to heat it up to room temperature before serving it. The vampire took a sip and hummed in surprise.
"What's this?!" She asked.
"Blood. Specifically a concoction of the blood of some really healthy people that I transport to trade to vampires. Most of it is mine but I come across one person or another in desperate times occasionally. If they're healthy I offer to give them some stuff in exchange for blood. Vampires like you love it. It's like a cocktail to you all."
"How do you keep it cool?! It doesn't have that gross expired taste!"
"I use cold washcloths, ice when I have it, and some really good thermoses. It's easier than you'd think."
"Do you sell?!" She asked eagerly.
"My livelihood? Of course not! Well, not the thermoses but I'd be happy to sell some blood if you have anything to trade." The girl depressed.
"Oh."
"Yeah, you clearly have nothing."
"No need to rub it in."
"You're still getting a glass of blood."
"Yeah…" She looked sadly at her glass, which she morosely took another sip from, and gave me some puppy eyes.
"No. Anyways, why are you on the road? You seem like you have some interesting tales to tell."
"I'll trade for a glass." She bargained.
"Granted. It's right there. Now stop trying to scam me and spill." I said with less friendliness.
"Ugh, fine. I'm from Seattle. I'm heading towards San Diego, though I'll get going towards Phoenix pretty soon after that."
"That's a long journey. Seen some interesting stuff?"
"Oh, plenty! You know that they actually managed to make AI in Salem, Oregon?"
"Wait, really?!"
[|||| =-= ||||]
I talked with the vampire girl for about an hour, maybe a little longer. I traded two more glasses for conversation but the second was nearly unnecessary. It seemed like the girl, who was named Helena, was looking for her 'sire', a cliche if I ever saw one. But then she explained that he was a messed up psycho who went after young girls, had his way with them, turned them, and did so again. I gave her a pistol with a smile and claimed it was my spare after she cried a little. I was a sucker for girls, sure, but it wasn't like a pistol was a lot for me to get rid of. I had hundreds of the things from practicing metalworking. Besides, I put a little marker of void and my aura on the gun so I could track it and possibly find the adorable vampire girl again.
Besides that AI in Oregon, which managed a city-state that preached vampire and human equality, there was also apparently a tiny bit of magic here, though only Helena and a few others knew it existed. It wasn't much but a few tales of forcefields and wide-eyed whispers of somebody throwing a fireball at her had me show off a tiny flame of my own.
I just couldn't resist. It was worth it when she asked me a hundred and one questions enthusiastically. I liked being a teacher and I was proud of the knowledge of magic I had worked and studied for. Esdeath wasn't the most enthusiastic of students and I had to push her to learn sometimes. Having somebody so energetic about magic was nice and worth the blood I gave her.
After a while, though, I bid her farewell and she cheerily waved goodbye, her coat around her waist since she realized that only a vampire would wear a coat in the desert. I killed a few of the 'bloodspawn', the crazy feral vampires, and Esdeath approached me not long after, absolutely covered in blood and a very satisfied smile on her face. Only a little of the liquid was above her collar, though.
"Have fun?" I asked.
"They're weak but they scream wonderfully. I even found a wolf infected by this virus." She purred, reaching out to hug me. I teleported her above a lake in an abandoned world and threw a bar of soap at her when she resurfaced from her abrupt swim, her wet hair over her face, blinding her. I wasn't going to bring that infected blood back, starting a vampire-pocalypse in DxD. The mess of a world that had become my home had enough problems as it was.
----------------------------------------------------------
If you like it please drop some POWER STONES