Lee
Perium city
Kettlia Region,
Kingdom of Ashtarium
October 9th 6414
4:30 pm
Lee pranced around the bodies of dead hackers- bodies that he had ripped apart and fed on- the tingling exhilaration that had been pumping his heart receding. He was slightly disappointed that he had not gotten what he came for but was glad that he at least got too fed to make up for his disappointment. It had been two months now tracking down the girl he had been hired to retrieve. The first thing he had done was to track down Richards Sanders, the former Director of the R.E.T.U. The city of Perium within the region of Kettlia was the smart play- the place was a human infestation zone. Rarely any Vampires travel to the town unless they were the dregs of society and could not survive without the aid of a Family. Vampires would only come to the region as Dungeon readers to tackle the Dungeons. But things had changed. Ever since Count Orlock took control of the city, the population of other races had increased, though still not at the level of the humans who lived in the city. Lee had been grateful when the grace of the Divine Mother had shone on him in that apartment building. And because of that, he had left behind an offering for the Mother. Sanders had rented a place in the building and the girl had been with him. Find the captain, find the girl. It had taken him some time before he had figured out what Sanders had been doing here in Perium City of all places. Normally hiding here was the right move, but it wasn't a sustainable plan. Not for the long-term at least. Sooner or later, the R.E.T.U would come here looking for them and it would not be wise to still be here. Plus, there were growing tensions between the humans and Vampires to consider. So they would need to move. Need to get as far away from the reaches of the Ashtarmel family. And to do that, they would need a new identity. A false identity that was solid and could hold up on even the firmest background check. And what better place to get one, than here, a city known for its black market among the Criminal underworld. Humans were good at playing with their electronic gadgets. So Lee decided to hunt down the local hackers. The ones he knew of. It wasn't easy. These bastards were like rats, good at hiding underground and only coming out when their needs suited them. Took him a long time to even find the current ones he had brutally fed upon. He was about to leave the room-small, color brightened by the neon lights, with a uni-monitor stationed around it- when he heard the minuscule movement. He stopped. He surveyed the bodies that lay on the ground. None of them were capable of moving. He could smell the rot settling within them. But he had heard something move. He stopped his own heart from pumping, the blood in his veins slowing down, his hearing expanding beyond the normal human capacity. He locked on a sound within a door in the back of the room. The beating of a heart. He smiled. In the chaos of his feeding, he had missed one of them. Someone had managed to hide in the cleaning closets. Lee was grateful for the will of the Divine Mother. She was truly shining down upon him. He gently opened the door to see a frightened woman, hiding behind the brooms and mops. Lee brought himself down to the woman's level, the fear of her stimulating his nerve endings. She was crying, her salty tears disgusting him. Her whimpering made him sick.
"Shh! It's okay. It's okay." Lee said. He patted her hair down, assuring her that he meant no harm. Bringing her into a sense of false safety. She stared at the carnage behind him but he moved her head gently away from it. "Don't look at them. It's a pity that they had to die, but they were not being very cooperative, you know." He shook his head, admonishing them. "All I needed was information. But they wouldn't give it to me. They thought themselves brave standing up to me. But in the end, their bravery did not protect them. Tell me, what's your name."
"Si..Si.ee..na" She mutters.
"Right, Sienna, tell me what you know about this man," Lee said. He raised his right arm, outfitted with a cybernetic that replaced the one he had lost in the Long War. A hologram picture of Sanders appeared. "Did he ever come here?" She hesitated, but then she nodded her head.
"Good. Good girl." He patted her head, getting rid of the tears. Disgusting. "What else can you tell me about him."
"He... wanted...new...identities. As clean as you can get." She said. Her tears had dried up, and her whimpering stopped.
"And did you guys give it to him?" Lee asked. She nodded.
"And how did he pay for it?" Lee asked.
"He paid for it with clean credits." She said. Clean credits. The same way he had paid for the apartment. So Sanders had a reliable source of income. "I can send his info to you. All of it."
"Thank you, that will be good," Lee said. She bought out her uni-tablet, a silver silicon pad. She began to type, her movement half rushed, half sluggish.
"There, it's all there. Everything we did for him." She said. The notification that he had received something in his inbox panged, drawing a smile on Lee.
"Thank you," he said. And he snapped her neck, giving her a quick merciful death. Lee breathed in the smell of death. He loved his job so much. He had been doing it for six centuries, and he still couldn't reach the level of satisfaction that he was looking for. A prey strong enough to beat him. He had hunted all kinds of creatures: Humans, wolves, Fey, and even his kind. And they had all ended up the same way. He had begun to get bored of his profession even though not many job offers had been coming his way. Then they came to him. Requested him specifically for this job. He would have rejected the offer but one look at the girl, just one look and he had said yes. Lee didn't know why, but when he had stared at the girl, his blood had pumped at it. She appeared as an ordinary girl, a regular human girl, but centuries of hunting, of killing, made him able to recognize a fellow killer when he saw one. And now the hunt was getting interesting.
"They couldn't go underground as instructed, huh." A voice behind him said. Lee turned around to see a girl leaning on the doorframe of the room. She had on a black coat, her chocolate brown hair tied in a bun. She was fair-skinned, her face long with elongated features and a pointed chin. She was tall and curvy on some side. He brought himself to his full height, his true face popping out.
"Nice fangs," she said. She didn't seem frightened of him like he expected. She was smelling of confidence and..power. He could smell it on her. Magic power flowed out of her blood. It's been two centuries since the last time Lee had encountered a Witch of this caliber. Unlike the wolves, who were in hiding or had settled in that infamous territory in the South, Witches were scattered in different parts of Ashtarium and were out and proud. The only downside to their kind was that most of the powerful ones were long gone. The ancient covens from the Ancient ages were long gone. Died out from the Relic War due to the emergence of the dungeons. She bought out a silver dagger and Lee realized it was an enchanted blade. He felt the presence of death as she silently cast a spell. Lee reacted quickly, jumping away from the closets as it exploded from the fire spell she had sent at him. Sienna's body flew in different directions, gore and body parts raining down. With another gesture of her fingers the ceiling above him came falling. Lee rolled away from it, his speed and reflexes aiding him. The Witch was capable of long-range attack spells with silence casting. Magic power was ebbing out of her, massive amounts of it. So she was an old one. The older a witch, the more powerful they were. The same rule applied to every race when it came to cultivating power. Lee judged her to be around Semi-Saint rank as a Cultivator, a rank higher than him. Cultivation of power resided within the domain of one's soul. As an emanation of the Divine source of existence, a soul requires Spirit essence to grow and develop. The more a soul was saturated with Spirit essence, the more Spirit energy a living being could produce. Spirit energy is then converted into Manna ( Magical energy) by the Manna circuit within one's body and then released as Magical power outside the body. A magic user refines the Magical power through spells and incantations to make Magic. It could be done through hand gestures or words. The Witch was relying only on gestures with her fingers, casting various spells.
A blast of fire missed Lee by an inch, a uni-monitor going up in flames. A fire attack spell. The heat from the flame sent chills down Lee's back. One hit of that and he would burn to ashes. Not even the Divine Mother could save him from that. Lee roared as he leaped across the room at the girl but she merely raised her hands and the air that surrounded her, glowed and solidified. Lee was sent flying through the room by the wind that acted as a barrier around the girl. She was powerful. To be able to silently cast spells, she was skilled and talented. Lee had never encountered a Witch this powerful, not since the Relic wars. She could command two elemental forces. Not one but two. This means there might be a chance that she could be able to use the six elements typical of Witches. Fuck! Just his luck that he would come across a Magic user. From his cybernetic arm, Lee emitted a blade of laser, then pushed himself against the floor, cracks appearing on it from the force that Lee had used. Lee was a Martial cultivator as such he was able to use Manna to cultivate his physical prowess by wearing an aura of energy around him. He moved quickly, using his Manna to boost his already explosive speed, but the Witch was able to keep up with his speed. She made a gesture with her fingers and blade, and then a spark of lighting busted out, tendrils of the electricity warped around the blade as she clashed with his Laser blade. The force of it sent shockwaves, Lee's mouth in a snarl as he was pushed back when it came to physical strength. Vampires were naturally stronger than humans or Witches in their base form, but by using Battle aura, Lee's strength should have soared through to another level. This Witch was using Magic to reinforce her strength. He felt the vibration of energy around him, Lee somersaulted backward as spikes of earth shot out of the ground, trying to pierce him.
[Barqa'rum] The Witch spat out an Incantation as the Lighting was molded into the shape of a spear. Lee could feel death crawling towards him. Before he could do anything, the Lighting spear fell on him, the blast electrocuting him as it sent him flying across the room to the next one. Her attack and defensive spells were something else. Lee knew that he could not win in a one-on-one fight. He had to retreat. Luckily, he had reinforced his defense with his Battle aura just in the nick of time. So he lay on the ground, feigning unconsciousness. He waited for the Witch to approach him and she did. Come closer, you fucking bitch. That's it. A little bit more. And Lee pointed his right cybernetic arm which transformed into a plasma cannon and shot out a pulse of ionized energy blast. The Witch had impressive reflexes, able to summon an earth barrier just in time. But the impact was enough to propel her through the wall of the room. Now was his chance to escape. With lightning-fast speed, Lee jumped out of the window, using his Manna to propel himself through the air, flying away.