"Come in," I said.
The door opened to reveal Maven Zengo in her nightgown. She was a beautiful woman, and the nightgown did not leave much to the imagination. Not that I thought of her in that way. My heart belonged to another.
I suspected she would visit me like this. That's why I stayed up to meditate. Well that, and I was starting to become a perfectionist about my cultivation. I had completely filled all 729 of my Nexus points, and I was one realm away from completing my lifeblood crystal again.
I gestured her over. She closed the door and tiptoed over to my bed. I was leaning against the headboard. I extended my legs forward out of the lotus position and patted the side of the bed I wasn't sitting on, implying she should sit next to me.
She got up and sat next to me and sighed. "What's on your mind?" I said.
"For one, I'm a married woman, and I shouldn't be sneaking around the house like a cheating spouse. Especially not in this nightgown," she said.
"Besides that," I said, chuckling.
"What you said tonight got me thinking. There is a problem that I would like your help with, if you are as promising as your elder says you are," she said.
"I am, but it depends on how strong I need to be for this problem. I've only been a vampire for a day, but I'm already almost as strong as Victoria, who has been a vampire for 200 years. That said, I'm still in the beginning stages of what is possible in my vampiric evolution path," I said.
"If you can get that strong that fast, you should be able to handle my problem. The issue is we're barely able to keep the monsters in our portals at bay. We haven't gone to anyone else for help because, one, pride, and two, we didn't think anyone else would be willing to help us," she said with real concern on her face.
"Ok. Then just give me the easiest one first, and I'll work my way up. Taking away the burden of even one portal at first should help lighten the load significantly," I said.
"That's the other problem. Getting the elders to agree to it," she said.
"What would it take to convince them? A show of strength?" I said.
"You can't just prove to them you're strong. You have to prove to them that you're stronger than they are. Otherwise, they won't trust you to handle the problem. They will think you'll just make it worse," she said.
"Then the exhibition match tomorrow won't work. I need to be stronger. I need to train. Can you cancel tomorrow's match?" I said.
"Yes, I can, but then how will you prove your strength to them?" She said.
"I need you to pitch the idea of an inter-sect competition. Make it seem like the vampire sect has something to show the dragon sect, but in reality it will just be me fighting your entire sect. At the same time," I said.
"That would certainly prove your strength to them, but do you think you'll be able to win?" she said.
"Not yet, but in a week or two, yes," I said.
"A week I can get you, but two weeks is pushing the upper limit of how long we can hold out against the monsters," she said.
"You really waited until the last minute to ask for help, didn't you?" I said.
"I wouldn't be asking for help if I wasn't desperate," she said.
"Fair enough," I said. "Since I'm helping you out, there is something you can do for me."
"Yes?" She said.
"My master, Elder Ravenkin wanted me to retrieve some things he said were stolen from him long ago. They were a book, an amulet, and a key. Here's what they look like," I said, showing her a drawing of the items.
"Stolen? We prefer the term plundered," she said.
"Ok, plundered. Can you get them?" I said.
"Yes, I probably can," she said, sighing and taking the list.
She left the room for about fifteen minutes and then returned with the items.
"That easy? Wow, I'm impressed," I said.
"A dragon knows her hoard," she said.
"I could kiss you, but I won't. Thank you!" I said.
"Happy to help. I held up my end of the bargain. Now you just make sure you hold up your end," she said.
"Don't worry. There's nothing I like more than training and getting stronger. I'll be ready. Just make you get that inter-sect competition to happen," I said.
"I will. Thank you," she said. She hugged me and left the room.
Nice. I had gotten exactly what I wanted out of tonight, the items we needed, a stronger relationship with the dragons, and future access to their monster portals.
What more could I ask for? A free back massage? Damn. I could've asked her for a back massage. That's not cheating, is it? Is it? Maybe it is. Ah, better that I didn't do that then.
What is my brain doing? Time to get back to meditating. I finished up adding the new layers to my lifeblood crystal and then went to bed.
In the morning, Victoria and I had breakfast with Maven Zengo. She said her husband had to instruct his disciples. We chatted some more about the different sects and life as a monster, as well as all of her very profitable businesses she ran.
She also ran a charity on the side for orphans. She said that orphans were monsters of the human world. Unwanted and never cared for. To support her charity, she ran an artisanal glass blowing business, a metallurgy and blacksmithing business, a jewelry making business, as well as a crematorium.
She was actually the breadwinner of the family. Her husband spent most of his time training in martial arts and cultivating his inner fire. Secretly, I was hoping some day he could teach me how to cultivate an inner fire. That sounded badass.
It might've been a dragon only thing, but with my ability to extract abilities, it's possible I could gain the aptitude that way. I was just at the beginning of my cultivation journey and I already wanted to learn cultivation techniques from a completely different species.
Someone probably needed to teach me to walk before I could run, but with monsters within weeks of breaking out of the dragons' portals, I didn't really have time to learn to walk. I needed to learn to run and I needed to learn now.
After breakfast, we said our goodbyes to Maven and got on the train. As Victoria and I were making our way to our booth, I caught sight of a familiar face. He had his hat down low, but I recognized the dusty cowboy outlaw outfit and the pale blue skin.
It was the zombie outlaw leader that tried to rob the train on our way to the dragon sect. I plopped myself down next to him and said, "Howdy, partner! Fancy seeing you here again." I smiled a malicious smile that would scare even my own grandmother.