Luciel was sitting on top of the roof in a full lotus position with a gentle breeze playing with his black hair as he meditated.
Even while being away from the nest and Nosferatu, that didn't mean that he should stop practicing his cultivation. He was still in the early stages, barely scraping the surface.
Luciel only managed to see a small fraction of what kind of power Blood Cultivation could bring out from a vampire and he wanted a small piece of it.
He wanted the power locked inside him to be a strong one, allowing him to defeat his enemies without having to rely on mere tools.
Nosferatu and Melisa had interesting abilities, making Luciel hope that he would gain a power that could rival them.
He breathed in, circulating the Qi through his blood veins.
Missing the ability to create Qi channels, vampires managed to discover a workaround that was unique only to them.
There was no need to create Qi channels anyway since they would absorb it by drinking blood directly from the source. In a way, this was even better for them.
Luciel continued to practice, trying to spread his Qi evenly throughout his body. He noticed that by doing so, it would slightly help him out in easing his thirst.
Finally achieving some sort of balance, he breathed out, moving on to the next step that Nosferatu had shown him, meant to prepare him for the second level in the first stage.
Breathing in again, he tried to tap a little bit deeper into his Qi, trying to differentiate between Yin and Yang, to feel the different energies that were flowing inside him, but he could only feel one.
Luciel continued to concentrate, maintaining a steady breath, trying to search for his Yang, but it was like it didn't exist.
After what seemed like an eternity, Luciel started to feel frustrated. "Ugh, what am I doing wrong!" He raised his voice a little, breaking from the full lotus position.
He ran his hand through his slightly wavy hair, pulling his bangs backward. "Just what am I doing wrong?" He asked himself, getting up.
"Yin gives the form, Yang gives the spark." He put both of his hands in front of him, trying to visualize it. "What did Nosferatu even mean by that?"
Luciel felt confused. He couldn't understand what that old relic of a vampire tried to say. Nosferatu did say that his Yang was weak, but he couldn't feel even a trace of it!
He sighed and shifted his weight on one leg, messing with his hair a little and looking down. That's when Luciel noticed a girl with blonde hair going down below her shoulder blades. It was messy and a little bit wet, indicating that she must have taken a shower recently.
The girl was turning her head left and right, searching for someone with her eyes blue like the sea.
"Mister...?" She called out with a shaky voice, twirling the tip of her hair around her fingers.
Seeing the girl, Luciel approached towards the edge of the roof and sat down with his legs hanging down.
"What's the problem?" He asked with a gentle smile but still managed to startle the girl. She jumped back a little, trying to find from where was the voice coming from.
"Look up," Luciel instructed, staring at the fragile creature below him in all of the vampiric glory that he forgot to hide.
For vampires, disguising themselves as humans was a voluntary action about which they needed to think about all the time, so it wasn't uncommon to see a vampire slip up occasionally.
The girl did as Luciel had told her so and gasped once she saw his eyes, covering her mouth and taking a step back, her heart skipping a beat.
All of the kids knew what Luciel was from the moment he came to save them, but his gaze reminded her of the same vampires that imprisoned them.
The girl couldn't help herself but to feel scared, even if she knew that the person in front of her meant no harm, probably.
"You..." She started, mustering some courage to get closer.
The kid that was in front of Luciel was the oldest one and she kept a close watch on him for the whole time while they were searching for the shelter.
She couldn't move her eyes away from the vampire because his face felt oddly familiar like she had seen it countless times.
"You are Luciel Ashford, the Ray of Hope, aren't you...?" She finally asked with a quiet voice, being respectful and fearful of the vampire above her.
"That's right," Luciel chuckled at her question before jumping down in front of her in a crouching position, with one hand on the ground.
"So... About what did you want to talk about?" He asked, slowly getting up and crossing his arms.
"I talked a little with the rest and... The kids and I wish to thank you for saving us." She bowed her head politely with her hands together, touching her knees.
Slightly older kids saw Luciel as their savior. Before he arrived, those who were more mature could understand what the female vampire wanted to do with them and where she planned to send them. If Luciel didn't come, there would be no future...
Their lives might be miserable, but they still wanted to live outside the horrible cage where they would be used as food and... Better not to think about it.
"You're welcome," Luciel smiled, rubbing the top of her head, "And you know what, I would do that any other day. I used to be a human just a month and a half ago."
There was a glimpse of sadness as Luciel spoke. Even if humans were weaker than vampires, he wanted to live on as he used to, without having to worry about accidentally ripping someone's throat out.
When Luciel stopped patting her head, the girl took a small step back, moving away her shirt collar to expose her neck.
"W-what are you doing?" Luciel asked, raising his hands a little when he saw the girl in front of him moving away her blonde hair.
"Aren't you starving? I saw you drooling over us a few times already. Besides, we all ate already, there was still some canned food left in the kitchen."
"Don't be ridiculous, put that away." Luciel demanded, sending her a blood chilling glare at the absurd proposal that put him in an awkward spot.
Blood was just that, blood, and he wouldn't mind drinking it, but this was just a child, not looking older than, eighteen - nineteen?! No matter how much he was starving, the human side of him would never allow that! Just the thought of it was creeping him out.
"I won't be drinking your blood." He added, looking away from her scared face. Just hearing her heartbeat was painful enough, no need to see her pulse as well.
The girl blushed a little, feeling embarrassed at what she had proposed just now.
The kids wanted to repay somehow and since she was the oldest, she took the initiative, but she was glad that Luciel refused the offer. Fortunately, no one knew how dangerous Luciel was currently.
"So... What's your name?" Luciel asked, wanting to break the awkward atmosphere between them. He went to sit down, leaning his back against the house, bending his knees, and placing one arm on top of them.
"It's Marta...." The girl answered, fidgeting a little.
"Come and sit down, that goes for the rest of the kidds as well." Luciel invited them over, turning his head towards the rest of the bunch that were observing the whole situation from a safe distance.
"Let's have a talk."