After the man died, the environment around Lucius underwent a great deal of change. The gravestone and church slowly became more and more weathered, as if someone had pressed fast-forward on the world. When the process finally stopped, the area was nearly unrecognizable. The gravestones had become no more than moss-covered lumps, and all that remained of the proud church was a rectangle filled with debris above the crumbled foundation.
"Hey, mind explaining to me how an actual vampire ended up in the middle of this forest? That obviously was not an Abyss creature..."
Much like your own soul, when introduced to magic, was able to empower your aspect and affect the physical reality around you, the rising magic levels in your world have allowed the collective soul of your species to do the same. Mythical creatures that exist in the collective subconscious of your race may manifest in the world as a result of this.
"So vampires exist now. Got it..."
Incorrect. A vampire existed. You have slain the creature. The physical manifestation of that particular mythical being has been reduced to pure magical potential.
"Reduced to magical potential... Do you mean that black stone?"
Correct.
Lucius reached down and brushed away the ash covering the stone before gripping it between his fingers. The item was smooth to the touch and cold as ice, despite having just been in the center of a great plume of fire. Lucius passed it between his hands a few times to reduce the chill before grabbing a shirt from his storage ring and using that to hold the stone. He gazed into the inky blackness, it was much darker than anything he had seen before, as if someone had come along and deleted an oval-shaped chunk of reality where the stone should be. It was like a small black hole.
"Well, it's nice and cold. I guess I can use it like an ice pack."
Lucius pressed the stone against his burning chest. The wound created by the vampire to steal his blood had been throbbing painfully ever since the fight ended and the adrenaline cleared out of his system.
"That feels better."
As he held the stone against his wound, he inadvertently smeared some of his fresh blood on the object. When he saw that he prepared to wipe the blood away with his shirt, but his eyes shot open wide when the blood disappear into the surface of the stone. Before he could react to the strange occurrence the item released a bright flash of purple light that seared his eyes, causing him to drop the stone and cover his face. The light continued to shine brightly for a few seconds before it began dimming to the point that he could open his eyes again. Looking down at the place where the lump of inky blackness should have been, he saw a small bat covered in shiny purple fur, it currently had it's wings tightly wrapped around it's body and was staring up at him with a pair of large glistening eyes.
"Father, it's too bright. I'm scared."
Lucius felt his body turn stiff as he stared back wide-eyed and listened to the soft, childlike voice speaking to him in his own mind. He watched as the tiny creature scurried deeper into the center of his shadow, away from the sunlight, as it hugged the tip of his shoe.
"Who are you?" he asked, raising one eyebrow high as he continued to look down at the strange being.
"I'm me," the creature snuggled its face against his dirt-covered sneakers as it let out a deep yawn.
"Why did you call me father?"
"Because you are Father.", it said as it closed its big eyes and laid it's head down against him, "I'm tired", the creature's tiny shoulders drooped as its chest began to slowly rise and fall, no longer responding to his questions.
Lucius took his backpack out of his storage ring, along with some spare clothes. He stuffed the clothes into the bottom of the backpack to create a soft and stable surface before lifting the small creature off his shoe. He carefully avoided letting the sunlight touch it's skin as he placed it inside the backpack, zipped it up tight, and strapped it over his shoulders.
"Can you explain this, System?"
The magical potential responsible for the birth of each mythical being cannot be created or destroyed. It can, however, be bound.
"What does that mean exactly?"
The potential has become an extension of your own soul, bonded to you at birth, and will obey your commands. If you do not wish to continue the bond, simply destroy its physical body and it will return to a condensed form.
"You mean kill it?"
Correct.
The image of the creature's small, sleeping body, flashed across his mind. He thought about how it seemed to trust him implicitly, calling him Father and placing its life in his hands the moment it was born. When he imagined himself harming it, he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose and quickly shook the thought out of his head.
"Well... I'm not doing that."
Bonding it to himself had been an accident, but the creature had done him no harm, and by the sound of things, it might actually benefit him quite a bit. Lucius decided to wait until the creature awoke before thinking about it any further.
Turning away from the remains of his dead foe, Lucius walked back toward the ruined church. He spent a moment finding the area where he had last seen Matriarch's Fury and began digging through the debris until he saw the tip of a sharp red spike sticking up out of the pile. Reaching down, he pulled the blade free, lightly dusting it off with his pants.
Lucius examined the vicious short sword for a few moments, casting his gaze past the needle-like tip and down toward the purple and red spiked handle. The weapon had served him well so far, and now he had an opportunity to upgrade it further. Lucius focused his attention on the item to prompt its description from the System.
Matriarch's Fury - [Short Sword] - Quality [Rare]
This weapon will never dull. Created with the rare magical material 'proboscis of the swarm mother' and further enhanced by an item upgrade token, it has miraculous penetrating power and is imbued with the Swarm Mother's ability 'Leech Life.'
Leech Life - 0.15% life stolen per hit.
It was his only [Rare] item, which meant that using his [Rare] upgrade token on anything else would be a huge waste. He only hesitated for a moment before tightening his grip around the handle of the sword and activating the upgrade token with a thought.
A flood of glowing sparks materialized in the air around him, flowing towards him from all directions. The already sunlit clearing became brighter from the multitude of small lights. There were far more this time than when he had first created the sword. As the magic coalesced onto the item, it began to grow hot to the touch—so much so that Lucius was forced to place the sword down and take a step back to watch the process unfold. The patch of leaves he placed it on began to sizzle and burn, but thankfully the ground was damp, so it only released a bit of smoke and did not set the forest ablaze.
The upgrade lasted for a full five minutes, and Lucius could tell even through the glowing lights that his sword had grown a bit larger.
He sat down nearby and took out a med kit from his storage ring. He began the process of cleaning and bandaging his chest as he waited. Only doing a simple cleaning with bottled water, before slapping a bandage on the wound and fixing it in place with medical tape. The magical glow of the sword dissipated a few moments before he finished, so he quickly moved his medical supplies back into his ring and pulled a fresh shirt over his upper body. Taking a few sips of clean water before putting it away, he stood up and walked over to his sword.
As he looked down at the item, the only difference he noticed was that it was slightly larger and the colors seemed more vivid. Lastly, the magical aura of the weapon was much stronger than before. Taking the firm handle in his hand, he lifted it off the ground and swung it back and forth a few times, noticing immediately that something felt different. Eager to know what that was, he prompted the System.
Matriarch's Fury - [Short Sword] - Quality [Extraordinary]
This weapon will never dull. Created with the rare magical material 'proboscis of the swarm mother' and further enhanced by multiple item upgrade tokens, it has miraculous penetrating power, is imbued with the Swarm Mother's ability 'Leech Life,' and deals additional magic damage with each strike. Training with this weapon will increase the speed at which the wielder learns the art of the sword.
Leech Life - 0.25% life stolen per hit.
Magically Enhanced - 20% additional magical damage with each strike.
Expert Blade - The Sword Fighter talent gains levels more quickly while this sword is equipped.