Draven made his way to the Noctaris training grounds.
It was a location that was hardly used by the nocturnal knights, though common for the Eversleepers.
However, there were two people there that he was interested in.
The training grounds were a large open field placed at the northern entrance of the estate.
There was not much to its design; it was simply an open field, cleared of trees and greenery and filled with many different sized craters.
It looked like a battlefield, from the thousands of years of training performed by strong vampires.
The noctaris servants would try to fill craters, but there was hardly any point.
They would simply be recreated.
Draven watched as many Eversleepers shot blood magic at each other, though, of course, they went light.
However, there were two people in the fields whose attacks seemed to be thrown with the intent to kill.
However, to Draven's enhanced eyes, he, of course, knew that the two vampires were holding back just enough so that they would not injure each other fatally.
The vampires were Lucian, whose hair was now majority white, with few strands of blonde going through it.
And a woman who Draven had learned to be Prudence. She was the third-ranked Nocturnal Knight.
Her skin was dark compared to most pale vampires, a caramel colour. Her hair was held up in two black buns atop her head.
She had a scar going through her purple eyes, but her face was incredibly cute.
Adding to her attractiveness was the black shorts she wore, combined with a jean jacket.
Prudence was the most casually dressed Vampire Draven had ever seen.
As she battled with Lucian, dancing around his blasts of blood and using her own to protect her, she chewed on pink gum, blowing bubbles with it.
Lucian was strong. Stronger than all Eversleepers in only a few days, but she was far above him.
And she has yet to even draw the longbow from her back... Dracula was right in suggesting her.
As the two vampires noticed Draven watching, their faces filled with shock and stopped battling.
They both made their way over to him, dodging around craters their attacks had made and kneeled before him.
Draven had now changed out of his ruined suit and replaced it with one that was entirely black.
"My lord." They both said in a respectful tone.
Many of the other Eversleepers who were training in the fields turned to look at them, wondering if they should bow too. But Draven waved a hand, gesturing for them to continue with their training.
Fearful of the Vampire Lord, they quickly returned to their training.
"You may rise." He said to the two Vampires.
"You're looking sharp, Lucian; you may retire for the day whilst I speak to this lady here."
Prudence's face twisted into one of disbelief and surprise, her heart rate increasing.
Draven could sense it.
"Yes, my Lord."
Lucian bowed his head deeply, showing much respect, before taking off and heading back towards the main estate.
That left Draven standing in front of Prudence, who looked at him nervously.
Draven looked the woman up and down, taking in her casual wear, and the way she silently chewed her gum.
If I had not seen her in battle, or known her rank, I would never have taken her for a fighter.
He glanced at the scar that was struck over one of her eyes. It was a bad wound, but luckily, the eye still seemed to work.
This wound says otherwise. It must be a scar from a great battle.
"How did you get that." He said, nodding at her face.
The woman didn't seem to be bothered by the question, as she answered straight away.
"It was a weird battle with the fairies. They sent some of their top rankers to test our defences, but unfortunately for them, I was there!" She winked at him after the last sentence.
Her tone was playful and much more casual than others would dare speak to him with.
I like this woman.
I would not dare let others speak to me in such a way, but somehow it works for her...
He asked another question, right afterwards.
"I'm told you're the third-ranked vampire. So you're strong?"
She let out a cute chuckle, as she straightened her jeans jacket with her hands.
"Yes! Stronger than my rank suggests, in my humble opinion. But third is good enough... My lord."
She added the honorific at the end, perhaps noticing that she spoke too calmly to the Lord of her clan.
But Draven let out a bellowing laugh, which was rare. He usually only laughed like that with Dracula.
"Well, Prudence. I'm sure you are aware that war with the Werewolves is nearing soon. Though we will not be on the defence. We will bring the battle to their footsteps, and I need five leaders to lead battalions."
Her face seemed to light up at the mention of a fight.
"Would you like to be one of those?"
Draven looked at the large bow on her back. It seemed too big for someone her height to wield, and he noticed there were no arrows for her to use.
"Of course, my lord!" She cheered with joy, unable to contain her excitement. "Nobody hates the werewolves more than me, I'll make sure that my squad piles up the corpses!"
"Excellent!" Draven was very satisfied with her answer.
She's just the type of leader I need. One eager for battle.
But still, I'm curious. What is her strength like?
"And whilst we are here, Prudence. How about he play around for a bit?"
The question seemed to drain the woman of her excitement and instead was replaced with... Shyness?
Her light brown cheeks became blushed, and she twirled a loose strand of her hair with her fingers.
Wait... She thinks I want to bed her!
How? How would I even do it here, woman?!
"I meant in the fields. Let me test your strength with a spar."
Her eyes opened wide, and her previous playfulness returned to her.
"O-oh. It would be an honour, my lord. I can't believe I've been given the opportunity."
Without a second wasted, she flipped backwards into the air, using blood to propel her further, and drew her bow from her back.
The magic was used with incredible speed, as most vampires did not need to create an open wound to manipulate their blood.
Only Draven.
She summoned a red blood arrow from thin air and placed it in her bow, knocking it back and aiming directly at him.
The arrow looked strong, dripping with blood energy.
"Interesting!" Draven shouted with pure excitement. "You do not even wait for your Lord to prepare himself. I like you!"
Prudence winked at him whilst in the air and loosed her powerful arrow, sending it flying towards him.