《Hunters of the Night》


 Prologue

    Prologue


    I watched in horror, as my mother fell to the floor. I looked at my father, as he was about to hit her again, but then he noticed that she wasn¡¯t moving anymore. Was she dead? I tried crawling closer to mother, even though my body hurt, from all the beatings. Luckily, father didn¡¯t stop me. I tried shaking mother, but she didn¡¯t respond. She was, as still as a corpse. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain, as father kicked me back to the other side of the room. ¡°Argh!¡± I spat, as a bit of blood started flowing out of my mouth.


    In a menacing tone he said "Listen brat, don''t ever speak of this, you hear me!" I looked up at my father, as i tried to stagger back up, using the wall to support me. I took a deep breath, as I looked at my presumably dead mother, then turned tail, without a word. I rushed out the door, using every ounce of my strength, to get away. I was horrified, my only thought was to get away from there, as quickly as possible!


    ¡®H-he k-k-killed her! He killed her! Father killed mother! I need to get away. Quickly!¡¯ I thought to myself, as I ran. I heard father scream at me, as he started chasing. Unluckily for me, it was dark outside, so there weren¡¯t any civilians around. People never went outside at night, as they feared demons possess them.


    I looked behind my back, to see father catching up quickly. He was part of the City Guard, so he was physically fit. For fifteen year old me, this was very bad. I quickly turned a corner, in hope of losing him. ¡°Get back here, you brat!¡± I heard my father yell. In panic, I looked around still gasping for air, as I kept running, trying to find a place to hide. But alas, there were only empty alleys.


    For the next few minutes, I turned as many corners as I could, and ran for my life. Luckily for me, the city was very closely packed, but there was a shortage of guards, and to top it off, father knew all the patrol routes, so they were easy to avoid. I also wore light brown clothing, which matched the colour of the mudbrick walls, making me a bit harder to see in the dark. But if he did run into the guards, it wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to convince them that I ran away or something.


    All he had to do, was make sure they didn¡¯t find out about mother¡¯s death. Soon, I finally made my way out of another alley, and arrived at the river, which went straight through the city. I looked around, then made up my mind.


    ¡®I have to jump!¡¯ I thought. Without hesitation, I jumped into the water, and went as deep as I could. The river was quite deep, so father shouldn¡¯t be able to see me in the water. As soon as I got deep enough, I began to rapidly swim out of the city. At the end of the river, there was a metal grate, but I might just be able to get through, but father certainly wouldn¡¯t. I was a fast swimmer, and would get there way before father could get out of the city. And even then, the city gates were closed at night, so he couldn¡¯t get out either way.


    ¡°Where did you go?! Did you jump in river?¡± Father questioned, as he arrived at the river, but I was oblivious to this, as I only heard some muffled noises. After a quick swim, I finally made it to the metal grate. I swam up to the surface, but when I got up, I faced an unpleasant surprise.


    ¡°So you really did decide to leave through this spot¡± Father said, as he leaned against the wall, apparently waiting for me. Immediately, he jumped into the river. I quickly tried to rush through the metal grate. I got an arm and a leg in, then the other arm, but father also had already got there, and grabbed my leg.


    ¡°Let go!¡± I screamed, and started kicking. ¡°Stop it kid! If you don¡¯t come back right now, I swear to the Gods above, I¡¯ll kill you on the spot!¡± He said, the threat in his voice clearly apparent. I started kicking more wildly, but then he took a knife out. In panic, I turned around, and reach for his eyes trying to stab them, but not before he got a knife into my side.


    ¡°Glargh!¡± I spit out a mouthful of blood, as I floated backwards. ¡°You bastard!¡± He yelled at me while holding his eye. As I floated away from the metal grate, in blood coloured water, I looked as father held his enraged and madden glare. But then, my gaze shifted to the right, as I noticed a person, wrapped in the shadows, looking at us. Somehow, I could see his mouth form into a smirk, as if he noticed me stare back at him.


    Despite the pain in my side, I turned around, and tried to swim away. I swam for what felt like an hour, before I finally made my way back up to the shore. Back on land, I was hunched over, as I looked towards the city. I had already somehow managed to cover a large distance, as the city seemed to be a few kilometres away. Suddenly, I felt my legs waver, as I fell down to the ground, my last bit of energy finally leaving my body. Not before my vision darkened, I looked at the beautiful starry sky, between the many trees that surrounded me. I believed that this would be the last thing I ever saw, as my vision faded away, the knife still lodged into my side.


    As my vision had faded, I saw several memories flash through my mind. I saw many of the days I had spent training with father. Father had always been adamant on teaching me swordsman ship, even though I always hated his lessons. They would always end up in me getting a bad beating. Then the scene shifted, to one where I was watching on the side as my mother got beaten. It was the usual for me, i had tried to intervene before, but it would turn only get worse for both of us if i did. Father would beat mother, then he would beat me, or vice versa, but there was nothing we could do. We could only stand down and accept it. It was his right as the head of the house.


    Then it shifted to happier scenes, where father was out on a country patrol. Those days, we would be spared of the beatings, as he wouldn¡¯t come for at least a week.


    My entire life flashed before me, all the way until Father stabbed his knife into my side. From that moment on, it had all been hazy. This was it, wasn¡¯t it? The life flashing before your eyes, as you die? Father had truly killed both me, and mother. I wonder how he would get out of this one. It wasn¡¯t illegal to beat your wife or child, but it certainly was to kill them. Would he dispose of mother¡¯s corpse, or would he bury her somewhere? Many thoughts sped through my mind, as I was certain I had died, but then my eyes opened, only to see a ceiling. Abruptly, I sat up, and looked around me in confusion. I was in a nicely decorated bedroom, but there were no windows in it.


    Then I noticed him. The man sitting on a chair, staring at me. I hadn¡¯t noticed him at all, until now, but he seemed vaguely familiar. Like I had seen him somewhere before.


    ¡°Where am I? Didn¡¯t I die?¡± I asked him. I was a bit nervous, as I had no idea what was going on, but I still waited patiently for an answer. ¡°You¡¯re in a hotel, and I guess you could say you died.¡± The man finally answered. The man himself was handsome, and seemed to be in his thirties. He had dark brown hair, with misty grey eyes. It was a very unusual colour. I had never seen anything like it before, that¡¯s for certain.


    ¡°I-I d-died?¡± I stammered out, as the words finally registered. The man nodded his head as he said, ¡°You did, but I took the liberty to turn you into one of my own.¡± I looked at him strangely, as his words ran circles around me. ¡°O-one of your own?¡± I questioned. Once more, the man nodded and stated ¡°I made you into a vampire.¡± There was a moment of silence, as my eyes widened bafflingly. A vampire? Was he joking? There¡¯s no such thing as vampires! ¡°What are you talking about, vampires don¡¯t exist!¡± I almost yelled at him. The man looked at me, slightly annoyed.


    ¡°They do exist, and they have existed for far longer than you can imagine. Don¡¯t tell me that you can¡¯t feel it; the impending hunger, flaring up inside of you? As you crave for human blood?¡± He questioned me. His voice was weirdly calm, yet surprisingly sharp.


    Now that I thought about it, I could indeed feel a weird sense of hunger, a weird thirst rising up inside me. It was as if my throat was as dry as parchment, as if there was void in my stomach, one that needed to be filled, and quickly! Slowly, I raised my head to look back at him, as the realization hit me.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked, as I couldn¡¯t understand why in the world, he would make me into a vampire. What reason had he to do such a thing? He looked back at me, as a smile crept onto his face.


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    ¡°I¡¯ve been living in that town for a few years. I saw you many times, and you sparked my interest. Many times I¡¯ve heard your pleas for help, while getting beaten. It sort of reminded me of myself, when I was your age. My father, too, was an abusive man. He would beat me until I couldn¡¯t stand, and then would beat me some more, as my mother would see this she¡¯d try and stop this, but she too would get beaten. Eventually, she couldn¡¯t take it anymore, and fled away with some man leaving me behind.


    And this is where it gets interesting. Your mother was about to do the same thing. I saw her with another man, heard their conversations. In a few days, she too was preparing to leave, but unluckily for her, she died before it could happen. That is why I saw myself in you. We have shared a similar destiny growing up, so I thought I would take you with me, before your father killed you. And it seems like I made it by a hanging hair.¡± The man said. I understood now. He saw himself in me, and he felt pity. But then, his words really struck me.


    ¡°Mother was going to leave me?¡± I questioned, as a tear slowly escaped my eye. I didn¡¯t know why, but I felt like I could believe his words. The man didn¡¯t answer, just looked me in the eyes. As another tear escaped, I soon realized, mother was dead. I couldn¡¯t hold it anymore, and I started crying. The man, whose name I still did not know, took me into his arms, and comforted me.


    After a while, I finally calmed down, as I felt the flaring hunger in me. ¡°Ehm, mister, can I please have some food and water? I¡¯m starving¡± i said. The man replied me with a pitiful look in his eyes.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m afraid food and water won¡¯t do you anything anymore¡± he said. I gave him a puzzled look, as I didn¡¯t know what he meant. ¡°You¡¯re no longer human anymore. You¡¯re a vampire now, and your internal organs don¡¯t work as they used to. I¡¯m afraid, the only thing that will satisfy your hunger, is blood,¡± He said. It took a while for his words to register in my mind.


    ¡°What? Blood? I need to drink blood?¡± I questioned. The man nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t drink blood, that¡¯s disgusting!¡± I yelled at him, very much against the idea. ¡°If you don¡¯t drink blood, then you¡¯ll die. And don¡¯t worry, after you see it, you won¡¯t find it disgusting anymore. You might even become addicted to it, but that would be a bad thing¡± he said. ¡°Just accept it, as you won¡¯t be able to stop yourself anyway.¡±


    ¡°No way! I can¡¯t drink blood! I can¡¯t kill anyone!¡± I shouted. ¡°No one says you have to kill anyone. There¡¯s no need to deprive the victim of their life, although, most vampires end up killing quite a bit of people in their lifetimes. After all, we are hunters trying to live like anyone else, we kill, we feed, we live; we live eternally. My appearance might deceive you, but I¡¯ve lived for a very, very long time.¡± The man said. He looked no more than a man in his mid-thirties, so just how old could he be? But then again, the vampires from the stories were immortals who feasted on blood. I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t think of that until now.


    ¡°So I don¡¯t have to kill anyone?¡± I asked. Once more the man nodded as he stated ¡°I won¡¯t force you to kill anyone.¡± Then his eyes widened a bit, as he seemed to remember something important.


    ¡°I just remembered that I never got your name. My name is Palazar. What about you, kid?¡± he asked. I stared for a while, not having thought about his name at all, until now. Palazar? It sounded very unusual, not something I¡¯ve ever heard of before. Just like his eyes. I wondered where he was from. Well, he did say he was very old. Maybe he was from times untold.


    ¡°My name is Parmasus¡± I finally answered. ¡°Alright Parmasus, I¡¯ll go out and get you some food. Just wait here, and be a nice kid¡± he said, as he turned around and left the room. After he left the room, I got off the bed. I was still wearing the same clothes as before, but they had dried by now. There was a really obvious, bloodstained hole on my side. I looked at my side, only to find that the wound was completely gone. There wasn¡¯t a trace left of it.


    As I began moving around, I found that I felt a lot more energized. I felt like I was stronger, that I could lift heavier things. Everything was also clearer than ever. I could see the minute detail in the mudbrick walls. Before, everything had been slightly blurry, as I didn¡¯t have the best eyes, but now, now everything was extremely clear! So this was it, what it meant to be a vampire. I felt superior! I felt that if I met father now, I could down him in one quick swoop. I felt like i was at the peak of my life! This probably also explained the healed wound.


    But then there was the hunger. It was growing bigger, at a fast pace. I was growing impatient, even though I knew I had to drink blood. I was afraid of it, but I wanted it! It was the worst feeling I¡¯ve ever had, it was dreadful.


    A few minutes later, Palazar finally returned. I knew it had only been a few minutes, though they felt like hours! By his side, there was a young woman. She seemed to be around twenty years old, and wore the cloth of a commoner, just like myself. Palazar was wearing some more extravagant clothing, though. He patted the woman on her back, and looked her in the eyes.


    ¡°Go sit next to him¡± he said in a slight monotone voice. ¡°Yes¡± The woman replied, and calmly walked over to me. Soon, she sat next to me, on the bed.


    ¡°Bite into her neck, and drink her blood¡± Palazar commanded. Strangely enough, the young woman wasn¡¯t bothered by his words. It was like she was in a trance, not even aware of her own surroundings. Slowly, I neared closer to her neck. I opened my mouth, but I froze. I was about to bite into her neck, but I couldn¡¯t do it! There was something stopping me, at the back of my mind. Something screaming at me, not to do it.


    I was about to pull away when,¡°Do it!¡± Palazar commanded again. I closed my eyes, clenched my fists unto her dress, and bit into her neck. As soon as her blood flowed into my mouth, as soon as it touched my tongue, I fell into a trance. The taste was exquisite, it was like the most extravagant meal I ever tasted, as if this was the nectar used to make the wine the gods drank. It was as if i arrived paradise, as her blood flowed down my throat. I couldn¡¯t stop, and hugged her tighter and tighter, as I drank her blood. I lost all control, as I drank, and drank, gulp after gulp. I lost awareness of everything going on around me, only the taste of blood in my mind. I was in complete ecstasy, as all other senses were overridden. But just as I got satisfied, i-it stopped why? No more blood was coming out of her body, and as I let go, she fell limp on floor, her skin pale.


    I looked at her body, my mind not registering what I just did. I stared at her, for what felt like minutes. I crouched down, and touched her cheek with my finger, only to the feel coldness i felt on mother¡¯s cheek.


    ¡°I, I killed her?¡± I asked. It hit me that I had killed someone. I had bit into her neck, and drank her blood until there was none left. I had killed her, and drained her of her blood! My eyes wandered over to Palazar, my eyes begging him for help.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it couldn¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s in our nature to kill. We kill to live, that¡¯s how we are. You were thirsty, and you never fed before. You lost control, it happens to all of us, you don¡¯t need to feel bad. Just accept it, you will only lose control a few times at most. And if it makes you feel better, she was a murderer. She would seduce men, then kill them for their money. Now, the sun will rise in an hour, so just go to sleep. I will take care of her body. Oh, and just so you know, you can never go out into sunlight. If it so much as touches you, you will burst into flames and die as you turn to ash. That is the curse of us vampires. We are destined to never gaze upon the sun ever again.¡± He said, a distant look in his eyes. I was surprised at his words, but I was in no mood to question him, so I took his advice, and went to bed.


    I felt like I should be more sad, but somehow, his words comforted me. I somehow felt that he only had good intentions, so I went to bed, feeling secure. I had never slept in such a comfortable bed, with such a full stomach, so I quickly fell asleep.


    End of prologue.


    Thanks for reading guys, and I hope you enjoyed this little prologue. Please do rate and review, as it makes my day.


    RagNarok ~ Please do point out any errors, it makes my job easier.

 Chapter 1: Parmasus

    Chapter 1: Parmasus


    As I opened my eyes, I awoke to darkness. The candles and lanterns in the room had been extinguished, shrouding the room in complete darkness. Yet, I could see--I could see, as if it was, as clear as day, I could see the minute details of the paintings on the wall, I could see that one crack, in the mudbrick wall. It excited me, the fact that I could see so well, even though I was in complete darkness. It absolutely excited me!


    As a human, I had always feared the dark, afraid that the demons who walk at night would devour me. Of course, I knew such a thing was rare, as the Church had sanctified the city grounds, but the fear of the dark, is innate in all humans. But now it was gone! I felt safe, I felt at home in the darkness. In my fifteen years of life, never had I felt so secure, so at home. I had always lived in fear, the thought that I would have to endure more beatings, the fact that I could do nothing about them. But now I was in power! Never again would I face such humiliation. ¡®Next time I met that bastard father of mine, the roles would be reversed!¡¯ as my face darkened. What was I thinking? I had just had the thought of killing my father! I shook my head, and calmed down.


    I couldn¡¯t have such thoughts, but then I remembered. The things that transpired just before I fell asleep. I had killed a girl in her twenties. I really killed her! What would I do? The City Guard would take me, and imprison me! Then at sunrise, they would execute me! But wait. The sun would kill me before that could ever happen.


    No, what am I thinking! Palazar said he would take care of it. He has been doing such things for who knows how long. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine.


    As I sat pondering on my thoughts, the door opened. ¡°Oh, Parmasus, you¡¯re up. Good, I was just about to wake you up. The sun has set, and we¡¯re going to be leaving. Right now, we¡¯re in the city of Tarmas. I want to go to a smaller city, where I can teach you the ways of the vampire. But first, put these clothes on.¡± He said, as he handed me a bundle of clothes. These clothes were of much better quality than what I wore before, they belonged to what the higher class wore. Quickly, I put my new clothes on.


    I really liked them, they made me forget my past as my father¡¯s son. They made me feel like I was a noble, or someone of power. After I finished getting dressed, I followed behind Palazar¡¯s back, until we arrived at the city stables. There were two horses there, waiting for us.


    ¡°Do you know how to ride a horse?¡± Palazar asked. I nodded. ¡°Yes, it was one of the things father taught me.¡± I said, as I jumped on the horse. ¡°Good. What other things did he teach you?¡± He asked. I stared off into the distance for a while, as I reminisced about our ¡®training¡¯ sessions.


    ¡°Swordsmanship.¡± I answered, with a single word. Palazar nodded in satisfaction. ¡°That¡¯s a good skill to have in this world. Now, let¡¯s go we¡¯ll need to make it to the next city before sunrise. Either that, or we bury ourselves beneath the ground, or find a cave.¡± Palazar said. I nodded, as we began riding, not very keen on the idea of burying myself beneath the ground.


    Even though he said that, we rode at a brisk pace, as the city was only a three hours ride away on horseback. As we rode, I decided to ask him some questions.


    ¡°Where did you come from, Palazar? I mean, your name sounds weird, and you have grey eyes. I¡¯ve never seen grey eyes before, so I¡¯m curious.¡± I asked. Palazar looked at me, then smirked.


    ¡°You have grey eyes too, you know. All vampires of our clan, have grey eyes. As for where I¡¯m from, that¡¯s not important. It¡¯s a long forgotten place, maybe I¡¯ll tell you about it later on.¡± He said, again with a distant look.


    ¡°What, I have grey eyes? Last time I checked, they were green!¡± I exclaimed, finding it hard to believe that my eye colours changed. Palazar¡¯s smirk widened a bit. ¡°A lot of things change, when you become a vampire. You have become more handsome, your skin became silky smooth and paled, and your eyes became grey. You might not recognise yourself, at first glance.¡± He said.


    ¡°Really? I have felt that my body has changed a lot, like I¡¯m stronger, and I can see very well, but I didn¡¯t think I would become outright more handsome.¡± I said. Palazar laughed at me. ¡°That¡¯s some of the many gifts of vampirism. At the price of forgoing sunlight, and drinking the blood of others, we have gained many great powers. As you age, you will become even more powerful. Some of the abilities we possess are, hypnosis, speed, and even blood magic. We can use our own blood, to cast hexes on our enemies, or shape it into weapons of destruction. We can also run faster than the average eye keep up with. But we have many weaknesses. We are weak against silver, for example.¡± He explained.


    ¡°Before, you mentioned our clan. What did you mean by that? Are there several clans of vampires?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, more than clans, they¡¯re bloodlines. Depending on the vampire who turned you, you will have a bloodline. The bloodline we belong to, is the Tenebris Bloodline. We are known as the most powerful vampires, so be proud of it. Our Clan usually serves as the guardians and cleaners of the vampire world. If someone breaks the rules, and exposes our existence, our clan will take care of that person, as well as the aftermath that comes with it. Anyways, I will explain more of this later.¡± He said, as I marvelled at his words. We belonged to the most powerful clan of vampires? I must say, the thought excited me. But he talked about rules. Could it be that there were rules, even in the world of vampires? Then who enforces those rules, except for the Tenebris Clan? He made it sound like we were only the enforcers, so there has to be someone even higher up, the ruler class. Oh well, I will find out later.


    For three hours we rode, until I finally saw a small city appear on the horizon. After another fifteen minutes, we arrived outside the city gates. With a few words, Palazar somehow managed to make the guards open the gates. Inside the city, we began looking for a tavern, or a hotel. After a short while, we finally found one, and Palazar reserved us a room. When we were inside, Palazar opened the window.


    ¡°Go out, and climb to the roof.¡± He said. I looked at him weirdly. ¡°Climb to the roof? But there¡¯s an entire floor above us, how am I supposed to do that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just do it.¡± Palazar said, slightly annoyed. Slightly unwilling, I walked over to the window. I made sure that there wasn¡¯t anyone that could see me, then I climbed out the window. I was very nervous, as I grabbed onto the wall. Then to my surprise, I found that I could easily pull myself up, and climbed to the roof, in just a few seconds. Right, I had forgotten about my strength. When I got up to the roof, Palazar was already there. In surprise, I looked back down, then back at Palazar.


    ¡°Wait, how did you get here!? I went out first, there¡¯s no way you could get here before me!¡± I said. Palazar chuckled at my antics. ¡°You¡¯re slow, so I got out here before you could notice. Now follow me.¡± He said, as he walked to the edge of the building and jumped to another. I was hesitant about doing it, but I decided to trust in my newfound strength, and tried to jump. I easily made it to the next closest roof.


    We jumped from roof to roof, until we finally found someone outside. Palazar mentioned how it was hard to find people outside these days, as they were too superstitious. Always so afraid of the demons that hide in the dark, though demons rarely ever came to the mortal world, apparently.


    The person we found, was a middle aged man, walking through some alleyways. ¡°Alright, finally we find someone. Now, since you don¡¯t have the ability to hypnotize someone yet, you need to do this the brute way. Just quickly sneak up behind him, and bite into him, but make sure no one can see you first. If someone does see you, you have to kill that person.¡± He said. I nodded excitedly. I was really thirsty now, since I hadn¡¯t drunk anything since yesterday. I really got hungry quickly these days. In a quick motion, I jumped down from the roof, and sneaked up on the man. Losing control of my actions, I quickly bit into the man, and started draining his blood. Then I went into a trance again. I drank, and drank, until it the blood flow halted. Then, as I realized, I quickly dropped his body. I looked, as he fell limp to the ground.


    I had killed someone again. A tear escaped my eye, as I began shaking my head. Then I remembered that young girl. Palazar said that she was a murdered, so I didn¡¯t feel as bad, but this was an innocent man that I knew nothing about!


    I had lost all control, and killed an innocent man! ¡°No, no, no.¡± I started to chant. Palazar noticed, and quickly made his way down. ¡°Calm down, Parmasus. He¡¯s just a human, it doesn¡¯t matter. You can choose not to kill, but when you do kill, there is no need to feel bad.¡± He said, as he grabbed my shoulders, and looked into my eyes. ¡°Listen to me! Killing humans is fine. They are despicable beings. Pure humans do not exist! Even your father was despicable, as he killed your own mother, then killed you. Do not feel bad, as humans are nothing more than cattle. They do nothing, but destroy. They deserve nothing, but to be cattle. Their lives, are in our hands, to kill, as we see fit.¡± He said. At the time, I was only fifteen years old. My mind wasn¡¯t fully developed, I was na?ve, so his words firmly imprinted into my mind. I was desperate, to be told it was fine. I was desperate, to be told I hadn¡¯t wronged, so I let his words change. Completely willingly, I firmly believed his words, as they were the divine truth. I started nodding as i said ¡°That¡¯s right. Humans are humans. They kill, they war, they destroy. My own father beat me every day, even raped my mother. He killed her. He killed my mother, then he killed me. Humans are nothing but scum, right Palazar?¡± I said, as I looked back at him. I wore a depraved expression.


    ¡°Indeed Parmasus, humans are scum, but you mustn¡¯t lose control of yourself. You can¡¯t go on a killing spree, as that will only result in your own death. But killing a single human, is fine. Now, let me take care of this body.¡± He said, as he pointed his hand at the carcass, while still holding me with the other. Suddenly, the body started rotting, at extreme an pace. Then the earth, started absorbing the corpse, until nothing was left. I looked in awe, at the strange sight.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    That night, my mind had changed. After the events of my father, had really registered, a deep hatred for humans, had sprouted within me. I didn¡¯t understand how I ever could have felt compassion for those two humans I killed. I mean, humans are scum, right?


    After we were finished, we went back to the hotel, where Palazar decided to have a little lesson.


    ¡°Parmasus, for now, it¡¯s important that you learn self control. If you kill all your victims, you will leave a trail. Leaving a trail of corpses drained for blood, can be very bad. I won¡¯t be able to constantly be with you, and you can¡¯t dispose of corpses well yet, nor can you hypnotize. Luckily, when you bite someone, it will leave them in a stupor for a short while, and they won¡¯t remember what happened. So just sneak behind your victim, making sure he never sees you, then drink, but only as much as you need. In the beginning it can be hard to stay in control, but after a few times, you will get the hang of it. The night is still young, so you will get hungry again in a few hours. We will go out again then. After that, I will teach you more about how to feed, without leaving a trail.¡± He said.


    ¡°What, I will get hungry again in only a few hours? So soon?¡± I asked, hoping that it wasn¡¯t true. The hunger definitely didn¡¯t feel nice. ¡°Yes, for the first few weeks, you will need to feed several times a day, but that will shorten with time.¡± He said.


    Two hours later, I had gotten hungry again, so we decided to go out again. This time, we took the moonlit streets, instead of going up on the roofs. The only illumination on the streets at night, came from the moonlight, so it was always hard to navigate as a human. Luckily, there was a full moon tonight, making it easy to see, even with mortal eyes. But even then, people very rarely even went outside.


    We weren¡¯t very lucky this time, as we didn¡¯t find anyone for a full hour, and the guard patrols didn¡¯t do much good, as there were at least two people in every patrol. I somehow felt that Palazar had a way to find someone quickly, but he wanted me to lead, so we walked around the dark alleyways of the city, for an hour.


    But then, we finally found someone. It seemed to be a beggar, an orphan. It was a kid, maybe a bit younger than me, around fourteen years old. The kid was sleeping in the ground, on what seemed to be a half rotten piece of leather. He was even worse off than the slaves, as they at least had a roof above their heads. Palazar looked at me, and said in a quiet voice.


    ¡°He¡¯s perfect. He¡¯s asleep, and he won¡¯t wake up from the bite, so just sneak over to him, and drink.¡± I nodded, as I slowly started to walk over to the boy. When I stood above him, I slowly crouched down, and bit into his neck. This time, I was very careful, so that I didn¡¯t lose control. As I felt his blood flow into my mouth, I resisted against all urges, and slowly drank, making sure not to kill him. But then, that voice came back, urging me to stop. Shouting at me, not to drink the blood of humans. It was the human side of me.


    I let a tear fall out, as I was about to pull back. ¡°Don¡¯t stop.¡± Palazar commanded again, and once more, I felt myself clutch to my victim. As he said those words, it was as if I lost all ability to stop. I kept drinking for a while, until I felt satisfied. Only then, did I pull back. This time, luckily, I hadn¡¯t killed him.


    I slowly stood back up, then looked at Palazar. ¡°What was that?¡± I asked. Palazar looked over to me. ¡°Your subconscious I guess. The remainder of your humanity, not willing to accept your new state.¡± He said. ¡°Not that, why wasn¡¯t I able to stop drinking, when you said don¡¯t stop?¡± I asked again.


    ¡°Oh that. It wasn¡¯t anything really. I just said don¡¯t stop. Your vampire side probably took to it, and prevented you from stopping.¡± He explained. So my human side didn¡¯t want to drink, but when Palazar said ¡®don¡¯t stop¡¯ my vampire side took control? Sounds dangerous. Anyways, I had finally succeeded, in drinking the blood of a human, without killing him.


    ¡°Anyways, good job. Now, let¡¯s go back. You¡¯ll probably need to feed one more time tonight.¡± He said, making me quite downcast. ¡°One more?!¡± I almost yelled, as I had already fed twice in a three hour span.


    Thus, we navigated our way back, through the moonlit streets and alleyways. After a short walk, we made it back to the hotel. Back inside our room, I decided to ask Palazar another question.


    ¡°You say that our bloodline are in charge of enforcing the rules of the vampire world, right? Is there a whole society of vampires, or what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, there is one. The vampire society is comprised of all the different bloodlines. On the top, there is the Ventus Regulis Clan, serving as the rulers. On their side, are us, the Exsequor Tenebris, serving as the Royal Enforcers. Other than us, there are a number of bloodlines, like the Nosferatu. They are maybe the most cursed of our kind, horribly disfigured, and very unpleasant to the eyes. But they serve as master spies and assassins, as they have the ability to turn invisible. I will teach you more about our world, at a later date though. For now, let¡¯s focus on the here and now.¡± He said. I nodded in compliance.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a bit more on feeding. Sooner or later, you will have to do it on your own, after all. Let¡¯s talk about who you should feed on. If you want to feed on someone no one will miss, then go for the bums and drunkards, or orphans, like before. No one really cares about those people, so no one will miss them if you kill them. After all, they¡¯re useless bums.


    If you want a better meal, you can find a small family, figure out where they live, then sneak in at night. Only problem is you can¡¯t stalk them during the daytime. After you get in, you can take their kid, maybe snap his neck, then retreat out of the city, and drink his blood, just make sure you don¡¯t take too much time, as the blood will go bad after an hour or two. Bad blood will make you sick for a few days, so stay clear of it.


    If you have a lot of money, you can also buy a slave. Slaves are your property, so you won¡¯t be punished for killing them, even if the law finds out. Or you can just go for an innocent passer-by, just make sure no one can see you. As I said before, the bite will put the victim into a stupor, and he won¡¯t remember anything, he¡¯ll just be left wondering how he got a wound on his neck.


    And lastly, if you come across a lone patrol guard, he will do as well, just, once more, make sure no one sees you. Especially in smaller cities like this. It¡¯s hard to clean up, and in some cases, the city has to disappear, due to ¡®natural disasters¡¯, if you know what I mean.¡± He said. I looked at him in a stupor for a while.


    ¡°You mean to tell me that entire cities have been wiped out, because they discovered a vampire?¡± I asked. Palazar nodded. ¡°Yes, it has happened before. It¡¯s very rare, and usually it¡¯s only small towns, and villages, but it does happen from time to time. Last time, I think was about a hundred years ago now.¡± I listened to his words, a bit terrified at the cruelty of vampires, but then I remembered, just how despicable humans could be. I had been a vampire for less than two days, but I already felt a natural.


    A few hours later, we went out again. It was past midnight now, so the bums weren¡¯t sitting in the taverns of the poor district any more. We were walking through this ¡®poor district¡¯ watching for prey. Many buildings here were beyond repair. Large holes in the roof, no doors, a missing wall, and such. We came upon a small building, close to the edge of the town, nearing the walls. There was no door, and it was very dark in there, as no moonlight could shine in, but I could hear breathing. Even though I wasn¡¯t inside the building, I could hear the breathing of a sleeping man.


    Another gift of vampirism. All my senses were enhanced, so I could hear, see and smell better than any dog or eagle. Slowly, I walked into the building, Palazar waiting outside. The man was sleeping in a corner. He wasn¡¯t a pretty sight to behold, his beard thick, and it even covered his neck. I crouched down next to him, and instead of biting into that neck, I grabbed his wrist. Palazar had told me that it was also pretty normal to feed from the wrist, especially when it was from some dirty sob, or a human friend. There were some humans that knew of the existence of vampires.


    As I grabbed his wrist, I let my teeth sink into it. After I became a vampire, I had grown fangs. I was a bit scared that they might reveal me as non-human, but Palazar told me that I would be able to retract them after a few months.


    After a moment, I pulled away from him, finally feeling full again, then exited the house. Finally, I felt like I would be able to control myself fully, when feeding, as long as I wasn¡¯t too thirsty. After we came back to the hotel, Palazar told me that we would be going to an estate of his, where he would teach me more, as well as train me in the art of being a vampire. I didn¡¯t ask him why I needed to be trained, but I was pretty sure it was because of our bloodline, the Exsequor Tenebris, the enforcers of the vampire realm.


    As I was tired from a long night, I went to sleep, while Palazar went out somewhere. And that, was my first day as a vampire.


    End of chapter 1


    And thus, the first chapter has been released. This story is pretty fun to write, as it is very different from my other story. I can''t wait to see the response from my dear readers. And if you''re hungering for some more vampire action, go ahead an read my other story, Rise of the Vampire (link below). Although, most of my readers here most likely came from there...


    Any way, please rate and review, as it helps me a bunch.


    And thanks for reading!

 Chapter 2: The Old Crow

    Chapter 2: The Old Crow


    When I woke up, I noticed that the sun had already went down. I quickly got dressed, when I noticed, Palazar was sitting in a corner, reading a book. Even though he was sitting in the open, he is always so easy to miss. It¡¯s very mysterious how he does that. Palazar looked up from his book.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake. Good, we¡¯ll be leaving now, so get ready. The journey is a bit long, and we will have to make a stop on the way,¡± he said, as he got up from the chair, and closed the book. A few minutes later, we left out the front door, and walked through the dark streets. Today it wasn¡¯t a full moon, so it was slightly darker, but we could still see, as clearly as day.


    After a short walk, we eventually made it to the stables, where our two horses were waiting. Palazar got on the black one, and I got on the brown one, then we made our way out of the city.


    As we rode, Palazar didn¡¯t speak much, and we didn¡¯t meet any travellers. After all, it was night time. People never went out at night time, as it was the time demons roam. And truthfully so, because here we are. Since there weren¡¯t any people out, there weren¡¯t any blood sources, and I quickly grew thirsty. I wouldn¡¯t last very long without blood at all!


    Luckily, Palazar seemed to take notice as he said,


    ¡°Here, drink this, it''s bottled blood. It doesn¡¯t taste as good as fresh blood, but it will do for now,¡± he said. I caught the bottle, as he threw it at me, and quickly gulped it  down in a flash. It truly didn¡¯t taste as good as fresh blood, but it was still good. But I remembered him saying not to drink dead blood, so I wondered how they could bottle it. Then I noticed something,


    ¡°Palazar, I haven¡¯t seen you drink at all, don¡¯t you get thirsty?¡± I asked. Since he turned me, he had helped me get food every time, yet I hadn¡¯t seen him drink once.


    ¡°I¡¯m a lot older than you, so I can go for a few days without blood, but I did drink. It was when you were sleeping, though,¡± he explained. That did make sense, after all, he left the room both times I went to sleep.


    After riding for a few hours, another city appeared in the horizon. One more hour of riding, and we arrived outside its gates.


    ¡°We will stay in this city for the day, then we leave at sun down,¡± he said. I nodded, then we went to find a place to sleep. A short search and walk later, and we found ourselves inside a tavern. After putting what little baggage we had inside our room, we went back outside, with the goal of a meal in mind.


    It didn¡¯t take long, until we found another young beggar, sleeping in an alleyway. Once more, I managed to drink from him, without killing him. Even though I didn¡¯t care about those pesky humans, it did feel pretty good.


    After that, we went back to the tavern, and the night slipped away, as I slept.


    The next morning, I felt groggy and unpleasant. For some reason, I felt like something was wrong. For some reason, I felt very worried, very paranoid. I looked towards Palazar,


    ¡°Palazar, I think something is wrong. I have this weird feeling that something isn¡¯t right,¡± I said. Palazar¡¯s response was to chuckle at me.


    ¡°Hey, why are you laughing?! I¡¯m serious!¡± I yelled at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Parmasus, it¡¯s just coffin deprivation. A vampire needs to sleep in its coffin, with some of the earth where it was born nearby. Well, it doesn¡¯t actually have to be a coffin, but an enclosed area, but vampires usually sleep in coffins. It¡¯s a tradition or something.


    Anyways, it¡¯s like with blood, as you age, you will need it less and less, but it isn¡¯t as important as blood. It won¡¯t kill you, it¡¯ll just slowly make you insane,¡± he explained, making me very scared.


    ¡°Insane?! I¡¯ll go insane? Quick, you have to do something!¡± I begged him, making him laugh at me one more time.


    ¡°Calm down, it will go away as soon as you sleep in a coffin, with some earth from the place you were born. And luckily for you, I took some with me, so it will be fine tonight.¡± He said, making me relieved. I was really worried there, scared that I would go insane. One thing was that I had to drink from humans, but to go insane as well, was something I couldn¡¯t handle.


    After that, we immediately left the small city, and rode our horses one more time. This time, we rode for another three hours, before yet another town appeared in the horizon. This town didn¡¯t have any walls, and was much smaller than the cities we were in before. I was expecting Palazar to ride into the town, but to my surprise, he steered his horse to the side, towards a small forest.


    In the middle of this dark forest, there was a hill. On top of this small hill, there was a mansion. The mansion was darkly lit, and had few windows, letting light neither in, nor out. I immediately knew that this must be Palazar¡¯s estate. It was only a short ride later, before we arrived at the outskirts of the forest.


    Inside, it was gloomy and dark. The trees were so closely packed, that it was hard to see anything, and no light shone in. Luckily, there was a path carved out, which led straight to the estate, but that didn¡¯t make it any less gloomy. It fully looked like a haunted forest, where ghosts and demons lie in wait.


    I could only imagine what kind of legends and rumours there were about this place, in the town. I doubt that many people would come here, but maybe it was one of those things, where you have to stay inside for a certain amount of time, or you¡¯re not a man? Or perhaps parents told their children never to enter the forest, lest they never return.


    Or perhaps, Palazar was actually the Lord of the town, so this place was known as the residence of the mysterious Lord, who never shows himself. I let my imagination run wild, but in the end, only Palazar could tell me, but I didn¡¯t ask. This place was nerve-racking, even for me. After all, I was only a fifteen year old kid, even though I already killed two innocent people. Well, one was not so innocent.


    A short ride later, we finally arrived at an old worn gate. The walls around it were made of old stone bricks, and vines were overgrown all over it. On top of the wall, there was another metal fence, with spikes on it, to stop any intruders from climbing in. In the end though, it would still be relatively easy to climb over, but who would want to?


    While we were riding towards the gate, it slowly opened, on its own. I looked around me, trying to find the one who opened it, but much to my chagrin, I couldn¡¯t find anyone. I was mystified, and it riddled my mind. Suddenly,


    ¡°Welcome back master,¡± an old, hoarse voice sounded. Once more I looked around me feverishly, frightened by the voice. I looked behind me, but saw nothing, but when I looked forwards again, an old man stood there.


    He was wearing black robes, and a hood, his face hidden in the shadows. From his hands, I could see that he was very skinny, and his skin was exceedingly pale, even paler than my own, vampire skin. Maybe he was another vampire?


    I could feel his eyes resting on me, and it made me feel cold to the bones. Just his presence frightened me, much more so, than Palazar. The first time I saw him, when I woke up, I had felt a very frightening vibe from him, but now he gave me a more warm feeling. These few days we had spent together, had made me grow towards him. I wondered if it was because he was the one that made me, and thus gave me a fatherly feeling towards him. After all, he was the one that fathered me into the world of vampires.


    ¡°Master, may I ask who this youngling is? You have never before brought a vampire here,¡± the old man said, his voice just as creaky and hoarse as before.


    ¡°This is Parmasus. I met him in the city of Tarnax, where his father killed his mother, and almost killed Parmasus. His childhood reminded me of my own, so I decided to sire him,¡± Palazar explained. His words caused the old man in the robe, to be visibly taken aback, as he stumbled a step backwards.


    ¡°You sired him?! You, Master Palazar, actually sired him? He isn¡¯t the first abused child you¡¯ve seen, but never, not even once, have you ever sired anyone! In all your years of existence, you have never seen fit to sire someone. Just what made you want to sire this child? What has happened to you in the past seventeen years, in which you have been gone?¡± The old man asked, his voice much louder than before, but still croaky and hoarse.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°For now, let¡¯s just say it was destiny,¡± Palazar said with a mysterious tone, while I just stood on the sidelines, my head shifting from one side, to the other, as they talked.


    After that little bout, we once more continued towards the mansion, on top of the hill. It was large, much larger than any mansion I had ever seen. The only thing that could compare, was the palace in that one, relatively large city we stayed in. That palace was a bit bigger, but this was a mansion, not a palace.


    After we got off our horses, the old man took their reins, and led them away, most likely to the stables. The door to the mansion, was very large, over three meters tall. Palazar opened it without effort, and entered the house.


    Inside, was pure darkness. Not even a shred of light came in. If a human were to enter this house, he would be completely lost, not able to see anything at all. But for vampires, it was different. We were the creatures of night, we belonged to it, were groomed by it, destined to never leave it. As long as it was night, we could see even clearer than those humans, in their light.


    In the first room, after entering, I was met with a large, stone staircase. Palazar led me up the staircase, then into a door. Behind the door, we were met with a long corridor, until we went through another door, and yet another corridor.


    Eventually, after traversing several corridors, we arrived at the final destination. It was a door, at the end of a corridor. Palazar opened it, and we arrived inside a room. The room completely empty, not a single piece of furniture inside it. I looked around me, confused.


    ¡°This will be your bedroom. Right now it¡¯s empty, but Crow will furnish it,¡± he said.


    ¡°Crow? Who¡¯s that?¡± I asked. I had a suspicion, but I wasn¡¯t completely sure. I thought it would be that old man, but there might be other people here, so who knows?


    ¡°Crow is that old man from before. You can just call him Old Crow, or something. He¡¯s the housekeeper here,¡± he said. My suspicion was correct.


    ¡°Do you call him Old Crow?¡± I asked, slightly curious, ¡°no, that would be a bit weird, since I¡¯m older than he is,¡± he answered. He was older? He sure as hell didn¡¯t look older, but then again, vampires don¡¯t age, so who knows how old he really is?


    ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s go out into the courtyard. I want to test your skills, before I start training you,¡± he said.


    ¡°What are you training me for anyways?¡± I asked. Palazar turned around and looked me in the eyes.


    ¡°For when you join the headquarters, of course.¡± He said, as if it was matter of fact, but I figured. Since I was part of the Exsequor Tenebris Bloodline, it only made sense that I would join them. But it made me wonder, just what kind of work would I do? Kill vampires? Kill humans? Or maybe, kill something else? After all, since vampires exist, why shouldn¡¯t other supernatural beings exist? From what Palazar said, it sounded like demons were real, at least. What about witches, werewolves and maybe even fairies? I sure would like to see a fairy.


    I once more let my thoughts run wild, as we traversed the labyrinth that is Palazar¡¯s mansion. A while later, after taking many left and right turns, we finally arrived in a courtyard, behind the mansion.


    The courtyard had a big open space, and was surrounded by the walls of the mansion. The back part, was open, and lead to the back gardens or something. Suddenly, Palazar threw a short sword, and oval shield at me. This was the normal weaponry of our countries armies. While wondering where he even got them from, I caught them, before they hit me in the face. The sword and shield, were both made from wood, much to my relief.


    Before I could react, Palazar lounged at me, with a wooden sword of his own. Hurriedly, I raised my shield, to block.


    ¡°Good reaction. Now prepare yourself for the real thing. I will be going hard on you, so prepare yourself,¡± Palazar said. I prepared myself, and got into the stance, which my father had beaten into my body, and nodded my head.


    Palazar lounged at me once more, and slashed his sword down on me, but I managed to block, before I returned a sword swing of my own, but much to my surprise, he effortlessly blocked it, using the pommel of his sword. Just the sight astounded me. How much precision and reaction capability would one need to do that? Well, it did help that the pommel was shaped with an indent, but it was still an astounding feat.


    While I was in my astounded trance, Palazar hit my head with the flat of his sword.


    ¡°You can¡¯t get distracted in fight Palazar, or you¡¯ll die in an instant! A pommel block is easy to do, for an experienced vampire. Now get ready.¡± He said, as he lifted his sword into an attack stance. I raised my shield once more, into a defensive stance.


    Quickly, Palazar once more attacked, and I blocked. I tried attacking back, but this time, Palazar straight out evaded it, and got into a position to attack my side. Luckily, I managed to shift around and block.


    Like that, we went for another few rounds, and fought for about an hour, before I was exhausted, from constant fighting. Seems like even vampires can get exhausted, although, normally I would have been finished way before, if I had to constantly fight without rest.


    ¡°That was pretty good, but you¡¯re still an amateur, but that was to be expected. After all, your father was only a lowly city guard. Their skill is limited. Alright, from tomorrow onwards, we will train for three hours every night, and Crow will school you for five hours every night. After that, there are four hours left of the night, which you can spend however you like. But now, you are never to leave the estate, and enter the town. You are still too young to be left alone, but you can freely wander around the estate,¡± Palazar said. I nodded my head.


    ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t leave the estate grounds, but what will Old Crow teach me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He¡¯ll teach you to write and read, as well as some history, and mathematics.¡± He said. My eyes widened as I heard the last word.


    ¡°He knows mathematics?!¡± I said, marvelled by his words. There were not many people who knew mathematics. Only the richest could learn it, and it was even rare for poor people to be able to read. I felt like I had been taken away from hell, and had come to my rightful place, among the rich and powerful.


    ¡°Yes, he knows mathematics very well, much better than all those wise men you hear so much about. After all, he has had much more time to learn, and even has access to the math of the Blank Period,¡± he said. At those words, I couldn¡¯t help but to shake a bit. The Blank Period was what we called the period before the earliest documented time period. It was called the Blank Period, because literally nothing was known about it. There wasn¡¯t even a single scroll or documentation about that time, so it was a mystery what was before. Some people thought there was nothing before then, that the world had been created right after the Blank Period. Other thought that some great catastrophe had happened, and wiped everything out, and what was left, was the current humans.


    But, in the end, it was a complete mystery, but Palazar had just said that he had access to mathematics from the Blank Period? How was that possible?


    ¡°Mathematics from the Blank Period? How can that possibly be?¡± I anxiously asked. Palazar chuckled at me, before he responded,


    ¡°The Blank Period isn¡¯t actually that blank. It¡¯s just that all evidence from that time was wiped away, during a thousand year period. This was several thousand years ago already, so now no mortals knows of it, and vampires keep it secret. One day, you will learn about it, but not yet. For now, we¡¯re going to focus on teaching you martial arts, and to read and write.


    End of chapter 2.


    Hello there. This chapter was a bit shorter than originally planned, but I won''t be able to write for the next two days, since our countries national festival thingy starts tomorrow, so I can''t really write... Anyways, please rate and review, follow and favorite, since it makes me happy, and I like being happy. And I hope you enjoyed this chapter, although not much happened.


    Next chapter will be more eventful, so bear with me !


    Also, I would like to thank Mr. Maou.X.Yuusha, with providing me a piece of cover art.


    Thanks for reading.

 Chapter 3: Training

    Chapter 3: Training


    Today, I didn¡¯t get the luxury to wake up on my own, as Palazar shook my body, to wake me up. He directly pulled my arm, shoving me down to the floor.


    ¡°Hurry up, and get dressed. Your training begins in ten minutes, so make sure to be in the courtyard on time,¡± Palazar ordered, before he turned to exit. Heeding his words, I quickly got dressed, and tried to find my way out. Too bad for me, this damned mansion was a maze! I tried to find my way out, but in the end, I was still ten minutes late. It was a mystery, how Palazar and Old Crow could navigate this place.


    Palazar looked at me with a stern look, and I knew I was in for it now.


    ¡°You¡¯re ten minutes late! As punishment, you have to do a thousand extra laps around the house, as a warm up. That means you have to run around the mansion two thousand times, and at full speed.¡± Palazar said. His words startled. I was supposed to run around the mansion two thousand times! How the hell should I accomplish that! It would take days!


    ¡°How the hell am I supposed to do that?! It will take all night!¡± I complained. Palazar just shook his head, in disappointment.


    ¡°Did you forget? You¡¯re not human anymore, you¡¯re a vampire. Your stamina is far superior to before, and you can run faster. Although two thousand laps might sound like a lot, it¡¯s not actually that much. Around the mansion, is around a hundred to two hundred meters. That would be two hundred to four hundred kilometres. That¡¯s not so much.¡± Palazar said.


    I could only lower my head, and give in, ¡°Fine then, I¡¯ll try,¡± I said, as I started running.


    I was running as fast as I could, and it truly was a lot faster than I ever ran before. As I saw the courtyard over and over again, I began to truly believe I could do this. I started running even faster and faster, and the corners appeared quicker and quicker, but then, all of a sudden, Palazar stopped me.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough. It¡¯s been three hours already, and you haven¡¯t even come halfway yet. This is slightly my fault too, as I forgot, you are still young. Training is finished for today,¡± he said. I looked at him weirdly, surprised that it had been three hours already. So much for me being able to easily do this. I waited for a bit, to catch my breath, as I was quite exhausted, before I spoke again.


    ¡°Thirsty,¡± I said, as I couldn¡¯t utter another word. I was truly thirsty. Maybe all the running had accelerated the thirst, or maybe it was just that long ago since I last drank. Palazar responded to my plea, with throwing me another blood red vial.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to make do with these for a while, since there is no cattle in the mansion yet. When I go on journeys, Crow usually kills the cattle, and feeds them to the dogs,¡± he explained,


    ¡°There are dogs? How come I haven¡¯t seen any?¡± I asked. Although, it had only been one day since I arrived here, so maybe I just hadn¡¯t seen them,


    ¡°Yes, there are indeed dogs here, but they¡¯re not normal dogs. These dogs are supernatural beings, and are even more dangerous than wolves, although they have been tamed, so they won¡¯t hurt you. As for why you haven¡¯t seen them, they might be out in the forest, or you just haven¡¯t seen them. I forgot to ask Crow about them,¡± he explained. I was quite marvelled, at these dogs. They were supernatural beings? I wondered what they would look like.


    As I was thinking about the dogs, Palazar was dragging me into the mansion. We went through a few halls, and eventually arrived in a room, where Old Crow was already ready to teach.


    There were numerous papyrus scrolls, and parchments, as well as writing tools, like a small hollow object, which looked like bamboo wood, as well as some thin, and sharp sticks. I looked at all these things with curiosity, as I had never seen what tools you needed to write.


    I had seen some scrolls from time to time, but it wasn¡¯t often, as my old family was poor, and we couldn¡¯t afford any schooling, so I never learned to read. Palazar pointed to a chair, and said,


    ¡°Sit down there. Crow will teach you all you need to know.¡±


    I obeyed, and walked over to the chair, and sat down. Old Crow didn¡¯t wait at all, and immediately began his lecture,


    ¡°Alright, Parmasus, listen carefully. First I will explain what all these tools are. As you probably know, these are all papyrus parchments and scrolls,¡± he said, as he pointed to the papyrus,


    ¡°These are what we will write upon, and those scrolls, are what you will read from. As for these little things, this is a reed pen,¡± he said, as he grabbed one of the small pointy sticks,


    ¡°And this is a cane pen,¡± he said as he grabbed the thicker counterpart,


    ¡°They are both used for writing, but the cane pen can hold more ink. As for the ink, they are kept in these little containers,¡± he said, as he grabbed one of the little black flasks.


    As he had finished explaining all the tools, we would use, he grabbed one of the scrolls, and unrolled it. He immediately started teaching me all the signs and marks, and explained me what sound they would make. He taught me how they would form words, and before I knew it, several hours had passed.


    I was surprised to find how quickly I learned all these things, as I already knew all the letters, from front to back, and vice versa. I found that it was easier to remember things, than what I was used to. Perhaps, it was another benefit, brought by the dark gift?


    As the night was nearing its end, I found that I was very tired. Not so much physically, but mentally. After five hours of constant schooling, not even a vampire would be exempt from the drowsiness.


    The next day, I was outside in the courtyard again. This time I made sure, I wasn¡¯t late. Palazar was already there,


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re on time today. Considering the fiasco of yesterday, we will start with a hundred laps. Begin!¡± He immediately ordered, and I didn¡¯t dare wait. As I quickly began to run, I stumbled in the panic, and almost fell down, face first.


    I quickly managed to regain my balance, and immediately, started running, almost frantically.


    One lap quickly turned into ten laps, and eventually I had finished all one hundred laps,


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re finished. Now the real training begins. This training will mostly focus on training your skill and technique, as well as giving you fighting experience. For us vampires, it is very hard for us to gain physical strength, through training, but as we age, we naturally grow stronger. Now, grab this wooden swords, and do as I say,¡± he said, as he threw me a wooden sword. I quickly caught it, and readied myself.


    ¡°Alright, first put your left foot forwards, and your right foot backwards,¡± he said, and I complied. I stepped front a bit with my left foot, while moving my right foot backwards. Palazar walked over to me, and slightly adjusted my stance, until he nodded his head, satisfied.


    ¡°Alright, now hold your sword in front of you, like this,¡± he said, as he demonstrated how I should hold the sword. I quickly complied, and this time he didn¡¯t do any adjustments.


    ¡°Now, when I say swing, you swing, when I say thrust, you thrust, and so on. Are you ready?¡± He asked. I nodded my head, affirming that I was ready.


    ¡°Swing!¡± He yelled, and I quickly swung my sword. He adjusted my swing, then told me to swing again.


    ¡°Thrust!¡± He yelled, then I thrusted my sword. Once more, he adjusted then, told to repeat. Like that, I would swing my sword, thrust my sword. I would swing it down, swing it sideways, and even swing it upwards. Every time I swung or stabbed, he would adjust, until he was satisfied.


    Eventually, he told me to swing in a certain pattern, while he went to get something. I complied, and practised my sword in the specified pattern, and after a few minutes, Palazar came back, with what seemed to be a big humanoid doll.


    ¡°This little doll here, will simulate your opponent. I will tell you where to attack, and you will comply,¡± he said, as he placed the doll on front of me. Even though I say it¡¯s a doll, it¡¯s actually made of wood, so it wouldn¡¯t move at all.


    ¡°Arm!¡± He yelled, before I was even ready, and I stumbled, as I tried to attack. He told me to attack again. This time I was prepared, and managed to do it, without stumbling.


    Like that, the hours passed, as he I trained in various ways. I didn¡¯t fight with Palazar at all, this time, as he wanted me to focus on technique first. After that, it was school time.


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    Surprisingly, I found that I remembered almost everything from yesterday¡¯s schooling session, but Old Crow didn¡¯t seem surprised at all.


    This time, we reviewed what I learned yesterday, and then he taught me how to write the various letters. It looked quite sloppy, but at the end of the day, it was more presentable.


    Like that I spent several days training, and learning to write and read. After two months, I had completely learned to write and read flawlessly. Even though I say flawlessly, I was still a little bit slow at reading, but apparently, it would take a mortal human much longer to learn all this.


    In these two months, my sword skill had improved a bit, as well. Every day, we would spend three hours training, and five hours schooling, not resting a single day. After that, I would have four hours of darkness left. After the sun rose, I could still wander about the mansion, but going outside would be suicide.


    As the day and night only lasted twelve hours each, there were only twelve hours, where we could be truly active. This was one of the biggest weaknesses of vampires, but there was nothing we could do. There had never been a vampires who could roam in the sunlight, in the history of vampires.


    After these two months, Old Crow finally began teaching me other things, like mathematics, and history. While teaching me history, he would just talk about certain big events that happened in last few centuries. He didn¡¯t tell my anything about the Blank Period. He said that I would naturally come to know, sooner or later.


    As for mathematics, they were truly brain wrenching. There were so many calculations and adding and subtracting. I always knew basic math, like counting, and adding and subtracting, but this was on a higher level. My knowledge was limited, and I couldn¡¯t count past a few tens, so it was hard, but I still managed.


    After only a few months, I was already pretty good at these mathematics. Old Crow said I was already at the level of mortal humans who spent several years, maybe even ten years studying mathematics, so I was quite proud. This good memory of mine was quite the blessing.


    I eventually came to know that vampires wouldn¡¯t naturally possess a very good memory, so it was my own, special trait. But vampires would still learn quicker than humans, since they could think quicker, so my memory just made it even better.


    As for fighting, Palazar said I possessed quite good talent there, as well. After a few months of training, we started sparring as well. Palazar would always wipe the floor with me, but just that he decided that we should spar as well, meant that I was improving.


    After I had spent two months in the mansion, the time I had been waiting for, finally arrived. I got to see the dogs! Old Crow had said that they were out in the woods, playing with the animals. Of course, that meant they were hunting and killing them.


    As for now, two months after our return, they finally came back. And it horrified me.


    The dogs, they were huge, they came above my waist. If I wanted to, I would easily be able to ride one them. But their size wasn¡¯t the scariest thing. No, it was their heads, they faces. They possessed red, glowing eyes, and their mouths were huge. If I wanted to, I could fit my entire head inside it. And the teeth, they were sharp and numerous.


    As for their bodies, they were grotesque. They were black and reddish in colour. In some areas, like the legs, they had muscles so large that they could put the strongest of warriors to shame, while somewhere it seemed as if their bones were exposed.


    I didn¡¯t doubt that they could easily rip a mortal to shreds, and most likely have, at some point.


    As for what these ¡®dogs¡¯ were, I learned that they were called Hellhounds. Just the name caused me fright. Dogs that originated from the Realm of Damnation, also commonly known as Hell.


    They were truly dangerous beasts that lived off the flesh of others. If a human were to come upon one, there was only one thing they could do. Sit down, and wait for your damnation.


    But the most horrifying thing I learned of them, was nothing of that. No, it was not that they ate the flesh of humans, not that they were from the Realm of Damnation, not that they were unholy beings.


    No, it was that one particular ability of theirs, their one terrifying trait. They consumed the souls of others! As they fed, they would eat their prey¡¯s very souls, and entrap them in the Realm of Damnation, trapping them in the realm of eternal torture.


    In the blink of an eye, four years passed. After the two year mark, Palazar decided to increase my training time to six hours, and my schooling time to four hours. This meant I only had two hours of free time, but I didn¡¯t mind too much. After all, there wasn¡¯t much to do here anyways.


    It was also at that time, when Palazar began training me in hand to hand combat. He said it was also necessary to be able to fight when one doesn¡¯t have a weapon, so one should forge one¡¯s own body into a weapon. Thus, we would spend four hours a day on sword training, and two hours hand to hand martial arts.


    One thing that bothered me these years, was my body. I was already nineteen years old, but my body hadn¡¯t changed at all. I still looked like a fifteen year old kid. Not that I hadn¡¯t expected it, but all these years I had put it at the back of my mind.


    I really wanted a little older body, but I knew it was impossible. After all, a vampire¡¯s body would never change¡­


    And now I had been a vampire for four years already. As vampires grow older, they also grow stronger. After only four years, I had grown much stronger than before. In the first few days, after I became a vampire, I was only a bit stronger than mortal humans.


    I could run a few times faster, and was a few times stronger, but now I was much stronger. Doing a hundred laps around the mansion, only required a few minutes, and I could easily punch through a wall with my bare fists. But I was still far inferior to Palazar. It made me wonder, just how old is he? Where did he come from? I had asked him about this, on numerous occasions, but he would always avoid the subject.


    Then, one day, Palazar entered my bedroom, just as I was preparing to go out and train,


    ¡°We¡¯re not training today, nor will Crow school you,¡± he said. I looked at him with a weird look. In these four past years, there had not been a single day, where we didn¡¯t train. I never got to rest, for even a single day, so I wondered what it could be.


    ¡°We¡¯re not training? What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving. Pack all your clothes, and prepare for travel. Also, this will be the last time we see each other, for a while,¡± he said, before leaving me behind, in my room.


    We¡¯re leaving? Where would we go? I wondered about what his plans were, but then I realized. Could it be we were going to the Clan? In the past four years, I had learned a bit about our Clan, as well as a few things about some other clans.


    I quickly packed my things, then, only a few moments later, I was outside. Palazar and Old Crow both stood there, waiting for me. There were two horses, standing to the side. That meant only two of us were going, so Old Crow would most likely stay behind.


    I looked to Palazar, and asked,


    ¡°So, where are we going?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been four years, since I took you away from that father of yours. Back then, we had been met by destiny, and then, for the next four years, I raised you as my own. I trained you, and Crow schooled you. Now you have already become a nineteen year old man. As for where we are going, it¡¯s the Exsequor Tenebris Clan. These four years, have all been to prepare you for the clan. Now, let¡¯s go,¡± he said, as he jumped unto his horse.


    This time, I knew I wouldn¡¯t be coming back for a long time, so I looked back to Old Crow,


    ¡°Goodbye, Old Crow. Thank you for teaching me many things in these past few years,¡± I said, as I, too, jumped unto my horse, before riding away into the horizon.


    End of chapter 3.


    This is where Parmasus'' journey truly begins. How did you like this little training chapter of mine? Was it good? Bad?


    Anyways, I hope you like it, and please rate/review and follow/favorite!


    Thanks for reading!

 Chapter 4: School

    Chapter 4: School


    The sight was spectacular, making Palazar¡¯s mansion pale in comparison. We had ridden for several days already, and had finally arrived at our destination. We had come through a dark and dense forest, before arriving in a clearing.


    In front, there was a steep hill, which turned into a cliff. At the edge of the cliff, there lay a castle. The castle was huge, and was even built down the cliff. It was widely decorated with buttresses, and there were several towers going around it, connected through bridges and more buttresses.


    The castle walls, were an almost black shade in colour, and all the windows were tinted black, as well. It looked age old, and its architecture was like nothing I had ever seen before. It looked far beyond anything which current technology could construct. It seemed as if you would need hundreds and thousands of slaves and workers, to construct such a marvel. It was absolutely huge, seeming as if it could house a dragon!


    We rode forwards, for quite a while, and it was only when we finally arrived that I could truly appreciate how big it was. As I stood in front of the castle walls, it seemed as if I was looking into the horizon, when I tried to find the end, with my eyes.


    What surprised me even more, was that even though we were so far from civilization, several days travel from the nearest village, there was activity here. There were guards guarding the gates, people running around, and servants doing their jobs.


    And for the first time, since I had become a vampire, I saw others of my kind, except for Palazar. I could sense that they some of the people here were vampires, it was like their smell, and the air around them was different. I had always noticed this about Palazar, how there was no way to mistake him for a petty human.


    But even though I saw many vampires here, I also saw humans. Humans were taking the roles of the servants. The gate guards, were mostly vampires, but even there, there were some humans mixed in.


    I guessed that these humans were probably amongst the stronger ones. We attracted many glances and glares, as we walked through the gates, and went for the castle entrance, inside the walls.


    Apparently it was rare for new faces to arrive, so everyone was interested, except for the human servants.


    The humans all possessed limited life span, but vampires were immortal. They knew most of the faces in the castle, so when they saw someone they didn¡¯t recognise come through the gate, then it was most likely a new face.


    But even though none of them recognised me, several of them seemed to recognise Palazar, but there were a few who didn¡¯t. This signalled that he hadn¡¯t been here for a very long time.


    After a short walk through the courtyard, we entered the castle. Inside the castle, there were even more people walking around. The insides were very well decorated as well. There were several paintings and tapestries decorating the walls, and the colour scheme was very red. A very dark red colour, as to show the true nature of our kind.


    As I followed Palazar through the halls, I couldn¡¯t help, but let my eyes waver at the many sights. Every room was adorned by many decorations, like sculptures and carvings.


    I still gained many gazes, as I followed him, until we arrived in a much less populated place. I had barely noticed how we arrived at our location, as the sights around me had distracted me.


    We eventually arrived before a door, before Palazar stopped, and turned to me,


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re about to arrive Parmasus. The man whom you are about to meet, is one of the Elders of the Exsequor Tenebris Clan, so you better be respectful, alright?¡± Palazar said with a serious expression, not allowing insolence. I nodded my head, before quickly saying,


    ¡°Yes Sir!¡± With a gulp. Palazar nodded his head, then opened the door, and entered. I quickly followed behind his back, and entered the room. Inside, I noticed a tall man, wearing red robes, sitting in a chair.


    The hooded man looked up from the documents he was reading.


    ¡°Palazar. Long time, no see,¡± he said with a deep voice, in a mysterious tone, before he continued,


    ¡°How long has it been since last? Ah, it doesn¡¯t matter, instead, tell me, what brings you here this time?¡± He said, as his eyes wavered over to me. I couldn¡¯t help, but to gulp, as his silvery eyes stared deep into my soul.


    ¡°I come here with this child. I turned him, a few years ago, and now I have come to deliver him to the Clan,¡± Palazar said, causing the hooded figure to widen his eyes, in surprise,


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a vampire?! This, this is shocking¡­ In all these years, you¡¯ve never once made a vampire, not even once, yet now you have? I can¡¯t imagine what brought you to turn this child, but it is of no matter. Instead, tell me, why would you bring him here? You always were a bit of a loner, so I wouldn¡¯t think you would have him come here. After all, for you to turn him, he has to be important for you, right?¡± The hooded Elder said.


    ¡°Yes, I do consider him important, but it is better for him to be here. My mission isn¡¯t finished yet, so I can¡¯t stay at my home. The child is still young, so for him to stay alone at my mansion, it wouldn¡¯t be good for his mind. Therefore, I decided for him to come here. He¡¯ll become a part of the Clan, and work for the Clan,¡± Palazar explained. The hooded Elder nodded his head, in understanding.


    ¡°I see, that does indeed make sense. He has a youthful appearance, so he can¡¯t have been old when he was turned either. It would indeed be best for him to stay here. Very well, I shall take care of him, and induct him into the academy for now, old friend,¡± the man said, with an understanding look. Palazar nodded his head, one last time.


    ¡°Good. Then I will take my leave now, and I entrust him into your care,¡± Palazar said, as he turned around. Just after he stepped out the door, he turned around, and looked me in the eyes,


    ¡°Parmasus, this will be where we part paths. I trust you will behave well, and do as told. It will most likely be a very long time until you see me again. I¡¯m sorry about that, but I have no choice. This is goodbye, for now,¡± Palazar said. Then in a blink of an eye, he disappeared.


    I couldn¡¯t help it, as I let my tears flow. He had told me before, that he wouldn¡¯t stay here, but I had ignored it, not wanting to think about it. Palazar had been much like a father to me, both in figurative way, as well as in the literal way.


    He was the one that gave me life, and turned me into a vampire, and he treated me like his own son. Over the years, he had become more of a father to me, than even my real father. It pained me, to see him leave, but there was nothing I could do. He had disappeared before I could even say a single word.


    ¡°What is your name, boy?¡± The mysterious man asked, with a calm voice. I turned around to him, and dried my tears off.


    ¡°My name is Parmasus,¡± I told him. The man nodded his head, and said,


    ¡°I see. My name is Nabalu, and I¡¯m an Elder of our Exsequor Tenebris Clan. Inside our Clan, I shall be your benefactor. This on its own, will give you quite the status. Coupled with the fact that you are Palazar¡¯s sole offspring, your status will be naturally high. Now tell me, do you know about our Clan¡¯s function?¡± Nabalu asked. I nodded my head,


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve learned a bit about our Clan. We are the law enforcers of the vampire world. The ones that make sure our existence stays hidden, and we also take on various job. We are also the backbone behind the Ventus Regulis Clan, the head clan of the vampire world,¡± I explained. A smile appeared on Nabalu¡¯s head.


    ¡°Good, you seem to have a basic understanding of our world. But don¡¯t worry, you will learn a lot more, in days to come. I¡¯m enrolling you in Tenebris Academy, a prestigious academy, in the vampire world. Most of the vampires there belong to our bloodline, but there are vampires of all kind, even the Nosferatu. The Academy is stationed here, in this very castle, so you won¡¯t have to travel again. I will also get you a room, until the new school year begins.


    You arrived at a good time, since it begins in only a week. That¡¯s probably the reason why Palazar took you here now. When the school year starts, you will live in the school dorms,¡± he explained.


    He explained a bit more to me, about the so called school. I was truly quite surprised that there was a school for vampires here. According to the words of Elder Nabalu, there were several vampire schools, belonging to the various Clans.


    Amongst them, the Tenebris Academy, and the Ventus Academy are two of the most famous, and most prestigious academies. The reason for this, is clearly because of the higher status of the two Clans, and the fact that they are the only two clans in a clear alliance.


    A while later, a young woman came to lead me to my new residence. This residence was composed of a medium size bedroom. The room was deep inside the castle, so there were no windows, but it was decorated with several paintings, and a few small sculptures.


    There was a queen sized bed, and two night tables, on either side. There was also a desk with a chair, two bookcases, filled with books, and an arm chair. For now, I decided to browse the various books, and let the time slip away.


    In a blink of an eye, a week had passed, and the school year was about to begin.


    I was inside a large hall. In the back, there was a platform, with a podium. In front of the podium, there were several hundred seats. There was a vampire seated on all of those seats, waiting for the welcome ceremony to begin.


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    I was sitting close to the front, around the middle of the row. I hadn¡¯t made any friends in the week I had spent here, so I silently waited, until a man finally walked up to the podium.


    He had an imposing aura, and long, slick blonde hair, reaching his shoulders. He wore rather unusual clothing. They almost seemed to be from another world, or another time.


    He wore a long, black coat, and tight pants. The coat had relatively large collars. His clothes made him look rather imposing. His eyes, were the usual silver colour, but seemed almost impossible to look into them. Whenever I looked into his eyes, I would get dazed, and confused.


    The man looked at the various younglings here, before he started,


    ¡°Welcome, my students,¡± he began, ¡°I am Principal Armah Zabes. In these coming years, I shall serve as your principal, like I have done for you predecessors, as well as I shall do for your successors. This has been my role for millennia.


    You are all young vampires, which have had the luck to be enrolled here, whether it was through luck, or status. Here, things such as status, will not matter; all that matters, is results! Even if you are the offspring of an Elder, or even an Ancient or Primordial, do not be surprised when you get expelled, because you lacked in skill and results!


    Only the skilled are allowed to stay here. Only the intelligent are allowed to stay here. Only the capable are allowed to stay here! If you can¡¯t keep up, you can only blame yourself, but if you manage to graduate, then prepare yourself for a life of status, for all who graduate from my Academy, are sure be successful. That is, if you don¡¯t die.


    After you graduate, you will all have to from squads, and take on missions. That, will be your ticket up. That is all, for now. Now, the vice principal will announce the classes,¡± he said, then walked off the podium. The one, who replaced him, was a slightly less imposing character, but he was huge. The muscles on his body were bulging, and he was ridiculously tall. He seemed to be around two and a half meter tall, a real giant.


    He quickly announced all the classes. Every class would have around twenty something students. I had been assigned to class 1-E. After that was done, we were all led to the dorms. It took a while, but eventually I found my room. When I entered, I was surprised to find two beds in the room. It seemed like I would have to share, with a roommate.


    And, as if on cue, another person entered. This person had blonde hair, and a handsome appearance. He seemed to be around twenty years old, although he was a vampire, so it was hard to tell. The young blond man looked at me with curiosity, before reaching his hand out to me,


    ¡°Hello there, my name is Darren, I¡¯ll be your roommate from now on,¡± he introduced himself. I shook his hand, then returned the introduction,


    ¡°My name is Parmasus, it¡¯s nice to meet you,¡± I said. He nodded his head,


    ¡°Good to meet you,¡± he returned. He stepped further into the room, then claimed one of the beds, before questioning further,


    ¡°So tell me about yourself. How old are you? You have a pretty young body, so you must have been young, when you were turned,¡± he asked. I went over to my own bed, then sat down.


    ¡°Well, I was fifteen when I became a vampire. Apparently, Palazar, the one who turned me, had been watching me my whole life, since I reminded him, about his own childhood. Then, on that night, my father beat my mother a bit too much, and killed her. He started yelling at me, not to tell anyone, but I decided to run. I almost made it too, I jumped into the river, and swam out of the city, but my father was waiting for me, at the grate. I managed to get out, but not without a knife in liver. That¡¯s when Palazar turned me. This was about four years ago. Ever since that day, I spent every single day training, and schooling. How about you?¡± I told him my story, then asked him about his own.


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s quite the story. Your father actually tried to kill you. Well, my story isn¡¯t as depressing as that, but it¡¯s something. I was twenty one years old, when I was turned, and it¡¯s been three years now. My Master was a very beautiful female, and she turned me, because she liked me. I had known her for some time before she turned me, and fell in love with her. In the end, she revealed her nature, and turned me. After that, we travelled a bit, and she taught me her ways. Eventually, she found out that I had talent, so she decided to use a favour she had earned once, and enrolled me here. I was reluctant to leave her, but she didn¡¯t give me a choice,¡± he explained.


    ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll see her again soon. I also know how you feel, although in a different way. Palazar became much like a father to me, but now I won¡¯t be able to see him for several hundred years, he told me. Something about a mission, but he wouldn¡¯t tell me anymore,¡± I said. Darren gave me a look of understanding.


    ¡°That¡¯s harsh. I¡¯ll probably be able to see her again in a few months or a year, so it¡¯s not that bad.¡±


    We continued talking for a while, getting to know each other, before we had to get to our class. We were both in the same class, probably because we were roommates. There were around twenty others in the classroom. About half were male, while the other half was female.


    It was nice to see that there was no gender inequality here. For vampires, it didn¡¯t matter if you were male or female, both could be just as strong. In the human world, it was completely different. You would never see a female soldier, or official, those roles were always male.


    I sat in the middle of the classroom. On my left side, was Darren, and on my right side was a beautiful, brown haired girl. She turned her head to me, to introduce herself,


    ¡°Hello, my name is Eleana, what¡¯s yours?¡± She asked. She was very beautiful, and seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. I smiled to her, and introduced myself,


    ¡°My name is Parmasus, nice to meet you.¡± She smiled at me, and shook my hand.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Parmasus, I hope we can be friends. I¡¯m rather new to this world. It¡¯s been three years since I became a vampire, and I¡¯ve never met another vampire, except the one who turned me, in all this time,¡± she said.


    ¡°I know how you feel. It¡¯s been four years since I became like this, and in all this time, I only ever saw Palazar and Old Crow. It¡¯s only now that I meet new vampires, so I¡¯m a bit nervous. And adding to the fact that I have the body of fifteen year old, it makes me even more nervous,¡± I said. Eleana nodded feverishly.


    ¡°Exactly, I myself have a sixteen year old body, but I¡¯m nineteen. I would have rather liked to have matured a bit more, maybe until I was twenty, not that I had much of a choice,¡± she said, having a distant expression at the end.


    ¡°Well, then we better stick together, since we seem to be the only ones with premature bodies. I can¡¯t believe that the others all look to at least be in their early twenties. There are even some old people here. That reminds me, in the one week I¡¯ve spent here, I¡¯ve never seen any children. You would think that some children would be turned,¡± I said, curiously. Eleana¡¯s eyes widened a bit.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, I actually asked Verana, the one who turned me, about this, since I was curious. Apparently it¡¯s highly illegal to turn too young people. You¡¯re actually at the bridge of being illegal, you know. Apparently, children aren¡¯t capable of controlling themselves too well, so they tend to go on rampages, which can endanger our kind, so they¡¯re banned,¡± she explained.


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense,¡± I said, just as the teacher entered the room. The teacher was a middle aged man, with pitch black hair, and wore a long black, leather coat.


    ¡°Good to meet you, class. I will be your head teacher. My name is Targen,¡± he introduced himself.


    Then he continued to have the entire class introduce themselves; their names, and ages. After that, he continued to explain how the school year would go, what kind of classes we would take.


    The classes included, Combat Training, Elementary Blood Magic, Strategy and Tactics, Mathematics, History, Language, Scouting and Tailing, which was tracking and foraging, as well as basic surviving. Language class, was about learning the different languages of the several countries.


    We didn¡¯t do much on the first day of school, except for meeting the various teachers, and getting to know each other.


    After all that, we went back to our dorms. I found out that Eleana didn¡¯t live very far away from us, only a few rooms. The dorms weren¡¯t divided into genders, but they wouldn¡¯t put a male and female in the same room, though.


    A while later, we went to the commons room, where Eleana, and her roommate had already arrived. Eleana seemed a bit uncomfortable, talking to her roommate. She looked to be in her thirties, so the age gap was just too big.


    We went over to them, and talked for a while. The thirty year old woman, was named Marinna, and she seemed quite nice. She wasn¡¯t as mature as you would think, quite childish in fact, but she had a large bosom, which seemed to interest Darren a bit, even though he was taken.


    He said that you can never be taken enough, to not enjoy such good sights. He also said, never to tell his lover that he said that. We spent a while chatting with the several people there, before we went back to our room.


    End of chapter 4

 Chapter 5: Monster

    Chapter 5: Monster


    Sundown, the next day, I was abruptly awoken, by my new roommate, Darren. I looked up at him, wearily, but I quickly got to my senses,


    ¡°Come on, Parmy, breakfast is in a few minutes,¡± he said. I gave him a funny look, at the way he called me,


    ¡°Parmy?¡± I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s a nickname. Parmasus is quite long, so Parmy is easier,¡± he explained. I looked at him for a bit longer, then sighed, in defeat. I got up from my bed, and quickly got clothed, in the uniform we had been given.


    The uniform was of a black colour, and looked quite weird, to be honest. It was composed of pants, a shirt, and a jacket.


    ¡°Call me what you want,¡± I said, as we walked out of the room. Minutes later, we were in the dining hall. It was a very large hall, with several long tables, adorned throughout. Around the tables, were the students of the academy.


    The academy itself, was not connected to the large castle, physically. It was its own building, and was a short distance away from the main castle.


    We found a seat, then went to get our ¡®food¡¯. I don¡¯t know why, but I was surprised, when breakfast only consisted blood. We were given a chalice, as well as a red bottle. The bottles themselves, were very well decorated, and looked expensive.


    We grabbed our meal, then went back to our seat, where Eleana and Marinna, were seated. I opened my bottle, and filled my chalice, as I greeted our friends,


    ¡°Good evening,¡± I said. Eleana broke her conversation with Marinna, to greet me back,


    ¡°Good evening, Parmasus. Did you sleep well in your new home?¡± She asked. I smiled, and nodded to her.


    ¡°Yes, I slept pretty well. It¡¯s a bit different from back home, though. How about you two?¡± I asked back.


    ¡°We slept well, as well,¡± she replied. We continued to chatter for a while, until it was time to go to our classroom, but the entire time in the eating hall, Marinna had been eyeing me weirdly. She kept giving me glances; she probably didn¡¯t realize that I noticed, but I did. But let it slip to the back of my mind, for now. Then, we went to our classroom. Darren, Eleana, Marinna, and I, were all in the same class, so we didn¡¯t separate.


    The classroom was full of people, when the teacher walked in. It was the same teacher from before, who had us. The teacher calmly walked to his desk, and sat down, on his seat.


    ¡°Good evening, students. Welcome to the first class of the year. As you may or may not know, the first class today, is history. In history class, I will teach you the history of the mortal world, but also the history of us vampires. You will learn of the important clans, and their history, as well as important vampires from the ages. But the fun thing about this is, that we are vampires. We are immortal, and won¡¯t ever die of age, so some of these important figures of history, are still alive to this day. Others have died through the course of time, and others are unknown.


    But today, I will teach you about our society. Our social norms, our hierarchy, and things like that,¡± he said, explaining our first class to us.


    ¡°As you may know, after you graduate, you will gain the title of a Knight, but this is only the lowest rank, amongst royalty. After the Knight, there is the Baron, the Count, Marquess, Duke, Prince, Grand Prince, and finally the King.


    But of course, there is only a single King, amongst our kind, and he has remained unchanged for a very long time. And there are only a few Grand Princes,¡± he said. After telling us about the various ranks amongst vampiric nobility, he explained the functions of the titles.


    The King, was the ruler of all vampires, or at least the ones that identified with the rule of the Ventus Regulis, and the Exsequor Tenebris Clans. The King belonged to the Ventus Clan. Below the kings, were the Grand Princes. The Grand Princes were all in charge of ruling the vampires of a country, or region. Under the Grand Princes, were the normal Princes. They helped the Grand Princes govern their territory, and were usually in charge of a city, or principality.


    Under the Princes, were the Dukes, the Marquesses, the Counts, the Barons, and finally the Knight. All of these, except the Knight, could govern a small area, if given the privilege to work for a prince, but they often didn¡¯t. As for the Knights, they served as the elites in the military, and would often command a small task force, or work in a group with other knights. Within the Knighthood order, there were even more ranks, but we were not taught about these, yet.


    After about an hour and a half, history class was over. Then came mathematics. Our mathematics teacher was an old crone looking man. He had a scary face, as he stared at us with empty eyes. He didn¡¯t dally, as he immediately started the lesson.


    There didn¡¯t happen much in math class, except us learning more math. We started with basic math, since many of the people here never learned much math, but I was different. I had spent the last four years, learning all kind of mathematics, history, and even some rhetoric.


    Thus, the next hour and a half was quite boring. Instead, I took to helping the ones next to me, with their problems. Darren did know basic math, but it didn¡¯t go beyond that. As for Eleana, she seemed to know everything already.


    And thus, mathematics class was finished. As for the next class, that first teacher came back, and brought us outside. It was time for combat training now. Once we arrived in a courtyard, he put us into a line.


    ¡°Today is your first class of combat training, so today we are going to test your skills. You will all fight against each other in hand to hand combat. It will be tournament style. Try not to seriously hurt each other,¡± he said. Immediately after, he started dividing us into groups of two.


    My opponent was a big guy, who seemed to have more muscle than he could ever use. But that didn¡¯t necessarily mean he was physically stronger than me. A vampire¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t change much through the course of time, even if you trained your body.


    A few minutes passed, after a few people fought, until it was our turn. He didn¡¯t want everyone fighting at the same time, since he wanted to carefully observe.


    The big guy and I walked into fighting area. The big guy looked at me with a contemptuous look, as if I was nothing in front of him. But who knows, he might be much stronger than me.


    ¡°You might as well give up right away,¡± he said with a deep voice. My expression didn¡¯t change, as I looked at him with empty eyes, causing him slight discomfort. The teacher seemed to have a slight change in expression, when the big guy spoke.


    ¡°I would rather wait, and see how my strength will fare,¡± I spoke. The buffoon grumped at my words.


    ¡°Fight,¡± Targen, said.


    The buffoon didn¡¯t waver, as he rushed at me. He threw a heavy fist at me, but to my eyes, it seemed as if was moving as slow as a snail, riding on a tortoise, complaining about the speed.


    In a simply, yet swift motion, I moved to the side. Not wanting to waste time, I sent a swift fist into the side of the buffoon, right into his liver. The buffoon gasped in pain, as collapsed the side.


    ¡°So this is all that backed your attitude? Disappointing,¡± I said, as walked away from the fighting area. Targen, the teacher, had a smirk on his face.


    ¡°Nothing less, from the prot¨¦g¨¦ of Elder Nabalu, and the offspring of one of the most esteemed Executors of our Exsequor Tenebris Clan,¡± he said, as he had a satisfied look on him. But, as he said those words, many eyes widened around me. Darren ran up to me, and basically shouted in my face,


    ¡°You¡¯re the prot¨¦g¨¦ of Elder Nabalu?¡± He asked, his eyes wide open, and his mouth gaping. But it was understandable. Elder Nabalu was a very esteemed figure, being a Prince, of our clan. And I was even the offspring of one of the most esteemed Executors of the clan, even though I didn¡¯t know that before.


    The identity of Palazar had always been a mystery to me, as I had never had the chance to ask Elder Nabalu about him. But I did know what an Executor was. They were the task force, in charge of eradicating the bad seeds of the vampire¡¯s race, and took all the most dangerous missions.


    They were not the same, as the normal Knights. Executors often worked alone, or in small groups of other executors, while Knights would have lower ranked vampires working under them, while also working with other Knights.


    A Knight task force, would often consist of about four Knights, and their subordinates, although, they would sometimes not take their subordinates with them, for some missions.


    Knights were considered as elites, but the Executors were on a whole other level. They all had a royal rank above that of a Knight, and they were the goal of all knights.


    Ever since I had heard of them, I had wanted to be one, even though it had only been a few days. Elder Nabalu was the one who told me of them.


    ¡°Well, Elder Nabalu is an old friend of Palazar, so he promised to look after me. As for Palazar being one of the most esteemed Executors, I didn¡¯t even know about that before now,¡± I said. Darren still had eyes of apparent disbelief. Eleana had also made her way over to me, and was just as surprised.


    Only Marinna seemed to not be so surprised, which in itself, surprised me. And as if on cue, it was Marinna¡¯s turn to fight. Marinna¡¯s opponent was a slender, but tall man. As they faced each other, the man bowed,


    ¡°I don¡¯t wish to hurt the lady, so please, let¡¯s take it easy,¡± he said, with concerned eyes. He seemed to be a nice man, but Marinna took it the wrong way.


    ¡°What, just because I¡¯m a woman, you think I¡¯m easy prey?¡± She said with disdain. She didn¡¯t even bother to wait for Targen¡¯s cue, as she walked towards the man,


    ¡°Prepare yourself, because I don¡¯t give a fuck, if you get hurt or not!¡± She shouted at the man, who immediately got into a fighting stance, but the poor man, he didn¡¯t stand a chance. Marinna¡¯s body lashed towards the man, like a strike of lighting, as her foot lodged itself into his stomach. The man flew back a meter, but Marinna wasn¡¯t finished, and gave him a big, nice fist, right into his cheek, before Targen decided to stop the fight, by suddenly appearing between the two fighters.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. I ask that you please wait for my signal in the future, and don¡¯t use unnecessary violence,¡± he said calmly, with the ever same, empty expression.


    Marinna turned around, and said, ¡°Fine.¡±


    She made her way back to us, where she was met with many wide eyes, which I was glad for. I didn¡¯t like having all the attention on me. Eleana grabbed her shoulders, and started jumping up and down,


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    ¡°Holy shit, you¡¯re strong! I wonder, who would win, you or Parmasus?¡± She wondered aloud. Marinna chuckled at her.


    ¡°Who knows,¡± she said, with a mysterious look. I couldn¡¯t help, but to chuckle at her expression. Then, the fights continued, until it was Darren¡¯s and Eleana¡¯s turn. They had actually been matched together.


    Darren had a confident expression on him, as they faced each other, in the ring.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ll go easy on you, just because we¡¯re friends!¡± He said, with an arrogant smirk. Eleana chuckled at him,


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too arrogant now,¡± Eleana said. Then came the signal, and the fight ended. Yes it ended. The very moment Targen said, ¡°Fight,¡± Eleana, had punched Darren in his solar plexus, and sent him flying a few meters away.


    Once more, every single eye in area widened, while Darren¡¯s eyes, were completely white instead.


    ¡°Ah, I used too much force,¡± she said, as she rushed over to the collapsed Darren. After making sure he wasn¡¯t dead, she rose back up, with a relieved look on her face.


    ¡°Eh, I have something important to do now, so I¡¯ll be leaving early,¡± she said to Targen, before quickly making her way out. No one uttered a single word, as she ran, and Targen only gave a nod, but he didn¡¯t look surprised at all.


    One of the students close to him, decided to ask,


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡±


    ¡°If you want to know, you can ask her. And since she left, Darren will continue to the next round,¡± he said.


    Thus, the fighting continued, until it was time for my second round. This time, I faced a man, of more average body type. He looked a bit nervous, as he had seen what happened to the last guy, and even more nervous as he had heard who stood behind me. But nevertheless, he got into a fighting stance.


    ¡°Fight,¡± Targen said, signalling the start of the fight. Fearlessly, he charged forwards, lounging his fist at me. Effortlessly, I moved to the side, and put my foot in front of his, effectively tripping him.


    He fell, but he managed to regain his balance quickly, by rashly stomping his other foot down, but it mattered not, for I had already lounged my foot towards his bent down face. Only a single moment had passed, and he was already defeated, in a flash.


    Thus my second fight ended. A few moments later, and it was Marinna¡¯s turn once more. This time, her opponent didn¡¯t dare be arrogant, but this time, it was also a female. Neither of them spoke a single word, as they waited for the signal.


    ¡°Fight,¡± he said.


    The female opponent lounged forwards, with a flying kick, which showed both grace, as well as skill. Marinna managed to evade it, and sent a low kick, to her feet, but her opponent was skilled and managed to evade, as well. She didn¡¯t rest, as he sent a spinning hook kick at her, but Marinna managed to duck under her foot.


    While her back was turned to her, Marinna quickly sent a powerful sidekick into her back, sending her flying, then, she quickly rushed over to her, and punched her in the face, ending the fight. Thus, Marinna had won, once more, but this time, her opponent had been more skilful, causing a harder fight.


    Now, it was Darren¡¯s turn, who had already recovered, thanks to the regenerative abilities of a vampire. His opponent was once more a female, with a haughty air to her.


    ¡°Last time, you were defeated in a flash. I¡¯m sure it will be the same this time as well, as you had the luck, to face me in the ring! Hahaha!¡± She said, as lifted her chin high into the air, showing her dominance. Darren looked at her in a weird light, finding her a bit too much.


    The fight started, but the girl didn¡¯t move. She just lifted her hand up, and gestured for Darren to come at her. Darren shrugged, and started to walk towards her. Once he made it up to her, he made to punch her face, with his left fist, but instead, he sent a quick, powerful uppercut, right into her abdomen.


    The girl gasped in pain, as her eyes widened, then she fell to the floor. There was a look of shock and despair on her face. She couldn¡¯t believe it; she had lost!


    ¡°Cheating! You cheated! Foul play! You were going to punch my face, but you punched my abdomen! Coward!¡± She barked at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be foolish. If this was a real battle, you would have died. There is no such thing as foul play, in a real battle. There is only strategy and tactics,¡± Darren said, as he turned around, and stepped of the arena.


    ¡°It is as he says. In a real fight, you would have died. And even if you were prepared, I still believe you would have lost,¡± Targen said, ending the fight, and giving the win to Darren. As he came back to our group, I gave him a smile, and thumbs up,


    ¡°Hah, you showed her! She should know better than to be so foolish,¡± I said, a mocking tone in my voice. She truly had been too foolish, and too green. Such a faint, should have been easily avoided.


    Then, the third round came about. Once more, I won my fight quickly. It seemed like I just didn¡¯t get to meet any of the skilled ones. Darren managed to win once more, but it was a closer fight this time. As for Marinna, she once more won, rather effortlessly.


    And then, it was time for the semi-finals. It was me, versus Darren, and Marinna, versus some girl. Darren and I stepped into the arena.


    ¡°Please go easy on me, Parmy,¡± Darren begged, with a nervous expression, but he didn¡¯t give up without a fight.


    Targen signalled the start of the fight, and we charged at each other. Darren gave me a quick punch, which I evaded, then he punched again, a total of three times, but I dodged every time.


    Then I started to fight back. I quickly threw a roundhouse kick, and Darren prepared to block it. But to his dismay, it never connected. I dropped the kick down, and changed to side kick, which slammed right into his abdomen, sending him down to the ground.


    I had used the roundhouse kick as a feint, and then changed into sidekick. Darren hadn¡¯t been prepared for that, and had thus fallen, and I had won the fight.


    Then it was Marinna and the girl. The girl seemed semi confident, but it was also clear that she was a bit scared. That small air of confidence was just there, to help her cope.


    The fight began, and the girl charged at her, like a madman. She was kicking and punching like her life depended on it, using all her energy, to keep Marinna at bay. Marinna had no choice but to block and dodge, as she didn¡¯t get any chances to attack.


    But attacking in such a manner, will take a lot of stamina, so the girl was being worn out quickly. Eventually, she slipped up, and Marinna managed to grab her arm. Marinna quickly positioned her leg, behind the foot of the girl, then violently pushed her to the ground. When on the ground, Marinna took the girl into a choke hold, and held, until the girl tapped out.


    Thus, Marinna had won the semi-final, and now, there was only a single fight left; me, and Marinna.


    We both stepped into the ring, but then something unexpected happened,


    ¡°I forfeit,¡± Marinna said. Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, once more.


    ¡°What?! Why?¡± Targen asked, very confused. Marinna looked towards Targen,


    ¡°If I fight against Lord Parmasus, I will be going against my vows. Lord Nabalu entrusted me with protecting and serving Lord Parmasus, and I took a vow. Although, this is not the reason why I joined the school. I was told of all this yesterday evening,¡± Marinna explained. Today, there had truly been many wide eyes, and the number just seemed to grow. Even I was surprised by this, as I had in no way been informed of this, prior.


    ¡°What? So you¡¯re my bodyguard now?¡± I asked, clearly confused.


    ¡°I¡¯m your servant, as well as your protector. Whether I would be of much use to you as your protector though, I do not know. Our strength differences aren¡¯t clear to me, as neither of us have went all out, today. But, I will serve your needs, and take care of any tasks you need of me. For me, to be allowed to serve someone as you, is truly a blessing. I¡¯m but of low birth, and the one who turned me, has long died, so serving you, will be beneficial to me. So don¡¯t think I¡¯m not willing,¡± she said with a comforting smile.


    ¡°Well, alright then,¡± I said, slightly hesitant.


    ¡°Well then, this concludes our little tournament then. Since Marinna has forfeited, that means that Parmasus is the victor. Thus, Parmasus shall be head of class 1-E. The vice head, shall be Marinna. And that concludes the first day of school, but don¡¯t think all days will be this short. You only get mercy today, since it¡¯s the first day, and some of you did get quite beaten up.


    Also, please don¡¯t be angry at each other, since you¡¯ll be together for many years to come. After all, changing classes is not an option,¡± Targen said. After all that was over, we went to our own.


    There had been many surprising events on this day, events that were rarely seen. Thus, class 1-E had been taken under the notice of the various Elders. Or should I say, it was noticed even more.


    Ever since it was revealed that the son of Palazar, the prot¨¦g¨¦ of Nabalu, had been put in class 1-E, it had been classified, as a class of utmost importance. And now that my strength had been revealed, and the strength of the others had been revealed, it would be known as the genius class.


    In the future, it would be known as the class, full of monsters within monsters, the most feared class of the Academy, class that spawned prodigy after prodigy, monster after monster.


    End of chapter 5.


    And here it finally is! I''m sorry it took so long, but sadly, I got sick again a week ago, and it cost me my life. Luckily for everyone here, Ragnarok was able to successfully complete the ritual to revive me. All it took was 2 dragon scales, half a liter of dragon blood, 4 phoenix feathers,  the soul of a demon tortoise, two bottles of fish breath, the tears of a Falmer, and finally five pure hearted virgin souls.


    Imagine, that was all that had to be sacrificed, so that I can continue and write my stories, and you can continue to enjoy them. Talk about a great deal.


    Anyways, thanks for reading, and please rate and review, follow and favorite!


    Thanks!

 Chapter 6: Magic, and Council

    Chapter 6: Magic, and Council


    It had already been one day since the tournament, and another sundown had passed, bringing us a new night. After we had enjoyed our ¡®breakfast¡¯, we had all headed to the classroom.


    The first few classes were things like language and history, as well as tactics, but the interesting stuff came after that, later into the night. After all the knowledge classes had finished, it was time for our first magic class.


    Magic class, was all about blood. As vampires, we possessed the innate ability to use blood magic, a powerful type of magic, using the blood in our bodies. Using blood magic, we could do many things, like shooting blasts, made out of blood, and even make blood swords.


    It could also be used for many other, more practical things, like infusing items, like swords, with blood, or even infusing it into humans, temporarily bringing them under our control.


    However, doing that, would make them into mindless puppets, until the effects were over. It was useless for things like, getting information, and making them assassinate someone.


    This was all stuff we had learned in the class, and now it was time for practical exercises. That meant, it was time to learn how to use it.


    ¡°Alright kids, listen well to my words, because I don¡¯t like repeating myself,¡± the woman, who was our teacher said. She had introduced herself as Miss Evergreen, a pretty ironic name, considering her expertise.


    ¡°You all need to calm your minds, and relax. Then you should look into the deepest parts of your mind, until you find the Source. The Source is where all your magical power stems from. It might take you a few tries, most of you won¡¯t even find it today, but don¡¯t worry. It most definitely is there; if it wasn¡¯t you would be dead. Well deader than you already are,¡± Miss Evergreen said, smirking at her own joke; even though no one laughed.


    At her instruction, everyone closed their eyes, and started to search their minds. I sat still, for about five minutes, just calming my mind, and trying to find a state of perfect relaxation. After calming my mind, I started searching my mind.


    It was a weird feeling; I could actually see inside my mind. It was a foggy place, not being able to see more than three meters in front of me. I found that I could move around in there, even though I didn¡¯t have a physical body.


    It made sense, after all, I was inside my own mind. With my mind set, I started ¡®walking¡¯. I had this weird feeling, as if something was dragging me towards itself. I decided to grab unto the feeling; I doubt anything inside my own mind would try to hurt me.


    I ¡®walked¡¯ around for a while, just following the mysterious feeling, and sure enough, I came to a place. This place, was even more mysterious; it was dark, and cold. I could feel a certain power, dwelling in the air, but it didn¡¯t seem ¡®awake¡¯.


    For some reason, it felt like the power was slumbering; in a very deep sleep. I ¡®walked¡¯ around the place, trying to see what clues I could find, but there was nothing there, except cold air, and a dark, dreadful aura. But the slumbering power, was always present; always sleeping.


    But then, as I spent a few minutes there, I came upon a lake. The ¡®lake¡¯, was full of some sort of energy. I tried touching it, with my invisible hand, only to feel a bone piercing cold. It immediately shook me awake, in a cold sweat.


    Miss Evergreen immediately noticed, and rushed over to me.


    ¡°Did you find it? What did you see?¡± She asked in a quick, almost panicky voice.


    ¡°There was a lake¡­ I tried touching it, only to feel a terrifying cold,¡± I said, deciding not to hide it. I didn¡¯t mention anything about that cold, dreadful power I could sense.


    ¡°You actually found it this quick. It¡¯s only been a few minutes, yet you already found it! Truly a genius, as everyone says!¡± The woman said in an excited tone.


    ¡°Well, now that you¡¯ve found the Source, you should be able to feel it at all times. So now, you should try drawing power from it. The size of your Source Lake, shows how much Source Energy you possess. The lake will grow with time, of course. Alright, while everyone else searches for their Source, you should practise extracting power from it.


    Just look into your mind, and try to draw the power out into the outside world,¡± Miss Evergreen said, before going back to her desk. Obeying her words, I started to try and draw power from the so called ¡®Source Lake¡¯.


    I closed my eyes, and focused on the lake, trying to draw the liquid out. At first, I could feel that I got a grasp of it, but it didn¡¯t budge. I continued to try, until finally, I was able draw some of that liquid outside.


    As it came out of my mind, I could feel it dispersing, into a gaseous cloud. As I opened my eyes, I did indeed see a crimson red cloud, in front of my face. Everyone around me still had their eyes closed.


    ¡°Ah, you succeeded! Great! It¡¯s already been three hours, so it can be considered pretty good,¡± she said with a slightly smaller smile than before.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s already been three hours?¡± I asked in surprise. Miss Evergreen nodded, with a slightly arrogant smile.


    ¡°Indeed, when you focus upon your Source Lake, trying to draw its power, time will pass much quicker than you would expect. Of course, this is only at first, when you just found it, and can¡¯t use its power. It¡¯s because your mind becomes so focused, that you won¡¯t sense time passing. It¡¯s completely normal,¡± she explained.


    ¡°I see,¡± I answered.


    ¡°Well, now that you have found the Source Lake, and are able to extract its power, you need to learn to use it for Blood Magic, but that will have to wait for next time. Class is about to end now,¡± she said.


    Thus, I spent a few minutes waiting, until class was over. Since all classes were over, it was dinner time, where we would enjoy a nice, king sized chalice of blood. In the end, after class had finished, about half of the students managed to find their Source Lace, in the nick of time. Darren wasn¡¯t one of them, but Eleana managed to find hers rather quickly, and Marinna found hers quickly as well.


    While we were having our meal, we decided to talk about the magic class. Even though we were there, we didn¡¯t know who managed to succeed or not, since we were all focused on ourselves.


    ¡°So Parmasus, did you manage to succeed? I myself, found the Source Lake very quickly,¡± Eleana said with a proud and haughty smile. I smiled back at her, as I said,Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°As far as I know, I was the first one to find it, and I even managed to extract the power from the Source Lake.¡±


    Eleana¡¯s eyes widened, at the realization that she wasn¡¯t the quickest.


    ¡°What, you finished first? Are you sure? I found it in only thirty minutes,¡± she said, with an inquisitive expression. Her unwillingness managed to make me laugh.


    ¡°I only spent a few minutes, like five or ten, I¡¯m not completely sure. But she did say I was a genius and no one had ever been as quick as me! Well, she didn¡¯t say that no one found it as quickly as me, but she surely thought it!¡± I said, puffing my chest out, and pointing my chin to the ceiling. Eleana and Marinna laughed at my foolishness, while Darren only face palmed.


    Now that I think about it, I did act kinda embarrassingly. But I was young, and had the personality of a child. After all, I never really got to grow up, even though I was nineteen years old. Growing up under constant beating, might make you mature, but it¡¯s only a fa?ade.


    Without really experiencing parental love, without really having free will, or at least the illusion of free will, you won¡¯t truly grow up. So I was still a bit of a child on the inside, but I only now got to unleash myself, and have fun.


    It was a feeling I never had before. I never had friends when I lived with my parents, since I rarely even got to go out and play. With Palazar, sure I really liked it, but I was alone. There was only Palazar, old crow and I.


    My days consisted of training, day in day out, and school. In what little free time I had, I spent it with the scrolls and texts. It was still a nice lifestyle though, since all the training and schooling gave me no time to truly be bored or lonely.


    But now, I was suddenly surrounded by friends, people in a similar situation. There was even someone my own age here. It was a mystical feeling, the feeling of not being alone.


    ¡°Parmasus? Hey Parmy!¡± Darren shouted into my ear, shaking me awake.


    ¡°Huh, what?¡± I asked back. Darren shook his head.


    ¡°You were spacing out, staring at Eleana. Do you have a thing for her, or something?¡± Darren asked, causing not only me, but also Eleana to blush.


    ¡°What, I wasn¡¯t staring at Eleana per se, I was just staring out into space. I was thinking how I finally have friends. I¡¯m nineteen years old, yet I¡¯ve never had a friend before, so it caught me unguarded for a bit,¡± I said, causing Eleana to blush even more, and Darren and Marinna to smile.


    ¡°Oh, I thought you were thinking about how much of a genius you are,¡± Darren said back, while hitting me on the shoulder.


    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m not that much of a genius, I just trained for four years straight, before coming here,¡± I admitted, but Darren only hit me on the shoulder again, while laughing.


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re too modest. No amount of training will allow you to find your Source Lake or whatever, in just five minutes! That¡¯s talent!¡± Darren exclaimed.


    ¡°Yes you¡¯re very talented, but you also have the lineage. I¡¯ve been around a lot longer than you guys, so I know a bit. I¡¯ve often heard about Executor Palazar, and I¡¯ve read a bit about him too. He¡¯s very powerful and esteemed, and he¡¯s also one of the rare Death Seekers!¡± Marinna exclaimed with a weirdly proud expression, for some reason.


    However, the three of us, just looked at her weirdly. We had no idea what she was talking about. Eventually, however, she noticed how we were looking at her.


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know what a Death Seeker is? That¡¯s understandable, you¡¯ve only been around for a few years. Well then, let me explain! The Death Seekers are a special kind of vampires. They are able to manipulate souls and control people, and they can even open the gates of Nefaris, and bring out the demonic beings of Nefaris. However, there aren¡¯t many Death Seekers who can do this. I have no idea if Palazar is one of them,¡± Marinna explained.


    I listened intently, as she explained. I really got more and more surprised by the day. There was so much I didn¡¯t know about Palazar, which was weird, since he had treated me like I was his own son. But, a father may hide many things from his son.


    Like that mission he spoke of. I still had no idea what it was about, whether it was dangerous or not. But for now, the only thing I could do, was go to this school, and graduate. Then I would try and become an Executor. But it would still take a few years, until I graduated.


    While we were talking, a small group entered the feeding hall. There were five males, and one female. The female stood on the side of the one who seemed to be leading them. Young man, in his early twenties. He wore golden coloured clothes, matching his golden hair, as he confidently walked in our direction.


    Yes, in our direction. Although, we had no idea who he was.


    ¡°Are you Parmasus, the fledgling of the Executor Palazar, and prot¨¦g¨¦ of Nabalu?¡± He asked in a cold voice, but he didn¡¯t seem threatening. He even seemed to be friendly in his own, weird way.


    ¡°Why yes, I am,¡± I answered to him, a bit interested in who this fellow was. I doubted he was here to seek trouble, I mean there shouldn¡¯t be many people willing to seek trouble with someone with high standing, for no reason.


    ¡°I see, that¡¯s good. My name is Basilio, and I¡¯m from the Student Council. I¡¯m here, to extend you an invitation, to join us. For further information, I ask that you come visit us tomorrow, after you¡¯re finished with class. Will you come?¡± He said, with a very professional tone, as if he¡¯d done this countless times before.


    ¡°The Student Council? It does sound interesting, so I¡¯ll come,¡± I answered, and Basilio nodded his head, then turned back to where he came.


    The next day, school passed, and I found myself outside the Student Council Office. There was a big door, twice as tall as me. I found myself a bit nervous, to even knock. However, after standing there, for a few minutes, I finally found the courage, to knock.


    Only after the first knock, the door opened, and there stood a young female.


    ¡°Welcome, Mister Parmasus, please, come in,¡± the girl said, as she lead me inside. Inside the room, there were several desks, with people in front of them, as well as a few just standing around. The girl lead me over to a lone desk, at the end of the room. Behind the desk, a young man sat.


    He seemed well groomed, and of high stature, as if a position of power, was only natural to him. He raised his head, with a smile, as he saw us coming towards him.


    ¡°Ah, you must be Parmasus,¡± he said. I nodded my head, to confirm.


    ¡°Yes that would be me,¡± I said.


    ¡°Hmm, you look, awfully young. Not what I was expecting, but then again, you never know what to expect with our kind. Well, as you probably know, I¡¯ve summoned you here, to invite you to join our little Council. Since the new school year just started, it means that we need to recruit new members. And you¡¯ve built yourself quite the rep, in the past few days. You also have status, so you meet all of the requirements. So what do you say, will you join us?¡± The young man asked.


    ¡°I might. What exactly would I have to do, if I join up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, that depends on what position you get. If you become a secretary, you can expect a lot of paperwork, or you could join the fund managing team. You see, we get a fund from the school, which we use for various things every year. The fund managing team are in charge of the money.


    Or you could join the disciplinary committee, who are in charge of making sure no one breaks the rules. Basically, it¡¯s the militia of our school. But for now that doesn¡¯t matter. You don¡¯t actually get to choose. We will examine your skills, through a test, and what we know about you, and then your position will be decided,¡± he said. It seemed interesting enough, and I didn¡¯t really mind not having control of where I would end up. It gave it an element of surprise.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll join you,¡± I finally decided. The young man, who still hadn¡¯t introduced himself, smiled at my decision.


    ¡°Great! Well then, follow Julie here, and she¡¯ll take you to the test. There are already a few others there,¡± he said, and I followed Julie, into a side room. Inside the room, there were already two others, writing something on a scroll.


    Julie led me to a seat, and then gave me a scroll, as well as a pen. Thus, I proceeded to take the test. There were various questions and problems on it, testing both my mentality, as well as my math skills. There were also a lot of grammatical problems, testing my language skills. In the end, however, it didn¡¯t take too long to finish, and I gave it back to Julie.


    She was quite impressed at me being able finish it so quickly, and told me to come back tomorrow, for the results.


    End of chapter 6.