Bloodline: Inferior
Next Rank: 3%
Even though I’d Drained over 100 vampires at the mine, my bloodline had only become purer by 1%. But Draining this single vampire had caused my bloodline to increase by 2% on its own. Even though I felt bad that these guards had been stuck in this tower like fried chicken in a bucket, by the time I was done, my Bloodline was much purer.
Next Rank: 9%
The problem of there being too much loot for me to carry had only begun at the vampire mine. I now had 41 Dark Coin Wallets and even more Minor Dark Orbs.
Besides more bottles of blood and potion vials, I found a few interesting items on the guards. Not only were most of these vampires at a higher level on average, but they were also of a higher status. I’d still found nothing that I was excited about using though.
The only exception was that each of these vampires had their own storage ring. At first I was excited to try to wear as many of them as I could, even if I had to wear ten rings on a single finger, but I soon found that they didn’t stack. I instead switched out the one the mine guard captain wore for a better one.
I gave Shamash all of the mana tablets I found and scorched the tower with Fire before departing.
For the next two months, we followed the same pattern. I’d hit an out of the way vampire outpost, loot and Drain, then find a place to recover. It might sound like a slow process, but the nine outposts I hit had me progressing at an incredible rate. Some of them were smaller like the guard tower, but others were much larger and included hundreds of vampires. The levels of the Vampires we attacked were less than 10,000 most of the time and at the most 20,000. There were still plenty of 15,000 to 20,000 vampires I killed though.
Learning my lesson from the vampire tower, I began experimenting with placement of my Artificial Sun and tried to capture the highest level vampires inside. If I’d done the same thing at the Vampire Gate, I wouldn’t have had a close call with the guard captain. I became much more proficient this way and was eventually able to save more and more mana with each attack.
The last guard post resembled a small settlement that was placed at the top of a hill overlooking dozens of miles of open space in every direction. It was surrounded with Dark-steel spikes that were six feet tall making it look like it was a gigantic demon’s crown. I attacked when most of the vampires were inside a large tent at the center of the camp. My Artificial Sun fried those inside without any problem, but I had to chase down a guard who had changed into his Bat Form and fled as soon as I’d begun. Laser dropped him from the sky before he made it far, but I hadn’t expected such cowardice. It was like the guy had been training to run away at the drop of a hat instead of resisting with the others. It was the closest that one of my attacks had come to ending in disaster. The little snot had only been level 4,000 as well.
After the last attack, my level reached 10,013. It was as if Shamash had been planning for me to break 10,000 before we headed to the Hallow Amphitheater. As soon as we’d finished, he took me to a place to recover and informed me that we would be heading there next. I now had what seemed like a colossal amount of mana regeneration. In two months I’d placed almost 20,000 stat points into Wisdom, bringing it to 44,997. That gave me a ridiculous Mana Per Minute of 449,970 or 7,499.5 Per Second. Compared to where I’d begun, it was incredible, but compared to a Mistress-level monster, I wasn’t even halfway there. I’d only reach that level when I had 100,000 in a stat. For comparison’s sake, it was likely that an elder succubus like Mistress Nava had 100,000 in at least two stats. As Shamash had said, looking at level could be deceptive. 10,000 seemed like a large number, but compared to the highest level monsters, if they were level 100 then I’d just reached level 10.
I had also received stats from my many assaults.
+132 Str
+144 Dex
+401 Int
+315 Wis
It was obvious that, even though vampire blood gave me more stats than any of the other creatures I’d ever Drained, the amount I was getting was becoming less and less. Eventually, I wouldn’t receive anything at all.
In the end, my Bloodline had also hit a wall at 32%. I wasn’t sure why it had stopped there, but it was much harder to improve then I ever expected.
When I finally recovered from the final attack, it was time to decide on what buffs I should activate before changing into my Vampire Form. The plan was to transform and remain a vampire for our entire stay in Hallow. I could cast buffs that would apply to my Vampire Form before changing, but not after. Doing so during a fight, or even in public, would make things obvious to any higher level monsters watching. So unless everything went wrong, I wouldn’t have the chance to change things while in the vampire settlement except when I was out of sight.
I was pacing back and forth in my human form. We had found solace in a shallow cave a couple hundred miles from our destination.
Shamash broke it down. “Your physical buffs would be the most cost effective because you can gain the 10,000 stat bonuses, but the point of any fights you take will be to improve your mage dueling. The stats you’ve gained at your level from Vampire’s Might will be on the low side for a vampire of a noble family, but for an average vampire, with help from Devour, your stats are relatively high. The 10,000 bonuses will make it easier for you to take a beating, but also make you stand out with your current bloodline rank. On the other hand, if you place them all in Master Mind Buff, then no one will be able to tell. The choice is yours. You can always revert to your Blue Magic Forms if you need superior physical attack or defense. The problem with your Mind Buff is that you won’t receive any bonuses because you’ve already reached 10,000 in Intelligence and Wisdom, so you’re getting less for the mana. The choice is yours.”
It wasn’t an easy decision to make. To get the Strength and Dexterity bonus, it would only take 38,400 Mana Per Minute, which was something I could easily work with. But the Constitution bonus would cost 153,600 Mana Per Minute. If I was going to focus on casting, then the Con bonus was far more important, but its cost made it almost not worth it. I needed to use my excess Mana Per Minute so that I wouldn’t have to tap into my refined mana too often. If I did, then we’d have to leave Hallow so that I could find a place to change into my human form to refine more, then return. It was something we’d have to do anyways, but the more I did it the longer things would take. I still was unable to shake the feeling I was taking too long.
So the decision I had to make was between safety and speeding things up. There was no perfect answer. In the end, I chose to lean toward having to refine as little as possible. The only buff I allowed myself was 7x Master Mind Buff, which gave me 3,150 extra Intelligence and Wisdom. This would give me an extra 21,900 Mana Per Minute and 1,575,000 MP. This extra mana I couldn’t refine, but it was still a good chunk that I could tap into without having to worry about leaving Hallow.
I couldn’t say if it was the wisest decision or not, but I had people waiting for me. Changing into my Vampire Bat Form, I lifted into the air with Shamash at my side. He flew with me in his Vampire Form, not changing into a bat but floating just as he would in his lich form. His explanation was that he was my master and I was his pupil. Higher level vampires didn’t have to use their bat form to fly, so why would he? Even though Creature Observation no longer had level limits, when I used it on him it still gave me nothing but question marks. It was mostly the same when trying to use Forced Learn.
You are unable to learn this spell at this time.
Him being my teacher seemed like it would be a reasonable enough excuse. Not everyone had the ability to observe another creature’s level. Looking at the density of a person’s mana was a pretty accurate indicator of strength though. For those that had relied on such things their entire life, they could probably estimate an opponent’s strength as well as I could if not better. Level wasn’t everything after all. My biggest advantage was that I could observe a creature’s stats. It was accurate as long as they weren’t di
sguising them.
We began the trip to the Hallow Amphitheater flying a hundred feet above the cavern floor. As a 250 lb. bat, I was impressed at how fast I could fly. It wasn’t as fast as in my Incubus Form, but it was much faster than running on foot.
Chapter 6 – Hallow
We’d already entered the vast cavern that Hallow was located in when I spotted the outlines of a city on the horizon from quite a distance. This area was mostly flat with valley-like craters covered in alien vegetation. There weren’t any trees to speak of, but purple grass as tall as a man that resembled tentacles grew everywhere. A variety of plants and flowers of all colors speckled the landscape and gave it its alien feel. The distance was deceiving because I wasn’t sure how large this black market settlement was. After flying for miles and seeing the distant image of the city only growing slightly, it seemed I had far underestimated its size. I had assumed it was like a small wild west town with an arena at its center. The closer we got, the more I realized just how wrong I was.
From Shamash’s explanation, this area was much wilder than any of the places we had traveled through so far. If the vampire domain was the size of a large continent, then this wild region was the size of a state—and not a small one. Because we were traveling above the common highway, it was unlikely we would get attacked by monsters, but we still had to keep our eyes open. We weren’t the only people on the road either. Whether it was flying or on foot, there was traffic that spanned for miles in either direction. It was spread out so that no one was rushed and those that were in a hurry could simply go around or fly over everyone else. We weren’t going at full speed, but in my bat form with the vampire-lich at my side, we quickly passed over most of the foot traffic.
Even at our fast pace, we flew for over an hour before we finally arrived. A vampire metropolis filled with buildings that reached four or five stories high stood above all that dared enter, like the capital city of an evil emperor. The buildings were made of polished Dark-ore brick and imposed on all of us lesser creatures.
Shamash and I flew up hundreds of feet in the air to get a good view of the city’s layout. We weren’t the only people with the same idea. There were hundreds of vampires in bat form in the air nearby trying to get their bearings. We could see that the city was circular in shape and revolved around the massive coliseum in its center. I’d imagined they would keep the city dark for its large vampire population, but the streets glowed with purple, red, and orange light. The major streets were so bright that the only comparison I could think of was the Las Vegas Strip which was famous for being covered in innumerable lights. It described it far too well. What do you get when you take Las Vegas, ancient Rome, and the vampire race then mix them together? The Hallow Amphitheater.
“We will first find a place to stay,” Shamash said, his voice sounding in my mind so others couldn’t eavesdrop. “You’ll need a safe place to train and rebuff if necessary. There are a few places here that promise privacy, but we must still be careful. This place thrives on greed. Keeping a low profile is the best way to not tempt the greater beings that lurk here.”
“Understood,” I replied.
Unlike the rest of the settlements I’d seen in the vampire realm, there was no front gate—nor guards—so people could come and go as they pleased. Perhaps using the wild west to describe this place wasn’t entirely wrong…
There was no reason to bother with the road. We flew above the city until we reached the halfway point between the entrance and the coliseum. There was a main road that encircled the entire city at this radius. A few blocks from what I had nicknamed the Las Vampire Strip, the most lit up street in the city, was a building that stood out from the rest. It resembled the Lincoln Memorial with columns surrounding it on all sides, except it was many times larger. Instead of a statue inside, there was a hotel that reached a dozen stories high with statues lining the perimeter of the building’s roof. It was obvious that these were heroes of the coliseum, even if few of them resembled traditional gladiators. There were figures in robes and mage garb, but also those in platemail, scalemail, and every sort of exotic armor. Their weapons varied just as much as their gear did, and a number of them weren’t even vampires—at least not of the human variety. I already knew that elves and dwarves could also become vampires. It wasn’t just the humanoid races that were depicted here, but there were two giants, something that looked like a fairy but was the size of a halfling, a giant serpent with arms, and even a werewolf. And that was just at first glance.
“This is one of the best establishments in the city,” Shamash said through mind-speak. “Coming here might be the same as placing a target on our backs, but it should also cause anyone that might desire to strip us of life and gear to hesitate. Our bloodlines won’t insight fear, but there are numerous vampires with inferior bloodlines that are extremely formidable. With their inability to see my level, and our obvious wealth, it should encourage any were-vultures to keep their distance. The truly powerful players here will still view us as far beneath them.”
Without any objections, I followed his lead and began to descend. When I was twenty feet from the ground, my wings were sucked into my back like a cup of milk through a straw. My Vampire Form took shape as Rog Form’s Body of Smoke formed a hard protective layer to clothe me and my Skeletal Armor took shape over it. My armor was drawn back to its most minimal state to look more like a bone garment and less intimidating. I wore no helmet and had no weapons visible. Although it was possible for people to realize I was a Blue Mage, they would have no way to be certain. Vampires were a lot like humans in that they could have multiple talents. Depending on their family, they might also have easy access to multiple magic veins. Blue Magic was also more common among them because their race was so powerful as a whole. Even if I were a Blue Mage, few people would think that Blue Magic was one of my natural talents.
From ten feet in the air, I dropped, landing softly near the entrance. There were people entering and exiting, but compared to the number crowding the street, the traffic here was light. Shamash touched down next to me and a vampire woman dressed in a sensually tight silk dress bowed her head and said, “Welcome to the Javed Hotel.” She was standing to one side of the entrance and greeting all who approached. I noticed that she even lowered her gaze as she bowed.
I caught myself before I used my normal human greeting. Refocusing my attention on the hotel itself would make it easier not to slip up. From where I stood, the scene took my breath away. The columns were as wide as a small house and shot up hundreds of feet in the air. The sheer amount of Dark-ore used to build these columns had to equal a small mountain. The weight was astronomical—and that didn’t even include the structure of the hotel itself which would have taken an even larger amount of ore. It was like standing at the base of a skyscraper for the first time. I was humbled.
This was only a single building in Hallow and not even the largest one. The coliseum was one hundred of these put together, if not more. I had the impression from Shamash’s description that this was a quickly thrown together settlement that allowed the kinds of shady things that weren’t approved of in vampire society. That wasn’t the case at all. Whoever had built this city had the intention of setting down roots and creating a marvel that would last for thousands of years. There was no way this place could exist in its current state unless it had the backing of vampire nobility.
We walked under the hotel’s entrance, which was over three stories high, and the foyer was even higher. Through my Vampire Form’s Night Vision, the space was filled with lavender light. It was bright enough to draw everyone’s attention to the mural on the ceiling. The night’s sky was depicted with unbelievable realism. It was simple really. There were just images of stars, but each of them glowed with their own light and they varied in color and size.
After seeing the ceiling, the light guided my eyes to the upper walls. They too depicted too-real stars. Then, on the left wall, I saw the greatest light of all. It was a full moon t
hat was far bigger than the true moon on the surface world, but it too was perfectly realistic.
My eyes dropped further and then I saw the main event. Larger than life images of past coliseum champions sat side by side with exquisite cups in their hands. Each of their chairs was like a unique throne designed just for them. I actually spun to see that the walls on all four sides of the foyer were covered in the heroic characters. It was a true hall of champions.
Hearing a haughty snort, I glanced over to see a young vampire walk by dressed in a black suit jacket that seemed to possess its own hum of power. The red in his pupils was much more prominent than I’d ever seen. He didn’t bother to look in my direction again but walked toward the front desk with a disgusted aura.
“Did I make a mistake?” I said to Shamash through mind-speak.
“No,” he replied. “But you can expect vampires, especially those that consider themselves to be noble, to look for every excuse to look down on others. Showing emotion, even surprise, is viewed as the action of lower class beings. Forget that for now. Let’s get settled and then we’ll go shopping. We must space out our purchases so as not to bring us any unnecessary attention, but one of the benefits of a vampire’s fondness for blood is that you can find the blood of countless exotic creatures for sale that would likely take you decades to track down for Draining yourself. We will take full advantage. Come.”
Following in the direction of the self-important vampire, we headed toward the front desk. We didn’t make it two steps before another hostess in her sensual-business silk dress approached us with a tray of wine goblets filled with a dark red liquid. She didn’t meet my eyes, but also bowed her head fully and offered us the tray.
I was about to refuse when Shamash’s voice echoed in my mind. “Take it and Drain it as we walk. It isn’t human blood, but it is uncommon.”
Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series Page 4