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  After admitting to the last point, Shamash was quiet for a time. He knew that finding out that some vampires had a conscience would bother me, and yet he told me anyway.

  What about the part where vampires were all monsters and they unquestionably fed on humans? It was the very point I’d been using to justify my uncompromising attacks on the vampire guard posts.

  A few minutes later, he began to explain without my asking. “I didn’t expect the Tir family to send anyone to this event. Jale won’t participate in the preliminary. Her house never does. If they did, then I’d have you forfeit your match with her. She’s likely too strong for you to face unless you used your Light Magic and I don’t think you’d be willing to kill her either.

  “Most beast-feeders will kill humans like they’re nothing more than cattle just as normal vampires do. They just sell them to other vampires instead of eating them themselves. Very few actually take the moral argument as significant, and even fewer actually live by it. But there are some. The House of Tir is among them. Your quest to retrieve the item for the Head Mistress is in a territory that doesn’t welcome beast-feeders in the slightest, so this wasn’t something I expected you would have to worry about. As far as our mission goes, we shouldn’t run into any beast-feeders again once we leave Hallow.”

  How exactly did that excuse what I’d done? The fact that vampires weren’t all bloodthirsty murderers that viewed humans as food was enough to bring doubt. Were there any vampires I’d killed that didn’t deserve the deadly sunburns I’d given them? And even if they had, how could I possibly go around on a free-for-all killing spree any longer? I shook my head as a side of me wished I’d never found out, because this was going to extend my stay in the vampire realm unless something changed. Killing monsters I could live with, but murder…

  I found myself once again facing the fountain of blood that was pouring down like a smooth sheet from the ceiling. Both of my hands were curled into fists and I envisioned hitting the bloody water in the face, but of course water didn’t have a real face to speak of, nor did it feel pain. It was really Shamash I wanted to smack, but I hadn’t come to a point where I was confident enough to smack a lich.

  “If Tir never fights, why are they even here?” I finally replied.

  “My guess would be that it’s a business matter,” he said. “I saw no sign of a beast-feeder escort, and there was no gossip about their presence in Hallow. Jale was likely attending the party for the same reason you were. The local lord asked, so she was obliged to go. You’ll likely not see her again.”

  This party had been lousy in more ways than one. I now had the local nobility threatening me if I didn’t throw my fight against Manu, and I’d learned I couldn’t just go around killing every vampire I saw. I had to rethink everything we had planned. There was one possible direction I could take. If I won the preliminary and main tournament, then I’d receive enough Trueblood that I wouldn’t have to go on any more killing sprees. The dangers of that path were obvious. Without backing it would be like wading through a pool of blood that was filled with vampire sharks. I couldn’t decide if vampire sharks would be any worse than vampires or sharks… Was there not another possibility?

  “Does the beast-feeders’ presence not give us any other options?” I said.

  “Only if you want to join their house,” he replied, “and if you do, you’ll have to give up becoming Trueblooded. They don’t just reject drinking the blood of humans, but all sentients including other vampires.”

  “Then it looks like there is only one choice. I need to win the Festival of Parmida.”

  “There are other options,” he said with an uncustomarily gentle tone.

  Normally, out of fear and respect I was careful how I spoke to the lich, but after he’d lied to me, I laid on my thickest sarcasm. “Oh? I’m listening…”

  Chapter 16 – Vampire Comedian

  We moved on with the tournament, changing very little because of Manu Shah’s threat. That night after the party, Shamash began instructing me in the second step of how to enhance my Dark Magic with Blue Magic. Casting something simple like a Shadow Cloak that had nearly identical spells in both Schools of Magic was easy, but what about using Blue Magic to enhance manipulated Dark Magic with no similar base spell?

  The theory of how to accomplish it was as simple as the first step, but far more difficult in practice. The lich directed me to practice by first forming a ball with my Blue Magic version of Shadow Bolt, then casting the Dark Magic version and immediately trying to blend them in the same physical space. It was like trying to manipulate one spell on top of the other in the exact same way. Only if I got the first part right would the two spells begin blending together and become one.

  At first I had been grossed out by the fountain of blood in the greeting room of our apartment, but now I used it as a prop to constantly remind me why I was here. I sat facing it while I practiced the merging of my two magics. If I practiced enough, it would eventually become second nature and I wouldn’t even have to think about it. The benefits were enormous if I could pull it off. The strength of my Dark Magic would jump to another level while at the same time costing substantially less.

  Despite having some early success, I found the process completely unnatural. I began by systematizing the way I manipulated each spell. By doing so, I’d quickly develop the magic-memory to cast the enhanced Dark Orb in a fast and consistent way. It was a good first step that I could use as a foundation for other mana manipulation spells, but it was far from the end goal. There was one big problem with systematizing magic in this way. It limited me to only being able to cast spells that I’d practiced. The glory of true mana manipulation was that you were free to use magic however you desired. Your imagination and mana pool were your only limits.

  Systematizing the blending of my Blue Magic and Dark was only the beginning. I didn’t move from the same spot all night. Once I reached a proficiency in blending magics and could enhance the Dark Orb at will, I didn’t move on to developing different spells. Instead, I continued practicing the same spell, except when I cast the second step, I’d purposely experiment with manipulating it in a slightly different manner to see how the process failed. I didn’t want to just be able to blend the magics, I needed to know how they interacted in the most intimate way possible.

  ***

  My next opponent was a vampire of small stature. He was a dual element Earth and Ice Mage. Even though I’d been practicing my Dark Magic all night, I told Shamash that I was going to forgo his assignment of blocking two spells before attacking in order to make a statement. This vampire wasn’t exactly in Manu Shah’s inner circle, but he was more recognized than I was. Since he was the opponent directly after the meeting, it was only appropriate.

  As soon as the match started, he manipulated Earth and Ice to raise a defensive wall out of the ground. It was superior to the Earth defense of the fight I’d watched a few days ago. I’d have to give him props for trying.

  Crimson Incubus Form took shape a few seconds into the match. I compressed excess mana into the form until I’d surpassed 10x and didn’t even bother manipulating my skeletal armor to cover my upper torso. Keeping my form active at such a level would quickly drain my mana, but with the bonus to physical stats, it wouldn’t matter.

  A cloud of dust exploded under my feet as I launched forward at ridiculous speed. When nearing the Earth-Ice defense, I didn’t slow. Through Mana Sight I could see my opponent behind his defense because of the greater concentration of mana coming from his body and mana core.

  I dove into his magic wall with my arm outstretched before me. The rock and ice crumbled like chalk as my hand burst through it and caught ahold of my opponent’s wrist. With a twist of my torso, I threw him up into the air and heard a pop as his arm was pulled out of his shoulder socket.

  My wings drove me up and past him, high in the air above the arena.

  A number of Ice Shards flew at me even as he twisted and spun. It was impressive t
hat he was able to aim.

  I didn’t even try to block, letting his shards jab into my chest. They left bruises but couldn’t pierce my armored skin. As he reached me, he was trying to transform into his Bat Form, but it was already too late. I caught him by the back of the neck and held him out so that he dangled there facing me.

  “Yield,” I demanded, not giving him an option.

  I felt him try to swallow under the pressure of my grip, so I let go.

  “I give up!” he quickly declared.

  Turning away, I started to change in midair. As my wings disappeared I began to fall. We were a couple hundred feet in the air, but the distance didn’t matter. I landed with a dip of my knees, then walked toward the stands.

  Manu Shah wasn’t here personally, but he would definitely hear about my fight. He’d already seen my Incubus Form before and knew how powerful it could be. I wouldn’t use it every time, but I hoped that hearing about me using it again might cause him to think twice and offer me a better deal. All he had to do was give me a body of Trueblood as a signing bonus and I’d take him up on his offer then figure out how to get the rest that I needed later. Winning wasn’t nearly as important to me as completing the Head Mistress’s mission. I also wasn’t confident in my ability to win the main tournament for the Festival of Parmida.

  Taking my seat next to Shamash, I scanned the stands for any of my competition. The dark elf Eshana Dara wasn’t there, which was a little unexpected. Was there another fight going on that would offer better insights?

  Before I’d finished scanning the stands, an unannounced person sat down next to me. I found Sai Darvish reclining back with a self-indulgent grin on his face.

  “It looks like you survived the Shah dungeon with all your limbs intact,” he said with a chuckle.

  “I wouldn’t say you look good, but you made it too…” I replied, grateful to have someone that would lighten the mood—even if he was a vampire. Although now that I knew it was possible for vampires to have some form of conscience, I needed to reevaluate everything. Sai was a good place to start.

  “I’ll let that go since you just finished that death-defying fight. Are you sure your head’s okay after knocking it against that guy’s magic wall?”

  “I’ve slept on harder pillows.”

  He sat forward, looking at me like I was crazy. “Why in the bloodless hells would you do that?”

  I held my laughter to a light chuckle.

  “Good fight,” he said, leaning back again against his seat. “Hopefully soon they’ll let you fight more than fainthearted children.”

  “Oh? Are you saying you are more than a fainthearted child?”

  “I’m a beautiful man with a robust masculinity. All boys admire me, and women fawn after me like drakes to a bull dragon. Even men hope to be close to me in hope that my vigor will inspire them to greatness.”

  “So you’re sitting here out of pity because you want to invigorate me?”

  “Well, when you put it that way, I’ll go then.” He moved as if he was getting up but started laughing before retaking his seat.

  After a few minutes, another fight was getting ready to begin. It got our attention, but neither competitor was very impressive.

  “It seems like anyone with some melee ability is walking through the competition,” Sai observed. “That orc Gansuk finished his opponent faster than you did. I finished mine yesterday, but it was about the same as you.”

  “I thought you were a Dark Mage,” I replied.

  “No. Dark Magic is my talent, but I haven’t had the training most nobles get, so my mana manipulation is sad. I use it mainly to enhance my physical stats then beat people over the head. As a military man, I go for simple and practical.”

  It was unexpected to find out that those that were finding the competition easiest were melee fighters. Sai couldn’t be considered a typical melee fighter because he buffed himself in a similar way that I did with my Light Magic, but from my experience with the humans of Sanctuary, melee fighters had a disadvantage compared to magic users of the same level. They also tended to level slower. I imagined that that might change as they reached the 10,000 stat buffs and higher levels, but in Hallow it seemed the opposite. Especially after hearing Shamash say he’d have me forfeit my match if I ever had to face a beast-feeder like Jale Tir who had a greater focus on physical stats because of their diet and its effects on their advancement.

  Just as I was letting my mind wander, my eyes settled upon an unexpected spectator. Jale Tir was actually across from us watching the tournament?

  She sat among a group of twenty beast-feeder powerhouses. There was only one young man a few seats away that was lower than her level 13,000. The rest I checked quickly and saw the lowest was 40,000 while half of them had magically hidden their levels. All of them wore beast furs or scales as protective clothing. Much of their garb was fitted like armor, so I assumed their clothing acted as such.

  Jale wore her blue scaled shawl and a silver scaled vest with matching pants that were both as tight as leather. Even in the well illuminated arena, her eyes seemed to have a violet glow of their own.

  After a few moments under my gaze, she glanced up and looked right at me. It was almost like she could feel me observing her.

  She didn’t bow her head, even in a superior greeting. Instead she once again gave me her challenging stare.

  I hoped that in some way I could earn the beast-feeders’ protection, so if anyone were going to swallow their pride, it would be me. Not that I cared about such things.

  I nodded my head as if greeting a superior.

  She watched me for another moment, then turned away without so much as a blink.

  “Are you thinking about joining up with them?” Sai said, suddenly earnest.

  “I’m not sure,” I replied honestly. “Having their protection so I don’t have to worry about Manu without having to give up becoming Trueblooded would be better.”

  “If you did join, they’d probably make you leave the competition. Beast-feeders don’t compete in the preliminary.”

  I turned to him and asked seriously, “Do you know why they don’t fight?”

  “It’s not that they don’t compete ever, just not in the preliminary or in normal events, so it’s been years since a beast-feeder fought in Hallow. I think they believe it’s beneath them. And it’s hard to deny that it probably is. There’s been no announcements made, but Jale Tir may compete in the Festival of Parmida.”

  “She doesn’t need to qualify?”

  “No. The bigger houses can reserve seats. It’s not just political. The most powerful families have a lot more resources than the smaller noble houses, so their youth always progress much faster. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that in comparison to the larger families, the smaller ones are considered little better than commoners. The different preliminary events are really just held so that the youth from the larger houses have some decent competition and it’s not too lopsided. If Manu Shah were to just place in the top 10 of the Festival of Parmida it would be a big deal for his small house.”

  I heard Shamash’s voice in my head responding to Sai’s assessment. “What he says is true. That is why leaving after the preliminaries is necessary. But, if you were to somehow earn the beast-feeders’ backing, only then would it be safe to continue. Although even then there are some old monsters that will be able to tell that your Vampire Form is just another Blue Magic disguise. If you want to pursue this possibility, there’s one thing that might improve your chances of hiding from them. Using your Ultimate Form where you blend multiple forms at all times may confuse things enough. It’s still a gamble. The more forms you utilize at one time the better it will work. Do you plan on going down this path?”

  I looked over at Jale Tir one more time with a sigh. How exactly was I going to pull this off? “Yes. I do.”

  “Then tonight we will work on your Ultimate Form and continue your Dark Magic enhancement training.”

  A fe
w minutes later, Sai stood up and stretched.

  “Heading out?” I said.

  “Yes,” he replied. “I have a fight in half an hour in one of the outer arenas.”

  Hearing that, I immediately stood.

  “You’re going to watch?”

  “What can I say? I have a thing for watching people get bashed over the head.”

  “Then I’ll try my best to not disappoint.”

  “Shouldn’t be hard. If you lose you could always request them smack you upside the head if they haven’t already.”

  “When did you get so funny?”

  I was actually hesitant to leave with the Tir family present, but Sai was the closest thing I had to a friend and I also wanted to see how well Dark Magic buffs worked compared to Light Magic ones. It should prove interesting.

  Chapter 17 – Melee Thunder

  The mana filled Sai’s limbs and torso with an increasing density as he buffed himself with Dark Magic. I watched his stats at the same time, but only saw his Intelligence and Wisdom increase. He was obviously buffing his muscular and skeletal systems, so why were his physical stats unaffected?

  A sleeveless breastplate of dark steel with red lightning like veins was his only defense. His lower half was just covered in tough fabric that stopped above the knee. Even without his magic enhancing his arms and legs as my Light Magic would, his physique was lean and chiseled.

  I watched as his Intelligence and Wisdom jumped up 25% and his 5,000,000 MP gained another 1,255,000.

  Sai Darvish

  Character Sheet

  Level: 13,166

  Health Points: 5,091,500

  Mana Points: 6,255,625

  Attributes

  Strength: 10,413

  Dexterity: 22,444

  Constitution: 10,183

  Intelligence: 12,511