Chapter 6
Xavier knocked on Chloe's door when she was curled up in bed asleep.
The little one slept very neatly. At only five years old, her hands and legs were short, yet her sleeping posture had already begun to resemble that of the military's.
It was the kind of posture where if there was the slightest rustle, she could immediately jump up to attack.
Clearly, it was not normal for a five-year-old cub to sleep in such a posture.
But when Xavier thought about Chloe's other behaviors, he decided it didn't really matter.
However, it should be said that no matter how proper Chloe slept, her dumpling face was still very cute.
Xavier sat by the window and waited until the sun came up before he reached out to push the sleeping cub.
Almost as soon as his hand touched her, Chloe immediately opened her eyes.
Her alertness was such that it seemed as if she had only been pretending to sleep.
After waking up and seeing it was Xavier by the bed, Chloe let down her guard. She took a book out from under her pillow and said with a yawn, "Do you need me to recite from the beginning?"
"No need." Xavier flipped to the sixth page. "Start from here."
Chloe paused briefly, then smoothly began reciting the incantations from the sixth page from memory.
The book was too thick. Unless she didn't eat or drink all day, there was no way she could recite the whole thing in one day.
Watching the cub across from him reciting wildly without even having combed her hair, Xavier felt a strange emotion rise within him.
Was he being too strict?
But soon, Chloe shattered this thought of his with her own hands.
After reciting a large part of the book, gasping for breath, Chloe looked up provocatively at Xavier:
"This is too simple. I don't understand the point of you assigning me this homework."
Xavier: "..."
He closed the book of incantations and lifted the cub off the bed.
There was no need to continue reciting anyway, since it seemed this five-year-old cub had already memorized the entire book.
Chloe was very dissatisfied with his habit of casually grabbing her by the collar and dangling her entire body up into the air.
"Let me go!"
Xavier ignored her completely.
He dodged Chloe's claws that tried to attack him, and said, "You've been staying up late recently."
Chloe stared at him stubbornly, "So what? It's none of your business."
Having said that, she struggled to get down from his hand.
Xavier's tone was calm, "Of course it's my business. I'm your father."
"Oh, so now you know you're my dad, huh," Chloe said sarcastically.
Xavier's eyes flashed, but he chose to remain silent in the end.
He still held Chloe by the collar and forcibly kept the cub still while smearing something on her cheek.
It was slippery and very uncomfortable.
Chloe struggled wildly. When she finally caught her breath, she looked at Xavier incredulously, "Did you just smother pig oil on my face?!"
Xavier: "..."
For the first time, the esteemed Ancestor felt a headache coming on. He explained, "This isn't pig oil, it's children's cream for cubs, and eye gel to reduce dark circles."
Upon hearing this, Chloe's frantic face wiping motions stopped. She asked suspiciously, "Really?"
Xavier: "...Really."
Having gotten this assurance, Chloe reluctantly settled down, "Okay then."
"It's a day off from preschool today. What do I need to do?"
She still remembered that she had to undergo special vampire training.
Xavier looked at her and said, "Just come with me."
After saying this, he picked Chloe up and held her in his arms, then walked out of the room.
Chloe was quite obedient, nestling against her dad's shoulder and observing the manor's trees and grass.
With her cute dumpling face like beautiful jade and eyes blinking like rubies, wherever Xavier went, countless gazes were drawn to the cub in his arms.
Chloe showed no signs of fear at all. She would even smile sweetly at these people.
Yet Xavier could not enjoy the same.
He began to reflect on where exactly he had gone wrong.
Soon, they arrived at an underground training room beneath the manor.
It was full of bizarrely shaped equipment that Chloe could not name. The whole place had a cold, mechanical style that made Chloe vaguely excited.
"What is this place?" she asked.
Xavier's voice was calm, "A training room specially built by the Ancestor Bloodline for their descendants."
"Do you see those Simulation Capsules over there? We usually use those to simulate battles. After getting inside a Simulation Capsule, we often set the pain perception to one hundred percent in order to stimulate one's willpower and achieve full battle simulation."
Looking at the Simulation Capsules not far away, Chloe was a bit curious, "Is the Simulation Capsule technology very advanced?"
"It is indeed extremely advanced," Xavier replied. "But this technology is not exclusive to vampires. Other races have it too. The only difference is that only vampires make their cubs use these machines."
Upon hearing this, Chloe remarked, "Inhuman."
Xavier neither agreed nor denied it.
The vampires had always been the race with the most intense survival of the fittest mentality, revering the strong and believing that without sufficient power, going hungry was a small matter - there was even a great possibility that the right to live itself would be stripped away.
Xavier did not continue thinking about it. Instead, he asked, "Want to try it out?"
Though Chloe had just denounced it as inhuman, hearing this question now still made her nod excitedly.
Seeing the cub's appearance, Xavier's lips curled up slightly. Then he said,
"No."
Chloe was stunned instantly, "Why?!"
Xavier placed her on another machine, "Because you're a cub. You can't withstand the painful sensations of the Simulation Capsule."
"Didn't you say vampire cubs would all enter the Simulation Capsule?"
Xavier nodded, "That's right."
"But from five to twenty years old, vampires are still considered cubs given their long lifespans."
Xavier put a helmet on Chloe. After that, the sounds she heard became muffled, "Don't rush. When you turn thirteen, I'll arrange for you to practice in the Simulation Capsule. By then, your fangs should have grown in too."
Chloe clenched her fists.
Was she never going to be able to get past this fang gag?!
But soon after, she heard the familiar sounds of cannons firing in her ears.
These sounds were especially dense, exploding thunderously in Chloe's ears. She couldn't deny it was frightening.
But in her previous life, Chloe had always lived alongside these kinds of sounds, so she was unafraid. She was even analyzing which of the sounds belonged to large weapons and which to small weapons.
Vaguely, Xavier's surprised voice came from outside, "You're not scared at all?"
Cubs of this age range would cry in fear at the sound of firecrackers and fireworks.
But looking at how relaxed Chloe seemed, she clearly wasn't afraid.
Xavier pressed a button next to the seat.
At the same time, Chloe saw a dismembered, bloody arm appear on the helmet she was wearing.