Vampire Reincarnation

Ever since that human rose, the other weaklings started fighting back… The rate of escape attempts has risen, and so did assassination attempts on my soldiers. Of course, they were only attempts, but it seems they have forgotten what fear tastes like.

Kai rushed through the forest, Onyx in front of him, and a large Scarlet Bear trailing behind them. Damn it, this thing isn’t nocturnal! He cursed inwardly as he jumped past bushes and roots, circling trees and breaking the grass under his feet.

He ran, and so did Onyx, until the bear seemingly gave up, allowing them to catch their breath in the middle of the forest. Fuck! I got scammed, I even double-checked the flier, and yet! Damn it, these Menahem guys, putting out hard tasks and disguising them as noob ones. Scammers! The lot of them. He cursed repeatedly, then did so again until all the rage left his body.

“Let’s go, we got what we wanted… and what he wanted as well.” He turned to Onyx, and both walked opposite the Scarlet Bear, taking a longer route to make sure they didn’t fall prey to it again.

…

Back in the city, Kai waited in a long line to hand in his tasks. The verifying process went similarly to the one he did with the young boy. However this time there was no contract signing and was much more straightforward.

After collecting his Merit Points, he didn’t immediately go to Karfi’s bar but instead walked to the place he followed the young man to and phased through the wall together with Onyx.

“Ah, you’re back.” The young boy said, lounging on a couch and reading from a torn book. “I have to say, this world’s history is quite interesting, but the lack of deep records shows that Lumiera is incapable of ruling.”

Kai sighed, taking away the book. “Will you please stop badmouthing the Goddess?”

“No, she’s just a minor God amongst many.”

“It just, look, it just feels wrong. Come, I brought the stuff you asked for.” Kai walked toward the room where the beast was being held, and its tail wagged rapidly back and forth upon seeing his visage. “Here Darky, I brought you some deer.” He said, flashing his ring and throwing an entire deer carcass inside the cage.

The creature - now named Darky - Gobbled up the thing in a few bites, bone and fur included. No matter how many times I look at it… I can’t get used to it. As time passed, and the creature fed, it became more docile, and at the same time, its fur grew longer, darker, and seemed to resemble some kind of void. “Are you sure this thing is… from here?” Kai asked the boy, who yawned lazily and sat down at the desk.

“And aren’t you supposed to be my assistant? It’s been two months since you invaded my home and are already taking over my entire space.”

Kai chuckled awkwardly and dumped medicinal herbs, materials, and a few coins in separate containers. “Well, between helping you discover what this thing is, and doing tasks all day, this is more fun.”

“Even if I could kill you in one hundred different ways?” The boy said, his tone changing suddenly.

“Pfft,” Kai let out an involuntary laugh. “Barhm, you’ve already used that line a dozen times, it won’t work anymore.”

The young boy sighed and turned back to his desk, picking up another book and reading through it while chewing on a carrot. “You’re right, you’re too useful to me right now, to think you were quivering in fear a few weeks ago, tsk.”

“Haha, well… you’re not as bad a guy as I thought, especially after scamming me.”

“Hey!” Barhm hit the table, “You can’t blame me, have you seen how much food this thing requires to be kept alive? Not to mention me, I’m a growing boy.”

Kai rolled his eyes and walked toward another desk sitting at the opposite corner of the room, and took a seat as he pulled out a couple of circular glass panes. Barhm instantly perked his ears and scooted over to Kai’s side. “Are these the new lenses?”

“Yeah,” Kai pushed him away. “Don’t bother me too much, I have no idea how to assemble it properly.”

“But the blueprints you came up with after seeing mine were pretty detailed.”

“I just look at what you made and improved upon it with theory, doesn’t mean I can just wish it into existence,” Kai said, half-lying. That was the best course of events, I don’t wanna out myself after all. But Kai wasn’t wrong either, he truly did not know how to assemble it. He sighed and went back to brainstorming, using the few pieces of ‘technology’ he commissioned to put together a barely functional microscope.

This will take longer than I thought… Kai sighed and went back to work. While he tinkered with the microscope, Onyx lay at his feet, glancing at the ebony beast with caution. At the same time, Barhm had a myriad of different, black animal parts laid on his desk - Claws, Fur, Skin, and a few seemingly empty vials.

He picked up a claw, and smiled to himself as he pulled out a dark crystal, and crushed it within his palms. Holding the claw, a dark, bright bubble encapsulated it. The claw broke apart and decayed, disintegrating into countless particles floating before Barhm’s glowing eyes. Kai glanced at the process briefly and clicked his tongue before paying no more attention to Barhm’s weird magic. He tortured Darky with all the claws and fur he took from it, but last time I suggested other methods… He shivered and decided not to think about it anymore. After all, Rodney would agree with this way of thinking.

“Hey, can you go fetch me more dark crystals?” Barhm asked without even turning to Kai, mesmerized by the particles floating before him. Kai let out a frustrated sigh and stood up.

“Sure.” He said through gritted teeth as he walked out the door, Onyx hurrying with him. “But I don’t have an infinite amount of money, you know?”

“Bullshit, just do more tasks,” Barhm replied nonchalantly, earning a grunt of anger from Kai. However, in the end, Kai didn’t say anything and phased through the wall, reappearing outside the alley and storming toward the closest magic shop.

Menahem… He sighed inwardly as he pushed the door, his entrance signaled by the soft jingle of a bell. Greeting him was a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties. Her beautiful face was decorated by a few wrinkles, and red locks of hair cascaded down her chest and back. A smile creased her lips as she saw the masked Kai, and leaned forward on the counter as she greeted him. “Welcome dear customer, back for the same thing?”

Kai smiled upon seeing her, but didn’t say anything, and just looked around at the small shop filled to the brim with magical items, some he didn’t even know the names of. Display Wands and Magical Crystals decorated the shelves, along with some medicinal plants, branches, and other wand-crafting materials. The shop felt cozy, with a warm orange light sprouting from small crevices, and the wooden interior making it seem like a wooden cabin more than the money pit it had become for Kai.

“Yes, Miss… same old thing.” He sighed and placed a couple of gold coins on the counter. The woman’s eyes instantly beamed with light as she grabbed them, and handed a bag to Kai. Despite its small size, the bag was heavier than it looked, and as he counted the dark crystals, her melodious voice rang in his ears.

“Say, you’ve been coming here every few weeks, what do you need those crystals for?”

Kai sighed, and a wry smile formed on his face. “I wish I knew as well…” He left, sulking, the same melodious jingle marking his departure.

He didn’t place the crystals back in his ring and instead listened to the beady sounds they made clashing against each other. It’s the only interaction I’ll have with them anyway.

Clenching his fists, he pulled out a separate crystal and hit it against the wall before phasing through it. This magic is weird… He shivered as he looked at the crystal, which now had several visible cracks on its surface.

“You’re back already?” Barhm’s voice echoed. “Great, I need you to buy me a list of ingredients, here.” A small piece of paper flew toward Kai, which he picked up and clenched within his fists.

“You know, there’s a reason the microscope takes so long to be finished, right?” Kai approached Barhm, placing the bag of crystals on his desk before turning away with a sigh.

“It’s not urgent, for now, I need to figure out if there’s a way to replicate this creature’s invisibility.”

“So you just turned me into your breadboy?” Kai chuckled, turning away and preparing to leave once again. However, before he could take two steps, the sound of screeching metal inundated his ears, and his eye snapped toward the cage, which now had a large hole decorating it.

Barhm let out a yell as his desk seemingly crumbled without any warning, and a large cut ran across his chest as he struggled to crush an orange crystal. “Damn this body! Fuck, help me Ichor!” He yelled, seemingly desperate, and Kai immediately realized what had happened.

He pulled out his wand, and immediately cast a light spell, blinding Darky, then cast a fire spell which pushed it away from Barhm. An angry growl resounded in the air as the floor before Kai cracked, the source of the fissures rapidly approaching him. Shit! He cursed and retreated into the other room, then murmured something under his breath. The top of his wand glowed with a dark light, which he then shot toward where he thought Darky was.

The creature dodged, or Kai missed, and the spell hit Barhm instead, a large, dark net covering and restraining his entire body. Damn it, how is this possible? Was the cage not strong enough?

He questioned, but had no time for answers as he prepared to shoot another spell, but where? Clicking his tongue, his mind raced to find any solution. However, a white shadow dashed past him, smashing through the door and ramming into the invisible creature. The room shook as Onyx wrestled with the thing, digging his teeth deep into its flesh, causing a red stream to flow down its invisible body.

It growled, but couldn’t overpower Onyx’s true body, and eventually gave up the struggle. Its figure turned opaque once again, and Kai didn’t hesitate to bind it with several spells.

“Phew,” he let out a sigh, patting Onyx’s fluff and giving him a large amount of meat as a reward. “You did good, boy.” The Obborik’s tail wagged back and forth as he devoured the food.

Kai quickly rushed to Barhm’s side. The boy groaned in pain as Kai lifted his head, and the wound decorating his body emanated a dark aura. “That doesn’t look too good…” Kai said as he placed as much cloth as he could under Barhm’s head, allowing him to move closer to the cut.

He pulled out a clean cloth, and dipped it in alcohol, then cleaned the boy’s wound. Barhm let out a pained groan as the alcohol seeped into his wounds, and the cloth turned bloodier. “Fuck man what are you doing?” He cursed, however, Kai quickly restrained him.

“I’m treating your wound unless you want it to get infected.” He said but didn’t wait for Barhm to reply as he recalled what Aina taught him, and what he read from her medical books. Who thought they’d ever come in handy? Hah. Although the procedure was simple, it was still his first time bandaging someone. After he thoroughly cleaned the wound and bandaged it with special, medicinal herbs, he gave the boy a few drops of a Health Potion, which he had lying around from Aina, and laid him on the bed.

“You should be better in a few hours, I think children’s bodies heal faster.”

“Ha… thanks.” Barhm said with his mouth half open, “More importantly, can you go get a new cage for the beast? I’m not sure how long it will stay like that.”

Kai paused and glanced at Darky before nodding. “Yeah, please don’t hurt him more than this though. I’ll leave Onyx here, just in case.”

Barhm nodded and glanced at the Obborik, whose size towered even the ebony abyssal beast. He didn’t think much of it, but a glint of interest shone within his eyes. “If you touch even a hair on his body,” Kai said, noticing his regard. “I’ll make sure your whole operation goes under and you get discovered, even if it will cost me my life. Got it?” His tone was violent, and threatening… unlike his usual self. Barhm gulped and nodded, deciding that it wasn’t worth the trouble.

Kai phased through the wall, ended up back in the usual spot, and hurried off into the distance. He dashed past stores and bars, sneaked through crowds, and took shortcuts via dark, dirty alleys. Finally, he ended up on the other side of the town, and a familiar sight embraced his vision. A small smithery filled with smoke, where the sound of a hammer hitting blazing metal never stopped.

He approached the workshop, the heat emanating from the furnaces tickling his skin. A dwarf greeted him as he got close, not a rare sight, but an unusual one in such a city. Dwarves were usually kept in noble houses and manors, and very rarely did they operate in blacksmiths outside their mountain range or their employees smithery.

“Ah, my hearty companion! What be’ bringing ya here so soon?” He asked with a thick accent and an ever-thicker dialect. Like most other dwarves, the man was short with a semi-bald head and a large beard. He wore the usual apron, black, charred, and torn from the heavy work and high temperatures it’s going through every day and every night. Below that, a simple black T-shirt and a pair of leather pants protected him from the elements.

“Mahe, hello again,” Kai said with an awkward smile. I’m still not fully used to the way he talks… “I’m here on business again.”

“Tell me what ye be needing. I’ll forge it for ya quicker than you can mold a sword!” Igor laughed, a smile manifesting behind his braided beard. “Nuthin’ be beyond reach, for the right plunder, of course.” He continued with an ever-widening smile.

They stopped beside a table, and Kai didn’t hesitate or waste any time as he met gazes with the dwarf. “I need a big… wide and tall cage. A very strong one.” He dropped a small pouch of coins on the table, causing the dwarf’s eyes to shine with a bright light. “And urgent.”

“How urgent be the matter?” Mahe asked, his smile fading slightly upon hearing Kai’s tone.

The boy flicked his wrist and pulled out another, smaller pouch, filled with jingling coins. “This urgent.” He said, dropping it next to the other.

“Aye,” The dwarf said, weighing the pouches in his hand. “It’ll be ready before the sun kisses the horizon. Fear not, and consider it done, friend.”

“Consider what, done?” Suddenly a deep, intrigued voice resounded in the air, accompanied by a set of rhythmic footsteps and a beautiful suit with gray stripes. “Could I perhaps be made aware as to what my forgery plans to do?”