Vampire Reincarnation

The chilly air filled the entire cabin with a dense blanket of fog that slowly rose from the floor. Kai squinted his eyes at the barely visible figure of the small girl, the muffled sound of his chattering teeth echoed in the frozen cabin like a pair of dice in a cup as his whole body shivered. What sort of magic is this? Kai’s arms wrapped around himself, the moist material of the robe sticking tightly to his cold body.

The petite girl’s auburn hair stood on end as she heard a deep inhale, followed by a heavy sigh that bounced off the cabin walls and echoed in her small and round ears. With widening pupils, she turned her head towards the source of the sigh. An aggravated voice resounded in the air as her eyes met Orphelia’s angry glare “Ysne, you can stop, he’s not an enemy.”

Her freckles danced on her face as her nose twitched nervously, tears threatening to flow from her chocolate-colored eyes. She let out a soft squeak as her body relaxed and the ice on the walls began to melt away.

Orphelia’s gaze softened upon seeing the girl’s frightened appearance. Rubbing her temples, she beckoned Ysne with her hand. “Must you freeze everything whenever you feel threatened?” She gently rubbed the girl’s head.

Her other hand clenched into a fist, and a ring on her middle finger emitted a faint glow. The carriage shook slightly as a loud thud reverberated in Kai’s ears. Instantly, warmth filled the cabin as the fog dissipated, revealing a huge crystal that glowed with a captivating red hue. Kai found himself surrounded by vapor as the moisture from his clothes quickly evaporated before disappearing as well.

His eyes widened as he stared at the enormous crystal in the middle of the carriage with an open mouth. A firestone, this big?! His eyes then shifted to Orphelia, whose clothes seemed not to have been affected by the sudden snowstorm.

“My lady… this man, is he…?” The freckled girl’s high-pitched voice rang in his ears and he turned to look at her. His eyes flew straight at her short, gray ears, the tip of his fingers still remembering their fluffiness. Kai’s face instantly turned a bright shade of pink as the petite girl’s soft moan echoed in his mind. The now-dried robe fluttered rapidly as he shook his head, trying to remove that image from his mind. What’s wrong with me…

Orphelia chuckled softly with an amused smile as she observed Kai’s reactions. “Yes, he’s the one that saved us, originally I wanted to repay him but I think he already claimed his prize.” She said with a laugh as her blue eyes drifted towards Kai, who lowered his head after hearing her statement.

Ysne’s hands flew to her twitching ears as her freckled face got covered in a shade of pink. An awkward silence descended in the cabin and a single thought ran through both their heads: This is so embarrassing, is she doing this intentionally?

Kai raised his head as his face returned to normal, and he looked straight into the small girl’s chocolate opal eyes, sending a jolt of electricity down her spine before she avoided his gaze “Y-Y-Ysne right?” he stammered as he spoke with a timid tone “I’m sorry for earlier, I, I didn’t know tha-…”

“It’s fine!” Her high-pitched yell bounced off the carriage walls, sending a shiver down Kai’s spine as the sharp sound entered his ears. Her face reddened even further and she lowered her voice as she said. “I mean, it’s fine, it’s not your fault entirely… after all, I hid under the blanket and before I knew it, I was asleep…” she played with her fingers and her voice got quieter as she lowered her head in shame.

“Then,” Orphelia’s voice rang in their ears as their eyes turned to her. “We can agree that it’s no one’s fault, right?” she said with a smile, her hands wandering around Ysne’s auburn hair.

Orphelia’s slim fingers ran through the fluffy, luscious hair as she kept talking. “We should reach Nivero in a few days, we will take a break at an outpost a day away from here then we will depart after a good rest. Other than that…” Her eyes turned to Kai, who was fixated on the huge crystal on the floor. “How are you feeling?”

“Besides the risk of catching a bad cold, I’m quite alright.” he joked as he lifted his head, and a strange, faint glow emitted by a few red crystals on Orphelia’s dress caught his attention. Are those fire crystals? How cheap are they to be embroidered on a dress, not to mention that big one… Kai’s keen gaze switched between the two crystals as a question suddenly popped up in his mind.

“Could you explain what happened earlier? The snow and all that stuff, how did she cast such a spell without a wand or chants?” he asked Orphelia, who, along with Ysne, gave him weird looks the moment the question left his lips.

“I guess you’re entitled to an explanation…” Orphelia sighed as she put one leg over the other. “I will keep it short. As I’m sure you’re aware, Demi-Humans have a higher affinity with magic than normal humans, and in the wild, some Magic Beasts that reach the Eight Star Rank can develop a unique power called ‘Domain’.”

Ah, I didn’t know any of that… Kai rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he listened, taking every bit of new information. “This ‘Domain’” she continued “can be inherited by the descendants of that race. Ysne over here was lucky enough to awaken her bloodline and obtain the Domain of the Ice-Hearted Mouse, but she can’t control it just yet.” She said as she looked tenderly at the round-eared girl.

“Well she can turn it off or wait until she runs out of mana but as for activating it… it’s more of an instinct. Whenever she’s scared or anxious to an extreme degree it activates by itself, but she has time to learn how to use it, she’s only sixteen after all.”

Sixteen?! Kai widened his eyes as he looked at the small girl, who didn’t seem that much taller than him. Good thing this hood covers my face otherwise they’d think I had a seizure by how much my expression changed…

“Lady Orphelia!” Ysne’s high-pitched voice woke Kai from his thoughts. He snapped his eyes towards the small girl, who had an unhealthy shade of pink all over her face. “You’re sharing too much…”

“Ah! Sorry Ysne, you’re right.” Orphelia raised her hand to her mouth and apologized. “I’ll make it up to you,” she said as her sapphire eyes moved towards Kai once again. “I’m twenty years old, have a little brother who currently goes to the Magic Academy in the capital and I can only use light magic.” She smiled towards Ysne as she asked “There, is that good enough for you?”

Ysne’s ears lowered sideways as her gaze drifted towards the ground “It’s not fair… you don’t care about such things…” she said, sulking.

“Then what if our friend tells us something about himself?” she asked, pointing towards Kai, who jolted slightly upon hearing the question. “Clearly he cares quite a bit about his identity, seeing as he didn’t remove his hood even after all this time.”

The girl’s freckled face lit up and her ears rose upwards as she turned to look at Kai. Her nose twitched slightly and her eyes shone with a glint of interest. His gaze turned towards Orphelia who had a mischievous smile in her eyes. His pupils widened as he came to a realization. Was this her goal all along? No way…

“Well…” he let out a faint sigh before he continued “As I said, my name is Kai. I can’t use magic… at the moment. I’m ten years old and the Obborik should be about two…?” He paused his speech, taken aback by the expressions formed on the girls’ faces.

The girls' eyes widened and their lips froze in a strange smile. They blinked rapidly as they exchanged a quick glance, unable to hide their shock at Kai's revelation. “I… I see, ten years old huh…” Orphelia stammered as she did her best to take in the information. How is this brat so strong? Furthermore, why does the Goddess want me to bring him to the temple? She let out a heavy sigh and turned her attention towards the window.

The rattling sound of the carriage filled the cabin, accompanied by the clopping of the white deer, along with Onyx’s yelping as darkness covered the land.

“We’ll reach the outpost soon.” Orphelia’s melodious voice broke the silence, waking up Ysne, who was sleeping comfortably on her lap. She yawned lazily while getting up, her dry lips parted as she said in a tired voice “Already?”

“Yes, for how long were you planning to sleep?” Orphelia chuckled as she ruffled her hair. “Be ready to get off.” She looked at Kai, who nodded slightly.

They saw a wall made out of sharp, vertically placed logs appear in front of them after a few minutes. The outpost occupied a few hundred square meters zone and was built next to a wide river.

The dancing flames of the torches placed inside the tall lookout towers served as the sole light source in the eerie darkness. Inside the area of the walls were a dozen wooden barracks and around twenty enormous tents, as well as a shower area close to the river.

The loud chatter and joyful laughs around the outpost completely silenced Orphelia’s rattling carriage as it slowly approached the gates of the miniature fortress.

Four guards, two on each side, stood vigilant and unmoving in front of the gates. They maintained their poker faces even as they saw the approaching figure of the huge white deer. However, small drops of sweat ran down their backs as they saw the huge Obborik next to it.

They gave each other a quick nod before two of them moved forward to meet Lady Orphelia, their silver armor clanked as the different components rubbed against each other.

The other two guards moved to open the heavy wooden gate. A deep, rumbling creaking sound resounded in the air, its hinges groaning as it slowly opened.

The carriage stopped in front of the guards, kicking up a small cloud of dust and it shuddered slightly as the door slammed open with a loud thud. “We will leave in the morning,” Orphelia said as she left the carriage accompanied by Kai and Ysne.

The two silver armored men nodded silently before greeting the captain of the jade-armored guards with a casual smile. The captain snorted and his expression darkened when he saw the two approach. “You fucking bastards!”

Their smiles froze in place, and they gave each other a puzzled look as the captain's anger slowly rose. “A large group of bandits attacked us on the way here!” He yelled, his voice filled with fury. “If it weren’t for the courage of a young man we would be corpses on the ground!”

They stared at each other with widened eyes, their lips twitching nervously as their faces reddened. “Apologies sir! We scouted the area before you departed from Limmin, our patrols must have slacked off!” Their armor rattled loudly as they bowed towards the captain. “We must report this at once!”

Orphelia, Kai, and Ysne made their way inside the outpost where a burly man with a thick mustache waited for them. He approached the group with a wide, amiable smile, a faint shade of red covering his cheeks. His lips parted, the strong stench of alcohol escaping through his breath as he said in a hoarse voice. “Lady Orphelia, I hope your travels were safe.”

“I guess we can say that,” she replied in an irritated voice as she made her way past the drunk man. “I’m tired, prepare a meal for us and send it to the usual cabin.” she said imperatively, and paused slightly before she continued “And feed Hyperflon and my friend’s pet as well.”

The drunk man kept smiling, clearly unbothered by her behavior and as he turned towards the gate he saw the two guards approaching. His expression darkened as they told him what happened, and he scratched his mustache as he mumbled something under his breath.

The barrack Orphelia chose had four bedrooms and a private bath, as well as a spacious dining area with a large rectangular table in the middle. Three bowls of hot soup accompanied by a few pieces of meat and bread were already placed in front of three chairs. The three of them sat down as the wooden chairs creaked under their weight.

“I will go take a bath, feel free to pick whichever room you like. If you want you can take a bath later as well.” She said as she stood up from the dining table, clearly in a hurry to clean herself. Kai nodded before he took his leave as well, and Ysne followed after Orphelia.

As he wandered through the barrack, the wooden boards creaked beneath his feet. Curiously, he inspected each room, but they all looked the same. Finally, he picked up an unoccupied bedroom and threw himself onto the bed. He let out a heavy sigh as his eyes threatened to close. Who knew a carriage ride could be so tiring…

He sat up and looked around the room. It didn’t have any decorations, it looked plain and the only furniture was a bed, a closet with a large mirror next to it, a desk and a chair.

He walked up to the mirror and inspected himself. The robe he used to cover his face was dirty, and the old holes were accompanied by new ones. Undoing the robe, it fluttered softly as it hit the ground, revealing his face. His crimson eyes stared back at him through the crystal surface, sending small shivers down his spine as he saw the reflection of his parents within.

Small tears trailed down his cheeks as their faces flashed in his mind, their distant voices echoing in his ears. His breathing became rapid and cold sweat dripped down his back as his whole body shivered. He brought his hand to his chest, and he took deep breaths as he tried to calm down.

*Thud* Kai jumped on his feet as the door slammed against the wall, turning around, he saw Ysne’s small figure staring at him with widened eyes. He quickly hid his eyes as he evaded her gaze, his long silver hair fluttering as it danced around him.