Hobbling through the abyss with only the gloomy blue light from these crystals as my guide, I continued along the wall with only my thoughts to keep me sane. Sylvia had told me that the only guarantee about these waves of monsters is that they would come from one side at a time and once three waves had passed they would come from the opposite direction.

During the three waves, the monsters would also come sporadically and at random intervals, making it absolute hell since you couldn't rest reliably. It was a system meant to drain somebody of physical and mental stamina. Which made me wonder if it was the monsters doing it… or the dungeon?

I understand why she hasn’t been able to sleep and has been having such a hard time. This only made me more conflicted inside. The intense distrust and hatred flowing from me made my pulse quicken and my vision narrow. Just seeing Sylvia and her crimson eyes put me in this kind of mood. Since when did I let my emotions run wild like this? I mean I have my moments but… not like this.

Not only that was my anger even warranted? Was I angry with Sylvia because she was a vampire? Or was I feeling this way because she was right about our current situation?

Do I hate her? Is this what it’s like to hate somebody? This anger and frustration that gets invoked simply by looking at somebody? This is why you shouldn’t be left with only your thoughts I guess.

Thankfully something was coming along to distract me from my internal dilemma. Rather than just rushing into the monsters, I posted up and created a small wall of earth magic to protect me from their projectiles. According to Sylvia, only one type of monster called this floor home and thanks to my healed ears I could hear a small group of five creatures plodding their way towards me.

It seems just like me, these creatures are using the wall to guide them through the floor. The empty darkness off to the other direction was vacant. Maybe even these monsters needed to see in order to move about. Or maybe they were afraid of something that lurked in that infinite darkness.

I wasn’t about to let my curiosity get the better of me either. I had no interest in seeing these monsters up close in person if possible. If I could wipe them out before they got to me all the better. I started my offensive with two standard fireballs. The globs of orange fire came to life and raced down the darkness toward the monsters. I couldn’t yet see them but I could tell their general location by sound alone. I’ve missed this hearing so much. It’s even better than I remember.

However, with my hearing, I could also tell that my fireballs had missed. No monster death screeches and the sound from the explosion happened behind the monsters. Sylvia did say they were fast, I suppose.

But what I hadn’t expected was return fire. I fell down on my behind just in time to dodge a projectile that had broken through my earth barricade. The earth magic wall wasn’t reinforced or anything but it should have been enough to stop a rock. That rock was so fast… could be almost as fast as a bullet?

I heaved myself up with my scabbard and remembered that I was no longer bound by my need to hide my earth magic… even though I had just used it a few seconds ago… Or any of my magic for that matter. If anything I should be experimenting freely down here. Perhaps I should try something new? Since they are so fast I wonder if they can dodge something moving at the speed of light?

Since I’ve learned about my affinity with lightning magic, I haven’t had much time to practice. I would occasionally slip away while we set up camp and try my hand at some new magic but it was only for a few minutes at a time. Now let’s see…

Five of them are still coming at me so let’s try a lighting spell that can hit a few of them. Arc Bolt.

A small tail of yellow lighting crawled across my arm and crackled with power. As it reached my fingers the small bolt took form and arced off into the darkness. It only took mere seconds for the death cries of a monster to ring out followed by the thud of something rolling across the ground. Seems I got one… did it not arc to any of the others?

That spell was intended to kill at least two at the minimum. That is what I was hoping for. I opened and closed my new hand and shrugged. It seems I still have a long way to go before I can use lightning magic the same way I use earth and fire. That simple Arc Bolt took about ten fireballs worth of mana and achieved even less. But this was just the natural order of things. At this point, I’m probably an Expert in the school of fire magic and very close to being an Expert in earth. With lighting magic, I was barely a Beginner. It was just going to take some practice. And what better practice than these overgrown lizards.

Now that I think about it… I think I hate overgrown reptiles for sure.

I stepped to the side and dodged another one of these monsters’ rock bullets. It was just a rock going super fast but if that rock hit me at full force I might just die instantly. I just simply needed to not get hit by it.

Far off in the distance, illuminated by the blue glow from the crystals, was a group of monsters with black and orange scales crawling around on all fours toward me. One of them had its long pink tongue out and was digging into the stone ground so it could prepare for another ranged attack. It never broke eye contact with its pale orange eyes.

I didn’t know the monster’s name, and I’d never seen one before but the best way to describe it was a gecko that got tossed in an abomination creation vat. Even from here, they looked to be as large as a full-grown Human, and protruding out from the side of their jaws were rows upon rows of oversized teeth.

One of the monsters was about to launch another rock bullet at me, but an Earth Spear was already barreling towards it. But to my surprise, the gecko monster dodged it. It reacted before it should have? Can it sense mana? I wonder if more powerful monsters have the natural ability to sense magic. Well, this is going to be more of a challenge than I had hoped for.

With two of the monsters fast approaching and two more preparing another round of earth bullets, I opted to kill the more immediate threats. I extended my hand and a wave of orange fire rolled toward the two monsters. I quickly followed it up with two Earth Spears for each of them. The wall of fire singed the scales of the two monsters, but it wasn’t enough to stop them let alone kill them. One of the monsters twisted its body and narrowly dodged my two Earth Spears. But the second one wasn’t so lucky.

With a sickening crunch, my spell split the gecko’s head ending its life. Perhaps enraged by the death of its comrade, the gecko next to it let out some kind of guttural noise. I could feel the bloodlust roll off the monster. Something off in the distance made a cracking sound, and I fell to the ground. It was barely a blur as two gray projectiles sped off into the darkness behind me.

The monster closest to me thought I was easy prey since I had fallen over and was quickly making its way toward me. Unfortunately for it, six large spikes of earth erupted from the ground.

The monster had moved before the spell went off so that confirmed my theory that it was able to sense mana. Unlike my fireball or lightning spell, the spell core for that earth spell wasn’t visible to the naked eye. However, I was ready this time, the monster was unable to dodge all the spikes. Two of my spikes connected and impaled the monster, eliciting a death screech and sending it high into the air. Now all that was left was the two in the back.

I stood myself up once more and sent a fireball toward one of them before they could finish forming their projectile. The monster leaped to the side, but I just needed to slow it down. I extended my hand, and a bright ball of yellow light materialized. The ball crackled with energy as lightning arced off it. With a thunderous crack, the ball elongated into a jagged bolt of lightning and launched off toward the monster. In a blink of an eye, it had already crashed into the gecko. The bolt fried a hole through the gecko, and the smell of burnt meat wafted toward me.

Not bad. That was my first real attempt at a Lightning Bolt spell, and it went fairly well. The overall mana cost and cast time were still high but within acceptable parameters for my current skills.

I forged another spell core for Lightning Bolt for the gecko that had decided to rush me. Perhaps since none of the projectiles had hit me yet it believed that I could dodge them all so it was giving one final charge in an attempt to end my life. Unfortunately for it, this would be its last few moments of life.

—

After the first wave of geckos, I ended up dispatching two more groups over a period of a few hours. The second group came swarming me only a few minutes after the first, but the third and final group came at least two hours later. I spent the entire time sitting in the darkness doing calf stretches and eating food. I figured it was going to take me about a month or so to get my leg back to normal. That was if I spent multiple hours working on it and eating properly. But I also couldn’t overwork it since that would defeat the purpose, and I had a bad feeling I was going to need to start rationing. I hobbled my way back to the stone structure I left Sylvia in.

As I approached, she stuck her head out from the entrance and looked at me. It only took one quick glance for me to tell she hadn’t slept more than a few minutes, if that. Perhaps her not being in a fight with monsters finally allowed the fatigue to seep in. Or maybe she had stopped healing herself with whatever blood magic ability she was using.

With bags under her eyes and an extremely tired voice, Sylva asked, “How was it?”

“Exactly what you said it would be like,” I answered while making a stone chair to sit in.

“You hurt your shoulder.”

“Yes, a piece of those monsters’ stone balls splintered off and hit me. I was a little slow that time, but it’s nothing serious,” I said with a shrug.

“Let me fix it. If it gets infected, it will only cost me more in the long run,” Sylvia said while pointing at the open-air next to me.

I summoned another stone chair, and Sylvia sat down with a small sway. I extended my arm to her once more, and she grabbed it.

“How about you tell me about your magic? Or more like everything…” I suggested.

Sylvia turned her tired crimson eyes on me. Even with how tired she looked, I could tell she was annoyed.

“Can’t talk with my fangs occupied, it’s bad manners. And last time I checked I was the one that tried to bridge the gap between us even after you tried to kill me. So I think this time you can tell me about yourself first,” she said exasperatedly.

“What do you want to know?”

“How about why some mixed Elf kid is traveling alone with a mask and trying to be an adventurer? How in the world are you so strong despite being like eleven?”

“What do you want, my whole life story or something?” I said.

Sylvia rolled her eyes and sank her fangs into my arm. The numbness was absent from the last time, and I let out a small wince from the pain. She continued to glare at me in clear annoyance.

So she can control the pain levels. Is it because of whatever magic she is using, or is this something Vampires can just do?

I sighed, “I’m a runaway convict from Sandervile. As you can tell, my features are very… exotic, so I have been hiding my face using that mask. And no, I don’t know where that mask is from. It was given to me by a benefactor. And for how I’m so strong? I train. A lot. And I had a good magic teacher growing up. Simple as that.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I felt the warmth of blood rushing to my shoulder and my wound began to knit itself back together. There was no pain, but it wasn’t very comfortable, and watching your skin reattach itself out of thin air wasn’t the best thing to look at.

I looked up into the darkness and asked out loud, “Why don’t we try climbing out of here? With my earth magic, it shouldn’t be impossible.”

Within a few moments, my shoulder was completely healed, and Sylvia was wiping the blood off my arm and her mouth. But I felt fine. Sylvia hadn’t consumed any of my blood in the process. Well, not enough for me to notice anyway.

“Not possible. This entire dungeon is made of Dull Stone. You will run out of mana before we reach the top, and then we will just fall to our deaths. Not to mention the distance we would have to climb or if we get attacked along the way. I’d rather try my hand at clearing this floor first before we try something that stupid.”

“You have a point…” I mumbled.

So this gray rock is called Dull Stone. Guess the name fits, considering magic doesn’t affect it much. It’s not immune to magic but it seems to have high resistance and I can’t use it to make my earth spells cheaper on the mana cost. If we pillared up using earth magic and I ran out I guess we would just fall back down again.

I rolled my shoulders then stood up. “Now then, tell me about you, Sylvia. You said I shouldn’t exist but if I’m to believe any of the books I’ve read on vampires it’s you that shouldn’t exist.”

Sylvia ran her fingers through her purple hair and peered at me from between her spread-out fingers. I felt blood rush to my face in anger as I looked into her crimson eyes but I held my tongue.

“You’ll never trust me if I don’t tell you? Will you?” she said quietly.

Of course not. Do you think I’m stupid or something?

“Yes.”

“What do you want to know first…” she said begrudgingly.

“Let’s start with your magic. How did you stop us from dying from the fall? What did you do to me that shut down my body? What’s with this numbing feeling when you bite me but only sometimes? Did you curse me or something?!”

Sylvia narrowed her eyes and shouted, “Curse you?! At this point, I wish I could! What’s your problem?!”

“You’re my problem! You could have healed me weeks ago but you chose not to! Did you enjoy watching me hobble around like a cripple?” I yelled back.

“WHAT ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT?! Would you have even believed me if I told you I was a thousand-year-old vampire? Would you have just let me sink my fangs into you right then and there? I’m sure everyone would have tried killing me on the spot! That stupid priestess, Dem, all of them would have hated me! You even tried killing me the second you thought I was a vampire, didn’t you?!” she screamed.

“A thousand-year-old vampire…” I trailed off.

So she really is an ancient vampire? Vampires shouldn’t be able to live that long…

She rolled her head back in frustration, “That’s the part you are hung up on?!” Then she shot up and glared at me. Her frustration morphed into anger and she scowled at me, “Screw you! I don’t need to hear this from you right now!” she yelled while storming off.

“Where are you going!”

“I don’t know! Hopefully, somewhere a monster will eat me, so I don’t have to keep talking to you!”

This girl… maybe my frustrations are valid.

—

It was over an hour before I heard Sylvia’s footsteps approaching me again. It seems her wish of being eaten by a monster went unfulfilled.

She walked over to me and sighed deeply, “What are you doing…”

“Stretching my leg. Recovering is of the utmost importance to me,” I responded calmly.

Sylvia crossed her arms against her chest and sighed again, “We need to make a decision. Are we going left or right? I personally think we need to go right.”

“Because with the wall on our left that would have been the way we were traveling before?” I guessed. Sylvia nodded

“I agree. It’s the most likely path to the exit. Besides, if we wander into the darkness there is no guarantee what we will find out there. If I have to fight something stronger I might not survive,” I said.

“Good, then let’s start walking while we have time. If the monsters from our back reach us we can just fight them.”

I agreed and hobbled alongside Sylvia. The silence between us was unbelievably loud. It seems neither of us has the intention of apologizing. Not that I needed to…

We had walked for well over an hour before Sylvia started talking.

“I woke up at the bottom of a dungeon a few months ago with a spatial storage ring and a few of my belongings shoved into it. And no, I don't know how I got there. My last memories are of me with my family and going to bed. Then the next thing I knew I woke up in the cold and in the darkness.”

“You… woke up in a dungeon?”

“Yes, I was so disoriented I had no idea what happened to me. I tried clearing the dungeon but… the monsters were so strong I couldn’t beat them with how tired I was. I went back to where I woke up and found a large red crystal. I had only read about dungeon cores so I thought there was a chance so I broke it…”

“And?”

“And a few minutes after breaking the red crystal, it felt like somebody had ripped my stomach out and forced it back down my throat. Then I found myself outside in the sun, standing in an open field of brown grass near the edge of Dark Elf and City-State territory.”

“You woke up in The Barrens? Have you been there before?” I asked.

But this sounds so familiar. A dungeon being cleared in The Barrens? Wait… I heard some kids talking about this in Sandervile. Could it have been Sylvia?

“No, I haven’t even been to this continent before… I had no idea where I was. Thankfully the Dark Elf tribe that found me was kind. I had my new mask in my ring so I wore it. It was the right choice it seems. That’s how I learned about the date… it’s the fifth year of the Chaos Dragon Emperor? I think.”

So she’s from Amoth then? Most likely the northern vampire lands. And that sounds about right. I know this world has a 400-year calendar but very few people use it myself included. Everybody just relies on the seasons to tell the time and date in any given year.

“Was the dungeon made of some kind of ruins? Or something?”

“Kind of… but also not really? It’s hard to explain because I’m not too sure myself. I barely made it past where I woke up. I guess the room was kind of like some run-down ruins?”

So it was her. Small world. Doubt that group thought there was going to be an ancient vampire for a core guardian.

“And before you say something stupid like, ‘wHy ARen’T yOu OLdeR, Sylvia?’ It’s because of blood magic. I was essentially in a deep slumber for all that time.”

“I wasn’t going to say that…” I said defensively. “But does that mean you are stuck like this for the rest of your life… or something?” I asked curiously.

“What? No… at least I don’t think that’s how it works. I did grow a little bit in my sleep I think. Besides, it's not like I’ve ever been put to sleep for over a millennium before.”

“How is that possible? Doing all of this with blood magic? I didn’t think this was within the ability of vampires?” I said.

“That’s because it’s not. At least not for most vampires these days. It also seems people don’t understand what blood magic really is,” she said while kicking a rock down the path.

“What does that mean exactly?”

“I don’t know why but vampires don’t seem as strong. Their eyes missing color and stuff. That’s not how it used to be… at least that’s not what I remember. But I also know that I’m different. Very few vampires were Blood Sorcerers like me,” she said solemnly

“Blood Sorcerer? And what’s this about people understanding what blood magic really is? Also, the numb feeling when you bite me, is that because you are a Blood Sorcerer?”

Sylvia looked over at me, “You ask a lot of questions. It’s hardly fair I’m talking about all of this but you give me some half-ass response about your circumstances”

Now it was my turn to sigh, “I’ll answer whatever question you have for me but don’t stop talking now.”

“Fine. As for what blood magic really is? I was never actually told. I just know it’s more than “blood” magic. My teacher was supposed to tell me but he never got the chance. The numbness from my bite is something that just happens, kinda like venom. But it’s not harmful I swear! I’m not doing it on purpose either. I can control how much and it’s not magic or anything. I’ve been told different people have different reactions to it. And well… being a Blood Sorcerer… how about I just show you.”

“I see…”

I looked over at Sylvia and she brought her finger up to her mouth and poked it with her fang. A small drop of blood trailed down her thumb but I watched as that drop of blood turned into a small needle.

“This is how I stopped your body. A small needle to the back of your neck,” she said while handing me the needle. “I used a similar technique with a large amount of blood to break our fall. It took a lot out of me though. I don’t have much in the tank after healing you and me for days.”

It was warm to the touch but I couldn’t sense any mana flowing in it despite the fact that I just watched her use magic. Or was it even magic? I thought vampires couldn’t use magic let alone cast blood magic like this. So this must be the power of a Blood Sorcerer.

“I was told vampires can’t use magic in the traditional sense, let alone cast a spell using their own blood.”

“That was true even back before I went to sleep. Only a Blood Sorcerer can do this kind of stuff as far as I know. Blood is everything to me. It’s my power, my food, it’s essentially my life. I can’t use my Blood Sorcerery without having extra blood.”

“So it’s almost like mana for me? Besides the food part that is.”

“Exactly. People often say blood is the liquid of life. Shouldn't be that much of a stretch to say there is a connection to blood and mana,” she said.

“Well, now I’m certain there is… does that mean you can turn people into a vampire?” I asked.

“Huh? That’s… not how it works you know? We have children just like everybody else…” Sylvia said awkwardly.

“Just double-checking,” I said quickly. “Care to explain why you are going to Luminar? And why were you so interested in this dungeon?”

“The dungeon was just to see if there was a connection. I thought that maybe a random dungeon popping up next to where I was might have been some kind of sign or something. Clearly, it was wishful thinking….” Sylvia said, unable to hide her frustration. “And I imagine we were going to Luminar for a similar reason if you really are an escaped convict or whatever. Luminar is very open to everyone regardless of race. Just by living and working there, you can attain citizenship. I was hoping… that maybe I could even start a life there or something. Since it’s not like I have anywhere else to go.”

“Why not go back to Amoth? It’s not like the vampires are gone?” I said.

“My vampires are gone,” she snapped. Then she sighed. “I don’t want to go to that place. And I don’t want to be anywhere near the Holy Kingdom. I’m sure if they found out I existed, the High Exarch himself would come to take my head.”

“Are you… important or something? Don’t tell me you are related to the Bloody Emperor or something…. are you his daughter?”

“Don’t call him that,” Sylvia said coldly. “And no I’m not his daughter. And just for the record, he wasn’t a bad person like everyone makes him out to be. It was the Holy Kingdom that was the aggressors. Talgan was a good man and an even better leader. The few vampires I’ve spoken to since waking up all told me about how the Holy Kingdom hunted vampires for years. I want nothing to do with those people.”

So she is lying about her age. Talgan’s death was over two millennia ago, not one. She was alive back then and probably lived in the Empire of Nul during Talgan’s reign.

“Doesn’t surprise me,” I said.

Sylvia turned to me quickly, “What really? You actually believe me? Which part?”

“The Talgan part. History is written by the victors and Talgan lost. Doesn’t surprise me that he would be painted in a bad light two thousand years later. I doubt he was as noble as you might think but I doubt he was the monster people made him out to be.”

Sylvia looked at me with blank eyes and mumbled something under her breath. “So… how are you so sure?” she asked curiously.

Because I’ve been in a room with monsters that would make “The Bloody Emperor” look like a saint. So what if he instigated a war or two and wiped out an army. I’ve done worse.

“Just a thought, that’s all.”

“You’re as weird as you are annoying, you know that Kaladin?” she huffed.

I’ll ignore it this time you damn bloodsucker.

“Continue to call me Voker. If we make it out of here I don’t want you to make a habit of calling me by my real name.”

“If that’s what you want, fine…” she said with a wave of her hand. “Let’s try and get out of here first.”

“Agreed.”