Chapter 29

“What happened?” Frank asked, though based on the way everyone broke eye contact with him, he assumed something had happened.

That and the fact that he was clearly strapped down to a metal gurney, the same type that had been previously used to hold an elder vampire still, while people tried to cut through her layers of crystallized dark matter and it became clear that something had clearly gone wrong. Or maybe this was just the way all new students to the doctor program were treated? You know, the whole learn what it is like to empathize with the blood sucking monsters?

Though to Frank’s point he thought he did a particularly good job of empathizing with the elder vampire. Then after having that thought, Frank realized that it was that perceived chumminess that might be why he was here now.

Fortunately, before Frank had too much time to let his thoughts spiral downward on these thought trails, that was when Dr. Evans seemed to sort of swim forward and stand next to Frank.

“We were actually wondering the same thing.” Dr. Evans stated.

With that, Frank shook his head trying to understand exactly what was meant by that statement. Dr. Evans, seeing Frank’s apparent confusion pressed on.

“You see, we were wondering what happened? I mean I know part of what happened, you set your base as life again. Congratulations on that accomplishment by the way, as we desperately need more healers and doctors.” Dr. Evans said, her voice and her face seeming to portray more in that one statement than could be said here. This conclusion was further reinforced by the quick and almost imperceptible way Dr. Evans quickly scanned the entire area around them, before continuing her speech. “That said, what happened next was something that we have never seen before.”

With that Dr. Evans paused.

At this Frank remembered exactly what happened, after choosing his base, path. Or rather having his core path of healing all but forced on him. He was then left with having to make a choice between one of two dark entities that seemed to embody different aspects of death energy.

Pausing, Frank tried to understand what it was that he was in fact trying to explain to everyone.

“Out of curiosity, what exactly did you all see?” Frank asked.

Pause.

The group paused, looking at each other, then finally Dr. Evans seemed to reach some form of unspoken agreement with the others as she nodded, before answering.

“You see, we saw the burst of life come to you as your body began to glow brightly. Then we also saw how that green energy began to force the death energy inside you away.” Dr. Evans began.

While this wasn’t entirely true, the Life energy didn’t force the death energy away, but rather Frank began circulating it to keep that energy from stagnating. Still, that was a minor distinction that Frank didn’t really want to get into yet. So instead of speaking up and offering the newly found insight, or at least what he assumed was insight of the dark energy coursing through his body, he instead remained quiet as the Dr. continued.

“Then everything seemed fine for a moment, we could see that the dark energy did build up within you and just before compression, it almost seemed like…” Dr. Evans trailed off, apparently not wanting to or unable to state what exactly happened next.

Fortunately, the General by her side chose that moment to speak up. “It seemed like you were able to receive two separate dark blessings.”

Hushed silence.

Hearing the words stated in that way, everyone that was on hand to apparently witness the ongoing comments and events let out a collective gasp of surprise, as everyone waited to hear Frank’s response.

Pausing for a moment, Frank calculated what the best course of action here was. The fact that he had been attacked by not just one but both dark beings was undeniable. If this was their applying a dark blessing upon Frank, then well he didn’t quite know.

“Can I ask a question?” Frank finally asked.

A slight pause before the General nodded and ultimately decided to answer truthfully. “You can, though I can’t guarantee that we will give a full or even an honest answer.”

Hearing that, Frank could only nod.

This was good as it gave him a run down of where he stood exactly in the eyes of the higher ups around him. From what he could tell, most of the leadership was clearly willing to dismiss him or lock him away as a safety precaution. The fact that Major Demoniker and even Holsy also wasn’t here didn’t go unnoticed by Frank. Right now he realized that the only one truly on his side was Dr. Evans, and even she seemed to be held in check by some of the glances being shot her way from the other officers around.

“Can I ask what a blessing is?” Frank asked.

There was a quick glare given by the General to Dr. Evans. Dr. Evans for her part could only wince and appear apologetic.

“I see,” General Graves began, then nodding to himself decided to answer. “I guess you are sort of new to this, as such I will give you a quick overview of what you should have been taught in your classes, versus whatever accelerated program your instructors have seemingly concocted for you.”

With that Dr. Evans visibly winced.

Looking back, Frank could see that having more knowledge might have helped avoid this particular situation, though he was not sure how it might have helped avoid the entire event that transpired. That said, Frank was more than willing to be silent to get the information he needed.

General Graves realizing that Frank was not going to speak just nodded and continued on his own.

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“A blessing is what it is called when you have a higher or profane understanding either bestowed upon you, or you gain it from your own discovery through years of meditation and self-reflection.” General Graves began and gave a pointed look to Dr. Evans.

Apparently, that look showed that Dr. Evans might have somehow helped Frank achieve this on his own.

“In the case of being bestowed with a blessing, a mentor often imprints a part of their own consciousness onto you, giving you not only their insights, but also allowing a deeper look into their life events. For someone who is not prepared for such an act, this entire event can be very disorienting.”

As the General spoke, Frank remembered the odd memories of the doctor that had filled his mind. He remembered seeing an older girl, a sister who went away to war. How she and her husband had been distraught when their daughter left with her aunt, Dr. Evans’s sister, only to come back as a vampire. Thinking back, he thought it was an aspect of the energy that was being forced upon him, in a way it was, but those memories were supposed to be there as they also showed part of her personal self-reflection and growth.

Frank’s face must have given away his understanding of this, as the general continued. “I see that you know exactly what I am talking about. This is good, just realize that the memories and thoughts that you had were not your own. While there could be worse people to be imprinted from, know that the blessings that Dr. Evans has unlocked are both highly coveted and considered to be grave secrets.”

There was a long pause as the general let those thoughts filter through Frank’s overactive mind that seemed to be firing on all cylinders by this point. Then just as Frank’s mind seemed to calm down slightly, the always attentive general pressed on.

“That said, after your first blessing, it seemed that you managed to have another breakthrough as technicians reported sighting at least one more sigil of unknown origins on your skin, before they disappeared.”

“Sigils?” Frank found himself asking.

“Yes, sigils is the term we call the phenomenon where blessings upon being received momentarily form on the surface of the skin, in the color of the energy that the insight was gleaned from. In your case, you had a dark sigil, or a sigil formed entirely from dark energy appear on your skin, before you seemed to have replaced that sigil with a different sigil entirely.”

Hearing that, Frank realized that this might have been the physical manifestation of what happened when he was chosen by both the vampire queen and the robed forest dweller.

Honestly, Frank had no idea that those dreams were real. At least he hoped that they weren’t real, for if they were then it meant that he might have more trouble than he could handle here shortly as it seemed like both of those monsters, and that’s what they were. Deep eldritch horrors of the night that should remain dead and buried suddenly became at least aware, and most concerningly interested in Frank. At least, that was what his mind interpreted from everything that he had seen and felt in his dreamscape.

“So can I ask, what types of insights you have gained from the dark energy that is commonly referred to as to as death energy?” General Graves asked.

Hearing his words, and the forceful tone of his question, Frank finally understood why there was so much concern for him. Also, the reason for his being strapped to the gurney that was used to hold back the elder vampire also made sense, in a way. Frank having gained so much insight into the death energy was now considered to be a threat to not only himself but everyone around him.

“I see,” Frank said nodding to himself as he finally made sense of what was happening around him.

“You see, so it involves sight?” General Graves asked, clearly confused by the answer.

“Oh, my sigil, or blessing, or whatever you call it has nothing to do with sight.” Frank said, shaking his head as he began to mentally feel for his powers. To his surprise, he could feel both dark and life energies able to move around him easily. Fortunately, this contraption whatever it was did not hinder his own cultivation paths. Though by now, the doctors would likely have to stop his heart from beating to completely stop his cultivation, given that both forms of energy had already taken root within his blood and was now circulating around with each heartbeat. “Rather, I see the reason why you would restrain me.”

Frank said, then feeling around, he tried to see if there was something that could be applied to fully stop his dark energy from being used. Given that this was a gurney designed to stop the elder vampires, Frank figured that there must be something here to prevent him, but only after a long time of searching did he find it, a slightly chaotic pulsing form of energy that twisted backwards. Or at least that was what it was supposed to do. Yet, it felt somewhat good to Frank’s newly enhanced senses.

Blinking.

Frank realized that this second form of energy was in fact what Frank had experienced from the robed male in the woods, the one surrounded by crazed but domesticated animals.

It was at this realization that Frank seemed to understand something. The zombies, vampires, and even the vampire queen were all part of one cultivation path or tree. While whatever this second path, the disruption path that was currently gently massaging Frank’s body with rhythmic energy was an entirely opposed energy source.

“I see you are attempting to both use your powers and are finding our countermeasures to be more than adequate to stop you.” General Graves said.

Hearing that, it took all of Frank’s self-control not to laugh. Fortunately, many years of being under the thumb of Luther Camello and his cronies gave him ample chances to get used to holding a blank look and expression in place. One that didn’t give way the fact that either Luther didn’t know something that was soon going to bite him, or the fact that a teacher was observing everything, waiting for the moment that Luther crossed the line.

It was all Frank could do to hold his face still, but he knew that if he had to, both his regular cultivation and the cycling of his death energy would work. Though he might have to alter the way he utilized the death energy, for it would require a different way to use, a different way to push the energy out from his body. Still despite this, Frank was certain that he could use the dark energy as he saw fit. Though he chose to play dumb at this point.

At times like these, Frank knew that the person who held you captive needed to feel completely in control. If they so much as saw resilience of defiance in you, they would look to find out what caused that defiance.

While he didn’t know if the general was a disguised sadist like Luther and his cronies, he figured that at least one of those in the entourage might. Scanning, Frank used his scared eyes to pan the crowd and noticed at least two doctors that smiled ever so slightly at his apparent discomfort.

Only Dr. Evans had the wherewithal to appear truly saddened by this set of circumstances.

“So are you going to talk?” General Graves finally asked.

Hearing that, Frank could only blink, as his mind tried to think back to what it was he was supposed to be talking about.

“I’m sorry, what?” Frank asked, almost losing focus but quickly shifting to a subservient voice at the end.

“Did you have a deep insight into dark energy, yes or no?” One of the doctors who smiled earlier at his discomfort finally spoke up.

Nodding to himself, Frank realized the type and all but confirmed it with this apparent demand.

“Yes, though I don’t quite know what it means.” Frank stated.

“Tell us, what did you see?” Dr. Evans asked.

Pausing, Frank wondered how much of this information he had was new and how much would already be known. For his part, he assumed the knowledge about the user of the second opposing type of dark energy would be unknown, otherwise they wouldn’t have kept him on a bed that essentially massaged his muscles and helped increase his blood circulation, while trying to interrogate him. Unless he was supposed to be lulled into submission, something entirely possible, but given the way people seemed to be expecting Frank to be in pain, he assumed it would be the first option.

Nodding to himself, Frank decided to go with what he figured would be the lowest hanging fruit and the easiest piece of information to bargain with.

“I saw a dark queen in a stone marble archway.”

GASPS!

This time even the General looked shocked, but only for a moment, as he managed to quickly regain composure over his face and features.

“You, you saw him?” The General asked.

“No, it was a her. Most definitely a her.” Frank said, and as he spoke the general nodded his agreement apparently trying to change the sex of the vampire elder to confuse Frank. Though Frank had already declared the dark queen, apparently the General still seemed the need to test his veracity. A sentiment that was confirmed a moment later when he asked another probing question.

“What else was with this queen in the hallway?”

“Are you referring to the slightly raised golden throne that the queen sits upon? Or is it in relation to the two guards; one of whom is a knight in metal armor on the right side of the hallway, while on the left side is a mage in leather boots with a hood pulled up to cover his facial features? The two torches that burn brightly in parallel to each other that are raised slightly above the eye level of the two guards? Or the color of the bricks? Sorry there are a lot of details that can be covered by that question.” Frank answered.

Hushed whispers.

At that everyone began to murmur quietly to each other as they went over the information that Frank had just shared. Information that had been slowly bled out over multiple interviews with different captured vampires, but never had they had one complete version of details given in such exquisite detail.

Finally after a few moments of deliberation, the General finally stated, “so you admit to seeing the dark goddess. But you aren’t going to tell us if you received her blessing?”

Hearing this Frank could only feel slightly flustered at the comment. “How could I tell what type or even if I got a blessing, it was all in the dream realm?”

With that there was a slightly longer conversation that went on.

“Stay there, we will see what this dark blessing actually entails.” General Graves said.

With that Frank could only raise his eyebrows in faux suspense as his entire body was being restrained, making it so there was not much he could do to leave. Fortunately, Frank knew that if push came to shove he could likely break or decay the restraints enough to get his freedom.

With that Frank watched as the General and other staff members all began trickling out of the examination room that was now serving as Frank’s makeshift prison cell.

As everyone left, Dr. Evans came over to offer her apologies. “I’m so sorry, I’ll help clear this up.”

Frank just nodded in silence. Then he waited until Dr. Evans left, leaving him alone in the room in silence.

This he knew was also a test, but what exactly he was being tested on Frank didn’t know, but he was patient. Which was why he waited. Choosing when he wanted to strike, and not going blindly for the first opening that appeared.

That was how Frank found himself waiting, knowing that he was the coiling serpent ready to strike. He would give the doctor and everyone here one chance to act right. What they did with that chance would all depend on what happened next.