Jules didn’t know how he found himself in the upstate manor of Duke Luzar but he was sure that God really wanted to fuck with him.

Jules sat there picking at his steak. It was a beautiful spread, steak, potatoes, some form of ham and copious amounts of sweets and desserts but Jules didn’t touch anything. He only sat there taking occasional sips from his glass of warm red wine. Duke Luzar stared at him.

That was what Jules was sure of. The eyes of Duke Luzar.

Card being gained: Duke Luzar 1% Ambrosia 10%

Another person card flashed into his vision. He was used to getting them now. It was obvious that he needed to interact with the people mentioned on the cards more for them to actually form but Jules couldn’t imagine another second with Iona and her brooding father.

Jules looked up at the attendants faces, gray and black, they were thralls. Lifeless corpses moving around, smiling, even making small talk with Jules. Everytime he talked to one though Jules could only feel a nagging itch on the back of his head.

“Do you like them?” The grey voice of the Duke asked. Jules stared forward right at Iona, she was focused on her food.

“Yes they are very well behaved. How did you create them?”

“Only a single drop of my blood, isn’t that just something. You know you never get used to powers though I suppose you don’t remember that. Part of the generation born with them.” Luzar said, taking a sip of his glass.

On his lips formed a red stain which he wiped off with a practiced flick of the tongue.

“I don’t have any powers sir.” Jules said.

“No I suppose you don’t. Would you like one?” Iona’s attention peaked, she stared and looked at her father. His eyes were only on Jules.

“What do you mean by that.” The Duke’s pale red lips pulled into a grin.

“Why you can simply become one of us. It’s that easy.” The Duke said flashing his teeth. Two large fangs stuck in an otherwise normal mouth.

“See I am interested in you Mr. Jalsgard. You know it’s quite hard to find info on you. Born in 10’, raised by two parents, even went to college in Cornell, wonderful school by the way. Yet after college there’s a gap of maybe five years where nobody not even the American government knows about. Trust me I checked. After that you went to New York, joined up with Farnswall, took something of his and left.” Jules nodded along most of it sounded right.

“I don’t really care what you took. Anything Farnswall could use is nothing that could benefit me and by the way you entered this manor you’ve already lost it or sold it but none of that matters. Farnswall doesn’t trust anyone, yet you scaled the organization with surprising ease. All while courting my beautiful daughter. Quite an accomplishment.” The Duke raised a glass to him.

Jules raised his glass to meet him. The sound of a clinking surrounded the room. Iona did not say a word. Sweat piled down his legs and into his shoes.

Jules paused before talking. He looked right at the Duke. His eyes met his.

“I don’t think I can have your powers. It wouldn’t feel right.” The Duke nodded. He knew this answer. Jules saw Iona’s body slump in the chair.

“I want you close to me though. You’re a sneaky man. With sneaky beady human eyes. You’ll join me.” It was said as if it was fact and it was fact.

Jules could do nothing to the Duke. All of his contacts were gone, eviscerated into the wind.

“I suppose that’s just. Farnswall was gonna kill me anyways.” Jules said, taking a sip of wine.

“But see that’s not a great enough tie to me. I want you to be unbreakable with me. Forever or until I die so the same difference.” Jules let the man talk, he couldn’t interrupt at all.

“I have a deal for you. You have three options. One, apologize to my daughter and marry her, become a vampire, or give me some of your lifeforce. It’s a simple choice.” Silence. Iona stared at her father this time. Her eyes bore right into the side of his head. He turned towards her and smiled. This wasn’t part of the plan.

“Oh I thought you were going to have a hard-deal sir. Take it, I can’t deal with your daughter in that way and to be honest fangs don’t really go with any of my outfits.” The Duke laughed, Jules laughed, Iona cowered.

Jules brought his wrist onto the center of the table. Both Iona and The Duke stared at it.

“Be my guest.” Iona had done it before Jules remembered. It was much more pleasurable than but maybe that was because she was naked when she did it. The feeling of having lifeforce extracted was like a great leaving.

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Card gained: Lifeforce

At least there was a plus to losing some lifeforce.

Getting your lifeforce taken is like the feeling of having lost something so profound, so great, and yet not knowing what it was. After the first time Jules had his taken he remembered constantly looking over his shoulder or staring at walls, as if the lifeforce would reappear in them.

Soon the feeling was gone and in Luzar’s hands was a swarm of red essence. Lifeforce. One of the rarest substances known to man. It could only be made by Luzar or one of his kin and only with the express, unmitigated consent of the one who they took it from.

Losing it took years off of someone's life and could leave weaker people decrepit. And the things that could be done with the stuff was unimaginable. Iona took the lifeforce, which she handled a little too brutally for his taste, and put it into a small glass jar and got one of the Thralls to take it away.

“We’ll do the ritual shortly but until then you must stay here so I can keep an eye on you. One of the Thralls will take you to your room. Dinner is at nine, do not be late.” At that Jules was ushered off by a large bearded Thrall and led to his room.

The last thing he saw before leaving the room was Iona’s face right before she yelled at her father.

Jules’s room was nice if a little old and unused, the Duke hadn’t had any visitors since forever, or at least those visitors didn’t stay in the old clock tower on the top of the manor. Jules sighed and checked his interface. It was a good haul considering the circumstances. He worried that maybe a trace of his powers escaped into the lifeforce but it was clear that nothing of that sort happened.

Cards:

Lifeforce Tier 1

Anger Tier 1

Bouncer Tier 1

Ambrosia (Hero) Tier 1

Cards in progress:

Duke Luzar 15%

Alaric 10%

WARBLER 1%

Cards seemed to be gained by doing or interacting with something for a long enough period of time, Jules understood. Even abstract concepts such as anger and a bouncer appeared as cards.

Jules stared at the Ambrosia card. It depicted Iona in her full vampire drab with dark red blood sloshing in her cup. It was very hot. Jules tapped the card.

Ambrosia Tier 1:

Type: Hero

Combine?

There was no option to imbue the card, he could only combine it with others. Hmm. Interesting. None of the other cards worked that way so it must be a side-effect of it being a hero card.

Jules selected combine.

Choose 1 Card As the Base and 1 Card as the Modifier:

Lifeforce Tier 1

Anger Tier 1

Bouncer Tier 1

Ambrosia (Hero) Tier 1

Jules thought for a moment. He didn’t want to be a super bouncer or super angry and lifeforce and Ambrosia just felt right. Jules chose Lifeforce as the base and Ambrosia as the modifier and clicked combine.

Card created: Lifeforce Distiller Tier 2

A new card. On it depicted Jules mixing a pot of red liquid, blood? Jules looked around, nobody was in sight.

Things happened to Jules, and it was so unfair. All of the gangs and the monsters and the magic it was all not under his control. Control, Jules needed control. Jules needed power.

Jules combined Anger and Bouncer, he needed more.

Card created: Enforcer Tier 2

The card depicted Jules in a red suit cracking his knuckles in the doorway. As soon as the card went into Jules’s collection, a notification appeared in the corner of his vision.

New Rules:

You can only apply one tier 2 card a week! Choose wisely.

Well obviously the system was making sure that he didn’t get too powerful. Seemed logical enough. Which card fit him better.

The Enforcer might be better in the present, the rippling muscles of him on the front suggested something of that sort. But it wasn’t as if Jules needed that kind of “hard” power now. What he needed was the power to make people want to keep him around.

The Duke only kept him here because he was somehow satisfied with his performance, however, soon that goodwill would fade.

Jules selected Lifeforce Distiller and clicked imbue. From the card came a golden energy which spread within his body. Taking root in his muscles and in his brain. Swathes of new information went into his head.

What lifeforce actually was and how to concentrate it within himself. The card was all about using the slivers of lifeforce contained in blood to empower oneself. It allowed Jules to absorb the power contained within blood to make himself stronger or he could absorb the knowledge within the lifeforce of the blood to gain whatever the user of the blood knew.

Jules thought for a moment. He took into account the possibilities, it solved both of his problems at once. There was enough blood here in Duke’s manor to probably steal all the knowledge in the world, the question was getting it.

Someone knocked on his door and didn’t bother checking to wait for him. Iona barged into his room and stared right at him.

“We need to talk.” She said.

“Woah, woah, you can’t break-up with me again.” She grimaced and sat down on his bed.

“Not about that.” She said. She didn’t meet his eyes.

“Ok then about what?” Jules asked leaning against the old wardrobe.

“I’m sorry.” Jules looked at her, his eyebrows raising up into his hair.

“You are what? Wow, wow, wow. You don’t apologize, I’m dreaming.” Jules started to laugh, more of a cackle really, it came from his throat and resounded out into the room. Iona didn’t find it funny.

“Don’t laugh it’s true. Father told me to apologize and I was acting like a bitch, so I’m sorry.” She was serious, her lip pouted a little as she said it. Jules looked into her face to detect a little sarcasm, but none was there.

“It’s fine, honestly it was me who was in the wrong.” At that it was Iona’s turn to laugh and she did, a sharp banshee scream.

“Yeah I agree. Totally you but whatever. I didn’t need to choke you out.” Jules nodded, that was true, he could still feel her hands.

“Hey, maybe I enjoyed it.” She rolled her eyes. Jules turned away from her and pretended to be checking out the wardrobe very intensely.

“By the way, can I go down and see your blood stores? I’ve always been very… Curious.” Iona looked at him funny. This would be fun.