“Okay blood orb, you're essentially my advisor at the moment and I need to know what to do. I plan to leave this place temporarily and scout the outside world to figure out where we are and what we’re dealing with, but I obviously don’t want to get spotted. How would I transform into a bat or something? Oh, and also, how do I get subordinates?” I said, sitting at the throne. It pulsated for a moment, beating in and out, like it was breathing.

“Transformation is an inherent part of being a vampire, it is part of you. I cannot tell you simply how to ‘activate’ it, since I’m not a vampire. As for the subordinate, you’ll need to bite a human to turn it into a vampire. This vampire will be of a lesser rank, dependent on their skills as a human and your skills as a vampire. Of course, you could also kidnap a human female and–”

“Okay, I’ll bite someone. I’m not sure how I’ll go about learning how to transform but I guess it’ll just come to me naturally with time. Anyway, how is the situation outside? Can I atleast search directly out the front door?” Once again it pulsated for a moment, and then responded.

“I don’t sense any presence outside, so it should be safe. Be careful of the sun, though. It shouldn’t kill you because of your rank, but it will weaken and hurt you nonetheless.”

“Alright,” I said, heading towards the door. I took a look around as I walked, taking in my new home. Where do I sleep? I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around, staring at the red orb. “Wait, where do I sleep?”

“The coffin in the corner of the room, probably.” I took a look at the corner to the right of the throne and noticed an old, busted up wooden coffin sitting in the corner of the room with the lid off. Well, I guess I am pretty poor. I turned back around and took a deep breath before opening the door to the outside world. I was immediately greeted by the shining light of the sun in my face, a slight burning sensation, and a beautiful mountain range. Directly in front of me were the ruins of the old castle, most of the walls were gone, and those left were crumbling and barely at ankle height. The floor was cracked, the foundation overtaken by nature. Looking past my crumbling castle, I saw the beautiful mountains, covered by trees. I took my first step into the outside world, carefully traversing the castle’s destroyed floors. I continued forwards until I reached a path which seemed to lead down the mountain.

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The burning from the sun was more of a nuisance than something I had to be worried about, and at the time I could barely feel it anyway. There was too much to explore, a beautiful world ahead of me I hadn’t the slightest idea about. I continued down the path, taking note of the various plants, trees, and bushes which littered the way. The shade from the tree canopy defended me from the sun, allowing me to focus further on my surroundings. I guess I could try my hand at some sorcery here I thought, despite having no idea how to start, or what to do. At first I reached my hand out, palm facing the sky, and imagined what I wanted: a pad of bound paper and a quill. Nothing happened, despite my focus. I stayed in that form for a while, contemplating a solution, and still trying.

Then, an idea struck me. Vampires, as a race, need blood for their magic. Sorcery is surely no different. Even though it's a separate skill from blood magic, it probably still needs blood as a catalyst to work. With this in mind I tried again, this time imagining my blood flowing into my hand and outwards into the form of a book. As I did so, what I imagined became reality and blood pooled out of my hand, forming into a book and quill, stacked neatly atop my hand. With this, I can record anything interesting I see for later. The cover of the book was plain, and I felt it needed a name. After thinking for a moment, I scribbled the words “Liber Sanguinis”