The red cloak rested on my lap as one of those artist drawing boards was trying to stay on top of it as I did my best to finish applying the last bits of ink to my oversized pain in the butt prop. Everyone in ‘Nonsense Town’ walked around with staff and this overly stupidly large stick was needed to help blend in.

Maybe it was oak or it could have been basic cheap timber for all I knew or cared as the staff was worthless… quite literally worthless as the last touches of ink upon the stupid thing was a ‘One and done’ shot spell.

Nothing grand or magical like unleashing a torrential downpour of biblical fire or unleashing a frozen torrent of ice and wind that would shatter a man’s soul… That was fairy tail magic.

I was a magician so my one shot spell was a lot smaller and far less grand. So the large overgrown piece of cut wood was to hide the smaller specifically cut piece of wood that could be pulled out revealing a rather sharp point piece of wood.

I know. Such an arcane work of art! Hiding a smaller pointy stick or ‘stake’ inside a wooden Staff? Who could have thought of such a thing? Who would have thought I’d waste ink to inscribe a bit of work to ensure that the stupid piece of wood didn’t break when it hit a rib cage.

You know why people in horror movies used a hammer and stake to kill a vampire? It was because bones were durable and made it exceptionally hard to shove a piece of wood into a vital organ!

“Let me get this straight.” Averia spoke, holding up her hands “You know a spell that can turn that piece of wood as sharp as any sword… and yet you don’t carry a magical sword?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose “It’s more complicated than that, but yes… a bit of reinforcement and some minor alterations from a sword I had once acquired… but it’s freakin 'worthless.”

I had a sharp piece of wood that would punch through a lot of stuff… but it was a stupid piece of wood. That meant short range and the ink could have been spent in making wands (flamethrower variety) or a bit of extra protection for my clothing… or a new frying pan!

The overgrown toothpick could be set on fire, snapped in half, get lodged in a ribcage! Besides vampires were supposed to be stronger, faster, and have better hand eye coordination than an average human being… in what way was getting into close combat a good idea!

You might as well give someone a choice between a mundane shotgun or a magical singing sword of destiny… and tell them they had to face a bear with it! Most people would take the shotgun. The skeptics would only hesitate to ask if the gun came with ammo.

I had lots of garlic, a silver cross, a few vials of ‘holy water’ acquired by an imp who got it from a priest… not sure if that affected the results or anything. Point was that vampires operated on a wild paradox of supernaturally deadly and easily killable.

Seriously, it felt like one of those Min-Max RPG gamers was allowed to make themselves into a supernatural powerhouse… and then tried loading up with as many obscure ‘weaknesses’ in the hope that the GM would never use them in exchange for their absurd supernatural bonuses.

Crosses, holy water, moving water, garlic, roses on their coffins… seriously the sheer list of weakness made me wonder if half of them were faked or if they ended up pissing off some vindictive Fae Lord who just start throwing as many or really any curse that came to mind because the pale skinned freaks stiffed the Fae on some important battle.

So now I had half a dozen random ‘anit-vampire’ junk dangling off of me while making one last bit to ensure that the vampiric swarm doesn’t overwhelm me before whoever was supposed to try to kill me for this duel took their shot.

“Why not just… enchant a knife or better yet a sword?” Averia asked as if somehow that was a better plan. “If you need a good one then I can get you one easily.”

I held up the overgrown toothpick “Wood beats vampires. Lead beats humans. Sadly I lack the people and time to build an automatic gatling crossbow that fires wooden stakes.”

“It is the domain of life that interferes with the vampire’s abilities which are tied into the domain of death.” Mr Hawkings spoke from the driver’s passenger seat “Wood grows. Plants renew. A cut flower will still persist if given water.”

I glanced up as Mr Knight had finally rolled down the window as the dark bald man scoffed “Blood is their power. It would be far easier to slit their stomachs to drain them of their power than to aim a chunk of wood at their heart.”

“Okay maybe a knife would be better.” I admitted out loud “But running low on supplies and this thing should be good enough to pierce the rib cage.”

“And if it isn’t?” Mr Knight chidded me.

I rolled my eyes “Then I lit the charge and stand far away from the pointy end as we get an unstable charged magical reaction…” There were a couple of stares as I forgot that they didn’t understand ‘my magic’ much to my annoyance. “It's going to make either a long burst of flames or a horrific explosion shredding everything in front of it.”

Now there were a few looks of surprise and mild horror as Mr Knight practically slammed the breaks realizing I was practically holding a lit stick of Nitroglycerin inside the Limo. There was a bit of argument from all around ranging from ‘throw it out the window’ to ‘why would you make something like that?’ as if I was insane for bringing explosives!

First of all my ‘magic’ isn’t a toy and as it follows certain rules of physics and reality. The second thing is that I would be bringing actual explosives if I could buy any… and it was not ‘insane’ to carry any and every weapon available when you know you are walking into a freaking ambush!

“Relax, it's not charged yet.” I tried to explain mostly to ease their worries “I need to finish setting the ink and it isn’t any different from the other half dozen wands on me.”

All eyes fell on me again as they noticed the seven collapsible batons on me. Grant it not all of them were on a full charge and two of them would serve better as improvised explosives than firing off one or two rounds… but I was low on supplies and blasting them was a lot more cost efficient than re-inking them.

“What… exactly are you preparing for?” Averia asked as I applied another coat of garlic juice on my neck “I mean… you know this is going to be a duel right?”

“Yes.” I replied once again as I didn’t know why they weren’t armed to the teeth “This isn’t the first duel I’ve been challenged to. I know the drill.”

It was always the same as on the surface it was supposed to be between two people… a way to solve a conflict or dispute with minimal losses on both sides so that everyone could see how ‘just’ and ‘fair’ both parties were.

“Before we get there they will try to kill us. Before we even meet the other Heir a hired third party will try to murder us before we even get there.” I replied in a dull tone “If we get lucky enough to arrive it will be an ambush of every single damn vampire attacking us if we are lucky. If we aren’t then the place will lock down with a death trap while they try to kill us if we escape the murder attempt.”

Now they all looked at me as if I was insane. Seriously the only ‘rule’ about these duels was if both parties got to the ‘real spot’ where the duel would take place then maybe you would have some semblance of rules taking place.

Of course by then you’d be low on supplies and your opponent would be ready for half of your tricks with the firm understanding that they needed to murder you right away. No fan fair or grandiose speeches. Just straight up murder with maybe a double tap to the head just to be safe.

There was an awkward cough as Mr Hawking looked slightly embarrassed “No… a duel as in two people fighting one another. In fact doing… that would actually be detrimental to them.”

I stared at him as if he was an idiot… maybe there was some super silly Fae nonsense that prevented it from working. Like a death pact to ensure that if one party died then the other party died shortly afterwards?

“It’s presence.” Averia spoke up, sounding a little bit unnerved “Having you attacked, weakened, or killed before a duel would weaken their stance.”

I looked at the half-elf girl “But I would be dead and everyone else would forget about it after a month or two.”

“What kind of messed up place did he come from that duels aren’t honored?” Mr Knight harshly whispered to Mr Hawking

“One where you can trust somebody’s word if they make a Pact.” I snapped back “You shake and know the other person isn’t going to pull out some loophole or clever wordplay to sneak out of it like a rat!”

There was a bit of muttering and general confusion as they tried to weigh the merits of dueling with crooked contracts vs acting like normal people with good contracts. The fact the internal debate took so long to be made said less about this place then I would have liked.

Finally Averia broke the mutters and spoke out loud “The thing about us?” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “Most of our ‘society’ is that we live in secrecy, hiding magic, and all that other stuff… but when it comes to revealing ourselves? We try to be as big, loud, and boisterous as possible. It is why most of us shout our attacks as it makes our magic literally stronger.”

I nodded my head as this was important. If my opponents would shout their attacks then it would give something to work off of… even if ‘die’ and ‘explosion’ wouldn’t be easy things to easily doge or counter.

Averia nodded her head happy I wasn’t arguing back “Duels? They can be tricky, complicated, convoluted, and so much more… but it is our chance to shine, go full ham… to show off and make our presence known to all who are watching.”

There was a sparkle in her eyes in much the same way a sports fan would take about a team “It's almost unthinkable to… cheat it. A bit more likely that things will end up badly as all those watching will not be happy if someone fails to show up… much less if they had been murdered or crippled beforehand.”

The last bit was spoken with an almost malevolent tone as everyone else nodded their heads that marked it as both a cultural thing… and one of those tiny cultural taboos you just didn’t break if you wanted to have a long life.

The vehicle slowed down as my phone began to buzz. One check at the number and I recognized that Futurm was calling me… which probably meant it was important.

“Hello?” I asked

“Boss… not sure what’s going on, but the cameras are acting a bit… funny.” The imp replied “Could be their ‘magic’ making a mess of perfectly good codding.”

I nodded my head “If anything happens… go with plan C.”

The car started to slow down as past experiences made me wonder if ‘cell phone jammers’ were being set up to prevent anyone from calling for help. After all… it’s not ‘illegal’ if nobody reports it.

The building came into view as it was one of those… not sure if it was a community hall or a government building. It had that dull business feeling where you could walk in and expect to see large empty hallways and rooms that could be filled with chairs to hear a single individual lecture to a bunch of grown adults who clearly didn’t want to be there.

People only came because it was required and once it was done they tried leaving as quickly as possible… perfect place since nobody would want to be here after business hours.

Well… except for the kidnappers at least. As the sun had already set leaving the place lit up by electric lamp. The welcoming committee could now be seen just lingering around the building like a pack of piranhas waiting for the fat cow to take a small dip in the river.

Though to be fair piranhas sounded intimidating as these people looked to be dressed like failed Broadway actors for a musical rendition of the play ‘Grease’... or really any play with gangs who spent more time twirling and dancing then threatening and mugging.

I stared at the greased hair vampires as I just had to ask “Are they dressed that way to make people drive away as they groan… or do they dress that way on purpose?”

Mr Knight let out a harsh ‘cough’ that suppeciously sounded like laughter “The perks of Undeath is the extension of one’s lifespan… but usually at the cost of stagnation. They are frozen as who they were before the change… the ones you should fear are those who can adapt to modern society. For they can change and learn thus overcoming the flaw of undeath.”

The car stopped as the vampire swarm had practically surrounded the car like an old street gang. All that was missing was the snapping of the fingers as their leader in the only unbutton black jacket walked up showing a wide smile revealing his fangs in an attempt to intimidate us…

As if vampires were something ‘new’ and never been seen before.

I took a deep breath and opened the door preparing for the all too common ‘sudden betrayal’ before all of the vampires suddenly jumped back. Any doubts of their supernatural origins were put away when you saw them leap back and land on the roof of the building or flag poles.

They glared at me in anger as my ‘garlic aura’ apparently didn’t agree with them… or the silver cross, roses, garlic bulbs, and various other ‘anti-vampire’ stuff dangling underneath my red cloak.

One of the vampires who had worked up the courage to stand a couple of feet away from me spoke in a hissed almost feral tone “What do you think you are doing?”

I glanced at the vampire and was mildly disappointed “Being sent here because your group kidnapped a family. Is it my fault that the value of your trust is a bit sketchy?”

They really took offense to that statement as the others behind me looked at me as if I was insane. There was supposed to be a show, some sort of display and ‘talk’ before they tried to kill me.

I threw up my hands “Seriously! I’ve had plenty of people trying to kill me and generally speaking. Those who resort to kidnapping children can rarely be trusted? Can we see the kidnaped family or did you dump them in the basement to be fed upon during the mid-game shows? Some grand excuse about not having to give them up until after you won?”

It was a stupid thing to do, but things would be far easier if they just showed us where they were so that the hostages could be escorted out of here. While they may have some love of a death match being played right before their eyes… I played to win.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Having spectators kind of limited my options… especially if I cared if they survived.

The sound of footsteps could be heard as a female voice spoke “My… I didn’t expect this reaction to the challenge.”

A pale skinned woman in a black cocktail dress walked out of the building completely with long black dark hair. It was probably a safe bet to say that this was one of the welcoming committee…

My hand reached for my revolver and pulled it out. Three shots rang out as I didn’t even think as I just tried emptying every single clip into the person’s body. I could hear shouts, but not a single one mattered until I heard my gun failed to fire on the fourth shot.

The vampire who had been in front of me was now bleeding as each round had hit his stomach. Meanwhile my revolver continued to click despite there being perfectly good bullets to shoot with!

The vampire glanced behind him and whimpered “Why?”

The woman spoke with a hint of what she thought was a sophisticated voice “Because you decided to take a sip and harmed my credibility.”

There was a crack as the vampire fell as legs weren’t supposed to bend that way yet the strange woman who I wanted to shoot just walked on the vampire as she shook her head not because she was offended at having been shot at, but due to the implied insult of her credibility having been damaged.

She wore a smile that might have been seen as ‘charming’ if not for her recent actions. It was the kind of smile that came from someone who enjoyed watching other people suffer as her shoes dug into the vampire back just for her enjoyment.

“What manner of weapon is that? The first three shots were mundane to be sure, but I’d hate for my dress to be ruined by that fourth one.” I tried swapping out the rounds as the witch continued “Anti-combustion spells my dear Kravos… never leave home without them.”

I coughed as that took out a few options from my playbook. There were probably limits or counters… but that implied I had time to figure them out.

The woman glanced at the others who stared at her with unease. My brain tried to figure out who this person was, how to kill her, and why the urge to kill her had come so strongly!

“And who are you?” I asked trying to lower the revolver

She smiled “Why I’m one of the Heirs of the Hill.”

A bitter chuckle escaped my throat “Nope. You are not in any of the pictures as I’m sure I would have spotted someone with black hair…”

I wasn’t exactly sure what happened, but one moment the woman was standing on top of a vampire and wiping her feet on his back as if he was a rug… the next moment she was right in front of me and holding my right eye open with her hand.

There was a look of utter fascination in her eyes as I backed away only for two vampires to hold me. The dark black eyes stared into my own “How did you get these eyes! If you get me a pair I’d offer my hand in marriage to you and you could do far worse than being married to the Heir who owns the Witch’s Hill.”

I managed to grab the hands that were trying to hold me as the vampires hissed in pain as what could be best described as an instant allergic reaction spread across their wrists and arms as they easily broke out of my grasp leaving me alone with the creepy woman.

“No thanks.” I quickly replied “Already having people to kill me for the stupid hill.”

She blinked in confusion “No… Averia Willow has the hill as the heirs of the hill are female.”

Mr Hawking cleared his throat “No… Kravos Lynch owns the hill as it is now the Magician’s Hill.”

The strange woman looked at me before grabbing below the belt as I knocked her hand away from it before she got any ideas. There was a wide grin at her having handled me like that before it slowly turned to confusion.

“No…” She spoke with a shake of her head “How can he be the heir? There are five female heirs. Five of them.”

“And you’re not one of them.” I spoke, readjusting my clothing and resist the urge to use a flamethrower wand “So who are you?”

There was a look of disbelief on her face before she took one good long look at me. It was then I felt the creeping presence across my back as I pulled out my phone and tried to take a picture of her… and the camera lens showed me a red-haired freckled woman instead of the dark haired one.

“Second Law…” I muttered as I understood, “You stole her body, you old hag.”

“I am not old…” The creature hissed as a look of anger was etched across her face.

I put away my revolver and tried to figure out how this trick worked. Killing her wouldn’t mean anything if she could steal another body. There were plenty of bodies here if we had some sort of soul snatching body hijacker flying about.

“And daughters?” I let out a bitter chuckle “I clearly remember you telling me about your lackluster love life. How did it go again… that someone like her can fall in love, out of love, and in love again while someone like us can never even get up to…”

She pulled out a wand as you do not mess with people who wield a stick crackling with a dark sickly energy that sparked like wild cattle prod… and I would rather be hit by one of those things than see what this thing would do to my body.

Still while I had struck a nerve there was one thing I could confirm… she knew. She stared at me with a new hint of unease, probably wondering how I still remembered that night.

“Kravos…” A voice spoke up from the peanut gallery “No offense… but what exactly is going on here?”

We both turned towards the peanut gallery as Mr Knight was pulling out his armor as the vampires now stood ready to attack. Mr Hawkings looked caught between pulling out his staff to fight and playing diplomat while the girls…

Averia looked uneasy as she glanced into the building at something while Nadel looked at me trying to figure out what was going on. How much did they know and more importantly How was the old witch still alive?

I glanced back at her wishing I took a sample of the corpse’s blood… or checked it for any esoteric items or… something.

“Ah… the lost traveler.” Agatha spoke taking a few steps back “Not worried about growing old, single, and dying a virgin?”

Something clicked as I remembered the old conversation “Too late for that. Reality already showed me that the cards just weren’t in it for me.”

“Ah but are the cards in your favor now?” She practically whispered with a wide grin “So tell you what… how about we bargain instead of fight?”

I shook my head as I started loading the more esoteric bullets into my gun “Okay? What’s with your body snatching trick? I generally don’t study stuff across from the Eldritch Line, but if you have a shiny green pendant please tell me so that I can avoid ‘hitting it’ when we duel.”

The woman let out a hearty cackle “My dear boy… Let's up the stakes then shall we? You win, I'll let you in on the secret. I win… your mine.”

“No thanks.” I replied as each round had been reloaded “It’s hard to get answers from a corpse and necromancy is out of my skill set.”

It may have felt stupid, but the funny thing about The Spire… The lost city and all of its various names people went and called it by… Anyone who started picking up the ability to use and call upon Pacts were in fact bound by them a little bit.

It wasn’t as if I was under some sort of compulsion… well other than the general sense of paranoia you naturally get when you realize something might try to scramble your brains or turn your body into a living puppet while you were still alive.

The Pact merely extended that sense to let you know of people who broke the Second Law even if you didn’t know… and Kornea kind of operates on a ‘Shoot First. Ask questions while reloading’ mindset.

“Ah, but you forgot one thing.” She spoke in an idle tone “You are challenging me. It isn’t my fault you picked this place for the duel as I get to pick the weapon of the duel.”

My blood froze as I looked at Mr Hawkings in disbelief as he replied “In exchange for the hostages.”

With a snap of her fingers an actual regal looking vampire stepped up to the plate. This one had that transylvanian knight of murder appeal. Pale skin, beard and mustache that could pass as regal nobility and evil villain facial hair.

You would be easy to think he was a noble who spent more time counting coppers in his coffins than slaughtering random peasants with his swords… but this was the modern age and somehow I doubt guns were going to be called upon for this duel.

Agatha Willow smiled “My second shall fight as I choose a battle of strength.”

It felt like unseen chains tore into my equipment as against all reason my more esoteric equipment stopped working. My gun seemed stuck, unable to pull the trigger as I checked my wands to find out that they for some odd reason stopped working.

The cold hearted witch continued wearing a gloating smile as she spoke “Nothing shall work except blade and might. No magic to weave, no gun to shoot, or curse to enact. Just blade and what wit you carry.”

The vampire made a mocking bow towards me “Do not take offense if I may ask for what words shall be etched upon your gravestone. I was picked to deal with the elf girl after all…”

Arrogant, prideful, and probably thought it would be easy to kill me since I was lacking most of my tools. I glanced at my oversized wooden prop and tried to figure out if that bit of magic was still working or not.

Putting away my gun and grabbing a jar full of garlic juice. I poured it all over my head much to the disgruntled annoyance of the vampire who looked as if I had just grabbed a perfectly fine steak and washed it in dirty water before drying it with a flea infested dog.

I shook some of the dripping juice out of my hair and gave my best ‘I totally am not scared no matter what my legs say’ smile “He was never here and the grave is empty.”

The vampire actually paused as he blinked in confusion “Excuse me?”

I shrugged “I have plenty of people trying to kill me. Why should I let them take it easy after I die? You can even leave a shovel by the grave if you want.”

Legal formalities out of the way I held up my oversized toothpick and made sure I had a good grip on the concealed weapon part of the Staff. My best attempt was to hold it up trying to ‘block’ whatever strike was going to cut through it as the vampire laughed.

“Good words.” He spoke in good humor “I will even etch them into the stone myself.”

Then the vampire just lept towards me and it wasn’t a slow graceful leap like an expert duelist… but one of those absurdly fast leaps that you saw only wild animals do. The ‘blink and you’ll die screaming’ leaps as the first sword cut clean through the staff before his free hand grabbed the back of my cloak and shoved my neck into his face.

Pain shot through my neck as a pair of sharp teeth plunged themselves into my neck. I could feel something trying to inject itself into my system, but potions, antidotes, and semi-legal drugs had already been pumped into my systems leaving me wide, awake, and screaming in pain.

I saw the vampire’s eyes dilate as if he was high as my hand held the piece of wood tightly before tearing off the casing and shoving the piece of wood through his heart. Magical enchanted wood sheared through flesh, bone and metal as I shanked the vampire repeatedly in the back.

There was no grace, no rhyme, or logic. Just a blood thirsty vampire trying to drain me dry as I kept stabbing the blood beast until it died!

The corpse fell limp before turning to ash as I grabbed one of the various health potions before pouring it on my neck which screamed in pain as if I had dumped rubbing alcohol over an open wound. There was a look of confusion as the peanut gallery was surprised by the quick brutality of the kill yet the slightly crazed psychotic grin was clear for all to see.

“You killed him.” Snarled one of the vampires “You’ll pay for that!”

“I have fled from things worse than you.” I spoke in a pained snarl as they rose up “Cursed I maybe, but this coward has yet to flee!”

There was a panicked shout. A cry of outrage as my vision started to blur, yet I did not care. The blackened ash around me was stained with far too much of my blood as I could feel the chains falling off. With a twist of my gloves my bloody mess danced around me as a good magician doesn’t carry one set of tricks… he carries many.

There was no chant, spell or twist of words as my magic danced across the air. There are many tricks one can learn within Kornea, but the simplest ones are generally the best.

Especially when you could search online where a fight was taking place and wait laid underneath.

Water tore through the ground as it snapped wildly around me trapped in the circle as it continued drawing in water. The myth about ‘moving water’ apparently was true. Instead of a swarm of vampires tearing me apart… It was as if I was stuck in a sandstorm made out of ash.

The water continued to snap around me as the vampire swarm finally stopped allowing me a clear shot at the witch. Pulling out the second wand used for this trick while Agatha Willow held up her wand and said something before...

----------------------------------------

“What do you think you are doing…” A voice spoke.

The water was gone. The area around me had changed as the sudden loss of a good amount of my blood kicked in as all of those lovely endorphins and adrenaline suddenly seemed to leave my body as horrible pain set in.

I coughed up blood and collapsed onto the ground as my broken staff clattered against the hard pavement, possibly breaking my nose. Yet it didn’t matter as blood loss kicked in. The various drugs that kept me awake during the vampire attack were now tearing at my insides as my senses began to waver.

There was a panicked cry of confusion, cursing, and lots of swearing as I nearly blacked out.

A pair of hands grabbed me while shoving something into my mouth practically trying to drown me with the wretched liquid as my body felt like it was going to twist and convulse. Bits of broken glass and broken vials danced across the ground as somebody was tearing off my clothing while cursing.

I looked at the large painful bruises as… yep… I think the vampire tried breaking my ribs in his attempt to kill me before Sir Stabby Ton found his heart, kidneys and lungs.

Someone held me up as they moved the bottle away from my mouth as I hacked up some of the liquid. My vision was still a bit blurry, but I think the one holding me was the half-elf girl.

I could remember how she used to joke at my lack of skill with a sword. As if I needed a magical blade to shank a vampire!

‘Oh no… not memories are bad memories’ I had to remind myself. ``The luck of Parker had yet to make itself known as now the responsibility will kick you in the shins.”

As if by luck and twisted fate Agatha Willow spoke “Ah Averia Willow. So it is you who have chosen to challenge me…”

I held up the one finger salute and shouted “I’m not dead you old hag!”

There was a long pause as everyone stared at me in disbelief as my mind struggled to remember the important thing about duels… no not the ‘fighting fair’ bit, but the all more important bit.

People cheat. If you won? Then they would still try to cheat until the final judgement call had been made… and when your life was on the line you didn’t want the judge to declare you as the loser regardless of your injuries.

I waved Mr Sir Stabby Ton in the air and shouted “Still alive! Still alive and going to murder you next!”

Attempts to stand failed horribly as the half-elf girl tried to keep me lying down as I more or less leaned up against her to try to stand. The stick in my hand had already killed one vampire. The torrent of water took out a few more.

I could probably squeeze a high yield explosion out of what was left if I could hold it up right…

Sir Ashy the vampire stood beside the witch as my brain struggled to figure out why reality had decided to cheat. After all… he was dead. You kind of notice those things when you were being nearly killed by someone before violently stabbing the person to death when they were trying to rip out your throat.

Ashy the vampire stared at me in confusion “Who dared damage our word and assaulted one of the guests?”

The vampires backed away as there were far too many vampires around… far too many living vampires who hadn’t been turned to ash and dust just… standing there as if they hadn’t been violently murdered.

“You did.” I spoke waving at my ash covered robes “And them, and him, and that one over there.”

Them, him, and that one all looked at one another in open fear before taking cover behind anything large and sturdy. Ashy on the other hand pointed a finger at himself as if he hadn’t been trying to suck me dry as I shanked him to death with a pointed stick.

“Yes, a vampire probably attacked you.” Averia spoke mildly concerned as a hint of venom filled her voice “Right on the grounds before a duel, but if he was the one who did it… then wouldn’t he be dead?”

I slowly nodded my head “Never stopped everyone else who had tried to kill me. That's why you double tap the head!”

There were a few concerned looks from the vampires as Mr Ashey coughed into his hand “Perhaps… blood loss is affecting his memory.”

“I already shanked you once with Mr Stabby Ton and I’ll do it again!” I shouted before my mind caught up to my mouth.

The first rule of surviving as long as I have is to let your opponents underestimate you. It was the reason why I could murder Ashy… because he didn’t think I was a big enough threat ot hack my head off and then drain my body dry.

It was because he thought it would be easy and thus within prime back stabbing range!

Letting him correct that mistake for round two removed surprised stabbing attempts and loss of blood was really hampering my thinking process. Not even sure if there is enough blood to repeat the first round of stabbing again.

Agatha Willow cleared her throat “Who exactly is he?”

“Kravos Lynch, Ms Rose…” Mr Hawkings spoke in mild embarrassment “The current owner of the Magician’s Hill. Please excuse the lack of manners due to the sudden assault he received upon your property.”

There was a bit of anger in his voice as everyone seemed angry at the whole ‘duel’ that apparently nobody could remember. The vampires glanced at the old body snatching hag who looked clearly displeased at her underlings for having failed to kill me the first time.

My own mind struggled to figure out what exactly happened in order to counter it in the future! Apparently my ‘victory’ against Mr Ashy was null and void… and I had lost a few supplies while they lost nothing.

Blood was still dripping from my neck as suddenly all the vampire gazed at me with emerald green eyes as they licked their lips as a raw hunger filled their gaze.

Steel being pulled against a sheath made them all look at the fully armored knight who spoke in a direct tone “First vampire to try will taste damascus steel.”

“But only if you get them first.” Agatha Willow spoke in an icy tone “They are my guests and no one shall go against my word will they?”

The vampire closed their mouths while staring at the blood dripping to the ground. Averia struggled to grab a cloth to stop the bleeding at my neck as whatever Mr Ashy did made it bleed even after applying something to stop the bleeding.

All of them stood around me holding their weapons as I was escorted into the building as the vampires practically pounced onto the pool of blood hissing in pain from the heavy dose of garlic… or being torn away from it before Ashy flung them aside.

They all hissed before he pulled out his blades “Do not lick off the ground like hounds.” He spoke in a disgruntled tone “Use tools like civilized creatures.”

He pulled out some sort of glass turkey baster and placed it against the pool of blood and sea of ash. All of it was sucked into the thing by magic before he slowly poured it into his mouth.

I saw smoke coming off of his tongue as it was burning his mouth yet there was the same drug fueled bliss that kept him drinking the tainted black blood regardless of the acidic burning of his mouth that caused my ‘bodyguards’ to stop as they watched in muted horror and disbelief.

The vampire let out a long hearty sigh a normal person would give after a hearty meal as he stared at me “That…” He licked the end of the glass baster before tossing it behind him leaving the other vampires to fight over what little remained within it “I would certainly remember tasting a vintage that refined.”

“Kravos…” Nadel spoke in a hissed horrified tone “Why do they look… sedated.”

“Sedated?” I asked in mild horror “They were trying to…”

“Vampires drink every last drop.” Mr Hawkings spoke, feeling the eyes of the vampires upon me “They don’t stop muchless share.” He glanced at the black stained cloth “And why are you bleeding black?”

I bit my lip, feeling my heart trying to make up for the lack of blood… and tried not to curse underneath my breath as I said “Because when supplies are low… you need to get creative.”

I stared at Agatha Willow who continued motioning us to move forward. The witch who had cheated as the loss she faced nobody could remember now. The loss from sending her pet vampire to beat me senseless after restricting me to fighting it in melee.

This is why you couldn’t trust ‘honor duels’ and other such nonsense people.

Because when it became a choice between winning and possibly losing... People cheated every freaking time.

It’s only illegal if they get caught…

And only if you are still alive to complain about it.