“Sir Archmage, the Undead Coalition destroyed most of my progenies and these two are all that were left. I managed to escape together with my two remaining children. They are now treating me and my children as traitors,” The elder vampire said.

Anton was taken aback. He could understand why the Undead Coalition was treating the vampire as a traitor since he did share a lot of things with him.

“Why are they treating you as a traitor? You actually didn’t share any important details with me just general ones,” Anton asked the vampire.

“They didn’t believe me when I said that and they said that me casting the blood oath to save myself was proof enough that I was a traitor.”

“Don’t they have any truth spell or something of that sort and if they were such powerful beings as you have mentioned before, how did you manage to escape? And why did you head here and not go somewhere else?”

“They do have truth spells but it would cause my death after questioning me so my progenies caused some chaos to allow me the opportunity to escape. My family paid greatly since all of them died except these two which were the most powerful ones. Since the Undead Coalition is in the process of trying to conquer the surrounding cities, no one would welcome me since I’m a well-known part of the coalition. Even some vampire clans would not accept me to avoid the eyes of powerful countries that were angry at the actions of the coalition. Since I’ve already performed a blood oath to not harm you and yours, I’m trying my luck to get under your wing. I know a lot of intelligence and could offer them to you in trade for you protecting me. If you think that not accepting me will prevent the eyes of the coalition from turning to you, they are already aware of your presence and wouldn’t attack you since they were not sure of your identity so even if you take me in, they will not attack you especially once you reach Zalnothel.”

Anton suddenly felt a bit afraid when he was informed that the Undead Coalition was already aware of this presence which if he was going to be honest about it, he should have expected since he was able to stop an army by himself.

“Please stay here in our sight and let me talk to my companions first,” Anton told the vampire.

Anton and Anders then joined Lucas who were watching the meeting and they walked further away from the vampires. Since Anton knew based on novels and shows that vampires had very keen hearing, he cast a Fire Wall between their group and the vampires and hoped that it was enough to prevent the powerful monster from hearing them.

“What do you think?” Anton asked his father and the others.

“Keeping a vampire with us is truly dangerous. I don’t even know if Zalnothel would welcome us if we had vampires in our group and not an ordinary vampire at that but a powerful one,” Lucas said.

Anders was silent but they could see that he was deep in thought.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“The vampire does have very valuable information but to be honest I also don’t want them staying with us,” Anton added.

“We need more information. Let’s talk to them again,” Anders said.

Anton let the Fire Wall dispel. He wasn’t even sure if the spell worked as a shield to the vampires listening in on their conversation.

Anton, Anders, Lucas, and Nemina went towards the vampires to talk with them. This time, it was Anders who talked to them.

“You are well aware that we can’t just let you join us. We came from a country that was conquered by the Undead Coalition that was why we are on the run and we have been hounded by the undead during our escape. The wizard city is the last refuge that we aspire to reach since we are getting tired of running and you joining us could prevent the city from allowing us sanctuary. Why don’t you head there and trade your information for sanctuary as well?” Anders asked the vampire.

“I could do that as well but it would be better for me to be under a powerful archmage since it would give me protection. Since I’ve already formed a blood oath that would protect you and yours from me and my progeny and that you received all of my wealth, I was hoping that it was enough to allow us to stay under your care,” The vampire said while looking at the still glowing Anton.

“The wealth that we received from you was you trading your life for them and because our archmage was a bit inexperienced, he allowed you to live. If it were me, I would have killed you immediately,” Lucas said which prompted a stare from Anton since he was called inexperienced by the head guard.

The elder vampire stared at Lucas and then at Anton when the man said that the archmage was inexperienced and waited for a bit. Anton thought that the vampire might be waiting for him to reprimand who was clearly a guard because of the armor that Lucas was wearing but when he did nothing, it prompted a question from the vampire.

“Are you not an old archmage wearing a young man’s face?” The vampire asked tentatively.

“My son is not yet twenty and is already as powerful as an archmage!” It was Anders who suddenly yelled and it prompted a sigh from Nemina since Anders gave out too much information.

Anton’s father blushed which caused Anton to let out a small laugh and Anders glared at his son. It clearly showed that Anders’s family was truly inexperienced in dealing with someone like the vampire or even the nobility which was understandable since Anton was a very young inexperienced boy since he was just seventeen years old and Anders was a common mercenary turned farmer turned merchant.

“You’re not yet twenty years old?!” The elder vampire yelled and Anton just nodded.

Suddenly, the elder vampire knelt down and the two vampires beside him knelt down as well. Suddenly, some kind of red magic thing surrounded the elder vampire and the two vampires beside him and the magic reached out to Anton which almost prompted Lucas and Anders to attack the vampire but Anton stopped them immediately.

A screen appeared in Anton’s vision that stated that the vampire initiated a slave contract between the vampire and him and the windows explicitly informed him that the slave contract was in his favor.

Basically, the magic that the vampire cast was powerful enough that his Diablo II system acknowledged it and more than likely it did since it was highly favorable to Anton. He then wondered if his Diablo II system would also notify him if a powerful curse were cast against him and Anton had an inkling that if a spell that was cast would affect the system, it would probably notify him.

The contract stated that he would hold the vampire’s life in his hands and that the vampire and his progeny would not be able to go against his will. He could even command the elder vampire and his progeny to die and they would.

The Diablo II system window gave him a choice if he wanted to accept or decline the slave contract by pressing a yes or a no button. He pressed on yes and Antons saw the magic settled on the vampire and on him as well.