I noticed something really weird. I was checking how many people had read my chapters. Around 1800 had read chapter 1 I think, but over 2600 had chapter 2! Do people skip the first chapter or what? I'm really confused. If any of you guys has an answer for this mystery please tell me! I need to know.

Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 9: Night Wolf

Strength was very important in this world. Strength was what won wars, and strength was the way to power. Without strength you wouldn’t be able to rule. This strength could lie in yourself, or it could lie in your friends, family or subordinates. But without strength you wouldn’t see power. This was the iron rule of this world.

The strength of a fighter was dealt into ranks. From F to A. From early to the peak. The weakest of fighters were at the F rank. If you were below F rank you would only be a normal citizen. An F rank fighter would have to be surrounded by ten armed normal people to be killed. You might think this is powerful, but it was nothing. If you faced an E rank fighter off against ten normal people, that wouldn’t even be enough to scratch him. No, you would need around a hundred person army. This was the difference between the ranks. Of course there were differences between the ranks as well. Early, middle, late and peak. These are the three stages within the ranks. If you had a peak fighter of the F rank, he might be able to face off against 50 angry villagers. Similarly a peak E rank could handle 150 villagers or city dwellers.

But a peak E rank, would still die against an early D rank, for he could handle 200 villagers, while a C rank wouldn’t flinch in front of 400 villagers. This was the difference between ranks. The farther you came, the bigger the difference. Especially after C rank. A B rank fighter could handle over a thousand villagers.

But I’m only explaining this in how many villagers fighters could kill. Let’s say an F rank could push a 500 kilogram boulder, then an E rank could lift it. Someone at the B rank could generally move faster than the speed of sound, only appearing as a blur in the eyes of normal people. But this was different for vampires. Vampire are stronger than mortals, even within the same rank. A very powerful vampire at the peak of rank C, would be able to fight against a peak rank B fighter. Vampires were also very fast, moving even faster than B rankers, when only at the C rank. Now you might ask, if they are this powerful, why would they be called C rank while being able to fight B rankers? The ranks are subjective. Deep in your mind you can sense what rank you are. This is also how the strength testing balls work. They dig into you mind, to see how strong you are. This way you can’t cheat.

Therefore the ranks are relative to the person. In theory someone could be at the F rank, and still be able to kill even an S rank. But this was also impossible, for the laws of nature forbid it. The difference in strength would never be too great, and it was always relative to the race. This is why all humans have a power limit. Vampires were one of the most powerful races in existence, if not the most powerful, but because of this they had weaknesses.

Magic was similar to this, also dealt into categories. They are, Beginner Mage, Acolyte Mage, Elementary Mage, Half Circle Magus, Full Circle Magus and Warlock. These are at least the ones I knew of, there were more after this. You were dealt into these ranks based on what spells you could use. A beginner magic is the weakest and warlock magic, the strongest. A Warlock Mage could cast devastating magic that could even destroy a small city, while a Beginner Mage would only be able to kill normal people semi easily. Like the F ranked fighter, a Beginner Mage could kill around ten or so villagers. A Beginner Mage would be more likely to win against an F ranked fighter though, due to ranged attacks. Except if the fighter was a ranger or archer, or something along those lines.

Both Amelia and I had become Acolyte Mages and C ranked fighters. Kato was a Full Circle Magus. This was an existence equal to a B ranked fighter. The Coldblood family really had to spend a lot of effort to get him to us. The fact that they knew him beforehand also helped a lot. If they hadn’t met us, they might have asked him to get rid of the Cheng clan. After all he was a Full Circle Darkness Mage. Wouldn’t he be perfect for assassinating them?

We were on the road to the Lunar forest, Amelia, Kato and I. We had prepared the day before, and left. It was the middle of the night right now, which was the equivalent of midday for us. We decided to go and get a snack, so we went over to some nearby farm house. There weren’t any people on the road at this time, so we thought we would indulge ourselves, and get a nice meal in a farm. We found a farm that was inhabited by a middle aged couple.

They had three children, two daughters and a son. We entered the house silently, and went into the bedrooms and gathered them together in the living room. They all had terrified looks on their faces, as we looked at them with hungering eyes. They didn’t dare to even say a word.

Kato walked to the youngest daughter, she looked to be around 15 years old. He grabbed her by the neck and bit into her immediately.

“No, please! Don’t hurt us, we’ll do anything you ask of us!” the father of the household yelled, begging for mercy. Kato looked at him, then released his daughter, who was already dead.

“The only thing we want is your delicious blood.” Kato smiled at him. I walked over to his other daughter, while Amelia went for his son. We both bit onto our victim, and started sucking them dry. Soon three young corpses littered the floor. The mother was kneeling in the floor, crying, while the father just looked blankly, an empty look in his eyes. Kato walked over to the mother, while Amelia went for the Father. I didn’t need one. Amelia was my lover, so I liked spoiling her, and I had become quite good friends with Kato. He also needed more blood than me, since my vampiric age was older. Me being the progenitor also helped.

After the couple was dead, we burned them to a crisp. After that we also set fire to the house and left. We stopped a distance away, to watch the house burn. It was quite relaxing.

We travelled for a few days, before we arrived in front of the Lunar Forest. We didn’t kill any more families in those days, we only fed on a few travellers. Killing wasn’t risky at all, since people would only think that they were killed by monsters. Likewise burning down the farmhouse would make people think that the farmers died in the fire.

“We’re here. Kato do you know anything special about the Night Wolves?” I asked him.

“Nothing much. I do know that they are nocturnal, just like we are. They are also very fast, but probably not faster than you. Maybe faster than Amelia, but not likely. They are faster than me though, since I’m only early rank C, and don’t specialise in speed as much as you guys. So I will stay in the backlines and support with magic.” Kato said.

We entered the forest. It was currently night time, so the Night Wolves should be out. The forest was very dark, it would be very hard to see anything in here, even in the day. The name was very fitting. But we were vampires, so this didn’t matter. It was our best kind of environment. While we were walking we would sometime hear rustling noises, or feel a random wind blowing against us. When we looked in its direction, there would be nothing there.

“It seems the Night Wolves have found us. They’re following us, but I don’t think they realize that we know they are there.” I said to my two companions.

We kept wandering about. I was keeping track of how many Night wolvers were there. With my senses and reflexes, I could easily keep track of them. Then I counted fifteen. They were probably going to ambush us soon, so I decided that I would strike first.

“Prepare yourself. They’re all here, so we’ll attack now.” I said to Kato and Amelia.

Our bodies flashed as we charged at the wolves, while Kato stood back and charged a spell.

I landed in front of a two meters tall, four meters long wolf. It looked shocked to see my speed, but I didn’t give it a change to react, and swung my longsword at it. My sword went straight for its neck, and chopped right into it. In but a moment, the head of a night wolf rolled on the floor. Amelia had also managed to kill one. She was standing a few meters next me. The remaining thirteen wolves noticed the death of their brethren, and immediately reacted. The quickly surrounded us in a circle, but Kato wasn’t in this circle. The wolves were cautious as they circled around us. Suddenly three wolves rushed at us. One went for Amelia, and the other two went for me. But at this moment Kato cast a spell, and it hit one the wolves charging for me. As soon as it hit, the darkness wen into the wolf, and covered its eyes, making it blind. If he wanted to he could have killed it, but I had asked Kato to go easy on them. After all this mission served as training for me and Amelia. If Kato killed them all, then it would all be a waste.

I jumped to the side, as one of the wolves stumbled, and directly dodged the other one. I swung out with my sword, and hit the side of the healthy wolf, injuring it as a stream of blood sprayed out. Amelia had also jumped out of the way, but hadn’t managed to attack back, as another wolf had charged at her. Right after the blood sprayed, two more Night Wolves attacked me, just as the blind one recovered. Thus three wolves pounced on me. I dodged to the site, towards the injured wolf, but the paw of one of the wolves scratched me, causing a deep wound. I felt a stinging pain in my side, but ignored it. I took the chance, and slashed my sword at the injured wolf, causing its head to fly.

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Seeing another of their brother’s die, enraged the Night Wolves. Twelve wolves were left. Four of these wolves charged at Amelia, while the rest attacked me. Being attacked by this many wolves at the same time was very dangerous. If I was a human I would most certainly die, but luckily I was a vampire, and also had Kato’s support. Kato cast two spells, blinding two wolves, then also blinded two of Amelia’s wolves. She was only at the middle of rank C, and these wolves were quite special. Their speed was almost on par with Amelia’s, and there were four of them, so she was in quite a pinch. But luckily Kato blinded two of them, and helped her.

Two my wolves were also blinded, but there were still six left. I kept dodging around while also attacking from time to time. I would slowly injure the wolves, but the wolves also hit many hits on me.

Suddenly I saw an opening as a wolf was attacking. I decided to take the change at charged straight at him. His long, sharp claws hit me right in chest, causing a deep wound, but my sword also managed to pierce deep into his heart. The other wolves were surprised for a moment, and I took the opportunity and charged straight at the two blinded wolves, and slit their throats. Now there were only nine wolves left in total. Five of them fighting me, four of them fighting Amelia.

The wolves were shocked at losing three brothers in an instant. I got excited and charged right at one of the wolves. But as my sword pierced into the eye of the wolf, the four other wolves reacted, and pounced on me. My sword was stuck in the skull of the now deceased wolf, as I flew four meters back. Four deep wounds appeared on my body. I stood op. The wolves looked at me with shocked expressions as I rose. That attack should have definitely have killed him, they thought. A red light appeared in my eyes, as I formed my hands into claws. I charged at one of the wolves, like a flash, much to his demise. I pierced the middle of his head with my claws, and pulled his head apart. The three other wolves charged at me. I dodged two of the wolves, but let on hit me, as I stabbed at the wolf’s heart. My claw pierced into his heart as I pulled it out. I threw the heart in the face of another wolf, then pounced at it. I pointed with one finger is pierced into its eye. Then at the tip of that finger I formed an ice spike that grew up through the wolf’s head. The wold naturally died on the spot. Now only two wolves were left fighting me.

In my rage, I charged right at the horrified wolves, the red light still apparent in my eyes. I grabbed the neck of the scared wolf, then lifted him from the ground, and smashed him right into the other wolf, with all my might. The other wolf was smashed into a mush of blood and bones, while the neck of the other wolf shattered.

Amelia had also managed to kill two of her wolves, while the other ones were still blinded. She walked towards the two blind wolves, about to kill them.

“Wait! I want to try something.” I said with my sanity regained. I walked over to the blind wolves. With a stroke of my hand I cut into my wrist. I knelt in front of the wolf, and fed him my blood. Both Amelia and Kato were looking at me in shock.

“What are you doing?!” Amelia asked, scared. I looked at her with a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry Amelia, Kato. Let me tell you of one of the abilities of us vampires. We can not only create vampires, we can also make ghouls. These ghouls are made through feeding mortals your own blood. After becoming a ghoul, you will get stronger and faster, but not as much as a vampire. Your life expectancy will also get longer. But I will need to feed them some of my blood from time to time, or they’ll lose their gained powers. The bond will still be there though, and they won’t feel a craving to my blood, except if they get addicted to it or something. I intend to make these Night Wolves onto our pet ghouls.” I said.

I continued to feed them my blood. Soon I felt a bond connect us. With this bond, they would never be able to disobey me, and I’d also know where they are and how strong they are. Just like the vampiric bond. Soon the two wolves stood before us. They weren’t afraid or angry at all anymore. They were completely loyal. When making a ghoul, the ghoul would lose all its hate or anger towards its master. A vampire wouldn’t necessarily forgive its maker. Amelia had forgiven me, because she had the rare mind change, when I made her, and had lost all her compassion for humans. As for Kato, I had never really wronged him, except for making him into a vampire, without asking him. But he still saw it as a gift, and was thankful, for he now had increased talent for magic, and would be able to reach the peak.

“Alright, my little pets. You shall be called, Iluvatar and Bane! Now, Amelia, Kato, let’s ride these beasts home!” I said, with fervour in my eyes. I had never ridden a horse before, not to mention a Night Wolf. I was excited. So was Amelia. And Kato.

I was the first to jump onto the Night Wolves. I decided to ride Iluvatar. Amelia and Kato quickly followed lead. Amelia joined me on Iluvatar and Kato rode Bane. I ordered the wolves to go forward. After we came out of the forest, we came to a standstill. I looked around, enjoying the sights one last time. This Lunar Forest was quite the sight. It looked mysterious and mighty, much more magnificent than that old moody forest outside my old home.

“Alright, Iluvatar, Bane, go forwards at full speed!” I yelled. The wolves quickly rushed forward at full speed. My blood had made them stronger, and they had made it into B rank already. Before, they were at the peak of rank C, so it was only natural that they would reach the B rank now. But if they didn’t get any of my blood again for an extended time, they would lose this strength. But if they were fed my blood a few times a year, then they could even live forever.

Now that they had been strengthened by my blood, they were even faster than me. This made them into quite good mounts. As we were rushing at full speed back home, I could feel the wind brushing against my skin. It was a quite exhilarating feeling. It wasn’t the same as running yourself, since we were sitting motionless on their backs.

We didn’t go straight back home to Fenlai City. We went on a roundabout route, to enjoy our new pets a bit more. The wolves were running side by side. They weren’t going full speed anymore, but in a more relaxed speed.

“Kato, this Night Wolf, Iluvatar, shall belong to me and Amelia. Bane will be yours. What do you say?” I asked with a smile on my face. Ever since Kato became one of my own, I had never given anything to him. He though, he had helped us a lot. He taught us magic and how to read. This would be my thanks to him. He looked at me with surprise. Then a rare smile appeared on his face. Kato was a very taciturn man. He didn’t speak much, and didn’t smile often. It wasn’t exactly that he was cold or indifferent, he was just quiet.

“Thank you, Isaac. I will make sure to take care of Bane. But what about his blood bond? Will he follow my orders?” He asked.

“Don’t worry. I’ll transfer my bond to you. It’s possible to transfer the blood bond of a ghoul, you just need to have gained the ability. Since I’m the progenitor I gained it early. After I woke up, I had this ability. You don’t need it to make ghouls though. You can make those from the start, although they won’t be very useful until you age a bit.” I said.

I then poked my forehead with the sharp nail of my forefinger, on my forehead. A drop of blood appeared and floated above my finger, as I held it before my eyes. Suddenly the drop of blood flew into the forehead of Kato.

“The bond! I can feel it. Thank you Isaac. I owe you one.” He said with a smile.

I looked at him in amusement.

“Kato you don’t owe me. You taught me magic and how to read. This was to thank you, even though you technically didn’t have a choice, but you did seem to do it willingly.” I said. He owed me? No, it was I that owed him. If he hadn’t been here, then I probably wouldn’t even have been able to tame these wolves. If he hadn’t used his blinding spell it would have been very hard to fight all them at the same time.

“Yes I did do it willingly. After all I consider this gift you gave me a blessing. An unholy blessing. And I’m very thankful for it. Ever since I became a vampire I have been able to sense magic much more clearly. Before I would have been lucky if I ever reached the level of a Warlock in two hundred years, but now, now I will probably be able to reach it just a few years. You were like a saviour that came from the heavens and granted me my biggest wish.” He said as his eyes turned serious and his voice became more and more resolute.

I looked at him in surprise. I didn’t expect such a speech from him. I was like a saviour from the heavens? I could only look at him in content. His words made me happy. Like when a brother thanks you for saving his life.

End of chapter 9