I sometimes wonder when will a particular plan of mine work smoothly enough that I can complete it straight forwardly.

A mission in which I was supposed to kill a bandit leader somehow managed to involve the vampire clans, a possible invasion on the hexmountain and now somehow ended up with me here.

It has been a while since my last log, but I have managed to complete my task for now. Being true linked to the formation is, lets just say a very invasive feeling. I can feel the sword like it is activated all the time.

I can feel my mana flow into the thing, without any particular push from my side and the mana of the sword come out of it. I am sure the presence of this mana is causing changes in my body even without the sword being present. It is just too slight for me to notice.

It is almost like the sword is breathing in my mana. I can see how this can reduce the affects of the thirst. It won't disappear completely, mind you but it should become closer to that of a fully converted grunt at the very least.

It is a very weird feeling, granted this was exactly what my master had theorised would have happened. Well, I really need to stop getting distracted now.

Right now I am in an abandoned lodge quite far away from the enemy and their present base. The owner of this place was the very first victim of the gang. I am in the first floor, in What I have to assume is the tavern of the lodge. The place is perfect. Anyone's entry into this place will be quite obvious to me and the pace won't be missed even if I were to end up demolishing the place. Not that such a intense fight will happen. Well, I sit down on floor, feeling the orb of black metal I have stashed in my shoes. That is going to be the star.

Trevor actually has got his hand on a pretty rare formation this north for it. It's called as the void smoke. It is supposed to create a mist in which all the senses are blocked completely. The people stuck in it feel as if they are stuck in a void.

The problem is that this is a double edged sword, I can't get stuck in it. And I can't make obvious movements too trap them. Whoever I will fight will have senses as sharp as mine after all, even one thing goes wrong and they will dodge it.

Still if they get trapped in it, there will be little that I will need to do. Escaping the void is nearly impossible, except by accidently walking away from its edges or the mana powering it is over. Regardless of which occurs, this will buy me at the very least ten minutes of time.

That will be enough for me. After all The plan that Trevor has proposed is quite simple, if a bit risky. Vampire clans are nearly legendary for their infighting. If a clan is doing something, you will find its opposing clan somewhere nearby trying to make it fail. I was transformed when the lady possessed Steve.

Trevor and I assume that she thinks of me as a suicidal attacker of some clan. She did keep calling me a half converted mutt, so I have to assume that thought is forwarded to the blood heart gang.

Right now i will transform using the sword in a while, pushing out my mana like a beacon for the bloodheart gang. Fully converted grunts with control over their blood mana should be able to sense blood mana in their surroundings even if it is not their masters. At the moment I am not able to do much with the blood mana other than to flair it up.

I have no idea what I am supposed to be waiting for, the only thing that Trevor said about it was that it is going to be quite obvious and should buy me some time to prepare for a fight.

To complete the plan, I will be acting as a bait to the enemy while Trevor will sneak into the enemy base and open all their prisons. They have quite a few people locked up, mostly merchants, some guards and a few of the more ambitious mercenaries. Releasing all of them should chaos. Chaos that would enough for us to slip out safely with our price. There are three other captains of the blood heart gang in the city, out of almost twelve. The remaining eight, Trevor has not found any trace of them.

And thus I wait until Trevor finally makes his move. What he said is true, the signal was quite unignorable. It was after all a bunch of fireworks. I am sure everybody in the fort must be looking at it. I can't say how many since the fireworks were set of almost opposite to me in the fort. But since I can hear them from this far it must have been a lot. Trevor has raided a shop, I tell you.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

More importantly there is a fire that has started in region, based on the plume of smoke. Well, remembering Trevors plan, I begin to activate the formation on my sword.

It is a heady feeling, to convert like this. This time it is especially so since the thirst that I was supposed to feel is much lesser than before. If I had to give a comparison, if before If the thirst was like I had not drunk water for the last couple of years, now it feels like I haven't drunk water in the last couple of weeks.

I don't get to enjoy this feeling for long, as the enemy finally makes their move. The first thing that I can confirm that it is two enemies, one coming down the only set of stairs in the place, which is quite creaky. The other has just threw a rock through a window. At the very least stealth does not seem to be a focus of theirs.

The window lady is the first to find me. She is maybe five years older than me. The most annoying part is that she is holding a saber with a pretty sick looking edge. I will have to assume that it is a magical one.

I was hoping they were like Steve, more ready for close range fighting. The lady comes at me the instant that she locates me, as I block her strike. I don't allow her to maintain a momentum as I keep pressing my attack on her.

In a few moments, I hold the more dominant position. The lady has not used a saber for a very long time, of that I am sure. She does have training though. That is how she has held against my sword.

I don't get to keep it up though as the second vampire comes to attack. It is a man, who is thankfully using his claws. I am barely able to get in a strike into the bastards side, as his claws aim for my heart. I block using my hand.

I can feel a string of vital mana flowing from the man to me. If before linking this string was single string, now it is like four or five of those strings have merged to form a new string.

I jump back taking a defensive position. We stare at each other for a while after which the lady strikes finally. I block her saber, as the man tries sneak behind me. He is aiming for my heart, which I dodge by ducking.

For a second, I have the hope the man would end up hitting the lady, but even she jumps to the side, barely dodging it. The two people don't know how to work together at the very least. That is good news.

And thus our dance began, I give up on offense completely as I dance around the tavern blocking and dodging. I exploit every bit of the unfamiliarity that the two people have for their two styles and to their surroundings. Honestly speaking, it is their inability to work together rather than my skill that has left me so pristine in this fight.

I will not be able to maintain this for long though. My mana expenditure in the fight has been constant, while the two can do so in bursts. As if that was not enough, I took an injury. It is a pretty inconsequential injury, but it takes a constant stream of vital mana to maintain it. Vampires and their poisons.

I jump to side, dodging the lady's saber. It has taken on a greyish colour by now. I assume that something quite deadly will happen if I get hit by that thing. This would be a ideal time of attack, but I am forced to dodge as the man appears to my side. I use the sword to block him.

I feel a sharp pang of pain. The lady managed to sneak in an attack, in that while. The effect of the sword seems to be petrification, as my skin begins to take on a greyish tone. I have to push mana into my wounds. The petrification is stalled temporarily.

And thus I begin to lose. I believe I hold a pretty formidable defense but that can only be confirmed by my enemy. I block both of them as much as possible but my mana is already approaching the bottom of the tank.

On hindsight, maybe I did not really have need to fight for so long. The only thing that I was supposed to be doing was buy some time for Trevor to do his thing. Well, I got an idea but it is going to be quite painful.

I jump back barely dodging a saber strike from the lady. Now is seriously not the time for complicated planning.

I jump back again, feeling my back hit the wall. Fuck, I can feel both of them charging in to take a swing. Fuck it, now is not the time for grand plans. I duck down, not dodge the enemies blows, but to reach my shoes.

The lady redirects her blade right into my back. The saber is lodged solidly in my body. I can feel my flesh beginning to petrify as I pour all of my remaining mana into the block of black metal.

I seriously hope that I have not calculated the range wrong as I throw the block at the two people, who as I expected bolted backwards away from me. The black metal suddenly expands forming a sphere of pure blackness. It seems to be devouring the very light in the world. Turns out I did calculate the range wrong, the sphere has formed up right next to me, close enough that I can see the sphere eat up my nose.

Almost in fear I take a step backwards. My nose is still there thankfully, but I still keep moving. Pulling out the ladies saber, I move away from the place. After all, knowing my luck I am sure that the two people will make their way out of the place any second, getting out of that void in pure luck.

I hope that the formations I get is worth all of this. If it is not, at the very least I got a magical tool. Thinking this I begin to hobble, trying to lose myself in the mess of streets in this place. After, there is no way in hell that I cannot allow an outside person to find the rendevous point.