When the sun sinks below the horizon the night fairies emerge and cover the ground with ice trying to kill their day counterparts. Always the sun returns and melts the poor night fairies. That is the lot in life for those attuned with the night. Weak to sunlight they must find shelter when the sun is high.

Vampires though much stronger are no different, they are often hunted down by knights, paladins, and heroes as high-ranking quests. Markus knew this for a fact. So, where did a vampire feel safe during the day? Why a dungeon of course. With enough monsters, it could take a band of adventurers all day to reach her.

When night fell like any creature of the dark, he felt a sense of illation. A giddy energy ran through his body, just was he was saddened by the loss of the sun’s power. This duality confused him. Until the elbow of a stretching vampire popped him in the eye. “Sorry, forgot you were there.” Marie said. “Could you read my note?”

“Pa will be here by dawn what does that mean?” Markus asked.

“What do you think it means?” Marie countered.

“He’s going to brave the dungeon and should get here by morning.” Markus said. Marie shook her head.

“Yes, but no this dungeon wasn’t made to keep Philip out. If he wanted to, he could just rip through the floors to us. I like my dungeon to be in working order thank you very much. No, I wanted time to teach you a thing or two. Your Pa is just going to take the long way getting here.” Marie said.

“Why would you teach me?” Markus asked.

“Well your Pa is one of my friends and I haven’t had a hand in your training. You have a darkness affinity which makes us kin, and I’m bored. Now stay here while I get someone to eat.” Markus felt about as affected as when Tom was killed.

She looked him over then turned her head to the side. “You know I said someone and not something right?” Marie asked.

“I know go ahead I’ll do a few stretches before training.” Marie opened her mouth and closed it. Then had a contemplative look on her face.

“You live on a farm right.” Markus nodded his head wondering where this was going. “How often are you present when slaughtering livestock?” Marie asked.

He had no idea where this was going but went along with it. “I normally use an axe for killing the hogs. For the chickens, I snap their necks. Then the Rei widows, well I just sort of pop them in my mouth.” Markus said.

“Have you ever seen Stan kill anyone?” Marie asked. Markus could count around fifty people the chimera had eaten alone.

“Pa always said witnessing the deaths of the stupid or incompetent builds character.” Markus said. Marie opened her mouth and closed it. Instead she patted him on the head.

“Good for you Markus be above the norm.” Marie said and tossed the lid off. “If you don’t mind watching me chow down. I can get you some cheese or something. I don’t have any mino milk in stock but there is some draccon jerky if that interests you.” Markus nodded and followed her through rows of prison cells with humans chained to walls staring in fear at them.

Marie looked back at him and Markus gave her a reassuring smile. He remembered his manners and a need to ask questions. “So, how do you find some many people it must be a challenge to keep your pantry fully stocked?” Markus asked. “How do you keep them from escaping using abilities?”

Marie tossed her long black hair to the side and smiled. “Well if your curious, I’m a couple hundred years old. I was born a vampire in haven and that supplied some challenges. My family there had to keep up appearances, so I attended the Mages academy in Haven. Of course, dark, blood, and necromantic magics are forbidden there, so I learned enchanting. Let me tell you, becoming an enchanter is a lengthy process. First you must learn various mathematic formulas to better understand the energy exchange when enchanting. The first practical lesson was disassembling various items and using formulas to determine how much energy the items required to function. Eventually, I mastered enchanting and left Haven after some circumstances. Now, I use what I learned to keep my pantry doors closed.” She opened one of the doors.

“Please help me, don’t just stare help me.” The girl shrieked. Markus looked at all the symbols covering the door and how artfully they were chiseled into the iron bars.

“Incredible, could you start me learning the craft.” Marie opened her mouth and clamped down on the woman’s neck. She did manage a nod and Markus pumped his fist in success. Marie opened her mouth and licked the wound clean before tossing the girl back in her cell.

In dining room, she gave him a mug of ale, a few slices of cheese, and a line of jerky. “Now, stay here while I feed my livestock.” Marie said and went back to the cells. Markus quickly downed his mug, devoured his cheese, and bit at the jerky. He hadn’t tried Draccon before, but it was spicy.

“More ale,” Marie asked, as she poured herself a glass of what he assumed was blood.

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“Yes please,” Markus said. Marie had a look of shock on her face.

“Manners Izzy is doing something right. It must be the end of the world.” Marie said. Markus felt his cheeks heat up.

“I’m sorry, I should have practiced my manners beforehand.” Markus said. Marie chuckled and filled his glass.

“It’s alright, I was only joking.” She took a sip and let out a breath. “How was the jerky?” Marie asked.

“It was good, really spicy what kind of peppers did you use.” Marie smiled, and Markus was certain he had succeeded in being a good guest.

“A few clippings from roaming colonies of Venus shrubs. They have peppers and if you’re fast enough they can be picked.” Marie said, and if you’re not well a nice acid bath was your fate.

She took another sip and he finished his jerky and downed his ale. “Alright, lets begin.” Marie said. “Follow me.”

They walked past a multitude of rooms until they came open an empty room. It was clean, immaculate even. The dark granite and drains on the floor were a nice touch. Columns covered the room with various hand made pots.

“I do pottery in the spare time. Its relieves stress and takes up time.” Markus walked up the to pots and looked at them with a critical eye. There were no shadows in the room which was strange.

“Have you noticed the lack of shadows yet?” Markus looked at her and nodded. “There is no light in this room Markus. There is no light at all down here in the dining room, the cells, or in my coffin. Those with the dark ability have perfect vision in absolute darkness. When attending the academy you will have to be careful not to expose your prowess.”

“What is this place for?” Markus asked. It was so large that using it for pottery seemed pointless. That and the floor drains.

“This is where I capture new monsters and feed them to my dungeon. It is here where I’m going to summon creature for you to fight to train you psychic and dark abilities. A little-known fact. The best way to train an element is to fight against that element’s weakness. Get ready.” She waved her hand and a wolf covered in shadowy tentacles appeared. “Before I forget, any monster slain in the dungeon rewards points. Have fun the dungeon is set to summon ten rounds of progressively stronger monsters to train your psychic, then we will move on to dark.”

The wolf was larger than him. It had no eyes only slimy tentacles and a set of sharp ears. Markus began to pull the metal balls out of his pockets. They clicked, and the wolf pounced Markus threw up a wall of telekinetic force it was as effect as an ice cube in the desert. Long tentacles got int close and ripped long lines in his side.

Markus’s eyes widened as the monster turned its head to him. Its mouth opened to reveal suckers and a massive red eyeball. It narrows on to him. The creature leapt at him about to finish the job when Markus shot his hand forward and chains of light shot out.

The worm hound whimpered, and Markus felt his mind was slashed by the sound. The golden chains held the hound in place as Markus caught his breath. Markus narrows his eyes and stood up. The monster struggled and tried to wiggle out of the chains. Markus wanted them to tighten and they did. The worm hound collapsed as the chains forced it down.

Markus held his hand up and closed his eyes. Time seemed to pass, and the chains weakened. The sounds of something moving at an incredible speed filled the air. One of the chains broke and the creature leapt at Markus.

He was no longer Markus, he was a metal ball circling the room and picking up speed. Every pass the ball grew faster in a grip of telekinesis. Soon the room was a blur as the ball passed by. Suddenly, the course changed the ball was set to rip through a creature of flesh and slam into the floor.

The hound fell at his feet. A massive hole in its head. The golden chain vanished returning the world to darkness. With the hound dead. Markus sank back against a pillar holding his wound. Blood dripped down his side and he was scared.

That fight had taken everything he had. The hound was disintegrating, and he could feel the room was bout to spawn more. Already, he could feel a slight throb at his head.

Telekinesis: Initiate 10

Willpower +10%

Intelligence +0.1%

It had worked, he had gained seven new lvs from just that one kill.

Chains: beginner 40

Willpower +0.4%

A thought occurred to him. Maybe this wasn’t how he was supposed to fight them with psychic. When he moved the iron ball he felt like he could separate the iron particles that made up the little ball. He thought about using the iron particles as tiny shields to keep the dark from touching his psychic energy.

Holding up the ball he imagined it as a bunch of little parts and took it apart. What was left of the iron when he disassembled his ball was interesting. It wasn’t quite one with air, it was more like powder.

His experimenting was interrupted when he saw two worm hounds appear. Feeling for his light chains poured from his hands flowing after the hounds. This time they leapt over the chain and Markus lifted both hands. Instead of fading away, the iron protected his psychic power. Hands of iron sand curled around the hounds’ necks.

Dark tentacles were able to shatter the excess psychic energy, but what power touched the iron sand was protected. Markus clenched his fists and felt the hounds’ wind pipes tear as iron hands ripped through them.

Telekinesis: Initiate 30

Willpower +30%

Intelligence +0.3%

Chains: beginner 45

Willpower +0.45%

Points: 30

Markus stared at the pop up. He had over 30 points 10 for every hound killed. He could afford an inventory and more now. There were 8 rounds to go and he would have even more by the end of this. Marie was now his favorite friend of Pa.

He fell to a knee. The blood loss was getting to him. He knew what he had to do. With no fire to cauterize the wound he would have to freeze it. Using the same hand, he used to keep pressure on the wound he willed it to freeze. A pounding wave of nausea filled his head right before his side lit up in horrible pain.

There was no turning back, he had to keep going. He wanted this gift, so he had to show that he could handle it. Standing to his feet, he opened his menu and put 30points in intelligence. The pounding in his head quieted but it was still closer than he would like. If he could just use his iron sand from here on out. He should be able to get through this.

Stats

Strength 1 Agility 1 Dexterity 1

Endurance 1 Vitality 1 Intelligence 31(31.09)

Willpower 7(9.1)

Skills

Telekinesis: Initiate 30, Chains: beginner 45, Freeze: Beginner 5, Eating: initiate 4, Farming: Beginner 20, Movement: beginner 60, Hunting: Beginner 10, Mob Slayer: beginner 3, Telepathy: beginner 2, Empath: beginner 1