Liam's house
"What??? You don't know any techniques", Arcana exclaims in surprise at Liam who is sitting on a chair across her.
After the whole ordeal with Otion, Liam called Arcana to his house the next day to learn about vampires. But to Arcana this was a huge bombshell, techniques make a vampire's power increase exponentially like 'THE WHIP' the captain of the first squadron used, he embedded the techniques along with his whip which is an ordinary weapon, making it very powerful and it became the so-called 'THE WHIP'. So Arcana could only imagine how strong Liam would be with vampire techniques.
Looking at Liam, Arcana silently pondered before exclaiming, "Whatever...Liam, listen, the technique I am about to give you is the one used by the royals of my Notony empire. This is only second to none other than the 'Eternal Vampire technique' used by the King and the Minister of your country which is considered the best techniques ever used by the vampires". Arcana looks at Liam to see if he is grateful but Liam being Liam doesn't even bother to look happy.
"Hey! At least pretend to be happy", Arcana rants as she continues, "If it is known that I gave you the techniques, according to the rules of royals I will be executed. It is a taboo for any vampire clan to share their techniques with the outsiders you know!"
"I don't", Liam answers in a stern voice.
"How many people your age would die to spare a glance at me while you are just taking it for granted", Arcana mumbles under her breath.
"Will you give the techniques or not?", Liam asks ignoring her.
"Fine", Arcana stands in front of Liam and puts her finger between Liam's eyebrows.
After a minute, the 'Arcane Vampire Techniques' appears in Liam's mind. This technique mainly uses speed as its main weapon. Although there are some attacking techniques, the technique that increases the vampire's speed, 'Lightning Steps' is its specialty. Overpowering the enemies with speed and stealth is the way of the Arcane Vampire Techniques.
"How is it? Awesome, right?", Arcana asks brimming with confidence. Although many people cannot learn 'Lightning Steps' due to its high complexity, people would die just to take a look at it. It can increase a person's speed by almost ten times making it almost equal to the 'Eternal Vampire Technique', the only divine technique of vampires.
Liam glanced at her thinking, "Why does she brag so much?".
"What now? Are you feeling grateful? Then don't. Because except for me and my dad, no one else can use it and it took me five years to learn it that too with the help of my bloodline. So how much ever a genius you are, it will probably take at least ten years". Arcana is widely regarded as the number one when it comes to potential and comprehension amount vampires and even with the help of her royal bloodline, it took her five years.
"This girl...", Liam shakes his head listening to her boasting.
"I assume you know the basic techniques", Arcana asks but upon seeing Liam's frown she thinks otherwise, "Fine then. There are some basic techniques that every vampire can use like regeneration, healing others, telepathy for communication, memory manipulation, and Sacred space. Out of these, Memory manipulation can only be used on lower races like humans and it is the hardest to learn. For telepathic communication, your mental strength should be high and if your power is too great, abnormally high, then you can even hear other vampires while they are using telepathy. But no one has ever reached such a realm because one needs to be many times stronger than their opponent to interrupt their telepathy. As for Sacred space, it is a space created within our mind to store things like weapons and other items. Like how the First squad leader took out his weapon, 'THE WHIP'. The stronger you are the larger space you can create".
"I will teach you how to use all these techniques for one year then you can learn 'Lightning Steps' and other techniques from 'Arcane Vampire Techniques' for ten years. After that, we will plan on attacking the Minister and the Elders. By then your strength will double or triple".
"I don't have that much patience, show me all the techniques now and we will wrap it up by today", Liam gets up from his chair only to be met with Arcana's surprised face, "What the hell is he thinking? Learning these took years for me!".
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CAVE-PAST START
"What the hell? How can you learn everything so fast?", Mudu exclaims as he watches Liam and Okti fight each other.
"He is a monster"
"Don't praise him too much. It will get to his head"
Rondy and Undy continued bickering like usual.
Okti plunges his fist at Liam's face, seeing this, Liam falls back but Okti suddenly stops his fist and hits with the elbow.
Liam seemingly predicting this, blocks with his left hand while he punches with his right. Now its Okti's turn to dodge as he moves back but Liam changes direction as he lands a hit on Okti's face making him fall.
"He is literally copying moves", Undy shouts in utter disbelief. It took many years for Okti to learn many kinds of fighting styles and gain experience but Liam learned all of them and is even able to defeat Okti one-on-one in just one week.
"That's enough, right?", Liam asks with a smile as he gives a hand to Okti.
"Yeah, that's enough", Okti chuckles as he takes Liam's hand and gets up.
CAVE-PAST END
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Minister's Mansion, Damion city(Capital of Alkaska)
"What? The first squad got wiped out", both First Elder and Second Elder yell in disbelief.
The Minister, sitting across both of them expected this reaction and continued doing some paperwork as he handed over the report of the First squad. Since both Elders personally know how the strength of the First squad, they are even more shocked. From the looks of it, the First squad suffered a disastrous defeat. That too by only one person as there is only one other aura except for the members of the First squad.
They are even more bewildered now. If either of them fought the first squad alone, it would basically be a battle of attrition or the elders can barely win.
So what this meant is that someone who is at least of the elder's caliber has appeared.
"Did you find out who did this?", the First Elder asks handing back the report.
"No, I don't. But I know that they went after Arcana and met someone they shouldn't have. Anyway, we should also capture Arcana now so I wanted you both to go after her", the Minister replied nonchalantly.
"How are you so calm and how can we ignore the person who killed the First squad and look for Arcana? Don't you know this could shake up the entire country?", the Second Elder questions in agitation.
"You fool, you think I don't know that. Many clan leaders already know of this and they said none of their clan members are involved. Well, except for the clan leaders no one can match the first squad. Now, if you think carefully instead of getting riled up, the only people that can defeat the First squad are you two, me, my children, the Third Elder who is a loyal dog of the King and the King".
Seeing both the Elders nod, he continued, "So the only possibilities are the Third Elder and the King. You know what this means, right?".
"The King knows about our rebellion", First Elder says in a serious tone.
"What? I thought the King is still recuperating from the fight against that Monster", Second Elder speaks in a grave voice. If the King knows about their plan, then he could easily finish them all.
"Deus, if only you were half as intelligent as Mash. You underestimate the King a lot, he knows about us for a long time. He stayed quiet because he got gravely injured. Most likely, he wanted to see who is loyal to him".
"Then why don't we attack and kill him now", Deus, the Second Elder proposes hastily.
"Yeah, why not do that and get ourselves killed?", the Minister exclaims in a satiric way.
The First Elder looks at Second Elder and tells, "If we all fight with the King now, with all the clans supporting us, we could win but all of us would be dead except for some small fries".
"Precisely", the Minister supports the First Elder, "The King could not be killed in a head-on fight. Even I cannot compare to half of his power. That's why I have been poisoning him slowly".
"You did what?", both the Elders shout in unison.
"After the fight with the Monster, I induced a slow poison into the King when he went unconscious. Later, I used the doctor tending him and kept increasing the poison's power. Soon enough, the King will begin to lose his strength and eventually die. Then we will blame the Third Elder and kill him for treason. With all the clans supporting me, I will ascend to the throne and finally become the King. Then I will marry Arcana to my son, Gesh, and take over Notony too", the Minister gets ecstatic imagining all this.
"You are very frightening Minister", the First Elder praises the Minister for his meticulous plan.
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CAVE-PAST START
It was night as Liam and others set up a campfire outside their cave. Liam and Undy sat on one side while Rondy, Mudu, and Okti sat on the other side. They start cooking the beasts that Liam and Okti caught.
"I have something to tell", Okti grabs everyone's attention, "After observing for one year, since the time we were trapped here, I can most certainly say that we are the only ones left alive."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Upon hearing this everyone's expression turns grave. Out of the many hundreds that were captured and thrown here, only five of them survived.
Glancing at others, Okti continues, "If it goes on, it won't be long before we are also killed".
A moment of silence arises before Mudu begins to speak, "So what do you suggest we do?".
Everyone turns towards Okti expecting an answer. He was always the most dependable one out of all but Okti shakes his head helplessly.
"Can't we keep hiding like this until someone saves us?", Rondy suggests in an optimistic tone to brighten the mood.
"That won't help", Okti denies it right away, "This is an area maintained by the Minister. No one will dare to enter here. It is only a matter of time before the Monster...".
"We will kill it", Liam gets furious upon hearing about the Monster.
"What are you talking about? We all know how strong it is? It is practically impossible for us to beat it", Undy reprimands Liam immediately. She knows that Liam feels responsible for Dindi's death. That is the main reason for his desire to get strong.
HOWL
The roar of the Monster resounded throughout the forest in the valley. The sound of animals and beasts fleeing in terror can be heard behind Okti, Rondy, and Mudu. Liam stands up and gazes towards the trees behind Okti and others.
"It is coming we need to run", Okti urges everyone as he begins to retreat into the forest.
"No need. You run, I will fight it", Liam takes his stand against the monster.
"It is not the time for non-sen... "before Undy could finish the Monster appears. Examining it, everyone except Liam froze in horror. It has just been a year and the Monster has grown a lot. Now, it is over thirty meters and looked like a large wolf. Its claws alone could tear a person apart while it's thick fur protected it from attacks making it an apex predator. It is no wonder the King was gravely injured while fighting against a fully grown one.
"RRRAAAAWWWWWRRRRRR", the Monster roars as it sees all five of them.
"You guys run, I will take care of it. We will meet up at the emergency hideout", Liam yells at them as he charges at the Monster. The emergency hideout is a cave they came across and it is deep enough to be safe from the Monster.
"No, don't do it", Undy tries to stop him but Okti pulls her away as they retreat while Rondy and Mudu already start escaping into the forest.
Liam jumps into the air and aims for the Monster's forehead. The Monster also plunges its head towards Liam's fist.
A dull sounding impact spread across the surroundings as Liam crashed into the ground violently. Blood starts dripping from his head, chest, and his left arm but still he slowly musters his strength and he stands up. Then he takes firewood from the fire they lit for cooking and throws it towards trees surrounding him. Although he knows he stands no chance against it, he wouldn't back down. Not now, not ever. If he stalled it here, his friends could escape so he created a forest fire because it would act as a smokescreen for his friends.
The Monster fiercely shook its head as it moved towards Liam and starts rushing towards Liam. Liam also grabs another piece of firewood with his right hand and gets ready to hit it but suddenly it abruptly stops. Liam also becomes confused upon seeing this.
The Monster suddenly begins to tremble as and slowly back away from Liam.
"What? Feeling scared? Come at me now!", Liam shouts as he tries to chase it but the Monster begins to run away back where it came from.
Liam falls down as he holds his chest and tries to stop his bleeding.
Then he suddenly realizes something, "Shit! The Monster is going towards where Mudu and Rondy went".
Elsewhere, Okti and Undy have reached another emergency hideout that is the cave they found earlier.
"We are the first ones here", Undy glances around says as she doesn't notice anyone.
"ROAR", they hear a faint noise of the Monster coming from the direction Mudu and Rondy went.
"I am going. You stay here", Okti tells as he prepares to go.
"No, I will come too. It is where my sister is", Undy says as she prays nothing bad happens to her sister.
Okti hesitates for a moment before agreeing and both of them set off.
Meanwhile, Mudu and Rondy are deep into the forest.
"We are too deep into the forest", Mudu tells looking at a map they made in this one year. It contains certain landmarks and hideout locations.
"What do we do?", Rondy asks nervously.
RUSTLE RUSTLE
Both of them hear rustling sounds from their surroundings. They gaze at each other tensely and start running.
"We have to go quickly", Mudu runs ahead with Rondy following him. Soon enough, they arrive near their hideout.
"Hey Okti", Mudu stops and pants as he breathes a sigh of relief upon seeing Okti and Undy. Rondy also comes to a stop and falls on the ground as tiredness takes over her.
"Thank god, you are alrig... ", just when Okti was glad they are safe, the Monster appears and pounces towards Rondy.
"NOOO!", Undy shouts in horror as she sees her sister stare helplessly at the Monster.
"Rondy!! AARRHH!", Mudu jumps and pushes Rondy out of the way but gets caught by the Monster. It strongly bites Mudu and swallows him. Then it looks at the others and gets bloodthirsty.
"Take this!", Liam jumps out from the trees and throws a stack of dry leaves onto the Monster. This grabs the Monster's attention as it abruptly turns towards him. As soon as the Monster turned towards him he takes out burning firewood and throws it at the Monster.
"AAAAAOOOOOWWWW!", the Monster shrieks in pain as the fire spreads out due to the dry leaves. It looks around and rushes off into the forest.
CAVE-PAST END
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"Arcana Vampire Technique: Lightning Steps", Arcana shouts as she begins to move at a very high speed. Lightning appears on her feet as she keeps moving across Liam's backyard at incredible speed. After a minute, she comes to a stop, "This technique is always exhausting".
She moves towards Liam who is standing in the edge of the backyard, "Now that you have seen all these, do you feel shocked?". Arcana continues with a smug on her face, "Do you still think you can learn all these?"
Liam looked at her for a moment before turning away and said, "Drag is here". Looking at Liam walking away from her, she thought, "Why can't he ever give a straight answer? Or did he finally realize that he wouldn't be able to learn all of them in a single day and get embarrassed?".
Arcana held her head in confusion as she shouted, "I cannot read him at all" and left behind Liam.
"Boss, I found out many awesome things", Drag comes into the house with a beaming smile, "The First and Second Elders are searching for Arcana, not you."
"I guess they are planning something big", Arcana said as she held her chin considering what might be important than the First squad.
Seeing Arcana thinking so hard, Drag smiles, "Shall I tell you?".
"So you know!", Arcana gasps upon hearing what Drag said.
"I am the greatest informant! What do you think?", Drag holds his head high.
"Then I am the greatest Vampire in the younger generation!", Arcana being the prideful one starts boasting too.
"Great! I am stuck with two of them now", Liam sighs as he shakes his head.
"Miss Arcana, I even know what your father says to you every morning?", Drag speaks in a serious tone.
"Wh..What?", Arcana stutters thinking how much Drag knows.
"Good Morning", Drag tells proudly.
"You... ", Arcana sighs upon hearing his answer. She should have known about him yet she still asked.
"Drag, What is the Minister planning?", Liam interrupts their quibble.
"Well, where should I start?", Drag ponders for a moment before proceeding, "Four years ago, a strong Monster appeared. It was said that the Monster was so strong that even if all the vampires gathered together, they wouldn't be able to stop it. With no option left, the King used some dangerous moves and killed it but the backlash was too strong and he got severely injured. So the Minister became ambitious and slowly gathered all the power saying that the King became weak and would soon succumb to his wounds and die. Then he poisoned the King slowly making him irreparable. Now, he is the one in charge of our country, Alkaska. Being the greedy one he is, he wants Notony too. Since his son, Gesh is head over heels for Arcana", Drag glances as Arcana as he continues, "The Minister wants to get them both married. So he ordered the First squad to capture her. But they ran into you and you... After they are wiped out, the Minister thought the King or the Third Elder was the one who did this. Now he couldn't do anything so he asked First Elder and Second Elder to capture Arcana as soon as possible".
"That's one heck of a plan that old bastard got!", Arcana stomps the floor in anger.
Liam stood there silently, "If the King is as strong as they say, why would he stay silent all this time? He could have taken action against all of them".
"Drag, give a tip to other vampires that Arcana is seen near the outskirts of Raquit", Liam pushes out the thoughts about the King and orders Drag.
"So you wanna lure them, huh", Arcana immediately understands Liam's idea. They would draw the Elders out to Liam saying they found Arcana, "But are you sure you can manage the Elders? I heard they are very strong. You have to make sure that nothing happens to you because I need you to send me out of this country".
"Yes, Boss!", Drag tells, "The Elders are not like the First squad. In strength, they may just be a little bit stronger, but what sets them apart from the squads are the techniques and weapons they use. They make them very strong".
"I will take care of all that. You just follow my orders", Liam dismisses their advice, "Arcana go for a walk outside this city and sure you found by some vampires. Immediately run if any of them confronts you. Drag, send an order to your informants that Arcana has appeared near Raquit".
"Okay!", both of them nod and Drag leaves promptly while Arcana stands still.
"What are you waiting for?", Liam asks Arcana.
"Will you accompany me? If another squad comes I am done for", Arcana tells Liam.
"Don't worry, I scanned the nearby area and no one is strong enough to threaten you. As for me, I have work to do", Liam replies before walking away. As he walks, lightning appears on his feet for a moment before vanishing. Arcana notices this but shrugs it off, "Like he can learn 'Lightning Steps' in one day!".
ONE DAY LATER, OUTSKIRTS OF RAQUIT
Two figures arrive near the barren lands outside Raquit. In the night sky without a moon, both of them wore black robes and masks making them barely visible.
"This is where Arcana was last seen", the First Elder checks a photo of Arcana on his phone.
"Here? In this desolate place?", the Second Elder looks around seeing no houses or people, "What purpose would she have here?"
"Hmm!", First Elder thinks of the possible reasons when he suddenly realizes something, "The First squad was also wiped out while searching for Arcana".
"This is a trap!", the First Elder says in a low voice.
"What? Trap? Which idiot has the confidence to kill us?", the Second Elder said in a mocking tone.
"You really are clever, First Elder!", a hooded figure appears out of nowhere and starts walking towards them.
"Who are you?", the First Elder asks putting up his guard.
"Well, you couldn't have forgotten the person you 'treated' right?", Liam takes his hood off.
"You... you..."
"How!?"
Both the Second Elder and the First Elder instantly recognize Liam.
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CAVE-PAST START
After the Monster retreated, Okti treated Liam's wounds with his basic medical knowledge, and Liam's powers kickstarted so he healed pretty quickly.
Meanwhile, Undy and Rondy are preparing dinner while Liam and Okti are practicing.
"How can you be so unfazed? A person died because of you", Undy rebukes her sister. Everyone was feeling down after Mudu's death but Rondy couldn't care less. Although she put up an act in front of Liam and Okti when it was only the sisters she would relax.
"I already told you, they are just tools that I use", Rondy gets irritated at her sister's nagging.
Just as they were about to continue, Liam and Okti come for food.
Everyone silently eats as the atmosphere grows tense. Now only four are remaining and who knows when they will be killed. On top of it, their life is nearing its end. Having taken blood from a very high-level vampire, the Minister, their body is unable to handle its power. They could already feel their bodies getting out of control sometimes. This made all of them feel their death is imminent.
"I am killing the Monster tomorrow", Liam speaks lowly while he continues to eat.
"!!??", the other stop eating and look at him in shock.
"If you want to help, you can, or else you can go hide somewhere. It is no use just hiding and waiting for death", Liam tells solemnly.
"What? Have you gone mad? You know how strong the Monster is!", Rondy reprimands in a harsh tone, "What the hell is he thinking? I am not gonna risk precious life".
"No, he is right", Undy talks in favor of Liam, "If we are gonna die, we will die trying".
"You... ", Rondy scowls at her sister but Okti interrupts her.
"Yeah! Liam is right. We should take action. We will kill the Monster and escape from here", Okti also supports Liam.
Rondy grits her teeth seeing all of them, "Everyone, we should not take decisions in the sour of the moment... ". Rondy suddenly notices Liam is glaring at her and that too with an intent to kill. It was then that she realized a possibility, Liam overheard her and Undy talking. It must be the only reason that Liam is showing killing intent towards her. Thinking about this, she shut her mouth.
"So what's the plan?", Undy asks Liam.
"As you have noticed, the Monster fears fire. So we will make a pit with flammable objects and lure it into it, then burn it", Liam states in a simple manner.
"How do you plan on luring it?", Okti questions Liam as that is the most important part of the plan.
"That... we will just shout and make noise", Liam tells in an awkward tone.
"Fine"
All of them agree to this plan and start making preparations.
CAVE-PAST END
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"How are you still alive?", the First Elder quickly recovers from the shock. He should have died from the Monster or he should have died from absorbing Minister's blood.
"That's a long story. How about I tell you after kill you?", Liam grins maliciously as he releases is aura.