Windshaw hovers into the room and heads over to the round table, almost sitting on the chair beside it.

He watches the young girl form that the host had chosen to become, walk into the room with more than a hint of fear in her steps.

This situation was intriguing to him, very much so since the Blood Drinker had been rebirthed due to crossing the portal.

However, the host remained, which should be impossible since no non-monster can cross through the portal and survive the intense pain of having their skin literally sheared off to reveal their true form, as that is their true form.

So to Windshaw, this being which is the host of the Blood Drinker is in fact slightly more interesting than the Blood Drinker itself, which seems to remain in slumber seemingly content with the situation.

The host stops at the doorway looking unsure what to do.

“Sit down, I’m sure you have many questions and it will be beneficial for the both of us to have them answered” He motions to the other chair, across the table.

The host sits down and waits silently for Windshaw to begin.

“Let’s begin with names shall we?”

“Ankorr” her voice is light and cheery and it has been a while since Windshaw had heard such a sweet and innocent voice, it almost thrilled him.

“Windshaw. Now I’m sure you have questions, but I need to tell you a small bit about Hellderworld first, so that you know what is to come”

Ankorr nods

“Hellderworld is one of the many dimensions created by the demon lords as safe havens for monsters like us. The lord that rules this dimension is Aethelx. As I just mentioned, this dimension was created and thus requires maintaining. This is where you must listen carefully because if you do not survive the harvest you will become a soulless.

The harvest, is what we call the day each month where part of our soul will be taken y the dimension to ‘feed’ it and maintain it. If a being’s soul runs out, then it will become soulless” Windshaw looks out the window and points down to the street.

Ankorr looks down and sees a cart full of monsters all shuffling about, lifeless, trying to attack passersby through the bars.

“Explaining what the soul is would be time consuming and not all that useful…” He muses for a short while before continuing “Hmm, sitting here and explaining to you about Hellderworld is much harder than I thought. Come, let me show you it”

He stands up, opens the window and floats down. Ankorr follows, hitting the ground painlessly to his own surprise.

Gliding down the street, he quickly finds himself at the door of his trusted blacksmith and goes through the door without hesitation.

The rat-man, Jinkers, who is tending the stall comes out from behind the counter and peers towards him.

“Wiiiindshawww?” the voice is elderly and slow

“It is me Jinkers. I need some equipment”

“Chained swords?” The rat replies knowledgeably

“Not for me, for her” He points to Ankorr who just entered the shop

Jinkers eyes Ankorr up and down, lifting an arm and sniffing it with a pensive look on his ratty face.

“This one smells like a beast”

“A Vampire’s child”

Ankorr’s eyes grow massively and he looks at Windshaw with a confused expression at the blatant lie.

“Hmm, what is your weapon of choice mistress?”

“A longsword and a shield” Ankorr says unhesitatingly, mostly because the prospect of getting a weapon is very comforting to him.

“Give me but a minute” Jinkers runs off to the back and returns with a black, teethed longsword and a small shield bristling with spikes

Windshaw takes the weapons and after inspecting them nods and hands them to Ankorr.

“That’ll be four parts”

Ankorr gives a confused look to Windshaw about the odd price.

“A part means a part of your soul” He says factually

Ankorr looks horrified at such a prospect, giving away part of his soul for weapons. Windshaw just shrugs at the reaction

“The first way to gain soul is through soul transfer via a linker” Windshaw explains as Jinkers takes out two rings stuck together with runes pulsating on them.

Jinkers places the ring on his finger and motions for Ankorr to do the same.

Ankorr places his finger in and Windshaw notes the face of shock when the transfer happens.

A shock because it transferred twelve parts instead of six, as the linker is inefficient, only transferring half.

But unbeknownst to Windshaw, Ankorr had received a window telling him that he lost twelve levels.

Nodding thanks to Jinkers, Windshaw half drags Ankorr out the shop and begins hovering down the street once more.

While hovering, he notices a familiar looking grell in an alleyway, selling information as per usual.

Taking note of where he is, Windshaw continues on, deciding to come back later for a chat about a certain Mistress Van Krelich.

Before he knows it, he is at the door of the soul watcher and ushers Ankorr inside.

The room is a dingy as he remembers and as usual, the white faceless woman is sitting cross-legged in the center of the room staring into empty space.

She turns to look towards Windshaw with her white, blind eyes.

“Come in, come in” Her voice hoarse and cracked, fills the room

He sits down in front of her, places a sleeve on the linker she wears and guiders her other hand to his hood.

“Your soul is strong, enough to last sixty three harvests”

Windshaw feels happy about the number, as with that number he could probably last a few dozen years in here before he is forced back out into the Overworld.

Transferring one part worth to the woman, he motions for Ankorr to do the same.

He sits down and when the woman’s hand is on his face, shock registers on hers as well as his.

“Your soul is divided. You can last four harvests, yet you can also last eighteen”

Windshaw looks at Ankorr with a curious thought, because having two souls may mean that the harvest affects both.

Ankorr did not look that shocked at the mention he could last four harvests, however he audibly gasped when he heard he could last eighteen too.

Reluctantly, he gave a literal one quarter of his soul to the woman and departed.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Wiser, the two leave knowing a slight more about each-other and more questions float in Windshaw’s mind about Ankorr and the Blood Drinker.

“Now that is the first way to gain parts for the harvest. However it’s really only limited to craftsmen and you can’t do any crafts can you?” He starts his lecture on the rules of Hellderworld once more

“No” Ankorr answers timidly

“So then you need to gain parts another way”

Windshaw stops in front of a small coliseum

“You have to fight and kill”

“I-is there another way?” Ankorr sounds almost desperate

“There is, but it is best you do not know and never try this way, for it corrupts your soul in a most horrible way” Windshaw tries to sound as serious as he can, for he knows what this third way can do and it will do nothing but ruin his plans.

Ankorr sighs, somewhat resigned

“So I just have to go in there and kill monsters in battle?”

“Yes, that is the gist of it. Not much to it except the grades”

“Grades?”

“There are seven grades of monster in Hellderworld and you can only fight those of the same grade or one higher”

Ankorr seems to understand the idea

“The grades are: Scum, Nuisance, Annoyance, Threat, Dangerous, Terror and Apocalypse. To give you an idea of the grades, I am at Annoyance grade”

The look of shock on Ankorr’s eyes makes Windshaw chuckle slightly.

“You are scum by the way” Windshaw finishes off, making Ankorr visible deflate.

Windshaw chuckles darkly and makes his way back to the tavern.

Returning upstairs, he hovers over the chair once more and motions for Ankorr to sit down.

“So, ask away, I’ll try my best to answer”

Ankorr looks confused, as if trying to decide which question is more important.

“Why did you lie back there?” His curiosity gets the better of him

“Simple. Your form is not suited for battle so I took the liberty of making it your disguise. You are about to enter a violent path, so hiding your face will become very important indeed”

Ankorr opens his mouth to respond, but then stops and thinks upon the answer, finally relenting to the idea and nodding.

“Why did only us two go through?” He moves on to another burning question in his mind

“Well that is because your friend is human, or we suspect he is a monster but don’t want to be wrong and have him die”

“Die? How?” Ankorr jumps up fearful for his ally

“Well the portal is designed to shed us of our humanoid disguises as I mentioned before. However, if a humanoid went through then they would be doing nothing but stripping their own skin. So if your friend is a human and he went through, he’d be stripped to the bone”

“So if he’s human he cannot go through?”

“Essentially yes. However your friend has some interesting regenerative abilities so it’s possible he can survive going through”

“Oh, ok” Ankorr sounds dejected as he knows the chance of his ally surviving going through is close to zero if that. “So, why did you bring me here? Was it just because I am a Blood Drinker?”

“Partially. Last time I was here, I found it to be simpler to have an ally with me so that if either of us are running low, we can transfer to one another prolonging our time somewhat”

“Ok, so am I not a slave then?”

Originally you were supposed to be, but since you are sentient you’d come in much handier as an ally

“You are an aide”

Ankorr nods in understanding

“So what do I have to do?” He doesn’t seem convinced about being an aide to Windshaw

“You will fight in the arena and transfer parts”

“And what do I get in turn, since I am your…aide” He says with a business like tone, which is unbecoming of the cute, small girl form he wears

“I will give you information, about this world, about the monsters, about yourself” Windshaw could see the eyes widen in need, in desire to know. “Each time you transfer enough parts to help strengthen my soul, I will try grant you something you want, as best as I can, even a way out” His words are not empty but Windshaw knows 

Ankorr won’t wish to leave first thing since he needs answers and soon there will be another bargaining chip to keep him here.

“Shouldn’t that be simple since it’s only two of my parts to give you one?” His face isn’t elated for one who was told they could get free, as he knows he must stay for answers.

“If I was Scum like you, then yes. However, since I am an Annoyance, I require four times what you need. So eight of your parts will give me one in the normal circumstance. But due to other things, around sixteen of your parts should give me one”

The number seems overwhelming to Windshaw and Ankorr looks inclined to agree.

“So you better get fighting, because you need enough parts to last your harvest and mine” he motions for Ankorr to get going

“And what if I don’t want to?” he replies deviously since to Ankorr, sixteen levels in a month is no easy feat.

Windshaw just chuckles

“Did you see those eyes on the street? Staying with me gives you protection from them” He notices Ankorr shivering slightly at the mention of the roaming eyes on the street.

Windshaw knows those kinds of people well, since it was because of them that he and Renold first met.

Ankorr sullenly nods and begins to head outside, before stopping and turning around with a pensive expression

"Can you teach me how to change form, because this is my disguise right?" 

"Sure" He tosses a blood apple, from the bowl on the table, to Ankorr. "Let's begin with this"

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Author's Note: Heeeeeey! thank you for reading!

Also, seriously, a lot of view on this new arc for some reason, which is a bit bizarre since the first arc has like half the amount????

Also Also, hope you enjoyed it(even though it was quite a nothing much happened but still necessary for the story to proceed chapter))!!

Also Also Also, don't forget to comment your love/hate/random things!

-TRUE NORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD