Van took it, politely said his goodbyes, and left. After a week of meditating, cultivating, and learning how to manipulate his mana. Van was able to get his new mana core to rank level four. From Lorenzo’s point of view, that was an absurd amount of progress for someone who just entered magehood.
It was near the end of that week that his father called him over at the end of one of his training sessions with Lorenzo that he was told that his new tutor was coming later that day.
Van finished early, bathed, changed, and waited nervously in the lounge so when his new tutor arrived they could be properly introduced. He only had to wait an hour before he heard the familiar sound of horses' hooves and a carriage being pulled up near the entrance.
His father went first and went out to greet their guest, and after some small talk, guided her in and brought her into the lounge near the entrance where she and Van could be introduced.
Alvaroz walked in with a surprisingly small and young-looking woman following right after him. She wore a plain dress, but with amazing stitching that made it pop out and show how truly extravagant it really was, but in a moderate way. She carried with her a black fan and wore her hair very short and in a ponytail. She seemed to have an infectious smile on her, that lit up her eyes in such a way that it seemed that she was always finding something amusing or fun with whatever she looked at.
Van had never seen such a contradictory appearance before. It was almost as if the woman wore whatever was the most fun for her and didn’t care how it meshed or clashed. He was also taken aback by the fact that she looked younger than his father, and his father looked like he was in his mid-twenties. In other words, she hardly looked older than Van himself, despite being supposedly over 600 years old.
Most vampires would at least age themselves a bit depending on the number of children they had. A few years for children, a few more for grandchildren, and a few more for great-grandchildren, with the trend continuing on. Or on a whim, to show great age as a sign of great wisdom.
But this woman seemed to not care at all for that and seemed to choose the youngest age she could get away with. As once you age yourself, you couldn’t very well go back without some serious help. So she either never had children, or preferred being as young as possible and never once thought about looking older in her 600 years of life.
Van knew not to judge a book by a cover. Especially in the vampire lands. But even he had a hard time thinking about what exactly he was going to learn from someone who looked so childish.
“Van, this is Sheri-”
“No need for last names'' the young-looking woman said. cutting Alvaroz off. “I never cared for formal introductions. Or for that matter, formal anything. Please, just call me Sheri'' Sheri said.
She then looked towards Van. “nice to meet you, Van. I heard a little about you from Katherine. Nice things, I promise.” she said with a coy smile. “I’ll be tutoring you for the foreseeable future. Let's get along.” she then reached out her hand, expecting a handshake.
Van hesitated but got up and shook the hand proffered.
Sheri’s smile widened. “We are going to have so much fun! And you will learn so much too! I am very excited for what the future might bring us!” she said shaking Van’s hand even harder before letting go.
“Now, I hope you don’t mind, but where will I be staying? I want to dump some of my stuff off and then explore the town. Do you have any good restaurants nearby? Or what about notable landscapes? I have this amazing new device that can capture still images that I must try out!” Sheri said excitedly, more acting like a tourist on vacation than a famous tutor known throughout the land of Alcray.
“Uhhh.” was all Van could say, giving his father a sideways glance that silently asked for help.
Alvaroz gave a polite cough, hoping to catch Sheri’s attention. “Your room is on the second floor. Right across Van’s room. There is also an adjoining empty room connected to it for you to use as you see fit. There are also other rooms my son has yet to fill, so it's no problem to use them well.”
Sheri beamed. “That's wonderful! This way I'll be close to my student at all times! Now just give me a few minutes to drop off my stuff and we can talk about the courses we will be putting your son through.”
“There is no need for that, we will have the maids take care of it,” Alvaroz said, motioning the maids to bring in Sheri’s suitcases.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Aww, you're so sweet,” Sheri said
“I’m just doing what anyone would do in my place,” Alvaroz said.
Sheri chuckled at that. “Believe it or not, most don’t think that once meeting me. They are far too uptight and don’t know how to have any fun,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Can you believe they get offended by my attitude!?” she said pretending to be shocked but in a sarcastic manner.
Alvaroz gave a polite smile. “We don’t really care how you look or act here. So long as you don't’ harm anyone and you show proper kindness and respect.” Van nodded wholeheartedly with him.
Sheri’s smile seemed like it would take her entire face. “Well now… that IS a pleasant surprise to hear. Perhaps I should stay here permanently if that is how you genuinely treat people.”
“My father is a very kind man.” Van started. “You said you want to take a look at the town right? You will find no greater proof of his words than when you meet the everyday people that walk on the street.” he finished. Slightly angry because he thought she was doubting his father’s sincerity.
Sheri quirked an eye at that before the most genuine smile she had given yet took her face. “Well… now I Really must see the town with my own two eyes.”
“Perhaps later,” Alvaroz said, trying to change the direction of the conversation since he didn’t want the two to get on a bad footing with each other. “It's a few hours till dinner time. And my cooks are working on a small feast for you to enjoy. Let's discuss the courses my son will be taking and we can then show you around the place to help you get familiar with everything.”
“I would like that,” Sheri said politely.
After that, the three of them sat down to go over what Van will be learning. Mostly centering around darkness and blood magic. As well as vampire history and society. The court ranks and how to act like a proper vampire.
“Ah, as for necromancy,” Alvaroz added. “My friend Lorenzo, would like to help in that matter. You see, he has taken him under his wing as his mage apprentice and is very much interested in furthering my son’s learning in the magical arts. I hope you don’t mind.”
Sheri shrugged while sipping on some tea that was placed out in front of her. “I don’t mind having some help. But I hope you don’t mind if I make sure that Van is being taught properly first. Remember, It is I, that will be the one to determine if he is properly educated and whether or not he will be eligible for his first term diploma and where he may go to school next.” she said in a far more serious and professional manner.
It was somewhat shocking to Van how she, just a few minutes before, acted like a free-spirited individual and now was acting like a cold stoic professional.
After that, the conversation changed to one of what learning tools are available, what has Van learned so far, what does he still need to learn and where he was failing, and where he needs to improve. It was somewhat embarrassing to hear his father sing his praises. Made even more embarrassing when Van had to add all his own faults on his own. Which actually helped raise his standing in Sheri’s eyes for his humility and honesty, especially if even half of what Alvaorz said about his son were true.
“So he already knows how to eat and mostly how to breathe. He has not one but two familiars. And he has a mana core of rank four. Plus he can use blue aura and green aura. And even has the potential to learn and use ki. Finally, for someone so young, he also has a very large mana pool and has been taught, herbology, some alchemy, and mage craft already. Do I have everything correct?” Sheri asked.
Alvaroz nodded. “All that’s left is that you teach him darkness, blood, and everything else you were already going to teach him.”
Sheri nodded in turn. “I must say… I’m impressed. That is a lot of accomplishments for someone so young.”
“Well… I had some circumstances that made me have to grow up faster and train harder than most would have at my age. Not to mention ever since Karen… I have sped up my training so I never would be caught so weak and underprepared ever again.” Van said.
“Hmm, I see…” Sheri thoughtfully said. “By the way, where are your wives?” she asked Van, completely changing the subject all of a sudden.
“Oh, ah… Leiah left to go back to school. And Luna is with mom studying healing and herbs.” Van said.
That did seem to surprise Sheri. “Healing? Herbs? I can understand wanting to learn some herbs for alchemy, but for healing?” this honestly seemed to confuse her.
“Luna is actually very good at healing and light magic. Though we haven’t checked on what other things she is good at. As for why healing and light magic, it's because my mother was the group healer, back when my parents were adventuring.” Van said.
“Oh my. I Must hear about that!” she said, excitedly looking towards Alvaroz.
Alvaroz gave a polite smile. “Perhaps another time.
After that, the group went over a few more finer details about Sheri’s stay and what she will be teaching. After they finished hammering out the schedule and what times Van will be studying, they parted ways.
“Ah… Van, can you help me with something?” Sheri asked as Alvaroz was leaving and Van was just getting up.
“Umm, sure?” Van said.
“Wonderful! You see I had a long day, and I would like the chance to relax before dinner. You don’t mind helping me out do you? Think of it as… your first lesson…” she said with a knowing smile.
“Oh…” was all Van said, knowing where this was going. “Okay…” he said, steeling himself. He knew that this was part of his training. But a part of him still didn’t like it. But what other choice did he have? This was supposedly his duty, his father already told him that he would probably have to learn how to properly please a woman. It just never occurred to him that it would be so soon...
“Follow me…” he said solemnly
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