As she walked through the portal and into the camp, Melissa looked around, observing her surroundings. The Nature’s Protection cast on the group by Sage would give them time to adjust to their surroundings but they were still in the middle of the enemy forces.

Since they had appeared a good distance into the camp, there were several lines of goblins between them and Edwin. In front of her group was a line of goblins and barricade that they guessed was the goblin command center. Her job was to distract whoever came long enough for Samantha to do her job.

Johnny and Ven were supposed to help the Rogue, but the idiots got caught in the goblin’s random firestorms and died before they did anything useful. As expected of bronze rankers...

She heard a battle cry from the goblins standing between her and the barricade as they charged forward. The creatures were poorly equipped… some of them merely holding sharpened sticks and wearing rags. She shook her head as she raised her hand.

“Mana Blast.” she muttered. As the spell began to take form, she willed the magic to take another form. Her classes’ unique ability, Aeion Manipulation, took effect and the condensed ball of mana split into a dozen narrow bolts which she promptly flung towards the approaching monsters. Each bolt struck true and a dozen goblins fell in the blink of an eye.

Melissa felt a tinge in her heart as more than half of the approaching line died from her attack. Like most humans, she ‘followed’ an Overseer, but she was in it for the perks and didn’t particularly care for the religion. In other words, she disliked culling the weak, whether they were humans or monsters. As far as she knew, these goblins had been living here peacefully for a while.

But it was her job to eliminate the threat of this ‘vampire’ and the goblins were presumed to be hiding her. She fought back the dull feeling as she prepared another spell. Weak or not, she would do her job. She was a professional, after all.

As she fired out another string of compressed Aeion bolts, she saw a small figure leap from the barricade, intercepting the projectiles with a large, rectangular barrier. Melissa recognized the ability... Shield Wall.

She observed the figure that was now moving towards her group. It was a young girl with silver hair and heterochromatic eyes, one red and one violet. The girl stalked towards Melissa confidently, a sinister smile playing at the edge of her lips as she revealed her fangs.

Suzy, who had been quiet thus far, squealed. She backed away quickly, attempting to jump back through the Gate just before it closed. She failed, falling through the empty space and crashing to the ground.

“So it really was a vampire…” Sage muttered. “Though isn’t she a bit strange? Her hair color is like that of an Elf… and her eyes...”

Melissa nodded, “And she’s a Guardian. It’s rare enough to find humans with that class, let alone monsters. Her Magic Resistance will be annoying but it shouldn’t be high enough to give us real trouble.”

“Magic Resistance?” Peter asked, coming up beside them. “Is that why none of my spells had any effect?”

“What do you mean?” Melissa asked, turned a sharp glare on Peter. This was the first she was hearing of this.

Peter shrunk under her gaze, “I… uh… when we last fought her, she was immune to all my magic…” he said, refusing to meet her eyes.

Sage shook her head. “Magic Resistance is annoying, but I’m more worried about her strength. Vampires usually go down the Acolyte or Thief route, right? Her strength stat is probably around eighteen with her Fighter and racial modifiers.”

Melissa shivered. Edwin, their Warrior, had a strength stat of 20 and he was frighteningly strong. If this vampire was close to that, they would need to be extra careful not to take a clean hit.

The girl stopped several steps away from them. She tilted her head.

“What up?” she asked, her voice a bit deeper and smoother than her looks would lead one to expect. “Finished with your conversation?”

“D..Divine Retri…” Suzy started to shout but Sage shot a glare at her, silencing the Cleric.

Melissa raised an arm, preparing another strike. “I take it you’re Eve? I have to admit we’re a bit interested in your rather unique properties. Tell us, are you really a vampire?”

Eve shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not. I know this is a bit late but could I ask you to leave? If this goes on, a lot of people will die and my side doesn’t respawn.”

Melissa stared at the girl incredulously. “You’re asking us to just… leave?”

Eve smiled, the radiance causing Melissa to falter for just a moment. She took a deep breath to calm her mind.

The hell… how high is this girl’s charisma? Just flashing a smile was enough to make Melissa hesitate. If Eve learned manipulation magic, she would be frightening…

Eve pulled a book from her pocket and held it up, looking pointedly at Peter.

“If you really want to kill monsters, this book shows that there is one a little closer to you. You don’t need to come all the way out here.”

Melissa glanced between Peter and the book, noting the sheen of sweat filling his brow.

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Eve tossed her the book and Sage caught it smoothly. She opened the first page and scanned its contents. Melissa felt the air darken as Sage threw the book into her inventory. The healer’s face twisted in rage as she turned and threw a punch into a surprised Peter’s face. He fell backward, crashing to the ground.

“I don’t work with trash.” she declared, standing over the Warlock.

Melissa observed the scene for a moment, dazed at how quickly the vampire had already caused dissent in their group. She put a hand on Sage’s shoulder.

“We’ll deal with that later. We need to take care of the situation at hand, first.”

Sage nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She turned, not even sparing Peter a second glance as she snapped her fingers. A thick root burst out of the ground and wrapped around him.

“Nature’s Binding.”

“W..what are you doing?” Peter yelled, but the two adventurers ignored him as they returned their attention to Eve.

“Clever of you, but I don’t believe he would have made that much of a difference in our fight.” Melissa observed.

Eve shook her head. “He can’t do anything to me, that’s true. But that wasn’t my goal.”

The girl drew her sword and took a stance. Melissa aimed her magic spell and shot it.

As her magic flew towards the vampire, the world began to shift and twist around them. Her magic dispersed into the air while all five of her senses were assaulted.

“Damn…” she muttered silently, the sound not reaching her ears through the dense illusion that surrounded her. Her vision went black, her hearing and senses of smell, taste, and touch were all overwritten, leaving her feeling as if she was floating in a world of darkness.

This was the level 40 Illusionist skill Total Immersion. Though considered one of the most overpowered abilities, it required the caster to be within a certain distance and had a thirty-second channel time, so it was practically unusable in real combat.

Unless a little vampire serves as a distraction…

Melissa focused her mind on the illusion. As an accomplished magic user herself, she could easily break the Total Immersion but it rankled her that she had been caught in such a basic trap.

She projected her mana into the illusion surrounding her and willed it to disperse. She felt an unexpectedly powerful resistance, however.

Tsk. This was a powerful Illusionist.

She activated her Dimensional Barrier ability, phasing her body and immediate surroundings out of the domain of the illusion. Then she attacked it externally, bearing down on the mind of her oppressor and suppressing it with as much force as she could muster.

Gradually, her senses returned and she blinked at the unexpected brightness that filled her vision. Her ears and nose twitched, her tongue tingled and she felt a strange itch on her skin.

She felt a wave of mental exhaustion run through her and a quick glance revealed Sage was in the same predicament. Chills ran through her spine as she realized that they had only won because it was two against one…

What a frighteningly powerful mage…

They had been ‘gone’ for approximately ten seconds.

In that time, the little vampire girl had worn through the Nature’s Protection keeping her from harm and decapitated Suzy. By the gods, she must have applied a ridiculous amount of force if she overwhelmed it that quickly...

Fortunately, Eve hadn’t managed to cause any severe damage to Melissa or Sage before Dimensional Barrier took effect and the girl backed off, probably not knowing how to deal with the ability.

“Phew. That was dangerous.” Melissa wheezed, pulling a staff out of her Bag of Holding to lean on.

Sage snapped her fingers. “Invigorate.”

Melissa sighed in relief as she felt the fatigue draining out of her body. Her mind cleared and a wave of energy rushed through her.

“I think we’ve let this go on for far too long.” Sage said, her calm voice contrasting with her annoyed expression.

Melissa formed another Mana Blast. “I agree.”

Sage summoned her mana and the air took on a very earthy scent, merging pleasantly with Melissa’s roses.

“Propagate.”

Sage’s mana turned a deep, translucent green and then sunk into the ground. Little mushrooms began to pop out of the dirt around her.

Melissa threw her Aeion modified mana at the vampire. Sage snapped her fingers and the mushrooms burst, filling the air with a poisonous mist that she controlled. The mist avoided Melissa as it spread outwards, causing Peter and several of the goblins to spasm and cough.

Eve was completely unaffected by the mist. She took the Mana Blast without even flinching, the mana rolling off of her form and dissipating.

A notification appeared.

Due to your targets high Magic Resistance, your spell was nullified.

What? Magic Resistance high enough to nullify a level 46 Arcanist’s modified mana? Was that even possible?

Melissa blasted the girl with another wave of mana, with the same result. The magic just seemed to evaporate on contact.

“What are you…?” Melissa exclaimed as she flung another attack.

Eve smiled, baring her fangs as she took a step forward. Melissa stumbled, trying to move back but her legs were shaking. It had been a long time since she’d felt fear. She fell to the ground, trembling as she threw burst after burst of mana at the demonic entity approaching her.

A root erupted from the ground and attempted to grab her, but the girl simply stomped on the root, grinding it to dust.

Eve stopped, hovering over Melissa’s shivering form.

The little girl bent down onto one knee, leaning down to whisper in Melissa’s ear.

“My name is Raymond and I bring a message of salvation. If you stand against us again, there won’t be a next time.”

Melissa’s mind went into overdrive, deciphering the message. A wave of understanding rolled through her and she began to laugh. It wasn’t a mere chuckle or an amused laugh but rather the laughter one might expect when realizing that they never stood a chance. It was impossible for this individual to be who she claimed she was… but if she were that person...

A blade swung down, piercing her neck. The world tumbled.

And then there was darkness.

***

Level upx10

Congratulations, you are now a level 28 Guardian!

You have (2) skills to choose.

That was new. Apparently, she would be able to pick the skills she learned from her most recently level jump. Raymond closed the window, making a mental note to peruse her options when she was less busy.

She walked over to Peter’s cowering form. She had taken care of the silver rankers quickly because she wasn’t completely confident that she could keep them pinned while she tortured them.

Peter, on the other hand, would make a good toy for her newest pet. The ground rumbled slightly as the Mountain Yeti approached. It looked down at the cowering Warlock.

“Master, what do?”

Raymond pointed at Peter. “New weapon.”

“Wea...pon?”

Raymond nodded, then pointed at Edwin who was smoothly moving towards them through the tide of green that surrounded him.

“Grab and smash.” she ordered.

The Mountain Yeti peered at her for a moment, but the word ‘smash’ cleared up all of his confusion. It picked up Peter by the legs and dangled him in front of it’s face. It reached up with its other hand and flicked him in the head. His nose broke, gushing blood everywhere.

“Bad smash, will break.” the yeti announced.

“That’s okay.” Raymond said, grinning wickedly.

The Mountain Yeti began to shuffle towards Edwin while Shaman came up beside her.

“Good work.” Shaman said, “Your plan was surprisingly effective.”

Raymond shrugged, “I figured if it was just magic casters, it would be pretty easy.”

Shaman frowned. “I find it hard to believe that they would send just magic users through… there should have been at least one Rogue or…”

Understanding lit up her face and she turned towards the strategic command in time to see Nag’s body tumble over the edge.

Raymond looked up, her eyes barely catching a cloaked figure as they disappeared.

“By Demestrix…” Shaman breathed, “We’re in trouble now…”

Raymond returned her attention to the form of the approaching steel-clad Warrior.

“Let’s deal with one problem at a time.”

Shaman nodded. “I’m a bit tapped out, so I won’t be much help in this fight. I expended a lot of mana keeping up the illusions as long as I did.”

Raymond winced internally. “Alright.”

She ran forward, overtaking the Mountain Yeti as she prepared to swing her sword.

“Power Strike!” she shouted as she leaped forward, swinging the sword downwards in an overhead strike. The Warrior smoothly raised his shield, deflecting the strike to the side. Raymond stumbled on the landing, expecting to feel more resistance.

A crushing force slammed into her side, shattering her left arm. She hissed as she kicked the ground, jumping back and away from her opponent.

A red haze covered her vision as she observed the Warrior’s calm stance. This adventurer had killed her potential subordinates and now he was trying to kill her…? The audacity!

“My name is Edwin Lion. May I have the honor of knowing the name of my opponent?”

Raymond bit her lip, drawing blood. She spit the blood at his feet.

“Raymond.”

Edwin smiled, raising his sword and shield.

“Pleasure to fight you. I am quite tired of culling bystanders and I do believe that you are our real target. Let’s end it here.”

They circled looking for an opening. Raymond was honestly unsure how she would manage to even injure the man. His armor covered all of his vitals and he clearly knew how to use his shield.

First things first, though. As the Mountain Yeti came closer, it broke into a run. Peter’s voice filled the area as he screamed. The yeti bore down on the Warrior, swinging Peter in a sideways blow. The Warrior leaped back, avoiding the improvised man-mace.

Peter, for his part, seemed to have blacked out. Lucky guy.

Raymond circled to the opposite side of the yeti, approaching Edwin once more. The yeti smashed Peter in a downward strike which Edwin sidestepped. The Warlock crunched against the ground, splattering teeth and blood into the dirt. Raymond came up behind Edwin and stabbed her sword towards his knee.

Edwin smoothly arced his arm down, intercepting the sword with his armguard. He then jabbed forward with the end of his mace, striking Raymond in the chest and pushing her back.

Raymond felt the air rush out of her lungs and she stumbled, desperately trying to regain her breath. The yeti swung his weapon at Edwin and the warrior finally intercepted with his shield. Peter’s body crumbled around the steel barrier. The yeti released the weapon as too many of the bones broke and it was too flimsy to use any further.

Edwin shoved Peter’s body to the side with a push of his shield and then swung his mace into the yeti’s thick arm. The arm rippled, bending inwards unnaturally as the yeti bellowed in agony.

Raymond ran forward, coming to the aid of her pet.

“Shield Wall!” A translucent barrier intercepted the next strike. Edwin recovered, turning to intercept Raymond’s charge.

“Oppression Aura!” “Steel Skin!”

Edwin grimaced as he felt the weight of her new aura bearing down on him. He swung and Raymond intercepted the blow with her right arm now covered in Steel Skin. Despite its name, the ability did more than simply harden her skin. It increased the durability of a portion of her body directly proportional to her Endurance stat.

In other words, her arm was now likely the most durable thing in the world.

The mace impacted against her arm. Fortunately, due to her racial modifiers, she was significantly physically stronger than him. As expected, she took no damage. Just before the impact, Raymond pushed back against the mace, overpowering the blow and deflecting the strike. The mace seemed to almost bounce off of her arm. Edwin blinked in surprise but he didn’t slow for even a moment.

He swung down and Raymond moved to block the strike, putting her entire weight behind her strike. Edwin changed the angle mid-strike and Raymond stumbled forward, expecting resistance but finding none. The mace came up, clipping her chin and shattering her teeth. The world went dark.

Raymond willed herself to stay conscious, fighting her bodies’ natural urge to shut down. As her awareness resurfaced, she found that she was on her back, lying in the dirt. She pushed herself to her feet, swaying as if she were drunk. Her vision slowly recovered, though everything was spinning.

Raymond closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she tried to reorient herself.

“I’m impressed that you’re still standing.” Edwin’s voice came from in front of her. “You’re Endurance is incredible.”

Raymond growled, falling to one knee. Willpower or no, she couldn’t fight like this.

“Even so, I am surprised you got the better of my companions. If this is all you have, you aren’t nearly strong enough to take those two on.”

Raymond felt a hand reach under her chin, lifting it up. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into the gaze of Edwin Lion. In his clear, blue eyes she saw confidence and curiosity, but there was no hint of anger or desire for vengeance.

Then again, his friends would respawn… so he really had no reason to get angry.

Raymond applied her rarely used Body Shifter trait to shift her jaw, attempting to replace it into its natural position.

“Why…?” she groaned, blood oozing down her chin, “Why are you doing this?”

Edwin released her, stepping to the side.

“That is an interesting question. I have no grudge against you or any of these goblins.”

“Then why?” Raymond demanded, tears filling her eyes.

Edwin shook his head. “We’re following orders. If you’re asking why our superiors want you dead, then I don’t know why.”

Raymond tilted her head, her eyes following his movement as he looked around the camp.

“I don’t care why they ordered it. I want to know why you would follow such an order.”

Edwin hesitated. “Isn’t that the natural thing to do?”

Raymond spread her arms, motioning to the death and destruction surrounding them. “If this is natural to you, then maybe you should reconsider who the real ‘monsters’ are.”

Edwin pursed his lips. “I’ll take note of it. If you surrender here, we’ll let the Mountain Yeti, the beastkin and the rest of the goblins live.”

Raymond pushed herself back up to her feet. Her Regeneration skill had finally healed the internal damage and she felt the world stabilize. She spit out a tooth.

“Mr. Following Orders, I’m sorry to say but we are just getting started.”

***

When the battle had started, I had been putting the finishing touches on the first draft of my list of commandments and some general teachings that I wanted to circulate. However, with these people fighting for my little True Vampire, I felt I needed to bear witness to their sacrifices.

As I watched the battles going on throughout the camp, a deep pain filled my being. Though I had only been watching over them for a short while, these goblins already felt like they were mine. Mine to teach, to guide and to protect.

And now, many of them were dead.

Raymond put on a good show against the magic users but she was absolutely decimated by that Warrior, Edwin Lion. Since I could feel and experience everything that she did, I knew exactly how much pain and suffering she was going through and I know exactly how hard it was for her to continue standing, let alone fight.

And there was nothing that I could do.

My Holy Power meter was nearly full. If this attack had happened just a few hours later, I might have been able to use a lesser miracle to intervene somehow… but unfortunately, I don’t have enough power to do literally anything but watch.

I was really, really tired of watching.

*ding*

A notification appeared that I was most certainly not expecting to receive.

+1 follower

Wait, what? Who…?

Suddenly, my mind was assaulted with images and thoughts. I saw the inside of Eileen’s room in the Temple of Cairel. Eileen and that Kelsey Vale girl. Nervousness, a hint of fear, a sense of gratitude, some sort of desire…

I quickly limited the mental connection before I was overwhelmed with the senses, thoughts, and feelings of another person.

“Congratulations. It seems you have finally obtained another follower.” Auto said.

“Looks that way. I have no idea why though…” I replied, confused.

“Perhaps you should go and find out?”

“Wouldn’t it take me forever to travel to the Temple though? I can’t afford to be away from Raymond for more than a day with this battle going on.”

“Then just go take a look and come back. You’re an Overseer, you can travel across the world in the blink of an eye if you really want to. You’ll only be able to clearly see areas where your followers are though.”

Really? That definitely simplified things. I took a moment to gather my thoughts and then I focused on the Temple of Cairel. My surroundings rapidly shifted as I flew through the air and descended into the High Priestess’ room. Kelsey sat on a couch while Eileen was inputting information into the KAT.

Interestingly enough, Mort was sitting on Kelsey’s shoulder. As I entered the room, Mort turned and looked in my direction.

“No way, can he see me?”

Mort winked.

“He definitely knows that I’m here…”

“This specimen is a familiar bound to your Tether. He is exceptionally sensitive to your energy.”

Huh. That might become useful in the future.

I returned my attention to my newest follower.

“So… what exactly is going on here?”