Vanity lay within the wooden carriage with a man between her legs. His clean-shaven face rested on her bare chest, and she gently stroked his head. Her calm, warm breath tickled the man's ear, "Beg human, beg for your pathetic life to end; it's only merciful of me."

"Please... please...." the man pleaded, "Just kill me... please...."

She cupped his heart with her claw and felt its frantic beat in her hand. This ration had been most entertaining compared to the others. It had taken a lot to get him to this breaking point.

The man was ashen as he looked at Vanity's arm that had dug into his chest; the feeling of having his heart played with was nauseating; she stroked it and occasionally flicked it.

"How boring." Vanity traced a finger down his leg, causing him to shiver, "I thought you would be different from the rest, but I guess humans are only worth this much..."

With a final light squeeze, her nails dug into the muscle, and the man's heart exploded in her hand; he gasped his last breath as his body went limp in her embrace. Warm blood covered her hand as she removed it. "Smells good at least..." she commented as she inspected her arm.

She shrugged, pushed the man's hair away from his neck and brought it to her mouth. Her fangs enlarged as she pierced his sunburnt skin. For a few minutes, she enjoyed the meal and felt her sanity return.

Tossing the corpse to the side with a sigh, Vanity looked around the carriage. Jackson appeared to have gone back to sleep. Vanity didn't think much of Jackson spending the entire trip asleep apart from occasionally feeding. Vampires spend as much time asleep as possible. Otherwise, the centuries of life would drive them mad.

Or perhaps he went to sleep to avoid his sister's loud moans as she enjoyed the dicks of her terrified rations. Vanity only found enjoyment in torture and playing with her rations. She never really understood why some Vampires enjoyed fucking them so much. It was entertaining the first few times, sure. But is sex still entertaining after so many years? Lily seemed to think so if her expression of pure bliss was anything to go by and her spread legs.

As the ration moved his hips, the movements shook the carriage a little, "Classic hellspawn." Vanity sneered, "So unsightly."

Lilly pushed the slave's bald head to the side and glared at Vanity with her pitch-black eyes, "For the daughter of an Angel, you sure do enjoy torture. I could hardly enjoy myself while hearing your rations begging and pleading for the entire night."

Vanity scoffed and stood up, seeing a fellow Vampire give in to lust in such a disgraceful manner was ruining her mood, 'At least have a little class about the act; doing it in the open with mere rations is too shameful!' Shaking her head in disgust, Vanity climbed past the whore with a sneer and left the carriage.

The nightly winds and gorgeous moon helped to calm her mind. She glanced across the endless wastelands that spread out in all directions for possible enemies to vent her anger on but found none. Only the occasional dying tree or mud hill caught her attention. It was completely silent apart from the rolling carriages and muffled moans from Lily.

"No leylines, no fun. Why would Brother choose to reside in such a manaless area? Nothing grows, no monsters spawn, and no dungeons form. How truly boring." Vanity shrugged at her brother's weird logic and strolled beside the small convoy of carriages.

Vanity's soulless eyes glanced to the northwest, her vision turned red, and she could practically smell Damien. He was so close. Feeling impatient, Vanity came up with an idea.

"Cultist!" Vanity shouted, and a slender woman appeared.

"Yes, my Princess?"

"Come here." Vanity gestured at her feet, and the woman complied.

Since she was much taller than Vanity, she kneeled and presented herself, "How may I serve."

Vanity slashed her finger and let a single drop of blood fall into the woman's mouth, "Become my vessel."

The cultist robes fell to the floor as the woman's body exploded into a dense mist of blood. Vanity grinned, "Ichor blood sure is useful... Now let's see what my dear brother is doing."

After depositing a little of her consciousness into the thing, the blood phantom flew with immense speed towards the west; she may witness her brother's death or triumph with some luck. It would serve as some entertainment for her dull life.

***

Damien stood on the lake with a solemn expression. 'Ever since I accepted myself as a Vampire after killing that necromancer, I have never felt anything for killing humans. So why did killing a Noble Vampire feel so sad? Do I feel guilty? No. Sadness? Yes. But why?'

The reason came to him as Damien looked at his black silk dressing gown riddled with holes and blood stains.

'He was just like me. A being of pride and arrogance, I could see myself within him as if staring in a mirror. It took Redhead's death for me to realise the error in my ways. I do not feel sadness for Redhead's death; instead, I feel sad for what I have become. Why did I cast aside my humanity as if it was a curse? Humanity may have its flaws, but it has crucial lessons hidden within.

Damien shook his head and poured himself a glass of wine. He took a deep sip, and the enriching flavour helped clear his mind. 'I have become what I feared. No. Not just me but also Damien Nightshade. We both feared what would happen when we fully embraced blood magic and become our true form as nature planned.'

Damien suddenly felt very hot; his breath became short. He looked accusingly at the glass of half-drunken wine, "Am I drunk?"

"No, silly, it's blood intoxication."

Every single muscle in Damien's body seized up. His perception field didn't detect anything, the night was silent, yet someone was behind him?

The voice was female and seemed familiar.

"I taught you blood cultivation soooo many times! Quick! We have some work to do!"

Damien felt an odd sensation on his back. It was warm and damp as if he were in a steam room back on earth.

"Brother? Are you okay?"

Damien's blood ran cold. "S-sister? Vanity? Is that you?" He turned around and saw a shifting mass of blood resting on his back. It had a vaguely humanoid shape but was faceless.

"Yes, it's me. Now hurry up and focus."

The faceless thing didn't move, yet words flowed out. Damien then felt a tremendous pressure force him into a sitting position on the lake. His levitation spell shattered, but he remained floating above the lake's surface.

Two arms of viscous blood wrapped around his chest, and the thing giggled in his ear, "That was an exceptional fight, my dear brother. I never expected you to grow so much! But now is not the time for praise; you just absorbed blood from a Noble Vampire that was stronger than you. If you don't absorb it quickly and efficiently, you will explode..."

Damien gulped and quickly followed the thing's advice. His heart began pounding as blood poured inside. He tried to concentrate, but his mind was a mess, 'Why is she here? How is she here? Is that thing made of Ichor blood? Does that mean Vanity is at the A grade?' Questions without answers shot through his mind in quick succession. He felt sick.

"No! Brother, you are doing it all wrong!" Her voice was filled with genuine concern that confused Damien, "Don't dump it all in at once. Do it slowly."

'Why is she helping me?' was all Damien could think as the thing's arms slowly traced his chest and helped direct the blood slowly with Hemokinesis. It was a bizarre sensation having blood travel around his body without his direct input.

"You just relax, okay? I'll handle it for you."

After a few hours, the sun began to peek over the horizon.

Damien sat on the lake in a lotus position; his drenched gown reeked of sweat and gripped tightly to his body. "I thought I was going to die..." he muttered, and he genuinely meant it, "Thank you."

"Anything for the future king of the vampires..." the humanoid blood mist whispered as the sun broke the treeline.

"Huh?" Damien didn't quite catch his sisters muttering, "What did you say?"

But when he turned around, he saw the sunlight hit the blood mist; it boiled and howled as it collapsed into the lake below without another word.

Damien looked at the bloody water and debated absorbing it for a while, but he slapped himself before he could do anything insane, "Are you crazy? That blood contains blood from Vanity, she is easily at the A grade, and I almost died absorbing mere B grade blood!"

Damien cast aside the sticky gown and let it fall into a portal; he dipped his naked body in the lake and allowed the cold water to cool his mind and cleanse his body from the intense blood cultivation session.

Looking into the dawn-lit sky, he shuddered and remembered how intense that cultivation session was. If not for his sister's timely assistance, he would have died.

As the fear of death vanished, and he could finally think, he realised his body felt different. He grabbed his pocket watch from his spatial storage with a nervous hand. With a click, the mirror was on full display.

[Blood Magic (C -> B)]

Damien looked at the words with a complicated expression. He felt powerful; it was euphoric. But this meant more than simple power, as with power comes consequence. And Damien had not enjoyed any of Blood magics' consequences so far.

He refused to look at his new blood magic spells for now and instead decided he needed some rest. He didn't know what his sister visiting him in such a form entailed, but it was bound to be a headache.