Chapter 3

“As you know, we vampires possess many powers, but most of them only manifest as we age. As we age, our physical strengths will also increase, but what makes elder vampires so strong is their mystical powers. For example, some rare vampires even possess the powers of clairvoyance and divination,” Labrax said. Currently, Labrax and Valdis were both walking through the gardens behind the manor. It was quite the sight, as there was a huge assortment of plants and flowers, and the entire garden was surrounded by a green wall of vegetation.

“Clairvoyance and divination? What are those powers exactly?” Valdis asked. By now, he spoke the language perfectly, and without even a hint of an accent. This caused Labrax come to the conclusion that Valdis possessed great mental capabilities, which might be why his abilities were so powerful, and why it was so easy for him the master them.

“Clairvoyance is the ability to see events that are happening elsewhere, or places out of view. Divination, on the other hand, is the capability to see the future. Divination is one of the rarest ability for any Vampire to have. Personally, I’ve only heard of vampires possessing it, but never seen one,” Labrax explained.

“I see. Those abilities certainly sound powerful,” Valdis admitted.

“Indeed. As I said, only the most powerful vampires have them. Other abilities that you can gain, include mind reading, and photokinesis. Oh, and photokinesis is the ability to manipulate light. It’s also one of the more powerful abilities, but most vampires develop to get a similar ability rather quickly, which is shadow manipulation. It is considered a sub power of photokinesis, I suppose,” Labrax said.

“These powers, they all seem so powerful,” Valdis admitted, quite overwhelmed. All those powers, greatly exceeded what he was capable of before the battle, or at least what he knew he was capable of.

“Indeed, but that’s not all. Not only do old vampires get powers naturally, as they age, but some are even able to develop their own unique abilities, somehow. For example, one developed the ability to manipulate metal, or ferrokinesis, as it was dubbed. Another one developed clairaudience, which allowed him to hear sounds from the Spiritual Plane,” he said.

“Spiritual Plane?” Valdis asked, once more being introduced to an unknown concept.

“Oh right, I keep forgetting just how ignorant you are, no offence,” Labrax said with a laugh.

“The Spiritual Plane is the plane of spirits. Surprising, right? Wait, you do know what spirits are, right?” Labrax explained, then asked, slightly worried about the inconceivable ignorance of his friend.

“Yes, I do know about spirits,” Valdis relieved him.

“Wait, how quickly does a Vampire get stronger, exactly?” Valdis asked.

“Hmm, well, it depends, actually. You see, not all vampires are equal. vampires are usually divided into the generations. The first generation, are, as you might imagine, the first vampires, other than the legendary Progenitor. The second generation vampires are the ones who were turned by the first generation, and the third generation were turned by the second generation. There three generations are the strongest ones. After that, comes the collective ‘fourth generation’. You see, all vampires after the third generation are usually just called the fourth generation, as the power difference after that becomes exceedingly minor. As for what generation you are, we can only wonder, I suppose,” Labrax said. So far, this had all turned to be very informative. Apparently, Ulfvaldr, or Valdis, was supposed to be the Progenitor of this race, yet he knew so little of his own people.

“I see. I suppose that makes sense. What about you? What generation are you from?” Valdis asked.

“Oh, me? I’m from the one and only, third generation!” Labrax announced with a proud smile.

“The third generation? Then you ought to be quite old right? And while we’re on this topic, is there any limit to a vampire’s lifespan?” Valdis asked.

“Not as far as I’m aware of. Also, I’m not really that old, to be honest. If I was really old and powerful, I wouldn’t only rule over a small township. Usually the third generation are all bigshots, and very old, but really, I’ve only lived for a few centuries,” he admitted.

“A few centuries? That’s not considered a lot?” Valdis asked. Back in his old world, they did not have the concept of centuries, but luckily for him, he had grasped that concept from the memories of his victims.

“Sure, for a normal Vampire, it’d be considered quite old, but most third generation vampires are already over a thousand years old,” he finally revealed with a self-mocking smile. He seemed a bit embarrassed by how young he was. He made him feel inferior to his peers.

However, as the two men were speaking, suddenly something happened. Another man, also a Vampire, rushed out into the garden, looking for Labrax.

“Labrax, there’s trouble! Or at least I think it’s trouble,” the man said. This man had hair as dark as the night itself, and his hair hung all the way down his back, which was much different, compared to the shorter, much lighter hair of Labrax. However, as he announced the arrival of trouble, his eyes trailed over to Valdis.

“Wait, who’s this?” He asked. He was quite puzzled over the arrival of a new Vampire. And to top it all off, he couldn’t even feel a hint of his aura. The only thing that revealed the stranger’s true nature, were his eyes.

“Ah, this is Valdis. He just arrived here, seeking help. He’s a newcomer to the Vampire race, and apparently lived under a rock. So, he doesn’t really know anything about anything. That’s why I’ve decided to help him. Now, tell me, what exactly is wrong?” Labrax said.

“It’s, it’s the Priests! Two of them have arrived here, asking questions. They requested that you come immediately,” the man announced.

“Who are the Priests?” Valdis asked.

“They’re second generation vampires, working for a first generation Vampire, known as the Keeper. He’s one of the most mysterious first generation vampires, and also one of the most powerful. I’ll tell you more later,” Labrax said, before he rushed out of the garden, into the house. However, only a moment later, he came back out, followed by two, white robed men. The three headed in a straight course over to Valdis.

“Valdis, these two gentlemen are two of the Priests I told you about,” Labrax said, rather nervously.

“They would, eh, like to have a word with you,” he finally continued. However, Valdis didn’t even get a chance to reply, before one of the Priests butted in.

“Did you just come from the Grave?” The Priest asked.

“The Grave?” Valdis repeated, just before Labrax butted in.

“Oh right, exalted Priest, Valdis is very ignorant. He knows little, since he’s lived a secluded life until now,” he said.

“I see,” the Priest said. “Did you just come from an ashen plain, covered in human corpses?” The Priest then asked. As he talked, he showed very little emotion, and almost sounded monotone.

“What is it to you?” Valdis asked back. He was on guard now, afraid that these Priests would do something drastic. However, the only answer he got, was,

“Answer the question.”

The Priests wouldn’t even answer a single question of his; the only thing they were interested in were answers for themselves. The reason they had come here in the first place, was they had discovered independent tracks, leading away from the Grave. Thus, they had come here, where the tracks had led them. When they arrived, they had quickly questioned Labrax, and the fact being that they were Priests, he didn’t dare withhold any important information. Especially not for someone he just met, no matter how talented he was.

“I suppose,” Valdis finally answered. As he answered, the Priests finally showed interest.

“Did you kill the humans there? And how did you get there?” They immediately asked him. There was even a hint of intimidation in the air. However, Valdis decided not to tell them the whole truth. Without even showing a single sign of lying, he said,

“I did kill them. I woke up a short distance away from that dead plain, with a thirst that seemed never ending. That’s why killed them all, and drunk their blood. However, it’s worth to note that they were already fighting, before I got there.”

The two priests looked at each other, before nodding their heads a single time.

“You don’t seem to be lying,” the first Priest said.

“And it’s also possible that he turned you, before running away, attempting to lead us astray,” the other continued. Then once more, they looked at each other for a while, silently, before continuing.

“Alright, all is good for now. We will be back later, to confirm whether he’s the one that turned you, or it was just coincidence. Either way, make sure to stay here, until everything is cleared up,” the first Priest said, before they turned away.

“Wait a second, who is this ‘he’ you refer to?” Valdis asked, before they left.

“That is not important for now. If you’re destined to know, you will know soon enough,” the second Priest said, and then they left.

Outside the town, they two Priests appeared, in an open area.

“He most certainly didn’t lie,” the second Priest said.

“Indeed. We will bring him to the Keeper later. He will be able to tell whether or not he’s from his bloodline. Until then, he just needs to stay put,” the first Priest stated.

“Then we’ll order someone to watch over him, so that nothing unexpected happens,” the second Priest continued, before they disappeared once more. Meanwhile Valdis and Labrax were still standing in the garden. From the moment the two Priests left, Valdis had been still and silent, focusing his entire intent of listening to the two Priests, as the left. And indeed, he had managed to eavesdrop on them, even when they were so far away. But even then, he hadn’t learned much.

‘I wonder who this Keeper is,’ was all he could think in his head.

“Well, that was… unexpected,” Labrax said, as he looked at his new friend. Originally, he had wanted to recruit him, and have him stay here, but now it seemed like he didn’t even have a choice. Valdis was going to have to stay with him.

“Did you really come from the Grave?” Labrax asked. He himself had never even seen the Grave, so for this stranger to have come from there was rather weird.

“I suppose so,” Valdis answered. “You mentioned the Grave before right?” Valdis continued.

“Yes, it’s where Vampirism was supposed to have started. A very religious place,” he said.

“Oh well, let’s go back inside. You’re going to have to stay here from now on, so I’ll get you a room. But it’s just as well; this way we’ll have time to teach you the norms of our world,” Labrax said, as he walked towards the entrance of the mansion, and Valdis followed. The two entered the building and walked through several corridors, even going up stairs a few times, which quite caused the ignorant Valdis to marvel again. Never in his life, had he seen stairs before. Before he knew it, they had arrived outside a door that was quickly opened by Labrax.

“This’ll be your room. Go make yourself comfortable, and get some rest. The sun will be coming up soon, so we’ll talk further tomorrow,” Labrax said, as he showed Valdis into his new room. It seemed like this night had just been filled with marvel after marvel, and now, once more, he was being marvelled. As he entered the room, he saw a bed like no other. It was larger than any cot he had ever slept on; it even hailed half a meter above the ground.

As he touched it, it was like the softest thing he had ever touched. And its white surface was smooth, like the finest silk, and it felt very comforting to the skin. Valdis was simply frozen in place, at the luxurious room. It wasn’t only the bed. Even the floor was adorned in a soft carpet.

“I see you quite like it, huh? It must be different from what you’re used to, I reckon. Anyways, have a good rest. I’ll have someone bring a wash basin here, as well as a change of clothes. What you’re wearing is rather common, after all,” Labrax said, as he left the room, and closed the door behind him.

When he was finally left alone in the room, he finally laid down on the bed, flat. He was rather tired, after everything that happened. Coming into a new world, where absolutely everything was different, and he even met with a whole race sharing many of his characteristics, which was rather stressful. Thus, he closed his eyes, and let himself fall into a deep, relaxing sleep.