“What's a vampire?” Maylia asked, confused.

“V-v-v-vampire?” Josh whipped around and stared at the name above the mayor's corpse.

“It's usually a blood-sucking creature that only comes out at night, because it hates the daylight.” I said, and Afyne's arms around my neck tightened. “Apparently, this vampire doesn't have that restriction, considering it's still late afternoon.”

“I'll try the scribe spell on the others.” Diofra said and quickly copied the spell over again. She saw me looking and smiled. “I'll memorize it tonight, so I won't waste paper.”

“Use as much paper as you want.” I said. “I'm pretty sure you're going to need the spell a lot over the next while.”

“Give me a copy of that spell.” Jessica said to Diofra, who handed her that copy and made another. Jessica took out a thick book from her bag of holding and started to flip through pages.

“Should we block off the city?” Allirynn asked. “Or tell the guards?”

“I'm debating it.” I said and then sighed. “I have so many conflicting thoughts about vampires and their abilities, that anything I do might be ineffectual. Especially if some of them are a part of the guards.”

“I have the skill scribe.” Evus said and came into the room with a woman, who screamed when she saw all the bodies.

I walked over with Afyne still on my hip and stood between the woman and the table. “Miss, the mayor was a vampire.”

“Wh-wh-what?!?” The woman exclaimed through her tears. “That... can't be...”

“This one's a vampire, too.” Diofra said about the woman next to the mayor.

“This is why we need your expertise.” I said to the woman. “Can you check the mayor and see what comes up?”

“I... she...” The woman shivered slightly and wiped at her face. “I'll try.”

“Thank you.” I said and stepped aside as I motioned to the table. The woman gasped when she saw the title floating above the corpse. She took a deep breath, nodded once, then walked right over to the body and hovered a hand over the head.

“Hunter, I think you're right.” Diofra said and confirmed that the next woman was a vampire as well. “They're all vampires.”

Josh gasped and his whole body shook when the title above the mayor expanded.

Vampire, Underling. Nocturnal Undead. Sunlight Resistance 30%. Retractable fangs.

Extendable Claws (hands and feet). Superhuman Strength. Unnatural speed.

Mental Fortitude/Penetration 60%. Blood drinker (consumes life essence). Iron skin.

Transfiguration (self and minion). Limited flight. Glamour (hide). Spell casting (limited).

“Well, that's a crapload of crap.” Steven said and waved at the list of information.

“Yeah, no point in trying to block off the city if they can fly.” I said and looked at Diofra. She was behind the skill scribe and cast the spell. The words Skill Scribe, Human appeared above the woman's head and I nodded. She dismissed the spell and moved on to classify the men.

I walked over to the table and looked at the skill scribe. “Can I ask you...”

“If they are all vampires, the skill list won't change.” The woman said as she stared at the floating info, her voice harsh. “I've known her for years, and I never once thought about trying to scribe her. Not. Once.”

I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder to make her look at me. “I know it can be a shock to find out that someone you thought you knew for years could deceive you.”

The woman took a quick breath and nodded.

“Can I have you check my beautiful friend here?” I asked and shifted Afyne a little on my hip. “She needs a skill reading so we can find out her class and can equip her properly.”

“My services aren't free.” The woman said, now that I had distracted her with actual business. “Not even for the queen's personal vassal.”

“I didn't expect they would be.” I chuckled. “Do I need to put her down?”

“Reluctant to do that, are you?” The woman asked and tried not to smile.

“Maybe.” I said and she let the smile out.

“Let's go over there.” The woman waved across the room. “The farther away from these things, the better.” She led us across the room to the far side and put her hand over Afyne's forehead. “Don't be afraid, you won't feel anything.”

“I'm not scared.” Afyne said. “I have Hunter.”

The woman nodded. “I suppose after a roomful of vampires, a strange lady isn't much of a bother.”

“No, unless you try to hurt me, then you won't bother anyone else. Ever.” Afyne said, matter-of-factly.

“I see.” The woman said with a smile. “I'd deserve it, too.”

Afyne nodded. “A garglemacer killed my parents, and Hunter and Maylia killed it for me.”

The woman's eyes widened and looked at me, and I held in my laugh at her surprise.

“It wasn't just for you, Afyne.” I said and kissed the girl's cheek. “Although, I wouldn't have needed any more reason than that.”

“I know.” Afyne said, smugly.

The woman was about to comment when Afyne's information appeared above her head. “Oh, my.”

I looked up and saw the list. “Afyne, I need to put you down for a minute.” I stood her on her feet, so I could read every skill in her list. “Are these potential skills, or skills she already has and just needs to develop?”

“She has them.” The woman said, her voice barely a whisper. “I've never seen so many before, even on a seasoned veteran.”

I read the several paragraphs of skills and was surprised by everything that was listed. “What class is...”

“It's after her title.” The woman said and pointed to the top of the list. I had only skimmed over it and didn't realize what it said when I read all her skills. I blinked my eyes when I read the title.

Hunter's Hunter, Rogue Knight Ranger (untrained)

“What's it say?” Afyne asked and tried to look herself, only it distorted the words when she moved her head. “I can't see it.”

“Just a minute.” I said and waved to Diofra. “Copy this down, please.”

“What is... oh, my.” Diofra said as she came over, then she pulled out a piece of paper and copied everything down. “A genuine mixed class!”

“What does that mean?” Afyne asked.

“You're very special.” I said and knelt. “I know I told you that before, and this confirms it.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “You aren't limited by just one class of skills. You have three.”

“Th-th-three?” Afyne tried to look again and the words distorted.

“Here.” Diofra said and handed her the piece of paper. “Look for yourself.”

I kept my hands on her shoulders as she read it. Several of the others noticed us and came over as well. Diofra copied the information again and made several copies.

“My... my title.” Afyne whispered and looked me in the eyes. “Hunter's Hunter.”

“You're even more mine than I thought you were.” I said with a smile.

“But... doesn't that mean...”

“It would be 'Hunter of Hunter' if it meant that.” I said and briefly glanced at Kara, who didn't turn away. “It means you are my hunter, someone trained to hunt on my behalf.”

Afyne looked at the paper and read it again, then she looked back at my face with a trace of tears in her eyes. “I'm really yours?”

“Of course you are.” I said and slid my hands from her shoulders and around her back to hug her. “Never doubt that.”

“I... I didn't... but...” Afyne tucked her head under my hair and pressed her face against my neck.

“You like having the proof.” I said, and she nodded slightly. “I'm glad you do.”

“M-me, too.” Afyne said and we held each other silently for several minutes.

“I got it!” Jessica exclaimed loudly in the quiet room and held up a piece of paper. Josh and Evangeline jumped at the sound and I heard a few chuckles from the others.

Diofra went over to her and looked at the modified scribe spell. “You made it an area spell!”

“It's only good for ten feet.” Jessica said and wrote out several copies. “It also costs twice as much mana.”

“That won't matter, as long as it covers more than two people.” Diofra said. “It even has the same casting time.”

“Make a dozen copies for each of you.” I said. “Do you need your mana crystals charged?”

Both of them nodded and took out their crystals, so I walked over to them and put my hand on their wrists. I shared my mana with them and they accepted it while they started to charge the mana crystals. I felt the energy flow easily through Diofra and helped it along to charge her crystal up in a few seconds. Jessica's was a little more difficult. I let Diofra's wrist go and put my hand on the crystal.

“Just a second.” I said and closed my eyes. I followed Jessica's mana into the crystal and felt that my mana wasn't quite working, so I let my mana cover the crystal and attuned it just a little to allow my mana in as well. After that tweak, it practically sucked my mana in and charged up just as quickly.

“How did you do that?” Jessica asked. “It took me ten minutes to get it to accept my mana!”

“I practice a lot.” I said and looked at Diofra. “Actually, now that I've got you here, I might as well get these mana crystals filled.” I took the four air mana crystals out of my bag of holding and unwrapped them, then had Diofra hold each of them and I attuned them to her and myself. They were filled in only a few seconds and I wrapped them back up and stored them again. “Thanks.”

Jessica had stood there and watched in disbelief. “You're not even tired, are you?” She asked me.

I shook my head. “I've only been exhausted from mana loss after being hurt by the garglemacer, never from sharing.”

“That's...” Jessica smiled. “I was going to say amazing; but, that's just normal for you.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, normal.” I said and looked at Afyne. “We'll get you the proper books at the library, assuming they have one here.”

“There's one downstairs.” The skill scribe said and looked at one of the bodies. “Countess Ricessa won't mind you using it.”

Maylia laughed. “Not now, anyway.”

“We need to check them for items.” I said and waved at the bodies, then went to the mayor. “Look for anything that might implicate others.” I rifled through her pockets and emptied everything into the table in front of her. I was tempted to remove all her jewellery, then glanced at my enchanted ring. “Don't touch any of their equipped items until Diofra or Jessica checks them for enchantments or curses.”

All eight bodies were checked for enchantments and then searched. All the loot was placed on the table, including weapons, jewels, and three bags of holding.

“They could have anything in these things.” Steven said and picked one of the bags up. It didn't look significantly heavy for him; but, his body was heavily reinforced. “Not that they would have emptied them for us if they were still alive.”

“Undead.” Jessica corrected. “If they were alive, they couldn't be vampires.”

“What about a half-vampire?” Steven asked and dropped the bag in front of the woman that had it.

“That can't exist.” The skill scribe said. “They still have to give up their life to become a vampire.”

“What if they were born?” Evus asked.

“Assuming they can breed with each other, which they can't, the child would be a vampire.” She said.

“What if they did it with a human?” Steven asked, curiosity clear in his voice.

“If they somehow got pregnant and survived the pregnancy, it would still be a vampire.” The skill scribe said. “I haven't heard of it working; but, there's always a possibility.”

“How could something that's undead grow?” Evangeline asked.

“Magic, of course.” She said. “As well as absorbing the blood and life essence of the living, just like an adult vampire.”

“That's really disturbing.” Evangeline said and noticed the very white color of Josh's face. “I'm sorry, sweetheart.” She hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I didn't mean to make it worse.”

“S'okay.” Josh said with a shaky voice. “I'm okay.”

“Wait a minute.” Evus said and we all looked at him. “Isn't Josh a priest?”

“He's right.” Steven said with a smile. “Josh is a Sorcerer Priest of Light! Priests kill vampires, right? We got this!”

Josh wavered slightly and Evangeline sat him down on the floor before he fainted.

“Hey man, what's wrong?” Steven asked. “It's your job to fight vampires, isn't it?”

“Ugh.” Josh bent over and put his head between his knees and stared at the floor.

“He's afraid of them.” Evangeline said and rubbed his back.

“Ahahaha!” Steven guffawed and pointed at him. “You're afraid of fictional characters!”

Josh mumbled something that we couldn't hear.

“What did you say?” Jessica asked.

“They're not fictional anymore.” Josh said without lifting his head and started to rock forward and back and tears came to his eyes. “Terrors in the night. Whispers in your head. Controlling you against your will.”

Steven's laughter died off and I saw the realization on his face that Josh wasn't joking around. “Hey, I'm sorry.” He said and sat down next to him. “I thought you were carrying on.”

Josh shook his head. “Ever since I was a kid and saw...” He stopped talking and shivered. “I'm scared.”

No one said anything for a few minutes and let that sink in.

“I might have a spell to help you with that.” I said.

Everyone looked at me, which was good, because Jessica's mouth had dropped open in surprise and they hadn't seen it.

“This came into my possession a little while ago.” I said and took out a blank piece of paper. “I haven't had the chance to try it yet, so I don't know what effects it will have.” I said and wrote down the spell and its ingredients, then I handed it over. “Have a look.”

Josh reached a shaking hand out and took the paper. “A... a mind block spell?” He asked, disbelief in his voice. “What... how...”

“Diofra said the ingredients are pretty common and she was going to pick some up when she went for magic supplies.” I said. “I've been reluctant to see what it does, mainly because I can't maintain it on my own and it would have to be recast every day.” I sighed dramatically. “Besides, after I thought about it for a while, I realized that a lot of my abilities work with both mental and physical techniques. This spell might not be beneficial to me, despite its inherent value to protect the mind.”

“Do you think... will this work?”

“You're worried about being assaulted in your mind, so why not give it a try?” I asked and pointed to the bottom of the page. “The worst that could happen is that it works and you don't renew it in the morning.”

Josh looked at the bottom of the page and saw the daily chant. “It's that easy to keep it?”

“Actually, it's easier.” I said with a smile. “I talked to a couple of people, and if you have several magic users cast it on you at the same time, it can become permanent.”

“R-r-really?” Josh asked and crumpled the paper a little in his excitement.

“Tempting, isn't it?” I asked with a laugh. “Don't jump ahead of yourself, though. Try it first and see how you feel about it.”

“No, I want it done.” Josh said with confidence. “As soon as possible.”

“Let's use the table.” I said and used Mana Presence Hands to pull the bodies away from it and made room. “It's as close to an altar as we're going to get.”

“Actually, I have one.” Josh said and took out a small altar about a foot long and eight inches wide.

“So do I.” Diofra and Jessica said at the same time. They put similar altars down and touched Josh's with their edges and made a triangle shape with them.

“I should have enough ingredients.” Jessica said and started to take them out. “I'll need to stock up on them again, though.”

“Same here.” Diofra said and put enough on her own altar and then helped Jessica with dividing hers up with Josh and then she put everything on their altars. “Okay, I think that's got it.”

“Will the three of us be enough?” Josh asked.

“Most definitely.” Diofra said and took out her mana crystal.

“Yes! We can count as two each because of the double spell!” Jessica said and took out her own crystal.

Josh took out his and asked what to do. They explained about casting a spell with their own mana and then focusing it through the mana crystal to boost it.

“That wasn't in the mana crystal book.” Josh said, a little perturbed.

“Not everything can be written in a children's book.” Diofra said. “It takes experience to gain certain knowledge.”

Jessica nodded in agreement. “Plus, it might be written as an addendum to a weak spell somewhere that it can be made more powerful if focused through a mana crystal at the last second.”

“That's exactly how I found it.” Diofra said. “My little gust of wind spell can become a gale force wind with a mana crystal and my own mana added to it.”

“All right.” Josh said and looked over the copy of the spell he had, then he placed it on the floor between them so they could all read it. “Let's do this.”

Josh, Jessica, and Diofra joined hands and started to read the spell. As they spoke, the ingredients were consumed and the three of them started to glow as the spell paper burned away. They said the chant at the end and the last of the ingredients and the paper disappeared. They kept chanting and I could see the band of mana form inside Josh's head and start to constrict. It wasn't until they finished the fourth iteration that it snapped into place.

“AHH! That HURT!” Josh yelled and grabbed the sides of his head. After a moment, he took in a deep breath and sat up straight. “Holy crap!”

“What is it?” Evangeline asked.

“It worked.” Josh said as a smile grew on his face. “I can't believe it! It actually worked!”

“Josh?” Evangeline had a worried look on her face.

“It's okay. Everything is okay.” Josh said and stood up. “In fact, I feel great!”

“I'm glad it worked.” I said and Josh turned towards me and held a hand out. I raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled and wiggled his fingers. I reached out and took the offered hand and he shook it.

“Thank you, Hunter.” Josh said. “You wouldn't believe what a relief this is.”

“I have some idea.” I said. “You're shaking my hand barely ten minutes after you accused me of enjoying killing.”

Josh stopped moving his hand, glanced at Evangeline, then back at me. “You do kill too easily for my liking; but to be fair, I would kill to protect her.”

“Just her?” I asked as I let his hand go, and he didn't respond. “When you get to the point that you'll kill for your friends, you'll understand.”

“I... don't know if I want to understand you that much.”

“Me? Not a chance.” I laughed. “I meant you'll understand that sometimes it's worth being seen as a 'bad person' by certain people, if you can protect those that are dear to you.”

I saw Allirynn, Imiryl, Maylia, and Afyne nod in agreement. Kara had nodded as well and I ignored it, because I didn't want to think about how things would have turned out if she had been a little bit more accommodating and understanding. If she didn't have such tunnel vision when it came to The Order and everything they did, both the good and the bad, things could have been different between us.

I had grown tired of telling her that years ago, though.