Chapter 20: Beginning of a Calamity

In an old, dark room, hidden in the shadows of the depth, there was an old man. This old man looked older than time itself. His face was riddled with wrinkles and was dried up. His body was skin and bones, he looked like he had lived for centuries. In front of this old man, there was a book. The old man was reading the book, turning the pages, but no matter how often he turned the page, he would never get to the end, the two sides of the book would always remain at the same thickness.

Eventually, as the man had sat there for ages gone, he finally closed the book and rose from his seat. The old man struggled to move, but he grabbed an old black cane. Using the cane, he slowly walked up to the door. When he got there, he tried to open the door, but to no avail. Then a flash of light appeared from his hand, and the door opened. He stepped out the door, and arrived in a room he hadn’t seen for years. Before him stood four people. One was a tall man, clad in black armour. He was a Dread Knight. Then there was a noble looking man, with a face of such beauty that even a man could fall for him. He was a High Demon. Then there was the beautiful female, clad in Nordic armour, looking valiant. She was the Valkyrie Kára. Lastly there was another black armoured man, but this one was even taller and wore ornamental armour and a blood red cape. He was the Dread Lord.

“Finally, I finished. How long has it been?” the old man said in a low gravelly voice, almost so low that you couldn’t hear it. The four people looked at the old man in surprise.

“Master, it’s only been thirteen years, but you aged so much! How is that possible?” The High Demon asked.

“I’m a vampire. I require blood or I will shrivel up.” The old vampire said, Isaac said. Now the four guardians looked even more shocked.

“A vampire?! But they went extinct several million years ago!” The same High Demon said. He clearly knew of the demise of the vampires.

“They did, but I’m the new vampire progenitor. I was made by Gebados a few decades ago. But enough of that, I need blood! I shall rest in my bed, you people go and get me some blood bags. A lot of blood bags.” Isaac said, as he turned around and slowly waltzed to the bed and laid down. It had been thirteen years. It took him thirteen years to only learn of the basics of Energy Manipulation Magic. But it truly was a powerful magic. With it he could both manipulate the natural energies as well as mana freely. Both its utility use and its defensive and offensive uses were abnormal. He could make pure mana shields and pure mana offensive spells, like mana arrows or bolts, which were clearly much more powerful than just ice or earth or fire bolts, since it was made of pure mana concentration. Naturally it was hard to learn. Even the genius Isaac took thirteen years. If it was a mortal genius, then a hundred years would not be enough. If it was an average man, then a thousand years would be far from enough, for just the basics. It was truly one of the most complicated magics in existence.

Luckily for Isaac, there had been a very high amount of mana in the study room that had accumulated from various treasures over time, so he hadn’t become too malnutritioned, since the Energy Manipulation could allow him to absorb the mana and use it as life force, but it required huge amounts of mana, and wasn’t as good as blood, since the body still dried up, but you don’t grow too weak, and wouldn’t permanently lose strength. As soon as he drank his fill of delicious blood, he would get all his strength back. Thanks to that, he was still at the peak and wasn’t very far from breaking through. And thanks to him training in Energy Manipulation for thirteen years, without break, he had finally become a Low Arcanist. That was the mark of him mastering the basics.

1st person, Isaac.

After who knows how long, the four guardians finally returned. They had a group of very frightened people. There were at least thirty of them.

“Master, we have returned with food.” They said, causing panic in the minds of the blood bags. I slowly rose from my seat, then flashed and rushed right into my first victim and drained him dry in an instant. I quickly moved from person to person, draining them of their blood, and rejuvenating my vitality. In a few moments, I had drained all of them dry. I stood there, in the corpse infested room, covered by blood, surrounded by dead people. I had never had such a good meal before.

“I’ve never been this thirsty before. Let’s get out of here.” I said, and had the four guardians followed me. When we got outside the room, I turned around to talk to my new minions.

“You four are my minions now right? Tell me your names.” I said. The first to respond was the talkative High Demon.

“Lord, my name is Carlahahn, the High Demon.” The High Demon said, then bowed. Next the Valkyrie stepped forwards.

“As you know, I am Valkyrie Kára, your loyal warrior.” She said, then bowed as well. Next the Dread Knight stepped up.

“I bear no name.” The Dread Knight said, then kneeled. Then it was the Dread Lord’s turn.

“I am the Dread Lord Itrux, and we four are the remaining Guardians of Palazar.” Itrux said, then bowed.

“Don’t call yourselves the Guardians of Palazar anymore. Palazar is dead, now you’re under me. As for me, I am Isaac Coldblood, the first of the vampires, the chosen of the God of Death and Darkness, Gebados.” I said,

causing much admiration in the eyes of my underlings.

“You were chosen by the God of Death? Amazing!” The High Demon Carlahahn said. I ignored his antics and turned around and exited the hidden room of Palazar and entered that huge hall again. The marks of that battle all those years ago were still there. Now there was only the matter of getting back up. Luckily there was a teleportation system in the dungeon that could be used with Energy Manipulation. I would also be able to make my own small scale teleportation arrays now, even here in Kalderon, since energy manipulation could allow me to gather the natural energies in one place, but it required a lot of time and patience. It wasn’t something that could be done at the flick of a finger. Just one array would take a few months to make, but when I mastered it a bit more, it would get quicker. Of course if I was to make one anywhere else, other than in a region of abysmally low natural energy density, then it would be a lot quicker.

I went over to the small array, and had everyone stand on it, then I activated it using my Magical Manipulation Magic. There was a bright light, and then we suddenly appeared at the entrance of the dungeon. It had been almost fourteen years since I was last here. I didn’t postpone my leaving, and immediately rushed out of the cave. I wanted to get home quickly, after all this vacation of mine had been much longer than planned. Thus the five of us rushed back in the direction of Sanguine Regis and Bloodmoon Village.

Fourteen years. After fourteen years, I finally stood before the grand entrance of Sanguine Regis. I stood before the entrance guards, but they just stared at me in shock, unbelievable shock.

“The Lord has returned!” They shouted and immediately knelt in front of me. I ignored their prayers and continued walking into the castle, where an upheaval had already started, from the shout of the guards. People were running out through the doors, to see what it all was about. Some people dropped everything in their hands, while others looked on in confusion, not having any idea about who I was. The ones who recognised me all got down on their knees, confusing the others even more.

“You infidels! Get down on your knees, don’t you realize? The Great Lord of the Coldblood as he stands before you!” One of the guards yelled at the ignorant ones. They immediately exclaimed in shock, they then kowtowed in my honour. They were the ones that had only arrived at the castle in the past fourteen years, so they didn’t recognise me. Only a moment after the servants and guards announced my return the room was stormed by all the pure blooded vampires. Since they had super hearing, they all heard it, and rushed over here. They all stood still, watching me and my guardians, tears appearing in some of their eyes, especially my wives’.

“Isaac!” They exclaimed. “Where have you been? You disappeared for fourteen years! We didn’t even know whether you were alive or dead. We couldn’t even feel our blood connection.” Amelia, the second vampire, said, as tears swelled in her eyes, then she ran up to me and hugged me. Serana and Alicia also rushed up to me and hugged me with all their might.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t in too much danger. There was only one occasion where I could have lost my life. As for where I’ve been and why you couldn’t feel me, do you remember the Tomb of Palazar, where we found Lilia and Aylard?” I asked the group, reassuring them that I was fine.

“The Tomb of Palazar? You were there?” Aylard exclaimed in surprise. He definitely remembered that place, as it was where his new life had spawned, and where those he used treasured like brothers and sisters had betrayed them and left them for dead.

“Indeed I was. I decided to explore the place, so I ventured all the way down to the bottom, and it was one hell of a journey. The last few floors were all filled with A rank monsters, and the last boss was a failed lich that was a High Arcanist. I almost died fighting it. I suffered thousands of wounds. If it weren’t for the fact that my vampiric healing factor is so great, and that I found an enchanted fire sword, then I wouldn’t have won. You see the lich was an Ice Lich, so my fire sword worked very well against it, even though fire is also my weak element. Good thing we have resistance against ice, so that helped. But anyways, the Tomb of Palazar served as a test to find an inheritor for the long dead SSS ranked Palazar. The test was to first receive the approval of these four fellows behind me, then defeat the failed lich of Palazar. After that I got access to his treasures, but there was still one more test. That was to master the basics of Magic Manipulation Magic. I wouldn’t be able to leave the Palazar’s old study room until I learned it, so I spent thirteen years learning. I also spent almost an entire year to get to the bottom of the dungeon. The floors were all very big and complicated, and they were riddled with monsters, so every floor took a while.” I said, explaining the events of my fourteen year journey to the others. Everyone stood in silence, listening to me.

“So that’s how it is. Both fortunate, yet also unfortunate.” Bogat said.

“Indeed. Now, tell me what has happened here these last years. How goes the plan against the Royal Clan?” I asked.

“Let’s go to the meeting room first.” Bogat said, then led all of us there. Moments later we arrived at the meeting room. I sat down on the head seat, Bogat sat next to me.

“It’s been fourteen years since you left. Quite a few things have happened since then. It seems that there were quite a few nobles that were against the throne for various reasons. After all, the king was never a just man, so he has done many injustices against the noble families. Currently about two fifths of the nobles are on our side, so we possess a good force, but I doubt that anyone else will decide to join us, except if they are the kind of person who joins the winning side. There might be a few of them. Luckily for us, we have some of the officers of the Royal Knights on our side. As for Erwin, he has convinced a few of the Cadets as well, further bolstering our forces. On another note, Erwin has reached the peak stage of rank B, and will probably have a breakthrough in a few years. He might manage it before he turns sixty. He’s fifty five now, by the way. He really is a talented young man.

Our Coldblood clan also possesses the vast majority of the economy now. We have taken almost all enterprises of the Royal Clan now, and there is even an alliance between us now. After all the negotiations and deceiving we’ve done, he truly trusts us. We even ‘helped’ him reduce the number of assassinations and bandit attacks that were happening, so we truly entered his trust circle. This will be a major help when we strike. And Savanna, the mother of Erwin, has also managed to get a few A ranked mercenaries on our side, but they aren’t many, since after all, they are too rare. Overall, we are in the final stages of preparations. We could even strike now if we wanted to, but it’s better to wait a bit longer, until Erwin reaches A rank maybe.” Bogat reported.

“Good thing that you didn’t stop everything when I disappeared, and it makes me happy to know that we can strike soon. And with my return our strength has been bolstered by a bit as well. I reached the rank of a Low Arcanist when I was learning the Magic Manipulation Magic, and the four people who followed me here are the four guardians of the Tomb of Palazar. There are two middle stage A rankers and two late stage A rankers, so they are quite strong.” I said. Our overall strength had increased a bit with these guys. When I finished talking, Kato stepped up to talk.

“That’s good, but our strength here has also improved a bit. Let me give you a report of our improvement. Your disciple Arno has already reached the late stage of rank B, while your parents, Amelia, Serana, Bogat, Lilia, Aylard, and Eric have all reached the late stage of rank B. I have also become a Low Arcanist a few years ago, so we have a few equivalents of the middle stage A rank. With my mana control, I might also be able to fight someone at the peak stage of rank A, and would probably be able to hold off a High Arcanist for a while. We also have about a hundred B ranked humans in the castle now.” Kato reported.

“That’s good. With this strength, coupled together with all our allies and the mercenaries, as well as Rommel’s old battalion, we could win. The time is drawing near. In a few years, when both Erwin and I have reached rank A, we will strike. At that time, I should be the strongest person in Kalderon, and we’ll also have Valen, who is equivalent to an S ranker, like I’ll be.”

After our meeting was over, a village wide festival was organized, to celebrate my return. The festival lasted a whole week. In this week, the villagers were allowed to come inside the castle, and many other festivities were organized. It was the first festival ever of the Bloodmoon village and Sanguine Regis. The festival was dubbed as the Bloodmoon Festival, and would be held every year, much to the joy of the villagers. These festivities would also allow the floor guardians to get acquainted with the others, but they still felt slightly out of place, after all they were the only non-vampires in the inner circle of our Coldblood Clan. But at least Carlahahn didn’t feel too bad, after all High Demons and Vampires were pretty familiar creatures. High Demons also valued everything of beauty, and they were also highly deceptive creatures, but they were still slightly inferior to the pure blooded vampires. Most High Demons were on par with a normal vampire, being able to defeat someone one stage higher than they, but they weren’t like that from birth.

Demons consume souls, and as they consume enough souls, they’ll evolve as a demon. After a young High Demon absorbed enough souls, they would become an adult High Demon, then they could beat someone one stage higher than themselves. Then, when they absorbed enough souls again, they would evolve to become the next stage of a Demon, the Demon Lord. A demon Lord would be somewhere between a normal vampire and a pureblood vampire, transcending two stages.

Thus another five years passed, as we prepared slowly for the upcoming fight. We were all training quietly, while I was also training my dear disciple Arno, who had missed me dearly. He had improved quite a bit since I saw him last, being a late B ranker, and a Middle Warlock. In the five years that passed, I also improved, naturally. I had finally transcended the B rank, and become an early A ranker. There was a very clear difference in strength now. I was the equivalent of an S ranker now, perhaps the first of the Kingdom of Kalderon, maybe even the first of our continent. After all it was impossible to become an S ranker in this continent, and even more so in Kalderon and Tabarut. There really was a huge difference in strength. If I had fought the failed Lich Palazar now, I would have won easily. If there were ten of them, then I might lose, but if there was only one, then I would win in an instant. I felt like I could take on the world. Of course I knew that that would be impossible. I would only be able to handle a small kingdom like Kalderon. But I could also feel that the next stage was ages away. It would take longer than ever to improve now. But I could still be considered a genius amongst geniuses, since I reached the A rank before the age of sixty. Even in the bigger continents, this would be rare. After all the natural energies would only affect how quickly you would train to a certain extent. After that it only controlled how far you could go.

Erwin had also reached the A rank recently, at the age of sixty, but he wouldn’t able to ever reach the S rank, even though he reached A rank so quickly. The world was truly an unfair place.

In these five years I had also ordered the others to go test themselves in my new dungeon. I set it as a requirement that all pure blooded vampires were to make it a few floors into the A ranked floors. The normal vampires were to get to the B ranked floors. I also had my elite guards and elite assassins go there. They were also required to get to the B ranked floors. This would serve as perfect battle training so they can build up combat experience, allowing them to fight against both warriors, as well as mages.

Thus, the time for us to act, had finally come. We had all our forces gather outside the castle, only leaving a few to regulate the village. Then, after a few days of preparation we set off. Amongst us there were all the pure blooded vampires, every one of which could match an A ranker, and all the normal vampire, which could all match a B ranker, and over a hundred B ranking humans, and around a thousand soldiers under the B rank. There were also all of the elite assassins, and many non-elite assassins. We had about a hundred B ranker assassins as well. Thus we set out to the Royal Capital with our small army. Meanwhile, Valen Shadowblade was traveling to the same place with his own band of elite assassins, which had a few A rankers as well, and Rommel was preparing his own old battalion, and the allied Cadets were training harder than ever, setting the graduated Erwin as an example. The Royal Knights on our side were also preparing, and the mercenaries were gathering, under the command of the A ranked mercenaries.

Thus, one year later, calamity would fall upon the Royal Family, but they were of course completely ignorant of this, and were comfortably relaxing in the comfort of their Royal Palace.

End of chapter 20