This morning finally got the new mage recruits of the guard out on the range. I could feel the difference and I could see it. All spells were the same, as long as you had the same chant the effect of the spell was the same. The only difference could be made after that by skills. Without skills the spell result would be the same for a level three or a royal guard.

The other difference mostly came in everything else but the outcome. These new recruits wasted mana. They were trying to over pump the spell and released half their mana with no effect. They had bad aim hitting only one in every five spells on their intended target. Lastly they took a good long while to say their chants, failing the wording one in three tries.

Seeing all this made me feel a lot better about deciding to not go the casting route for my mana usage. The other novelty among them was the first runic caster I have seen. He had two different gauntlets, one for fireballs and another for a water jet. His efficiency left a lot to be desired, but this was a known dowside of the runic users. His aim was much better than his chanting counterparts hitting one in every three spells.

His speed was something else. Even compared to the experienced casters I had seen all previous week none of them could pump out spells as quickly as he did. This also resulted in him trying to show off and landed face first on the floor from mana burnout two hours in.

While the first hour was new and fresh this got boring fast. By the time my cleaning shift was up I had gone over all of my own spells in my head many times. I was so out of it I didn’t even realise I brought a new target despite none needing replacement as they had left the range when we got to the end.

My afternoon was also vastly different from the previous. Where they had mostly shown us forms and had us repeat them before sparring with each other today was different. Today they were teaching us how to react to knives. This was not only the most used combat side of being a guard in the city, it was also their leading cause of injury and death.

We got a front row seat to watch multiple fights going on between the instructors before they split us up into groups. The groups each had an instructor going against us one at a time to put us through our paces. It was also the first time we were going to be using sharp weapons in training, the idea was that doing it this way will make it stick with us better.

As my turn started I was in uncharted territory. Ever since starting my training here I was used to being slower and weaker than my opponent. The instructor kept both his speed and strength in check, he was actually moving slower than I was. It was the first time for me since I started training with my brother three years ago that I was outskilled. I could definitely see why they were instructors. Their skills were at a very high level.

I managed to make it through all three rounds with only one visit to the healer’s tent. That’s not to say that I managed to win any of the bouts, just that I managed to lose without suffering death by a thousand cuts.

“ Ok, it’s just about time to wrap up for the day, so we’ll hold a little tournament, once you’re eliminated you can head on out.” The main instructor called out, he then had us pull pieces of paper out of a bag to set up the brackets.

To say that the brackets were unbalanced was an understatement. Most of the strong fighters ended up on the opposite side of the bracket. This meant that I had a pretty good shot at going through the tournament.

Meaning I had a shot to go a bit further didn’t mean it was going to be easy. Knife skills were apparently pretty rare so my opponents were at a big disadvantage there. I quickly figured it out after almost losing the first round against one of the weaker people in the group that my way to victory was an ugly one.

I had to go to get healed after every round. My tactic was the same every time, be very aggressive, take calculated hits and set up a winning strike. This was working out well even if the after match didn’t show it. The instructors were very pleased with my showing, they were using me as an example of why you should never let your guard down.

I was in the quarter-finals. My opponent was a lot faster and stronger than I was. I tried going for my usual rush, but after getting two good cuts on my left arm and a shallow one on my collar bone he managed to create some distance before I could land my trap. Seeing as I had nothing to lose I launched myself at him once again.

Instead of trying to dodge his blade I purposefully let him impale me through the hand. The pain was a lot worse than I anticipated but I managed to hang on to his arm just long enough to bring my own knife to his throat. I barely kept it there for a second before it clattered across the stones at the same time my knees hit them.

“You’re a savage little thing aren’t you?” one of the instructors said as he carried me over to the healers tent with the knife still sticking out of my palm. “Where did you even pick up this fighting style?”

“I have a hunter teacher back in my village” I grunted out “ This was how the alpha wolf of a pack he took out tried to go for him, calculated sacrifice for a finishing blow on a stronger opponent.”

“Sorry to hear about your teacher,” he said.

“My teacher’s still alive. Just because the wolf failed doesn’t mean the plan was no good, only that the difference in power was too big.” I said.

After getting patched up I headed into the semi-finals. Those ended quickly. My opponent not only had probably three times my stats but also the [Knifes] skill. He took advantage of my aggressive tactic and brought the knife to my throat before I could get halfway to his.

Oddly enough the only match I lost was also the one that I needed no healing for.

“You look like you could use a drink, want to join me for one?” Cadmael said as I walked towards the exit of the courtyard, he had apparently lost in the other semi-final.

I looked down at my sliced up shirt that was still a little damp with blood. “Well you’re not wrong. Sure, I’ll come along.”

We headed in the direction of Tom’s house and stopped at the first tavern. It was a poorly lit and run down place. We both headed in and made it to the bar. “Two ales” Cadmael called out the barkeep.

The beers were placed in front of us. I looked around and saw we were the only ones in the place.

“To reaching the semi-finals” Cadmael toasted.

“Squeak” Shifter joined in from inside his shirt pocket. He had the form of a large mouse.

I picked up the pint, knocked it lightly into the one Cadmael was holding and downed half of it.

“Surprised to see you made it to the semis,” he said.

“The brackets were lucky for me.” I answered honestly.

“It’s still quite something for someone with your staths, I didn’t espect it.” he slurred his speech.

I also saw my vision start to go fuzzy. The barkeep approached again and this time I got a better look at him. He was tall and slim, very pale with bloodshot eyes. Eyes that were focused on my chest, or better said my shirt. Cad had slumped down on the table. The last thing I saw before I joined him was the vampire licking his lips.

I groggily came to. I seemed to be seated in a fancy chair. Looking up I could see the vampire tying up Cadmael to a rack. He was almost done but as he went to finish by tying his left arms Shifter jumped out of his pocket and turned into a bird mid jump. Despite the little critter's brave attempt a lazy swat flattened him into the wall.

The vampire went to go for another swipe, this time however I felt a lot of mana gather up. So much so that despite my drugged state I managed to go for the knife I had at my belt and launched to stab the vampire in the chest. I felt the blade break the clothes and get about an inch deep. The gathering mana dispersed as he swiped me across the room.

I felt three deep cuts across my chest and heard his scorn filled voice. “You just had to wake up”

He then pulled out the dagger and tossed it aside. “Pathetic.” Before he went and bit down into Cadmael's throat. The feeling of magic coming from him was different than anything I have ever felt. I didn’t even know what type of magic that was, only that it wouldn’t be long until he killed him.

I looked around for a weapon, the drugs in my system still making everything blurry when I spotted a stone on the table I landed on. The markings on it looked familiar. I thought back to where it was that I saw them and realized that it was back in the auction house. This stone was sealing the room, that’s why the elite squad couldn’t feel his activation of magic.

I went to grab the stone but a small globe of air surrounded it, protecting it. The air magic was not something I could break. The blood loss from my open wounds and earlier training was getting to me so I did the only thing I could think of. I tried to copy him and absorb the magic surrounding the stone the same way he was draining Cadmael dry.

A few seconds later the bubble disappeared and I crushed the stone in my hand with an audible crack. At that he looked at me with an amused look, at least until he saw the broken stone in my hand.

“NOOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” he yelled as he dashed across the room and grabbed me before I could respond. The last I saw before darkness took me was him ripping my arm out at the shoulder.

Quinn P.O.V.

“Can’t we just go through the city already. We’ve been here for a week already.” I complained to our leader Patrick and our scout Frank.

“It’ll cause too much of a panic, people aren’t guarded enough yet that he won’t slip past us if we do it now.” Patrick shut me down.

“For once I agree with Quinn” Surprisingly Frank backed me up. “ I’ve been awake for the last nine days just in case it slips up.”

“We know it hasn’t left the city. A vampire can’t go much longer without feeding and they can’t feed without using their mana. As soon as he does you’ll find him.”

“Well my shift is over. Who am I going to wake up to take -” I started asking before I was cut off.

“I got him,” Frank jumped to his feet.

Patrick and I were hot on his heels moving through the street like a storm. We followed Frank as he broke through the door of an old tavern and raced upstairs. I silently cursed them for their high physical stats that a healer like me couldn’t hope to keep up with.

As I entered the room they had already decapitated the vampire, a normal level 70 beast wouldn’t last five seconds against Frank much less Patrick, the vampire never stood a chance. Inside were the bodies of two young boys, they couldn’t have been older than 16 or 17 years old.

“This one’s still alive.” Frank called out from next to the one with the ripped off hand.

The boy was barely breathing but was alive. The other one had his throat ripped out and was already dead.

“Aren’t you going to heal him?” Frank asked.

“No point. He’s full of poison already from those marks on his neck.” I pointed out the two holes on the shoulder of his remaining arm. “Vampires gain poison after level 75, it’s a special mana infused one that bonds to the victim. Ripping it out of him will kill him.”

“Then just patch up his body he’s still got a chance.” he argued his case, he always was a little too emotional.

“Even if I patch him up, the poison will kill him. It’ll just be a waste” I responded.

“Fix him up as best you can Quinn, new arm and all.” For the first time Patrick spoke.

I got to work chanting and regrew his arm, closed up his wounds and fixed the blood loss. After I was done I turned to our leader. “Why? Why have me do this?”

“Look at his fist.” he said.

I examined the fist but saw nothing abnormal. "The one on the detached arm.” I looked closely and inside I saw bits and pieces of a smashed stone.

“The runes on that stone, they were concealment runes. It’s why we couldn’t find him until now despite the disappearances. The kid did our job for us, even if he’s to die we’ll at least give him a chance.” he said.

“That amount of poison will take twenty days to clear his system, maybe a bit less. With the endurance and vitality I felt when healing him he’ll survive for maybe ten. Not much of a chance.” I said as Frank brought in the guards.

The rest of this mess was not mine to clean up. I threw one last look at the boy ragged and torn up clothes, soaked in blood and not from the wounds I healed. That must have attracted the vampire, what an idiot. I put the boy out of my mind and headed off to sleep, tomorrow we would start heading back to the capital.