355 Shyvana, the Vampire
Arthur did not know the identity of that vampire lady, but she had to be someone special to walk around with two bodyguards. She was impressed by his strength to block her bodyguard’s punch as if it was nothing.
“What brings this handsome young man to talk with someone like me?” she said, crossing her arms and staring at Arthur intensely.
There was no way a move like that would scare him, so Arthur said, “I can sense you are a vampire, and I have some things to discuss with you. Can it be in private?”
“Oh?”
The lady seemed to be thinking about a lot of things, and in the end, she dismissed her two bodyguards and asked the restaurant owner not to allow anyone else inside the third floor, allowing her and Arthur to be alone.
“I am Shyvana, and you?” Shyvana said, extending her hand to Arthur.
He instantly knew what it was, so he picked her hand and lightly kissed the top, saying, “I am Arthur, Nice to meet you.”
Shyvana liked how Arthur managed things and was pleased with his manners and asked, “so, what do you want help with?”
What she had in mind was that Arthur would ask her to turn him into a vampire, as that happened quite commonly, but that was not the case then.
“I don’t know how to start, and I also cannot give you that much information about me. So let’s say I have the Blood Essence, and whenever I absorb it from my foes, I turn into a madman, losing my mind and killing everything in sight. Can you help me with that? I heard vampires control blood too.”
Shyvana could not believe what she had just heard, and she said while getting up from the table, “What? Are you serious?”
On the other hand, Arthur could not understand what the fuzz was about. Losing control after absorbing blood was that big of a deal?
“You must not know, but only vampires with a high affinity for the Blood Essence lose their minds after using it. If I am not mistaken, the last one with similar effects is from ages ago!”
“But I am no vampire, so why is this happening?” Arthur asked.
“Look, we are not that different from humans, as we were once. The only difference between normal humans and us is the blood essence. Most humans become vampires to learn how to use the blood essence. It is safe to say you are like us,” Shyvana said.
Arthur was starting to understand things and felt dumb for not realizing it at first. He had a wife, Sybille, who was also a vampire, and she was just like any other human, with the only difference being her drinking blood and possibly using the blood essence, yet she was still re-learning it.
“So you are saying that if I go to your family, everyone there will treat me like a vampire?”
“Yeah, pretty much. Are you willing to stay in my family’s territory for a while? My father is a count, so we are not that strong of a family, but we have ways of helping you.”
“You do? Aren’t you lying just for me to go to your territory?”
“No, of course not. We can help you, I promise you! Look, my father, the count, is a rank three mage, so you can trust he will not betray you. He is a man of word.”
When Arthur heard the strongest vampire inside their family was just a rank three one, similar to him or even weaker, he was not scared to go there anymore. For him, the only problem was the rank four mages, and those he should not pick a fight, at least not at that moment.
“Is there a problem for me to bring my wives there? One is a vampire, but the other two do not have the blood essence.”
Shyvana gave him a strange look after knowing he was married, and then she said, “no problem, but it would be best if you transfer some of your blood essences to your wives too. We know a ritual to do it if you want to.”
“Will they go rogue like me?”
“No, don’t worry. The blood essence your wives will get from the ritual is weaker than yours but still on par with what most vampires have.”
The whole idea of going into Shyvana’s territory was good. Arthur will not only know her family and possibly get more allies, but he will also cure his blood problem and give Jane and Wisa the blood essence.
“I see. If you say your family will treat my wives and me well, I wish to go. But if something happens, I will leave immediately.”
Shyvana had a friendly face and said honestly, “you have my word; nothing will happen.”
Arthur liked how she spoke, but then he asked, “your family is not close to here, right? Why are you in this small town in the first place?”
pan-d a-n0vel.com She placed her head on the table, covering it with her hands. Then, with evident despair, she said, “I came here to ally with the dwarves who live in a mountain range not that far from this town, yet it failed… my father will not like this.”
“Why do you need an alliance with the dwarves, if I might ask?”
Arthur did not know if he was asking too much but did it anyways. There was no way Shyvana would attack him, right?
“My family and all our subordinates live in a cold area northwest of here. The subordinates stay on the continent, living in cities, but our family’s castle is on a small island one kilometer from the shore. We have found an abundant natural mine of Azularite, and we needed the dwarves’ help to collect them. But honestly? There is a lot of water around it, and the lizardmen would be even better. You know, those man-like lizards? They are good miners and are better underwater. But it is hard to even speak with them…”
Arthur listened to everything Shyvana said with care, and when she spoke about the lizardmen, Arthur could not believe he would pay a visit to his friends that quickly.
“I can get you the help of the lizardmen, don’t worry,” Arthur proudly said.
“Really? How?”
He looked at her and softly said, “it is a secret. Now, when will we be leaving?”
“As soon as possible, but we first need to get the lizardmen to come with us. Can you fetch their help? My two bodyguards and I will remain in this town waiting for you.”
“No problem. I will take my leave then,” Arthur said.
~~~~
The first thing he did after leaving the restaurant was to find his wives and share everything with them.
“So we are going to stay in her territory for a while? Based on how you described her, she seems like a good person. Also, their strongest vampire is a rank three mage, so we are safe.”
“Indeed. You three can stay in this city while I leave to contact the lizardmen. Gather more information about everything you see as important,” Arthur said.
There was no reason for his wives to follow him, as he would have to return there anyway. Also, it was faster when he traveled alone because of his teleport. Jane, Wisa, and Sybille agreed to it, and they wanted to stay there and talk with Shyvana to see for themselves if she was genuinely decent.
They kissed each other before parting ways for a few days at most, and Arthur was ready to leave the town when Nykka, Tarinne, and Yeva stopped him.
“Are you running away? I am just kidding. We came here to say goodbyes for now.”
“Where are you three going?”
“We need to return to the capital to speak with the guild’s headmaster about what we saw, as they are preparing to form a team to hunt down the creature who did that.”
“Hehehe, right. I wish you three a safe journey, and I know we will meet again. Bye-bye!”
Arthur waved goodbyes at them and then left the town. When he was away from them, he sighed in relief and said, “no way the headmaster of the adventurers guild is creating teams to hunt me! Why is my luck so bad?”
The adventurers guild was gigantic in the demon continent. If that, the girls said, happened, then lots of strong adventurers would be coming after Arthur in the future, and he did not dismiss the possibility of a rank four mage coming too!
“I need to cure my insanity and also get stronger!”
With that thought, Arthur used his teleport spell, disappearing and appearing far away from where he originally was. Arthur was back at the lizardmen village in less than a day, and they were all surprised to see him there!
Hattami was the first to greet him, “Arthur! What brings you back so early?”
“I have something to discuss with you. Can we talk?”
~~~~
“So they want to hire us to get ores? Hum, let me think.”
“Aren’t you scared of vampires?”
“Why would I? They are civilized and don’t attack without reason, unlike those Lycans. Also, they don’t like lizard blood anyway.”
Hattami wondered if he should bring his village or get other lizardmen who wished to join Arthur in that mission. So he called the entire village to speak about the proposal, and almost all of them agreed to go with Arthur!
They were sure the vampires would pay good money for their mining work, and maybe that was a way for them to live better and not just survive.
“We will go with you, Arthur, everyone. Pack your things!”
With that, Arthur and the lizardmen prepared to leave. Arthur did not know, but someone from the adventurer’s guild was not that far from him, following him closely.