“Ramon Thunderblade? Is that you? What’s your sorry ass doing all the way out here in a random B-ranked dungeon?” the blonde woman asked cheerfully as we approached.
Ramon, to everyone’s surprise, drew his sword. Ah shit, things were about to go down already. I needed to make a choice right then and there. Deescalate this or join in as a show of force.
“Put your weapon away, idiot,” I said. “There will be no fighting. And you know why.”
I didn’t point out the fact that we had apprentices that would be totally defenseless against them. Honestly, if the system didn’t make me bring them, I wouldn’t have.
Ramon ignored me, his voice ice. “What are you doing here?”
The blonde’s younger brother finally stopped practicing to look lazily in Ramon’s direction. He smiled, but it contained no warmth.
“You may want to listen to your friend there,” the young man said. “You have gotten stronger, but we’re still half-vampires. If you want to spar, I’ll grind you into the dirt like always.”
“So… you know these two?” I asked.
The woman’s smile brightened, showing how little fucks about Ramon’s threatening posture she gave. That made her dangerous, but also meant a potential business endeavor depending on who they were.
“Ramon, the hero’s party is a lot bigger than I remember,” Nimni continued. “Why don’t you introduce us?” She turned to us. “We’re Ramon’s amazing, loving, best friends. I’m Nimni and this is my brother, Paul.”
“Do not dare call me friend, dragon waste,” Ramon snapped, his voice coated in enough venom to poison a whale. Then, to my surprise, he took a deep breath and put away his sword. His lightning aura vanished too. “You know what? I should be better than this. It would be an insult to them if I let you, of all people, undo everything I’ve learned. Every word of wisdom from he who took us in, should not be spat on and wasted.”
Iris smiled. “So… I assume these two are a part of… them?”
Nimni’s smile didn’t fade, not even a little, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Paul looked relaxed, unthreatened. Maybe because Ramon was the only one who drew his sword, or overconfidence. Well, whatever happened in their past wasn’t my fucking business. We didn’t need any further interruptions on our journey.
“I hate to sound rude, but we’re in a hurry,” I said. “We’ve got a long journey.”
“If you’re talking about the dungeon’s guardian, I’m afraid you’re still stuck waiting another half day,” Nimni said. “Three adventurers took it down yesterday.”
“No, we’re here to collect some ingredients,” I said. “Nothing too exciting.”
“And you are sure what you’re looking for is on this floor?” Nimni pressed.
“Yep,” I replied. “Who are these two again, Ramon? Get me out of the dark.”
“They’re…”
“Careful,” Nimni said. “That could be classified information. It’d make you responsible, should you speak.”
“Ramon’s the only one a part of that oath, but he didn’t break it since you guys made us the hero’s party,” Iris said. “Not that he told us specific details. I guessed everything.”
“Alright, if everyone’s going to talk around me, I’m out,” I said, annoyed. This was the kind of shit they did in anime or other dumbass fantasy shows where they expected everybody to know what the hell was going on. I didn’t appreciate that happening in real life. “You guys can stay behind and talk with your old buddies. The rest of us will move on.”
I started forward.
“He’s a short-tempered prick, isn’t he?” Paul asked.
Now, my voice had annoyance in it due to people talking around me, but nothing to suggest such a thing. Which was why I immediately knew this guy was attempting to instigate something. If he knew Ramon, he could be tied to the kingdom’s officials. I wouldn’t put it past them to set me up on some bullshit charges.
“If that’s how you take that, kid, then you’ve got a lot of growing up to do,” I said then continued walking.
The woman burst into laughter. “I say that a lot.”
A sense of danger gave me just enough warning to tilt my head, dodging a sword that would’ve stabbed into the back of my neck if I were anyone else. Or so I thought. Paul hadn’t moved from his spot, only projected his intentions. At least, that was what I believed.
“Not bad,” Paul said. “You’re either masking some serious mana or are quite a skilled martial artist. Most people would start apologizing after that display. What? Don’t give me that look. And to answer your earlier question, we’re former Inquisition members.” He addressed everyone, waving off their tensions. “Former. See, we’re not wearing the holy symbols.”
“The Inquisition hired vampires?” Ronica asked, her pink lightning aura rising. “Try again.”
“Half-vampires,” Nimni corrected cheerfully. “We didn’t ask to be born this way.”
Ronica deactivated her aura and it kind of worried me when I saw the understanding in her eyes. I realized, at that moment, the twerp may not be fully human. Her scan didn’t confirm nor deny such a thing, likely due to a treasure on her person, but the gut feeling inside and the woman’s action revealed just a peek of a hard life. Was her cheery attitude a mask, or something she used to keep away negative thoughts that could bring her to the brink of… breaking down?
She’d certainly not appreciate being pitied, so I wasn’t going to.
“Let me give you a friendly warning, and maybe a small tip on making friends,” I said to the brat. “If you’ve got a problem with someone, don’t reply in kind with a projection of murdering them. Two wrongs won’t make a right. Or in your case, one wrong, because I’m walking away.”
Paul really didn’t enjoy being lectured, his eyes burning with some anger. After all, who was I but a nobody, daring to talk back to a noble? I really didn’t have time for this bullshit.
I opened the brochure in my head.
[You are approaching the Lilyfire plants. Continue forward for ten minutes.]
“Hey guys, we’re ten minutes from the—”
“I don’t like the tone of this commoner,” Paul said, degrading my opinion of him even further. “Is that a lack of respect for his betters, or have I been in this dungeon for too long?”
“Great, nobles,” Chenzu grumbled. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to deal with them until we got to the city.”
Mandi raised an eyebrow, gaining a big smile from the beastkin. “You know the type I mean.”
“Really now,” Harmony said, giggling.
Chenzu pulled out his lute. “Now, now, friends. There isn’t a need to poison the air with hostility. We are just passing through, as is our right. What house are you to give you the snubby feeling of superiority?”
“House—”
Nimni held up a hand, quieting her brother. “That’s not important. Like you, we’re also looking for something. We’re stuck in here until we find it. That’s all you need to know.”
“You sure? What if we find it?” I asked.
“Then we’d purchase it from you,” Nimni said. “That item is worthless to humans, but our father’s seeking it out. You’ll know it if you feel it. You may even feel revulsion. Don’t throw it away.”
“You’re giving out too much of our mission to strangers, commoners,” Paul said. “And with nothing in return. What are you doing?”
“A harmless hint is a harmless hint,” Nimni said. “And what are you worried about? If we couldn’t find it, what are the chances they will?”
Paul frowned. “I just want to go home… but you know why… I mean, I am snapping at a bunch of commoners.”
“Well, aren’t you the condescending dragon turd of the day?” Chenzu said before words could form from my mouth. “If your sister wasn’t so friendly, I’d ask my friend not to sell anything to you.”
“You could, but then you’d have to die,” Paul said, smile tight. Something seemed off about him, as if he could explode into the Hulk at any time. “So go ahead, flip that coin, beastkin. Your head will roll before you realize it.”
“You could try, vampire,” Chenzu said, his smile also tight. “I’ll have holy scriptures jammed into your soul before you could so much as beg Wanda to change you into a human.”
I started walking, deciding the pissing contest started by two random people wasn’t worth my time. The others followed. Wolverine gave Paul a warning growl before leaving.
“Nimni, I certainly hope you don’t share the same views as your immature brother,” I said.
“She does,” Ramon said. “They were among the people who helped arranged the hero’s party.”
Nimni raised her hands, giving Ramon a playful surrender. “We were not a part of that. The higher ups within the church were. But low-level people of the Inquisition, like us, were only there to watch. Not decide anything. And no, going against our brothers and sisters was not an option. That’s suicide. Believe what you want, but we felt sick about what happened. This is why we served our contract, which Father made for us, and then left. He’s not happy about us choosing not to stay in, so we’re stuck here as potential inheritors, instead of definite inheritors.”
“And you couldn’t say this earlier because…?” Nuwa asked, her voice flat.
“He knows,” Nimni said. “But refuses to believe us. Not that I could blame him. We were there. He asked us to help remove your names. We cowardly refused him. It was either die in something that wouldn’t work, or force the hero’s party burden on someone else.” She smiled. “But seeing that you’re all fine, things haven’t turned out too bad, right?”
The disciples glared at her. She sighed. “Wanda’s rumbling bottom, look, nothing I can say will make things sound better.”
“She has a point,” I said. “As much as I don’t want to sound like I’m defending her, if she was ju—”
“I wasn’t at the lowest levels,” Paul suddenly said. “I mean, I was, but they were about to give me a promotion. Then Nimni heavily insisted on the discharge, getting us both into this… mess.”
Ramon stared at him. “You were less of an ass back then.”
“I have ambitions, and they don’t involve allying myself with hopeless commoners,” Paul said. “I even tried to get into the hero’s party, become the leader, but they rejected that. I didn’t participate in the Midnight Dragon fight, therefore I am no symbol of hope. Just a blade of darkness meant to be a tool for the church and its Inquisition. So I decided to increase my rank there.”
Nimni did something that made me smile. She smacked Paul in the back of the head.
“Stop antagonizing these people, and they’ll do the same for us.”
I offered a hand to her. “I’m Nate. A potion maker and a shop owner. This here is my betrothed, Milia. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that we’re going to stumble into the thing that you’re looking for. In that case, come with us. I’m sure you’ve got heavy money to spend, and I think I have products you’ll be interested in. Though if your clan decides they’d like to form a business contract with us, you’ll have to talk to my betrothed.”
Nimni gaped at us. She looked at the dryad and then me.
“I can… sense that what we seek will be naturally attracted to your group,” she said. “Are you okay with us tagging along? We do have vampire blood.”
“Yeah, but let’s get this straight. We’re not a walking food supply,” I said. “You call us food, and this budding friendship is over.”
Nimni laughed. “That’s fair. We don’t call others food. We do, however, ask. Usually we’re pitied enough for them to allow us a couple of sips. That holds us over for a few months, allows us to survive on human food. Full vampires, like Mother, are a different story.”
“So about those adventurers,” Lucas said. “They called you a vampire princess.”
Nimni gave him a skeptical look, then sighed. “A half-vampire could never be true royalty, even if their mother has royal blood. Truth be told, we aren’t wanted by humans or vampires.” She shrugged. “Luckily, the Inquisition said as long as we have human in us, it didn’t matter. So we didn’t get tossed out onto the street… for a while.”
Paul frowned. “Well, they threatened to slice our heads off or sacrifice us to Wanda if we showed any signs of acting like a monster as they claimed. We were there for extra muscles and nothing else.”
“Now you know how a commoner feels,” Lucas said.
As if a switch was flipped, rage suddenly snapped into the blond young man’s eyes. His fist moved, warping the air with the sheer power they carried.
Just like he was taught, the half dwarf teenager redirected the momentum of Paul’s strike toward the air. Unfortunately, he couldn’t counterattack due to not being strong enough and honestly, if not for his dwarven blood, could’ve risked getting his arms shattered or broken. Luckily, I had no problems dealing with this moron. I snatched his fist and gave it a squeeze without any of my internal strength restrictions.
With a yelp, Paul pulled back his hand, glaring hatred at me.
[Enemy Analysis.]
[Paul Lungra. Race: Half-vampire. Hostile, Increasingly Unreasonable. Magician rank: 12th realm of the Lesser Dragon. Vampire rank: S. Spell book: E. Former F-ranked Inquisition member.]
“That was an act of murderous aggression against our clan,” I said. “I hope you’re ready to face the consequences.”
I allowed my aura to finally erupt, though I wasn’t actually angry. Just annoyed and frustrated with this fucker. He was clearly taking his resentment of losing his job out on the wrong people. However, no matter the fit, he could’ve killed Lucas.
My fist smashed into his face before the others realized it and the idiot went flying meters away, landing on his back.
“A fist from someone at the peak of Lesser Dragon with a vampire rank could easily take off the head of this seventeen-year-old,” I said.
Hundreds of vines burst from the ground, wrapping around Paul.
“Is understanding the viewpoint of a common man the trigger for a murder? You think it’s mockery somehow. Someone who still has his parents, wealth, and the ability to do whatever he wants, even as a half-vampire. Lucas, a half-dwarf, wasn’t so lucky.”
Nimni still stared at me, pale. I retracted my aura. The blonde half-vampire collapsed to a knee.
“I’d like to think we’ve been civilized this entire time,” I said. “But if it’s going to be like this, then we’re out. Good luck finding whatever it is on your own.”
“Wait—”
“I’ll kill you!” Paul yelled over Nimni’s voice, his aura exploding into existence.
While I did hear pleading in her tone, she made no move to stop her brother. Not for the attack on Lucas, or the attack on me.
My eyes hardened and for the first time in a while, I released my killing intent, only to pull back when I noticed how… feral the blond was acting. Ah shit. Feral and vampires was never a fun combination in movies.
“Paul, don’t!”
“So, your brother’s mentally ill?” I asked Nimni as Paul ripped through Milia’s vines.
“It’s the vampire blood in him,” Nimni confessed. She pulled up her shirt, revealing a scar. “He can’t control it. He’s young. I… I froze—he hasn’t lost control in so long.”
Nimni’s rank was the same as her brother’s. Then it clicked.
“Your father sent you in here on a wild goose chase just to get rid of you,” I said.
“Wild goose chase?” Mandi asked.
“Not now, brat,” I said, then addressed Nimni again. “He’s expecting you to do something about it.”
I looked at Ramon. “Did you know about—”
“No, he doesn’t,” Nimni said, her voice panicky. “It’s a family secret. Half-vampires are hated because of this sickness. Only a few lose control to this degree, but once he works himself into a rage, he either burns out his mana or drinks blood until passing out.”
“I take it there is no known cure for this?” I asked.
Nimni shook her head. “I once heard Mother say it’d have to be an impossible quality of potion. But—”
Talking seemed to be over. A burst of powerful magic rocketed in my direction, barely missing.
What kind of a fucked-up family did the siblings come from? Her father expected Nimni to kill Paul. Or worse, for both of them to die in the dungeon.
They could probably run off into hiding, but full vampires would likely have no problem tracking them. I looked at Nuwa.
“Let’s get this over with. We don’t have any more time to waste in here.”
