Chapter 78: Changes
"So you've lived as a slave your entire life, when you could have escaped?" Aldritch was a bit confused, though he could piece together why.
Unlike normal and most slaves, Rykia wasn't treated badly by her masters, at least most of them. For her, it was better to be a slave where she would receive proper care because she was exotic than run away and live a hard life. After all, people who buy such exotic slaves are not poor or middle class by any means.
With such a mentality, it'll be just as difficult to follow through a murder when such an opportunity came, like with the master who raped her. Instead of running, she just found a way to soften it and endure… or maybe he just couldn't even put her in enough pain since he was that small that a virgin couldn't feel him inside her properly… a tragic tale to be honest.
Listening to her answer, Aldritch was spot on, she really was just the way he imagined. Now came the important question of her supposed natural ability which Aldritch thought was very familiar, in fact, any vampire would think that.
Her red skin and red irises confirmed that she indeed was of a different race, so maybe they too could control blood. Aldritch thought.
According to her, she was pretty good at it, so Aldritch gave her a test. It was such a simple task to control some blood, they didn't need to go to any secluded place to do it, so he just drew some blood from his blood bank into a glass cup he requested for.
Rykia watched this very action with bewildered eyes as it looked like Aldritch had pulled blood from the thin air almost.
When using the blood bank to draw blood, it would manifest as a small orb that would fit into a grown man's hand, then the blood would drip from its smooth surface. The thing was that Aldritch was facing the other way with his back turned to Rykia, so she didn't see the blood bank and only saw that the glass cup which was brought empty was magically filled with blood from seemingly nowhere.
With the blood inside the glass cup, Aldritch asked Rykia to try manipulating it.
Just as she had said, she fulfilled the task without any hitch whatsoever, in fact, it looked very natural as though she was just controlling another limb.
Seeing her do this, Aldritch was very impressed. In fact, apart from himself, he hadn't seen any other person who could do this so effortlessly.
"Very impressive. It looks so natural." Aldritch said, as she controlled the blood back into the glass cup.
Aldritch held the glass in his left hand, swirling the blood lightly while taking a sip from time to time.
Even that very action fascinated Rykia, it was like a fairytale to see him drink blood like it was wine or even normal water.
"Why are you staring so much? Are vampires that rare in your world?"
"A-actually, I've heard that they are hard to come by. It's not because they are few in number or anything, it's just that they like to live a secluded lifestyle from the rest of the world, and are only seen during major events and special occasions." She explained.
Her words struck Aldritch a different way. If they lived such a secluded life style, that could only mean that they didn't rely on human blood for sustenance… 'it is to be expected, after all, they've probably lived for far longer than I could imagine.' He thought to himself.
For the time being, Aldritch hadn't come to a final decision of whether or not to turn Rykia into a vampire. She seemed too soft to be of any use in the fighting aspect, so there wasn't any need really.
'Her race probably doesn't age as fast as humans.' Aldritch thought to himself. Even though she looked similar to a sixteen year old human girl, her actual age was twice that with a little extra on top. Even at that age, her demeanor did seem rather… childish? She was quite timid, so it made her appear childish since those features were prominent because of her physique.
Just then, Aldritch caught sight of Khal who was passing through. He was done with Rykia for the time being, so he let her go after bidding her a good night before calling out to Khal. It was already past midnight, so for a normal person, they would naturally want to sleep. Rykia wasn't exactly a normal person, being of a different race and all, but at least her body functioned like one.
Aldritch's discussion with Khal was very straight forward as he didn't ever beat about the bush with his answers, making them as short and concise as possible.
"So all you care about is the sword?" Aldritch asked.
"Yes."
"What would you do then if there's no sword at your disposal, surely you won't turn your back to your enemy, or do you perhaps plan on surrendering in such a situation?"
"I can also kick well. I never surrender." He answered.
"I see…" Aldritch said with a blank expression, much like the stern face Khal had on ever since. Both of them looked like walking statues from their expressions.
"Are you certain you can't break through to the 2nd rank while you remain in this world?" Aldritch asked. Khal mentioned that though he was rank 3 at the moment, he was very close to rank 2, but because of the condition of their current world with its almost none existent energy, it would be difficult.
Most people that crossed over experience something akin to losing their powers and strength because the "spirit energy", as they call it, was too thin and almost uncontrollable for those who weren't used to controlling it at small amounts. Even for those who could, it still took some time for their bodies to get used to it.
By then, they would have already been captured by the soldiers stationed at these gate spots.
"I can only hone my skills until I return." He said.
"I see. Once we find a way, that would naturally be the next move." Aldritch said as they reached an open window at the third floor of the mansion.
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Aldritch looked outside to see the dark city under his eyes. He looked forward to the future and what was to come. In the meantime, he could only prepare and increase his strength until the right time.
When morning came, Lada had already enslaved Argus and left him to Lyla who escorted him back. With one noble now under her control, and Argus no less, her initial plan had advanced one more step. Gaining a hold of useful nobles to enslave was always a difficult process, unexpectedly, Aldritch delivered one right into her hands.
Everything was about to begin advancement rather quickly.