15 Arc 1; Transylvania and Vampires

Xed materialized from thin air in the middle of an empty road in the middle of a barren expanse.

He inhaled and said, " Transylvania! Hmm, I can feel it, this trip won't be boring."

It was already dark by the time Xed reached Transylvania. Xed walked along the empty road all the way to the nearby town.

Almost all shops along the way were closed except for a few. Still, the town was bustling with people.

Xed didn't find anything unusual about the people compared to the other humans he saw before.

Even though he could use his powers to find out the vampires, he won't! Because it will destroy the sole purpose of his visit, entertainment.

So to gather more information, Xed walked into the nearby nightclub he spotted earlier.

Even though the bouncers on each side of the entrance saw him, they didn't bother to stop him.

It was because Xed was currently in the form of an adult man rather than a teen. The male appeared to be a slightly mature version of the teen form; handsome, muscular, and red-eyed.

The night club was crammed with people, dancing and drinking, flirting and kissing, enjoying themselves as their life depended on it. His eyes scanned over the people and he smiled to himself.

Xed walked over to the bartender and sat on the chair.

" Bartender, What's the recommendation for today?."

"Today's recommended drink is Blood royal cocktail." He replied while mixing a drink for another customer.

" Blood royal cocktail? As in actual blood?"

" No, since Transylvania is famous for vampires, this drink was just themed based on that. It is simply blood-red in color and is extremely popular with the customers."

" So, do you have actual vampires here?", Xed asked.

The bartender stayed quiet for some time and finally asked, " Is this your first time in Transylvania?"

"Yes."

The bartender sighed and replied, " We have always had many tourists asking the same question. Yes, we had vampires in Transylvania in the past. But after the human mages grew more and more powerful, vampires became quiet and withdrew themselves to somewhere."

"So they became covert due to powerful human mages?"

"Yeah, but no one knows where and how. I only know that now vampires have an unknown country to themselves somewhere in Transylvania."

"A country within a country?"

" Hm. There are even some rumors flying around that the government is a puppet body created by the vampires to mask their existence. Who knows! No one cares about such things as long as they are happy."

"And what about the myth on Count Dracula? What do the locals know about him?"

" Well, that story is relatively true. What I am going to say is only the local hearsake. No one has any proof for these sorts of things.

They say Count Dracula was the king of Transylvania one time. He was an expert in Magic and even the famed blood magic of vampires was invented by him. He sold his soul to the devil for power and immortality to save this country in the war against foreigners. But the devil cursed him to be a vampire in return."

"What happened to the war then?"

"He won the war but he lost his wife. His wife had already committed suicide by the time he returned. She had heard that he was killed and wanted to join him for eternity. Poor soul!"

"So Is he still alive?"

"No idea about that! I heard he grew mad or something. Anyway, I wanted to remind you even though vampires withdrew themselves, just be careful; even if you are a mage.", the bartender warned Xed.

" So you noticed?"

"Of course, your student Id was dangling inside your coat while you walked over."

" You have a very keen eyesight for a normal human, Mr. Bartender. Are you sure you are not a vampire?", Xed asked with a smile.

The bartender smiled in return and passed over the cocktail he just made.

"My name's Jake. And here's your cocktail."

"I am Xed, I will be here for a few days.", Xed accepted the cocktail.

The cocktail was blood red in color with violet shades flowing down in between, just like a drop of ink dropped into water.

As Jake said, the cocktail was very normal, just made from simple whiskey and other stuff. It had a smooth texture but it appeared very viscous similar to blood.

As Xed sipped the drink and savored the taste slowly, he noticed a beautiful lady came over and sat next to him.

" I will have the same as the handsome man here."

She called out to the bartender as she pointed her index towards Xed.

She then turned to face Xed and asked,

" Care to join me for a drink handsome? I am Lena."