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"I'm acquainted with one... Well, he's a bit different because he's Dhampir."

"A Dhampir? What's a Dhampir? And you mentioned there are ranks among them. What are those?"

Those behind Loki were doing their best not to utter anything, but Kisuke could see their enduring faces and knew that they wouldn't be able to take the next things he was going to say.

"Before I answer that, I'd also like you to know that they do have some serious weaknesses in exchange for those abilities and they are more pronounced the weaker or lower they are in the hierarchy. First is their weakness to direct sunlight. While the stronger ones could resist and only have their strength lowered drastically, those weaker ones, if they're not careful, could instantly vaporize and cease existing."

"Furthermore, if for some reason, their regeneration fails, they won't be able to heal themselves through normal Healing Magic. In fact, most potions would have  the reverse effect on them."

"Additionally, as if to counteract their great Magic Talents, damage from the 'hot' side of Magic like Fire and Light Magic are  exponentially increased and their regeneration suppressed."

"Finally, as the organ that pumps blood, any attacks to the heart could be deemed fatal. So if one were to go against a Vampire, it's a general strategy to aim for the heart while using 'hot' Magic and avoid fighting them at night or places that sunlight cannot reach. If Magic couldn't be used, weapons coated with potions also work well."

"There's also the fact that no matter how long their lifespan is, as long as you take away blood from their diet, they'll die sooner or later."

"Of course, for an intelligent species, there are ways to circumvent these weaknesses but it's still easy to track their movements and plan against one compared to others due to these restrictions."

Loki then noticed that Filvis wanted to really ask something so she gestured for her to go ahead.

Filvis nodded and asked, "Although I feel uncomfortable under the sun unlike before, I don't feel my strength weakening at all. Besides that, I don't feel any cravings for blood if I need to survive."

"That's where the types of Vampire Bloodline comes in.", Kisuke then raised three of his fingers, "First are the Pure-Bloods, the aristocrats of the Vampires and the descendants of the progenitors of the Vampire race. Out of the three, they are generally the ones with the most power but they are also the ones most affected by their weaknesses. They are also known as major pricks and assholes of the world due to their attitudes to other races and enormous pride that would dwarf the Elves in comparison."

"What's up with the last one?"

"It's from what I heard. They said that if not for the threat of mass extinction, they wouldn't even sit down and listen to others."

"Sounds like a really troublesome race."

"It's the reason why I haven't made any contact with them yet despite being an interesting bunch."

"And? What's the other two?"

Kisuke cleared his throat before continuing, "The next ones are the Undeads or Ghouls. They are normal people but their blood was drained or poisoned by a Vampire. If one doesn't have enough resistance, they would rise up as walking mindless corpses that are under complete control of the said Vampire. These Ghouls would also develop fangs, but they wouldn't just drink blood but also eat the flesh. The leftovers then would be poisoned too and they would also rise up as new Ghouls, potentially creating an enormous army of normal people, but strengthened and under the control of only a single being."

Everyone, except for Loki, shuddered and cold sweat started running down their backs as they looked at Filvis and imagined the scene. The Elves, Alicia and Lefiya, especially couldn't stomach the hypothetical situation and covered their mouths, fearing that it'll make them puke.

The only Vampire in the room trembled and froze on her spot. She couldn't move or turn her sights to everyone behind her because she's afraid of the expression they are making. But most importantly, she's shaking in fear for what she could do, 'D-does that mean I have the power to do that?'

Recalling the times she wanted to try out her fangs on Lefiya, Filvis also covered her mouth in remorse.

Loki sighed and glared at Kisuke. She's now sure that he loves putting people in moral dilemmas but she's also slightly disappointed that her children couldn't easily see the bigger picture here, "Listen, Filvis. That ability of yours is a weapon and much like all other Adventurers, they carry a weapon of their own."

Filvis looked at Loki with uncertainty but it was Kisuke who continued her words, "Loki-sama is right. Your ability is a weapon, but like any other weapon, it is all about the user and the intent behind it. Cutting down innocent people using a normal sword, causing a genocide, is no more than evil than a Vampire creating walking corpses for the sake of gaining power."

"And did you think that I'd allow you to stay here if I knew you were that kind of person?", asked Loki, "But since this topic has already come up, can you at least promise me that you'll never abuse your power like that?"

Filvis gawked for a second before straightening her expression, "O-Of course! I promise that I won't ever commit such an evil act! Even if my life depends on it."

Loki nodded in satisfaction before turning to everyone else, "And you lot, I've already expected for you to see through something this obvious but I guess the gruesome picture has blinded you for a few moments."

Finn clenched his fist and replied, "...I'm sorry Loki. We indeed lost sight of what's important for a moment. I'm ashamed that I've forgotten such a basic thing."

Everyone else also has the same apologetic expression as him.

Finally, Loki turned her attention to the grinning troublemaker in question and protested, "And you! Do you really have to navigate a conversation like this? I doubt others could have left these Vampires alone if they haphazardly do something like that! Couldn't you have made it clear if actions such as that are also frowned upon among them?"

"As expected of Loki-sama~ You've guessed it. Even among the Vampires, creating Ghouls are frowned upon and violators are actively hunted down. In other words, even if they can do it, they still consider it as a criminal act with capital punishment. Or else, they won't be able to keep their self-governing status."

"So there are so many of them out there that they had to form some sort of governmental body, huh... Then what about these Dhampirs?"

"To simply explain it, they are the result of a union between a Vampire and any other race."

"That's to say, a non-pure-blood descendant?" It was then that Loki understood it, "I see... So more than a Vampire, Filvis is a Dhampir?"

"That's correct. Because although Dhampirs have all the typical abilities of a Vampire, they do not possess the same weaknesses that accompanied their powers. As such, they are considered as freaks of nature and are normally hated by the Pure-Blooded since they also go against their beliefs that everyone else is beneath them."

Kisuke then stood up and walked towards Filvis, "Since you're technically a mixture of an Elf and a Vampire that was created by the Dungeon, you're a Dhampir. That was only further confirmed when it was proven that you don't possess the weaknesses. On top of that, your Elven bloodline should still be present within you so your talent in Magic should have compounded... But why are you mainly using Ki?"

Filvis looked up to his eyes. She knew her answer and couldn't really say it because it was really embarrassing, "..."

'So she wanted to become the vanguard for her precious rearguard. I guess that's wonderful.', but Kisuke has to correct her thinking, not just for her own sake but also for his own satisfaction and curiosity, "Well, whatever. Since your Magic Power is concentrated on your blood, doing Magic-based body strengthening wouldn't just be as effective as Ki but also will give you increased mastery of overall Magic usage."

Kisuke then picked up her right hand and started massaging it while looking at it intently. Filvis was startled and was about to pull her hand back subconsciously when she managed to stop herself and gritted her teeth. Aside from Lefiya, a fellow Elf, and her parents, no one has really touched any part of her body for as long as she can remember.

"AAHHHH!!!" Of course, her best friend was also shocked and let out an ear-splitting cry while pointing at them with a slight blush on her face.

Editors:

28th00: Ah, yes, public 

Kisuke kept pressing various points on her palm, measuring her overall Magic Power capacity and movement, 'Although her Magic Power only increased slightly from my initial estimates, the movement can't be compared to a typical Elf like Riveria and Ryuu. Using her own blood as a medium, her maximum output was boosted exponentially. It's no wonder that Vampires could thrive despite their poor reputation and attitude. Or maybe because she's a Dhampir?'

Various guesses went through Kisuke's mind in that short instance but Filvis was unaware of her thoughts and could just endure it. Although it only became worse when Kisuke started sending pulses of his own energy through her hand, "Ummmph!?"

Caught off guard, Filvis' knees almost buckled but she was able to stand firm. However, she had to cover her mouth with her free hand as she had a feeling that she might just let out a strange voice with the strange heat rising up from the core of her body, 'W-what's this? What's happening!?'

Normally, Kisuke would have already stopped doing this because he didn't have much of a legitimate reason to mess with her, but an accidental discovery made him focus so that he didn't even know what Filvis was going through nor did he care about it, '!?... This is...'

Since Kisuke already had enough mastery over his new energy type, he was already confident to use it as a tool for recon. And because it's an unknown type that's only unique to him as far as he's concerned, it could hardly be detected. Even Yoruichi, who had well-developed senses couldn't detect it and even if she was able to, it was already close to her and she wasn't even sure if it's really there.

If a comparison was to be made, it's like Ophis and Great Red's abilities. Although others could detect the Magic Power within them, they couldn't find anything that's related to 'Infinity' or 'Dreams' despite them representing it.

However, the moment he let his own energy interact with Filvis' Magic Power, the latter started morphing as if it's trying to imitate it, 'Absorption? No... This is creating new information depending on what it's trying to extract... Did she go through a mutation as a Dhampir to have this kind of ridiculous ability? Or did the Dungeon intend for her to have this? Considering how useful this would be for my own development, I'm leaning on the latter possibility.'

Nevertheless, due to how complicated and unique Kisuke's energy is, it couldn't extract much information and would constantly fail in 'copying' it, hence, the strange mood Filvis was currently experiencing right now.

Filvis' groans engulfed the silent room with a weird atmosphere but after a few more moments, Lefiya couldn't take it anymore and stood in the middle of the two, swinging her arm down and saving the damsel in distress, "For how long are you going to do this!?"

Lefiya's hostility woke Kisuke up as he dodged the incoming arm by letting Filvis go. Even then, he'd already got most of what he needed to know and the only thing left is a bit of a blood sample that he could get later, "Geez, relax~ I'm just doing a bit of examination to determine her current rank."

"Is this how you examine people!?" Lefiya shouted while angrily pointing at Filvis.

Kisuke finally looked at Filvis carefully and saw that she's struggling to catch her breath in addition to her flushed face and almost tearful eyes. If one didn't know what exactly happened, people would think that Kisuke just assaulted her, "Not always." Kisuke answered honestly.

"Not always!? There are other instances!? You're an enemy of women!" Lefiya declared while clinging to Filvis.

While everyone else had an awkward atmosphere, Riveria was wearing a serious expression while muttering, "Why does this feel familiar?"

Kisuke just waved his hand in dismissal and said, "Forget about that. Challia-san, how about a spar with me? You want to test everything you can manage against someone or something, don't you?"

Filvis took a few deep breaths and recovered bearing, albeit still with a flushed face, "Spar?"

"Yes. Since I have some free time, I think I can help you figure out more about your abilities, and the best way to do that is to put it into action."

Truthfully, Kisuke's intention was not to help her but to flush out his remaining energy in her system and stop the current transformation. That way, he'd be able to give her a special type of blood and see the changes she'd go through.

Filvis heaved her final heavy breath and thought, 'Before everyone lost their memories, Lefiya said that even if the entire Loki Familia went against Kisuke Urahara, they wouldn't even be able to scratch his skin. Using common sense, that's impossible but Lefiya doesn't have any reason to lie. If so...'

She then looked up to him, reaching a decision, '...He'd really be the only one who could test my capabilities without the dangers of actually killing me. Although he's all smiles, I can tell that he's ruthless. He might just cut off my arm just to test my regeneration...'

"...Please help me. Thank you."

Kisuke nodded and turned to Loki, "Loki-sama, I'd like to use your courtyard."

"It's fine if I watch too, right?"

"Even if I forbid you, this is your place and I have no right to do so."

"Alright. Let's go."

.

.

.

In the wide courtyard, since they were allowed to watch, everyone from the Loki Familia except for those who had business outside had come.

In the middle was Kisuke and Filvis facing each other, "Although this is a spar, use everything you can.", the former said first.

"If not?"

Kisuke looked straight into Filvis' eyes and his killing intent started pouring into her, "'Cus I might just accidentally kill you."

Filvis shuddered and readied her sword in panic. She wanted to talk more to figure him out more, but after just being brushed by such intense blood lust, she knew she couldn't afford to think about anything else, much less speak.

"Good. It seems that you're ready. But before that...", Kisuke turned to where the executives were and said, "May I borrow a blade? Anything's fine."

Before anyone could say anything back, Tione suddenly pulled out one of her kukri knives named Zolas and threw it towards Kisuke, "Here."

Kisuke caught the knife by its handle, "Thank you very much~."

Filvis swallowed a mouthful of saliva because there was yet again almost imperceptible change in him who was now holding a blade, 'It's as if his entire body became a weapon!'

Kisuke's smile then disappeared as he faced Filvis once again, "Now then, let's start with this."

In everyone's eyes, Kisuke slowly slashed what's in front of him horizontally. However, there's still a few meters of distance between them so this strange action of his confused everyone, including his opponent.

"Really... If you have trained Ki, you all should have trained your senses for it."

Filvis was wondering what he's talking about when she suddenly lost her balance and slowly fell backward, "Huh!?"

She tried to regain her balance but her fall continued. And finally, she landed on her back, facing the blue sky. Bewildered, she turned her head towards Kisuke but what she saw immediately sent pain back to her brain, "AAHHHH!!!!"

In front of her were her legs, firmly standing on their ground, cleanly detached from her body.

Editors:

Finn and the rest of the executives also noticed the change in Kisuke's demeanor and the sight of him made their muscles taut, ready to take action at any second.

They watched as Kisuke swung his sword horizontally and wondered what he was doing, "What's that?", asked Tiona.

It was neither slow nor fast. It was as if he's just figuring out the balance of the knife. However, the moment Kisuke finished his actions, a skin-splitting pain suddenly assaulted Finn's thumb and made him shudder. He wanted to warn Filvis of the immense threat, but it was already too late as Kisuke's opponent already dropped to the ground, leaving her legs behind.

"AHHHH!!!"

Filvis' ear-splitting cry woke everyone up from their stupor and most of them became covered in a cold sweat at the gruesome sight of blood spurting out without control. But what scared them more than anything was the expressionless guest. Then, once they thought he was a jolly and casual man, turned out to be such a cruel person.

"Filvis!!!" Lefiya wanted to run out while taking out the highest potion that she has, already forgetting that Kisuke told her that a potion is one of the Vampire's weaknesses in exchange for their regeneration prowess. But before she could even complete a step, an arm blocked her way, "Stay put, Lefiya."

Lefiya looked at the back of the red-haired Goddess and complained, "B-but, Loki-sama! Filvis is already grievously injured! She might die of blood loss!"

"No matter how you spin it, that only applies to normal people. However, her body was created by the Dungeon so common sense may not apply to her.", Loki then looked towards her, "Or are you averting your eyes from reality at a time like this?"

Lefiya shook, but she had nothing to say back.

Nevertheless, Riveria was still worried and asked, "Is this really fine, Loki? Although this might be fine, it doesn't change the fact that her life is in danger."

"It's fine~ You can trust him. I assure you that after this, Filvis-chan would still be in one piece. Besides, look.", Loki pointed to the match and everyone saw that Kisuke's knife was already lifted overhead and was about to do a vertical slash on the downed Filvis, "She hasn't surrendered so you shouldn't stop this either."

"Dio Grail!" Filvis finally gathered her thoughts properly and instantly cast out a defensive Magic. A circular barrier that shined white appeared in front of her and it was also the moment that Kisuke swung down his knife. In a split second, something invisible hit the barrier and created sparks.

The barrier didn't even last two seconds as it was immediately cracked and broken through. However, it was enough time for Filvis to dodge to the side which was her goal from the beginning.

"Dio Thyrsos!" While rolling on the ground, Filvis immediately used her next spell that released a blast of golden light towards her opponent.

She wanted to retrieve her legs even if she had to crawl towards it but decided against it when she saw Kisuke simply slashing through her Magic, 'You can do that!?'

Gritting her teeth, she modified her Magic Circle that released Dio Thyrsos and made it release smaller but more numerous rays of golden light.

As tens of golden rays descended on Kisuke, he started dancing with his knife, dodging and deflecting everything away. Even though none of them could actually hurt him, it'd only make his clothes dirty.

Seeing him finally busy, Filvis' mind started to race. She knew that there's no way he would be defeated with just that even if she pours all her Magic Power into her attacks so she has to think of any other way to deal a substantial amount of damage. She also thought of 'surviving' as long as possible but immediately threw that idea out of her mind, 'There's no way he's going to allow me to do that. Besides, the point of this match was to discover and test my abilities. Hiding behind my Magic will only earn his ire and that may be the moment that he'll aim for my neck!'

At that instant, her severed legs that are still standing entered her sights, '...Regeneration... If that's true, I should be at least able to attach my legs back... But how? Blood?'

It's as if instincts took over her, the moment her train of thought got to 'blood', she already knew what to do. That, and also thanks to the real threat to her life that pumped adrenaline into her system.

Concentrating on the flow of her blood, including that still within her legs and scattered on the ground, Filvis willed the severed limbs to return. Her legs shook for a few moments before they suddenly launched towards Filvis and immediately caught the stumps. As soon as they got connected, the scattered blood also returned through the cut before the skin was restored. Even Filvis who did it couldn't believe what she saw, much less everyone else.

Filvis wanted to check if her legs were properly connected but she wasn't able to do that because she heard the terrifying voice from behind her, "My~ That's wonderful. But we're not done here yet."

"Kuh!!!" Filvis clenched her mouth and hurriedly stood up without looking back, though she was still too slow and felt the blade of Kisuke's knife digging on her left flank.

Her guts threatened to spill out so she hurriedly used her free hand to block the gash. If she had been a normal Adventurer, this wound would have been fatal but now that she learned how to use her regeneration actively, the blood just flew back before the cut slowly closed, bringing her skin into pristine condition.

Though as amazing as it is, Filvis could feel her Magic Power reserves to be largely depleted and an almost insanity-inducing thirst, 'What's this disgusting feeling?'

Dhampir's might have a resistance to the desire to drink blood that was a borderline immunity. They didn't even need it to live as they only needed their non-Vampire bloodline to survive. Even then, Filvis wasn't born a Dhampir nor did she have any experience living as one. The almost imperceptible cravings were boosted due to the Magic Power in her blood being depleted way faster than they could recover, kicking a hidden self-preservation mechanism into action.

Fortunately or unfortunately, however, Kisuke's killing intent kept her sanity in check and her focus on the fight, 'I won't be able to do anything at range. I have to get closer!'

Clutching her shortsword tightly, she dashed forward while letting some of her instincts take over. This resulted in her gray bat-like wings emerging and nails growing longer.

The next instant had sparks and clashes of metals filling the air.

Filvis used her wings to boost her speed and maneuver to gain an advantageous position, shortsword as her main hand, and claws as support or ambush hand.

Meanwhile, Kisuke just swung a single arm to take all of her attacks and he hasn't even taken a single step since the start of their clash, 'I guess this is it for the first part.'

Editors:

Losing her patience, Filvis started using her Magic at point-blank range. Although very reckless, it was successful at pushing Kisuke back, giving her some precious breathing space.

However, that didn't last long as Kisuke stopped his passive approach and began to pressure Filvis to a greater extent.

'Kuh!!! So it's useless even if I get close. I can't see the extent of his abilities. Our skill levels are too far apart! What else can I do!?' Filvis thought as she started to accumulate wounds that surpassed her passive regeneration. But as further desperation pushed her absolute limits, a certain idea popped into her mind after recalling all the abilities that Kisuke mentioned earlier, '...But if I fail... I might die...'

Kisuke noticed her inner conflict and thought that he can finally end this, "Is this the time for you to be holding back? If you have something in your mind, just do it. You didn't happen to forget the goal of this spar, did you?" With a single large swing, Kisuke threw Filvis back. This time, however, he didn't close the gap.

Filvis gritted her teeth and glared at Kisuke but a second later she calmed down and took a deep breath, "I'll aim for the kill, is that alright?"

Though Kisuke just smirked at her and replied, "You're very much welcome to try~!"

Filvis took a stance and raised her short sword. An instant later, her blood-red eyes shone as she gathered and poured her Ki to her legs, launching her straight forward with great momentum. Filvis then raised her sword over her head, posing to swing it down once Kisuke came within her reach with all her strength.

At this point, Kisuke finally guessed what she intended to do and smiled, 'Fine. I'll accept your challenge.'

Taking a stance of his own, the moment Filvis almost entered his reach, Kisuke did a horizontal slash aiming at her torso with speed much greater than what he had previously displayed until now. At this rate, Kisuke's knife would slice through Filvis before her sword could even reach Kisuke.

The executives that are watching this already knew the result and Filvis should also know it. To their shock, however, Filvis didn't pull back and became fully committed to her attack as if she was willing to exchange her life for her attack to land, "Oi, oi, oi! What is she doing!?", Bete, who has senses only second to Finn muttered followed by various similarly confused words from Ais, Tiona, and Tione.

And as everyone has expected, although Filvis' sword continued descending, she was already bisected by the horizontal slash.

Lefiya only noticed what's going on when Kisuke's knife had already separated Filvis' upper and lower body, "Filvis!!!"

Only Loki, however, noticed the small smile that emerged from Kisuke's mouth.

In spite of the visual effect, Kisuke felt virtually no resistance when he 'cut' Filvis and the moment he was about to deflect Filvis' sword with his free hand, it suddenly bloomed into blood-red mist, along with her whole body and disappearing from his sights.

The next instant, the sword materialized along with the fully intact Filvis behind him with the tip thrust towards his nape, 'You're mine!'

Though the man in question just chuckled and said, "I don't think so~."

Shifting his head to the side, Kisuke easily dodged the sword. Filvis' momentum continued forward without her being able to stop properly so Kisuke also caught her arm that was holding the sword. All of a sudden, Filvis' world spun uncontrollably and before she knew it, she was slammed to the ground, breaking several of her ribs, "Kuhhaaa!!!"

Sometime later, her vision recovered, and saw Kisuke grinning and looking down at her, "Nice try, but your poor handling of Magic and killing intent gave you away before you could even reform."

Filvis stopped coughing and sighed, "In the end, I couldn't even leave a scratch."

"Well, you have to at least divide the whole city with a single slash if you want to achieve that."

"...I suppose that's not a joke?"

"You can do it once you've reached a certain point. That's the kind of existence you are now so don't waste it."

Filvis stared at Kisuke for a short while and figured that he wasn't joking, 'But what kind of existence are you if I'll only be able to scratch you with that kind of power?' She wanted to ask out loud but guessed that she wouldn't get an answer. And even if she did, it would do nothing good for her, that's what her intuition was telling her.

Lefiya then came running with tears on her face, "Filvis!!! Are you alright!?"

"Yes... I'm fine, albeit a bit injured and extremely tired."

Lefiya heaved a large sigh of relief after hearing that and wanted to ask what happened at the end but before she could do so, Kisuke first gave his instructions, "Viridis-san, please take Challia-san to the side and give her a bit of your blood for her to recover."

"As for you, Challia-san, we're still not yet done as we have yet to test your main ability. Once you've rested, we'll continue."

Lefiya helped Filvis to stand up and the latter nodded, "Understood. Thank you."

Still, with a lot of time left until Freya Familia arrived, Kisuke pointed towards the executives and said, "You, you, you, and you. I'm free so spar with me." Kisuke precisely pointed at Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Bete.

The prideful Bete instantly snapped at his rude demeanor, "Huh!? Why do I have to!? And I have a name, dumbass."

Tiona, on the other hand, was already looking forward to this and raised her hand, "I'm going first!"

But Kisuke shook his head and said, "I pointed to all of you so all of you have to come at the same time. Or else, it won't even be a challenge. There's no joy in beating amateurs, you know?"

After that, it wasn't just Bete but all four of them were pissed. As top Adventurers, they have their own pride and it won't allow them to let some unknown guy that came out of who knows where to look down on them. Yes, he's strong and they might even lose a one-on-one fight, but it wasn't enough that it'll allow him to fight off all of them.

"Oi, he's asking for a beating. Why don't we give it to him?", asked Bete while cracking his fingers.

"What a surprise. We're on the same page today.", replied Tione while bringing out her spare kukri knives.

"Sounds fun~ I'll play along!", Tiona added.

Only Ais was silent since her intuition was telling her that it's still hard for them to win but she still nodded in agreement and readied her sword.

The four of them marched forward with great confidence and were ready to bring out everything they've learned these past few months.

A quarter of an hour later, however, all of them were kissing the ground without a pinch of fighting spirit that they had from the start left while Kisuke was just casually whistling as he sat on Bete's body that was almost buried in the ground.

"Is this really happening?", asked Finn with a twitching mouth.

"Don't ask me! I also want an answer to that!", replied Riveria.

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