16 "The Contract Ritual of a Vampire Servant"

Sigmund caressed the birthmark found on Ivory's left thighs. He moved his body in between her thighs and lifted her knee, letting it rest on his right shoulder. She trembled with his touch and felt very sensitive when his lips brushed over her skin. He parted his lips, his fangs showing, and bit her birthmark.

"Aaaaaaauuughhh!" she screamed in pain as her blood was sucked wildly by her Vampire Servant. Tears started streaming on her face, but she knew she had to overcome the Contract Ritual or else, they're all going to be burned alive.

Sigmund, who was continuously sucking Ivory's freshly unlocked mana, noticed that it was slowly becoming sweeter and sweeter as he tasted more of her blood. It was surprisingly addicting, especially from someone weak like her.

He licked her bleeding thigh, not wasting a single drop of blood from his Master. He felt how hard she trembled in pain, but her soft moans might have meant something different, which he shouldn't care about at the moment. Ivory leaned towards Sigmund and grabbed his hair as his fangs went deep into her flesh. Troubled that he might lose his concentration because she had been shuddering, he took both of her wrists and gripped them tightly with his free hand. Ivory felt his assertiveness conquering her and bit her lip to bear the mixture of pain and pleasure.

Feeling his Master's abundant mana surge within him, the Vampire Servant's crimson red eyes glowed as his power surfaced. His improved hearing enabled him to hear the cries of the children inside the bedroom, realizing that they're awake already. He stood up and looked down at Ivory, who became unconscious after a few seconds.

'Oh, come on? What do I do with this weakling?' he thought. He removed his shirt and quickly searched for water inside the house. He found the barrel of water in an instant and quickly submerged his shirt into it. He then covered her face with it before lifting her up to his chest. He observed the house first, the smoke almost surrounding them.

Now that Sigmund had become a full-fledged Vampire Servant, he could use his own magic. As he tightly held his Master in his arms, he whispered incantations, placing an invisible shield around them that repelled the fire. Without any free hand to lift the wooden beam blocking the door to the bedroom, he kicked it, sending it flying into the air and breaking the wooden roof!

Finally, he pushed the door with his foot where Gracie and Flynn were seen crying. He whispered some incantations again, placing a new set of shields to the children.

"Don't be afraid and follow me. The fire won't hurt you," he said in a calm voice.

But the kids couldn't hide their fear.

"Then, you'll leave me no choice…"

Again, he whispered incantations, and as soon as he did, a giant bubble appeared and enclosed the two children until they started floating in the air!

Satisfied with this and making sure the bubble stuck close to him, Sigmund made his way out and walked away from the house, carrying his unconscious Master right before the flames consumed the whole house.

"Gracie! Flynn! Ivory!" Anne shouted as she passed through the concerned neighbors who came. Gracie and Flynn were slowly placed to the ground by the giant bubble, and they were embraced by their worried mother.

"Thank you for saving our children," Gordon, still exhausted from running, told Sigmund. "How can we ever repay you?"

The Vampire Servant smirked at his Master's father, still carrying Ivory in his arms. "Just let your eldest daughter repay me," he said and carefully placed her down under a pine tree, her back leaning on the trunk. "I'm not yet done. You wouldn't want to have this whole forest on fire, hmm?"

Sigmund turned around and walked back towards the burning house. Placing his hands and fingers in a triangle-shaped position right above his chest, he whispered an incantation repeatedly.

A bubble-like barrier engulfed the whole house and inside the barrier, droplets of water formed in the air, and some were also lifted from the soil. Sigmund took advantage of that night's high humidity and the forest's damp soil to put out the fire.

Finally satisfied, Sigmund went back to where his Master was.

Ivory eventually opened her eyes and the first thing that came to her mind were her little siblings. "Gracie! Flynn-" and she was relieved to see them with their mother and father. Tears fell down from her cheeks, "I'm so happy you're all safe!"

"Thanks to him, this man saved you and your siblings. He also saved the forest," Gordon explained. "Is he your classmate-"

"I'm her Servant. My name is Sigmund," he bowed a little to them, showing respect to his Master's parents. "I only did what my Master had asked of me."

Ivory thought that her Servant had finally become a real Servant after the Contract Ritual. She was very pleased with his attitude and his change in behavior. With an obedient Servant like Sigmund, it would be possible to be victorious in the Servant Competition.

But her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that Katie was still not with them and asked, "Where's Katie?"

"Katie, she… she rode a carriage… She told us that she will be staying at her friend's place from now on," Anne frowned as she remembered that they had a heated discussion on the dirt road before she left.

"Then, we can go visit that friend of hers… Perhaps, she will feel our sincerity and come back home."

Anne and Gordon looked at each other with gloomy faces.

"What's wrong?"

Gordon replied, "She's going to Prisma City."

"What!? But that's in the Land of Rosaria which is too far, so why-"

"She said that she wanted a place where she wanted to belong to… and she didn't feel at home, so..." Anne started to shed tears. "I am such a bad mother to her, that I…"

"Anne," his father held his wife's hand, "do not blame yourself. We're very poor and could not afford the things she wanted. If only I-"

"Mother! Father! You haven't done anything wrong! It's all because of me. She even wished I wasn't her sister..."

While they were talking about Katie, Ken rushed to them together with the other neighbors who were also concerned about the incident.

"Ivory!" Ken called out as went closer to his childhood friend. "I'm really sorry if I just got here! Are you alright?" He examined her shoulders and arms worried that she might have gotten hurt.

"It's all okay now, Ken," she weakly smiled at him. "My Servant used his magic to save us and to put out all the fire."

Ken was amazed and proud that She had now gotten her very own Servant. He knew how much she wanted a Servant since they were kids when they first heard the truth about her birthmark. He looked at Sigmund, who's taller than him, and the Servant smiled at him.

But behind that smile was annoyance. He glanced at Ken's hands that were touching his Master's shoulder, wanting to cut his fingers one by one with a sharp blade in his mind!

"Master," Sigmund called, "I used a lot of mana. Please let me replenish them."

Hearing Sigmund's polite request, she nodded. "Of course. So how will we-"

"Excuse me," he glared and carried Ivory in his arms again. He told the others, "We'll be back, soon."

Ivory rested her head onto Sigmund's shoulder as they went deeper into the forest. He kept on walking further and further, which made her confused.

"Sigmund? Ugh... where are we going?" she looked up to him before looking at the surroundings.

It was getting pitch dark and for a while, they only heard the sound of the crickets. Ivory wondered why her Servant wasn't answering.

She asked again, "Where are we going-"

"Somewhere... just the two of us."