Blood

Liam looted the corpses for their rings and valuables, before throwing them in a crocodile swamp to be devoured – then made his way towards the mountain slope again.

His entire arm was charred, and his ears continued to bleed, but his body didn't stop healing.

'A noble house… it's obvious who hired them.'

Liam clicked his tongue. He knew too little, but even then, he expected such a reaction from the rulers.

After all, he was a bastard – one who pursued the power the nobles greedily hogged.

Before long, he arrived at the mountain slope.

He used his mental energy to carefully assess the different holes inside the wall and found that all of them were riddled with traps except for one.

He found the one hole in the wall and entered it, a distant warm light glowing from the other end.

As he got closer, faint screams laced with despair entered his ears.

'Is that him? No, it's a feminine voice. What is that maniac up to?' Liam wondered.

He made sure to be careful as he made his way towards the light.

He was met with a wide furnished area lit by lamps, bulbs, and other illuminating devices.

Different kinds of tools, books, and parchment papers rested on wooden tables, but the most eye-catching feature was the stains of blood riddled across the ground.

The walls were rocky and uneven, forming a natural dome of sorts.

The space was located inside the cavity of a mountain, and there were more holes leading to different areas inside.

The dreadful screams abruptly ended, and a familiar voice wheezed as it spoke out.

"I'll be right with you."

Revel's ominous voice echoed from a hole in the wall that led deeper into the mountain.

Liam took that time to look around and investigate. He grabbed a random book among the pile and opened it on a random page.

'Day 129.'

'Experiments are progressing steadily. I can only focus on slaves for now, since magical beast blood is less pure. My sickness has been slowly getting better due to the constant absorption of it. Within a few years or maybe even months, I can surely be cured.'

Liam's eyes slightly widened at those words.

'Absorption of blood? Is this guy a vampire or something? Also, he already looked sick, but this confirms it.'

'Day 302.'

'My progress has started to recede. My blood purity has gone lower because I pushed myself too far. Even thinking hurts.''

Liam's eyes glowed with interest as he continued to flip through the pages.

'Day 621.'

'Blood refinement progress has gone to shit. My blood is plagued with growing impurities, and my mental sphere and body are too weakened to continue the experiments. All I can do now is delay the inevitable. That kid holds some potential, perhaps he can-'

"Prying through my things, are you?"

Revel interrupted Liam's reading as he exited from the hole in the wall, wiping his blood covered hands with a white cloth.

His complexion was somehow paler than last time, giving his skin a snow-like glow, while he wore layers of thick clothing covered with blood stains.

"Can't blame me, can you? You left it in the open."

Liam retorted, making sure to keep some distance from the man.

Revel scoffed coldly while coughing. "You look horrible, by the way. What's wrong with your arm?"

"I fought with a few before coming here. Could say the same to you, though."

Revel scoffed again. He gestured for Liam to sit on a nearby couch, then took a seat himself. Beginning with a sigh, he started to speak.

"You are aware vampires exist in this world, yes?"

Liam nodded once.

"Their method of growing stronger and advancing in ranks is much, much easier than humans. Unlike us, who have the sea of consciousness, body and core, they only have two centers of power."

Revel explained, taking breaks to breathe in between paragraphs.

"The Nexus, also known as the heart, and the Blood, which is their life force. By consuming the blood of others, vampires can increase their strength and abilities, allowing them to advance in rank and power much more quickly than humans ever could."

Liam's face turned pensive, but nonetheless interested.

'But with three centers of power against two, surely humans are stronger than them...'

"Simply put, they must refine their blood constantly in order to purify and strengthen it, while the second center of power, the Nexus, will nourish their bodies constantly. That's the gist of the knowledge I have on them."

"My passion lies there. I dedicated my life to research and gain more knowledge about the topic, since I was diagnosed with a rare blood disease that was known to be incurable."

"Using my contacts, I secretly exported a simple blood refinement method from their continent and began to imitate it. At first, it denied my body, but after modifying it to suit my needs, it finally started to work."

"It took me decades of research and hundreds of live human experiments to finally achieve some success. Even my health was getting better and I finally looked… alive."

Revel's eyes grew dark, especially on that last word.

"Everything changed when I started to use refined blood to inscribe spells and techniques."