Warm up

Keith came back to his room and contemplated the events that occurred recently. Someone was targeting their city and their methods were also discreet. Several high-level vampires were also involved in it.

He didn't know much about the political feuds among the vampire nobles. Being just a baron, who was recently promoted, he wasn't in the limelight, yet.

'My warrior frame has been upgraded to Viscount level. I wonder how much my power level has changed. I have to fight with uncle Brad to know my limits.'

Closing his eyes, he started to circulate his blood-qi. The current surge of blood-qi was still not properly absorbed. After upgrading the system and warrior frame, his blood core stayed at baron, but the density of blood-qi was at its peak.

'What did you do?' Keith asked the system with suspicion.

[ Nothing much. I have studied your body and found that you can accumulate more blood-qi than other vampires, courtesy of your special physique. You can still promote to Viscount with the minimum blood-qi, but the foundation won't be as solid. Still, It will be better than average vampires.]

'What are you getting at?' Keith asked impatiently.

[ You can stay at baron and absorb more blood-qi, which will further solidify your foundation. It will be beneficial when you reach a higher level. Your blood core will also be able to hold more blood-qi than regular vampires if you do that. ]

'Can I match with higher-level vampires if I do this?'

[If you accumulate the same amount of blood-qi, then it is theoretically possible to match opponents one level higher. But, as you know, the strength of a vampire also depends on the blood-qi techniques and blood manipulation.]

'I understand. So, if a vampire one major stage above me, with no blood-qi techniques can be subdued by me, given that I match his blood-qi level.'

[Precisely. Also, your warrior frame acts as a quasi blood-core. So you can accumulate more blood-qi there. The higher its level, the amount that can be stored will increase accordingly.]

Keith nodded his head as he mulled over what the system had said. This will slow down his promotion to higher levels, but did it matter? His growth was faster than any other vampire, and even though this would slow down his progress, in the eyes of others it was still abnormal.

He closed his eyes again and started circulating his blood-qi. After several hours, he opened his eyes and saw two glasses placed on the table.

'As usual, she's always on time.'

Rena always prioritized him and brought his meals a little earlier. She even cleaned the room when Keith was immersed in his blood condensing. These days, she rarely got out of her room and wandered only in the inner garden which was located in Keith's residential area.

It was already morning, and Keith was looking forward to the spar with his uncle. After gaining so much blood-qi and upgrading his warrior frame to viscount level, he wanted to test out how powerful he had become.

He was pretty optimistic about his growth but he wanted to make sure by fighting one on one with Brad, to use his full power against him. Brad also promised to teach Blood-esper techniques to him, so he was also very excited for the day.

Arriving at the arena, he saw Brad practicing as usual with his conjured crimson sword, splitting the air wherever he moved his sword.

"You're here. I thought you gave up on learning Esper techniques." Brad teased Keith with a smile.

"How can I pass up such a chance of learning Esper techniques? I want to learn it as soon as possible. I was just consolidating my blood-qi, forgetting the passage of time."

Keith walked forward and entered the arena. He had an excited and expectant look on his face.

Going inside the arena, he activated his warrior frame to a quarter of its power.

"Starting with a little warm-up, I see. Let's see how much you've gained in the last few days."

Brad looked at Keith with interest.