It would not have been hard to find the residence they were looking for based on the description alone, even for an ordinary human. Less so for a group of downright super powered creatures like the group of vampires that were on the task. As such, the moment the main event ended and the nobility, along with their target of interest, moved on to a sort of an after party, the group had moved to located the property they could meet with the intriguing human. And so, they had spent an hour or so in waiting. The older generation, like the master himself and his servant Barnabus, had no issue with the wait. After all, what was a few hours for creatures who lived for millennia.

  The younger ones, only few decades old at this point, youngsters even in human terms, were of a different opinion, clearly annoyed that noble beings like them were made to wait. And for what? To rub shoulders with some measly mortals who would perish in but a century? Truly preposterous. Though whatever indignation they felt, was quickly wiped away as they noticed the falcons close in, indicating the arrival of their target. That alone would mean little, their understanding of the magnificent creatures quite cking due to them not being local and educated enough on the subject. The way Rex came into their view, followed by the way he controlled chains made of crystalized and super compressed blood like extensions of his body to not only disperse the momentum he was falling with by dynamically tching onto several spots on the nearby walls, but to also nd perfectly, as if he was simply stepping out of a rather low carriage, accompanied by the slightest of blood lust that was released in a controlled radius. Not to intimidate though, no. This was meant as nothing more than a greeting from one natural born killer to another, even if he himself was seemingly born a human.

  "My apologies for the wait. My woman insisted on attending the drag that was the after party. You must surely understand the conundrum." Rex spoke calmly and casually, his gaze on the most powerful member of the group. "Surely due to the nature of your existence, a conversation behind closed doors would be to your liking?"

  "Indeed." replied the leader of the group and with an affirmative nod, Rex turned around and led the group inside, all the while avoiding all the normal servants of the residence like he knew precisely where each and every one of them was at any given time. The group of vampires, with their unusually high and specific life sense noticed this fact too, rousing the interest of the remaining vampires in Rex's existence and mysterious abilities even more. 'Was he a particurly lucky mutation of a dhampir- human and vampire half breed, gaining all the strengths and none of the weaknesses, or was there something more to him, something different?' The same thought ran through their heads as they were led through the mansion towards a rather well decorated and quite spacy room.

  A well crafted and beautifully carved table sat in the middle of the room ,surrounded by quite the number of chairs, as if awaiting them so their conversation could start. And while somewhat cking, at least for the senses of the refined creatures that the high css vampires were, they were more than the group had expected, truth be told. Following Rex's lead, they too sat down, finally removing the hoods their features had been hiding under.

  Four, exceptionally beautiful faces came into Rex's view, each and every one of them ashen haired, with luscious and well maintained long hair that seemed to reach anywhere from the middle of their back to even the derriere in case of the only woman present. The two younger members seemed in their early twenties, while the man sitting in the center of their group looked to be in his te thirties. The st member looked to be older, closing in on his te fifties, though Rex had to admit that while aged, the man was still exceptionally handsome, capable of stealing hearts with ease. Though due to their race, it was pointless to guess their actual age.

  "A foolish, but important question nonetheless." Rex started the conversation, clearly in need of an answer. "Are all vampires ashen haired, or is that a cn or family thing?"

  "A family thing. One can find vampires with any hair color that can naturally occur. Why the question?" The master responded, adding a question of his own.

  "For personal reasons, a redheaded vampire with those same blood red eyes the right figure and temperament just feels like a must. No offense to either of you, for I have to admit, I am slightly jealous of your incredibly good looks." Rex replied, a 'what can you do' shrug at the end, his average features emphasizing the point.

  "He he he." the vampire lord chuckled slightly, shaking his head at the same time. "Your wish might be a hard one to realize."

  "Which one?"

  "The red headed vampire one."

  "Don't tell me that it is some sort of royalty thing for your kind." Rex sighed and seeing the helpless smile on the vampires face, he sighed once more, this time exasperatedly. "Well, fuck! Another time then." He then refocused his attention on the group opposite him. "The name is Rex. With whom am I speaking, and to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?"

  "Ah, yes. Of course." vampire lord cleared his throat. "I am vampire lord Adrian Zosh. These are my children Fergus and Rose, and this is my personal servant Barnabus. A pleasure to meet you. Few humans come face to face with a vampire and act civilised. Most either run screaming, try to cut our heads off or instantly go for the most powerful; holy spell they have in their arsenal."

  "Seeing how unique your condition is, I find it entirely possible to reason and converse with your kind, as evident by both your ability to infiltrate this nation's capital as well as us sitting here and now. If you don't mind me being so blunt, what is your retionship with a vampire youngling, incredibly weak blood quite poor self control. I feel some connection here, as does Snek."

  "Ah, yes. That was the original reason as to our arrival. The unfortunate creature was my son. Due to a cruel fate he was born as he was. We tried many things to have him look past his inferiority, but he never could, eventually resulting in his exile. I still had a magic crystal that would shatter upon his death, as well as lead to the pce he st drew breath. It is from there that we inquired in vilges nearby regarding mighty adventurers passing through and eventually it led us here. And once here, it was difficult to ignore the calling we felt coming from your direction. may I inquire as to the reason of my wayward son's demise?"

  "He was creating an army of ghouls, terrorizing the local vilges. I was begged to solve the problem. Thus, once I dispatched said ghouls, I tracked him down and then dispatched him as well. I have to say, he was quite arrogant, with a chip on his shoulder the size of a fucking mountain and some serious racial superiority issues. And while it is unfortunate that you have lost a son, I don't regret my actions one bit and would chose the same again and again."

  "I understand. Though I do have to ask. What exactly are you? And who is Snek? Why do we feel this inexplicable draw towards you?"

  "Right. First things first. I suppose I am something of a human. For now at least. This here is Snek." Rex raised his hand, his blood snake poking out it's head for a moment, flicking its tongue a few times, looking incredibly cute and once again disappearing in Rex's sleeve. "As for what draws you to me? I would say it's your bloodline in general. Or your species. Go with whichever you prefer."

  "Could you eborate?"

  "How should I put it?" Rex thought for a second as he spoke. "Let's go with this I suppose." He mused for another moment, finally deciding on an analogy. "From what I can see, due to your unique mutations over thousands upon thousands of years, you have developed an uncanny affinity towards blood magic to the point of it changing you fundamentally to be aligned with the concept of blood, however miniscule said alignment is. It is why you feed on blood and can not only sustain yourselves but thrive and grow stronger, while that should not be possible. And, since my understanding and control of said concept is beyond reasonable, at least as far as you can ever hope to achieve, no insult there is intended, you are instinctively drawn towards me, like moths to the fme. Though without the guaranteed burning one you actually reach it."

  Rex slightly smiled at the analogy he had made. "Here is another example. Have you noticed that the more powerful the target, the harder it is to affect their blood while they still draw breath?"

  "Of course. That's something that every child knows." replied Rose.

  "And what about usurping control of someone else's spells and blood constructs under their direct control?"

  "Not possible, again, every child knows this." Chimed in Fergus, not at all pleased that they all were treated like kids receiving a lesson, his tone indicating as such, while Adrian and Barnabus were in deep thought, trying to perceive whatever nugget of wisdom Rex was trying to present.

  "Now now children. Mind your manners, or you will get detention." Rex smirked, leaning in on their rather apparent point of conflict here, though he cared little of what the younger duo thought, for just moments ter, they both suddenly, and somewhat mechanically, pushed back their chairs and fell to their knees, their palms pressed against the ground and heads slightly bowed.

  "Manners children. I don't appreciate those scoffs you were showing." Rex spoke lightly, ignoring the kneeling duo and moving his attention towards the older two vampires who had incredulous expressions on their faces.

  "Now, would you say that vampires are weak creatures in general? How many masters of blood magic could control those two children of yours as well as I have, without any injuries to them, besides their pride of course?"

  "I-it should not be possible. They are pure bloods through and through, even if nowhere near my level of mastery." Adrian replied, both in awe, shock and fear at what it implied.

  "Now, tell me how does it feel?" Rex asked, as he cpped Adrians hands, creating appuse for himself. "A strange feeling, isn't it? Though feels natural, despite the terror it could induce, no?"

  "B-but how?" Adrian asked, his eyes looking towards Rex as if he was a LORD in flesh, as unreasonable as it felt.

  "Because you are attuned to the concept that I am quite the expert at. That attunement, while granting you plenty of power, allowing you to do with blood magic that barely any human could ever hope to achieve, is also why someone who is at the level that I am could make any of your kind into a perfect puppet of theirs."

  "Cast a simple blood spell." Rex added a moment ter, the cpping already stopped and all control relinquished. Adrian did as told, creating a simple blood orb in his hands, compressing it into a projectile, ready to be unleashed at a moments notice. And, just a moment ter, he could no longer sense his control over it as Rex moved it towards himself, pying with it as if his own creation.

  "Think of it as a river, always trying to flow downwards, with enough time reaching the ocean. There is a bright side in all of this for your kind though, depending on the creature that right now happen to be me. By spending time in my presence, you too will grow in your own understanding of the concept, even if very, very slowly. Though I suppose Time is something that you have plenty of."

  "And why tell us all of this?" Barnabus asked.

  "You have been civil and I was quite curious about the nature of vampires ever since I learned that your kind is the only known, natural blood magic user. And, what better way to rewards your cooperation and civility than a few answers and whatnot. If you stick around, do try to not drain any humans entirely."

  "May I ask another question?" Barnabus asked?

  "Go ahead. It is a conversation only if both sides talk."

  "What would someone of your might do in such a small, insignificant outer region nation?"

  "I came to be here. Why else? Well, I suppose I have friends here as well, that adds something."

  "Queen Lucil would love to meet you." Adrian thought out loud, adding just a moment ter "Would you be so kind as to allow my children to move?"

  "Right. They should have learned their lesson." Rex agreed, releasing his control of their bodies. "Though I would prefer that the knowledge you have acquired today remains with you for the time being."

  "Of course. Though if I may be so bold to ask, will your lordship remain here in this nation, or travel to other pces, exploring the vast and wonderful world of ours?"

  "And why would you be interested?"

  "To be able to grow and develop of course! Which vampire does not dream of it?"

  "And for that you would need my presence, thus the inquiry. Hmm, logical. Though I suppose there is a solution to that as well."

  "Allow me to call for Evelysandra. She is a party member of mine and also happens to be a princess of this small nation. She should have the grasp on the local situation better than me and if what I think I could propose could be feasible, she is the person to ask."

  As soon as Rex finished his words, Snek popped out of his sleeve and slithered away, the task of finding and bringing Eve over, as well as her current location, clear. Ten or so minutes of small talk ter, a knock was heard on the door, after which Eve entered, accompanied by Snek who then once again disappeared in Rex's sleeve. Due to positioning of the door, at this moment Eve could only see Rex who was facing her and the backs of four individuals, their ashen gray hair and cloaks the only thing in her sight.

  "You wanted to talk with me?" She asked, her eyes on Rex, though she did gaze at the four guests every now and then. "I did not expect guests."

  "I believe I did tell you I would have some company today?" Rex mused. "No matter. This here is Adrian Zosh and his family members. He has expressed a desire to work for me and due to his unique circumstances I believe it to be only logical to hear your opinion."

  "It's just a family. Why ask for my opinion?" Eve replied, confusion clear on her face, until Adrian turned his head towards her, the blood red eyes and slightly extended kanines in clear sight. As expected, the initial reaction of Eve was quite sharp, the horror stories about how bloodthirsty and monstrous vampires are doing their job, causing her to stumble back, falling on her ass. Though to her defence, she did not scream, and the first words out of her mouth were quite funny, at least for Rex.

  "R-Rex. Y-you know they are v-vampires right?"

  "Yes. I told you that your input would be necessary. As you stated, why would I ask if the family was an ordinary bunch of people? Right. And I will ask you to assist me in acquiring a mansion of my own, preferably on the outskirts of the city." The rexed way Rex was talking about the whole issue did calm Eve down a fair bit, whatever fears she might have had, washed away by the sheer confidence of the man. She was damn sure that no matter what, as a member of his party she would be safe. As such, gathering herself up, she rose to her feet, dusted off her clothes like it was nothing, walked over and sat down right next to Rex. "W-would you be so kind as to expin the whole situation? I can't speak on the matter without all the relevant information, now can I?"

  "Sure thing." Rex nodded, proceeding to expin. A few minutes ter, Eve looked at him, summarising.

  "So let me get this straight? They want to stay near you, or in this case your residence, to be able to grow stronger? And in exchange, they would watch over your friends? And they would not experience this feeding frenzy, like ever?"

  "That sounds about right, yes."

  "Could my family request their assistance as well?"

  "Hmm, I don't see why not, though it should be contained to this dungeon, only probably your father should be informed and a proper compensation would be a must. And of course within reason regarding the frequency of the requests." Rex thought for a moment. "By the way Adrian, I have been wondering, how do you deal with the thirst? "

  "It's quite the process, I have to admit." Adrian replied, quite the amount of pride coming from his lips as he withdrew a fsk from his space storage ring, clearly filled with blood. "To ensure that we do not succumb to feeding frenzy, we have developed a rather sophisticated system. Every few weeks, the people of the vilges within our controlled territory have to give blood and since the collection is done by a well fed collector, there is no danger of them succumbing to the frenzy. Thus, we have plenty of blood in our storage rings, for when the hunger calls."

  "And how many people would you need to sustain your family, while their lives would not be endangered due to low amounts of blood?" Rex asked.

  "let me think for a moment. Me, my wife, Barnabus and three children. I suppose a hundred would be a safe bet. We could go with less, but that would make them somewhat exhausted in their day to day tasks."

  "Magnificent. Eve, my dear." Rex then turned towards Eve "And there you have it. Regarding the property then. As just expined, besides the main mansion, there should be enough room for at least a hundred servants, two hundred if possible. You know I have the funds to sustain such expenses and Adrian's family will do that when we will be away."

  "Sigh. Sometimes you are impossible to comprehend. You know that right?" Eve grumbled, with one hand covering her eyes and massaging her temples. "I will talk with father tomorrow."

  "Right, thanks, and have a good rest. I will spend some more time with my new friends here, figuring ways to deal with that pesky holy magic issue they have." Rex replied, guiding Eve towards the door, earning yet another groan from the already mentally exhausted woman.