In a dungeon located in the center of the city, humans, elves, and vampires who could not control their instincts were imprisoned in separate cells. The walls were made of dark stone, while the bars of the cells were formed from hardened blood.
Every thirty minutes, the guards passed through all the cells to check on the prisoners before returning to the upper floors.
"Brother Samuel, I'm scared."
"Don't worry. I'll find a way out of here, Lin."
A sixteen-year-old boy and a fourteen-year-old girl were imprisoned in cells side by side. The boy, named Samuel, tried his best to calm his sister while searching for some way to escape. The two had been captured while they were on their way to meet Samuel's fiancée, who had also been captured by the vampires.
Samuel grabbed the blood bars and tried to break them using only his physical strength.
Somehow, those restraints and bars were capable of interfering with the magic of whoever was imprisoned by them, preventing the prisoners from using their powers normally.
Even so, Samuel could push them apart a little thanks to his body's strength. He was thin, but he had already reached the Third Circle and possessed good physical condition for someone his age. Besides that, he was in his second year at Astrong Academy and was on his way to reaching the Fourth Circle.
'Shit... I need to get out of here with my sister, find my fiancée, and figure out a way to disappear from these vampires.'
Samuel had already given up on the idea of leaving that dimension immediately, since he did not even know how someone could leave it. His new plan was to find some hiding place where he could remain safely with the two girls until he discovered a way to return to the human world.
'Damn it, I can't... If I had trained my body more, maybe I could do something.'
Mages could train their bodies to remain healthy, but most did not dedicate themselves much to that. Many believed that an increase in physical strength would come naturally with the evolution of the Circles, while only a few specifically trained their bodies, usually those whose magic was not very useful for combat or who wanted to improve in every aspect.
Even though he was Rank 30 in the second year, Samuel was not considered one of the strongest in his class. In fact, he was practically at the bottom among the students at that level.
He even thought about fighting the guards directly, but he had realized that they seemed to possess at least the Fourth or Fifth Circle. A direct fight would simply be impossible.
'Am I really going to let the three of us die here? My sister...'
"Brother Samuel, what was that?"
Samuel raised his head upon hearing Lin's voice.
A small hole had opened in the wall of the cell in front of them, revealing part of the cell where some out-of-control vampires remained imprisoned by chains. To his surprise, two people emerged from that space: a boy and a girl wearing masks.
"Corvina, let's go in, recover what we want, and come back."
"Yes, master."
The two wore necklaces that indicated they were vampires. Samuel immediately realized that this could be an opportunity, but he did not know who they were or what they were doing there.
As a precaution, he asked his sister to hide underneath the cell's bed. Lin immediately obeyed, still frightened by the whole situation.
"These bars are quite resistant. Should we use magic?"
"We can't make noise. So I have another way."
The boy brought his hand to his own neck, tightened a different necklace, and took out a small box containing a liquid similar to blood. As soon as he placed a few drops on the bars, they began to slowly melt, disappearing until they opened enough space for the two to pass through.
"Truly, this blood is incredible."
"As always, master is surprisingly incredible."
"They were only physical bars made with blood magic that had been here for a long time, so it was easy. They were going to replace them in a week. We arrived just in time."
Samuel was completely surprised to see them leave that prison so easily.
After closing the space they had passed through again, the two simply looked around, searching for something. Samuel did not know who they were, but this was his only chance to find someone capable of helping them.
"We only have twenty-eight minutes, so let's hurry."
"Hey, you two! Can you help us? Of course, in exchange for something."
Sylas noticed the boy in front of him. To tell the truth, he had not entered that prison to rescue several people. Even knowing that it seemed cruel and not liking that choice, it would be extremely dangerous to try to save all the prisoners.
'The other humans seem normal, but he is a Third Circle. Perhaps it would be a good choice to free him... If something goes wrong, he could be useful.'
"First, you'll have to wait, human. I'll think about the way back. But I can help you if you give me some kind of signal in case a guard appears."
Samuel quickly nodded as he watched Sylas move away. That vampire seemed to make intelligent decisions and, judging by his behavior, probably knew exactly what he was doing. He had appeared precisely when most of the out-of-control vampires were unconscious after spending too much time without being able to drink blood.
Samuel was also beginning to feel sleepy, but he could not rest while his sister remained frightened.
'He must have a lot of information... This could be our only chance.'
Sylas and Corvina continued walking past the cells without making a sound, checking whether anyone was awake. After some time, they arrived in front of a different cell. Its entrance was formed by a large circular metal door, and the two stopped in front of it.
Enrico remembered that door because of the original story. He approached the wall beside it and placed a small amount of his blood into a hole in it. That door was only supposed to respond to vampire blood, but it could also be opened by using blood of exceptional quality.
The door began slowly absorbing the blood. The better the blood offered, the more obedient it became.
After a few seconds, its surface began to turn red, and the metal structure took on a completely different form. The mass transformed into a small bat that seemed extremely satisfied, while a symbol resembling a half-moon appeared on its belly.
"What is this?"
"A blood monster. We can say that they are similar to spirits, and it seems she agreed to make a contract with me."
He lightly touched the bat's head.
"This is her animal form, and she will need time and blood to assume her best form."
Corvina approached curiously and began stroking the little creature's head. However, the bat bit her finger, causing her to immediately pull back. After spitting out the blood it had taken from her, the creature flew onto Sylas's shoulder.
Corvina became irritated. She already did not like that little creature.
"But what was she doing here, master?"
"Since no one managed to make a contract with her, they placed her here as a guard in exchange for receiving good blood."
Sylas stroked the little bat's head, which happily accepted the affection. The creature then stuck its tongue out at Corvina, making the girl even more irritated.
'That damn thing... Calm down, Yumeha. Master may be interested in her, but his heart is mine.'
"But what was she guarding?"
"The daughter of the Ninth Circle vampire who was thinking about siding with the rebellion. Since the council imprisoned his daughter, he ended up remaining on their side until the end, keeping both Ninth Circle vampires on the council's side."
With that, the war would remain balanced. Enrico did not possess a sufficient level to enter that conflict directly, so his objective would be to strengthen the rebellion's side in other ways.
What he intended to eliminate were the grandchildren of that generation, people approximately the same age as Yumeha who would represent the council's next generation. They were close to Enrico's level, making it possible to fight them.
"In this war, I'll be more of a strategist than an actual fighter. Yumeha, when we return, we'll free the humans, the elves, and some vampires."
Scratching his head lightly, he sighed as he made that decision.
'I really can't just abandon them.'
Corvina nodded with a certain trace of satisfaction at her master's decision.
"I just don't like the decision to free vampires, but I agree with the rest."
"In exchange for their freedom, I'll offer them an agreement that will make them useful in this war, even if most of them aren't mages."
Enrico entered the cell and finally saw who was being kept there. A girl wore dirty white clothes, while her hair was completely white and her eyes had an intense red color. There were several scars scattered across her body, but even with those marks, she had a rather beautiful appearance.
Upon noticing the presence of the two, the girl slowly raised her head. Her eyes were filled with pure hatred.
"Who is this new bloodsucker? Did you come to torture me too?"
Corvina was quite surprised.
They had found someone who apparently hated her own race.