Patch carefully observed the bustling activity within the large fortress, a man named Morris by his side as they stared out at the gathered people and silently thought on the prior discussion.
The former commander and his group had arrived at the fortress a few hours ago, but already, things were getting hectic. As soon as he introduced himself to the guards, they had brought him to see the supposed leader and a former royal knight of one of the other worlds kingdoms. Just like the kid had mentioned, they seemed fairly good and decent people, with the goal of helping and protecting as many people as possible, including humans of earth, but he could tell that something was happening. People were rushing around with frantic energy, an extra wall was being erected around the fortress and the temporary council of sorts that had been put in place all had grim expressions.
Patch had been getting updated on the situation since arriving, having grown concerned about the presence of other races in the area after hearing Lewis's tale.
"Do you really think all this effort this is necessary? Shouldn't people be focusing on gathering supplies instead of sword drills and construction?" He asked the archer.
"Honestly, I don't really know anything about these vampires, but these lot do, and they seem to think its a good idea. Besides, with the system shop we can purchase food for a few points, so its hardly a priority right now. I think the boss man wants people to level up and stay safe. So if an extra barrier can hold up some monsters back and allow people to take cover in the fortress or even by time to teleport to the second floor, then I say we do just that." The archer responded, shrugging his shoulders as they stared out over the wall.
Patch only scowled in response. "Right, getting everyone to level 10, yeah? I don't see how that's going to be possible in a short amount of time. Most of these people are still at level 1."
"I agree, but that's why we need to further entrench ourselves to prepare to fight off any potential attackers before were all ready to ascend."
But as if to mock the archers words, a scream sounded from the gate, their eyes instantly stepping to the source as a woman was pointing at a figure covered in blood, his mouth still dripping with the crimson liquid of life, and the corpse of a lifeless bystander in its arms.
Immediately, the guards by the gate leaped into action, their spears leveled at the attacker as more shouts and cries rang out.
The attacker turned to the guards with bright sickly yellow eyes and elongated fangs, its body exploding into movement as it chucked the lifeless victim at the charging guards, leaping to the side and knocking into a crude wooden stall that was being used to serve food. The wooden frame exploded from the creatures superhuman strength, people being knocked down from the creatures charge as it fled the guards, but it seemed to take the most destructive path possible, purposely slamming into every tent and group along the way, causing people to panic and scatter in the face of the mutated human.
However, its rampage was cut short when a random man in plain clothes swung a large oversized great sword at the demon spawn, cleanly slicing its head from its body as the two parts went tumbling to the ground. Plenty of people gasped or cheered, many running over to see what the commotion was and praising the man with the great sword. The man himself seemed stunned at the development, clearly not having possessed such strength before the system arrived and his clothes indicated he was from the other world. The look in his eyes was a mix of shock and exhilaration, his mind no doubt racing as he achieved something only the knights and mages of his world should be able to do, slay a vampire underling.
But the moment of triumph was short lived as another round of screams came from the opposite direction of the camp, then another and another. This wasn't an isolated incident, it was a coordinated attack.
"Its a diversion. Their trying to infiltrate the fortress." Patch called, noticing several hooded figures enter the now unguarded gate as the crowd had pulled their attention away.
Morris was already knocking an arrow and taking aim while the former commander unsheathed his sword and rushed to intercept the invaders.
***
Victoria stood in the canopy of a tall tree as she observed the chaos in the human settlement. Her puppets were currently causing a ruckus and testing their surprisingly lacking defenses. It had been shockingly easy to smuggle hollows into the base, and now they simply needed to cause as much unrest as possible.
Once the other vampires gathered, they would be able to utterly obliterate any resistance and overtake the base. The young vampiress licked her lips as her blood sense highlighted the alluring blood bags running around like headless chickens behind their pathetic walls.
She once more thanked whatever god had created the system, the power she could now extract from blood had skyrocketed, it's power flowing through her body even now. Although it also meant she had to restrain herself from draining too much, or she would be forced out of the first floor and get dragged away to a place without so many ripe humans. It was like she was being teased, her tongue licking the back of her teeth as she savored the memory of her fangs digging into that foolish human she had snagged, the sweet bliss when she had drank from him as she felt her heart thrum with power and her newly formed blood reserves fill.
Truly, this system had blessed them, allowing them to store and refine vast quantities of blood. Something usually only possible for vampire nobles, but now a youngling half-breed like her had access to such capabilities.
She flexed her will and summoned a portion of her stored crimson liquid, forming a swirling orb above her palm as she marveled at her [Blood manipulation] skill. Changing the liquids shape into an arrow, then a dagger, and finally a long needle shape, making it spin before whizzing around the tree and finally merging back into her body, returned to her blood reserves.
After waiting a few more minutes until all her blood bound puppets were slain, and marveling at the fact that some had even managed to get inside and before being intercepted, she leapt from the high branches of the tree, exerting control over the blood in her own body to fling herself through the air in long-winded leaps.
It was yet another ability she had never dared hope to possess. A mastery over blood that should have only been possible for the pure-blood lineage, not a half-breed vampire like herself. In fact, most of the vampires don't possess sufficient concentration of vampiric blood to allow them more than basic regeneration, what she had now learnt to be mana was only possible for the strongest of noble vampires.
Yet here she was, a half-breed with the ability to not only store the mana-charged blood of her prey, but also weaponize it to her will and even perform a mimicry of flight, with the not unrealistic hope of one day being able to control her blood so effortlessly that she could sail through the sky without issue. But these were all benefits of her vampiric race. Her true fascination had come from the class she had selected.
Blood witch is a class that perfectly complements her vampiric skills with an added flair of blood curses.
Victoria hadn't even know what a curse was until now, but after picking the class, she was fascinated by its incredible power.
Unlike blood manipulation, her curses were far more subtle and insidious. Like a disease taking over her prey. Making what should have been an infected human into her personal puppet, stripping away any personality or resistance and giving her full control over them. She could even send them orders through their blood bond, making it incredibly easy to pass them off as normal humans, instead of the sweaty, blood addicted messes of standard human infected.
Flitting through the forest, it wasn't long until she met back up with the other vampires, the foursome having set up within a small human camp, the former members of which were now dead hollows within the main human fortress.
"So, how are things looking?"
Victoria leveled an unimpressed gaze on the skinny vampire, the man still acting as if he is in command just because he has a minor noble lineage, but she had already eclipsed him in terms of strength despite her lack of background.
"My hollows infiltrated them effortlessly without them even suspecting a thing. Got them all riled up, they're a total mess. Not even any real soldiers or safeguards, or at least, none properly trained to handle us. The only issue stopping me from storming the place right now is their numbers. But as soon as we regroup with reinforcements from the north, the human base is as good as ours."
All five vampires grinned at that, their prominent fangs on display for a moment as they all imagined feasting on that delectable human blood elixir.
"Only issue is the Lycans are making moves. Blocking off the north most region and making it difficult to travel." Another added, letting out a small hiss of frustration.
"What are those stupid mutts even thinking. They have no reason to help the humans, they should just let us have them."
"Those damned dogs are always sniffing around where their not wanted, always getting in the way of a good thing. Besides, the humans don't want anything to do with them either. It's illogical to try and protect them like their somehow part of their little packs."
Victoria mentally sighed. These guys were complete idiots. Then again, they are all country bumkins with no clue about the real world. Even the little lordling, with his perpetual sneer and haughty attitude, seemed as clueless as the rest.
"It's because they don't want us to wipe out the humans, it would make us far stronger, especially now, thanks to how much stronger a single human can make us with our new skills. And if we subjugate the humans, then we will have the strength and motivation to wipe them out too. Its the same reason they had always blocked out passage into human lands despite not being on particularly friendly terms with them either." Victoria explained, but she didn't expect them to fully understand. It was honestly frustrating that she was stuck with them, each one of them was weaker and less competent than her, but she could only wait until a higher noble appeared to show off her strength and hopefully get inducted into one of the noble clans.
But to do that, she had to work with these idiots and make sure the human camp falls. It will be a feat worthy of recognition and propel her to greater heights. The systems arrival was bringing great change, and she was determined not to get left behind in the rising tide. Although she worried about how much stronger the Lycan may be able to get as well.
Humans are weak and have always been weak. Even the small scraps of power they get from the system cannot help them defeat the true apex predators of the world, but the Lycan could become a serious issue.
The vampires and Lycans have been feuding forever. Neither side ever being pushed far enough to actually lose, but neither wanting to expend all their might in crushing the other. After all, vampires much prefer the taste of human blood, they're their primary diet. So even thought they can digest the blood of other beast's and Lycan, it tastes terrible to them and is far less nourishing.
Lycan, on the other hand, have a strange notion of protection and loyalty, always sticking together in their little packs and somehow gaining strength from each other. A large enough Lycan pack can even threaten entire vampire populations, so the two have been in a naturally stand-off for as long as history remembers.
But Victoria got the feeling that that eternal stalemate was about to end with this new era of change. A new race had begun, one to decide the true apex predators of the world and one that was guaranteed to change things forever.