June 15th 2018.

  Rain staggers to his feet and holds up his eskrima sticks. “I…Huh. won’t…Huh. let…Huh. you…Huhhuh. hurt…Huh. them…Huh.” He says with short words and gasping breaths. Rain is a tall and muscular man. His complexion is tan and his hair is a bright golden color. But now he looks pale and you can see small likes of dark corruption seeping up his body.

  Pointing at himself the vampire asks, “Me? You’re telling me what to do? HEHEHEHhak.” Laughing he steps forward and pushes Rain to the ground. Standing over him, he snarls. “You’re just a snack now. You don’t tell me what to do!”

  Rolling with the fall Rain grimaces and staggers back to his feet. As he does a mix of different healing effects get laced over his body. Standing just a little straighter. Rain brandishes his weapons. The healing helped, but in truth it wasn’t as effective as it could have been. He needs his blood replenished, not classic healing.

  “You will have to go through me.” Rain says with more force in his voice. He steps back from the next shove and the vampire snarls in his face.

  “Just because I want to harvest your blood, doesn’t mean I won’t kill you.” The vampire snarls in his face.

  At this point Rain realizes that the vampire no longer sees him as a threat. At the same time the vampire seems to be reveling in his supposed superiority. Pretending to lose strength in his legs, he lets himself get shoved back. As he falls to the ground the vampire steps over him and makes his way toward the wall. He is laughing and cackling the entire time. Rogar feels like a fox that got locked into a hen house.

  Taking in a deep breath, he sighs with a deranged smile. “This is nice, this is how things should be.” Side stepping, he avoids another arrow shot from Emi. Stopping for a moment he brushes his cheek. Looking at his finger there is a drop of blood. The arrow was surrounded by sharp winds and one of them nicked his cheek.

  “Your first.” He growls and jumps forward. Emi led him toward her intentionally. As a ranger architype she isn’t above setting traps and seeking advantageous situations. Rolling backward the vampire lands on the wall. As he does a collection of different runes and traps start to glow brightly.

  Looking up Rogar catches Emi’s eyes. She gives him a quick wink and a wave fit for a princess that is riding through her capital city, on a carriage, the day of her wedding. In a split-second Rogar realizes he won’t be fast enough to evade. Creating and pulling in blood, he makes a shield as fast as he can. It isn’t fully formed by the time the traps explode. But it is enough that instead of being majorly damaged, he is only thrown back.

  Emi waves back the other people that she called forward. She asked for anyone with a trap skill to help lay them around her. Now that the trap sprung, she wants them out of harms way.

  Still in the air Rogar is flying head first toward Rain. He springs back to his feet, far faster than Rogar expected. In midair Rogar is starting to spin to land on his feet. But Rain’s unexpected rise means he doesn’t have time. Taking a spinning kick to the face Rogar hits the ground hard and ends up bouncing off the packed dirt back into the air.

  “Fire!” Rain yells out. On the wall, everyone already has used up all their reserves. They had a hard push to clear out the monsters, then they bombarded Rogar with the last of their energy. Because of this only a few people have recovered enough to attack.

  On the bright side it is the dedicated casters, archer, and the most powerful people that have recovered enough to join in the attack. A few arrows, a few more mana bolts, and a localized wind storm all attack the stunned vampire.

  As the attacks subside Rain rushes back in and prepares to finish things. Right before his charged eskrima stick is about to strike the vampire, his body is pulled back by and unseen force.

  As he flies back the red tint reasserts itself in the air. Rogar is using his aura again. Swiping his hand back toward him Rain is pulled back to the vampire like a marionette. Punching Rain as he comes in range. It is now his turn to hit the ground hard enough to bounce.

  “This skill is almost as draining as ‘Blood Reign’. Usually, I can only use it on people significantly weaker than me. But with my aura. It seems I can use it on others.” Rogar smiles and turns to the people on the wall.

  Rain is dazed and sitting on the ground on his back groaning. Holding out his hand Rogar focuses on the people on the wall. “Blood Body Dominion.” As he says those words he focuses his will. The red haze starts to shift from a circle around Rogar to a cone toward the left side of the wall. As people start to run away, he yanks his hand back. Pulling on the blood in the bodies of the people, over thirty people get pulled off the wall and into the air.

  Rogar laughs and holds out his hands as he waits for the bodies to rain around him. Before he can get to happy Mayor Eliana steps up. She might not be a fighter. But she is a powerful dryad with a close connection to her attunement. Enough to reach out with the roots that make up the wall and start catching the flying people.

  Screams can be heard as the people that are being pulled to the vampire are now snagged with vines and roots around their bodies. Some of them are even pierced through in places like their arms and legs. She decided that it was best to catch them, even if she had to hurt them.

  Seeing the dryad woman catching all his snacks. Rogar holds out both hands to her, “Blood Body Dominion.” He chants at Eliana. With a grunt and a far larger surge of mana than he expected, Rogar manages to mentally grab the blood in her body. With a vicious grin he yanks her toward him.

  Emi and the final living tier 2 guard dive forward to try and save her. Emi is propelled by a stream of wind and the guard is using some kind of physical boosting skill. But neither are able to reach her in time. The mayor sails right over everyone’s heads and into the killing field that the vampire is standing in.

  As she leaves the ground all the roots and vines that she was controlling go limp. Some of the people were already pulled to safety, but most of them were still in the air. Hitting the ground with a thud, all the vines and people drop into the field as well.

  “Hehehe, let the slaughter begin.” Rogar giggles to himself and then grins. Running toward his first victim, the level 30 man had no chance at escape before getting hoisted by his neck and drained dry of blood. As Rogar starts to go through the people and drain them one by one, he has to release his aura. It is still new to him; it is something he has no practice with. With the extra energy he is draining he is strong enough to use his aura for a while. But it is draining on his body and mind, in a way that he hasn’t experienced before.

  On the other side of the wall Alli is looking around. Counting all the members of her party Luna is missing. It takes her a moment to realize that Luna stayed on the wall when they charged the monsters. Her skills are best used from a vantage point. “Oh no… Luna!” Alli yells before charging back up the wall.

  Searching through all the people that are in the field, she has a hard time picking out anyone. They are all fleeing and getting thrown about. The vampire is obviously taking his time and playing with his food. She is having a hard time focusing with all the people that are moving about. On the wall people are fleeing or preparing to engage. In the city everyone is trying to find safe places to hide. The entire town is now in pandemonium.

  Still on the ground Hinata and the rest of the party, besides Alli, Luna, and Helo, are all speaking with Emi and the final tier 2 guard to make a plan. Other officials and people of any importance are all voicing their concerns or ideas. Although most of them have already fled.

  “Helo should be punished.” One of the men states. His son is only a little older than Hinata. He has been trying to get Akira to agree to a marriage for a while. Everyone looks at him with bewilderment or shock. In their heads they are thinking. What are you on about. We might not survive and you want to punish a kid.

  Hinata stares at the man with her most imperious face. “I presume you have good reason?” She doesn’t say anything after that and all conversations around them go quiet. The people with their own agendas are listening in with interest and the rest are looking at the man like he is insane.

  “Well… Ahem… He led the vampire here.” The man says after stuttering and clearing his throat.

  Hinata just scoffs at him. “Ha. So, after clearing six rifts, he should have what? Let the vampire kill him. Your whole idea assumes that if it wasn’t for Helo everyone would already be dead, or waiting for the mana storage to empty, then die. So, after that, then you assume that the vampire didn’t already know about this little town. I can assure you. He did.”

  Waving her hands a tier 1 guard step forward and clear the man from the area. Turning back to everyone she says, “We need to hold the line at the wall. Work on saving who you can. But some sacrifices are neces… necessary.” She chokes up on the last part, but her gaze remains hard.

  Everyone around her is much older and realizes the weight on her shoulders. “With enough bodies we can hold the wall.” The guard says with a hard tone. Everyone knows what he really means. Deaths, sending people to die. “But how do we win?”

  Nobody else speaks up, everyone knows that no matter what people will die. But somebody has to make an actual plan and quickly. Right now, people are getting massacred on the other side of the wall and all their fighters are starting to flee.

  “Someone gets in contact with my father. The best solution is that a tier 3 is available and comes to help. But we need a plan to either win or by time.” Hinata looks around and she can see it on everyone face. Nobody has any idea what to do. As they are all starting to feel the despair set in someone speaks up from outside the circle.

  “I got the kid stabilized.” The tier 2 dryad says with a quick bow as he is walking up. He is a large man and has a very calming presence. They all look at him and realize that they forgot about one of their tier 2 fighters. When the vampire came five tier 2 fighters went to stop him. Two were killed, Rain was injured, Emi was pushed back to the wall, and Drahnel went to heal Helo.

  Hinata lets out a sigh of relief. She doesn’t know if it is more because Helo is stable, or if it is because Drahnel is back. “Can you go help Rain and Emi. They are having a hard time. With you there a lot of people that would have died can be saved.”

  With a bow he says, “Yes Miss Kashiwagi.” Then he turns and jumps over the wall. On the other side they can hear crashing, then the sound of the ground being torn apart.

  “Well, hopefully that will have stabilized things.” The tier 1 guard says. “Now we need a plan to finish this.” At his words everyone again is silent. Dropping his head the guard says, “So, were going to have to just throw bodies at the problem.”

  Everyone wants to contradict him. But nobody has any other ideas. They don’t have the time or resources to conduct a ritual. There are no other fighters, unless Hinata’s dad comes in time. They really are out of options. Hinata looks around the table with a sad tint to her eyes and she nods. “Okay, just… I think I have an idea. It is a long shot. But I need a few minutes. Be careful, for at least ten minutes. If I am not back by then, go all out and finish things.”

  With this everyone leaves with different expressions. But they all mean the same thing; things are not going to be good. Stepping away from the group Hinata looks around and can’t find Alli. “She was just right here?” She says to herself. On her left is a wall of vines and roots that reaches about ten feet tall. It forms a crescent shape surrounding the gate. To her right the town spreads out in different rows houses. In the center of that side there is a wide street heading toward the large tree.

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  Rocco steps forward “She is on the wall with Cody and Gabi. We can’t find Luna.” At those words Hinata looks around and she finally notices that the others are missing, not just Alli. “Everyone but Arisah and Aiko, go to Alli and keep her safe.” Hinata looks at Rocco and he opens his mouth to argue but Hinata just glares at him.

  Closing his mouth Rocco nods his head and turns toward the wall. Hinata grabs Aiko and Arisah’s hands. Pulling them into the city, Hinata stops. Looking around she tilts her head. “I don’t know where to go.”

  Arisah puts a hand over Hinata’s. “What are we looking for?” She asks in a sweet voice.

  “I need an alchemist.” She turns around and heads back to the wall. Asking someone who lives in the town where to do they get directions. Running through the town Hinata finds an Alchemy shops and breaks down the door. The house in enchanted and the alarms start to blare. But, taking out a small token, she holds it up against a slot in the wall.

  “What’s that?” Aiko asks. She is surprised that Hianta has a token that was able to stop all the alarms and defenses within the building.

  “Oh, I have seen your father use something similar. That is the master token correct?” Arisah adds as she is patiently waiting behind Hinata. Almost every large-scale enchantment in the Kashiwagi territory is funded by or someway because of the Kashiwagi family. Because of this there are built-in Master Key’s that Akira has.

  Just nodding her head, Hinata starts searching through the shelves. The alchemy building is filled with shelves and vials, each is meticulously labeled and everything is neat. “This is perfect.” She says to herself going through the shelves she finds different concoctions and starts pocketing things.

  “Mind Surge. Body reinforcement. This is perfect.” Nodding she goes into the back. “Hopefully the storage is as good as meticulously organized as the shelves.” In the back she gives a sigh of relief. Opening the draws Hinata grabs a small magical leaf.

  “What is that?” Aiko says to Hinata.

  “This is called Soothing Leaf. It can help calm the energy in the body when it is in an agitated state. But taking it just as a leaf, it can make it easier on the body to mix potions.” Hinata starts walking quickly out the door.

  Aiko and Arisah both make eye contact. Aiko mouths ‘What is she doing?’. Arisah just shrugs and follows along. They follow Hinata all the way back to the wall. But instead of going up the wall, they turn into a house that is near the fighting. It is the house that the guards commandeered to act as a triage.

  Everyone makes room as the heiress rushes through the house. Looking through the different rooms, she finally finds Helo’s. Going in he is sleeping peacefully on the bed. “Get me a healer. I need to know what is going on with him.”

  Checking him over herself all Hinata can see is that he looks like he is sleeping well. A few seconds later a sweaty and tired healer enters the room. “Miss Aiko said you need to know about Mr. Helo.” He says while bowing to Hinata. “All his systems are stressed, his reserves are dangerously low, and his body started to tear itself apart.”

  Hinata just raises an eyebrow and the tired healer stutters. “Ah. Ah well Sir. Drahnel stabilized him. When he left, he said that Mr. Helo should be okay but to let him rest.”

  “Thanks.” Hinata waves the man away and pulls out the potions.

  While leaving the healer sees Hianta pulling out vials. “Ms. Kashiwagi, you shouldn’t be giving him anything.”

  “I know. But we need his help.” She chews the Soothing Leaf and puts the leaf from her mouth into Helo’s. Afterward she pours both vials down his throat. Normally taking multiple potions at a time can have negative effects. Taking multiple potions of different types is even worse. But with the leaf that Hinata gave him, it should weaken the strongest of the side effects.

  “He should wake up soon, one of the potions energizes the mind, the other does the same for the body.” Hinata sits on Helo’s bed and waits. It only takes another ten seconds before Helo bolts up in bed. He is holding his head and groans into his hands.

  “Awwwwwwe what the FUCK! Gahhhhhh! What happened?”

  Back on the wall Alli and the rest of the party have finally found Luna. She is in the kill box and is knocked unconscious near the center. She has yet to be injured due to the vampire enjoying traumatizing his conscious victims.

  At the same time, he is fighting Rain and dodging Emi’s attacks. Things changed when Drahnel reappeared. His ability to control the terrain isn’t as powerful as Mayor Eliana. But it is still strong. Speaking of the mayor. She is bleeding profusely and attempting to defend a group of people that are stuck near the gate. Every time they try to flee the vampire attacks them.

  Instead, the mayor created a third wall that is now surrounding the group of about twenty trapped people. This fight shouldn’t have been this complicated, but everyone has been fighting for a day. Most came into the fight with almost no mana left. Some even entered the fight with injuries.

  Dodging a blood disk from the vampire Rain twists in the air and strikes out with a kick. By this point the vampire is used to Rain’s fast and versatile fighting style. He dodges low and the kick sails over his head.

  In the moment where Rain is landing Rogar laughs, raising his hand to the left he sends out a group of blood disk toward some of the people on the wall. He can tell that they are trying to stall. He doesn’t know why, but they aren’t really attacking him. Just keeping him contained.

  As the fight continues it turns into something like a turn-based fight. Everyone has seen the moves that their opponent has. Rogar obviously hasn’t seen all the moves of the people on the wall. But of the people that can actually do real damage to him, he has seen their skills.

  So now he is working on weakening a certain section of the wall so he can break free, while everyone else is working on keeping him there. “Agghhhh, this is getting boring!” The vampire shouts. It has almost been the ten minutes that Hinata asked for.

  In that time their fighters have manned the wall and created a perimeter. Working together they are able to defend against the much stronger opponent. Even if it is only his stray shots. “Let’s just get the ball rolling, I want to be wading in blood up to my knees!”

  As Rogar finishes speaking he activated his aura and ‘Blood Reign’ again. Over the course of the last few minutes he has been able to regain enough mana that he can use those two skills without feeling like he is going to bottom out of mana instantly.

  A similar scene happens as a red wave spreads out, then that red wave starts to condense into blood droplets. The scene is similar except this time instead of there being five tier 2 fighters. There are only three.

  Randomly using ‘Blood Body Dominion’ the vampire creates true chaos. His bloodline, aura, ‘Blood Reign, and ‘Blood Body Dominion’. Are all stacking to give him almost complete control over the blood of any tier 1 individual. With this he is able to use a large portion of mana to easily move the tier 2 fighters.

  Tossing bodies off the wall and throwing around the people who are attacking him, Rogar is in a moment of revelry. This is one of the greatest slaughters he has ever been in. His mana is dropping fast, but as long as he can get Rain, Emi and Drahnel to use their mana as well. He can just force another stalemate. Expect the forces on the wall will be much weaker. Then all he has to do is drain another blood bag and regain his energy.

  “Helo. We don’t have much time. I don’t know how you’re feeling. I wasn’t even supposed to wake you.” Hinata holds onto Helo’s hands and starts speaking in a rush. She is speaking so fast that Helo is having trouble listening.

  His body feels weird. He has never felt a sensation like this. He hasn’t taken a potion before, and its effect is an odd feeling for him. At the same time the two potions are mixing in his body and creating a reaction that is painful and makes him feel sick.

  Looking up with bleary eyes into Hinata’s dark brown one’s he asks. “Wahhh.”

  Hinata stops her tirade and slows down. “Things are not going well.” Helo nods after she stops speaking. “A vampire with a new aura is trapped in the kill box by the gate. But he is too strong to easily kill or stop.” Helo’s eyes go wide at this. He has a guess on who the vampire is. Hinata sees the recognition in his eyes and keeps talking.

  “We needed to either kill him or wait for help.” Helo again nods, but the movement makes his stomach flip and he leans over the bed and starts coughing. “You’re have the strongest burst damage in the town. When nobody could come up with a plan, I thought about you.”

  Helo is surprised at this. There are some powerful tier 2 fighters in the town. He should not be the only one who can do significant damage. Shaking his head he refocuses back on Hinata. “We need you.” Hinata grabs his hands and looks him in the eyes. Her own are filled with tears. “I know you have already gone above and beyond. You personally cleared like 6 rifts. But I need you.” At her final words she leans forward and kisses Helo’s cheek.

  Helo’s eyes go wide but Hinata isn’t done. “All I need in one strike Helo, just one. I need the you that I heard in that forest when we picked you up. You hunter, the killer.” By now she is pleading and tears fall down onto their clasped hands.

  At her words and the look in her eyes, Helo knows how serious this is. He doesn’t really care for the people here. He doesn’t like seeing people be cheated, hurt, or preyed upon. But the truth is, he doesn’t care as much as he should. He thinks it has to do with his bloodline. But he does care about Alli and Hinata, plus the rest of the party.

  His eyes firm and at the same time the go from an oval to a jagged slit. Hinata is still holding his hands and he can feel as a shiver is sent through her body. Releasing his hand, she blushes then she starts to take off her shirt. As she is, she is speaking again. “I know you’re not a vampire. We have assumed you were in the past. But I saw a vampire, and that isn’t you. But you can still draw in blood and we really need the predator that I know you are.”

  With her shirt off she doesn’t bother to cover up. Leaving her body on display, her blush deepens as she can not only see, but feel Helo’s hungry gaze.

  Helo is taking in Hinata as she bares herself before him. Her body is that of a toned gymnast, but both her bloodlines are known for their accentuated beauty and curvy figures. Hinata got the best from both. She has a slim waist and slightly visible abs. Going up her chest is large and firm. It is still covered by what looks like a sports bra. This leads up to her neck, which to Helo’s surprise is stretching in a very attractive way toward the left. “Take some. Ah. Finish this.” She says with a pant in her voice. The door is closed but both Aiko and Arisah are staring in shock at the scene before them.

  His hard gaze changes into something else and he give a stiff nod. Running a hand through her hair, Helo gently pulls her forward. His other hand is now on her waist and he pulls her almost into his lap. Looking into her eyes one last time he can see her excitement there.

  Taking that as a final yes, Helo leans down and runs his fangs across her neck. As he bites down, he can feel the pure vitality within her blood. The dryad in her makes her taste like one of the richest meals he has ever taken. The kitsune bloodline fills her blood with magic and makes her taste unique and powerful.

  Bother Helo and Hinata moan as he starts to drain her of her vitality. As she weakens, she falls fully into his lap and now Helo is holding her and she is pressed against him because she is too weak and to filled with pleasure to do it herself. A few seconds later Helo pulls back.

  “Ahhhh that feels good.” Helo groans into Hinata’s chest. He has taken blood before, but nothing like this.

  Hinata holds his head to keep herself up. “Yeahhhh.” She says in a breathy tone.

  To the side they both hear a “Ahem!”

  Jumping slightly the look over and see the two girls staring at them with their own blushes and with wide eyes. Aiko is staring with jealousy. But Arisah speaks first. “Now that was a beautiful moment. But your ten minutes are also up.”

  Putting a hand on Helo’s cheek Hinata pulls his gaze back to her. A little taken aback by the vibrant golden glow she almost stops talking, almost. “I’ll explain everything later. But you have to go now.”

  Shifting his expression back to one that is much harder his golden glow pans the room. Not finding anything suspicious he picks up Hinata in a princess carry and sets her in his place. Handing her his shirt he looks at Arisah and Aiko. “Keep her safe.” He almost growls out.

  With this potent vitality flowing through his body he can feel all of the side effects of his own strain and the potions go away. He knows that they were only pushed back. But from what he drained, he has at least thirty seconds of the physical enhancement. If he activates ‘Bloodline Awakening’ it is about ten. But at the same time the boost would be great.

  Focusing on his impressive hearing for the first time Helo can hear the screams and cries of dying men and women. He can also hear the sounds of a fierce battle. Walking through the triage house everyone turns to see Helo walk by. They all can feel him, for most it is the first time. Usually, he is concealing his presence. It is something that he just does subconsciously.

  They all stare as he goes by. He is shirtless and his toned body is on display. At the same time he has different cuts crossing his skin and bright red blood forms a contrast. In a less physical way the pressure he emits is whipping round him in a predatory way. This subconscious pressure is almost forcing everyone around him to stop and stare.

  Getting to the wall with his body still boosted he can hear everything that is going on the other side. He is intentionally keeping his aura retracted because he doesn’t want to alert Rogar.

  Listening he can almost see the fight happening in his mind. On the walls he can hear Alli and his party doing what they can to defend the people. In the place between the wall to the town, and the wall the mayor made, which they dubbed the kill box. He can practically feel as the vampire and Rain trade a series of furious blows. The vampire is doing everything he can to send attacks toward the wall and kill anyone that has an opening. Rain is the exact opposite. He is trying to save everyone around him.

  Helo doesn’t know what the ‘Ten minutes’ were about. But he now has a vague idea. There are a group of people on the wall that have a very serious expression on their faces. They all look like they are about to face the death penalty. But at the same time their postures are filled with a resolute confidence.

  Taking in the entire fight as his physical enhancement wears off Helo almost stumbles to a knee as he weakens. With his weaker but still impressive hearing he can hear the vampire speak. “Ohhh now who was that. That vitality was almost…” Shivering he says. “Overwhelming.”

  Solace conceals himself in a swirl of darkness, and the vampire gets struck by a serious blow due to getting distracted. He can hear as the vampire takes the hit to the chest and the vampire gets up from where he hit the wall muttering. “Where did it go.”