“Stop there.” Agatha said as she pointed at a location a bit away from the buildings. “I won’t force you to, but I recommend you stay in this carriage until we get the first of the hungry dhampirs fed. Lessens the chance that you get attacked.”
“Sure. I’ll stay in here.” I agreed with her. I’d rather not lose an arm. Or a leg. Or just die. None of them sound like a good idea.
Lua and Agatha got out of Overdrive, but I stayed in and locked the doors.
It has been a while since I was last here. I tend to not come here, as it reminds me of the bad parts of being a dhampir. Living in these huts that barely count as housing. Being seen as nothing more than a bloodthirsty monster.
“Lady Agatha is here!” I heard a young voice yell out.
“Hopefully she has something good today.” Another responded.
Two young dhampirs ran towards us and mother crouched down to receive them into a hug.
“Hi, Anika, Kody. You two seem to be in good health.” Mother said to the two of them.
“Yes. Did you bring something good?” Kody asked.
“Please have something good. Last time wasn’t good.” Anika added.
“I’m sorry. I know goblin blood is terrible, but we had a small issue last time.” Mother said to the two. Goblin blood really is awful. You don’t really want to drink it unless it is the only thing you have. “But don’t worry, this time we have boar and orc blood.”
“Orc? Really?” Anika asked, her eyes turning from their usual dark red to a more shining crimson color. It shows that she is about to go into a blood frenzy. Had Brian gotten out of that carriage, there would be a decent chance that Anika would attack him now that she is in the blood frenzy state.
The blood frenzy is something I don’t really understand. I’ve never been in that state myself after all. I know it is a massive thirst for blood that can be triggered by basically anything. But some dhampirs, such as myself, never go into a blood frenzy.
As far as I know, there are only two ways to get out of a blood frenzy. The common way is to drink blood until you are satisfied and the other is a blood magic spell called Calm Blood.
The big problem with Calm Blood is that you can’t really use it on yourself. Your self control in blood frenzy is non-existent, so good luck trying to magic on yourself at that state.
“Where is the blood? Is it here?” Anika was asking as she was shoving her head into my mother’s magic bag.
I took a hold of her and gently bit into the upper part of her right arm. I then used Calm Blood to get her out of her frenzy.
She pulled her head out of the magic bag and I saw that her eyes had returned to their normal deeper red color.
“... what?” Anika seemed confused.
“Don’t worry. You are fine.” Mother said to her. “You just went into a frenzy and Lua helped you out of it.”
“... did I do bad?” Anika asked.
“No. You didn’t do anything bad.” I told her. “It just lasted a second.”
“Thank you, big sis. But who is big sis?” Anika asked.
“She is my daughter, Lucia.” My mother introduced me.
“Lady Agatha had a daughter?” Kody wondered. “But she smells like us. Why doesn’t she live here?”
“She doesn’t need to as she can fully control herself.” My mother told them.
“I want to do that too.” Anika said quietly.
We walked with the kids to the main building in the village. It was one of the actually well built buildings that existed in here, as it had been built by professionals while the dhampirs had been away from the town. We called it the town hall.
This was also the building that they used to store the blood barrels. These barrels have been specifically made to store blood. They don’t have any sort of spatial enhancement, but they do keep the blood good for a longer time. Well, you could also say that not having a spatial enchant is good, as they can be stored within magic bags. They are also a lot cheaper.
A dhampir with the blood curse needs anywhere from 3-4 liters of blood each day. Children a little less, between 2 and 3 liters. With seventeen dhampirs living in this village, the 180 liters of blood that we brought will be used in just three days. Of course most blood is a waste product as it is not used for anything, so there is only the collection cost, but it can still be a lot. Having more dhampirs working as adventurers might help with that, but with how rare stable dhampirs are, it isn’t looking great.
My mother looked through the six barrels that were in the building. They seemed to be ones brought here at an earlier date. Mother was opening the lids of the barrels and looking inside. Based on smell, four of the six had goblin blood, one had a mixture of different monster blood, and one was boar blood. The mixed and boar blood barrels were empty, but out of the four goblin blood barrels, two were full and one was almost full.
“Have you not been drinking blood?” Mother asked the two children.
“... no. We got some snake blood from a forest snake that came too close.” Kody answered.
“One snake won’t feed you for multiple days.” Mother pressured them. “So you haven’t been drinking enough and that is why you went into a frenzy that quickly.”
“...” The two kids couldn’t answer.
“Don’t worry. I’m not angry. I just wish you would still drink it even if it is bad.” Mother said to the two of them, before turning to me. “I’ll swap out the barrels. Could you go around and tell everyone that the new blood is here.”
“Yes. I’ll go do that.” I said before I left the building.
I went around the village telling everyone about the new blood shipment. Most of the older folk recognized me and were asking how I had been doing, but I just said that they should be heading to the town hall for now and that we can speak later.
I’m kind of impressed that they remember me that well. It has been over five years since I last came here. But I guess in a village this small, you remember the people that spend just a few days. Especially as I don’t think they have a lot of visitors.
I got comments like, “You’ve grown so much.” and “You seem to be doing well.” from them. I suppose that even with all of my hate for this place, it is somewhat like my home.
After I had gone to each house to inform the occupants, I went to the flower field. The place where blood lilies were grown.
Blood lilies are one of the reasons that dhampirs even exist any more. They are a flower that produces a red nectar that is needed for HP potions. Well, it isn’t strictly necessary, but it is a lot easier to get than the alternatives. And as blood lilies need blood magics to help them grow and mature, dhampirs grow them for the nectar. It is somewhat ironic that we make the materials needed for healing potions, even though those potions will have a reduced effect on us.
I had found 16 of the 17 villagers and had asked them to go to the town hall. I had heard that everyone should be somewhere here, but I hadn’t found Ria yet. Her full name is Rhianna, but she goes by Ria. She was just a year younger than I am and she was always jealous of my level of control. She on the other hand has a tendency to lose control and go into a frenzy. To make things worse, she is also strong. When we were children, she believed that by growing her physical strength, she could gain control of her curse.
That, of course, didn’t lead to the desired outcome. Instead she just became more powerful and more difficult to control whenever she happened to enter a blood frenzy. The good thing was, that with her power, she could take down any monster, D-rank or below, with only minor injuries. And that was many years ago. If she had kept up the training, she has most likely reached a level where she can fight with C-rank monsters without sustaining any injuries.
And honestly, even though the others said she should be in the village, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had headed into the woods for a hunt.
“ROAR!” A massive roar was heard from the direction of the village entrance. Just a few seconds later I heard a voice in my head.
(Lua. Could you come back here? There is a small problem.) Brian said in my head. He sounds calm, even though something just let out a massive roar.
(Brian. What was that roar?) I asked him as I ran towards where we had left him.
(Lua. That was me. There was a small incident and the roar from yesterday activated. Could you come over?) I heard him in my head. So the roar was caused by him. At least there shouldn’t be a giant monster then.
As I arrived where we had left Brian, I didn’t see the golem carriage we had ridden in. But I did see two people. Brian and Ria.
Brian was just casually standing there, looking like he didn’t know what to do. But Ria wasn’t.
She was hovering just above the ground, being held there by some sort of magic circle. My guess would be the effect of another of Brian’s cards. Ria was flailing around, struggling to get out. Her usually dark green eyes had turned into a shining emerald color, showing that she was in a blood frenzy.
“Oh, hi Lua.” I heard Brian call out as he spotted me.
“... Hi. What’s going on? Why are you out of that carriage?” I asked.
“Oh that. I had to unsummon Overdrive as its time limit came up.” Brian answered. “Then this dhampir girl came to talk to me. I told her that you already took the blood into the big building and she kind of went mad and tried to attack me. But I had Threatening Roar protecting me and after it activated, I used Spellbinding Circle to keep her in place and contacted you.”
So the roar is also a card? At least based on how he said that. I thought it was the Intimidating Roar skill. But I guess Brian didn’t have that skill when I saw his status at the guild. Thinking back on that, Brian’s status was so strange. He had only his unique skill and a few extra skills. No normal skills at all. Almost like all of his skills were given to him because of level ups, instead of him learning them normally.
“So, what do we do with her?” Brian asked, pointing at Ria.
“I can calm her down with blood magic, but there is a chance that she will just frenzy again.” I said. “We should take her into the town hall and have her drink some blood before I use blood magic on her. Can you move that magic circle?”
“Not sure. Let me try.” Brian answered before using his hand to guide the magic circle. The circle, and by extension Ria, were following the movements of his hand. “Yes, I can.” Brian then said to me.
“Then let’s go to the town hall.” I said, but we didn’t make it all the way there.
“Lua! What was that roar? Is there a monster attacking?” My mother asked me as she rushed out of the town hall. She was holding a large battle-axe in her left hand. It looked like something you would need two hands to wield, but Mother could do it with one.
“No. Everything is fine. Ria was just causing trouble and Brian had to use Intimidating Roar on her to keep her still.” I explained. I know Brian used a card, not the skill, but a skill is easier to explain.
“Are you sure? Everyone heard it and they are preparing for battle.” Mother said.
“Yes. It’s fine. Please go tell them that.” I said.
“... is Ria alright?” Mother asked after she saw Ria flailing in Brian’s magic circle.
“She is just in a frenzy. I’ll calm her down after she gets some blood.” I answered. “Now go inside already. You need to tell everyone that there is no monster attack.”
“Yes, yes. And here I thought I was your mother.” Mother said as she turned back to the town hall.
But as she was heading back, some of the adults rushed out. All of them holding weapons, ready to fight whatever monster caused the roar.
Mother walked up to them and explained that there is no monster, it was just Ria causing trouble, again. And how an adventurer escort used Intimidating Roar to buy time for a binding spell.
Some of them were suspicious, like that story doesn’t make sense. Well, it really doesn’t. Intimidating Roar is not as loud as Brian’s roar. Well, then again, I’ve only heard the one Kalem uses. 1Member of Diamond Sword party
As the dhampirs looked at Ria struggling in the magic circle next to Brian, they looked … relieved. Like they were happy that the situation was under control. I wonder if Ria has been attacking people lately?
I also noticed a few of their eyes flicker into a brighter color, before immediately going back to the normal darker color, almost like they almost went frenzy, but were able to keep it under control.
One did go into a full frenzy, but the others realized and were able to catch him and hold him down before he had the time to attack Brian.
“Brian.” My mother called. “I know this isn’t the best time, but would you cure them all now?”
Spoiler
nro_8 I edited this chapter a bit before CH.156 came out. Here is the old version, if you want to see it.
But as she was heading back, some of the adults rushed out. All of them holding weapons, ready to fight whatever monster caused the roar.
They were looking at us, but a lot of their gazes focused on Ria struggling in the magic circle.
I could only watch as one by one their eyes began to shine, indicating them entering a blood frenzy.
Then, they all charged at us.
[collapse]
“Stop there.” Agatha said as she pointed at a location a bit away from the buildings. “I won’t force you to, but I recommend you stay in this carriage until we get the first of the hungry dhampirs fed. Lessens the chance that you get attacked.”
“Sure. I’ll stay in here.” I agreed with her. I’d rather not lose an arm. Or a leg. Or just die. None of them sound like a good idea.
Lua and Agatha got out of Overdrive, but I stayed in and locked the doors.
It has been a while since I was last here. I tend to not come here, as it reminds me of the bad parts of being a dhampir. Living in these huts that barely count as housing. Being seen as nothing more than a bloodthirsty monster.
“Lady Agatha is here!” I heard a young voice yell out.
“Hopefully she has something good today.” Another responded.
Two young dhampirs ran towards us and mother crouched down to receive them into a hug.
“Hi, Anika, Kody. You two seem to be in good health.” Mother said to the two of them.
“Yes. Did you bring something good?” Kody asked.
“Please have something good. Last time wasn’t good.” Anika added.
“I’m sorry. I know goblin blood is terrible, but we had a small issue last time.” Mother said to the two. Goblin blood really is awful. You don’t really want to drink it unless it is the only thing you have. “But don’t worry, this time we have boar and orc blood.”
“Orc? Really?” Anika asked, her eyes turning from their usual dark red to a more shining crimson color. It shows that she is about to go into a blood frenzy. Had Brian gotten out of that carriage, there would be a decent chance that Anika would attack him now that she is in the blood frenzy state.
The blood frenzy is something I don’t really understand. I’ve never been in that state myself after all. I know it is a massive thirst for blood that can be triggered by basically anything. But some dhampirs, such as myself, never go into a blood frenzy.
As far as I know, there are only two ways to get out of a blood frenzy. The common way is to drink blood until you are satisfied and the other is a blood magic spell called Calm Blood.
The big problem with Calm Blood is that you can’t really use it on yourself. Your self control in blood frenzy is non-existent, so good luck trying to magic on yourself at that state.
“Where is the blood? Is it here?” Anika was asking as she was shoving her head into my mother’s magic bag.
I took a hold of her and gently bit into the upper part of her right arm. I then used Calm Blood to get her out of her frenzy.
She pulled her head out of the magic bag and I saw that her eyes had returned to their normal deeper red color.
“... what?” Anika seemed confused.
“Don’t worry. You are fine.” Mother said to her. “You just went into a frenzy and Lua helped you out of it.”
“... did I do bad?” Anika asked.
“No. You didn’t do anything bad.” I told her. “It just lasted a second.”
“Thank you, big sis. But who is big sis?” Anika asked.
“She is my daughter, Lucia.” My mother introduced me.
“Lady Agatha had a daughter?” Kody wondered. “But she smells like us. Why doesn’t she live here?”
“She doesn’t need to as she can fully control herself.” My mother told them.
“I want to do that too.” Anika said quietly.
We walked with the kids to the main building in the village. It was one of the actually well built buildings that existed in here, as it had been built by professionals while the dhampirs had been away from the town. We called it the town hall.
This was also the building that they used to store the blood barrels. These barrels have been specifically made to store blood. They don’t have any sort of spatial enhancement, but they do keep the blood good for a longer time. Well, you could also say that not having a spatial enchant is good, as they can be stored within magic bags. They are also a lot cheaper.
A dhampir with the blood curse needs anywhere from 3-4 liters of blood each day. Children a little less, between 2 and 3 liters. With seventeen dhampirs living in this village, the 180 liters of blood that we brought will be used in just three days. Of course most blood is a waste product as it is not used for anything, so there is only the collection cost, but it can still be a lot. Having more dhampirs working as adventurers might help with that, but with how rare stable dhampirs are, it isn’t looking great.
My mother looked through the six barrels that were in the building. They seemed to be ones brought here at an earlier date. Mother was opening the lids of the barrels and looking inside. Based on smell, four of the six had goblin blood, one had a mixture of different monster blood, and one was boar blood. The mixed and boar blood barrels were empty, but out of the four goblin blood barrels, two were full and one was almost full.
“Have you not been drinking blood?” Mother asked the two children.
“... no. We got some snake blood from a forest snake that came too close.” Kody answered.
“One snake won’t feed you for multiple days.” Mother pressured them. “So you haven’t been drinking enough and that is why you went into a frenzy that quickly.”
“...” The two kids couldn’t answer.
“Don’t worry. I’m not angry. I just wish you would still drink it even if it is bad.” Mother said to the two of them, before turning to me. “I’ll swap out the barrels. Could you go around and tell everyone that the new blood is here.”
“Yes. I’ll go do that.” I said before I left the building.
I went around the village telling everyone about the new blood shipment. Most of the older folk recognized me and were asking how I had been doing, but I just said that they should be heading to the town hall for now and that we can speak later.
I’m kind of impressed that they remember me that well. It has been over five years since I last came here. But I guess in a village this small, you remember the people that spend just a few days. Especially as I don’t think they have a lot of visitors.
I got comments like, “You’ve grown so much.” and “You seem to be doing well.” from them. I suppose that even with all of my hate for this place, it is somewhat like my home.
After I had gone to each house to inform the occupants, I went to the flower field. The place where blood lilies were grown.
Blood lilies are one of the reasons that dhampirs even exist any more. They are a flower that produces a red nectar that is needed for HP potions. Well, it isn’t strictly necessary, but it is a lot easier to get than the alternatives. And as blood lilies need blood magics to help them grow and mature, dhampirs grow them for the nectar. It is somewhat ironic that we make the materials needed for healing potions, even though those potions will have a reduced effect on us.
I had found 16 of the 17 villagers and had asked them to go to the town hall. I had heard that everyone should be somewhere here, but I hadn’t found Ria yet. Her full name is Rhianna, but she goes by Ria. She was just a year younger than I am and she was always jealous of my level of control. She on the other hand has a tendency to lose control and go into a frenzy. To make things worse, she is also strong. When we were children, she believed that by growing her physical strength, she could gain control of her curse.
That, of course, didn’t lead to the desired outcome. Instead she just became more powerful and more difficult to control whenever she happened to enter a blood frenzy. The good thing was, that with her power, she could take down any monster, D-rank or below, with only minor injuries. And that was many years ago. If she had kept up the training, she has most likely reached a level where she can fight with C-rank monsters without sustaining any injuries.
And honestly, even though the others said she should be in the village, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had headed into the woods for a hunt.
“ROAR!” A massive roar was heard from the direction of the village entrance. Just a few seconds later I heard a voice in my head.
(Lua. Could you come back here? There is a small problem.) Brian said in my head. He sounds calm, even though something just let out a massive roar.
(Brian. What was that roar?) I asked him as I ran towards where we had left him.
(Lua. That was me. There was a small incident and the roar from yesterday activated. Could you come over?) I heard him in my head. So the roar was caused by him. At least there shouldn’t be a giant monster then.
As I arrived where we had left Brian, I didn’t see the golem carriage we had ridden in. But I did see two people. Brian and Ria.
Brian was just casually standing there, looking like he didn’t know what to do. But Ria wasn’t.
She was hovering just above the ground, being held there by some sort of magic circle. My guess would be the effect of another of Brian’s cards. Ria was flailing around, struggling to get out. Her usually dark green eyes had turned into a shining emerald color, showing that she was in a blood frenzy.
“Oh, hi Lua.” I heard Brian call out as he spotted me.
“... Hi. What’s going on? Why are you out of that carriage?” I asked.
“Oh that. I had to unsummon Overdrive as its time limit came up.” Brian answered. “Then this dhampir girl came to talk to me. I told her that you already took the blood into the big building and she kind of went mad and tried to attack me. But I had Threatening Roar protecting me and after it activated, I used Spellbinding Circle to keep her in place and contacted you.”
So the roar is also a card? At least based on how he said that. I thought it was the Intimidating Roar skill. But I guess Brian didn’t have that skill when I saw his status at the guild. Thinking back on that, Brian’s status was so strange. He had only his unique skill and a few extra skills. No normal skills at all. Almost like all of his skills were given to him because of level ups, instead of him learning them normally.
“So, what do we do with her?” Brian asked, pointing at Ria.
“I can calm her down with blood magic, but there is a chance that she will just frenzy again.” I said. “We should take her into the town hall and have her drink some blood before I use blood magic on her. Can you move that magic circle?”
“Not sure. Let me try.” Brian answered before using his hand to guide the magic circle. The circle, and by extension Ria, were following the movements of his hand. “Yes, I can.” Brian then said to me.
“Then let’s go to the town hall.” I said, but we didn’t make it all the way there.
“Lua! What was that roar? Is there a monster attacking?” My mother asked me as she rushed out of the town hall. She was holding a large battle-axe in her left hand. It looked like something you would need two hands to wield, but Mother could do it with one.
“No. Everything is fine. Ria was just causing trouble and Brian had to use Intimidating Roar on her to keep her still.” I explained. I know Brian used a card, not the skill, but a skill is easier to explain.
“Are you sure? Everyone heard it and they are preparing for battle.” Mother said.
“Yes. It’s fine. Please go tell them that.” I said.
“... is Ria alright?” Mother asked after she saw Ria flailing in Brian’s magic circle.
“She is just in a frenzy. I’ll calm her down after she gets some blood.” I answered. “Now go inside already. You need to tell everyone that there is no monster attack.”
“Yes, yes. And here I thought I was your mother.” Mother said as she turned back to the town hall.
But as she was heading back, some of the adults rushed out. All of them holding weapons, ready to fight whatever monster caused the roar.
Mother walked up to them and explained that there is no monster, it was just Ria causing trouble, again. And how an adventurer escort used Intimidating Roar to buy time for a binding spell.
Some of them were suspicious, like that story doesn’t make sense. Well, it really doesn’t. Intimidating Roar is not as loud as Brian’s roar. Well, then again, I’ve only heard the one Kalem uses. 1Member of Diamond Sword party
As the dhampirs looked at Ria struggling in the magic circle next to Brian, they looked … relieved. Like they were happy that the situation was under control. I wonder if Ria has been attacking people lately?
I also noticed a few of their eyes flicker into a brighter color, before immediately going back to the normal darker color, almost like they almost went frenzy, but were able to keep it under control.
One did go into a full frenzy, but the others realized and were able to catch him and hold him down before he had the time to attack Brian.
“Brian.” My mother called. “I know this isn’t the best time, but would you cure them all now?”
Spoiler
nro_8 I edited this chapter a bit before CH.156 came out. Here is the old version, if you want to see it.
But as she was heading back, some of the adults rushed out. All of them holding weapons, ready to fight whatever monster caused the roar.
They were looking at us, but a lot of their gazes focused on Ria struggling in the magic circle.
I could only watch as one by one their eyes began to shine, indicating them entering a blood frenzy.
Then, they all charged at us.
[collapse]
