Chapter 13

The returned to the sect went smoothly. Aster and I fed from Violet and lily fed from me. I do not know what the kitten fed from, I never actually saw him eat anything, but she seemed alright. It was in fact a she, of this matter Aster was quite sure as she had checked. The kitten was livable and like to play with anything it could get its hands on. She would often sit on my shoulder as I accompanied the cart on foot, batting at my overly long black hair. My hair had originally been a light brown, but as I fed it had grown darker u till it was the color it was now. The change was like that of the girls, though my hair shifted to black instead of red. My green eyes had a tint of red to them, it seems they would progress just like the girls did.

When we arrived at the sect, Skye had taken the cart the army's outpost and I was forced to once again carry Lily. Not that I minded in the least. We hurried until we arrived at the familiar building that was the Undying Legions headquarters. It seemed so long since I had last been here, but in all actuality, it had only been around 10 days. As I was entered the legion, I was greeted by the familiar sight of the half-dressed women that were my family. From my experience with the soldiers I finally understood why these girls could go around half dressed as they were without worries. No one would dare to harass them, the fear they had of their... let's say condition was the biggest preventer of unwanted attention.

Standing on the balcony overlooking the common room of the legion stood the woman I was desperate to see, Legion commander Lotus. On her back was the familiar war axe that she carried everywhere. I even suspected she slept with it. Her eyes fell on the unconscious Lily in my arms and she gestured for me to follow her into her private chambers on the other side of the balcony. This was the only room in the entire legion that had a door.

I laid Lily carefully on a couch in the commander's sitting room as I explained what happened to her. Lotus would occasionally raise her eyebrows, or frown at the telling of the story, but she did not interrupt as I spoke. The story ended I. Only a few minutes, the entirety of my ten-day long adventure summer up in just a few minutes of uninterrupted monologue.

Her voice eventually broke the silence that followed. It was not the usual loud boisterous voice that she Carrie's, instead it was soft, like a lover's whisper. "You fed her your blood?" She asked again to confirm.

I nodded, "yes ma'am, it was the only option I had"

She paused for a moment before speaking again "and after that she could not drink any other blood, her body would reject it if it was not yours?"

I nodded again "that is correct Maam, we tried several different species, and even the blood of violet which is like an elixir to us had the same results."

She nodded, not speaking for a long time as she was deep in thought. "Leave her here for the time being. I have some research to do, but I'm fairly certain I know the cause and the cure." She looked at me, really looked at me, for the first time since I had entered the legion. You're out of uniform, and you need a bath. Get those things taken care of and then report to the knight's guild. Mcquire wants to see you."

I nodded as I turned to leave. Pausing before I got to the door. Oh, Commander I forgot, I reached into the makeshift pack I had strapped to my waste, taking out the carefully wrapped horn of the bladicorn. "This is a gift to you that we managed to obtain during the mission. " I presented the bladicorn to the commander, leaving her with Lily. The door shut behind me as I headed to my room, the kitten slowly following behind me.

A new set of clothes was waiting for me in my room. After I had gotten the kitten situated in my room I headed towards the bath. I still had not given the small lion a name, I was hoping Lily would have an idea when she woke up.

My body seemed to melt as it entered the warm water. My muscles relaxed almost instantly as the warm water surrounded them. Even in my past life a bath was not something I had had the luxury of very often. Officially my mother had died in childbirth, only I knew the truth about it, and I only knew after I had come to this world. I was raised by my father, and he was always either out working or drinking with his buddies. The small apartment we lived I had a shower, but not the luxury of a bath.

The only thing missing that would make this feeling perfect was if Lily joined me as usual. Teasing me from the other end of the bathe. I sighed, bringing the warm bath to an end. It was time to go see Mcquire at the knight's guild.

"You're weak". That was the first words I heard as I approached the knight's guild. Skye was looking at me from across the courtyard. "Any of the new recruits here could defeat you on a purely physical level" she continued without remorse "you have a 2 in strength, a 3 in dexterity and a 1 in constitution. If any of the knights here had those stats at level 1, they would be too ashamed to even show their faces." She nodded before turning and walking towards a decent building that looked like a small-scale castle. "Even so my father has seen some potential in you and would like to meet you personally. Follow me"

The castle only looked small; it was much larger than our Undying Legions building. The entire area was surrounded by large stone walls, and the courtyard was filled with knights training in different areas. The layout was organized in a militaristic fashion and added to the feel of discipline that radiated the place. The entire area made me think this is what medieval era must have been like.

Outside of the castle a couple of guards in full plate mail stood guard. One carrying a large pike and the other had a broadsword and shield. They gave me an odd look but nodded respectfully to Skye as we entered the castle.

Two large hallways went off to the right and left right after we entered, but we continued straight into what appeared to be a great hall. At the far end of the hall stood an empty throne. Before the throne was a long table, and at the head of the table saw a man. The man looked familiar, he was neither tall nor short, and was rather thin, his brown hair was receded considerably. Leaning against the table next to him was a gnarled staff, with a large round gem fastens on the end of it. The man radiated dignity and knowledge as he watched us approach.

Skye was the first to speak, stopping a few feet in front of the man, putting her right fist over her heart as she performed a small bow to the man. "Father I have brought the Esper Dark as you have commanded."

The man made a gesture with him hand, after words Skye rose from her bow taking a couple steps back. "You may leave us Skye; I am in no danger from this boy."

Skye looked as if she wanted to object but turned and left after a moment of thought. Leaving me alone with this strange and powerful man. After the door leading to the room had closed behind her the man's voice echoed through the empty room.

"Vampiric Esper lvl 1, John Enders, formally 2nd lieutenant of the army. A medic before your promotion, with a record of 231 lives saved. 44 lives taken, all as a side effect of your aura."

The man looked at the astonishment on my face and laughed. "Don't be surprised boy, the goddess has a church down here, and sends files on every person that she sends over. Your Legion commander has the information as well as the sect master. And any other interested party can easily gain access to it. We do not normally disclose this information, as a person's past does not necessarily make who they will be in the future. Even people with as bloody of a past as yours. You obviously feel guilty of the unintentional deaths you have caused, or you would not have strived so hard to save as many lives as you did. 231 lives are no small number, I believe this as well as your natural gift is why she sent you over, and to a sect that could be of use to you. Of all the sects and factions in this world, we are only 1 of four that have a vampiric division. Ours is the most. easy going... of them all. But they all have several things in common. The first being is other than those Espers who awaken vampiric essence they are all female, and the second is the need for demonic beast blood. The similarities end there."

"My daughter told you when you first arrived at the guild that you are weak. She is not wrong. Physically you are much weaker than the knights, and even the others in the vampiric legion. This is not something unique to you, it is true for all Espers. To awaken our gifts, we either need a high enough mind stat and lucky chance encounters, or to be a lost one as yourself that has awakened it naturally."

"You will find that the vast majority of Espers are either locals who awakened after the first major change at lvl 10, or lost ones who did the same. Every year hundreds of you brats are sent over here, distributed at certain times at certain locations. If we are lucky perhaps 2 or 3 of you will be Espers. Half will die before they get to the sect. And another half will die before they can amount to anything."

"The point I am making is that you will be physically weaker than most of the Espers you encounter in the future, as they have a solid foundation built before their mind attribute begins its explosive growth. You however will have mediocre growth in physical abilities and massive growth in your mental attribute. Let's compare you to Lily for example. At level one you have 2 strength, 3 dexterity, 1 constitution, and a massive 9 points in mind. Lily is going through the same cultivation as you, minus the bonus point to mind for being an Esper. Her stats are 2 strength 3 dex 7 constitution and 2 minds. An attack that would lay you flat, breaking your bones may just give her a scratch. This holds true to all people; you will always be physically weaker than the people who have physical major and minors."

"They will be faster, stronger and more durable than you. To top it off your first ability to awaken is melee in nature. Bloodlust is amazing, it gives a 50% increase to your physical stats, while draining your essence, which in turn is countered by your vampiric aura. But at your level the increase is negligible. It increases your strength to 3 and your dexterity to 4., these numbers are decent, but still much lower than your peers who are strictly physical."

"Your only advantage lies in your mind stat. It will always be higher or at the same level in rare cases than your peers. This will give you the ability to read their actions. If you were any other kind of Esper your mind stat would be used as a weapon, you will be able to unleash devastating elemental attacks that would make you an asset to any battlefield. "

"I have several solutions that I plan on putting into place during your training, they will cover these problems and more. Commander Lotus has already given the ok, from dawn until the evening you will to report here every day to undergo training. In the evening you will return to the undying legion to feed and rest, you will not cultivate as I have other plans for your accumulated battle experience. This is going to be your life for the foreseeable future. We start tomorrow. You're dismissed."