Draconic Vampire: Curse of the Blood

Updating in a while...

In a sense, blood-qi density determines the future of a vampire. Not everyone noticed this one trait when they started out but as they accumulated more blood-qi, the irregularities became apparent.

Keith was lucky to have the perfect combination of luck and execution. If the previous Keith had been a baron, the irregularities before he became a baron would still be there. Without a system to accurately guide the blood-qi, Keith's density wouldn't reach the level of what it is today.

"Does having a higher blood-qi density help with breakthroughs?" Keith asked the student council president.

"Not by much, but it makes your growth seamless, and trust me, you need it more than you think after reaching the higher levels. People who reach the King stage have everything in order otherwise it's a distant dream." Valencia replied.

"That's why you want to learn the technique and remove all irregularities from your physique," Keith said.

"I wouldn't have called you otherwise. I have everything I need, resources, blood-qi technique, and original genes. I can't just pass on the chance to increase my blood-qi density. It is a marker for those who reach the king stage. They learned how to distribute blood-qi evenly and build a solid foundation." She explained.

"Can I ask you something?" Keith suddenly interjected.

"Feel free, we are negotiating after all."  Valencia looked at Keith curiously.

"Which blood-qi technique do you use, I mean the disciplines and the grade?" Keith asked bluntly.

"Hmm? Well, it's impossible for you to learn without knowing the underlying principles… so there is no problem saying it. 

" I am an Esper. My blood-qi technique was given to me by my father, it's our family heirloom. Father didn't give us any guidance to learn it, only the initial method and I learned everything after I came here. I somehow managed to get my hands on a marquis level warrior frame technique. It was an expensive deal at that moment but well worth it."

Keith was intrigued by her statement and inquired further.

"What did you exchange for the warrior frame technique?" He asked.

"100 bloodstones that could take you from baron stage to early-stage marquis. They were very stubborn as it was their family technique but I convinced them by offering enough bloodstones that could guarantee that the next heir becomes a marquis.

"They were still reluctant, but in the end, the leader of the family agreed," Valencia said with a smirk.

"That is a lot of bloodstones. If I couldn't wait to evolve, I would've chosen to give my blood-qi technique as well. Having such a reserve of bloodstones makes it easier for the vampire to gather huge amounts of blood-qi at once.

"Whereas human blood can only give you a tiny fraction of that," Keith said.

'It's nothing for me because I can absorb blood-qi from vampires and corrupted blood-qi from ghouls. The bloodstones are valuable to me as well, but not enough to give up my family technique. Unless the other side has something better to offer.' Keith thought to himself.

"It's good that you understand. What I showed you is just an appetizer. If you agree to give me the technique, I will give you 100 bloodstones." She smiled.

Keith's eyebrows went up hearing the number, but he didn't let greed cloud his judgment. If he wanted to accumulate blood-qi,  he could just hunt high-level ghouls and it would be enough for a minor stage. In the future, he could hunt count-level ghouls to get enough blood-qi for each stage.

"Again, I don't need bloodstones at this moment." Keith flatly refused.

Valencia's eyebrows twitched as she controlled her rage. She was giving her the same amount as the marquis grade blood-qi technique. Who in their right mind would refuse such an offer?

"What the hell do you want then? If it's reasonable, I might agree to it." She roared. 

The temperature dropped several degrees with her cold gaze. 

'The Esper technique. I have to ask if she could teach me.' Keith thought.

[ She won't agree to this. That is a king-level blood-qi technique we are talking about.] The system interjected.

"Miss, I could give you the technique, but in exchange, I want another blood-qi technique. An esper blood-qi technique." He asked directly.

"Do you realize what you are asking?  This technique is priceless and passed down from our ancestors. I can't agree to this." She said with a deep voice.

"I know you can't give me the king-level blood-qi technique, but how about a lower level blood esper technique? You are giving me 100 bloodstones, so you could give me a marquis grade blood esper technique." Keith suggested.

"Not all blood-qi techniques are equal and I never practiced a lower level technique from the same discipline. What is the limit to your warrior frame technique?" She asked.

"It is a count-level warrior frame technique and I think it might've reached its limit. That's why I want other blood-qi techniques to increase my strength." 

"If you have a low-level blood-qi technique, you need several of those to get stronger after a certain point. The variations in structure and effects combined can make the frame stronger.

"If you want to evolve your warrior frame, you need a warrior frame technique of the next stage, otherwise you will be stuck there. But what if you have the best blood-qi technique suitable for you. Then the other techniques become irrelevant because what you can do with the higher-level technique can't be compared with the lower-level technique.

"There is also the encompassing effect. If your warrior frame is of the highest level then you can add the effects and attributes of the lower stage warrior frames." She explained.

"How does it work?" Keith asked curiously.

"Imagine a baron level warrior frame with a hardening attribute and another with higher blood-qi projection, the two vampires can't get insight into the other's attributes, but if a king level blood warrior was seeing the blood-qi techniques for the first time then he could understand and add the attributed to his own warrior frame and the effects would be exponentially higher even if it's not perfect." 

Listening to her explain, Keith understood a lot of things. The grade of the blood-qi techniques determined if the vampire could understand lower-level blood-qi techniques or not.

"Think of it this way. The high-level blood-qi techniques are more complicated and harder to practice. They contain within them more knowledge of the discipline than any other technique. So it's natural the users can understand lower-level techniques which are built on the same principles. They don't need the lower-level technique because what they have is better." 

Keith nodded his head with approval. If he wanted to analyze a warrior frame of a baron stage vampire, he could do it easily. The structures were similar to one another, only some parts which differ need to be thoroughly examined, otherwise, it was not difficult at all.

On the other hand, implementing the technique in your body was harder, for lower-level vampires at least. Keith had no idea how higher-level vampires did it and their methods. 

"I can arrange a higher level warrior frame technique for you, but esper techniques are hard to acquire. The department doesn't like outsiders to learn the technique. Even if it's not illegal to teach someone if they are studying in this academy, it's severely frowned upon. The Esper department will break all ties with the vampire who gave away his technique and the one who received it.

"They won't get any further support from other Espers. So nobody exchanges techniques unless it's a life-and-death situation. The warrior frame is not hard to get because of the abundance of blood warriors. You can get a warrior frame technique up to the marquis level with the right amount of money and connections." 

Blood warriors were the most abundant blood-qi manipulators among the four disciplines. The department could care less if someone gave away their blood-qi technique to an outsider. It wouldn't affect the overall picture. 

"What about Duke-level warrior frame techniques?" Keith asked, tapping his fingers on the table.

"Around the Duke level, it gets complicated. They are very powerful techniques and we can't exchange them for bloodstones. Usually, those who possess such techniques don't need resources to condense blood-qi.  So to get the warrior frame from then, we need to exchange something of equal or higher value. No other discipline would want to exchange their blood-qi technique to get the warrior frame and King-level blood warriors have no reasons to do it."

The plan to steal the Duke-level warrior frame was playing inside Kieth's head. He waited for his warrior frame and blood core to evolve so that he could proceed with the plan. If he succeeded, his warrior frame would get a significant level up.

"So You can't teach me any blood esper technique. Well, there is nothing left to talk about then. I will join the disciplinary committee and that's about it." He said sneakily.

Just as Kieth was about to get up and leave, Valencia spoke out.

"I may not be able to give you what you want, but I know someone who can."