Draconic Vampire: Curse of the Blood

"Look at this guy! He's already at the peak of the final stage baron." 

The bulky vampire whistled as he examined Keith's blood core.

"You are not going to ask for your spot?" Another vampire approached him and asked with a frown.

"It's alright. It's not that special anyway. Let him keep it. I will go there." The bulky vampire pointed to the corner next to Keith.

Keith opened his eyes and looked at the two vampires. He absorbed a significant amount of blood-qi, so he decided to take a break for some time and resume the blood condensing again.

"Is this your spot? I am new here, so I don't have any idea about how things are arranged here. I can give the spot to you if you want." Keith offered to leave.

"Nah! It's fine. There is no rule saying that we own the spots. It's decided on a first come first serve basis. You can carry on your blood condensing. Although, I'm really surprised that you reached the final stage before entering the academy.

"If I were to compare myself, I just reached baron stage at the time of my admission." The bulky man nodded his head in approval.

"Is it that rare? I saw many first years at final stage barons?" Keith asked with an imperceptible curiosity.

"It is always rare. Maybe this year's batch has too many geniuses lining up. Our spotlight will soon be taken away by you guys. Tsk!" 

"I don't think they can compare with experienced and seasoned vampires. They lack in many areas even though they reached the final stage baron. It might be due to the use of bloodstones, which I heard only available to rich families." Keith pondered.

"So we have a bunch of rich kids this year. Our descendant branch families can't compete with direct descendant families." The bulky man said with a dejected face.

Cough!

"I am from a direct descendant family, but I never knew about bloodstones," Keith said with an embarrassing expression.

The bulky man looked at Keith with strange eyes. He couldn't believe that a descendant from the main family hadn't heard about bloodstones.

"Which backwater place do you come from? Is your fief isolated from the rest of the world? How could you not know about the thing that could improve your blood condensation speed?" 

"Maybe my family purposefully didn't tell me as it would dishearten me. We don't have a decent blood ritualist in our city, let alone summoners or espers. My grandpa probably is the best ritualist in that region. He might've kept it from me and provided what was available."

Keith tried to come up with a reason.

"Hmmm… which place are you from?"  The man asked.

"From a small county in Kelgard. I think the supplies are rare there so the prices are high. I  never heard of other countries having such things as well. The royal family and other bigger families might've had bloodstones, but for us, it was not available." Keith replied.

"I see. Well, you did quite well even without the help of bloodstones, so cheer up." The bulky man consoled Kieth.

"It's nothing. I hope to reach the pinnacle, so these lower stages don't matter to me." Keith replied.

"Bold of you to say so." The other vampire snapped immediately.

Keith looked at the other vampire who was standing silently this whole time. He was also at the final stage baron level,  but his blood core was slightly inferior to the bulky man.

"Calm down, he's just talking about his growth. Besides, isn't it everyone's dream to reach the pinnacle? The King stage." The bulky man chuckled.

"I'm not being delusional. In fact, I am very serious about advancing to the King stage." Keith replied confidently, still maintaining a calm appearance.

"Is that so? You just entered the academy, so you don't know the real struggles. You and your silly dreams. It would be amazing if you could reach the Duke stage. Don't dream too big or you'll be disappointed beyond comparison." 

The bulky vampire shot an angry gaze towards the other vampire who was clearly trying to undermine Keith.

"You can think whatever you want, but I am certain I can reach that stage so I won't argue with you unnecessarily." Keith was tired of these kinds of useless arguments and didn't wish to continue.

"How about this? If you can defeat brother  Garion, I will believe you and personally apologize for my rude behavior." The vampire said.

"Hey! Why are you dragging me into this?" The bulky man named Garion shouted.

"Aren't you curious to see his potential too? I wanted to have some fun as well, so why don't you agree to this and beat some sense into this kid." The young vampire said with a laugh.

"You want to fight me?" Keith pointed to himself, showing a nonchalant and carefree expression.

He smiled and thought about how to benefit from this situation.

'Here comes the gambling king. I will rob you thoroughly, asshole.' Keith thought to himself.

"Yes, you. Are you afraid? Then I can assure you, reaching the king level is impossible for you. You have to challenge countless vampires to make your way through the hierarchy."  The vampire said.

"If you are so confident about beating me, why don't we bet something? The winner takes all and the loser gets nothing… except humiliation."  Keith said with a smile.

"Sounds good. What  are you going to wager?" 

"5000 gold blood coins,"  Keith said, expanding his fist and showing five fingers.

"That's…" 

"Oh! You don't have that much? Too bad… How about 3000?" Keith smacked his lips and tried to lower the amount.

"It's fine. 5000 it is. But if you lose, don't chicken out later. I will hunt you down to the end of the world and get the money." The vampire said with a snort.

He took out his treasury card and flipped it in his fingers.

"I will take that as a yes. So let's finish this quickly and get back to our own business." Keith approached them while cracking his neck.

"Don't throw yourself to the lion's den so fast." The man provoked Keith even more.

"We'll see who is the lion and who is the wolf," Keith said instinctively.

"Brother Garion, go beat up this kid for me. I will give you half of the earnings." The vampire nudged Garion.

Garion face-palmed himself and sighed with frustration. He came across such difficult situations due to the sharp tongue of this man.

"Kid, I will go easy on you. Take this as a friendly spar." 

Garion turned around and cracked his knuckles. He moved towards Keith and released his final stage baron aura and activated his warrior frame which was at a similar level.

"I don't see this spar any different than a money-making job. So I will finish this quickly."

Keith didn't activate his warrior frame and only used his blood core to exude his final stage baron-level aura.

"My blood density is way higher, so I can match his strength with just my blood core. If I need more power, I will activate the warrior frame, but for now, this is enough."

"You are not going to use any blood-qi techniques?" Garion asked with surprise.

"This is all I need for now. We'll see if I need any blood-qi techniques after we fight."

"As you wish." 

Garion shot forward like a wild beast and utilized his warrior frame to enforce his body. His hands were covered with rich blood-qi and moved towards Keith with unstoppable force, or so he thought.

Crack! Bam!

Nobody registered what happened, but it was clear that Garion was lying on the floor. The cracking noises could be heard from his bones from his fists and legs.

Garion looked upwards, dazed and out of his wits. He couldn't process what happened as it transpired so quickly, his senses failed to register.

"You may be very strong with your warrior frame, but you move too slow to defend yourself against vampires having high agility and speed." Keith dusted off his hands and glanced at Garion who was still trying to process the event.

"Agility… Are you practicing assassin-type blood-qi technique? Even then, how could you have such high strength to penetrate my warrior frame?" Garion asked with a confused expression.

"Nothing is impossible in this world. And I don't practice any such technique. In fact, I didn't use any blood-qi techniques at all. I use my natural strength and speed to fight you." Keith replied casually.

"Impossible! How can a final stage baron have such strength? Your display of power is similar to an early stage viscount. Are you using some kind of high-level artifact?" 

The vampire shouted at Keith in disbelief.

"How stupid can you be? Did you sense any blood-qi fluctuation of higher-level power? So no, I didn't use any artifacts. Now, hand me over the treasury card. I need to check if you even have that many coins." Keith gestured his hands and asked for the card.

"No, this has to be a trick. Brother Garion can not lose just like that. You did something. It all seems you had a weapon and used it to paralyze him." The vampire refused to believe the reality.

"Again! Use your fucking common sense. How can I use a high-level artifact without detection."

"Sen, stop it. I lost, that is the truth. I didn't sense any artifacts on him, so it was a fair battle. Give him 5000 coins." Garion got up and said to the vampire.

"I… I have a few coins short, I don't have to full amount." Sen said embarrassingly.

Sigh!

"Take mine. And you, I'm sorry for his behavior and I wish to mend our relationship. If you could forgive me and him for our short-sightedness, we will be grateful." Garion said with an apologetic tone.

"It's alright. I had some fun as well." Keith smiled in response.