Ascension of the Nephilim

"Drake Vestitude, a traitor?!" Diana exclaimed.

"Mom! We\'re on a covert mission! Please don\'t shout!" Kyros chastized.

"I\'m-I\'m sorry. I just find it unbelievable that he did. How did he prove it?"

"His plan was a success. It looks like it will be safe for you to go back and enter the fort in Airom Vagat. He managed to outsmart the traitors and revealed three Eldrich servants. But grandfather believes that Drake Vestitude is a traitor. Although, Drake Vestitude doesn\'t have the seal. But I wouldn\'t doubt grandfather. He probably assumed this from the start since he is so paranoid of Fate. He was only looking for an excuse to prove it. But his arguments make sense." Kyros noticed.

Since Mezal was able to send the message talisman back to the Temple through Kyros, the message talisman was full of energy and could transmit a lengthier message. This was recorded in the diary passed on back and forth between Kyros and his father.

"Grandpa detailed why he thinks so. I already explained to him what the bonding process between Eldrich and their servants has. And grandpa explained that the moment these seals were revealed, Drake Vestitude activated the one skill that inflicted great harm on these Eldrich servants!"

"He\'s a Paladin! Shouldn\'t any Holy Spell harm them?"

"They are champions! Mother, If I were to put a torch on your face, it wouldn\'t burn you, would it? Your defense and level are just too high for any normal fire to hurt you. And a Paladin\'s aura can hurt those who are low-leveled, but the higher leveled ones would only feel discomfort which would reduce their power by a very small margin. But these are Champions we are talking about! And these Champions are humans and only have death energy on that seal. And think, mother, how did Drake Vestitude know how to attack the seal? And the attack was precise that it paralyzed the three immediately?"

"He trained for it..."

"Right. Practice makes perfect! But then again, no one is perfect. So there is really no real sense in practicing..."

There was an awkward pause.

"Anyway, if Drake trained for it, he must have learned of it, which is practically impossible since all heritage and knowledge on how to fight the Eldrich is locked up in the Higher Planes. So since we are so far away from that place, the more logical conclusion is that it was taught to him. So I believe Drake has probably met an Eldrich."

"But that doesn\'t make sense! How can he met one when Patriarch said that he has no seal! And did Patriarch also assume that Drake Vestitude is a traitor since this Champion showed no seal? What if he just happened to use that one skill and wielded the holy aura to attack them?"

"No. That spell that paralyzed the Champions was just too strong." Kyros rejected Diana\'s suggestion. He had lived and fought the Eldrich but didn\'t know of its power that could attack the Eldrich. The only time he learned of the spells and skills was when Calaminus told him that such spells to attack the Eldrich existed!"

"If that spell can paralyze Champion servants, it\'s most likely a secret spell. And as for why he doesn\'t have a mark is because he is not a servant. Does Drake Vestitude have some sad past with people he loved dead?"

"Yes. His wife."

"Ah. Then that explains it. The Eldrich probably offered him the chance of resurrecting his wife or something along that line." Kyros deduced.

"That\'s possible?!"

"The dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... unnatural. Erm- I mean... well, you know the thing." Kyros brushed off the weird thoughts he had.

"In any case, this means we still have a shot in bringing him back to the light. We have first to figure out what that Eldrich offered to help him. Grandfather did the right call and made Drake Vestitude watch over the traitors. Drake may have secretly wanted to kill the traitors immediately to hide any other leaked information, but grandfather made Drake their guardian and protector. It would seem suspicious now for those three to die."

"I understand. Patriarch did that to throw off any possible suspicions of Drake\'s involvement, and at the same time, it makes Drake think that he can somehow keep the matter from escalating."

"That\'s right. We should allow them certain victories. With this, we have a spy that can unknowingly give us or lead us to the people acting on the Eldrich\'s behalf on the Lowlands. This should give us more time to prepare. I just hope that it will give us enough time to have the means of convincing him to return to the light since we know that his allegiance is something that can be easily be changed."

"Son... How is this something that can easily be changed? His wife is dead!"

"Yeah. And all we have to do is resurrect it. The Eldrich should promise some sort of false life. Or they have his wife\'s soul as ransom. The fact that he has a powerful ability to attack the Eldrich servants with an aura attack could only mean one thing... He probably forced the Eldrich to teach him a spell. He doesn\'t trust the Eldrich and probably decided to follow their orders if he has some ways of defending himself against them."

Diana was amazed at Kyros\'s deduction.

"We can\'t really be certain. But it doesn\'t make sense how Drake can harm Champions easily. I bet those traitors are also thinking the same thing. Drake used that spell not only to restrain these Eldrich servants but to inform them that he has things under control.

"It\'s good that he\'s not bounded then."

"Well, that is the most probable cause. There may be a way for him to hide that mark and hid it when my grandfather sprung the trap. We will have to assume that he is a traitor and only hope that my guess is right. If he can hide the Servant\'s Mark, then the only way for us to find out if is by forcing him or trapping him in a circumstance where he would betray the vows and possible restrictions."

"Are these similar to the restriction you placed on your Coven? That orc seemed rather obedient."

"It\'s similar to what Vampires have. But their constrictions should be something that allows them to maintain most of their personalities. While vampire bindings, such as mine, can put a great restriction and alter a person\'s personality, I believe that these humans with whom the Eldrich made contracts have a rather free or limited link. These humans would still act and even harm an Eldrich or other servants so as to make them perfect spies."

"How do you know about the Eldrich? And now that we\'re alone tell me the truth. What kind of a vampire are you? Those Coven of yours gives a rather fearful aura. Stronger than most Dhampirs."

"They are not Dhampirs, mother. They are Vampire Bloodlines."

"A Bloodline? I haven\'t heard of that kind of Vampire."

"In the Vampire world, there are several types of vampires depending on the purity of the blood or the strength of the vampire that turned them. There are Turned Vampires, which are vampires who were of another race and were turned into Vampires, and there are the Borne Vampires." Kyros explained.

"Avary, Scarlet, and Gregory told you of their past, right? At that time, they belonged to the weakest kind of turned vampires. The Dhampir Ghoul."

"Then are they the stronger forms? Dhampir Primes?"

"Dhampirs can increase their power by killing, or drinking lots of blood from a vampire with a stronger purity or bloodline. If a Ghoul does that, they can become a Dhampir Prime. From a Prime, killing and drinking more stronger vampires allows you to increase it to Vampire Fledgling. They are the highest forms of turned vampires. But again, my Coven is none of those. They don\'t belong to the Turned group or the Borne group."

"Then what are they? They have a strange aura similar to the usual strong vampires I fought. I recall those vampires called themselves Blood Borne Vampires."

"That\'s from the Borne group. As the name states, they are Vampires borne by other vampires. Unless the vampire mixes with another race, two vampires will always give birth to Blood Borne. Vampires born through a vampire and another race, whether they are turned or not, will give birth to the regular vampire, which is generally weaker. So in vampire kingdoms, vampires usually only mate with other vampires of pure blood. The purer the blood, the greater the potential. Zid Blood Blade, the former master of Avary, Scarlet, and Gregory, is a rank higher than the Blood Borne. Zid belonged to a vampire class higher than Blood Bornes. He was a Vampire Master."

"Then what are Vampire Bloodlines? Are they above Vampire masters?"

"No. They are actually equal to Blood Borne vampire level but belong to another group. They are not Turned or Borne, but they belong to the Bestowed group. The Bestowed Group is a class higher as they have been bestowed this bloodline. If Blood Borne is the lowest stage in the Borne group, Bloodlines is the lowest stage in the Bestowed group.

Diana was shocked at Kyros\'s explanation.

If the Coven were in this special group called the Bestowed, wouldn\'t it mean that the bestower was Kyros?

"That\'s what I think the Blood Calamity is. He should be a Bestower. Of course, as you probably noticed, I am also like that."

"What are the stages? I\'ve heard of Vampire blood Bornes and Masters. Are there stages above it? And what would be the equal of your Coven?"

"Vampire Blood Borne can grow stronger through some rituals, consuming other stronger vampires and rise in rank from Blood Borne to Master and finally, Vampire Royals. They go from Bloodlines to Lords, which is the equal of Masters, and then from Lords to Emperors or Empresses, which is the equal of Royal Vampires."

"I\'ve never heard of a Vampire Lords or Vampire Emperors." Diana answered.

"There are none here. In fact, it should be rare, even in the Dark Sea. Perhaps only the Nether regions would have these powerful bloodlines. You see, even if a Vampire Emperor and a Vampire Empress were to get married, their offspring would be Vampire Blood Bornes. The Bloodlines only appear when a person has bestowed a bloodline power onto them. This is why it\'s called Bloodlines. And only the Vampire Ancients that are mentioned in legends do this. They are the Ancients that formed most of the Vampire families now."

"Then your Coven could grow to become Vampire Emperors? This means... you are an Ancient?"

"Well..." Kyros began to think. He knew that everyone, excluding Martha and Grugnyr, could become Vampire Ancients since the original six had drunk nearly three times the amount of blood from him.

"I guess... they could reach a stage higher?"

"What\'s higher than an Emperor?"

Kyros shrugged his shoulders. He already told so much to his mother. But he didn\'t want his mother to know too much.

Diana frowned as she saw Kyros suddenly becoming secretive.

"Is that why you are alive? Are you a Vampire Ancient?" Diana decided to ask.

"I\'m something better, I guess." Kyros smiled.

It was then that Kyros sensed Grugnyr\'s link.

"Oh? Grugnyr found something in the village. Let\'s meet up with him." Kyros then turned and rushed in another direction.

Diana was now silent. But her head kept thinking about the implications of what Kyros said.

"Aron Steele. Just what did you make my husband adopt?" Diana could not help but mutter quietly.