“Every living being is born with the System. Humans, elves, dwarves, beastfolk, demons – it doesn’t matter. Even monsters have the System, though their growth process is far different from ours. The Church of the Goddess believes that the System is the metaphysical extension of the Goddess’s will itself, though I personally don’t buy that explanation. Either way, it is an indisputable and unassailable fact that the System is fundamental to all living creatures. So with that in mind…” Qorbin stared at Levi. “How the hell did you manage to fuck up so badly that you got your System locked?”

  Levi sighed. “I already told you, I don’t know.”

  “Incredible,” Qorbin said, sounding both disturbed and impressed. “I’ve never heard of something like this happening before. What could you have possibly done?”

  “Knowing him?” Liliya said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s because he somehow pissed off the System so much, it decided to restrict him as punishment.”

  “That’s uncalled for,” Levi said. “I’m not that bad.”

  “No, no, she has a point,” Qorbin said. “Maybe the Church was onto something after all. Tell me, did you commit blasphemy against the Goddess lately?”

  Levi paused. “What exactly counts as blasphemy again?”

  “He totally did,” Qorbin said to Liliya.

  She nodded, looking solemn. “Let us pray for his soul. Someone should.”

  Levi snorted. “On a serious note… Do you have any idea how the restricted System status could’ve happened? And potentially how to unlock it?”

  Qorbin shrugged. “Beats me. Before today, I didn’t know it was even possible to get locked out from the System. I can look into it, but I’m not exactly an expert on stuff like this. You can try tracking down some of the Ascendants, or even ask the Director of the Institute–” He froze. “Hold on. If you’re unable to access the System, then… How are you using all of your skills?”

  “Ah,” Levi said. He tilted his head. “Magic?”

  “Yeah, no shit it’s magic, I’m asking how.” Qorbin hesitated, suddenly looking apprehensive. “Unless… are you directly manipulating your mana?”

  Levi nodded. “More or less.” He raised his hand and a ball of flames burst to life at the center of his palm. The cinders danced at his fingers, flickering and swirling hypnotically. “I gather, shape, and coax my magic into the correct form to achieve a desired effect… Okay, why are you looking at me like that?”

  Qorbin had been staring down at the flames like it was some destructive hellfire bomb about to go off. At Levi’s question, he glanced up at Levi, and something indecipherable flashed across the Grand Assassin’s face.

  “You…” he trailed off slowly. “You have no idea, do you?”

  Levi blinked, and even Liliya looked confused.

  Qorbin laughed. “Holy shit, you actually don’t.” His laughter had a slight edge to it. “This is gold. Gold that might blow up in our faces, granted, but gold nonetheless.”

  “Right… Mind sharing what’s so funny with us?” Levi asked.

  “Sorry, I can’t.” At their looks, he held up his hands. “No, seriously, I can’t tell you. Under a magical vow and everything. Don’t worry, at the rate things are progressing, I’m sure you’ll find out on your own eventually.”

  Levi looked at Liliya questioningly, but she seemed to be just as in the dark as he was. He didn’t understand why Qorbin was reacting like this. Was he violating some unknown law or treaty?

  Before he could continue interrogating Qorbin, however, the falcon let out a trill, diving down through the clouds once more. They emerged to see a town sprawled out beneath them, far larger than Farband, though obviously still only a fraction of the size of Luxanne. It was encircled by a large stone wall with guard towers placed at regular intervals. A wide flowing river ran through the center.

  They’d arrived at the town of Elysia.

  As they landed, the guards at the gates rushed out with their spears held at the ready, though they relaxed when Qorbin flashed them his adventurer’s badge. Which was somewhat ironic, considering the badge Qorbin had shown them was a fake Mithril-rank badge and not his actual Mythmaker one. It did its job though, and the guards waved them through the gates after double checking their mission papers – which once again were forged.

  Liliya had looked a little scandalized by the deception, though Levi had been amused and even a little appreciative. He didn’t like having a paper trail either.

  After entering Elysia, Syto met up with them, casually dropping in next to them like he was just another traveler. “I did some preliminary reconnaissance of the town, but I detected nothing suspicious,” he said, cutting straight to business with a surprisingly professional demeanor. “If the cultist is in the town, then they’ve concealed their presence very well. We’d have to perform a more comprehensive search.”

  “Hmm…” Qorbin narrowed his eyes. “Do you think they’re waiting outside in the wildlands preparing to attack?”

  “Could be,” Syto said. “If they are, however, then I doubt we’d be able to track them down. Better to operate on the assumption that they’re inside the town already.”

  “True enough. It’d be best for us to split up and search, then. Liliya, Levi, you two take the west side. We’ll take the east–”

  “Ah,” Syto raised a finger, interrupting him. “Sorry, but it was bad enough having to work with you in the previous village. It felt like dragging a salted fork up and down my exposed muscles.”

  “At,” Qorbin gave a sympathetic nod. “That would be the feeling of inadequacy. Don’t worry, I tend to have that effect on people around me. I do hope you’re doing okay.”

  Syto bristled. “Excuse me-?”

  “I’ll take Liliya then — I can give her the basic rundown of apprenticeship while I’m at it,” Qorbin looked at Levi. “You good with working with Syto?”

  Levi nodded. “I think I’ll be fine. I’ve been meaning to ask him some questions anyway.”

  “Alright then. Be careful, don’t let your guard down, and whatever you do, don’t let him bite you. Goddess knows what diseases you’d get.”

  Levi smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  In his four hundred years or so of living (if it could even be called living, considering he had no pulse or heartbeat), Syto had seen and faced all sorts of adventurers. He was immensely strong, and if he were human he had no doubt he’d be classified as the same tier as Ravenbane.

  As the Hound of Arcedia, he was often sent by the Vampiric Lords to eliminate Arcedia’s enemies and conduct surgical operations in the human realm. He had centuries of experience fighting against adventurers, from slaughtering lowly bronze-tiers to even facing, and nearly dying against, an Ascendant.

  Yet in all his time, Syto had never quite met someone like Levi Ironwood.

  As they walked through the town, Syto examined the young man, practically still a boy, with narrowed crimson eyes. On the surface, Levi had a rather unassuming appearance: messy black hair, grey eyes, well-tailored clothes. No special gear or fancy outfits. If Syto had bumped into him on the streets, he would’ve thought him to just be another noble brat.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Indeed, when Syto had first seen Levi jump off that falcon and fall toward him, he didn’t have very high expectations. Even when Levi had called down that massive pillar of fire, Syto hadn’t been very impressed.

  It wasn’t until the flames had blasted past his [Ichor Barrier] and instantly vaporized thousands of liters of mana-infused blood that Syto realized he might have miscalculated.

  His [Ichor Barrier] was one of his strongest defensive skills, a wall of blood saturated with his incredibly dense and potent mana. It should’ve been nearly impossible for any sort of fire skill under Mythmaker-tier to penetrate the [Ichor Barrier], much less literally instantaneously evaporate the blood into red steam. For that to happen meant the magic imbued in the flames was somehow stronger than his own mana imbued in his blood.

  And the thing was, his mana was strong, extraordinarily so. Despite being relatively young compared to many other vampires, Syto had already surpassed most of them in strength and power. Which, of course, had irritated the pureblood vampires immensely, as he wasn’t even a ‘real’ vampire, but rather a former vampiric thrall, one of the only ones that’d ever managed to become a full vampire. But he digressed.

  He wouldn’t be surprised if he had triple, if not quadruple, the amount of even Ravenbane’s MP. Granted, Ravenbane wasn’t exactly a mage, but he was still a Mythmaker-tier Grand Assassin.

  So for Levi’s fiery pillar to completely overwhelm his [Ichor Barrier]?

  It meant that his mana was somehow more dense and potent than the mana of a vampire who’d refined and cultivated his magic for centuries.

  It should’ve been unthinkable, but it’d happened anyway.

  Even as Syto had been engulfed by the flames, his eyeballs popping, his skin burning off, his muscles desiccating, his bones cracking and shattering, he had laughed as loudly as one could laugh when the very air inside their lungs was cooking them from the inside out. The sound of the firestorm had drowned out his laughter, but he had truly been overjoyed.

  A good fight that got his blood pumping was one of the two greatest pleasures in life, the other being… well.

  It was rare for him these days to find an enemy worth facing. It was why, despite having been enemies during the prior war, Syto held a soft spot for Ravenbane. He’d never admit it out loud, but he felt a rush of excitement and joy every time he came across Ravenbane. Their fights always guaranteed Syto a stellar time.

  It appeared he’d be adding Levi to the list as well. The sheer rate at which Levi had unleashed those blades of magic at the end, not to mention their incredible cutting power… Syto had almost been sad that Ravenbane had stopped their fight – he’d been curious to see if his regeneration would overcome Levi’s cutting skill. He was pretty sure he could’ve healed the wounds as fast as Levi could inflict them.

  Though, for some reason, when the cutting magic had been only a centimeter or two away from his skin, Syto had felt something cold run down his spine, a primal fear that caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand straight up…

  Eh, it had probably just been his imagination.

  However, all of that wouldn’t have been enough to distinguish Levi from the other adventurers Syto had met. Syto had fought strong opponents before; it wasn’t the first time his blood magic had been overwhelmed.

  No, what made Levi different was…

  Syto felt a smile spread across his face. After centuries of fighting, he had developed an acute, innate sense of knowing when someone had killed before. The girl, Liliya Volkov, had evidently never once taken a life; she had a pure innocence in her eyes. On the other end of the scale, Qorbin Ravenbane was undoubtedly a killer, being a Grand Assassin and all, yet even then he hadn’t murdered that many.

  Levi Ironwood, however…

  His very presence sent Syto’s instincts into a frenzied overdrive.

  The only time Syto’s senses had reacted like this was when he’d been in the presence of the Old Vampiric Lords. Implying that Levi’s body count was somehow on the same level as apex predators who’d lived for millennia.

  Syto didn’t know how that was possible, but he believed in his instincts. And his instincts told him to be very, very afraid of the boy currently examining a row of buildings in front of him.

  Yet, despite all this, Levi had still shown genuine rage and grief at the fallen village. Most mass murderers would’ve either suppressed or lost their capacity to care by now. It was downright paradoxical.

  Syto’s smile widened.

  How intriguing.

  "I... I'm sorry," Levi suddenly said. Syto tilted his head, curious. He cleared his throat. "For attacking you like that. Seeing the ruins of the village... it brought back bad memories. I don't know what came over me." He looked vaguely upset and even confused with himself as he said that, as if even now he didn't know why he'd acted that way.

  Syto chuckled. "There's no need to apologize; I realize the situation likely looked rather incriminating."

  "Even so. If you'd been any weaker, you would've died."

  Syto smiled. "It's a good thing I wasn't, then."

  Levi inclined his head. There was a moment of silence.

  “You were a human once, weren’t you?”

  Syto hummed. It was an odd question, but he decided to humor the kid. “Yes,” he said truthfully. “I was turned into a vampiric thrall and lost my mind and freedom. It took decades before I was able to become myself again.”

  “Then why do you fight for Arcedia?” Levi asked, his tone curious. “Why not defect to the human side? I assume the vampires must’ve killed and turned the people around you into thralls as well.”

  Syto blinked at the unexpected question. Then, he chuckled. “You’re right, they did. My entire village was murdered by a group of vampires. Before I was turned into a thrall, I watched all my family and friends either get drained for nutrients or turned into thralls as well.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Syto opened his mouth, but hesitated. Unlike most people who offered that hollow, empty platitude, Levi seemed to mean it, his expression solemn and his eyes filled with a sincere compassion. So instead of scoffing or brushing it aside like he normally would, Syto inclined his head. “Thank you, I suppose. It was a long time ago though, and I’ve since gotten over it.”

  “Have you really?”

  Syto paused.

  Then, he chuckled.

  “You’re only, what, nineteen? Twenty? What right have you to speak with such insight beyond your years?” Syto sighed, his crimson eyes clouding over as he tried, and failed, to recall an old memory. “I don’t even remember their faces anymore,” he confessed quietly. “Yet, even after four centuries, I still feel a deep sense of sorrow and loss when I think about them.”

  He supposed it was probably odd for him to be saying this to a kid he’d just met, but there was just something about Levi’s presence that had him letting his guard down. Perhaps it was the genuine fury and sorrow Levi had shown when he’d believed Syto was the one to massacre the village, the raw emotions resonating with what little traces of humanity still remained within Syto.

  In any case, it wasn’t as though Syto was a particularly private person anyway. He didn’t care much for word games, half-truths, and secrecy like much of his brethren did. His life was his life, for better or for worse, and he had nothing to hide.

  Levi nodded, an understanding look in his eyes. “Then why do you fight for Arcedia?” he asked again. “You don’t sustain yourself on human blood. You already broke free of whatever shackles that controlled you, no? Why do you still serve the Vampiric Lords?”

  Syto smiled. “Did you know that you are the first human that ever asked me this?” Not even Ravenbane had bothered to ask before, not that Syto would’ve told him. Not because of privacy reasons, but more because he didn’t want to give the Grand Assassin any more ammunition.

  He hummed, considering it for several moments, before shrugging. Might as well.

  “The reason I fight for Arcedia is the same reason I was able to regain sentience and attain freedom in the first place,” he said. “Back when I was still a mindless vampiric thrall, my master attended a banquet with me as his slave. There were many high-ranking and upper-class vampires at the banquet, including the Vampiric Lords, and more importantly, their daughters.”

  Levi blinked. Then his eyes widened. “You don’t mean–”

  “It had been an accident, really. I’d bumped into the daughter of the Second Vampiric Lord, a veritable princess, and accidentally spilled some bloodwine on her favorite dress. She was furious, of course, my master even more so. My master disavowed me on the spot, breaking the control enchantment and thus returning my mind to me so that I may suffer the punishment with full mental clarity. I awoke in the dungeons, tied to a wooden rack, with her standing over me.

  “She was likely planning to first torture then kill me. I should’ve apologized, or begged for forgiveness, but with my mind still addled from decades of it not being my own, I blurted out the first word that came to my mind – and it was that word that changed my life forever.”

  He still clearly remembered that night like it’d happened yesterday: the surprised look on her face, the growing disbelief of realizing that he’d fully meant what he said, and the blush that’d quickly suffused her cheeks afterward.

  Syto smiled a genuine smile. “I called her beautiful.”

  There was a long moment of silence.

  “That’s why you fight for Arcedia?” Levi said incredulously. “You fell for a vampire princess?”

  “I fell for a vampire princess,” Syto said with a nod. “Fortunately, she calmed down and decided to spare me. I was the first human she’d ever properly met, and I think she was curious. She nursed me back to health, trained me to become stronger, then ultimately gifted me her own lifeblood so that I could become a fully-fledged vampire. Everything I have, I owe it all to her. You asked why I serve the Vampiric Lords? I don’t. I serve her and only her.”

  Levi stared at him. Then, he laughed. “Fair enough. There are certainly worse motivations to have.”

  “Indeed,” Syto smiled. Then he paused. “Do me a favor and don’t tell Ravenbane this, though. If he finds out, I don’t think he’ll ever let me live it down.”

  Levi snorted. “He absolutely won’t.” His lips quirked. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”