The Fallen Vampire

It was the most eye-opening moment of her entire life, and it solidified her innate desire- no, her need to have this man as her husband.

As she re-watched him play around with his new powers, she began to have that feeling well up all over again.

And she didn\'t appear to be alone.

All five of Taira\'s wives were staring at him openly with palpable attraction.

In fairness, Taira was not that much different from before.

Like a normal breakthrough, his body simply seemed to be made out of a higher quality of ingredients than normal.

While that sounded like a small change, the transformation was enough to put Taira and his wives in the honeymoon phase all over again.

Enyo: "…I love him."

Aveena: "I think if he talked to me again i just might faint."

Vermeil: "The longer I look at him the more I can physically feel myself ovulating."

Lucia: *Uncontrollable drooling.*

Keran: "I definitely cannot let my mother see him now.."

All of the girls nodded in unison with each other as if they were all having the same thoughts at the same time.

Taira however was so immersed in this new ability of his that he hadn\'t yet noticed their infatuation yet.

With a wave of his hand, he sent forth a wall of his usual deep blue flames.

However, when they passed along the ground, instead of scorching it, the flames produced thick walls of black ice.

A single touch would reveal that the ice itself was so cold that it burned worse than any mortal flame.

{As expected of the one I chose… ice arts use an abundance of yin energy that is not so easily controlled and merged with the body- especially not among men. But you seem to have no difficulty with it.}

Taira looked down at the new medallion that had been transferred to his person by the Immortal Velreth.

It was golden colored and around the size of a pocket watch. The front was etched with some kind of writing that Taira hadn\'t the foggiest idea of how to decipher.

"Your talking in my brain is quite unnerving." He murmured.

{Unfilial disciple! Is this how you address your master on your first day under my tutelage?!} Velreth roared.

"Would you prefer I be mannerly or adept..?"

{Both}

"A pity since I\'ve been stripped of my ability to multitask in my youth."

The amulet in Taira\'s pocket vibrated with annoyance.

This was the problem with Kitsune and Nogitsune alike, they were all so haughty and uncompromising!

{…I can promise you this, disciple. If your work ethic falls in relevancy beneath your unlikeable personality, then your immoral master will not be happy.}

Whether his master was happy or not, Taira just hoped that he wasn\'t quite so chatty all of the time.

{As I was saying…}

\'Fuck.\'

{The yin and yang qi within your body seem to not only be working in harmony, but they have been merged together to act on one accord.

Fox spirits famously have a talent for the ice element so I\'m not surprised that you were compatible with it, but complete synchronization achieved near instantaneously is unprecedented.}

Taira started to half heartedly thank the old spirit for the praise, but he felt as if the old immortal had more to say.

Though he would have liked to be wrong..

{Now that I have a grasp of your ability when you aren\'t even trying, I expect to see even greater feats from you when you are actually putting forth effort!}

Ignoring his talkative new master, Taira waived his hand and dismissed the walls of black ice he\'d created with a thought.

"I came here because I\'ve been told I would find a primeval spirit pill. Is it here?"

{Naturally, but how did you… Genrei, of course…} Velreth snorted. {He always did covet my pagoda of limitless frost a bit too much for my liking.}

"This building is an artifact?" Taira questioned.

{Indeed it is, my disciple. Your eyes will be opened to many things in due time but for now, what you seek is in the furthest case on the left.}

Taira started walking towards the directed path and got a good look at the treasures lining the walls of Velreth\'s throne room.

As vampiric royalty, Taira wasn\'t exactly unaccustomed to rare weapons, cultivation manuals, and elixirs.

But everything that he was seeing here was so unbelievably profound that he couldn\'t begin to imagine the things they could do.

{A pity that I died with only these things left on my person… such a pitiful vault this is.}

Taira felt like Velreth was indirectly calling him a country bumpkin.

The foxkin picked out a black wooden box etched with the design of golden dragons.

Upon opening it, he found twenty identical pills sitting neatly in a box.

\'What a great find… I was only expecting there to be one.\' Taira smiled.

"Is that what you came for, cousin?"

Taira looked over his shoulder and found Vaal staring into the box with intrigued eyes.

"It is."

Vaal looked around at all of the other nice things in the hall and he whistled a bit in appreciation.

"About our deal… I\'m afraid we cannot take any of these items from you." Vaal shrugged.

"Why..? Surely each of you could find something here that you can utilize."

"Your gesture is appreciated, cousin, but not in this lifetime I\'m afraid.

These practices are too advanced for our eyes, and these weapons so mighty that they would stunt our growth.

That is if we were even able to wield them at all…"

Vaal shook his head dismissively and smiled.

"You need not worry, as none of us consider ourselves wronged. You have given us a glorious fight and a chance to open our eyes about the world around us. We don\'t require more than that."

Taira still felt guilty, no matter how much his relative insisted that he had no need to be.

He wanted to make things right and not make it seem like his relatives were being stiffed.

All around him, he could see the rest of the hunting party giving him reassuring smiles as if they were also trying to tell him they were alright.

Well, Tiche wasn\'t smiling.

Taira didn\'t even think she was capable of it if he were being quite honest… but who was he to talk?

The moment seemed quite right to him, so he looked towards Aveena and held out his hand.

Shyly, Aveena came to take his hand and together, the two of them came stand in front of the hall.

"If you all are willing… We\'d like to make you an offer." He began.

"Fifty years ago my sect was destroyed and I lost my master and my entire family. After taking some time to grow our own strength… my husband and I have decided that we want to revive it together." Aveena said firmly.

"Are you asking us to join this revived sect of yours..?" Tiche asked.

The couple nodded together.

"You say you will not accept these weapons and resources because you feel they are too advanced for you to comprehend or utilize properly.

But if you come with us, then we are offering to bring you to new lands where you may experience these things without reservation or doubt.

We will establish a power that holds a grip in not only this world, but each of the nine heavens of the upper realm as well.

You need only trust us to lead you to these heights, and to teach you with everything that we have."

Taira kept silent while Aveena made the pitch because he didn\'t know if he had the right disposition to convince any of them.

But Taira knew that he needed his relatives to join him.

Aside from his wives and his sole friend, he had no one he could trust.

Not Fenris, and most certainly not even this new master of his.

Now more than ever, he needed to be certain of who his friends were, and who were adversaries.

But the route to clarity would hardly be so smooth.

"…You should know full well our customs." Tiche muttered as she sauntered forward. "Only the most powerful are fit to stand in positions of leadership."

Again, Tiche summoned her dangerously long blade and jammed it into the icy floor in front of her.

"I have witnessed a great many things today, and learned even more. Perhaps certain foundations of my belief have been shaken, but…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Tiche glanced at Vermeil for a fraction of a second before returning her gaze back to Taira.

"I remain firm in the belief that you cannot hope to take individuals under your banner if you cannot corral them. If you cannot defend them."

She pointed her sword at the beautiful couple and made her intentions clear.

"I will acknowledge no faction that I have deemed lesser then myself. So come and express your valor firsthand, lest an honorable future evade us all."