NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: No Name
"What the f*ck?" I said. "You didn't witness sh*t! You literally just showed up. I was attacked by these three, and I defended myself."
"Then why are they the ones on the ground?" The woman said.
"Because I was stronger than them. Duh," I said. "It's like you have no brain."
"How dare you? Who do you think you are?" She said.
"Dylan," I said.
"Dylan, what?" She said.
"Sanguis, I think," I said.
"You don't even have a true family name? Oh, you're really in trouble now," she said, grinning. What an *sshole, I thought. This person sucks.
"Ok," I said. "I'm going to class. I'm already late. Come find me when you figure that out." I walked away. She grabbed my arm. "Don't touch me. That's assault."
"I'm a staff member. I can do whatever I want to you. You clearly don't know the rules of Vampire Academy," she said, grinning even more. I didn't even think that was possible.
I tried to remove her arm but I couldn't. She was too strong. 'Hey, system. I thought I was supposed to be strong. How come she's stronger?'
[She is several realms above you. She is a vampire baroness]
'Is that higher or lower than a princess?'
[Much lower than a princess but much higher than you]
'Damn it. I was hoping I'd be able to throw my weight around here.'
[Among the new students, you are the strongest. But the older students and the staff are still stronger. You need more training and life essence to surpass them]
'Ok. I'll play along, I guess.'
"Fine. Can we get this over with though? Just take me wherever you need to take me," I said impatiently. I may have been acting hotheaded, but I was so over being told what to do and how to act. It had only been a few years, but my high school days already felt long behind me. And this just felt like high school, but worse somehow.
"Not until medics come for the other students," she said.
"They're vampires. Shouldn't they be able to heal super fast?" I said.
"Yes," she said. "But that's not the point. I still have to make sure they're ok."
"They'll be fine," I said. "Look, the medics are already here."
Medics showed up for the three students on the ground and took them somewhere. Presumably a nurse's office or something.
"Ok, we can go now," she said.
We arrived in a dark room. As soon as she closed the door, a light shone over a table that held three people wearing ornate robes with hoods at it, and a light shone over us.
"What has the boy done?" The middle person said.
"He assaulted three other students," she said.
"No, I didn't!" I said. "They assaulted me, and I defended myself."
"Who were the three students?" The middle one said.
"Tyler Crimson, Jesse Hemsworth, and Kyle Scarlet," she said.
"Hmm. This is very bad. This is very bad indeed." The middle one said. "What's your name, boy?"
"Dylan Sanguis," I said.
"No family name. Hmm." The middle one said. "Who is your progenitor?"
"Victoria Sanguis," I said.
"Princess Victoria," the middle one said. "We don't want to anger her."
"What should we do?" The right one said.
"Give him to the families." The left one said.
"No, that's too harsh. And it would anger Victoria." The middle one said. "What if we admitted him into the Outer Sect Disciples entrance exam? We could say we saw promise in his strength and ability to defeat three students at once."
"I can agree with that." The left one said.
"Yes, that is an excellent idea." The right one said.
"You know I can hear everything you're saying, right?" I said. They ignored me.
"That way we can appease the families by letting them send emissaries to compete against him." The middle one said.
"Good." The left one said.
"Excellent." The right one said.
"You guys are weird," I said. "I've never had people scheme right to my face before."
"Why should we hide it? You'll be long dead before Victoria has a chance to talk to you," the middle one said.
"Fair point," I said. "Wait, does that mean I can kill in this competition?"
"It happens, but it's not encouraged," the middle one said.
"Ok," I said, already scheming myself.
"You'll be held until the competition starts," the middle one said. "Take him to a holding cell."
"Yes, sir," the woman next to me said. She grabbed my arm again and led me out of the room. We went into one of the rooms next door. There were three holding cells. The woman put me in the far one and locked it. "Someone will get you when the competition is about to start."
I sat against the wall and closed my eyes. I went into my mind.
'System, is there a way for me to drain someone's life essence without killing them?'
[There are many ways. You can drink their blood, make them elicit a strong emotion like laughter, or through orgasm]
'I meant a way that I could do it efficiently in combat.'
[You could drain life essence directly if part of your body was inside their body]
'What? Are you saying I have to have sex with them?'
[Negative. But a part of your body has to penetrate the target's body]
'It really sounds like you're telling me to have sex with my target.'
[Negative. For example, if you punched a hole in their stomach, you could drain life essence through that]
'Oh! What if I just poked my finger through their skin? Would that work?'
[Affirmative. That would suffice]
'Looks like I'm gonna have to start fingering people.'
[Now you are making it appear sexual]
'I didn't mean it like that. Is there anything else I could be doing while I'm waiting for this competition to start?'
[You could fill up your lifeblood nexus points]
'What will that do?'
[It will strengthen and fortify your body against injury and empower your attacks]
'Ok. Let's do that.'
The system walked me through the process of filling up my body's nexus points, and I followed its instructions for the hours I had before the competition began.