As Carmilla turned, leaving a stupefied patch of soldiers near the Colonel’s tent and the two sacks of human waste she’d caught, she resisted the urge to just … flick a pair of Blood Bolts back to finish the job.

  No. I’m not a monster. Carmilla repeated the words like a mantra. Talk and threaten as she might, she wasn’t planning on killing the pair.

  Plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy though, and she felt that resolve and her flimsy morals crumble to dust almost instantly when she laid eyes on the pair.

  They’d hurt Mia—her Mia. If the girl wasn’t so damned blessed with magical talent and Brent wasn’t so paranoid, Carmilla could imagine the outcome of the assassination attempt would have been very different. That thought had been playing in her head when she first saw the two worms.

  Only by imagining Mia’s crestfallen expression when she eventually learned of her actions did Carmilla manage to hold herself back. Would the girl still hold her hands if she knew those were the hands of a killer, that they were stained with the blood of humans? Carmilla unfortunately couldn’t be sure, and that worry stopped her from going too far.

  She’d have loved to say her morals were up to par and that her unbending will battered down her vampiric rage, but that would be a lie. It had been a close call, a very close call.

  At least she could say with certainty that her threats were all bullshit, that calmed her somewhat, knowing there were lows even her rage-infused psyche wouldn’t sink to.

  She could have made them into Thralls, had them answer before making them tear each other to shreds while their minds watched helplessly, caged inside bodies bent to her will.

  She could have drained them a bit, made her saliva give them pain so unimaginable that their minds shattered.

  She didn’t though. Those options were all there, swimming just under the surface but she never even reached for them. The worst she would have done to them would have been some broken bones and a painful death.

  Still, holding all that back and bottling it up was … taxing. That anger was still trying to force its way out and make her rampage just a bit to blow off some steam. Carmilla wanted to hit something, tear it apart. The vampiric fury ate at her focus like a parasitic worm, urging to just let go, to let loose.

  Breathe. She controlled herself, anger was one of the main emotions her instincts fed on. If she was angry, they’d latch onto them tooth and nail and try to make her spiral out of control. Fucking Obelisks. At least if I were higher ranked, it'd be easier to handle.

  The fact was, Carmilla was a baby vampire, a fledgling and they weren’t known for their outstanding control of their bestial impulses, no, quite the opposite.

  I need some calm. Carmilla decided, huffing as she took a deep sniff of air and gently caressed the glittery globule of lifeforce in her Blood Bank with her mental fingers. Mia’s lifeforce.

  Her usual dozen metre radius sphere of perception wobbled and a string of it extended out into the distance, racing through the buildings and streets. At the end of it, Carmilla felt the young Halvyr girl’s presence.

  Thankfully, the pair of idiots couldn’t run all that far before she caught them, so she was still well within range of her blood tracking. Well, with how much of Mia’s blood she’d drunk and how high quality it was, Carmilla could likely track her even if the girl was on the opposite side of the city.

  Following the string in a leisurely jog, Carmilla let the soft evening breeze wash away her rage ever so slowly. She focused on that presence she felt at the other end of the string of perception reaching out.

  Upon reaching the building, a short glare was all it took for an officer to hastily rush over and let her inside. Carmilla made her way up to the floor her delving team was on and was quickly let inside the apartment where Mia slept.

  Helene was out sleeping on a couch, seemingly having fallen asleep while still sitting and presumably waiting for somethin- was she waiting for me?

  The thought shocked Carmilla for a moment; her gaze lingering on the sleeping woman. Then she shrugged with a soft smile on her face, it was easy to see where Mia got her kindhearted nature.

  Not wanting to wake her, Carmilla tiptoed over to the room she felt Mia’s presence from. She froze again when her fingers brushed against the door’s handle.

  Was what she was doing acceptable? Sneaking into a sleeping girl’s room like some creepy stalker? It was just something a stereotypical crazy vampire would do, the exact sort she was trying her damndest not to be like.

  She could have just left, taking one of the empty beds in another room to rest. Her body didn’t need it, but her mind and spirit were so sore it almost hurt. She wanted to crash, relax, and unwind a bit. To do that, she’d instinctively wanted to be close to Mia.

  Just listening to the petite girl snoring in her sleep through the door was making her tightly coiled nerves start to unfurl. She wanted the peace of mind Mia’s presence gave; she needed it. Badly. Especially after nearly losing control. The girl always managed to make Carmilla feel human again, and not a bloodthirsty monster.

  We are dating. Carmilla reassured herself. People who are dating are expected to be sleeping together now and then … I think.

  The vampiress chewed over that thought, letting it sink into her subconscious mind and relaxed somewhat. She straightened up and puffed her chest out. She was meant to be there, meaning, she shouldn’t sneak inside like a skulking vampire.

  She opened the door, not with the dead silence she could have managed if she forced herself to but with just enough noise to notify anyone still awake to her coming.

  The moment she stepped through and gently closed the door behind her, only letting it make a faint click, she heard a low hiss.

  Her gaze snapped up and zoned in on a small pink cat sitting at the corner of Mia’s bed. Now, with its ethereal fur standing on end, all fuzzed up, its pair of azure eyes glared at her. Then it stopped, tilted its head before huffing and curling back up.

  ‘Oh, it’s just you.’ The cat seemed to say with its body language. ‘Why are you sneaking around, I almost attacked you, stupid. Harumph.’

  Slightly miffed, Carmilla moved over the side of the bed to just … she didn’t know what to do. Was she supposed to just sit there, or should she change into some pajamas and lie down? Would that wake Mia up? She didn’t want to wake Mia up; the girl looked like a worn-out dishrag by the time they finished the Rift and that was before she got shot by that asshole. She needed the rest.

  The girl in question groaned, her eyes fluttering open before she drowsily squinted up at Carmilla.

  “Oh, you’re finally back,” she said, and Carmilla heard a hint of accusation in those words that made her wince. The girl scrunched up her nose. “Bath. Did you take a dumpster dive on your little rat-hunt? Clean up, then you’re my body pillow till tomorrow for leaving me alone right after I got shot.”

  Mia managed to sound like she was whining, grumpy and truly angry all at once.

  Carmilla winced again. She’d been told she stank like a dumpster and reprimanded for giving in to her stupid vampiric impulses in one breath. No, she’d been told she hadn’t barely escaped giving in to her impulses but that she’d fallen for their temptation even without noticing.

  She should have stayed with her friend, with Mia, when she had almost been killed. Running off like a lunatic, screaming for vengeance was not what a sane, normal person did.

  “O-okay,” Carmilla said, flashing a weak smile as she slunk back out of the room under the girl’s narrow-eyed gaze.

  Dumping her clothes into a corner of the bathroom, she grimaced again. She liked those clothes, the way leather clung to her skin made her feel every new curve and muscle that she’d been dreaming about throughout her teenage years.

  Still, they reeked something fierce, so they had to go. She swiftly, and hurriedly cleaned up with the wet towel and the bucket of water she found in the bath before throwing on a loose t-shirt and a pair of shorts she found lying about. They weren’t her size, but they’d do as nightclothes for a single night.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Then she snuck back inside of Mia’s room, the girl herself was already dozing off again, staying awake only by sheer force of will, which tugged on Carmilla’s heartstrings. The way her eyelids drooped before she caught herself and snapped them open was just the most precious thing in the world.

  “Comere,” the girl slurred, patting the bed next to her and Carmilla obeyed with an uncharacteristic meekness. She slipped under the thin bedsheet and nearly squealed as Mia waited not a second more before snuggling up to her. “That’s better.”

  Then the girl was asleep, her head coming to rest in the nook of Carmilla’s neck. Her soft little snores brushing her warm exhales of air against Carmilla’s neck, sending tingles down her spine.

  Carmilla felt her worries from before fading, the vampiric instincts that’d been haunting her from before pulling back as their claws found their foothold — her anger and hate — evaporating.

  There were new worries, sweeter worries in her heart now. Like how was she going to get a minute of sleep in with those tingles racing up and down her spine and Mia’s soft body practically melting into hers.

  *****

  By the time Mia woke up for the second time, it was morning. Seeing as it’d just been dusk when she crashed and now it seemed to be early dawn, she’d slept quite a lot.

  It wasn’t enough. Her spirit still had some lingering soreness to it, but she felt it’d be fine in another few hours.

  The first thing she noticed was that she really should have opened the window before snuggling up to Carmilla. The room was at near heatstroke temperatures and she’d been sweating throughout the night, which resulted in her currently being nearly glued to Carmilla.

  With a grimace, she carefully extracted herself and threw her stinky shirt over her head and away to the side before opening the window.

  Shuddering as the crisp morning flowed in and caressed her bare skin, she felt herself kicked awake by the sensation in a way only coffee usually accomplished.

  Picking up a new shirt, Mia glanced over at her erstwhile body pillow, still blissfully snoring away. Not wanting to wake the girl, even if she planned to have a serious talk with her later, she just settled down on the bed and checked her Quests first.

  The Graz regional Quest had 2 / 5 Rifts marked as Destroyed, meaning Jeff’s group had also managed to finish theirs. That was good, she was only all too happy not having to delve into a sewer rift filled with rats.

  There wasn’t any surprising change with the rest, so she closed the tab and focused on her small pack of Rewards.

  Before she could get to that though, her eyes fell on the piece of molten slag mixed in with shards of some discoloured gem on the nightstand. She took a mournful breath, mentally thanking her Amulet for its service and heroic sacrifice. She doubted there was any recovery from that state. Onto a nicer topic, Rewards.

  With not wanting to eat unknown stuff again without supervision and not wanting to wake anyone after such a tiring delve, she grabbed the one thing that was both interesting and didn’t need eating to work: the training manual.

  She crawled back into the bed and settled down with the book in her lap, then she started reading. Soon, she understood why the Rift had seemingly been miserly this time around with her Rewards.

  Hell, she wanted to pat her Newcomer Title on the shoulder for working so hard, because this training manual was surely pushing the ‘Increased System assistance’ part of the Title to its limits.

  Why? Well, she just had to read the brief introductory part about the author of the book, one First Arcanist Arwintar.

  ‘Second Seat of the Astral Court’s governing Council, Second Trueborn Son of Anachreon, Grand Master of the Prismatic Academy and an Arcanist unlike any other with millennia of experience in training and teaching young Fae and Elves of various Arcane Bloodlines.’

  This training manual was purpose made for people with the same Bloodline as hers, for Arcane Mages with Affinity as high as hers. It was perfect, just what she’d been in desperate need of. Direction.

  Diving into it, Mia barely resisted just stopping her first skim of the book and just trying out some of the exercises. There were handfuls for every single Sub-attribute, as well as for well-known Secondary Skills associated with the Arcane. She even found both of her Energy Assimilation Skills and of course her Arcane Mana Manipulation Skill too.

  There were also build paths for Primary Skills, requirements for some early Subskills for her Class and even some pre-made timetables.

  Timetables, that would give her training some direction and put some order into the rather flighty training sessions she’d been managing with till now.

  One part caught her attention though, and finally made her stop reading.

  She’d remembered that usually, being able to transform her arcane mana’s state from chaotic to stable would be something she’d have to wait till she had her Spirit up above 20 to attempt.

  But this new book claimed that having 15 Spirit while at Rank 0, or above 20 at Rank 1 was enough. Generally, people couldn’t get that high in the lower Ranks where they’d supposedly be far too broke to get enough Natural Treasures for it, but Mia was in a bit of a unique situation with the Realm Event and the Introductory Questline helping her out.

  Reading further, she was finally told why that was. Her Spirit was supposedly high enough now to fill her mana pool to the maximum capacity her Rank 0 self could bear.

  Turning her focus inward, at her mana pool specifically, she felt the difference. She felt … full. Not painfully so, or in the comfortable daze that came with eating your fill, she was just vaguely aware that her mana pool couldn’t hold more mana in it.

  Up until now, her Spirit had been the limiting factor, its strength determining how much of the rebellious arcane mana she could keep subdued in her pool.

  If she wanted numbers, the book also provided those. One unit of mana was determined to be a tenth of the amount of mana a single point of Spirit could subdue. Meaning, one point in Spirit allowed her to have 10 units of mana in her pool while her pool also had a maximum capacity of 150 units at Rank 0. Which she now had all used up.

  It would be challenging, 16 Spirit was the recommended minimum, but it was possible to switch mana states even at 15 when her Spirit only had a tiniest lick of leftover power after keeping her mana pool subdued. Willpower could apparently supplement that power, and while she didn’t have a prodigious amount of that, she was hopeful.

  Short of some Spiritual Natural Treasures, she wasn’t going to get her Spirit up to 16 just yet. Still, said Spirit was still sore from getting far too much exercise the day before.

  A few hours, then I can try. She thought, staring a metaphorical hole into the book. All of her non-explosive spells would get a sizable boost from her switching her mana state. Considering that those were all of them, minus Arcane Blast, she was pretty excited about the prospect.

  Wait. Didn’t I get a weird new type of Natural Treasure from that Rift too? Mia thought, remembering the strange bright yellow berry with a shape and size similar to a grape. A ‘Finkle’.

  She was aching to just chow down on the curious fruit, but held herself back. Abiding by her promise was more important than getting to test this thing out a few hours earlier.

  Instead, she finished skimming through the book, then went back to the recommended general Arcanist timetable. It was supposedly aimed at training everything a general Arcanist would need to be skilled in over a ten day long schedule that should be cycled endlessly.

  Looking up what she would have been supposed to be doing at the moment had she been following this timetable, she saw a ‘Morning Meditation’ slotted in ‘At dawn’ just before breakfast.

  Every day started that way, even the two rest days.

  Deciding that she might as well do it, she went back to the part about Meditation techniques and searched for one that looked and sounded interesting.

  Her choice fell on a technique not too dissimilar to what she’d been doing as a nervous fidget already. It involved swirling mana around in her pool, and sending a cascading stream of it out into an energy channel, letting it spread into every last nook of it, then pulling it back.

  Mia closed her eyes, sent her mana pool swirling with a thought and then got to livening up her energy channels with the exercise. Through it all, she kept the simple breathing exercise described going while she focused her mind on just experiencing the effects those two actions had on her.

  She felt her energy channels slowly getting filled, like an arid field granted water, then felt that refreshing sensation linger even as she pulled her mana back.

  At the same time, she felt her breathing, the way her lungs expanded from the crisp morning air and as the gentle rays of the sun warmed her skin.

  Her Meditation Skill activated quickly, signalling her entry into a deeper meditative state, but she managed to ignore it and its effects. She just kept going until she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder.

  “Hi?” Carmilla greeted awkwardly as Mia squinted up at her, bleary-eyed. “Breakfast?”

  Taking a quick glance out the window, Mia saw the sun now well over the horizon. She must have been in deep meditation for an hour at least.

  “Sure,” Mia said, carefully closing her training manual supposedly written by one of her super distant relatives. Or not, if Carmilla was right about my blood being pure enough to be only the fifth generation from the Origin. “Everyone’s up?”

  Carmilla listened for a moment, then shrugged. “Everyone in this apartment. Your mother is making some scrambled eggs … I have no idea where she got the eggs for it, but she did. So, yeah.”

  Mia couldn’t have made that sentence more awkward even if she had days to plan it out, but Carmilla just blurted it out on the spot. That took talent.

  Mia hopped off the bed, stretched lazily, then whirled on the vampire, who was still standing there scratching her cheek like she didn’t know what else to do with herself.

  “Alright,” Mia said, walking up and hooking her arm with Carmilla’s. It took three tries, all of which the vampire watched in bemusement. Finally managing to do it like they did it on fancy celebrity galas she’d seen on the net, Mia tugged at her girlfriend. “Lead me?”

  Carmilla blinked, taking a moment to look both of them up and down but seemingly didn’t have it in her to say the undoubtedly snarky remark sitting on the tip of her tongue. Shrugging, she did as she was asked and Mia smiled to herself.

  Weeks ago, being so bold would have given her a heart attack. It was just inconceivable to past-Mia to be so brazen as to demand being escorted like some princess in her nightclothes.

  To the Mia of today, the little smiles and the occasional ever so slight blush from the vampire was all the encouragement she needed and with every bold, presumptuous move like the one she’d just made, she was only growing bolder and bolder.

  Plus, having a beauty like Carmilla as her girlfriend was an ego boost like no other. Even if Mia doubted the silly vampire knew what being in a relationship even meant. I can teach her as we progress. My first lesson is going to be about not being stupidly rash and not leaving your girlfriend hanging after she’s been shot.

  But first, breakfast.

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