The First Vampire

After the arrival of autumn, the sunshine was warm and pleasant.

A gentle breeze blew through the verdant forest, arriving at the far eastern edge of the Glorious Empire.

This was the periphery of the Bright Moon Forest, where even the most confident of hunters hesitated to hunt, despite the abundance of lively reindeer and plump wild rabbits.

For outsiders, the Bright Moon Forest was like a terrifying maze, countless hunters trying to uncover its secrets were forever lost in the boundless forest.

In fact, a thousand years ago, the Bright Moon Forest was not so dangerous, but since the Elves migrated to the Bright Moon Forest, it has become forbidden for humans.

So there were rumours that those lost in the Bright Moon Forest were actually killed by Elves lurking within.

The human city closest to Bright Moon Forest was Yevir—also known as the City of Mages.

The first to learn to use mana power were actually the Elves, and only then was it passed on to humans.

However, after the extinction of the High Elves, the number of Elves who continued to use mana power as Mages has become increasingly rare.

Contrarily, the number of human Mages gradually increased, to the point of even establishing a City of Mages.

Becoming a different force alongside the system of Knight nobility.

Of course, the Glorious Empire has always been wary of the existence of Yevir, but due to the dread of the Forbidden Spell, the Empire’s nobles eventually reached a tacit agreement to live in peace with the Mage Council.

Recently, this tacit agreement was almost broken by Mr. Ji.

Because the Forbidden Curse of The Eye of Judgment he created can be called a Holy Knight killer, if not for the Glorious Empire being hit by internal and external crises, Yevir might not have remained calm.

This City of Mages does not have towering city walls, nor fully-armed guards, as the Mages clearly understand that no matter what, they wouldn’t be a match for the Glorious Empire’s army.

So instead of wasting money maintaining an army, it’s better to study the Arcane, hold a few more forbidden curse in their hands, to deter the Glorious Empire.

Most of Yevir’s buildings were made of stone, the outer walls were painted with fine white sand, and added with some personalised decorations, such as small sculptures, flower racks, stone pillars, etc., filled with an artistic atmosphere, displaying the radiance of civilization.

A white tower stood tall in the city center, which is where the Mage Council was located and the real core of Yevir.

The surface of this tower has no traces of carving or stacking, it seemed to be a natural whole, and how it was built is still a mystery to this day.

A figure draped in a grey Mage robe was climbing the spiral staircase to the tower, with a wide hood covering his face, only revealing a firm chin.

Passing Mages only glanced at this person curiously and did not pay much attention.

The Mage Tower had a fair share of peculiar, even eccentric, Mages, and everyone was accustomed to it.

Moreover, there were numerous restrictions within the Mage tower, if one did not have a certain arcane accomplishment, straying about could be life-threatening.

This eccentric Mage stopped at the seventeenth floor of the tower, pushing open a large wooden door to enter a dark room.

The room was filled with rows of tall bookshelves and looked like a library.

The Mage crossed the bookshelves to a corner of the room.

A wolf stone statue sat there, seeming to be a dead end.

But the Mage reached out to touch the top of the statue, uttering a complex incantation.

Immediately, the statue moved on its own, revealing a deep passage.

The Mage stepped inside.

After passing through the passage, the Mage removed his hood.

It was indeed Mr. Ji.

There were no windows around, but there were magic lamps illuminating the room brightly.

The decorations in the room were simple and utilitarian, without any fanciness, except for the bathtub in the corner of the room, which was somewhat special— ꞦÃℕꝋʙÈS̩

Because it was full of thick blood!

Gurgling— gurgling—

Apparently hearing Mr. Ji’s footsteps, bubbles burst on the surface of the blood pool, and an old Mage emerged.

The old Mage looked to be in his eighties or nineties, his body was frail and nearly skin and bones, even soaking in the blood pool he was pallid, it seemed as if death was upon him.

“How are things?” he asked, in a hoarse voice.

His tone was extremely feeble, as if it could be blown away by a gust of wind.

However, Mr. Ji was especially respectful towards this man:

“I apologize, Master. Saruman failed once again. But, I’ve already procured his heart, so it seems that the experiment has been successful.”

With that, Mr. Ji took a wooden box from his robe, opened it, and placed it beside the Blood Pool.

The elderly mage looked at the heart in the box, his face taking on an especially complex expression, reminiscing, desiring, even holding an indiscernible hint of fear.

After a long moment, the aged mage sighed and said to Mr. Ji:

“Let’s proceed.”

Mr. Ji nodded, lifted the aged mage from the Blood Pool, and laid him flat on the carpet. Then, he took a dagger from his robe.

Just as the sharp blade of the dagger was pressed against the old mage’s emaciated chest, he spoke again:

“If I fail, you must remember to send my remains to Dragon City…”

“No, master, we will succeed!” Mr. Ji’s gaze flickered unusually for a moment, but soon regained its determination.

The old mage remained silent and slowly closed his eyes.

Mr. Ji inhaled deeply and then sliced open the old mage’s chest with the dagger.

…

Roar-

A strange beast-like roar suddenly echoed within the Tower of Mages.

Soon after, an enormously intimidating aura sharply ascended, making everyone within the tower feel a tremor originating from the depths of their souls.

As if a drop of cold water had fallen into boiling oil, all the startled mages immediately rushed from their rooms, discussing the tower’s unusual event.

“What took place?”

“Did someone’s experiment go wrong?”

“It sounds like it’s from the 17th floor…”

Soon enough, many mages who heard the noise gathered outside the room that Mr. Ji had earlier entered.

But they all hesitated at the door, debating whether to barge inside to see what had actually happened.

Before the mages could reach an agreement, the commotion within the room suddenly subsided.

Before long, the room’s door slowly opened, and a middle-aged man wearing a silver white mage robe walked out.

He was all smiles, stretching out his arms as if to embrace the world, declaring loudly:

“Honorable gentlemen, do you remember me?”

The mages exchanged confused looks.

Finally, one elderly mage cried out in shock:

“You… you are Mage Kurd!”

Kurd gave a small smile towards the speaker, saying:

“Kam, it’s been many years. How’ve you been?”

Kam was shaking all over as if he had seen a ghost.

The other mages immediately entered into a hubbub of discussion.

Eventually, more and more people woke up to the reality – this Mage Kurd is none other than the previous chairman of the Mage Council!

However, what shocked and bewildered them was that Mage Kurd should’ve been a hundred-year-old dying man, how could he look so young as he does now?

Could there really be a spell for rejuvenation in this world?

At this moment, Mr. Ji also came out of the room. He stood beside Mage Kurd and said:

“Gentlemen, the master is preparing to hold an open class, sharing his years of insights from Arcane research.”

The moment his words fell, all the mages’ eyes lit up, their hearts racing.

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