World of Alvarra: Rise of the Vampire Lord

After lunch, he spent another hour of exertion then said his goodbyes to Luna, who left happy. After that, he left for Lorenzo’s study to continue his studies on runes and their effects on the body. Bringing along Isa as a test subject.

Arriving, he and Lore began talking about what they have learned, asking Isa to show Lore what she showed him. Activating her tattoo, she showed how she could ride the wolf and then somewhat fuse with it to increase her strength and speed.

Lore was impressed since normally he dealt in potions and magic spell circles and told them to wait for a bit while he prepared for a guest to arrive. And in a few minutes, a knock came at the door, and in entered a hobgoblin who actually looked like a mage. A rarity for goblins. She then introduced herself as the one who helps inscribe runes on the goblins who ask for it.

After that, Lore asked the hobgoblin to teach them everything she knew about these specific runes that augment the body and can do so much more. The hobgoblin in question happily did so, since, in a way, it was almost like Lore was acknowledging her, and all the years she spent learning her skills.

The next few hours were spent working on inscribing temporary runes on Isa who would then activate them and test them out. Runes to activate a small fireball, runes to make her float for a few seconds, and many more. Van and Lore took as many notes as possible as the hobgoblin mage did her best to explain the history of these runes and where she learned them from. How it was passed down and refined throughout the generations of goblin kind and how different it used to be compared to now.

“The only problem with it is that we goblins have a very small mana pool. This is because we are constantly eating mana to help run our bodies. For those like goblin mages, they either have to eat a lot of cores or eat a lot of food to compensate.” Isa said, taking another mana potion. “Not to mention there is always the problem of whether to choose a rune that increases passively your strength by like two percent or actively increases by twenty for like a few minutes. The effects of the rune and how strong you can make it also depend on the body and how much mana it can absorb as it is placed on it. So there's that too.”

“Wait, eat mana cores? I thought that was dangerous to do?” Van asked, a little worried for Isa.

“Normally that would be true,” Lore began. “But for monster-kin races like goblins, it's a little different. They actually gain the most from consuming cores, more than just trying to cultivate it or crush it. Though it also comes with its own pros and cons.”

Van thought about it and then asked Isa. “How big is your mana pool? And how many points do you get for eating a core? Also, does it go straight to your mana pool? Or do you have a cultivation that it goes to?”

“For us goblins, we can kinda choose where the core’s mana goes to. Sometimes directly to increase our natural mana pool or sometimes to our cultivation. As for which is better, I honestly can’t say.” she said with a shrug. “There are pros and cons to increasing your cultivation over your mana pool, and not just because if you rank up you gain a small increase in your secondary mana pool, but everything else that increases to. Like if you practice mana body cultivation, which I do, it also increases my physical abilities permanently when I rank up.”

“But as to the reason why we goblins may want to increase our mana pool over our cultivation, is because we can consume our mana pool to make ourselves grow, so to speak. When a wild monster accumulates enough mana, they can go through a change or evolution. It’s how goblins can become greater goblins or high goblins, or if they have a lot of mana and meet the right prerequisites they can become a hobgoblin like me. But that costs a lot of mana, and it’s not like the mana we consume goes straight to our mana pool, instead we store it somewhere in our body for later to be used to help us rank up. In a way, that mana is useless and can’t be used.”

“Fascinating, do you mind if I feed you this rank three mana core? I would like you to tell me how much mana you got from that.” Van asked, bringing out a mana core from his soul realm and handing it over.

“Sure, I don’t mind!” Isa said and then ate the core greedily and swallowed it.

After a few moments Van wondered if anything happened, but then Isa spoke. “I increased my mana pool by zero point five points,” she said happily, then as if remembering something. “Oh, as my natural mana pool increases, the effects of cores on it decreases unless It’s a high-rank one. Sorry for not telling you that sooner.”

“Don’t mind it, it’s just impressive you were able to get so much mana from one rank three core, for how little it was worth… that’s some crazy growth…” Van said, amazed by how much she has gotten from such a low-rank core. Even Lorenzo was amazed and looked on with interest, as you would be lucky to receive point three units of mana if you crushed it. Maybe point four or five if you properly cultivated it and drew every ounce out, but that could take hours...

“What else can we do to increase your mana pool?” Van asked, getting a little excited and waiting to know more.

“Well… you can try to inject me with your mana and I can try to absorb it. Unlike most races, we have an easier time absorbing injected mana… or converting life essence into mana…” she said, looking down at her belly.

It was then he realized that it was only a few hours since their session and already she had a flat stomach.

“In a few more hours, my body would have probably converted everything you’ve given me and turned it into mana for my body and cultivation. If the mana hasn’t been used to feed my body yet of course,” she said.

Van’s eyes went wide a little, amazed and now a little scared by the growth and versatility of a goblin and their ability to grow stronger. It made him wonder how they are still used as disposables and why they are so happy about it. Perhaps it's just a goblin thing?

Van gave a little cough. “Er right… I'm going to inject a hundred units of mana into you, is that fine?”

Isa smiled coyly. “A bit of a downgrade from what you injected into me previously, but I suppose it will have to do,” she said in a teasing manner that made Van blush and Lore quirk an eye.

Van did his best to ignore the comment, then placed his hands on Isa and moved his mana into her, almost amazed by how her body seemed to greedily suck it up. After a few minutes of this, he asked how she felt and if there were any changes.

Closing her eyes as if in deep thought, she opened them again a few moments later and told him that her mana pool had increased by a whole point. And mentioned how amazed she was by how pure his mana was.

But Van was paying more attention to the whole point part and turned to Lore and the two of them shared a look. The growth of a goblin truly was a scary thing...

After that, the two asked Isa and the other hobgoblin many questions on goblin kind and what else they could tell them about the growth and life cycle of goblins and how to make them stronger quicker. A whole new field that they had never considered before, now open to them.

After hours of questioning them and doing tests on them, the two finally let Isa and the other hobgoblin go. Much to their relief while Van and Lore went over their notes and everything else they learned.

Taking everything together, the two started to devise theories and other questions they could test. Making sure to stock up on studying material and other books on the subject, as well as methods to test said theories and questions out in a non-biased way.

Van absently wondered, if he was able to get a proper education from an academy, where he would have all the teachers and information he could possibly want, would he even have to try out theories? Or would all the answers just be told to him and he wouldn’t have to waste his time?

It was then that he wanted to hit himself on the head. Walking over to the door and sticking his head out, he talked to the Anna constantly waiting on him to call over Sheri to get her perspective and possible knowledge on runecraft.

Lorenzo watched his pupil curiously, wondering where he was going, but when he overheard what he asked Anna to do, he also felt like he should have done such an obvious thing. Even if he didn’t like her much, due to the fact that to him, she took his precious pupil away, he couldn't deny she was a treasure trove of knowledge and did teach professionally.

A few minutes later, Sheri arrived, curious as to what Van and Lore would want with her, and also a bit annoyed, though that annoyance was tempered with anticipation. Annoyed because the person who she was supposed to teach left for seven months, and the other spent most of her time training with her mother. Though she was still able to teach her now and then.

And anticipation because it finally felt like she was going to be doing what she meant to do when she was sent here. Entering the room, she surveyed it with a discerning eye, then Van and lore somewhat imperiously.

“Well… Look who finally decided to give me a call. It only took you a few days to do it as well. I know I suppose I should blame myself for not coming to join in for dinner these past two days since I had something to do, but perhaps then you would have remembered me sooner? But It’s nice to know I have not completely been forgotten...” she said passive-aggressively, staring them down.

Van winced and so did Lore a little. Sheri had the complete right to be a little cross with them, all things considering. “I hope you called me here to ask about your studies, you know the ones right? The ones that I have to teach you, evaluate you on, and determine whether you pass or not? And if that means you can go to the academy? Those ones?”

The passive-aggressiveness was hitting Van like a truck and Lore seemed to lean back a little so as to not get caught by it. Pretending like he didn’t exist.

“S-sorry…” was all Van could stutter out, feeling a little bad and not knowing what else to say.

After a moment Sheri sighed and apologized. “No, no… it's not your fault. I also approved of you going to the necromancers guild to study. Honestly speaking it is not a bad place to learn, I was surprised that you haven’t gone there sooner. But I wish you would have considered your studies a bit more, I’m only here to help make sure you are prepared for the academy. And more importantly, since you are going to the west blood haven academy, I have to make double sure you are prepared. So I hope you understand the pressure that puts on me.” she said, looking Van in the eye.

“You're right… I’ll make sure to make time for your classes, promise…” Van said.

Sheri continued to eyeball him, but after a few moments, she seemed to relax and give a warm smile. “Well as long as you understand.” then it was as if her demeanor did a complete 180. “Now then, how can I help you two?” she asked gently, honestly just glad to be wanted.

Van and Lore explained what they were studying and the help they needed about runecraft and what they have discovered so far.

“Oh? Is that all you need to know? Well, I can’t say I’m an expert on this kind of stuff but I can certainly help, though I might need some help myself!” she laughed, then she pulled out a strange blue crystal clear liquid potion and drank it.

“Memory recall potion, sometimes when you get my age, and you are looking for specific memories, it really helps to drink it.” She then closed her eyes for a few seconds and relaxed, then opening them she started to ask Van and Lore what they knew so far with the promise to fill in the gaps should she know the answer.

They did and were flabbergasted by the font of knowledge Sheri became. It became so much that Van had to call in the Annas to help write down everything Sheri was saying so as to not miss anything.

After spending hours and even missing dinner, Lore and Van had to come to the conclusion that they had only touched the surface of the knowledge Sheri had when it came to runes. And it wasn’t even what she specialized in.

Ending it there because it was getting late, the group ate a late dinner and decided to save the rest for later.

But before he decided to go to bed, he asked Anna to call Isa to his room while he prepared some things.

Entering the bedroom, Isa wondered what Van could want with her, and was a little excited by what it could be. Only to be confused when she saw her master standing in front of a large magic circle. Turning he called her over.

“Hello Isa, before we go to bed, I have one last idea I would like to test out. You said that the shadow wolf you have was a fusion of runes and summoning magic right? That you got the wolf from a magic circle and then it was placed on your body?” Van asked, wanting to make sure he had the facts straight.

Isa nodded, unsure of where this was going.

“Wonderful, do you mind if you summon your wolf and hand it over to me for just a bit? I promise to return it to you,” he asked politely, wanting to make sure he wasn’t being rude about it.

Hesitantly Isa acquiesced, summoning her wolf and handing it over.

“Thank you,” Van said, taking the wolf. He then took temporary control over it and sent it into the magic circle. After that he pulled out a few mana cores and other materials and went through the process as if he was going to make one of his own shadow wolves, just using Isa’s wolf as a base.

Soon the magic circle began to glow, and the wolf inside began to change. It lost its form and seemed to merge with the materials and cores given to it alongside some of Van’s own shadow magic that he sent in. but that's when he did some things differently, feeling it out more than knowing what he was doing. Taking the runes that were a part of the wolf and copying them. After that he augmented them, increasing their number and their power. After about fifteen minutes of focusing, he slowly pulled back his awareness and let the wolf reform.

The wolf came out sleeker as if it could run faster. Bigger, as if it could now properly carry Isa. stronger, with a new level of fierceness to its eyes. Its shadowy form looked blacker and deeper than before as if it had some real tangibility now. With a will, Van formed it into a ball and turned it back into a runic tattoo, pasting it back on Isa’s thigh. The runic tattoo looked far more stylized than before, then disappeared as if sinking into her skin.

“I made it so you have the option to turn on or off the tattoo,” Van said, proudly. “So? What do you think?” he asked, excited to hear her opinion.

Isa just stared at her new and improved tattoo, turning the image off and on at will. Slowly she called forth the wolf and it answered her commands. Amazed, she gently combed her hand through its now fur, fascinated by its tangible feeling and how smooth and soft it was to the touch.

Getting on to ride it, she gave a little “eep!” as the wolf back seemed to change, and out of its depths came a saddle of sorts for ease of use. Holding tightly, she gently ordered the wolf forward and was taken by surprise by how quickly she flew, running around the room at high speeds, the wolf moving far faster than she had ever gone before.

Stopping the wolf, for fear of accidentally breaking something, though the ride was exhilarating. She then formed her fusion with it and was amazed that not only was she able to feel another twenty percent increase, she also felt the time she had increased from thirty seconds to two whole minutes.

Testing this newfound power she ran around the room, jumping up and down in excitement before tiring herself out and going back to normal. Turning, she ran to give Van a huge hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she said over and over again. Unbelievably happy about the turn of events that saw her get a huge upgrade.

Van chuckled. “Just testing a few things out. I did promise to make you all stronger after all. And speaking of stronger…” Van returned the hug with one of his own, but with a twist. He started to inject all his mana he had in reserve into her until depleted.

After parting, he gave her a gentle smile. “Let's see if we can’t get you to two hundred units of mana and maybe rank you up from a regular hobgoblin to a greater one,” he said.

Isa looked at him as if he was the greatest thing to have ever existed, her eyes taking on a fervor-like look that one would find on some fanatical cultists. The amazing amount of gifts, from having lost her virginity to him and the three rank mana core. power, from all the mana he injected to her and the upgraded wolf with the promise of more to come. And kindness shown to her by blood bonding her and being accepted by his wife thought that last one Van didn’t know about. Made him appear in her eyes, like a messiah that was here to help her ascend to new heights.

Van gave her one last hug and bid her good night. Completely unaware of the things he just sent into motion.