Chapter 1

The Day I became a Vampire Lord.

"Why am I here?" It was a question I was asking in both the literal sense and figurative sense. The giant manor had been in ruins for at least two decades, yet here I was looking around it for no other reason besides not having anything better to do.

"Is this really the place where the wizard saint fought the vampire lord?" I said, looking over the prestige vases that had been shattered. My eyes wandered upward to see a large painting of a woman with the face scratched out.

I couldn't help but wonder if that was the vampire lord in question. The surrounding areas were so dilapidated that it was impossible to imagine anyone or anything living there.

Sunlight pierced the broken ceiling as I continued to investigate the building. "It's on a cliff side, so I have to find a window," I spoke to myself.

I just had another nasty fight with my dad, though thinking about it. It was less a fight and a more like a one-sided verbal beatdown. So I wasn't planning on coming back home, not like it mattered much.

Out of three siblings, I was the one blessed with the misfortune of having no magical talent whatsoever. Then again, that was part of the reason why I came here because I knew no one would look for me. I could spend weeks there, months, and not a single soul would search.

It was an oddly calming feeling. I opened another window, looking down at the cliff side edge that fell into the sea.

"I suppose whoever the vampire lord was she had pretty good taste in scenery," I said to myself leaning out the window taking in the atmosphere.

I wondered just how many floors there were to the building. Considering it was an entire mansion there had to be three at least. The floor that I was on, the second floor, and a basement.

I decided to leave the main room, slowly ascending the staircase. I ignored the damaged and worn hand railing as I walked through the second-floor hallways.

There was a strange air about the building. Like there was a reason that no one tried to tear down the building even after so many years.

In a way, it didn't matter. I entered a random room of his choosing, only to be greeted with a room filled with stuffed animals.

I was taken aback by the scene. I guess if the vampire lord were a girl she'd still be into cutesy things such as stuffed animals and ribbons. I walked deeper into the room, placing my hand the white and gold bed in the center.

The thing was covered in so much dust and dirt that you could make a second blanket from that alone. Still, I decided to jump on it, which probably looked goofy for an eighteen-year-old man to do, but it was something I never had the chance to experience in my own house.

Then again, I never had a bed in my own house either. While I continued to jump, I paid little mind to the creaking of the floor, that was until the floor collapsed in on itself.

I flinched as me, and the bed fell from the second floor to the first. I wish I could say that was the end of it, but it seemed that the weight of the floor combined with the bed was still too much for the weak floor as I fell further down into what was considered the basement.

My vision went black as the bed beneath me shattered. Wood and debris were sent flying in every direction, forcing me to cough.

I felt a sharp pain in my ankle like it had been twisted, prompting me to try to lift myself. The moment I did the severe pain returned, causing me to grumble.

"Great...I wish the fall would have killed me so I wouldn't have to worry about this shit," I sighed lying on the mattress. I looked around the surrounding area, taking note of how weird it was.

It didn't look like any basement I had ever seen. Instead, it looked closer to a strange ballroom. I grabbed a nearby piece of wood and used it as a makeshift walking stick.

Once again, sunlight shined through the ceiling and down into the room; it made sense. The first floor had plenty of holes along with the second. It made sense that sunlight would even manage to reach the basement.

I made my way across the marble floor, taking note of the shattered pieces of ground and pillars embedded into the wall. Forget rundown. It looked like someone had a battle there years ago.

My eyes wandered about until I noticed someone lying in the center of the room. I slowly inched my way closer towards the figure, finally taking in the details.

It was a woman with long black hair, with a pure white and gold dress. Her limbs were twisted about unnaturally, and a massive stone spike had impaled her to the floor.

Strangely enough, that wasn't the oddest part about the scene, instead what was weird was the size of the lass. She wasn't muscular or anything like that, in fact, she looked rather dainty. She was taller than most men I had met, probably reaching nearly 200cm.

"Is she some doll?" I asked, making my way towards her. I couldn't imagine anyone just stumbling upon this place, then again I just did.

The moment I got within a few feet of her, the woman's eyes snapped open. She didn't even bother moving her head, as her red-eyes tracked my movements.

"Young man, what are you doing here?" She spoke just like a baroness.

"Y-you're alive?" I stuttered, pointing to the strange woman.

"Fortunately yes, but with the way the holes in the ceiling are opening up I won't be for long." The woman's eyes looked towards the ceiling as I noticed strange burn marks running up the side of her leg.

It wasn't regular burns either, but rather like someone had been drilling holes into her skin.

"A sorry state no doubt, I am all out of magical power to protect myself from the sun's rays. Once the sunlight reaches my heart and head, I'll die."

It took me a moment to piece together what was happening before me. Weakness to sunlight, strangely pointed ears... "Y-you're a vampire aren't you."

"Yes, and you are a human, we both can state the obvious," the vampire frowned. For someone who had been impaled, she had a smart mouth.

"So, are you the Vampire Lord that was defeated three decades ago?" It was the logical conclusion to come to as I took a seat in front of her.

The woman raised a brow. "You are rather calm for a human who is staring down a vampire."

I shrugged placing aside my temporary staff. "I figure if you could kill me, you would have by now, plus if I'm going to die I rather it be at the hands of a beautiful woman..."

It was a cheesy line, but it seemed to have gotten a chuckle out of the vampire.

"I suppose if my life is to come to an end, having this be my last conversation is fitting."

I froze looking at the condition of the woman's body, in theory, she should be able to move if I ripped out the giant spike that was impaling her to the floor.

I stood back up, walking over to her body, placing my arm on the giant stone stake.

"Don't bother. I can tell that you're not a mage. You won't be able to lift it," the Vampire's words were like a hammer to the back of my skull. "Besides, even if you could, I'm far too weak to do anything."

I groaned sitting next to her, examining her figure. She was quite pretty, despite how messed up her body was.

"Are...you afraid of dying?" Given the context, it was pretty tasteless of me to ask such a thing.

The woman gazed over to me before looking at the sunlight, slowly streaming in. "At first, I welcomed death, but as it draws closer and closer...I realized I want to live."

Her words shocked me. Mostly because I never expected them to come from a demon of all creatures.

It seemed that the woman took note of my reaction. "Pathetic no, I have lived over 200 years, yet I still don't want to die. There are so many things I want to do and see..."

I stared at her. In a way, she was the exact opposite of me. Which made sense, she was a vampire lord, of course, she would have things to live for.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Very well, it's not like I can refuse in this situation." The woman pointed out, causing me to laugh.

"Do you...think everyone is born equal? That everyone has the chance at happiness if they work hard enough?" I was projecting a bit, but if an ancient vampire lord can open up to a stranger, there was no reason why I couldn't.

"If you expect me to say that all life is precious, I am sorry to disappoint you," the Vampire took a deep breath. "Truth of the matter is, some people are born to fail, some people merely exist to benefit others, and most of the time there is nothing you can do about it."

"Wow, you don't pull any punches, huh?" I frowned.

"If I a vampire lord told you a human that you could be anything, it would just be empty words and condescension."

Her words were...surprisingly liberating. What little doubts and fears I had left vanished from my mind, almost like ash blowing away in the breeze.

"I think I know what I'm going to do," I slowly removed my top shirt, pulling down my collar to expose my neck.

"What...are you doing?" The vampire tilted her head, causing me to laugh.

"You're a vampire. So if you drink blood, you'll regain your strength." That is how I assumed vampires worked.

"I appreciate the gesture young man, but the amount of blood I need would kill you," the black haired woman pointed out.

"I expected that, and I don't care..." The moment I brought that up, I noticed her eyes widen. "I was going to off myself here today anyway, so at least now I can at least help someone else."

The black-haired vampire stared at me with surprisingly warm eyes. "Are...you going to do this?"

"Sure, like I said I was tired of living," I stated. "My only condition is that you build a statue of me somewhere." I laughed, mounting the pinned woman.

"Denied, statues are far too tacky. How about a plaque with your name on it?" She smiled.

"Ah, that's fine. Speaking of names, what's yours?" I figured I should at least know the name of the creature that I'm offering my life for.

"My name is Francisca Von Wimpffen."

"Geez, my name is shit compared to yours..." I said, leaning my neck closer to her mouth.

"You'll have to say it if you want your name on the plaque," Francisca whispered into my ear.

I grumbled a bit. "Armel Mace,"

"I'll commit it to memory then..." With those words, the black haired vampire bit into my neck, reaching my carotid artery. It was painful at first, but the moment she started sucking my blood, I relaxed.

At the very least I won't have to worry about anything anymore...at least that is what I thought.

-12

I slowly opened my eyes, something that I didn't ever expect to happen ever again. I looked around, taking note of the fact that I was back on the first floor of Francisca's manor.

"So you finally awake?" I heard a light voice coming from the area as I looked towards the floor. Sitting across from me was a small black-haired girl with piercing red eyes. She was wearing a rather extravagant dress, one that would have probably taken at least thirty minutes for someone her age.

"Um, say little girl have you seen your mom?" I blurted out, not knowing if what I was saying was a joke or not.

"Mom? How rude, you could at least say something like sister or aunt!" The small girl stood up, shaking her body like a dog. I had a pretty good idea who it was, but a part of me didn't want to believe it.

"I guess you're Francesca," I looked down at the black-haired girl who couldn't possibly be older than ten.

"Yes..." Francesca nodded, forcing me to sigh.

I suppose if things weren't complicated, it wouldn't be my life. Regardless, she was alive, and that was the only thing that mattered.

I looked up towards the ceiling, noticing that lack of sunlight pouring through. I was probably asleep for a decent amount of time.

"Oh, by the way, you're a vampire now..." The small vampire yawned. "You seemed pretty depressed about not being able to use magic, so I fixed that for you."

"...Eh?" I didn't know how to reply. Instead, I ran to one of the many broken mirrors in the main room trying to examine myself, though there was a little problem.

"Oy, Fran, your mirror is broken!" I pointed to the dusty old, causing the vampire to sigh.

"Fran? Even though we've just met, you've already given me a nickname." Fran ran her finger through her hair before lacing up her shoes. "Of course mirrors would be useless, you're a vampire, you can't see your reflection."

I slumped my shoulders. "I-is that for a fact?" I swallowed harshly. "So what about you? What's up with that little girl look?"

Fran twirled her hair sitting on the couch I was once lying on. "Simple, once I sucked your blood, I transferred a majority of my power back to you." Fran stretched.

"So I'm your servant now or something?" I had heard rumors of vampires turning others into their faithful servants.

Fran just laughed. "I think you got it confused, the servant in this relationship is me..."

"But why?" I was confused. The whole point of me giving my life to her was so she could regain her strength. Why go through that only to provide a chunk of it to me.

"Because I lost..."

It was such a short statement, one that I didn't understand. "Do you mean to the Wizard Saint?"

"No not that, I lost to you..." Fran pouted, causing me to grow even more confused.

"I mean...I didn't do anything."

Fran shook her head. "You were willing to die, without hesitation or regret. Even if you were a fraction of my age, your actions were utterly unclouded, even if it was due to your despair, you still made an active decision."

Fran made my choice sound far more impressive than it was.

"Me, on the other hand, despite being a vampire lord could only think of the things I wasn't able to do." Fran stomped her foot, causing the entire floor to rumble. "Thinking about it like that it's natural that I give my power to someone who isn't a coward and can follow through. You said you were going to die, and was willing to die, that alone means you have conviction!"

Once again, I felt like I was getting too many compliments giving the context of the situation. "Are...you okay with being my servant?" The moment I asked Fran let out a rather cute laugh.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I am still planning on building my strength back to what it was. I just decided to help you, that's all."

The comment seemed rather vague, but I wasn't going to question it. Besides, if what Fran was saying was correct... "Does that mean you're going to teach me magic now?"

Fran pouted jumping onto the nearby table. "Going straight for it, huh?" Fran's eyes then moved towards the window taking. Perhaps she was examining the moonlight. "Very well, I am sure I can teach you two basic spells before the sun rises."

For the first time in a while, I was excited about something. Perhaps I was a bit shallow, but there was something I had to do the following morning. "Good, because I need to burn a lot of bridges tomorrow and magic is the only way I can do it!"

Fran waved her hands about. "Fine, fine, the first spell is called Sun shield, despite the name, it's a rather basic spell. It applies a thin layer of magic that protects you from the suns rays for twenty-four hours. It barely takes any magic to maintain, and it only vanishes if you completely run out of magic, which is unlikely due to you being a vampire now."

I just stared at the small black-haired vampire. My eyes narrowing, and my shoulder's slumping.

"W-what?" Fran's eye twitched.

"Nothing, I just didn't expect vampire magic to be so...mundane," I sighed adverting my eyes. "I expected the first spell to be shooting lasers or something."

Fran rolled her eyes. "Listen, this is the most basic of spells, it's also essential for you to learn unless you like wandering around in the back alleys!"

"If it's so basic, shouldn't we just skip it for now and learn something more advanced? Like eye-beams?" If it was easier than getting the harder spell out of the way was far more critical.

"Absolutely not..." Fran grumbled. "I refuse to teach you any other spell unless you learn this one first. Even if you are the master in this relationship, I'm still going to be the teacher!"

The small vampire girl gave me an ultimatum, causing me to cross my arms. Perhaps a bit of teasing was in order.

Without warning, I picked her up like some doll lifting her tiny frame over my head.

"W-what are you doing? Unhand me this instant!" Fran's face turned a bright red.

"Someone as short as you has no right to be ordering anyone around..." I pointed out, tossing her into the air.

"S-stop, stop! No matter what you do, my decision won't change! If you don't learn it in the proper order, you may cause more damage to yourself than your enemies."

I bit the inside of my cheek. I placed the small vampire girl on the ground conceding. "Alright, alright, I'll learn the sun shield first."

"G-good!" Fran straightened her dress. "Now let me show you how to apply it." Fran pressed her hands to her chest, causing a black aura to envelop her fingertips. After a second, a small bubble wrapped its way around her before tightening itself around her limbs.

"That's it. It's as simple as that!" Fran smiled while I poked her.

"I don't see anything at all. I guess it's invisible to the naked eye."

"Of course, though you need to be careful since light won't reflect off of you, so people with a keen eye will know something's wrong."

That made sense, the spell probably didn't replicate how light bounces off the skin.

"So all I have to do is focus and replicate the motions, right?" I asked, causing Fran to wave her hand back and forth.

"Pretty much, it should only take four hours to learn!"

"...Don't act like that isn't a long time!" I shouted, running my hand through my brown hair.

"Fufufufu, if you want to burn bridges then I suggest you get to work." Fran then jumped onto a nearby table, crossing her legs staring at me.

I had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

Author note.

An idea that popped into my head after reading about some different types of magic. Thought it'd be fun to play around with, this may be a one-shot depending on how popular it is.

I also wanted to play with expectations. While Fran is a 200 year old vampire that probably killed more people than most meet in their lifetime, she found value in her life not to want it to end.

Contrast that to Armel who doesn't really care anymore and felt his biggest contribution would be letting someone else live. Something I wouldn't mind playing with more.