Inside a dingy, damp cellar, the bars looked so rotten that it was a wonder that they even did their job.
A young blonde could be seen, nearing the edge of the cellar, note in hand.
In Front of him, there was a small and black bat, sliding his trembling hand near the bat, the bat in question nabbing the note from his hands.
''Please.'' His whisper came out as a tremble, it seemed like the bat understood as it flew upwards, escaping through the bars rooted on the ceiling.
Flicking through the letters, there were a lot of letters, he meant it, it was a thick stack.
Ever since 'Cassius' had been revealed to the wider world letters and gifts had been dropping in.
Shalltear left him to it, she said that it was his duty as Prince to respond to every last letter.
He would've made a blood clone but doing so would zap his energy like a sickness.
When he made a single blood clone his head spun, he doubted that he'd be able to make two and stand straight afterwards.
Picking up another letter from the bulky stack, his eyes lingered on it for longer than the others.
''Young Prince, is there something bothering you?'' Mariel questioned while wearing a kind smile.
As Shalltear promised at least a single vampire shadowed him at all times, he could count the times he's been alone on the fingers of his hand.
''It's nothing, just a bit tired.'' Even if he said that he wasn't expecting a letter like this.
''Very well, I will walk you back to your room when you're ready, Young Prince.''
He gave a quick nod, his eyes scanning the letter.
The writing was scribbly, still, he could make it out rather easily.
To Prince Cassius.
Hello… I'm Gasper, Valerie said that you saved her, but you know Valerie got taken away… I know it was because of me… can you save her like before?
As he thought to himself before, it was unexpected.
It was certainly a child that wrote this out, a young child.
He previously thought that the blackmail had something to do with her human mother, he was obviously wrong, probably anyways.
And if he was correct in guessing that this 'Gasper' was a friend of Valerie, no, he was almost certain of that.
This was certainly something, at least he knew how she was being blackmailed.
Still, he would like to scrounge up as much information as he could from this Gasper.
He and Gasper had exchanged a few letters. Apparently, he was locked in The Tepes Dungeon, a Dungeon just south of Dracula's Kingdom, Bloodwing.
Gasper was apparently locked in his dungeon to keep Valerie from escaping.
Even if Gasper didn't say it, it was clear, if Valerie made a move he would be killed.
He was many things, but he certainly wasn't going to let a child be killed.
There was only a single problem with that, there was a single, at the very minimum, Vampires stalking him at all times.
Of course, there was a plan coiling in his mind.
It was time to hit the books.
Slamming a dusty and bulky book down onto a table, sweeping it open and scanning through the pages.
His eyes flicking over the information, it said that humans could use Magic when they 'awakened' he didn't dwell on it so he rolled past the pages.
For his plan to work he would need to unlock his Magical Core.
A Magical Core was something that apparently every being had, or so he's read.
A Magical Core was where your magical power came from, apparently, it was lodged somewhere in your soul.
Everyone's Magical Core didn't work at first, you couldn't use your magic until you jump-started your Magical Core.
Your Magical Core was like a light switch until you jump-started it, which was different for every race, your Magical Core would be turned off, you wouldn't be able to use an ounce of magic.
He eventually paused on a page that caught his eye
Vampires.
About time, Naruto thought to himself while he examined the pasty page.
For a Vampire to awaken their Magical Core they must venture into their mind, find a 'pigs' blood and spill it over their Magical Core which will Jumpstart it.
Strange, it almost seemed like the Magical Core was a physical thing, no, it said he must spill a pigs blood over it.
It must be a material object, Naruto was almost certain of that now.
A Pigs blood, he thought to himself, stomach-lurching, quickly pushing those disturbing thoughts to the side.
He slammed the book shut, standing above the chair while feigning a yawn. ''Mariel, I think I'm gonna go to bed now.''
When Naruto exited the Library he ventured his way back to his room, Mariel by his side.
He slumped into his bed, Mariel still watching him, he found it creepy at first but he was used to it now.
He closed his eyes, jumping inside of his mind wasn't a challenge, he could do it quite easily, he learnt it years ago since there were times he wanted to speak with Kurama face to face.
It didn't take long, perhaps a minute for the darkness to cover his eyes.
It was cold, that was the first thought that came to him.
His eyes scrunched, opening them moments later.
Snow fell on his face, his body shivered, cold breaths escaped his lips.
Once he stood up and saw what was in front of him his nose twitched. ''It's you.'' He said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice as he usually did.
The Dragon bared its sharp teeth into a savage smirk.
It was far snowier than last time, colder too, almost painfully so.
''It's me.'' It replied, almost seeming to bathe in his annoyance.
He stared at the beast, wondering if he should ask whether or not he knew where his Magical Core was.
''Do you know where my Magical Core is?'' Naruto was aware it was unlikely the beast would give him an answer, but it was certainly worth a shot.
The Beast pulled up a thick and pale finger, dragging it to the right. ''Over there, Little Vampire.'' The beast revealed, voice glittering with amusement.
He inspected the Beast's endless amusement, giving it a short nod before he began walking to the left.
He wouldn't believe a word that the Beast said, it seemed to harbour a dislike for him for reasons he could only suspect.
He could feel a glare being sliced right into him. Not paying much attention to the insults that the beast was spewing.
Snow showered down furiously, it was so cold that his breaths became visible. Time passed, eventually stretching on into what felt like hours.
As he powered through a voice, a childish voice smacked against his ears.
It was a boy, probably close to his age, physically he means, with hazelnut hair that matched his eyes.
He looked odd, his ears weren't pointed, in fact, he almost looked like a human.
''Ooooh, you aren't a grownup!''
He was, he thought to himself pointedly. The boy, was he real? Naruto wasn't sure, there was the chance that he was just a figment of his imagination.
''I'm a grownup.'' He said, his voice decidedly more childish than it was when he spoke to that Beast.
''Nu-uh!'' The boy walked until their noses almost touched. ''I'm taller!''
He poked the boy's nose which then twitched.
''Why'd you do that for!'' The boy's face scrunched.
He considered the boy for a moment, wondering if he should even reply since he probably wasn't real.
Who knows, maybe that white Beast wasn't real either, he certainly hopes that's the case.
''Do you have a name?'' He suddenly asked.
The boy gave a lopsided grin, it looked like the grins he occasionally gave, only the boy's ones looked less forceful. ''I'm Naruto.''
He couldn't help but wonder if the world was playing a trick on him.
He spun around and started walking off.
''Waiiiiit!'' The boy stretched his words out.
Naruto, the real one didn't give a response, he continued on treading on through the snow.
''C'mon, c'mon Cassius!''
The brat just wouldn't leave him alone, he ran at speeds that rivalled sound yet the fake Naruto somehow was able to find him every time.
Perhaps he was being childish, but he certainly didn't want an annoying brat as a tag along.
If the boy was like Valerie he wouldn't have minded, but he wasn't.
Kids were annoying, Naruto decided.
''You're grumpy! You're grumpy like the grownups!''
His decision was cemented, the Dhampir thought with certainty.
They ventured their way down the snowy path. The fake Naruto was no less talkative, being annoying as ever, whereas the real Naruto didn't give a response.
The snow, it began to lessen, it still poured down, but it certainly wasn't nearly bad as it was before, in fact, the further they walked ahead the slower it became.
''Nooo! Snow! Stay! Stay!'' The boy demanded, wagging his finger in the air.
His movement came to a halt. The snow let up just as the chilly air followed suit. The snow below them as well, it had seemingly vanished into thin air.
There was a head, around the size of a decently large Estate, with pointed ears and slitted eyes, in fact, it looked like a Vampires head, an obscenely large one.
''Wow.'' The boy breathed out, eyes glued upon the Head.
His eyes gave a slight, almost unnoticeable narrow.
''Stay here.'' This time his voice was firmer. He walked forwards, but a set of footsteps flicked his ears.
''Stay here.'' He repeated, voice substantially firmer this time.
''Nu-uh! I wanna go inside!'' The annoying boy whined.
He wrenched a glance near the boy, he gave a small sigh. ''Fine, just make sure you're behind me at all times.''
He began making his way into the Vampire's head while the brat mumbled ''I'm older than you!''
He entered the massive head. The walls, they were stained with blood.
Stay Out!
Strangely, the boy didn't seem affected by this, his expression didn't falter.
He trod carefully, the boy behind him didn't seem to follow as he continued stomped.
There were bodies, a plethora of bodies, pale, paler than him, the two things they all held in common were the two dents in their necks.
Their bodies, they looked deflated, as if life had been sucked from them years ago.
A bullet of blood shot out of his arm, quickly forming it into a blade, placing it inside of his hand.
Naruto furthered down the giant head, eyes peeled.
A door came into sight, more than double his size, silver, quite similar to his hair.
His hand slithered over the door handle, giving it a quick twist, gently pushing it open.
His grip around his sword tightened.
There were bodies like before, but this time there was an almost countless amount of them.
One corpse that caught his attention. The one that was hung to the ceiling with a rope. Rain dropped, his eyes narrowed, no, it was the drops of blood leaking from the hanging figures black shoe.
He didn't stop moving even as he spotted the hung corpse. ''Who did this?'' He whispered, of course, this could have been fake.
Silence ran on, of course, Naruto wasn't really expecting an answer.
''You did this.''
His heart jolted. The voice, it came from behind him, twirling around.
''You did this!'' The boy repeated, voice shaky, tears splashing down his scarlet cheeks.
He just stared at the boy, no words really fitting upon his tongue.
''You did this! You ate them.''
Such a comment should have been bizarre, but it made his gut flop.
Every unmoving body he came across, it looked as if life had been sucked out of them, their bodies looked hollow, even for a corpse.
Naruto froze, he didn't eat them, he did not.
The boy nearly ran into him, arm extended. He flipped over him, landing at least 10 feet away.
His face tensed. He did no such thing, the boy and the other weren't real, he thought to himself.
The boy was once again on his tail. Naruto vanished behind him, bringing his hand up and slamming it down towards the boy's neck.
The boy crashed to the floor. Naruto began walking, but before he could make a few steps a heavy impact landed on his skull, he would have fallen on his nose if his hands didn't reach the floor in time.
He rolled before a stomp could squash his skull, jumping up to his feet.
He chopped the boy's neck for the second time, but like last time he got up moments later, roaring. He did this half a dozen times, but the result still remained the same.
This was starting to get grating, he killed none of the imaginary people, Naruto was certain.
But, Naruto knew that the boy wasn't accusing him of killing them.
He weaved out of all of his blows with the utmost ease, the boy may have been able to pack a punch, unusually so, he added, but he was slow as any five year old.
He danced around him, the boy screaming at him, voice trembling, but one sentence caught his fullest attention, not in a good way either. ''You ate them! You ate us! We aren't animals!''
His brain froze, a revaluation thrashing into him like a storm, a decidedly bad one.
Vampires saw humans as lower class, just as Humans considered Animals low class, pigs...
He heard talk, about how humans were merely animals, he agreed with them vocally, but mentally? He would never take their side .
He may have been a Vampire, but he was more of a human. He was a human for 22 years, his traits, his thoughts, everything was from what he learnt as a human.
He could pretend to be one of them, but he would never be one of them, that was a fact.
He needed a Pigs blood. He needed to kill a human, killing a human wasn't an issue, killing a child was.
But… wasn't that child a fake? Wasn't that child just a figment of his wild imagination?
It was still a child, dammit! He thought to himself hurriedly.
For his plan to succeed he needed to awaken his Magical Core, but for him to awaken his Magical Core he would need to kill a child, a fake child, he added.
It was really quite simple, the life of a child that wasn't real, or one that certainly was real.
The answer was really quite easy.
His blade fell to the ground and once again he disappeared into a blur.
He was now behind the child, he hesitated.
The child wasn't real! He screamed in his mind, would it really matter if he killed something that was only in his mind?
Kids did that all the time.
Swallowing the thick lump inside of his throat.
A crack thundered. The boy's face plonked to the floor.
The body didn't disappear. He had expected it to at least disappear, he wished it did.
His stomach dropped, it dropped far further than before.
He closed his eyes tightly. The boy wasn't real, he was just in his mind, this thought replayed in his head at least a dozen times.
A shell of blood leapt out of his arm, a flask was made, a crimson flask.
He knew what he had to do, even if he felt like he was about to puke.
The walls were messier than they were before and as he walked down the massive Vampire head a splashing sound came.
Inside of his hand was a flask, one that was similar in shade to his eyes.
He still felt like he just drank spilled milk. A thought of what he just did popped up, but he kicked it down as far as it would go.
''Finally.'' He murmured to himself as he faintly picked up a dark ball, roughly equal to him in size.
The Dark Ball became clearer the further he walked down until he eventually faced.
Flicking the lid from his flask, pouring the scarlet liquid over the dark ball.
Nothing happened, he was beginning to think he didn't actually find it, but eventually, a loud roar came.
He fell onto the floor as the walls trembled. The walls almost looked like they were about to be torn apart.
Bouncing himself up to his feet, eyes flapping around in every corner, eventually landing onto the ball, only it wasn't black, but red, the same red as his eyes.
Something flooded straight into him, his bones clenched, but it didn't feel bad, no, it was quite the opposite.
His hands, sparks of red lighting flickered around them.
His lips gave a mild twitch, it worked.
A book rested in his arms, no less thick than a tree.
The Basics To Teleportation Magic - Written By Emrys.
Author Notes
Naruto isn't a trap, he thought he looked like a girl in the previous chapter since Vampires are beautiful creatures, they're even described as such in the Light Novels... multiple times.
Another thing, Naruto's blood manipulation isn't magic, it's a natural ability. I don't know if I needed to preface it... but fuck it.