After the banquet, the ck Sun Aristocrat and the other nobles began preparations for war with the Scarlet Tree. They were all influential figures that belonged to the same n whose head was one of the most powerful men on the continent - ck Sun Aristocrat.


    Daeron was arge city that was divided into two parts. The northern side was ruled by the Dark Hand and the southern side by the Scarlet Tree. This was not always the case, for when ck Sun Aristocrat took over the n, Dark Hand began to grow rapidly and eventually became a real threat.


    "Raik, how is everything going? When will we be ready?" ck Sun Aristocrat asked while reading some book.


    Raik stamped the document, put it aside, and said, "We need another month, although it''s going better than we thought, so maybe we''ll be ready in three weeks."


    "Great." ck Sun Aristocrat nodded, "We need to meet someone. Are you ready?"


    "Hmm? What are you talking about? Do you have some kind of meeting scheduled?" Raik asked with a confused look.


    "I didn''t want to stress you out, moreover, it was to remain secret until thest moment." ck Sun Aristocrat said as he closed the book, "As you know, the strongest members of Scarlet Tree are masters at using blood magic.


    "Yeah... That''s right. Their leader is a real problem on the battlefield. The more opponents, the more trouble we''ll have." Raik muttered.


    "Exactly. That''s why we won''t fight in the city, you know that but I also want to block or at least suppress their forces, so I found one option." ck Sun Aristocrat put the book on the table before standing up.


    "What''s that?"


    "Vampires. Because of the Scarlet Tree, they try to avoid Daeron, it''s too dangerous for them, but Vampires are better at blood magic than anyone else, so I found the right merchant."


    "Are we going to buy an artifact? What''s the price?" Raik asked in a wary voice.


    "Huge. The merchant asked for a crystal with a blood essence that can increase it even if the blood purity is above 95% or 1000 virgin girls." ck Sun Aristocrat said in a calm voice.


    "Well, it''s less than I thought it would be. Daeron is a giant city, we can definitely find 1000 young girls." Raik nodded as though he was ready to get on with it.


    "No. You misunderstand me." ck Sun Aristocrat shook his hand, "I won''t give him the girls, I have the right crystal, so it''s not necessary."


    "What?!" Rain eximed with a baffled look, "Sir, are you sure? I realize it''s absolutely not humane, but even a million of these girls aren''t worth a tenth of a crystal of this level!"


    "You''repletely right, but there''s something you don''t understand, or rather you''ve forgotten about it." ck Sun Aristocrat picked up the book and returned it to the shelf, "We are not robbers. My goal is to make the Dark Hand the only ruler of Daeron. We love this city, so I want it to grow. With a good army, I can get another one of these crystals, but it takes a more valuable resource - time - to grow new inhabitants. It''s a matter of capacity and investment."


    Raik was silent for a while as he pondered the words of the ck Sun Aristocrat, then he said, "Okay. I see your point. We can''t treat the people of our city asmodities. Otherwise, we wouldn''t be rulers but miserable ve traders."


    "Right. Okay, we''re alreadyte. Let''s go." ck Sun Aristocrat pped his coat and left the room with Raik.


    There was deep night as Daeron was illuminated by the bright blue moon that was apanion for the many travelers or assassins that moved about under cover of darkness in this dangerous but great city.


    The ck Sun Aristocrat with Raik jumped across the tiled roofs of the stone houses like shadows. Even the best assassins couldn''t see or keep up with their movements, as though they merged with the dark and became part of it.


    The town was located in a mountainous, forested area near a massiveke that was known for its beautiful lilies.


    Around Daeron was a massive stone wall on by guards with brightly lit torches as they closely watched the forest groves since monsters or marauders often attacked the city.


    "We are almost there." ck Sun Aristocrat said as he leaped toward the cave entrance.


    "Is this it?" Raik asked with a suspicious look since the idea seemed strange and unsafe to him.


    "Yeah. Don''t worry, even if the vampire wants to trick us, we''ll just kill him, but I''m more worried about no sudden circumstances. Okay, let''s go." ck Sun Aristocrat sighed before going inside.


    It was dark in the cave, only some glowing vines illuminated it. From the top, drops of mountain water dripped down the stctites that smashed onto the rock.


    p They descended below and found themselves in a spacious ce with moonlight that streamed through the rocks in the center.</anda>


    "Did wee too soon?" Raik asked while looking around.


    "No. We''re even toote. Am I right?" ck Sun Aristocrat said as he looked into the dark part of the cave.


    Whoooooooosh.


    In the midst of the darkness, two ruby eyes opened, and a shadow appeared in front of ck Sun Aristocrat and Raik that waved its long cloak.


    "Well, well, it''s not nice to keep others waiting, don''t you know that?" The vampire said with a light smile on his face.


    "Greetings. You''re right on time, as always." ck Sun Aristocrat muttered in a calm voice.


    "Oh, did you bring a helper with you?" The vampire asked as he approached Raik with a curious look, "Not bad, not bad, if he wasn''t your mate, I''d drain him like a ss of wine."


    "What...?!" Raik was wary.


    "That''s enough." ck Sun Aristocrat said in a serious manner, "You brought it?"


    "Of course." The vampire smiled as his ring glowed.