Well, this is a mess. I wonder what tipped of the other party about my presence. Well, there was always the chance that I would have failed. Trevor has planned the entire thing expecting this very eventuality.

  The other party is a lady, clearly a vampire. That is the only way that she would be able to wield a vampires artifact. I mean I have seen a vampires artifact only once before, so I can't really confirm it.

  They are supposed to be relics made from vampire bones (that is where I got the idea for my sword actually) though nobody ever makes one from a grunts bone. Only a vampire of the court would have access to such a weapon. She is clearly not one of the captains, so I have no idea about her power. She could be a noble for all I care. The weaker kind at least.

  Well, this is going to be annoying. As I am steadily retreating, the lady has removed her sword from it's unfortunate victim. He already looks like a drained husk.

  "Well, you are the grunt that destroyed lady erica.", she speaks. "She has put a bounty on you, you know."

  "Well, she can put as much of a bounty on me as she wants. She won't be able to find me.", I reply. Well, what I said is technically true. How would they find me when they are looking for me at the court.

  "That is quite a bit of confidence, you half transformed mutt.", she speaks. "But you are standing in front of me. I can give your corpse to lady erica today itself."

  As she speaks, she moves at me with that sword of hers. A sidestep is enough to dodge her strike. Not that she commits to her attack. The instant that she sees me dodging, she retreats returning to her previous position. If I were to strike, I am sure that I will face a vicious counterattack.

  She is being careful with her attacks, which I can't really complain about at this moment. I have to make sure that this does not end up in a fight. After all, these people can still be saved. There is the backup plan after all.

  "Well, I am sure that you will try. I wonder who you are though.", I speak "you do not speak like the nobles. So you are not a possessed underling. You certainly are not a common underling boosted to your present position with that sword. You are of the court."

  "Who knows. I might be the lost heir of an ancient family. I might be sleeping with one of the counts. I might even be a blood descendant of the vampire king.", she replies, with a smirk on her face. "Right now, your identity is the more curious one. Who are you?"

  "Well, I cannot make it that easy to you, now can I.", I speak looking at the door. The lady opposite me has not made any noise to wake up her crew. Maybe she wants the glory of killing me, maybe she is confident that she can kill a half transformed mutt without her troop. (Arrogance has screwed people more powerful than you and me.) I don't know but she at least has not made any move to reveal me.

  "Well, you don't need to do anything.", she speaks. "A sword capable of suppressing blood mana. There are not many people capable of making something like that. Your identity is easy to discover."

  As she speaks, she swipes her sword at me playfully. It doesn't even reach close to me. Even without blood mana, her movements are too precise. This is a proper vampire grunt. Thankfully she is not a noble or that strike would have been in my head.

  "Someone with your training is also very rare.", she continues. "I wonder which of my lady's enemy was willing to waste such a talent before even allowing them to shine."

  "Why does everybody say that.", I wonder out loud. Sadly the lady does not bother to answer me.

  Well, I don't know what to do. I could try and escape through the door behind me. If I do that though, the lady will be forced to wake the gang to attack me. As wonderous as the gifts of a vampire are, their punishments are more painful. Especially the ones that come for failure.

  Right now my goal is the window which is just behind the lady. I just need the lady to get away from that window and I will be able to jump out of it. Jumping from the first floor will be dangerous but I will be able to get lost before the lady can awaken the gang. Already, our clashes must be rousing a few of these bastards. Who can tell?

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I might break my legs, but with the life force that I have absorbed I will be able to fix it quite easily. The only problem is that I need the lady to get away from the window without tipping her off.

  That is going to be another problem, actually. Forcing my sword shut like this is going to have consequences. It is not going to activate with the promptness that it usually does. There is going to be a delay in my transformation. A minute at most, which is quite quick but a minute in a duel is often enough to decide the duel.

  "What are you planning to do here? I am sure that you have not come to this place for the loot.", I ask. As I ask I take a step towards the right. I am hoping that she thinks I am doing this to get a better position. (I am actually taking a better position, so it isn't really a waste.)

  "Quite bold of you. To ask something like that directly.", she replies, taking a step to the left to be directly opposite me again (and a bit more away from the window.) "All of us serve the king in our own ways."

  Well, vampires have always been a secretive bunch. Even the scholars have never acquired much from them. The only thing that we really know about them is the basic structure of the court.

  "Well, I am sure that you can give me something.", I reply, I take another step to the right as the lady looks at me. "You are certainly not here for the loot. Such paltry things would not attract the great vampires. Especially those from the court."

  "Well, the...." She speaks, stopping as she suddenly squints her eyes at me. "You don't know. You are a poor sucker, to think that your master was not even willing to inform you on this. He clearly expected you to die."

  "My master has told me all that I need to know.", I reply, taking another step to the right. I don't need to wait for long to escape. "Anyway how are you so sure that you will be killing me."

  "Well, every fool has his delusions.", she replies. "Even if I don't kill you today, you are going to die soon enough."

  I don't reply to this. I can't reveal that I am not of the court now can I and that is what is going through my mind right now. The only reason that we have not entered a fight already is because the lady thinks that we are colleagues.

  In the court, everybody might be your ally and everybody might be your enemy. You never screw with a man that is going to be your ally tommorow. That is a good way to get a dagger in your back, especially in the court.

  "Well, if you are going to get me killed then you might as well tell me how you got that sword of yours.", I ask.

  "Well, you are certainly hung up on that. You do realise just how invasive such a question is. I might as well ask you how it felt for you to transform.", she replies, a grimace appearing on her face. Why the hell is she annoyed.

  "Well, well. I apologise. No need to take it seriously.", I speak, taking another step to the right with the lady mirroring my action. A couple of steps and I will be able to make my escape.

  She doesn't reply to this as we stare at each other. That actually leaves me to wonder where exactly the people in the room are. A quick glance to my side reveals that everybody has flattened themselves against the wall.

  Well, they will still get hurt if we were to go all out, but they are going to be relatively fine for a few clashes. I think I have time for that only. As soon as I realise this, I have to jump back as the lady makes use of this distraction to get another strike at me.

  I barely manage to block it, but she manages to get another strike at me. I make use of this time to get closer to the window. As she strikes at me I realise.

  "You cannot allow these people to get hurt.", I speak. "I assume that your master has commanded you to protect these people. They are your blood bags."

  The look of surprise on her face is enough to confirm my suspicions. Vampires really don't like to draw attention to the fact that they need to drink blood and that is the purpose of people put here. What I have just spoken out loud is equivalent to speaking about our underwear to them.

  Well, that is good. This enough for me as I finally let go of the restriction I forced on my sword. As I do so I can feel the lady charge at me. Entering into a defensive stance I block her attack, using the force of her blow to push her back.

  I can feel the pain in my stomach disappear as the blood mana surging into me makes my body stronger. Not by as much as I would like, but it will do for now. As I release the formation I realise just how uncomfortable it had gotten for me to stop my sword from creating blood mana. A while longer and it would have become physically painful as well.

  It is kind of like stoping yourself from peeing, when you have already started peeing.

  As I do so, the lady does the same thing that I had done. Her blood mana surges as we cross swords. The force of her strikes is enough to cause my legs to buckle, but I somehow hold on.

  I had forgotten that the lady in front of me was a proper grunt. The boost that she gets from blood mana is way more than I will ever get in my life. Her body is literally designed to accept blood mana. Well, the more that I drag this fight the more I will progress in my transformation.

  "Well, that was unexpected.", I speaks, blocking another strike of hers.

  Right now my arms feel like somebody has released worms inside my body. Seriously just how much of a boost did she get.

  "A bit of mercy, after all I might work with you in the future.", I speak, though maybe I shouldn't have.

  I barely manage to block her strike. Well, can I really call it blocking it when the force of her strike was enough to cause me to fly across the room. Well, I have hit the wall right next to the window. the impact is not pretty though as I feel like my back has become paste under the impact of this collision.

  Well, I have reached my goal so I do not delay any longer as I jump through the window. The next thing I know is the pain in my left leg. I had landed on it. I must have twisted it in the process of landing.

  Well, there is nobody that is following me. So it looks like the lady is taking the usual routes down this place. She is not as adventurous as me. Well, I can literally hear the chaos erupt as my senses finally kick into high gear. This is the last bit of my transformation which is complete now. (Seriously that transformation took absurdly long.) Well, It is time for me to disappear from this place.