Blood and Qi: A Vampire Xianxia LitRPG

Amber couldn’t keep herself from watching John again as he continued the fight. She always enjoyed watching dancing and ice skating and gymnastics on TV. Watching humans excel and do something beautiful. And the people doing those things were usually really beautiful too. Fighting and violence were pure ugliness. How John somehow made something ugly seem so beautiful never failed to amaze her.

He’s so graceful. God, he really was born for this stuff. No wonder people used to worship him. He’s…screw it. If I’m gonna die I might as well admit it. I’m so glad we kissed. That was so wonderful. That was…what’s the modern way to say it? That really slapped. It slapped me real good. I finally got to kiss a guy. And it wasn’t cheating. He thought Lilly was dead.

More g’athu had appeared, some wearing tech. Laser beams tore into John and Amber noticed they went all the way through. The lasers also hit a geared-up Silver’s head on the other side of John, causing its death.

The lasers made John stumble when he landed, and he wasn’t quick enough to fully avoid a thick ball of blue light. His body locked up and he tumbled and crashed to the ground. Three of the geared-up Silver g’athu tore into him with the glowing chain things, leaving John with a bunch more of the long and bleeding gashes, shredding his armor even further.

Amber had held back from the fighting assuming another Gold would show up. The best way she could help was by taking Golds out while hidden.

There was a giant, swirling circle of darkness on a metal platform lower-tiered g’athu were coming out of, including geared-up Silvers. Amber thought she’d have to give up her plan and join the fight right then, but as a geared-up g’athu Silver approached from John’s side it lost three of its spider legs from the plasma ring.

As John rolled away, he cut the legs off a Bronze and somehow launched his roll into a jump, narrowly avoiding little lasers and a brown beam that hit the spot he was rolling towards.

John contorted, blocked, and batted away more attacks as he twisted through the air. A g’athu hit another g’athu with a blue ball. Blood started to leak out of a big hole a brown beam made in the chest of another g’athu, and it slowly slumped towards the ground.

John landed behind two g’athu, their heads falling off as he landed. God, he’s…he’s just amazing! Still, there were too many enemies, and more geared up enemies too. Amber couldn’t wait for a Gold to appear again. She had to join the fight.

Amber approached behind a geared-up Silver to bite its head off, and just as she got in position, she felt a Gold appear. The Gold was near the giant portal. Suddenly, it was ten feet in front of Amber, its arm held out towards John. Amber felt a second Gold near the portal, then it appeared in front and to the side of the other Gold and also raised its arm towards John.

I wish [Eyes of the Bượzệrukỹằ] was AoE. Well, this is it. Goodbye cruel world! I’ll miss you. God, I wish I wasn’t dying a virgin, thought Amber as she started sending essence to her glyph.

John was flailing about, holding his head with both his hands, screaming out as if he was in great pain.

A couple seconds later, a Gold’s head exploded.

Amber wasn’t sure if she had the essence to hide and cast her gaze spell again, so she wasted no time and transformed into a bear while using the dash attack of her deer form. That manifestation had almost no cast time. Ukaraaz hadn’t been able to unbind it before she got it off, and she hoped the same was true for the g’athu.

It could’ve been due to the surprise of her attack, but Amber got the cast off and bowled the Gold over before it was prepared. The echo attack she next tried was unbound, and three lashes of burning pain tore into her side and ripped downwards. A blue ball of essence locked her up for a second. Little pin-prick lasers dug into her.

Ow, this hurts so bad!

Many of the g’athu screamed in the way that hurt Amber’s head. She hated it. Those screams nearly caused her to lose her mind. Her eyes and ears bled so badly she couldn’t see and could barely hear. She got locked up for another second. More lashes and lasers bit into her. Then another scream almost brought her to her knees. But didn’t.

Amber flailed her powerful paws out wildly and maniacally, using her nose and senses to find enemies. She enjoyed the way her paws crushed those they hit. She enjoyed the taste of the g’athu flesh she managed to rip off and swallow. She wasn’t scared anymore. The pain didn’t hurt anymore. Her only goal was taking as many enemies as she could down with her. This was it. Just battle. One last battle. No more pretending. Like the old days.

More lasers pricked Amber’s hide. Chains and more chains continuously ripped skin and fur away as they cut gouges out of her. The screams constantly brought her to the brink of losing her mind, but the damage she suffered only fueled her rage.

A different kind of scream caused a great pressure in her mind, and she thrashed out blindly. She heard the muffled screams of John. She got one more good hit in, crushing a g’athu, before she did lose her mind.

Amber came to with a start. She was hanging in the air. There was a weird floating ball in front of her showing images of g’athu in cities, massacring humans. It nearly made her gag. She expected her body to hurt but she actually felt fine. She realized she was in her human form. How did I get into my human form? Her core was completely empty.

Amber extended her senses and felt the g’athu base was still filled with Wood and Copper and a good amount of Bronze, but there were only two Silvers and no Gold. There was a Copper next to her. She knew it was John when he said, “I’m sorry. I failed. I wish you didn’t enter the portal. You killed two Golds, so you can be proud of that. I got a lot more of them than I thought I would. These filth are nothing without their tech.”

“How did I get into my human form? I was in my bear form.”

John grunted. “You changed to demon then human before a shell of essence surrounded you. The g’athu ignored you once you entered the shell. It ended a little time ago, but you were still unconscious. It looked to have healed you too. You took a lot of damage while you were a bear.”

“Why are…they didn’t kill us?” She wished she could break her habit of changing all the way to human to cast tricks and glyphs. She could cast her tricks in her animal forms now, and her glyphs in demon form.

I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, Amber thought. She was surprised she wasn’t more upset at her situation. She just felt like it was par for the course with her luck. Maybe I deserve it for killing that guy.

John said, “No. You probably can guess what they want from you. These bastards want me to watch them slaughter the people of our world then torture me as they promised they would. The Golds can get in my mind. They can’t control me, but they can stop me from fighting back.

“For good news, unlike the demons, the g’athu need permission from the Sublime in the sky above to replace their losses and he’s…he hasn’t answered them. I overheard them say that. They have only one Gold now, thanks to you. The g’athu you feel here still, they’re making more of their tech. All the ones wearing their filthy tech left for conquest.

“Oh, according to the g’athu, the demons left Earth. Or they closed the portal from this side and are hiding. That is also good news. For bad news, I tried everything to get out of this cage. They didn’t take our equipment, but nothing I’ve tried has worked, and I’ve tried everything I could think of. Some of them watched me and laughed at my escape attempts. I hate these bastards. I can’t enter my Mind’s Eye and I’m not sure how to use the phone I have. Does yours say if Lilly and Hubaba are alive?”

Amber looked around and noticed a shimmer of energy surrounding them. She was suspended in the air with her arms above her head and her legs dangling free. It wasn’t too uncomfortable. She wiggled and tried to free herself and achieved nothing for her efforts.

“How’d you get down?”

John grunted again. “It wasn’t easy. I’ll pull you down. Let me warn you the…floor…the energy floor is not pleasant. I will touch you now.”

John, from behind, grabbed Amber’s waist and pushed downwards. Eventually whatever held her popped. He lowered her gently until her feet hit the floor. It sent electricity into her feet and really hurt, causing her to scream, “Ow!”

John lifted her by the waist again and asked, “I can hold you like this if you want?”

Amber’s face turned red. Other than the one time with John and a few times with Hubaba and Lilly, she had never been touched when she wasn’t in an animal form. She liked the feel of John touching her, but being held by the waist wasn’t all that comfortable. She asked, “The floor hurts my feet real bad so could you suspend me up there again? If not, could you hold me up in, um, a more comfortable way?”

John replied, “I don’t know how to suspend you again.” Amber was cradled in John’s arms with a bridal carry. “I can hold you like this if it works for you as well.”

Amber knew she was blushing as she said, “Thank you.” John had a ton of wounds everywhere. Just all over himself, and his armor and robes were practically falling apart. How is he not curled up into a little ball, crying? All those wounds gotta hurt a bunch.

John said, “Does your phone tell you anything?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Amber opened her hip pouch and took her government phone out. It was broken. She took the iPhone she bought herself out, and it worked but had no connection. “Let me see your phone. Please.”

John held Amber with one arm as he fished his phone out and handed it to her. It was one of the government-issued phones that had extra satellite connections. It still wasn’t connected to anything. She noticed his hand was badly damaged and missing two and a half fingers.

“Sorry, none of the phones are working.” Amber thought the g’athu base was probably blocked somehow. Probably by that energy field covering it. She handed his phone back and had to help hold herself steady by putting her arm around his neck while he put the phone away. She removed her arm once he finished, blushing more.

John grunted and said, “I wish I could promise I could save you and escape. These foes are…they’re too strong for me. I tried. I’m sorry. If they didn’t have the tech, and the Golds couldn’t get in my head, it would’ve…ah, no use whining over what’s done and over. I failed, and that’s that. Do you have any ideas of how to escape this cage of energy?”

Amber said, “I’m completely out of essence. I wouldn’t even be able to try anything I could think of.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. Sorry I got you into this. Sorry I failed.”

Amber didn’t reply. She wanted to ask John something, but she couldn’t.

John asked, “Can you meditate while I hold you like this?”

Amber could always somehow notice when John looked at her without actually looking at her. He hadn’t since his wife came back. No, before then. Not since I told him my true name, she thought. When they lived in the Trial, he never stopped looking. She didn’t have the essence to turn into a frog. Even if she did, she didn’t want to. She just wanted to enjoy John holding her. She wished he would look at her like he did before. His eyes went everywhere but on her.

“Sure, of course I can,” Amber answered, smiling brightly, and having her smile ignored. She thought she had time. Back when they first started living in the Trial. She thought there was time.

John closed his eyes and began to meditate. Amber continued to stare at the face of the man she loved, loved with all her heart, and had loved for a very long time, even though she thought he looked too boyish without his beard, and the missing eyebrows were an issue. She snuggled closer to him, reveling in the warmth of his touch, wishing his wife never came back. I thought there was time.

Amber wished she hadn’t changed into the new armor as she’d be able to feel his touch and warmth more if she only wore a set of cultivator’s robes. Why won’t he look at me? Looking isn’t cheating.

Amber looked at the floating ball showing the g’athu killing humans and her mood soured. No, I won’t let it. My man is holding me, and I’m gonna probably be made into a pill or something. I’m gonna enjoy this. And pretend. Pretend things are different. Pretend things are just like I always dreamed they could be.

Amber never tried to meditate. Not in a way that gathered or refined energy. She just stared at John and pretended he was her man. She wished he’d look at her. He could see her, and she wanted to be seen. She decided to do something to make him look at her. She smiled brightly before reaching up to caress his face, but her hand stopped as something really weird landed on his nose. It looked like a strange sort of teeny-tiny cat-elephant with wings.

John’s eyes flew open. He looked at the thing on his nose, then looked up. He said, “Look! Stretch just killed a few of those bastards. The helpers. No! One wearing tech just…damn it all, it’s switched to a different area. Filthy bastards.”

Amber looked at the floating ball but didn’t see Stretch and quickly looked away. “John, do you see that thing on your nose?” She knew he did. He looked at it.

“Yes. It’s the carrier for some physical rewards I…won? Earned? Back when I was in New York City. It’s telling me to enter my Mind’s Eye, but I can’t.”

John’s eyes went blank for a split second and the thing quickly flew away. He said, “She pulled me into hers. That was a Magnus. She refused to help us get out of here. That something so little could be so powerful…” John trailed off without finishing the thought out loud.

John remained silent for long enough Amber asked, “Well, what’d you…win? What’d you get?”

Amber was happy John finally looked at her, and she smiled brightly. He said, “I’m not sure. It’s at my feet. I just signed something saying I received it.”

Amber tried to look down and see what was there. She asked, “Aren’t you curious?” After a moment with no reply coming, she said, “I am.”

John carefully held Amber in one arm again, and she put both arms around his neck and snuggled in close. She didn’t let go once he had the present in his hand and stood upright again. She was annoyed that he kept looking at the floating ball showing all the murder and not her. Or that he didn’t seem to care about his gift. He said, “I wish they’d show Stretch again.”

“Aren’t you excited to find out what your gift is,” asked Amber, smiling in a way she knew John liked.

John grunted. “Stretch is our hope now. What could this do to help us?” He removed the tie from the box and fumbled it with his hands as he held Amber and watched the floating ball.

Amber stopped smiling and annoyedly removed her arms from around John and took the box from him. He was too slow and wasn’t excited enough. The box was light. She removed the outer case and flipped open the lid. There was a note. She picked it up and read it aloud.

“Dear user,

Congratulations on all your achievements! Surviving the bloody climb is not easy, and we value users such as yourself. Now, onto the rewards!

After assessing your needs, we have determined your greatest. You are strong for your tier. You are not underpowered; you are under-tier and lacking in some of the fundamentals and basics of self-cultivation. You have lived a very long time compared to most entities at your level, yet you are strapped for it now – especially considering the unique situation your world is in.

In the box you’ll find four of a very rare item. We strongly suggest you keep these items secret from everyone. Few would not kill for these. They are called Level Capsules (though these ones don’t encapsulate anything. Do not try to break them open!). Just one is worth more than the light-orange crystal of a low Eternal. There is little the combined worth of all four couldn’t buy!

We strongly suggest you take all four Level Capsules at once to mitigate the risk of possessing them. If you choose to only take two Level Capsules to ascend to Bronze or utilize some other strategy, again, please ensure to keep the rest a secret from everyone. And we mean everyone.

Hold one to four Level Capsules up to your Mind’s Eye and your NCS will read them. Once read, you will immediately be brought to a pocket plane filled with potent energy outside of your reality and how time flows in your universe. Necessities will be provided for you. You will remain there until you increase by a number of levels equal to the number of Level Capsules read by your NCS. I.e., if you use all four at level 9, you will remain in the pocket plane until you are level 13, mid-high Bronze tier.

There will be a 22 hour and 14 minute (USACS) grace period after attaining your final level before you are returned from the pocket plane.

Time is not a factor in the pocket plane regardless of the number of Level Capsules used. In your world it will seem like you entered and exited at the same time.

If you plan on sharing your Level Capsules with another user and would like to enter the pocket plane together, you must sync the Level Capsules before doing so. To sync Level Capsules, hold the Level Capsules together until they turn from white to purple, indicating they are synced.

The Level Capsules will only remain purple for a little longer than half a minute (USACS) after syncing, and the Level Capsules must be read by the NCS of each user before it returns to its natural color. If any user’s Level Capsules are not read in time, the users will not travel together.

The pocket plane is completely safe. You will be in no danger from anyone or anything you do not bring yourself.

Lastly, please note that there is a cap of five increases per skill per Level Capsule used. You can spend as much time as you want in the pocket plane, and spend your time how you want to, but the purpose is to advance in rank and tier, not skill. There is some leeway for skills standing for a body of knowledge or branch of learning other skills are dependent on.

Congratulations again! We hope you enjoy your rewards!

Warmest regards,

Nano Control System Decision Matrix Unit”