The sight that I opened my eyes to see was that of a concerned group of men and women, more than a few of whom I had never seen before, either tending to me or worriedly awaiting my reawakening. The instant that I reawoke I activated my true speed so that I could more precisely study my surroundings, which gave me plenty of time to make sense of where I was before my companions noticed that I was awake.
I found myself deep inside of a vast medical suite, surrounded by and hooked up to countless medical machines. As I studied them I mentally noted that some of them were of the same make as machines onboard Rayne's gigantic vessel, the Empresses' Dreadnaught, hinting that these medical machines that were somehow the mysterious sort of technology known to scholars as "Omegatech".
As I utilized my superspeed to study the things that surrounded me I also began the work of using my new mental powers to research which Starmazons to turn into my especially strong and unbreakably loyal kind of vampire. That was all so that I could convert the world-sized ships that the starmazons used into parts of my vampiric dominion. Expanding my dominion was an important part of expanding my power, as well as ensuring that I gained more and more essence.
My powers as a sanguinarch were among my darker powers but they were also some of my most handy with regards to ensuring that my power spread evenly. It was because of my sanguinarch powers and the presence of creatures such as my vampiric spawn that I could truly ensure that my empire's influence wasn't concentrated in vast cosmopolitan worlds, but evenly spread throughout the increasingly vast territory we had control over.
One aspect of my sanguinarch powers that was under-celebrated by my followers was how it allowed my empire to defend itself and its citizens. One of my dominion abilities was the potent power known as "Sentinels" which created living beings throughout my dominion who were immensely powerful and protected my citizens from both any "invaders" who might seek to declare war on us, as well as any internal threats such as monsters or bandits. It was due to that, as well as the individual power of my vampires, that my empire had been kept fairly safe until now.
Until this triumphant victory over the starmazons, and thus the acquisition of their military power and resources, our defenses had been fairly local, relying on existing militaries, sentinels, and of course the leadership of vampires, or in some rare cases militaristic thralls. Now that we had acquired rulership over one of the single greatest militaries in this universe we'd be able to expand our power and influence, as well as far more easily defend our territory against anyone who may, foolishly, want to invade us.
I utilized my powers over minds to make contact with countless starmazons throughout the vast armada and to scan their minds. By combining my powers I was able to effortlessly scan the minds of trillions of starmazons in picoseconds, and through that was able to easily find billions of starmazons to turn into my vampiric spawn. I touched their minds and willed them to become my spawn, shortly before a notification filled my mind's eye and brought a frown to my face.
[Alert: You have acquired power over the dominating focus, due to you having turned a critical mass of beings into vampires. This is especially handy for you, now that you have acquired power over the order domain, as well as the hypnosis power, which you can use to full effect through those you've dominated. As a sanguinarch with the dominating focus you can utterly and totally subsume the wills of others, making them utterly and totally loyal to you. Those you have dominated will do anything they can to please you, without exception.]
[This is a dark but decidedly handy power that in your possession is incredibly handy. Among other things it synergizes remarkably well with powers over love, lust, power, and pride, but also it could make for a potent punishment for anyone who breaks a sufficiently significant law, such as a murderer or a rapist. You can also use it on tyrants, and others who possess unyielding spirits, as well as hateful intentions.]
[That said, this power is a double sided blade. These powers are the reason why sanguinarchs are feared. This focus, alongside the savage focus, are the foci that inspire fear and make the beings who know of sanguinarchs fearful of them. The dominating focus inspires more fear than the savage focus but both make lesser beings, even other ascendants, quite nervous. That is why it was smart for you to take the cultured focus first and make it the focus that others will someday know you for.]
I read through the notifications and internally sighed. The knowledge that I had just acquired power over the final focus filled me with frustration as it was a focus that I had not wanted to acquire power over. I struggled to seriously believe that this power could have been anything but malevolent in practice, given how fundamentally it changed someone. It was as I considered this that Rayne suddenly appeared in front of me, her beautiful eyes staring at mine and a playful smile on her face.
She was not quite as fast as I was, and so she was still a bit "slow", but she was fast enough to be able to move and perceive me in my "true speed" state which was a heck of a feat. We smiled at each other before she began to speak, her voice slow and almost unintelligible due to the differences in speed between us.
"I see that you're awake now." She told me, speaking somewhat bluntly as far as word choice went but her actual tone was quite playful. There was a spark of playfulness in her eyes as she studied me, even as I sensed her surprise at my increase in power.
"I am. And stronger than ever." I told her warmly, proudly. Her eyes began to turn warmer in response to my words and she licked her lips quite playfully.
"I can see that... Your increasing power is quite something. I can practically feel it." She whispered, sultrily. Her tone would have made blood flow from my heart to my nether, had I had blood. As a sanguinarch, I did not actually bleed though I could easily falsely shed a "blood" substitute that could actually have a number of negative effects on those who attempt to imbibe or otherwise feed off of it. She approached me and put one of her hands on my cheek.
"I can feel the increased quantities of ether deep within your soul. I can also sense your increased skill with it. Your innate mastery over ether is... It's almost frustrating if I'm being completely honest." She confessed, revealing that even someone like her has insecurities. I put my hand on hers and pulled it to my lips, gazing lustfully and lovingly at the grand venus. I urged her to continue speaking even as I lightly kissed her hand.
"I spent... entire lifetimes learning about how to use ether, but you gained the power to use it and gained your current level of skill with it, seemingly overnight." She told her, frustration audible in her voice. I softly chuckled at her words, ready to respond as soon as she was finished speaking.
"The whole reason I have my level of mastery over ether is because of you, silly. I copied your skill and experience. If anything my mastery over ether and the vast quantities of it inside of me is a testament to your level of mastery over it. I am an ascendant being, and a sanguinarch. I can copy the skills, knowledge, experience, and memories of those who feed me, and our sex is definitely a delicious meal." I reminded her with a wink. My words brought a sly smile to her face as I reminded her that my abilities stemmed from her.
The truth was actually a little more complex than that. It was true that my initial mastery over ether was due to her, but she wasn't the only one contributing to my truly vast abilities over ether, abilities that I had kept mostly hidden for now. As a deity of power I could now actually emanate ether at will, and beyond that a small number of ethermancers and manamutants had managed to make it to the empire over the last few months, as well as various refugees, immigrants, and even exiles from Etherscape, ones who possessed ethermantic abilities and ones who didn't. Their existence within my empire meant that they were within my dominion, and thus often fed my vampiric spawn.
My "Absorption" power didn't just enable me to acquire new powers, skills, knowledge, and memories through my own feeding. I had maximized my abilities to feed on all five sources of essence, and a consequence of that was that I also gained essence from those my vampiric "children" fed on. That was the truest source of my incredible mastery over ether, since I was perpetually being fed the skills, powers, knowledge, and most importantly the experience of many different sorts of ethermancers.
The moment I unleashed my real skill with ether for the first time I'd be leaps and bounds beyond even Rayne's truly remarkable skill with the stuff. And the moment I began to turn portions of Etherscape into my dominion I'd gain even greater influence over the stuff, both internally and externally. But for now I was making a conscious choice to hold back my abilities and allow others to underestimate me, even Rayne. The time I'd turn my true attention towards Etherscape was very quickly approaching, now that I had my grand general at my side, and the power of the Starmazons at my disposal.
My words soothed Rayne, my enhanced, passive abilities boosting my persuasive powers quite sharply. I studied her for a moment, to ensure that she was ready, and when she was I "slowed" myself so that my allies could begin to react to me, and so that they could introduce me to the newcomers. I sensed their fervent loyalty to me and was curious to learn their identities.
