"Vampires are divided into lineages which differ drastically from one another. These monsters are not usually born like typical monsters rather they are forcefully inflicted with the Night Curse or offering themselves into the service of a vampire in hopes of being granted immortality. 

Vespero lineage is the biggest of the vampiric lineages. The lineage came from today's Catalina region and it is the lineage which gave the vampires their iconic image of a humanoid creature able to disguise itself into any civilised society with a thirst for fresh blood and the ability to transform into a swarm of bats.

Belua, are vampires from regions of Argent-Berg who are hairier than average humans and possess muscular physiques. This lineage is characterised by their brute strength and ability to transform into a beast resembling a large grave ghoul. Depending on the purity of the lineage the Belua vampire is stuck in their true bestial form with their mental faculties often degrading to a common beast.

Amata is a lineage from one of the elven forests. Characterised by their succubus level of seduction, often the two are mistaken by monsters hunters. Their mistake bringing with them  deadly consequences.

...

There are even more lineages with many different abilities and strengths which don't have a name or were never spotted by a living who could survive long enough to describe them. 

The Blood Drinkers which are more beasts than anything else are called Blood Beasts by the System and they differ greatly from one another to the point an individual could be labelled a different species.

Thankfully for the living each of the afflicted with the Night Curse is mortally weak to sunlight and Light magic..."

Extract from "Diary of Aurielious the Sun Chaser, Greatest Hunter of Blood Drinkers."

 

 

---

 

 

  Iris's own mind played with her as a phantom pain slowly spread through her muscles. Although she was not panicking, being inside the large opulent mansion felt like being trapped with a sleeping bear in its cave. Their host, a vampire masquerading as a human high noble led them deeper into the mansion through corridors lined with dark velvet carpets with many paintings hung on the beige-plastered walls getting progressively more chaotic as they proceeded further in. Eventually, the paintings became uniform in their insanity as the unknown painter attempted to paint what look like an eye in the sky engulfed by a pale blue vortex.

Lady Umbria resembled a grown human woman in the twilight of her youth, radiating a mature, noble aura from her posture and light steps. Was it her true self or just a facade for the mortals around her Iris could not tell but the mature aura would swiftly be superseded by an overly enthusiastic disposition when speaking to Kia. Similiarly to her master, her face would visibly go through two dozen emotions in a short amount of time when interacting with the girl. Was this caused by Kia's necromantic abilities or something else she didn't know. The vampire referred to the girl almost always as Master but from how the girl interacted with Lady Umbria, trying her best to hide from their host, Iris could tell she didn't know the vampire.

 

Lady Umbria turned another corner and pushed a set of dark oak doors, reviling a tiled space inside. The maid following Iris and Kia closed the doors behind them and walked to the corner of the room, standing silently at attention.

 

"My Master, what bath would you like to take?" The vampire asked a seemingly innocent question but her eyes smiled a little too much for Iris's liking.

 

"Ehhh? Is there a difference?" Kia asked a question that the elf also wondered.

 

"Of course, there is the cold bath which is phenomenal for your blood flow. There is a hot bath which is good for your health. There is the lava steam bath which is not good for us now but it is good for speeding up the removal of debuffs. There is a hot spring in there and a couple more I don't remember the names of. I recommend Master that we would test each of the baths!" How could a simple change of temperature have different effects on an undead body was beyond Iris's understanding.

 

"I am sorry what do you mean we?" 

 

The pale flesh on the vampire's forehead wrinkled a little at the elf's concern. "I can't just leave my Master alone without anyone to attend to her. What happens if she drowns and there is no one to save her?" A ludicrous sentence left the vampire mouth without even a sign of it being a jest.

 

"I will be fine with just Iris." Kia quietly whispered before the elf could do anything rash.

 

"A-as you say, Master." The vampire's eyes stopped smiling for a moment. "But I also need to refresh myself. You, show Master the changing rooms." With a suddenly emotionless voice, Umbria commanded the maid before disappearing into a dimly lit corridor.

 

  The maid bowed deeply towards where the vampire previously stood before straightening her posture with enviable discipline, her back being straight as a blade's edge. She motioned the two to follow her and led them to a secluded room with a wooden bench in the middle before turning around at the door's threshold. Iris didn't have a problem undressing, her previous masters caused her to not be bothered by being naked as she was humiliated by worse things, one thing good about her Talent at that time was the disgust that caused the humans of both sexes to view her as something dirty, often discouraging them from physically abusing her although not preventing it completely/ Beside Iris, the girl caked in a thin layer of dirt, stood fidgeting with embarrassment, shifting her colourful eyes between Iris and the back of the maid.

 

"To think you used to not care about such things?" Iris said, recalling their first encounter with one another.

 

"But I care now, " The fearsome necromancer sheepishly replied to the mischievous elf. "For some reason?" She whispered to herself.

 

"Come on, sit down now." Iris commanded the pale skin undead as she swiftly helped to undress her. 

 

  When Kia's flawless body was a display to the world the maid silently approached the two, gifting the two large towels to cover themselves with. Iris noticed two small spots on the woman's neck as she leaned towards the elf. Her unjudging eyes watched patiently as they covered themselves.

 

"What are you doing?" Iris asked the servant reaching for the pile of clothes beside them.

 

"I will be washing these." The elf looked at the girl beside her.

 

"Too tired." Kia answered the elf's speechless question for her to put their clothes into her inventory.

 

  The servant neatly packed the clothes into the pile picking it up and leaving. The two followed the human before being pointed to where to go. The blue-tinted tiles under their bare feet led them to a semi-spherical room with two dozen doors leading to different types of baths behind them. Iris let Kia choose the door, possibly having less understanding of such things as her companion. The sign on the door read. "Lava Bath."

 

"Mmmm?" Kia suddenly tilted her towards the ceiling.

 

"Something happened?"

 

"Thought I saw someth- *Yawn*-ing" Kia yawned loudly. 

 

"I don't think you will last even a bell." Iris predicted.

 

"I 'hill." Kia rubbed her golden eye visibly fighting her urge to lean onto the elf.

 

"You will~?" 

 

"Hmph!" Kia puffed her cheeks up in a displeased pout.

 

  Iris pushed the door open and a gush of air hit her body. The small room was irregular in shape with the edges decorated to look like rocky terrain with what looked like small trees growing on the rocks.

 

"Hot." Kia said, dipping her toe into the steaming pool in the middle of the room. She dropped her tightly held towel on the floor and stepped in.

 

  Iris watched the necromancer make delighted noises as a brown stain formed around her. The muddy stain moved to the centre of the pool before disappearing. 

 

"Convenient," She unhesitatingly placed one foot into the pool, swiftly pulling it out. "?"

 

"Iris?"

 

"I didn't expect to feel so much." The elf answered. She was used to the neutral temperature of the world around her. A relaxing warmth surrounded her body as she sat down in the water. Maybe all the stress was worth it? She thought.

 

"Do you want me to scrub you?" She lazily asked grabbing a sponge from the edge of the pool before Kia could answer.

 

"Sure." An adequate answer for the elf came from the necromancer. 

 

  Kia sat down on Iris's lap purring loudly as her back was scrubbed clean. Iris was more than happy to clean the girl as her soft, delicate body radiated soothing cold which did not clash with the warmth of the water allowing her to sense the otherworldly feeling.

 

"Pfff!" The soft purrs stopped as the elf splashed water onto Kia's face. "Wha-"

 

"I am just cleaning you." She relentlessly but at the same time gently rubbed Kia's face before continuing to go down with her work. 

 

  The girl calmed down and closed her eyes as she rested her body on the elf, focusing on the movement of the elf's hands. With one hand Iris started to brush Kia's slender thighs, her hand sliding on the tender white skin. The quiet purrs got noisier and progressively more alluring to the elf, her other hand eventually abandoned her grip on the sponge.

 

"Master, I didn't know you would choose the same room for ablution as me." A voice threw them both out of the trance throwing them into a state of panic caused by the sudden intrusion. They both turned to see Umbria standing beside the doors leading further into the bath. "Would you like to join me in the steam bath?" She said, the dark room behind her poured hot air into the room. 

 

"No." Kia, who looked unaware of what Iris was about to do answered with annoyance at her massage being interrupted, lifting her body off Iris.

 

"Oh. Well since I am already here I shall soak with you, Master." The vampire proudly announced. She wore a strange tight-fitting black dress which covered her from ankles to the neck. She sank into the pool opposite to the pair of differently irritated undead. After some silence, Umbria opened her mouth again. "I build this not that long ago, the baths use an ingenious system of runs which adjust the temperature of the water. Some of them suck the water through the pipes into a reservoir which is regularly cleaned off course. The dwarves who did this must have really been masters of their craft..." Umbria talked about the technical aspects of the stuff around them transitioning into the different interesting tidbits about the building process and the benefit of the entire operation. To Iris, it was quite an uninteresting monologue but to Kia, it must have been at least slightly interesting as her grumpy posture lessen a little. 

 

When Miss Umbria finished, she watched Kia with scarily focused eyes which the necromancer seemed unaware off while she lounged on top of her creation. When Iris noticed the shameful stare of the vampire, her long arms wrapped around the slender body of the necromancer to the noticeable displeasure of the bloodsucker. The room again sank into a deep silence with only the sound of the moving water filling the silent void. About three-fourths of a bell passed in peace before Kia slowly sank into the warm and welcoming embrace of the sole risen.

 

"Master?"

 

"Shhh, let her sleep," Iris judged Kia must have drifted into a deep sleep on her lap by the way her body layed on top of her. She tried to not show her annoyance at overeager undead asking pointless questions. "She had a tiring day."

 

"She can sleep too?" A quiet whisper full of curiosity and awe reached the pair of elven ears.

 

"Yes." Iris shrugged her shoulders, she could understand this question. She also never heard of an undead sleeping or tiring. Hibernating and withering due to wounds, yes she heard and saw those types of the undead, but not anything resembling to what Kia did.

 

"Truly amazing." A whisper full of marvel echoed back to Iris.

 

"Could you bring clothes for us, please? Your maid took our clothes."

 

"O-oh." Umbria made a disappointing sound. "Y-yes I get them now for the Master." She stood up and quickly jogged out of the room leaving Iris alone with Kia.

 

  The girl squirmed restlessly in Iris's tight embrace when Umbria shut the door behind her. The elf allowed herself to enjoy the warm water rushing around her body as the smooth velvety skin of the girl brushed against her, closing her eyes she focused on the sensation before having to open them again as the door swung open. Umbria followed by the same quiet maid as before entered the room, the monstrous noble already changed into a ball dress as the human behind her carried two white blankets and two sets of neatly folded clothes. One blanket was tightly wrapped around Kia's wet body and the other one she has loosely thrown over on Iris.

Iris heard their host grumble about immodesty but she ignored her as she carried Kia in her hands, following the ever-stoic servant. She was led to a room fit for a noble or a hero which didn't feel right to her but she ignored her feelings and slowly sat down on the bed with Kia cradled in her hands.

 

"Will she wake up?" A quavering voice asked the undead hoplite.

 

"Yes, she will." Iris replied reassuringly but the vampire stood beside the bed as if ready for Kia to wake up suddenly and to start trumpeting orders. 

 

To Iris's delight, a male servant wearing a black suit walked passed the maid standing at the door and approach the vampire, whispering into her ear. Umbria's golden eyes changed into crimson as the black irises focused, creating a strange "W" shape, before regaining their previous look. 

"I-I will take my leave," Umbria quietly said. "My Most Precious Master" The last words were directed at the girl still wrapped in a wet blanket. She took her leave, closely followed by her two servants. 

 

  The risen carefully unwrapped the wet blanket covering Kia, throwing it haphazardly on the floor. She grabbed the heavy duvet and covered the two of them before watching as Kia's sleeping body searched frantically around the bed rolling away from her before rolling back and tightly latching onto the elf.

 

The girl's head neared her neck resembling a young kitten.

 

*Grumble*

 

"Omnomnom." Kia placed her mouth on Iris's neck and harmlessly nibbled on her neck with her lips.

 

"Thanks, my little bloodsucker." Iris said to the sleeping undead cat stroking her back before pulling on the duvet once again. Covering the girl and herself. "I will remember that~"