The knights all stood tense and still while their eyes darted around their pitch black surroundings. Surprisingly so did Angie. Even before she had recovered her breath she noticed the knight’s vigilance and immediately tried to emulate it though she was still tired so her eyes seemed to glide over the surroundings rather than scan them.

It mattered little in truth. Lilith would not allow her to come to harm just yet but she was curious which creature this may be. The fact that it was currently beneath them gave her a clue. She ran through a list of underground species that lived in the plains but that was unfortunately long.

She supposed she would soon find out and sure enough the moment to do so came swiftly. Claws shot from the ground. They raked across a nearby knight’s armoured leg and the man grunted in pain. It’s head came from the hole in the ground and long incisors dug into the mildly injured leg before attempting to drag it back into the hole.

Injured as he was the knight refused to yield and swung his sword at the creature’s neck while shouting “It’s on me! Claws, teeth,comes from ground!” His information was concise and despite the pain he must be in, also important.

His swing however was not nearly as well done as the warning. He was unbalanced, it was dark and only years of training dulled the pain so it did not surprise Lilith when the creature moved behind one of it’s legs and the sword dug only a shallow cut into it’s foreleg. Regardless the creature did not have that training.

The knight’s leg was freed and the creature vanished with a snarl. The knight collapsed to the floor with his leg finally unable to support his weight and looked at his wound. He was soon crowded by fellow knights and tended to.

While the water magic users cleaned the wound the ice magic users created temporary constructs to hold against it. Neither left their positions in the formation as they did so. These were first-aid measures that Lilith approved of having worked with the healers for a time. Though perhaps it helped that Marinez was famously popular for water magic users.

The creature had not yet given up however. Lilith said nothing but her mind was not as silent. That creature thought that their group was prey? Even protecting it’s territory that was a grave mistake. Her eyes roamed the ground watching the small vibrations.

A bloody red almost came to her eyes but seemed to be almost yanked back like a dog on a chain. It protested with an angry shine but died out. Lilith could not take a deep breath to calm herself down any more so she went through the mental exercise of grounding herself while still attempting to pay attention to her surroundings.

She looked over to Claire and saw that she was not particularly pleased either. Or she was incredibly so. Her eyes were glowing the very same red but instead of following the creature she was looking at the knight’s leg and licking her lips.

“Do not attempt violence Claire, you would not enjoy it.” Lilith ordered coldly and the recipient became completely motionless. She did not even breathe. Lilith had forgotten her human instincts at some point during the journey here but Claire had always hung onto them as though they were the raft in a storm. She only ever forgot them when she thought like a vampire.

Lilith had attempted to use language that implied this was more for Claire’s sake than everyone else so the knights did not question their situation. After all they had more important problems. The girl by her side however was not a knight and was far more observant than she should be.

Her lilac eyes glided over Claire and though her mind was fogged it seemed she could notice something was amiss. Thankfully it was too fogged to figure out what. Not that it mattered particularly if she were to figure it out given that Lilith intended to turn her later. It would however prove troublesome if she announced as much in front of the knights.

Speaking of which they were also unable to pay attention to their conversation. Because they were busy handling something else. “On Me! Now’s our chance!” Shouted vice-captain Jacob as he pushed himself away from where the creature’s mouth was.

Then at a speed that only the vampires could follow he drew his sword and sliced at the neck. Unlike his fellow he was balanced, focussed and ready. His opponent was too however as it immediately ducked back into the ground after it’s teeth found no purchase. The sword too, sailed through the air with a whoosh but met no flesh.

The vice-captain clearly grit his teeth and Lilith decided this was the time to give them some assistance. "Flood the tunnel." She commanded but the moment she did so the vice-captain glared at her and shouted "Watch the ground. When it appears surround it!" His voice was significantly more loud than her own and the knights were more willing to obey it.

Lilith was annoyed by his interruption but could think little on the matter before the creature re-appeared again. This time it was near the injured knight likely smelling the blood. A mistake. Before it could even think to notice it was surrounded by a number of knights. Then spells, arrows, swords and axes fell upon it in a co-ordinated rain.

At first it dodged the relentless attack with ease and managed to run towards the knight and try to bite on his leg. The moment it came close however it had to bring up the front foreleg to block a sword that left a shallow gash. Snarling in pain it failed to notice an ice shard fly towards it.

The shard was soon stuck in the creature's eye and it let out a yelp. Before any violent reprisal could occur the vice-captain appeared and his katana wrent the air soon followed by the creature's neck. With a high pitched crack of shattering bone and the low thud of gravity affecting a dead mound of flesh the head separating from it's body with nary a sound.

Immediately upon confirming the death they became focussed on treatment. They remained vigilant while doing so of course, most of all Jacob who still had his hand on the katana at his waist but their primary concern at the moment was for their injured team member.

Having already given basic first aid the job now was to stitch the wound and they got to doing so immediately to a scream of pain from the patient. Lilith saw that the injury was not terribly serious. It was not as minor as a small tumble over a tree root but not nearly deep enough to hit vital areas of the body. Though it may leave an interesting scar it was by no means dangerous.

 

Their urgency did not make sense to her but she did understand that military units tended to be rather attached to each other, knights especially. It was not efficient but she had long come to accept this was simply how they worked.

Unfortunately she did not have any methods to speed up healing(Beyond the obvious) which meant she had to endure the excessively long process of waiting for the knights to confirm he could stand, was going to be alright and allowing them to continue this ‘demonstration’.

In this time however she thought of countermeasures for the badger. She would have to deal with them eventually after all. In fact there was a certain curiosity at the back of her mind that urged her towards the corpse. Only the vice-captain himself glanced at her but his vision glided over her as though she were unimportant. Once she did reach the corpse she turned her nails into a short and thin blade akin to a scalpel.

She pressed down with her bladed finger and felt a little resistance before the thick hide gave way. The body was warm as she held it and the blood flowed prodigiously. It smelled of dirt with extra scents very similar to the caves the vampires had temporarily lived in.

When she placed a hand against the fur it came off with dark mud easily visible on her pale hands. Unfortunately she could not weaken adhesion with her shadow magic. She would have to resort to the old fashioned wiping her hands on trees when she was finished but continued her incision down the front of the creature’s abdomen in a Y shape.

Alongside blood some less well-known fluids such as yellow pus and clear liquids started to leak from the wound but she paid little mind. More interesting was the shape of the creature’s organs. There were actually rather few dissections of non-monsterised badgers because of their scarcity and ferocity.

Despite that she had a fairly comprehensive knowledge of creatures with a similar biology. A canine for example is likely to have it’s heart just above the front left leg. A feline meanwhile has it’s heart just underneath the lungs several inches back from it’s front leg.

Assuming badgers to be closer to canines than felines, even though it is part of neither species, She searched the right upper half of the Y incision pushing her hand through squishy veins but generally avoiding bones as she finds the most flabby of the pieces and squeezes finding the surprising firmness under that soft surface.

She tried to push her way around the heart to see if any new organs had been introduced or any weaknesses could be exploited but despite the large strength boost and magic nothing had changed. There was not so much as one extra muscle around the jaw so far as she could tell.

Did this simply mean that monsters had denser muscles? Perhaps there was also a possibility that the system defied science entirely though she doubted that would be the case. Even magic was simply science advanced enough that they could not understand it. After all it required knowledge of science to function.

As she continued checking organs, veins and the like she pondered a related question about monsters. Well, several of them. Least pressing of which was the fact that she had more apparent predatory instincts now so did that make her a monster?

Was monster a system definition or something the humans had simply created for convenience? These were philosophical questions and the fact that she had rebuilt herself from nothing in the capital made them rather daunting to ponder so she stopped doing so. More important were the practical considerations. For example what actually made monsters so aggressive and what differentiated them from animals or magically enhanced animals?

From a human perspective it is a monster if it is a threat. By that logic however they were all wild animals from Lilith’s point of view and that seemed incorrect. There needed to be a common characteristic that all monsters shared and that was what she was trying to discover.

Biology was her first thought when it came to a shared commonality but unfortunately having seen many a stazelle corpse she knew that none of this was similar. Ignoring the typical organ configuration for a carbon-based lifeform of course. Magic was too regimented and systematic to be biologically powered despite the fact that mana seemed to come from inside one’s self…

Now that she thought about it, with the existence of souls confirmed perhaps seeing the creature’s soul could give her a better distinction between monster and wild animal. Would she have to wait until she mastered her new transformation to see the creature’s soul?

She had been dissecting the creature for some time now and did not want the others catching on so she only made one last inspection before readying herself to destroy the evidence. Specifically she was looking at the creature’s brain. She did not have the means to study it’s serotonin levels in the prefrontal cortex but she knew enough about the changes in the brain to identify whether victorious aggressive behaviour had been reinforced due to an ancient text on the subject.

She wanted to determine whether the increased aggression was biological or related to the soul before leaving this specimen. So she checked the prefrontal cortex and a few other areas for signs of damage or alteration leading to increased aggressive behaviour. Surprisingly she found some.

The orbital and medial prefrontal cortex circuit in particular seemed drastically different to a standard specimen in her laboratory. She would call herself an expert on animal physiology in the empire but she knew from ancient texts that she had merely scratched the surface of the knowledge they possessed 800 years ago. Nevertheless she was certain she knew what those changes meant.

Hearing footsteps behind her she quickly injected venom through the claw cutting into the specimen and watched it crumble to ash. Apparently even if they could not become ghouls this was excellent for hiding bodies.

Turning around she came face to face with a knight who informed her that the injured man was safe and would be picked up by another knight and brought to the centre of the formation with them. With a short break after that they would depart. She indicated understanding before returning to the group before being given a welcome of suspicious stares.

They all remained silent however as she joined them and saw the injured man begin to be carried over. A single knight stayed to support him afterwards while the others returned to the formation after some time. The journey started once they confirmed everyone was ready.

While they walked Claire attempted to start a conversation with the man. “You been with the knights for a while?” She asked, pointedly not looking at his leg. The knight was so inconsequential that Lilith did not even bother to take in his features but she nonetheless would not pass up an opportunity for information.

“I’m not one of the new recruits if that’s what you’re asking.” He replied, his tone only mildly less bitter than his words. “Ain’t my first injury on the job, ain’t gonna be my last.” He sounded almost dismissive of the prospect.

“Hey stop bein’ such a downer” The knight who was currently supporting him said, gently elbowing him in the midsection. “We’re supposed to be showin’ off for the young ladies right?” he asked flashing a pearly smile at Claire. She smiled in return though Lilith saw the experienced deflection expertise already hiding behind it.

“We’re not here to show off. We bleed and die but civilians will only know we saved them again” He muttered trying to tone down the anger but still hobbling along and barely keeping up despite the help. Claire could not help but take a glance and shudder before looking away.

“You just want to look away don’t you? Everyone’s happy to be protected but the moment a knight shows up bleeding on their doorstep they’re just as happy to look away.” His voice seemed almost challenging as he clearly took that in a different way than was intended. Lilith disliked where this conversation was leading and decided to interrupt it.

“I take it you are not as taken with values of honour and sacrifice as your vice-captain?” She asked. It appeared her question was the correct one as the man scoffed in the derisive manner Lilith had only seen nobles save for commoners.

“The kid grew up here. They instil all this honour and traditions nonsense into them because their ancestors were obsessed with it. That or it makes excellent soldiers.” He sighed and it still came off as derision. His partner however elbowed him in the side again and this time he let out a pained grunt given that it was significantly harder than before.

“Now you’re just insulting everyone and everything. Sorry ladies he’s a right grump when he wants to be.” The smile he flashes this time is less enthusiastic. Seeing their similar reactions he smacks his teammate across the back of the head. The recipient of which barely makes a sound.

“Your drainin’ the life outta me man, all that downer energy. Maybe takin’ you off night shift might do you some good.” He suggested to his partner’s clear disgruntlement. Nevertheless he does quiet down for a considerable time after that and Claire takes the opportunity to engage in small talk with the far more affable knight.

Finding no useful information in their discussion Lilith turns her own thoughts inward. There was clearly some dissatisfaction with the status quo. She could use that though she would have to be careful it did not turn on her.

As the excursion continued there were a number of monster encounters but they were ultimately not threatening. It appeared the damage the badger caused was a fluke. Lilith would have argued that a pack of wolves, for example, was more likely to cause damage to the knight squad given their superior tactics, numbers and strength. Yet they were driven off with seemingly contemptuous ease.

She also found that the changes to the animal population were not as drastic as they first appeared. They were more aggressive. Yet the only difference in their behaviour she could discern was that humans were not an immutable existence for them and neither were other predators.

Was their instinctive fear of a greater predator removed? Or was their strength altered such that humans were no longer the greater predator? Perhaps a mix of the two? Or was it as she originally hypothesised and their aggressive behaviours were simply more heavily encouraged? The changes were so miniscule and yet it completely changed the food chain in all surrounding areas.

This brought her mind back to the system and the fact that she had promised herself to investigate it. This and other similar promises had become lower priority recently. She may have been slightly too excited by her newfound immortality such that she almost lost sight of her convictions.

She was already thinking about when she would get bored of tracking down skills and that would likely not happen for several centuries yet. She still had many more immediate problems to solve. Walking with the knights gave her some more time to think about these things. She had been excitedly thinking and experimenting throughout the journey here but now she had to settle. Consolidate her resources.

All goes well and she would have control of an organisation in Marinez that she intended to spread throughout the empire and perhaps beyond. That was still into the future. For now she had those predatory instincts she was still not willing to free, Claire’s berserk state and her upcoming battle with Wyatt.

Speaking of what was his next move? Perhaps she was allowing herself on too many tangents and would not complete a single thought but she believed this was an important question to ask. She could not make assumptions though which lead to yet another tangent. How was she going to acquire information on Wyatt’s and Nadia’s movements? Not to mention the location of the twins and Candace.

She needed more immediate solutions to these problems rather than focussing on far away problems that she may not even have to deal with. Starting with information. Her old network among the nobility was likely still active if any of them were alive but expecting anything from it would be unrealistic.

She knew that her sister had a contact in Saturn but they would likely not accept communication from her even if she managed to contact them. Not all of her sister’s allies were her own as much as Nadia tried. That avenue was closed and building her own network back again would take considerably more time than she had before she was certain Wyatt would make a move.

When you do not have time to create something yourself then you must borrow or steal another. Would she have to recruit someone with a network of their own then? Who’s network would stay together throughout the implementation though?

She had not found an answer by the time the knights suddenly stopped in front of an area she recognised as the forest she had travelled through on their last stretch to get to Marinez. Curious as to the reason they halted she headed towards the vice captain who was discussing at the edge of the formation with several of the other knights. Before she joined the conversation her hearing allowed her several context clues as to it’s contents.

“-We have to investigate what’s going on in there even if it’s just a cursory inspection. This isn’t animal control any more remember?” Said a voice she did not recognise but she assumed it belonged to another knight.

“Civilians are present. Two of them are even children! I will not take children into a forest of unknown danger because you don’t want to do overtime Quinton.” Replied a voice she immediately recognised as the vice-captains. The welcoming nature of his tone was gone as was the look in his eyes. She saw and heard the change in his demeanour.

He was in the man’s personal space looking down at him from the considerable height he wielded like a throne. Looming over the other man but not aggressively. As though being above him was simply natural and the man in front of him had merely forgotten his place.

In contrast the man himself, while not small by any means, seemed like a mouse in front of a lion. He leaned away rather than forward. His feet faced towards Lilith more than they did the vice-captain and every time he spoke his hands seemed to move like he was about to make a gesture but then stopped themselves just before doing so.

This ‘civil discussion’ appeared to involve her and so Lilith decided to step in herself just in case.