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Thomas was watching a late night rerun of an old soap opera, periodically laughing along with the audience laughter whenever something humorous occurred in the episode.
At the same time, he was playing Age of Heroes on his mobile, repetitively sending his hero team against Gϋnther’s now that he was stronger than him. It cost him nearly 40,000 credits, but it was well worth it in his book.
He manically pressed the [Battle] button in the pvp lobby, annihilating the vampire’s hero team and sending his rank all the way to the bottom of the ladder.
“Hahaha, eat shit you dirty blood sucker!”
*BANG*
Thomas turned his head in curiosity as the front door slammed open and Senna entered. He couldn’t see her expression which she kept concealed from him, but he could feel the wrath exuding from her body.
“Hey, hey, don’t get the wrong idea. I was talking abo-”
Thomas was cut off by a palm grabbing his face before pushing it down onto the couch. Senna then sank her teeth directly into his neck and begun vigorously drinking his blood. Thomas didn’t prevent her or ask any questions, he just supported her with a hand behind her head and let her have her fill.
“You’re awefully hungry tonight, I fear they will start accusing me of starving you~”
The demi fallen fae didn’t respond and kept drinking.
Should anyone walk in at this moment, it would look awefully suspicious for Thomas. A beatiful girl of high school appearance was wearing clothes that had been torn up, revealing a large amount of skin as well as her underwear. This girl was tighly clinging to a man who looked at least 30 and had her face buried in his neck.
Eventually, she finally seemed satisfied and stopped drinking. By this point, even Thomas was feeling a bit anemic, although that was more so because he was just dizzy from having to constantly replenish his body’s blood so much.
Senna then closed her eyes and rest her head across Thomas’ lap, the latter simply combing his fingers through her hair as she slept.
His other hand was still playing Age of Heroes on his phone, further destroying Gϋnther’s pvp arena ranking albeit with a more suppressed laughter.
Once he had played enough for the night, he picked up the sleeping fae who instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. He then carried her to her room and dropped her on the bed.
She was a bit stubborn however and he had to pry her arms off from around his neck.
“Sigh, what to do when your daughter has daddy issues~” Thomas nonchalantly joked, prompting the sleeping fae to grumble in annoyance before rolling over and giving him the cold shoulder.
In an old mansion that was well kept by a team of butlers and maids, Gϋnther was swirling a glass of warm blood in his hand, occasionally taking a brief sip from it.
Not far away, Duchess Lucilla Montageau, the vampire who turned him nearly a millennia ago, sat in a black gothic dress that hugged her busty figure. The shoulders were of a lace netting that showed her pale yet flawless skin, tempting the eyes of onlookers.
She wore a thick eyeliner with a double winged tail in the corner of her eyes, adding to her ethereal beauty, but she had a constant look of disinterest on her face that caused others to find her difficult to approach.
Her long black hair fell down like cascading waves of ebony, a slight curl to it seeming entirely natural.
“I am honored to host the Duchess,” Gϋnther flattered the woman particularly subserviently.
“How does that saying go… right, no need for the lip chat. I am here to participate in the event tomorrow night. Make sure not to embarrass me.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t dare do such a thing,” he hurriedly spoke but frowned as his phone beeped in notification.
Upon opening it, it was an alert from Age of Heroes, that his hero team had fallen to a lower pvp class due to consecutive losses. With his expression darkening, he opened up the game to find that his team had lost in battle over and over again, all to one person as well.
“Is something the matter, Gϋnther?”
“Oh! No, no, Duchess, it is just some bug challenging me?”
“Hmm? We can’t have that. Do ensure that you thoroughly crush it. The dignity of vampires is not to be challenged, do you understand?”
Gϋnther secretly took out a black credit card with gold lettering on it, a special card reserved for only the most valued accounts, as his lips curved into a disdainful grin.
“Don’t worry, Duchess, I will thoroughly crush this ant into nothing but dust. He will never dare challenge me again.”
“Good.”
“What do you mean by ‘I just happened to get these tickets to a prestigious auction given to me’? This completely stinks of a trap. Are you stupid? Oh, why should I even ask – of course you are.”
The incident last night seemed all but forgotten as the two returned to their usual daily routine.
“Buut, on the other hand, a lot of important people with a lot of money will be there. Each and every one of them is a potential client.”
Thomas dragged out a small but long cardboard box which he cleaned the dust off. He then opened it up and revealed a stack of over a thousand business cards, all of a premium grade with a near holographic etching on the design.
“You told me I would never need these and that they were a waste of money. Now who is laughing.”
“You are. You are always the one laughing, even at the most inappropriate times!”
The former uncontrollably released a chuckle in response to this, further annoying the irate fae.
“We are not going!”
“We are~”
“…”
Senna knew how fruitless it was to argue with Thomas on matters like this, so she surrendered with a sigh and a helplessly nodded her head.
Thomas was dressed in a fancy grey suit with a bow tie, courtesy of Senna ensuring he wore his best clothes. The fae in question had donned a stunning dark maroon, almost black, sheath dress with a single leg slit down the side for ease of walking, a helpful addition for the dark blue high heels she wore.
Her hair up was tied up in a loose bun, showing off the nape of her neck as well as he pointed ears that immediately betrayed her supernatural origins.
Senna walked closely beside Thomas as the two walked up the stone steps to the Klause Auction House, the venue booked out for tonight’s event.
The duo followed the prepared signage to the 4th venue hall, where bright crystal chandeliers lit up the internal lobby hall that was large enough to house several hundred.
Polished tile floors reflected the lights, while tall arched windows gave a view to the distant busy night life, vehicles traversed the roads below countless neon signs and holographic advertisements that danced into life just in front of the screens. Even the exit signage had backgrounds advertising holidays, hotels, or other destinations.
The lights of planes and patrol drones also showed themselves in the sky from time to time, but everything outside the window appeared to almost be as if it were an entirely different world from inside.
Over a hundred people were already in this lobby, drinking all kinds of liquor and wine as they laughed and discussed business with one another. They men only the most expensive suits, top hats, and some even wore feathered masks.
The ladies also dressed up in stunning dresses and had sparkling jewelry that reflected the light from the chandeliers. Handbags each more glamorous than the last, wide brimmed hats decorated with plume and flower.
Classic piano played in the background as waiters and waitresses circled the halls with trays of alcohol and fresh seafood. Some even carried glasses of blood, humans not being the only attendees.
Not a single person here was ordinary, each of them either a powerful cultivator, magician, or wealthy tycoon escorted by equally powerful bodyguards.
Even despite the cacophony of aromas swirling throughout the room, Senna didn’t mistake the distinct stench of sulphor that pervaded throughout, her nose scrunching briefly in disgust.
“Demons…” The fae girl muttered in revulsion whilst staying beside Thomas.
“Don’t worry, they are weaker than us, and even most of the people in this room~”
Unlike Senna who could only smell them, Thomas could directly see souls, allowing him to easily identify who was a demon and who wasn’t. Not only that, he could also see whether the soul of the original person was still present or had been consumed by the demon.
“Good evening, how do you do?” Thomas slipped into a group of men appearing in their late 40s discussing stock market information that was borderline insider trading and eagerly introduced himself. “I am Thomas Smith, a talent extraordinaire in solving all your supernatural problems, here.”
He quickly pulled out a handful of business cards as he got the men’s attention and slipped one into each of their pockets. Their were clearly taken off guard, not able to respond to the sudden and unexpected scenario before Thomas departed for his next targets.
“Good evening, madam. You are absolutely radiant tonight, is it some well cast spell? You can call me Thomas, a specialist in the supernatural who also just happens to have channels in sourcing charms to make your skin shine like pearls in the moonlight and even slow down aging significantly.”
“Sir, you have accumulated too much negative karma and an aura of bad luck hanging about you, but I just so happen to sell positive luck charms that can fend that off, even improve your karma~”
“Great Sir, I can tell you are a man of many talents– oh, a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator nonetheless! You must need a lot of cultivation materials, and I happen know some important people that have them. Drop by my shop and we can discuss your needs.”
“Good evening…”
“Madam, you are just the star of the show tonight…”
Senna followed beside Thomas getting more and more embarrassed by how shameless he was being. Some people he started conversations with, others he simply deposited his business card into their pockets or hats before moving on, vanishing into the still gathering crowd.
One man, a vampire with a flaming red mane of hair, had been so annoyed he swatted him away with a backhanded strike. Not enough to kill a normal human, but it would still shatter bones and dislodge organs.
Thomas however deftly and seemingly without effort dodged the swing and even left his business card in between said vampire’s fingers, commenting that he could also provide specialized combat training services. He then quickly left the vampire who hissed in displeasure.
“Good evening, sir, my name is- eh, Gϋnther, you are here too?”
Thomas was surprised as the person he interrupted this time was a blonde vampire with German features of a bygone era.
Beside him was another vampire of outstanding beauty, a lady with long dark locks of hair and revealing a generous amount of cleavage above the bust of her dress. There was also two other vampires who were a part of the group, men of various origins but the same equally pale skin.
“Thomas… how did you even get in here? This is not the kind of place for you to be?” Gϋnther stopped and looked at Thomas and Senna in somewhat nervousness.
“A place where there is a bunch of wealthy future clients? This is the perfect place for me.”
“Do you even have any credits for the auction?”
“Of course I do, do you?”
Beside Gϋnther was Duchess Montageau, so he desperately held himself back from berating Thomas. The other two vampires just stood back and watched the confrontation with amusement while Senna .
“And… Why would I not have money?”
“If you had money, your Night Noblesse guild wouldn’t be below the Howling Hounds guild in the rankings? Those werewolves have been howling all night in mockery, you know.”
Naturally, Thomas was discussing their guilds in Age of Heroes, of course. The Night Noblesse guild were composed of primarily vampires, whilst the Howling Hounds were werewolves. The two species had been fighting one another for millennia, a feud that was long since ingrained into their very genes.
“What is this?” Duchess Montageau asked in a seemingly casual tone, but the air around the group seemed to rapidly decrease in temperature.
“It… It’s just nonsense about a game, Duchess.”
Not just Gϋnther, but even the other two vampires detected the duchess’ anger and broke out in a cold sweat. Vampire noble rankings weren’t determined by lineage after all, but by strength. These three vampires were just ordinary among their species, weaker than a count let alone a vampire of the duchess’ ranking.
Thomas seemed unfazed, or otherwise unaware of the dangerous aura she was emanating.
“A duchess?” he asked while leaning forward to express his interest, “Don’t let these peasants’ words fool you, this is an extremely important game. Only those with resources and skill can win, while the losers can only cry that they were too poor or not good enough~”
The duchess played along with his words, pulling out a mobile phone that hadn’t even been released on the market yet before deftly unlocking it. The displayed wallpaper was of a recently popular male celebrity, topless and posing for the camera.
Thomas’ eyes locked onto the device the moment he saw it, the illusion of credits seeming to flicker across his eyes.
With an expression of disinterest, she downloaded Age of Heroes before opening it. After fiddling with it briefly, she commented to Gϋnther that he is to show her how to play the game later, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.
With a gaze barely concealing him greed, Thomas slid beside Duchess Montageau and wrapped one hand around her back, the other shamelessly delivering a business card into her exposed cleavage. Seeing him take frivolities with her, Gϋnther did an impossibility for vampires and somehow turned even paler.
Perhaps she viewed him as a weak human, or otherwise harmless food, but she didn’t do anything to protect herself. Thomas also was attractive enough, and especially smelled delicious enough, that she allowed him to be so close to her.
“You seem like the kind of woman who needs things. You should drop by my store and we can-”
A small hand grabbed his shirt and abruptly pulled him away from the vampiric duchess. Senna then positioned herself between Thomas and the duchess while at the same time, a faint crack was heard but its origin indiscernible.
“We don’t sell blood,” Senna cut him off, glaring at the duchess as if she was at threat of having her food taken from her.
The duchess’ face changed for the first time, as if finding something of interest. Her mouth curved up into a smile, but her eyes were not friendly in the slightest. She glanced at the demi-human fae before looking back towards Thomas.
“You keep dangerous company. You would be best getting rid of it before it bites.”
Senna had several white marks on the skin of her arm, which quickly faded away before restoring itself to its beforehand condition.
Eager to change the subject and alleviate the growing tension in the air, one of the vampires quickly commented on the school Senna was attending.
“I heard that there will be several rare items for sale tonight. Everyone is eager to get inside that strange spacial tear and explore for opportunities.”
Gϋnther nodded his head before casually looking towards Thomas.
“Laurence Academy of the Gifted. Isn’t this the school Senna just moved to? The one where you are looking into the missing boy?”
“Yep~ It was quite the scene. You should have seen the world behind the rift. It was primal, full of monsters. I suspect it was Purgatory. They haven’t even closed the school but… they are letting people in? The Protectorate are the ones in charge of safety, are they not?”
Thomas felt like laughing in the face of the blatant corruption at play.
“Of course, and they are even charging credits. With the credits though, they will be able to better equip their heroes. The same with the government, and any companies standing behind the board of directors. Not only will we be assisting them with their job, but we will be paying them for it too.”
In response to Gϋnther’s words, one of the other vampire shrugged their shoulders.
“But we are given allowances of being able to keep 90 percent of whatever resources we secure inside, resources our world is devoid of.”
Thomas nodded in understanding the appeal to all these people, and figured these entry permits would be going for an astronomical price. That was only the surface of the corruption though.
“They could still have closed down the school and done that.”
“And miss out on all the wealthy tuition and government funding?” Gϋnther smirked disdainfully at Thomas. “Do you think this is the first time that school has suppressed news? It wasn’t that long ago a teacher was thrown in prison for raping several students.”
Both Thomas and Senna’s brow rose over this information. This vampire had been in the area for the past century, witnessing the peak of humanity before its gradual degradation over the five decades post the Departure of Machine event.
Due to the difference in perception of time, things most people had long since forgotten were still recent events for him.
“When was this?” Thomas asked in curiosity.
He had been investigating the school’s past, and this had never appeared in his searches.
“It would be nearly 40 years now, but a lot of people were upset for a while before everything just seem to vanish. No news were published, nobody spoke about it, as if it never happened. I must say, humans are some of the most cunning creatures, it’s no wonder they rule the world.”
Duchess Montageau, despite all her strength, nodded in agreement.
With half an hour before the official start of the auction, the doors to the main auction hall opened for everyone to enter and take their seats. At the same time, a man with the soul of a demon and the rotten stench of sulfur approached the group with a smile on his face.
He had slick back hair and dressed extremely professionally. He was Timothy West, CEO of West Union Bank, the father of Alan and Erin West, and currently possessed by the Duke of Doors, Astaroth.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Duchess, I had not expected someone of your dignity to show your presence. Please excuse my rudeness and continue on into the venue with your subordinates. I only have business with these two.”
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