Dorian took a long pull from the glass of red wine in his hand, admiring the smooth taste. He closed his eyes and relaxed, listening to the din in the common room of the inn. He took a mental glance at his Growth Status.

–

-Human – Growth Stage: (2/2) Human Adult –

Growth Progress – 3,229/0 –

–

Absorbing the blood and energy of the dead Wizard had proven to be a wise decision. He hadn't gotten any new bloodlines, but because the Wizard's body hadn't been too badly destroyed, he was able to absorb a nice chunk of energy.

He'd managed to make it to the merchants home in one of the residential districts, and brought their daughter to them. She was still unconscious, a spell that would take a few more hours to wear off, according to the now dead Wizard Ralf.

He'd temporarily transformed back into a Titan as he dropped her off, Condensing his now hulking form so he didn't stand out.

When he first scanned the area, he'd found no sign of the guards from before. The neighborhood was virtually deserted, people either boarding up in their homes or gathering in large groups in the other districts of the town.

The merchant couple had been overwhelmingly grateful when he arrived. Jeriah had hugged him, and apologized fiercely, explaining how she had been forced to accuse him, while Clarence simply bowed, his head bent respectfully.

The two had lovingly hugged onto their daughter with trembling hands.

Dorian felt a kind of odd pain in his heart. He was partially the cause for their terror and fear.

He clenched his fist briefly, and then relaxed it.

He may have been partially the cause, but in the end, things had worked out.

And they worked out because he had strength.

He had left shortly after, informing them that he had killed the Wizard, and they if the guards came for him, to simply inform them. With the way Fate Magic worked in this world, it was probably possible to tie the death to his Titan form.

But, so what?

Dorian looked down at his now human hands with a sardonic smile.

He wasn't a Titan anymore.

He was a human now.

And tomorrow, he'd probably be something else.

"Just another form I wear. Whatever I am." He sighed and then shook the thought from his head.

He took another sip from his wine glass, letting himself have a brief respite.

After he dropped the merchant's daughter off, he'd taken the time to find out what all the fuss was.

To his surprise, the City Lord, a powerful Lord Class Wizard vampire that studied Control Magic, had been murdered, as had his wife.

Both bodies had been found, dead, and completely drained of blood, in the City Lord's mansion at the center of town. Several other guards and a maid had also perished, all of them found with bodies drained completely of blood.

Rumors were spreading of a lawless vampire going on a rampage, even against his own kind.

Vampires were extremely powerful in this world. Unlike in the legends of earth, vampires here were not weak to sunlight, nor wooden stakes, nor running water. They were an extremely powerful race with no real weakness at all, not any of the stereotypical ones.

They still, however, maintained their habit of drawing upon and drinking or eating blood. They didn't need it to survive, but it was seen as a delicacy.

The Blood Magic shops that existed in the city not only served the need of Wizards studying Blood Magic, but also the need of vampires picking out fine bloodlines to dine on.

"Did you hear? The 12 Palaces were attacked too!"

"I heard the City Lord was killed by assassins sent from Butrias!"

"It was a silent killer, you hear me! It had to be those damned Shades! One of the Grandmasters of the Guard was killed too!"

"There's a criminal Titan on the loose! Maybe it was by that murdering beast!"

"Don't be foolish, the guard has said its only a Master Class that doesn't study magic! Even I could kill it!"

"Dave, you can't even handle a Sky Class beast. How would you kill a Master Class beast?!"

The hubbub of the common room, mostly talking about the killing and Dorian's own actions, continued onward, noise that didn't seem intent on stopping anytime soon.

He was sitting downstairs in the Bulky Cat Inn. It was one of the many Inns on the northern side of the city, and full of various hunters and locals. It was a popular place, specifically for its cheap, but fine, wine and cheese, an unusual palate for an Inn.

He'd rented a room, shamelessly using the money he'd stolen from the dead vampire. Before resting, however, he'd decided he wanted to relax, and listen to any rumors. He'd drink some wine and get the authentic experience of being in a magic, medieval Inn common room.

Unfortunately, nobody tried to bother or attack him, and there were no innocent maidens to be saved from harassment. His fantasy image of what would happen failed to play out. He even tried to use his soul to twist Fate and make it happen, but that failed as well.

He still wasn't quite sure how he managed the feeling of Fate twisting, back when he fought against that Titan and William died. He had somehow willed Fate to obey him, and had felt a somewhat imperceptible change.

He'd been unable to reproduce the same feeling no matter how he tried.

He drank a bit more wine, feeling it settle warmly in his stomach, next to a large plate's worth of cheese he devoured. He sighed and then stood up, tossing a gold mint on the table.

He waited for a second to see if any robbers or thieves would try to stalk him after seeing him act so richly.

He was disappointed once more.

Reality, it seemed, never turned out quite the way you expected, or wanted.

He made his way up to his room, and fell into bed, the afternoon light fading into evening as he laid down for some well-deserved sleep.

Tomorrow, he decided, he'd start testing out how to combine bloodlines. Strength was something he urgently needed right now.

..

A World Bridge dominated by mountains stabbed poignantly into the ground, connecting the Exotic Planet Taprisha to the aquatic world of Torrin. This mountain range was one that was heavily infested with beasts of all natures, but also full of bountiful resources. Magic Herbs, rare metals, all sorts of objects that the natural laws of the universe would replace with time.

It made the City State of Toldrum one of the wealthiest on Taprisha.

Currently, atop one of the many grey mountains in this range, two figures could be seen. Both had elegant appearances, with pierced red eyes, and long brown hair.

One wore a professional looking set of black plate armor, pressed so tightly to his body it seemed to be molded to him. A long, gleaming black sword lay strapped to his back, without a sheath. His long brown hair was tied up in a bun, in a similar style to the Highlord Marcus.

The other wore a set of loose black robes, with a smart-looking black belt wrapped around him. A wand could be seen strapped to this belt, in a small holster. It had a silver, shining handle.

As the light of day turned to afternoon, these two figures exchanged glances.

"What do you think, Trajan?" The vampire wearing the plate armor asked, flexing his fingers in front of him as he spoke.

"She'll be here soon, Probus." Trajan responded, frowning. His eyes narrowed as he looked up at the sky, a worried look on his face.

"This is a test set by the Highlord." He continued, his statement almost a question.

Probus nodded, rubbing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Abruptly, Probus whipped his arm forward, drawing his blade in a slash that blurred out so quickly it was almost invisible. He immediately replaced the sword on his back, as if it hadn't moved at all.

WHOOSH

Nearly six hundred meters away, a small, almost imperceptible slash of wind slammed into a small, six-inch long green lizard that was crawling up the side of a neighboring mountain.

A split second later, the mountain began to rumble. Rocks and dust began to tumble as an entire third of the mountain collapsed off to the side, a huge amount of earthen debris and rubble smashing down into the valley below. A large storm of dust rose into the air, obscuring the now partially destroyed mountain from sight.

Trajan turned and glared at Probus,

"What the hell was that for?!"

"I saw a lizard." Probus shrugged.

"AND?!" Trajan sputtered out, his eyes widening in rage.

"Maybe it was an assassin lizard." Probus shrugged for a second time, "You never know with those scaly bastards." He turned to look off into the distance as if he was contemplating deep, important philosophical concepts.

"Probus, you just destroyed an entire mountain BECAUSE OF A LIZARD?!" Trajan's eyes seemed to palpitate as he gestured at the still rising cloud of dust.

Probus shrugged for the third time and didn't respond.

"People like you are why the ecosystems of certain worlds are thrown into chaos! You cannot just wantonly destroy environments like this! Think of the native life, the natural process of nature! Why I just…" Trajan continued to rant, his eyes glaring at Probus.

Probus, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes as he spotted something in the distance. He slowly began to raise his hand to his back while Trajan talked, making minute movements toward his sword.

"-because think of the catastrophic consequenc-" Trajan cut himself off,

"Probus… Why are you reaching for your sword…"

WHOOSH

The rumbling sounds of a mountain starting to collapse rang out once more.

"PRRROOOOOBBUUUUUSSSSSSSS!"

.

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